Archive for the ‘Violence Abuse Neglect’ Category
Can anyone explain why the USDA will NOT step in and help the dogs and puppies in the mills? There has been so much evidence of mills abusing and neglecting these animals. Many of these animals are dying horrible deaths. Most people have heard about these atrocities. The flip side, they go into a pet store to buy something for their animal. When they are there they see the poor puppy eyes looking at them. At that very moment they feel they need to buy this puppy and give it a good home. They forget where the puppy came from. It is a vicious cycle. I like what they have done in West Hollywood California. The stores only sell puppies that come from shelters or rescues. Click here to learn how you can do the same thing in your community.
This past week there was a report about the USDA failing to cut down on puppy mills. They detail the horrific conditions and lax enforcement. If you would like to read this article, click here.
There was also a show on Animal Planet that exposed Petland puppies. Since the airing of that show they have had so many people coming forward telling them stories about the health issues, and medical challenges, their puppies have had. In addition, the cost to care for these animals.
So many stories were sent in describing what it has been like for the owners of these puppies since they purchased their new family member. The stories include Bailey, a Cairn terrier (pictured here), who became deathly ill and had to be hospitalized after she was purchased in Texas, and Little Red, who reportedly had the worst hip dysplasia her veterinarian had ever seen.
On the positive side, hopefully this show will get people to do more research on the stores and breeders of puppies. Even people in your community might have a small mill going and you don’t even know it.
If you would like to read more about this, or know of a puppy that you want to report because they have medical issues, click here.
Over the past few weeks I have had so many conversations regarding our world and where we are headed. I have always said, “Humans are blessed with an exceptional brain. We have made wonderful advances in technology, medicine, etc. At the same time, we also seem to use it to destroy the world and harm innocent animals. Right now we are harming and destroying at the same time (oil drilling, polluting the waters and killing all kinds of fish and wildlife).
I came up with the name of my show, “Animal Connection” because I know animals and humans are connected. I never realized the timing of my show would be so perfect with the events going on in our society, in such an extreme way. One major issue, once we destroy this earth that’s it. No matter how much money anyone has, we can’t replace it!
The animals were here long before we were. We should respect them and not use them for profit. Someone said to me, “We should go back to the times of Little House on the Prairie”. I’m starting to believe that’s not such a bad idea, although it was a very hard life!
I don’t know what the answer is. We don’t seem to be able to get along and respect other humans (look at the wars). How do we expect people to respect animals?
Update on Buddy
May 11th, 2010
I have had emails asking about the status of Buddy’s case from my post on January 9, 2010. Buddy was the German Shepherd dragged to death at the Colorado National Monument. Steven Romero admitted his act and pled guilty to aggravated animal cruelty. Sentencing is scheduled for July 30.
Pay-It-Forward Friday 5/7/2010
May 7th, 2010
I want Friday’s to bring awareness to other organizations that are doing wonderful things for animals. I also want to empower people. Please pass this link on to bring awareness to these wonderful organizations, thanks!
1. A French Journalist contacted me. She wanted to know if I could send her true stories depicting peculiar relationships between a child and one or several wild animal(s).
Some examples:
* They’re going to tell the story of a little girl in South Africa looking after elephants with her parents in a sanctuary.
* Two little boys in India who protect snakes with their father and who are not scared to handle them. They’re “working” with their father at freeing the snakes they find in the cities to protect them.
They’re looking for a young girl or boy (aged under 15), fond of scuba diving, swimming with dolphins, whales…. In the end a child passionate in marine life. Any histories are welcomed!!
One important thing: Their aim is not to promote proximity between wild animals and humans. They DO NOT want promote people taming wild animals! They’re just looking for extraordinary stories relating a peculiar relationship between a child and an animal at a specific moment.
If you’ve heard about such stories you are welcome to contact Mélodie TISSOT directly.
+33 1 58 05 16 60
2. Emergency Situation at Wild Animal Orphanage, San Antonio, Texas
The Board of Directors of The Wild Animal Orphanage in San Antonio, Texas, announces the existence of a financial, personnel, and management crisis at their sanctuary where more than 400 wild, exotic, and domestic animals reside. The sanctuary has been in operation for 24 years and the decline in contributions along with the recent discovery of severe personnel and management issues have created this crisis. Steps have been taken by the Board of Directors to resolve some of the problems including replacement of the CEO with an acting director, Mr. Jamie Cryer, a Texas businessman, who has willingly agreed to work without compensation to assure the feeding and care of the resident animals.
Funds are needed immediately to continue providing food and care for the lions, tiger, bears, wolves, cougars, primates, and other species that reside at the 2 sites of the WAO. Compassionate animal care-givers are still reporting to work to feed, clean, and care for the animals, however, there are no funds available for payroll and their pay is already several weeks behind. Six of the animal care-givers are temporarily working without compensation. The Board of Directors is reaching out to all caring individuals and humane organizations to please step up to the plate and help us take care of these 400 animals that have no one to depend on except generous people. To learn more and find ways you can help click here.
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be measured by the way its animals are treated.” — Mahatma Gandhi
3. Tragically, 50% of domestic violence victim’s delay seeking help for fear that an abuser will harm a pet… Animals are the silent victims of domestic violence. Most people treat pets as members of the family. Unfortunately, when it comes to domestic violence, pets are also deemed part of the family unit and forced to suffer in silence at the hands of abusers. Some studies estimate that: *50% of domestic violence victims delay seeking help out of concern that their pet may be harmed by the abuser. *88% of companion animals living in households where domestic violence occurs are routinely threatened, harmed or even killed. The ASPCA witnesses firsthand the connection between animal abuse and domestic violence. Just last month, police in Little Falls, NY, arrested Mark Beacraft, Jr., for assaulting a four-year-old child. The suspect has a history of violence—including a guilty plea in 2007 for murdering a neighborhood cat. He was sentenced to one year in a county jail but was later released under house arrest. This is unacceptable—and they need your help to keep criminals like Beacraft off the streets. The ASPCA works tirelessly to educate law enforcement and the public about the link between animal cruelty and domestic abuse and to lobby for stricter punishments for pet abusers. To help click here
4. May is National Arthritis Month
Just like humans, many dogs suffer from arthritis pain and inflammation as they age. Joints and bones naturally degenerate over time. Fortunately, arthritis can often be managed with the help of acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine, supplements and nutrition. Natural and alternative therapies are generally safe, effective and can be used in conjunction with western medicine.
Ancient Solutions for Canine Arthritis is a site for dogs suffering from arthritis.
If you are an acupuncturist interested in learning more about treating arthritis in dogs with TCM, and getting continuing education credits, click here.
5. Best known for the “I’m Tired of” bracelets, ITo introduced the No More Homeless Pets bracelet and now supports nine different animal causes. ITo will give half of every sale to Best Friends Animal Society to help support their efforts to dramatically reduce the number of homeless pets.
Best Friends Animal Society is guided by a simple philosophy: kindness to animals builds a better world for all of us. In the late 1980s when Best Friends was in its early days, roughly 17 million dogs and cats were being killed in shelters every year. Despite the commitment of shelter workers to the animals in their care, the conventional belief was that little could be done to lower that terrible number. Read more about this on their site by clicking here.
6. If you live in California, or will be visiting, you might want to attend the “Power and Action for the Animals” May 9th Newport Beach, CA.
It’s a gathering of animal advocates, lovers, caretakers, guardians & protectors. Click here for more details.
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7. MOSCOW DOGS
I thought you might enjoy this story. Dogs are allowed on public transport in all of Europe, but generally with their master. This is even more interesting.
Here is a Canine commuter…. A wild dog waits on the platform!!
STRAY dogs are commuting to and from a city centre on underground trains in search of food scraps. The clever canines board the Tube each morning. After a hard day scavenging and begging on the streets, they hop back on the train and return to the suburbs where they spend the night.
Experts studying the dogs say they even work together to make sure they get off at the right stop after learning to judge the length of time they need to spend on the train…
The dogs choose the quietest carriages at the front and back of the train. They have also developed tactics to hustle humans into giving them more food on the streets of Moscow.
Scientists believe the phenomenon began after the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, and Russia’s new capitalists moved industrial complexes from the city centre to the suburbs. Dr. Andrei Poiarkov, of the Moscow Ecology and Evolution Institute, said: “These complexes were used by homeless dogs as shelters, so the dogs had to move together with their houses”.
Because the best scavenging for food is in the city centre, the dogs had to learn how to travel on the subway to get to the centre in the morning, and then back home in the evening, just like people.
Here is an experienced dog enjoying a nap on the underground. Dr. Poiarkov told how the dogs like to play during their daily commute. He said: “They jump on the train seconds before the doors shut, risking their tails getting jammed”. They do it for fun. Sometimes they fall asleep and get off at the wrong stop.
This dog is tired … A mutt naps on tube seat in Moscow.
The dogs have learned to use traffic lights to cross the road safely, said Dr. Poiarkov. They use cunning tactics to obtain tasty morsels of shawarma, a kebab-like snack popular in Moscow. They sneak up behind people eating shawarmas then bark loudly to shock them into dropping their food.
With children, the dogs play cute by putting their heads on youngsters’ knees and staring pleadingly into their eyes to win sympathy and scraps. Dr. Poiarkov added: “Dogs are surprisingly good psychologists”.
The Moscow mutts are not the first animals to use public transport. In 2006 a Jack Russell in Dunnington, North Yorks , began taking the bus to his local pub in search of sausages. Two years ago, passengers in Wolverhampton were stunned when a cat called Macavity started catching the 331 bus to a fish and chip shop.
What are your thoughts about the Supreme Court ruling? There are two sides to this story. I wanted to share some comments on both sides and their links. I know your feedback and thoughts would very much be appreciated. There is a never ending battle about what is “right” , our constitutional rights and what they really mean, views on animals and how they should be treated, etc.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday forcefully struck down a federal law aimed at banning depictions of dog fighting and other violence against animals, saying it violated constitutional guarantees of free speech and created a “criminal prohibition of alarming breadth.”
The 8 to 1 ruling, written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., was a ringing endorsement of the First Amendment’s protection of even distasteful expression. Roberts called “startling and dangerous” the government’s argument that the value of certain categories of speech should be weighed against their societal costs when protecting free speech.
The law was enacted in 1999 to forbid sales of so-called crush videos. They appeal to a certain sexual fetish by depicting the torture of animals — cats, dogs, monkeys, mice and hamsters, according to Congress — or showing them being crushed to death by women wearing stiletto heels or with their bare feet. While dog-fighting and other forms of animal cruelty are already illegal, Congress said the legislation was necessary to stop the production of videos for commercial gain.
Wayne Pacelle with the Humane Society of the United States states, “The U.S. Supreme Court dealt animals a serious blow in its ruling today, upholding an appellate court decision that invalidated the federal law banning the commercial sale of videos showing illegal and extreme acts of animal cruelty. The Court got hung up in a stream of hypothetical scenarios, imagining that the law as worded might sweep up the sellers of hunting, bullfighting, and other videos that the federal lawmakers never intended to address.
With Chief Justice John Roberts writing for the eight justices in the majority, the Court ruled that the statute was substantially overbroad, saying that the criminal prohibitions in the statutes were of “alarming breadth.” The justices did conclude by saying we “do not decide whether a statute limited to crush videos or other depictions of extreme animal cruelty would be constitutional. We only hold that §48 is not so limited but is instead substantially overbroad, and therefore invalid under the First Amendment.” The Supreme Court also reinforced the important and compelling government interest in protecting animals from cruelty and abuse, noting that “the prohibition of animal cruelty itself has a long history in American law, starting with the early settlement of the Colonies.”
We look forward to your comments and suggestions on this issue.
Pay-It-Forward Friday
April 11th, 2010
I want Friday’s to bring awareness to other organizations that are doing wonderful things for animals. I also want to empower people. The best way to do that, give people options so they can make a difference. All of my posts give you options to help. If you have information you want to share, send me a paragraph on the topic with a link to the website, by 11am on Thursday. I will do this each Friday. Please pass this link on to bring awareness to these wonderful organizations, thanks!
At the end of this post is a wonderful, entertaining, loving, inspiring video from National Geographic.
My Adopter
1. You’ve adopted animals but have you ever been adopted by an animal? Here is a website where you can read stories about animals that have a happy ending. Join the Story Club. It is totally free and safe. Just by joining you will be helping to save lives and ease the suffering of unfortunate animals.
Floyd the Dog writes, and encourages others to write, stories about animals and their interaction with each other and with humans. His concern and compassion for animals is the basis for the free website publication of these stories both here and on his Story Club.
Daphne adopted me. She hates the cold and was flying from the north of England, where she says she was born, to her winter home in the much kinder climate of southern Spain. Click here read more about my adopter.
Greyhound Needing A Home
2. With the seasonal closing of the Melbourne track in Florida, it is wonderful how various Greyhound organizations have supported one another to ensure good homes for the Greyhounds. While Gold Coast Greyhound Adoptions has already fostered a handful from Melbourne already, they need additional foster homes.
Gold Coast Greyhound Adoptions is greyt to work with, as they pay for all expenses related to the care of the fostered Greyhound. It includes food, medical, crate, etc. All you do is supply the love. It takes anywhere from 2 days to several weeks to find a home for a Greyhound. You are not expected to adopt the fostered Greyhound, either.
Mombo Needs A Home
If you are able to foster, or know of someone interested in fostering a Greyhound, contact Joanne at: joanne.wuelfing@gmail.com
Update—April 14, 2010: Congratulations, New Hampshire advocates! At around noon today, the New Hampshire Senate overwhelmingly voted to end greyhound racing in the state forever. We expect that the governor will sign the bill into law. Click Here To Keep It Enforced and get the bill passed in your state!
3. This was sent to me by, Jacob Versnel, one of my contacts in the Netherlands. It’s a hard story to read but they are working towards a happy ending. You can help.
No rest. No water. No care… He traveled more than 1,000 miles to his death.
Bred only for food, he spent his life unloved and unnamed. His final indignity was the tortuous journey from Romania to Italy to his slaughter.
Every year over 50,000 horses are transported from Eastern Europe to Italy for slaughter. Compassion has investigated the long distance transport of horses across Europe – we were shocked by what we found.
Just imagine being pushed and pulled into a truck, standing for hours on end, without water or a chance to rest. It is proven that horse welfare deteriorated after 8-12 hours of transport. Yet our investigators found that the truck filled with horses that they followed, traveled for over 24 hours.
What a sad reflection on modern Europe that this cruel practice is still allowed to continue. But you can help.
The final journey – When our investigators followed a truck transporting horses from Romania to Italy, they found the drivers broke an important EU regulation by not providing these animals with water. They also broke with basic human decency, in their cruel disregard for animal welfare.
If, like us, you believe that no farm animal should be transported for more than 8 hours, please support our work to end live transport and factory farming.
We want to stop to this heart-breaking disregard for animal welfare. Through investigations, lobbying and vigorous campaigning, we’re working to limit transports of farmed animals to 8 hours and ultimately to stop the long distance trade in live animals. At the very least, we want to see the existing welfare laws properly enforced. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE BY CLICKING HERE.
Tony the Tiger
4. The eye of the Tiger. Have you ever heard of Tony The Tiger? He does exist.
Tony the Truck Stop Tiger is a 9 y/o Siberian/Bengal tiger who has lived his whole life at a truck stop in Grosse Tete Louisiana. His home is one of concrete and steel. In Dec 2009 the Louisiana Dept of Wildlife and Fisheries granted a permit to Tony’s owner to keep him at the Truck Stop. This permit is valid for 1 year.
Tony’s living conditions are abhorrent. He is not living the life of a Tiger. He urgently needs to be rescued and allowed to live out his life in a sanctuary. Big Cat Rescue will take him in. Tony needs heros, click here to help.
The people who have Tony say that they have had him since he was a baby and he’d be traumatized if he were sent to live someplace else. They also say the Big Cat Rescue would not love, and care for him, the way they do. They say they are providing him a good home. The owner, Michael Sandlin, says: “People from out of state are telling the most outrageous lies and half truths about Louisiana’s Tiger Truck Stop. When they came to the Parish Council Meeting to argue against my rights, they resorted to yelling and name calling, finally stooping so low as to demean me and my family by labeling us as “inbreds”. Classy talk from supposedly sophisticated activists.” Michael’s family and friends extended every courtesy to those people and were repaid with ugly slurs and hate speech.
Please let us know your thoughts and ideas to resolve a situation like this. There are a lot of issues like this in the US and around the world.
5. They lay on an ice pan, just a few feet apart — two seal pups sleeping quietly, blissfully unaware that a sealing vessel was bearing down on them, just 100 meters away.
As painful as it is to bear witness to this horror, the people with HSUS know they have to keep going there — because every picture, video, and word that they send out to the world touches the hearts and minds of people and governments. That’s why the sealing industry doesn’t want them there. And that’s why they need your help.
Give now and your donation will be tripled by the Giant Steps Foundation and other generous donors.
Watch this video of the beautiful harp seal nursery to see what your donations and support are working to protect.
6. “The Cove”, a documentary and winner of audience awards across the world, including Sundance, SilverDocs and Hot Docs. The Cove follows a team of activists and filmmakers as they infiltrate a heavily-guarded cove in Taiji, Japan. In this remote village they witness and document activities deliberately being hidden from the public: More than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises are being slaughtered each year and their meat, containing toxic levels of mercury, is being sold as food in Japan, often times labeled as whale meat.
Under the direction of the film’s Ric O’Barry, Save Japan Dolphins.org/Earth Island Institute is actively working in Japan to shut down this brutal practice.
There are ways you can help make a difference. You can donate here or you can send letters, emails, sign petitions or help in other ways. Learn about other options here.
7. What will happen to the rescued animals that Martina Navratilova has at the sanctuary she owns, but is selling?
Martina and her partner were very much in love when they paid more than $1 million for land where they could rescue 26 malnourished cows likely to be made into dog food.
They bought the land through their new company, MT Nest. M stood for tennis legend Martina Navratilova; T was her partner, Toni Layton.
The couple turned the 20-acre site in East Sarasota County into a sanctuary where about 100 cows, horses, pigs and other animals, many saved from slaughter, could live in peace.
But in 2008, the couple split and Navratilova threw Layton out of her luxury home on Casey Key, a claim by Layton based on lawsuit records.
Now Layton and other local animal lovers say Navratilova plans to sell the sanctuary and the animals with it. Animal activists who placed animals there are worried they will now be sold to farmers and slaughtered for meat. Read the whole story here.
8. Watch this video that was on National Geographic. It is funny, heartwarming, educational and something that will make you feel good all over.
Tigers Killed for their Penis
March 18th, 2010
Today there are believed to be fewer than 2,500 breeding adult Tigers left in the wild, and their numbers are declining. Tigers are listed as Endangered by the IUCN.
A friend of mine is getting ready to do a documentary about these Tigers and made me aware of this horrific practice.
The greatest threats to Tigers are habitat loss, poaching and lack of sufficient prey.
Once found across Asia, from Turkey to eastern Russia, over the past century Tigers have disappeared from south-west and central Asia, from Java and Bali in Indonesia and from large parts of South-east and East Asia.
Tigers have lost 93% of their historic range, and more than 40% of their range in the last decade. Much of the remaining habitat is becoming increasingly fragmented.
Today, Tigers are found only in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and VietNam, and possibly in North Korea.
Tigers, and numerous other species of endangered wild life, have to contend with poaching! Regardless of the tigers’ classification as a “Critically Endangered” species, the demand for its parts has drastically increased at an alarming rate since the end of the 20th Century. The tiger is primarily killed to supply underground black markets with its organs, pelts and bones. These items are highly regarded in eastern medicine, claiming to posse’s capabilities to heal all sorts of human illnesses and dysfunctions. In addition, this regal and magnificent symbol of nature’s beauty and power is hunted recreationally for sport/trophies, perceived fear, and just out-rite ignorance! Unfortunately, poaching is not isolated to any one subspecies or population. All tigers, no matter were they live, seem to be under attack!
The import and exportation of tiger parts is a sizable business. The penis sells for $6,000 (USD in 2008) which is used in a soup as an aphrodisiac. Dried white tiger penis is worth even more. It is probably the most expensive piece of animal material in the world and probably the reason for the deaths of many magnificent wild tigers. A large number of Chinese still believe that the body parts of animals can cure their ailments. And the doctors who practice traditional Chinese medicine haven’t yet decided to do what they do in the west, substitute animal parts for man made ingredients. Despite the widespread availability of aspirin, a highly effective pain killer and indeed many other pain killers, many Chinese prefer to ingest crushed tiger bone for pain relief.
This practice takes place in China, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia and the other Asian countries. In 1990, over 4,180 pounds of tiger bones were exported from Taiwan to Japan. Documented records from the Korean government state that over 8700 pounds of tiger bones were imported into South Koreas from Indonesia. In Hong Kong black markets, venders sell a pound of powdered tiger humorous bone sells for over $1700.
Other tiger body parts are believed to do the following to the person who consumes them:
- 1. Heart – gives strength and courage
- 2. Tail – body rub for skin problems
- 3. Bones – put in wine for rheumatism
- 4. Brains – body rub to cure acne
- 5. Eyes – turned into pills for epilepsy
- 6. Whiskers – cure for toothache
It is still cheaper to kill and export the body parts of a wild tiger than to farm them. At this rate how long will it take for their complete extinction in the wild? Keep in mind that all of these so-called treatments are completely unproven by science and have absolutely no real medical value.
How is man considered to be of superior intelligence compared to these animals when this happens?
If man has no respect for such a remarkable animal as the tiger, how can mankind be expected to protect all of the other animals, plants and wild places sharing the planet with us? One way to help, don’t purchase items made from animal parts or made by animals (elephant paintings).
Many organizations are in need of volunteers to help save these animals and educate the public. To learn more about the tigers and things you can do, go to these websites:
Justice For Murdered Shelter Animals
February 28th, 2010
New Orleans, LA – Earlier this week, New Orleans police arrested Richard and Marian Kreutzer on charges of severe animal cruelty and neglect after more than 130 corpses of dogs and other animals were discovered buried in their backyard. The discovery was made after the house had been sold and the new owners were digging flower beds.
“We found the first few bodies and thought nothing of it.” The current homeowners commented. “We thought that maybe they had just not marked where their pets were buried. But when we kept finding bodies all over the yard, some one on top of the other, we knew something was wrong.”
All in all, it took 10 people over 6 hours to exhume all of the remains and police speculate that there could be more buried deeper. “There really is no way of knowing exactly how long this went on.” An officer stated. “They could have been at this for years.”
Early examination of some of the fresher remains shows that they endured severe torture both pre and post mortum. Burns, lacerations and dismemberment to name a few.
The animal rights community in Louisiana is currently in outrage over these events and is calling for the couple to be jailed for life. “Never should people like these be allowed to walk free.” Said one protester outside the prison where the couple is currently being held.
The police have yet declined to comment on exactly how the Kreutzer’s came to have so many animals but have noted that more than 30 were shelter rescues and most of their remains still contained microchip implants.
“It make me sick to my stomach.” Noted an employee of a local animal shelter. “They killed so many of these animals that wanted nothing more than a loving forever-home.”
The couple has been set to be arraigned next week.
Pay-It-Forward Friday
February 25th, 2010
I want Friday’s to bring awareness to other organizations that are doing wonderful things for animals. If you have information you want to share, send me a paragraph on the topic with a link to the website, by 11am on Thursday. I will do this each Friday. Please pass this link on to bring awareness to these wonderful organizations, thanks!
Enjoy the 6 posts below:
1. A Love Story: A) Here, his wife is injured and the condition is fatal. She was hit by a car as she swooped low across the road.
B) Here he brought her food and attended to her with love and compassion.
C) He brought her food again but was shocked to find her dead. He tried to move her….a rarely-seen effort for swallows!
D) Aware that his sweetheart is dead and will never come back to him again,he cries with adoring love.
E) He stands beside her, saddened by her death.
F) Finally aware that she would never return to him, he stays beside her body with sadness and sorrow.
Millions of people cried after seeing this picture story in America and Europe and even in India . It is said that the photographer sold these pictures for a nominal fee to the most famous newspaper in France . All copies of that newspaper were sold out on the day these pictures were published. And many people think birds and animals don’t have a brain or feelings!!
- 2. On December 15th, 2009 the SPCA of Texas took custody of 26,000 exotic animals from US Global Exotics in the largest animal seizure in US history. USGE was a major distributor of exotic animals from wallabies to hamsters; warehousing them in horrific conditions until they could be brokered to stores, breeders and retailers. Thousands of reptiles, amphibians, small mammals, arachnids, and many other animals were cruelly confined in filthy conditions, literally crammed into cattle-feeding troughs, boxes, bags, and even pop bottles. They did not have food, water, or veterinary care. According to reports 500 animals a day were dying at USGE, ending up tossed in their dumpster.
Thanks to an undercover PETA investigation the animals were permanently awarded to the SPCA of Texas on Feb 1, 2010. Love or hate PETA you have to give them credit for this one. Critter Camp Exotic Pet Sanctuary was proud and honored to be selected as one of 30 rescues in the nation to receive some of the rescued animals from the US Global Exotics animal cruelty and neglect
case. Located in Northern Illinois Critter Camp board member Shary Stelter made the trip to Nashville, TN to meet up with the SPCA of TX transport on Superbowl Sunday where she was interviewed by Nashville Television station WSMV. See the 75 critters from USGE now calling Critter Camp Exotic Pet Sanctuary their home, including adorable Texas Spotted Ground Squirrels, short-tailed opossum , Roborovski hamsters and little white mice; and find links to more information on our Global Exotics Rescue Page:
Click Here For More Information.
Critter Camp is the only exotic pet sanctuary of its kind in the U.S. giving a safe, healthy happy home to the elderly, sick, disabled and aggressive un-adoptable exotic pets that have nowhere else to go, currently caring for over 300 animals of 36 different species! Click Here to go to Their Website
3. Pepsi is funding grants in various categories until 2/28. Many Houston dogs are euthanized due to heartworms in a good economy, it is at a horrendous pace currently.
The drug to treat this is very expensive and each bottle only treats 22 lbs. This group is desperate to move up into the funded top ten. More information and pictures of saved dogs are on the site. This could help dogs at many rescue groups and shelter. People can vote every day, until the 28th. PLEASE, CLICK HERE to go to this site to vote today, and everyday until the 28th.
4. TAKE ACTION TODAY!!! 36,000 elephants were killed last year for their ivory. In 16 DAYS 111 tonnes of ivory will be traded at the CITIES* conference if certain countries have their way.
This will pretty much kick-start the ivory trade in a massive way meaning the end for tens or even hundreds of thousands of elephants.
If this bothers you too, please try and stop this happening by signing this petition, CLICK HERE (you’ll need to confirm your signature).
5. A documentary was just completed. It’s about No Kill Pet Rescues and Shelters as well as the challenges they face. In November of 2008 a family adopted a new family member from the Animal Welfare Society and learned about the lack of awareness of the No Kill shelters. They took it upon themselves to finance and create a program about these shelters. They have pledged 60% of all profits to go to the AWS and if they can get great distribution, will split some for other local shelters in the Detroit area.
6. Dachshund Rescue of Bucks County & NJ have on-line workshops. They are hosted by dachshund experts and are designed to help you have a long and happy relationship with your doxie of any size. There is a small donation fee charged for attendance with all proceeds donated to DRBC for the high medical fees incurred in the rescue and rehabilitation of our beloved breed.
This Month’s First Topic: Dental Disease and Your Dog
Those amazing toofers. How to keep them clean, bright and where they belong. Are doxies more prone to dental disease? How often should I clean my dogs teeth. How often should my vet clean my dogs teeth? Dental and cardiac disease,yes, they are related. Did you know there is anew vaccine to eliminate 4 out of 5 of the causes of tartar? You can find out all about it at this session.
Undercover Investigation Expands To Your Community
February 23rd, 2010
An update on my post last week….. The West Hollywood City Council passed an ordinance on February 16, 2010 banning the sale of cats and dogs in pet stores unless from rescues and shelters. I was overwhelmed by the number of people wanting to know, how can they do the same thing in their own town?
I contacted Carole Davis with the Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS) to get the information. They did the work to get this passed. The Animal Legal Defense Fund and Humane Society of United States helped as well. CAPS now helps other cities with the drafting of legislation against puppy mill sales in other communities. Here are excerpts from The American Dog Magazine, with links to each article and videos.
If your state has the puppy lemon law then move forward by going to your pet stores and asking for information about the breeder they buy from. If not, ask your legislators to get the Lemon Law. This law allows you to get the information about the breeder from the pet store. Once you have that information, go to CAPS website and fill out a puppy complaint. Please read all of the information below if you have interest, or know someone who does. It was very time consuming and costly for CAPS to do this, but it has been worth it.
1. Pets, Lies & Legislation
Puppy mills are a hot political issue. Public outrage is growing over the legal multi-billion dollar puppy-producing business that forces millions of breeding dogs to endure inhumane treatment in factory-like conditions until death. They’re kept 24/7 in wire cages caked with their own feces, with no veterinary care or socialization. Average dog lovers want puppy mills to become illegal.
Consequently, a war about dogs is escalating in America - a battle as complex as any fought in the history of social movements and waged with a proportionate scale of strategists, lobbyists, and commanders vying for control, power, and money.
To puppy mill investigators, the idea that commercial breeders are treating their dogs well or socializing them is laughable. A miller’s idea of playtime is to throw a bunch of females in heat with a male in one cage. As for being responsibly placed, mass volume breeders use brokers to ship barely weaned (and often sick) pups indiscriminately to pet retailers around the country. The dogs are crated in trucks for thousands of miles at an age when they need food and water every two hours. They are also sent in crates to buyers across the country on long flights with layovers. Transporting eight-week old dogs that way isn’t safe, and according to Lewis Turner, owner of the Petcare Company in California, four out of ten dogs that were trucked in to him by brokers Lambriar and Hunte were sick, “with green liquid coming from their eyes or nose.” Hardly “responsible placement” by any standard.
To Read More about This Subject Click Here.
2. Spay and Neuter Laws ……..Humans Debate While Dogs Die
It’s Tuesday, 9 AM at a Los Angeles shelter and a worried little terrier has just been “red-listed.” Unless someone adopts her, she’ll be killed. Another dog will take her place and that dog, too, if he isn’t adopted, will be killed. Could spay and neuter laws make a difference in this dog’s life?
In California, in 2008, municipal shelters reporting to the California Department of Public Health took in 833,304 dogs and cats. Of those, 429,987, or 51%, were killed. That would be a sad enough number for the whole country but it’s just for the state of California. In the U.S., the number of pets killed in shelters is astounding. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) reports that every year, between six and eight million dogs and cats enter U.S. shelters and three to four million of those animals are killed because there aren’t enough homes for them. In 2009, uncontrolled breeding compounded by record job losses and home foreclosures are causing the number of animals flooding our shelters to rise sharply. When the figures are finally reported, they’ll be tragic.
Until we get a handle on this crisis, we need to refrain from buying animals and adopt from shelters instead. We ought to promote adoption to our friends. And we must fix the dogs we have. To Read More About This Click Here.
3. Undercover Investigations Prove Pet Shop Puppies Were Coming From Puppy Mills
Though there has been lots of press coverage on the subject, there are still people who don’t know that pet stores are supplied by large brokers and inhumane breeding operations. There is no other way for pet shops to have a constant supply of puppies of different breeds. It was time to take a stand and convince puppy buyers to stop shopping and start adopting. Los Angeles, the second largest market for pets after New York, was the perfect place to tell the public about the ugly truth behind the pretty store fronts.
In California, they have a Puppy Lemon Law, which requires pet store owners to post the name and address of the breeder of the dogs on their display enclosures. Putting that law to use, people were recruited who were willing to do some reconnaissance trips to pet stores. They wired themselves up with undercover cameras and disguised themselves.They fanned out across the city, hitting all the pet stores to find out exactly where the puppies were coming from.
They called on some professional investigators from LCA (Last Chance for Animals) to go and film the addresses they provided. When the photos and video came in, the proof was irrefutable. Bingo. Just like they expected, the puppies at Posh Puppy were coming from a puppy mill.
What they found out through their in-store investigations is that pet stores are openly defrauding the public – not just Posh Puppy in Beverly Hills, but all the pet stores they visited. They discovered that pet store owners, managers and employees routinely lie to people. To Read More About This Subject Click Here.
4. A March for Free Speech for Those Who Have No Speech – PUPPY MILL DOGS
On December 19, 2009, the Saturday before Christmas, eighty animal welfare activists marched in a silent vigil for dogs suffering in puppy mills. The grass roots group was also marching for the five million companion animals who are killed every year in the shelter system because there are not enough homes for them. Local activists had been planning the event for months following an investigation by the Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS), which claims that Barkworks, a pet store chain in California, sells animals from puppy mills. The CAPS investigation included evidence from the United States Department of Agriculture inspection reports that the Midwest commercial breeders supplying the stores had multiple violations.
The puppy mill awareness drive that took place on the busiest puppy-buying day of the year, was intended to raise the awareness of consumers and to steer them to the overcrowded Los Angeles shelters to adopt or rescue a pet for Christmas. Read More Here.
5. Victory for Dogs as Pet Stores Go Humane
Sadly, millions of dogs are suffering in shelters and puppy mills. This year, a record number of dogs are being dumped and euthanized at shelters because of the current economic crisis. Commercial breeders and pet stores are also feeling the pinch. “People just aren’’t buying puppies right now,” says pet store manager Justin Vanert.
Growing numbers of commercial dog breeders in the Midwest are selling their homes for a pittance – advertising them as “turnkey investments,” which often include kennels with hundreds of breeding dogs “free with the property.” As bleak as it all sounds, this recession just might have a silver lining for the dogs who are wasting away in puppy mills and shelters. Perhaps this economic downturn might be a dog’s chance to get out alive.
The dog trade is showing signs of weakness. Successful business is all about supply and demand and right now the demand side is shrinking as buyers of puppy mill dogs snap their wallets shut. But the reasons aren’t just the economy – it’s a combination of decreased spending, public awareness of inhumane breeding practices, legislation that limits and criminalizes dog factory cruelty and effective campaigns led by animal rights activists.
This spring, a group of Los Angeles activists celebrated yet another victory. After five weeks of protests, the owner of Elaine’s Pet Depot signed an agreement to hand over all of her puppy mill dogs to Good Dog Animal Rescue for adoption. The agreement with the lynchpin store of a national chain of pet stores included a statement that reflected the store’s commitment to working with rescue organizations. The store agreed to hold adoptions and end its sale of puppy mill dogs. Reliable sources from within the franchise claimed that the entire Pet Depot chain was considering conversion to a humane business model within a few months. If the large chain stops buying from brokers and mass volume breeders, the strategy to cripple the puppy mill industry by hitting them where it hurts, in the wallet, is working.
The “go humane or go out of business” campaign has been able to gain momentum by combining its ability to exploit the current economic downtown and its skilled use of visual evidence from undercover investigations. The stores that were protested saw as much as 70 percent of their weekend business deterred by activists brandishing signs depicting graphic photos of dogs suffering in mills. An increasing number of stores in the heart of Los Angeles have been closed down or converted – more than a dozen so far in a little over a year. Learn How You Can Do This, Click Here.
6. Now the Internet is overflowing with puppy mill sales
As the animal protection movement wages its battle against the maltreatment of dogs in puppy mills, it faces a powerful new enemy - the Internet Pet Store. The Internet, as helpful as it has been for rescuing animals with sites like AdoptAPet.com, has become a perfect stealth shield for abusers of animals looking to make a buck. A Google search for information on dog breeds will lead any gullible browser to tens of thousands of online breeders. For the buyer in a hurry, there are Web portals to make shopping easy, like NextDayPets.com, which unite hundreds of dog dealers on one site. With a click, you can pay to have a pup mailed to you in a crate. Though it’s a convenient way to buy a dog, you might be inadvertently contributing to animal abuse.
Deborah Howard, president of the Companion Animal Protection puppy dealers. “One should never, ever buy a dog on the Internet because you’re not seeing the conditions under which the puppy is being raised,” she said. “There are no good ones because reputable reeders don’t sell puppies this way.” “The HSUS receives hundreds of complaints about sick and dying puppies sold over the Internet,” says Kathleen Summers, Deputy Director of the puppy mill campaign of The Humane Society of the United States. “In fact, several of the puppy mills that the HSUS has helped close down recently were Internet sellers, including a mill in Tennessee with almost 700 dogs and a millin West Virginia with almost 900 dogs. Both of these facilities posed online as small family breeders.”
A lot of them arrive sick with Parvo, worms, Giardia, coccidia, kennel cough or pneumonia. It’s even more dangerous than buying in a pet shop because legal recourses are more challenging. You have to file a complaint with the Attorney General’s office in the state of the breeder and if you want to sue the seller, you have to go to small claims court in their state, not yours. These Internet sellers know this.
Many of the sites linked to substandard breeding operations will say anything to deceive buyers into believing the business is ethical or humane. They often describe themselves as “Christian” and “familyrun.” A common lie is that their dogs are “raised in the home.”
Pay-It-Forward Friday
February 11th, 2010
I want Friday’s to bring awareness to other organizations that are doing wonderful things for animals. If you have information you want to share, send me a paragraph on the topic with a link to the website, by 11am on Thursday. I will do this each Friday.
1. I did not realize that fox hunting was still alive and well in other parts of the world. I was sent some information about a campaign going on in the UK to repeal the hunting act. Hunting of foxes, deer, hare and mink by using hounds, has been illegal over there sine 2004. Now, a guy by the name of David Cameron, who is running in an election, wants to repeal the act.
I wanted to learn more about this type of hunting, since I don’t know much about it. What I read disturbed me. A fox will be trapped. Then, rather than kill it right away, it is let lose so that it can be caught by the hounds and killed later. This is a sport for the people involved. The hounds, horses, men and children will chase the fox through the countryside with blasting horns. The fox is gripped with fear and stressed beyond capacity until finally, with the internal organs failing and exhausted, the fox will be unable to continue. To read more about this please click here to visit the site where you can learn more, and help.
Fox That Was Caught
There is a man by the name of Clifford Pellow. For more than 2 decades he was a professional Huntsman with several packs of Fox hounds in England and Whales. Because he is a stickler for rules, he became more and more outraged at the abuse the foxes were enduring because the Hunt Master continued to break the hunting code of ethics. Eventually he could no longer stomach it, he protested and lost his job as a Huntsman. To read more about Clifford, the cruelty in fox hunting and what Clifford is doing, check out his story here.
Lucy
2. Did you know there is an organization that helps rescued Labradors in need of medical attention? I had no idea until they contacted me. The organization, Labmed, was founded in 1996 and has funded a total of 1,132 dogs. These dogs would most likely not be alive if it had not been for this organization.
Here is a photo of one of their newest applicants, Lucy, who needs emergency surgery for internal bleeding in order to save her life. If you would like to help other dogs and learn more about this organization, click here.
Dr. Greg Martinez
3. After almost 30 years as a veterinarian Dr. Greg Martinez has spent 10 of those years treating his patients, and his own pets, with a combination of medical and nutritional science. He believes that pet owners have it within their power to cure many of their animals’ most common ailments. He says that healthful eating is critical to human’s well-being and that pet junk food, empty calories and food allergies are making our dogs and cats similarly sick. He has published a book called, Dr. Greg’s Dog Dish Diet.
He has lots of positive feedback from clients and readers. He says it amazing that there could be any doubt that food allergies have such a great role in skin, ear, stomach, bowel, anal gland, obesity, and seizure problems. Veterinarians are still taught that the incidence of food allergies are low, even though thirty percent of his patients respond to elimination of allergens and addition of healthy food ingredients.
If people start to pay attention to what they are feeding their animals, maybe they will do the same for their families. He wants to spread the word that successful nutritional management of the above chronic diseases will get educators and researchers to take another look at canine nutrition, and help avoid needless misery, medications, and money for millions of dogs. When you buy the book, Dr. Greg’s Dog Dish Diet, you are helping spread the message.