ANIMAL CONNECTION

Archive for the ‘Petitions’ Category

Here’s a shocker for everyone. When you continue to destroy an animal’s habitat and force them to constantly relocate it is highly possible they’ll wind up on your doorstep. The latest animal to start wandering the streets and roads outside of the forest are black bears and now the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has drafted a Bear Management Plan that could reopen bear hunting that has been banned since 1994. Scroll down where you can make a difference regarding this subject.

According to David Fleshler’s article in the Orlando Sentinel, instances of black bear sightings have been reported as they become more visible. One “. . . showed up in Weston, prowling gated communities and city streets before wildlife officials hit it with a dart at a busy intersection. Another visited Universal Orlando and hung out at the Hard Rock Hotel’s pool until it was captured. Road kills and complaints of bears in garbage have soared, particularly north of Orlando where a booming bear population is bursting out of the Ocala National Forest.”

Wherever you seem to go in this country, wildlife commissions of one sort or another are asked to address nuisance and even dangerous problems caused by deer, bears, wolves, coyotes and other animals that result because the human populace has encroached on the land where they live or altered the ecosystem that helps sustain them. A plan is often asked for and one of the options most likely to be considered will be hunting. Whenever the hunting option is proposed in a modern society we must consider how far we have regressed as a civilized people.

While the plan doesn’t immediately call for bear hunting to be reopened, it is the “most explosive” issued raised. According to the FWC, “The plan acknowledges the controversial nature of bear hunting and the need to incorporate a wider array of stakeholder involvement to explore hunting as part of Florida’s bear management program. Currently, black bears are protected in Florida and may not be harmed or killed.”

Already hunters are chomping at the bit to raise their guns and add another kill to their bloody bag. The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance has reported, “Florida is currently seeking input on a draft framework that will guide the state’s future development of black bear management plans.” They are encouraging their members to leave comments on the proposed plan at an FWC dedicated webpage.

One of the comments posted reads, in part, “As a 52 year old hunter I will voice my input to keep hunting as a viable tool of management. I have hunted black bears for many years in Canada and believe it’s a very useful method of control and research. The harvested animals can be checked and monitored for health inputs and the hunters can contribute economic support to your states wildlife agencies. One time a non-hunter asked me if it was not inhumane to hunt? My reply was ‘have you ever thought about how all animals die in the wild’? All species basically have a poor choice . . . I can say that a well placed shot from a ethical hunter will be about as humane as it gets and has my vote.”

Another comment reads, in part, “I am a lifelong Florida resident aged 64 and have been an avid and active sportsman and hunter most of my life. Please use sustainable hunting as a key part of any long term conservation effort for Florida’s black bears. Sustainable hunting will help keep bear populations in check, reduce wasteful road kill, bring populations to the carrying capacity of the habitat, bring needed revenue via hunting license sales to bear conservation issues and increase the wariness of man to this top predator thus reducing the probability of negative or life threatening human/bear interaction. Sustainable hunting is a recognized tool in sound conservation plans world wide.”

In the Orlando Sentinel article, Newton Cook, executive director of the duck-hunting group United Waterfowlers of Florida, provides what he apparently thinks is the ultimate justification for hunting. “The meat’s good, the hide’s good. We’ve got more bears than we need in some areas, not in all areas, and they’re a nuisance. You don’t just open it up for everyone to go shoot one, you control it. Hunting is a legitimate sport, very important to maintaining the proper balance of both prey and predator in the wild.” Gee, controlled legitimate killing. Perhaps this is an overly sensitive response to this so-called “sport”, but is this really the hallmark of our society we want to pass onto the next generation of the human race?

The draft Bear Management Plan was written by eight members of cross-divisional FWC staff. The team, formed in May 2007, wrote the plan in consultation with a twelve member group representing government and private stakeholder organizations. FWC states these five objectives of their draft plan:

1. Manage for a sustainable bear population statewide.
2. Conserve an adequate amount of functional bear habitat to support bear populations and promote connectivity between those populations.
3. Create Bear Smart Communities, where residents, local government, businesses and schools all take part in reducing bear conflicts.
4. Stabilize and maintain core bear complaint levels.
5. Secure adequate funding and staff to enable implementation of the bear conservation program.

David Telesco, bear management program coordinator for the FWC, stated to Mr. Fleshler that “. . . he thinks the state’s bear population could sustain a controlled hunt, with restrictions, although he said he couldn’t be sure without a formal study. Less clear, he said, is whether such a proposal would win public support.”

Mr. Telesco acknowledged, “There are strident supporters for and against. We have to test the waters. We don’t have a feel for what the general public would think.” Furthermore, he said, “The bear-human conflict issue has really taken off. We have a combination of a growing bear population and infringement on their habitat.”

Thankfully not everyone is sold on the bear hunting alternative. As noted in Mr. Fleshler’s article, “. . . any move to open up hunting would be certain to face opposition from environmental and animal rights groups.”

Said Laurie Macdonald, who oversees the work of the Defenders of Wildlife Florida program team in protecting and restoring Florida’s imperiled wildlife, their habitat and a statewide ecological network, “Bear protection goes beyond bears. If we protect enough areas for the bears, we’re really protecting natural systems that all of us love and depend on. I would think the outcry from the public would be hugely against bear hunting. This is still a threatened species, and we will not support hunting of a species whose future is still questionable.”

Others seek alternatives to hunting as well. In the comments, in part, posted to FWC is a strategy heavily endorsed by the animal community on the domestic front that the commenter suggests be applied to wildlife as “. . . a long term sustainable solution. The best way to manage these animals and avoid hunting and future overpopulation is to initiate a neuter spay program as follows. The strategy would be to maintain the wildlife instincts without the unwanted population increases. Thus I suggest vasectomy procedures on male bears and hysterectomies on female bears . . . This strategy would eliminate the need for hunting and would offer a controlled means of determining population quantity and density.”

Also writing on this issue for examiner.com, Samantha Sanders urges Floridians to tell the FWC “. . . that bear hunting should never resume!”

You have until October 1, 2010 to provide public comment to the FWC. To submit new public comments, click here (Under Chapter: select “5-Strategies & Actions.” Under Line, type “All” Then click “Save”). So far, the majority of comments received have been pro-hunting. However, your actions can help reverse that and allow bears to continue to be safe from the bullets of hunters.

Ms. Sanders suggests making these points when commenting to the FWC:

• Although bear populations have increased since hunting was stopped in 1994, there are less than 3,000 bears statewide. According to the FWC, “the long-term future of black bears in Florida is uncertain.” The Florida black bear is designated by the state as a Threatened species.
• Hunting will not reduce human-bear conflicts. The best way to prevent problems is to properly store and secure garbage, pet food and other human food sources that attract bears.

She also suggests writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to express your opinion about the option being considered to once again hunt Florida’s black bears.

Hunting is not a sport, but is nothing more than a killing frenzy. Surely we’ve evolved enough as a society to come up with better ways to live with wildlife than resorting to killing them when we as the human species created the problem in the first place.

I want to thank Stephen Dickstein for this article.

I have been very discouraged watching the news and reading articles about the oil disaster.  Every time I turn around I see, or hear, more negative.  My goal is to empower people, not bring them down. I have been making calls and doing research to find ways that people can help with the oil disaster. The information I get varies from source to source.  I got a call from Jeff Dorson today.  He is the Executive Director for the Humane Society of Louisiana.  He told me about a couple of groups that are actually qualified to help the wildlife in the Gulf.  Even though we have a long way to go, there are people who are able to make positive changes, if we help them.

I found out that there is so much red tape when it comes to helping these creatures. You need the proper training, an organization has been approved and the list goes on. Otherwise, you are not allowed to do anything with the animals.   In many ways that could be good.  We want to be sure the people dealing with these animals know what they are doing.  After all, this needs to improve the quality of life for the wildlife, not make it worse.  There are people who have had experience but don’t have the specific training needed to be approved for this mission.  Then there are those who are doing it for other reasons and it’s a good thing they are not allowed to be close to the wildlife.

Below are some wonderful organizations that could use your help.  You can give your time as a volunteer, send money or make calls/ send emails to officials that have the authority to make the changes needed.

1.  Operation Here to Help, is a joint effort launched by the Humane Society of Louisiana and Clearwater Wildlife Sanctuary to help wildlife adversely affected by the oil spill. Clearwater’s staff and volunteers are trained and certified wildlife rehabilitators who are working at the triage sites and administering direct aid to captured birds. They are providing logistical support by utilizing dozens of their volunteers who are transferring oiled birds directly from wildlife agents to the recovery centers. They’re also providing real-time information to state and federal agents by providing them with photos, notes, and coordinates. They are taking volunteers out on boats, contacting legislators, and more.

Operation Here to Help has staff and volunteers that have been out to the barrier islands in Barataria Bay, near Grand Isle, twice during the past several days. In the six total hours they spent surveying the area on boats, they spotted a mere three agents with nets with two large plastic dog carriers in the back of their boat. Meanwhile, they witnessed hundreds of oiled birds in distress. These trips made it clear to them that more aid is necessary to account for the significant number of birds currently in need of assistance.

That’s why they set up “Operation Here to Help”, a program of the Humane Society of Louisiana, with the goal of surveying the affected areas and providing coordinates to state and federal agencies. Although red tape still prevents them from handling oiled wildlife ourselves, They can provide critical information to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries so that they can most effectively mobilize their extremely limited manpower.

The facts are sobering. They were told by a wildlife agent that, for the entire Louisiana coastal area, there are a mere 100-150 officers licensed to rescue oiled wildlife, on shifts from 7:30 AM to 6:00 PM and they do not work at night. These are incredibly inadequate numbers. Additionally, most of the barrier islands, including Cat and Four Pass Bayou, which are rookeries and home to tens of thousands of water birds, have already been contaminated with oil.  The utilization of booms as buffers is extremely ineffective and dates back to the 1960’s. That is why their team wants to be “here to help” direct officers to areas where their work will have the most impact.

They have identified several ways that each of you can help them save more marine life and wildlife, whose lives hang in the balance. Their goal is to complement state and federal agencies in order to achieve the results they want. As one of Louisiana’s most dedicated humane organizations, they cannot sit back and let a handful of government workers and BP contractors respond with disgraceful inadequacy to the worst disaster in modern history to hit our precious wetlands. Here are their plans; they need your help to implement them:

Advocacy:

Call Robert Barham, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife, and ask that he assign more agents to the capture of wildlife and ask him to ask for reinforcements from other states or other agencies if needed. Please use their reports from the front lines as evidence that much more help is needed. Call 1-225-765-2800.  Remember that there are between 100-150 agents out in the entire Gulf Coast assigned to wildlife capture. These numbers are not sufficient for the task at hand.  In the six hours they have spent surveying the areas on boats, they have only seen three agents with nets on one occasion. They had two large plastic dog carriers in the back of their boat, both empty.  At the same time, they also saw hundreds of birds in distress.

Information Gathering:

They will be going out in chartered boats during the next several months to obtain first-hand information and photographic evidence of the mistreatment of marine life.  If you would like to join them, please write an email to contact us at stopcruetly11@gmail.com.  Cost of trip per person: $60.00 for a three-hour trip. They are currently scheduling one to two trips a week, out of Venice and Grand Isle.

Information Sharing:

They will be hosting a two-day conference in New Orleans at the end of July. They intend to invite representatives from BP, the Coast Guard, the White House, members of Congress or their staff, social justice groups, animal protection and environmental groups to attend, speak, and listen to one another with the intention of developing and implementing short- and long-term goals. They will send out additional announcements during the next several weeks. They plan on visiting the coastline on the second day as a group.

Fund-raising

Funds are needed to keep their chartered boats in the water, to underwrite their upcoming conference, and to help mobilize volunteers from around the country. Please be as generous as possible. Each of you can help by donating through their PayPal account at: http://www.humanela.org/bpoilspill.htm.

65% of those proceeds from their website link will go to Clearwater Wildlife Sanctuary, whose staff and volunteers are caring for the wildlife. They have pledged to support them. The remaining 35% will go to the logistical support their group is providing. You can also send them a donation by mail to: The Humane Society of Louisiana at P.O. Box 740321, New Orleans, LA 7017

2. Nature Conservancy

We can’t afford to wait. The damage done by this spill demands that we ramp up our efforts as rapidly as possible.

They know we could be building 20 to 30 miles of reef a year, and promote hundreds of acres of seagrass and marsh recovery in the process. Within 3 to 5 years, they could complete 100 miles of oyster reef and at least 1,000 acres of seagrass and marsh habitat. That’s conservative — it’s possible, perhaps even likely, that a properly designed restoration could support 10,000 acres of seagrass and marsh.

Rebuilding such a system will have huge benefits beyond kick-starting the oil spill recovery:

• If designed properly, oyster reefs will slow, and in many cases, halt the massive erosion that continues to carve into Alabama shorelines.
• Reefs will help to filter the loose sediment that turns Mobile Bay a dark chocolate every time the wind blows.
• Light-loving seagrasses return, tying down still more mud.
• And in the quit eddies created by the reef, marshes will get a toe-hold and spread rapidly.

Best of all, re-creation of these reefs, seagrasses and marshes will result in an explosion of life. It won’t just be old timers who remember what it was like to go floundering in the seagrasses along the shores of Mobile Bay:

• Harvest of white shrimp, once Mobile’s prized catch, will almost certainly rebound.
• Crab habitat will increase dramatically.
• Tens of thousands of young speckled trout, redfish, sheepshead and other Gulf game and food fish will once again find a place to grow and thrive.

To learn more about this endeavor, and how you can help, click here.

3. The National Wildlife Federation has been on the front lines responding to the wildlife crisis unfolding in the Gulf since the BP Oil Spill started on April 20.

Their Louisiana-based staff–already working on existing Coastal Louisiana restoration efforts before the spill–was deployed to help with the initial response. They have been joined by national staff, affiliates in the region and a growing network of volunteers.

They believe strongly they have an obligation to find out what is happening, share this information with the public and do everything they can to help wildlife survive this tragedy.

You can learn more about their “Search and Rescue”, how they are raising awareness and what they are saying on behalf of wildlife.  Click here.

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?

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.

melodie@maijuin.com

+33 1 58 05 16 60

+33 6 77 24 58 03

Www.maijuin.com

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.

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.

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.

You may sign a current petition to see to it that these monsters get the maximum sentence allowable by clicking here.

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!!

1. 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.

Click Here To Register

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.

On December 30, 2009, between 2 and 2:30 a.m., a German Shepherd named Buddy was dragged to death at the Colorado National Monument. Steven Clay Romero, 37, of Grand Junction. was arrested for the death of this dog. He is charged with a felony count of intentional animal cruelty. Romero and his sister are alleged to have stolen the dog — Buddy, a German shepherd-blue heeler mix — from Joe and Sacha Leber in Delta. He allegedly took the dog to the Colorado National Monument early Wednesday, tied the dog to his truck and dragged the dog. Paw prints in the snow were found to show Buddy at first walking, then running, then dragging, for 3 miles.

“Demand Justice for Buddy” is a group formed to support the prosecution of Romero, his sister, and anyone else involved with this senseless kidnapping and brutal murder. There is a petition being delivered to the prosecuting attorney in Grand Junction, CO, Jan.27 at 3 p.m. and again before each trial date for Romero. We want to get the maximum penalty the law allows. We support the US attorneys office to ask for the longest prison sentence possible.
SIGN PETITION HERE

“Do It For Buddy” will truly honor Buddy. He was a shelter dog who was rescued by the Lebers and lived 4.5 happy years in their home with Joe and Sacha and their three heartbroken children. In Buddy’s name, we ask that each of you please donate food, blankets, toys, pillows, cash and/or volunteer your time to your local animal shelters. Please tell them “Buddy sent You.”

Feel free to post on Facebook and tell us what you brought to which shelter. If it’s cash, send us a photo of the receipt and we will display it proudly.

After being housed with their handlers for years the corrections dept. decided to place them in facility kennels March of 2009.

The dogs became kennel crazy and then physically ill, at this time the dogs were allowed due to vet recommendations to go back into their handlers’ care where they healed and were once again productive and healthy dogs making numerous narcotic busts.

In December 2009 the Dept again decides to remand the dogs back to facility kennels, against vet recommendations, stating the Dept could not afford to let the handlers use the state vehicles because of the budget, the handlers requested that they be allowed to use their own vehicles to transport dogs so the dogs wouldn’t have to stay in the kennels because they get sick.

The Dept refused this request and the Dept. Attorney Janelle Haught even stated that they should just kill the dogs so they could use the officers elsewhere Now the dogs are showing the signs of the same illnesses they had in the kennels before; time is not on our side please help these dogs who served the public and have earned their keep and better treatment.

Please email or call the Secretary of Corrections Joe Williams at:  joe.r.williams@state.nm.us  or call  (505) 827-8709 and or the Governor’s office (505) 476-2200, every voice counts!!!

To see the conditions at the Kennels Click Here.  WARNING! These pictures may be disturbing and are not recommended for the squeamish.

*** I have received a number of emails, and comments, from viewers.  I’ve been told that the dogs are all fine and back with their handlers.  Thanks for all of your support!