Companion Animals Welfare
Puppy mills are Bad
What you can do: http://www.nopetstorepuppies.com/what-you-can-do
Source: ASPCA: http://www.nopetstorepuppies.com/
BOYCOTT PETLAND
Source: IDA http://www.idausa.org/campaigns.html
More than 1300 Greyhounds injured (10.25.11)
http://www.grey2kusa.org/eNEWS/G2K-102511.html
This morning, GREY2K USA released a report on greyhound injuries at Gulf Greyhound Park in Texas. More than 1,300 greyhound injuries have been reported at this track since 2008, and 49 greyhounds have died.
Gulf is the last remaining dog racing facility in the Lone Star state, and two other greyhound tracks recently closed for live racing.
The Houston Chronicle covered our report this morning in a front page story, and also documented the decline of greyhound racing in Texas. This is good news, but we must keep working until greyhound racing ends for good.
Today we are also releasing new video footage of three fatal injuries that occurred recently at Gulf. This includes the final race of a two-year-old brindle greyhound named Slint, who died in July 2010 after she was injured at Gulf and suffered paralysis in both of her hind legs.
Even though it is difficult to think of the dogs like Slint who have suffered and died, we have an obligation to tell their story. Please watch our video footage today, and then forward this e-mail to everyone you know.
With your help, I know we can end the cruelty of greyhound racing.
SOURCE: Grey2K USA Protection Greyhounds Nationwide www.grey2kusa.org
Mississippi Puppy Mill Rescues Arrive at the ASPCA
On February 7, while sports fans across the country gathered in front of the tube for the big game, the ASPCA was celebrating a victory of our own. That night, the ASPCA Adoption Center in Manhattan welcomed 34 dogs who were recently rescued from a puppy mill in Holly Springs, MS. The small-breed dogs received VIP treatment courtesy of Pet Airways, an airline that transports pets exclusively.
Three days earlier, members of the ASPCA Field Investigations and Response Team, at the request of the Marshall County Prosecutor’s Office, led the effort to rescue a total of 96 animals from abusive lives in overcrowded conditions at the notorious mill.
“We are glad to have been part of another major, collaborative effort to rescue dogs from such deplorable conditions,” says Gail Buchwald, Senior Vice President, ASPCA Adoptions Center. “We look forward to finding these pups forever homes.”
We saved 96 animals in Mississippi last week, but thousands more still need our help—our work is far from over. Your support makes it possible for us to continue to rescue dogs from horrendous conditions such as those found in Holly Springs.
To learn more about our work in Mississippi, please check out our updated web page. For more information about puppy mills and how to fight animal cruelty, visit ASPCA.org.
Source: ASPCA
http://www.aspca.org/news/puppy-mill-rescues-arrive-at-the-aspca.html
STOLEN PETS
Last Chance for Animals (LCA), a national, nonprofit animal protection organization, invites you to participate in a national campaign aimed at raising public awareness of a threatening epidemic - pet theft. Nearly two million companion animals are stolen each year. Some are taken under false pretense through "free to a good home" ads, abducted from their yards, or are taken from humane shelters through a practice called pound seizure. These animals are then sold to research laboratories, dog-fighting rings, or puppy mills, where they are abused and often killed.
On February 14th of every year, LCA educates the public with the help of animal organizations throughout the United States. Your participation can make all the difference. By working together, we can educate the public about the problem of pet theft, memorialize the nearly 2 million animals taken each year, and educate citizens on how they can protect their companion animals. Join our nationwide network of organizations and individuals in this important crusade.
This year, Pet Theft Awareness Day was Thursday, February 14th, 2008. Stay tuned for more information on Pet Theft Awareness Day coming, Febuary 14th 2009.
Source: Last Chane for Animals
http://www.stolenpets.com/
STOP PUPPY MILLS
Watch the HSUS undercover dog auction video - then
take action
http://www.stoppuppymills.org/
DOG CULLING IN CHINA TO START JUNE 10th.
PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY! PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY. Sample letters and
fax number included below.
If you have a problem in faxing your letter to the Chinese government,
a member of the Anti-Fur Society group has again volunteered to do
it for you, please send your letter by email to Lesley at this email
address: ssdalrescue@ gmail.com and she will
be happy to do it for you
PS: As hard as it is to be polite under these circumstances,
please send a polite and constructive message.
THANKS,
www.antifursociety. org
PLEASE, send petition/letters to the follow fax number: +0086-23-4023
1484.
It's an automatic fax number of the Changshou District Government's
office.
Click here for sample letter
Don't Be Fooled By Pet Store Claims
Sunday,
November 28, 2004
By Joan Lowell Smith
For the Star-Ledger
Don't be fooled by
an "AKC" label
on puppies in a pet store. A potential customer thinking that's
like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval would be mistaken.
The American Kennel Club does not condone puppy mills that sell
to pet stores around the nation.
Primarily located in Missouri,
Kansas, Iowa and Pennsylvania, assembly-line puppy mills focus
on the bottom line, not on producing healthy pets. Tiers of small
cages are stacked on each other and in many cases left out in
the elements. If you're lucky, you might find a rare healthy specimen
at a pet store, but the odds are definitely against it. Why gamble?
Gail Miller, speaking for the AKC, explains
their position: "The
AKC endorses breeding of dogs by responsible breeders. ... We oppose
random, large-scale breeding solely for commercial purposes. We
believe all breeders bear a responsibility to assure that people
who purchase their dogs are capable of carrying out their responsibilities
as owners. The AKC supports scrupulous enforcement of the federal
Animal Welfare Act and state and local regulations governing the
humane care of animals. We recommend and support programs that teach
the public to purchase puppies from responsible breeders and to avoid
impulse buying of dogs."
Buyer Beware
Libby Williams
of Lebanon, founder of New Jersey Consumers Against Pet Shop Abuse
(e-mail: info@NJCAPSA.org), warns that some pet stores in New Jersey
claim puppies are registered with the American Canine Association
or another pseudo-registry that essentially "means
nothing." "Pet store employees will insist their puppies
come from 'good' or 'local' breeders. They perform cartwheels in
an effort to distance themselves from puppy mills."
In the
January-February 2004 issue of New Jersey Pet magazine, Williams
addressed the genetic impact of irresponsible breeding practices
in which females in confined cages are bred every cycle: "Puppies
manifest attention deficit disorder symptoms. They're jumpy and
often aggressive. They can't calm down. What buyers don't realize
is that this puppy they've fallen in love with may harbor a contagious
disease in addition to genetic problems that won't appear for
many months, even years. By then the pup has become a part of
the family and hearts and bank accounts are broken."
Uninformed
consumers
"Pet stores sell indiscriminately," says
Pete Campione of Howell, another crusader against pet stores
abuses. "They
do no counseling on what breed to select. They rely on impulse buyers
who spend more time picking out a pair of shoes at the mall than
selecting a puppy." The owner of Kindred Souls Canine Center
in Howell for 15 years, Campione, a certified trainer, has also shown
purebreds. "There's no such thing as a pet store selling a puppy
from a good breeder. All good breeders belong to breed clubs, there
for the betterment of the standards. Inherent in their bylaws is
that they never broker a dog. They deal directly with the buyer."
Campione
told of an 80-year-old woman who brought her Neapolitan mastiff
to him for training. She had purchased the pup from a Monmouth County
pet store that never told her anything about the breed, nor had
she done any homework. "Pet stores count on uninformed consumers," states
Campione.
Campione can spot a pet store dog
instantly. "You have a dysfunctional
background on top of dysfunctional parents -- a double whammy.
They're so off the breed standard it's an abomination, and people
don't even realize pet store puppies generally cost more than
those from a reputable breeder."
The Pet Industry Joint
Advisory Council reports that 3,500 to 3,700 of the 12,000
pet stores in the nation sell cats and dogs. In those, 300,000 to
400,000 puppies are sold each year. The Humane Society of the
United States says the number is closer to half a million.
Humane view
The HSUS
says on its Web site (www.hsus.org ): "Documented
problems of puppy mills include over-breeding, inbreeding, minimal
veterinary care, poor quality of food and shelter, lack of socialization
with humans, overcrowded cages and the killing of unwanted animals.
The unwitting consumer faces an array of immediate veterinary problems
or genetically borne diseases that do not appear until years later."
Speaking
for the HSUS regional office in Flanders, Samantha Mullen said, "In
an ideal world, the breeding of puppies would be restricted to
responsible professionals. ... In the real world, however, the
breeding of dogs by virtually anyone is subject to little regulation
apart from the minimal provisions of the Animal Welfare Act that
pertain to breeding and sale of puppies to pet shops. Much stronger
measures, along with adequate enforcement of (existing) laws,
are clearly needed in order to address the rampant problems associated
with puppy mills."
Clifford P. Sporn, of Burlington,
president of the New Jersey Veterinary Medical Association, expressed
his views: "Whenever the health
of an animal is unnecessarily compromised, it is upsetting to veterinarians
and we want to see that situation corrected. ... If breeders and
sellers are compelled to use best management practices, there is
no reason why they couldn't produce quality, healthy dogs. Pressure
needs to be put on those aspects of the business that produce and
sell sick animals. Stricter enforcement of New Jersey's sale of
pets is one immediately available remedy."
Consumer complaints
New
Jersey's "lemon law," passed
in 2000, guarantees that the owner of a sickly dog purchased
from a pet store will receive up to double his money back from
the store to cover veterinary bills. The dog may be returned within
one year. Williams told of a woman who paid $1,500 for a Labradoodle
at a Somerset County pet store. The pup landed in the ICU at the
University of Pennsylvania for eight days with pneumonia. Vet bills
exceeded $6,000. The family was reimbursed $3,000 in accordance
with the law. They're stuck with the rest.
To report pet store abuses to your county
consumer affairs office, go online at www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/ocp/countyoff.htm.
"Puppy
mills will cease to exist when people stop buying from pet stores
or directly from puppy mills," says Williams, who
acknowledges, "That simple solution is a long way off."
Source: New
Jersey Consumers Against Pet Shop Abuse (NJCAPSA) http://www.njcapsa.org/
CAGED ACTIVISTS TO DOG KOREA OVER ANIMAL CRUELTY
Members of In Defense of Animals
protest Korean Embassy WASHINGTON, D.C. – Holding signs that
read: "Korea: Stop Cruel and
Illegal Dog Consumption," caged members of In Defense of Animals
(IDA) will protesting the Korean government's refusal to enforce
laws prohibiting the beating, hanging, burning, electrocution, and
boiling alive of dogs and cats for consumption.
Date: Friday, December
5
Time: 12 p.m.
Place: Embassy of Korea, 2320 Massachusetts Avenue
N.W.
Why do activists have their hair
in hackles over South Korea's treatment of animals? South Korea
has a law prohibiting the consumption of dogs and cats and another
that considers dogs to be "domestic
pets." The law is ignored and the government blithely ignores
offenders. Before dogs are killed for meat, they are often strung
up by their legs and beaten.
Dog butchers extol the virtues of
their product, embellishing that the adrenaline rush that dogs
experience by being bludgeoned to death enhances virility. Cats
don't fare any better-viewed as pest animals, they are boiled
alive so their "juices" can be extracted
for health tonics purported by butchers to alleviate symptoms of
rheumatism.
IDA has received many letters from
Korean citizens concerned about the torture, but too afraid to
disclose their names, let alone speak out. As one woman described, "Using
all his strength he pulled the dog by his left leg. Next he did
the same with the right leg. While the dog was still alive, he
was tearing his body apart. The dog was moaning with horrible
pain. He thought I was someone who enjoyed dog meat. He smiled
at me and proudly told me, 'Dogs should take a long time to be
killed, that way it tastes better.'"
"It's inconceivable
that innocent beings whom we consider 'man's best friends' could
be so brutally killed, butchered, and eaten," says
IDA president and founder Elliot M. Katz, DVM.
For more information
on IDA and its Korean Dog Campaign, please visit www.IDAUSA.org.
SOURCE: In
Defense of Animals http://www.idausa.org
Scout Dog Pages
This web site pays tribute to the estimated thirty thousand dogs
who have given their lives so that Americans might return home from
war. Once upon a time, our war dogs were hailed as heroes. They were
routinely retired from service so they could to live out their lives
with loving families. Not so for the dogs of Vietnam. Of three thousand
dogs dispatched to that war, fewer than two hundred ever got back
to the States -- even then, they were not allowed to retire. The
rest were abandoned in country to suffer tragic fates.
http://www.scoutdogpages.com/
Microsoft Promotes Cruel Iditarod Dog Sled Race
Microsoft,
Procter and Gamble, and other companies are sponsors of the 2001
Iditarod dog sled race. Many Iditarod dogs have gastric ulcers
and some have died from this condition. Ulcers predispose the dogs
to vomiting. Normally, the trachea closes the airway so that foreign
material does not enter the lungs. But because these dogs run at
such high speeds for such a long period of time, they cannot stop
gasping for air despite the vomiting. Consequently, dogs inhale
the vomit into their lungs, which causes suffocation and death.
According
to Michael Matz, a highly regarded expert in gastrointestinal disorders
in small animals, the use of no steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
is the most common cause of gastrointestinal ulceration in small
animals (Kirk's Current Veterinary Therapy XII- Small Animal Practice).
These drugs reduce swelling, inflammation, relieve pain and fever,
which allows the dogs to run farther and faster. Unfortunately,
some dogs pay with their lives for the use of these drugs.
Learn
more about the Iditarod races
Learn how you can help
TRIBE OF HEART PRESENTS "THE
WITNESS"
A construction contractor, Eddie, from a tough Brooklyn
neighborhood becomes an impassioned animal activist. To learn
more visit: www.tribeofheart.org
What Are Puppy Mills?
While many people may be familiar
with the term "puppy mill," the
industry and government regulators dismiss the horrors associated
with them. Puppy mills are facilities which are licensed by the
United States Department of Agriculture that mass-produce puppies
for pet stores throughout the country and to emerging foreign markets.
At present a USDA license is required for anyone with four or more "intact
bitches" although federal officials are considering raising
the number of animals held to as many as 60 without a USDA license.
Puppies are subjected to horrific conditions from birth and during
transport from breeder, to broker, to pet stores hundreds of miles
from where their life began. The breeding "stock" suffers
a constant misery living in small cramped cages often soiled
with their own excrement. full article
Information provided by:
In Defense of
Animals 131 Camino Alto, Mill Valley, CA 94941. Tel.: 415-388-9641
www.idausa.org
