Dinner at Chez Dog

Sweet potatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, turkey livers and turkey gizzards - add calcium and oil, serve.

I found the organ meat for a good price in a freezer bin at the grocery store. Never having bought them before, I was a little leery because they were labeled "turkey gizzard" and "turkey liver" (each singular) and were in white plastic containers that you can't see into. I was envisioning some monster sized organ falling out of each but alas, when opened, the containers revealed multiple organs, regular sized.

Bad Animal Control Ideas, Nebraska Edition

In summary:

The Gothenburg Animal Hospital serves as Gothenburg’s city pound.

Now, because of a new state law that changes how animals are handled at city pounds statewide, it will be more expensive to adopt a dog or cat.

“It will be much more costly,” said Gothenburg Animal Hospital owner and veterinarian Roger Dudley.

Under a Gothenburg City Council proposal driven by state law, all adopted cats and dogs must be spayed or neutered.

A for-profit veterinary clinic can't possibly serve the needs of the city's shelter pets at the level they deserve. Basically, the staff is moonlighting by taking in strays but obviously their top priority will be their business. If they don't keep focused on making a profit, they won't have a business anymore. Shelter pets deserve better.

The Vet is obviously thinking in terms of profit when he talks about the greatly increased fee to adopt neutered shelter pets. The community needs someone who thinks in terms of public service with regard to saving pets and getting them into homes. Why not get the community involved and see if those goals can't be accomplished?

Unfortunately, there are more problems:

Dudley said the city currently pays the Gothenburg Animal Hospital $10 a day for cats and $12 for dogs to board strays only if they are euthanized but not if they are adopted.

Financial incentive to kill is never a good practice when the goal is saving pets.

[T]he city pays for four days of boarding. If the clinic keeps a pet longer for adoption, the business is not reimbursed.

See above.

Since he’s been in the veterinary business, Dudley said he doesn’t think problems with stray dogs have increased but cats have.

“Cat’s [sic] continue to multiply and that’s difficult to shut down,” he said. “There are so many, I don’t know what could be done.”

Is this the person the community wants in charge of caring for stray pets - someone who says he has no ideas on how to handle the local cat population? Perhaps the idea of TNR for feral cats doesn't appeal to him due to the issue of profit. But it would be worth bringing up to the city and recruiting volunteers from the community to help reduce the feral population. And what about low cost neuter services so local pet owners can afford to get their cats neutered? Maybe that falls under the lack-of-financial-incentive category too.

What say you Gothenburg?

Tips for Avoiding Factory Farm Products

A guide to shopping and eating for those who wish to avoid supporting factory farms:

Most people share at least the following traits: they want to be healthy; they like animals; and they value clean air and water. Yet relatively few Americans connect those concerns with their food. As more people start making the link (especially if they've seen graphic video footage of industrial animal operations), many decide it's time to stop eating foods from factory farms. This is a guide for doing just that.

Among the author's recommendations:

• Eat less meat. Eat better meat. (The same goes for dairy products and eggs).
• Know your labels (and their shortcomings).
• Explore alternative stores (independent grocery stores and co-ops).
• Pasture is the gold standard.
• Grass fed is very good (but the label is weak).
• Organic is very good, (but the label isn't perfect).
• Free range is okay (but the label is seriously flawed).
• Antibiotic free doesn't mean much.

NY Woman Accused of Torturing Pets

After Sharon McDonough's eldest son turned her in to authorities, 5 dogs and a cat were found in terrible condition in filthy cages at her home. The remains of 20 dogs were excavated from the backyard and are being checked for microchips. Local residents whose pets have gone missing in past are fearful they may have been victims of cruelty at the home.

Douglas McDonough, 21, who turned his mother in to authorities on Nov. 5, called the home "a concentration camp for the animals" in comments to reporters after the arrest.

"She would have the oldest kids hold down the dog while we duct-taped his mouth and she would hit him," he said, adding that he and his sisters were all forced to take part in the abuse.

On Tuesday, a judge removed the six girls — ages 18 months to 13 years — from the custody of McDonough, who is widowed. Her court-appointed attorney, James D'Angelo, called the animal cruelty counts a "low-level offense."

Let's hope the charges get increased to a level more impressive to the attorney and better fitting to the allegations.

Good News from Afghanistan

Via BBC (includes video):

A sniffer dog lost in battle in Afghanistan 14 months ago has turned up safe and well and rejoined its Australian unit.

Defence officials said Sabi the dog was recovered by a US soldier at an isolated patrol base.

The dog returned to a celebrity welcome from visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and US commander Gen Stanley McChrystal.

Sabi is being tested for disease before a possible return to Australia.

The black labrador bitch was with a joint Australian-Afghan patrol that was ambushed in Uruzgan province in September 2008.

Veterans Day

Honoring all those who serve - thank you.

• Watch some clips of dogs in over-excitement mode when their owners return from service overseas
• Detailed history of Stubby the military dog
• VetDogs helps veterans get service dogs

Al Franken Meets a Service Dog

I got a bit choked up watching this vid featuring Senator Al Franken (D-MN) talk about the event that inspired him to draft service dog legislation for our veterans.

Don't Let the Door Hit You on Your Way Out

The Memphis Animal Shelter director, having had his shelter raided by law enforcement this week as part of a cruelty investigation, should have been on his A Number One best behavior. And yet, on his watch, the shelter killed someone's pet this week without even contacting the owners. Finally, the Mayor has fired the director:

“You’ve got a mayor now who, perhaps to a fault, likes to be hands on,” said [Mayor] Wharton during a morning press conference at the shelter. “I am not an expert on (animal shelters), but I can walk in there and tell you if there is enough food or water in the bowl, or if they followed our own procedures.”

Perhaps the most startling bit from the article though is how the director, Ernest Alexander, came to be in charge of the shelter:

Despite allegations of mistreatment of the animals he oversaw at a shelter in Albuquerque, N.M., Alexander arrived in Memphis in the spring of 2008 after former mayor Willie Herenton launched a nationwide search for an administrator who could improve conditions at the shelter, long a source of controversy for local animal rights activists. [emphasis mine]

Either there is a conspiracy cloud hanging over this guy's head or he brings animal suffering and death with him wherever he goes. I'm glad he's out. I hope they also sack every last one of the employees who weren't whistleblowers. It's way past time to take out the trash there.

"A dog wags its tail with all its heart"

All Eyes on Memphis Animal Shelter

Webcams up and phone number to the "Mayor's Action Center" if you see anything worthy of reporting.

Search Warrant for Memphis Animal Shelter

According to the search warrant served on the Memphis Animal Shelter (pdf) Puppy #199287 was admitted on August 18, 2009. Her records indicate she is a friendly pup and specify that she was to be held for a pending court case involving animal cruelty. Sadly, she ended up as evidence in a completely different cruelty case after the shelter allegedly starved her to death. Photographs documenting her condition from arrival until she was found dead in her cage on September 4, 2009 appear in the search warrant along with the necropsy results by the ASPCA Vet. That report concludes Puppy #199287 died of "non-accidental" "end-stage starvation". First her body consumed its external fat in an effort to stay alive. When that supply was exhausted, her body consumed organ fat and finally bone marrow fat. Normal bone marrow fat levels are 60% or higher but this pup's was 2.3%. Although she had not been fed for days, someone apparently gave her a small amount of food shortly before death which she did eat. So Puppy #199287 could and would eat, the shelter just didn't feed her.

The search warrant references a whistleblower (identity withheld) who, along with many other shelter volunteers, had long been advising those in charge at the shelter that animals were being starved, living in feces/urine filled cages with Parvo dogs and receiving no or dirty water. All these people are back on the job today while the investigation continues. Perhaps the only saving grace is a temporary halt to killings at the shelter, ordered by the mayor. But of course that doesn't cover pets starved to death or being forced to live in inhumane conditions. The Mayor is apparently not too concerned about that. If he was, he wouldn't allow the people who condoned this suffering to keep collecting their paychecks and remain responsible for the care of pets at the shelter right now.

I ask again - Are they feeding the pets NOW?

Treats on the Internets

NY Times article on psychiatric service dogs

111 pets die in fire at TX no kill shelter and the community steps up to help

There are 2 sides to every story but only 1 side to dead

Poultry farm trash (such as feces and feathers) is regularly fed to cattle but some want that practice changed

Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare in UK has published its report "A Healthier Future for Pedigree Dogs" (pdf)

This is how I feel about Debbie Downer Cattle on social networking sites

AC officer steals dog and lies to cover up her crime

Memphis Animal Shelter Abuse Photos

:::LANGUAGE WARNING::::ALERT:::etc.

This pup was brought into the Memphis Animal Shelter on August 18, 2009:


This is the same pup on September 4. She was found dead in her cage:


Fuckity fuck fuck.

This was not a one off case. This shit has allegedly been going on for a long, long time.

I wonder if they're feeding the dogs NOW?

I can't help looking at that sweet face and seeing just the spot I'd like to leave lipstick on that pup - right between the eyes.

Fuck.

Home is Where the Heart is

If you have dogs, you probably step outside without a coat and sensible shoes like I often do. It might be to fill a water bucket or scoop the yard or let a dog out to potty at 3 a.m. Whatever the reason, you know that chill that hits you at certain times of the year - the one that makes you curse into the night air and start jumping around while willing the dog with your mind to hurry up.

For me, this chill has taken on new meaning due to people moving into a nearby trailer and tying two dogs up to trees in the front yard. The dogs are tethered 24/7 on very short ropes and have no shelter (the trees are very small and provide no cover). They get rained on, sometimes all day, and then the chill comes at night and they stay tied to their trees, wet and cold. Although the dogs are usually quiet, sometimes they cry - pitiful yelps that go on for a good while. The sound is almost unbearable to me, I can't imagine what it's like living in that trailer but the people never come out to shush them. In fact, I've never seen the family interact with the dogs at all but presumably they are giving them food since they are still alive.

I have no problem with responsible tethering (or crating or kenneling for that matter). But a dog tied, without shelter, day and night - that's not responsible tethering. That's cruelty.

Now when I step out in the cold and the wet, I think of those two dogs suffering next door and the owners, just a few yards away, safe and warm inside the trailer. It breaks my heart. And I wonder how it could be that it doesn't break theirs.

Another Huge Ground Beef Recall

CBS News reports that dozens of illnesses and 2 deaths may be linked to the latest recall of half a million pounds of ground beef:

Ashville, N.Y.-based Fairbank Farms recalled almost 546,000 pounds of fresh ground beef that may be tainted with E. coli bacteria. The meat was distributed in September to stores from Virginia to Maine.

The ground beef was sold at Trader Joe's, Price Chopper, Lancaster, Wild Harvest, Shaw's, BJ's, Ford Brothers and Giant stores. Each package carried the number "EST. 492" on the label. They were packaged Sept. 15-16 and may have been labeled with a sell-by date from Sept. 19 through Sept. 28.

Also, ground beef packaged under the Fairbank Farms name was distributed to stores in Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. That meat was likely repackaged for sale and would likely have differing package and sell-by dates.

So basically, good luck figuring out where the meat you bought came from. Business as usual.

More on Memphis Animal Shelter Cruelty

The Memphis Animal Shelter raided by law enforcement this week has been returned to the city's control. Whistleblowers have reportedly been complaining about cruelty at the shelter for a long time:

Cindy Marx-Sanders, who was appointed to the shelter's advisory board by then-Mayor Pro Tem Myron Lowery, spent a year before her appointment and the two months after telling shelter administrator Ernie Alexander and his director about problems at the shelter located at 3456 Tchulahoma.

"Nothing was ever done," Marx-Sanders said. "I've brought in complaints, numerous complaints with specific employees, cage numbers; everything they needed, and still nothing was done."

She wasn't the only one complaining. Volunteers and other citizens have called and written City Hall about problems at the shelter for years. One of the tips led to the search warrant executed Tuesday by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office and the District Attorney's Office to investigate charges of animal abuse and cruelty, something the shelter is supposed to police for the city. [emphasis added]

That's about the crux of it. The people paid to provide care for pets in need and prevent cruelty in the community are cashing their paychecks while abusing animals themselves. Shelter pets are a special brand of vulnerability - they have no chance, no choice and no hope beyond what their caretakers give them. And when those caretakers are abusers, shelter pets have no owner, no neighbor, no good Samaritan or Vet to speak for them. They are pets who must rely completely on the mercy of shelter staff which is why it's so tragic when the shelter fails them.

193 dogs and cats fell over dead in their cages at the Memphis Animal Shelter in 2008. Who will stand up for them so that the abuse is ended and the shelter reformed? I will be watching with interest.

Treats on the Internets

Dog adoption event called a "black eye" for rescue in OK

AKC registration and puppy mills: here, here, here, and here.

Wysong's talking about more mold

The lawsuit filed by a LA Pitbull breeder whose dogs were all killed immediately upon seizure involves a high level employee of the ASPCA

Mastiff in MA ordered killed after two biting incidents - owners to appeal

A short educational video on reading dogs' body language

Balance IT site sells recipes for homemade dog and cat food - get a free recipe using promotional code

Pet food research and packaging facility fined by OSHA to the tune of half a million dollars

Two dogs stolen from home, shot to death and laid out along railroad tracks in PA - Reward

Troubled TN Shelter Raided by Authorities

Sheriff's deputies in Shelby Co, TN executed a search warrant this week at the Memphis Animal Shelter:

According to the search warrant, "detectives have learned that some animals have been deprived of food and water while at the Memphis Animal Shelter," and while in the shelter's care, "some dogs have been starved to the point of requiring euthanasia."
[...]
District Attorney Bill Gibbons said an investigation into practices at the shelter was launched after his office received a tip from a citizen earlier this month.
[...]
Gibbons said one or more people could face criminal charges. Up to 300 animals were inside the shelter, but officials did not say how many were in bad condition.

So I guess we can hold out hope that they may have fed at least some of them?

This shelter is no stranger to cruelty allegations, as this report from last month illustrates:

The incident in question took place at the animal shelter last Friday, when an injured dog ended up buried beneath bags of euthanized animals. The animals were on their way to an incinerator where dead animals are burned.

The employee involved in this incident kept his job.

Failure to properly feed the dogs in their care has been alleged in recent months as well, although the shelter denied the allegations:

The complaint alleges the shelter was at full capacity, ran out of food, and a dog fight began when an employee trying to stretch the food supply brought one dish into a cage.

"We were never out of food," [Memphis Animal Shelter administrator Ernie] Alexander said.

He then explained what really happened.

"We had an influx of dogs to come in from both the city and the county, where we had three to four animals per kennel," he said.

Alexander claimed the dog fighting was due to the overcrowding, and not a food shortage.

That was in July. So if there truly was no food shortage but now the dogs are starved nearly to death, either someone's lying or intentionally starving the shelter pets. Will everyone keep their jobs this time?

What if We All Neutered Our Pets Today?

I no longer believe in the concept of "pet overpopulation" in this country. That myth has been debunked to my satisfaction by Nathan Winograd. But setting that aside, let's say for the sake of discussion that there are - if not a surplus of pets, at least way too many being killed in animal shelters. It's good to have a general agreement on what the problem is when considering possible solutions. So let's consider this guy's idea, which is not his alone, but rather one shared by many people concerned about pets being killed in shelters:

The Executive Director of what is now the Humane Society of Northeast Georgia in Gainesville says he would support a law requiring cat and dog owners to spay and neuter their pets.

As regular readers know, I do not support mandatory spay-neuter laws in any way, shape or form. But again, for discussion purposes, let's give the proposal a whirl.

So we all spay and neuter our pets. Well hold on a sec actually because I could not afford to spay and neuter all of mine at once. And there are most likely many others like me. So will there suddenly be funding for low cost spay-neuter services everywhere they are needed, especially in rural areas of the South for owners like me? That seems hard to believe since, if funding were available, wouldn't we have low cost spay-neuter services available everywhere already? But let's just say that all the needed neuter clinics appear magically throughout the U.S. Further, let's set aside the concerns about vaccinations (mandatory or owner discretion?), individuals with medical concerns (senior pets, anesthesia sensitivity, etc.), transportation (how do I get my pets to and from the clinic?) and any other potential conflicts. We'll just make this happen.

So now we've all got our pets neutered. But wait - is it reasonable to assume that every single pet owner complied? Probably not. People who rely on selling puppies and kittens as a means of income may not be willing to give up their livelihoods and in fact, unscrupulous individuals may see a black market developing for their product. Other owners may be involved with criminal activities involving their dogs and cats (dogfighting, crush videos) and may intend to continue but even if they were willing to abandon their practices, they likely wouldn't want to come forward to have any official records created on their animals.

In my estimation, we'd still have black market entrepreneurs and other criminals with intact dogs and cats. Then there are the strays, reproducing at will all over the country. Stray dogs and cats, lacking in socialization and definitely going without health screening or even basic health care. Litters born under abandoned trailers in the cold and the wet. Those lucky enough to survive spend their lives evading animal control, scrounging for scraps, and reproducing at will.

Back at home, 10 years into the future, all my pets will have died. And so will everyone else's who complied with the MSN law. But we really want to have pets. Veterans and other individuals need service dogs to assist them in day to day life. Farmers need stock dogs. Families need companion animals. Etc. What are we to do?

We can try to trap and domesticate a stray dog or cat. That may or may not work out so well, especially if our needs are for a particular type of pet. And if we successfully catch and tame a stray pet, the animal will need to undergo training for the work we require him to perform. He may or may not be physically and mentally suited for this training. If we get lucky and all goes well, we can hope that he is able to provide several years of service/companionship but of course he'd have to be neutered, leaving us stranded in the same boat eventually.

Alternately, to find a pet of a specific type, with predictable behavior and aptitude, we could seek out a criminal. Because those are the only people with intact pets who would be breeding anymore in this country. Again, that may or may not work out so well and probably isn't worth the risk.

Finally we might have the option of importing a pet from a foreign country. But surely foreign breeders will seize the opportunity to make financial and other demands on U.S. buyers, since the market will bear it. And some breeders will not sell stock to a country where sterilization is mandatory. The average pet owner will most likely be unable to import a pet. Perhaps U.S. shelters will import pets from foreign sources - strays rounded up off the streets or taken from shelters. Will these pets be well cared for in transit and what will the cost be to adopt these precious few available pets? If we look at how American consumers have historically fared when we've relied upon foreign products, we could get a glimpse into how the foreign pet trade might look.

So where are we in 10 years if we pass mandatory neuter laws all over the U.S.? We can have a pet, provided we're skilled in trapping and taming strays, willing to buy from a criminal and hope we don't get caught, or wealthy enough to import a pet. These unlikely and undesirable options will not apply to the average pet owner though. The average pet owner will be a thing of the past - not in 1000 years or 100 years but in 10 years.

There is another approach to tackling the problem of killing shelter pets. It makes sense and allows all of us to keep owning pets for as long as we can do it responsibly. No Kill now.