Memphis Animal Shelter Claims Another Victim

The lethal Memphis Animal Shelter added another sad story to its archives this week:

Rita Leone picked out a 10-month old Golden Retriever mix at the shelter December 26.

"He was very sweet, very friendly easy-going, calm dog," said Leone.

But when she showed up, cash in hand to take him home this morning, he was gone.

"I went to the cage," said Leone. "The door was open, no dog, the bed was flipped over, I said 'Oh my God!'"

Her dog had mistakenly been euthanized.

"I said what you did was wrong unacceptable, you have enough dogs in here that are homeless nobody wants. I'm willing to adopt this dog and you euthanize it?" said Leone.

Or, put another way, "You have enough unadopted dogs here to sate your thirst for killing and yet you gotta kill mine too?"

This poor dog who, for whatever reason, had an unlucky start in life, was fortunate enough to be adopted from a torture hole masquerading as a shelter. This should have been his best day ever. Instead, the shelter killed him.

I say again: This place needs to clean house and toss every employee who was not a whistleblower out on their asses. To quote Tiger: Huge.

Paws Up for Gwinnett Co Jail in GA

This is exactly the kind of program we need in the South:

With a sharp decline in inmate population over the past month, Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway plans to devote a portion of the county jail to save dogs' lives.

The jail will serve as a foster home for the Society of Humane Friends, a licensed pet rescue agency.

With six open housing units that can accommodate up to 72 inmates, the sheriff is devoting one ground unit to the program. He will assign a dog to each of the 10 inmates in the unit.

The dogs will have access to a fenced grassy area for exercise, Conway said, and trainers will come in to work with the inmates on grooming and training the animals. The program will begin as soon as he puts up the fence.

Yes, yes, yes! More proof that each of us can do a little something. And when we do, it adds up to a big something.

Ten dogs is not that big of a deal in terms of jail space, Conway said, adding that he is keeping 20 rescued dogs at his home.

No county money will be spent, and the Society of Humane Friends has already agreed to donate food and veterinary care, he said.

"I'm committed to either paying for it out of my pocket or through donations," Conway said. "This is great for the inmates. It will socialize the inmates as well as the dogs."

Dennis Kronenfeld, president of the local chapter of the Society of Humane Friends, said the program is already in correctional facilities in 17 states.

Everybody wins.

Thanks to reader Valerie for mentioning this story to me.

Kitteh Vids

I'm not a huge consumer of videos so I miss a lot but wanted to share these two:

Cat bowl
and
Tickle Me Kitten

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

I know it's customary to review the year, or in this case the decade, at the end but I'm not really a look-backer. Suffice to say that I hope every year is better than the last and ultimately I guess I see them as being that way either on their own merits or out of an abundance of optimism.

I hope we can save more pets in need in 2010 and I hope that fewer pets need saving. I hope more shelter workers embrace the idea of sheltering and trample the idea of killing underfoot. I hope owners who keep their dogs chained 24/7 make a space in the laundry room with a cozy old blanket for their dogs to come in at night and during bad weather. I hope every dog gets more walks and every cat gets more lap time. I hope more people get to experience the special bond between humans and pets. I hope we all have enough to eat and that we share our healthy table scraps with our pets. I hope the sick can be well again or at least have their spirits lifted by a shaggy head resting on the side of the bed. I hope we can love unconditionally, judge less and understand more.

I think 2010 is going to be the best year ever.


*Title quote attributed to Oscar Wilde.

Dinner at Chez Dog

OK I made this awhile back and never dl'd the photo off the camera so here's what I think I put in this dish:

• Manicotti stuffed with ricotta cheese, cottage cheese and carrots that had been put through the food processor, topped with shredded fresh mozzarella
• Roma tomatoes, olive oil, and italian seasoning

It was my usual use-all-leftover-bits type meal and I remember I needed to use the manicotti because I was emptying the weevil cupboard.

Survivor: N. Augusta

I've got an idea for a reality TV show: Let's leave kids home alone with a dog and see what happens. It's already going on, so why not film the fun?

A pit bull attacked a 5-year old girl in the backyard of a North Augusta [South Carolina] home Monday, sending her to a local hospital.

It happened on the 200 block of Ashley Circle in North Augusta while the girl was playing in the backyard with the pit bull dog, when things turned violent.

The girl's 10-year-old step brother went outside and hit the dog multiple times trying to get the dog off the girl, but it didn't work.

When it didn't work, he went inside and grabbed a knife before coming outside and stabbing the dog multiple times in the back, according to Sgt. Dave Myers from the Aiken County Sheriff's Office.

The dog didn't come off the girl, so the boy went next door to Ricardo Hill's home to get help.

"The boy next door told me the kid was attacking his sister," Hill said. "So when I got over there the pit bull was on top of the baby. So my first instinct was to get him off so I got a folding chair and hit him."

The dog then let go of the young girl's neck and ran out into the street bleeding, Hill said.

From another story on the incident:

The two were at the home on Ashley Circle and briefly without adult supervision when the attack occurred, deputies said. The adult at the residence had gone to the store, [Sgt. Dave] Myers said.

[...]

Officials said the girl is recovering and doing well.

The dog was picked up by Aiken County Animal Control.

At this time, the animal has not been put down, according to officials.

I can't wait to see what happens in next week's episode!


Worth repeating: Unsupervised kids=bad. Unsupervised kids + dog=also bad.

Garland Animal Shelter Gives Up Gas Chamber

Garland, Texas has an animal "shelter" that kills a lot of pets. Sometimes they admit pets directly into the gas chamber which is the killing method they prefer, since it saves 4 pennies per dead pet. There has been a struggle between the shelter and community to get rid of the gas chamber. The community has now gotten its wish and a local newspaper columnist is less than enthused:

Starting Friday, lethal injection will replace carbon-monoxide gas as the city's primary method of euthanasia.
But what a lousy victory. Because either way, almost 6,000 dogs and cats, puppies and kittens will still end up dead and in the city's garbage dump this year.

Right. That sucks. And while we can be happy that the gas chamber will no longer be used as the primary killing method, what we need to focus on now is how to decrease the killing. At least with the gas chamber issue resolved, we don't have to be continually sidetracked with the tired old arguments about how the AVMA hearts gas chambers.

Contrary to misimpressions you may have gotten, Garland has always been using a euthanasia method fully endorsed and approved as humane by the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Oh geez.

In fact, as I talked to Garland city officials about this situation, they seemed eager for me to actually witness the gas-euthanasia process. And so I did.

Mention of carbon-monoxide euthanasia creates images of a crude hose-and-tailpipe contraption. In fact, the city uses a commercially built system – a stainless-steel box about five feet on each side, attached to industrial-type bottles of CO.

Oh well I didn't realize it was a commercially made gas chamber. That sounds lovely. Does it sparkle?

Animals are placed in separate cages (up to four at a time) and rolled into the box. I watched as a single animal – a 55-pound pit bull – was rolled in.

A glass door makes the whole process highly visible. And it doesn't take long.

The dog sat docilely, looking back at me looking at him. The gas quietly hissed. And in about a minute, the dog suddenly wobbled, his eyes lost focus and he toppled over.

It was sad, quick work. And I wished that this dog's lousy owner could have been forced to watch.

Since the column notes that the dog was picked up for roaming and was well fed and wearing a harness, how can you be so sure the owner is "lousy"? True, the owner did not reclaim the dog but then, this shelter does have a history of gassing pets within minutes of admission. I don't know how long this dog was held but in the absence of sufficient evidence to the contrary, I'm not ready to label anybody "lousy". Maybe the owner is in the hospital or maybe he doesn't know where to look for his dog. Maybe he is avoiding looking at the shelter because he knows it only as a place that kills 6000 pets a year.

The column's author watched this dog die and wished that the owner could have seen it. You know what I wish? I wish the dog could have been adopted out by the shelter, relocated to a shelter in another area where he could have been adopted or released to a rescue group. I wish he could have been lovingly cared for by those charged with sheltering the community's lost and homeless pets until a permanent situation could be found for him. I wish that he was, you know, not dead.

We've got to find a way to wake up irresponsible pet owners. Sentencing them to a day of death-chamber duty might be a start.

Blaming the public for the killing that goes on at the local shelter has never helped anyone. Yes there are irresponsible pet owners just as there are irresponsible Mothers, drivers and gun owners. They are part of our society but the ones who are willfully irresponsible are, I believe, a small minority. With education, public outreach and access to community services, many "irresponsible owners" will do the right thing by their pets. They just need a hand up. Less judgment, more understanding.

We are a humane society of people who care about pets. Join us.

When Will We Achieve No Kill?

I received as a Christmas gift the book Disposable Animals - Ending the Tragedy of Throwaway Pets by Craig Brestrup. I've only just started it but already I've come across a concept I wanted to discuss regarding who is to blame for the killing of shelter pets. So pull your chairs in a circle book club members, turn to page 17 and read along with me:

"The truly guilty, being the source of the problem, are those who choose to have animals without choosing to do so in a morally responsible way. That way would be to recognize the value inherent in the life of an animal and to actively respect it, to take charge of its reproduction, to recognize that to take in an animal is to take on a relationship of commitment for his or her lifetime. When we achieve that vision, the killing simply stops."

I try very hard to keep my mind open when I come up against ideas my brain hates. On the one hand, I can hardly disagree with the idea of people owning pets "in a morally responsible way". (While we're at it, how about everyone consuming the Earth's natural resources in a morally responsible way. And raising children in a morally responsible way. Etc.) But on the other hand, I have to ask if there is one widely agreed upon morally responsible way to own pets. I don't think there is. In fact, one of the tragedies of life is that every one of us believes he is a pretty good fellow all around. (I could say almost everyone if you want to include the rare few who know their actions are evil but choose to be that way.)

If we look at the specifics of the morally responsible way to own pets offered by the author, we are faced with many questions.

• "Recognize the value inherent in the life of an animal" - This will clearly mean different things to different people. A farmer raising a pig for food will regard that animal as having value, as will a dog fighter regard his dog, and an apartment dweller regard his cat.
• "Take charge of its reproduction" - In the case of someone who breeds his dogs as often as physically possible for the purpose of selling the puppies - he has taken charge of the reproductive aspects of the animals. Likewise with the owner who neuters his dog before the animal ever reproduces. Perhaps the intended meaning will become clearer later in the book, I don't know.
• "Take on a relationship of commitment for his or her lifetime" - Does this mean every owner must keep every pet he takes on, even if his life circumstances change so significantly as to make keeping the pet impossible? If the owner screens prospective buyers and rehomes his pets when necessary, has he failed to meet his moral obligations?

Finally, the conclusion reached by the author "When we achieve that vision, the killing simply stops" seems, at best, unlikely to me. The idea that if we had a utopian society, everything would be swell sounds fine, but how is that applicable to reality? In real life, we will always have a need for shelters. Even if we sprinkle magic moral responsibility dust over all of humanity, we will still need shelters. People move/lose jobs/die unexpectedly. Pets slip out doors and dig under fences. Some pets end up living as ferals while others are born into it. Life is untidy. Just as there will always be a need in society to look after homeless/orphaned/lost children, the elderly and the handicapped, so will we need to look after pets.

And someone will work at one of those shelters and believe it is a "kindness" or a "necessity" to kill a healthy/treatable pet. When we have replaced all of those shelter workers with compassionate people who embrace the idea of no kill, when every community has implemented the No Kill Equation, when we stop blaming the public for the atrocity of killing shelter pets, when we learn to judge less and understand more - then the killing will stop. Not in a fantasy world but in real life. Not in some distant future but in our lifetime. It could happen today. We are a humane society and a no kill nation of pet lovers. Join us.

Lying about No Kill on the Web: A Tutorial

How to spread myths about no kill shelters on the internet:

1. Compile a list of the most common lies spread by those opposed to the no kill movement
2. Turn around and list them as facts
3. Frame your article as if you are "dispelling some myths" when you are actually perpetuating them.
4. Voila - Mission Accomplished!

Truth.

One of My Fave Xmas Songs

Wiki entry

Hector Rules

Hector, a rescued Pitbull formerly owned by that courageous hero Michael Vick, visited school kids in MN this week to help educate them about the breed. The article doesn't tell a whole lot but the accompanying photo is worth a thousand words. Maybe next week, Hector can teach the Eagles about real courage.

If Only in My Dreams

I hope one Christmas to be thinking about all the shelter pets in this country who are waiting for their future families to find them because we don't kill homeless pets anymore, we adopt them out. But that won't be this year.

From North Carolina:

When Brunswick County Health Department officials began considering whether to buy a new gas chamber to euthanize animals the county couldn't adopt, they knew they wanted one large enough for the shelter's largest animal cages.

A small chamber, Health Director Don Yousey said, would mean that at least some of the animals would have to be forced into the enclosure with a choke stick, a situation that would have been unnecessarily traumatic for both the condemned animal and the person charged with ending its life.

[...]

The need to euthanize animals because there are no homes for them is an unpleasant reality, but a reality nevertheless.

The "unpleasant reality" is that shelter pets are needlessly killed due to a widespread myth of pet overpopulation.

The Brunswick County animal shelter, for instance, takes in about 6,000 dogs and cats a year, Yousey said. Of those, about 5,000 must be euthanized because they are sick, injured, vicious, feral or just can't find humans to adopt them before their waiting time runs out.

That's an 83% kill rate. I believe Brunswick Co has forfeited its right to call its pet killing facility a "shelter".

The shelter uses both lethal injection and carbon monoxide poisoning, depending on the age of the animal and its physical condition as well as the potential safety risks to shelter workers. Puppies and kittens don't die well in gas chambers, and animals with respiratory problems might suffer needlessly there, so they get lethal injections, Yousey said.

Puppies and kittens don't die well in gas chambers. How annoying of them.

"A lot of animals we get down there, they are terrified with you being around, just because you're human," said David Stanley, the health department's director of environmental services[...]

Maybe they're terrified of you because you're not human. Maybe they are frightened by the stench of death in your slaughterhouse "shelter". Maybe they have seen their neighbors get dragged by "choke sticks" into the gas chamber and heard them scream as they struggle against the carbon monoxide.

"It's a horrible job," he said. "It's a thankless job. [Shelter workers] hate it."

You want to be thanked? Try directing your resources toward saving the pets you are supposed to be sheltering and not toward buying a super sized gas chamber.

We are a humane society of pet lovers. Join us.

First Lady, Kids & Bo Visit Children's Hospital

Article on the visit here

Pet Gifts: All I Want for Christmas is You

In my morning reading, I came across a Veterinarian offering a list of Christmas gifts for pets and astonishingly, there's more than one that involves giving money to Veterinarians. There's also the obligatory taboo on "people food" which is a pet peeve of mine. There is no such thing as "people food". There is food. We all eat it.

At any rate, I offer my own list as an alternative:

• Bring your outside dog in from the cold or provide a warm outdoor shelter for him.
• Prepare some homemade meals or treats (more recipes here and here). Most dogs love home prepared food. With cats, your mileage may vary but cat owners usually know at least a couple things their kitteh likes.
• Spend some extra quality time with your pets. They don't care about presents really, it's your presence that matters to them.
• Drop by your local no kill shelter and donate some canned food or your time. Shelter pets appreciate visitors.
• Ask your local no kill shelter if they have a foster program for the holidays. Many shelters do and if you have the ability to care for another pet for a few weeks, you'd be giving a shelter animal the opportunity to get out of his cage or kennel and into a home. Even if it's temporary, it's a gift you can't put a price tag on.

Treats on the Internets

The No Kill Advocacy Center honors six no kill advocates with the Henry Bergh Leadership Award

Follow-up: The NY woman accused of torturing pets to death with her kids and charged with misdemeanors is now likely to be indicted on felony charges and as such, is being held on $100,000 bail

Oh, South Carolina!

Sad story in TX of the killing of an emotional support dog who belonged to a war hero - as is often the case, I doubt the penalty will fit the crime

Someone in MN thought it would be funny to glue a cat's paws to the highway

Action Alert: Some seized Pitbulls in a NM case have been reclaimed by owners, others have not and may be killed

FL high school kids make dog beds to get shelter dogs up off the floor

SnOMG!

Not pet related: Snowflakes up close

No Kill Action Alert for MN Residents

From my inbox, sent by the Animal Ark Online Community:

Following a report that the Animal Humane Society is violating Minnesota law by failing to hold all stray animals for the required 5 day period, Minnesota residents are being asked to contact members of their city councils to demand they enforce the law.

The Animal Humane Society contracts with nearly 2 dozen cities in and around the Twin Cities metro area (complete list is here). Furthermore, the Animal Humane Society accepts stray animals from private citizens whether or not they are the designated impound center.

Documented cases of have shown that Animal Humane Society will kill stray animals, without scanning them for microchips, without listing them in their lost & found system, and without providing possible owners any opportunity reclaim their pets. In one documented case, a heathy stray kitten was killed within 5 minutes of arrival at the Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley.

In another case, the guardian of a group of cats arrived within hours of them being brought to the Animal Humane Society shelter in Woodbury. But the cats were already dead.

Residents are urged to contact the members of their city council and demand that they enforce the law. Additionally, everyone is asked to share this story with other residents in MN.

So long as Animal Humane Society continues to violate state, none of our pets are safe.

Chicago Police Officer Charged with Animal Cruelty

Richard Kleinpass, a Chicago police officer, is being charged with seven counts of cruelty to animals after authorities seized five dogs and two birds from his weekend home:

[Kleinpass] called the charges against him an overreaction. The animals were safe and secure, he said.

Safe and secure in urine and feces apparently:

"I've never smelled anything like it," [investigating officer Joe] Manges said. "They were living in their own urine and feces."

Some of the dogs' teeth were rotted, and the animals are now on soft-food diets, Manges said. Others were suffering from skin diseases and were emaciated, he said.

[...]

Manges said police made several attempts to contact Kleinpass. After four days, police got a warrant to enter the property and rescue the animals, which they said were left without food or water. The home wasn't heated, and the temperature dipped to about 30 degrees at night, Manges said.

Kleinpass has forfeited the pets and they will be rehomed or taken to a no kill shelter. Kleinpass is under investigation for another matter by Internal Affairs and has been stripped of his powers as a police officer. He is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing next month.

Danville Area Humane Society Kills Pets, Wants More

Do you read/watch interviews and want to butt in to the conversation and question the answers given by the interviewee instead of just letting them slide? I do. This is possibly why Larry King never calls me back.

Michael Markarian, President of the Humane Society Legislative Fund has an interview posted on his blog with Paulette Dean, shelter director for the Danville Area Humane Society (DAHS) in VA who lobbies for anti-chaining laws:

About 10 years ago, we strengthened our adoption guidelines. We knew that it would be a controversial move since we have a high euthanasia rate, but we also knew it was the right thing to do. We were laying a foundation for the future. Adopted dogs cannot roam and be chained, and adopted cats must be kept inside.

*butts in* How "high" is your kill rate?

From the data provided on the shelter's website for the year 2008:

Intake: 2005 dogs, 3666 cats, 94 "other" pets
Returned to owner: 140 dogs, 26 cats
Adopted: 243 dogs, 142 cats

By my math, that makes the totals: 5765 pets in, 551 pets out.

Although no numbers are provided for how many pets killed, if we make an assumption that the pets who were neither returned to owners or adopted were killed, that works out to an approximate kill rate of 90%. So yeah, I guess I'd have to agree that the shelter's kill rate is "high", if by "high" you mean "insanely cruel". I can see why you'd want to restrict and thus discourage adoptions.

And the shelter director spends her time lobbying for anti-chaining ordinances? From the shelter's site:

The Danville Area Humane Society is thrilled to tell you that an ordinance was passed unanimously by Danville City Council tonight that bans the constant tethering of companion animals! As of July 1, 2010, it will be illegal to:

Tether a companion animal for more than 4 hours in a 24 hour period,
Tether a companion animal when the temperature is below 32 degrees
Tether a companion animal under 4 months old
Tether any sick or injured animal
Tether any companion animal to a fixed point. (specifics to be made public at a later date)

Well hurrah. I guess the shelter will take in even more pets after this ordinance takes effect. And presumably most all of those will be killed. How "humane".

The shelter's website is full of rhetoric against no kill and reads like a blame-the-public manifesto. The director admits in the interview that Danville "has the highest unemployment rate in the state, and also struggles with low education and high poverty rates." Knowing that, is it truly helpful to restrict pet ownership further by imposing ordinances many owners will be financially unable to meet, especially when seizing those pets means they will most likely be killed?

My feeling is that 24/7 chaining is cruelty and should be prosecuted as such. But chaining for 4 hours or to a "fixed point" (?) is something many responsible pet owners do who can't afford a fence. As long as quality shelter and clean water are provided, I'd certainly rather see a dog chained for part of the day by an owner who loves him than to see the dog in a garbage bag at the DAHS. That is, if we have to choose. And apparently, according to this shelter director, we do.

Treats on the Internets

You gotta have Faith

A USDA licensed exotic pets warehouse in TX was raided by authorities this week, more than 20,000 animals seized

Bo steals the show as he shows off his training during Oprah's visit to the White House

Article on TNR in IL and another on an effort to neuter feral cats in the UK and put them to work as critter control on farms

Small study indicates no difference in how much owners love cats adopted for free from shelters vs. cats adopted for a fee

Morris Animal Foundation survey finds cats suffer from a bad reputation

I just loop my leashes through the handle in order to dispense with the need for a collar so I'm not sure how useful this leash would be for me

I hate to hear about young dogs dying of cancer - this one was a successful crime fighter

Proposed "Caring for Animals" license plates in AR will cost extra but the money will go toward a spay-neuter program for low-income residents

OR program to send senior rescue dogs to live at youth correctional facility

Report on GA Shelters Reveals High Kill Ratios

Thank you to reader Valerie for pointing me to the Georgia Voters for Animal Welfare (GVAW) Survey of Animal Services in Georgia. The purpose of the survey was to obtain statistics from shelters and make the results available to the public. Valerie has posted the report in full on her blog. I will post some excerpts.

The main challenge to the collection of data was apparent apathy or refusal to participate on the part of animal control organizations and shelters in GA:

The primary limitation of this study is that, despite the enormous amount of time, energy and expense invested, GVAW is unable to produce a complete data set, a testament to the need for state-mandated collection of and public access to comprehensive shelter data. For example:

· 45 counties (28%) of the total 159 surveyed did not respond;
· 63 animal control units and/or shelters (32%) did not respond;
· 5 animal control units and/or shelters refused to complete the questionnaire citing
O.C.G.A. 50-18-70(e); and,
· 19 animal control units and/or shelters did not provide intake and/or euthanasia numbers.

In all, 84 animal control units and shelters either didn’t respond at all or didn’t provide intake and exit numbers as requested.

They did receive responses from 162 GA animal control units and shelters. Based upon those responses:

· 50 counties (31%) have no form of animal control;
· Total number of 2007 shelter admissions reported was 245,034;
· Total number of 2007 euthanasias reported was 152,297, representing an overall 62% kill rate;
· Based on the average number of animals killed per shelter, GVAW estimates there were at least an additional 105,000 animals killed in the non-reporting shelters, for an estimated total of 260,000 animals killed in Georgia shelters in 2007

The report loses focus on the need for mandated shelter statistics reporting by veering into the "pet overpopulation" myth and anti-tethering issues but the conclusions regarding the relevant shelter pet numbers are interesting:

Georgia is killing more than its share of companion animals in “shelters” that are funded by taxpayers. National figures on shelter kill rates are reported as low as 4 million and as high as 11 million per year. Using 2008 Census Bureau statistics, Georgia’s human population represents 3.2% of the national population. Factoring Georgia’s estimated annual kill rate of 260,000 shelter animals into a nationwide per person equation, Georgia’s pro rata share is 128,000 animals. Using this formula, Georgia is killing twice the national average.

Just to be clear, from where I'm sitting, even if GA was able to halve its kill rate of shelter pets, that would still suck for 130,000 animals a year. But it would be better than where the state, and much of the South, is at now. I hope GA shelters can get the ball rolling and start saving more of the pets they are charged with sheltering.