What a touching story – an Alabama woman, who apparently was dying of cancer, anonymously dropped off her 32 cats at five different veterinarians. She wrote notes, begging that they not be euthanized.Fortunately, almost all already have been adopted. From the Associated Press.

OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) — Five veterinary clinics in eastern Alabama received 32 surprises in the last week: Healthy cats in containers and carriers, along with notes from an anonymous donor saying she is dying from cancer.

The notes signed by “Miss R” beg the vets to find her pets new homes. “My time is very, very short,” the donor wrote. “There is not enough time to find homes for my children another way. I beg you not to let them die because I have to, please!”

“Please do not kill!” was written in capital letters on each of the containers. Veterinarian Kim Bond said she found three plastic containers poked with holes sitting at her clinic’s front door when she got to work at 7 a.m. a week ago.

Each cat’s name, age, description and medical summary was written on its container. At least four other clinics received cats in Lee County, about 50 miles northeast of Montgomery.

“These cats were dearly loved,” Bond told the Opelika-Auburn News. “They’re not feral cats or neglected cats.”

Most have new homes already. Veterinarian Buddy Bruce at Animal Health Center still has the six males dropped off Thursday at his clinic and he is offering discounts on all vet services, such as shots and neutering, to anyone who adopts one of the cats.

The identity and location of the donor is unknown. “Other vets that I’ve talked to say the same thing, ’Let’s do what we can to find these kitties homes,’” Bruce said. “These are her children. She took care of the situation the best way she could.”

Photo: Furby and Jinx explore the table at All Creatures Veterinary Clinic in Auburn, Ala. (Vasha Hunt/Opelika-Auburn News)

> Discuss this entry

From the Associated Press; A federal judge today approved a $24 million settlement in the case stemming from the largest pet food recall in the nation's history. Most of it was manufacturerd by Canada's Menu Foods. While the Food and Drug Administration never has released an official number, the plaintiff's lead attorney estimated about 1,500 dogs and cats died from eating products contaminated with melamine.

Consumers have until Nov. 24 to file claims. Click here for more details.

By GEOFF MULVIHILL"
Associated Press Writer"
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — A federal judge Tuesday approved a $24 million settlement for owners of dogs and cats who were sickened or died after eating pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Noel Hillman clears the way for U.S. pet owners with claims to start receiving checks next year. A Canadian judge has scheduled a hearing for Nov. 3 to determine whether the settlement can also apply in that nation.

Under the deal, pet owners have until Nov. 24 to file claims.
The settlement is to compensate owners for many expenses, including: the cost of the food, medical and burial expenses for their animals, the value of the animals or the cost of replacement pets, checkups for animals who ate the food but did not get sick, replacing carpets ruined by sick pets, and time the owners took off work to seek treatment for their animals.

Sherrie R. Savett, a lead lawyer for plaintiffs in the case, has said she believes that more than 1,500 animals in the U.S. died after eating the food last year.

Lawyers said that so far, more than 10,000 people have filed claims. Of the claims analyzed so far, the average is nearly $1,500. But the lawyers say that average could drop when an administrator reviews the expenses to make sure they are reasonable.

If money is left over after all pet owners have been paid, it would go to animal-welfare charities. If the fund does not cover all the claims, pet owners would receive something less than 100 percent of their economic losses.

A few dozen pet owners formally objected to the settlement — some of them because they believe it should also compensate them for pain and suffering due to the loss of their pets.

Some wrote letters to the judge describing their animals, who died after eating contaminated food, as best friends who should not be regarded as mere possessions.
But lawyers in the case say the law is not on the side of their deeply felt sentiments, and a hearing on the settlement Tuesday focused on more routine legal matters.

The case began in March 2007, when dogs and cats began mysteriously getting sick. It turned out that the common thread was pet food produced under nearly 200 labels — much of it by Streetsville, Ontario-based Menu Foods Income Fund.

Most of the food turned out to contain Chinese-made wheat gluten laced with melamine, an industrial chemical. Since then, the nitrogen-rich chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers have been found in a variety of food products in China. Authorities there have issued guidelines limiting acceptable levels of the chemical in food.

Hundreds of pet owners sued over the contamination. Just over a year after the pets began getting sick, lawyers for pet food manufacturers, stores that sold it, and pet owners had worked out the settlement, which would be in addition to about $8 million already paid by the companies to pet owners.

At Tuesday’s hearing, the judge also considered the issue of payment for the lawyers in the case. Fifty-five firms did work for plaintiffs. Savett told the judge that the lead firms alone had put in work worth more than $5 million.

Savett, who has spent more than two decades working on class-action lawsuits, said pet owners would do well under the settlement — even without damages for their suffering.

If the case had been allowed to go to trial, she said, the defendants might have tried to make each plaintiff prove that a pet had eaten the contaminated food and that it was not some other cause that killed or sickened the animal.
“There is a risk that people would not have gotten anything at all,” she said.

> Discuss this entry

Paris Hilton can breathe a little easier...

California's Governator over the weekend vetoed a law that would have prohibited driving while holding a dog (or any animal) in your lap or in your arms. Violators could have been fined as much as $150.
This from the same Arnold Schwarzenegger who just banned texting while driving.

The legislation had been dubbed "the Paris Hilton Law," given the celebutant's practice of motoring around town with her four-legged accessories.

However, it is illegal in California to allow a dog to ride unsecured in the back of a pickup truck.
Unlike Florida.

Florida's motor vehicle laws don't address securing animals in cars or trucks. But Walton County, in the northern part of the state, did pass legislation this summer
requiring animals to either be tethered or in a carrier when in the back of open-bed vehicles. As I recall, Broward County considered a similar ordinance years ago, but never passed it.

What do you think? Does Florida, or county governments, need to deal with how drivers carry their pets? Have you seen potentially dangerous situations involving motorists and animals?

Here's the California story from the Sacremento Bee.

Schwarzenegger vetoes bill forbidding drivers to hold pets

By Jim Sanders and Kevin Yamamura
from the Sacramento Bee, Sept. 28, 2008

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation Saturday that would have banned motorists from holding a live animal in their laps or arms.

The Republican governor gave no specific explanation other than to blame his veto of Assembly Bill 2233 on the recent budget dispute.

As he has with six dozen other bills this signing period, Schwarzenegger attached a uniform four-sentence message explaining he is signing bills only of the "highest priority" during the condensed signing period caused by the 85-day budget delay.

Talk show host Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives ridiculed the lap-dog measure as excessive government and dubbed it the "Paris Hilton Bill" in honor of the celebrity dog lover.

Violators would have faced a base fine of $35, which could have risen to $150 with state and county fees.

Assemblyman Bill Maze, the bill's author, said he proposed AB 2233 after seeing a Tulare County woman driving with three dogs on her lap.
"One had its feet on the steering wheel and the other two were leaning over her left arm," said Maze, R-Visalia.

> Discuss this entry

Score one for the cats!

Here's today's story, from Associated Press.

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — The famed six-toed cats at Ernest Hemingway’s island home aren’t going anywhere.

The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum announced Thursday it reached an agreement with the federal government that lets the 50 or so cats continue roaming the grounds, ending a five-year battle that could have resulted in them being removed or caged.

The cats descend from a cat named “Snowball” given to the novelist in 1935 and freely wander the grounds of the Spanish colonial house. All the cats carry the gene for six toes, but not all show the trait.

The home is where the Nobel prize-winning author wrote “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “To Have and Have Not” and is one of the most popular visitor attractions in the Florida Keys.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the agreement. It had threatened to fine the museum $200 per day per cat — about $10,000 — saying it didn’t have the proper animal exhibition license and couldn’t qualify for one, primarily because the animals weren’t enclosed.

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From the Despicable Acts Department:

Burglars who broke into a Sunrise home Saturday night took little – but strangled one of the family’s two pet rabbits.

The would-be thieves opened the rabbit cage on the patio and took out bunny Lolo.
When the family came home, they found Lolo’s dead body outside the patio, the fur around his neck heavily ruffled, according to the Sunrise police report.

“His eyes were popped out and stuff. It looked like he had been choked. My mom was crying,” said son Anderson Baez.

The second rabbit “must have ran away,” Anderson said. They later found her in the backyard.

Police found no prints at the scene, according to the report. The family said drawers and closets had been opened, and papers gone through, but could not tell if anything was missing.

“It looked like they used gloves and stuff, police told us,” Anderson said.
Mom Rosamaria Baez told police she was willing to press charges if anyone was caught.

> Discuss this entry

For anyone following the caterwauling regarding the feral cat colony encamped at the City of Oakland Park's Public Works Operations building...

City Manager John Stunson will give city commissioners an update tonight on how the city might handle the issue humanely.

Supposedly, some city workers had complained that up to 25 cats were calling the yard outside their building home, spreading fleas and bringing bad odors. Supervisors asked employees to stop feeding the felines, in hopes they would go elsewhere. When that didn't work, nine cats were trapped and handed over to county animal officials, who euthanized the animals.

Then the fur (and the e-mails) really started flying.
Cat lovers, supported by Commissioner Suzanne Boisvenue, have been pushing for what's called TNR -- the trap, neuter and release policy that allows feral cats, which often can't be domesticated, to live outdoors without aggravating the problem by having more kittens.

The meeting starts at 6:30 pm but the cat crisis is way down the agenda, at number 35. Expect a packed house.

Click here to read the original story.

> Discuss this entry

Seems that South Florida firefighters proudly are carrying on the longstanding tradition of their breed: Rescuing lost, stranded or endangered cats.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue workers, accompanied by a fleet of earth-moving equipment, in June freed a cat that had become trapped in a drainpipe in Aventura -- only a week or two after they had to do something similar for a cat in southwest Miami.

Then last weekend, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue firefighters employed their home renovation skills to cut into the wall of a Lauderdale Lakes home -- and extract a tiny kitten, no more than a week old. The firefighters used a thermal imaging camera and stethoscope to pinpoint the exact location of the mystery meowing, and check any additional trapped siblings.

Makes getting a cat out of a tree look pretty routine.

But all kidding aside; I personally am grateful that rescue workers still are willing to take saving companion animals' lives seriously. Hope I never need to make that 9-1-1 call -- but thanks.

Photo by: Mike Jachles, BSO

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From Associated Press today -- a story about people who mistreat their own family members along with their animals.

Cancer patient, 55, mauled by dogs in Washington home.

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A 55-year-old man with cancer was mauled by hungry dogs in his home while his daughter was away and he was hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said.
Michael Warner’s daughter and another woman were arrested Saturday for investigation of criminal mistreatment, Pierce County sheriff’s Detective Ed Troyer said. The two women have not been charged, and both were released from custody.

Twenty-seven dogs, many of them puppies, were taken from the home in Parkland, near Tacoma.
“We believe some animals were left behind that were not fed and some of the puppies got to him — not intentionally attacked him, but used him as a food source,” Troyer said. He declined to give details of the man’s injuries.

Troyer said that apparently, the women were unofficial caretakers for Warner and the dogs, but had left them unattended for several days. Warner was on the floor, incapacitated, for a couple of days, he said.
The case came to light after Warner’s daughter dropped him off Friday at Tacoma General Hospital. Warner was in critical condition Tuesday and has not been able to communicate with investigators.

A neighbor, Anna Bruun, said she had complained about the dogs several times to animal control after a woman was bitten a few months ago. She also said Warner had been left alone at the home in the past, and had stumbled over to her house for help.

“Once I had to call 911 because he came over and collapsed in our front yard,” she told KOMO-TV.

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Marion County animal officials have gained permanent custody of 123 horses and minature ponies from an Ocala-area woman, described by friends as a "one-woman rescue mission." Officials seized the animals in May, after getting reports that many of the horses were malnourished, and had overgrown hooves and other serious conditions.

Five of the horses were so sick they had to be euthanized; two died from malnutrition.
Oddly enough, no mention in the story below, from the "Ocala Star-Banner," of animal cruelty charges.

COUNTY GETS CUSTODY OF 123 HORSES

By Suevon Lee
OCALA STAR-BANNER
Published: Thursday, August 14, 2008

OCALA --A judge on Wednesday gave Marion County permanent custody of 123 horses and miniature ponies that were seized from their owner in late May following an extended period of neglect and maltreatment.

County Judge Steven G. Rogers also ordered that the owner, Francine Derby, be held responsible for $15,000 of the nearly $25,000 the county spent for hauling the horses from four properties and bringing them back to health.

"Obviously, the care was something that was lacking here," Rogers said after listening to an hour's worth of testimony from county officials and animal care experts and viewing photographs of the horses.

Wednesday afternoon's hearing at the Marion County Courthouse came nearly three months after the county filed an emergency petition for protective custody of the horses, which witnesses described in court as severely malnourished, crawling with parasites and suffering from overgrown hoofs.

Not all of the animals made it; five horses have since been euthanized, while two have died from malnutrition.

> Discuss this entry

The animal cruelty case against Christine Abrams -- the central Florida woman accused of starving her dog Ella to death by leaving her behind, locked in her crate, when she moved -- is far from over. During today's hearing (Wednesday, July 9), defense attorney Andrew Stine asked the Brevard County judge to withdraw, saying she signed an order involving the case without his knowledge.

Here was the story filed earlier today by Orlando Sentinel reporter Laurin Sellers:

VIERA — A hearing in Christine Abrams’ animal-cruelty case ended abruptly Wednesday when her attorney asked Brevard County Judge Kelly Jo McKibben to withdraw from the highly publicized case. McKibben postponed the proceedings to give attorney Andrew Stine time to put his request in writing.

It was uncertain when McKibben would respond, or when the hearing on a defense motion to toss out key evidence would resume.

Abrams, 30, is accused of moving out of her Cocoa home late last year and leaving her dog, Ella, to die in a locked crate without food or water. Police found the dead dog in March after neighbors smelled a foul odor. She is charged with two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and could face a year in the county jail and a $5,000 fine if convicted.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Stine said McKibben spoke Tuesday with Brevard Assistant State Attorney Michael Raska and signed an order without the defense attorney’s knowledge. Raska said he contacted the judge about a mislabeled packet of case law he submitted during a previous hearing.

"The defense is trying to play every trick in the book," said Holly Gann, one of more than 60 animal lovers who packed into the courtroom. "He has no case and he knows it."

> Discuss this entry

Born: Lewis.
Occupation: Pet (cat)

Yes, Lewis has become so famous since his 2006 headline-making court case, when he was accused of a mass hissy fit that included attacks on the local Avon lady, that he even has his own Wikipedia page.

Lewis and Ruth

The entry -- as long as the one for former Florida Lt. Governor Frank Brogan and far more detailed than the one for hot new American playwright Sarah Ruhl -- traces the once accused feline felon's rise from a Fairfield, Ct. house cat to his arrest following complaints he had gone after a half-dozen neighbors. Owner Ruth Cisero was charged with reckless endangerment.

But the fur really started flying when the Bridgeport Superior Court judge suggested the best solution was to euthanize Lewis. The cat's supporters soon had their own MySpace page and were selling "Save Lewis!" T-shirts.

Today an indoor cat living a mild-mannered life, Lewis was back in the news last week, when the judge dismissed charges against Cisero. The cat and owner apparently had complied with the court's ruling in June 2006, offered as a substitution for the death sentence: Fifty hours of community service for Cisero, house arrest for Lewis, and two years probation for both.


Click here to read the latest in the Lewis saga from the Connecticut Post Online.

Oh, and hang on to that "Save Lewis!" shirt. Bet it will be worth a lot on eBay one day.

> Discuss this entry

The Brevard County judge has set Wednesday, July 9, as the next hearing for Christine Abrams, the central Florida woman accused of starving her dog, Ella, to death. Abrams left Ella behind, locked in her crate without food or water, when she moved out of her home, as her new roommate did not want pets.

Abrams and Ella

Andrew Stine of West Palm Beach, Abrams' attorney, tried to get critical evidence thrown out at the last hearing, saying police did not have a search warrant and therefore could not legally enter Abrams' vacated house. Neighbors had called police after they noticed a foul odor and, looking in the window, saw the dead dog still in her crate.

The case gained the attention of animal lovers around the world. There have been protests outside the courthouse in Viera, with people calling for a maximum sentence for Abrams. I'm sure there will be more on Wednesday and we'll keep you posted.

Click here for a previous post that includes instructions on how to make your views known to the court.

Thanks for the heads up, Lynn.

> Discuss this entry

It’s hard to miss the pet news of the day. It’s at the top of our Sun-Sentinel Web site, with video and all:

“Lines out the door for puppy mill adoptions.”

Hundreds are lining up at the Humane Society of Broward County, in Dania Beach, eager to adopt one of the 130 dogs rescued from a Tennessee puppy mill. (You can click here for today’s story). In some cases, there were as many as six people wanting the same dog.

“Oh, I guess I’m going to cry,” said Alison Lindy, of Pembroke Pines, when she learned there were four families ahead of her for her top choice.

Don’t cry, Alison.
Go see Sami and Danni.

I met these sweet sisters, Sheltie-spaniel mixes, at the Tri-County Humane Society shelter in Boca Raton. They ended up there through no fault of their own. Their family left them behind, with a note and their vet records, saying they had lost their house in foreclosure and could not take them. A real estate broker found the dogs in the back yard.

Here is their picture. It was taken when I went to see them at the shelter in April, as part of a story I was doing on the growing number of companion animals being surrendered by their owners as the housing crisis gets worse. Sami watched me carefully but Danni, determined to make a good impression, immediately rushed forward and licked my hand through the kennel’s chain link gate.

“Hey,” her eyes said. “What the heck are me and my sister doing here? Get us out of here!”

That was three months ago. They are still there.

Jeannette Christos, Tri-County’s executive director, thinks it may be because the shelter is insisting the two sisters, who are litter mates, be adopted together. Or maybe it’s because they are 7 years old, “although most dogs have many years of life left after 7,” Christos said. The dogs are well-behaved and in good health, and many people have come to look at them, Christos said – have looked into their hopeful, dark eyes.

But no one has opened their heart and taken them home.

There are thousands of stories like this in our animal shelters, and with our rescue groups, right now. There probably will be more, as the number of South Florida foreclosures is predicted to grow. And it isn’t just here. A recent New York Times story talked about how shelters around the country are seeing record numbers of surrenders.

There could be any number of reasons that people are coming out of the woodwork to adopt the puppy mill dogs imported from Tennessee, if you read the comments piling up on our message boards.

They just want a purebred at a discount price, some say.
They just are responding to the publicity deliberately generated by the Humane Society (And we need to bring more dogs here when we are euthanizing hundreds daily?), wrote others.
And: Why don’t they spend their time and money helping people instead of pets, say others.

I guess we could debate these points. Me, I think anything that sheds light on the horror of puppy mills, and that finds good homes for neglected animals, is a good thing.

But I hope when the news cameras shut off, people will remember that dogs and cats are suffering in this bad economy, too – and some will pay with their lives.
If you, like Alison, are disappointed that you didn’t get one of the puppy mill rescues, go see Sami and Danni. Or the thousands like them. You’ll have plenty of good choices.

All of our animal companions, not just the ones in the spotlight, deserve a forever home.

> Discuss this entry

As suspected, the next hearing for Christine Abrams, accused of leaving her dog Ella in her crate without food or water after she moved, is NOT this Friday, as previously reported. Friday is the Fourth of July holiday.

Brevard County Judge Kelly Jo McKibben sent out a note earlier this week, saying the hearing was postponed but giving no date, according to Animal Crazy, the Orlando Sentinel’s animal blog.

Animal Crazy’s Ann Hellmuth also mentioned a story in her newspaper about Holly Gann, a 21-year-old Melbourne woman who has been a leader in organizing the protests against animal cruelty and calling for a maximum sentence for Abrams. Gann and her fiance are behind the Voices For Ella buttons being sold on CafePress that we blogged about here earlier.

Click here for story about Gann.

Click here to buy Voices For Ella buttons from CafePress.

> Discuss this entry

There was no ruling Friday on defense attorney Andrew Stine's motion to throw out the evidence against Christine Abrams, the central Florida woman facing two animal cruelty charges. Abrams is accused of letting her dog, Ella, starve to death after she moved out and left the animal locked in her crate without food or water.

Neighbors called police two months after Abrams was gone and they noticed a foul odor; looking through the windows, they saw Ella dead in her crate, a bag of dog food nearby. Abrams, who was living about five miles away, said she did not take the dog because her new roommate did not want pets. Stine has argued that police had no right to break into the house without a warrant.

Abrams and Ella

The case has stirred outrage literally around the world, with animal lovers calling for the judge to levy the maximum penalty against Abrams.

The "Orlando Sentinel" story below says the trial will resume July 4 -- not sure how that is possible, given its a federal holiday. Will post more later.
Below is the rest of Orlando's coverage from Friday.

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Brevard County Judge Kelly Jo McKibben did not rule Friday on defense attorney Andrew Stine’s motion to toss out the evidence against Christine Abrams. The judge will hear arguments from both sides on Friday, July 4 before deciding. A trial date has not has been set.

Earlier today, reporter Laurin Sellers wrote from the courtroom -- The hearing could last for a few more hours. Right now a police sergeant that responded to Christine Abrams' Cocoa home on March 12 is testifying about what he saw that day and why officers entered the house.

They said there was a foul odor and flies and that seeing the dead dog in the crate through an open window only heightened their concern about Abrams' safety. They said they went inside to search for her. But her attorney, Andrew Stine, said they should have obtained a search warrant before entering the house on Peachtree Street.

Stine has spent much of the day grilling the neighbor that called police to the home and the officers that responded.

> Discuss this entry

Here are live updates from the hearing of Christine Abrams, who is accused of starving her dog to death by looking her in a crate without food or water when she moved out of her central Florida home. These are being posted on the Orlando Sentinel’s “Animal Crazy” blog. We will keep you posted as the hearing goes on.

(From Orlando Sentinel reporter Laurin Seller, blogging live from the Brevard County Courthouse. Filed at 1:30 pm today)

VIERA - A hearing in the case of accused animal abuser Christine Abrams is underway before a packed crowd at the Brevard County courthouse in Viera. Abrams' attorney is trying to have all of the evidence tossed out, saying police were illegally searching her home March 12 when they found her dog, Ella, dead in a crate without food or water.

For nearly an hour, the attorney, Andrew Stine of West Palm Beach, has been grilling Abrams' neighbor about what he did and saw that day when he called police about a foul odor and flies at the Cocoa home. Abrams, 30, was arrested after police peered through a window and saw the white, three-legged German shepherd dead in the crate, a bag of unopened dog food just a few feet away.

Police said they broke into the home because they feared for Abrams' safety. She was found about five hours later and six miles away at her new roommate's home. She told investigators she had moved out two months earlier and left Ella in the locked crate because her roommate didn't like dogs, according to arrest reports.

She is facing two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. Each carries a maximum penalty of one year in the county jail and a $5,000 fine. The case has drawn outrage from animal lovers worldwide.

(More from Laurin Sellers, posting at about 3:10 pm today)
The hearing could last for a few more hours. Right now a police sergeant that responded to Christine Abrams' Cocoa home on March 12 is testifying about what he saw that day and why officers entered the house.

They said there was a foul odor and flies and that seeing the dead dog in the crate through an open window only heightened their concern about Abrams' safety. They said they went inside to search for her. But her attorney, Andrew Stine, said they should have obtained a search warrant before entering the house on Peachtree Street.

Stine has spent much of the day grilling the neighbor that called police to the home and the officers that responded.

> Discuss this entry

So Josper Sanon, convicted of animal cruelty charges in 2005 after he threw his son's Labrador puppy off the family's fifth-floor balcony, is out of jail after serving about half of his three-year sentence. Turns out there were legal glitches in the case that overturned the conviction.

Click here to read today's Sun-Sentinel story on Sanon's release.

Question: What now?
Does Sanon remain a danger to other animals -- or people?
Should he have been required to do community service with an animal welfare organization -- although I don't know if the court could order that, given the conviction was overturned.

Thoughts? Opinions?

> Discuss this entry

Update on yesterday's video from the Humane Society of the United State's investigative video, released yesterday, of animal abuse in a New Mexico stockyard.

SSS! reader KCK asked about laws or standards that presumably would prohibit this treatment. The United States Department of Agriculture is the one responsible for enforcing humane handling standards. But obviously, this isn't being done. The Humane Society also opposes a loophole that allows some "downed" cows to be used as beef. As the video shows, these dairy cows can spend the last days of their lives in agony.

Click here to see how you can tell your elected federal representatives that this practice is wrong and must be stopped -- and that the USDA needs to do its job.

Below is a repeat of my original post from yesterday -- plus a link to the video that actually works.

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Although we have focused this blog on companion animal issues, vs. wildlife and livestock, I think this is worth publicizing.

The American Veterinary Medical Association, the main professional organization for vets, has just issued a statement condemning the cruel practices of the cattle industry and calling for stricter compliance with animal handling guidelines. (Click here to see it).

The organization is responding to the latest video, also released today, in an ongoing investigation by the Humane Society of the United States of cattle auctions and the treatment of "downed" animals, or those that cannot walk. The latest installment, filed undercover at the Portales Livestock Auction in New Mexico, shows downed cows repeatedly being shocked with electric prods to get them to stand, as livestock that cannot are not supposed to be sold for food.

Some of the animals have gruesome eye injuries, or try to drag themselves on their knees across the ground. A calf is kicked repeatedly in the head. I honestly wept, as I watched the suffering of these creatures. How can we, if we say we love our animal companions, turn our back on other species?

I love steak, but I honestly think this is it for me. I haven't eaten veal for 20 years, due to how veal calves are raised. Now I may add all beef to the list.
How do the rest of you juggle the reality of meat and poultry production with animal welfare issues?

Here is the Humane Society video.

> Discuss this entry

This from the wires this afternoon. There are 13 Petco stores in South Florida.

Petco Warehouse Raided for Unsanitary Conditions, U.S. FDA Says

2008 Bloomberg News!
By Catherine Larkin
June 19 (Bloomberg) -- Petco Animal Supplies Inc., the second-largest U.S. pet-store chain, had an Illinois distribution center raided by U.S. Marshals because animal food products were stored under unsanitary conditions, regulators said.

The Food and Drug Administration requested the seizure of animal food susceptible to rodent and pest contamination from Petco’s Joliet, Illinois, distribution center, the agency said today in an e-mailed statement. The center serves retail stores in 16 states, according to the FDA.

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Sophia and friend Holly Tweed

Sophia the dachshund had been missing from the Surgine family's farm outside Clermont for three days when one morning, Angela Surgine heard a moan. From underground.

It turns out her pooch had fallen 16 feet to the bottom of a gopher tortoise hole. Sophia had been lying there for days without food or water.

Click here to read today's story about Sophia's amazing rescue.

(Orlando Sentinel photo by Hilda M. Perez)

> Discuss this entry

Workers at a Evansville, In. recycling plant last week discovered a live 6-month-old puppy in the middle of 6,000 pounds of cardboard they were unloading off a truck.

They said the mixed breed dog somehow survived the truck's compacting mechanism that repeatedly crushes the cardboard with 35,000 pounds of pressure.

No one knows if the pup deliberately was sealed in a box and thrown in a dumpster, or if she fell into a trash bin on her own.

Click here to see the video from NBC-2, in Fort Myers.

> Discuss this entry

This update on the Christine Abrams case from Ann Hellmuth, who does the Orlando Sentinel’s “Animal Crazy” blog. The rally demanding the maximum possible penalty for Abrams went on today as planned, although Abrams’ next court date has been delayed until next week.

I also included a couple of photos from the protest, by Sentinel staff photographer Ricardo Ramirez-Buxeda.

From Ann:
Nearly 50 people protested outside the Brevard State Attorneys Office early Tuesday, urging prosecutors to seek the stiffest penalty possible for a Cocoa woman accused of leaving her 2-year-old German shepherd to die in a locked crate without food and water.
Carrying signs bearing a picture of the dog Ella, with wings and a halo above her head, the group presented State Attorney Norm Wolfinger with a petition signed by more than 3,700 people.

The petition asks that the state not negotiate a plea with Christine Abrams, who is facing two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, punishable by up to a year in the county jail and a $5,000 fine.

Abrams' attorney, who is trying to get most of the evidence tossed out, also has indicated that he hopes to work out a deal so she can avoid jail time. Her next court date is June 27.

Back to me:
One thing that bugged me today...
I noticed, on the Orlando Sentinel's comment board, several posters suggesting that the protestors at this rally were narrow-minded wackos who cared only about animals, ignoring "more important" issues of child abuse, poverty and the homeless.

How does that figure?

Seems to me that most people who feel empathy for animals are so moved because they understand that they are creatures without a voice. Animals need and deserve our respect and support -- just like kids and other populations (like the mentally ill) that society would rather ignore. I was proud to see teenagers at this rally, with their pets and their signs. We need more of this, not less, in the world.

There still is time to send letters to the Brevard-Seminole Attorney's office and the Brevard courts if you want to express your feelings about this case.
Click here for the site that is collecting petitions.

And you can keep reading if you want to see the full Orlando Sentinel story on today's rally.

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This just in from Associated Press:

However, only six years were for the dogs. Marijuana charges earned him the rest of the sentence. Makes you wonder what would have happened to the animal cruelty charges if drugs weren’t involved.

DOGFIGHTER TIED TO MICHAEL VICK GETS 13-PLUS YEARS.
APNewsNow

CINCINNATI (AP) — A man who authorities say sometimes refereed fights involving former NFL star Michael Vick’s dog-fighting operation has been sentenced to 13 1/2 years in prison.

Authorities say Terry Kendrick bred fighting dogs in the basement of his Cincinnati home and had connections to dog-fighting from New York to Florida to Texas.

Judge Robert Ruehlman said photographs and videos showed mauled dogs and blood-stained rings.
Ruehlman sentenced Kendrick to six years for dog-fighting and seven-and-a-half more years for marijuana trafficking. Kendrick apologized in court Monday.

Vick is a former Atlanta Falcons quarterback serving a 23-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to federal charges. He still faces state dogfighting charges in Virginia.

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The court hearing for Christine Abrams, the central Florida woman accused of starving her dog Ella to death, has been rescheduled from this Tuesday to June 27. The delay apparently was due to the Abrams’ attorney, Andrew Stine of West Palm Beach, asking that some evidence be barred from the case, as police did not have permission to break into Abrams’ vacated house.

Abrams and Ella

Abrams had left Ella behind, locked in her crate without food and water, after she moved out, saying her new roommate did not want pets. Neighbors, concerned about a foul odor coming from the home about two months after Abrams left, looked in the windows and saw the dead German shepherd, then called police.

Animal rights group plan to continue with a protest scheduled for 8 am, Tuesday, in front of the Brevard County Courthouse in Viera. They are outraged that Abrams is being charged only with two misdemeanors, rather than felony animal cruelty. Prosecutors have said state laws don’t consider depriving an animal of food and water a felony offense.

Keep reading for an email I received today from Holly, of Fight Against Cruelty, about the rally and the group’s position on why prosecutors should proceed with felony cruelty charges.

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The Humane Society of the United States today (May 28) announced it will give a $5,000 reward to people who report illegal animal fighting in Florida. The offer applies to those who blow the whistle on cockfighting as well as dog fighting.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum was present at the announcement – as was Winston, a black pit bull formerly used as bait to train fighting dogs.

Winston, former bait dog

Floridians convicted of dog fighting can face five years in jail and a $1,000 fine.
To report dog fighting, call your local CrimeStoppers program or the Humane Society at 202-452-1100.

Seems like one good thing that came out of the Michael Vick case is that awareness has been raised about this cruel practice. Any other thoughts?

My only other comment is: If you don’t know your local CrimeStoppers number (I sure don’t), call the police. This is a crime, not something that is none of your business.

Here is the AP story. (Photo by Associated Press)

By BILL KACZOR"
Associated Press Writer"
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Winston, the black pit bull, is gentle and happy in his new home, his adoptive family says.
But when animal officials confiscated him from a fighting ring last July he was emaciated, covered with scars and had two fractures in his right front leg and heart worms. Authorities said Winston was used as “bait” to train fighting dogs.

The Humane Society of the United States used the pit bull Wednesday during its announcement of a $5,000 reward program for reporting illegal animal fighting in Florida.
The reward program, offered nationally, will be paid out of donations that have poured in after the arrest of former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick.

Vick is serving 23 months in federal prison after admitting he helped run a dogfighting ring out of his Virginia home and executed dogs that performed poorly.
“It says a lot about our society when people are still getting entertainment out of two animals ripping each other apart,” said Laura Bevan, the Humane Society’s southeast regional director.

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Airports -- they're not just for airplanes anymore.

Miami International Airport is considering a proposal to build a pet hotel on the property, according to a story today by Local10- WPLG. Travelers would be able to drop off their dogs or cats on their way out of town, then pick them up on their way back home.

Airport-based pet hotels have been moneymakers in Jacksonville, Fl. and Minneapolis-Saint Paul. The Miami-Dade County Commission will discuss the idea on June 3.

Click here for Local10's complete report.

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Christine Abrams, the Central Florida woman accused of leaving her white German shepherd Ella locked in a crate without food or water after she moved out of her house, was in court last week on animal cruelty charges. Her attorney say Abrams, 29, hopes for a plea deal so she can avoid jail time.

Abrams and Ella

Ella died in her crate, a bag of dog food nearby, after Abrams never returned for her, saying her new roommate did not like pets. Neighbors saw the dead dog through the window about two months after Abrams had left and called police.

Amazingly, Abrams is charged with two misdemeanors -- not felonies. Petitions have come from as far away as India and Australia, demanding the harshest penalty possible. Click here to join the petition drive.

A Web site, Voices for Ella, can be found here.
T-shirts and buttons promoting the prevention of animal cruelty are being sold, although I am not sure exactly who this benefits.

Here is the latest Orlando Sentinel story on Abram's case:

Brevard dog-abuse case stirs reaction worldwide
Animal lovers worldwide push for harsh penalty in Brevard

Laurin Sellers | Sentinel Staff Writer
May 23, 2008
COCOA - Nobody knows how long it took Ella to die.

What is known is that the 2-year-old white German shepherd died while waiting for her owner to come home, locked in a crate without food and water for weeks. And that has enraged animal lovers worldwide.

Since Christine Abrams' arrest March 13 on an animal-cruelty charge, thousands of people from as far away as India and Australia have signed petitions and sent letters to Brevard-Seminole State Attorney Norm Wolfinger, demanding the harshest penalty possible.

Some have suggested that Abrams should suffer the same plight as her pet: Two months in a cage. Two months without food or water.

Dressed in all black and dabbing her eyes, Abrams, 29, sat silent in a Viera courtroom Thursday. Her attorney told a judge he intends to propose a plea deal to keep his client out of jail.

Another court hearing was scheduled for June 17.

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Palm Beach County animal control officers yesterday removed 59 dogs, five parrots and a horse from the property of a man living west of Boca Raton. (Click here for the story). The animals were crammed into cages so small they could not properly stand up, and some were covered with wounds and bite marks.

James Marinakis claimed he was a breeder – someone who was trying to create a super breed of dog called a Centurion.
It also turns out he has been cited before for animal cruelty, and has a history with county animal officers that goes back 10 years.

So... is this guy anything that resembles a breeder? Is he running a puppy mill? Or is he an animal "hoarder?"
And what exactly does the county, and the state, require in order for someone to call him or herself a breeder?

I’m sure some responsible breeders and knowledgeable types out there can answer these questions for me.

Also: A poster to the news story mentioned a great Web site that I use, too: Pet-Abuse.com. Click here to see if anyone your neighborhood might be in their database, or see what's going on with important abuse court cases.

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Nothing like a constantly barking dog to drive you berserko. The solution for one Oakland Park 23-year-old guy? He's in jail, without bond, on charges that he shot and killed his neighbor's mixed-breed Boxer because the dog's constant baking interfered with his studying. Click here for the full story.

But BarkingDogs.net, an extensive online resource dedicated to what it calls "the barking epidemic," has its own suggestion:
Shame 'em on YouTube. Use a camcorder, not a gun.

The advantages of this method?

You can vividly show your neighbor's dog in all his full, barking glory -- and send it to everyone you know. Like your city council members, law enforcement, other neighbors and, of course, the dog's owner.

Not to mention you avoid jail time.

Here's an example. Think this would work?

Here's the link to YouTube's Barking Dog Video Group.

Yes, this problem is annoying so many of us, it has its own group.

By the way: Turns out dogs taking a bullet for sounding off isn't that uncommon. Just a quick search turned up three stories of people, driven over the brink by incessant barking, who went gunning for their neighbor's pets.

Isn't this the owner's fault? Yet BarkingDogs.net claims that people who try to deal with the barking issue by going through the legal system rarely get satisfaction.

Here's: "Barking dog shot, killed outside its home." (Staten Island, NY. July 2007)

And here's: "Dog shot dead by neighbor because of barking." (Atlantic Beach, NY. March 2006)

And: "Man arrested for allegedly shooting barking dog." (Albuquerque, NM. January 2005)

Feel free to share your own tales of "barking hell."

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Consultants from the National Animal Control Association (NACA) will begin a week-long review of Broward County's troubled Animal Care and Regulation division today, Monday, May 5. The team will look at all of the agency's operations, including sheltering, adoptions, field operations and euthanasia procedures.

County commissioners approved an outside review earlier this year after hearing complaints that dogs and cats were being euthanized in front of other animals, and that carcasses were being thrown into the landfill.

Individuals and organizations can submit comments to the NACA by e-mail at naca@nacanet.org or by calling 913-768-1319, extension 6.

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Good to read a disaster story that ends well…
A Springer spaniel was found alive in the rubble of a building that had exploded eight days earlier. The pup’s whimpering alerted rescue workers that she was alive.

Here’s the story from the Associated Press, via the Arizona Star in Tuscon.

Dog survives 8 days trapped in rubble after Colorado explosion
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. — A dog was found alive and in relatively good shape after spending eight days trapped in the rubble of a building that exploded, critically injuring the pup's owner.
Lulu, a Springer spaniel, was rescued Sunday after the owner of the business that had been housed in the two-story building heard her whimpering.
"We turned off the radio and started calling out Lulu's name. Then we heard some yelping," Brian Hold, owner of Good Times Adventures, told the Summit Daily News in Tuesday's editions.

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Army Staff Sgt. Donald Tabb and Master Sgt. Bo, a black Labrador retriever, were a team serving a military detail in Iraq. Both were riding in a vehicle two months ago when it was hit by a bomb. Tabb died in the blast but Bo survived, although wounded near his left eye.

Now Bo is being honorably discharged -- and given to his deceased partner's family, who live outside of Atlanta. The military is all Bo has known. Here is wishing him a swift adjustment to the peaceful civilian life he deserves.

Click here to read the full story in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
(photo of Bo and Willie Smith, Tabb's brother, by Jason Getz of the AJC.)

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ConsumerAffairs.com, which tracks recalls and takes consumer complaints, has just posted a report that claims NUTRO pet food is causing dogs and cats across the country to have diarrhea, vomiting and other digestive problems.
Click here to read the full story.

The Web site, which has been critical of the pet food industry, said it came to the conclusion after examining reports submitted by pet-owning readers. However, others said they were satisfied with the products.
Several veterinarians interviewed said many things can cause GI problems in pets. While food ingredients or formulation could be one, so could changes in diet or other health issues, they said.

NUTRO spokespeople said their products had passed quality assurance standards and meet standards set by the FDA. There have been no recalls. Concerned consumers can contact the company here or by calling 800-833-5330.

Have you had good or bad experiences with NUTRO foods?

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When wildlife blunders into suburbia, the animals seldom win.

Police shot a cougar roaming in a Chicago North Side neighborhood Monday. The officers said they decided to kill it, rather than use a tranquilizer gun, saying such animals can be difficult to knock out and move.

Instead, the cougar – or at least its skeleton – will be relocated to the city’s huge Field Museum, which specializes in natural history exhibits. Reminds me of the “nuisance” alligators that end up deported from the landscape ponds in our western subdivisions to the handbag factory. Hey, didn’t this used to be their turf?

Of course, there haven’t been cougars near Chicago for more than 100 years. Turns out this one was not an escaped exotic pet, as originally suspected, but appears to be a wild animal that somehow migrated from the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Here’s the complete story.
(Tribune photo by Candice Cusic)

Cougar killed in Chicago may have journeyed from South Dakota!
By Robert Mitchum and Jeremy Manier
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — The voyage may sound improbable, but wildlife officials say that a DNA test should reveal whether a cougar killed Monday in Chicago took a 1,000-mile trip from the Black Hills of South Dakota through Wisconsin before being shot by police in the Roscoe Village neighborhood.
On Tuesday, veterinarians performed a necropsy, an autopsy for animals, on the cougar at the Cook County Animal & Rabies Control facility in Bridgeview. Early evidence indicated that the cougar was of wild origin, rather than an escaped captive, and samples were taken for comparison to blood that a cougar left in January in Milton, Wis.
DNA analysis suggested that the Wisconsin animal was most similar to those who live in South Dakota, and experts say it may be the same specimen that eventually strayed into the city.
“It’s intriguing to think it may end up being the one that was here in Wisconsin,” said Doug Fendry, an area wildlife supervisor for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

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