2nd (almost) Annual Dog Pool Party

Attention all dogs and their people who live in Wilmington, DE and surrounding areas...

Plan now to attend the upcoming Doggie Pool Party on Sunday, September 16th from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. (with a one-hour rain delay if necessary).

Suggested donation of $10.00 for one dog and $15.00 for two dogs

It will be held at the Graylyn Crest Swim Club located on Marsh Rd. between Silverside and Grubb and convenient to I-95 and Naamans Road.

More details and info soon.

Former Hokie goin to the Pokey !

Michael Vick's lawyer said today the NFL star will plead guilty to federal dogfighting conspiracy charges, putting the Atlanta Falcons quarterback's career in jeopardy and leaving him subject to a possible prison term. The offense is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, although federal sentencing guidelines most likely would call for less. Vick's plea hearing is Aug. 27.

Vick Jerseys Used To Clean Kennels

This article is copyrighted so I can't post it here, but click on the above link to read it.

Additionally, it would be great if students, alumni and fans of Virginia Tech gathered up his "retired" VT jerseys - # 7 - and donated them to a local animal shelter. Here are two shelters close to the VT campus:

Montgomery County Animal Control/Shelter
434 Cinnabar Road
Christiansburg VA
(540) 382-5795

The Humane Society of Montgomery County (no-kill)
1183 Flanagan Dr.
Christiansburg, VA 24073
(540) 382-1166

An Open Letter to Michael Vick

Thank you Peter for expressing what so many of us think and feel about Vick.

From Peter Shankman, an Entrepreneur, an Adventurist, and the CEO of The Geek Factory, a PR and Marketing boutique firm in New York City.

Dear Mr. Vick:

It would have been very simple to write a brief mention of you, noting that I hope you get the book thrown at you, hoping you get abused and beaten in prison, tortured and eventually left to die just like the animals on whom you wagered… But what would that accomplish?

Rather, I write this, not so much that I hope you’ll read it, but rather, on the chance that millions of other people will see it, and feel the anger, the absolute rage, the disgust that I share the same title as “human being” with something as foul as yourself.

I write this because you’ve failed, Mr. Vick.

You've failed as a person.

You’ve failed as an example to children and adults the world over.

You’ve failed as a sportsman.

You’ve failed as a human being.

You had everything. You had “the life.” You had “the image.” You had the endorsements, you had the backing of the fans. You literally had the world at your feet. You had the gift of being one of the most talented athletes in the world, good enough to earn a $100 million dollar contract with the Atlanta Falcons. You had “Star Quarterback” labeled on you wherever you went.

In fact, the only thing you seemed to be missing was compassion.

You took everything that you had, and rather than do something good with it, thought it better to kill animals for your own amusement.

I’ll say that again. Mr Vick, you are an animal murderer. You sir, murder animals, and you do it under the guise of “sport.”

There is nothing sporting about making animals kill each other for your own personal amusement, Mr. Vick.

You sicken me.

For what reason, Mr. Vick, would you do this? You didn’t need the money. You could have gone to Vegas if you felt the need to gamble. You could have taken drugs if you needed a high.

Instead, you felt the need to murder animals. Animals that had no ability to save themselves. They couldn’t call their assistants to bring the limo around when they wanted to go home. They didn’t have the ability to call a time-out and regroup. They had to fight until they were dead, or so bloody and injured that they prayed for death.

And you gave them death. According to the Associated Press, your dogfighting ring allegedly executed underperforming pit bulls by hanging, electrocution or other brutal means, including slamming them into the ground until they were dead.

Well done, Mr. Vick. Your mother must be so proud of you. The NFL must be thrilled to have you among their ranks. Except that you were uninvited to training camp. So it looks like they’re not.

With a $100 million dollar contract, you couldn’t purchase one person to be a part of your entourage with any soul? Anyone who could have said, “you know, not only is this illegal, but it’s also terribly cruel. Why would you want to get involved in this?”

And don’t give me any stories about how it’s what they do in the projects, or it’s how you were raised, or it’s your culture, or your socio-influence. I simply don’t care. Hurting animals, deliberately, and for your own sick pleasure is wrong. Nothing you can say, can ever, ever, justify that.

Someone in your camp asked how this is any different than a celebrity getting busted for having Cocaine in her pockets… I’ll explain how, Mr. Vick. If a celebrity wants to blow lines until his or her heart explodes, he or she is free to do that. In fact, if they die, it’s probably more proof that Darwin was right. They’re not torturing and murdering animals in the process.

You, however, hurt those that did nothing to you. You didn’t hurt yourself when you forced animals to fight to their deaths. You didn’t hurt yourself when you shoved electrical wires up the anus’s of dogs who didn’t perform “well enough” for you.

But now, Mr. Vick, you’ve hurt yourself.

Nike has dropped you.

Reebok has dropped you.

Upper Deck has dropped you and removed your cards from unsold packs.

No training camp for you.

Your “buddy,” another heartless being, Tony Taylor, turned on you, copped a plea, and is helping the government build a case against you.

Your teammates are saying very scripted things, like “he hasn’t been convicted yet,” and “it’s an unfortunate situation.”

You know what those lines are called in the PR world?

They’re called “distancing one’s self from the situation.”

How does it feel to be a pariah?

Chances are really, really good that you’re going to wind up in jail, Mr. Vick.

And it’s not going to be a quick 15-day-sentence, either.

You’re looking at hard time, Mr. Vick.

Years, possibly. Your career is more than likely over.

I mean, honestly – who would want you, knowing what you do behind closed doors for “amusement?”

They say the universe tends to work itself out as it should. Looks to me, as your friends turn on you, as all your sources of income dry up, and as you’re left out to rot, on your own, with no friends, no team, and no entourage to back you, that the universe is working out just the way it should, indeed.

Perhaps in prison, you’ll learn something about compassion. Perhaps it’ll come at the hands of someone bigger than you one night when the guards aren’t there to protect you. Perhaps someone with an electric plug will teach you about compassion, about love, about feelings, about caring.

Or perhaps you’ll be in so much pain, you’ll be unable to learn. And then you too, just like the dogs you murdered, will pray for death.

But then, it seems to me, as you take stock of the complete one-hundred-eighty degree turn your life has taken in the past fourteen days, you might already be doing that.

The NAACP is wrong about the Vick case - it is not a "racial" issue

Floyd Boudreaux, considered the "Godfather" of dog fighting, is white. So is Guy Boudreaux. So is Darren P. Williams from Franklinton, LA who goes on trial next week. And so are many many more of those responsible for the long tragic history of this form of animal cruelty.

Floyd and Guy Boudreaux's dog fighting kingdom was finally broken in March 2005 thanks to the work of Jeff Dorson of the Humane Society of Louisiana. Jeff even went undercover at dog fights - something that we who care deeply about the welfare of animals would find very difficult if not impossible.

Boudreaux dogs are the foundation of some of the most prominent fighting lines in existence today.

Vick is a black redneck.

A black redneck animal abusing criminal.

The following editorial by Drew Sharp in the Detroit Free Press sums it up perfectly.

NAACP is out of line in Vick case
July 31, 2007
BY DREW SHARP
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

The NAACP should just remain quiet.

The civil rights organization's Atlanta chapter came to Michael Vick's defense Monday, chastising those rushing to judge the embattled Atlanta Falcons quarterback before he has fully exhausted the criminal court process. But in its rush for sufficient camera time, the NAACP conveniently forgot that nobody has compromised Vick's constitutional or civil rights.

If the NAACP demands involvement in Vick's legal and career difficulties, it should concentrate on shedding more public light on the sadistic subculture of dogfighting and possibly how prominent the role of the millionaire black athlete is in this disgusting practice. It should question its own hypocrisy in having no critical complaint whatsoever with Vick and other high-profile black athletes making millions off the exploitation of financially challenged black kids who must have the right athletic shoe even if it costs 200 bucks, but then rips Nike for severing ties with Vick last week simply because Nike buckled from intense public pressure after the dogfighting charges.

There's a corporate lesson here that even the most morally vacuous business organization still has limits to its tolerance.

The NAACP should look at the Vick investigation as the impetus for looking deeper within itself and demand similar introspection from its constituency. Merely framing Vick's self-inflicted legal and career difficulties as a budding racial conflict is counterproductive.

Vick's problems involve race only from the human race perspective.

"If Mr. Vick is guilty," Atlanta NAACP chapter president R.L. Price said during a news briefing Monday morning, "he should pay for his crime. But to treat him as he's being treated now is also a crime."

The NAACP, in this regard, is guilty of that comfortable "picking on the brother" mentality that perpetuates a culture bent toward reflexively painting itself as the perpetual victim of social injustice.

Vick doesn't need the NAACP watching his back.

He's getting his due process more than the average defendant. Does every defendant have access to one of the country's premier criminal defensive attorneys, Billy Martin? Does every defendant have access to powerful public relations firms commissioned to soften a hardened national image before he faces trial in November?

The constitutional protection of "innocent until proven guilty" pertains exclusively to government criminal accusations. That's it. It has absolutely no legal bearing on a private employer, such as the NFL, Nike or Reebok, that bases its business judgments on public consumption. That requires keeping a hand on the pulse of public opinion, and that's a court where a lesser standard of character evaluation weighs heavily in the final assessment.
It's been nearly two weeks since the Feds indicted Vick and his associates on dogfighting conspiracy charges, but it's only now that the NAACP felt compelled to render its thoughts. What took it so long? I hope it's not because it was blindsided by the spreading national outrage over animal cruelty.

It's personally revolting listening to those questioning the tremendous outpouring of contempt as "they're only dogs, not people."
There's a singular distaste surrounding the alleged depravity listed in the federal indictment that separates this criminal investigation from the other high-exposure cases like Kobe Bryant and the Duke lacrosse rape allegations.

Whether or not you believe his story, Bryant's defense was that it was consensual sex with a hotel employee.

Did the pit bulls buried on Vick's property offer their consent for such perverse manipulation?
The NAACP has successfully positioned itself as a defender of the defenseless, but in this particular case, it missed the mark.

Contact DREW SHARP at 313-223-4055 or dsharp@freepress.com.

Howie is Reunited

Thanks to the work of several volunteers, Howie the funny looking little chihuaua mix is now back with Betty, his loving owner.

Eileen, a volunteer from Wisconsin had been seaching for Howie since the fall of 2005; due to Betty's determination and Eileen's compassion, they never gave up. Eileen recently flew from Wisconsin to New Orleans for the reunion, but then ended up flying from New Orleans to Oklahoma to pick up Howie and fly him back to New Orleans and deliver him to a very grateful Betty, when the original transport plans changed.

Thanks Eileen!

And thanks spiritsmom for posting Howie/Louie and the thousands of other found and rescued Katrina pets on your Flickr site!!

Please work to get a spay/neuter bill passed in your state

A friend of mine from Texas who made countless rescue trips to New Orleans post-Katrina sent me this video made by fellow-Katrina rescuer from California.

If you work or volunteer for a good shelter, or one that is "no-kill"* , then consider, along with a group of like-minded friends, adopting/sponsoring a very bad shelter in the south. You can help write grant applications for low-cost spay-neuter; arrange for spay/neuter clinics; work with local schools and arrange for humane education and much more.

To simply continue pulling death row dogs out of the horrific shelters in the south and importing them to the north and Midwest is akin to trying to stop a levee breach with a few sandbags. It obviously helps those dogs and cats saved and adopted into happy new homes, but for all the time and energy expended by hundreds of caring people around the country, and the tens of thousands of gallons of gas used in transporting these animals from one place to another, it does not stem the tide - the cause of the problem is not being addressed or affected in any way.

Regardless of how archaic a local animal control or shelter may be, there are intelligent, compassionate and humane people who live in that town or parish who want the same for the animals as you do. A good first step is to work with local residents to put and end to the use of gas chambers to euthanize animals.

There can be a balance between rescuing/saving those that can be adopted elsewhere and working toward ending the suffering for the others left behind and those not yet born.

Jake, the 911 and Katrina rescue dog, dies

To the person who got rid of their cat near my house

Sunday morning I walked with my dogs to the small wooded area two blocks up the street from my house. At the edge of this area, almost directly under the large Verizon platform, sat a small animal carrier. I felt instant dread as I walked around to the front to look inside, expecting the worst. But the small metal door was open and inside was only an empty can of cat food, dirty newspapers and bowl full of water.

So, to the person who thought this was the responsible way to get rid of this cat:

NO

It Was Not.

Did you leave this cat in my neighborhood because you assumed and hoped it would not find its way back "home?"

I pray it didn't try to, only to be disposed of again.

Could you not wait till Monday when the SPCA re-opened?

Did you call the Humane Association to see if they could take the cat on Sunday, the same day you dumped it?

Or are you one of those pet owners who does not feel that you should have to donate/pay a fee when you want to get rid of one of your pets?

Do you believe that any shelter should be thankful to have your unwanted cat or dog and therefore, it's a personal affront to be asked to make a small donation for this?

It's unlikely that this was a feral cat because anyone re-releasing a feral would know what they were doing; it would have been released directly from a trap after being altered and not from a dirty carrier that was left there.

I really wonder what you were thinking?

That the opened carrier would protect your no-longer wanted cat from the ferals who live around there, or the raccoons or foxes who live well within smell-range of this carrier?

I pray that this was an indoor-outdoor cat and is able to survive until one of us can find it or it finds one of us.

Puppies are Biodegradable

The FUEL Gallery in Old City, Philadelphia held the opening of an art show entitled Puppies are Biodegradable on Friday evening. The Gallery is a great space for any art show, and this one was well curated toward the goal of making people aware of the horrific conditions of puppy mills.

In addition to the art, there were tables were set up around the Gallery with literature from the ASPCA, HSUS, PETA and some local groups working to end this Canine Auschwitz.

Yes - puppy mills have always reminded me of concentration camps - the poor dogs live out their lives completely neglected and abused - barely alive at all - and their lives are then ended by being incinerated. Dogs - the most social of all animals and our closest companions - are made to suffer in unimaginable ways....ways that are closer to torture than just neglect.
The title of the show was inspired by comments made during a 2005 Lancaster County zoning board hearing when a dog breeder was asked what happens to unsold dogs. He said they were "exterminated" and their carcasses spread over fields as fertilizer. "They are biodegradable," he said.
I do believe that we can make an impact on puppy mills if we focus our collective energies and pick our battles. This is essential as there are many animal lovers who feel that any dog breeder is evil and that all dog breeding must end.

This will never happen so I believe it's a waste of time and energy trying to fight all breeding and make the good ones the enemy.

There are many very good breeders who produce small quantities of healthy and highly socialized puppies. The quality of life among these dogs and puppies is good. The bitches and stud dogs are family pets. Many of these breeders hold the belief that most potential buyers of their puppies do not measure up and are rejected; they are very picky about who gets their puppies.

Additionally, they usually do this out of a deep love of a particular breed and not for profit...there are many easier ways to make a lot more money. A good breeder stipulates that all puppies be spayed/neutered.

These reputable breeders are not the enemy.

Those who operate puppy mills are the enemy, but I believe we can make an impact. Pet shops selling puppy mill dogs (which is what most pet shops sell) can be boycotted and prospective puppy buyers can be educated and enlightened. Humane societies, SPCA's and rescue groups can work together in their local communities.

Even if there are no puppy mills near you, there is a good chance there are backyard breeders whose dogs live in similar conditions to those in commercial puppy mills.

Here are some websites that are helping...

Prisoners of Greed
Millbusters
United Against Puppy Mills
Stop Puppy Mills
North Penn Puppy Mill Watch
New Jersey Consumers Against Pet Shop Abuse

MasterTank & Nila- Reunion videos

Click on above link to view a video of Master Tank and Nila happy once again at home with their people.

And here for another one.

Tiger the Miracle Kitty

This is an unbelievable story; a tear-jerker; one that will make you cry and smile and have hope once again. And it's because of two selfless and very caring people - Denise, the cat reunion coordinator extradinoire for NALB and Jessica B., a resident of St. Bernard Parish.

This is the story:

Tiger was one of the many thousands of cats lost in the aftermath of Katrina. He lived with his family in the Lexington subdivision in St. Bernard Parish and was never found after Katrina; never showed up on Petfinder or anywhere else. Being a young (6 months old at the time) and declawed cat, there seemed to be little hope for a happy ending.

On May 22, 2007 (!!) Jessica felt the need to get out of the house. Well, out of the FEMA trailer where she's living with her cousin. Her drive took her down Judge Perez, through Violet and to the Lexington subdivision where she drove around. One her way back out she noticed a small cat sitting in an empty lot, and continued to sit there as she approached. She said, "Unlike most animals that have been out there for so long, he didn't run. He let me approach him."
Jessica picked up the starved, dehydraded little thing who was covered in sores but still wearing his blue collar, and took him to her mother's house. She decided that she was going to find this guy's owner and get him home.

Tiger was one of the many cats that Denise had helped search for/reunite beginning in 2005, so when Jessica sent her the photos, and told her that he was found in an empty lot just outside the Lexington subdivision, and wearing the blue collar, Denise knew that this must be Tiger and sent the photos to Lisa, Tiger's owner.

Lisa and her daughters drove to Chalmette to meet Jessica and knew that the ragged little cat was in fact their Tiger. They were all overjoyed, but perhaps no one more than Tiger - as soon as was back in the lap of his young companion, he started rubbing his head all over her and hasn't stopped.

He was been seen by a vet and in spite of being very thin and weak, flea-ridden, covered in sores, and with one of his back paws split with raw skin exposed - he was free of diseases and should recover just fine. He is curled up in his new bed and purring away. And probably sleeping deeply and well for the first time in 21 months.

Tiger never wandered far from home, waiting and hoping for his people to come back. He was very much loved before Katrina, and deeply missed for the past 21 months and is finally basking in that love again.














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Master Tank & Nila

A Family Reunited

Master Tank and Nila Going Home!!!

May 22, 2007

Katrina dogs being returned

TAMPA — A settlement has been reached in the long-running dispute over the fate of two dogs rescued after being stranded during Hurricane Katrina, according to an attorney for the dogs’ owners.

Steven and Dorreen Couture of St. Bernard Parish, La., have reached an agreement with both the women who adopted their dogs, said Murray Silverstein, who represents the Coutures.
The Coutures had gone to court to regain both dogs, which were picked up after the hurricane and brought to Tampa Bay by the Humane Society of Pinellas County.

One dog, a St. Bernard named Master Tank, was adopted by Hillsborough assistant state attorney Pam Bondi, who re-named it Noah. Rhonda Rineker of Dunedin adopted the other dog, a shepherd mix named Nila.

One of the dogs has been returned already and the second is expected to be returned Tuesday, Silverstein said.

-- By Demorris Lee, Times Staff Writer

Jack Russell terrier saves lives of 5 children

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – A plucky Jack Russell terrier named George saved five children from two marauding pit bulls, but was so severely mauled in the fight that it had to be put down, its owner said Wednesday.

George was playing with the group of children as they returned home from buying sweets at a neighborhood shop in the small North Island town of Manaia last Sunday when the two pit bulls appeared and lunged toward them, Allan Gay said.

"George was brave – he took them on and he's not even a foot high," Gay told The Associated Press. "He jumped in on them, he tried to keep them off.

"If it wasn't for George, those kids would have copped it."

One of the children, Richard Rosewarne, 11, was quoted in the Taranaki Daily News on Wednesday as saying George fought with the pit bulls to keep them off his 4-year-old brother, Darryl.

"George tried to protect us by barking and rushing at them, but they started to bite him – one on the head and the other on the back," Rosewarne said. "We ran off crying and some people saw what was happening and rescued George."

But George was so badly mauled that a veterinarian had to put him down, Gay said.
South Taranaki District Council official Graham Young said the two pit bulls had been impounded, and likely would be put down because of the attack.

In New Zealand, owners of dogs judged to be too aggressive can be required to have them neutered and dogs involved in attacks are destroyed.

Tainted pet foods = tarnished pet food industry

With rice and corn products now found to be contaminated with melamine, along with the wheat gluten, and this becomes more and more alarming, it now seems as if the only solution is for all of us to make our own pet food, thereby not only keeping our pets safe, but also creating an incidental boycott of all pet food companies. The burden of responsibility needs to be put on them to test and inspect their ingredients much more carefully and be able to assure us of the safety of their products.

There are estimated to be 68 million cats and dogs in the United States. It would not take very long for the economic impact of a boycott, resulting in our collective need to keep our pets safe, to wake up every pet food manufacturer who will in turn demand better quality control from their distributors.

Prayers to the families and friends of those killed at Virginia Tech

Like everyone else, I can't find the words to express my horror, sadness and outrage at yesterday's events at Virginia Tech. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this tragedy - the parents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, and friends of the victims; the faculty, students, staff and alumni of Virginia Tech, and the people of Blacksburg.

I heard on NPR this afternoon that Korean-Americans are worried about possible violence against them and their community.

I pray too that this does not happen.

The gunman was a very disturbed young man who just happened to be Korean.

Most of the mass murders and shooting sprees in this country have been by crazy white men yet there are no attacks or threats of violence against them individually or as a group in the aftermaths of any of the other mass horrors.

This brings back very dark memories of the shootings 15 years ago at my beloved University of Iowa. I had spent three years there as a graduate student and was preparing to return. The gunman was a Chinese student who shot six people, killing five including four Physics professors, one of them the husband of a friend of mine. He also left a beautiful young woman paralyzed from the neck down. The Chinese community was not blamed or punished for this nor were Chinese students victims of violence or harassment.

With deepest sympathy and hope for healing.

Wow

I had one of those wow! moments like in that commercial where all those people look at something amazing and say "wow."

I was out walking my dogs and saw a fox on my neighbor's front lawn across the street. I stopped and stared at it and it stared back. I said out loud to no one (to the dogs?) wow!

The dogs however were oblivious. Which is a good thing because if they had seen the fox they would have started to bark and pull on the leashes and act like the little fools they act like when they see another dog or a cat or a squirrel. Well, at least Murphy. Ruby usually acts more like the dignified old lady she is, but Murphy jumps and whines and acts as if he's never before seen another dog or cat or squirrel.

So this beautiful fox and I just stood there staring at each other, with nothing more than a narrow residential street separating us. It didn't run and it didn't even look scared or nervous.
It just stood and watched me as I was watching it (I wasn't close enough to see if it was a male or female but it seemed large for a fox).

Wow !

When the dogs finally let me know it was time to continue our walk (their walk) I felt great sadness thinking about how anyone could hunt and kill these beautiful animals. Sadly I live in an area that has a long history of fox hunting.

Pet Food Recall - please read & pass on