Animal shelter information for San Diego fire evacuees

The San Diego Humane Society's Animal Rescue Reserve (ARR) team is currently working with the County of San Diego Department of Animal Services to evacuate domestic animals and livestock threatened by the Harris and Witch Creek fires with first priority being given to evacuation areas in Rancho Bernardo. Over the last two days, officers, staff and volunteers have evacuated more than 400 animals and are actively assisting more than 1,000 animals at our shelter locations throughout the county. However, experts estimate that between 10,000-15,000 animals have been displaced countywide.

Currently we are not able to assist or escort individuals into burned areas. All resources are active at this time in areas needing immediate evacuation.

If you have animals or livestock that you cannot evacuate yourself or that need to be rescued, call (619) 236-4250 and press "1" for emergency services.

The San Diego Humane Society is asking for donations of the following items:

-Cash donations to support rescue efforts

-Pop-up tents for shade and shelter

-Lead ropes for livestock

-Broodmore halters

Cash donations can be made online at www.sdhumane.org or by calling (619) 299-7012. Items may be brought directly to the San Diego Humane Society campus at 5500 Gaines Street.

Volunteers are not needed at this time, but the San Diego Humane Society is keeping a list of names for people interested in helping.

If you have a stable or other areas that can house a number of large animals and livestock that need to be evacuated, please call the San Diego Humane Society at (619) 299-7012.

Residents that need to evacuate their homes are asked to take all companion animals with them. If possible, place your pet in a crate or carrier and bring any necessary supplies including leashes, food, water, and medications as supplies at evacuation centers may be limited. More tips can be found online at www.sdhumane.org.

OPEN SHELTERS:

The El Cajon Animal Shelter is accepting pets and can still take in domestic animals and small livestock for boarding from pet owners who have been evacuated. The shelter is located at 1275 N. Marshall. For more information, call (619) 441-1580.

Red Cross evacuation centers are accepting pets in carriers. If you do not have or were unable to put your pet in a carrier or need pet supplies, bring your pet to one of the following Red Cross evacuation centers:

El Camino High School
400 Rancho Del Oro Dr.
Oceanside, CA 92057
Space for horses, livestock and small animals
(No People, ONLY Animals)

Fiesta Island
1500 Fiesta Island Rd
San Diego, CA 92109
Accepting 500 owners and animals
Space in Thermal and Indio is available as a back-up site. Call (760) 399-2716 for information.

Fiesta Island Lakeside Rodeo Grounds is currently only available for animals being evacuated by County of San Diego or San Diego Humane Society officers and is not available for public animal drop off.

Qualcomm Stadium
9449 Friars Road
(Small Animals)

Camp Diggity Dog in San Diego is offering free boarding to any dogs displaced by the fires. For more information.
619-702-4090
1835 Imperial Ave, San Diego
Email: Bark@CampDiggityDogs.com

Note to pet owners: be aware that this is a private, for-profit business making a kind and generous offer to fire victims. If you leave your pet with them or anyone offering free boarding of any kind, please be sure to get something in writing that makes the terms of the arrangement very clear to both parties. If possible, visit and spend time with your pet every day or as often as possible until you can take back your pet. Also, if possible, offer what you can afford to pay for this service and provide your own pet food if you can.

Large Animal Sites:

The following sites are FULL and are no longer accepting animals:

Lakeside Rodeo Grounds - FULL
Del Mar Fairgrounds - FULL

If you have animals or livestock that you cannot evacuate yourself or that need to be rescued, call (619) 236-4250 and press "1" for emergency services.

The Tijuana Valley Equestrian Association is helping to place horses in private ranches in the Tijuana River Valley area. The association has placed 200 horses and has room for more. For information, evacuees with horses can contact John Gabaldon, the chairman of the Tijuana Valley Equestrian Association at (619) 920-1282, and he will provide directions to the location of the corrals.

Rohr Park in Chula Vista has plenty of room for horses. It is a large community ring in Rohr Park, located at the intersection of 4600 block of Sweetwater Road, near Winnetka Dr. They can handle 50-60 horses and have plenty of water. Evacuees with horses can call Dave Braithwaite. 619-203-1640.

San Diego County Animal Services has opened a shelter for large animals located near Gillespie Field, 1960 Joe Crosson Dr. in El Cajon.
Directions: Take East on Hwy 67; exit at Bradley Avenue and turn left; right on Cuyamaca; and left on Weld Blvd. The animal evacuation shelter will be on the right hand side of the road.

Terri Crisp & former Noah's Wish volunteers ready to assist animal rescue from California fires

Terri Crisp founded and served as Executive Director of Noah's Wish, and earlier this year she founded Animal Resources: Providing Disaster Management Solutions. She has rescued more animals from more disasters than any other person, and has provided excellent training to thousands of volunteers all over the U.S. and Canada. She wrote two books about her experiences, Out of Harm's Way in 1997 and Emergency Animal Rescue Stories: One Woman's Dedication to Saving Animals from Disasters in 2002.

Animal Resources, based in Northern California, is ready to respond to the wildfires if and as soon as they are called upon. Fire updates regarding the animals are posted on their website.

Since 1983, Terri has rescued animals from more than 60 disasters including earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, oil spills, tornadoes, and tropical storms.

In 2005 alone, she and Noah's Wish volunteers and coordinators responded to both the Tsunami in Sri Lanka, and then to Hurricane Katrina, where she spent over 2 1/2 months in Slidell, LA.

In spite of later criticism from a few outsiders and disgruntled ( but highly vocal) volunteers (including a veterinarian) who refused to follow established guidelines (and were asked to leave Slidell) during the emotionally-charged weeks and months following Katrina, Noah's Wish had a recovery rate of over 75% and was later commended by the Office of the State Vet of Louisiana for their work in Louisiana.

None of the rescued animals were "lost" from the shelter managed by Terri Crisp in Slidell because Katrina was not a dress rehersal for her and her coordinators.

By contrast, animals were "lost" and stolen from the other emergency shelters set up following Katrina - those operated by the Humane Society of the United States, Muttshack, Pasados, Best Friends, and the independently run Camp Lucky and Winn-Dixie shelters. Some of this was due to lack of established policy and procedures; some due to the lack of experience on the part of those running the shelters; some due to the large-scale chaos and confusion; a lot due to rescuers and volunteers making judgements about the owners of the animals not being worthy of getting them back. Pit bulls were stolen and scammed out of several shelters until fences and guards were put in place.

And a lot was due to volunteers seeing Katrina as an opportunity to go pet shopping.

That recovery rate of over 75% is more than three times the reunion rate claimed by any of the other organizations that rescued animals and established temporary shelters in the Gulf Coast following Katrina.

The recovery rate from a disaster includes not only actual reunions, but the percentage of owners with whom contact was established. Following a disaster of the enormity of Katrina, many people who lost their homes had no choice but to surrender their pets either immediately or later.

Terri Crisp made sure that multiple efforts were made to contact the owners of every animal removed from every residence or street corner. She even established contact with the owners of all 50 cats she agreed to take from the Lamar Dixon shelter, operated by HSUS and reunited most of them.

A few shelters receiving pets from the Gulf Coast also had high recovery rates due to their ongoing commitment and dedication to reuniting pets with their owners. These include The Humane Society of Monterrey Bay in Northern California; Animal Ark of Minnesota, Spindletop Pit Bull Refuge in Texas.

San Diego Fires Pet Evacuation Info

If you and your animals are affected by the fires, please check the following websites for up-to-date info and assistance:

craigslist for help needed and offered for animal rescue, shelter and supplies/resources.

Animal Resources a California-based organization providing disaster animal rescue and shelter. Check their website often for updates.

Links to pet-friendly hotels & motels:

Pets Welcome

Pet Friendly Travel

The following sites are providing shelter for evacuated animals:

Poway - Poway Rodeo grounds

Oceanside - El Camino High School Shelter, 400 Rancho del Oro
Providing shelter for horses, livestock, cats, dogs.

Santee - Furry Friends Resort - 619-562-2326
Providing shelter cats and dogs

All Southern CA - All VCA Animal Hospitals are offering free boarding until 11/5 for dogs and cats affected by fire.

Contact the San Diego Humane Society / SPCA for assistance or if you have land to offer to shelter evacuated animals, especially fenced-in land for horses and livestock (619) 299-7012

If you have animals or livestock that that need to be rescued, call (619) 236-4250 and press "1" for emergency services

Shame on you Marina Baktis / Mutts and Moms

for your decision to place Iggy in another home rather than return him to the family who loves him. Up to that point, you could have done the right thing, you could have made the decision that was best for Iggy. And in turn, best for yourself and best for other pet rescue organizations.

Mistakes were made all around; Ellen made a mistake in not reading the contract, or possibly ignoring the part that said Iggy needed to be returned to you if things didn’t work out; the lunatics who made death threats against you made horrendous mistakes, and I’m sorry that the crazy “animal lovers” crawled out of their slime-holes and did felt the need to do this. And if you find out who made the death threats, I hope you and your attorney are willing to press charges.

But… regarding the battle over Iggy, you have consistently shown poor judgment and a worrisome lack of compassion, and you made mistakes far greater than any that Ellen made. And you are the one who turned this into something much bigger and uglier than it needed to be.

But in the end, those who lost the most are the most innocent of all – Iggy and the family that loves him.

I don’t know you and I obviously don’t know Ellen but even if this involved someone who was not a celebrity, I would be saying the very same things because the issue at hand is one little dog and two young girls, and to me, it has nothing to do with the celebrity of the original adopter. I have to wonder if you would have behaved the same if a non-celebrity who was a friend or acquaintance of yours adopted Iggy and then gave him to close friends?

Ms. Baktis, aside from the lack of compassion and judgment you have shown, there are some other worrisome issues. Since you state on your (former) website that you are a 501c3 organization, where were the members of your board of directors throughout this fiasco? I find it had to imagine that your board would not have advised you to handle this differently since they are accountable, legally and financially, for your actions. Did not one of the members of your non-profit board of directors advise you to give Iggy back to the family that loves him and perhaps handle this differently?

The overall sense from what I read (articles and opinions on the web taken with several grains of salt as well as what I read on the Mutts and Moms website) is that you seem to be something of a control freak which explains why you felt the need to start up yet another rescue group rather than work with one of the hundreds already established in southern CA.

Your adoption application would eliminate most good dog owners I know including myself.

Your stipulation that all adopters need to make a minimum $250 donation to Mutts & Moms is insane (this required donation is in addition to your adoption fee).

I’m not disparaging the work you have done placing dogs into loving homes, but looking at the “success stories” on your website, most of the dogs were not saved from imminent death as you imply.

Most adoption contracts are not legally binding documents because of the way they are written; some claim that the rescue group always retains "ownership" of an animal even months and years after adoption. Adoption contracts are at best a set of rules, not LAWS. Even if you had an attorney review and approve the contract (which it appears you did not) it does not mean that it would hold up in court.

So while Ellen either didn’t read the contract or read it and didn’t abide by it, at the worst, she broke or bended some rules. She didn’t break any laws. Nothing she did caused any harm to any other person or animal. Yet your actions were unnecessary, selfish, spiteful and mean. You made this into the ugly media battle that it was. And while the death threats against you were ethically, morally and legally wrong, they would not have happened if you had behaved in a kind and humane way from the beginning.

The best animal rescue organizations and shelters include numerous rules and policies in their adoption contracts which give them the right to enforce some or all of them as they choose. I’ve adopted a lot of pets over the years and have never had a home visit though that is in every contact I’ve signed. I’ve also “adopted” pets from shelters (sometimes known as “pulling” an animal in some sort of danger) and like Ellen, also signed a contract stating that I would return the dog to the shelter if I could no longer keep it. But that was the last thing I was going to do which is why those dogs were pulled in the first place.

Now I hate to start this off by saying that “rules are meant to be broken” but I will, not because I believe in anarchy but because we all know that many rules are stupid. Any business owner or boss or teacher can make rules that are often just their own attempt to have some control in the world.

For example (un-related to Iggy or any other animal), there are four restaurants near where I live that all have some version of the following printed on their menus and posted at the register: No credit card purchases under $10 (or $5.00). That is the restaurant’s rule but it is against the law to limit the amount of credit card purchases.

Most rules are created for the greater good of everyone. But not always. Sometimes they're just stupid and petty.

And Mutts & Moms was a small animal rescue organization (that finds homes for dogs pulled from shelters), not the CIA or Homeland Security.

It was only an animal rescue organization, and getting animals into good long-term homes should be the goal and purpose. The goal should not have been the rigid, anal enforcement of your own rigid, self-created rules.

All of this has heightened the growing issue I have with the word “rescue.” I have friends who rescued cats and dogs from flooded houses in New Orleans after Katrina; Terri Crisp and her team of volunteers and coordinators responded to over 60 natural disasters, including the Tsunami and Katrina in the same year. But taking a dog out of a shelter is not rescuing it – it’s already been rescued which is how it ended up in the shelter. In the case of some animal control facilities, you might be saving an animal's life if it is scheduled to be euthanized but the animals you below are rarely the ones euthanized. They are usually the first to be adopted. These are your Happy Tails.

Dog Starved in the name of ART

This was so unbelievable that when I first heard of it I first had to check to make sure it wasn't another urban myth. Sadly, it is not.

A Costa Rican "artist"named Guillermo Habacuc Vargas used a starved dog (that he paid some kids to bring to him) as a work of art and allowed the dog to die tied up in a corner of the gallery as part of the “exhibition.” He was chosen to represent Costa Rica in the Bienal Centroamericana Honduras 2008. A petition (in Spanish) has been created to voice support of a boycott of him receiving this honor.

While all of the photos are shocking, the most shocking to me is the one of the gallery-goers schmoozing and sipping drinks a few feet away from the dog. Did the "artist" also prohibit people from offering the dog a small bit of comfort while it lay suffering and dying as he prohibited anyone from offering food and water? Not that the people seen in the photo looked to be particularly interested in or concerned about the dog.

This makes the mind numb and the heart heavy. It's startling that no one tried to rescue or steal this poor dog from the gallery. There are animal rights activists in Central America just as there are everywhere.

While all forms of animal cruelty and neglect are painful to see or hear about, cruelty in the name of art is incomprehensible.

The artist was trying to make a point about the starving street dogs of Central America, but if he had any real imagination - perhaps imagination fueled by compassion - he would have found another way to make his point by expressing himself in a more creative and less cruel way than using a starving street dog in a twisted form of performance art.

Hang in there beautiful boy....you'll be home soon

"Because They Have No Words" Nominated for TWO Ovation Awards

Congratulations to Tim Maddock and Lotti Louise Pharriss / Weirdsmobile Productions, LLC for the extreme honor of being nominated for the 2007 Ovation Awards in two catagories: World Premiere Play and Ensemble Performance.

Tim wrote and starred in this play about his experiences rescuing animals and volunteering at Lamar Dixon in the aftermath of Katrina.

Because They Have No Words will be performed at the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston, IL this spring. Don't miss it.

Original blog posts about the premiere of the play here and here.

Katrina dog goes home after 2 + years

This is Rascal who was rescued from his Bywater home in September 2005 and taken to Lamar Dixon. From there he was sent to another emergency shelter in Monroe, LA run by UAN (United Animal Nations). From Monroe, Rascal and 80 or so other dogs were flown to eastern Pennsylvania on a flight chartered by the ABKA (American Boarding & Kennel Association, a branch of the AKC). This airlift was orchestrated by Bob Paine, the owner of Molly's Country Kennels, a boarding kennel and doggie day care center in Lansdale, PA. Bob just happened to be the president of the ABKA at the time.

When the flight landed in PA, the dogs went to Molly's, 44 miles away. Within a few days, most of the dogs were farmed out to 19 or so other boarding kennels/doggie day care centers in the suburban Philadelphia area as well as Maryland and Virginia.

Every piece of information that came with or on the dogs was entered into Petfinder records created by UAN staff and volunteers. Thankfully for those pets and their owners, these Petfinder records were created BEFORE the dogs left Monroe.

Most* all of the animals that were flown to PA by the ABKA/Molly's are OWNED by families in New Orleans. The Petfinder records include rabies tag numbers, rescue addresses, and owner's names if known.

For example, Rocket (who was finally released and sent home from Doylestown by Lynne Welsh last November) had his owner's name and address right there on his Petfinder record. So did Ragnar. Yet it took lawsuits filed on behalf of the owners of both of those dogs to get them returned.

This particular kennel got four Katrina dogs. In a local newspaper article in the fall of 2005, the owner of the kennel states: "Since their rescue, each dog has been given a clean bill of health, vaccinated and microchipped for identification. The four dogs have passed initial evaluations with flying colors."

Yet, despite this claim, one of the four dogs died from heart worm treatment; another one had heart worms so severe that the vet recommended he be euthanized, and Rascal tested weak heart worm positive and treated. The dog that was almost euthanized wasn't known to have heart worms for almost a year - until he was finally adopted in June 2006 and tested when his new owner took him to the vet.

When I asked the owner of the kennel if Rascal has been on monthly heart worm preventative since he completed his treatment, she said "no, we don't have a problem with heart worm around here."

Really?

By some oversight, Rascal's 2005 Rabies tag and ID tag did not make it into his Petfinder record. BUT... the rabies tag number was on his paperwork (paperwork which I saw for the first time a few months ago, after lawsuit #3 was filed over another Molly's dog). All of the dogs were accompanied by paperwork or copies of their paperwork when transferred from Molly's to the other kennels. So even though no one else knew that Rascal had a current rabies tag - both of the PA kennels knew.

It took two phone calls, a post on a neighborhood forum and a few emails with a friend of Rascal's owner to make contact. His owner doesn't own a computer or have an email account so it was a few more weeks before I was able to send him photos to confirm it was his dog for sure.

I won't go into the rest of the negotiating with the kennel story here (it's been shared with friends and other Katrina reunion volunteers and those who need to know) but the bottom line is that Rascal was flown home on Friday.

And this dog who spent the past two years living in a kennel, mostly isolated and described as un-adoptable, is acting like "his old sweet friendly self" according to his very happy owner.

Oh, one more thing. The kennel never bothered to have him neutered in the two years they had him there.

Chewed Up Vick Cards Sell for $7,400

Updated 2:07 PM ET August 29, 2007

By BRIAN CHARLTON

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - The eBay auction for 22 Michael Vick football cards, chewed up and slobbered on by two Missouri dogs, ended Wednesday as the winning bidder dished out $7,400 _ with the money expected to be donated to the Humane Society.

The success of that auction, with 31 different bidders, created a craze of 25 other postings this week offering torn up cards featuring the disgraced NFL superstar.

But so far, the original post from Rochelle Steffen, of Cape Girardeau, Mo., has been the only auction to attract droves of bidders.

Steffen gave Monte, her 6-year-old Weimaraner, and Roxie, her Great Dane puppy, every Vick card she owned to destroy. The result: The cards worth $1-to-$10 were crumpled, crimped, chewed, torn and generally in a sorry state. Some even had corners missing.

"When I started this, I only expected to get $100 for a local shelter," Steffen told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "But it's received so much attention. It's for such a good cause."

The gnawed cards were the most expensive Vick items on eBay, with well-preserved rookie cards, autographed jerseys and other collectibles selling for far less.

Vick pleaded guilty to a federal dogfighting charge this week. He will be sentenced Dec. 10.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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.