BOOKS: The Adopted Dog Bible

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:

The Adopted Dog Bible by Petfinder.com
Harper Collins (10 East 53rd St., New York, NY 10022), 2009. 512
pages, paperback. $22.99.

“Choosing a dog is much too important a task to be conducted
in haste,” says The Adopted Dog Bible, from Petfinder.com–exactly
the message that the humane community has tried to teach potential
dog adopters since dog adoptions began. Assembled by Petfinder.com
vice president of shelter outreach and public relations Kim Saunders,
The Adopted Dog Bible includes valuable contributions and helpful
hints from experts including Amy Shojai, Susan McCullough, Liz
Palika, Sue Sternberg, and Lila Miller, DVM, among others.
Adoption is a great option says The Adopted Dog Bible,
guiding readers through finding a shelter or rescue near their home,
and explaining what adoption entails.

Los Angeles dog & cat sterilization funds cut

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:

LOS ANGELES–“Our spay/neuter program has not been
terminated,” Los Angeles Animal Services general manager Ed Boks
clarified on March 19, 2009, six days after rumors swept the animal
welfare world that the oldest city-funded dog and cat sterilization
program anywhere was a casualty of the U.S. economic crisis.
“Distribution of our spay/neuter coupons under this program
was temporarily suspended,” Boks acknowledged. “Since
implementation of the Los Angeles spay/neuter ordinance, the demand
for these coupons has exceeded our funding. We are working with the
mayor’s office to restore distribution in a manner that can be
sustained,” Boks said.
Explained Los Angeles Daily News staff writer Rick Orlov,
“The city last year adopted a law requiring dog and cat owners to
have pets spayed or neutered when they reach four months of age. As
a way to promote the program, the city included the certificates to
cover most of the costs of the procedure.”

Congress vs. states over horse slaughter

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
BISMARCK, BOISE, HELENA, WASHINGTON D.C.–A political race
to the wire over horse slaughter pits Congressional support for the
proposed Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, which would prohibit
interstate transport of horses for slaughter, against a field of
state legislation written to expedite the resumption of horse
slaughter, suspended in the U.S. since the last three horse
slaughterhouses closed in 2007.
The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act 2009, introduced by
Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan) had 103 cosponsors as of
March 23.
Montana governor Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat, had on his
desk a bill passed by the Republican majorities in the state house of
representatives and senate to encourage construction of a horse
slaughterhouse.

Chimp attack wins attention of lawmakers

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
WASHINGTON D.C–Boosted by the February 16, 2009 rampage of
a longtime pet chimpanzee named Travis in Stamford, Connecticut,
the Captive Primate Safety Act on February 24, 2009 cleared the U.S.
House of Representatives by a vote of 323-95 and returned to the U.S.
Senate.
“The bill will ban interstate commerce in apes, monkeys,
lemurs, marmosets, and other nonhuman primates for the pet trade,”
explained Humane Society Legislative Fund director Mike Markarian.
“A number of states and communities already prohibit private
ownership of primates as pets, but the patchwork of local laws and
the interstate nature of the primate pet trade call out for a federal
response. The Senate bill passed the Environment and Public Works
Committee in July 2008,” Markarian continued, “and has been
awaiting further action. Identical legislation passed the Senate
unanimously in 2006.” Charla Nash, 55, “lost her hands, nose,
lips and eyelids and may be blind and suffering brain damage” after
Travis attacked her at the home of her friend Sandra Herold, 70,”
reported Associated Press writer Dave Collins on March 17, 2009.
Receiving treatment at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, where the first
U.S. face transplant surgery was performed, Nash remained in
critical condition.

11.5 years for dog attack

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
SEATTLE–Travis Dean Cunningham, 36, of SeaTac,
Washington, on March 13, 2009 was sentenced to serve 11.5 years in
prison for allowing his two pit bull terriers to maul a 72-year-old
woman, illegal possession of a firearm, and parole violations.
Cunningham reportedly had four prior felony convictions. The
Cunningham sentence is the longest known to ANIMAL PEOPLE in a
non-fatal dog attack case. Former attorney Margaret Knoller is
serving 15 years to life in California for the fatal mauling of
neighbor Diane Whipple in January 2001.

U.S. Army bans pit bulls & Rottweilers

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
WASHINGTON D.C.–U.S. Army commanders at more than 40 bases
around the world are moving to implement a new “Pet Policy for
Privatized Housing Under the Army’s Residential Communities
Initiative Privatization Program,” which prohibits pit bull
terriers, Rottweilers, Doberman pinschers, chows, and wolf
hybrids.
Issued as an order on January 5, 2009, the new Army policy
also limits personnel living in base housing to keeping no more than
two dogs or cats, forbids keeping exotic pets and farm animals,
requires all pets to be microchipped for identification, and forbids
keeping pets “tied or staked outside the home or any building.”
The order further prohibits keeping “Any other dog who
demonstrates a propensity for dominance or aggressive behavior,”
indicated by “Unprovoked barking, growling or snarling at people
approaching the animal, aggressively running along fence lines when
people are present, biting or scratching people,” or “escaping
confinement or restriction to chase people.”

BOOKS: Pets ‘N’ Us

March 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2009:

Pets ‘N’ Us by Purnima L. Toolsidass
in consultation with Debasis Chakrabarti
Allied Publishers (www.allliedpublishers.com), 2008.
264 pages, paperback.

“The purpose of Pets ‘N’ Us,” author Purnima L. Toolsidass
told ANIMAL PEOPLE, “is to make people who have pets–or plan to get
one–more sensitive to their needs, and more conscious of their
responsibilities. I wanted people to think of using pets as a
therapy for helping stressed children or unhappy adults. I wanted
them to know that pets can be fun and be a great source of comfort.
I read out every point to Debasis Chakrabarti, since he is an animal
psychologist and an expert on dogs.”

Puppy mill raids boost lawmaker interest

March 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2009:
The 2009 state legislative sessions in at least six states
opened with introductions of proposed anti-puppy mill bills, with
many more bill introductions reportedly pending.
Stimulating the legislative activity were some of the biggest
dog seizures from alleged puppy mills on record in Minnesota,
Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington–all involving
small breeds and small mixed breeds, the dogs least often available
from shelters and most in demand through pet stores and Internet pet
brokerages.
The Everett Animal Shelter, just half an hour by car and
ferry boat from the ANIMAL PEOPLE offices in the outer Seattle
suburbs, on February 9, 2009 took legal custody of nearly 160 dogs
who were seized on January 16 in the first of a multi-day series of
raids on sites in rural Snohomish and Skagit Counties. The raids
netted more than 600 dogs in all, most of them of small breeds and
small mixed breeds. Many were pregnant, though humane officers
said Internet reports that thousands of puppies were expected were
exaggerated.

“First dog” may be last Obama pick

January 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2009:
WASHINGTON D.C.–The identity of the new First Dog remained
unknown as the January/February 2009 edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE went to
press, a week before the inauguration of incoming U.S. President
Barack Obama–but the Obama family leans toward either a Portuguese
water dog or a Labradoodle, Obama told the ABC News show This Week
With George Stephanopoulous on January 11, 2009.
Portuguese water dogs, usually pedigreed, are rarely seen
in shelters. Labradoodles are a “designer hybrid” of Labrador
retriever with poodle, not recognized by the American Kennel Club as
a breed, but now commonly produced by commercial breeders, often
found in raids on alleged puppy mills, and widely available from
shelters and rescue groups.

« 1 … 21 22 23 24 25 … 99 »