U.S. animal shelter toll appears to drop below three million
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2012:
U.S. animal shelter toll appears to drop below three million Read more
Category: Stray & Feral Animals
International data
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2012:
International data
The United Kingdom data below was collected by the ninth annual Dogs Trust survey of U.K. dog wardens, and does not include dogs who are killed after surrender to nonprofit humane societies–believed to be about half of the actual total of dogs killed by U.K. shelters. The data from Belgium, Kyryzstan, Pakistan, and Ukraine was collected in 2010 by the United Nations Food & Agricultural Organization. The remainder was collected by ANIMAL PEOPLE, in the same manner as the accompanying U.S. data. Read more
Feral cat neuter/return results appear to have plateaued
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2012:
Feral cat neuter/return results appear to have plateaued
MOUNT RANIER, Maryland– Data gathered by Alley Cat Rescue from 120 feral cat neuter/return projects in 37 states affirms the longtime ANIMAL PEOPLE belief, based on estimated feral cat intake at animal shelters, that neuter/return is helping to hold the U.S. feral cat population at the present level, but is no longer achieving the steep drops in feral cat numbers that characterized the rise of neuter/return to widespread practice in the 1990s. Read more
Fewer animals killed–but pit bulls & Chihuahuas crowd shelters
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2012:
Fewer animals killed–but pit bulls & Chihuahuas crowd shelters
Only three years after U.S. animal shelters killed fewer than four million dogs and cats for the first time in about half a century, the toll appears to have fallen below three million–just barely.
ANIMAL PEOPLE has produced estimates of U.S. shelter killing of dogs and cats annually since 1993, at first projected from whole-state surveys done by other organizations. Since 1997 we have combined recent whole-state data where available with data from the city and county level, wherever the local data includes all animal control shelters and other open admission shelters within a particular jurisdiction. Each ANIMAL PEOPLE annual estimate includes the most recent available data from the three preceding fiscal or calendar years. Read more
Feral cats not to blame in Southern California murine typhus scare
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2012:
Feral cats not to blame in Southern California murine typhus scare
SANTA ANA, California–Fear of “Typhus moggie” appeared to be receding in Orange County, California by June 1, 2012, just a few days after emerging, but anti-neuter/return bloggers had already amplified misleading claims far and wide about an alleged link of feral cats to murine typhus.
In truth there was no cause to associate either of two cases of murine typhus occurring three months apart with feral cats.
Murine typhus is a rare flea-borne disease, easily cured by antibiotics, which is entirely unrelated to typhoid fever, the once common and often deadly disease of which “Typhoid Mary” Mallon, 1869-1938, was the first known immune carrier. Read more
BOOKS: One Dog at a Time: Saving the Strays of Afghanistan
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2012:
One Dog at a Time: Saving the Strays of Afghanistan by Pen Farthing / Thomas Dunne Books (175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010), 2012. 308 pages, paperback. $14.99.
British Army sergeant Pen Farthing, now retired, first deployed to Afghanistan in 2006. He had no idea what awaited him, beyond fighting the Taliban. He found the living conditions in Afghanistan shocking: “There was no electricity and sanitation was non-existent.” Read more
"Cat ladies" of greater Vancouver still wary despite hard-won gains
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2012:
“Cat ladies” of greater Vancouver still wary despite hard-won gains
VANCOUVER, B.C.–“The worst thing anyone can call me is a cat lady,” Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association founder Karen Duncan once famously told longtime Global TV program host Dave Gerry. Then she laughed.
Cat rescuers throughout the greater Vancouver area now quote Duncan, with the laugh, expressing evident pride.
“I wasn’t a crazy cat lady,” says VOKRA volunteer Jemma Crossin in a video clip posted to the VOKRA web site, “but Karen turned me into one.” Read more
Zimbabwe blames dogs for anthrax
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2012:
MASVINGO, Zimbabwe–-Masavingo police and security guards shot at least 20 dogs a day from mid-February to mid-March 2012 in a purported attempt to control anthrax, the newspaper New Zimbabwe reported.
“John Chikomo, the Zimbabwe National SPCA regional manager for Masvingo, said they were against ‘indiscriminate shooting of stray dogs,’ but said they were powerless to stop the exercise,” New Zimbabwe added.
“Masvingo is a chronically anthrax affected province, but stray dog control has no part in anthrax control,” responded Martin Hugh Jones, resident anthrax expert for the International Society for Infectious Diseases’ ProMed online information service. Jones has long urged Zimbabwe to escalate vaccinating livestock against anthrax. Read more
Chicago mayor Emanuel replaces pit bull-friendly animal control director Cherie Travis
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2012:
CHICAGO–Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel on March 21, 2012 abruptly appointed two-time Chicago Animal Care & Control acting director Sandra Alfred to replace incumbent executive director Cherie Travis, effective immediately.
Travis, appointed by previous mayor Richard Daley, had headed Chicago Animal Care & Control since November 2009. Alfred had been deputy director of Chicago Animal Care & Control since 2001, after spending 12 years with the Chicago Department of Health. Emanuel, formerly chief of staff for U.S. President Barack Obama, praised Alfred as “a champion for animal rights and advocate for animal care,” who “knows every facet of the department and is a natural choice to lead the department’s efforts.” Emanuel did not explain why the change was made. “We simply decided to go in another direction with the leadership,” mayor’s office spokesperson Sarah Hamilton told media. Read more