Stop The Killing

Pet Box Inspection

"Anyone who has spent time volunteering for a rescue organization knows that - generally - people suck. Doing animal rescue we do not see the best side of people. Yes, every now and then we meet wonderful people who are doing great work in the humane community - but far more often we hear about and/or witness the truly apathetic, insensitive nature of human beings.

Over the years we have seen many, many injustices towards animals - including animals left in trash cans, tied to poles, kicked so hard that they lose an eye, thrown out of cars into traffic, taped up in boxes on the side of the freeway, left in bathrooms at pet stores…. just to name a few. Having seen what we’ve seen, all of us in rescue participate in what we refer to as the “Mandatory Box Inspection”…

This means that whenever we see a box - wherever we are - we will stop and look inside of it. This is to be sure that there are no kittens or puppies or hamsters in the box. We will stop traffic if necessary, pull over to the side of the freeway, go WAY out of our way to have a peek inside of any suspicious box. Once we determine that there is nothing in the box, we will then tear the box apart so that nothing can be PUT inside the box. It is a habit that we all have. It’s second nature."

Throwaway Cats

"Niko is a fine cat. He enthusiastically greets guests, meows appreciatively when he gets attention, adores playing chase the laser light. He is litter box tidy and helpfully tries to assist when his human companions read books and send e-mail. He has handsome golden eyes, soft gray fur and Russian Blue features.

Jack and Sue Majors adopted Niko in May at the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region after seeing his photo online and then visiting him.

After all, they say, who wouldn't love this cat?

Apparently, not his former owner, who never bothered to search for him at the Humane Society when he strayed, according to shelter officials.

There are thousands of Nikos out there. They are sometimes called "throwaway cats."

Parrot and Pet Rescue

"If you are looking for a pet bird and also want to help a bird that is need of rescue,you can choose to do a parrot rescue adoption from a parrot sanctuary. Parrots are wonderful birds that are intelligent and can make for great companions. There are, however, people who should and should not adopt and exotic bird."



"Eligibility: Anyone who has adopted a pet from a shelter or rescue organization and has retained their adoption paperwork is eligible to receive this free kit, regardless of how long ago the pet was adopted. Limit: One kit per household.

The Proud 2 Adopt™ Care Package includes:

* Congratulatory certificate
* Proud 2 Adopt™ T-shirt
* Proud 2 Adopt™ bumper sticker
* Proud 2 Adopt™ lapel pin
* Proud 2 Adopt™ pen
* Adoption brochure"

Adopt A Rat

"Thinking about a pet?

Consider a rat.

Please, say the folks at the Twin Cities Animal Humane Society, where officials are seeking homes for a sudden surge of domesticated rats dropped off at metro-area shelters.

The Humane Society has been inundated with more than 400 abandoned rats this year -- more than twice the number they had taken in by this time last year."

Slow Economy and Pets

"As food and gas prices climb, the housing market languishes and job layoffs persist, it's not only consumers who are feeling the pinch of a slow economy. Animal shelters and rescue groups are taking a hit, too.

The Nebraska Humane Society in Omaha is one of a number of area shelters that have seen an increase in owners voluntarily surrendering their pets.

Humane Society staff members, as a matter of course, ask people for a reason when they surrender their pets. A computer program records and tracks factors such as behavior and allergies.

Until recently, Wiese said, cost had not been one of the reasons given.

A few months ago, though, the society added cost to its list.

"The very fact that we're tracking it now shows that we're seeing an increase," she said."

Lifeline Animal Project

"LifeLine Animal Project is an Atlanta-based non-profit organization working on collaborative solutions to end pet overpopulation and stop the euthanasia of healthy and treatable dogs and cats in metro Atlanta animal shelters. LAP’s focus is to promote the adoption of homeless pets and to initiate and support effective spay and neuter programs. The guiding principle behind all LifeLine programs is to foster cooperation between the more than 150 companion animal rescue groups, humane societies, and county animal control agencies serving greater Atlanta.

Founded in 2002, LifeLine began offering new forums for homeless pet adoption, including the searchable “virtual” shelter on the Internet, AtlantaPets.org, where LAP strived to include every cat and dog available for adoption in the metro Atlanta area. More than 70 organizations participate in the AtlantaPets.org site. LifeLine's "Project Pawprint" reaches out to animal control shelters to help publicize animals whose lives are endangered. LifeLine volunteers visit shelters weekly to photograph shelter animals and include them in the AtlantaPets.org online database of animals available for adoption.

In 2003, LAP continued its commitment to collaboration with the opening of the LAP Dog House and Kitty Motel, a boarding facility for homeless dogs and cats in area rescue and adoption programs. The LAP Dog House and Kitty Motel also house animals in LifeLine's rehabilitation and adoption program, which focuses on shelter animals needing additional veterinary care or behavioral training before they can be adopted. Additionally, LifeLine operates Catlanta, a feral and stray cat assistance program which supports trap-neuter-return (TNR) efforts."

Critter Fest

MARYVILLE, Tenn. —

The Blount County Humane Society is holding the second annual Smoky Mountain Critter Fest on Sunday June 1, at Pearson Springs Park in Maryville from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and will benefit the Blount County Humane Society's No Kill Animal Shelter Effort. A rain date is set for June 8.

Many animal rescue organizations will be present including the Smoky Mountain St. Bernard Rescue, featuring ''Panda'', the dog who was in the news last month in a well-publicized animal abuse situation. Now adopted to a loving home, Panda is the poster dog for animal abuse, rescue, and adoption. Other rescue groups include East Tennessee Border Collie Rescue, Small Breed Rescue of East Tennessee, Southeast Bloodhound Rescue and Horse Haven. These organizations, as well as the Blount County Humane Society, will feature adoptable pets in need of forever homes.

Wolves

I love this video because I love wolves. What beautiful creatures they are. I wanted to share this with all of you. This is especially for you, wolfie.

Pets: Responsibility

"This is from the Humane Society of the United States website:

Knowing that pets usually have shorter lifespans than humans, you may have planned for your animal friend's passing. But what if you are the one who becomes ill or incapacitated, or who dies first? As a responsible pet owner, you provide your pet with food and water, shelter, veterinary care, and love. To ensure that your beloved pet will continue to receive this if something unexpected were to happen to you, it's critical to plan ahead."
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"If you've grown up with pets, it can be hard to imagine life without them. But if you've never had a pet, the idea might seem a bit daunting. There are many encouraging reasons for having a companion of the animal kind.

Responsibility is usually the main word that springs to mind when thinking about getting a pet. Whether it is furry, finned, scaly or feathered, a pet is a definite commitment; a commitment that, according to most pet owners, turns out to be highly rewarding and regret-free."

Extreme Makeover: Shelters

"The Danbury Animal Shelter wants to build a better place for its animals to stay and they may get some help from an on-line contest.

The Danbury Animal Welfare Society is trying to win a million dollar makeover from Zootoo.com.

"Very similar to what ABC does in extreme makeover for houses, we're doing that for pet shelters across America. We've had over a thousand shelters compete for the first year," said Richard Thompson from Zootoo.com"
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"While perusing the Web for blog topics today, I found a link to a Web site for Lifestyle Pets, a company that is selling cats and dogs genetically engineered to be hypoallergenic.

Price for a kitty guaranteed not to make you sneeze? $5,950 to $130,000. The pooch price? $15,000 to $21,000.

If home security is more of a concern for you than allergies, they also offer the Titan Family Protector dog in prices ranging from $85,000 to $120,000.

Please, someone tell me this is a joke."

Adopt A Pet Process

"So, what happens when you're serious about adopting a pet from a shelter?

Mullins said that the first thing they will do is introduce the potential adopters to the animals.

"If something happens to strike their fancy, they can come and ask us if we know anything about the animal," she said.

There is then a pre-adoption application to fill out. The Humane Society will decide whether or not to approve the application. If it is approved, there is a $100 adoption fee for a dog and $80 for a cat. The animal will not go home with its new parent the same day. It will still need to go to the vet and be spayed or neutered, if that is necessary. The adopter will also be responsible for those costs as well.

It's an involved process to adopt a pet. If you're looking to go right down and pick one up the same day, it's not going to happen."

Pet Adoption Resources

Here's a website with tons of information.

"Welcome to our pet adoption mini website. Here you will find information about how you can obtain a pet through pet adoption. Here you will also find a list of resources you can use when seeking the right pet, along with the most current news about pet adoption. The information presented here is useful if you plan on adopting a pet in the United States."
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"In my world, there are few things more noble than those who work on behalf of the homeless and unwanted pets in our area. To that end, I've begun assembling links for those groups dedicated to pet adoption and reducing the pet population through spay/neuter."

Dog Shelter Dogs

"Many people are unsure about getting a dog from the dog shelter. There is the perception that there must be something wrong with a dog that has been sent to the shelter. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The reality is that only a small minority of the dogs that end up at a shelter will have serious behavioral problems. And the harsh reality is that you will probably never see these animals anyway as the staff decide that they can’t be re-homed."



"Dogs are amazing creatures. You can beat them, starve them, and throw them out on the street. But, they will still wag their tail at the next person who passes by. As you know, I love dogs. I’ve always loved dogs. I am a strong believer of adoption as a main method of acquiring an animal. I think it’s crazy to buy a dog from a breeder when there are so many pets out there that need homes. I know there are people out there who are crazy about certain breeds and really want to get that certain dog, but even then- there are rescue groups out there for any breed under the sun. Adoption is the only way to go. Check out these statistics from the Humane Society of the United States."

800 Dogs ?

"Two old people…. one triple-wide trailer… 800 poor little dogs?!? What the hell??

The Humane Society of Southern Arizona is stretched beyond its limits today after rescuing hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of small dogs from an elderly couple who was running the puppy-mill to end all puppy-mills in Pima County, AZ."




"When you adopt your first dog, there are plenty of important things you won't know, and many of those mysteries have to do with your new pet's health. Not all vets want to help us lay folk understand those mysteries (it's potentially more lucrative to keep people in the dark), so often we wind up learning them the hard way: after a few expensive trips to the emergency animal hospital. But Karen "Doc" Halligan is one of the few vets who want to help us stay out of her office. And her book, an excellent health primer and reference guide for the first-time dog owner, does exactly that."

Adoption: Surrender Counseling

"The Humane Society of Indianapolis says it will stop accepting stray animals and begin requiring frustrated pet owners to go through "surrender counseling" before it takes their pets.

Both changes are meant to help the Humane Society close a $200,000 annual budget deficit while reducing the number of animals for which the society must find new homes. But it could mean that Marion County's other large shelter, run by the county's Animal Care and Control agency, may have to deal with another 4,000 to 5,000 animals.
Many of those will have to be euthanized -- as it is now, the city's pound takes in about 18,000 animals a year and kills more than 11,000 of them. Last year, the Humane Society took in nearly 9,000 animals, with strays making up a little more than 2,100."

Animal Control Or Humane Society ?

Alabama News:

"The city of Birmingham and Jefferson County pay just over $1 million a year to the shelter to round up nearly 12,000 lost dogs, cats, and neglected animals, viscous or sick strays and take in unwanted pets. The money also pays to run the shelter, covering a full-time veterinarian, funding equipment like trucks, and providing care for the animals, Smith explains.

“There's just a misunderstanding. A lot of people don't know the difference between a humane society and an animal control program. And they expect control programs to operate like a humane society. We get a totally different kind of animals in here. We get animals that are neglected, abused, abandoned, they're sick, injured, they're in every possible condition you can imagine, as to where most animals in a humane shelter are brought in sitting beside somebody in a car," Smith says.

He believes it's partly that misunderstanding which sometimes draws fire from local animal rescue groups."

Nothing Like A Bassett

My bassett, Abby, passed away last year at age 3 so I was very happy to find this place. I miss you Abby.
Go here.



"Spay Day USA is an annual event held the last Tuesday of February.
This year it falls on Feb. 26. Created by the Doris Day Animal League (DDAL) in 1995, Spay Day USA became a program of The Humane Society of the United States when the two combined operations in 2006.

Spay Day USA is America’s first and only national day of action to promote the spaying or neutering of pets. During Spay Day, veterinarians, animal welfare professionals, businesses and concerned
citizens join forces nationwide to spay or neuter as many animals as possible, while promoting spay/neuter as an essential component of
good pet health. It’s the effective and humane means of decreasing the euthanasia of homeless animals in shelters."

Please Sign The Petitions

"Ignoring tens of thousands of citizens like you, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has just made it much easier to kill wolves in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Rockies region -- wolves that still remain protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Take action now. Tell Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne that this rule change is unacceptable.

Wildlife officials will soon be able to shoot, trap and kill endangered wolves. Even those that wander from the safety of Yellowstone National Park and other protected areas could be killed.

This rule change allows officials to start killing wolves as soon as March. Please speak out today!"



"Every year, an estimated four to six million dogs and cats are euthanized in animal care and control facilities in the United States. This problem is pervasive, and it remains a source of shame for our country.

The American Humane Association's Getting to Zero Initiative is a national undertaking based on the profound belief that, within our lifetime, American society can reduce to zero the number of healthy or treatable dogs, cats and other companion animals that are euthanized in animal care and control facilities. "

Pets For The Holidays

"When circumstances are right, local shelter officials say a puppy or kitten can be a great gift for the holidays.

“Statistically it has been proven through North Shore Animal League (the world’s largest no-kill shelter/pet adoption agency) and the Humane Society of the United States that, generally, Christmas adoptions do last,” said Tracy Couch, director of the Kingsport Animal Shelter. “That was great news when they came out with those stats because for years they had said ‘be careful with your Christmas adoptions."



"Pet adoption rates usually go up during the holidays, then when the charm wears off and the daily responsibility becomes tiresome, shelters see returns during the months of February and March.

"We want to make people understand there's a commitment here," Imhof said. "Cats live a long time, it's a 20-year commitment for some kittens."

The commitment with dogs can add up to 15 years. That’s why the no-kill animal rescue group never adopts pets as gifts."