Rescue dog saved from being put down is punched to death by its new owner just FOUR days after adoption NEW PORT RICHEY, FL – A rescue dog saved from being put down was punched to death by its new owners just four days after being given a new chance at life. Gipper, a four…
The ASPCA has been rocked by a series of high-profile board resignations, including Yankees president Randy Levine, after internal disagreements over the direction of the historic humane society. Directors of American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, founded in 1866, started an exodus because they believe some in the organization are “more focused…
SOUTH CAROLINA – A battle between private practice veterinarians and animal shelter/rescue groups boiled to the surface this spring over a contentious bill working its way through the state Legislature. While the House Agriculture Committee decided last week to put the bill, H.3492, on hold until January, the emotions aren’t likely to calm down. “I…
PALM CITY, FL — In 2012, 800 organizations joined forces around the country to end the killing in animal shelters. Shelters concentrated on adoptions and rallies were held. The result was approximately 9,000 lives saved. The Treasure Coast area animal shelters held their rally on U.S. 1 in Ft. Pierce. The goal this year is…
COLUMBIA, MS – More than 120 animals, many in urgent need of veterinary attention, were rescued from a Columbia, Miss., property after authorities discovered them living in filth and suffering from a variety of untreated medical conditions and a lack of basic care. The Humane Society of the United States was called in by the…
CLINTON, NC – Three citizens were recently notified they are not welcome at the Sampson County Animal Shelter without at least a week’s notice and preapproval by the shelter director, following allegations of verbal abuse of county employees, charges one resident said were “trumped up” and completely false. A letter from Sampson County attorney Annette…
Being a RESCUE person in a SHELTER world has been an amazing balancing act for me. It has tested me in keeping a balance that I never thought I could do. I thought I was at my mental and physical limit with my house full of rescue dogs…. Now? I have 120+ more to keep…
Not long ago, someone said to me in response to time spent on a dog’s training, “I’m not like you, I have a life.” At first I found it very insulting that my work as a rescue should be so looked down upon as somehow wasting my time here on earth. But then I thought…
People have some funny ideas sometimes but this one has to beat all in my books. Despite knowing that Black Dog (Cat) Syndrome does exist, it is still very hard to believe that silly superstitions or simply discrimination could mean the life and death of thousands of black dogs and cats every month. It is…
You would think that the most important criteria for one applying for work at your local animal shelter would be “must like animals” followed by “must know how to properly handle animals”. But apparently neither of these factors is considered all that important when hiring shelter workers to work, largely unsupervised, with innocent animals who…
So okay I KNOW there are some over-the-top rescuers and you know who they are too. They must be the ones mentioned here in this article which is, I think, very wisely written. But you must read the ENTIRE article ALL the way through before you react to the “dare I say constructive?” criticism aimed…
Spring is around the corner. Wonderful, isn’t it? Well, maybe not so much if you are involved in animal rescue. It means heat season and litters after litters of homeless pets dumped at kill shelters. It means countless babies that will need to be bottle fed, vetted and adopted, while every new day will bring…
Introduction Shelters receive an exemption from taxes because they are charities. So why do ALL shelters act as businesses? Can you imagine asking a family to pay for their groceries at a food shelf? Or passing the hat down the line at a soup kitchen? What if we made homeless shelters charge an admission fee…
Let’s quickly review what we’ve covered so far: Communal Housing Shelter animals need to be housed “socially” while they await adoption. To do otherwise is to fight nature. Imprisoning cats and dogs in individual cages creates behaviors which add to any existing behavior problems. This makes it even harder for many animals to be adopted.…
In this new Adoption Center Model dogs and cats ready for adoption are showcased on the adoption floor in groups of 10-20 in each room. As we covered in the last post dogs and cats not ready for this communal living are sent out of the Adoption Center into rehab. As rehab progresses the animals…
In the last post we emphasized the importance of communal housing. Now it’s time to emphasize the importance of training fosters to deal with behavior issues. Shelters today are not set up to handle animals with behavior problems. In fact, as I’ve stated previously, prison-like shelters create many of these behavior issues with their solitary…
I just had to take this last opportunity to really highlight how much we need to move away from caged sheltering. Today Nathan Winograd, No Kill Advocacy Center, published an article listing 10 steps to improving a shelter’s adoption efforts. It is called Animal Sheltering 101: Turbocharging Your Adoption Program. The link to it is…
Before diving into the operational details of this new model, let’s take a moment to really emphasize an important point: this new model uses communal living quarters instead of individual cages. Gone is the prison-like environment. No cages, no kennel craziness, no more solitary confinement. Just showrooms filled with calm adoptable dogs and cats. Is…