Shelter advisory board member Jeanne Chancellor appears to support punitive legislation against pet owners in Memphis in the form of licensing. Because I guess there isn’t enough killing at the Memphis pound already. (Thank you Clarice for the link.)
Police in Birmingham, AL responded to a domestic disturbance call at a home and the friendly Lab who lived there greeted them at the door. One of the officers shot her to death on sight. Police are investigating themselves in the matter. (Thank you Clarice.)
A parent of one of the Newtown massacre victims talked with CBS News about the lengthy process she was enduring in order to adopt a kitten and how it compares to gun access:
“I don’t know enough about guns, but I think it’s a little easier to get a gun than to get a kitten.”
A couple in FL was walking their Golden Retriever when she slipped her lead and bolted in front of a pickup truck. Thankfully the driver of the truck was able to stop in time and no one was hurt. To celebrate, a man got out of the truck and shot one of the dog’s owners. Cos you know, that dog made him stop his truck.
Have you ever seen a dog performing some behavior that humans find entertaining and you wonder if the dog actually enjoys it? In this case, I think the question has been answered. (Thank you Claire for the link.)
A 7 year old GA kid begged his parents for a kitty. They finally agreed to foster a cat for a local rescue. On his second day, Mr. Meowy (Don’t you love it?) alerted the family to a fire that was just starting and they were able to save their home. They’re keeping him. (Thanks Clarice for this link.)
Online petition to make Charlotte, NC a no kill community. (Link sent in by Lauren.)
Most of Guam’s native bird species are are apparently extinct because of the brown tree snake which came to the island on U.S. military ships after WW II. U.S. government scientists have hatched a plan to airdrop dead mice laced with acetaminophen in wee parachutes, hoping the snakes will eat them and die.
With regard to the Birmingham police shooting the chocolate lab,
‘Asked about any training the BPD receives as far as dog and police interactions. Williams said the BPD training “trains us to interact with any kind of threat we encounter.’
So all dog interactions are classified as “threats”. Lovely.
I think this is true of how police are trained most places in the U.S. Certainly, as the police have become more and more militarized, it seems more and more pets are being shot on sight.
Actually, I’d have to say that the dog WASN’T a threat, because the cop’s response was obviously assinine and wrong, so he might be ‘trained’ for ‘threat’ but not for a normal occurance of of being greeted at a door by a dog – especially one stand right next to a human, and where another human might have walked up behind the dog. Unless it’s SOP to shoot immediately into the interior of a house without finding out what the situation is, without giving the homeowner (or anyone else) the chance to move a dog out of the way. What if that had been a child coming to the door to see what’s going on?
I’m sure the internal ‘investigation’ (coverup) will find the ‘officer’ acted ‘appropriately’ because he managed to miss shooting a human. Of course, if he hadn’t, I’m sure an internal ‘investigation’ would find the same damn thing. This ‘investigation’ will just take a few days – shooting a human might take weeks to come back as ‘justified’ because there would likely be a few more pesky questions asked.
This is a real treat: A lion remembers the woman who rescued him six years earlier: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=529395493771516
Here’s another unicorn chaser: So. African rain frog meeps http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBkWhkAZ9ds
Re: police shootings of pets . . .
The owners of Rosie, the friendly Newfoundland deliberately shot to death by police in Des Moines, Washington, in 2010, will be awarded at least $51,000 in their suit against the city, the highest amount in state history for animal-related litigation.
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020398702_rosiesettlementxml.html?cmpid=2628
It’s possible they will win additional money for investigative and attorney fees.
Adam Karp, the owners’ attorney, is a noted animal rights lawyer. Although I don’t have the details at hand, I remember that he and the owners had to try more than one approach, because judges in multiple jurisdictions refused to hear the way Karp first framed the issue legally. The Wrights could easily have given up, and I am so glad they persisted.