A Nevada puppy owner says Douglas Co ACOs strong-armed her into surrendering her puppy for killing due to exposure to another pup who tested positive for rabies. (Thank you Clarice for the link.)
Authorities appear to be citing gambling as a motive in the case of the “Lucky Dog” scam in Boggs Mountain, Georgia where the shelter director was taking cash donations to keep dogs alive, pocketing it, then killing them anyway. (Thanks Clarice.)
Rowan Co, NC voted to phase out use of its gas chamber for killing shelter animals. Beginning April 1, the county will only kill “aggressive” dogs and cats in the gas chamber and that practice will end after workers receive additional training. (Thank you April for the link.)
Matthew Power, the author of this piece describing how poachers killed a turtle advocate in Costa Rica, reportedly died this week on assignment in Uganda.
A woman describes a powerful connection she experienced with some deer after falling on a walk. (Thanks Valerie for the link.)
The irresponsible public helps a snapping turtle to cross the road safely. (Thanks Valerie for this one as well.)
The rabies laws in Nevada are insanely antiquated. Puppies have antibodies against rabies from their mothers (when the mothers have been vaccinated against rabies), which is why they aren’t vaccinated for it until they are six months old. I don’t know that I’d believe that one of the puppies had rabies in the first place – and that it had spread it to other puppies. Rabies vaccinations are prophylactic and if the puppy had been vaccinated right when it was suspected of having contracted the disease, it could have been quarantined in a home (at minimal cost and risk, not the ‘thousands of dollars’ the state claims) for the normal period of ten days, and for the bizarre six months the state’s idiotic rules seem to require.
The snapping turtle story is nice. I helped a snapper across the road (but only half the size of theirs and I was able to lift him, fortunately!). Afterwards, a neighbor said, “You didn’t know that their necks are long enough to reach around and grab you, did you?” Um…nope. But hey, safe turtle, no blood, all good.
My niece and her friends found an injured snapper – he’d been hit by a car and his shell was damaged. They loaded him into a dog crate and took him to the local ER. Apparently, no one told the attending vet that it was more than just “a turtle” (even though everyone at reception knew) …so she asked them to slide him out onto the floor. Then she took two big steps backwards and stammered, “That’s a … … snapping turtle!” She needed a moment to compose herself, then they got to work, moving him into a safe cage so she could start to look up appropriate treatments for him…
They can be intimidating, but even scary animals deserve care and respect.
One got into the yard one time. I noticed the dogs all circled around something on the ground, leaning in, then jumping back, then leaning in… I cleared my way through and saw the snapping turtle. I didn’t know he was a snapper and was trying to talk myself into picking him up but the tail stopped me. I has never seen a giant tail on a turtle before and it gave me sufficient pause to wait until Billy got home for help.
Probably a very good decision . . .
I did the same and never thought about being bitten. All I thought of was saving the turtle from being run over.
When I was in college I saw a giant snapper in the road…bigger than the width of my arms spread wide. My mother was in the car, and we drove past him, found a spot to pull over, and walked back up the road. I was motioning with my arms at oncoming cars so they would see him…and some asshole in a red pick-up saw me and purposely swerved to hit the turtle. I’ll never forget the pick-up and what the ass looked like…his face represents the darkness in humanity to me. Luckily he somehow managed to miss by a millimeter. I DID know that snappers can reach back over their shells, but I was so flustered and in such a hurry that I just grabbed him. He did indeed reach back and very nearly took my nose off, but I was able to get him out of the road and to the pond that seemed to be his destination.
Momma and babies are urgent – if you can share, it would be great. If you know a rescue who can get them outta there, that would be amazing. They are in Shelby, NC.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=654285211273324&set=a.295849103783605.61154.285283128173536&type=1&theater
Actually, most snappers you see moving over land are probably females on a nesting journey. That doesn’t make handling them any less tricky, but I wonder if knowing that they are mothers would make any difference to some people.
Thought you might like this, yesBiscuit…
http://www.examiner.com/article/senior-dog-left-with-sad-note-to-be-reunited-with-elderly-owners?cid=taboola_inbound
An elderly dachshund was left in a basket at an animal control facility. There was a note with the dog saying that the owners were seniors themselves and could not afford vet care or even a fee to have him euthanized. The dog was suffering from mange, and the note asked them to please euthanize the dog because he was suffering and had never been without his people.
Instead, a rescue group took the dog to the vet and discovered his mange was treatable and that he likely had a few more good years. But here’s the truly amazing part…instead of judging and blaming the owners for making a heart-breaking decision, the rescue group located them and plans to reunite them with their dog. Now THAT’S what rescue should be about. No ‘well, if they can’t afford to treat, they’re bad owners”…just kindness for both pets and people.
I have a little snapping Painted Turtle named Rizza. Her story is on my blog http://sassybrat1904.wordpress.com/?s=Rizza