New resource for shelter pet advocates: The website Saving 90 lists communities that self-report saving 90% or more of the animals in their shelters.
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Case Update: The ACO in Elgin, OK who lied to the owner of a dog he had gassed to death using the exhaust from his truck has been fully reinstated. No charges were filed despite the fact that the dog was mutilated before being killed and dumped into a dead animal pit at the unlicensed facility. The city council says it supports the ACO and believes the community does too because a council member heard there was a petition with 600 signatures on it somewhere, which nobody ever saw, supporting the ACO. Also, the pound is going to have its floor painted. (Thanks Clarice for the link.)
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The Maine Department of Agriculture requires pet food companies to pay a surcharge in order to sell their foods in the state. The money funds a spay-neuter program which helps low-income families get their pets fixed. Supporters of the surcharge say it costs pet owners an additional 36 cents over the course of a year. The governor wants to eliminate it but supporters say that will result in increased cat intakes at shelters which means increased cat killings. Because I mean – hey, more cats. Whatcha gonna do?
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Gir, a 30 year old miniature horse in Clackamas Co, OR, accidentally got out of his stall one night last month and wandered onto a neighbor’s property. The neighbor called the sheriff’s office and a deputy came and shot the pet to death. The deputy told the owners Gir had been hit by a car and had two broken legs but a necropsy found the horse was in excellent condition and had not been injured outside of the gunshot wounds to the head. The Clackamas Co sheriff’s office is investigating itself in the matter. And:
The Oregon Humane Society can’t confirm if it started, and then stopped, an animal cruelty investigation into Gir’s shooting.
Sounds legit. (Thanks Bonnie for the link.)
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Robert Durst admitted dismembering his neighbor in 2001 and is currently charged with murdering an associate. His brother believes that Durst practiced killing and disposing of remains on seven Alaskan malamutes before his first wife disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 1982.
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The AP had a good story this week on street dogs who have been taken in by state organizations in Cuba. I especially love the photo of Vladimir.
About Durst; saw on the news this a.m .(can’t find a link to share here) that judge in Durst’s other murder trial suspects it was Durst who left a severed cat head on her doorstep. This after he was found innocent. Nice guy.
Just came across this on Twitter:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3003844/Robert-Durst-left-cat-s-severed-head-doorstep-claims-Texas-judge-presided-acquittal-2003-murder.html
And seven dogs in his early days, killed “mysteriously”. Practice. How many more animals and humans have/will disappear at his hands? How much more evidence does the judicial system need? And what more can animal advocates do to stress to law enforcement that torturing, abusing, killing cats and dogs must not be considered a misdemeanor?
And the first wife who died mysteriously iirc. He is in custody now and it looks like they may have him from a 2000 kiling but he comes from a rich family and is worth like 10 mil so who knows. An answer to your second question Brenda about what can be done is here.
http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/shelter-reform/toolkit/
Yep! Know it well Chris B!
I can understand about Maine, they import cats they have so few of their own in shelters: from a cat blogger in Maine::”And hey, we actually have room here. Kitten season is off to a really slow start in Maine, thanks to massive free and low-cost spay/neuter programs. Adopt-a-thons have been incredibly successful here; in fact, last year an adoption event at the Bangor Humane Society left the shelter empty. Not a cat to be seen, except a few who were not yet available for adoption.