Advocating for homeless and shelter animals
In a now widely-reported incident with video coverage, a Montclair, NJ resident who was a LYFT driver but not driving a customer at the time, is alleged to have thrown a dog out of the car of another motorist with whom he was fighting.
The dog, a 12 year old female miniature pinscher, is reportedly bruised and traumatized but will be ok. Thankfully!
For details on this terrible but all-too-common incident, click here.
It sickens me to read that more than three dozen horses were abused and ultimately put down, and yet the abuser was found guilty on only two counts and paid a fine amounting to $35 a horse.
Can this be real? And I’d like to know how local law enforcement, the NJSPCA, and the prosecutor can defend this.
And can someone explain this?:
“The SPCA says they were euthanized because of botulism.”
WHAT?
A Staten Island man was sentenced to 300 days in jail Friday on animal cruelty charges for inflicting serious injuries on a dog that resulted in the animal’s death.
I don’t have statistics, but it is common knowledge that animal abuse, even the killing of innocent animals, rarely results in jail or prison time. It’s a problem in our society – many of us truly care about animal welfare, but not enough of us are putting pressure on legislatures and law enforcement agencies to do what they should: enact strong laws and enforce them.
Information about the conviction and sentencing of Nicholas Piccolino can be found here.
“Animal people” like us are avowed enemies of puppy mills, which are just horror shows that represent animal cruelty by definition. We need NATIONAL legislation to outlaw these criminal enterprises, but sadly, few of our “representatives” in Congress give a damn about animals.
Still, if you’re a skeptic and you think this is an overblown crisis, read this Rolling Stone piece. And then tell me these places are ok. You can’t.
Here’s but one quote: “Here were the parent dogs in desperate shape: blinded by cataracts and corneal ulcers; their jaws half-gone or missing entirely after their teeth had rotted away. Some were so feeble they couldn’t stand erect; their paws were urine-scalded and their wrists were deformed from squatting on wire their entire lives.”
DON’T buy from breeders. Go to your local shelter and ADOPT. When you buy from a puppy mill or cat breeder you are literally supporting animal cruelty.
HSUS has, by all accounts, a very thoughtful and effective communications program, Humane State, that trains law enforcement, including prosecutors, judges, officers, and others, along with the shelter/rescue community to combat animal crimes and strengthen the shelters. It’s really a road show that they’ve taken to several states and Puerto Rico.
Seems to me that New Jersey badly needs this kind of program.
Frustratingly, HSUS has no contact information for this program or for general requests, but its phone numbers are:
202-452-1100, or 866-720-2676, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 11 p.m ET
Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET
Many thanks to the New Jersey Humane Society and St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center for helping rescue and care for more than two dozen dogs taken from another hoarding situation, in West New York, NJ. It’s great that New Jersey animal welfare organizations lend a hand; of course, this just points out that we have a long way to go in dealing with animal abuse and neglect.
A tragic event led to this story: On May 10, Mia, a 13 year old girl from Cranbury, New Jersey was walking her dog and was hit by a car, and the driver callously and illegally fled the scene. The girl was seriously injured and her dog was killed instantly. According to The Woodbridge Patch, witnesses said that the pup, named Panda, absorbed most of the impact from the car, and likely saved Mia’s life.
But on July 3rd, members of the Cranbury Fraternal Order of Police presented Mia and her family with a puppy, much to their joy! You can see it here in the Patch.
I hope the dog was adopted from a local shelter. Virtually everywhere in New Jersey, shelter animals are the most at risk on account of overcrowded conditions, and are deserving of loving, forever homes.
ADOPT, don’t shop! And spay and neuter your houshold pets! It’s the only was we’re going to end the endless slaughter of innocent animals.