Category: animal cruelty

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New Jersey Politicians Kill Another Good Animal Shelter – and Lots of Animals

MOST ANIMAL SHELTERS IN THIS COUNTRY ARE PART OF A BROKEN SYSTEM, ONE THAT HURTS INNOCENT, HOMELESS ANIMALS MOST OF ALL. BUT IT ALSO HARMS HEROIC STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS.

NEW JERSEY IS ONE OF THE WORST OFFENDERS.

Last year, the genius politicians of JerseyCity suddenly ended the contract with @LibertyHumaneSociety, and its team that many other shelters and rescues have very happily worked with for years. Still, the hiring of a new director, staff, and new procedures designed for the animals’ benefit heralded the possibility that things would actually work out. It wasn’t to be. When a dog attacked and seriously injured the new boss, bureaucrats who know nothing about a shelter or animal welfare, and even less about leadership and common decency emerged, once again throwing a promising start into turmoil.

https://jcitytimes.com/animal-shelter-morale-sinks-after-manager-is-bitten-hospitalized-fired/

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Help Get Justice for Starved Doggy!

Sweet Elmer, Starved to Death in Tennessee

In February of this year, a Selmer City, TN woman brought a horribly emaciated dog to a rescue group, claiming that the dog had been abandoned at her house. The rescue immediately rushed the dog, which they renamed Elmer, to an emergency veterinary clinic.  Sadly, despite all their efforts, this poor, sweet Great Dane died.

The Guardians of Rescue sent Elmer’s remains to a pathology lab to determine an exact cause of death. The results of Elmer’s necropsy were shocking and heartbreaking. While Elmer suffered from intestinal parasites and heartworm disease, the official cause of death was starvation–a painful, excruciating way to die. It was later determined that Elmer had, in fact, been living with this terribly cruel and heartless woman since 2020.

The Guardians of Rescue’s investigation showed that this lady was the owner of Elmer, and responsible for his gruesome death; in response, the Selmer City Police Department charged her with one count of animal cruelty and ordered her to rehome any animals in her custody.  Based on her history of breeding Great Danes, the presence of a heavy intestinal parasite load, heartworm disease and the intestinal obstruction that caused Elmer to die a slow, agonizing death by starvation, we believe she should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No matter where you live or whether or not you own a pet, we ask and encourage you to SIGN THE PETITION TO GET JUSTICE FOR ELMER – PLEASE!  The only deterrent we have to these horrible, cruel crimes is to hold the criminals accountable!

(The Guardians of Rescue is a registered 501(c)3, not for profit organization whose members work tirelessly to work to protect the wellbeing of all animals and come to the aid of those in distress. We are all about People Helping Animals and Animals Helping People.)

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Tell Your Congressperson and Senators to Pass “Goldie’s Act” and Stop Cruel Puppy Mills

A Puppy Mill

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a number of responsibilities and authorities, among them the oversight of dog breeders, often referred to as “puppy mills.” Certainly, there are humane and reputable breeders, who care for the animals they breed as well as their offspring, and do their best to ensure the puppies they sell are healthy for when they go off to their new owners.

But in far too many cases, these puppy mills are true mills–factories–where animals are cruelly abused and neglected, getting little or no health care, underfed, sick, in pain, confined in cages too small to even stand or turn, with pups being sent off to their new families with terrible, even fatal illnesses.

Named after a Golden Retriever (“Goldie”) who suffered extreme neglect and died at a “USDA-licensed” puppy mill in Iowa where she was known only as No. 142, the Goldie’s Act law will require the USDA to conduct more frequent and meaningful inspections, provide lifesaving intervention for suffering animals, issue penalties for violations, and communicate with local law enforcement to address cruelty and neglect.  

I’ve generally opposed breeders, even good ones, because I know that there are millions of homeless dogs in shelters, thousands of whom are killed each day because the shelters ostensibly “run out of space.”  And that’s because humans, far too often, selfishly insist on owning purebred dogs (who may not in fact be) or specific breeds, and simply ignore of the plight of so many beautiful angels suffering in shelters.
But until now, even I didn’t know how corrupt the USDA is, not just in ignoring its job to regulate and oversee breeders, but even corruptly covering up horrific crimes of animal cruelty: “Yet, days after the DOJ negotiated surrender of the [4000] beagles [from a USDA-licensed business, Envigo, where the USDA documented horrific cruelty during “routine inspections” over several months, including dead dogs, starving dogs, dogs in dangerous conditions, and dogs in need of veterinary care], the USDA renewed the company’s license for another year, and a shocking new report from Reuters revealed that senior USDA leaders went to great lengths to cover up both Envigo’s [cruel and horrific] treatment of the dogs, and the agency’s own refusal to protect the animals.”
TELL YOUR LAWMAKERS: Pass “Goldie’s Act,” protect the puppies, mommies, and daddies, and HOLD THE USDA ACCOUNTABLE!
To contact your US Representative and Senators:
See the full article from the Animal Legal Defense Fund here.
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SERESTO Flea & Tick Collars DANGER: July 2022 Update

In May 2021, I posted that SERESTO Flea and Tick Collars had been implicated in almost 2000 pet deaths and more than 75,000 incidents and illnesses, from relatively minor effects, such as animals suffering itchiness and skin irritation, to serious emergencies including seizures, convulsions, and, yes, horrible deaths.  Vets and health experts say this is no mere coincidence.

A little more than a year later, I am dismayed that they’re still being widely sold, despite a significant amount of damning evidence that they’re dangerous.  So much so, in fact, that the US Congress, not known for doing much if anything for American consumers, now links the collars to about 2500 pet deaths and more than 100,000 pet illnesses. The collar, made by Elanco Animal Health, is linked to a higher number of death and injury reports than competing products, claims the report from the Committee on Oversight and Reform’s subcommittee on economic and consumer policy.  And the report says they should be RECALLED and taken off the market.

US Congresswoman, Rep. Katie Porter, a Democrat from Southern California who also sits on the subcommittee, asked Alanco (parent company) CEO Simmons in mid-June 2022 about the fact that other countries including Australia and Colombia have large warnings on the packaging for Seresto collars and “label them as poison.”  Canada even decided to bar sales of the Seresto collar because its review of U.S. incidents and toxicology studies found it “posed too great a risk to pets and their owners to be sold in Canada.”

So that’s why I was even more dismayed when I was online with Chewy on July 3, ordering some things for my beloved Popeye, when I opened a chat with “Ashley H” at 3:53 pm. When I told her my concerns, within two seconds she had pasted in what I refer to as a “form-letter corporate PR response.” As we continued to chat, she wrote (verbatim): “I do apologize for the misinformation that you were given, at this time I am not obligated to discuss this matter any further, if you are uncomfortable using this product we do understand however we will continue to sell the item until we are told that we are no longer able. Then, remarkably, she accused ME of giving HER misinformation (verbatim): I do apologize that you feel that way about this product, the information that you are giving me is misinformation. (!!)

I’ve been a fan an customer of Chewy for years; their service is outstanding and their people (OTHER than “Ashley H”) are friendly. And Chewy says it loves our pets. But even if the data are not 100% conclusive, there is enough evidence that SERESTO collars should not be sold or used–if you care about the life and health of your pet! 

TELL CHEWY TO STOP SELLING SERESTO FLEA AND TICK COLLARS! corporate@chewy.com

https://www.congress.gov/event/117th-congress/house-event/114900

https://news.yahoo.com/congressional-subcommittee-epa-must-cancel-150304580.html

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/pet-owners-whose-animals-died-after-wearing-seresto-flea-collar-testify-at-congressional-hearing

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ASPCA: Marketing Juggernaut or Animal Welfare Organization?

I try to assume the best about all animal welfare organizations…until I don’t. I have found over the last 10 years that most of them do some good, and many do a lot of good. And others, such as the now-defunct NJSPCA–an absurd group of mostly obese wanna-be cops who couldn’t make the grade in real life, do no good, except for themselves.

But I never counted the ASPCA, the American Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in that disgraceful group.  And I still don’t. It definitely does some real good. And yet I am chagrined to see the just-released results of a CBS News investigation that shines a light on the “A’s” (as many call it) spending, specifically the percentage of donations that goes to actually help animals, and where the rest goes. According to CBS, “The ASPCA says the vast majority of donor dollars go directly toward its mission, but a CBS News investigation found there are questions about whether the money is going where donors expect.”

How is that? Well, the investigation continues, “Since 2008, the ASPCA has raised more than $2 billion for animal welfare. In that time, it has spent $146 million, or about 7% of the total money raised, in grants to local animal welfare groups. But during that same time period it spent nearly three times that, at least $421 million, on fundraising. Over $150 million of that went to Eagle-Com Inc, a Canadian media production company, to produce and place ASPCA’s ads.  I can only wonder how many tens of thousands of animals could have been saved, treated, loved and adopted out with $421 million dollars.

Certainly, you’ve seen the ads, unless you literally never watch television. They are heartbreaking, showing covering, shivering, and terrified animals, while a mournful Sarah McLaughlin tune, “In the Arms of an Angel,” plays in the background. Heartbreaking to me, and very effective tugs on the heartstrings of all but the coldest humans imaginable.

Now, obviously, any group funded by donations has to fundraise, and it’s not cheap or easy. But as someone who’s donated a couple times to the A, I became increasingly annoyed that once they had my address, they bombed my mailbox frequently with unwanted and unnecessary “gifts”–calendars I would never use, return address labels I didn’t want, “membership cards” with nowhere to present them, or just slick and glossy appeals for more money, which I would have happily given, except for the fact that I was mad as hell that they were using my original donations on such nonsense.

Moreover, the investigation points out, they give very little of those millions to the local SPCA organizations that do much of the heavy lifting, rescuing animals from abusive and hoarding situations, as well as providing veterinary care and adoption services. Unfortunately for those local organizations, much of the public wrongfully assumes that they’re local chapters of the larger ASPCA. Wrong. They have no affiliation whatsoever, and as the investigation points out, “CBS News spoke to more than two dozen local SPCA’s across the country. A few had received grants worth a few thousand dollars from the ASPCA, which they had applied for. Most, like in Nassau County and Houston, had gotten nothing.”

Finally, and I’m going to pick on him because it’s deserved, the CEO of the ASPCA earned more than $840,000 last year. I choked on that. Granted, it’s just one and the top exec, but for a non-profit organization that ostensibly exists to help homeless and abused animals, that kind of money is far beyond reasonable or remotely justifiable.

So…you can donate to the ASPCA, and again, they do some good works. But better yet, look for a local SPCA, or find a deserving rescue group or shelter, and put your money where it will do the most good.  And you can start with my shelter, Sammy’s Hope in Sayreville, NJ, or Island Animal Alliance, which rescues homeless dogs (“Satos”) from Puerto Rico.

You can find the CBS News clip here.

 

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Do You Love Dogs? The Canine Condition Podcast is for YOU!

If you love and care about dogs, come–sit–stay (and listen)!

Here are The Canine Condition podcast series, hosted by animal advocate and actress Jacqueline Piñol, who is also the producer and director, along with her husband Jonny Blu, of The Canine Condition “Dogumentary” about the state of homeless and shelter animals across the United State, and what’s being done about it.

The podcasts feature lots of shelter dog talk, and in my case the story of pitbull “Sammy,” our wonderful Sammy’s Hope Animal Welfare & Adoption Center in Sayreville, NJ  and its loving volunteers, the need for spay and neuter, the prejudice against bull-type dogs, and much more! Jacqueline and I also discuss the great work of wonderful animal advocate Niki Holloway Dawson and The Island Animal Alliance, which rescues dogs from hurricane- and poverty-ravaged Puerto Rico and transports them from Miami to rescues and adoptive families in New York and New Jersey.

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Unsung Heroes at St. Frances Animal Center in Georgetown, South Carolina!

A friend of mine, and the most dedicated animal advocate I’ve ever known, runs this wonderful animal shelter in South Carolina, so I want to give the place a plug!

Saint Frances Animal Center (SFAC) is Georgetown County, SC’s only open-admission animal shelter. Taking in 1,500 homeless cats and dogs each year, they focus on making sure every animal who has been lost, abandoned, abused, or neglected has a happy ending to their story. Saint Frances Animal Center cares for, treats, and rehabilitates every animal that comes there, to help ensure they go on to find loving homes.
In addition, SFAC runs a low-cost veterinary clinic that provides full-service, affordable veterinary care and spay/neuter surgeries for families. They believe the love and joy that pets bring to our lives should not be limited by a family’s income. Before adopting them out, SFAC ensures that all pets are neutered, vaccinated, and healthy, regardless of a family’s financial challenges.
I hope you’ll keep this shelter in mind, and help them out whenever you can! HERE’S THE LINK TO DONATE!
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Help Bring SPAYATHON Back to Puerto Rico!

I apologize; this is a month old but it is OUTRAGEOUS. I apologize for the length, but please read it all and respond if you can. Hundreds of thousands MORE homeless animals will be born, suffer, and die if this is not fixed.  Thank you.

SPAYATHON FOR PUERTO RICO ENDED – WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!

We were left blindsided by the news that late Thursday evening, a Puerto Rico court declared the Governor’s executive orders on Spayathon null and void, stating that the government does not have the authority to allow veterinarians not licensed in Puerto Rico to practice on the island. This ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by three Puerto Rico veterinarians who have been against this groundbreaking initiative since the beginning and decided to challenge the government in the courts. Those veterinarians are:

Dra. Monica Pagan Mutt
Dra. Victor Oppenheimer Soto
Dra. Maria Cueto Ruiz

Their case:
• The Puerto Rico DVMs argued that they were negatively affected by the Executive Orders because DVMs not licensed in Puerto Rico could practice veterinary medicine in the commonwealth.
• They argue that the government was allowing DVMs not licensed in P.R. to practice veterinary medicine in Spayathon clinics.
• They argue that the mechanism used to allow outside veterinarians to practice in the commonwealth is not allowed by the law.

Arguments from the government:

• Government argued that, during an emergency period, the governor can authorize DVM temporary licensing
• The government argued that P.R. DVMs did not prove they were negatively affected by the Executive Order
• The government also argued that this was a matter of public policy as it was intended to address the animal welfare crisis.

The Court concluded:

• Government cannot issue an Executive Order that is against an existing law. Current law does not allow temporary licensing and changing that is up to the Legislative Assembly.
• Declares Executive Orders 2020-15 & 2020-18 null and void.

This ruling effectively puts an end to Spayathon for Puerto Rico, unless the government appeals the decision in a higher court. This amazing project has been 3 years of extremely hard work and as a member of the Spayathon coalition together we have successfully s/n/v over 53,000 animals, making this the largest and most successful HQHVSN initiative in the world.

Spayathon for Puerto Rico has been the shining beacon of hope not only for The Sato Project but also for the millions of Puerto Ricans who so desperately need help with their animals. A large scale mass spay, neuter and vaccination program is the ONLY way we are ever going to address Puerto Rico’s massive animal population and the spread of infectious disease. Spayathon for Puerto Rico was providing a humane solution to decrease euthanasia and combat the massive suffering that street dogs endure.

This program is desperately needed. Every single person that we have had the pleasure of meeting through Spayathon has been so incredibly appreciative and thankful for this initiative. They line up at midnight to ensure they get seen. And no one complains. Since we began Spayathon for Puerto Rico has completed 52,524 surgeries and vaccinated the same amount of animals.

That prevents the birth of over 316,680 animals. That is over three hundred thousand that will not suffer.
We had four (4) more rounds of Spayathon to complete.
Our last clinic in May was canceled due to Covid 19.
We are now in what experts are predicting to be one of the worst hurricane seasons for decades. And on top of this, the earthquakes still continue daily.

This island, the people of Puerto Rico, the estimated 500,000 stray dogs and estimated 1,000,000 feral cats have suffered enough. The Sato Project stands firmly behind the continuance of the Spayathon program. It would facilitate the treatment of over 100,000 animals. It would stand forever as the change that Puerto Rico needs to end the perception of being the island of abandonment and suffering for animals. We have a unique opportunity to make history. And we for one want to be a part of it.

How you can help:

Email or call:
The Governor of Puerto Rico
Email gobernadora@fortaleza.pr.gov
Email asistencia@fortaleza.pr.gov
Tel: 787-721-7000

The Colegio de Medicos Veterinarios de Puerto Rico
Email: cmvpr@cmvpr.org
Tel: 787-249-5304/787-370-8548

Please be respectful in your communication.
These are just some of the facts of Spayathon to date:

52,524 Total number of dogs and cats altered to date.
316,680 births prevented (first year post surgery)
63.90% of animals had never seen a veterinarian
70.72% of animals 5 months and older have never been vaccinated for rabies.
41.83% of females over 11 months had already had at least one litter.

#SPAYATHON4PR #SATOSTRONG #SPAYANDNEUTER

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Puppy Mills Fuel Retail Pet Stores in New Jersey: Just a Fact

PUPPY MILLS: Cruelty and Suffering

The main problem we have in New Jersey is the 22 remaining retail pet stores that fuel the puppy mill >> pet store pipeline.

Even during a pandemic, when many businesses have been ordered to close, and animal organizations around the country have halted charitable life-saving transports of animals out of respect for public health, NJ’s puppy milling pet stores continue to sell puppy mill dogs. A HSUS-led coalition request to Gov. Murphy to change this via executive order was unfortunately denied by his office a couple weeks ago.

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Fairview NJ Police Chief Kahn Allegedly Delights in Drowning Innocent Animals

FROM HSUS/NEW JERSEY RE POTENTIAL CRIMINAL ANIMAL CRUELTY

Yesterday we received a disturbing tip alleging that Fairview, New Jersey Police Chief Martin Kahn had produced and promoted an instructional video showing how to trap and drown “nuisance” animals in your own backyard. This appears to run afoul of multiple state laws regarding animal cruelty (Title 4:22-17) and criminal activity (Title 2C:5-1). Inflicting such cruel treatment onto animals isn’t just unethical, it is illegal!

Upon originally verifying the validity of the initial complaint, we believe that this situation warrants further investigation by the New Jersey OAG’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability under the state Attorney General’s Office.

We have the utmost respect for our state’s law enforcement. When there are situations like these that erode the integrity of our faith in law enforcement, especially when innocent animals are at stake, we must take them seriously. We are including the video which was taken directly from the chief’s Instagram profile before it was removed, for the public to judge for themselves.

We encourage you to contact the AG’s office at https://nj.gov/oag/opia/ and join us and other organizations calling for a full investigation of this matter.

In the video, the chief admits to the past killing of numerous animals by the methods he is promoting in the video. The trapping, torment, and drowning of animals on individual personal property outside the legal regulations of hunting and trapping is NOT permitted in New Jersey. Here’s the video: https://www.facebook.com/HSUSNewJersey/videos/255892582224349/?t=14