Companion Animals
Tricky Territory in Helping Feral Cats
Published May 11, 2009 @ 07:15AM PT
See also Mary's previous two posts in this series: "Feral Cats, TNR, and the Beginnings of Project Treadstone" and "How to Start a Trap-Neuter-Return Project for Feral Cats." -S. Ernst
Undici (the 11th Project Treadstone cat), aka Fluffy Black Tail, who was in her first trimester with three babies when spayed. Photo by Mary Martin.
When you endeavor to reduce the population of feral cats and you must put the pieces of an initiative together yourself, as opposed to hopping aboard one that already exists, you probably can’t avoid navigating some tricky territory. In this post, I’ll discuss the three issues that caused the most anxiety or problems at Project Treadstone, and the lessons I learned: Testing for Feline Leukemia (FeLV) and/or Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV); Microchipping; and Spaying Pregnant Cats.
In Memory of April and Friend, Hunting Dogs
Published April 19, 2009 @ 06:56AM PT
What I'm about to share with you is a personal story (and a long one). And it's not an easy story to read, so consider that as you proceed. If it irks you when I get personal on this blog or if you can't bring yourself to read about something pretty terrible, feel free to pass this post by; I would completely understand.
A year ago today, on a busy, dark interstate, I experienced one of the more traumatic events of my life, and I wrote about it in detail the day after it happened. The fact that I couldn't save the first dog that night--and the fact that I then lost the second one, whom my then-partner and I had decided to call April when we thought we'd be able to get her back after rushing her to the emergency clinic--is undoubtedly one of the reasons I was so adamant about protecting Mabel the pit bull when she showed up outside our house almost exactly a month from the night we found April and her companion. There was no way I was going to let another dog who'd been neglected and abused by human "caregivers," but who'd found her way to me, die on the street or go to a cold shelter from which she might not escape. I couldn't bear it. I couldn't save the first two. But I could save this one.
I recognize that if we had been able to get April back, we wouldn't have been able to take Mabel too, with our number of needy animals already at 6 in a tiny house, and given that all area no-kill shelters and foster homes at the time were full and considering Mabel's condition, Mabel's life would have been over at age 1 1/2. But I am still mourning April nevertheless, and I am still mourning her companion, and today, I am remembering that night, vividly, and wishing I weren't. I am remembering it mostly with deep sadness but with some lingering anger too--anger at whoever numbered and neglected loyal beings he was supposed to care for, anger at the people in general who treat these dogs like hunting equipment, anger at the people inside the countless cars that drove by, and anger at an inflexible system that whisked her away. The following is from last year, unedited.
How to Start a Trap-Neuter-Return Project for Feral Cats
Published April 16, 2009 @ 05:48AM PT
Last week, Mary Martin shared her first post in a series of posts on feral cats and the practice of trap-neuter-return (TNR), including the story of how her own effort, Project Treadstone, came to be and some advice on what steps to take when you first encounter a feral cat colony. Please see that first post if you haven't already and then proceed to this next one, offering tips on how to start your own TNR project if necessary. -S. Ernst
In the event that you must start your very own TNR Project Treadstone, here's some free advice:
- Here's what/whom you need: a trap, a trapper, a vet, someone to bring the cats to the vet and pick them up, a place for them to recuperate for a day or two or three, and money to fund the endeavor. The lowest cost I found was $25 for spay/neuter, rabies vaccination, microchipping, and ear-tipping (they cut off the tip of the left ear while the cat is under sedation so that you can easily determine whether a cat has been sterilized or not).
-Continue after the jump-
What We Can Expect from the Obama Dog Choice
Published April 15, 2009 @ 05:41AM PT
I just saw this animated Washington Post cartoon thanks to a Twitter alert from Animal Person's Mary Martin. I won't give it away. Go see it for yourself.
Obama Disappoints Animals, Props Up Breeders
Published April 13, 2009 @ 05:30AM PT
No one in the AR community expected President Barack Obama to make animal rights one of his priorities. His positions and personal choices didn't give us a reason to expect that. But there was great hope in two areas: (1) the Endangered Species Act protections that the Bush administration worked to weaken and (2) the promotion of adoption of animals from shelters rather than the purchase of animals from breeders. But despite restoring some endangered species protections, he also chose hunting-happy Salazar as his Secretary of Interior and isn't challenging his pick's decision to delist the gray wolves--the same decision that was widely criticized by conservation and animal advocacy groups when Bush tried it, multiple times--and now he has done a great disservice to the millions of animals languishing and dying in shelters, by knowingly passing on the chance to set the most high-profile of examples.
There was great hope that Barack Obama was going to listen to the throngs of people--individuals and organizations--who begged him and his family, for months, to make their family dog a rescue dog, to make that responsible personal choice and set that very important example, to do what he could for the millions of dogs and cats killed in shelters each year. There were even several statements from Obama and family indicating they would indeed adopt a rescue dog.
This weekend, we learned otherwise.
And On and On the Pit Bull Conversation Goes
Published April 11, 2009 @ 09:19AM PT
Nathan Winograd has this morning posted an additional thoughtful (and thought-provoking) response to the agreement between HSUS, Best Friends, and others announced yesterday, including some interesting details on how the agreement was come to that you won't find elsewhere. There are good reasons to still be only cautiously optimistic about what this agreement means or does not mean, and Winograd makes the case for that caution well. I'd much rather be celebrating a real, significant change that could, over time, save hundreds or thousands of pit bull lives, that will start changing public perception, and that shows that even the biggest, most powerful organizations can change course in meaningful ways even when that change is difficult or takes some pride-swallowing--I'd much rather be doing that than sitting around and dissecting what the agreement really means or what changes we can really hope for.
But the simple truth is that just hoping it means what so many of us want it to mean and celebrating the assumption that the vague, not-easily-reached agreement will mean major changes without real proof or assurances that it will might make us feel better, but it won't help the dogs. So the conversation continues. And we watch and wait and see what happens next--what further statements are made and, most importantly, what happens following the next inevitable busts of dog-fighting operations. Will the same patterns be followed? Will there be words about individual evaluations followed by, still, determinations that all, even nursing puppies, should be killed? Or will the change so many of us want to see really happen? We'll see.
Please do read Nathan Winograd's post here: Las Vegas Round 3. As I noted earlier, there are insights here, some disconcerting, that you won't find elsewhere about how the agreement was reached and what it took to get there and about what all this may or may not mean. It really is an excellent, thoughtful post.
Best Friends: New Collaboration with HSUS to Save Pit Bulls
Published April 10, 2009 @ 02:41PM PT
Update: See the end of this post (after the jump) for the reaction from the No Kill Nation blog too. I'm off to hug the pit bull looking at me from across the room now. :) Update II: Link to and remarks on the YesBiscuit! reaction at the end now too.
There really are times when I like being proven wrong or when something I've repeated is proven wrong--specifically, when the original news is unpleasant. Nathan Winograd wrote earlier today that there was new information coming out about the pit bull meeting between HSUS, Best Friends Animal Society, and other groups, info that at least partially countered the upsetting report he gave a couple days ago. More has happened since then, Nathan reported, and not all of the original details were correct, apparently.
And now Best Friends has put out an announcement about the agreement the groups have come to. Here's what they're telling us so far:
