These are some of the stories making headlines in animal protection:
Subscribers can also listen to the podcast above, which includes extended commentary on many of the issues, including why intakes are down, redemptions are steady, and adoptions are increasing at shelters that have implemented the No Kill Equation. The conclusion? Shelter killing is a choice. And yet, excuses for it are becoming increasingly absurd. For those who want to skip the news and go straight to the main discussion, it begins at the 29:35 mark.
There is also a 15-minute sample of the podcast for those who have not yet subscribed. Sample podcasts are also available on Apple, Spotify, and Google Play.
Rabbits with gouged eyes, guinea pigs with no food, hamsters in urine and feces-soaked cages: that is how small animals are kept at Los Angeles City Animal Services, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
Prior L.A. Times investigations have found that dogs spent weeks and sometimes months without getting out of their kennels for walks and that staff hit dogs.
Who gets punished? Not the staff who neglect and abuse the animals. Tragically, it is the animals and the volunteers who speak out in defense of them.
California’s AB 2380 banning the financing of dogs and cats purchased online was signed into law. The law will reduce the number of commercially-bred puppies and kittens entering California via online sales. In 2019, the state banned the retail sale of animals in pet stores. The next step is banning online sales of commercially-bred animals altogether.
Commercial breeders engage in systematic neglect and abuse of animals, leaving severe emotional and physical scars on the victims. One in four former breeding dogs have significant health problems, are more likely to suffer from aggression, and many are psychologically and emotionally shut down, compulsively staring at nothing.
A new report warns families “about an increase in the number of stolen pets.” Nationally, “Dog thefts are up 40% from last year.”
“French bulldogs are the number one breed targeted by thieves. That’s followed by Labrador retrievers and Yorkshire terriers.”
As more people turn to rescue and adoption and more shelters embrace progressive policies, the number of communities placing over 95% and as high as 99% of the animals is increasing.
Ewing Township, NJ, reported a 99% placement rate for dogs, 99% for cats, and 100% for other small animals.
Somerset, NJ, reported a 98% placement rate for dogs, 97% for cats, and 100% for other small animals.
These communities and national data prove that animals are not dying in pounds because there are too many, too few homes, or people don’t want the animals. They are dying because people in those pounds are killing them. Replace those people, implement the No Kill Equation, and we can be a No Kill nation today.
A new survey finds that:
76% of people with dogs allow them to sleep on the bed.
Of those who don’t, 57% “still keep their pets close by, allowing them to sleep in the bedroom.”
Single dog owners (80%) are “more likely to sleep with their dog” than married dog owners (73%).
About ⅓ of married couples disagree and fight about it.
“Pit bull owners urged a federal appeals court… to resurrect their suit claiming their constitutional rights are violated by an Iowa city’s ordinance banning possession of the dogs within the city.” The case is on appeal after a lower Federal Court dismissed their lawsuit “claiming the ordinance violated their constitutional rights of due process and equal protection. The dog owners questioned the city’s statistics and the validity of the city’s use of visual inspections to determine whether a dog is a pit bull.”
