Israelis rescue animals targeted by Hamas

News and headlines for October 7 - October 13, 2023

Israelis rescue animals left traumatized, injured, and homeless after the attacks by the Islamic terrorist organization Hamas. There are also claims that Hamas intentionally targeted dogs. In one video circulating on social media, a family’s dog is shot by a terrorist before he sets fire to the house. These claims are both credible and unsurprising given that dogs are considered “impure” by Islamicists, forbidden as companions or pets, and some clerics have issued a fatwā against petting puppies. In addition to targeting children and others, targeting family pets is yet another of Hamas’ many war crimes as it seeks to destroy the lives and break the hearts of Jewish families. 

These are some of the stories making headlines in animal protection:

As The No Kill Advocacy Center recently reported, 

In a lawsuit by rescuers against the Los Angeles County pound, the Court of Appeal unanimously ruled that California shelters cannot kill animals rescue groups are willing to save…

Specifically, the court ruled that “the County lacks discretion to withhold and euthanize a dog based upon its determination that the animal has a behavioral problem or is not adoptable or treatable.”

But groups like Best Friends Animal Society, American Pets Alive (Austin Pets Alive), Maddie’s Fund, the San Francisco SPCA, the National Animal Control Association, Petco Love, and others — through the California Animal Welfare Association, their lobbying group — are supporting the County of Los Angeles which petitioned the California Court of Appeal to reverse its recent ruling in favor of dogs and their rescuers and allow shelters to kill more dogs.

And if they get their way, more dogs will die.

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The Devore Animal Shelter in San Bernardino, CA, thanked their state representative for introducing legislation that, if passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor, “will give animal shelters the opportunity to apply for grant funds that will assist them in providing veterinary care services, enrichment and recreational resources, promoting adoption, and the hiring, training and retention of staff.”

While Devore staff pretend that their failure to provide these services is due to a lack of funding, that is not why they are neglecting and then killing animals. And giving Devore more money — assuming they even apply for those grants — will not stop the killing for several reasons: 

1. Shelters can already provide for private grants.

2. They can already provide for other public grants. For example, the State has already provided $50,000,000 in grant funding for shelters.

3. The programs to save lives are more cost-effective than killing.

4. California animal shelters are already collectively funded to the tune of millions annually.

The bill is a cynical attempt to diffuse increasing criticism that Devore staff:

• Routinely mislabel friendly cats as “feral” to kill them because they refuse to implement a community cat program;

• Routinely mislabel dogs as “behavior” to kill them;

• Allow healthy animals to get sick because of poor protocols and filth and then kill them, even if the condition is treatable;

• Kill pregnant animals so as not to foster or provide veterinary care;

• Kill entire families of cats — mothers and young kittens together; and,

• Fail to provide prompt and necessary medical care “leading to suffering and even death.”

And when rescuers complain, they are (illegally) retaliated against by killing animals they offer to save. By refusing to hold staff accountable and ignoring problems, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, which oversees the pound, has long allowed the neglect, abuse, and killing to fester.

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