NZ school fundraiser asks kids to kill as many cats as possible
News and headlines for April 15 - 21, 2023
These are some of the stories making headlines in animal protection:
Bowie, a shy 12-week-old puppy, was killed by Los Angeles County animal control, despite a rescue group willing to accept him into their foster care and adoption program. AB 595, Bowie’s Law, would make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Bowie’s Law would require California shelters to notify rescuers before killing an animal. And given that such notifications are possible through shelter software already used by these facilities or available for free, complying would require nothing more than a stroke on a keyboard: one click to notify rescuers that a life needs saving.
Although it passed one committee, it is now in another and faces powerful opposition from regressive pounds and their enablers. The No Kill Advocacy Center is urging animal lovers to email Appropriations Committee members and urge a YES vote on AB 595.
The pit bull bans in Miami-Dade County and Sunrise, FL, will end if the Governor signs legislation that passed the legislature. SB 942 would prohibit Florida cities from targeting specific “breeds” for extermination.
Banning dogs based on how they look is immoral. It is also ineffective. That's not just opinion; it's science:
50% of dogs labeled as pit bulls lacked DNA breed signatures of breeds commonly classified as pit bulls;
Dogs targeted for breed discriminatory laws are not more likely to bite, do not bite harder, and such bans do not result in fewer dog bites or bite-related hospitalization rates; and,
Enforcement of a ban is expensive, with no measurable impact on public safety.
Bans also negatively impact surrounding communities and rescue groups, which have to take on the burden of such regressive and selfish policies to save the lives of these dogs.
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. In Kansas, “nearly half the stray cats and dogs picked up by Wichita’s animal control were staring down a death sentence” at one time. Last year it was “3% of the number coming through its doors.”
This and other 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.
California legislators are considering AB 1215, a bill to provide “state funding for pet food and veterinarian services at homeless and domestic violence shelters statewide.”
If enacted into law, the $32 million “would be used to provide many pet services including grooming, dental care, vaccinations, nutritious food, flea treatment, first aid and more.” The bill would also pay to sterilize the animals.