Several of us from A Tail to Tell will be at this event for a rare chance to meet with government officials to discuss animal issues. If you’d rather not go alone, you can join us at the event. Here are the details from the HSUS website:
Think only professional lobbyists can lobby? Think again! The Humane Society of the United States invites our members, supporters, and other animal advocates to participate in the Pennsylvania Humane Lobby Day in Harrisburg, and help make a tremendous difference for animals.
This is an exciting opportunity to meet directly with your elected officials and their staff about legislation that will significantly impact animals. There will be a briefing with tips for lobbying, and an overview of pending animal legislation, which will prepare you to meet your elected officials and advocate for animals. HSUS President and CEO Wayne Pacelle will be on hand to give closing remarks. RSVP today to lend your voice for animals and make a difference in Pennsylvania! Contact Sarah Speed if you have additional questions.
World Spay Day is an annual campaign of The HSUS and Humane Society International that shines a spotlight on spay/neuter—a proven way to save the lives of companion animals, feral cats, and street dogs who might otherwise be put down in a shelter or killed on the street.
World Spay Day is officially the last Tuesday of February, but you can find (or hold your own) spay/neuter or educational events around the world throughout February, Spay/Neuter Awareness Month.
Back in 2008, the BBC did an excellent documentary on the problem of genetic diseases in purebred dogs:
Pedigree dogs are suffering from genetic diseases following years of inbreeding, an investigation has found. A BBC documentary says they are suffering acute problems because looks are emphasised over health when breeding dogs for shows. The programme shows spaniels with brains too big for their skulls and boxers suffering from epilepsy.
The programme, Pedigree Dogs Exposed, says dogs suffering from genetic illness are not prevented from competing in dog shows and have gone on to win “best in breed”, despite their poor health. It says physical traits required by the Kennel Club’s breed standards, such as short faces, wrinkling, screw-tails and dwarfism, have inherent health problems. Other problems occur because of exaggerations bred into dogs by breeders trying to win rosettes, it adds. The programme shows a prize-winning cavalier King Charles spaniel suffering from syringomyelia, a condition which occurs when a dog’s skull is too small for its brain. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7569064.stm
The situation in the United States is no different. If you think you need a purebred dog, please watch this documentary:
By now most of you have probably heard that we had no choice but to euthanize Scooter last week. He spent is first few days of freedom in the hospital recovering from a blocked urethra, then was released into the care of ATTT volunteers where he remained for a short time. He did decently during that time; ate well, enjoyed the attention lavished on him by numerous caring people, spent a lot of time sitting on warm laps and doing things any other normal dog deserves for the first time in his life. A few days passed like that. But then the bloody discharge got worse and he stopped urinating so he was returned to the veterinary clinic where the decision was made to perform a surgery that would enlarge his urethra, allowing stones, sediment and debris to pass through unhindered.
Scooter was anesthetized and the doctor began to work, but soon found the underlying reason for Scooter’s problems; bladder cancer. Canine bladder cancer is unusual, comprising approximately 2% of all cancers in dogs and it is largely fatal. Researchers aren’t sure what causes it, but have proposed that genetics, environmental toxins and human cigarette smoke are among the causes.
What’s so sad about this case isn’t the fact that he had bladder cancer and it killed him, even the most well cared-for dogs can get the disease, but the fact that he had not seen one day of kindness or love prior to ATTT’s intervention. He sat in a cold outbuilding for years, paralyzed and miserable. He endured day after day after day of being ignored and seen as nothing more than a means to potential income…or cost. Fortunately, the fact that he became a cost in his owner’s eyes was probably the best thing that ever happened to him since she jettisons or “destroys” (the euphemism she uses to mean she kills the dogs) anything that doesn’t make money. Fortunately for Scooter and a few others, he met the former fate.
But once in the care of ATTT, he became an individual. Volunteers that spent time with Scooter are having a hard time in the wake of his death after watching him suffer and investing so much into him emotionally. But on a grander scale, what makes this so especially heart-wrenching is that it brings into sharp relief how many animals out there suffer like this, and worse. This was just one dog among the millions kept in puppy mills. Had we not had rescuers choose that particular day to travel to western Pennsylvania, a few days might have passed, Scooter would have died in abject misery and we’d have never known he existed. But he brought into sharp focus what happens in thousands of puppy mills to an untold number of animals, many of them right next door to those of us in Lancaster County.
The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show has dumped its lead sponsor Pedigree after 24 years.
The reason? The American Kennel Club didn’t like those tear-jerker commercials of sad-eyed shelter dogs peering out from behind lonely cage bars.
So this year’s Westminster show, which starts tomorrow at Madison Square Garden in New York, will be sponsored by Nestle Purina Petcare whose messages will feature “happy dogs.”
“The feedback we got from our primary audience was that they were seeing commercials that made them want to turn the channel,” said Westminster spokesman and longtime TV host David Frei.
The Pedigree commercials, seen by 3.4 million dog show viewers, helped raise some $7 million for the Pedigree Foundation , which supports shelters across the country (click on link for happy adoption stories).
Estimates suggest six to eight million dogs and cats are taken in by shelters each year. Of those three to four million are euthanized. That means unwanted animals that end up in shelters only have a 50 percent of chance of getting a ticket out. (Unpleasant statistics I know. Turn the channel if you must.)
Some 25 percent of shelter dogs are purebred, some percentage of those enter with AKC registration papers. We know that all too well in Pennsylvania where dogs from cruelty seizures, among them kennels owned by recognized AKC breeders, flow – and sometimes flood – into shelters every year.
The Humane League of Lancaster County knows that all too well, taking in hundreds of puppy mill survivors over the years. Some 30 poodles, shih-tzus and other small-breed “designer” mixes seized from an illegal kennel last week are the shelter’s newest residents.
Those are not “happy dogs” – at least not right now.
It should be no surprise that the AKC would shut out shelters. Neither the organization nor its local affiliates have publicly supported any animal welfare legislation that I am aware of – certainly not in Pennsylvania in the last six years.
So is it any surprise that the AKC would send Pedigree to the pound?
Frei said the show didn’t like the idea that Pedigree was trying “shame” viewers.
“Our show is a celebration of dogs. We’re not promoting purebreds at the expense of non-purebreds. We celebrate all dogs,” he said.
“When we’re seeing puppies behind bars, it takes away from that. Not just because it’s sad, but it’s not our message.”
Yes, kennel club, shelters are sad places. That’s why many people who want to adopt dogs end up at a backyard breeder or puppy mill or shop for a puppy on the Internet, which is rife with scammers. It’s so much easier than walking past all those lonely cages and sad-eyed dogs.
Perhaps the AKC might put its money where its mouth is and ”celebrate all dogs” with a donation to the Pedigree Foundation?
Want to help Pedigree help unwanted dogs? Read about the company’s latest Facebook contest on Steve Dale’s Pet World blog.
The Humane League of Lancaster County was recently saddled with over 50 dogs, 32 of which were from a woman named Barbara Dienner of Gordonville. This story appeared in various news outlets around the area on February 4, 2012:
A Gordonville woman has admitted to hoarding dogs at her home, including many that weren’t licensed or vaccinated. Barbara E. Dienner, 49, agreed to pay a $1,150 fine and will surrender all but five of her dogs, according to a court order. She pleaded guilty to 37 counts in all, relating to dozens of dogs investigators found last year at her home in the 200 block of Queen Road. Investigators said Dienner wasn’t selling the dogs, but she was breeding them and considered them pets. The number of dogs at the home qualified it as an illegal kennel, investigators said. Dog-law officials charged Dienner after finding more than 30 dogs at her home. None of them had current rabies vaccinations, according to a criminal complaint. Seven of them didn’t have licenses, the complaint says. Dienner was to have a preliminary hearing on Friday, but opted instead to plead guilty to 37 counts. “The sheer number of dogs in this house prevented Ms. Dienner from properly caring for them,” Assistant District Attorney Christine Wilson said. “Due to her neglect and the conditions inside the home, the dogs needed to be removed for their protection.” Officials are expected to take all but five of the dogs in the near future. When asked in court on Friday, Dienner wasn’t sure how many dogs she now has. Members of Dienner’s church congregation attended the hearing in support. Dienner asked if there was any way she could still keep the dogs, court officials said. She also asked if she could have more time to sell the dogs or find them homes. Wilson objected to those requests. She allowed Dienner to keep only five dogs — if they receive proper vaccinations and licenses. A court order was issued that the dogs be removed from Dienner’s home. The state Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement will seize the animals. Dienner was cited more than a dozen times last summer for animal cruelty and related offenses. During one visit to the home, officers served Dienner with a cease-and-desist order, according to an affidavit of probable cause. When the officers returned months later, Dienner hadn’t obeyed the order, the affidavit shows. Finally, in November, the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement filed misdemeanor charges for operating an illegal kennel.
This woman pled guilty last summer to charges of animal cruelty and the dogs, somehow, remained in her (lack of) care until Friday of last week. Ms Dienner claims they were pets, but the seized dogs displayed all the hallmarks of puppy mill dogs; matted, filthy, nearly feral, petrified, and made no eye contact.
As usual, Pennsylvania does it again in the name of protecting animals. Why on earth would anyone convicted of animal cruelty be allowed to keep any animal for any length of time?
We posted about Scooter last week when reporting the story about our second group of dogs from the western PA mass breeder. Unbeknownst to us, at the time that picture was taken he had been suffering from a blocked urethra and hadn’t been able to urinate for quite some time. As a result, his kidneys had been compromised and he was dehydrated.
He was taken to an emergency vet hospital the same evening and the veterinarian was able to remove the mucous and crystal/sediment (tiny bladder stones) accumulation in his urethra but that was hardly the end of his problems. When a bladder is stretched that far for that long of a time period, it loses it’s elasticity and is forever floppy and without muscle tone. Sometimes, depending on the severity of stretching, that muscle tone can return but that might not be the case with this dog. Scooter spent a few days hospitalized but was sent to his new home at ATTT on Wednesday of this week.
It goes without saying, the blockage and subsequent manipulation to remove it cause a tremendous amount of trauma to the bladder and urethra. A patient going through this type of ordeal can expect some bloody discharge for while, but last night Scooter started discharging copious amounts of blood, clots and more crystals and was returned to the hospital. At this time, he has been re-catheterized and is on medication to try and tighten his bladder.
All this is on top of his malnutrition, paralysis, and who knows what else. Had we been just one day later in acquiring this dog, he would have most certainly died a long and painful death because there was zero medical care in his future if we hadn’t intervened…by chance. We have no idea how this story will end. We didn’t expect him to make it in the first place but we’re hoping for the best.
This was just one dog from one breeding facility that we happened to find. Just one. There are hundreds of places like this in Lancaster County alone! Imagine how many dogs just like Scooter are out there, dying of completely preventable illnesses, untreated trauma and abject neglect. None of those are slow and painless demises. There are people who intentionally allow dogs just like Scooter to die agonizing deaths because treating them would cut into their profit margins. They see absolutely nothing wrong or immoral about denying a suffering animal medical treatment. That’s the whole point of a puppy mill; the almighty $$$$. And when you buy something, you vote with your dollars. When you buy a dog, you vote for this kind of abhorrent abuse to flourish.
Did you know that state kennel inspection reports are public record? You can search and view any licensed Pennsylvania kennel to see the results of their reports through the PA Department of Agriculture website. Click here to search the database.
The website also has yearly dog law reports, out-of-state dealers list, kennel listings and other information.
Correction! This is not take-out! It’s even better! Dine-in at the Pancake Farm!
What’s better than fish? Fried fish! If you missed out pot pie takeout fundraiser in January, make sure you come to the Pancake Farm in Ephrata on Saturday, March 24th from 4pm until 7:30 to get your takeout fish dinner.
All proceeds go directly to A Tail to Tell animals and their supplies – we have no paid employees. The first two months of 2012 have seen major intakes from that horror show of a “large volume breeder” in western PA and our veterinary bills have been extreme. We need your help!
In addition to dinner, we’ll have 5 different themed gift baskets that will be raffled, one ticket for a buck, 6 for $5, and an arm’s length for $10. We’ll let you know when tickets for the dinner go on sale, so check back soon!
Several of us from A Tail to Tell will be at this event for a rare chance to meet with government officials to discuss animal issues. If you’d rather not go alone, you can join us at the event. Here are the details from the HSUS website:
