IDA Blog

Featured News

Most of the smaller circuses are now in their brief winter break, a good time for an update on some of the elephants we’ve been watching closely this circus season, with your invaluable assistance.

 

NOSEY: After several years of touring with Piccadilly Circus, Nosey’s “owner” Hugo Liebel left the circus after a reported falling out with its owners this spring. Nosey then spent the summer performing several shows a day and giving rides at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Since CWM closed in September, the Liebels have been reported in a few southeastern states, touring as the Liebling Family Circus, with little advance fanfare. Nosey is still performing and giving rides.

 

There was good news when the USDA confirmed to IDA in April that there is an active investigation into Animal Welfare Act violations by Liebel. This can result in serious sanctions against Liebel including loss of his license to exhibit. IDA filed numerous complaints leading to that investigation and, with the help of many people, we continue to monitor Nosey, and to focus the USDA’s attention on serious ongoing problems related to veterinary care and handling.

 

It does not appear that Nosey is getting any respite from circus life, so please keep your eyes and ears open, particularly in the Southeastern states, for appearances by the Liebling Circus or for elephant rides, and contact circuses@idausa.org if you think she’s coming to your town.

 

DOLLY, LOU, LOVEY AND MAKIA – UNIVERSOUL CIRCUS: The four African elephants touring during the past few seasons with UniverSoul are exhibited by Jorge and Louann Barreda. As in past seasons, IDA this year filed several complaints concerning the condition and the handling of these elephants. In April, the Barredas were cited for inadequate veterinary care due to lack of proper foot care. Foot and joint problems are the leading cause of death for elephants in captivity.

 

A USDA inspection following an IDA complaint in July found “no noncompliances”. Armed with photographic evidence that, in the opinion of the expert we consulted, demonstrated a lack of appropriate foot care, IDA pressed the USDA to investigate further. This resulted in the issuance of an Official Warning to the Barredas for failure to provide adequate veterinary care. This should mean that heightened attention is being paid by APHIS inspectors; failure to improve their care could well bring about legal sanctions and confiscation (rescue) of these suffering elephants.

 

WE NEED YOUR HELP: Getting agencies such as the USDA to act to protect elephants in circuses can be an excruciating process, but it can be very effective; frequent monitoring of the elephants’ condition is required. We can’t go to circuses all over the country, but the help of wonderful activists has allowed us to check on elephants in New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Illinois and Florida, to name only a few. With more people willing to go to circuses to check on the elephants we can accomplish even more. Please email circuses@idausa.org if a circus is headed your way and you can help.

 

For more information about IDA’s work on elephants in circuses, go to www.helpelephants.com.

 

“fear is in your soul – say a prayer for me now”

 

Caged and deprived of everything that comes naturally to them, kicked, stomped on, bludgeoned, thrown to the ground, gassed, anally electrocuted, SKINNED ALIVE!  Does this sound like an entertaining music video to you?  This is Duran Duran’s latest video, “Girl Panic,” featuring five supermodels clad in fur, snakeskin, goat hair, feathers and leather.

 

I’ve always enjoyed Duran Duran’s music, so I was very disappointed to hear about their new video.  C’mon guys this isn’t 1982, it’s 2012, surely you’ve heard about the extreme cruelties of fur production?  The animals live in terrible conditions and are then killed in horrific ways.  A typical fur coat requires the slaughter of 35 – 125 animals.  Tragically, more than 50 million animals are killed for fur each year.  Over 2 million of them are dogs and cats.

 

Please scroll to the bottom and add your name and comment if you’re against Duran Duran’s promotion of fur.

We also request you contact Duran Duran to ask them to promote compassion towards animals, rather than extreme cruelty in the name of vanity.  We recommend you approach them in a respectful manner, so your message will be heard.

 

• Duran Duran on Facebook

• Duran Duran on Twitter

• Simon Le Bon on Twitter
• John Taylor on Twitter

• Email Duran Duran: media@duranduran.com, Askkaty@duranduran.com, customerservice@duranduranmusic.com, info@duranduranmusic.com

 

PLEASE NOTE:

A person that worked on the video and helped source the clothing confirmed that all of the fur garments appearing in the video are made from actual animal fur.  Information on the furs is also available in the printed UK version of Harper’s BAZAAR December 2011 issue.  We have reached out to Duran Duran, politely asking the band to stop promoting the use of animal fur and inviting them to participate in an IDA anti-fur public service announcement.  If they respond, we will post an update immediately.

 

Additionally, please politely ask the models to stop wearing fur:

Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Yasmin Le Bon: info@models1.co.uk

 

To help fur bearing animals please go to our Fur Campaign.

 

To support our work please click here.

 

Work every day of your life to right what is wrong.

 

It’s hard to resist puppies and kittens wrapped up in bows, but in this season of giving it’s important to remember all the homeless animals who need loving homes.

It’s estimated that an unfathomable six to eight million dogs and cats enter shelters each year. Half of them, tragically, are euthanized. Most of us cannot even get our minds around the fact that three to four million cats and dogs are euthanized, every year, in the United States alone.

 

The biggest thing you can do to reverse this trend is to support spay and neuter efforts in your community. Find a good local program and donate your time to help. Become a messenger in your community for spay/neuter programs, by supporting them where they exist, or working to start them where they don’t. Convince your neighbors and elected representatives that funding spay/neuter is the most cost-effective way to help dogs and cats. Write letters to the editor supporting increased public funding for low-cost spay/neuter.

 

Next best thing you can do is adopt furry family members from shelters, rather than supporting pet stores and breeders. There is no good reason to ever choose a pet store or breeder when so many animals in shelters need homes.

 

A few important things to remember:

 

• Be certain you are ready to make a lifetime commitment to your new family member. If you’re a parent getting an animal mainly for your children, be sure you are willing to be the primary caregiver, as children often lose interest.

• Animals given as gifts are frequently unwanted and are returned. If you want to give an animal as a gift, first make sure the future guardian is ready to make the commitment. Give them a gift certificate for a shelter adoption, and then take them to the shelter to see who they bond with.

• About 25% of dogs and cats who enter shelters are “pure-bred,” so if you’re attached to a particular breed, odds are you can find them in a shelter. There are also a large number of breed specific rescues. But consider, instead, a mutt – if you’re looking for love and companionship, the breed is not very relevant.

• If you’re looking for smaller animals, most shelters also have rabbits, rats, guinea pigs and birds. But don’t presume that “small” equals easy to care for – learn the special needs of any species before bringing them into your home.

• Consider adopting an older cat or dog. Shelters have a harder time placing older dogs and cats and they are often the first to be euthanized. There are a great number of advantages with an older animal companion. They have generally already been trained and will be calmer. Black cats are also hard to place due to unreasonable superstition, and black dogs are often bypassed simply because it’s harder to see their facial features in a shelter setting. Tell shelter staff you’d like to meet the cat who has been there the longest, or the eldest dog. The shelter staff will love you!

• If you decide to adopt a dog please consider a vegan diet.  Dogs can be very healthy and thrive on a well-balanced vegan dog food.

• Be certain to spay or neuter the new addition to the family. Accidental breeding is one of the biggest reasons for the overpopulation problem.

 

 

 

If you go about it the right way, the holidays can be a great time to add a new family member and to give him or her all of your love!

 

 

For more tips on how you can be a great guardian and help keep animals safe, please visit our Guardian Campaign.

 

 

To support our work please click here.

 

 

Work every day of your life to right what is wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to a new Harris Interactive study commissioned by the Vegetarian Resource Group, the number of vegans in the United States has doubled since 2009 to 2.5% of the population. An amazing 7.5 million U.S. citizens now eat vegan diets that do not include any animal products – no meat, poultry, fish, dairy or eggs. Close to 16 million, or 5%, identify as vegetarian, never eating meat, poultry or fish.

If this rate continues, vegans will be 10% of the U.S. population in 2015, 40% in 2019, and in 80 % in 2050! This would mean an end to the exploitation and suffering of billions of farmed animals. The study also revealed that 33% of U.S. citizens are eating vegetarian meals a significant amount of the time and ordering vegetarian meals at restaurants, though they are not vegetarians. That is over 100 million people, one third of the country!

Interestingly, the demographic breakdown of the study discovered that it was equal percentages of Democrats and Republicans eating vegetarian. Perhaps these two parties CAN agree on something- the vegan lifestyle is healthy and compassionate. Conscientious eating is going mainstream so if you haven’t already, reduce or eliminate your consumption of animal products- everyone’s doing it!

New to veganism? Click here to order a free Vegan Starter Kit.

 

To support our work please click here.

As the staff member responsible for answering the phone at In Defense of Animals, I’ve heard many sad and touching animal stories.  But, when I heard the voice of a worried woman pleading for help for Kiva, her 13-year-old service dog, I was especially moved.   Mary, Kiva’s guardian, is paraplegic and in a rehabilitation facility recovering from serious injuries.  Unfortunately, her faithful service dog and long-time companion was refused entry.  Poor Kiva had been residing in a local shelter for almost two weeks.  The distress in Mary’s voice was heart wrenching.

Knowing that the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses to allow people with disabilities to bring their service animals onto the premises, I thought I could simply make a few phone calls and the pair would be reunited.  Unfortunately, what the law requires and enforcement of the law are two very different issues.

In the meantime, my IDA colleague, Ryan Moore, and I visited Kiva in the shelter.  We looked into those expressive, big brown eyes and we were smitten.  On our walk with Kiva, she stopped in a field and rolled onto her back, wriggling in the cool grass.  We rubbed her belly and received kisses in return.

This gal needed to get out of the shelter.  Her rear legs were stiff, from arthritis or something more serious, and living in a kennel wasn’t helping.  The shelter couldn’t allow Kiva to stay there forever, but they agreed to keep her while In Defense of Animals tried to resolve the situation.

I kept working on the rehab facility’s non-compliance of the ADA.  It was taking too long and we learned that enforcement involved the court system.  Kiva needed a foster home and fast.

That wasn’t easy either.  Due to her age, health problems and the strict dosing requirements for her many prescription medicines, Kiva needed special care.  It was also essential that her new residence have no stairs, no other dogs and no cats.  Since most of our staff has a menagerie of animals at home, none of us could take her.  IDA put the word out.

 

On Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, a generous couple opened their home to Kiva.  Her new foster family adores her.  When Kiva’s not following her foster mom from room to room, she’s lounging in the backyard.

Mary is thrilled with the arrangement.  “Kiva’s my other half.  I miss her desperately, but I know she’s in a good home right now.”

In Defense of Animals is still working to reunite Kiva with her guardian and everyone is looking forward to the day the pair is together again.

 

To support our work please click here.

The past week has seen some steps forward for elephants in circuses. These are only small steps but they represent progress for elephants and, for Dumbo, a life that has improved in significant ways.

Dumbo a circus performer no more

For nineteen months, we searched for Dumbo – the African elephant who killed her handler at a Pennsylvania Shrine Circus in April of 2010 and then disappeared from view. The USDA confirmed an open investigation into that incident, following a complaint from IDA. With your help, we were persistent in demanding the USDA’s urgent attention to Dumbo’s welfare, filing complaints and mobilizing people to write to the USDA on her behalf, while making efforts to locate and monitor her.

We can now report that Dumbo has been moved to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado; she is finally out of the hands of her circus “owners’” – the notorious Frisco family.

This is not the perfect solution. Of course, we would have much preferred that Dumbo spend the rest of her life at a natural habitat sanctuary in a more suitable climate. But we are pleased that she will no longer be forced to give rides or perform circus tricks at the point of a bullhook; the zoo manages its elephants using protected contact. She will no longer have to endure the intense confinement of travel.  And she now lives with three African elephants, ending years of solitude.

For Dumbo, who is known as Jambo in her new home, life is better.

Ringling hit with the biggest fine ever by USDA

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has hit the owner of Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus with a $270,000 fine to settle charges that the circus violated federal animal welfare law. The charges involved numerous violations over the past three years, including

• forcing a sick elephant to perform
• endangering animals and the public by failing to safely handle an elephant who broke away from her handlers during a pre-show
• carrying food for the tigers in the same containers used to remove waste from the cages

In all there were more than 24 violations cited, and the fine is the maximum allowed by federal law ($10,000 per violation). The circus has agreed to train staff to comply with welfare requirements, as well. While Ringling officially admits to no wrongdoing, and the fine is nothing more than the cost of doing business for wealthy circus owner Feld Entertainment, Inc., the media is generally getting the message that there were significant animal welfare violations that prompted this settlement, which means that the public is hearing about Ringling’s abuse.

IDA joined with other animal groups to organize the largest circus protest ever against Ringling in Los Angeles in July. We will continue to monitor Ringling and other circuses, to file complaints with the USDA, and to educate the public about the suffering of animals used in the circus.

For more information about IDA’s work on elephants in circuses, go to www.helpelephants.com.

Fur Free Friday, November 25th, is a time to raise our voices to educate shoppers and the media about the real cost of fur – the cold, merciless fact that more than 50 MILLION fur-bearing animals are slaughtered for fashion each year. This number doesn’t even reflect the estimated billion rabbits who are killed annually for their skins, because of laws in places like France, where over 70 million rabbits are killed each year, has falsely labeled the much more valuable fur a “by-product” of the meat industry. Whether on fur farms, where these helpless animals go insane from the cramped, filthy conditions, or in the wild where they are trapped and left to suffer, these animals need your help now.

This year, everyone can help fur-bearing animals no matter where you live, and you don’t even have to leave your house (or get out of your pajamas!). Simply participate in IDA’s Fur Free Friday Virtual Demonstration on Facebook and Twitter. Help us to blast the Internet with our compassionate message; it’s easy to do and a great way to spread the word that it’s time to stop the animals’ suffering.

TAKE ACTION

Facebook Instructions – Speak up for 50 MILLION fur-bearing animals in 3 easy steps!

1. Make sure you have your protest image up. All you have to do is right click on the “You Don’t Have To Wear Fur To Be Foxy” image and choose “Save Image As” to get the image. Replace your profile photo with it and keep it up all weekend!  (The image will look best if you “Edit Thumbnail”.)

2. Go through the list below and “Like” the promotional pages (links included). This will allow you to post comments on their pages:

• Nordstrom
• Saks Fifth Avenue
• Neiman Marcus
• Kohl’s
• Macy’s
• BCBG (please also send a quick email to BCBG by clicking here)

3. Starting on Friday, November 25th, start posting your POLITE comments! (Choose from our quotes below or write your own.) Remember that your comments will be seen by followers of all ages and comments that include profanity or can be interpreted as “abusive” will probably be removed before the general public gets a chance to read them and may result in your profile being reported and/or deleted by Facebook. IDA is not responsible for any comments you may leave or resulting actions.

 

Twitter Instructions:

1. Make sure you have your protest image up. All you have to do is right click on the “You Don’t Have To Wear Fur To Be Foxy” image and choose “Save Image As” to get the image. Replace your profile photo with it and keep it up all weekend!  (The image will look best if you “Edit Thumbnail”.)

2. Go through the list below and “Follow” these pages. This will allow you to send them direct messages and Tweets.

3. Encourage your friends to join your Twitter Demo! Tweet to them to also change their profile image to their “sign.”

4. You can run your Twitter Demo all day – Rain or Shine! But remember messages and Tweets that include profanity or can be interpreted as “abusive” may result in your profile being reported and/or deleted by Twitter. IDA is not responsible for any messages or Tweets sent or resulting actions.

• Nordstrom
• Saks Fifth Avenue
• Neiman Marcus
• Kohl’s
• Macy’s
• BCBG (please also send a quick email to BCBG by clicking here)

 

Twitter (Under 140):

 

An incredible amount of suffering is represented in each piece of fur: full coats, lining, or fur trim. Please show compassion and don’t sell fur.

 

Over 50 million animals–including millions of dogs & cats–are killed for their fur worldwide (not including the unknown number of rabbits). Please don’t sell fur.

 

Animals are killed for fur in horrific ways incl. bludgeoning, neck braking, anal & genital electrocution & many are skinned alive. Choose compassion & go fur-free.

 

In the US, there are no federal laws providing protection for the millions of animals who suffer and die on fur farms. Please stop selling fur.

 

Fur trim is not a by-product. Many, perhaps more than half, of all animals killed for their fur are killed specifically for fur trim. Please don’t sell fur.

Facebook Only:

 

Each year, over 50 million animals–including millions of dogs and cats–are killed for their fur worldwide. This number does not include rabbits as that number is unknown. Please don’t sell fur.

 

Animals are killed for fur in horrific ways including bludgeoning, neck braking and anal and genital electrocution and many are skinned alive. Please make the compassionate choice and go fur-free.

 

Over 50 million animals, including raccoon dogs, rabbits, foxes, mink, and chinchillas, spend their short lives in filthy, tiny wire cages until they are killed by ruthless methods on fur farms around the world. Please don’t support this suffering and go fur-free.

 

In the U.S., there are no federal laws providing protection for the millions of animals who suffer and die on fur farms. The fur industry remains completely self-regulated. Please stop selling fur.

 

Fur trim is not a by-product. Many, perhaps more than half, of all animals killed for their fur are killed specifically for fur trim. The number of animals killed for fur trim is expected to exceed the number of animals killed for full-fur garments. Please don’t sell fur.

 

There is no such thing as “green” or “eco-friendly” fur. It takes more than 15 times as much energy to produce a fur coat than it does to produce a fake fur. Furs are loaded with chemicals to keep them from decomposing, and fur production pollutes the environment, wastes precious resources, and poisons our waterways. Please don’t sell fur.

To help fur bearing animals year round please go to our Fur Campaign.

As Thanksgiving approaches, here at IDA, we like to give thanks for the amazing bird, the turkey. Forty-five million “Broad Breasted Whites” as they are known will be eaten by U.S. citizens this coming holiday, but few of those people will ever know the suffering these birds endured to reach their tables.

These beautiful birds have been genetically manipulated over the years to grow rapidly and have enlarged and unnaturally exaggerated breasts. The result is a multitude of health and mobility issues including inability to fly or to breed (they must be artificially inseminated, or the males would crush the females) and, in some cases, to even walk. Turkeys are raised in high-density, indoor confinement containing thousands of birds to a building and often have their toes cut off to prevent injury if there is fighting in the tight overcrowding. These windowless warehouses where the birds must live in day in and day out have poor sanitation and can have an overwhelming stench of ammonia.

 

As society is becoming more aware of the plight of factory farmed turkeys, some people are buying “humane” or “organic” turkeys. While this is an honorable pursuit, most people don’t realize that these farms are not much better than a factory farm. The turkeys might have access to the outside, but they are still overcrowded and may also be left outside in extremes of weather with no shelter. They still come from the same inhumane industrial hatchery where they never knew their mothers, and go to the same frightening slaughterhouse for a bloody and brutal death as a factory-farmed turkey. Birds are exempt from the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act so there are no regulations to ease their suffering.

 

If we want to truly give thanks, we should thank the earth for the life, resources, and delicious plant food it provides. It takes approximately 10 pounds of vegetables to make 1 pound of turkey, so we are wasting precious water, land, and fossil fuels and creating greenhouse gasses by eating meat. If we are sincerely grateful for the abundant and excessive amount of food available to us, we should eat a plant-based Thanksgiving meal, as a greater number of people could be fed with the grain that we feed the animals. Of course there are numerous faux meat options such as Tofurky and Field Roast. And any customary Thanksgiving dessert recipe can be easily veganized with a few substitutions.

 

Please show your gratitude to the earth, your health, and the turkeys this year and start a new tradition of compassion with a vegan Thanksgiving.

 

New to veganism? Click here to order a free Vegan Starter Kit.

 

To support our work please click here.

 

 

 

About Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

 

The award-winning author of five books, including the bestselling The Joy of Vegan Baking, The Vegan Table, Color Me Vegan, Vegan’s Daily Companion, and The 30-Day Vegan Challenge, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau has guided people to becoming and staying vegan for over 12 years through sold-out cooking classes, bestselling books, inspiring lectures, engaging videos, and her immensely popular audio podcast, “Vegetarian Food for Thought.” Using her unique blend of passion, humor, and common sense, she empowers and inspires people to live according to their own values of compassion and wellness. She also contributes to National Public Radio and The Christian Science Monitor, and has appeared on The Food Network and PBS.

 

Visit colleenpatrickgoudreau.com for more.

 

 

 

The chill in the air and the turning of the leaves means it’s almost time to celebrate the autumn harvest à la Thanksgiving! However, when non-vegetarians think of the idea of eating vegan on Thanksgiving, they’re often aghast. They can’t imagine what vegans eat if they don’t eat turkey, as 45 million of these beautiful birds are killed in the U.S. each year for this holiday alone.

 

I’ve also heard the accusation that vegans are flying in the face of tradition – that it’s culturally blasphemous not to eat turkeys on this day. The truth is we’re ALL breaking tradition if we use the “First Thanksgiving” from 1621 as a barometer for what we should eat today. During that first meal between the puritans and Wampanoag Indians, there were no potatoes or biscuits or apple pie or yams or sweet cranberries. And there weren’t any forks either.

 

Does that mean we shouldn’t eat those things today? Does it mean we shouldn’t eat with forks. No, of course not. It means we shape our traditions out of our ideals. We all do it – vegans and non-vegans.

 

Our vegan feast can consist of mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, bread stuffing, cranberry relish, mashed rutabagas, butternut squash soup, sautéed green beans, roasted Brussels sprouts, cornbread or biscuits, and green salad. Dessert includes everything from apple pie, pumpkin bread, German apple cake to fruit cobblers, cranberry muffins, and other traditional, seasonal favorites. Over 150 recipes are in The Joy of Vegan Baking, including this one for Apple Cobbler.

 

For the main dish, which is really about creating a focal point on the plate, you can enjoy a beautiful stuffed acorn squash filled with a pilaf of wild rice, pecans, apples, celery, onions, and spices. You can also create a butternut squash timbale, stuffed Portobello mushrooms, or little mini-pumpkins stuffed with an array of grains and nuts. The options are endless, and over 200 are in The Vegan Table, including the Harvest-Stuffed Acorn Squash.

Of course there are other options such as Tofurky loaf or Field Roast’s grain-based loaf. And any customary Thanksgiving dessert recipe can be easily veganized with a few substitutions.

 

The point is we CAN celebrate tradition and honor our values at the same time. In fact, eating a vegan feast for Thanksgiving is more consistent with what this holiday is about at its heart: creating community, connection, gratitude, and compassion. I can’t think of a better way to do that than preparing food that causes as little harm as possible to animals, our health, and the Earth.

 

My only warning to you is to make more than you think you need, because undoubtedly everyone will covet your beautiful, colorful, compassionate recipes and, of course, you want leftovers!

Today, Wednesday, Nov. 2^nd, began like every other busy day at Hope Animal Sanctuary. Lisa, Sarah, and B.J., our new teammate, had their hands full with the care of our precious animals. Danielle, the delicately featured brown bay, is still having a bit of trouble with her right front hoof, but is doing better.  Her mother, our Dolly, seems content, but is struggling with her deformed hoof.  Our time with her is cherished.

Our new resident, Arlin, has taken well to his environment but needs a friend. He is a Barbados sheep. He probably doesn’t know how blessed he is. Our friend, Arlin, animal control officer (ACO) for Winona, Mississippi, went the extra mile to see his namesake safely delivered into our hands. The four-hoofed Arlin escaped the trailer he was being transported in and was captured and delivered to the Sell Barn. Technically, the Sell Barn had no claim on him, but it wouldn’t agree to his release without payment. The asking price was $150. Our buddy raised the bounty, and we picked up the newly freed Arlin.  He certainly has moxy. He challenged the emus, horses, and each of us when we initially approached him. A good stomp of his right front hoof, followed by lowered horns and impact on whatever barrier was between us quickly gained respect for his wishes.

Three more abandoned pups arrived. Haystack, Helga, & Hannah are thin, have mange, and are simply adorable.  If it weren’t for the next transport to Colorado, we don’t know what we would do.

By late afternoon I thought I’d wrapped up our business in town when I received a timely call from “Doc” Abernethy, whose Veterinary Associates clinic was on my way home. The newer Grenada ACO had brought a dog in for euthanasia. He’d had a call from a man who’d kicked in a neighbor’s door after his mother had seen a dog in the kitchen window of a house that had been abandoned for months.  The occupant had moved in May and had stopped her irregular visits. There was a horrid odor permeating the air around the front of the house.

When the man and another neighbor entered the deserted home, they were stunned to find two young dogs had been confined to the kitchen and one had succumbed to cannibalizing her lifeless sibling or perish.

I accompanied the ACO to the scene, documented the evidence, and accepted custody of the dog for Doc’s capable and caring hands. I called the chief of police to ask for support. Two officers and the senior ACO joined us.  A report was taken, and you can rest assured that IDA will assist with the prosecution of the callous soul who simply stopped caring for the two precious lives she entrapped. She could have called animal control, asked a neighbor for help, or even just let them loose if she was too lazy or unthinking to ask for help.

Imagine being confined with your sister and slowly starved and dehydrated.  Imagine the desperation of climbing to the window to seek help, freedom, and then being alone, terribly alone when your sister lost her fragile grasp on life. Think of first nuzzling her for comfort and then as her lifeless body faded and she was no more, resorting to the instinct of survival. How long will it take Wanda to be herself?  She’s emaciated. As she lay on the exam table fleas careened in and out of her dull hair.  She stared straight ahead, fearful of making eye contact, the whites of her eyes so revealed that her beautiful brown irises seemed stark and desolate amidst a panicked world of confusion.

I promise you Wanda will heal with us and learn to love life.

Little Holly and Bo Jangle are home with us.  Holly, an adorable kitten, has had her badly injured eye removed; Bo Jangle’s hip, side, and back healed with no apparent intervention after what was probably a brush with a vehicle, and Miss Beasley is recovering from the amputation of her badly healed leg.  These are just a few of the treasured lives we’ve been blessed to help in the first few days of November.

And none of this could have happened without you.

We will presently update you about our transport to Colorado. We just want you to know how much we appreciate and value your support. We were able to take 8 kittens and 89 dogs and puppies to find their forever guardians. The 5 puppies we recently pulled from beneath a home (their mother had been killed the day before), and the 6 neglected puppies we gathered from beneath a trailer were all on board and are doing well!

 

To support our work please click here.