Sarah & Billy Joe with Priscilla, Persimmon, Penny, Penelope, Petal

Last month, Petal and Penelope were rescued from a terrible situation of neglect in Coffeeville, Mississippi. Their siblings, seen in the photo of their rescue (the girls are on right in BJ’s arms) were just babies. Because we had so many puppies, our friends with the Mississippi State University student program “Homeward Bound” accepted three of the pups into its foster and placement program. They were all set to go on our February transport to Colorado.

The five siblings arrived with fleas, Coccidia, and worm distension. Petal and Penelope were actually the healthiest of the siblings. But, tragically, we either brought Parvo home with a new pup, or picked it up in one of the many places we may have come into contact with communicable canine disease (even the animal companion section of Wal-Mart).

The girls became ill last Tuesday. Wednesday morning we rushed them to Veterinary Associates for testing and treatment. At the sanctuary we can give sub-Q fluids, but at the hospital they were given IV, and we wanted to minimize contamination of their roommates. It’s uncertain if the two other families of other pups sharing their quarters have been infected.

Our little girls lost their valiant struggle. It just hurts so bad. We saved them from neglect, freed them from parasites, medicated them, loved them, and they were heading to Colorado awaiting guardians, and now they’re gone. I’m sorry but “they knew love” or “they would have died where they were” doesn’t lessen the pain. They were happy, beautiful, and then they got horribly sick—sick enough to suffer death.

We move forward because other animals will suffer if we don’t, and caring people cannot wallow in the luxury of self-preservation or pity. We feel the whole world should know that Petal or Penelope were here and what was lost, so we will all fight to prevent the inevitable misery of animals who are not protected. Our little girls will not be forgotten.

To support our work please click here.

Using this law, we can prevent the sale of thousands of animals every year in California and make business difficult for animal abusers and breeders. Enforcement is going to be difficult, so we need you to help monitor enforcement of this important new law.

IDA is calling on animal advocates across California to be vigilant and do some investigating in your community. Is there a flea market or carnival that sells live animals in your area? How about a parking lot or outside a grocery store? If you find animals being sold outdoors, take a photo of the animals and the area and contact us. We can assist you in assessing if the seller is in violation of the law (there are some exceptions) and contacting your local law enforcement and getting the sales stopped.

If you can help monitor enforcement of Section 597.4, or if you have questions, please contact Hope@idausa.org or 415-448-0058.

To support our work please click here.

Kapone disappeared on June 24, when he and the family’s other dog, Jersey, got out of their fenced yard. Neighbors witnessed both dogs being loaded onto an MAS truck. Over 3,000 IDA members sent emails complaining about MAS to Memphis city officials and Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam. Click here to read our news release about this from July 2011.

Well, Kapone is now back home for the holidays!

Kapone reunited with his family!

Our dear friend and animal advocate Beverly King learned that yet another dog had simply vanished without a trace of paperwork or documentation after being picked up by Memphis Animal Control. Beverly and associates alerted the media, and helped Kapone’s family push the city to prosecute Animal Control Officer Demetria Hogan for Kapone’s disappearance and the death of another dog Hogan left confined in the back of her city truck. Beverly alerted IDA and we offered a reward. PETA joined us, as did a private source, and the reward grew to $8,000.  A banner with the reward information and a photo of Kapone has hung prominently since his disappearance. Just days before Christmas, a tip that Kapone might have been seen in Senatobia, Mississippi broke the case, and, after investigation, Kapone was reunited with his family.

The case is not closed, but is solved, and very satisfying. Kapone is relishing his playtime with his family, while Hogan’s animal cruelty charges are surely to be added to a felony animal abduction charge.  We refuse to use the word theft – “theft” is what happens to property, and Kapone is nobody’s property. He is, however, back with his guardians. How awesome this is!  Oh, by the way, the tipster has asked for and received only $3,000 of the $8,000 reward.

Additional notes:

Jersey was reunited the day after she was picked up.  She was at MAS.

The cloth on Kapone’s neck is his bandana.

Hogan is charged with cruelty.  Theft, we don’t know yet.

As far as we can assume, Kapone could have been used for breeding, even at his age.  He was unneutered.  He was unharmed when found so he hadn’t fought.

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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.

Naomi Campbell in Duran Duran's "Girl Panic" video

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.

Kendall & Lily were rescued by IDA's Hope Animal Sanctuary.

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.

Vegan was a sick and malnourished feral who was trapped by a shelter worker. After she was diagnosed with FeLV, and deemed unadoptable, the shelter worker (and current IDA staff member) decided to adopt her.

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.

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.

Kiva

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.

Kiva

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.

Please make this your profile main picture

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.

Arlin

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.

Haystack, Helga, & Hannah

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.

Wanda

Doc & Holly

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.

We all know that they love to get into everything they can (this is their job, after all), so be sure they don’t have access to the foods, beverages, cleaners, chemicals, and other products that will harm or possibly even kill them.

Please share the following list of poisonous foods and products with everyone in your household.

• Chocolate
• Xylitol (commonly found in gum, candy, baked goods, and toothpaste)
• Alcoholic beverages
• Hops
• Milk and other dairy products
• Coffee
• Tea
• Caffeine
• Apple seeds
• Peach pits
• Apricot pits
• Cherry pits
• Grapes
• Macadamia nuts
• Walnuts
• Mustard seeds
• Onions and onion powder
• Raisins
• Yeast dough
• Avocados
• Moldy foods
• Raw (or undercooked) meat, eggs, and bones
• Garlic
• Chives
• Mushroom plants
• Potato leaves and stems (green parts)
• Tomato leaves and stems (green parts)
• Rhubarb leaves
• Salt
• Tobacco
• Marijuana
• Eggplant
• Prescription and over the counter drugs
• Fat trimmings and bones
• Ham and other salty meats
• Liver (can cause vitamin A toxicity)
• Tuna (can lead to malnutrition or cause mercury poisoning)

Consult with your veterinarian or animal nutritionist before feeding your animal companions food not specifically intended for them.

Additionally, more than 700 plants have been found to be harmful to animals.  Please research all plants and flowers before bringing them into your home.

Many commercial animal companion foods contain reject meat from diseased animals that isn’t fit for human consumption, and it is believed that this is causing higher incidents of cancer in our animal companions.  If you want to keep the inedible slaughterhouse waste out of your dog’s diet, a vegan dog food might be the healthiest choice for your dog.  Regrettably, many of the leading food companies also test on animals, so please be sure to choose a food manufacturer that doesn’t.

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.

Doll Stanley with Ella

I’ve been in contact with “Animal Planet’s” hoarding program over a period of months believing it would be aiding in the Macon case. After the production department passed and rescheduled several interviews I was told the case wasn’t chosen because family members weren’t in conflict over the issues related to the case. What a shame.

But thanks to local activists and members of at least one grassroots group, an effort to help the animals was launched. The activists began documenting the dogs, Dr. Bushby (Mississippi State University Marcia Lane Endowed Professor of Humane Ethics and Animal Welfare Department of Clinical Sciences) and his student surgery team provided 22 surgeries, Friday the 15^th, (we were there to aid with pre- & post-surgery needs), Homeward Bound (the group founded by MSU veterinary students) arranged for the transport of some of the dogs, and we will be taking some of the dogs to Colorado on our next transport. There’s much more to be done, but it will have to be in steps if every option to place the dogs will be accomplished.

The six pups Lisa and I removed from beneath the trailer of a local man are faring well as are the seven adults we wrenched from him.  Apathy, drink, and ignorance have contributed to his years of neglect of animals. This time we will put an end to his contribution to suffering.

Bonnie & Breezle

Two wonderful young women raced three pups to us whom they found bound in a shirt on an unpaved county road. Sadly one of the pups passed the next morning, but his sisters, Beezle and Bonnie, who are absolutely adorable, are thriving.

Friday I had a zillion things to do that just couldn’t be put off, including heading to Starkville, Mississippi, for this year’s Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue class at MSU. It’s a given that the more we have to do the more certain priorities will change with the next phone call. Sure enough, a local Duck Hill police officer called to ask for assistance for the pups of a mother dog who was killed on the road in front of the house she’d chosen for her den.

The elder couple that owned the house volunteered their grandson to assist with rescuing the pups, who were huddled beneath the center of the house against the center junctions of the wooden foundation.  As the house was so low and the pups were so far in, even the slender frame of a young man couldn’t fit beyond a few feet of the outside wall. We bound my pole net and a segment of wooden molding and the young man went to work. He was exhausted after retrieving the first two pups. The police officer’s family had come for the vigil and his smaller son took up the effort. All five of the babies came out safely and in good condition. They are now flourishing.

On my way back from the rescue class this evening I rendezvoused with a man who rescued a dog from a rest stop in our region. The dog may have been abandoned, or he wandered there in search of food. Either way, he has endured deprivation, is very thin, and appears to have suffered injuries from a brush with a vehicle. We’ll have him checked out tomorrow.

Last Sunday, Glory went to her new home. A family that pampers their horses and has multiple pastures in which to do so has adopted our beautiful and good-natured mare. We couldn’t be happier.  Glory was emaciated when we rescued her from a barren parcel unfit for pasture. Her companions had died and she would have, too.  We are so grateful for our sanctuary and the support of friends who partner with us to carry out the hope we promise the animals with whom we are entrusted.

To support our work please click here.