IDA Blog

Posts Tagged ‘rescue’

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

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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.

In a great win for elephants, the Toronto City Council voted to send the Toronto Zoo’s African elephants, Thika, Iringa and Toka, to the PAWS Sanctuary in Northern California. The council voted in May to close the zoo’s elephant exhibit, but decided to send the elephants to another zoo and not to a sanctuary—though a sanctuary was not out of the question if an appropriate zoo was not located.

 

But things turned around last week when Councilor Michelle Berardinetti presented an urgent motion to move the elephants to PAWS amid rumors that the Toronto Zoo was zeroing in on a facility that would not meet the council’s criteria for the elephants. The council had specified that they be sent to a warmer climate and to a facility that did not use bulhooks on any elephants. Councilor Berardinetti’s motion passed by a resounding 31-4.

 

Thanks to the compassion of the Toronto City Council and the hard work of Zoocheck Canada, Thika, Toka, and Iringa are now assured a permanent home in a facility that offers far more space than any zoo, a climate suitable for elephants, and only positive reinforcement training.

 

IDA is very proud of its role in helping these elephants. We sparked the effort to save them in 2009, when IDA called for closure of the Toronto Zoo’s elephant exhibit following the unprecedented deaths of four elephants in less than four years, and urged the Toronto City Council to send the elephants to a sanctuary. The story was widely covered by the Canadian media. IDA kept the pressure on when we made Toronto the first Canadian entry on IDA’s annual Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants list. And it is thanks to the perseverance of Zoocheck Canada that this wonderful victory was finally achieved.

 

Now it’s time to turn our attention to the plight of solitary Lucy in Edmonton, and assure that she, too, can live out her life in a sanctuary in the company of other elephants. And we can’t forget all the other elephants living in inadequate conditions in Canada and elsewhere. With your help and support, we can bring about the mammoth changes they need.

Every dog is a story. In South Korea, millions of dogs are subjected to the most unimaginable agony until their last breath, at grim and squalid dog meat farms and meat markets—the very bowels of existence—with their pitiless smell of human injustice and cruelty. They come to sorrow in these hellish places, imprisoned in filthy and desolate cages, where puppies are usually separated from their mothers, all awaiting their fate. According to a persistent and mystifying belief, the greater the terror and pain a dog experiences while dying—the more he suffers—the more intense the boost in adrenaline in the flesh for a tastier meat, as well as a real boon for a man’s virility. A life snuffed out. Everyday cruelties perpetrated casually and without remorse.

As every dog is a story, every rescue is a story—jubilation-bringing rescues that are rays of light in a realm of darkness.

Happy Angels Dog Rescue, in Los Angeles, California, not only rescues dogs from high-kill shelters and off the streets of L.A., but also funds, transports, and places dogs from South Korea. Working with various South Korean animal organizations, including IDA’s partner Coexistence for Animal Rights on Earth (CARE) and Young-Jin Kwon of the newly formed People Defending Animals, dogs are saved from dog meat slaughterhouses, dog meat farms, restaurants that serve dog meat, S. Korean shelters, and individual abuse cases. Because many South Korean dog lovers clamor for purebreds, especially puppies, adult dogs of mixed breeds find it much more difficult to find homes there. After rescue, the South Korean organizations foster and assist in the transportation of the dogs.

Founded in June, 2008, by Stephanie Jeong, Happy Angels has transported about 150 S. Korean dogs to be placed in permanent homes in Los Angeles. The following stories highlight an odyssey of unremittingly bleak lives, and miraculous endings.

Click ‘Read More’ to read these amazing and heartwarming stories!

Click Here to learn more about what IDA is doing to help animals in live markets in Korea.

Please click here for more info and to donate.

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On Wednesday, June 29th, HAS volunteer Sarah Thomas, a vet tech, wildlife rehabilitator, and activist, and I set out to locate three horses in Grenada County, Miss., reported to be starving.  On our way, I got a call from my buddy Kevin Hodges, an animal control officer, water-meter reader, and part-time law enforcer for Charleston, Miss., only an hour from us, asking for help with six dogs also reported to be starving. Kevin knows he can count on our support and guardianship of animals we seize.

We located the first property where the horses were, but a privacy fence prevented “plain view” and an uncooperative sheriff meant the groundwork would have to be laid before there would be intervention.  I called Kevin to tell him that we were on our way to meet him. At 704 East Chestnut Street, Charleston resident Sherri White showed us six chained and horribly neglected dogs.  She claimed two to be hers and four to be those of her boyfriend’s relative.
After a visit to the police department, we prepared a seizure order, and crossed the street for Municipal Court Judge Steve Ross to sign. We returned, warrant in hand, and documented the heart-wrenching plight of the dogs and removed them. White protested the taking of her dogs and informed us the other “owner” refused to come when she called him. The chief and a fellow officer arrived to insure a smooth operation.

We immediately took off for Veterinary Associates, HAS’s vet clinic, to settle the dogs in and supervise as they dove into the nourishment they’d long been denied. White had stated she fed her dogs, but only fed the others if she had extra food. One of her dogs was as emaciated as the boyfriend’s relative’s dog to whom she was chained.  I listened in amazement as she told us she wouldn’t interfere when the other dog jumped her dog and would bite going for the morsel of food she gave her own dog.

The extraordinary density and inhumanity of seemingly conscious people is beyond my grasp. The gross neglect of the dogs has been recorded, they’ve been secured in a private kennel, and I’ll be filing criminal affidavits after meeting with the city attorney. Why can’t all community leaders have it so together like Charleston’s?

The plight of horses is worsening. Some blame the economy; others say banning horse slaughter in the U.S. meant “owners” who couldn’t sell their horses let them starve. I say it’s both selfishness and ignorance. Horses are being overbred just like other companion animals. Those who think they can make a buck breed and then find out there are no buyers, at least at the prices they want, and they don’t want to feed what they can’t make money off of and certainly don’t want to give away what they might someday sell. The glut of horses means you can buy a horse for $50, or get one from someone who wants to “unload.”  It’s cool to have a horse and to tell folks you have a horse. Horses are like “trophy brides”: they express status, and, of course, there are some who actually think they’ll ride. The question is how many of these people are caught up in a whim with no thought of how to actually care for horses.

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(See Part Two from yesterday for introduction to the folks mentioned below!)

Early Monday morning we began loading the animals for transport to our adoption partners. Arlin and Mr. Weed, a member of Winona Animal Advocacy Group (WAAG), brought their dogs, Mike came back with the dogs they fostered and helped load and check supplies for the journey. Deedra and Brice, her son, arrived with their fosters and others followed. We rearranged some crates, added 2 large crates and we were ready to head for Vet. Assoc. We had 4 dogs waiting for us there and Deedra’s friend, Patricia and her darling daughter, Griffe, were waiting with the pups they fostered.

Weather has been a huge issue this winter. We’ve had 6 snows here. Keep this in mind.

We were well into Oklahoma when we needed to stop. We spotted a large dog in the parking lot, emaciated and looking for food. She’d had many pups but wasn’t nursing. We set out to help her. She clearly wanted help, but just wasn’t sure of our reaching hands. I ran back to get a leash while Sarah kept up with her. It took about an hour, but we had Esmeralda safely on board. What a dog. She was soooo sweet and easy-going. She joined our little group we allowed to bed down between the seats. Elizabeth was our baby for several years. Cupcake is so well behaved and doesn’t like being crated. Their pleasure and calm demeanor actually help us make the grueling 24 hour trip.

There’s a reason I mentioned the weather. Before we left Oklahoma, the storm due in the next day was on us. We were equipped with backup heat and supplies should we have to stop, but surgeries were scheduled at Every Creature Counts (ECC) and holding over with the dogs in crates wasn’t ideal. We pressed on. Snow from Oklahoma to Ft. Lupton. You don’t know what white knuckles are until you’ve seen mine baring down on the wheel and using my years of experience to keep us safe.  I drove a box truck for 11 years when I was a teamster. I’m more at home in a truck than a car. There were few souls on the interstates, mostly UPS and Fed Ex.

When we arrived, the back door to ECC never looked so good. There are times when reason and determination forge events that faint hearts would shy from, some folks would question the wisdom of, and only those participating can truly say it was the right move. Our friends and our determination, and your donations to In Defense of Animals (IDA), made this trip possible. WAAG members, ECC, and friends donated the cost of the transport and preparation. IDA’s Eric Phelps and Matt Rossell organized and participated in a 100 mile bike ride that raised money that built us a stable for our blind and aged horses, their new feeder, and this transport. Funds not spent will carry our next transport. Thanks to everyone who helped. By the way, the dog who was banned from San Mateo, California for “herding joggers” has been adopted by Deedra and Kirk.

We completed our first transport of the new year.  At this moment I can’t recall a more grueling test of my wits, patience, and courage.

The day we returned from our Dec. 15^th transport, 19 puppies showed up as we were unloading crates, towels, and supplies. No problem, Lisa and Mike Martin said yes to one family of pups.  Deedra and Kirk Bookout, were just a phone call away. Challenge handled.  Then there were the hoarder Theresa’s dogs and the stray Enid dogs I told you about yesterday, and Ollie, abandoned at our interstate exit. I rescued Norwood on the side of Hwy 7 as I headed for Yalobusha County to aid with dogs whose guardian passed, and the list goes on. Hope Animal Sanctuary (HAS) and our foster guardians were filled to capacity. There’s nothing new about this, but it just shows how vital the transports are. The new ACO for the city of Winona is awesome and the WAAG team, Winona Animal Advocacy Group, got busy preparing dogs for transport.

PetSmart’s Valentine Adoptathon is a wonderful opportunity for adoptions. We worry that some adoptions are impulsive, but our adoption partner in Colorado, Every Creature Counts, doesn’t fold to impulse adoptions. Our goal was to get 70 dogs to ECC in time for the Adoptathon.

Fewer cats are adopted. Though every cat is tested before being introduced to our cattery, one came in negative for FIV and then became ill and tested positive, along with several other cats.  A mother cat test positive for AIDS, and a cat we’d had for years became ill with FIP.

We decided the cats with us deserve to live their lives. If they become ill, we’ll address their illness, but we do not place for adoption cats who have been exposed to incurable disease, and we do not euthanize cats who are still enjoying their lives. Some spend the rest of their lives with us, some are placed in foster care until we can place them for adoption.

As transport time approached we were faced with seemingly insurmountable hurdles. MSU’s “Fix ‘em” team would not be able to make their appointed surgery day. The mobile clinic generator went out. Rescue friends had steadily aided animals they hoped would make the transport. Half the animals for transport hadn’t had surgeries and the shots and heartworm tests would have to be arranged. Money was now an addition obstacle.

Never fear, Hope Animal Sanctuary is here – along with a team of awesome friends. Debbie Young took our Polly under wing and had her heartworm treatment performed. Our foster guardians and Arlin, our ace ACO in Winona, took dogs for rabies and heartworm tests. Dr. Tim Lloyd of Cleveland, Miss. neutered 10 males for us and gave rabies and heartworm tests.  And Doc came out to help us, saving us the transport of animals to Veterinary Associates.

The day before, I went to Kenner, LA to pick up Velvet, a dog banned from a California county for herding joggers. On the way back I picked up 2 dogs from another group who would join the transport, and got back after midnight.  I took care of our older, younger, and challenged dogs, and hit the sack.

Dr. Tim is fantastic. Surgeries and paperwork were done by 1:00. I headed for Winona, and Arlin unloaded our precious dogs. I headed for supplies from our feed store, came back, unloaded, headed for general supplies and dog food, came back and unloaded, took care of the dogs back at HAS, did laundry, paperwork, and computer work. Simple days here are rare.

Transport day neared. The documentation of the animals was put together by each foster guardian and Debbie and Deedra were inputting the data onto our Petpoint site – right up to departure. Yes, there are always last minute changes. There were several adoptions, a couple of dogs just weren’t ready, other friends heard about the transport, and the most challenging factor was carting that many animals humanely. This transport we had so many large and adult dogs going we had to insist that everyone come to the sanctuary to load. I’d gotten the transport truck Friday and Mike and Lisa came Sunday to insulate it, load the crates, insert bedding, and sticker the crates for identifying occupants Monday morning.

Tune in tomorrow to read the rest of the story!

We apologize for the no-news span – there was plenty going on here in Mississippi. A quick recap does little justice to the events of the past 6 weeks, but I’ll fill you in a bit and then get into this week’s news.

So much has happened. Horses Eric and Roscoe were adopted into a wonderful family with lots of animal smarts and compassion. Eric and his 3 companion horses were rescued from a Yalobusha County man who claimed to feed them well with his lawn trimmings. Eric’s companions were adopted soon after their recovery. Eric required a home with greater understanding for his mistrust of humans. Roscoe too was rescued from neglect and indifference, thin with overgrown hoofs and a dull, unhealthy coat.

Six of our emus were adopted by a wonderful man and his family who love to care for and watch over animals. Over the years this man has reported multiple cruelty cases to us and we’ve had the opportunity to know him and become acquainted with his care for his animals.

Theresa, the hoarder who we’ve seized animals from twice before, was back at it. The blessing was there were only 7 dogs with her this time. We seized 28 dogs from her previously in Yalobusha County. We’re confident that this will be our last dealings with Theresa as a hoarder.  Tallahatchie County Deputy Patrick Tribble, who aided us with this seizure, is well-respected and people in the area have vowed to inform him if Theresa gets even one more dog. He is The Man when it comes to animal issues. In December, we placed for adoption nine puppies he rescued and Maury, the Chihuahua.

An Enid, Mississippi family began feeding 6 dogs who wandered to their neighborhood. The dogs took up on the family’s porch furniture for warmth. Nervous neighbors talked of shooting the dogs, fearing posed a danger. We got a call and rescued them. Five were already transported for adoption and Sugar Bear will be heartworm treated next week. Gay and Larry Evaldi, our treasured friends who moved from here to Florida, have paid for her treatment. They fostered or adopted 4 of our dogs, and she aided with animal care and cruelty cases while he babysat and rushed to our aid when needed.

We were so busy during our blog absence that the summary seems trite, but I hit on some important things. Tune in tomorrow for details on our first adoption transport of the year.