Here's an interesting article that talks about protecting innocent pets from domestic abuse by law.  I'm all for that.  Domestic abuse is about abuse of power and we all know that in a family the one without power is the target for this type of behavior--wives, children, pets.

I found this article in the Killeen Daily Herald although it appears to have originated in the Dallas Morning News.  This is a very interesting development in the animal welfare arena, especially in Texas.  Texas is not known for its protective policies of women and children, let alone pets.  Hmmmm.

                   New law to help pets caught in domestic abuse   Posted On: Tuesday, Jul. 5 2011 10:21 AM DALLAS (AP) — Protective orders that prevent an abuser from hurting, threatening or harassing a person will soon be extended to pets thanks to a Texas law taking effect this summer.

The law was designed to help when someone abuses or threatens to abuse an animal to intimidate or coerce a victim. While a first offense would be a misdemeanor, two or more offenses would bump the crime up to a third-degree felony, The Dallas Morning News reported Saturday.

"It's really not about overzealously being protective of pets in Texas," said Sen. Wendy Davis, a Fort Worth Democrat who wrote the legislation that Gov. Rick Perry recently signed into law. "It's about protecting women who are battered."

When the law takes effect Sept. 1, Texas will join about a dozen other states that have extended protective orders to pets.

"Everybody that has pets is very passionate and loves their pets," so an abuser will use that passion against the victim as a show of power and control, said Dallas police Lt. Scott Walton, interim division manager of Dallas Animal Services.

According to the American Humane Association, 71 percent of pet-owning women entering shelters reported that their abuser had injured, killed or threatened family pets for revenge or to psychologically control them.

Mary Silman of Arlington, who endured prolonged physical and psychological abuse, recalled the traumatic beating of a pet dog she loved.

"My husband just started beating up the dog with his fists ... trying to crack its ribs," the 56-year-old woman said. "It was yelping. I couldn't do anything or say anything because I was too scared ... that he was going to do that to me."

Silman said an abuser will keep a victim's pet or kill it out of spite, and "no innocent animal needs to be caught up in that."

Advocates say victims may be more inclined to seek help if they don't have to worry about their pet's safety.

But some people who run shelters say the new law might pose new challenges for animal and domestic abuse shelters. For instance, some people staying at shelters are allergic to animals, and several shelters lack the space needed to even house pets.

The Family Place in Dallas encourages victims to contact a friend to house the pet or to call animal and domestic abuse shelters to discuss possible solutions.

People increasingly are also using social networks such as Facebook and Craigslist to find foster homes for pets.

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Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

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Animal Rescue Organizations

I regularly receive emails from various rescue organizations.  I thought I would post some of those now for you to see the desperate need of these animals.  Please help if you can.  You can make all the difference for a small soul just by helping out.
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Just look into Chloe's eyes. The pain and sadness are obvious. But there is also a glimmer of hope. Donate Today! Can you see it? In spite of the horror that this sweet kitten has suffered,you can tell in her eyes that all the good that's happened to her since arriving at Bideawee - the tender loving care...the nutritious food... the warm bed - have given her the hope she needs to keep going. Donate Today! Now I hope you'll look into your heart and make a generous tax- deductible donation to Bideawee today to help us give innocent, abandoned kittens like Chloe a second chance at life. You are the reason for her hope. Chloe was found taped inside a box outside an apartment building in New York City and left to die. Thankfully, a kind soul heard her weak cries and immediately brought her to Bideawee and asked if we could care for her. Chloe was emaciated, had diarrhea, and a horrible respiratory infection. Of course, we couldn't...we wouldn't turn our backs on a helpless pet. Would you? Chloe is now healing, adding weight slowly, and each day growing more comfortable in our adoption center. Soon we know that we will find a new home for  Chloe...a family that will care for her and love her forever. Frankly, Chloe is one of the lucky ones. Thanks to the kindness of a stranger she is now receiving the care she deserves. But there are hundreds of other kittens abandoned on the streets of our city right now. Pets that need us. Pets that need you. Right now, please make as generous a contribution as you can afford to help Bideawee help Chloe, and hundreds more like her who, without us, will die on the streets of our city. A gift today will make a real difference and we thank you for whatever you can do. Gratefully, Nancy Taylor President & CEO P.S. Chloe is safe now. But you and I both know that we must do more to help abandoned pets, especially with cold weather right around the corner. With your support, we can and we will. Please, donate now.

To contact us, please send us an email: Bideawee@bideawee.org.
Bideawee is funded 100% by private contributions. To help us
continue our vital work to help animals, please donate today.

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Tuesday True Stories -- Fatal Puppy Hit-and-Run Offender Caught

Here is a story I found on Petside.com.  This is so sad, but I am glad that the offender was caught.  Please read this story and remember what to do if you see this happening.  Please visit the site of this story and leave them a comment, but leave me a comment also, won't you?
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I don't get it! I just can't get my head wrapped around how people blatantly and thoughtlessly leave the scene of an auto accident. What makes me even more upset is when a pet is injured in an accident.
Apparently, according to an article, recently published on the ASPCA website, Rafael Lauda struck Gigi, a five month-old Pit Bull puppy and drove away, not bothering to provide any information to Gigi's distraught owner. Unfortunately, Gigi died at a nearby animal hospital from her fatal injuries.

However, shortly after the incident, the ASPCA was notified and started an immediate investigation. The ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement agents were able to arrest Lauda on several charges, including leaving the scene of an accident resulting in injury to an animal, and driving with a suspended license. If found guilty, Lauda could be facing over a year in jail.
Dr. Robert Reisman, ASPCA Medical Coordinator of Animal Cruelty Cases gives some excellent advice for people who observe an animal struck by a car. "Regardless of how serious the injuries appear, any animal hit by a car needs immediate attention. Internal injuries may not be visible, but in all instances may be life-threatening."
He also cautions, "Because you may further aggravate a serious injury while moving an injured animal, he or she should be carefully placed on a board, or at the very least, a blanket, and carefully but quickly transported to the closest animal hospital. If there is external bleeding, apply pressure to the wound to limit loss of blood."
The ASPCA urges people walking their dogs to be cautious when crossing a street. They suggest that extension leashes not be used in heavily trafficked areas.
If you witness animal cruelty in New York City, call (877) THE-ASPCA. Outside of New York City, visit their FAQ information by visiting http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=cruelty_faq
Have you ever witnessed an episode of animal cruelty? How did you handle it? Leave a comment about your experience.

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Humane society rescues 100 dogs in eastern Oregon

 This kind of "hoarding" has got to stop.  As a psychiatric nurse, I understand the compulsion these people may have felt and the obsession they had with collecting more dogs, but these are living, breathing, feeling beings--not things.  Animal abuse is animal abuse, period.  Please help stop such terrible abuse.  If you know of any animal that is being abused, please report it.  An investigation may or may not support your claim, but at least you will have tried to help.  Dogs, cats, other animals cannot speak for themselves and depend on us to provide safe and secure living conditions.  Don't we owe them the respect we would want given to our own loved pets?


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December 08, 2009, 8:14PM


A suspected case of dog hoarding has turned into one of the largest cases of animal neglect in state history, the Oregon Humane Society said Tuesday.

The case involves about 100 dogs on a sprawling, desolate piece of property about 20 miles south of Burns.

David Lytle, spokesman for the Oregon Human Society, said the dogs were living without shelter in icy conditions, surrounded by cattle bones gnawed clean.

The dog owners, who live in trailers on the property, fed them carcasses from a local meat processing plant.

"The whole property was scattered with the carcasses," Lytle said. "I've never seen anything like it."

A couple and another woman living on the property were arrested by Harney County Sheriff Dave Glerup on suspicion of animal neglect.

Glerup said the couple -- 43-year-old Ronald Steven Anderson and Anita Darlene Anderson, 55 -- and 34-year-old Kathlean Fuchs-Goyogana,  34, agreed to give up the dogs and were released on their own recognizance.

Glerup said the couple has lived on the property on Frenchglen highway for more than a decade and are currently unemployed. The property is owned by a woman who used to live in the area but moved near Joseph after her husband died. Glerup said the Andersons sublet to Fuchs-Goyogana, who has a 9-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl.

A friend of the girl's sparked the investigation, telling her mother about conditions on the property. The mother called the Department of Human Services, which in turn called the Harney County Sheriff's Office.

Glerup said Fuchs-Goyogana agreed to take her kids off the property. She is currently under investigation for child neglect, he said.

As for the dogs, most of them are border collie, Shiba Inu and Australian shepherd mixes. Lytle did not see any obvious injuries, though he said some had nails so long they were curled over and growing into their paws. But he said the dogs did not appear to be malnourished.

"I would call this a hoarding case," he said. "The woman was very attached to a lot of the dogs."

This is the second large animal rescue from Harney County this year. In March, sheriff's officials and the humane society rescued 131 dogs from breeder Ted Tellefson, who had dogs chained, in house trailers and roaming on his property in Burns.

This latest rescue also involved dogs stuck outside without shelter. With temperatures plunging to 11 degrees below zero Monday night, officials found dogs tied to posts and farm equipment or trapped in a wire pen. Several small dogs had sought shelter by digging a hole below a few wooden planks.

"When we came by, they popped their heads up out of the ground like prairie dogs," Lytle said.

He spotted the carcass of one dead dog on an oil drum.

On Monday, Lytle and two other people from the humane society rescued 14 dogs, including a mother and four 1-week-old pups, and brought them back to the agency's headquarters in Portland.

A second humane society crew left Tuesday in three vans to bring back as many dogs as possible.

The first group should arrive at the humane society on Wednesday to very full shelter. On Tuesday, the agency was rescuing at least 70 rat terriers from an overwhelmed breeder in Tillamook.

Lytle said the agency's investigators had been talking to the woman for a long time, trying to persuade her to give up the terriers.

Dogs from the two rescues will take up half of the agency's kennels at its headquarters in Portland.

"Fortunately, a lot of the dogs are small dogs so we can put several in the same kennel," Lytle said.

But the humane society said it needs donations of puppy food, large crates, shredded paper and cash as officials scramble to care for the dogs.

The dogs will be examined, given medication and neutered to prepare for adoption.

"Our medical staff is going to be very busy over the next few days," Lytle said.

To read the original article>>click here

-- Lynne Terry

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Puppy Love

Here's a cute little article about ratties and children at a Mother's Day Out.  I thought I'd add it because I chuckled when I looked at the photo.  I hope this brings a smile to your face also.


I am thankful for the love and devotion I get from my little man, Satchmo.  I hope to enjoy his company for many more years.  Won't you take a moment and be thankful for the animals in your life, too?


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Daily News Photo,
11-25-2009

First Baptist School’s “Mothers Day Out” class invited two special guests to campus Thursday. Rat terriers Alice and Rudy shared kisses in exchange for doggie treats, which the class donated to Animal Relief Foundation’s no-kill animal shelter. The class, instructed by Dale Robertson-Agosto, spent the entire day learning about animal friends. Participating students included Reese Monvoision, Avi Coleman, John Mason Futch, Kameron Kratzer, Jamell Davis, Jack Guidry, Olivia Benoit, Hudson Carter, Rossi Armstrong, Ian Albro, Waylon Wild, Abby Ortego, Ahnnie Albro and Mason Futch. (At left) Olivia Benoit makes a face after receiving a kiss from Alice.

For more local news, please subscribe to Jennings Daily News by clicking the “SUBSCRIBE” link at left or by calling 337-824-3011.

This article is from The Jennings Daily News online

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