A new group for the animals

Like a lot of people my age, I really didn't think that facebook would have any relevance to me personally. It just seemed like something more suited to my daughter's generation ... like IPods and Wi and RPG's.
Since then of course I have come to understand the potential touches all aspects of my life. As a middle aged granny, its lovely to be able to see so many pictures and videos of my lovely granddaughter who lives in the land of BSL. Its a great way to stay in touch with the pagan community as they move through their lives changing physical and email addresses.
And of course then there are the multitude of ways that social networking helps the animals:

• most rescue groups now have their own facebook groups and fan pages
• the fundraising potential of causes is almost matched by the immediate ability to send out appeals for donations to save/spay/treat/transport animals at risk
• group pages for lost pets really help get the word out, and are often instrumental in recovery
• groups can quickly galvanize grassroots support for time sensitve issues, such as when Bill 138 very nearly brought BSL to our province.
• it makes it more difficult for animal abusing wolves to hide behind sheeps clothing
• people are sharing petfinder listings with their friends,
• and last but not least, it has been saving lives as social networking opens up avenues of support from individuals for everything from fostering to transporting and between

Every day in my inbox, there are emails about animals in need. Often the situations are urgent as there is seldom any room at the rescue inn, so to speak. So, in the hopes of helping more of them, I have started up a new facebook group .... NS Pets in Need

Its not meant to be a place for drama or dog politics ... there are plenty of other places for that. The rules are posted on the group and it is to be hoped it will help save lives.

What time is it? Its time to stop saying there aren't enough homes and start using every tool that is available.

It would improve man, but ......

So tonight's question, boys and girls ... is how does a loving and affectionate three legged cat wind up on a deserted beach down in Shelbourne County? He was wandering around for about a week, looking for a safe warm spot. Now he is in temporary foster with P.E.T. PROJECTS . If they cannot find his owner....if this turns out to be yet another sad story, then they will try to find this sweet and affectionate fellow a more committed home.
"If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat." Mark Twain

Basing on new assumptions

From the CBC news website
N.S veterinarians ban tail docking
Last Updated: Thursday, March 25, 2010 1:11 PM AT

Veterinarians in Nova Scotia will no longer cut the tails and ears of dogs for cosmetic reasons, prompting an outcry from some breeders.The Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association is forbidding its members from doing surgeries that alter an animal's appearance solely for cosmetic purposes.
Veterinarians say docking a Doberman pinscher's tail, for example, is unnecessary and cruel.
"In my opinion, Dobermans and Great Danes look great with their ears down and their long tails, so there's no reason to mutilate them by causing them to meet an arbitrary breed characteristic that has been around for so long that we can't remember why it's been around in the first place," said Dr. Frank Woodbury, a veterinarian in Halifax.
Mary Spinelli, a Doberman breeder in Dartmouth, disputes any suggestion that ear cropping and tail docking is cruel, and therefore can't see any need for the new rules.
"There was no impetus from anybody in the dog community to say, 'Please, consider this procedure,'" she said.
"These procedures have been performed for the better part of 100 years. They're not new, they're not revolutionary and, by and large, they're not cruel. They're done in proper conditions."
Spinelli said a Doberman's tail is removed when the animal is about two days old, while the ears are cropped at eight weeks.
She finds it hypocritical that the veterinary association is still allowing the declawing of cats.
"They have no qualms whatsoever about declawing cats, which is a far more invasive procedure done when the cat is significantly older," she said.
The new rules go into effect on April 1, though they won't be enforced until October. Similar bans on cosmetic surgeries are already in place in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Spinelli, a registered breeder with the Canadian Kennel Club, won't crop the tails of her dogs herself. She said the procedure should only be done under safe and clean conditions, like with veterinarians.
Another Doberman owner, Lendra Barker, fears that some owners will do whatever it takes to get their dogs to conform to a certain look.
"The people who own these dogs want them performed and without a vet to be permitted to perform these procedures, where is it going to go? Some people that aren't reputable may end up doing it themselves without the benefit of anesthesia or sanitary conditions," said Barker, a past-president of the Doberman Pinscher Club of Canada.
Non-veterinarians who attempt the surgeries on their own could be charged under Nova Scotia's Animal Protection Act.

Its not all that often I miss a story like that ( and before the keyboards catch on fire if I don't devote a lot of time or space to anything, sometimes its simply because I choose NOT to empower certain people whose heads are already two sizes too large,eh? )

Why did I miss it? Yesterday I was working on the slide show that you see at the top of the blog sidebar. It has all of the dogs listed on Petfinder for NS and if I didn't have time to edit every cats picture, there is still at least one cat for every dog.

So it simply fell through the cracks, between the time spent with that and going out and getting wet with the dogs: ))))

A few days ago, I was doing some research for a story I'm working on about an emaciated senior boxer who had a large litter of pups. Now, I've never shared space with a boxer, so of course the first place that I went for info was The Boxer Club of Canada site .... ( http://boxerclubofcanada.com/ ) ... where I learned that their Code of Ethics recommends that, wrt breeding, "Only bitches between the ages of eighteen months and six years and not more than once a year"

Along with all the wonderful information about boxers, there is a prominent link at the top of the front door for the K-9 Alliance http://www.k9alliance.com/, which proudly proclaims that it is 'fighting misconceptions among the public and veterinarians about docking, ear cropping and dew claw removal" The site contains the information that there is an Alert for NS and urges its members to write their MLA's. Sample letters are provided for user convenience.

Why did their campaign not work? Was it because the society has advocating for this? Was the decision based on the frontline experience of vets? Or all of the above?

It is always a mystery to me that reputable breed organizations are not at the front of the pack in advocating for mandatory breeder registration, breeding limit laws and decent minimum housing standards. Sadly, all these issues get sidestepped because of misinformation campaigns and scare tactics inspired by their strange bedfellow, PIJAC http://www.pijaccanada.com/en/ ... "the voice of the Canadian Pet Industry"

Which .. in true Monty Python style, is no odder than the partnership between the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies and Kijiji : ((((

Twenty years ago, none of the marketing experts could have predicted there would be such changes in consumer buying patterns. Nobody worried where their children's toys came from or whether their name brand clothes were being made in factories powered by child labour. Right up until the time the public stopped buying gas guzzling trucks, the former big three couldn't imagine the consequences of opting for profit at the expense of environmental sustainability.

The internet has changed how we see .. and move .. in the world. Issues are more immediate and advocacy has taken a new personal note with far reaching impact.

The muscle cars of the sixties are still beautiful to anyone my age ... but do we see them out and about now? Of course not. Their gas guzzling glory days are long gone and they are seldom seen outside of summer car shows.

Like the old sign in my laundry room, the breed associations and reputable breeders are at a crossroads where they can either lead, follow or get out of the way. If they want to play any meaningful part in the way foward, its time for them to revisit their ethical roots.

It would be a shame for the breed clubs to become the same kind of anarchism as a cherry red 64 GTO.

Most of our assumptions have outlived their uselessness." Marshall McLuhan

Pushing a sled through the snow

Why did I go all the way to Bridgewater to adopt my mighty little mini Morgan? Did I not have any cats here? Nope .. in fact I was already at my firm ( hahaha ) four cat limit! Were there no homeless cats here in the valley? Of course not! Had people stopped dumping strays in our neighbourhood? Sadly not : (((
So why, when I hate driving, did I go all the way to S.H.A.I.D ?
The writeup was why. There was an incredible story both in the newsletter and on her Petfinder bio ..... in a nutshell, Morgan was a teenage momcat who had been so badly injured when she was brought to the shelter that she couldn't walk. The story pulled out all the stops, talking about how she still took good care of her kittens, describing the gradual return of her mobility and last but not least talking about how this little youngster was still waiting ... long after her babies were weaned and adopted.
It would have taken a heart of stone to resist all that. In truth ... she has a special place in my heart simply for having survived all that. The fact that she is such a lovable and loyal little friend is almost frosting on the cake.
At any given time there are six to eight homeless cats for every homeless dog in this province. While I realize that the society statistics only paint part of the picture ( ie .. they do not reflect the numbers they cannot accept ... although in all fairness neither do anyone else's either, eh? )
Yet they do highlight one of the Unhappiest aspects of animal rescue ... if it sucks to be a homeless pet ... it REALLY sucks to be a homeless cat. At the provincial level, the live release rate for the dogs is 81.9% while it is only 55.2% for the cats.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg ... because for every cat that rescues and shelters can accept there are easily a dozen that they have to turn away ... and there is no feasible way of garnering statistics on the outcomes for THEM.
If you go to most of the rescue and shelter petfinder listings around this province, you will find informative and often witty bios for the dogs.
Sadly it is usually not the case with the cats. (And before the keyboards catch on fire, please note that I said "usually") Why are they Second Class Kittizens when it comes to Petfinder bios? Is it because cats don't have to be walked? Is it that there are ever so many more of the cats? Is it that there are so many more Unhappy Tails that staff and volunteers try not to get as emotionally engaged?
If anyone needs the extra help ... it is the cats. In a world where the simplest path is the free to a good home or the kittens that a friend or neighbour has, cat adoption should be promoted much more aggressively than the dogs.
If anyone needs the offsite adoptions, the simpler application forms, the extra promotion ... it is the kitties. And yes, we all know that in most places, once a cat hits the safe sanctuary of a rescue or shelter that they are not at such risk.
But safe or not, there are no Happy Tails for the many many others who find no room at the inn.
As a sidebar to that, cat only adoption events have proven very successful because they are so peaceful and quiet that potential adopters are more inclined to take the time to meet the kitties. Better still, they can often be held in venues that would be unsuitable for dogs. Best of all, groups that have run them in the past have found it takes less vehicles and volunteers for each event.
At the end of the day, without offsite adoption events, no rescue group or shelter is going to get to the No Kill goal of a ninety percent live release rate for cats.
What time is it? Its always time to remember that cats are first rate pets too!
Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow. Jeff Valdez

Finding the Best Way

Sam is like a poster boy for all the best bits that senior pets bring to the table. All the different legs of his journey to Nova Scotia added up to well over a couple of thousand kilometers .... and what did he do when he arrived? Wagged his tail, had a sniff around the yard and settled in on the deck with a chewie. Every single person who sheltered him on the way was smitten with his sweet personality, including his new foster Mom at East Coast German Shepherd Rescue.
But what REALLY impressed his foster Mom is how Sam stayed so calm and relaxed when her own boisterous puppy bounced over and barked in his face!
I know I go on and on like a stuck record about senior pets. I know that some people wouldn't want to miss any part of the whole lifetime experience. I know that adopting a senior pet isn't for everyone ( only for those partial to sleeping through the night, who might not have time to train, who are looking for a buddy who is ready to go now, who don't want to wonder how big their new friend will be, etc..... :)))))
But I also see how many great dogs get left in the lurch when they turn eight. Even worse are the ones who become homeless later ... there are very few rescues and shelters that will accept an elderpet over the age of eight:(((
But I'm wandering afield here because (surprisingly .... lol ) I don't just want to talk about senior pets.
Years ago, when I brought my baby daughter home from the hospital, my best friend's cat fell in love with her. Everyday he would follow us home .... and when I would bring him back to her, he'd be back on my step before I'd get back to the house. He used to sit near her and purr and purr. It was horrible for her .. because she loved him and took very good care of him... but we both finally understood that he had chosen to be my cat.
Once she was out of the crib, Mr Fritz slept with her for the rest of his life. He moved with us from Alberta to New Brunswick to Ontario and finally here to Greenwood.
This was back in the stone ages ... when it was thought to be quite normal to let a cat out when he wanted to. In spite of being neutered, Mr Fritz always liked to have a little hunt everyday and wasn't above having the odd scrap with any interlopers on his turf.
When we were in Gagetown, he was hit by a car and in spite of the vets best efforts the leg couldn't be saved and so it eventually had to be amputated. We were so worried whether we were making the right choice for him, but we simply couldn't bear the thought of sentencing him to death.
For the rest of his life, once he was recovered from the surgery, Mr Fritz still wanted to have a little hunt everyday and have the odd scrap. In fact, the only time we noticed he was a tripod was when I would be cooking a turkey. Then we would be treated to the dramatic performance we used to refer to as the turkey trot. He would limp slowly out to the kitchen, fling himself down on the floor in front of the stove ... stump side up .... so that we would know how much he deserved some of that bird: ))))
He was with us for almost ten years after that and would have been twenty two the year he passed away.
Pets just don't bring our human hangups to the table about disabilities. You would never know, to look at the picture below, that Tango had just made the long journey from New Hampshire, which was part of the longer journey from the south. ( After narrowly escaping a horrible Unhappy Tail in a high kill southern shelter, adjusting to travelling and a new life in Nova Scotia seems small potatoes indeed, eh? )
I'm probably never going to tweet or any number of new things that come out because I am a dinosaur who only uses my mobile for emergencies. But I do love the way that facebook saves so many lives and connects rescues around the continent.
It transcends provincial, state and national borders and it doesn't just save individual lives like Sam's and Tango's. Its also awakening the consciousness of animal lovers everywhere about dog politics and the need for pawsitive change.
One kind heart at a time, people are learning to be better pet owners, awakening to the injustices committed against the animals and learning a new No Kill vocabulary. They are learning these lessons from their friends and their friends friends.
At the end of the day, facebook is teaching our children well ... or at least reaching more of them than any of our animal welfare websites do.
So before the keyboards catch on fire about bringing dogs in from away ... take a page from the facebook process that saves southern lives. It would work just as well here, eh?
"Even those who fancy themselves the most progressive will fight against other kinds of progress, for each of us is convinced that our way is the best way." Louis L'Amour

An ounce of prevention would save a pound of legal costs

from this morning's Herald
Puppy abusers lose appeal
By BRIAN MEDEL Yarmouth Bureau
Fri. Mar 19 - 4:53 AM
Gail Benoit (BRIAN MEDEL / Yarmouth Bureau)
Convicted puppy abusers Gail Benoit and Dana Bailey are still convicted puppy abusers.
They lost an appeal to have animal cruelty and criminal convictions overturned.
In a decision released Tuesday, Justice Peter Bryson of Nova Scotia Supreme Court dismissed the appeals of the Digby County couple.
Benoit, 40, and Bailey, 47, were sentenced in April 2009 after a 2008 trial focused on some sick puppies.
They referred to themselves as puppy brokers during the Digby provincial court trial. The provincial SPCA had received complaints about ailing puppies purchased from Benoit, some of which were said to have died.
In January 2009, Benoit was convicted of animal cruelty and assaulting and obstructing a peace officer, while Bailey was convicted of animal cruelty.
They were fined $1,500 each for cruelty and Benoit was jailed 21 days for her Criminal Code convictions.
Last month, they appeared in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Digby to appeal their convictions, submitting that their rights had been abused and they had not been given an opportunity to relieve any distress suffered by animals in their care before being charged.
SPCA officers executed search warrants at the couple’s home in Roxville on Oct. 24 and 26, 2007.
Puppies were found with distended bellies, indicative of a bad case of worms, noted the appeal decision.
The original judge rejected the evidence of the accused that the bloated bellies resulted from overfeeding.
Bryson agreed that the original trial evidence supported the claim that the puppies were in distress.
"Moreover, the distressed state of the puppies was not a sudden occurrence. It developed over time," wrote Bryson.
There was time to help the puppies but because neither Benoit nor Bailey did anything at all, "their inaction defeats a defence of due diligence," Bryson wrote.
The original judge made no factual or legal errors, Bryson ruled.
"The verdicts here were ones that a properly instructed jury, acting judicially, could reasonably have rendered," he wrote.
( bmedel@herald.ca)
Is this a promising sign? Of course it is. During the often heated television interviews, this couple were convinced that any and all convictions would continue to collapse at the appeal stage. ( The subject of how a fifteen hundred dollar fine is a slap on the wrist instead of the type of punitive deterrent that will give animal abusers pause is a separate topic deserving of its own post on another day )
It takes a lot of work, man hours and yes, resources, for the society to get any cruelty conviction. Sadly, animal abusers are like mice and for every one that is investigated and convicted, there are dozens more that fly under the radar.
Why would I say that? At the risk of sounding like a stuck record .... as long as animal abusers can hide behind a veneer of respectability on the dreaded free online sites, they will continue to exploit the lucrative pet market.
Legislation to ban the online trade of living breathing sentient beings would be more than a proactive step that would protect animal lovers from the unscrupulous:

• it would send a clear message to the public that pets are fur life and that passing them around like old socks is a terrible way to teach our children about committment and responsiblity.
• it would make it more difficult for backyard breeders to promote themselves as nice guys who are providing purebreds for those who can't afford them
• it would put the onus on the breeders to meet CKC standards, especially with medical screening, so that they could be listed on the regional and national breed sites
• and by doing that ... it would separate those who driven by the power of love for their breed from those ruining the breed for a buck.

What time is it? Its always time to remember that legislation is the only way to effect change. BTW ... because I am always suggesting that animal lovers let their MLA's know how they feel on these issues, I finally put the link to the MLA contact information on the sidebar.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead