20,000 Pounds of Natural Dog Food to Go to Idaho Humane Society

Posted March 8, 2010 By aschae and has no comments yet.

Source: Earthtimes.org, Mar 8, 2010

Dynamite Marketing will deliver more than 2,000 pounds of its Super Premium natural dog food to the Idaho Humane Society on March 10 at 10:30 a.m. The donation is valued at $3,000 and is enough to feed the approximately 200 dogs for 125 days.

The gift is the result of Dynamite’s Facebook contest, in which Dynamite pledged to donate a pound of natural dog food for every Facebook fan who has signed up since Jan. 1.

In addition, Dynamite will enter the names of all Facebook fans into a drawing, and will donate 200 pounds of natural dog food to the shelter of the winner’s choice.

The gift is in keeping with Dynamite’s tradition of making charitable donations to motivate sales. Last year, the company offered its top distributors a choice of a personal prize such as a trip to Maui or double the value as a donation to charity. The result was $22,000 in charitable donations.

“People who buy our products are passionate about their animals and about making the world a better place,” said Callie Novak, Dynamite vice president. “We attract people who are driven by projects that help animals, improve soil, save lives and make the world a better place. We knew that for many of them, giving to a charity actually would be more of a motivation than a personal prize or special offer.”

“We are extremely grateful for the donation, as well as the visibility that the competition has brought to the humane society,” said Chris Wiersema, development director at the Idaho Humane Society.

A family-owned business that has specialized in animal nutrition for four generations, Dynamite Marketing makes products for virtually every member of the animal kingdom. It has long developed natural dog food and nutritional supplements for prize-winning working dogs and show dogs across the country.

Dynamite uses only natural ingredients, made in the United States for better quality control. Throughout its history, it has always looked at alternatives to animal by-products, antibiotics, chemical preservatives, fumigants, artificial coloring and other additives that have later caused health problems.

Dynamite products are available through more than 4,000 individual distributors across the country.

Additional information is available at www.DynamiteMarketing.com or by calling 1-800-697-7434. The company is based in Meridian, Idaho.

Categories: Adoptable Dogs, Feeding, Heros, Natural/Healthy Pet Foods, Press Releases, Recent News, adoption
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Desperate need for help – Gaston Shelter, NC

Posted February 21, 2010 By aschae and has no comments yet.

This post is quite old but the situation at Gaston AC has NOT improved.

Permission granted to forward and cross-post!!

There is an immediate need for a rescue coordinator volunteer at the Gaston County Animal Shelter. Unfortunately, all dogs/cats lives coming into the shelter DEPEND on this non-paid position as shelter management does not have the foresight to see or care about saving dogs/cats lives; it is not now nor has it ever been a priority at this shelter to see that the dogs/cats make it out alive. Shelter management sees the overpopulation of pets as a nuisance to deal with, not as living beings that should be shown compassion and love. It is the animals who are punished, not the uncaring people that continue to allow their animals to breed.

The shelter is only open from 11-5 weekdays (no extended hours for people to come before or after work to see the animals) and only open one Saturday per month. They euthanize EVERY day, sometimes twice depending on how crowded it is. Rescues pulling these animals are usually the only chance they have as many are deemed unadoptable by the judgment of shelter workers without a thorough or repeatable evaluation process. They are proclaimed adoptable or “other” as soon as they are dragged through the door into a building that reeks of urine/feces/death and where dogs are barking and pleading for their lives. It’s truly a traumatic environment that causes all but the very confident animals to retreat and cower into their death sentence of being proclaimed unadoptable. It is especially traumatic for the cats as they are thrown into a pen at the end of the run, so they have to be walked down the loud/echoing aisle past all the barking/shrieking dogs before they are tossed (literally) into a pen with a 5 -10 other cats. When it rains the entire pen gets flooded. There is no heat or air conditioning in the cement/concrete building.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE is there someone who has time to devote to try to get the word out about the dogs/cats coming into this shelter and try to find them a rescue??

It is a HUGE undertaking, but these poor animals have no one else to depend on – the kennel workers and animal control officers at the shelter do not care about these enough to devote any time to this effort at all. They don’t care that they get gassed at the end of the day – plain and simple. It’s so very sad for these animals and the conditions that they have to endure for the 3-5 days that they are there. It is truly a jail for animals and they need our help.

If you or someone you know can help, please have them contact:
Leah at lepodz@yahoo.com or Marcie at buckeyepetlover@gmail.com

It doesn’t matter where you are, as long as you can use a computer and telephone during the day. Rescues from out-of-state and the surrounding tri-state area need to be able to speak to someone during the day via email and telephone to coordinate getting the pets pulled from the shelter, taken to foster homes or boarding kennels, and make arrangements for transport. The Rescue Coordinator does not have to physically do these things, but they must be able to communicate freely with people who can.

The few of us trying to do this have been shut down from emailing and taking calls at work, so we are trying to find a person who is either retired, semi-retired, out-of-work, or who works from home that has some time to spare during the day to help the pets in need.

We can give you all the contact information you need: rescue names, emails, phone numbers; names and numbers of people who transport, pull from the shelter, foster, etc.

Please forward this to anyone you know who might be in a position to help. We are DESPERATE to find someone IMMEDIATELY, as we currently have no one able to freely correspond throughout the day.

Animals will die, for lack of being able to communicate in time, if we can’t find someone to help.

Categories: Abuse/Neglect, Adoptable Dogs, Recent News, Rescue, adoption
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Seized Dogs From Suspected MI Puppy Mill Fly To New York

Posted February 8, 2010 By aschae and has no comments yet.

Source: kktv.com, Feb 7, 2010

The American Humane Association’s animal emergency responders loaded 34 seized dogs from a suspected puppy mill in Olive Branch Miss., onto a plane on Sunday.

The plane is operated by Denver’s Pet Airways and they’re the ones who flew them to New York ASPCA’s (American Society for the Prevention to Cruelty to Animals) headquarters for adoption.

This is a culmination of five days of working together with the Marshall County Humane Society after 95 dogs and one cat were removed from the property of a suspected puppy mill.

They discovered dogs living in feces-encrusted pens and filth. They include small breeds, such as Shih Tzus, Lhasa apsos, pugs, Yorkshire terriers, corgis, and Chihuahuas.

Manny Maciel, an animal handler volunteering with American Humane’s Red Star Animal Emergency Services™, said that many dogs appeared underweight and appear to have skin problems, among other medical conditions.

Several dead adult dogs and puppies were found.

Also on the scene with the ASPCA and American Humane, personnel from Marshall County Humane Society, Mississippi State University and Collierville (Tenn.) Humane Society were removing and transporting animals to an emergency shelter site at the Marshall County Humane Society Clinic in Byhalia, Miss.

They were triaged by a veterinary team and temporarily sheltered before being transferred to other animal welfare agencies and ultimately made available for adoption. These are the last of the 34 dogs to be transferred.

“Collaboration among animal welfare groups, such as this effort between American Humane and the ASPCA — both national organizations — as well as several local organizations, is an effective way to address the needs of animals in situations like puppy mills and other emergencies,” said Debrah Schnackenberg, vice president of American Humane’s Animal Protection Division and director of its Animal Emergency Services. “Together, we can respond quickly, assemble the best resources, and provide the necessary treatment and care to help get these animals on the road to recovery and into the new, loving homes they all deserve.”

The investigation was set into motion after local officials contacted the ASPCA several weeks ago. The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department, led by Sheriff Kenny Dickerson, served a warrant, along with Sgt. Kelly McMillan, Investigators Gary Byrd and David Pannell, and Officer Tracy Jefferies. Charges against the puppy mill’s owners are currently pending, but the dogs have been signed over to the ASPCA.

Puppy mills are large-scale breeding operations where animals often live in filthy conditions that foster disease, and frequently suffer from neglect and the absence of veterinary care. Adult dogs are bred excessively and often spend their entire lives in small runs or cages. For the puppies, neglect of emotional needs due to lack of socialization, isolation and the trauma of transportation at an early age is a serious problem. In addition, ignorance or indifference to good breeding practices often results in dogs with genetic problems, and puppy mills add to the already critical problem of pet overpopulation.
American Humane seeks to eliminate puppy mills through enforcement of current laws and regulations, enactment of legislation, and public education to eliminate the market for such animals.

For more information about puppy mills and how to fight animal cruelty, please visit www.americanhumane.org/protecting-animals.

Find us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/americanhumane and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/americanhumane.

The information contained in this release can be reused and posted with proper credit given to the American Humane Association.

Categories: Abuse/Neglect, Adoptable Dogs, Puppy Mills, Recent News, Rescue, adoption
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95 Dogs Found At Mississippi Puppy Mill

By aschae and has no comments yet.

Source: wreg.com,Feb 4, 2010

A tip led investigators to a rural home where they discovered one of the worst puppy mills they’ve ever seen.

A Mississippi couple faces dozens of misdemeanor counts of Animal Cruelty. Investigators with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals found 95 dogs living in what they call “deplorable conditions” early Thursday. Animal experts say the type of matted hair found on some of the dogs took years to grow. It’s proof, they say, of neglect and abuse of 95 dogs found on the property. Investigators think the operation had gone on for a while, even though neighbors say they never suspected anything. It’s possible the couple took in animals, but then just had too many to care for. At some point, authorities say they started to breed more — for profit.

“I think she’s probably a very nice person and she’s trying to help these animals out,” says Mary Champlin who lives next door.

Neighbors watch in shock, as one by one the animals are tagged and evaluated. Most have disease and malnutrition. Marshall County Prosecutor Shirley Byers says she found carcasses all over the property, skeletal remains inside pens, and a pile of ash where she thinks the homeowners disposed of dead animals.

“It’s very difficult and very time consuming to take care of 100 animals. If you don’t have a staff… this is typically what you end up with,” says Tim Rickey with the ASPCA.

It’s possible they just had too many dogs to handle, but it’s the females that prove to investigators the problem goes beyond hoarding.

“She was a breeder,” says Kelley Wier with the American Humane Association as she holds an adult Chihuahua. “You can clearly see the teats, they’re elongated, so she’s been bred more than once.”

As the workers with the AHA trim lumps of matted hair from a shivering dog, they place it in bags that will entered into evidence that will eventually help charge the couple with animal abuse. The prosecutor says the Sheriff’s office knew of a problem back in 2008, but nothing happened. Byers says the woman responsible used to work at the Sheriff’s office, and her husband is the Assistant County Coroner. Charges could come in the next week.

In the meantime, the neglected dogs will stay at the Marshall County Humane Society Clinic in Byhalia. They are not up for adoption until the court process gets underway, however cash donations are needed to help care for the animals. Contact the Marshall County Humane Society Clinic, the American Humane Association at www.americanhumane.org or the ASPCA at www.aspca.org.

Categories: Abuse/Neglect, Adoptable Dogs, Health, Legal, Puppy Mills, Recent News, Rescue, adoption
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Happy Tails Publishing Searching for Submissions

Posted January 19, 2010 By aschae and has no comments yet.

Happy Tails Books publishes compilations of stories from people who have adopted dogs. Their breed-specific “Lost Souls: Found!” series showcases the love and joy these adopted dogs bring to their new homes in an effort to raise awareness of, and funding for dog rescue organizations.

Happy Tails Books is currently working on books about Chihuahuas, German Shepherds, Pugs, Boxers and mixes thereof, and they’ve asked me to share their information in case you’d like to submit a story about your adopted dog(s). Guidelines and a submission form are located at http://happytailsbooks.com/submit.htm. You can send in a complete story about your dog (600-1200 words), a paragraph about something sweet or funny he/she did, a training/health challenge and how it was solved, a poem, or a recipe. They are also looking for high resolution, professional-quality photos for the front and back covers. Be sure to list the rescue you are associated with in the submission form (if applicable – dog don’t need to be from a rescue, they just can’t be purchased from a pet store or breeder), as rescues earn points from each story submitted or book purchased, and then the points turn into a donation at the end of the year.

Contact Info: Kyla Duffy, Happy Tails Books, Editor In Chief. 303-807-0412, kyla@happytailsbooks.com Boulder, CO

Categories: Adoptable Dogs, Children & Dogs, Funny Dog Stories, General Training, Health, Herding Dogs, Human/Canine Bond, Products Worth Sharing, Puppy Mills, Recent News, Recommended Reading, Rescue, adoption
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Locked up for weeks with kitten and Chihuahua, huge dog now ready for adoption

Posted December 31, 2009 By aschae and has 1 comment.

Source: MercuryNews.com, December 30, 2009

Only Leonardo knows what he’s been through. And the 108-pound mastiff isn’t talking.

He’s now up for adoption in Walnut Creek after having been locked in a bathroom for weeks with only a kitten and a Chihuahua for company.

In the other rooms of the vacant Central Valley house, there were two crates full of other Chihuahuas. None of them survived.

But Leonardo and his kitten and Chihuahua companions made it, likely drinking toilet water until being rescued by Kings County animal control officers. They had no food.

Their owners had moved to Las Vegas. Eventually, at the end of September, neighbors called animal control after seeing the driveway sit empty.

When Leonardo was found, he was so malnourished and underweight that he could not even be given his shots.

He had formed special bonds with the kitten and the Chihuahua, said Elena Bicker, executive director of Tony LaRussa’s Animal Rescue Foundation, where Leonardo is now.

When Leonardo was in pet therapy, they would bring in the kitten and he would immediately cheer up, Bicker said.

The kitten and Chihuahua were adopted in Kings County. But Leonardo’s time there had expired — he was to be put down until ARF brought him to Walnut Creek earlier this month.

His adoption sheet says he is mellow and “likes to snuggle.”

“He’s just such a big lug,” Bicker said, adding that she hopes whoever adopts him has a big couch. “He’s a couch potato.”

The Animal Rescue Foundation, 2890 Mitchell Drive in Walnut Creek, will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday and will be closed Friday for New Year’s Day. Call 925-256-1273.

Categories: Abuse/Neglect, Adoptable Dogs, Recent News, Rescue, adoption
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Shelter helps rescue 18 dogs from puppy mill

Posted December 8, 2009 By aschae and has no comments yet.

Source: The Daily Herald, Dec 7, 2009

A passion to rescue dogs from the hands of questionable breeders and the power of social networking combined to create one of the largest and quickest fundraising efforts in Save-A-Pet history.

More than 250 people donated nearly $8,000 to buy dogs at an auction in Missouri this past weekend.

An urgent plea for money from Save-A-Pet board President Karen Rappaport went out via e-mail and Facebook, and was quickly shared via other social sites.

“The response was phenomenal,” said shelter Director Dana Deutsch. “We got responses from Canada to New Jersey. One person saw the notice on his vegan Web site.”

The Grayslake shelter got word of a puppy farm that was going out of business. Hundreds of dogs were up for auction. The animals that weren’t purchased were to be destroyed.

Dog auctions are common, but this was the first attended by Save-A-Pet. Shelter leaders say they don’t want to contribute to what they say is a profit-driven cycle of abuse.

The breeders, though legal, typically force adult dogs to breed continuously in filthy and dangerous conditions, Deutsch explained.

Save-A-Pet leaders made an exception in this case because the breeder was going out of business. There were Pomeranians, bulldogs, boxers, Maltese and toy poodles among the 232 dogs on the block. Deutsch attended the auction and returned with 18 dogs that will be available for adoption.

Conditions at the Missouri farm were better than most, Deutsch said, but some of the dogs had missing limbs that were chewed off by other dogs in the cramped conditions. Most were dirty and dozens had lice. Attending the sale was an emotional experience.

“At one point, I was really overwhelmed and had a hard time being there,” she said. “There were three long rows of wire cages, like chicken coops, just packed with dogs. They were jumping and barking as their paws were pushing through the bottom of the wire cages. They were looking at me with that ‘Please help me,’ look. It was hard.”

Near capacity and low on funds, the intake of the dogs comes at a tough time for the shelter. Ten staff members were laid off this past October. The recession has affected donations at the same time the number of cats and dogs entering the shelter has tripled, officials said.

This weekend’s purchase couldn’t have happened without the emergency drive, Rapport said.

The dogs will be available for adoption once they receive medical care and are spayed and neutered. Those interested in adoption should call (847) 740-7788 or visit save-a-pet-il.org.

The power of the Internet continues to impress Rappaport.

“It’s just amazing how quickly this all came together,” she said. “So many people have stepped up and most of them weren’t our regular supporters.”

Categories: Abuse/Neglect, Adoptable Dogs, Health, Puppy Mills, Recent News, Rescue, adoption
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Pet shelter offering foster program during holidays

By aschae and has no comments yet.

Source: mywebtimes.com, Dec 4, 2009

Brenda Leake wants to find a heartwarming and loving home for her “kids.”

Leake, the shelter director of Just Animals in Seneca, is partnering with Petfinder.com, hoping to foster some of its dogs this Christmas season.

“We’ve been talking about how great it would be to get our pets into homes for Christmas,” Leake told The Times. “This is the first time we’ve fostered for the holidays. We probably have about 20 dogs right now.”

The current dog population ranges in age from five months to four years.

The program runs from Wednesday, Dec. 23, through Saturday, Jan. 2. There is a $25 fostering charge to cover licensing fees, and if the family decides to adopt, there is a $195 to $250 adoption fee, but the $25 fostering charge would be deducted from that fee.

Those interested must fill out application papers as if they were going to adopt so the shelter can verify the animal is going to a good home.

Leake said people choose to foster for various reasons.

“Some of them are not allowed to have pets on a long-term basis, some people can find out a lot more about a dog by fostering,” Leake said. “It’s a great opportunity to give back. A lot of people aren’t quite sure if they’re ready for a pet and this helps them make that decision.”

Leake said the fostering process normally works well.

“It works out wonderful for people,” she said. “We try to pair up animals that will fit into the home. We have a lot of great dogs right now.”

Interest in the program has been growing.

“I have been getting calls for a few weeks,” Leake said. “People are very interested in this and are hoping to get their family interested as well.”

Leake said the shelter does get stray animals, but the hardest part has been getting animals through house foreclosures, leading to a family that cannot support the dog or cat anymore.

“It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “So many of them are great animals and it just rips your heart out. It’s very hard to see a dog with a good loving home and lose it. It’s very hard on the families and they cry along with us when they have to give up a part of their family to us.”

Pet Project, which is moving from Grand Ridge to Marseilles, is not currently offering fostering services.

“We’ve done it in the past, but it’s difficult because folks who want to foster often have other animals, and they don’t always get along,” said Sue Tonielli, president of the Pet Project board.

The Times was unable to reach Illinois Valley Animal Rescue in Peru by press time to see if they offer similar programs.

In Streator, PAWS to the Rescue, a canine rescue group, offers a foster program year-round. The group was founded in 2008 in response to a growing need for animal control assistance in La Salle County. For more information on PAWS or to donate, go online to www.pawsttr.org.

“I imagine coming in Christmas morning to do chores at the shelter and having the entire ‘Dog Room’ empty, all our ‘kids’ with a human to love, a soft place to sleep and a cuddle just for a bit,” said Leake. “Now that would be my perfect Christmas dream.”

Interested in fostering a dog or cat during the holidays?

Contact Brenda Leake, shelter director at Just Animals in Seneca.
Address: 2996 26th Road (E. Union St.)
Phone: 815-357-1223
e-mail: adopt@justanimals.org

Categories: Adoptable Dogs, Children & Dogs, Events, Recent News, adoption
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