Mountaintop Natural Pets

Source: khou.com, July 21, 2010

A Grimes County woman gave up 100 miniature horses and 46 dogs Wednesday because she couldn’t afford to care for them in the struggling economy.

The animals are being taken to the Houston SPCA. All will undergo a medical and behavioral evaluation before they can be put up for adoption.

The miniature horses are thin and have not received proper hoof care, according to the SPCA. The organization is requesting the help of volunteer equine veterinarians and farriers to treat the horses. They also need donations of miniature horse halters and lead ropes.

Horses are expensive to keep and the plunging economy is taking its toll on horse owners.  According to Horseman Magazine, the average cost of caring for a horse is five times the amount of caring for a dog.  Sadly, many horses—locally and nationally—are being abandoned and slowly left to starve to death.

If you are interested in donating, fostering or adopting a horse, call 713-869-7722, ext. 138.

Updated Events with proceeds to benefit the Ulster County SPCA

Saturday, July 10th, 9AM-3:30PM at Robert Post Park (Ulster Landing of Rt. 32) Kingston, NY.

Check out hundreds of classic cars, awards, 50/50 raffle and family fun.

A portion of proceeds benefit the UCSPCA.

For more information contact George at gcacchjr@gmail.com.

Source: Baltimore Sun, June 16, 2010

A $3,500 reward is being offered for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for the hanging death of a dog at a Philadelphia playground in the early morning hours of Tuesday, June 15, 2010.
A female, one-year-old, brown, pit-bull mix was found by a Humane Law Enforcement officer hanging from playground equipment at the Barrett Playground, at 8th and Duncannon Sts. in Philadelphia, PA 19120. The time of death is estimated to be in the early morning hours of Tuesday, June 15, 2010.

An investigation is underway, but the Pennsylvania SPCA needs the public’s help in gathering information about what happened to this dog.

Anyone with information should call the Pennsylvania SPCA’s toll-free, 24-hour cruelty hotline at 866.601.7722.

The initial $1,000 reward was increased after the Humane Society of the United States offered an additional $2,500 in reward money.

The staff here at the Pennsylvania SPCA has named the deceased dog Flora. If you would like to make a donation in her memory, or to find out how you can help other abused and neglected animals, please e-mail development@pspca.org.

Source: NJ.com, Mar 6, 2010

Animal welfare workers freed 90 dogs Saturday from what officials are calling a puppy mill on a Monroeville Road property, when the owner surrendered them to the New Jersey SPCA.

That agency was part of a joint operation that also involved the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Cumberland County SPCA and Gloucester County Animal Shelter.

“Many of the dogs were suffering from severe skin, eye and dental infections, and many were matted with feces,” an HSUS statement read.

The statement also said some needed “immediate veterinary attention” and were taken to an emergency veterinary clinic.

New Jersey SPCA spokesman Matt Stanton said his agency has charged 73-year-old Louanne Koval on several animal cruelty-related counts in running the puppy mill at 456 Monroeville Road.

Stanton described Koval as a “breeder turned hoarder,” one who may have thought she was doing right but allowed things to get out of hand.

He said he didn’t know if Koval’s operation had ever been licensed and legitimate.

The breeds being kept there “included dachshunds, hairless and powder puff Chinese crested, Yorkshire terriers and some mixed breeds,” the HSUS statement said.

Stanton said the property also contained a bison and several llamas, but they were not involved in the alleged cruelty case.

Col. Frank Rizzo, New Jersey SPCA Superintendent, was quoted in the statement as saying officers from his agency had visited the property several times over the past month and “attempted to work with the owner to improve the welfare of the animals.”

Rizzo said that “despite charging the owner with eight counts of animal cruelty, the situation just never improved.”

The dogs are being taken to area animal shelters, which will work with HSUS to help them recover and prepare them for adoption.

Stephanie Shain, Senior Director for the HSUS Puppy Mills Campaign, said such sites are far from uncommon.

Puppy mill populations can range from 50 to 1,000, she said, and about 10,000 puppy mills are operating in the United States at any time.

Shain reminded people purchasing dogs to research the breeder’s or owner’s credentials and see what conditions are like on site.

Source: NZHerald.com.nz, Jan 28, 2010

SPCA staff who inspected bloody carcasses of 33 dogs after they were slaughtered in Northland earlier this week have been offered counselling.

The SPCA said it was still deciding what charges it would lay against two men who went onto Russell Hargreaves’ property near Wellsford north of Auckland and shot dead 33 of his 39 dogs.

SPCA executive director Bob Kerridge said what staff saw was a turn-around of what they stood for and they were very emotional.

“Abuse to animals is totally contrary to how they feel,” Mr Kerridge said today.

One of the men who shot the dogs ran a store advertising pet care.

Russell Mendoza and another man used a .22 calibre rifle and shotgun to shoot the dogs on Monday night, blaming one or more of them for the mauling death of Mr Mendoza’s fox terrier. The slaughter included 23 pups and 10 adult dogs.

Mr Hargreaves described the dogs as his family and said he was in shock.

Mr Mendoza refused to speak about the killings yesterday, but a friend said he was preparing a statement with his lawyer.

Mr Mendoza and his wife run Home & Garden Wellsford, which advertised pet care, but Mr Hargreaves said there was no logic to that if he was an animal lover.

SPCA investigator Sascha Keltie said the death scene was “not unlike a massacre”.

She said bullet entry and exit wounds on some of the dogs indicated they had not died instantly, and blood trails were consistent with an injured dog moving.

Six adult dog bodies were piled on top of one another as if they had been trying to protect themselves.

Mr Kerridge said 10 dog bodies had been taken to the SPCA for investigation and until reports on their deaths was completed, charges would not be laid.

He also said Mr Mendoza would be interviewed as part of the inquiry.

Mr Kerridge said the animals had been well looked after and neither the police, the SPCA nor the Rodney District Council had received any complaints about Mr Hargreaves’ dogs.

“They were very, very healthy, very well cared for animals.”

Source: NJ.com, Jan 25, 2010

A Pennsylvania woman was charged with animal cruelty and a weapons offense after authorities said she slit a dog’s throat Sunday night during an argument with her fiancé.

Michele Milford, 35, of Scranton, Pa., was being held in the Monmouth County jail in Freehold in lieu of $10,000 bail, said Victor Buddy’’ Amato, chief animal cruelty officer for the Monmouth County SPCA.

Amato said Milford and her fiancé, who had both been drinking alcohol, argued during a party at his family’s Prospect Avenue home. During the dispute, she went into a laundry room and slit the throat twice of the family’s dog, a nearly two -year-old Jack Russell Terrier named Penelope, he said.

Amato said the wounds went from ear to ear on the dog.

While waiting for authorities, partygoers tried to slow the bleeding by pressing T-shirts and other items of clothing to the dog’s neck, he said.

The dog was rushed to the Red Bank Animal Hospital where she was scheduled to undergo surgery today.

Amato said Milford used a push knife, a two-inch blade with a T-handle designed to be grasped in a fist so the arrow-like blade protrudes from between the knuckles.

Amato said he did not know the reason for the argument.

“They had a heated discussion and the dog was the subject of the overflow,’’ Amato said. “The dog was brutalized and the dog had nothing to do with it.’’

The charges against Milford are fourth-degree indictable offenses. The animal cruelty charge would be upgraded to a third-degree offense, punishable by a possible jail sentence, if the dog dies from her injuries, Amato said.

Source: Pottstownmercury.com, October 29, 2009

The Chester County SPCA is now offering a substantial reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the slayings of two young dogs, Luna and Emma.

SPCA spokesman Richard Britton said Wednesday that the reward increased from $500 to $11,000. The reward fund consists of $2,500 from the Humane Society of the United States, $500 from John DeBella of WMGK radio and the remaining from private citizens.

The necropsy confirmed that the dogs — a German shorthaired pointer purebred and a German shorthaired pointer mix — died of gunshots to their heads. The necropsy was performed at The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s New Bolton Center in Kennett Square.

The dogs were found dead near railroad tracks near Brinton’s Bridge Road in Pennsbury about 1 p.m. Sunday. The two dogs were reportedly shot between their eyes and then placed tail-to-tail by the railroad tracks.

JoAnne Durfee spotted the dead dogs while she was walking her own dog on Sunday. Durfee said she walks the route by the railroad tracks every day.

“I was horrified because they were posed in a way that made them look like mirror images of each other,” said Durfee on Wednesday. “I was very upset and I’m glad the public is outraged.”

Earlier Sunday, the SPCA received a report from a man who said his dogs were missing from his farm on Wawaset Road in Pocopson. The dogs found at the railroad tracks reportedly matched the description the owner provided to authorities.

The owner last saw his dogs at about 3 p.m. Saturday. The dogs were on the porch and did not have leashes on, according to Britton.

“They had free run of the 100-acre farm,” he said.

Britton said the penalty for this crime, which is considered a misdemeanor of animal cruelty, is up to two years in prison and/or a $1,000 fine.

The SPCA received a report of a suspicious vehicle near Brinton’s Bridge Road on Sunday. The vehicle was described as a maroon Ford F-150 pickup with a cap.

State police at the Avondale Barracks have been contacted for assistance, according to Britton.

Investigators ask anyone with information about this incident to contact the SPCA by calling 610-692-6113, ext. 213 or by e-mailing aps@ccspca.org.

Source: Associated Press, September 28, 2009

Authorities in Pennsylvania are offering up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in dogfighting.

The reward was announced Monday in Philadelphia by Attorney General Tom Corbett and The Humane Society of the United States. It also applies to other animal combat, such as cockfighting.

The Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has received more than 400 complaints about dogfighting in the first six months of this year. That’s up from 245 complaints during all of 2008.

Dogfighting gained renewed attention in Philadelphia after the Eagles signed quarterback Michael Vick, who had served prison time for his role in a dogfighting ring in Virginia.

The reward is funded through a grant from the Holland M. Ware Charitable Foundation.