Congrats Will and Kate!

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15 Years for Dog Killer Who Beat His Pitbull To Death

... the moron threatened witnesses with bodily harm if they went to the police. 

UNWANTED

via Macon.com:

Burke’s trial began Monday in Bibb County Superior Court. Jurors deliberated about a half-hour Tuesday before returning their verdict, Schwartz said.

During the trial, three eyewitnesses testified that they saw Burke beat the dog to death in his yard on Dec. 18, 2008, after the dog had escaped from a heavy logging chain being used to tether it. Burke used the same chain and a garden hoe to strike the dog, hitting it in the head.

“He beat her until the handle of the hoe broke,” Schwartz said.

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FREE Things You Can Do To Be Helpful

Go here.  You can sign up to "click daily" for a bowl of food for a shelter dog or cat. They will send you a daily reminder. It's a good deal.

And don't forget to vote for your favorite shelter to win $300,000 (I thought it was $100K but must've missed something). I recommend Pets Alive Westchester, since they are great and in the running. They are located in Elmsford, NY and their name is Pets Alive Westchester.

You will need to enter location and shelter name. It takes less than 30 seconds a day.

Don't forget to vote each day!

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Jasper Tennessee Shelter Needs Help... Give a Hand to Paws of Love

Not all shelters are run by municipalities; some are private, and some are run out of people's homes.  This seems like a good idea at the time, and for a lot of reasons (33 in this case) it is, until someone running the place cannot do it anymore. In Jasper Tennessee, a small private shelter gave numerous dogs sanctuary for years. But then one owner died, the property eventually sold, and now the dogs have to be out by the end of May. Most of them have lived their lives at this small private shelter and only know each other. And, it's out by the end of May, or they will be euthanized.

I'm hoping this place gets the great response Miami Dade Animal Shelter received when they had to temporarily close to disinfect the entire shelter. Rescues lined up. My feeling is there is less "rescue-traffic" in Tennessee than in Florida, so I'm a little worried.

They also have mostly older dogs. Not everyone knows how wonderful an older mellow fellow can be! They are no drama, just love.

Janah Moore, a volunteer at the Paws of Love Dog Sanctuary near Jasper, Tenn., said the shelter and its 33 dogs need new homes. Moore said people can find a good pet among the shelter's dogs.

Staff Photo by Ben Benton/Chattanooga Times Free Press

Ben Benton has the story at Times Free Press.

TO HELP THE DOGS

To find out how to help the Paws of Love Dog Sanctuary or to adopt a dog, call 423-942-1056. Shelter officials have waived all adoption fees but reserve the right to do home checks to make sure the dogs are being placed in a safe environment.


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Here's Why States Ought to Skip the Misdemenor Charge Against Animal Abusers and Go Straight To Felony.



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Missouri Circumvents the Legislative Process

via the ASPCA's website. Very disappointing.

In an outrageous affront to the democratic process, on Wednesday, April 13, the Missouri House of Representatives voted 85-71 to reject the will of the state’s voters and eliminate all of the newly established humane improvements outlined in the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act (PMCPA). The PMCPA, which is scheduled to go into effect in November, was passed five months ago by popular vote as “Proposition B” to more tightly regulate conditions at the state’s thousands of commercial dog breeding facilities.

Missouri is the number-one puppy-producing state in the county, supplying pet stores from coast to coast with hundreds of thousands of dogs annually, and is notorious for its lax animal-care standards and proliferation of unlicensed breeders. Unless it is vetoed by Governor Jay Nixon, the bill the House just passed (SB 113) will not only supersede the PMCPA—which includes such humane provisions as increased cage size, prohibition on the use of wire flooring and restrictions on breeding frequency—it will make parts of the state’s commercial breeding law even weaker than they are now.

“In spite of decades of urging by the animal welfare community, the Missouri General Assembly remained silent on the issue of puppy mills until after the voters spoke. The failure of the General Assembly to address the problem is why we finally took this straight to the people,” says Cori Menkin, ASPCA Senior Director of Legislative Initiatives. “And as evidenced by the passage of Proposition B, Missourians care deeply about puppy mill reform. That state legislators are discarding Prop B and ignoring the will of the people they are supposed to represent is appalling, insulting and disrespectful.”

If the legislature succeeds in blocking implementation of the PMCPA, it could have consequences far beyond Missouri. States as close as Oklahoma, Texas and Nebraska and as distant as Hawaii are currently considering puppy mill-related measures of their own. Unfortunately, lawmakers in these states are regarding these developments in the Puppy Mill Capital of America as a bellwether of reform. If the PMCPA is gutted in Missouri, your state’s puppy mill law might be next.

The fate of millions of dogs now hangs on the decision of one man. The ASPCA implores all of our supporters to contact everyone you know in Missouri; ask them to call Governor Nixon to urge him to veto SB 113 (please do not call the governor if you live outside Missouri). You can also help by spreading the word about this injustice—please share this article via Facebook and Twitter.

And here is the story about Governor Jay Nixon signing the legislation today, which gutted Proposition B in Missouri, nevermind what the voters said.

ASPCA is right, it's an outrageous affront to the democratic process. More at another time on follow-up response from the animal protection community.






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Step in Right Direction in Mississippi

via the Clarion Ledger:

Mississippi does the right thing and formalizes the hierarchy of charges that can be brought against animal abusers. I do not think this new law goes nearly far enough, in that it only allows for a misdemeanor to be charged if someone abuses animals (even in severe ways) only once in five years, but it's a compromise and that's the soul of governance (and marriage, but that's another matter).

Now the animal protection community can set it's sights on reforming the new law. In the meantime, kudos to Mississippi (I say the whole thing as I type, letter by letter!) for moving forward.


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Home Again

Whew! I'm home after back-to-back five day trips (one work, one family), with one day at work in between, and with one family emergency in between as well! Blogging will resume tonight.

Thanks again for voting for Pets Alive Westchester. So glad they made ASPCA's top 50.

BTW -- this is the Home Again link. They do all-important microchipping. Check it out.



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Tell Android to Take a Hike

What morons!! I don't believe for a second it's satire. It's reaching to a demographic (of criminals) and hoping to expand your market share.

"'Dog Wars' actually instructs players on how to condition a dog using methods that are true to organized dog fighting," he (Michael Vick!) added, "encouraging cruelty to dogs and leading young people down a dead-end path."


In "Dog Wars," the gamer selects a player and a dog and then sets off to earn street cred while dodging police heat. One of the characters in the game is labeled "The Athlete" -- and with his red football jersey and helmet, he is clearly intended to represent Vick.

Nice. Really nice.

This is nice too:

ANDROID.


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A Blessed Easter To You and Yours

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Happy Easter... and here's a hoppy ending

I've been saving this story for sharing with you this blessed weekend.

Meet Miss Parfait and her harem of bunnies!!

Parfait was a dog left on the streets, whose puppies froze to death, and who was dying of an infection from an embedded collar. She was trying to keep those puppies warm, and was finally rescued by Randy Grim of Stray Rescue of St. Louis , who helps a lot of street dogs in St. Louis. God bless that man.

The bunnies came from Rocky Ridge Rescue, who eventually took Pafait in and is seeking a home for her, or at least was as of a couple of months ago. Read about Rocky Ridge Rescue here.

Read the whole Parfait story here.  I couldn't resist offering this for Easter!

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Best Friends 'I Read To Animals Program'

Last week I added Best Friends Animal Society to my monthly contributions list. They will take out my donation each month on a credit card and I know that money is being used for great programs like the following.  They get the benefit of knowing what money they have coming in, which allows every organization better strategic planning.  I have been extremely impressed by their creative, diligent, and persistent work on behalf of dogs, cats (yeah, I know I don't mention them much), and other animals over the years.

This is from an email update I receive, fairly often.

April 14, 2011, 12:59PM MT

By Ted Brewer, Best Friends staff writer

A formerly stray and anxious pit-bull terrier becomes a library therapy dog in Best Friends’ I Read to Animals program.

For the past three weeks, a formerly stray pit-bull terrier has played the role of captive audience to a number of young readers at a library in a small agricultural town in Northern Utah. As a participant in the Best Friends’ I Read to Animals program, Tacoma has serenely listened while children as young as 3 years old read to him.

Read the rest of the article here.
And here are the program componants of Best Friends 'I Read To Animals' Program:

Program Benefits:



Builds kindness, compassion and respect towards animals

Encourages language and reading skills in a non-judgmental environment

Increases reading confidence and motivation to read

May lower the stress level of young readers


Program Components:




Best Friends Humane Education lesson

Writing, art or craft activity

Reading 1:1 with an animal

Stuffed animal adoption

I Read to Animals adoption certificate

 
Kudos, once again, to Best Friends. They do so much for unwanted pets, and in this case found a great solution that benefits everyone.
 
 
 

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Pets Alive Makes It!

Thanks to your voting, Pets Alive Westchester made it into the Top 50 of ASPCA's Shelter Contest, and now will be eligible for the $100,000 contest. I cannot thank you enough!

More soon...

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Posting will be light for the next few days. I have a conference in Nashville. Looking forward to seeing that city.

In the meantime, I'd be grateful for your vote for Pets Alive Westchester in the ASPCA's contest.  Their city is actually Elmsford, NY and the name is as I've listed it! You can vote once a day from each email you have!

And, this looks like a cool event! As per usual, it is being sponsored by the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals. 

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Please Vote Once A Day From Now Until April 15th

UPDATE: Pets Alive is # 46!! Keep voting! So important for this shelter to have a shot at the top 50... then they can qualify for the $100K contest! Thanks for your votes!

Help us win $100,000!

We need YOUR vote... NOW!

http://petasalive.com/

go here to vote

100K Challenge!

Pets Alive is participating in the ASPCA $100K Challenge, and your help is needed during the qualifying heat! From April 4th through April 15th, we need our supporters to vote for us every day. I know, I know, every day? Yup...for those 12 days, Pets Alive is asking that you click daily and help us save more lives. It's easy! There's a handy dandy button right up there that will take you to the voting spot, or you can click here:
http://votetosavelives.org/




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Once Again, Dogs Do Their Duty

Kristen Kubilus of South Brunswick Patch has the story:

(Photo credit Kristen Kubilus)

“The way he speaks in front of others has improved and he has become more confident,” Dhillon said of her son. “He loves the dog.”

Dhillon continued, “No one is judging him if he makes a mistake. The dog is listening to him. He picks out the book in the beginning of the week, practices it, and then he can come and read it in front of his friends.”

Vikas Bawa agrees that the therapy dog has been a great reading partner to his two daughters. When mentioning his three-year-old, Riya, he said, “She could read, but she was very shy. She wasn’t outspoken. With the dog, she reads out loud and is able to be more extroverted.”

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Way to Go Tallahassee!

I'm so glad to see things turning around for dogs used in fighting operations and for both sides of the political aisle realizing that dogs can be rehabilitated. A holocaust happens every year in our nation's shelters, and pitbulls suffer the brunt of it. They are inherently happy dogs, always wanting to please their owners, and they can be trained easily, which is how our society's low-lives take advantage of them.

Thanks to Tallahassee, Florida for putting thought behind legislation -- not a small thing! We need more of this from other municipalities.

Dolly, a pit bull terrier believed to have been used as a bait dog to get fighters ready for matches, was a docile participant at a noontime news conference. Three legislators posted big photos of her bloodied snout and scars in the Capitol rotunda. The legislators and attorney Ledy VanKavage of the Best Friends Animal Society said no breed is always dangerous and very few abused animals are beyond redemption.

"You can see what a wonderful animal this is," Sen. Jim Norman, R-Tampa, said of Dolly. "This is a dog that has been typified as a vicious type of animal but, as you can see, if dogs are treated right, they're man's best friend, ladies' best friend — just wonderful creatures."

Bill Cotterell of pnj has the full story.



xoxo

Well Done Chippewa County Animal Shelter!

Thank you for this work you have done.

Shelter Manager Holly Henderson said the 2010 numbers were very similar. Of the 966 animals — 523 dogs and 443 cats — brought in last year, only 29 had to be euthanized for very specific reasons. The remaining animals were primarily returned to their owners or adopted out to good homes.

“We have worked very hard to ensure no healthy adoptable animal is euthanized at our shelter,” said Henderson.

This wonderful shelter is in Michigan.

Soo Evening News.com has the story.




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The First Jackasses of Spring

via Orlando Sentinel:

Two women face animal-cruelty charges, accused of leaving two dogs inside a hot car in the Altamonte Mall parking lot last weekend.

Bridget Maria Casiano, 42, and Nancy W. Charrez (might be Chavez, still to be confirmed), 47, both of Port St. Lucie, each are accused of two counts of animal cruelty by tormenting, depriving, mutilating or killing animals.

The dogs' temperature was 120 degrees when they were found an hour after being left in the car in 90 degree weather. The two women came out one hour after the dogs were found.  Also, the short-snouted dogs have the hardest time with hot temperatures and respiratory issues (not that it woudl have mattered at 120 degrees). These dogs were pugs.

Either they are complete morons, or did this intentionally. Who could be that dumb?

When an address is found, as is the custom of this blog, it will be posted here. As well as pictures. I hope they get lots of sternly worded letters from the public.


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Jeffrey Coppock, Dog Beater

UNWANTED

6136 Evening Star Lane, Knoxville, TN

via WATE.com:

Officers responded to Coppock's home, 6136 Evening Star Lane, on April 8 where they found a Shih Tzu in the back yard they believe Coppock had beaten.


A report from the sheriff's office said the dog had blood around its nose, appeared to have broken bones, was taking short, shallow breaths and was wet.

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Thank You God, for Patrick's Recovery. Help Us To Remember The Other Dogs in Need.

A 1-year-old pit bull nicknamed Patrick sits Tuesday, April 5, 2011, near piles of gifts donated to him as he recovers at Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls, N.J., after being found starved and dumped in a trash chute. Kisha Curtis, 27, of Newark, pleaded not guilty to animal abuse charges. Authorities believe Curtis tied the dog to a railing in her Newark apartment building and left the state for more than a week. Letters and donations have poured in from the around the world in support of Patrick.

(AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Oregonlive.com has the story.

(AP Photo/Mel Evans)

 
Remember, there are many other dogs who suffer Patrick's fate each day, and they don't end as well as his story, hard as that has been. Not taking away from the little guy, but please direct your generosity to some other dogs in need. Here are a few rescues who take in "Patricks" on a daily basis:
 
Noah's Ark Rescue
Pet Rescue
Picasso Veterinary Fund
Eyes of An Angel
Angels Among Us
 
 
 
 

 

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Vote For Pets Alive Westchester

CALL TO ACTION!

ASPCA has a $100K contest currently going on, and the very deserving
Pets Alive Westchester is in the running. (I think all shelters are deserving but might as well marshall the forces so one you know can win!)

How it works is you vote for a shelter DAILY and the one with the most votes wins!

In order to make the next round, Pets Alive Westchester (which is currently in spot 55) needs to be in
spot 50. So your daily vote will really make a difference!

This is the shelter that adopted out one-third of its senior pets in one year (is it a no-kill and as such had been essentially warehousing animals), and whose amazing year-end newsletter prompted me to add them to my monthly contribution list. They took over the antiquainted (but lovingly-run) Elmsford Animal Shelter, where I got three of my last four dogs, and have really energized the place. This is exactly the type of place you want to see receive a large grant like this because they will maximize that money for the benefit of many animals.

Here's what you do:

Cast one vote each day to help decide which fifty animal shelters will get to compete in the ASPCA $100K Challenge. Even one vote can make a big difference to your favorite challenge contestant.

You can vote once each day between April 04, 2011 at 9:00AM, Eastern Time and April 15, 2011 at midnight, Eastern Time. We’ll announce the fifty contestants on April 18, 2011.

VOTE NOW!




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Garland, Texas Animal Services

They have some really cute dogs at this gassing facility. Act now and adopt one.

You can go to get your dog. Remember, I flew to New Orleans to get Mr. Wiggins. I cannot imagine life without him.

You can also work with an area rescue to pull a dog you want, and then arrange transport.

Act now. Save a life!



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HIV-Positive Man Gets To Keep His Therapy Dog

I'm glad. Dogs improve people lives immeasurably, whether it's autistic kids, adults with physical limitations, people in trouble, or those who need a mental boost. And it's good for the dogs to be woven into our lives. That said, it's always important that people be responsible with their dogs. Keep them on a leash, pick up their poop, and don't let them annoy people unnessarily.

POZ covered the story.

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Fun

see more dog and puppy pictures



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Dog Protects Toddler

... and thank God the kid is okay!

via wistv.com:

But during the night, Jacobson's mixed Labrador retriever was keeping watch over his 22-month-old master in temperatures that got down to the 40s. "I just wish I'd have known, I could have warmed him up, called the cops," said Harr.


Now, words of praise for the dog who likely helped save little Tyler's life. "Since he belonged to them, he must have followed them the whole way, so that's very special," said Harr.
And so this story has a happy ending, thanks to the special bond of a child's best friend.

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Transport Sunday and Shelter Day

Happily, my entire day yesterday Sunday was spent doing stuff for dogs.

The morning began taking my little guys on their Daily Constitutional 1.3 mile walk (later in the day they get another Constitutional 3/4 mile walk, plus three quickies).

Here they are at "Grandma's House" last weekend.

Then I left to provide one leg of a transport of three little ones needing to be driven to their new homes. They were impossibly cute. Bentley is on the left (he was thrown from a moving car and that owner was turned in by her son and grandson!), Diamond, and Little Margot.

Bentley leaving his old life behind!

Diamond in between ear scratching.

This little one (Miss Margot) nibbled on my ear the entire time! If she was quiet and I got worried she was into something, so looked her way, she took that to mean it was time to start nibbling again.

Both Bentley and Diamond are with their new people and Little Margot is being fostered for a week first.

Then it was off to Yonkers Animal Shelter where I volunteer. It was a beautiful day, all the dogs got out, and one got adopted (Bonnie, who went with such nice people).  We've had some good adoptions lately. Spot went home a few weeks ago. He's doing well, I hear. Love that boy.

Sadly, a shady threesome cast another dog out their car window in front of our shelter. If a dog's face could personify worry, this little one's could. She has big soulful eyes that are kind of close set and between the totally wrinkled-up brow at being thrown from the car, we all rushed over to love her. She was afraid but we did out best to make her at home.

 She'll have a name and a picture soon.

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RIP, Diane Godnek-Knudson

This lady tried to save her drowning dog. She lost her life. She leaves a husband and another dog. I'm very sorry for their terrible loss.

I feel this lady was a hero and I send my sincerest condolences to her grieving family. Many mourn with them.

Penny Eims, of the examiner.com has the story.


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Japanese Tsunami Survivor Dog Reunited With Owner

Thank You God, a million times over!



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Sydney From South Carolina

I mentioned in a post about Patrick the other day that each day there are other dogs in his condition that haven't gotten as much press. I'm not complaining about his press or his attention - I've certainly been posting about him all week. I just want to bring other dogs to the fore.

One rescue that cares for dogs like Patrick is Noah's Ark Rescue. I've posted about them before but just got this story in the mail. Each week they take another Patrick in. Sad that there is always another dog that has suffered near-death just becaus humans cannot take proper care of their pets.

GREENWOOD, SC......Sydney is an adorable 9 month old pit mix that only weighs 19 lbs. Police were chasing a suspect in the Greenwood, SC area when he ran into a house. They ran into the same house and what they found behind a closed door was sweet, adorable SYDNEY. She was almost starved to death. She had no food or water. The conditions in the room were despicable. The floor was covered with feces and urine. This gentle little dog had been living in these conditions for quite some time. If the police had not happened to have been going after this individual, we would be telling you a different story. They immediately stopped their search to get Sydney out of her horrible situation and to the shelter in the area. She has been there while the criminal investigation has ben going on. The person was convicted of animal cruelty along with other charges and is in jail and should be there for a while. This adorable little dog has only gained two pounds since she was rescued. She is terribly underweight and will need lots of medical care to get her system back to normal. We are having to run extensive tests to make sure she does not have any other medical issues we might be missing. She has had an upper respiratory infection for some time that has her terribly sick right now. That is causing her to not eat very much because she feels so bad.

Abandoning animals without any means of taking care of themselves is becoming an epidemic in this country. Every day we see another case of animal cruelty where the animal was starved to death. Sydney was lucky. If you or anyone you know is having difficulty feeding an animal or taking care of them properly, please contact the shelter in your area and ask for HELP. Do not leave an animal to die a terrible death this way.

While Sydney is not quite as bad-looking physically, she will need a good deal of care to bring her to full recovery. Please do what you can to help.

Each and every gift is an affirmation of caring towards animals like this, so amount is really not as important as donating. Do what you can.

Thanks.

Noah's Ark Rescue is 100% funded by your donations. Without you, we could not help all the animals we do. We are the last ray of hope for the animals we rescue. We take in those that society has forgotten. All of your donations go to this cause. We are volunteers and do not take any funds for our service. Our reward is seen in the eyes of the animals we help. Please, help us help them, by donating. All donations are tax deductible.

Noah’s Arks Rescue is a 501c3 non-profit.

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Grandpuppies

For years my Mother has had to deal with having my dogs as her "grandchildren." My aunts and uncles are referred to as Aunt and Uncle so n' so, by my dogs, not that they love it (and one objects loudly). I sign cards with my dogs' names and put little paw prints after their names, and a smiley face after mine.

So it's good to know I'm not the only freak in the world.

I think I love the earnest faces of the people involved, the best.  See this link for the slideshow.

"For years, we didn't have any grandchildren and my daughter's dog, Mr. Moose, was all we had," said 63-year-old Eileen Williams of the San Francisco Bay area.

"You take what you get in life and make the most of it, and we've been pleased he has been a huge part of our family over the years, as our grandpuppy."

Mr. Moose!



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Patrick, Quite the Little Truman

..what with being photographed pooping, eating, barking, getting a bath!

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Happy Birthday Milan Kundera

The novelist was born today in 1929. My favorite by him is Immortality.

To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden,

where doing nothing was not boring - it was peace.

 ~Milan Kundera

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Going in the Right Direction

Animal Care & Control in NYC has a great volume of animals with which it deals. Over the last few years numerous organizations have been instrumental in adopting out more dogs and fortunately the numbers of adoptions vs. euthanizations are going in the right direction.

From the Mayor's Alliance of NYC's Animal's website:

(This group partners with Picasso Veterinary Fund,

who are the ones that hosted the Second Annual Spot Olympics.)

The Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, Inc., founded in 2002 and powered by Maddie's Fund, The Pet Rescue Foundation, with support from the ASPCA, is a coalition of more than 150 animal rescue groups and shelters that is working with Animal Care & Control of New York City (AC&C) to end the killing of healthy and treatable cats and dogs at AC&C shelters. To achieve that goal, the Alliance, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, helps its Alliance Participating Organizations (APOs) work to their highest potential to increase pet adoptions and spay/neuter rates, with the goal of transforming New York City into a no-kill community by 2015.

See their results: (sorry for the fuzzy graphic; if you click the pic it will enlarge)

How do Alliance Participating Organizations save all the animals not appearing in the euthanization rates in the above graph?

Each month, the Mayor's Alliance Wheels of Hope for NYC's Homeless Pets transport van program

moves approximately 150 animals out of NYC's Animal Care & Control (AC&C) shelters

 and transports them to other Alliance Participating Organizations (APOs)

— shelters and rescue groups that will find them new homes.

Some trips are short; others are long hauls.

But either way, they carry a price tag

— and that cost is particularly related to the price of fuel.

When fuel prices rise, the cost of these life-saving transports can increase dramatically.

What can you do to help?

The Wheels of Hope for NYC's Homeless Pets fundraising campaign is seeking to raise much-needed funds to keep the wheels turning every day, and help the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals continue to transport as many animals as possible on the next leg of their journeys to permanent loving homes.


Thank you for helping to keep the wheels turning for New York City's Homeless animals!

Give here to keep the wheels of progress turning!

The Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN: 73-1653635). All donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. A copy of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals' latest annual report may be obtained, upon request, from the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals or from the New York State Attorney General's Charities Bureau, Attn: FOIL Officer, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.

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Can it be?!