Monessen policy of killing feral cats draws protest, about 35 people participated in the rally organized by the Coalition for a Humane Monessen to get council to consider alternatives to combat the city's feral cat problem. They protest the city ordinance that has resulted in the deaths of 34 feral cats. They bring signs says "Stop the killing," and "Save the cats".
The ordinance started when dozens of complaints from residents about stray cats, some of them injured and others damaging property. But some says that trapping the cats and taking them to animal shelters to be euthanized is inhumane, they also said that municipal council isn't being fair to cat owners. Now Mayor Mary Jo Smith and council decided that cat-trapping has been placed on hold until the city can find a shelter that will accept the animals.
Dog Wars the name of a new video game available for Android smart phones are causing controversy. Critics, including the Humane Society and NFL star Michael Vick, are calling for Android to pull the game and for Google to forbid similar releases on its platform. The concept of Dog Wars is just like in real life, you feed, train and fight your virtual dog against other players who do the same. The Dog Wars tag line says “Raise Your Dog to Beat the Best,” and it was originally released on March 8, 2011
According to the creators it's just a fantasy role playing game, much like those in which human characters fight to the death. But critics say the game perpetuates cruelty against animals and teaches people how to prepare dogs for fights. Animal lovers around the Web quickly turned to the chat forums on Google's own website to voice their rage. The game developers also said the game would be a "net benefit to dogs," since a portion of the proceeds from the game will be given to animal rescue groups.
It took nine days for Buster the cat to get out of a 150-foot-tall loblolly pine in northwestern South Carolina.
Buster’s owner, Linda Megretto, said she expected to find him dead on the ground Monday morning, but her husband, Andrew, climbed to the top of a 40-foot ladder and coaxed the cat down. The cat stayed in the tree through two storms and found safe.
Linda called the humane Society, fire department, police but none of them couldn't help rescue her cat even the animal control. The couple was so upset and aren't happy with local officials.
Buster got spooked when Megretto’s neighbor on Broadway Lake Road, not sure what his dog was barking at, rousted the cat out from under his shed with a rake. Buster couldn’t figure out how to get back over the neighbor’s fence so chose the pine tree for escape. He climbed up about 50 feet past the tree’s lowest branch. When a neighbor boy tried to reach him from the ladder, he climbed another 50 feet.
A 3-year-old cat named Max who lives in Live Oak, near Santa Cruz, California, has somehow survived being shot in the head with an arrow.
According to the owners, after missing for two days, Max walked in the front door with an arrow sticking out of his head. Max's owner, Brad and Nancy Paquin rushed him to a veterenary hospital at Santa Cruz Country Animal Services where an arrow-ectomy was performed.
The cat was shot with a 12-inch arrow that appeared to come from a crossbow. Xray showed that the arrow was lodged 5-8cm, entered the base of it' head. The arrow entered the side of his head, piercing his ear, and then exited the top miraculously not hitting the brain was removed by vets. After the surgery, Max is fine except for a pierced ear.
Authorities have yet to identify any suspects in the shooting, but an animal control officer is working full-time on the case. Meanwhile, Max is under "house arrest" and will likely spend the remainder of his 8 lives indoors.
The death of a stray dog whose heart was removed by University of Utah researchers conducting cardiology tests has spurred a renewed call from animal rights groups to stop the practice of selling some shelter animals for research nationwide.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Utah Animal Adoption Center say the university and the North Utah Valley Animal Shelter, which sold the school the dog, broke state laws of "due diligence" in not attempting to locate the owners before impounded animals are sent to the labs.
Tom Hudacho, a spokesman for the state Department of Health, says it's unlikely they will sanction the university because state laws leave it up to the shelters to contact the owner and the department has no jurisdiction over that facility.
Thirty-six states, including Utah, allow stray dogs and cats to be sold to research facilities if they are scheduled for euthanasia at animal shelters. But animal activists say the shelters should be safe havens, and fear that if the practice continues, people may stop bringing in their unwanted pets.
After years of horrible neglect and a dramatic rescue effort, almost all of the 121 dogs seized from a suspected Warren County Puppy Mill have their freedom.
The Animal Rescue Corps, a 501©3 nonprofit animal protection organization in Tennessee, participated in the seizure of 121 dogs and five birds with the Warren County District Attorney’s office on March 29th. This was after weeks of investigation undercover. Upon entering the puppy mill everyone’s worst fears were coming true. These dogs were living in the most horrible conditions, displaying skin infections and eye infection that are common in puppy mills and even dead, decaying dogs among the living ones. These dogs were severely malnourished and dehydrated. The court awarded Animal Rescue Corps (ARC) custody of 117 of the dogs on April 5th so they can get them ready for adoption.
A relative of the man who operated the puppy mill came to visit, saw the conditions the dogs were living in and called authorities, Marion County Humane Society leader Caroline Wedding said. The owner of the dogs is at a psychiatric hospital in Shreveport, Wedding said. He could face criminal charges over the neglected animals. Officials said the owner, a 64-year-old man whose name has not been released, has been away from the property since last month.
Now, all of the dogs were taken to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds, where a make shift shelter was created. They are being treated, vaccinated, fed, taking care of and most important thing provided love that had never know it before.
A 22-month-old boy Tyler Jacobson, recently wandered off from his South Carolina house wearing only a diaper and a tee shirt. He would spend an entire night in the woods near his house on a night when the temperature dipped into the 40s.
After being reported missing, rescuers used a bloodhound and an infrared-equipped helicopter to look for the boy, but they had to call off the search until the next morning due to high winds and the darkness.
The next morning, a man walking down the road reported that he heard crying in the woods. When police went to investigate, they found Tyler cuddled next to his family’s mid-size black Labrador retriever mix. Apparently the dog tagged alongside the toddler, kept him warm and protected throughout the night.
“To tell you the truth, that dog is what kept him alive,” Kershaw County Sheriff Jim Matthews told The State on Saturday. Matthews also acknowledged that Tyler's home's living conditions were "deplorable" and that the Department of Social Services had been notified. Tyler's biological father is in the military and is said to be flying home from assignment in Hawaii to be with his lucky son.
