Animals 24-7

News on dogs, cats, horses, wildlife, zoonoses, & nature

How to heal pets, heal the humane community, & heal the veterinary profession

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Diagnosis by Dr. Jeff Young, Rocky Mountain Vet, & prescription by Bob Christiansen could provide a cure-all Drawing from a million to 1.7 million viewers per episode of his reality TV show Dr. Jeff: Rocky Mountain Vet,  Jeff Young might be considered the most influential veterinarian in the world. Certainly Young must be the most […]

Is the Veterinary Profession Serving All Companion Animal Medical Needs in America Today?

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A Case for Full-Service, Low-Cost, Non-Profit Community Veterinary Care Centers by Bob Christiansen Free download from www.bocafund.com. (See also How to heal pets, heal the humane community, & heal the veterinary profession.) “Financial forces and technological innovation are separating pet owners and veterinary practices into have and have-nots,”  Bob Christiansen begins in Is the Veterinary […]

D.C. Cat Count confirms low feral cat population, lots of free-roaming pets

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Birder claims about feral cats hugely exaggerated             WASHINGTON D.C.––Three years & expenditure of $1.5 million after it started,  the D.C. Cat Count results are in,  if not yet formally published in scientific media. The D.C. Cat Count findings demonstrate chiefly what ANIMALS 24-7 has argued for decades:  both birder and cat advocacy organization claims […]

Fire, crime, shelter management & the wisdom of Warren Cox

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“Fire is always a threat”             ORLANDO,  Florida;  FRISCO,  Texas––“We were able to save 45 cats and 26 dogs,”  the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando posted to Facebook after a late night fire on September 15,  2021. “We are heartbroken to report that we lost 13 cats and there are four still missing,”  the posting […]

New approach to cat/dog contraception explained in simple terms

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Gene transfer may confer lifelong sterility in one shot (but it can’t be done with a cookie) PORTLAND, Oregon––Could mice produce a miracle drug capable of preventing cat reproduction? If mice could do it unassisted,  through normal evolution,  you can bet your catnip they would have,  long since. But mice assisted by a battalion of […]

Shooting war: cats win, feeders lose in East Bay Regional Park District

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East Bay Regional Park District agrees to ceasefire if cat rescuers remove cats from sensitive wildlife areas             OAKLAND, California––Histrionic headlines and activist alerts aside,  what the East Bay Regional Park District board of directors really did at a heated June 15,  2021 meeting over cat policy was to: Permanently reassign staff biologist David “Doctor […]

“Return to Field” from an animal care & control perspective

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by Dawn D. Danielson, RVT,  former director,  County of San Diego Animal Services The subject of intake, holding and release of cats into the community from which they were brought to a shelter is becoming an emotionally charged debate over, among other things, the lawfulness of programs operating under such names as “community cats,” “return […]

TNR boomed before COVID-19 hit, Alley Cat Rescue survey shows

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Feral cat sterilizations were up 23% in seven years;  what is happening now?            MOUNT RANIER,  Maryland––Feral cat control by trap-neuter-return [TNR] was accomplishing more than ever before through 2019,  including a 23% increase in the numbers of cats sterilized over the annual average in 2012,  suggests newly released data from the Alley Cat Rescue […]

Increasing the survival rates of kittens

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by Nancy Peterson & the National Kitten Coalition (with some kibbitzing from ANIMALS 24-7) Five years ago––six years ago in July 2021––I retired after 18 years as first and still only national cat program manager for the Humane Society of the United States. Having a national and even sometimes international platform to help animals,  especially […]

Puppies & kittens everywhere, but none in shelters to adopt

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Suspension of spay/neuter & intake services due to COVID-19 cuts adoptions by a third from 2019             NEW YORK CITY––Celebrating rehoming every dog and cat in custody soon after COVID-19 shutdowns began,  animal shelters from coast to coast are suddenly––and predictably––weeping,  wailing,  and tearing hair about having no adoptable animals to offer in response to […]