1996 Anna Sandhu Ray case history was often cited by hoarding expert Vicky Crosetti JACKSON, Tennessee––Anna Sandhu Ray, 74, ex-wife of James Earl Ray, the assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., was on June 21, 2021 arrested in Jackson, Tennessee and booked into the Madison County jail on 44 counts of animal cruelty for extreme […]
“Return to Field” from an animal care & control perspective
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 […]
San Diego showdown: trap-neuter-return advocates sue vs. return-to-field
Court case hinges on the difference between a truly feral cat and a tame, friendly cat found at large SAN DIEGO, California—A lawsuit brought against the San Diego Humane Society & SPCA by the Southern California animal rescue charities Pet Assistance Foundation and Paw Protectors seeks to establish, for the first time, a clear legal […]
Law prof: more jail time for cruelty does not advance animal rights
Institutional offenders remain untouched by felony cruelty penalties DENVER––“More prosecution will never lead to greater animal rights. Longer sentences have not incrementally advanced the standing of animals in society,” argues Sturm College of Law professor Justin Marceau in the March 20, 2021 edition of the Harvard Law Review Forum. Marceau is also the Brooks Institute Faculty […]
We need to open up spay/neuter – now!
by Bryan Kortis, National Programs Director, Neighborhood Cats When the shutdowns in our country began due to the rapid spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, in early March 2020, the animal welfare field reacted quickly. Shelters were closed to the public, services were curtailed to the bare minimum, and cages were emptied through adoptions and recruitment […]
Handling hoarders
by Vicky Crosetti Editor’s note: Vicky Crosetti, 1953-2020, for 19 years executive director of the Humane Society of the Tennessee Valley in Knoxville, Tennessee, and a founding ANIMALS 24-7 board member, was for more than 25 years a first responder in animal hoarding cases, becoming a nationally recognized expert and frequent conference speaker on handling […]
Deborah Sue Culwell gets a year in jail for Coachella puppy dumping
Unsympathetic suspect, but shelter policies may have been accessories to the alleged crime COACHELLA, California––Riverside County Superior Court Judge Harold Hopp on August 14, 2019 sentenced Deborah Sue Culwell, 59, to serve 365 days in custody for abandoning seven puppies in a trash bin on a hot day in April. Counting time already served […]
New York bans declawing cats; Massachusetts next?
2015 “Favorite Vet” contest outcome tipped balance toward declaw bans across North America ALBANY, New York––Governor Andrew Cuomo on July 22, 2019 signed into law Assembly Bill A-1303, making New York the first U.S. state to ban declawing cats. There are about 4.2 million cats in New York state, about half of them in […]
300 cats found in apartment near the scene of multiple murders
Neighbors reportedly complained of corpse-like odor for seven years NORTH YORK, Ontario––Even before nearly 300 cats were found on May 3, 2019, huddled in Apartment 1811 at 30 Falstaff Avenue, North York, Ontario, the suburban Toronto building was well-known to police. Built in 1970, Falstaff Towers, a cluster of buildings including three 19-story public […]
“No-kill” debacle: will Pueblo bring “responsible sheltering” into vogue?
90% “live release” mandate failed catastrophically in less than 90 days PUEBLO, Colorado––“You can’t manage an animal shelter to a number,” Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region president Jan McHugh-Smith told Pueblo Chieftan reporter Anthony A. Mestas, hours after her organization returned to running the Pueblo Animal Services shelter on April 9, 2019, […]