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, […]
The Mesa case: from rescue hot-dogging to rescue hoarding
Rescue addiction & enabling made Teri Finneren and the animals in her care the losers in a quasi-pyramid scheme MESA, Arizona––The January 15, 2019 discovery of multiple skeletal remains of small dogs in the feces-strewn home of of Tiggy Town Senior Dog Rescue operator Theresa Deanne (Teri) Finneren caused dog and cat rescuers, veterinary […]
Alleged pit bull starver Lueders & “rescue” horse thief Blackwood both busted
Bully Breed Rescue president to be arraigned on February 13, 2019 BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut; TUSKEGEE, Alabama––Bully Breed Rescue president and alleged pit bull starver Heidi E. Lueders, 31, can expect to face a howling mob of former donors, volunteers, sympathizers, and miscellaneous other pit bull advocates when she appears for arraignment on February 13, 2019 […]
Did Louisiana cop Terry Yetman do the dog? If so, why?
Bestiality bust just before Christmas went viral (See also Bestiality & child porn: ex-K9 cop Terry Yetman gets 20 years.) BOSSIER CITY, Louisiana––The animal story most often read, worldwide, during the five days before Christmas 2018 had nothing to do, so far as is known, with reindeer, and probably nothing to do with donkeys, lambs, […]
Witch hunts & wildlife
$53,000 reward offered in panic A $53,000 reward, believed to be the biggest ever in a case of this sort, is currently posted in Thurston County, Washington, for information leading to the apprehension of an alleged serial cat killer who has supposedly tortured and dismembered at least 13 cats since July 2018. We could certainly […]
All cats want for Christmas are their two front paws (and hind paws too, intact)
Nova Scotia and Denver ban declawing FREDERICTON, Nova Scotia; DENVER, Colorado––Christmas came early in 2017 for cats in Nova Scotia province, Canada, and in Denver, Colorado. Both jurisdictions recently banned elective and non-therapeutic declawing surgery, but through starkly different legal approaches. Nova Scotia vets make declawing “unethical” The Nova Scotia declawing ban was adopted, […]
Panhandlers & street corner animal exhibitors: who is who?
Animals dancing for pennies are regulated. Panhandlers’ animals are not. NEW YORK, N.Y.––Is Joseph Ramos, 70, also known as Joseph Noal and Joseph Noah, a street corner animal exhibitor, or just one of the longest active and most controversial panhandlers using animals as an adjunct to begging in downtown Manhattan? Joseph Ramos a.k.a. Noal/Noah […]
Why is Hawaii “moving at a hurried pace” to kill cats at boat harbors?
New policy allows waterfront cats to be killed “by any means deemed necessary” MILILANI, Hawaii––Hawaii Department of Land & Natural Resources chair Suzanne Case “is moving at a hurried pace to kill cats with a lead pellet fired from a high powered pellet rifle to the head or heart,” alleges Carroll Cox––who is not […]