by Barbara Kay My first, and arguably most influential, journalistic role model was advice columnist Ann Landers. I discovered her in 1955, when I was a teenager. I liked her crisp, dryly humorous “voice” that radiated moral clarity and common sense in equal measure. Our culture changed dramatically over the years, but Ann remained faithful […]
Pit bull proliferation hits “Indian country”: fatal dog attacks double
Two deaths in ten days COARSEGOLD, California; FORT WASHAKIE, Wyoming; PINE RIDGE, South Dakota––Two fatal dog attacks and one nearly fatal attack within 10 days in November 2014 underscored a marked surge in dog attacks in “Indian country,” and the inefficacy of the methods currently used by Native American tribes and humane societies to try […]
Make high volume spay/neuter programs in Indian country a priority
by Ruth Steinberger Director, SpayFIRST www.spayfirst.org Two human deaths by dog mauling occurred in the U.S. last week. These predictable and preventable tragedies shared a common denominator of race, ethnicity, and poverty; both deaths occurred on Native American reservations, where the well known problem of feral and free roaming dogs has been met for decades […]
Katherine Bolland Gibson, 60, inspiration to a generation of humane workers
Spay/neuter pioneer in Costa Rica Katherine Bolland Gibson, 60, a pioneer of promoting spay/neuter in rural areas of the developing world, and an inspiration to a generation of humane workers for whom post traumatic stress developed on the job was a way of life, died on November 11, 2014 in San Jose, Costa Rica, after […]
Record low shelter killing raises both hopes & questions
Fewer dogs & cats are being killed––but are shelters simply relegating the killing to others? U.S. animal shelters are now killing fewer cats and dogs than at any time in the past 60 years––nearly 300,000 fewer in the most recent fiscal year than just one year earlier, and just 8.6 per 1,000 Americans, the lowest […]
Don’t repeat our mistake of passing CAPA, say Delaware residents
“Horrible legislation” The State of Delaware passed the Companion Animal Protection Act in 2010, recommended by No Kill Advocacy Center founder Nathan Winograd and now under consideration in many other jurisdictions, and it has been horrible legislation for the taxpayers and for the animals of our state. We are a small state that has a […]
Fast-growing Spay FIRST! now has two heads
Patty Finch is co-chief executive OKLAHOMA CITY––Spay FIRST founder Ruth Steinberger has introduced longtime animal welfare executive Patty Finch as co-chief executive officer. Neither Finch nor Steinberger wrote or suggested a headline about having two heads, but both are known for doing whatever is necessary to attract notice to innovative animal […]
Author of San Francisco ordinance requiring pit bull sterilization appears to be victim of militant advocates
Rebecca Katz quietly dismissed SAN FRANCISCO––San Francisco Department of Animal Care & Control director Rebecca Katz was quietly dismissed on July 25, 2014––but her exit did not remain quiet for long. “Rebecca Katz, San Francisco’s well-liked director of Animal Care and Control, is no longer with the city,” mourned Marisa Lagos of SFGate. “This […]
An impromptu debate about pit bulls
by Beth Clifton ANIMALS 24-7 editor Merritt Clifton was confronted at the recent AR 2014 conference in Los Angeles by several pit bull advocates, following a panel discussion of issues in animal control and sheltering with Los Angeles Department of Animal Regulation general manager Brenda Barnette and Best Friends Animal Society cofounder Francis Battista. Merritt, […]
Pit bulls were 32% of U.S. shelter inventory in June 2014
More pit bulls in no-kill shelters About two-thirds of the dogs in U.S. shelters as of June 2014 were housed by tax-funded animal care and control facilities, 22% were housed by open-admission humane societies, and 12% were housed by selective admission no-kill shelters and rescues, according to the annual ANIMALS 24-7 summer survey of shelter […]