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 […]
Elected on pro-animal platform, new Costa Rican president allows anti-dogfighting bill to become law without a signing ceremony
Former president left dogfighting law unsigned SAN JOSE, Costa Rica––New Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solís either failed to sign into law the anti-dogfighting law he helped to push through the legislature or did not announce signing it, but the law took effect anyway on May 29, 2014, when published […]
Fighting rabies panic & dog poisoning in Kenya
Naivasha rabies panic The Daily Nation, the leading newspaper in Kenya, on May 8, 2014 announced that “A campaign to eliminate stray dogs has been launched in Naivasha,” a town approximately 110 kilometers from Nairobi. “Sub-county veterinary officer Enos Anuyunzu said all stray dogs would be eliminated within Naivasha and Masi Mahiu, as well as […]