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 […]
Could Zambia contracept wild hippos instead of culling?
Or is hippo overpopulation even really the issue? LUSAKA, Zambia––Why has Zambian tourism minister Charles Banda revived a five-year-old plan to cull up to 250 hippopotamuses per year from South Luangwa National Park, only two years after scrapping it? “The South Luangwa National Park has a population of more than 13,000 hippos but the area […]
“Build s/n services, not more shelters!”
by Margaret Anne Cleek and Ruth Steinberger Editor’s note: Wrote Jeff Young, DVM in his ANIMALS 24-7 guest column We cannot adopt, warehouse or rescue our way out of dog & cat overpopulation!, “Large humane societies waste far too much money on housing animals, building expensive facilities…People think they can help by donating to tangible […]
Remembering Montana Spay/Neuter Task force founder Jean Atthowe
“Her techniques have been emulated around the world” JEAN ATTHOWE, believed to be about 90, died on December 19, 2016 at her home in Richland, Washington. Recalled Planned Pethood Plus cofounder Jeff Young, of Wheat Ridge, Colorado, “Jean was the founder of the Montana Spay/Neuter Task Force. She was a friend, a teacher, a wonderful […]
How 28 pigeons survived U.S. Senator Inhofe’s shooting party
Showing Animals Respect & Kindness finds survivors two days later ALTUS, Oklahoma––Shot and wounded but not dispatched at a pigeon shoot fundraiser for U.S. Senator James Inhofe on September 9, 2016, 28 banded racing or show pigeons were on Sunday, September 11, 2016 recovered alive by Showing Animals Respect & Kindness (SHARK) personnel from […]
Pit bulls now in the “rez dog” gene pool
Seeking a better solution for reservations than culling Part III of a three-part series. See also: 12-pit bull attack on toddler spotlights soaring risk on reservations and Pit bull proliferation hits “Indian country”: fatal dog attacks triple “The solution,” to dog attacks on Native American reservations, “is to cull the dog population, and provide spay/neuter services […]
The Search for Paradise: The Fictionalized Ordeal of Two Quite Real Dogs
by Pat Becker Illustrated by Sharon Brown-Judy Total Publishing And Media, 2015. 74 pages, hardcover. $24.95. Reviewed by Ruth Steinberger There are animal welfare advocates who believe that the quality of the adoption process dictates the welfare of homeless animals. These advocates see a bleak future for pets who are rehomed through open door policies, […]
Loss of access to ketamine threatens progress in humane euthanasia
by Ruth Steinberger, founder, Spay First (www.spayfirst.org) There is a proposed change in the U.S. and global regulatory status of ketamine, a safe, effective and cost effective anesthetic drug used in both human and veterinary medicine. Sometimes referred to as a “date rape” drug, ketamine is already highly controlled, yet any veterinarian or clinic choosing to […]
NASA finding means calcium chloride castration can be done on Mars
Calcium chloride appears to exist, but alcohol would have to be imported to fix Martian dogs & cats SAN FRANCISCO, California––Eight scientists who analyzed National Aeronautics & Space Administration data on September 28, 2015 announced in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Geoscience that they had discovered strong evidence of the presence of liquid water […]
Introducing Calcium Chloride Castration
by Ruth Steinberger, founder, Spay First (www.spayfirst.org) On July 24, 2015 a company called Calcium Chloride Castration, the brainchild of Canadian veterinarian Peter Denooij, will launch the sale of pharmaceutical grade calcium chloride dihydrate for the non-surgical castration of male dogs and cats at a daylong event in the Dominican Republic. Each premeasured dose will […]