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GAINING GROUND: PETA v. YUM BRANDS

MICHIGAN IS CRITICIZED FOR SELLING POUND PUPS TO RESEARCH FACILITIES

VIRGINIA CITIZENS FOR REFORM: NEWS FROM THE FRONT
 

-- Lillian Clancy <lsclancy@crosslink.net> wrote:

> From: "Lillian Clancy" <lsclancy@crosslink.net>
> To: "Clancy, Lillian S." <lsclancy@crosslink.net>
> Subject: minutes of pet overpopulation meetings
> Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 15:54:48 -0400
>
> Attached are minutes of meetings which were held on
> Friday, 7/23/04, and Sunday, 7/25/04.
>
> If we missed anything, let us know.
>
> Expect "Food for Thought" in a few days.
>
> Thanks so much.
>
> Lillian Clancy

A meeting regarding the pet overpopulation study
started at 11:00 am at the home of Lillian Clancy and
Donald Marro in Delaplane, VA

Lillian Clancy and Donald Marro have three full-time
and several part-time contractors and volunteers
working on the study.


Attendees:
Lillian Clancy
Donald Marro
Jeannette Allard/Central Virginia All Breed Rescue
Valerie Bannister/small feline rescue group
Kathy Baugher/Clancy Associates
Susan Blackley/Kindred Spirits
Pamela Brown/from King George; working with various
groups
Reggie Connaughton/Blue Ridge Bull Terrier Rescue
Terry Dunn/independent
Maureen Hill Hauch/Fredericksburg Kennel Club and Dog
Owners Association
Jane Lanham/Joe's Promise
Anne Little/Animal Action Network
Eileen McAfee/independent
Mollie McCurdy/independent
Birgit Michael/ACO, Chesterfield County
Karey Mullins/Clancy Associates
Cheryl Phillips/independent
Glen Swain/Clancy Associates
Lana Westfall/Office of Senator Russell Potts
Samantha Whitesides/Middleburg Humane Foundation
Josseline & Rob Wood/Reston, VA

unable to attend:
Sandra Everson-Jones/Buckingham County Humane Society
Gerri Glass/Radford Pound Pals
Judy Harvell/Animal Welfare League of Northern Neck
Joyce Page/Animal Welfare League of Northern Neck

Introductions

Attendees introduced themselves and discussed their
goals and reasons for coming, and
involvement/experience with animal welfare.

 

Agenda

A. study elements

Don Marro explained what the study is hoping to achieve; the primary hypothesis is that there is a pet overpopulation problem in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  Beyond this primary hypothesis, there is an assumption that euthanasia is the primary and preferred response of public agencies to this problem.

items below were discussed as part of the overpopulation study; each topic had a handout

1. animal records
The Statewide Summary Reports for the years 2000
through 2003, issued by the State Veterinarian, were
distributed.

comments:
numbers are qualified by the fact that some localities have not reported numbers despite the fact that the State Veterinarian's Office asks that all organizations (public pounds, humane societies and SPCAs, and rescues) file a report annually    these reports are a measure of the problem facing
Virginia with respect to stray, relinquished, and abandoned animals, but they are not mandated and are often inaccurate

it was asked whether there are other places to get this data it was reported that Augusta County shows a correlation between animals surrendered by owner to shelter/pound and euthanasia rates; wondered if this correlation held true in other localities no uniform way of counting animals by each locality; for example, some don't count pit bulls, some don't count owner give-up with requests for euthanasia website for the State Veterinarian's Office currently displaying lower numbers than those presented in the
handout which came from the state when the State Veterinarian was asked recently why these reports are compiled,  he admitted that he did not know and does not monitor them
 
A. study elements (cont.):

2. animal control budgets
The study has to date determined at least $31 million
in taxpayer funds were being spent on animal control
in the last budget cycle which doesn't include
building depreciation and mortgage interest; some
funds for s/n but source not clear.

comments:
figures presented are operating expenses and do not
include other costs such as State Vet, staff and
activities, facility depreciation or mortgage
interest; if all calculated in, the amount spent
state-wide could possibly be upwards of $60 million
per annum

3. public pounds which don't accept cats
A list of Virginia's public pounds which don't accept
cats was distributed.


comments:
no law in the Commonwealth requires public
pounds/shelters to accept cats

4. gas chambers
A list of facilities with gas chambers was
distributed; data is based on reports furnished by the
State Veterinarian's office; list good as of 6/3/04.

5. inspection reports of pounds
Two lists were distributed based on state-furnished
information.
The first list was alphabetical, showing the last date
of inspection (information good as of 6/3/04).
The second list included the same facilities sorted
chronologically.

comments:
regarding who conducts inspections:  the State Veterinarian's Office employs inspectors who are licensed veterinarians; amongst other things, inspectors check for cleanliness and general upkeep; waste of money because veterinarians are not needed to check building upkeep; no requirement that inspections be done and when violations are discovered, penalties are not necessarily levied

mentioned was whether volunteers may conduct
inspections


 
A. study elements (cont.):

5. inspection reports of pounds (cont.):

comments (cont.):
Eileen McAfee stated that conditions in many of VA's pounds/shelters are appallingly abusive; after reviewing Inspection Reports for all pounds/shelters in VA in 1999, she met with VDACS Commissioner Carlton Courter and presented him with a copy of the findings; she also talked to the former VA State Veterinarian, Dr. William Sims, gave him a copy of the review also, and asked why he did nothing to ensure pounds/shelters comply with VA's Animal Welfare laws 
 
McAfee continued: Dr. Sims insisted that the Office of Veterinary Services is a "regulatory agency; not an enforcement agency"; McAfee stated this is simply not accurate; the State Vet has the power, authority and responsibility to ensure that Regulations, Codes and Laws are enforced; McAfee asked, even if the OVS was really just a "Regulatory Agency", what's the point of having regulations if they are not enforced?
 
McAfee added that a "Civil Penalties" Bill was subsequently presented to the General Assembly; this Bill was vehemently opposed by Dr. Sims, Teresa Dockery, and the VFHS; fortunately, this important animal legislation passed both the House & Senate unanimously and the Civil Penalties "Law" became effective 7/1/00; this new law authorized the State Vet to levy civil fines against localities with long histories of Animal Welfare Law violations and making no attempt to comply with them; any locality making a "good faith attempt to comply" was exempt from being fined;  fines of $1,000 per day per infraction may be
levied

McAfee continued:  because the effective date of the  Civil Penalties law was delayed until 1/03, Page County was only fined for infractions occurring after 1/1/03; they could not be fined for animal cruelty issues which allegedly occurred one month earlier in December of 2002:  the shooting of impounded animals including a shoebox full of 6 newborn kittens
 
per McAfee, Teresa Dockery and the VFHS successfully delayed the implementation of the Civil Penalties Law for 3 years by convincing the General Assembly that pounds/shelters "do not have the funds to build new facilities"; despite presentations by McAfee and others to the General Assembly that the animal cruelty issues in pounds/shelters were procedural, not structural, this important animal legislation did not go into effect until 1/1/03; a new building is only needed in a fraction of cases, less than 1%; the overwhelming number of violations involve abusive handling and inhumane euthanasia of animals; whether an impounded animal is abused in a new facility or an old one makes no difference to the animal   

A. study elements (cont.):

5.       inspection reports of pounds (cont.):

comments (cont.):
McAfee concluded by saying that many Inspection Reports do not reveal problems at pounds/shelters; many facilities shown to be in compliance with the law are actually not; only when caring staff, volunteers or private citizens come forward with eyewitness accounts of infractions, are we made aware of conditions  per Don Marro, at present, we know of no laws that
protect whistleblowers; a goal of the study is to identify mechanisms available to individuals in whistleblowing efforts to improve the situation
it is hoped, as this group and its work becomes better known, that many people will stand-up and come forward with reports of abuses, knowing they have support

short discussion of whether there is a five-year (or one-year) statute of limitations on prosecuting individuals for animal cruelty violations  6. classified ads A report was distributed that summarized ads for dogs for sale on one weekend in the Washington Post classified ads.  The report was based created using a spreadsheet which collected 272 ads from the Sunday, July 17, 2004 issue of the Washington Post in which at least 391 puppies were listed for sale.  If each puppy advertised were sold, sales would have been a minimum of  $168,123. The average price of the puppies advertised was nearly $830.00. Information is incomplete as many ads did not say how many puppies were available, and many prices were not listed in the ads.

The report also included ads found in The Virginia Pilot.


 
A. study elements (cont.):

6. classified ads (cont.):

comments:
it was pointed out that in Virginia you are required to have a business license and pay sales tax if you have a kennel with five or more dogs

question regarding why reputable breeders were not more active in driving out irresponsible breeders; irresponsible breeders are a significant problem

frustration expressed over AKC advertising puppymill litters on its website; is a way for AKC to compensate for declining registrations

Maureen Hill Hauch asked that responsible breeders not be punished for the actions of the irresponsible breeders.  Don Marro asked Ms. Hill Hauch to be a liaison between the pet overpopulation study group and responsible breeders. 

volunteers offered to make phone calls on the ads to better determine the number of animals available each week and the locations (local or outside Virginia) of the advertiser

discussion of the image of the AKC and how the average citizens sees "AKC Certified" as some sort of guarantee on the health of the animal "AKC Certified" means nothing more than the animal is registered

the lack of facts available to the public regarding AKC certification may well require an education campaign  

B. general discussion

1. Virginia laws

it was explained that there is a law allowing businesses a 45% deduction on their taxes for anything over $889 of service to a 501(c)(3) organization; could this not apply to veterinarians volunteering their spay/neuter skills to private organizations?

biggest opposition to new legislation may be from Virginia Shooting Sports Association and the AKC  there are laws on the books that are not being enforced; study group should be approaching solutions from every avenue possible including, but not limited to:   how to enforce the existing laws  how to involve more groups in the efforts such as businesses, churches and minority groups  how best to educate the general public possibility of new legislation 

2. additional areas included in the study but not yet brought up for discussion include: ways of tracking animals methods of sterilization voting records of Virginia legislators on animal legislation identification of all organization and individuals involved in animal control

3. miscellaneous comments

concern over and a strong desire to rid Virginia of gas chambers

problems with staff performance when using gas may be the problem more than the method

need to determine protocols for staff training with respect to euthanasia
  

concern about puppy mills with realization that for some farmers, the sale of litter of puppies can be the make or break factor for the farm; legislation that tries to limit or regulate this activity will be opposed by legislators representing these constituencies suggested the study be broadened to include agribusiness interests which  want to be responsible marketers of good animals

B. general discussion (cont.):

3. miscellaneous comments (cont.):

in order to have any success with new legislation, Tom Evans, a lobbyist for the Shooting Sports Association, would have to be at the table

advantage of going directly to opposition individual memberships if truculent 

advantage of working on legislative campaigns in order to get access to the legislator advocacy of an approach based on taxes and economics, not merely the morality of death; how tax money is being spent however, not ready to commit to a single unifying theme at this time

C. moving forward

all will get minutes of this meeting and the first meeting on 7/23/04

Don Marro and Lillian Clancy will send out some "food for thought" as a follow-up to the meeting and explore the idea of a newsletter

it was suggested that the group have a name; Don Marro asked that any suggestions be sent over The meeting adjourned at 1:15 pm.
 

Tierbee@aol.com wrote:
 To: hound-rescue@yahoogroups.com
 From: Tierbee@aol.com
 Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 12:24:40 EDT
 Subject: [hound-rescue] Little Rock, AR: wonderful Hound and Beagle mixes need help ASAP!
 
 The Little Rock Animal Services (LRAS) shelter has a TON of wonderful dogs needing help ASAP.  This is a very high kill shelter
 (70% are euth'd) and these animals need help desperately.  The shelter is NOT open on the weekends which   doesn't help the adoption rate.  You can see  pictures of everyone at   http://www.lastchancearkansas.org/ .  There are also  pics at the Petfinder site   http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/AR77.html - this  one doesn't seem to be updated as   often, though.    If you are interested in helping anyone, please  contact Inquiry@AIREguardians.org  this is for  AIRE, a rescue helping pull dogs from the   shelter or you can contact the shelter directly at  (501) 376-3067.  I have   worked through AIRE for the dogs that I have pulled  recently (and dogs were just   wonderful).  Feel free to contact me at tierbee  @  aol.com with questions.    Please crosspost!  These dogs don't have much of a  chance!  The dogs at the   top of the list have been there the longest - but  ALL dogs on the list are in   danger.    #146509 F Hound mix, black w/tan and a little white,  adult - this poor girl   had her puppies at the shelter. One was adopted, one  was PTS.  She is a   sweetheart and has been there way too long.  #151545 F Hound mix, red w/white chest, adult, 15  lbs - precious and sweet  #151690 M Beagle/Basset Hound mix, tricolor, adult,  25 lbs - sweet and   adorable    THANKS!    Erin Silks  Fairfax, VA

PLEAS FROM VIRGINIA RESCUER JEANETTE ALLARD:

WILL PAY FOR 5 WEEK FOSTER FOR 30LB PUG/TERRIER MIX AND PUPS!  FOOD, WHELPING BOX AND SUPPLIES PROVIDED BY RESCUE.  DO A GOOD DEED AND MAKE A FEW DOLLARS! 

Do you have a heated/air conditioned utility room or basement (dry/clean)?

We are in desperate need of a foster home for a very sweet and very pregnant pug/terrier mix.  She was abandoned at a VA Animal Hospital.  Marta and her  previous owner was a client.  We took Marta into rescue about 6 weeks ago.   The vet records from this animal hospital indicated she was spayed.  NOT  SPAYED!  I have been fostering her and feel pretty stupid for not figuring  this out sooner!  I noticed she had been eating a lot and putting on a lot  of weight these past 3 weeks.  I was working with her yesterday on her leash  training and noticed her swollen belly and nipples as she climbed up the  front steps.  My vet confirmed her pregnancy and recommended against spaying  her because she is due any day!  We will take care of the birth and will keep Marta and her pups for a week.   We will transport her and the pups to a TEMPORARY foster home-5 weeks.   Loving, caring home please!  We will pick-up Marta and the pups when the  babies are 6 weeks old.  We will provide food for Marta, vitamins, heartworm  and flea preventative and a whelping box and whatever else is needed.  We  can't pay a lot but can pay $150.00 for the five weeks.  Marta must be leash  walked for potty breaks.  Otherwise, it should be an easy job as Marta will  care for the pups.  PLEASE CONTACT:  Jeanette Allard Central VA All Breed Rescue Fredericksburg, VA  22406 petfinder.org P! hone for Jeanette: 540-809-3961  P.S. Please do not email me the names of vets who spay at the last minute!   I know there are vets who will do the spay anyway.  I did this once and had  to rush the dog to the emergency hospital because she was hemoraging.  We nearly lost her.  I still have nightmares about blood everywhere and her  glazed eyes staring out into space!  Thank you.

Plea from a Virginia Shelter Representative for an Abused Pup:

Last week (or so) we received a dog that was abandoned. I will try to get pics as soon as I can.

When I saw this dog I was shocked- which in my line of work is VERY hard to do. With all the emaciated dogs I have seen I have never seen a dog this thin alive. She was weak and could not walk much due to NO muscle.

It took me a minute to determine she was indeed a she, as her abdomen was so receded that I really had to feel. He skull was sunken in, she could not (and still cannot) open her eyes completely. I suspect she has entropia- probably because her body absorbed the fat in her face to the point her eyelids started to turn in.

You could see the tendons in her rear legs as if they were bones. She has sores on her pressure area such as her hips/ankles because she has no padding when she lays down.

When I offered her can food she could not find it and in her excitement was nipping in the air where she smelled it. I pushed her head down to eat and she had a can gone in about 2 seconds.

At first we thought maybe pit bull as we see them often, but her head was not pit bull and her build was different, then boxer, yes a boxer face, but a heavier build. As the days went by I am astonished at her weight gain. She has put on a good 10? lb since she has been at the shelter. I have an am bulldog at home, this dog has the same unmistakable build. The large blocky head with the huge dome on top. Broad chest and ribcage.

We need to get her out of the shelter soon. I did not post her before because I didn't think she would make it. The bosses didn't think she would make it either.

Though she has been starved she is not food aggressive. I don't know how old she is, but she is more energetic each day. If you can help please call the shelter!

We are rescue friendly:

Your group must be 501c3 non profit (sorry, but that is state law). If your group is not, we do allow groups to umbrella from a group that is (they vouch that you are a member/affiliate of their group and therefore can use their 501c3 status).

Contact me right away if you can help.

THE BEST WAY TO REACH ME is to CALL THE SHELTER at 804 633 9041

You can e-mail me, however I may not receive it in time
Ciscomavy71@peoplepc.com

Please do not reply to the lists as I do not always have time to check them.

We are located in Caroline Co. VA which is 6 miles off Interstate 95. We are 30 min. above Richmond.

Also: We have a wonderful volunteer who can sometimes help in transporting animals from the shelter. Let me know if you need transport assistance.


THANK YOU ALL

Samantha J
Shelter Technician

Click the Picture of BLACKJACK
for his story!

AURORA is in Westmoreland County Shelter in Montross

LANDY

Reed and His Brother Bronson are in Radford and scheduled to be destroyed! They're just babies!! Small dogs, too!

* * *

Correspondents and Liaisons Needed!

There are a myriad of positions available for many different agencies throughout the U.S. There is a great need for shelter workers and volunteers, liaisons, political activists, campaigners, publicists and press people, photographers, correspondents and, yes, transporters!

Most of these positions are not, in and of themselves, demanding. Of course, if you care about animals they can become very time consuming efforts, indeed, and we appreciate the vast and varied talents of those who are doing this work -- many out of the kindness of their hearts.

If you are interested in volunteering for this effort or others, we invite you to write us and let us know what you'd like to do, how often and how you like to work. We're sure to be able to find a match for you!

We thank God for each and every one of you who care enough to confront almost insurmountable odds to do everything you can to change this travesty in our world, often facing your own  humanity to do so, and putting your own emotions on the line to care for the voiceless among us: GODSPEED to each and every one...

PoohBear