: PetsBlogs

ALLEY CAT ALLIES URGES ACTION TO SAVE THE CATS OF CAPE MAY

February 25th, 2008

Local Officials Resist “Bullying” by Federal Agency

CAPE MAY, N.J.— The City of Cape May, N.J. has been pressured by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to abolish its successful 12-year-old Trap-Neuter-Return program for outdoor cats, despite resistance from the city’s mayor, several city council members and many residents.

“If the federal government is allowed to overrule local support for Trap-Neuter-Return, most of the cats in Cape May will be caught and killed,” warned Becky Robinson, president of Alley Cat Allies, the national advocates for feral and stray cats.

Alley Cat Allies is urging supporters nationwide to voice their opposition to these heavy-handed tactics by U.S. Fish and Wildlife by signing its online petition at http://www.alleycat.org/.

With the help and support of Alley Cat Allies, Cape May was one of the first local governments to implement Trap-Neuter-Return as official policy for outdoor cats – a decision which has proven enormously successful. Cape May’s stray and feral cat population has dropped 80 percent since the program’s inception in the mid-1990s, from around 450 cats to under 100 today. The population continues to decline. Cape May is an important example of the humane management of outdoor cats through low-cost spay/neuter.

But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is threatening to pull the plug on the beach-sand replenishment program for 2008 if the city will not agree to end its groundbreaking and progressive Trap-Neuter-Return program. Such a move would be devastating for the Cape May community, which relies on its beaches to draw tourists each year.

Local residents and city officials say they are proud of their Trap-Neuter-Return program. If forced to end it, most of the outdoor cats of Cape May will be trapped and killed. Nationwide, over 70 percent of cats entering shelters are killed; for feral cats, this statistic rises to virtually 100 percent.

Most Americans oppose catch-and-kill, according to a national survey recently commissioned by Alley Cat Allies and conducted by Harris Interactive. The survey revealed that 81 percent of Americans believe that leaving a stray cat outside to live out his life is more humane than having the cat caught and killed.

Visit www.alleycat.org to sign the online petition and find out more information about a rally to save the cats of Cape May on Saturday, March 8.

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Ten Reasons Your Dog Should Be on your Christmas List

December 6th, 2007

#10. He’s seen you naked, but still respects you.
Honestly, how many people can you say that about? Seriously. Your dog sees you at your worst, pre-shower, pre-makeup, pre-everything that makes you look presentable, and still looks at you like a deity. Or at least, keeps the chuckles to a minimum.

#9. He’s content with being your fallback.
Who is always there for you when you’re date doesn’t show? Who is waiting for you happily after he’s been ignored because of your busy social life? Who else would be thrilled to have you show up even though you’ve done everything in your power to find something else to do? Even when you come home after a horrible break-up, vowing to never love again, your dog is happy to teach you to do just that.

#8. He keeps you from getting a fat butt.
That’s right. If you didn’t have to spend all that time taking your dog for walks, you’d likely be sitting around on your lazy bum. Sure, it seems like a drag when it’s ten degrees outside and your pooch is scratching at the front door, but your 24-hour personal trainer knows what’s best for you. Get moving!

Read the rest of Ten Reasons Your Dog Should Be on your Christmas List.

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No-Cost Pet Cancer Consultations Available For All Pets In United States

November 17th, 2007

All Pets with Cancer in U.S. Provided Free Consultation

Half of dogs and cats over age 10 dying of cancer, group steps up and provides free oncology consultations with a cancer specialist for any pet.

When Jack Stephens, DVM, founder and president of Pets Best Insurance, was diagnosed with throat cancer, he received emotional support from his small dog, Spanky. Recognizing that cancer now claims the lives of one in every two dogs and cats who are 10 years or older, this cancer survivor set out to find a way to assist companion animals diagnosed with this disease.
Effective immediately, all pets diagnosed with cancer in the United States are eligible for a free cancer consultation from Oncura Partners, a national pet cancer specialty firm with the costs underwritten by Pets Best Insurance. Pet families are not required to have a policy with Pets Best Insurance, but their consultation request must come from their veterinarian.

Veterinarians are embracing this news, including Alice Villalobos, DVM, a pioneer in pet cancer medicine and author of Canine & Feline Geriatric Oncology: Honoring the Human-Animal Bond. “The bonds that clients have developed with their older pets are especially strong and drive the increasing demand for more proficient and highly compassionate medical treatment of companion animals diagnosed with cancer,” says Dr. Villalobos, who operates the Pawspice Care Clinic in Hermosa Beach, Calif. and the Animal Oncology Consultation Service in Woodland Hills, Calif. Dr. Villalobos continued, “we applaud this important effort by Pets Best and Oncura Partners. Making treatments for cancer more accessible will certainly save a great deal of grief for many pet families and extend the lives of many, many pets.”
Pets Best Insurance recognizes that the key to successful cancer treatment is an early diagnosis and effective treatment regime. Sadly, qualified cancer specialists are not always available locally. This may cause pet owners and their local veterinarians to not seek specialized treatment. Or, the costs may be high and the travel time for treatments may be prohibitive for some pet owners.
With this new initiative, local veterinarians are encouraged to visit www.petcancerfoundation.org to obtain the free initial consultation from a board-certified veterinary oncologist who will identify what treatments are the most effective for each specific cancer. Although the Pet Cancer Foundation web site is for pet owners, the consultation can only be provided to a licensed veterinarian. The web site, however, does provide information on cancer in pets for consumers.

“All too often, cancer treatments for pets do not happen because of the hassle of taking your pet elsewhere, sometimes requiring driving long distances for specialized treatments that may be needed weekly or even more often,” says Dr. Villalobos. “Or people have to hospitalize their pets far from home for weeks or months. Now with this process, many cancer treatments can be successfully implemented, monitored and adapted by a person’s own veterinarian with the benefit of a cancer specialist assisting in every step,” she adds.

In the broader perspective, this initiative was created to keep pets living longer, healthier lives and enable them to bring joy to their families. “And that is our mission at Pets Best,” stated Dr. Stephens.

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LeadYourHuman.com - Dog Products - PLEASE BOYCOTT DOG PRODUCTS MADE IN CHINA!

September 4th, 2007

LeadYourHuman.com is a online business that claims to offer great service, good pricing, superior crafted dog products, apparel and furniture. It’s too bad that those business descriptions do not fit the horrible shopping experience I encountered at http://www.leadyourhuman.com. The items I purchased where cheaply constructed dog products that fell apart with in a couple of weeks.To my surprise, they also sent me a bag stale doggie treats that my dog wouldn’t eat. I also found out that all of the products I ordered where “Made in China” and ARE NOT regulated by any U.S Government agencies. So, I have to ask myself, if I wouldn’t give my kids a toy made from lead based paints in China then why would I ever consider giving my beloved pooch any dog products manufactured from a unknown source that uses unregulated materials from China. Further more, they overcharged me on shipping, provided very unfriendly and poor customer service, and they took 15 business days to charge back my credit card for the items I returned.

If you’re looking for the poorest quality dog products, bad service all around, and at least 2 headaches, this is the place for you to shop. Hopefully, you might have a better shoping experience than I did?

Now that I know where their products are manufactured, I’ll be certain never to order anything from them again. I would also like to strongly warn all consumers to please use caution when ordering from http://www.leadyourhuman.com. It’s not worth the unpleasant shopping experience.

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Help Saving Shelter Pets Save the “TOTE BAG” Pitbull Puppies!

July 25th, 2007

Help SSP Save the Tote Bag Puppies!!!!

These 4 babies were left in a TOTE BAG outside of Heard County Animal Control.

They were dehydrated, starving and scared. Unfortunately, one of their siblings died from the stress of the terrible ordeal. Who could do such a thing to loving puppies?

Unfortunately the reality is that pitbulls, even if they are tiny innocent babies, get the short end of the stick. There was the possibility of an opening in rescue for these puppies….

How could we say no to making it happen??

It will cost $100 per puppy to rescue these sweet babies = $400 per puppy. Will you help??

The little brown winking pup one was nicknamed Tiny Tim-ess (the female Tiny Tim) by the staff because she is so little and has been through so much but still remains joyful

Click the picture above to help! Please write in the comments its for the TOTE BAG PUPPIES With a donation of $10 or more you are not only helping to save these innocent puppies but you are giving Saving Shelter Pets the chance of winning a grant from Kevin Bacon’s Six Degrees charitable initative. For more about the contest, please read HERE

TOTE BAG PUPPIES
GOAL: $400
RAISED: 0
NEEDED: $400

Puppy on his tiptoes says: “LOOK Guys! - There might be some hope after all!!”

About Saving Shelter Pets:
Saving Shelter Pets (SSP) strives to eliminate euthanasia as a method of population control for homeless companion animals, by providing no-kill alternative solutions and proactively addressing the problem of pet overpopulation.

SSP is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization with supporters nationwide, bound together by our online forum and website: www.savingshelterpets.com

Please see our FAQs for more information.

NOTE: The dogs pictured in our MySpace messages are NOT available for adoption. We do not have the resources to properly screen adoptive homes. We send our dogs to pre-approved no-kill rescues in the Northeast, and these rescues will then adopt the dogs into wonderful forever homes.

Posted in General, Dogs, Animal Ethics, animal rescue | No Comments »

Help Saving Shelter Pets Win a Grant for the Animals

July 24th, 2007

Dear Friends & Family –

Earlier this year, Saving Shelter Pets participated in a contest sponsored by Kevin Bacon’s charitable initiative, SixDegrees.org. A $10,000 matching grant was awarded to the top six charity badges. To win the contest, a charity had to generate the highest NUMBER of donations, collected through its charity badge. It was not the highest dollar amount of donations that wins, but the highest number of donors. In other words, it was a contest to see how many people could be inspired to get involved, and help to make a difference.

In this contest, Saving Shelter Pets received 861 donations. We finished in the TOP 10, very close to the top 6. While SSP did not win the grant money, it was an amazing finish considering we are a small grass roots organization made of a handful of volunteers, and many of the other charities were national names. It is something we are quite proud of. The donations from the contest alone gave SSP enough money to sponsor 60 dogs for rescue & transport, plus supplement the funding in our Puppy Promises program, Spay/Neuter program, and the Bernie’s Buddies heartworm fund as well!

WELL – SixDegrees.Org is starting another contest– and SSP needs your help once again!

We’re asking all of our friends and family to help us and the animals by donating just $10 to SSP, through the SixDegrees charity badge (link below). We were SO CLOSE last time, and we’re committed to winning the grant money this time around!

ALSO – We would very much appreciate if, in the spirit of “networking for good”, you would forward this e-mail on to the animal-loving family and friends on YOUR contact list. If you can, please attach a personal note to help your contacts understand how important this contest is to us.

A $10,000 grant for our organization can potentially save over 60 cats & dogs –– or spay & neuter over 200 animals –– or sponsor 25+ litters in our Puppy Promises program –– the possibilities are endless!

To make your donation today, please click on the orange “Donate” button on our Charity Badge: http://www.networkforgood.org/pca/Badge.aspx?BadgeId=106000

You can pay via credit/debit, check draft, or PayPal through the badge. Saving Shelter Pets, Inc is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization as determined by the IRS and all donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

You may also indicate where you would like us to use your donation (current urgent dog, Puppy Promises, etc.)

I would like to thank everyone for your generous support for the animals! Please forward this message to all your friends & family!

For more information on Saving Shelter Pets and our programs, please visit us at www.savingshelterpets.com

You can now post the charity badge on your MySpace page! Please help us help the animals by copying the code below, to put our badge on your page! Simply click the “Share” tab on the badge to find the code for your MySpace page!