Author: Sarah

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Service Dog Jailed With Owner

lurchdogarrest.jpgWhen Warren Gillis was jailed in Minnesota, so was his service dog, Lurch. The Great Dane, also appeared in court when Gillis was charged with domestic assault.

Lurch acts as a service dog for Gillis, who is epilleptic, but he is also locally well known as a therapy dog and often visits hospitals and retirement homes.

The presiding judge ruled that Lurch wouldn’t again be allowed in the jail or in court, since the letter on file from a doctor didn’t specifically state the dog was needed by Gillis in jail or in court. Mower Co. Sheriff Terese Amazi stated she doesn’t have the staffing to take care of a dog in jail.

I think Judge Fred Wellmann and Sheriff Amazi may need to familiarize themselves better with The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and The Civil Right of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA).

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Ginger The Cat Flies To Toronto In Suitcase

gingercattoronto.jpg Ginger the cat hid in her owner’s open suitcase, got zipped up inside it, and ended up taking a two hour plane trip to Toronto in the outer pocket of the suitcase. (see video)

Ginger was mistaken for a turkey on the security x-ray, but was not discovered, so the suitcase was loaded onto the plane. Once at the hotel in Toronto, it was another couple of hours before her owner unpacked and discovered the feline stowaway, making it about a seven hour trip for Ginger.

It’s possible Ginger has developed a taste for travel or just really wants to get away from that dog chasing her in the video—she’s been caught hiding in the suitcase again.

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Pet Safety & Protection Act

buckhounddogshrunk.jpg You can help make it illegal to sell lost or stolen pets to research labs. Representatives Mike Doyle(D-PA) and Phil English(R-PA) and Senator Daniel Akaka(D-HI) have introduced a bill (S. 714 & H.R. 1280) that would make it illegal for Class B dealers to sell “random source” animals to labs. The bill is named “Buck’s Bill” in honor of an abused and neglected dog named Buck who was rescued from C. C. Baird, a Class B dealer, only to die months later from the mistreatment he had endured.

These Class B dealers acquire cats and dogs from different sources (“free to good home” ads, shelters, breeders, theft) and sell the animals to labs and veterinary schools where they are used for testing, biomedical research, and educational purposes. Lost and stolen pets are often caught up in the animal dealing.

This bill would work to end that by:

  • Prohibiting Class B dealers and unlicensed individuals from selling dogs and cats to laboratories
  • Preventing stray animals, who may be lost family pets, from being sold to laboratories
  • Providing pet owners peace of mind that their animals will not be sold to a laboratory, should their animal be stolen or become lost

This bill won’t prevent Class A dealers from supplying animals to labs or prohibit research facilities from breeding animals and supplying them to other research facilities. It won’t prohibit individuals from donating their own
animals to labs for research purposes. And it won’t “supersede any state law pertaining to pound seizure.”

HBO’s Dealing Dogs investigated the business of Class B dealers by going undercover to document the horrors at Martin Creek Kennels, run by C. C. Baird, one of the most notorious Class B dealers.

This bill has been introduced before, but never passed. It has a better chance this time, thanks in part, to the documentary Dealing Dogs. Contact your Senators and your Representatives and urge them to support S. 714 & H.R. 1280.

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Pet Food Recall: Professors Seek Accurate Numbers

I’m glad to see more efforts being made to find out just how many animals have been harmed by tainted pet food. Professors Wilson Rumbeiha and Dalen Agnew of Michigan State University Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health are surveying veterinarians and lab workers to get accurate numbers on how many animals have been killed or sickened by contaminated pet food—including those affected before the pet food recalls began. the survey also seeks answers answers as to what specifically killed the animals. Your veterinarian can submit the survey here.

PetConnection has been taking self-reported incidents since early on and as of May 14th, they have 2,519 cats and 2,348 dogs killed (4,867 combined), with a total of 14,646 pets affected by contaminated pet food

If your pet has been affected, you should file a complaint with the FDA.

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