animal rescuers - resources - support

[violaine]

i am posting all of this information in this thread for people to understand The Process- should anyone ever have to go up against a municipality - which is defined as a political unit having corporate status/powers of self-governing.

some AC/shelters, and Chief Animal Control Officers who fall under governing body of municipality, answer to the County Commissioners.

always remember, please:

you are the voice for the animals, shelter, and county commissioners - as a taxpayer - as a constituent to the county commissioners - neither shelter or commissioners could exist without voter/taxpayer/community support!!

[violaine]

after i sat in on the meeting of county commissioners, who failed to list the topic of complaints at the AC on their agenda/website- i brought up some issues to the commissioners during the meeting, including having an animal advisory board. then i rang up my contact who wrote to the commissioners straightaway-

if the commissioners refuse this help, and want to cover up their chief animal control officer/lack of involvement with the complaints at AC, and if they try to force the issue of animal board of health - our work is not done ! we do have a plan B.

Hi [county commissioners],

My name is [x] and I am the CEO of the [x] Humane Association and President of the [x]. I have been following the animal shelter situation in your community and have spoken with some of your local animal welfare groups over the past year or so. Both [my group] and the Humane Society of [x] County are members of our state federation of animal welfare organizations.

It has come to my attention that your County Commissioners may be interested in improving the situation at your shelter and have discussed a possible evaluation- possibly by the State Board of Animal Health. While the SBOAH does many great things, they have limited knowledge of animal sheltering best practices, programming, etc.

A goal of our state federation [x] is to elevate the sheltering community in Indiana. [my] County has been of particular interest to us as a shelter that frankly, isn’t moving forward and has a lot of issues with best practices, etc. Our state group provides free/low cost training sessions throughout the state as well as many other functions.

While we are not comfortable visiting the shelter and doing an onsite evaluation as the staff there may not be particularly warm to that idea, [x] would like to offer to produce a document for you that would give you a road map of where your shelter should be, best practices for adoptions, cleaning, policies, etc. Our board is made up of members of the major animal shelters in Indiana including, Bloomington, Ft. Wayne, Evansville, Indianapolis, Kokomo and New Albany.

Our cumulative expertise in the area of animal sheltering could at this point be a good source of information for change at your local shelter and hopefully helpful to the commissioners in making decisions for the betterment of your community, its animals and the shelter itself.

Our board has members who lecture nationally and sit on national animal welfare boards. We hope we can share our knowledge with your community.

Please let me know if we can be of assistance and if there is anyone else I should be contacting at this point. We would also be happy to send a team to meet with the commissioners themselves to discuss and/or present the report.

Thanks so much and I look forward to hearing back from you.

All the best,
[x]


[x]
CEO
[x] Humane Association
Leading, Advocating and Educating for Animal Welfare
President, [x] Welfare Organizations

[Semantics]

5 worst states to be an animal: Abuse laws lax

What's the punishment for being cruel to an animal? In five states — Idaho, Hawaii, Kentucky, Mississippi and North Dakota — the law’s response is, “Not much.”

Those five states have the weakest animal protection laws in the nation, according to a recent report by the Animal Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit organization based in Cotati, Calif. The report says the states' failings include not requiring owners provide basic animal care such as adequate food and water, no requirement for mental health evaluations or counseling for those convicted of animal abuse and no restrictions on future ownership of animals following a conviction.

None of the five states consider cruelty, neglect or abandonment a felony. And of the five, only North Dakota regards all animal fighting as a felony, not just dog fighting.

People in these states aren’t more likely to mistreat their animals, says Stephan Otto, ALDF’s director of legislative affairs and author of the report, but the laws haven’t caught up with society’s values.

“Most people treat their animals wonderfully, but the question is whether there are appropriate penalties when they don’t,” he said.

In Mississippi, for instance, the penalties for neglect and dog fighting are the same: a fine of between $10 and $100 or jail time for between 10 and 100 days. Someone who maliciously injures or kills a dog or cat cannot be fined more than $1,000 or imprisoned for more than six months. The only restitution required is the replacement value of the animal, plus the cost of any veterinary fees or other expenses incurred. By contrast, in California, one of the states with tougher penalties, dog fighting is punishable by imprisonment for 16 months to three years, a maximum fine of $50,000 or both.

Kentucky vets not allowed to report abuse
In Kentucky, veterinarians are prohibited from reporting suspected cruelty or fighting, an unintended consequence of a law mandating client confidentiality. Otto says a bill was recently introduced to rectify the problem.

States that are soft on crimes toward animals often have an agricultural lobby that may see animal protection issues as potentially limiting options for farmers, says Francis Battista, a founder and director of Best Friends Animal Society, a non-profit organization based in Kenab, Utah. When animal issues come up, they tend to be put on the back burner in favor of human issues. Cultural or traditional attitudes can also affect the way people relate to animals and the willingness to adopt animal protection laws, he says. People in southern and western states can have an independent mindset that precludes being told how to treat their property, including animals.

In 2009, when a Mississippi man tied his dog to a tree, set her on fire and let her burn to death, it was considered only a misdemeanor. He was fined $1,000 and given a six-month sentence. Last month, the Mississippi legislature introduced a bill that would increase the penalty for acts of cruelty toward dogs and cats. If passed, people convicted of cruelty could go to prison for up to five years and pay a fine of $10,000.

Beyond greater penalties, there are other consequences to being convicted of a felony rather than a misdemeanor, Otto says.

“Those convicted of felonies will usually serve their sentences in a state or federal prison rather than a local, city or county jail," he says. "A felon will also have more restrictions on their rights than a person convicted of a misdemeanor. In many states, convicted felons cannot serve on juries. They may also lose their right to vote or to practice certain professions, such as lawyer or teacher. Felons may also be prohibited from owning guns or serving in the military.”

Arkansas, which was once ranked at the bottom of the ALDF's annual report, improved its standing last year after the state’s attorney general brought together people from agricultural and animal protection organizations and hammered out an agreement that included a felony penalty for torture, including starving, and neglect, improved the definition of care, and provided for mental health evaluations and counseling. People who commit animal cruelty in the presence of a minor face stronger penalties.

“It catapulted them from the very bottom to the middle,” Otto says.

Many states are taking steps to offer better legal protection for animals, including mandates for mental health evaluations, counseling or restrictions on animal ownership for people who are convicted of animal cruelty. Those are important because people who commit crimes against animals frequently repeat them.

There’s also a strong connection between animal abuse and other types of violence, particularly domestic violence, a link that has been shown in many studies. A 1997 study by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Northeastern University found that those who had committed a violent crime against an animal were five times more likely to commit violent crimes against people. When animal abuse is addressed early, before it becomes a habit, it can help to reduce overall violence in a community, Otto says.

“We think it’s incumbent that the mental health angle of this is addressed in laws,” Otto says. “A lot of states too are looking at prohibiting those convicted of animal cruelty and neglect from owning animals for a certain period of time after conviction. We think that’s another helpful tool to break the cycle of abuse and potentially eliminate new victims.”

Better definitions of care provide a baseline for pet owners to meet as well as objective criteria for law enforcement to know whether the law has been violated. But in the end, enforcement is key.

“You can have the best laws on the books, but if you’re lacking enforcement, they’re not worth anything,” Otto says.

Second chance for abused animals
The good news is that animals are resilient, Battista says. Whether they have suffered neglect, abandonment or overt physical abuse, they have an amazing ability to respond to rehabilitation efforts.

He would know. Best Friends took in 22 of the 47 dogs rescued from the estate of Michael Vick after he was arrested and charged with conspiracy to engage in dog fighting in violation of the Animal Welfare Act. Many were so shut down and unresponsive due to the abuse they'd suffered that they that they would have been euthanized if Best Friends hadn’t taken them, says spokesperson Barbara Williamson. Because of judicial requirements regarding their placement, only a few are in adoptive homes so far, but the rest are at Best Friends or in foster care and all are making progress. Only one is considered aggressive toward people, Williamson says, and even she is now friendly if introduced by someone she trusts. She will stay Best Friends for the rest of her life.

“Animals are survivors, like people, and they will take every opportunity to respond to help,” Battista says. “Depending on what category of abuse you’re talking about, the way we rehabilitate and the time for rehabilitation might be different. Some animals are never going to be lap cats or lap dogs, but they’ll always improve and they’ll always respond. It’s simply a matter of time and patience.”

Link

I saw this article this morning. We are definitely making gains on animal welfare but there is a lot of work to be done. I hope that the lack of animal protection legislation becomes something that is addressed nationwide.

[Kimbo]

Originally Posted by Semantics

5 worst states to be an animal: Abuse laws lax



I saw this article this morning. We are definitely making gains on animal welfare but there is a lot of work to be done. I hope that the lack of animal protection legislation becomes something that is addressed nationwide.

Thanks for the link. I didn't know that about Kentucky..It seems really odd that a vet would not be able to report abuse.

[violaine]

= for county commissioners/chief animal control officer !

statistics are finally in for the AC/shelter being investigated. the euth rate is 80%. not surprising whatsoever, but how the pages were submitted blew my mind- poor print quality- and each page consisted of lousy bar graphs. who would present something like that to superiors [commissioners] ?

anyway, we have a meeting tuesday coming, and the one commissioner will be questioned in front of the room and possibly media- why the state animal control / shelter welfare organisation comprised of individuals on the board with a long history of expertise in their field- are not even being considered ?

the statistics, actual report, and outright rejection of the AC/s organisation is unsettling -

[Kimbo]

Originally Posted by violaine

= for county commissioners/chief animal control officer !

statistics are finally in for the AC/shelter being investigated. the euth rate is 80%. not surprising whatsoever, but how the pages were submitted blew my mind- poor print quality- and each page consisted of lousy bar graphs. who would present something like that to superiors [commissioners] ?

anyway, we have a meeting tuesday coming, and the one commissioner will be questioned in front of the room and possibly media- why the state animal control / shelter welfare organisation comprised of individuals on the board with a long history of expertise in their field- are not even being considered ?

the statistics, actual report, and outright rejection of the AC/s organisation is unsettling -

I hope the media is there and those numbers get on the news. Many people don't realize how high the euthanasia rate really is in their communities. Curious if it stated in total how many animals and if it broke out cats and dogs--generally cats euthanasia is higher than dogs.

Keep up the good work Belle---I have a feeling the commisioners are going to be grumbling under their breath when they see you at a meeting! Gotta love it.

[IrishGrrl]

Calling all animal lovers!!!

Please read my thread "finding Jack a home".

I rescued him from the houston "corridor of cruelty".

Thanks for your help!

[violaine]

i would encourage you to copy/paste the information for sweet jack here as well, irishgirl.

wishing you all the best in placing him. will take a look-

best,
bella

[violaine]

hi

tuesday's meeting with the commissioners was not the greatest. chief animal control officer was there, and avoided questions - she just wanted to "tell stories", and is prone to breaking into tears. this woman, a Chief ACO for this county over the last 25 years, still has no clue how much it costs to euth. an animal.

the commissioners were not warm to the idea of the impressive board of people who are experts in their field on AC sheltering issues - including SOP's [standard operating procedures]. they "need more time", and so that's where tuesday's meeting stopped.

today, i received a note from the CEO of the welfare group [we want her to work with the county commissioners, and she had not heard a peep from any commissioner after writing her letter] - until today ! she received word from one commissioner who wanted more information about the board members, and the welfare organisation

whatever is said at a meeting w/commissioners goes on record - and you never know who in the room hears the issues brought to them, and who they discuss with, et c. we already know the commissioners feel The Squeeze from us due to the local newspaper reporer, FB page, & animal control page- with our questions/comments [nothing is unprofessional or inappropriate/crossing lines].

cross your fingers-

[violaine]

commissioners are now meeting with us at the end of next week to hear problems w/animal control. they are also expressing interest to the animal control welfare group [this group should be contacted to investigate sheltering issues of this nature, but they also help good shelters operate better, and do cover the entire state of indiana].

[Kimbo]

Originally Posted by violaine

commissioners are now meeting with us at the end of next week to hear problems w/animal control. they are also expressing interest to the animal control welfare group [this group should be contacted to investigate sheltering issues of this nature, but they also help good shelters operate better, and do cover the entire state of indiana].

That is fantastic!

[violaine]

two words: The Media.

we tried every avenue reasonable first:

1. talk with Chief ACO about issues.
2. meet with her superiors, the commissioners about complaints.
3. contact HSUS & the welfare organisation for our state - who suggested the media if all else failed.
4. repeat 1 & 2 [to no avail the first and second attempts]
5. letter to editor, news - tv, radio, local newspaper

#5 worked.

[Andrew, Jr.]

Belle,

You are a heroine for all of our animals. God bless you!

Love,
Andrew

[Soft*Silver]

over 150 dogs, chickens, horses and geese were removed from a farm that had been running as a "sanctuary". What had once started as good intentions, ended up in a hoarding situation. The woman's 97 year old mother was removed from the home that was saturated with ammonia and feces smells. She is in the hospital under guardianship.

While many of the dogs looked healthy, and had food, water and a dog house and pen, the mass of animals lent diseases to spread, such as mange, worms and fleas. The horses were skin and bones. Not all of the canines will survive, due to the degree of disease they had endured.

I cannot wait to get into my new home. I cannot have more than one dog at the trailer park. When i am in my own home, I will begin to foster. I wish i were there now so I could help out and lend a fostering hand to those who are working to save as many of the animals as possible...

[violaine]

HSUS Indiana Update

February 2010

Here’s what the Humane Society of the United States is up to in Indiana recently.

In this update:

1. Indiana Humane Lobby Day on February 23rd - RSVP Now!

2. Alleged Dogfighting Operations Raided in Indiana / Rescued Puppies Ask Legislators to Help Less Fortunate Dogs

3. House Bill 1258 Clears House, Moves to Senate

4. HSUS Pursues Petition to Outlaw Cruel Coyote Penning in Indiana

Indiana Humane Lobby Day – RSVP Now!



Think only professional lobbyists can lobby? Think again! Come to our free Indiana Humane Lobby Day in Indianapolis on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 to make a tremendous difference for animals.

This is an exciting opportunity to meet directly with your elected officials or their staff about legislation that will significantly impact animals. There will be a briefing with tips for lobbying and an overview of pending animal legislation that will prepare you to meet your elected officials and advocate for animals. Any way you can help spread the word about this event is much appreciated! Please note that you must RSVP in order to attend, we will not be accepting day-of registrations this year.
RSVP here if you plan on attending!

Alleged Dogfighting Operations Raided in Indiana

In August 2009, the Humane Society of the United States assisted law enforcement with the largest dogfighting raid in Indiana’s history. Over 100 dogs were seized from deplorable conditions.

Rescued Puppies Ask Legislators to Help Less Fortunate Dogs

As ambassadors for Indiana’s fighting dogs, three of the puppies rescued from the raid went to the Indiana Statehouse to meet with legislators about strengthening Indiana’s animal fighting laws.


House Bill 1258 Clears House, Moves to Senate


House Bill 1258, the animal fighting and pet store bill, cleared the House of Representatives the week of February 1st with a strong bipartisan vote of 71-26.

Introduced by Rep. Linda Lawson, the bill would make it a felony to be a spectator at an animal fight, would add animal fighting to the list of crimes in the state RICO statute, would require pet stores to provide consumers with information on the origin of their puppies prior to purchase, and would require people who own horses to provide them with shelter that is free of standing water.

If your legislator was one of the 26 who voted against this common-sense bill that would protect dogs in Indiana, please contact them and let them know that you were unhappy with their ‘no’ vote on HB 1258. The number for the Indiana House of Representatives is 317-232-9600.


HSUS Pursues Petition to Outlaw Cruel Coyote Penning in Indiana


In the summer, the HSUS submitted a petition to the Indiana Natural Resources Commission to prohibit cruel coyote penning in Indiana.

The Commission is expected to vote during their March meeting on whether or not to prohibit the pens that do exist in Indiana.

Please contact the Natural Resources Commission here and urge them to outlaw coyote pens in Indiana.


Indiana State Director

[violaine]

Basic Guidelines for a Shelter

http://www.animalsheltering.org/reso...delines_for_an imal_shelter_policies.html?log-event=sp2f-view-item&nid=120811371

Standards in Statistics and Transparency

http://www.asilomaraccords.org/

(I don’t know how animals are tracked, etc. If Chief ACO were to use petfinder.com, she would be able to use http://www.petpoint.com/ which is a free shelter management software system to track everything that needs to be known about the animals. The goal is to know what the issues are in your community, why the animals are coming in and creating programs that chip away at those issues.) With petpoint, you can easily print actual kennel cards that should stay with the animal on it’s cage while it is at the shelter. It tracks all the info about the animal, vaccinations, etc.

Adoptions/Dog Walkers

They should also be implementing a program called “Meet your Match” and have adoption counselors.
Meet your Match is a nationally renowned program and now a standard for good shelters to match the right animal with the right person and avoid return adoptions. Bloomington did this and we have very few return adoptions now.

http://www.aspca.org/adoption/meet-your-match/

We also have dog walker volunteers who volunteer and walk dogs everyday to get them out of their cages. We have a training, rules they have to follow, etc. It is a great program that makes for happier dogs and helps us determine their personalities, etc. We also have trained the volunteers now to do basic training with the dogs when they walk them. Any dogs that need some training to improve their adoptability get it from the select group of dog training volunteers or we have even had a certified trainer come in and work with problem dogs that just need a little schooling.


Cleaning Protocols/Disease Control
I would ask for a copy of cleaning protocols document that they should have. There should be cleaning protocols for disease control/prevention, regular daily cleaning, etc. Do they have protocol for what to do if they have a parvo outbreak? Or another highly contagious disease? (As you know, you NEVER HOSE A KENNEL WITH A DOG IN IT!!! Good lord;(

They should be working to strategically minimize euthanasia to just animals that have major health issues that can’t be treated, major behavior problems (aggression, etc.) and get away from euthanasia for space. This should all be reported to the public on a regular basis with the detail of why they are euthanized, source of the animals, etc. If you don’t know any of these things, how can you fix the problems? In the end you save the tax dollars because you are fixing the problems.

This is a lot to take in, but these are just a couple of areas of things that should be brought up. This stuff is the basic, baseline expectations for a shelter. Bloomington was in a similar place as you several years ago. They changed management and followed all of the best practices and now the shelter is a welcoming, happy place that has seen it’s intake numbers go down, public awareness up and is a jewel in the community.

We have volunteers who take pictures of adoptable animals each week, load it to petfinder with descriptions, and produce our weekly adoptable posters that go out in hundreds of locations around town. Volunteers distribute these flyers each week and again are something that our community expects, loves and it produces tons of adoptions. The right group of volunteers and a well outlined program makes all of this really easy and very little effort on the shelter’s part.

I would also ask when is the last time Chief AC Officer went to any national trainings/conferences to stay up on trends in animal welfare. I bet it has been a long time, if ever.

Good luck and let me know if there are others areas/topics that you need further info about. I’m happy to provide it!

[at the top of this letter:

Good luck with your meeting coming up. I know that [your commissioner] talked to [a board member of our animal sheltering welfare group] (Ft. Wayne) last week. The impression is that [your commissioner] thinks [chief AC Officer for your county] knows what she is doing and that the issues brought up aren’t all that valid. [your commissioner] is however leaning toward a national evaluation of the shelter if they can afford it/want to spend the money. our board member talked to your commissioner about our indiana animal control welfare org., but also gave the commissioner the links to the national organizations that will do an evaluation.

That may be the only thing that gets him to see that things are not right at the shelter. He emailed me saying he would be interested in info from our welfare org. I asked by when and he never responded.
I will put together a basic outline of stuff that should be done and offer greater details, etc. as they need/want it. We feel if we give him too much details program information they will be overwhelmed. Very much a learning curve here].

[Kimbo]

So I've had this lil' feral named Sweet Pea, she came from a hoarding situation and was probably inbred. She's owned me now for around 5 years. Over the years I have gained her trust and she lets me touch and pet her. Over the last year she has actively been seeking me to give her love and she lets me know she wants lovin' by putting her fang in my skin or better yet she claws me. I've only picked her up once and it wasn't a good experience for either of us. I got brave and decided I would try to pick her up again.....this time I was able to put her on my knee for a brief second....she growled and was definitely not liking it BUT-no blood was drawn, she didn't thrash or claw. Progress? I think so. I might try to pick her up again soon.

A few minutes after I put her down she was over it and back over fanging me for attention. Ferals bring me the most joy....I really love all the steps..it's a lifetime of earning trust and baby steps.

[FeminineAllure]

I can so relate to Kimbos entire post.
I have 6 ferals I look after and 1 is a kitten. Then I have my once feral cat punkin who has been with me for years now.
It is amazing how far Punkin has come. When we first found eachother he was a feral that I fed but he would only eat and drink if I was like 10 feet away from him. This went on for weeks. He finally came inside one day through the open sliding door. He walked the entire perimeter of my home and then finally let me pet him. It just melts my heart when a feral finally trusts you enough to pet them. So Punkin slept next to me on the floor the first night. When I woke up I forgot I had a cat and he forgot he was inside and he bit me on the ankle. He had an appointment with a vet and I did hold my breath being bitten until his bloodwork cleared.
He is the most loving, loyal, big ball of mush today. He is my soulmate animal.

Back to the ferals... picture fixing 6 plates of food, water, cat milk and having your own cat at your feet because Punkin must come with me to feed them all lol. I open the door and there they all are at the bottom of the steps waiting for me! Then I have the one cat that may be inbred it is like she has ADD. She does not stop moving, rolling on the ground, doing flips in the air and I am trying to introduce my own cat to her because I want to adopt her when she is more socialized.
So...We all walk out back as I put out their food. 2 of the cats will let me pet them but are still a little scared.
I bought them toys and play with them when I can.
Animals are so precious, vulnerable and unconditional.

[violaine]

[QUOTE=Kimbo;50748]So I've had this lil' feral named Sweet Pea, she came from a hoarding situation and was probably inbred. She's owned me now for around 5 years. Over the years I have gained her trust and she lets me touch and pet her. Over the last year she has actively been seeking me to give her love and she lets me know she wants lovin' by putting her fang in my skin or better yet she claws me. I've only picked her up once and it wasn't a good experience for either of us. I got brave and decided I would try to pick her up again.....this time I was able to put her on my knee for a brief second....she growled and was definitely not liking it BUT-no blood was drawn, she didn't thrash or claw. Progress? I think so. I might try to pick her up again soon.

A few minutes after I put her down she was over it and back over fanging me for attention. Ferals bring me the most joy....I really love all the steps..it's a lifetime of earning trust and baby steps.

dear kimbo

i love your fanging story [and lisa's!]. thank you for leaving them here
catching little ones is not as easy as one might believe at first glance, but in my experience, once they are removed from the HAH or pet crate, and held for a little while, the hissing and spitting [maybe fanging?] calms down

awesome work!

bella
ox

[FeminineAllure]

Punkin fangs me all of the time. He will take his mouth and rub his teeth up against my hand while I am petting him. I believe it is the cats way of marking you with their scent and saying "You are mine and you belong to me!!!"