Cat declawing now a crime in San Francisco and Beverly Hills – CA

For the couch: Some pet owners have their cats declawed to prevent damage to household items. (AP File Photo)

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco has become the first major city in the nation to outlaw the declawing of cats.

Some pet owners declaw their felines to protect themselves, or their furniture, from scratches. But pet advocates condemn the practice as animal cruelty.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted 9-2 to enact a ban on the declawing of cats. Supervisors Sean Elsbernd and Michela Alioto-Pier voted against the legislation.

“It is well-documented and well-understood from a medical prospective that [declawing] is torture. It is a form of animal cruelty,” said Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who introduced the legislation.

Other California cities are considering adopting similar bans. The Los Angeles City Council is expected to vote on whether to enact a ban by the end of the year. West Hollywood banned declawing in 2003. Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Berkeley are considering similar ordinances. Declawing is illegal in 20 countries, including most of Europe, Brazil, Japan and Israel.

The California Veterinary Medical Association opposed the legislation. (Shame on them… it is like AMA, who stands up for Big Pharma and money making procedures, not patients.) The group said declawing should be left up to veterinarians and not politicians.

“I don’t support the board making those types of medical decisions,” Alioto-Pier told The Examiner after the meeting. “It seems misplaced. I think that the doctors and the vets should be making those decisions. And if it’s a bigger issue than that then the state of California should be outlawing that.”

Violators of the ban, such as anyone who declaws a cat or a pet owner who approves of a declawing, could face up to six months in jail or a fine of up to $1,000.

Many cities have decided to consider such a ban because a state law was recently adopted that would prohibit cities from enacting the bans after Jan. 1.

Vote was held and passed on Nov 5th in Beverly Hills.

Options:  Get your cat a scratching pole, take them for a walk on a leash and clip their nails.

Try Pedi-Paws -

Couple’s Chihuahua Pitched Into the Catoctin Creek

Man admits to throwing dog, charged with animal cruelty

Caisha and Tim Wantz

BRUNSWICK, Md. — Maryland State Police charged a man with throwing a Frederick County family’s Chihuahua off a bridge.

Caisha and Tim Wantz encountered a man with a station wagon and talking on a cell phone at the end of their driveway in Point of Rocks on June 19 as they were driving to get gas in preparation for their big weekend plans. They argued with him after asking him to leave. He told them he wanted to stay and make a call, the couple told NBC4’s Pat Collins.

“I told him I was going to call police,” Caisha Wantz said. “He laughed at me.”

She said he mocked her and started driving toward her like he was going to run her over.

Dog Thrown off Bridge in Frederick

“I yelled out to him, ‘Go ahead, you. Run over me in front of my family,’” Caisha Wantz said.

She was holding thermos of coffee and she decorated his rear window with the beverage.

Charging documents state that 34-year-old David Beers left but came back after the couple left and drove up to their house. Beers told police that he grabbed the 4-pound, 1-and-a-half-year-old dog named Zoey when she walked up to his car.

As Beers drove home over Catoctin Creek Bridge, he threw the dog over the bridge, police said. He later admitted to throwing the dog, which was never found.

“I have made, a few months ago, the worst decision of my life, and I want everyone to know that I deeply regret the pain and suffering that I caused the Wantz family,” Beers told Collins. “I have dealt with this stuff very heavily, and it’s affected my family and friends, and to them I own an apology as well.”

“She was my companion,” Caisha Wantz said. “She was our family companion. She went on vacation with us; she would travel to the store with us. I often had her in my purse.”

Beers has been charged with theft less than $500, trespassing and animal cruelty. He told Collins that he is undergoing anger management and seeing a psychiatrist.

A Sept. 17 court date has been set.

By MATTHEW STABLEY

Copyright Associated Press / NBC Washington – First Published: Aug 28, 2009 7:20 PM EDT

I really think it is time to start charging these people with what it is… murder, or at least man(pet)slaughter as well as will emotional distress for the pet parents, which should include any medical bills!  Theft, trespassing and animal cruelty should be add-on charges.  Throw the book at this guy and all the other nuts who these kinds of things.

Because they are uncaring crazies or animal haters at best and sociopaths and/or both domestic and animal abusers at the other end of the scale, and we are not making examples of them, they are willing to do these things without a second thought.

Posted: Just One More Pet

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Demand Justice for Dog Tortured and Killed by Owner – PETITION

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

UPDATE 8/20/09 – Finally Some Media Coverage and IMPORTANT-Charges Can be Upgraded, Must Contact County Attorney ASAP!!

Mr. Robert Suttles, Somerset, KY, has demonstrated a total disregard for the life and health of his devoted canine companion “Bowser.” 911 (Sheriff’s Department) has been called in the past to the home of Mr. Suttles where neighbors had observed that he refused to give his dog the basics for sustenance: food and water. Emergency personnel would not seize the dog “since no ribs were showing.” On other occasions they refused to respond to the 911 calls.

In retaliation for the neighbors’ calls, on June 30, 2009, Mr. Suttles demonstrated his “dominance” over this animal. Boasting of his ability to treat his own dog as he liked, he proceeded to pour antifreeze onto bread and to stuff this deadly concoction in Bowser’s mouth, holding the mouth closed so that Bowser could not spit it out and had to swallow it. Mr. Suttles performed this act of cruelty in front of neighbors and other witnesses. Death from antifreeze poisoning is one of the cruelest deaths.

Bowser was unable to regain standing position after this poisoning as he was in severe pain from the deadly food. Mr. Suttles left Bowser outside in pain for two full days (no food, water, meds, comfort) until he went outside to Bowser, kicked him viciously in the head until Bowser finally died. At this point, on July 2, 2009, he dragged the lifeless body across his yard to a burn barrel and proceeded to burn Bowser’s body that night, leaving no opportunity for necropsy. But there were witnesses to his vile and heinous acts. Witnesses who are willing to testify to his heinous acts.

On July 20, 2009, charges against Mr. Suttles were finally filed. He has been charged with second degree animal cruelty and harassment and a $7,500 bail has been set. Mr. Suttles tried to plead to lesser charges but Judge Woods set trial for Monday, August 28, 2009, at a time to be determined later, in order for the DA to interview witnesses and gather facts.

On the night of the burning of the body, the Sheriff was called to Mr. Suttles, but made himself unavailable to help.

This is not the first time that Mr. Suttles has been involved in documented cruelty to animals. He has bragged about killing another dog in March 2009. And he has been seen throwing food (laced with antifreeze?) over another neighbor’s fence to her goats.

Somerset KY has experienced many unexplained deaths of domestic animals by antifreeze poisoning and other means. It has been suggested that Mr. Suttles may be behind those acts as well, but we do not have evidence to support that at this time.

Somerset KY is a nice community with good neighbors who love and care for their domestic animals. If “Bowser,” a beautiful black lab mix, had become a burden to Mr. Suttles, he could have surrendered Bowser to the Humane Society for rehoming. Instead, he willingly and viciously killed his own dog in a most horrendous way, with witnesses around who were unable to stop him or get the law to arrest him at the time of the assault.

It is time to get justice for Bowser! Please read below and then sign the petition. The petition will be sent to the Judge and DA on the Friday before the trial.

ACTION REQUESTED

Urge the District Attorney for Pulaski County, KY (Somerset) to prosecute Defendant Mr. Robert Suttles, Somerset, KY, for the maximum charges allowable by law as a result of his egregious acts of animal cruelty and harassment against his dog Bowzer.

Urge Judge Woods (or the sitting judge for the trial) to find Mr. Robert Suttles “Guilty” (Note from Deanna: I believe this may be a jury trial from information I found researching this) on all counts of animal cruelty charged against him and to sentence him to the fullest amount of time for such charges. Urge Judge Woods to require that he complete at least 75% of his sentence in jail, that the remainder of the sentence be community service to a NON-animal related agency (you can’t trust him around animals), and bar him from forever owning a domestic animal again (dog, cat, etc.) Any other animals in the home shall be surrendered to the Pulaski County Humane Society for the purpose of rehoming in a loving home. Finally, Mr. Suttles should be required to reimburse the Pulaski County Humane Society $xxx.xx for the care given to Bowser before his death. If any expenses have already been donated by the public, Mr. Suttles should still be fined at least $1,500, with the monies going to the Humane Society for the purpose of helping document and obtain veterinary and humane care, for future cases of cruelty.

In light of recent notorious cases such as the Michael Vick dogfighting case, we in Pulaski County need to send a clear message to our residents and other residents of Kentucky that such acts of cruelty will not be tolerated and will be fully pursued and prosecuted.

We appreciate your time in reading this petition and again we urge you to send a clear message of justice on behalf of the late Bowser.

Thank you.
Signed by:
Concerned Citizens of Somerset, KY, Pulaski County
Concerned Animal Advocates of Kentucky, Tennessee, and other states
The Pulaski County Humane Society

Please write, call, fax, or email the public officials in Pulaski County and give them your opinion on this case. As always, we ask that you be polite and stick to the facts. Hysteria and cursing (or worse!) will only harm our cause. You don’t need to write a long letter. Just let the DA and Judge know that the citizens of Pulaski County will no longer tolerate a “slap on the wrist” to perpetrators of animal cruelty. See below.

CONTACT INFO
District Judge Katie Wood
402 Grande Avenue
Somerset, KY 42501
Phone: 606-219-5783

William Thompson
County Attorney
104 North Main Street
Somerset KY 42501
Phone: 606-679-4449
Fax: 606-678-2635

Pulaski County Judge Executive
Barty Bullock
P.O. Box 712
Somerset, KY 42502
606-678-4853 – phone
606-679-8642 – fax

Sheriff Todd Wood
Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department
P.O. Box 752
Somerset, KY 42502
Phone: (606) 678-5145
Fax (606) 679-3119
info@pulaskisheriff.com

The information above came directly from the petition which you can signHERE. Oddly enough I could find no media coverage of this horrendous crime but as the petition is sponsored in part by the humane society and the trial is on the docket, I will accept the facts as laid out.

This dog was routinely starved, then poisoned and kicked to death then had his tortured body burned to try to hide the crime!  There is no excuse for the suffering inflicted on this innocent creature!! We must demand justice!!!

What this waste of human life did was to cruelly torture this poor dog in a vicious power play, taunt and harass his neighbors and witnesses and someone almost get away with this crime!! He needs to be punished severely and there needs to be justice for Bowser, tortured and killed for no reason except for some POS to play his power game.

Please, I ask that you not only sign the petition but to call and write!! This is one dangerous psychopath and if he’s on the streets, his neighbors fear retribution as do the witnesses who are scared but willing to set that fear aside and testify to try to get justice for “just a dog” against a bully!!

Help to get the word out and share this with anyone who has a heart and cares!!  Only through our action can we make a difference!!

Again, here’s the PETITION!

UPDATE 8/20/09 – IMPORTANT!!!
Finally some media coverage of this horrific crime!

See Video at:  Demand Justice for Dog Tortured and Killed by Owner – PETITION: For the Love of the Dog

Now for the important part; the charges for this crime can be upgraded to a Class D Felony under Romero’s Law!! For some reason the County Attorney wants to leave it a 2nd Degree Misdemeanor… No Way!! I don’t think so!! There is no way you can know the details of this and not see it as the torture that it is.

Please, please, please… keep in mind that time is short…

Contact County Attorney (Bill Thompson) or the Assistant County Attorney (Dan Thompson – Bill’s brother) to refer this case to the Commonwealth Attorney (Eddie Montgomery) for prosecution as a Class D felony under Romeo’s Law.

County Attorney’s office
PO Box 5
Somerset, KY 42502-0005.
Phone at: (606) 679-4449 or (606) 679-4440.

It really is time for the laws against animal cruelty to be updated and stiffened!!!!  let’s use this case as a springboard to launch that campaign!!

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Posted:  Just One More Pet

Be Kind To Animals (And Report People Who Aren’t!!)

Ya know…There is a lot of animal abuse going on these days. And it just makes me sick, every time I hear  about those poor, defenseless animals, being abused.

What makes people do things like that? They must be out of their minds, to hurt all these furry little creatures, that are so sweet & loveable. What did these animals ever do, to deserve such treatment?  Let’s put a stop to this, now!! ! If you see or hear, of any abuse on these animals, please notify the authorities, immediately.

I have 5 dogs & 3 Cats, and some baby kittens. My dogs are…3 Chihuahua’s & 2 Beagles. My one Chihuahua, Molly, I rescued from an animal abuser, back in 2001.

She wouldn’t come near anyone for at least 2 month’s, she was that scared. After 2 month’s, she started coming to me, only. It took her, a whole year & a half, before she would go to anyone else, besides me. She was so scrawny looking, when I first got her, in 2001. She was a year old then. And now she’s so beautiful and loveable. There are still times, when she won’t go near someone, but she’ll always be that way, because animal’s are a lot like children. And, they all, never forget, how they’ve been treated. But, animal’s can sense, when not to go to someone, where children can’t sense that, but they as well, never forget what happened to them, which also makes them afraid of other people. And it’s really disgusting, that someone has to be abusive, like that!  Let’s put a stop to it now!!! Help fight, all this abuse!!!

Carol – AARP Dog Group

Carol is certainly right… and in order to change things we must all stand up and be heard, be their voices (or more sometimes) as the ASPCA says. Ask Marion/JOMP

Posted: Just One More Pet

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Do you have the courage to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves?

This is Shelby. Shelby is just one of the countless animals abused, neglected or abandoned in this country each year. But Shelby is one of the lucky ones.

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ASPCA Experts Help Secure Puppy Mill Conviction

 

This past March, Dr. Melinda Merck, ASPCA Senior Director of Veterinary Forensics, helped secure an animal cruelty conviction by testifying in the trial of Kathy Bauck, operator of Pick of the Litter Kennels. The New York Mills, MN, breeder sells animals to pet stores and online—and has at times housed more than 1,300 dogs of at least 32 different breeds. Bauck was arrested in August 2008 and charged with several counts of felony animal cruelty, torture and practicing veterinary medicine without a license. On March 24, after a 4½-day trial and six hours of deliberation, a jury cleared Bauck of felony charges but found her guilty of four misdemeanors (one count of animal cruelty and three counts of torture).

In early 2008, a freelance animal cruelty investigator, Jason Smith, began working at Pick of the Litter to gather evidence against Bauck. Smith submitted testimony and videos of alleged abuse to Otter Tail County sheriff’s detectives last May. The videos included footage of injured, ill and emaciated dogs, as well as of Bauck dunking dogs in vats of insecticide. “The veterinarian working with the prosecution contacted me about one month before the trial started,” recalls Dr. Merck. “I was asked by the prosecutor to review all the video and case files and provide expert opinion.”

With a history of complaints and citations against her—including a 2006 cease-and-desist order from the Minnesota Board of Veterinary Medicine for performing surgery on animals without a veterinary license—Bauck is well known to ASPCA investigators. “Kathy Bauck has been a chronic problem,” states Bob Baker, ASPCA Anti-Cruelty Initiatives Investigator. “I visited her facility in 1998 and reported her to the USDA for violations of the Animal Welfare Act—but as far as I know, there was no follow-up on the part of USDA.”

At her sentencing hearing last Friday, May 1, Bauck was sentenced to 90 days in jail, with 20 days to be served right away. The other 70 days were “stayed,” meaning they will be served only if she violates her probation. The judge also sentenced Bauck to 80 hours of community service and ruled that if she plans to continue participating in operating the kennel, she must allow unscheduled inspections—and that inspectors must be allowed entry into ALL areas.

As the ASPCA says… “We Are Their Voice!”  Please report all suspected abuse or neglect of any kind… and to anyone!!

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Father Arrested for Allegedly Killing Family Dog in Front of Children

A Wisconsin man has been arrested for allegedly killing the family dog in front of his children. After an 11-year-old drew a picture at school, his father now faces felony charges in Waukesha County. 52-year-old Michael Tessmer will appear in Waukesha County Court on Thursday.

Authorities found out about what happened after the man’s son drew a picture of a dog at school along with the phrase “My Dad Is A Killer”. The boy told police his father was angry because the dog had relieved itself inside the home. Police say Tessmer shoved a urine soaked paper towel in the dog’s mouth then kicked it five or ten times.

The boy’s mother who is getting a divorce from Tessmer brought the dead dog to the Humane Society. If Tessmer is convicted he could be fined ten thousand dollars and get three and a half years in jail.

If this father truly did this I hope he gets the maximum sentence as well as extended probation that includes long-term required psychological counseling!!  I also think someone really needs to look  at ‘only  supervised visitation’ with his children and Michael Tessmer should be restricted from owning or working with animals ever again. There is no justification, explanation or excuse for his actions!!  Many serial killers and batterers of all kinds started with harming, torturing or killing animals.  This type of behavior should not be tolerated or excused in any way and should always be reported!

It is everyone’s responsibility to stand up,  intervene and report violance and abuse ofany kind toward animals, children and all victims no matter how small or how heinous.  It is the only way it will stop!  You can bet that this isn’t the first and only time this man has been abusive and violent and this would have been prevented if someone had stood up to him or reported him before.  I also must wonder about the accuracy of this story.  If the wife had taken the abused and murdered dog to the Humane Society why had they not reported it to the police?

As the saying goes…  You are either part of the solution or part of the problem!! Let us all always be part of the solution!!

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Warning Signs That Your Child’s Behavior Is Dangerous To Pets

Warning Signs That Your Child’s Behavior Is Dangerous To Pets

Children are naturally interested in interacting with—and getting a reaction from—the family pet. It’s not uncommon for them to hide food, play a little too rough, play dress up with the pet or put makeup and hair products on her. In these situations, parental guidance is needed, as a pet may feel uncomfortable or suffer harm if dangerous substances are ingested.

More serious, however, is when a child intends to hurt an animal. Whether the cause is peer pressure or a cry for help, true malicious animal cruelty is not a behavior that children outgrow by themselves. Professional intervention may be needed to prevent behavior problems that can stay with a child into adulthood, and even be acted out on other human beings.

The following behaviors may indicate that intervention is needed to guide your child away from cruel behaviors toward animals:

• Chasing a fleeing pet
• Locking a pet in a closet
• Leaving a pet outdoors
• Knowingly or unknowingly feeding a pet harmful human foods.
• Feeding human medications that are dangerous to pets to see what effect the pills will have
• Placing a tight rubber band around a paw
• Painting a pet’s body
• Putting a small animal in a washing machine, microwave or other appliance
• Staging fights between dogs or letting one animal chase another
• Deriving pleasure from seeing a frightened or suffering pet
• Responding to adult reprimands by engaging in secretive, hostile acts toward the pet
• Burning an animal
• Teasing an animal with firecrackers
• Repeatedly showing off the inhumane handling of a pet to others
• Putting an animal in dangerous situations, such as dangling her outside a window or bringing her into the road

Taking Action

If you discover your child repeatedly putting an animal into dangerous situations, act swiftly to teach him that these behaviors are not acceptable. The following guidelines may help:

• Do not ignore or dismiss pet-unfriendly actions. Most children, when dealt with as though they’ve committed a serious offense, will think twice before repeating the behavior.
• Use the same serious tone of voice that you would use if you saw your child running across the street without stopping to look for oncoming traffic.
• A simple, clear statement such as, “We don’t hurt animals” is far more effective than lecturing.
• If your child persists in hitting, kicking, pinching or teasing your pet in spite of your repeated corrections, consult with your pediatrician or an expert in child development.
• You set the example. Never hit, shake, jerk or yell at your family pet—your child may imitate you and go too far.
• If you overreact in anger toward your pet, show your child that it’s all right to apologize to the pet, just as you would apologize to a person.
• If your teenager involves the family dog in high-risk activities such as dog fighting, not only should you intervene, but check in to see if your child is being influenced by alcohol, drugs, gambling or other unhealthy behaviors that involve peer pressure.
• Remember that for most children, learning empathy and respect toward animals is part of the normal socialization process. These values are instilled the same way as learning not to hit friends or tease mercilessly.

Dogwise, All Things Dog! 

Philosophical and Legal Aims of the Animal Liberation Movement

The movement aims to include animals in the moral community by putting the basic interests of non-human animals on an equal footing with the basic interests of human beings. A basic interest would be, for example, not being made to suffer pain on behalf of other individual human or non-human animals. The aim is to remove animals from the sphere of property and to award them personhood; that is, to see them awarded legal rights to protect their basic interests.

“Who are we that we have set ourselves up on this pedestal and we believe that we have a right take from others everything—including their life—simply because we want to do it? Shouldn’t we stop and think for a second that maybe they are just others like us? Other nations, other individuals, other cultures. Just others. Not sub-human, but just different from being human.”

Liberationists argue that animals appear to have value in law only in relation to their usefulness or benefit to their owners, and are awarded no intrinsic value whatsoever. In the United States, for example, state and federal laws formulate the rules for the treatment of animals in terms of their status as property. Liberationists point out that Texas Animal Cruelty Laws apply only to pets living under the custody of human beings and exclude birds, deer, rabbits, squirrels, and other wild animals not owned by humans, ignoring that juridiction for such creatures comes under the domain of state wildlife officers. The U.S. Animal Welfare Act excludes “pet stores … state and country fairs, livestock shows, rodeos, purebred dog and cat shows, and any fairs or exhibitions intended to advance agricultural arts and sciences.” There is no mention in the law that such activities already fall under the jurisdiction of state agriculture departments. The Department of Agriculture interprets the Act as also excluding cold-blooded animals, and warm-blooded animals not “used for research, teaching, testing, experimentation … exhibition purposes, or as a pet, [and] farm animals used for food, fiber, or production purposes”. 

Regarding the campaign to change the status of animals as property, the movement has seen success in several countries. Switzerland passed legislation in 1992 recognizing non-human animals as beings, not things. The German Civil Code had been amended correspondingly two years earlier. In 2002, the words “and animals” were added to the constitutional clause obliging the German state to protect the “natural living conditions”, which has been regarded as a milestone in the development of the legal status of animals in Germany. The amendment, however, has not had much impact in German legal practice yet. The greatest success has certainly been the granting of basic rights to five great ape species in New Zealand in 1999. Their use is now forbidden in research, testing or teaching.

The Seattle-based Great Ape Project (GAP) — founded by Australian philosopher Peter Singer, the author of Animal Liberation, widely regarded as the “bible” of the animal liberation movement — is campaigning for the United Nations to adopt its Declaration on Great Apes, which would see chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orang-utans included in a “community of equals” with human beings. The declaration wants to extend to the non-human apes the protection of three basic interests: the right to life, the protection of individual liberty, and the prohibition of torture.  The New Zealand success is partly ascribed to GAP´s activity.

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Most die on the streets or have to be euthanized. Please watch my new video and join me in supporting the ASPCA.   

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