Bob’s Full House

Photo:  Cute Overload -  Full House

Good Dog: Small Dog, Big Heart

Illustration by John Cuneo

by Wells Tower – June/July 2014  –  Garden &  Gun  –  Cross-Posted at Just One More Pet

The nervous work of owning—and finally loving—a Chihuahua

For many years, I thought that owners of small dogs harbored stunted souls. Parents of infant beauty queens. Weird bachelors with pet stairs by their beds. Adult hoarders of dolls and teddy bears. People deranged by an obsession with the adorable.

Then, in my late twenties, when I was living in  New Orleans, a good friend of mine found a bedraggled Chihuahua in a ditch and brought her home. It was a comical, toothless animal with a bullfrog’s tongue that would slap her in the eye on the recoil. That dog had a lot of ditch trauma to work through. She needed to sit on somebody at all times or she got the shakes. I was home most days, so I let the dog make use of my lap during business hours. When I moved back to North Carolina, I was surprised to discover a Chihuahua-size hole in my life.

So I started looking for a dog. I knew I wanted a pound animal, though not for any lofty moral reasons. I wanted a desperate dog, one without high expectations of whoever took it in. My family had dogs when I was a kid. The bunch of us should be arrested for how we let those animals down. They were outdoor dogs too disgusting to pet. We let ticks get on them and grow as big as minié balls. When the family went out of town, we’d leave the dog on the porch with a bag of cheap food. Eventually, they’d get sick of us and wander off. So my track record with dogs wasn’t the greatest, but I figured one otherwise bound for the gas chamber couldn’t really gripe about winding up in my care.

I spent long hours at the keyboard, browsing head shots at an online clearinghouse for discarded dogs. A Chihuahua was what I was after, but I didn’t want it to be too grotesque: too bug-eyed or hog-snouted or bat-eared or obviously rodentlike. Looking for an ungrotesque Chihuahua is like trying to find a dignified clown. It took a good bit of time.

At last, I found a candidate. The head shot showed a creature with a long, aristocratic nose and smart, Dobermanly ears. Her eyes were large but not hyperthyroidal. They seemed to reflect intelligence but also the right measure of desperation. She was waiting on death row at the dog pound in Winston-Salem, ninety minutes from my home. I gave them a call to see if the dog had yet been gassed. “Nope, she’s still here!” an exhaustingly jolly Southern voice exclaimed.

“Oh, you will just love this crazy little creature. We call her Tinsy, but you could call her Teensy-Meensy-Weensy-Eensy! She is that small! She’s one of them little reindeer dogs, you know. She’s just always bouncing all around on them little teensy reindeer legs. She is kinda licky and kinda barky but she’s a funny little ball of fun.”

I was in the market for a lap sleeper, a hot-water bottle in canine form. From the sound of it, this reindeer dog embodied much that is dislikable in the miniature breeds. But I had committed to paying the dog a visit, and I make it a point never to betray a promise to the incarcerated. I went and had a look. The lady I talked to on the phone dragged Tinsy out from where she’d been hiding behind a file cabinet. Tinsy, who was maybe a year old, had been found walking the streets of Winston-Salem naked. Like most women found in this condition, she was not in the greatest shape. She resembled a dog the way those caiman-head back scratchers resemble an alligator. Her face was okay, but the rest of her body was a bony rod upholstered in bald gray skin. I had seen rats with prettier tails. Hers was without a whisker and looked as though it had been set afire and extinguished under the needle of a sewing machine.

“You wanna hold her?” the shelter lady asked me, wagging Tinsy at me like a dishrag. I did not want to hold Tinsy. I wanted to leave the room. But Tinsy was thrust into my arms. This dog had long, scraggly talons, and she clung to my sweater like a bat to a screen door. I grimaced. The dog grimaced. “That’s a wrap!” cried the shelter lady. “That is your dog. She is absolutely your dog.”

I wanted to tell this woman that I wanted Tinsy like I wanted a case of shingles, but courage failed me. I wrote a check for the adoption fee. Then I carried the dog to my car and began calling every softhearted person I knew to see if they would take this creature off my hands.

At home, I took to my couch and fretted. What business did I have with a dog? I traveled for work eight months out of the year. And this dog? I didn’t want to look at her much less look after her for the twenty years Chihuahuas can expect to live. (The oldest living Chihuahua is 32+). Then the dog, who had been busy peeing on my bedroom floor, wandered over. She tilted her head at a sympathetic angle, then she jumped onto the sofa and clambered onto my shoulder, where she pulled herself into a sphere and went snortingly to sleep.

How easily we are gentled. The plan to ditch her got ditched. I started calling her Edie, whose vowel sounds she hearkened to as she had her prison name. I loaded her up on ludicrously expensive foods: Alaskan salmon, mutton jerky from New Zealand. She doubled her weight, from two pounds to four. I put her through expensive mange treatments, fed her fish oil, greased her in vitamin E to regrow her hair. After a couple of seasons, she fluffed out and the knobs of her spine receded. She began to look less like a back scratcher and more, as a friend described her, “like a cross between a wolf and a flea.”

“No man should have a dog like that,” my cousin once said to me. “We’re not careful enough. You could drop the Sunday paper on her and break her back. It’s like getting a crystal set. No guy should have a thing that fragile in the house.”

And it’s true. Owning Edie is nervous work. A few years back, I nearly lost her. Summoned from the house by the sound of raving crows, I went out to check on Edie in the yard. She was absent from her usual sunbathing spot. In the lower corner of the lawn, I saw a barred owl, spreading its wings over a small, still gray form. Edie was too heavy a piece of live cargo for the owl, so the bird was patiently trying to murder her. I nearly had to kick the bird off of her. A talon had made three bloody divots in Edie’s head, but no lasting damage was done.

At nearly twelve, Edie is deep in middle age and, repairwise, is not much less expensive than a ’55 Studebaker. I’ve put far more money into her mouth than I’ve put into my own. Before I got Edie, I’d have said that a fair definition of an insane person is somebody who takes out a thirty-three-hundred-dollar cash advance to pay for exploratory liver surgery for a dog. I did that three years ago. But when you get accustomed, every night, to a warm gentle presence stretching herself across your clavicle and easing you into sleep, it becomes as dire a habit as barbiturate abuse. Addicts do crazy things to keep withdrawal at bay.

It’s weird. One day, you’re a twenty-eight-year-old man of traditional tastes and accoutrements and the next, you’re a forty-year-old bachelor with a four-pound, big-eyed, molting pussy willow of a dog.

Still, I do what I can to keep the grotesquerie contained. When people ask what kind of dog I have, I tell them, “I don’t know, I got her from the pound.” I do not carry Edie around in a Snugli. I have never bought the dog shoes or a hat. I would like to tell you that my home contains no doggie sweaters, and that there are not dog stairs by my bed, but this would not be true.

For those of us who love small dogs… Chihuahuas, Chihuahua Mixes, and miniatures of any type, we know that they are great pets and are always happy when just one more person discovers how special they are or another person or family adopts must one more small dog… just one more pet of any kind.  Every pet deserves a good home! (JOMP)

“For the Love of a Pet”

Our gang of Chihuahuas and Chiweenies (JOMP)

Photo by The UCLA Shutterbug

Our Favorite Photo of the 2014 Holiday Season – JOMP

Safe Haven for Pets… For Animals

One of my dreams for quite some time has been to purchase land (in the US) and set up a temporary (and forever for some) haven for pets/animals.  I would love to hire some computer wiz-kids to set up a national registry to connect all the shelters, rescues, etc. around the country so people looking for them, a particular pet can find them.  Then set-up a network to transport the pets to the people who want them, their forever homes.  And for those who need longer, they could come to us, to the center, until their forever home comes available or their forever parents find them. 

I believe there is a forever home for every pet… for every animal and they we are all God’s creatures, so need to work together.

Marion at JOMP~

So this really touches my heart!!

Tribune:

Ayesha Chundrigar with an ACF shelter dog. ALL PHOTOS COURTESY: AYESHA CHUNDRIGAR FOUNDATION

Growing up in a house full of pets gave Ayesha Chundrigar an informal, intuitive education in empathy and respect for animals at a young age. She was only nine years old when she began volunteering at an orphanage during her summer holidays, and by the age of 15 she was teaching at various non-profit schools in katchi abadis around Islamabad, where she was living at the time. She was also helping at refugee camps in the city in the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake in the northern areas of Pakistan, but her true altruism shone through when she launched her NGO, the Ayesha Chundrigar Foundation (ACF), in Karachi, which among other things, aims at giving a voice to the voiceless – animals.

Apart from the Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), ACF is now the second non-profit organisation which aims to rescue abandoned, abused or injured stray animals. Chundrigar who took up the challenge of managing and maintaining Edhi Foundation’s animal shelter in Karachi, says that the place was in an abysmal state when she first visited it. “There were animal carcasses and dead puppies and donkeys lying in pools of blood. I still have nightmares about it,” she says. “I found the number of a vet listed on a board close to the shelter and gave him a call saying he had to help me and that was it.”

All animals coexist in perfect harmony at the shelter.

Chundrigar started with four dogs and some savings. The shelter now houses over 100 animals, including donkeys, dogs, cats, eagles and pigeons. Although she has used up all her savings, she finds her job truly worthwhile. ACF has rescued over 600 animals in Karachi and has long-term plans of opening its own animal sanctuary instead of only managing Edhi’s animal shelter. “We have been given a piece of land for 10 years and we are ready to begin construction,” informs Chundrigar, adding that the new shelter will be able to house over 300 animals, with designated sections for donkeys, cats, dogs and other rescued animals.

Although the current shelter lacks electricity and water supplies, the Edhi Foundation is making do. They are preparing to install a water tank and solar panels. The animals are fed fresh food every morning and there is a general atmosphere of hope and recovery. “Our cats and puppies eat together and play together,” says Chundrigar. “I can stay and look at these sights forever.”

But this is not always the case. “Dogs have come in a paralysed and crippled [state] or with horrific wounds, but I’m lucky enough to see miracles every day. These animals [eventually] become strong, loving creatures that shower you with unconditional love.”

Dr Farid nurses the fore limbs of a donkey at one of the camps.

At the present, ACF’s core team of seven members, including Chundrigar, volunteer. The only ones on a payroll are their three veterinarians: Dr Khalid Memon, ACF’s senior vet who is a professor at the Baqai Veterinary College in Karachi, Ghulam Farid, a junior vet who is a final year veterinary student at Baqai, and Salman Wali, a manager and trainee vet at Baqai.  Together they embrace the animals that society discards.

With the help of Edhi Foundation’s service, ACF conducts most of its rescue missions around the city in an ambulance. Public transport, however, is also used by vets when the ambulance is unavailable. Once the injured animal has been rescued, its wounds are treated and then begins the long rehabilitation process.

Ayesha Chundrigar with her team at a recent donkey camp.

Although most rescue operations end on a happy note, some have tragic endings. When Chundrigar first saw the image of a female dog, with a disfigured face lying on the ground almost lifeless, on Facebook, she didn’t just comment on the extreme sorrow she felt, instead she took a hands-on approach. “Five of her puppies were snuggled near her tummy [in the picture] and I sent my team to rescue them [from Chundrigar Road],” she says. “The wounds … were definitely a few days old, her eye sockets were empty and she was severely dehydrated and malnourished, but by some miracle she stayed alive to feed her babies. We bandaged her up and started her treatment,” she says, adding that the puppies were fed formula milk although their mother was still determined to feed them herself. Although after a day the dog had gained enough strength to stand up on its own and take a few steps, she eventually succumbed to her injuries. “Unfortunately her wounds were too deep and after I petted her for hours and gently explained to her that I’d take care of her puppies, she let go.”

But dampened spirits don’t last at ACF for long as the team finds solace in the animals they have successfully rescued and rehabilitated. Bravo, a dog so thin and malnourished that he could barely lift his head, was nursed to health by Farid who was determined to see him stand on his feet. After several blood tests, X-rays and consistent monitoring, Bravo has not only regained its health but is currently ACF’s guard dog. “[Bravo is the] biggest, strongest and healthiest dogs at the shelter,” Chundrigar says proudly. “He gives me the warmest, most welcoming hugs every time I see him.”

ACF also holds regular donkey camps. “The way donkeys are treated in this country kills me and I wanted to somehow change that,” says Chundrigar. “The donkey camps started with literally just me and my senior vet standing on the roadside in [areas where donkey-carts are readily used], asking people to let us medically treat their donkeys for free.” While initially Chundrigar’s team was met with suspicion, with some cart owners believing that they were here to harm their sole source of income, they soon warmed up to them once they were convinced that the team was only there to help. Over 50 donkeys are fed and treated free of charge twice a month, in various parts of Karachi, including Sohrab Goth, Korangi and Nipa Chowrangi. ACF also conducted a ‘hydration drive’ last year when biscuits and chilled water bottles were distributed to people around the city.

Dr Farid gives one of the dogs eye treatment at the Edhi Foundation animal shelter along the highway.

Like PAWS, ACF relies heavily on social media to raise awareness about animal cruelty in Pakistan. “People see updates on our animal rescue activities and donkey camps and want to help out,” says Chundrigar. And it was through Facebook that Chundrigar teamed up with Zain Mustafa, an architect and die-hard animal lover, who is now a part of ACF’s core team. Many have even shown interest in adopting ACF’s rescued animals. “The encouraging part is that people are positive towards something being done for animals in this country,” she says. And while on the topic of showing compassion towards animals in the country, Mustafa adds, “It can be done by introducing the value of animals into our mainstream education system and curriculum at a very early age…  By getting children to physically interact with a variety of animals and bridge the widening gap between ‘us’ and ‘them’.”

ACF’s second project is also currently in the pipeline. It will aim to provide a therapeutic centre for healing that will focus on conducting individual counseling, art therapy and support groups. “We will be working with sexually and physically abused women, children and transgenders. [The project] will also include education for donkey-cart owners that, I believe, will gradually help change their behaviour towards the animals,” says Chundrigar, who is training to become a certified counselor.

But with limited funding, the ACF can only do so much. Although people have been donating cash and tangibles such as food via the information provided to them on social media, the funds are trickling in slowly. “What we get is enough to manage our current animals’ food and medical treatment,” says Chundrigar, adding that the monthly cost for food and supplies at the shelter is well over Rs100,000 and keeps increasing as the organisation rescues more animals each day. “We still need help starting our new shelter, acquiring ambulances and starting an inner-city emergency unit.”

Even though Chundrigar is positive about the path ahead for ACF, she admits that for Pakistan, animal welfare and charity is something quite “out of the ordinary,” with people often mocking her work. “They said I was crazy to think I could do something for animals because the situation is too far gone. Also, it’s an uphill battle explaining to people why animals deserve love and a chance at having a better life.”

Donation details:

Ayesha Chundrigar Foundation

Iban number: Pk33BAHL1036008100660001

Account number: 10360081006600012

Bank Al Habib, Kh-e-Hafiz Branch, Karachi.

For food donations and volunteering queries, please write to:

ayeshachundrigarfoundation@gmail.com

Sonya Rehman is a writer/journalist based in Lahore. She tweets @sonyarehman

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, June 15^th, 2014.

Please Donate if you Can!!

Technorati Tags: Rescues,Love,Get Invovled,Pets,Animals,ACF,Karachi,JOMP,Just One More Pet

Animal Moms – Happy Mother’s Day 2014

And let us always remember the Foster, Adoptive and Stepmoms…

h/t to Liana Smith and the UCLA Shutterbug

10 Top Reasons to Adopt A Pet On Mother’s Day… Or Any Other Day 

Salute to the ‘Other Mothers’… On This 100th Anniversary of Mothers Day 

Angel… Our Mama Turns 10-Years-Old Today

Technorati Tags: Animals Moms,Love,Animals Adopting Animals,Pet Photos,Animal Photos,Adopt just One More Pet,Holidays,Holidays With Pets,JOMP,Just One More Pet,Mother’s Day,Moms,Pets

Reality of Dumping Your Dog… A Family Member

Pets feel the crunch of the economic crisis

Blind Dog Living in a Trash Pile Gets the Most Beautiful Rescue – The End is Amazing

Patrick: Abuser Located and Charged

Elderly Chihuahua rescued from trash

Is Your Pet a Voiceless Victim of the Tanking Economy?

Where there is a will…

Economic Forecast: One Million Pets May Lose Homes in the U.S.

Homeless With Pets… Choosing Pets Over Shelter

Technorati Tags: Dogs,Pets,Resonsibility,Cruelty,Dogs Are Family,Pets Are Forever,Pets Are Family,Pets Are Gods Gifts,Stop Euthanasia,Stop Animal Cruelty,Abandoned Pets,Animal Rescues,Get-involved

Arizona is Being Overrun by Packs of Vicious Wild Chihuahuas… Vicious? Really?

So what the heck is going on in Arizona?  Vicious wild Chihuahuas?  They are Chihuahuas for God sake…  Why didn’t they notice this sooner?  And as for Chihuahuas nipping people, even at kids…  really?  A big deal?  Not so much in my book…  And terrorizing neighborhoods?  Again, really?  A bit of a stretch I’d say, but cops say wild packs of Chihuahuas are causing quite a problem.  So lets all dig in and help out…

Video: Chihuahuas running wild in Maryvale, Arizona  -  The original video was removed…

Animal Control needs public’s help wrangling Chihuahuas running loose in Maryvale

Examiner: Stray chihuahuas are hanging out in miniature packs in various Arizona neighborhoods; chasing and nipping at schoolchildren reports Monday’s abc.news.go.

According to the Maricopa County Animal Care and Control, the little ones have been breeding indiscriminately with each other and now have been overrunning residential areas.

"Part of it is these animals aren’t spayed or neutered, so they’re out looking for a mate and having babies, which also contributes to the problem," stated a representative from Animal Control.

Authorities believe the high number of foreclosures and undocumented workers forced to leave Arizona when the economy crashed, has caused the overpopulation of the small breed.

Sadly, chihuahuas are the most popular breed at the Arizona shelters.

Chihuahuas are the smallest breed of dogs, and named for the state of Chihuahua in Mexico, although some experts argue that the breed originated in China and were brought over by Spanish traders.

The adorable little breed, with varied temperaments and intense loyalties toward their humans, were made popular by Paris Hilton and her famous "chi" named Tinkerbell.

Residents are urged to safely corral the little dogs if at all possible, and then call Animal Control.

While chihuahuas may not be a popular breed in Maricopa County, many city dwellers in New York City find the adorable little ones perfect for apartment living.

As Bob Barker has been repeating for years and years, please spay and neuter your pets.

If you are interested in rescuing and adopting a chihuahua? or fostering? Click here for more information.

Thi featured Chihuahua featured by the Examiner is named Artie; he is available for adoption. Please refer to ID# 14-02-16-00249, but there are many more.

If you would like to continue receiving the latest news on pet issues and how we can help those who cannot speak, please click the "Subscribe" icon.

Follow the National Pet Rescue Examiner on Facebook by clicking here. Please visit and "like" my page. You are welcome to submit story ideas by contacting me at cdhanna9703@aol.com.

If you possibly can, please help by adopting at least one, by donating for others to adopt and by helping to get them spayed and neutered.  There is always room for just one more pet… just one more Chihuahua, they are small… but be prepared, some are feisty.

If everyone that can adopted just one more pet and then acted responsibly, there would be no more homeless pets and no pets euthanized needlessly!! 

JOMP~

Technorati Tags: Chihuahuas,Arizona,NO KILL NATION,Wild Dogs,Strays,Packs of Dogs,Solutions,Adopt Just One More Pet,Get-Involved,JOMP,Just One More Pets,Pet-Lovers,Maricopa County

Pros & Cons of Neutering–Really? There are Cons?

Puppies rely on us to make informed decisions. Image Copr. Fernanda Cerioni/Flickr

By Amy Shojai at Amy Shojai’s Bling, Bitches and Blood

Yes, actually, there are and that may surprise you. It did me. After all, we’ve heard from animal welfare advocates for years preaching the gospel of spay/neuter.  Heck, I preached this myself and for the majority of dogs and cats (ESPECIALLY cats!), “the big fix” is the best thing that ever happens to them.

There’s new evidence, though, that for dogs at least the pros and cons are not so black and white. While the University of Georgia’s sample of 40,139 canine death records from the Veterinary Medical Database from 1984-2004 concluded that neutered dogs could be expected to live a year and a half longer (on average) than intact dogs, other studies point out potential increases in hip dysplasia or cancer. Oy.

So what’s a responsible pet parent to do? One possible solution is a new non-surgical sterilization technique called Zeuterin from Ark Sciences, that renders the boy dogs incapable of fathering puppies but let’s them keep about 50 percent of their testosterone that makes a beneficial health difference especially in certain breeds.

Read my newest article of Zeuterin and Pros/Cons of Neutering here. My best recommendation is to find out everything you can, consult with your vet, and only then make an informed decision. What do you think? Go ahead and comment–let ‘er rip! *s*

Amy is so right, spay/neutering is not a cut and dry proposition… no pun intended! JOMP!

Related:

Pet Sterilization Laws Raise Health Concerns

Why I’ve Had a Change of Heart About Neutering Pets 

‘Zeutering’ offers dog sterilization in a ‘shot’ 

An Alternative to Surgery to Sterilize Male Dogs

Spay, Neuter, Adopt – Repeat 

Thousands of Shelter Pets Killed Every Day Yet Half of Americans Uninformed and Unaware

Lucy Pet Foundation’s Rose Parade float promotes pet spay/neuter – Features Daniel

‘Miracle’ dog that survived gassing headed to Rose Parade 

Urinary and Fecal Incontinence in Pets

STOP Los Angeles and Other Major Cities from the Unreasonable Pet Limit Laws and Restrictions

Adopt Just One More Pet and Save a Life!! – Sharing a Great Pet Adoption Pet Story!!

Taking Away More Liberties: WI Pet Ordinance Forces Homeowners to Choose — Your Pet or Your House

Southfield Implements Limit on Cats – Over Reaction!

Pet-Limit Laws Unconstitutional

Massachusetts Town Puts Limits on Cat Ownership

Three Nuns Adopt the Senior Pit Bull Nobody Else Wanted

Should You Adopt a Second Dog?

‘Until One Has Loved an Animal, Part of Their Soul Remains Unawakened’ – Join the NO KILL MOVEMENT

Hopeful News: LA City Animal Shelter Deaths Plummet by Nearly Half During First Two Years of Best Friends Animal Society’s NKLA Initiative

Technorati Tags: Pet-Parenting,Choices,Educate Yourself,Education,JOMP,Just One More Pet,Sterilization,Incontinence,Pet-Cancer,Spay and Neutering,Spay,Neutering,Adoption,Pet-Limits,Political Change,Zeutering,National Pet Registry,Pet Registry

US Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy Saving Dogs of Sochi

One of the many dark tales coming out of Sochi is the revelation that Russian authorities have been executing stray dogs. US Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy plans to do something about it by saving them.

American Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy and Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska are doing their part to save the stray dogs in Sochi

Obviously, people were outraged when they heard about the killings. Oleg Deripaska, one of the wealthiest men in Russia, was so upset by this that he took it upon himself to save as many as he could. He used his fortune to build shelters for the strays in Baranovka, which is near Sochi.

Kenworthy expected to be on his way home with the pups by now but has been delayed by paperwork problems in Russia?!?

Video:  Stray Dogs Saved by Russian Billionaire…

Some of the the dogs are being adopted by Olympics fans and heading to new homes. According to ABC News on Tuesday the process of American fans adopting a dog is being helped by the Humane Society International.

Outlining all the requirements for moving a dog from one country to another, it seems that finding a local Russian vet is the fastest way to get help in seeing if Fido can come home. Getting all the shots necessary for the pup to leave the country is the first step. Plus a kennel needs to be acquired for the flight of an animal if they are going to be shipped on an airplane. The process of owning a Russian dog might be costly with just the airplane ride being $150 for the canine’s travels to their new home.

Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska stepped in before the Olympics and opened a mountain refuge for some dogs to hang out, but the issue still isn’t resolved. Fans worry that after the athletes leave the dogs could be left out to roam again or worse.

Offering up assistance to help adopt dogs seems like a logical solution at the moment and if fans are willing to take a new four legged friend home, it might be the perfect answer to helping some of the dogs.

Technorati Tags: Dogs,Strays,Sochi,Olympics,Stop Euthanasia,JOMP,Just One More Pet,Dog-Rescues,Russia,Adopt Just One More Pet

Logan’s Law passes big hurdle in attempt to create Michigan animal abusers registry

Logan, a husky owned by Matt Falk of Wales Township, died from complications of someone allegedly spraying acid in his face. / Gannett Michigan

By Nicole Hayden – LSJ.com 

Gannett Michigan:  Logan’s Law, a package of four bills designed to fight animal abuse passed through the Michigan House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

“We are pretty excited about the bills being passed through the committee,” said Rep. Paul Muxlow, R-Brown City.

Muxlow sponsored House Bill 4534 of Logan’s Law. The bill stipulates that before someone can adopt a shelter animal, the shelter must use the Internet Criminal History Access Tool, which is a Michigan State Police database, to search for a history of child and spousal abuse and other violence.

The other bills include language that non-profits do not have to pay to access ICHAT; state police will prepare an annual report of animal abuse offenses; and convicted abusers cannot adopt an animal for five years after their time has been served.

The annual report will serve as a registry of animal abusers.

“This is a very big victory for Logan’s Law and for all of the animals in Michigan,” said Matt Falk, owner of Logan, a Siberian husky for whom the law was named.

In 2012, someone splashed Logan, who was in his outside kennel, with acid, Falk said.

“(Logan) liked to sleep outside because it was much cooler,” Falk, of Wales Township, said. “When I went to bring him inside in the morning, I noticed he had red burns on the right side of his face. We immediately rushed him to the vet.”

Falk said that it took four to five days to neutralize the acid.

The bills will now move to the Michigan Senate floor for a vote, then back to the House floor for a full vote before going to the governor to sign into law.

Falk said he hopes “the law will be signed by the summer or early fall of this year.”

Falk, along with House and Senate members, have work on passing the law for two years.

“There has been about 12 different bill numbers for the animal abuse registry all together,” Falk said. “Most of the original bills didn’t make it through the process.”

Falk said he wants to protect other animals from what his dog suffered.

“Logan lost his eyesight, and his sense of smell,” said Falk. “There was a time when his face was just melting off.”

Four months after the attack, Logan died.

“Through our investigations we found there is a lot of animal abuse,” said Muxlow. “There is much more animal abuse than we will ever know or assume of.”

If the bills pass, Michigan will be the first state to enact an animal abuse registry.

“This will be historic legislation,” said Falk. “The bills will set a precedence for other states to begin legislation for registries of their own.”

*Nicole Hayden is a reporter for the Times Herald in Port Huron

Technorati Tags: Michigan,Animal Registry,Stop Animal Abuse,Stop Euthanasia,Pets,Animals,National Animal Registry,Logan’s Bill,JOMP,Get-Involved,Just One More Pet