Results tagged “ASPCA” from Petfinder Blog

I was dismayed to get an alert from the ASPCA that the New York City Housing Authority is implementing a new pet policy, effective May 1 (i.e. Friday!) that bans purebred or mixed breed Pit Bulls, Dobermans and Rottweilers.

The new policy also lowers the weight limit for allowable dogs from the previous limit of 40 lbs. to 25 lbs.

The most important thing to note is that, as the ASPCA notes: "Dogs already registered with NYCHA before the implementation of this revised policy, regardless of breed and providing they do not exceed the current 40 pound weight limit, will be grandfathered and allowed to remain in NYCHA housing."

Residents whose pets are not registered have until April 30 to submit a registration form, and have 90 days to obtain veterinarian certification that their dog is spayed or neutered, vaccinated against rabies and licensed by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

For more information and links to all the necessary forms, visit the ASPCA Web site.

Today marks the start of an historic animal abuse case brought against Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus by three animal-welfare groups and a former circus employee.

The ASPCA, the Animal Welfare Institute, the Fund for Animals (a partner of the Humane Society of the U.S.) and former Ringling Bros. employee Tom Rider charge that Ringling Bros. violated the Endangered Species Act by chaining its elephants for prolonged periods and training them with bull hooks, among other abuses.

I won't go into the details of the case, but Ringling Bros. has started its own Web site about the trial, where you can view a PDF of the complaint. You can also click on the names of the animal-welfare groups above to see their press releases about the case, or read a news story here or here.

But I'm interested in a comment by a lawyer for Ringling Bros.' parent company, who said: "Animal special-interest groups are distorting the facts by making false allegations about the treatment of Ringling Bros. elephants as part of a long-running crusade to eliminate animals from circuses, zoos and wildlife parks."

Leaving aside the question of zoos and wildlife parks, should elephants and other animals be banned from use in circuses?

Kudos to Dr. Lila Miller of the ASPCA, who was awarded the 2008 AVMA Animal Welfare Award. The award was given to recognize Dr. Miller's many achievements in advancing the welfare of animals via her leadership, public service, education, research and advocacy -- and I couldn't agree more with the choice!

We all know how important our relationships with our best friends' doctors are. (I'm struggling personally right now because my own trusted veterinarian has moved too far away for us to visit regularly, leaving me too frozen with anxiety and indecision to select the right new doctor to partner with in my pets' health care.) 

Teens, especially girls, love animals. I've noticed there are lots of young people, again mostly girls, who volunteer at animal shelters and boycott products that were tested on animals.

But when it comes to adoption, most of my peers give me a frightening wake-up call. I've heard of many teens who got their pet from a breeder, pet store or, in one case, for $10 at a flea market.

Sometimes we have debates in class that give me a pit in my stomach. One time, some girls were saying that they loved their dog and bringing it to the groomer, where they put the little bows in the dog's fur.

Somehow, this led to that ASPCA commercial with Sarah Mclachlan. "That commercial makes me feel so depressed," one of the girls piped up. "Yeah," said the other, "I change the channel when I watch that because it makes me guilty about my animals."

What a riot! In honor of Adopt-a-Shelter-Cat Month (June), the ASPCA had a contest to find the year's best cat photos.

Singer Michael Feinstein judged the hundreds of entries and came up with these adorable winners.