Do what to my bark???

Are we surprised that I'm writing two entries in one week??? YES!

In all of my classes I am recommended to listen to what's going on in the news. As a college student I have free access to the New York Times on campus, so why not take advantage of it! So during a dinner break last week my friend Carmen and I went to grab something to eat and we grabbed copies of the newspaper to read. So I sat in my leadership class and flipped through the paper and read whatever caught my eye.

Well, whada ya know!

On the front page of the New York Times was an article on debarking your dog. Here's a link to the article, but don't be surprised if you're unable to link to it later; I've heard that the NYT is going private and they want you to pay money for archive vs. being able to search through it for free.

Anyways! The article discusses the argument of whether or not debarking your dog is ethical. They cite the AVMA, Banfield, and the AKC. The AKC admits that they have many dogs that show that are debarked but that they are perfectly healthy and normal and it does not affect them. One of the big reasons for debarking is for individuals who reside in apartment complexes and have had complaints about their animals. If it's such a problem, why not ban animals, or at least dogs, from the complex? On the other hand, Banfield refuses to do the procedure and the AVMA doesn't even teach debarking in vet school anymore. The article does on to say that the procedure is illegal in Britain and other European countries as well as a select few states.

The argument for those that believe debarking is not cruel is that it is a simple procedure in which their animal recovers quickly and there are no negative consequences. The argument on the other end is that you're taking away the animals ability to communicate! Why do something that is unnecessary?

In my opinion, (since I'm sure I've made myself unbiased) if the AVMA is no longer teaching vets how to perform the procedure, than why is ethically okay? If something is banned and no longer being taught, then there is a reason for that. Not to mention that you're taking away your animals ability to communicate with you. God help you if someone were to break into your home and all your dog can do is make a raspy noise. If it were me, every single time my dog made that raspy noise at me I would feel horrible for making the decision to debark them. Maybe if we threaten cutting the pet owner's vocal cords they'll then choose to not do it to their pets.

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Pet of the day!!!!

My name is Daija!!!

Man I wish I lived in Wisconsin! Her cute little pit bull face is to die for!

Meet Daija, I found her at the Wisconsin Humane Society. Daija is a 1 year old altered female. The rescue has dogs group by what human companion would be perfect for them. It says that Daija needs to go with an orange person. The site states that orange people are open to active dogs but like to relax and take it easy, too. They are happy to make the commitment for training, exercise, and extra snuggle or two. She's a pretty girl and hopefully she'll find the perfect forever home in Wisconsin.

How bad is our economy?

Is our economy SO bad that you would logically consider operating on your own animal? What makes an individual reach a point where they thing this is okay to do? Well apparently Alan MacQuattie of Rhode Island operated on his 14 year old lab mix. He chose to remove a cyst from the dog's leg. The article, which I found via The Huffington Post, never mentions the dog's name and just consistently says, 'the dog' or 'his dog'. Article here.

Here's the interesting thing I see in this article. Here is an individual who is disabled and living on his social security and therefore is unable to afford to have the cyst removed from his "lab mix". I'm going to go ahead and assume that he was not able to visit a vet to find out if this cyst is something he needs to worry about due to his removal of the cyst and doctor's are now saying that it was benign the whole time and not painful to the animal. So did the owner, Mr. MacQuattie, attempt to do the right thing for his dog in his economic state by removing the cyst that he claims was bothering the dog? Or is the individual simply cruel for choosing to put his own animal under the knife, untrained knife I might add? I suppose you, my reader (or lack thereof), can decide on this one.

I personally believe it was combination of the two things. The man mentions in the article that in such hard times no one would be willing to give me a helping hand. I can't object to this, he may be right. Also, Dr. Finocchio, who is a veterinarian and heads up the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention for Animals, claims that the cost of the procedure, although unnecessary, would be less than $200 and that they would be willing to foot the bill. Now, he's saying this after the deed has been done, but if Mr. MacQuattie had come to him prior and said, "I'd like to have this cyst removed because it really seems to be irritating my dog". Would he have really footed the bill??

If I look at the situation from the other side, why the heck would you operate on your animal? I have seen plenty of surgeries in my time working at an animal hospital, but that does not give me the skill and knowledge to operate on an animal, not to mention a 14 year old animal! Are there resources that could assist this gentleman? Most likely. I know there are resources for discounted or free veterinary care that he was probably not aware of. Tangent warning. I believe in many situations with both animals and people who are in need; there is an enormous unawareness of a community's resources. People seem to know about the BIG resources, such as Food Stamps, WIC, TANF, etc. But there SO many other resources that are available to pet owner's and just individual's in general. It's not a bad idea to study up on what your community has 'cause you never know when you might need something!

In other words, if this man would have done a bit of research, mind you we're assuming he had a computer with internet access and he has transportation, he may have come across resources that could have helped him and this whole thing could have been avoided.

I don't know exactly how anyone found out about this incident, but my guess is that when the area became infected he realized he needed something to help the animal and upon taking it to a clinic the entire story unfolded.

In the end, Mr. MacQuattie received a misdemeanor charge for animal cruelty and unauthorized practice of veterinary medicine. Fortunately, the man was allowed to keep his animal. Yes, what he did was stupid (even though he doesn't seem to think it was all that wrong), but do we need more animals to overflow our shelters and rescues? NO!

General Rule: Do not perform surgery on your animals!!!

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Pet of the day!!!!

Meet Chipper!!!

He's such a beautiful guy! I absolutely love his eyes! I found Chipper at the Washington County SPCA in Oklahoma. I feel like I always post dog's on my pet of the day, so I'm trying to mix it up with my kitty babies! There isn't a ton of info about Chipper except that he's a medium sized adult male who is mostly a cream color. They seem to think he has a bit of Siamese in him, which I suppose I see in his pretty blue eyes.

If you're in the Oklahoma area and want an incredibly handsome kitty, consider Chipper!!

Animal Protection Laws

In the past few months I have found myself becoming more aware of the treatment of animals around me. A few posts ago I mentioned a call I made to Animal Control regarding a dog trapped in a yard with no shelter. I never knew the true results of that case, but I have noticed that the dog is hardly ever outside anymore. Recently I have come across a home on my way to school where two-to-three dogs are tethered within a fence in separate corners of the yard. I have struggled to find any sort of legal information regarding tethering within a fenced yard in the state of Georgia, and while I have found some information, nothing has really looked legit. My eventual plan is to print the information and place it in the owner's mail box and hope that they voluntarily choose to untether their animals. Otherwise, I have no problem contacting Animal Control.

I'm a follower of Animal Legal Defense Fund's blog and I found this graph on their site that shows a ranking of animal protection laws in all 50 states. You can click on the image to increase the size and view how your state ranks.

In the state of Georgia we fall amongst the middle tier of animal protection, fortunately not amongst the worst, but still not amongst the best. I'm not sure of exactly when this information was taken but I'd be interested in seeing this graph prior to our economy falling apart. I have personally seen a huge effect on the animals in my local community. As an employee of a vet I have seen an increase in drop-offs since the economy has gone down.

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Critter of the Day!!!

Meet Mr. Sam!!!

I found Mr. Sam in Arkansas at CARE (Central Arkansas Rescue Effort). He's a 12 lb. 2 year old neutered male who has a cute black nose. Mr. Sam's owner was unable to take care of him when they became ill. He likes to play hide and seek with his kitty brothers and sisters, look out the window, and be loved on. Mr. Sam is also vaccinated and microchipped.

A Bit About Me and Ernie!!

I know I haven't really shared too much about my self in my blog, other than my love and adoration for animals. Well, in this entry I'll share a bit about what I'm doing in school as well as my future career plans, or shall we say, hopeful future career plans.

Here we go!

I'm currently in school at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, GA. I suppose I'm technically a senior, but it seems like I'll never finish!! At KSU I'm studying human services with an emphasis on non-profit administration. I originally chose this major with the intent to learn as much as I can about non-profits and hopefully open my own rescue or another similar non-profit. At times I have wavered between a concentration in non-profit and case management with the idea of possibly getting a masters in social work or even doing child welfare law. I feel as though my major and my decision to stick with non-profit has benefited me greatly! This semester I'm taking a class where I will have the ability to develop my own non-profit based upon needs assessments and evaluations, and I am also taking another class in which I will learn about the involvement of the community.

In one of my courses this semester we have been put in groups and told to choose a non-profit that is important to us that we will use throughout the semester as an example for what we are learning. As a group we were all very open to what it is that we end up doing, I mean, a non-profit that is related to the human service field is only going to do good! After some discussion regarding what our interests are and the population we want to help our group decided to find an organization that works with assistance dogs and people who are in need of them.

So. We ended up finding an organization that just happens to be based out of Georgia calledCanine Assistants. Canine Assistants is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1991. Their mission is to provide service animals for adults and children who have physical disabilities or other special needs. Their website also states that their program has helped individuals to not be seen as disabled. I am so excited about learning more about this organization! Canine service dogs have always been such an interesting thing for me and I think what they're doing is awesome!!

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Critter of the week!!

Please meet Ernie!!!

I found Ernie online at HALO (Helping Animals Live On) Animal Shelter in Arizona. Ernie's a small 1 year old Corgi mix and I think his little legs are just adorable! On their site it says that he likes to play with balls and toys!