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!