Archives for Animal Rescue category
It has been called the Great Beagle Escape. BeagleMania. Beagleopogus. Beaglearama. BeFreegles. …and many more names that were both tender, funny, or sweet.
In reality it was very simple.
It was about telling 120 beings that their lives were worth something.
That we are sorry for our species.
That we apologize for what some of us have done.
That we aren’t ALL like that and those of us that aren’t – want to make a difference.
To help.
To embrace those lives, whisper in their ears that it is over now, that we’ll not let anything bad happen to them ever again.
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Filed in
Animal Rescue by kerry on Jul 17, 2010. There are comments.
The first Beagle went home a few days ago. Isn’t that amazing? Watching him through the window of the car as his caretakers took him to his forever home was incredibly heartwarming.
Shortly after the Beagles arrived here I surfed the highways and byways of the Internet and found some blogs where we were being discussed. Pets Alive has enemies and detractors online who seek to tear us down. They also seek to harm me as well. Shrug. Whatever. We all know what PA does and that while I can be a jerk I do the best I can and let my moral compass lead me. That’s really all anyone can ask of me or anyone else.
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Filed in
Animal Rescue,
Animal Testing by Admnistrator on Jul 13, 2010. There are comments.
Independence Day is a day of great celebration at my house. In fact, it is the only party that I host all year. The party is today, and I’m expecting 50 to 60 people this evening.
Unlike certain people and Presidents, I do not apologize for being American. This is the day I celebrate with my friends and family the fact that this is the greatest country ever created. On July 2, 1776 (yes, it wasn’t actually July 4) the Second Continental Congress approved a resolution of independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. On July 4 they approved the formal Declaration we all know.
This was the document marking the birth of this nation. My den has many pictures and photos on the wall, but the one that hangs over the desk where I work and write and think has a large painting of George Washington addressing that Congress so that I always remember the toil and sacrifice those great men made so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have today.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Those words have been called the most potent and consequential words in American History.
Freedom. Freedom is the ability to make choices without constraint.
Liberty. Liberty is the right to behave according to one’s own personal responsibility and free will.
Have you ever considered that the root word of liberate is liberty? A few weeks ago we got a call from our friends at Best Friends. They had been contacted by Win Animal Rights (WAR), a New York City based organization that had gotten wind of an animal testing lab in New Jersey that had gone bankrupt. There were 120 Beagles and 55 monkeys that had been left there to die.
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Filed in
Animal Rescue,
No-kill by Admnistrator on Jul 03, 2010. There are comments.
On Tuesday, Oreo’s Law will be voted on by the New York State (NYS) Assembly Agriculture Committee. But it is not likely to pass without a large showing of community support between now and then. That is because the Committee Chairman is recommending a “hold,” the equivalent of being tabled, which would mean Oreo’s Law would die in committee, despite the fact that it has legislative cosponsors across the state and supporters outnumber the opposition.
If Oreo’s Law is defeated, thousands upon thousands of cats, kittens, dogs, puppies, rabbits, and other animals will continue to be needlessly killed in NYS shelters every year—animals Oreo’s Law has the power to save.
A statewide survey of NYS rescue groups found that over 70% were being turned away because the shelters were hostile to rescue groups, and then those shelters turned around and killed the very animals the rescuers were willing to save. Shelter directors across New York State are arbitrarily turning away qualified rescue groups because they are hostile to rescue and arbitrarily refuse to work with them. We have experienced this time and time again, right here in Orange County, in our own backyard. Time and again we offer to take in animals that other local shelters are about to kill and they turn us away and laugh about it. THIS HAS TO STOP!
WE HAVE MADE IT EASY FOR YOU TO EMAIL ALL THE AG MEMBERS WITH ONE CLICK! Just click this link: http://www.petsalive.com/email/
and it will do everything FOR you.
Why should animals across New York State be killed even though rescue groups have offered to save these animals? Today, those animals are ending up in landfills, when they should be going to rescue groups where they will be cared for at no cost to taxpayers until a permanent and loving home can be found. Oreo’s Law would give NYS shelter animals that future. The law would make it illegal for a shelter to kill an animal if a qualified rescue group is willing to save that animal’s life. Oreo’s Law was written with the assistance of the nation’s top animal lawyers, the nation’s most successful former and current shelter directors, and those who have actually created successful No Kill communities (which neither the ASPCA nor Mayor’s Alliance, Oreo’s Law chief opponents, have been able to do despite hundreds of millions of dollars in combined annual revenues).
It saves lives and it saves money.
And it protects against hoarders, abusers, and dog fighters.
So the animals need you. They need the voice of the people, every day animal lovers, and rescuers to speak for them. They need you to call committee members and urge them to vote "Yes." Because they don’t have anyone else and only an overwhelming show of support can save Oreo’s Law from defeat and the animals from certain death.
WITHOUT YOU MAKING THESE CALLS AND SENDING THESE EMAILS – OREO’S LAW is dead – just like Oreo is today,
even though Pets Alive offered to give her sanctuary.
Tragically, right doesn’t always defeat might. Sometimes the animals don’t win. Sometimes they continue to get killed despite a readily available lifesaving and rescue alternative. Sometimes a feral kitten who a rescue group is willing to socialize and place in a loving home will instead get injected with poison from a bottle marked “fatal plus” and then dumped in a landfill. Sometimes a puppy who can go to rescue and be guaranteed a home will be killed instead. Sometimes a person who kills an abused dog a rescue group was willing to save gets away with murder. For their sake, please do not let this be one of those times. This may be the best chance we have as a generation to make a PURPOSEFUL POSITIVE impact for animals! We can change the world here folks – please. Help. This is critical. Time is of the essence. Don’t think about it – take a few moments to send an email or make a call.
Please call (all the assembly phone numbers can be found here: http://bit.ly/9nC0z2)and e-mail the NYS Assembly Agriculture Committee members today.
WE HAVE MADE IT SUPER EASY FOR YOU TO EMAIL THEM ALL WITH ONE CLICK! Just click this link: http://www.petsalive.com/email/ and it will do everything FOR you.
Because without you, the animals don’t stand a chance.
This is Oreo. She was killed even though Pets Alive offered her sanctuary.
Don’t let this happen to another animals.
Thank you to Nathan Winograd for compiling much of this text.
Filed in
Animal Rescue,
No-kill by kerry on Jun 10, 2010. There are comments.
West Virginia may be almost heaven to John Denver, but as a state West Virginians are quite poor. In fact, it ranks 49th out of 50 for per-capita income of $16,477 and 49th out of 50 for median household income at $37,989. Comparatively New York ranks 8th at $23,889 per-capita and 17th at $56,033 median.
It’s a tough life for many West Virginians as well. They toil in coal mines for 12 hours at a time, sometimes stooped over in tunnels as short as four feet high, breathing in coal dust and the dampness of the mines. Ottawa, West Virginia is about 45 minutes from Charleston along a windy road that goes pretty much through nothing.
I know what coal smells like, and as the rain poured down on Sunday I drove the Pets Alive van down Route 119 from Charleston to Logan and I could smell the coal in the air. The coal mine on the side of Route 119 changed my concept of big. It was enormous, with coal silos and conveyor belts and hundreds of lights. That’s the part that is ABOVE the ground. The action as we know is below.
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Filed in
Animal Rescue,
No-kill by Admnistrator on Mar 22, 2010. There are comments.
Kerry’s face was all smile as she wheeled the $5 cart (yes she complained when she paid the five bucks) across the terminal canopy. There was a single battered plastic pet carrier on it. It was the usual bland tan color, with stripes of gray duct tape criss-crossing it. Pets Alive NYC was written above the wire “gate” at the front.
I had tucked the rented van in behind a full-sized bus that was picking up crew members from American Airlines. As Kerry and the pups passed by the crew members every single person craned their neck to get a glimpse of them. I didn’t realize that where I had wedged the van to hide from the Port Authority Police “shoo away squad” blocked the driver from getting to the cargo doors for the bus. He looked at me, looked at the crate, and waited patiently, without a sound. When I picked up the crate off the cart and headed for the van he offered to help. Nice guy. It dawned on me later that he had purposely dragged his feet loading the bus so Kerry would have enough time to make the three trips to get the dogs.
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Filed in
Animal Rescue by Admnistrator on Mar 03, 2010. There are comments.
Tomorrow we gather for our Thanksgiving meal, stuff ourselves and then spend a tryptophan-induced restful afternoon with the people we love.
Back in 1620, a group of about 100 religious dissidents from England found themselves in Plymouth, Massachusetts after a short stop in the Netherlands. They were the first settlers in this new world, and things were rough.
During the first winter here 50 out of a hundred settlers died of starvation and sickness. Tradition has it that in the spring they planted their first harvest and the abundance of some of the crops was amazing. They were able to pay off their financiers in England quicker than they expected, and there was still plenty left over.
They were thankful for their very lives – thankful to be part of the surviving Pilgrims. They were thankful for their harvest – thankful that they were reaping in abundance the seeds they had sown.
A little over a week ago we were all shocked at the senseless killing of Oreo, the dog who had survived being thrown from a six story rooftop, landing on air conditioning units which broke her fall.
As we know she died not from her injuries but as a result of the decision to take her life rather than respond to our request to take her to Pets Alive for rehabilitation.
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Filed in
Animal Rescue by Admnistrator on Nov 25, 2009. There are comments.
Tonight (Wednesday), as animal lovers hold a candlelight vigil outside the ASPCA offices for Oreo, the miracle dog killed by the ASPCA, we are thrilled to let you know that we received word that a bill to allow animal welfare organizations the right to request animals be given to their care when a shelter is planning to euthanize them will be introduced in the State Legislature this week by Assembly Member Micah Z. Kellner and State Senator Thomas K. Duane.
The bill is modeled after a similar law in California (the Hayden law), and would have saved Oreo and brought her to us. This is a MAJOR step in the right direction for ensuring the safety of the animals in the care of organizations like the ASPCA. It must pass.
We expect that there will be shouting and foot stomping and doomsday predictions (as there was in California) from the ASPCA and the big money organizations, and it is VITAL that you help us keep their feet to the fire. Support this bill, and support the legislators who introduced it. Write the Assembly members and/or State Senators and let them know what’s going on and that they need to support this bill. Call them if you are so inclined. Spread the word to your friends and neighbors.
Send your expressions of support to:
Assembly Member Kellner at kellnerm@assembly.state.ny.us
State Senator Tom Duane at duane@senate.state.ny.us
Read the press release here:
http://www.micahkellner.net/2009/11/18/oreos-law-would-give-dogs-a-second-chance-at-life/
Please take just a second to email them and thank them.
Then spread the news. Post this to your Facebook and Myspace pages. Twitter it. Digg it, Reddit. WHATEVER social network you use, please use it. Let’s get everyone involved.
Kerry & Matt
Unfamiliar with the Oreo case?
You can read a great summary here in the L.A.Times.You can also read our own page here, and check our press page.
Be the difference. YOU are all the have.
Filed in
Animal Rescue by kerry on Nov 19, 2009. There are comments.
We are naive. For organizations like the ASPCA, “animal welfare” is big business. They are money raising machines, using star power to raise millions to further their efforts. Paying their CEO, Ed Sayres, the man who responded to staff emails trying to save Oreo, the dog thrown off the roof, nursed to health and then murdered by the ASPCA by saying “just do your job” more than half a million dollars a year.
Pets Alive is not a money raising machine. We save animals. That’s it. Every day we pour over emails, phone calls and phone messages from other shelters, trying our best to save as many as we can. Understand one fundamental fact that some people seem to be forgetting. They are all equal. Every soul is as precious as the next. Each one is completely innocent and each one deserves life.
I was broken when I left my office last night. I was completely disgusted. I went out to dinner and drank more than I ate. Kerry was heartbroken as well.
The question left in our minds is very simple: how could an organization that has virtually unlimited resources claim to have run out of options and kill an animal? We’re not talking about an animal dying of cancer or ripped to shreds in a dogfight. There are no shades of gray here. No wiggle room. There’s only a binary reality – right and wrong. Black and white. Yes or no. Life or death. They chose death. Period. Why? Because that’s what Sayres and his minions wanted for Oreo. That’s what they thought was best for her. Can you f’ing believe that? They gave us all the finger and told us that death was the best thing for Oreo.
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Filed in
Animal Rescue by Admnistrator on Nov 14, 2009. There are comments.
Hi everyone. Matt here. At Pets Alive we are eager to collaborate with other shelters. We try very hard to set aside political views, debates over kill or no-kill, personalities and everything else, staying laser focused on the animals. They are all that matter. We will fight tooth and nail for each and every one.
You’ve helped us many times. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. Many of our supporters donate to many animal welfare organizations. Many donate to the SPCA of New York City – I’m not talking about your local SPCA or the Sullivan County SPCA (good friends of ours), or the Westchester County SPCA (again, friends of ours).
I’m speaking of the New York City ASPCA – $85 million in donations last year, a President named Ed Sayres, whose salary is more than our budget for the year. They spent $10 million on advertising last year. $10 million. And we struggle to buy stamps.
Know what though? If they’re saving animals then we support them one hundred percent. And they saved 4000 last year. That’s great. That comes to roughly $20,000 an animal, but at least they’re saved, right?
You would think so. You’d be wrong.
Oreo was a pit bull mix that was thrown from the top of a six story building. She ended up at the ASPCA, who set her broken legs, fixed her shattered body and got her back on her feet. Then they killed her.
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Filed in
Animal Rescue by kerry on Nov 13, 2009. There are comments.