17 Dogs Left to Drown, Rescued

We were sent a link last night about 17 poodle-mix dogs that were left kenneled in what might be a puppy mill during flooding in Brownsville, Texas.  The owner(s) evacuated to save their own hide but left the dogs to drown.  Fortunately, the dogs were rescued in time - they were up to their neck in water - but they spent at least 24 hours in the water and some were suffering from hypothermia.  You can read the story here.

The dogs are currently at the local animal shelter but they will be returned to their owner.  No charges will be filed because the Sheriff and District Attorney's office decided the animals are well cared for, being abandoned "unintentionally" is not a crime, etc.

However ....

We have received a copy of a press release regarding this case.  Please notice the name and office of the person releasing it.  More elected officials and law enforcement officers need to take animal neglect, cruelty and abandonment more seriously. Way too often, laws passed to protect animals are ignored and official refuse to prosecute. Puppy mill owners are undoubtedly celebrating the fact the law has said there is no reason to prosecute the humans who abandoned the animals.

Thank you for saying differently, Pat, and for standing up for the animals!

Press Release

September 23, 2010

Re: Inhumane treatment of animals and prosecution
Just read the Herald article where the Sheriff is not planning to file charges against the owners of the 17 dogs abandoned. If true, this says a lot about the sheriff and the DA's Office, which should cause all pet owners and pet advocates to withdraw their support. I urge all to call the Sheriff at 956-554-6700 or 440-8441 and the DA's office 544-0849 requesting the revisit his matter and prosecute it to the fullest extent of the law with the harshest punishment allowed. Under no circumstances can this case be ignored or dismissed. They both need to value animals. Leaving pets kenneled up in a flood to drown is a crime!!!!

How is it that the owners took off to escape the flood waters, but left all these dogs kenneled up to drown. Why not take them to a pet facility to keep them until it is safe to return. Were all these dogs vaccinated? Is this a puppy mill? Are they paying taxes on money earned from selling dogs? Do they have a permit to operate a puppy mill? These and other questions come to mind that the DA and the Sheriff's department should be investigating.

We do not want puppy mills in Cameron County. We do not tolerate inhumane treatment of pets. We ask that violators be prosecuted to the fullest and ask both the DA and Sheriff to revisit this matter asap.

Thank you,
Pat Ahumada
Brownsville Texas Mayor

Asta's Surprise Party

Scruffy, Lacie & Stan are throwing a welcome home from Rome party for Asta - at Asta's place. You know how it is. When he returns from his trip to Italy, he won't want to rest; he'll want to p-a-r-t-y! So his friends are going to oblige.

Of course, his pawrents might have to rent a hotel room for the duration, unless they can sleep through a woofie and kitty bash.

You can click on the photo or this link and read the details. You can also post the photo on your own blog.

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The Oprah show on puppy mills in Pennsylvania was very good. Good thing we were prepared with a box of tissues handy.

Millions of folks watch Oprah and we hope at least a large number of them take the information to heart. We wish they all would.

Puppy Mills on Oprah

We don't usually watch TV but for those who haven't yet heard, this Friday's hour-long Oprah show - April 4th - is scheduled to be devoted to puppy mills, and related topics, such as adoptions, euthanasia, and spay and neuter. Check your local TV listings for the time and channel.

Yes, Oprah Winfrey will do a tear-jerker, so have a box of tissues handy.

If you are interested in reading more on this subject, we refer you to the April 2 post on Wayne Pacelle's blog, A Humane Nation.

Since Oprah Winfrey is so popular and viewed by millions, perhaps this subject will get enough exposure to prompt more people to incite legislation to stop or at least stunt the proliferation and horrors of puppy mills.

Hodgepodge

Today we're going to try to do a little catching up since we are so far behind. So this will be a bit of a hodgepodge. Notice we didn't say this will catch us up, just that we're working on it.
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One of the happy stories of North Shore Animal League America is of 3 Chihuahua puppies born without front legs. Yes, all 3 of them. You can watch a short video of their therapy to tone their muscles to prepare them for a healthier future here.

And then comes the exciting part. Chihuahuas on wheels. Yes, these little pups are learning to get around on wheels now. There's a cute photo and story here. It is always refreshing and uplifting to see where folks are helping animals instead of abusing them.
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Simone is posting again after a hiatus beyond his control. (His mom forget her blogger password.). Stop by and say hello.
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Rascal (Catzee's brother) has begun chemo for Hodgkins-like lymphoma. Stop by and encourage his family.
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This is just a reminder about the Blainville Wires. LaPort will be sentenced later this month and the judge might allow him to keep the 18 of those horribly abused puppy mill dogs he still owns and wants back. Stories like this make us wish we were attack dogs so we could give him a bite of justice.

It's too late to sign the petition, but in case you have forgotten the story, here is a short video.

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Dr. Tweety & da Fab Five stopped by recently with a comment we very much appreciated. We knowz dat you iz postin' stuff dat iz hard fur some of us to admit & fur dis we wants to givez you an award.

Mr. Hendrix gave us the same award for always keeping us informed about animals and beans who need help or to be found and brought home.

The Warm & Caring Award

Da award goez to kitteez who go da extra stretch to be a warm & carin’ kitty to der momee & dadee & to otherz. (We hope they won't take it back after we said we'd like to be attack dogs and bite abusers.)

We would like to pass this on to Asta, who is kind to all, the Wildcats 3 the dog log for all the information they dispense to us, Karen Jo who helps us get to know one another better, and Sassy and Momo kitty, for including so many kitties and woofies in their wild adventures.

Thank you both for this.
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Shadow the woofie at Chance Bond's gave us an award made by his mom because those kittehs know how to treat their woofies good and it makes me proud to call them my friends. Thank you, Shadow. We have to. They're bigger than we are. (Just kidding. We love them.)

Friend of a Woofie Award

Here are the rules: Give this award to at least one blogger who has a woofie as a friend. If they let a woofie blog sometimes, posts information on woofie safety, or just love to cuddle with a woofie of their own, then send this award to them. Make sure you leave a comment on their blog letting them know you are giving them this award and don't forget to link back to the person who gave it to you.

We're going to give this award to Tia the kitty (happy belated birthday party, Tia) who shares a blog with Sitka the woofie.

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This update is also added onto our last post, "Leash Resolution": We sent an email to both companies about their products and included a link to JFF so they could read our complaints. Aspen Pet responded right away and said they forwarded the information to their product engineer and quality directors for review. They offered to replace their leashes, but since the first two weren't helpful and the one even caused abrasions on Jan's hand, we opted to send Jan back to Wal-mart with those 2 and the 2 Petnation leashes for a refund.

And today we had an email from Firstrax regarding the Petnation reflective leashes. They also offered to replace the leashes.

The Blainville Wires

Puppy mills are criminal, no matter where they are based. We followed links to a story on one in Blainville, which is near Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 97 wire haired terriers were removed from deplorable conditions. Almost 40 dogs had to be euthanized. The remainder of the dogs have been fostered or adopted for the past two years.

The man responsible, Marc-Andre Laporte, has been convicted and will be sentenced in late February 2008. But he is facing a mere six months of jail time and up to $4,000 in fines. And he wants 18 of his best producers returned.

Those who have been fostering his "favorites" - favorite breeders - can not adopt them until and unless the court makes a decision on whether Mr. Laporte will be able to reclaim them. There is an online petition underway to prevent the return of these dogs to a convicted animal abuser.

Once all the signatures are collected, a printout will be given to Elizabeth Pierce for distribution to the media because it is illegal in Canada to hand petitions to the court.




After you watch the video, if you would like to sign the online petition, click here.

The Funny Farm is against all types of animal cruelty! And we appreciate those who will stand up and defend any animal.

(s) Jan's Funny Farm