BayTails

Last operating slaughterhouse in U.S. was briefly shut down in March by the feds but was allowed to kill thousands more horses while the case was in the courts. The legislature took care of that by banning the practice in the state. Now the issue moves to getting a permanent nationwide ban through Congress; the bill would also prohibit the current end-run by which killers simply truck their victims to slaughterhouses in Canada or Mexico. Read more.

The residents of Oakland's King Estates neighborhood love the goats who are brought in every summer to clear the hills of highly flammable weeds. That didn't stop an unknown creep, who will probably get away with it, from shooting 15 young goats dead with a .22. Read more.

Anyone who would like to contribute to the reward fund for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perp can do so by contacting either Megan Webb (MWebb@oakland net.com) or Sgt. Dave Cronin (Dcronin@oaklandnet.com). Tax deductible donations for the reward can be sent to: Friends of the Oakland Animal Shelter, P.O. Box 3132, Oakland, CA 94609   or made online at www.oaklandsanimals.org. Note on your check or online form that the donation is specifically for the Reward Fund for the Goats.

May 11, 2007 (San Mateo) – Beginning today and through July, the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA (PHS/SPCA) will be adopting, for free, cats at least 8 years old. The promotion coincides with what shelters call “kitten season,” the annual spring and summer flood of incoming kittens which leads to adopters bypassing older cats awaiting adoption.

“The idea is to avoid a cat-astrophe,” said PHS/SPCA President Ken White. “As an organization, we take flack for going against convention, but we are consistent in that we look for ways to save lives, which this will do.”

The catastrophe is the lives of middle-aged to older shelter cats during spring and summer months. They get little or no attention from potential adopters who are drawn instead to cute, bouncy kittens and languish in cages for months, perhaps even longer than a year until they can be placed in homes. Older cats with medical conditions may be euthanized due to a lack of available space.

Some shelters will argue that animals adopted to the public for free aren’t properly valued, while others may contend that people with bad intentions will seize the opportunity to get cats for free.

PHS/SPCA counters that adopting older cats as part of this promotion is far better than seeing cats languish and potentially be euthanized. Plus, they rely on their staff matchmakers to spot bad matches.

“People with bad intentions will simply not spend the time we require for our adoption process,” said shelter spokesperson Scott Delucchi.

“I know we’ll have to answer to some members of the public, and possibly even some of our own volunteers who question the promotion, but we are clear,” continued Delucchi. “This is good for animals and will mean we are able to place more into homes this spring and summer.”

Today, PHS/SPCA has 14 cats at least eight years of age, and another dozen or so awaiting space in the adoption areas. Kittens continue to enter the shelter population daily.

Unlike the cats advertised as “free to good home” in the paper and online, PHS/SPCA’s free cats come with all the same extras included in all dog and cat adoptions from the shelter: a spay/neuter surgery, license, microchip form of identification, health exam and a post-adoption health assuredness plan.

“That cat advertised as ‘free’ in the paper will cost most people at least $200 if they do what we do for free with every adoption,” said White. “We are aggressively seeking good homes for cats who have at least three or four of their nine lives left.”

PHS/SPCA is open for adoptions seven days per week. Weekday hours are 11 am to 7 pm while weekend hours are 11 am to 6 pm. The shelter asks potential adopters to arrive an hour before closing in order to complete the adoption process. Some cats are featured on PHS/SPCA’s Web site.

Diane Allevato, MHS executive director, will speak at the San Francisco Commonwealth Club on Tuesday, May 29 about “Planning for Animal Care During a Disaster: Lessons Learned From Katrina.” The Marin Humane Society coordinated a massive airlift of 2,500 cats and dogs out of areas that were ravaged by Hurricane Katrina to shelters in Northern California. Diane will discuss some of the issues that first responders face in rescuing animals and in sheltering animal refugees, as well as what people with pets should do to prepare and the animal rescue challenges that will face the region. More info here.