BayTails

Update: As of October 3, all the puppies are safe and soon will be happily ensconced in loving homes!

We just got word that Alza Corporation's animal testing facility in Mountain View, which is being shut down after being bought by Johnson & Johnson, is trying to find homes for 40 16-month-old beagles.

We're not even going to speculate on what would have happened to these beagles had business continued as usual, but as it is, they've escaped the fate of many of their counterparts and have never been used for animal testing. To its credit, Alza's looking for individuals or rescues to ensure that they all get good loving homes. However, if no one steps up to take them by October 15, they'll be killed.

If your home needs a beagle, or if, like us, you think it's unconscionable that these youngsters should escape being research subjects only to be killed off anyway, Rick Bible wants to hear from you. You can reach him at azoulaybible@hotmail.com. Thanks from us and the pups!

Kudos to our pals at the Peninsula Humane Society and SPCA, whose mobile spay/neuter van marks its 1000th free surgery this month.

In late 2005, PHS/SPCA supporter (now Board member) Vanessa Getty funded the purchase of a 26-foot long vehicle, specially designed to house a surgery suite and post-surgery recovery kennels. Later, Getty and a small group of friends formed the San Francisco Bay Humane Friends and committed to funding three years of operational expenses for the program. All expenses — gas, insurance, staff time, surgery supplies, printing for promotional flyers, etc. — are paid for by the San Francisco Bay Humane Friends.

Now, at least once per week, PHS/SPCA staff — led by one of the shelter’s veterinarians — bring the custom vehicle to a targeted community in San Mateo County or San Francisco and offer low-income and fixed-income residents free spay/neuter surgeries for their pets. In many cases, these are folks who otherwise would not be able to afford the surgery. More “fixed” animals means fewer accidental litters and fewer unwanted animals at the shelter. And, fixed animals are much less likely to act aggressively and contract forms of cancer.

"It's wonderful when we have a donor or small group of donors in this case who ask how they can make a difference, then they make it happen," said shelter spokesperson Scott Delucchi.

In the mid 1970s, PHS/SPCA took in as many as 45,000 dogs and cat per year. The last few years, the number has been around or below 10,000 — a significant decrease largely due to spay/neuter advocacy and education efforts. The mobile spay/neuter program is further driving down the number of unwanted pets in San Mateo and San Francisco Counties by reaching people who previously could not or would not fix their pets.

The clinic format is simple. The shelter schedules a series of clinics in one community, then promotes the clinics in the targeted community a few weeks before the first one. Pet owners do not make appointments; they simply drop-off dogs or cats between 8-9 a.m. — first-come, first-served — and return in the late afternoon for pick-up. "No strings attached, expect for the little ones our vet uses during surgery," said Delucchi.

For safety and practical reasons, PHS/SPCA does not accept dogs over 80 pounds or over 8 years old; puppies and kittens must be at least 16 weeks of age and all animals must be vaccinated. Owners, for most clinics, are limited to one pet per family. Pets must fast from midnight on the evening before surgery. Clinic staff give pet owners recovery instructions at the time of pick-up.

PHS/SPCA has been visiting East Redwood City and San Francisco regularly for the past year. Upcoming Pacifica clinics are set for September 8 and October 13 and will be held in a parking lot adjacent to the Little Brown House at 1850 Francisco Blvd. PHS/SPCA has chosen Serramonte Shopping Center for the Daly City clinics, and will visit on September 12 and 26, and October 10 and 24. The mobile unit will be parked near the shopping center’s electronic message board in the main parking lot.

Bureaucratic bloodlust is in full sway at Skanda Vale in Wales, where police are dragging chanting monks and civilians from Shambo's temple in an attempt to drag the bull to slaughter.

Monks earlier today turned away the would-be killers, demanding a warrant. When the y returned with a warrant, the gates were locked. The temple was surrounded by hundreds of chanting men, women, and children. Provoking bitter laughter, officials asked the monks to stop chanting lest the audible support "distress the animal."

Now the chanters are being forcibly dragged from the temple. More as it happens.

The monks have come up with numerous non-lethal solutions, including a charity in India willing to take Shambo, but nothing less than death will satisfy the authorities, seemingly.

Full story

Shambo's Webcam

After losing their court battle to keep the sacred bull Shambo alive, the monks of Skanda Vale in Wales are calling on supporters to join them in prayer and noncooperation around the bull's home at the monastery.

Shambo, who's been lovingly nurtured and worshipped since his birth at the center six years ago, tested positive for bovine TB in the spring. Despite the fact he's in excellent health and isolated from other animals, authorities are determined to slaughter him rather than allow him to be treated.

The monks, who see Shambo's life as every bit as valuable as their own, have refused to cooperate in committing the ultimate betrayal of his trust. Said Brother Alex, a monk at the temple, “They will have to come back with their warrant and, no doubt, their gang of thugs." Shambo's primary caregiver, Brother Michael, added that not only will the MooTube Internet camera record any attempts to take Shambo away, "he's locked here and we will be having an act of worship in front of where he is. If the Welsh Assembly Government want to take him out of there they will have to interrupt an act of worship.”

Welsh authorities, meanwhile, have announced their intention to drag Shambo to slaughter tomorrow at 8 a.m. British time, saying, "We appeal to the community to co-operate fully in order to minimise distress to the animal, and to ensure the safety of all concerned." Apparently the distress they plan to cause "the animal" doesn't count.

The monks have issued an urgent call for help here to protect Shambo.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has ordered Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick to stay away from training camp until the league finishes reviewing the federal indictments against him and three cronies for allegedly running a dogfighting operation, the sheer depravity of which has sent shock waves around the country.

According to the football site Scout.com, Goodell wrote to Vick conceding that on the one hand the court proceedings must run their course, and on the other, NFL players did not have to be convicted of a crime to be ousted on grounds of moral turpitude.

Wrote Goodell, "While it is for the criminal justice system to determine your guilt or innocence, it is my responsibility as commissioner of the National Football League to determine whether your conduct, even if not criminal, nonetheless violated league policies, including the Personal Conduct Policy.”

That policy states: "Persons who fail to live up to this standard of conduct are guilty of conduct detrimental and subject to discipline, even where the conduct itself does not result in a conviction of a crime."

Vick continues to draw his NFL preseason pay. But Scout.com points out that if, as is not wholly unlikely, he's suspended for a significant number of games, the team is likely to go looking for other talent.

Full article.

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.

Monitored by rescue workers from The Humane Society of the United States , Mariah and Sahara -- a mother and daughter pair believed to have been together since the younger one's birth 17 years ago -- will find open pastures to roam, plenty of food and proper medical care.

The rescue of these two horses and 28 others came after The HSUS and The Fund for Animals won a court ruling closing down Cavel International, the last operational horse slaughter plant in the country. The horses had been offloaded and were queued up to be slaughtered when news of the court decision reached Cavel managers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture pulled inspectors from the plant.

More.