Delta loses a cat named Tiger

Team Vivi volunteers always have their nose to the ground about animal-related mishaps at the airlines. And they gave me a heads-up about the plight of Ezra Malek, who lost his kitty when Delta dropped the carrier from a loading platform at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Now living in Israel, Malek is still hoping against hope that Tiger will be found. For the whole story, click here.

The Cruelest Cut of All

The Michael Vick backlash has only begun. One web site, NeuterSickVick.com, takes things perhaps a step too far, though its  T-shirts are reportedly selling briskly.

Letter writing is a far better idea. If you're feeling uninspired, copy the sample letter to football commissioner Roger Goodell that the AKC has created.

Fans who contemplate burning their Michael Vick jerseys can trade them in on July 29 at Blair Field in Long Beach, Calif.: In return they will get free admission for themselves and their four-footed friend, and will be seated in a special pet-friendly section of the Long Beach Armada ballpark, whose team plays in the regional Golden Baseball League.

Rabies baiting in western Suffolk

If you live in western Suffolk County, heads up (and down): The county's Rabies Baiting Program is being held implemented today through Friday.

About 19,000 one-inch-square fishmeal baits containing oral rabies vaccine will be distributed by county vehicles north of the Long Island Expressway, west of Elwood Road and east of the Nassau County line. Another 64,000 will be dropped by helicopter in primarily wooded areas.

Contact with the vaccine is not harmful to humans or domestic animals, though it can cause vomiting in dogs and cars if ingested in large quantities.  Do not make bare-hand contact with the bait, and wash your hands immediately if you inadvertently do so.

In case of accidental human ingestion, contact the poison control center at (516) 542-2323.

According to the county, 15 cases of rabid raccoons have been confirmed, all on the Nassau-Suffolk border in the northwestern portion of Huntington.

A larger, county-wide rabies campaign is slated for September.

How much is that bunny in the window?

Bunny rescuers are in an uproar over PetSmart's recent decision to start offering dwarf rabbits in some of their stores.  The chain has had a long-standing policy of not selling puppies and kittens.

Though the rabbits will be spayed and neutered before sale, groups such as the House Rabbit Society contend that rabbit care is too nuanced for rabbits to be sold as an over-the-counter commodity.

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, called the policy change a "sell-out to commercialism."

In recent years, individual PetsSmart stores have worked with local rescuers to place adoptable rescued bunnies through its stores.

Sad tale of a lost Iggie

From the Internet comes this sad tale of a teeny Italian greyhound lost in the county of kings:

<<We lost our dog on Sunday 7/15/07 in Brooklyn, in the vicinity of  Flatbush and Lenox. Some people said they saw her on Ocean Ave and Regent and E 21st. She is an Italian Greyhound, medium size. We live in NJ, she has never been in the city. Even in the suburb, she is shy, timid and afraid of people, specially scary of loud noise.

Unfortunately, we were out of town a couple of days and our friend brought her to Brooklyn and she got lost right away. I know she was taken outside and was afraid of seeing so many people on the street and noise of the cars/trucks, and she went off leash, her leash has her name tag, so she is out on the street without a name tag.

We love our dog, she is like a daughter, sister to us. She is a sweet girl, beautiful dog. We are devastated. Please help me find her home. I know she is still in the area of around Lenox / Flatbush/Ocean ave/Regent..etc.  or if she can cross the busy street, I don't see how, she then ended up in the Prospect park.

I have travelled to Brooklyn in the last three days from dawn to dusk, looking all around and calling out her name, but could not find her.

We just got back home to get a bite to eat. I will go back to the Brooklyn streets tomorrow, but I don't see where she could hide,  there is no grass areas, and a thousands people on the street
walking, talking..she would she be, a scary little greyhound.

I placed [posters with her picture] all over the streets, but i found people there take them off, so I put up new add everyday, but I have to go to work on Monday and won't be able to travel to Brooklyn until 6PM. I am so hopeless, desparate, my heart broken, could not eat, sleep, think of her and how much she must be so scare.. on the street.

Please help me network out to find Gracie and to bring her home. I also offer a monetary reward. I will help you save your dogs, I promise. PLEASE HELP ME SEARCHING FOR HER AND BRING HER HOME.

Thank you so very much,
Theresa
(908) 433-6401>>

The Vivi Crusade

From Vivi search coordinator Bonnie Folz:

<<The Vivi Crusade

The goal of the Vivi Crusade is to make air travel safer for pets. The Vivi Crusade came about after Vivi the whippet, CH Bohem’s C’est la Vie, was lost while in the care of Delta Airlines at

JFK

Airport

, after competing at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show in February 2006.

Vivi is still missing.

In 2005, the Safe Air Travel for Animals Act was put into play. Also known as the “Boris Bill”, named after Barbara Listenik’s dog, who was lost during transport via the airlines, requires that airlines must report on all pets lost, injured or killed while in their care.

This reporting is posted monthly on the USA Department of Transportation web site: http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/index.htm

Unfortunately, this past May, Ezra Malek’s cat, Tiger, was lost at the

Atlanta

airport.  Tiger’s crate was mistakenly mixed in with luggage and was dropped as it was being loaded onto a Delta Airlines flight.  Tiger’s crate fell to the ground, the door became unhinged, and Tiger ran off.  Tiger is still missing.

This incident was not listed on the DOT’s Air Consumer report for the month of May.

Fortunately, the number of pets lost, injured or killed since the reporting process began, is approximately 100 incidents. However, one pet that is lost, injured or killed during airline transport, is one too many. Granted, some of the incidents that have been reported were at no fault of the airlines, but through better education of airline employees and educating the pet owners, fewer incidents may happen.

Also, as part of the Safe Air Travel for Animals Act, all airline employees must be trained in the proper handling of pets while in their care. Through numerous correspondences from many people, who have used the airlines for their pet’s transport, we are finding out that there doesn't seem to be much training at all.

We've also come to find that many pets that are lost during their flights are either lost or misplaced somewhere within the airport/terminal or they were mistakenly shipped to another airport. There seems to be no real tracking done on the crates these pets are traveling in and much confusion and heartache to the pet’s owner when these type of incidents occur. So far, we have not seen any of these types of incidents reported by the airlines. It appears the airline reporting is only done if the animal is NOT recovered and the lost pet incident, whether it's lost for an hour or a day, does NOT get reported.

The Vivi Crusade needs your help to gather information on any and all incidents of injured, killed or lost pets, even if the pet was lost for a short period of time and whether or not there was no report filed by the owner.

With pets becoming a more popular part of people’s families and more pet friendly travel destinations becoming available, it is imperative we work together to get these changes made.

Please forward the Vivi Crusade Questionnaire to as many animal lovers as possible; all dog and cat fanciers, clubs and organizations, breeders, veterinarians, pet supply stores, etc., in every city of every state, so that we can gather information, educate pet owners and help the Vivi Crusade make air travel safer for pets.  All pet lovers should be contacted.

The Vivi Crusade will work together with the airlines, various other agencies and crate manufacturers, etc. to make this happen.

Professional and conscious consideration and education are key.

A cover letter and the questionnaire to be sent out can be found on our web site www.vivicrusade.org  Please check back on the web site, as it is still under construction and more information and links will be posted going forward. 

We will ask that Denise Flaim continue to post updated information of the Vivi Crusade on the Newsday Animal House blog www.newsday.com/animalhouse

For more information about transporting animals, please visit:

http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/publications/animals.htm

Together, we will make a difference.

Keeping the faith and making a difference

Bonnie>>

Ridgeback roundup

I'm getting a lot of nice emails the world over from today's column, which talks about my beloved breed being placed on a list of "dangerous dogs" in Dublin, Ireland.

Anyone who lives with these intuitive hounds knows that their default with children is demonstrated by my intact 8-year-old male, Blitz, and my then-2-year-old son, Stephen, pictured here.

Meanwhile, here's a link to video of a Ridgeback in Serbia nursing a very unlikely puppy. Who says our hounds aren't versatile, not to mention nurturing?

The Mahatma said ...

... the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

No surprise, then, that there has been a dustup over the Boston Globe's rehash of a trip Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney took more than two decades ago, when he tied his Irish setter's crate to the top of his station wagon for a 12-hour trip from Boston to the family lake house in Ontario. (The punchline -- for the former Massachusetts governor, anyway -- came when Seamus had a housebreaking faux pas and he had to pull over for a scrub down of both car and dog -- what the paper called a preview of that great leadership skill, "emotion-free crisis management.")

"Mitt Romney: Dog Torturer!" howled one partisan blog. "Romney's Cruel Canine Adventure," intoned Time, evoking Chevy Chase in "National Lampoon's Vacation" and, noting that the elevated accommodations were not only windy, and terrifying, but probably illegal in light of state animal-cruelty statutes.

The Los Angeles Times used this as an opportunity to catalog other egregious animal acts by national politicos past and present. Give it a read, and let me know if you'd ever let former Senate Majority leader Bill Frist near your kitty cat.

Calling All Pharaoh Hound Lovers

Bonnie Folz sends this sad story via email:

<< I'm sending this email out with a plea for help.

I found 5 female Pharaoh Hounds listed on Petfinders, owner surrendered.  These five girls are not in the best of shape physically and mentally.   A few seem to have bad skin conditions and have hair loss.  We don't know if it is mange or a thyroid problem, all have teeth that are in very bad condition, they are afraid, some have separation anxiety and probably were not well socialized but seem to calm down when put out together and warm up to people after a while.  After contacting the shelter that has them, The Animal Orphanage, we found that they will help these girls, get them vetted and spayed, and find good homes to adopt them out.  It is a no kill shelter and the director is a sighthound person so she will screen potential adopters properly.  One of these girls in particular needs to be out of the shelter and into a foster home as she's not coping well.   She's a sweet, small, frail little 2.5yr old named Pink. 

I've been in constant contact with the Pharaoh Hound Club of America's rescue committee as well as other club members and we are working together to do what we can for these girls.  The problem is that these 5 that I found are only a partial number that may be in need of help.  Though we are trying to find out how many there actually are, and where they were placed, we know there may be more that are in need of help.

It's been a sad chain of events and unfortunately, as usual, the dogs suffer, but as I said, we're working on it.

One of the other females, the sixth one we were able to track down, is being fostered now by the original owner's neighbor but the dog doesn't seem to be house-broken and she can only keep her for another week or so. 

Sighthounds are somewhat of a fragile lot to begin with, tack on bad nutrition and possible lack of socialization, separation anxiety and you have a recipe for a dog who will need a special home/foster.

I'm friends with a gal, Marcy, who is a trainer and works at Wonderdogs and she's been out to see and socialize the five at the shelter the past two days (this all happened Friday).  Marcy will send me a synopsis on her thoughts about each.  From what Marcy has told me so far, these girls are just confused and scared but seem to warm up after a while. 

Please do NOT contact this shelter direct.  We currently have a good relationship with the folks there and any bombardment of emails and calls may be detrimental for us in helping these girls.

The Animal Orphanage is accepting donations of good premium food, bedding, toys and such, which if marked "for the Pharaoh Hounds" they will put aside for these girls.

Someone has already donated a months worth of dog food which is great!  Marcy will also continue to work with these girls.

I have to tell you, I've been a member of the PHCA for about ten years now and we ALWAYS step up to the plate when one of our red dogs are in need.   The breed is fortunate to have a relatively small, somewhat tightly knit community that puts all personal issues aside and bands together for the sake of our dogs.  If the PHCA has 6 dogs a year in the rescue program, it's a lot.  Finding out about possibly more than 7 Pharaoh Hounds in need of help at one time is just a bit overwhelming but not one of these dogs will go without being helped. 

Donations for the 5 females, "Justice", "Pink", "Lady", "Emma" and "Storm" can be made to:

The Animal Orphanage P.O. Box 1363, 419 Cooper Road, Voorhees, New Jersey 08043

Please make a note if the donations are to be made specifically for the Pharaoh Hound girls.

Monetary donations can also be made to:

The Pharaoh Hound Club of America Rescue Program

c/o Chairperson: Pam Haig

8019 Corryton Luttrell Rd

Corryton, TN 37721

 

If anyone knows someone who can foster either of these girls, please contact me at

917-626-1374.

Thanks for your help

Keeping the faith & making a difference.

Bonnie Folz>>

California vets back off of AB 1634

The California Veterinary Medical Association has switched its position on the California Health Pets Act from "for" to "neutral."

Critics of the bill -- including yours truly -- point out that it seeks to punish reputable breeders for animal overpopulation, while letting the puppymillers off the hook.

My fellow dog writer Gina Spadafori has a great post on her blog today that discusses the bill's shortcomings. If only her state representatives in California would read it.

Horse sense

With the death of their beloved racehorse, some FOBs -- that would be Friends of Barbaro -- have turned to activism. Among their causes celebres: the passage of anti-horse slaughter bills currently in both houses.

At the end of last week, the last operative American slaughterhouse for horses suspended operation when a temporary court order allowing it to stay open was to expire and federal judge refused to renew it.

The epicenter of this grass-roots campaign is a Wiki page on the web site of a Maryland racing stable. There, you'll find point/counterpoint arguments, upcoming anti-slaughter events, even daily talking points for calls to legislators.

(Photo: Horses from the New York Police Department's mounted division have retired to an Otisville, N.Y., farm for close to 100 years. Others of their species are not as lucky when old age or illness looms. / Jed Egan for the Times Herald-Record.)

Beware the blue-green tide

Talk about getting bogged down: Blue-green algae has been the cause of one dog death in Michigan, the Whole Dog Journal reports. Such toxic algae blooms can occur in fresh water at this time of year, so avoid swimming your dogs in any bodies of standing or stagnant water that have a green or blue-green cast.

Rabies vaccine -- hope on the horizon

Today's column -- about the Rabies Challenge Fund finally having enough raised enough moolah to begin actual vaccine trials to prove that the rabies vaccine is good for five, even seven years -- is making the Internet rounds.

In the piece, I mentioned that I revaccinated my 7-year-old dog, albeit reluctantly, this weekend, because she was due for her rabies shot. What I didn't mention is that owners of dogs of any age who are ill or otherwise medically unsuited to be vaccinated can apply for a waiver from their muncipality.

The advantage of this is that with a waiver, you are not breaking the law. The disadvantage is that if your dog does bite someone, and the bitee is insistent about making sure your dog is tested for rabies, that is for all intents and purposes a death sentence, as in order to diagnose rabies, the brain must be examined.