Animal Abuse

Hundreds of Cats Suffer and Die at Hoarder's Warehouse

A PETA undercover investigation—prompted by a whistle-blower report—exposed the chronic deprivation and suffering of approximately 300 cats being kept in filthy, stifling, dungeon-like, disease-ridden storage units at Sacred Vision Animal Sanctuary (SVAS) in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

There are no signs directing potential adopters to the so-called "sanctuary," which is hidden behind a church in an industrial area and consists of an unventilated storage facility, which is crammed with stacks of crates and carriers. Some of the cats at SVAS have endured such conditions for months, but most have been confined here for years.

The majority of the cats are kept caged 24/7 in wire crates, most of which contain two to four cats each. Only one litter box is provided per cage, and cats—who are naturally fastidiously clean—have no way to escape the sight and smell of the overflowing piles of feces and urine. The caged cats are denied everything that is natural and important to them—they have no room to stretch or walk around, let alone explore or exercise. See photos from the investigation now.

Running out of litter and food is a virtually daily occurrence at SVAS, whose operator Elizabeth Owen, employs no paid staff. Owen herself does little, if any, care taking or cleaning and spends most of her time tinkering in a thrift store that she runs next door. Owen often hides cats who are visibly ill or injured and in need of veterinary care in the thrift store.

Over the last few months, PETA's investigator documented Owens systematic failure to provide veterinary care to numerous sick and injured cats, many of whom suffered prolonged agonizing deaths as a result. A volunteer at SVAS told PETA's investigator said that over the years, she had buried "at least 100" cats who had died at the facility. For more information, click here.

PETA first reported Owen to law-enforcement authorities in July 2010, at which time PETA was assured that Owen would "close" her facility once all the cats were adopted. However, Owen has made no effort to find homes for the cats (she has not even put a sign out by the road to indicate that the cats are in need of homes!), choosing instead to keep "storing" the animals and depriving them any quality of life.

In September, Owen was charged with violating Horry County's animal care and treatment ordinance after PETA brought the conditions at SVAS to officials' attention a second time. No cats were seized, however, and the case has been continued four times since, leaving the animals to suffer day after day. Recently, Owen, who has shown every indication that she is an animal hoarder, rejected an offer for free veterinary examinations and adoption opportunities for the cats as part of a consent agreement that was presented to her.

These cats cannot wait another day—they need your help now.

Please use the form Here to contact Horry County prosecutor Greg Hembree. Politely urge Horry County officials to confiscate all the animals from SVAS today and to file and vigorously pursue cruelty-to-animals charges against Owen. It is critical that all e-mails be courteous and polite.

Animal Cruelty                                                                           Article from Pet-Abuse.com

 There are many different reasons why individuals abuse animals. Animal cruelty covers a wide range of actions (or lack of action), so one blanket answer simply isn't possible. Each type of abuse has displayed certain patterns of behavior that we can use to help understand more about why people commit the crimes we encounter today.

Animal cruelty is often broken down into two main categories: active and passive, also referred to as commission and omission, respectively.

Passive Cruelty (Acts of Omission)

 Passive cruelty is typified by cases of neglect, where the crime is a lack of action rather than the action itself - however do not let the terminology fool you. Severe animal neglect can cause incredible pain and suffering to an animal.

 Examples of neglect are starvation, dehydration, parasite infestations, allowing a collar to grow into an animal's skin, inadequate shelter in extreme weather conditions, and failure to seek veterinary care when an animal needs medical attention.

 In many cases of neglect where an investigator feels that the cruelty occurred as a result of ignorance, they may attempt to educate the pet owner and then revisit the situation to check for improvements. In more severe cases however, exigent circumstances may require that the animal is removed from the site immediately and taken in for urgent medical care.

Active Cruelty (Acts of Commission)

 Active cruelty implies malicious intent, where a person has deliberately and intentionally caused harm to an animal, and is sometimes referred to as NAI (Non-Accidental Injury). Acts of intentional cruelty are often some of the most disturbing and should be considered signs of serious psychological problems. This type of behavior is often associated with sociopathic behavior and should be taken very seriously.

 Animal abuse in violent homes can take many forms and can occur for many reasons. Many times a parent or domestic partner who is abusive may kill, or threaten to kill, the household pets to intimidate family members into sexual abuse, to remain silent about previous or current abuse, or simply to psychologically torture the the victims, flexing their "power".

Why We Euthanize                                                                                                             Article by PETA.org

 In my first year working at a grossly substandard animal shelter in Maryland, I forced myself to go in early to euthanize dogs by holding them in my arms and gently helping them escape an uncaring world without trauma or pain and to spare them from being stabbed haphazardly—while they were fully conscious, terrified and aware—in the general vicinity of their hearts with needles blunt from reuse and left to thrash on the floor until they finally died by the callous people who would arrive later to do the job.

 I always wonder how anyone cannot recognize that there is a world of difference between painlessly euthanizing animals out of compassion—aged, injured, sick, and dying animals whose guardians can't afford euthanasia, for instance—as PETA does, and causing them to suffer terror, pain, and a prolonged death while struggling to survive on the streets, at the hands of untrained and uncaring "technicians," or animal abusers.

 It's easy to point the finger at those who are forced to do the "dirty work" caused by a throwaway society's casual acquisition and breeding of dogs and cats who end up homeless and unwanted, but at PETA, we will never turn our backs on neglected, unloved, and homeless animals—even if the best we can offer them is a painless release from a world that doesn't have enough heart or homes with room for them. It makes it easy for people to throw stones at us, but we are against all needless killing: for hamburgers, fur collars, dissection, sport hunting―the works. PETA handled far more animals than 2,124 in 2008. In fact, we took in more than 10,000 dogs and cats and work very hard to persuade people to spay and neuter their animals and to commit to a lifetime of care and respect for them. We go so far as to transport animals to and from our spay/neuter clinics, where they are spayed or neutered and given vet care, often for free! Since 2001, PETA's low- to no-cost spay-and-neuter mobile clinics, SNIP and ABC, have sterilized more than 50,000 animals, preventing hundreds of thousands of animals from being born, neglected, abandoned, abused, or euthanized when no one wanted them. And on a national level, PETA is focusing on the root of the problem through our Animal Birth Control (ABC) campaign. 

 If anyone has a good home, love, and respect to offer, we beg them: Go to a shelter and take one or two animals home. The problem is that few people do that, choosing instead to go to a breeder or a pet shop and not "fixing" their dogs and cats, which contributes to the high euthanasia rate that animal shelters face. Most of the animals we took in and euthanized could hardly be called "pets," as they had spent their lives chained up in the back yard, for instance. They were unsocialized, never having been inside a building of any kind or known a pat on the head. Others were indeed someone's, but they were aged, sick, injured, dying, too aggressive to place, and the like, and PETA offered them a painless release from suffering, with no charge to their owners or custodians.

 Every day, PETA's fieldworkers help abused and neglected dogs—many of them pit bulls nowadays and many of them forced to live their lives on chains heavy enough to tow an 18-wheeler—by providing them with food; clean water; lightweight tie-outs; deworming medicine; flea, tick, and fly-strike prevention; free veterinary care; sturdy wooden doghouses stuffed with straw bedding; and love.

 What we see is enough to make you lose faith in humanity. One pit bull we gained custody of, named Asia, looked like a skeleton covered with skin when PETA released her from the 15-pound chain she had been kept on for years. Asia suffered from three painful and deadly intestinal obstructions, which prevented her from keeping any food down. She faced an agonizing, lingering death, so our veterinarian recommended euthanasia to end her suffering. We pursued criminal charges against those responsible for her condition, leading to their conviction for cruelty to animals. That is just one of the dozens of cases we see every week.

The majority of adoptable dogs are never brought through our doors (we refer them to local adoption groups and walk-in animal shelters). Most of the animals we house, rescue, find homes for, or put out of their misery come from miserable conditions, which often lead to successful prosecution and the banning of animal abusers from ever owning or abusing animals again.

 As long as animals are still purposely bred and people aren't spaying and neutering their companions, open-admission animal shelters and organizations like PETA must do society's dirty work. Euthanasia is not a solution to overpopulation but rather a tragic necessity given the present crisis. PETA is proud to be a "shelter of last resort," where animals who have no place to go or who are unwanted or suffering are welcomed with love and open arms.

 Please, if you care about animals, help prevent more of them from being born only to end up chained and left to waste away in people's back yards, suffering on mean streets where people kick at them or shoo them away like garbage, tortured at the hands of animal abusers, or, alas, euthanized in animal shelters for lack of a good home. If you want to save lives, always have your animals spayed or neutered.

Posted by Ingrid E. Newkirk  

What Is a Puppy Mill?                                                                   Article By aspca.org

 A puppy mill is a large-scale commercial dog breeding operation where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs. Unlike responsible breeders, who place the utmost importance on producing the healthiest puppies possible, breeding at puppy mills is performed without consideration of genetic quality. This results in generations of dogs with unchecked hereditary defects.

 Puppy mill puppies are typically sold to pet shops—usually through a broker, or middleman—and marketed as young as eight weeks of age. The lineage records of puppy mill dogs are often falsified.
What Problems Are Common to Puppy Mill Dogs?

 Illness, disease, fearful behavior and lack of socialization with humans and other animals are common characteristics of dogs from puppy mills. Because puppy mill operators fail to apply proper husbandry practices that would remove sick dogs from their breeding pools, puppies from puppy mills are prone to congenital and hereditary conditions. These can include:

    * Epilepsy
    * Heart disease
    * Kidney disease
    * Musculoskeletal disorders (hip dysplasia, luxating patellas, etc.)
    * Endocrine disorders (diabetes, hyperthyroidism)
    * Blood disorders (anemia, Von Willebrand disease)
    * Deafness
    * Eye problems (cataracts, glaucoma, progressive retinal atrophy, etc.)
    * Respiratory disorders

On top of that, puppies often arrive in pet stores—and their new homes—with diseases or infirmities. These can include:

    * Giardia
    * Parvovirus
    * Distemper
    * Upper respiratory infections
    * Kennel cough
    * Pneumonia
    * Mange
    * Fleas
    * Ticks
    * Intestinal parasites
    * Heart worm
    * Chronic diarrhea

How Are Animals Treated at Puppy Mills?

 Puppy mills usually house dogs in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, without adequate veterinary care, food, water and socialization. Puppy mill dogs do not get to experience treats, toys, exercise or basic grooming. To minimize waste cleanup, dogs are often kept in cages with wire flooring that injures their paws and legs—and it is not unusual for cages to be stacked up in columns. Breeder dogs at mills might spend their entire lives outdoors, exposed to the elements—or crammed inside filthy structures where they never get the chance to feel the sun or a gust of fresh air on their faces.

How Often Are Dogs Bred in Puppy Mills?

 In order to maximize profits, female dogs are bred at every opportunity with little to no recovery time between litters. When, after a few years, they are physically depleted to the point that they no longer can reproduce, breeding females are often killed. The mom and dad of the puppy in the pet store window are unlikely to make it out of the mill alive—and neither will the many puppies born with overt physical problems that make them unsalable to pet stores.
When and Why Did Puppy Mills Begin?

 Puppy mills began sprouting up after World War II. In response to widespread crop failures in the Midwest, the United States Department of Agriculture began promoting purebred puppies as a fool-proof “cash” crop. It is easy to see why this might have appealed to farmers facing hard times—breeding dogs does not require the intense physical labor that it takes to produce edible crops, nor are dogs as vulnerable to unfavorable weather. Chicken coops and rabbit hutches were re-purposed for dogs, and the retail pet industry—pet stores large and small—boomed with the increasing supply of puppies from the new "mills." Today, Missouri is considered the largest puppy mill state in the country.

 Seeking a puppy supply source on the East Coast, puppy brokers—the middlemen who deliver the dogs from mills to pet stores—convinced many of Pennsylvania’s Amish farmers in the 1970s that puppies were the cash crop of the future. Brokers conducted seminars to teach farmers how to operate their own breeding facilities. Thirty years later, Lancaster County, PA, has the highest concentration of puppy mills of any county in the nation and has earned the dubious nickname of “Puppy Mill Capital of the East.”
How Can I Help Fight Puppy Mills?

 There are many ways you can fight puppy mills, starting with refusing to patronize the stores and websites that sell their dogs.

    * Do not buy a puppy from a pet store—in fact, do not buy a puppy from any place that does not allow you to see its entire facility and meet the mother dog. This includes websites that sell pets online. Anyone can put up a great-looking website boasting the highest standards of breeding and care, but you really have no way of knowing if such businesses are what they claim. Truly responsible breeders want to meet you before selling you one of their prized pups to be sure that he or she is going to a good home. Read more about online scams here.

    * You can also take a more active role in fighting puppy mills by working with the ASPCA to pass legislation that ensures that all animals bred to be pets are raised in healthy conditions. Stay up-to-date about current legislation to ban puppy mills by joining the ASPCA Advocacy Brigade. Please also read our Ten Ways You Can Help Fight Puppy Mills. 

Copyright © 2009. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). All Rights Reserved.  

                                                                                                                                       Kosher Slaughter

1. Be aware

2. Learn to recognize animal cruelty

3. Know who to call to report animal cruelty

4. Provide as much information as possible when reporting it

5. Call or write your local law enforcement department

6. Know your state's animal cruelty laws

7. Fight for the passage of strong anti-cruelty laws

8. Set a good example for others

9. Talk to your children and others about how to treat animals with kindness and respect

10. Support your local shelter or animal rescue organization 

State Legislative Resources

SUMMARY REPORT:
State Regulation of Companion Animal Breeders and Dealers
 

During the past few years, the regulation of high-volume dog breeders and dealers has become one of the most prominent issues in animal legislation. Increased media coverage of some of the worst breeding facilities in the country has motivated state legislators to increase regulation and penalties for high-volume breeders.

Animal rights groups have established extensive campaigns to eliminate what are referred to as puppy mills, but have often clashed with breeders, kennels, and pet dealers who fear that over-regulation of their industries will put them out of business. Breeders argue that the public pays too much attention to the extreme cases while discounting the number of law-abiding operations. Many argue that the problem would be better solved by increasing inspections and penalties under existing laws.

In April, 2010, the AVMA adopted its "Model Bill and Regulations to Assure Appropriate Care for Dogs Intended For use as Pets" (.pdf) to assist state and local governments in designing effective policies to enforce reasonable care standards for breeder and retailer operations. The background and context for this model bill can be found here (.pdf).

The majority of states currently provide for some regulation of breeders, kennels, pet dealers, and pet shops. These regulations vary in scope and strength depending on: (1) whether the state requires licensing and inspections; (2) whether the state has established animal care and facility standards; and (3) whether the state has placed limits on the number of breeding dogs that may be kept at a facility.

The following table provides an overview of the state laws regulating companion animal breeders and dealers. It includes definitions, prohibitions and standards of care, licensing and registration requirements, and inspection requirements. The table includes only selective portions of the extensive regulations. For the full text of any of these laws, please contact the Department of State Legislative and Regulatory Affairs.

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