Rescuing

It sucks. Rescuing is a lose lose situation.

I helped my friend out with a recent rescue
and mine got sick. But I guess I am the idiot
for taking on the critter.

Animal Avengers Prevails in Court!

The excerpted message below is from Animal Avengers:

Animal Avengerswon its lawsuit against the Albrights yesterday in small claims court. Finally---apoint for the animals and the animal lovers. I hope that something positivecan come out of this sad incident and the legal precedent will serve to protectmore animals in the future and prevent something like this happening again.

Backon October 1st, a terrible tragedy occurred when a family who had adoptedone of our dogs, Terry, reacted in a knee-jerk, inexplicable and appallingmanner. They adopted Terry from us on September 18, 2004, and seemed tobe the perfect family, passing our stringent adoption process and home check. We were thrilled that an older dog found such a great home. During the twoweek trial period, Terry allegedly bit two people on one day. Mrs. Albrightmade a few phone calls and didn’t reach anyone at Animal Avengers immediately. Instead of securing Terry in the garage or back yard, she insisted thather husband take him to the Carson Shelter, where Mr. Albright paid $20 tohave Terry immediately euthanized. No waiting period, no chance, no windowof opportunity for someone to call them back.

Our sole remedy atlaw was for breach of contract. We filed the action and it was heard yesterdayafternoon. The judge understood the case immediately and wouldn’t allow theAlbrights to make excuses. Mrs. Albright claimed that she hadn’t read thecontract that clearly stated the dog would never be taken to a shelter noreuthanized. The judge informed her that in California, the law presumes thatyou read a contract before you sign it. He then pointed out that she’d signedit in three places!!! He also wouldn’t allow her to state that we misrepresentedthe aggressiveness of the dog (which we did not do). Lastly, he pointedout that there didn’t seem to be urgency and no need to take the dog in andput him down immediately. Indeed, at Carson Shelter, Mr. Albright certifiedthat the dog hadn’t bitten anyone in 14 days and paid to have him killedimmediately. If he had told the shelter of the 2 bites that day, the shelterwould have been obligated to quarantine Terry for 2 weeks and we could’veretrieved him. There was no need for Terry to die, especially in such anatrocious manner. The Albrights had so many options and chose the most unimaginableone possible.

We learned today that the judge ruled in our favor,awarding us the $2500 liquidated damages provided for in the contract. Finallya little justice for the animals! People need to realize that the contractsused by rescue groups MEAN SOMETHING!!!! Animals are not sundry items tobe tossed aside when they no longer suit the adopter's needs. Please putthe word out---if people breach these agreements, they will be held accountable!!

Claire

Claire Petretti
Animal Avengers
Team Leader
AnimalAvengers

Who are the Watch Dogs of our Watch Dogs???

In local government who is the overseer of the shelters?
There is a possible situation going on in Kern County.

Ultimately, the overseer of this shelter is the Kern County Board of Supervisors. http://www.co.kern.ca.us/bos/ If youclick on the link for each supervisor, there is contact information. A nicely worded letter asking them what they have done aboutthis situation would be appropriate (meaning: have you literallyTOLD the shelter to feed the dogs more food (we have a memoin hand from March of 2004 instructing staff to *cover thebottom of the bowl* with food. Clearly, this practice is underfeeding).

In the case of this dog in the photo.

There was a note on the kennel door stating the dog was tobe fed 3x/day. However, a dog coming in in such an emaciatedcondition NEEDED CLINICAL INTERVENTION. Many dogs, inthe beginning stages and intermediate stages of starvationwill NOT eat. (cats likewise). Frequently, they are given IVfluids for several days to rehydrate their bodies, and tostimulate their appetite. This dog, however, was given NO such treatment which is where their error clearly was. By the time he was gotten out, having to be carried to thecar as he could not walk, he had been in the shelterat least 10 days... going deeper and deeper into starvation each day.

ADVISORY:The photos are brutal.

I am still working on the other photos please check back later



At the last Board of Superviusors meeting, they votedto do a Shelter Audit. As many of you know, HSUSand other groups do such audits. Clearly, it is neededand something I have supported, as have many others,from the beginning. As far as I know, however, therewas NO instruction to feed the animals more food, orto feed twice daily (as it should be... see CaliforniaPenal Code Section 597e). When I was there lastSaturday ALL of the dogs in the publicly viewableadoptables section had bowls of food in their runs. The dogs behind the locked gate, however, did not. Our protocol when removing dogs has become this: Open feed for at least one week. Give Boardatellaupon arrival at rescue. Treat for parasites (there isa lot of coccidia and giardia coming out of there, anda LOT of internal parasistes (not just tapeworm). Wait a few days, administer dhlpp. spay/neuter, rabies. The shelter cannot be blamed for the parasites, andprobably not for coccidia or giardia. As we havesurmised, many of the dogs we bail from therewere never properly cared for.

Many take several weeks to put on weight sothey can be sp/neut. This problem is not one ofbreeds that often have eating issues (e.g. German Sheps),it appears in all breeds and mixes rather uniformly. And remember, by the time they get to rescue, theyalso often have diahrrhea because they have had threefood changes (home/shelter/rescue) in often lessthan 7-10 days. Trypically, dogs should be weanedoff one food and onto another, so having the runs is not atypical.

The longer the dogs stay here (and some are herefor perhaps 3 weeks if an owner letter is sent)the more weight they have been losing.

The info in red was given to me by a rescuer who has first hand knowledge of the situation.