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Blog
Is it OK to buy that puppy????
Posted on 16 December, 2014 at 12:17 |
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Saving America's Horses
Posted on 13 February, 2012 at 10:32 |
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What your dog trainer will not tell you
Posted on 25 August, 2011 at 7:10 |
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I know a man who took his leash-aggressive dog to a "really good bird dog trainer" who told him the dog could be made less leash reactive (i.e. dog aggressive when on a leash) if it was trained with an e-collar. Did that work? Nope. In fact, that's probably never going to happen. I explained to my friend what he needed to do, but I could see his interest in finding a solution fading with every word I uttered. You see, it was very clear to him I was talking about a process and he wanted an event -- a common disconnect in the world of dogs and dog training. I explained the process of making a dog less leash reactive. To begin with he should not feed his dog for a full 24-hours or more in order to increase the dog's food motivation. Then he should take his dog to a large park and, because he was having a hard time controlling his large powerful dog, he should firmly tie the dog's much-shortened leash to a bench. Then, every time a person or another dog approached from the far end of the park, and the dog took notice, he should click his tongue and direct the dog's attention to his face, and then treat when the dog looked at him and not the other person or the dog. Once the dog got the idea that it should look to the owner for a treat and that when it was calm it would get a treat, he should then move to a new position in the park. Now, with the dog tied to another bench where people and dogs might happen to approach a little more closely, he should repeat the exercise making sure that the dog is always well motivated by hunger and is only treated when it looks to the owner and remains calm. When the dog seems to have that routine in hand, the owner should walk the dog around the edge of the park but still keep it pretty far from people and other dogs (at least initially), making sure the dog looks to him and sits every time a dog rotates into view within a certain distance. Again, click, praise, and treat every time the dog look to the owner, remains calm, and sits. If the dog does not sit, walk away from the foreign dog in question, and do not treat and do not praise. Ignore the dog and remain totally calm. I stressed this routine had to be done every time, and this was how all the dog's food and other rewards had to be delivered for the next month. It was not going to be an overnight miracle, but if he was consistent and the dog remained hungry (feed a little less!) the dog would learn that the way it got food was when it saw a dog or a person, if it looked at the owner and sat, it would get a food reward (which would later be reduced to a pat and praise sometimes, and a "jackpot" food reward at other times). Of course my friend was not really looking for this kind of instruction. He was not looking for a process that involved this much work and time. He was looking for a "trick" -- a five-second miracle that did not actually involve spending time and energy on the dog. And isn't that the problem so often? People want a dog that's totally calm and obedient right out of the box. But dog's don't work like that, do they? People want an animal that will not bark, will not dig up the garden, will not bite the neighbor, and which they can leave at home for 20 hours a day without too much thought. People say they want a dog, but they need a cat, and they deserve a goldfish. The simple truth is that dogs are a tyranny, and they are not really suited to the modern world of long hours at the office, and a run to the gym before a quick dash to the Whole Foods for aged balsamic vinegar. If you live that kind of life, what time does that leave for the dog? It leaves the dog with maybe 10 minutes between the start of Law and Order and the shower. But that's not enough time! That's not enough exercise! That's not enough instruction of any kind. And so people go to dog trainers, and trainers are put in a frustrating position because what every trainer agrees on is that the dog in front of them deserves time, exercise, consistency, and opportunities to achieve awards for success. But do people with problem dogsreally want to give their dogs time and exercise? Too often, the answer is NO. Whatever they say when asked the question is irrelevant; in their day-to-day actions they provide the only answer that counts. And so the dog "trainer" is left unable to say what he or she really needs to say: "You are lazy and undisciplined, and that's one of the reasons your dog is crazy and undisciplined." A dog trainer cannot say this, of course, or they will lose their clients and never get another. Instead they have to suggest they have "secret knowledge" or a special or "new" system or "philosophy" of dog training. But the secrets are not really very secret, are they? And is any part of dog training really new? The real core secret is that the owner has to be willing to exercise his or her dog, and to put in the timevery consistent and well-timed communication. The vast majority of this communication should be earned rewards with perhaps a few mild aversives to bust off self-reinforcing unwanted behavior. But can a trainer make the physically lazy and undisciplined physically industrious and disciplined? Can a trainer change a person's priorities or increased the number of hours in a day? Not generally. And so most trainers show their clients how to do a few basic obedience tricks, and perhaps they show a few rudiments of operant conditioning. That's all well and good, but you can learn the basics of that from a book and a video, and you will only get good with practice and focus -- the very things most folks are so very bad at to begin with. . From: Terrierman's Daily Dose |
Assisting in the euthanasia of unwanted animals
Posted on 9 July, 2011 at 11:01 |
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Please add PETCO ([email protected]) to your email address book.View as web page Summer, 2011Your gift of as little as $30 can feed a homeless animal while they wait for a forever home. There is a volunteer at my local animal control facility. Some days, as part of her job, she is responsible for assisting in the euthanasia of unwanted animals. On those days, she does her best to calm their fears, help bring a touch of kindness to their last day. As their eyes close for the last time, she softly murmurs, "Sleep in peace. God is awake." She then honors the fallen pets, spending the rest of her day trying to prevent more unnecessary deaths by educating people on the importance of spaying and neutering. Every year in the United States, 3 to 4 million homeless dogs and cats are needlessly put to death - that is one nearly every eight seconds. The PETCO Foundation raises millions of dollars every year and supports more than 7,000 partners across the country to benefit homeless pets. But it's not enough. It's never enough. No matter how hard we work, no matter how much money we raise , no matter how many charitable partners we assist, there are just not enough resources to save them all. By spaying or neutering just one feral cat, in two years, we will stop 144 kittens from being born into a life devoid of love or shelter and full of starvation, disease, neglect and fear. By spaying or neutering just one cherished family dog we will offer hope to 18 more by creating space in a shelter or in a home. The PETCO Foundation's National Spay and Neuter Drive, which runs June 26 through July 30, in all PETCO stores and online, supports of all of our spay/neuter partners and helps us strive for a future in which no adoptable animal is euthanized. If you have a spay/neuter initiative, we hope you have taken the opportunity to partner with your local PETCO store for this important fundraising event. If you haven't, please keep this timeframe in mind for next year and, in the meantime, take a moment to apply for an online grant through the PETCO Foundation. Thank you for your continuing efforts in Spay/Neuter initiatives, education and advocacy. Your tireless works is creating a legacy of hope and healing and providing a lasting impact for homeless pets. "Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake." Victor Hugo Sincerely, Beth Mars |
Terrierman's Daily Dose
Posted on 16 March, 2011 at 10:04 |
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Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Turning Japanese
Taken from the Terrierman's Daily Dose U.S. blood and treasure are spent propping up oil-soaked totalitarian regimes in the Middle East, but no one ever suggests that population growth is part of the problem. Instead, the problem is "consumption" or "the oil companies" or "the politicians," but never lack of birth control, or pro-natalist policies that subsidize large families, or runaway open-border immigration back home. It's a horrible bloody mess in the Middle East, but what are we to do? In Asia, wildlife habitat is pushed to the edge but
no one ever blames population growth as the core problem or suggests
family planning as the solution. What has happened to the tiger and
the panda is ascribed to "habitat loss" -- a generalized problem without
a causal agent. So sad, but what can anyone do? Now, in Japan, we have three failing nuclear reactors spewing radiation. We are told the causal agent is an earthquake and a tsunami. Well yes, but why does Japan need nuclear energy at all? And the answer, of course, is the same reason we have
nuclear reactors in the U.S., and why we have strip mining and mountain
top removal in Kentucky, and offshore oil drilling in Louisiana, and
aquatic life-killing electrical power dams in Maine. We rip down the mountains and push them into creeks in
Kentucky. We soak our fuel rods in water pools and bury our nuclear
waste in mountain caves. We strike another species off the endangered
list and add another to the extinction roster. It's unfortunate, but what can we do? One thing we cannot do is talk about population growth. Al Gore made an entire movie about global warming while . We have entire television channels dedicated to every obscure battle of World War II, but not once do these stations explain why Japan bombed Peal Harbor . And so it's Groundhog Day all over again. Talking about population growth is too personal. We
might bruise someone's feelings. We might bump into someone's life
mistakes, or their religious views, or their self-centered,
ego-besotted, rationalizations for procreation. If we talk about population growth , things might get a little uncomfortable at some point. So instead of having an uncomfortable conversation, we push
our rubble into landfills and buy bottled water because we are worried
our dumps might be leaching toxins into the groundwater. We send our sons and daughters to die in the desert, and then we collect our dead and wounded and fly them 6,000 miles back to the U.S. We clear-cut our forests in order to make the paper needed to send a million direct mail letters to people decrying the speed of species loss. We snake long plastic booms
along the shore to try to contain the oil spills, and we dump chemicals
into the ocean to try to disperse it even as we dream of problem-free
nuclear reactors that will bring us unlimited power forever. But we do not talk about population. The ironic part about the current nuclear mess in Japan is that after World War II Japan slowed its population growth. But, of course, the country was already over-crowded, wasn't it? A country that had a population of 45 million in 1900 was so crowded with a population of 65 million in 1931 that it sought to invade lands beyond its borders. By 1985, however, Japan's population had climbed to over 125 million, and it is even larger today. And so, in order to deal with this press of flesh, the Land of the Rising Sun is now ringed not only with earthquake-prone slip faults, but also with nuclear reactors. This morning the talk is all about nuclear
engineering.... how if only the Japanese had only put the generators on
higher ground, or put the fuel rod containment pools further away, then
everything might have been different. Right. Talk about anything. But whatever you do, don't talk about why the reactors are there at all. That conversation might get a little uncomfortable . And, of course, it's not just about Japan, is it? No one in the U.S. wants to talk about why we continue
to prop up Middle East dictators, or why we rip down our own mountains,
or why we poison our own waters, or why we feel the need to build more
nuclear reactors. U.S. population growth? That's mostly fueled by immigration, and immigration is a conversation that is a little to uncomfortable for us to have right now, isn't it? Sure, we couldn't take care of our own energy needs
when we had a population of 200 million, and we are doing worse with 300
million, and we are quickly headed to 500 million by 2050, but let's
not talk about that. The crisis of the moment isn't here in the U.S.
is it? it's over there in Japan. How come those people couldn't see this horror coming? Talk about myopic! Talk about bad planning! . |
$5000.00 Reward for Dog Fighting Information
Posted on 21 February, 2011 at 7:25 |
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FIGHTING DOGFIGHTING Who hasn't seen the gut-wrenching
videos of dogfighting and been totally
disgusted and deeply angered - while feeling totally helpless. We think: “how anyone could do such things
and how can such people be discovered, stopped and prosecuted under the state’s
cruelty to animal laws?” For many years,
its been very difficult. Innocent dogs taught to kill; innocent
stolen dogs or puppies put into a ring with dogs as bait. Vicious, inhuman....and criminal behavior. NC Statute 362.2 outlines the
prohibitions against Dogfighting and Baiting wherein a person who engages in
the below is guilty of a Class H Felony in NC: a. “a person who owns, possesses or trains a dog
with the intent to use the dog in dogfighting; or, b. a person who participates as a spectator at
an exhibition featuring baiting or dogfighting of a dog for the fighting of a
dog with another or with another animal” But now, finding such criminals and
reducing, and possibly eliminating such cruelty, has become much easier by the
Humane Society of the United States’ advertised Reward for information leading
to the arrest and conviction of dogfighters and participants. $5,000.00 is being offered for information regarding dog fighting and participants.
Importantly, such information is treated as confidential and those
providing this information remain anonymous. If you hear of anything resembling
dogfighting and have information as to when and where, please call the Tip Line
at 1-877-TIP-HSUS [847-4787]. We can make a difference!! |
Is Change Coming?
Posted on 20 February, 2011 at 10:49 |
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Animal Control may become its own department
Comments 12
February 20, 2011 3:26 AM
With population growth and a rise in recent
animal incidents, Onslow County officials say Animal Control would serve
residents better as an independent creature.
Animal Control has been a division of the county
health department since its inception, but a vote Monday by the Board of
Commissioners could change that, establishing the Onslow County Animal
Services Department and creating a new volunteer position of animal
cruelty investigator.
Animal Control has historically been a part of
the health department because of the role played by the county health
director in rabies and vicious animal cases; but as Onslow County grows
more urban, the challenges facing Animal Control have increased, said
County Manager Jeff Hudson.
“Animal populations have grown with our citizen
population,” he said. “Moreover, the amounts of abuse, neglect and
animal attacks have appeared to rise over time.”
In developing an answer to the problem, Onslow
County government has the option of enhancing Animal Control by
transitioning the agency to its own department, which would provide both
road-officer services and operations at the county animal shelter,
according to information provided by county staff.
Hudson said an advisory board would be created to allow residents a voice in how the new department would be run.
The department would coordinate volunteers and
nonprofit agencies to supplement county employees, especially the animal
cruelty investigator — a position recognized by state law — who will
work with law enforcement to identify and help prosecute cases of
neglect or brutality towards animals.
The new department would be led by the new
position of Animal Services Director with administrative and financial
duties handled by an administrative assistant.
Hudson said the change would cost $41,000 for the
rest of the fiscal year and then around $99,000 each year after that
with most of the money going to pay for two new positions.
"A portion of that would be off-set by fees collected by the new department," he said.
The commissioners will discuss this and other
matters Monday during their regularly scheduled 7 p.m. meeting at
Jacksonville City Hall on New Bridge Street.
Contact Lindell Kay at 910-219-8455 or [email protected]. |
An email that I submitted as a letter to the editor
Posted on 15 January, 2011 at 8:44 |
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Kristin Thank you
for contacting me in the hope of finding placement for your dog because of your
future deployment. I am going to try reaching back to you in the hope to reach
the hearts and minds of our military that I so love and respect. The
reason I am doing this is because you obviously love your dog for this is the
first time I have had someone trying to re home their pet giving a rescue group
a several month time frame in which to do so. I will continue to post out
for your dog in hopes we can find placement, however the bigger issue is one
that I am sure you and others on the base perhaps are not aware of, as I and
many others were not aware. My goal is for change and being of the
military you can be of great influence by just asking others to email this
information to their friends, contacts and perhaps commanders. Perhaps someone
on the Base would help us put together a video or plan of action that would
bring to light the terrible reality of what is truly going on here in Onslow. Perhaps this could be my point paper. I have had the pleasure of having a dog most of my life and I know the comfort, love and joy that they bring . I see the young military people alone, with their friends or families enjoying life with their pets as we all do. However, the difference that not only makes them great, but can also bring tragedy is that they are military and are often called upon to leave their pets to defend our country. I was once a part of this military life living mostly in the Middle East many years ago. What I would like to expose to them is another harsh reality here in Onslow that perhaps they are not aware of concerning the pets they must leave behind. Jacksonville
and Onslow County are greatly influenced by the presence of our military bases
and the tax ratables that they bring to our community. But being that
they are military, their lives are very transient and that's why the retail
businesses prosper and, at our community animal shelter, animals suffer.
At one time, our politicians made an agreement with the military to handle or
help control the problem of their pet population. What do folks think
happens to all the pets of this very large community upon deployment or
discharge. Yes, pets are turned into the shelter in every community, but
I never realized the extent of this tragedy until I moved to the South and
realized the shame of what happens to the animals here because of laws not passed
or, if passed, not enforced to prevent such tragedies. Here in Onslow
we kill close to 5,000 dogs and cats EVERY YEAR at a cost of approximately $700,000.00 . Perhaps
there will be more concern when it tops the magical million dollar mark. Not
only is this a problem caused by all the animals brought over by the military
to the shelter for disposal that in most times ends in the death of the animal,
but is also caused by the uneducated or uncaring folks who let their unsprayed
and unneutered pets run free reproducing year after year litter after litter
resulting in a frightening geometric progression in the number of helpless and
innocent animals. Did you know that an
unsprayed female and her mate and all of their offspring, producing 2 litters per
year, with 2.8 of the litter surviving, can produce 11,606,077 animals in 9
years? And God forbid that any of our
local hunters contribute by licensing their animals, no that's the
responsibility of all the other folks in town who find the hunting dogs in
great population in the shelter, tied to a tree or left to die or just plain
shot in the head.....`cause that dog don't hunt’. Do you really think a
hunter is going to rescue his dog from the shelter when it is going to cost
over $100.00? Oh yes, and how do we explain to our children why all those
dogs are lying dead along the highway or narrowly escape hitting one ourselves. Yes, the entire county supports their love of
the hunt! We are fortunate
here in Onslow that we still do not have a gas chambers in which animals
are stuffed in to die; however, it has been expressed to me by an official in
Animal Control that he wishes he still had this means available to him.
But we still do heart sticking. Did you ever see a pregnant dog at the shelter
or very young puppies or kittens? No,
because they are a liability, they are killed immediately along with any female
dog that goes into heat while being housed there. If you are wondering why they don’t
vaccinate, it is because their stay at the shelter is generally two weeks or
less before they are killed if not adopted. The cats and kittens do not share
in this time luxury, their stay at the shelter is just a matter of days before
being killed. Why should they incur the
expense of vaccinating the animals at the shelter when they are going to be
killed during the two week stay they are there. So therefore the risk of the puppies dying
from diseases, one of them being Parvo, is very high because of them not
receiving vaccinations. Many in the
rescue community work with surrounding county shelters because they do
vaccinate their animals and therefore they can hold them longer and actively
work with rescues in providing spay/neuter vouchers at little or no cost. There
is even an organization in Onslow called Friends
of Pender. Does that seem somewhat
strange to you? Why do people who
live in Onslow help the shelter outside our county and not the one in our county? The reason is some of the reasons previously
mentioned. The other shelters vaccinate
and welcome volunteers, have fundraisers, actively work with many rescues and
transport services, apply and receive grants because of their efforts and low
kill rates. They are pro active, not
reactive in their rescue efforts. There are a few great folks at the
shelter who try and work with rescues despite the overall attitude of
doing the opposite by the management. This attitude is probably the result of the
unending amount of animals brought into the shelter every week and of being
reactive and not proactive. How can other shelters that are substantially underfunded
with substandard facilities make such a difference in the lives of the animals in
their charge? When they make a call of help out to their
community the funds and gifts are overflowing.
At Onslow, even though they are rabies certified vaccinators, no low
cost rabies clinics are held. Plans are
far in the future to establish a low cost spay and neuter clinic to have an
impact on the population explosion in our county. There simply are not enough rescues, fosters
or people to adopt these animals. Contact the Politicians who pass
the laws for our community and demand a change!!!!! Enact laws for mandatory
spay and neuter at low cost clinic, rabies vaccinations, and licensing and
control large volume and back yard breeders. Ban stores from selling
animals from puppy mills that make their profits off the suffering of
these animals. As of Jan. 1, 2011, Illinois pet stores now must disclose
information regarding every animal they sell and will no longer be able to hide
the fact that they purchase their dogs from puppy mills or large puppy brokers. Lets us do the same here in NC. There are many simple reforms that we are currently presenting to the Director of the Health Department and some of our devoted county commissioners, but we need the support of our community. After all, you are the folks paying for it - approximately $100.00 per dog for the two week stay, if he's lucky, at a shelter that discourages volunteers. Why is that? Because they want the volunteers to scrub out the cages and not take the dogs for a walk. Besides who could handle every Thursday 25 to 35 dogs being marked for death and killed the following Friday morning. I believe that the cats have a much shorter cage life than the dogs as they are being sold to laboratories. Please go to our
web site www.oc-paw.com and to the page LETTER FROM A SHELTER MANAGER to get a
small understanding of just what is happening here in our very small part of
the world. Standing together we can make a
difference for the change that is needed. Remember you elect
the folks who make the laws for our community and are charged with enforcing them.
If you don’t like something, change it!
Every year I read letters such as mine hoping to let our community be
aware of these problems, but there is no change. Will you be the change to make the
difference? There is a grass roots
meeting on the 18of January at the Auditorium of the Health Department
in Jacksonvill612
College Street, Jacksonville, NC 28540e . Please be there at 6:30pm. DottyAnn Harding President & Founder OCPAW Onslow County Partners for Animal Welfare,
Inc (Face Book) Onslow County Partners for Animal Welfare |
Know your House and Senate representatives
Posted on 11 January, 2011 at 9:14 |
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facebook
Kimberley Alboum sent a message to the members of . January 10, 2011 at 10:47am Subject: Get to know your new representatives! The
NC Legislative website is updated with our new 2011-2012 legislators!
It is important that
animal advocates send an email of introduction to new legislators and
remind those that were here last year that we will continue to work on animal welfare issues in this new session. Find your reps here! Please
reach out to your representative both in the NC House and Senate and
let them know that you are concerned with animal welfare in NC. There
has never been a more critical time for you to contact representatives!
The landscape of our legislature has changed drastically, and we need
to make sure that new members are aware of the large animal advocate
community in NC. By introducing yourself now, you will open the door for
communication as we move into the legislative session for 2011. These
are the people that you will be contacting when our bills are up for a
vote. We must create a solid foundation that is
respectful and constructive. Even if your representative is not new,
it is still a good time to contact them and let them know what we will
be working to accomplish in 2011. Sample: Hi. I am ___
from ___. You are my representative and I want you to know that I am
concerned about the following issues in our community: 1. Puppy Mills – NC is now a puppy mill state as we have no regulations for commercial dog breeders . 2. Enhancing our animal cruelty statutes – We must provide tools for law enforcement to stop senseless animal cruelty in NC. 3.
Enhancing our felony cock fighting laws- Cock fighting is a form
of animal cruelty that brings crime and drugs into our communities. 4. Ban fox and coyote penning – This is a “sport” that combines dog fighting with canned hunts , both of which are illegal in NC. I look forward to working with you in the 2011 session to address these
concerns. Sincerely, XXXXX District XXX To reply to this message, follow the link below: |
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