Chaining or penning dogs is not only an animal issue, it is a public safety concern 

Regardless of breed or size, there is no such thing as an "outside dog." This is a choice that the human has made for the dog, a choice that a dog, as a pack animal, would never make for himself.

Dogs Deserve Better Than A Life on Chains or In Pens!

Our Shelter receives hundreds of calls every year from concerned citizens regarding dogs being chained outside. The Shelter is strongly opposed to ANYONE chaining or penning dogs outside ESPECIALLY in cold weather. Sadly, every year dogs freeze to death outside. Please read this article and sign the petition regarding chaining/penning dogs.

Dogs Deserve Better is an ASPCA award-winning nonprofit education / legislation / rescue organization dedicated to freeing the chained or penned dogs and bringing them into the family home and the family's hearts.

The organization has launched several national awareness campaigns to give a voice to the dogs who have been chained or penned outside. They experience not only the effects of loneliness, boredom, parasites, and lack of food, water, exercise, and adequate shelter, but also the tragic effects of intense cold, numbing wind, frozen water, and blowing snow during the winter as well as the smothering heat, humidity, and rain or drought during the summer. Regardless of breed or size, there is no such thing as an "outside dog." This is a choice that the human has made for the dog, a choice that a dog, as a pack animal, would never make for himself.

Forcing a dog to live outside exposes him to psychological difficulties, the possibility of animal or human attacks, and the will to venture beyond the chain or pen, as well as to developing territorial and acting-out behaviors such as barking, jumping, and biting. Additionally, animals who live away from the family experience feelings of loneliness due to sporadic and brief affection and socialization.

Chaining or penning dogs is not only an animal issue, it is a public safety concern, as well. Animal behaviorists and animal care professionals acknowledge that chaining creates aggressive behavior in dogs. The Humane Society of the United States indicates that a chained or penned dog is 2.5 times more likely to attack than a dog who is living indoors. Additionally, a study cited by National Animal Control News (March/April 2004) concluded that dogs who have been chained or tethered for more than eight hours per day are three times more likely to bite their caretakers than if they had not been chained.

From October 2003 - April 2004, in the United States alone, there have been ten serious injuries or fatal attacks caused by chained dogs. Four of those attacks occurred in April 2004.

This petition serves the dogs who have been chained or penned FOR LIFE - not those who have been allowed outside to enjoy the good weather, to do "their business," or play.

This petition will be presented to the local and state legislature as well as to the President of the United States in an effort to enact laws against chaining and penning dogs. It can be made available to any individual who wishes to send it to their local lawmakers.

The Petition:

We propose legislation in line with the following statements:
A.	No person shall, at any time, fasten, chain, or tie any dog or cause such dog to be fastened, chained or tied while such dog is on the dog owner's property or on the property of the dog owner's landlord. (Exception - A dog may be tethered while the owner is outside with the dog or within close range at all times to prevent injury to the dog).
B.	Any dogs confined within a fenced yard must have an adequate space for exercise based on a dimension of at least 250 square feet, and shall provide adequate shade and shelter from all types of weather. Provided, further, that where dogs are kept or housed on property without a fenced yard, the owner of such dogs or persons having custody of such dogs shall contain the dog at all times by means of a leash or hand and voice commands.

Sign the petition.

The "Legislation Against Chaining and Penning Dogs" Petition to "The President of the United States" was written by "Bronwyn Stevens". The petition is hosted free of charge. There is no express or implied endorsement of this petition by gopetition.com pty ltd.

Foie gras, which is French for "fatty liver," is made from the grotesquely enlarged livers of male ducks and geese.

Young ducks or geese have over four pounds of corn mush FORCED down their throats through a long metal pipe each day for weeks!
 

Foie gras literally means "fatty liver" in French. To produce it, young ducks or geese have over four pounds of corn mush forced down their throats through a long metal pipe each day for weeks until they can barely move and are on the verge of organ rupture and death. The industry always refers to the dry weight of the feed, which is over two pounds per day. For a human, picture 30 one-pound boxes of pasta, and then add water. This is proportionally how much food this would be for a 150 pound human.

The force-feeding process causes the ducks' livers to swell from five to ten times their normal size, inducing a disease that veterinarians call "hepatic lipidosis." These fattened, diseased livers are what people eat as "foie gras."

Following the passage of a law in California, SB 1520, which will ban this cruelty after a phase out period of seven and a half years, In Defense of Animals (IDA) and the Animal Protection and Rescue League (APRL) have expanded their campaign to educate consumers and restaurants. The groups are spearheading a nationwide awareness initiative, wherein activists and volunteers are displaying poster-size photos of the tortured birds inside actual farms APRL investigated. Several restaurants have already removed the cruel product from their menus as a result.

Help us remind judges to use their full authority to help the community and animals.

In the first court hearing on what may be the most disturbing cruelty-to-animals case of 2005, prosecutor Paul Gaetano requested that defendant Brannon Chandler—reportedly accused of fatally slashing five puppies’ throats, injuring a sixth, and dumping them in the snow—be barred from contact with animals as the case proceeds and ordered to undergo a psychiatric examination.

In a decision as shocking as Chandler’s alleged crimes, Judge Patrick L. Carroll III apparently denied both of Gaetano’s requests.

Remind Judge Carroll that by not using his full authority—to order bans of contact with animals, mental evaluations and counseling, and incarceration upon conviction—when dispensing sentences to animal abusers, he puts both the community at large and its animals at grave risk. Please note that impolite correspondence will compromise our campaign and the animals’ welfare.

The Honorable Patrick L. Carroll III
Judge, Superior Court, Geographical Area 22
14 West River St., P.O. Box 210
Milford, CT 06460
203-876-8072 (fax)

Provided by:
 Gail Egounis
 Wells, Maine
 Abuse an Animal.....Go to JAIL

Easter is one of the causes of the rabbit overpopulation problems.

Rabbits may be inexpensive,
but they do require a commitment―
and vigilance.

 

A rabbit is not a good pet for a child. Their bone structure is very delicate and they can be injured easily

People who love rabbits dread Easter more than any other holiday. Easter means that baby rabbits―along with baby chicks―will show up in pet stores in large numbers only to be sold for a few dollars to people who will buy them on impulse. Many of those people will later abandon those rabbits and chicks. The ones who feel guilty about it will surrender them to rescue organizations and volunteers or to animal shelters (where they will most likely be euthanized). The irresponsible people will simply put the rabbits outside and leave them to fend for themselves. Those unlucky animals will likely be killed by predators or suffer an even worse fate.

Although many people are aware of the horrific cat and dog overpopulation problem, which results in millions of perfectly healthy animals being euthanized every year in the United States alone, very few people know that there is a similar rabbit overpopulation problem, resulting in the need for dedicated people willing to volunteer their time, homes and love to rescue abandoned and unwanted rabbits and find them good homes.

Easter is one of the causes of the rabbit overpopulation problem. That's because Easter is when the bunny mills really swing into production, turning out those thousands of baby rabbits you see in the cage next to that doggy in the window. Just as there are puppy and cat mills, the notorious breeding places where animals live in filth, illness and misery, so are there rabbit mills. And then, just as with cats and dogs, there are the backyard breeders. There is also another cause for rabbit overpopulation, one that may have a familiar ring. Many people who adopt rabbits never bother to get them spayed or neutered. Two rabbits can become 20 rabbits in a shockingly short time. Rabbits' gestation period is only 30 to 32 days and within a few weeks after delivery, a female can get pregnant again. Rabbits are at the bottom of the food chain. If a rabbit in the wild lives two years, that's a long time. The only way rabbits can survive is by reproducing.

That rabbits enter puberty at an early age complicates the problem. When they enter puberty they get a little more aggressive. They can start snapping and nipping at you. And rabbits attract mates by leaving little piles and puddles (of you know what) around. This is about the time when a lot of neophyte rabbit owners decide that a rabbit as a pet isn't such a good idea after all.

One of the reasons rabbits are so attractive as impulse purchases is that they can be bought for a few bucks. Although purebred rabbits are more expensive, even they can be had for a lot less money than a purebred cat or dog. Pet stores make their money on the supplies they sell and the feed. Even when someone buys a rabbit on impulse, they are still going to walk out of the pet store with a cage, a carrier, food and water bowls, a litter box, litter, bedding material and food―at bare minimum. All of that will end up costing a lot more than the rabbit.

Rabbits may be inexpensive, but they do require a commitment―and vigilance. A rabbit is not a good pet for a child. Their bone structure is very delicate and they can be injured easily. They can even break their own backs if they kick too hard. Children under seven or eight years old don't understand that a rabbit is not a toy. They are a critter that requires a lot of watching. If a rabbit gets sick, it can be gone in a day. It needs immediate veterinarian care.

And rabbits require more specialized diets. Diet is the thing that keeps rabbits healthy. They don't get vaccinations. A good diet, exercise and preventing rabbits from getting stressed are the keys to a long rabbit life. Hutch, or outside, rabbits have a lifespan of about five or six years, but a house rabbit can easily live to be 10 or 12 years old. House rabbits don't have to cope with weather changes or the stress of outside animals, like coyotes, hawks and owls.

So what would the shelter like for Easter? If people would not go to pet stores. If you want a pet rabbit, contact rescue organizations first. Chances are very good there is a rabbit waiting there.

If you want to help the shelter but don't know how, please print our poster and hang it in your office, break room, lunch area, church, youth group, gym or wherever! You can download it from: http://www.sterlingshelter.org/images/stockimages/ShelterWeb.pdf.