Please! Help the animals at the Las Vegas, NM Shelter!

This is a cross post from an animal networking group in New Mexico. This woman has worked tirelessly to help the animals that go through the City of Las Vegas, New Mexico's animal shelter. What all this sounds like is that the Mayor and City manager are entrenched in their thinking and as a result are allowing cruelty to exist. Anyhow, here is her (edited to remove some names) post. If you can help, please do so. Even if it is to write the mayor and city manager or help get these animals out and into foster care. This lady is with the Animal Welfare Coalition.

"Since late August, there has been one attack after another. Everything we achieved and planned for welfare of shelter animals has been blocked or distorted. I could go through whole sequence but I am very tired. Simply, the Director of City Shelter would rather all dogs and cats were euthanized than any effort put forward to care for, adopt or transfer them. His name is Elmer Martinez. He heads several departments within the city. The shelter is the lowest on his list. He has been the motivating force behind the shelter supervisors' (past and present) obsession with killing and neglect. He is one of the most manipulating and deceitful individuals I have ever come upon. ( And I fought for the freedom of Black and Puerto Rican boys with the NYC courts.) I have seen hate and prejudice but never the amount of cruelty and corruption that I have witnessed here in Las Vegas. A simple request such as "Please shut the kennel doors on freezing cold nights" is answered by Elmer Martinez and Tim Dodge, City Manager, claiming that I and all of the Animal Welfare Coalition members are"undermining" the interim supervisor, Robert, whose decision it was and is to leave doors open. No, I just didn't want the dogs to get sick. AWC was not involved at all. The dogs are sick. The doors are still open. There seems to be no recourse as this a patron system and Martinez is supported by the higher ups in city government, the Major and the City Manager. I have given the best battle of my life. (NYC prejudiced judges seem like kindness and light after this.) In order to protect my own animals ( poisoning is accepted practice here, as is shooting ) and myself, I am leaving. Hopefully by March 1st. My heart breaks with the plight of the animals in this town. The pitiful irony is, there is no reason to slaughter the shelter animals. With very little to no help, I moved over 1000 dogs from shelter to rescues and good homes in the past year and half. With help, we could have researched many more rescues in the West and moved many more dogs and cats. With financial help, we could have had medical care and a van and gas to transfer. And on and on. We were getting there, then Elmer and Kelly forbid all volunteers. No dog walking, no cat petting, and no exercise pen, still. Now, no adoptions, "a chain of command" to report with any action to free an animal. I have been thrown out of the shelter and then told to come back and then told I was not allowed to be there so many times that I am dizzy. I have no idea what my status is right now. When I go in to photograph animals or help with animals, I have been told to leave by City Manager. At other times, I am called in to look at a dog that needs to get out. God knows. Again, tired of fighting. And the city has never paid me a cent or a "Thank You" for getting dogs out. Odd, very odd.
Somehow, I still have hope. Just can't hold it all up without real help. Time for relief to arrive.  Elmer is threatening to start the 3 day kill ordinance, which is unfortunately legal, in city ordinances. Oh yes, the City Council voted the shelter and Animal Control over to Public Safety, read Police Department , two months ago. It has not been taken over yet supposedly any day. Finally, the intelligent and very kind Animal Control officer has been so badly treated by Elmer that she has requested a transfer to Water Control. She loves the animals and cares for them beautifully. She could plan and build a humane shelter. "

Here is one proposal and reply from another member:

"My proposal: a massive letter writing campaign to the city of Las Vegas, telling them that we WILL NOT be bringing our company to visit Las Vegas until they right this situation. What I need from you is a 'bullet list' of issues to cite in our letters or phone calls. In other words, what are the 3 biggest issues there? Inhumane treatment? Facilities? Please let us know what exactly we should highlight in our letters and phone calls. We need to spread the word to the animal community to inundate the mayor's office.
Mayor Tony Marquez
City of Las Vegas
1700 North Grand Ave
Las Vegas, NM 87701
(505) 454-1401
The mayor's email address (no guarantee that he'll get this, so hard-copy letters or phone calls are better): mayormarquez@yahoo.com
Maybe it will help, maybe not, but at least we've done SOMEthing.
Also, letters to the editor of the local paper would also bring attention to the situation. Email letters for the Las Vegas Optic to: tmcdonald@lasvegasoptic.com"

I felt also that perhaps getting word out to the communities and other area major newspapers and news agencies  would help bring the spotlight on. I also would like to turn this over to the ASPCA as they try their best to monitor these types of things and can shut down shelters if needed.

Anyhow, please help get the word out and help the animals in Las Vegas. Thank you!

Reasons why you need a pet

There is no one perfect pet type or personality to fit everyone. Whether you love birds, fish, or another creature, there is a pet out there for you.  Pets offer a lot of positives for you, and are actually good for you. I thought I would list some of the pros of pet adoption. Notice I said "Pet Adoption" I am talking about adopting a pet through a rescue organization or shelter. By doing so, you are giving another soul a chance at a full loving life, and allowing it to help fulfill yours.

Anyway on to the pros......

Having a pet helps seniors stay invested in life. They help them with  keeping their minds stimulated, help them get exercise, keep them entertained, safe and loved.

If you live along, pets can help counter loneliness and depression. They'll help you to continue to focus on life around you. They give you companionship.

They'll help you establish a routine. Just the routine of caring for a pet can bring structure and purpose to daily life.

If it's a dog, they will help you establish an exercise routine. And regardless of our age, we all need some form of exercise and getting outside to play or walk your pet is a great way to set a daily exercise routine and keep you both in shape.

Pets are amazing stress relievers. It's a known fact that people with pets handle stress better and exhibit less stress than those without. Seniors especially need to keep their stress levels down. Just petting a dog or cat lowers the heart rate and never fails to bring about contentment and smiles. I know for me, just being greeted at the door when I come home every day from work with all these furry, wiggling, and happy bodies makes me smile, and makes my home my place of love and happiness.

Again if you have a dog, it will help you get outside, and stay connected to friends, or make new ones. It helps you stay connected to life and see all the wonder around you.

Taking your dog to a dog park helps you make new friends, and pets are great icebreakers for meeting new people.

A pet can stimulate interest in new interests and activities. It might inspire you to volunteer at the local animal shelter, or if you have a very social loving calm pet, you might volunteer to help seniors have contact with animals. Even some hospitals seek pet owners with amazing social pets to bring them to the hospital to spend time with patients.

Dogs of course can provide you with protection. Even a yappy smaller dog will discourage burglars. And little dogs are just as fierce in their protection as are big dogs. There are even stories of cats protecting their owners in the home.

And pets give you something to care for, they help you feel useful, they teach you unconditional love, compassion, and how to live in the moment and have fun. Having a pet means that you are making a promise to that soul to continue to be involved in another life, and to always keep your heart open to love.

I know for me, just hearing a cat purr is the most comforting sound and feeling I can know. Cuddling an animal, and feeling their unconditional acceptance of me and love for me is an amazing thing to realize. These things keep me grounded, sane and interested in life. And as I said, there is nothing quite like my coming home at the end of a stressful work day to 7 furry wagging and wiggling bodies the moment  I step inside the door. It makes a world of difference as I leave my cares and worries at the door.

Snow and fun lovin' dogs!

Well, I have been remiss in blogging lately. Things have been a tad bit hectic and I frankly haven't had much to blog about at the moment.

However..... Today it's snowing very big wet flakes in Santa Fe, NM. And the peke and collie are loving the snow.

Biscuit is having so much fun, he doesn't want to come in except when he wants all the snowballs attached to his fur to melt off then he wants right back outside.

Corny on the other hand wants to catch snowflakes for a profession!

Ah.... nothing like the lovely aroma of wet doggy in the house. Conversely, if you ask my 3 little dogs if they would go outside, you get this expression...

Yeah right, it's wet, and I don't do wet!

Ah well, we need the moisture here, but I am not sure it belongs in the house. LOL

Meeting new dogs and Ttouch attraction

Well, at present I am visiting Scottsdale, Arizona. While I am enjoying the weather, I am also getting to visit with people I either haven't seen in a long time or not very often. Saturday we spent the afternoon with my aunt and uncle here. They took us to lunch and around to some of the sights then we went to their house for a bit.

They have a dog here who actually is their son's dog but stays with them when they are in Arizona. Apparently she is protective of their home and strangers entering it. They found if they put her outside then people come in she is less agressive. However she isn't really a social dog, nor goes to strangers readily. Apparently she was a feral pup who was a rescue, so she is slow to trust or seek the attention of new people.

She was immediately attracted to my father and myself. She would go between us, and come to me for Ttouch. At first she wasn't sure about it but you could tell she liked it enough to stay and experience it more. After awhile she would come over and give a soft and gentle lick and ask for more. And she certainly felt comfortable enough to take a pull toy over to my father and ask to play with him. This certainly surprised my aunt and uncle. They said she never has done this or behaved like this before.

So I explained a bit about my Ttouch and how it has changed how animals view me, many  times I have had animals I have never met before come sit next to me, lean into me, seeking touch and the energy. Usually I end up with another good buddy before I go.

I can't claim to know how it works or how animals are attracted to it, but they are. And it is a form of communication and building trust on a much more energetic level than just voice or sight. It is really an amazing thing to experience. And it certainly has become second nature to me now.

If you want to better your understanding and communication with your pets, healing, or changing behavioral problems, it is well worth it to learn the method. www.ttouch.com

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and our pets

First, a definition of a Genetically Modified Organism:  From Wikipedia: A genetically modified organism (GMO) or genetically engineered organism (GEO) is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.

  Finally a study on the effects of some GMOs (genetically modified organisms) on animals! This is a hot topic for me and the effects of GMOs on us too.

This past year, the International Journal of Biological Sciences published an article on A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health They performed studies of several varieties of GM corn on rats with deletorious results. The article is lengthy, but worth reading.

Another article on some effects of GMOs on animals from Natural News titled: Genetically Modified Organisms are Unfit for Consumption  points out: In the animal studies that have been conducted, some noteworthy findings have been discovered about GMOs:
Female rats fed genetically modified soy saw most of their babies die within three weeks compared to the 10% death rate experienced by rats fed natural soy. The babies that survived in the genetically modified-fed control group were also born smaller and had problems getting pregnant later on.
Male rats fed genetically modified soy experienced a change in testicular color from pink to dark blue, as well as altered young sperm and significant changes in their DNA.
Indian buffalo that consumed genetically modified cottonseed experienced various birthing complications including infertility, abortions, premature delivery, and prolapsed uteruses. Many of the calves that survived birth died shortly thereafter.
In the United States, about 24 farmers reported that their pigs became sterile after consuming genetically modified corn.
Genetically modified corn and cotton, purposely engineered to create their own built-in pesticide called Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), have been indicted in several studies to provoke intense allergic and immune reactions and death. Since the levels of Bt produced in the plant represent thousands of times more a concentration of Bt than natural Bt spray, the effects are greatly amplified. Shepherds whose sheep grazed on Bt cotton after harvest witnessed thousands of their sheep die. Post mortem examinations revealed severe irritation and black patches in the intestines and liver, as well as enlarged bile ducts. All sheep fed the Bt cotton eventually died within 30 days while those that grazed on natural cotton remained healthy.
Bt corn was also responsible for the deaths of cows, horses, water buffaloes, and chicken in both Germany and the Philippines.
Genetically modified tomatoes fed to rats were shown to cause bleeding stomachs and eventually killed many of the rats.

These are just a few examples of the many catastrophic effects of using genetically modified organisms as food. And another article on WebMd it notes that if animals are given a choice they won't eat GM feeds on their own. What do they know that we don't?

Yet one more thing to point to from SafeAge.org :

How does genetic engineering affect animal welfare?

Cows injected with a genetically engineered Bovine growth hormone to increase milk production live shorter lives and suffer higher incidence of lameness, mastitis and reproductive health problems. Cloned and genetically engineered animals have staggering failure rates, a euphemism that hides a greater than 99 percent mortality. Dolly was one success out of 245. GE fish have become deformed, their flesh has turned green and many other health problems have occurred. There is a very strong lobby pushing for GE fish and these may be the first GE animals to arrive on your table. Yay mom, green wartery fish tonight.

Should animals be patented?

Monsanto applied for a patent for a pig bred in 160 countries. The patent is for specific parts of the genetic amterial of the pigs which Monsanto's researchers have decoded. If this patent is granted, pig breeding would be possible only with the approval of Monsanto. See the movie: Patent for a Pig?

I don't know about you, but all this is and has been very disturbing to me for some time now. I continue to do my best to avoid using mainstream products in my house and in my foods for myself or my pets. The three major grains (now owned by Monsanto) that are very much in all our commercially produced foods are Corn, Soy and Wheat.  Based on the description, and knowing that usually biotoxins or fish genes into vegetables are used to splice into a genetic sequence to promote the organism to be more immune to frost or pests, why would I want to eat it? Animals usually are much smarter than we are about foods. Ok, that sounds about as clear as mud. Let me put it to you from this viewpoint, our bodies, our genes recognize specific genetic sequences in our original foodstuffs as nutrtion and therefore to be used to nourish our bodies and help with bodily processes. When that original genetic sequence is no longer what it is meant to be, our body throws up a red flag that this is not considered nutrition and therefore needs to be considered a toxin, thereby stimulating our immune response. When we continue to ignore our body's response to the toxin, and keep feeding the toxin to ourselves, the body becomes overwhelmed and we start developing cancers, autoimmune diseases and immunodeficiency problems. We wonder why we see an increase in these things not only in ourselves but our pets as well. We are seeing an increase of diseases, such as thyroid disorders, diabetes, neurological problems, depression, celiac's disease, food allergies and intolerances, and the list goes on. These increases have begun in the early to mid 90's. Ok, so this makes sense to me as this is about the time that GMOs became more mainstream into our food supply and they were fully approved for animal feed.

I don't know about you, but for me it is so worth it for my health and that of my beloved pets to do my best to ensure that we consume as little of these that we can. Buying locally grown and raised products that are organic help. That and helping the push to pass into law the labeling of GMOs within our foods.

 

 

Are we polluting and poisoning our pets?

Recently I received a newsletter with an article on the high levels of pollutants and chemicals being found in our pets.

I really wasn't surprised by the reports. Especially the one on toxins and pollutants. Our pets' systems are smaller than humans, they process things differently than we do, and they are closer to the ground (generally speaking) so they pick up all sorts of chemicals that are either ingested or absorbed into their systems.

The pollutant study was done by the Environmental Working Group .

They noted that just as children ingest pollutants in tap water, play on lawns with pesticide residues, or breathe in an array of indoor air contaminants, so do our pets. But with their compressed lifespans, developing and aging seven or more times faster than children, pets also develop health problems from exposures much more rapidly.  And for anyone who has lost a pet to cancer or another disease potentially linked to chemical exposures, this sentinel role played by pets becomes a devastating personal loss.

This is some of their findings:
Dogs and cats were contaminated with 48 of 70 industrial chemicals tested, including 43 chemicals at levels higher than those typically found in people, according to our study of plastics and food packaging chemicals, heavy metals, fire retardants, and stain-proofing chemicals in pooled samples of blood and urine from 20 dogs and 37 cats collected at a Virginia veterinary clinic.

Average levels of many chemicals were substantially higher in pets than is typical for people, with 2.4 times higher levels of stain- and grease-proof coatings (perfluorochemicals) in dogs, 23 times more fire retardants (PBDEs) in cats, and more than 5 times the amounts of mercury, compared to average levels in people found in national studies conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and EWG (Figure).

 

Dogs: High levels of plasticizers,
grease-proof chemicals,and
fire retardants
35 chemicals detected - 40% at higher levels
in dogs than people

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cats: notably high levels of fire
retardants, high levels of plasticizers,
and grease-proofing chemicals
46 chemicals detected - 96% at higher levels
in cats than people

 

 In America there are 8 times more companion dogs and cats than there are children under five. Seventy percent more households have dogs or cats than children of any age. These pets are often beloved family members, and yet they can be subjected to chronic, constant exposures to chemical contaminants in homes, yards, and parks that pet owners cannot always prevent.

As cats meticulously groom themselves, they lick off accumulated dust that studies show can be contaminated with the neurotoxic fire retardants PBDEs and reproductive toxins called phthalates that were found in the cats we tested (Bornehag 2004, Stapleton 2005, Wormuth 2006). A dog eating scraps from the floor may also swallow dirt and dust tracked in from the outdoors and contaminated with heavy metals and pesticides (Colt 2004, vom Lindern 2003). A flea collar can spew droplets of insecticide that can be lethal to cats (Linnett 2008). Dogs and cats often eat food processing and packaging chemicals that contaminate their food, day after day and year after year, resulting in cumulative exposures with unknown health risks (FDA CVM 2008b). Chew toys might contain plastic softeners, foam beds might be infused or coated with fire retardants and stain-proofing chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects, and plastic water bowls might leach hormone disruptors.

The article talks about not much can be done to prevent this. I disagree to some extent with some of this. There is a lot you can do to prevent an overload of chemicals for your pets and yourself. There are non-toxic cleaning products out there like Method  products that are safer to use for your pets and kids.  You can also clean with simple food items like vinegar.

Don't use pesticides on your lawn, actually the best non-toxic pesticide is soapy water! It's true! You can reroute your washing machine drain water, using non-toxic, non-phosphate, detergents and water your lawn and flowers with it. It will kill the bugs, and provide water for plants and a lovely lawn. Not using Teflon cookware is another way to stop polluting your home. Avoid using plastics as much as possible. I know that one is hard. But you can use glass or pottery to feed and water your pet from. Use natural fibers around the house, and for pet toys. These are just a few things you can do to help minimize the toxins in your house. There is even paints for the walls that is friendly and non-toxic. And for the smokers, here is another reason to quit, the secondhand smoke is worse for your pets than your kids.

So..... again, back to reading labels. Reading all labels is a good habit to develop. And if it sounds like something you wouldn't put in your mouth, you can bet it doesn't belong in your kids' or pets' mouths either. It takes very little time actually to research effective non-toxic products for you and your home. Think about it, your skin is the biggest organ of your body, and it absorbs all sorts of things. So, those yucky toxic smells and cleansers you use gloves to use are also being absorbed through your skin and by breathing it in. And in the case of floor cleansers or where your cleansers are stored they are more concentrated down at your kids and pets levels than where you are.

Oh and leave off the flea collars and flea repellents. Those are so very toxic! If you have an indoor cat, vacuuming regularly with some lavender or cedar in the canister will collect and kill fleas in the bag/canister naturally and smell nice. Be sure to dump the canister and bag after each vacuuming. A bath regularly for the dog making sure to get the soap down to the skin level and good grooming will kill and wash the fleas down the drain. Be sure to let the soap stay on for a few minutes with good contact to the skin. These are simple low cost remedies that are non-toxic.

I could probably go on and on right about now, but think I'll stop here.

Figures, I no sooner post this entry, then this article appears on the Washington Post about the loopholes and dangerous chemicals.