ASPCA Reunites Pet Parent with Missing Cats Following East Village Explosion and Fire

from: aspca.org

The ASPCA has helped to reunite two formerly missing cats with their guardian following a large explosion and fire in New York City’s East Village neighborhood last week. The Office of Emergency Management granted ASPCA responders access to a residential building where they searched for and located the cats.

The two cats belong to East Village resident Kathleen Blomberg, who has been displaced and is staying with a friend. The ASPCA will provide transportation and medical exams at the ASPCA Animal Hospital for Kathleen’s cats, Kitty Cordelia and Sebastian, and we have also offered free boarding for her cats as she secures new housing.

 ASPCA responders continue to search for cats reported missing in the affected area and hope to reunite them with their guardians soon. 

At the request of the Office of Emergency Management, the ASPCA is providing coordination of animal-related issues at the city’s emergency reception center for pet owners in the area surrounding the site of Thursday’s explosion and fire in the East Village neighborhood of New York City. Residents in the evacuation area who need to access their pets should speak to a police officer for more information.

The damage and resulting needs of residents affected by the explosion and fire are still being assessed.

ASPCA says: It's the 1st annual National Dog Fighting Awareness Day

This time last year, the ASPCA was on the ground in Missouri assisting in a massive, three-state dog fighting raid. After rescuing over one hundred dogs that day, we all breathed a sigh of relief. They were finally safe. Safe from the cold, safe from the neglect, and safe from the pain.

But that sense of relief was fleeting. Though those dogs will never have to fight again, dog fighting has maintained an aggressive hold over our society. And it's not just happening in small, dark corners of the country—it's happening everywhere. From densely-populated communities to famous football teams, dog fighting sometimes eludes the general public's conscience for reasons we can't fully understand.

But we refuse to give up.
The ASPCA is committed to ending dog fighting. We have designated today, April 8, as the first annual National Dog Fighting Awareness Day. We created this day to advance the conversation about dog fighting, and to encourage animal lovers across the country to take action against this brutal form of cruelty.

We believe that there will come a time when dog fighting is seen for what it really is: the shameful pastime of cowards. But until that time comes, we will continue to fight for the victims so that they don't have to.

Please join the movement and take a stand. Make a gift to the ASPCA today.

Let's Talk Turkey: ASPCA Holiday Tips

What Every Pet Parent Should Know about Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving is all about spending time with loved ones—human and animal alike. So it makes sense that we’re tempted to fix Fido a plate of all the scrumptious holiday food we’re eating, right? But wait! Put down the serving spoon. Are you sure that’s safe for your pet?

Ten Thanksgiving dangers. Some foods are totally off-limits to our furry pals (and there’s a full list of them at ASPCA.org). Ten of them are especially common around the holidays. Just say no to:

•	sage
•	chocolate
•	candy with xylitol
•	bread dough
•	batter with raw eggs
•	onions and garlic
•	macadamia nuts
•	raisins and grapes
•	rich or spicy foods
•	alcohol

Let’s talk turkey. Good news for Fido! ASPCA experts say a little bite of plain turkey is usually safe for pets. If you decide to share, remember: Only boneless, well-cooked turkey is OK.

The feeding of raw turkey or other uncooked meat could potentially cause problems for dogs, Calleen, especially if the meat is contaminated with harmful parasites or bacteria, such as certain strains of E. coli or Salmonella. If you would like to add additional meat or other protein to your dog's diet, we suggest talking with your regular veterinarian in order to determine the most appropriate nutritional program for your pet.

Giving your pet for chewing is not OK.

Don’t overdo it. Lots of us overindulge at the Thanksgiving table, but when our pets do, it can be a real problem. It’s best to keep pets on their normal diets during the holidays, but if you do decide to share your holiday spread, make it just a taste. Eating too much can give your dog diarrhea, upset stomach, or even pancreatitis.

Play it safe. If your dog or cat consumes any potentially harmful foods or products, please consult your veterinarian, or the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 or www.aspca.org/apcc.

For more tips, visit the ASPCA Thanksgiving safety page.

ASPCA Art of the Catnap Winners

Across a laptop, in a salad bowl, and over the back of a chair—these are just a few of the crazy places our members photographed their cats snoozing. All the photos were adorable, but five entries stood out. Check out the winners and runners up! Read more...

Obama and all sides in Congress agree to get one thing done

from:



On Thursday, December 9, at a ceremony at the White House, President Barack Obama signed the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010 into law. The new law prohibits the creation and distribution of “crush videos” and establishes a penalty of up to seven years in prison.

In April 2010, the United States Supreme Court struck down the original “Crush Act” (the Depictions of Animal Cruelty Act), a federal law passed in 1999, finding its language to be overbroad and unconstitutional. The law was meant to stop the creation and sale of crush videos and other depictions of illegal acts of animal cruelty. The animal welfare and law enforcement communities have been concerned that lack of a federal law to prohibit crush videos would lead to resurgence in their trade—done mostly via the Internet—which was suppressed effectively by the 1999 law.

The Court’s ruling did leave the door open for the Act to be rewritten—and to their credit, several members of Congress wasted no time in drafting and introducing amendments that would 1) withstand test of constitutionality, and 2) address one of the Court’s main problems with the original Act by including exemptions for visual depictions of hunting, trapping, and fishing. The Senate version of the legislation was introduced by U.S. Senators Jon Kyl (R-AZ) Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Richard Burr (R-NC); the House version was introduced by Representatives Elton Gallegly (R-CA) and Gary Peters (D-MI).

“The ASPCA has long recognized the dangerous potential for animal cruelty to lead to more serious crimes,” says Dr. Randall Lockwood, Senior Vice President of ASPCA Forensic Sciences and Anti-Cruelty Projects. “By banning crush videos, our federal government is potentially helping to protect the community from other serious crimes and sending a clear message to individuals seeking to profit from the suffering of helpless animals. This law protects both animals and free speech by focusing specifically on crush videos, which clearly have no place in our society.”

The Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act has a narrower focus than the 1999 law, but still prohibits creating or distributing depictions of non-human animals being intentionally crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled, or otherwise subjected to serious bodily injury.

Nora's Not Playing 'Melancholy Baby': The Piano-Playing Tabby Wins ASPCA Cat of the Year Award

When Betsy Alexander and Burnell Yow of Philadelphia, PA, visited an animal shelter in Cherry Hill, NJ, they never imagined they would adopt a feline prodigy.

Nora, a grey Tabby named after the surrealist painter Leonora Carrington, appeared to be your average mischievous young kitten.

But this seemingly ordinary shelter cat is receiving an extraordinary honor next week, when she will be officially named Cat of the Year at the annual ASPCA Humane Awards in New York City.

For a complete list of this year’s award winners, including a guide dog for a disabled Iraq War veteran and two undercover agents who assisted in the largest dog fighting raid in U.S. history, check out the ASPCA website.

Ready Teddy for their Close-UP: Your BFF's BFF in the animal world

You are No. 1 in your dog or cat's eyes. But in their four-legged world they must have at least one BFF, and they outta be in pictures. Why deprive the world any longer of their adoring and adorable gazes?

This October, for the ASPCA Adopt-A-Shelter Dog photo contest, your challenge is to catch your pooch in the act of interspecies affection. The top five winners—selected by ASPCA staff—will receive an ASPCA Prize Pack and be featured on our website. So get clicking—the deadline for entries is October 31!

2008: The Legislative Year in Review, from ASPCA

The sun has set on 2008, and animal advocates throughout the United States have plenty to celebrate. Humane legislation continues to gain legitimacy in the halls of power, and mighty new allies in the media—like Oprah Winfrey and Miley Cyrus—helped the ASPCA broaden our reach and share our anti-cruelty message with countless pet-passionate people—including lawmakers.

At the end of 2007, we predicted that the Michael Vick dog fighting scandal would lead to a swath of new anti-fighting and felony-level cruelty legislation in 2008. Thankfully, we were right! Animal fighting was a hot-button issue in 2008, with more than 10 states passing new animal-fighting laws or upgrading their old ones. Encouragingly, Virginia, the state that was home to Vick’s “Bad Newz Kennels,” led the way by passing three separate laws addressing various aspects of animal fighting, including penalties for spectators.

Read on to learn about some of the coolest laws passed for animals in 2008 and see what types of bills succeeded in multiple states.