NJ animals’ long-time protectors . . . & naming names

I don’t do these things and I’m sure most other people don’t either.  Yet, obviously, they’re happening.  So just who is working with fervor to make life better for animals in New Jersey – and often, to start with, saving those lives? Who does such things as . . .  *  Maintaining a website full of current and useful info about NJ animals, from black bears to deer to community cats   *  Meeting and corresponding with state legislators and both the assembly and senate majority offices, all having to do with animals.  (For instance, a team of 4 met with more than 50 legislators since last June on current issues like a bear-feeding ban and a poaching bill.)   *  Making numerous site visits around the state to promote non-lethal geese-management and persuade communities away from contracts to kill geese.      *  Producing newsletters on animal issues – for instance, NJ bears, who are always threatened by trophy-seeking hunters   *  Working for introduction of legislation to benefits our animals and helping line up co-sponsors for bills   *   Establishing a committee of 3 to track voting records and produce scorecards to help with your choice   *  Aiming to modernize the Fish and Game Council, now largely comprised of pro-hunting members, by switching its focus to non-lethal approaches Who is behind all this, and many more initiatives on behalf of animals in New Jersey?  You probably already know: the one statewide organization that for nearly 40 years has worked for animals here: the Animal Protection League of NJ (alpnj.org). Thank you, committed and tireless APL! What’s in a name?

Owners?  Parents?  Guardians?  Family?  People?  Which name do you think is best to describe yourself or any other person with one or more pets at home? While we know that typically, our pets could not survive in the wild – I think back on my pets who couldn’t fend for themselves outdoors for a week, or maybe even a night.  But who said they should be able to do that?   Humans have so domesticated some animals that they now must depend on us for housing, food, love and so on.  Even so, does that mean we “own” them, using such an historically cruel word to describe the relationship?  Yet the world at large uses that word to describe the connection between a person and the pet s/he brings to a veterinarian, right?  And an “owner” must often sign off on various kinds of pet-related paperwork, as well as being the person neighbors might describe as “that big dog’s owner.”   So, if not “owner,” what’s a preferable word for the human who shares a home with a pet?  What doesn’t smack so strongly of possession, but rather of something much more benign or companionable? Does “parent” work, or is that too hierarchical?  How about “guardian” – does that better describe the person with a pet?  “Family” is softer, warmer, but would most of us say that way, even if we think and act that way?  And does “person” or “people” have the right ring, as in “Clearly lost, the puppy was fruitlessly looking for her “person” (or “people”)?   I’d like to hear from readers about their preference for a word in this context – maybe one of those above or a better word that you’ve come up with. A special treat Here’s a great “Save the Elephants” video that came to me, but its thank-you message is really for everyone who has decided to donate to “Save the Elephants”!  Just watching the brief video will further strengthen your resolve to help elephants like the ones shown here, in Kenya.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbP-2PSQYPE                                          National Cat Day is October 29: hug your cat(s)! #

News of whales, hardworking horses & homeless kittens

Blue whale tail

Whales’ tales:  News about the environment has lately featured numerous whale reports, most recently highlighting a newly-recognized cetacean, Rice’s whale, or the Gulf of Mexico whale.  Long thought to be a Bryde’s whale -- a species found all over the oceanic world -- this whale, seen only in the Gulf of Mexico, was found to be structurally and genetically distinct, and therefore a new species.

That’s the good news.  The downside is that with only 50 known individuals in the species, it could disappear before it’s even widely recognized.  While Rice’s whales can reach 42 feet in length and up to 60,000 pounds, their bulk can’t save them.  If the species is to live on, it needs specific protections put in place.

Humpback whale

Marine scientists have petitioned the federal government to keep Gulf of Mexico whales in mind when considering offshore oil and gas drilling, along with the very real possibility of oil spills – they’ve happened before!  Another hazard to whale life are collisions with ships, which could be minimized with the year-round speed limit that has also been proposed.

“The loss of even a single whale threatens the survival of the species,” scientists have argued – a point that’s hard to dispute, given the number of extant Rice’s whales.  https://tinyurl.com/ymd5rm99 

Orca

And there’s more news beyond the “new” whale.  In a dramatic display of rapid culture change, it’s been discovered that humpback whales can pass their songs across oceans – one example is a music-move from Australia to Ecuador . . .  Orcas (a.k.a. “killer whales” but actually dolphins) have demonstrated they can kill and eat adult blue whales, the largest creatures that ever lived . . . and North Atlantic right whales are moving toward extinction while also diminishing in size.

                    Horses’ hazardous duty

The use (and abuse) of horses to pull carriages in NYC has once again drawn fire from animal advocates.  It is an archaic practice and comes with needless cruelty (for a needless purpose!) to the animals involved.  Will it ever be stopped?

The previous NY City mayor had promised to end horsedrawn carriages on the first day of his administration . . . but now, eight years later, it continues.  As do injuries and sometimes death to horses, and the likely ignoring of rules about the temperatures when horses should not be out and numbers of people being pulled in any one carriage.   https://tinyurl.com/5xehp5dc

Way to . . . grow!

If you wanted to grow your small business, what could you do?  One way: add a nice resident animal to reach out to customers simply by being there.

I’m aware of a lovely black cocker spaniel who for years welcomed customers to a stationery shop while keeping the store owner company behind the counter. A friendly dog often comes to work with a clerk in a pet supply store and also stays behind the counter, prompting conversations and questions.

Popular resident animals in NYC businesses recently earned media attention for being far beyond the “bodega cats” famous on the internet.  They included a snake, a potbellied pig and various birds (parrots, a white dove, a pigeon and a rooster).

If you know of unique resident animals greeting customers in area businesses, please comment here!   

Kittens calling     

Harry

Here’s news from the recent APLNJ-sponsored shuttle that transported 31 cats to their sterilization spa day: Did the kittens recover well?  (answer: Yes! Kittens in foster were roaring around soon after as if pediatric spay or neuter never happened.) Were any able to be rescued? (answer: Yes! APLNJ took 11 socialized friendly cats and kittens into foster care.  Five are currently available to adopt and can be seen at the Animal Alliance courtesy posts below.  Can you help find them great homes?  Please send all adoption queries to catlady@aplnj.org.

 Ruby: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/ruby-58556094/nj/lambertville/animal-alliance-nj290/

 

JoJo: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/jojo-58556083/nj/lambertville/animal-alliance-nj290/

 

Harry: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/harry-58556059/nj/lambertville/animal-alliance-nj290/

 

Dana: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/dana-58556037/nj/lambertville/animal-alliance-nj290/

 

Gwen: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/gwen-58556005/nj/lambertville/animal-alliance-nj290/

 

 

Jo-Jo

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Some pets have all the luck & some bears live to suffer

Some cats are lucky; other cats (and pets in general) are not.  Example: the small animals like guinea pigs who are being surrendered or given away “in droves as the world reopens,” the New York Times reported earlier this month.

The predictions about dogs and cats being returned or surrendered to shelters once people were back to work or school didn’t play out – happily for them.  But “small animal surrenders spiked by more than 50% nationwide in the first six months of 2022, compared to the same period the year before.”

Those suddenly homeless small animals include reptiles, birds, rodents and even fish.  The return traffic is so heavy that Manhattan’s City Council is considering a bill to ban sale of guinea pigs in pet shops.  In Central Park, numerous domestic red-eared slider turtles and rabbits have been found, along with guinea pigs. 

By comparison, surrenders of cats and dogs have climbed less than 7% over the year before.  One theory for that is “human attachment”: people feel that small animals are “less interactive” than dogs or cats, less able to fill a void and provide the companionship that people are looking for.

Adding to the issue of shelters now being “glutted” with small animals, fewer adoptions are taking place.  So, still more animals in need.

Nor is the problem of abandoned “pandemic pets” limited to the US; it’s also happening abroad.  In England during a six-month period ending in July, there was a 24% increase in reports of such animals (including numerous fish and snakes). Last month’s “Guinea Pig Awareness Week” accompanied “a 90% increase in (their) abandonments, on top of a 49% increase in rabbits.”

Right now, there’s widespread big bad news for small animals.  Is anyone out there pining for a guinea pig, or 3 or 10 of them?  https://tinyurl.com/5888pfyh 

For another view on pet adoption and abandonment, read the column linked here.  It’s one more excellent essay by Margaret Renkl.    https://tinyurl.com/58hk2kzk   

 Lucky cats

. . . And the winning number is 31!  That’s how many cats were spayed or neutered last week through one concerted effort to make it happen.  The felines involved would not have benefitted from the procedure without the shuttle-to-sterilization sponsored by the Animal Protection League of NJ  (https://aplnj.org).

                                                                 Obi pic

Promoted in the last post here, the procedure will allow the cats, now also vetted and microchipped, to lead kitten-free lives, thereby doing their bit to help manage cat overpopulation.

Best of all, the plan is to do it again.  Next time, though, the initiative may be called the “Kitty Kab,” says APLNJ’s Sandra Obi, who coordinated the spay-neuter operation.  Already, three people with 6-10 cats to be “fixed’ are on her wait list.

Fracture

by Ellen Bass

When the grizzly cubs were caught, collared, and taken away—

relocated they call it—

their mother ran back and forth on the road screaming.

Brutal sound. Torn from her lungs. Her heart,

twisted knot, hot blood rivering

to the twenty-six pounding bones of her feet.

Just weeks before

I watched a bear and her cubs run down a mountain

in the twilight.

So buoyant, they seemed to be tumbling

to the meadow,

to the yarrow root they dug, rocking

to wrest it from the hard ground, fattening for winter.

They were breathing what looked like gladness.

But that other mother . . .

Her massive head raised, desperate to catch their scent.

Each footfall a fracture in the earth’s crust.

(c. by Ellen Bass. First published in Poem-a-Day on August 17, 2022.)

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