Fostering programs may solve animal shelter problems

                                                                                        Alley Cat Allies pic

Ten years ago, a document published by the Assn. of Shelter Veterinarians alerted readers to the horrible conditions in many animal shelters.  “There is a . . . long list of stressors for animals entering shelters,” it began, also making the point that “Poor cat housing is one of the greatest shortcomings observed in shelters and has a substantially negative impact on both health and well-being.”

Much of the (nearly 60-page) “Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters” provided detailed directions for how shelters should be set up to best serve the animals housed in those facilities.  (Since then, I’ve heard of just one US shelter that has met all the standards of care – which may be a reason why the 2010 “Guidelines” have not been updated!) 

  

One answer to the need for vast improvement in animal shelters is a fostering program that would greatly lessen – if not eventually obviate – the need for them.  And the good news is that such programs are starting to happen.

Just think about homeless animals going to . . . homes (!), instead of shelters.  In real homes, these animals, already stressed and possibly in need of training as well as loving, could gain skills, confidence and comfort.  (I never met a shelter rep who could offer those incentives.)

Around the country, groups are trying out different versions of moving the shelter to the community -- fostering instead of sheltering animals.  It’s a seductive idea, but not easily implemented on a large scale.  Just consider, for instance, recruiting and monitoring volunteer fosters, and then overseeing possible adoptions of those animals. 

But now, lacking such a “real world” foster program for most shelter animals, numbers of them will be euthanized because they could not adapt to being there and acted out largely because they were in an “unreal world.”

“How far can fostering go?” an article in the Fall 2019 issue of Animal Sheltering Magazine, details all this and much more.  If feasible on a grand scale, it’s very appealing.

https://www.animalsheltering.org/magazine/articles/how-far-can-fostering-go

Possible pet upset

It’s a great thing to foster or adopt a shelter animal during this isolation period and shelter in place together.  You have time to become acquainted, to play and walk together, to train . . . to bring home an animal in need and feel less lonely yourself. 

But the big issue bound to arise when things open up again is weaning your new family member from you and your 24/7 presence at home.  As you return to work or start job-hunting, you’ll seem to suddenly disappear.  How will your pet deal with that?

Ease that trauma by gradually conditioning your new companion to your absence ahead of time.  Go out on errands that gradually become longer, even if you just drive to a nearby park and read or phone-chat for a while.  Noiselessly secrete yourself in your basement for a block of time and, as possible, take occasional day trips.

Plan now for how to get your new pet used to your being out as well as being home.    

Meat-eaters’ revolt

Seeing a column about the end of meat, in a time when merely thinking of “wet market” or “eating bats” or “species-jumping viruses” should suffice to promote plant-based foods, I read it appreciatively and assumed others would too.  

Definitely not!  Of the thousands of reader comments, many early ones were negative, defiant, angry.  I was stunned . . . till I recalled that even now, the city of Wuhan, China where the current pandemic began, has banned only some wild animals. And holiday beach-goers ignored social distancing advice.

So, why was I surprised that readers fought the writer’s argument -- unarguable, I’d thought -- against meat-eating?  I could become a misanthrope.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/opinion/coronavirus-meat-vegetarianism.html?te=1&nl=opinion-today&emc=edit_ty_20200525  

Flashback: Trenton rescue kittens at St. Hubert's                            

                                                                        St. Hubert's pics

           

I hope you’ll comment on this post and/or my earlier Q about how/when you use dog crates.  Just go to 1moreonce.blogspot.com, and thanks!

Local cats rescued; countless other animals not so lucky

                                                St. Hubert's pics

Nearly two weeks ago, 47 cats were moved from their home in Trenton to Ledgewood, NJ.  Their owner had died and they were being fed by a family friend.  They needed not only new loving homes, but also medical care.

That was the plan behind the cats’ removal on May 6, and now they’re in stage 1 of the two projected for them: they’re being medically evaluated at one of three St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center sites, known as “Noah’s Ark.”

Many of the cats have upper respiratory infections and ear infections/mites, a St. Hubert’s spokesperson said.  There’s likely to be “a slow trickle” of the Trenton cats from Noah’s Ark to St. Hubert’s Madison campus (both in Morris County), where adoptions take place.

Adoption into new loving homes: that will be stage 2 for the cats, who come in all colors and ages -- from 8 kittens, including bottle babies, to 9-year-olds.  As the Trenton cats are moved to Madison, they’ll be shown on the St. Hubert’s website with other animals waiting for homes.

Described by a St. Hubert’s rep as the “wonderful people at Trenton Humane,” Trenton officers involved in the collaborative effort brought the 47 cats out of their house for their journey to a new life.

Removing 47 cats from their Trenton home

                   

           As If Hearing Heavy Furniture Moved on the Floor Above Us

           by Jane Hirshfield

            As things grow rarer, they enter the ranges of counting.

            Remain this many Siberian tigers, 

            that many African elephants.  Three hundred red-legged egrets.  

            We scrape from the world its tilt and meander of wonder

            as if eating the last burned onions and carrots from a cast iron pan.

            Closing eyes to taste better the char of ordinary sweetness.

            (from Ledger [Knopf, 2020])

Wildlife’s (brief?) respite

“Coronavirus disrupts illegal wildlife trafficking --for now.”  Unfortunately, those last two words may be the most accurate future-predictors. Now, with some borders closed and tighter security, it’s understandable to hope that poachers and traffickers will be slowed down for good.

But, there’s always the lure of money for those who trade in wildlife.  And the financial losses from Covid-19 could drive even more people into this illicit, and dangerous, activity.

On the other hand, as more governments recognize “the link between wildlife trade and public health, the social stigma around the purchase and consumption of illegal wildlife products could grow, and countries eager to avoid becoming the origin of another pandemic would be motivated to investigate, arrest and prosecute wildlife criminals,” one expert says.

We can only hope.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/29/science/coronavirus-disrupts-illegal-wildlife-trafficking-for-now.html?campaign_id=34&emc=edit_sc_20200505&instance_id=18233&nl=science-times&regi_id=20760274&segment_id=26635&te=1&user_id=a360dad7b26df61ea65737080d3deedd  0

‘Food animals’ can’t win

If you thought that animals bred to be eaten got a break when US meat-processing plants closed recently, think again.  Pigs who would otherwise be slaughtered for food are instead being shot or gassed.  Chickens are also being killed en masse when they can’t be slaughtered.  It’s a lose-lose.  Which is why PeTA’s May 10 full-page NYTimes ad (text below) came just in time. . .

AMERICA:

IT’S TIME TO MOVE

AWAY FROM MEAT

American factory farms and slaughterhouses are as filthy as “wet markets” anywhere in the world.  If you looked inside at the blood, urine, waste, and offal on the floors and walls, you would lose your lunch.  Working conditions are appalling, and workers are getting sick.  Animals are terrified. They scream and try to escape.  They smell the fear and the slaughter.

A meat shortage isn’t a food shortage.  No one needs meat.

It’s linked to heart disease, cancer, stroke, high blood pressure,

diabetes, and obesity.

Eat as if everyone’s life depends on it.

Because it does.

We will help you: free vegan starter kits, mentors,

and recipes at PETA.org/Vegan.

PeTA

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To their rescue: 47 Trenton cats & countless US animals

In a joint operation to help area felines in a big way, two organizations this week “special rescued” nearly 50 cats from a Trenton home after their owner had died. With Trenton Humane Law Enforcement (HLE), St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center (based in Madison, NJ) removed 47 cats from a home on Lamberton St. last Wednesday.

After hearing of the cats’ situation from area rescue groups, HLE Bureau Chief Jose Munoz reached out to the family friend who had been caring for the cats.

Then, once inside the house, Munoz and his staff (officers Jose Millan, Nikijha Blakely, Jason Riley and Hector Avalos) worked with St. Hubert’s reps to remove 47 cats of all ages, including four newborns and their mother. While a few may have upper respiratory issues, most seemed well, Munoz says. 

                       McSnip pic

St. Hubert’s staff loaded up all the cats, who had been released to their custody, and took them to their Noah’s Ark facility, in Ledgewood, NJ. Once their medical evaluations are completed, the cats will be available for adoption at St. Hubert’s Madison location.    

About dog crates

Here’s a question for readers who are dog-owners: how much do you use your pet’s wire crate with her/him?  Only when the pet is young and/or new?  For your dog to sleep in at night, with the latch closed?  Left open for your dog to drop in anytime, as desired?  Where your pet stays when not playing, eating or outdoors with you?  Stored away once your dog has been trained and matures?

Hoping you’ll decide to comment and tell us how you use your dog’s wire crate.

Expand hunting? NO!

Looking forward to some good old all-American fun after your quarantine ends?  How about hunting bears, bobcats, mountain lions and many other animals, or catching some fish, all in newly expanded areas?  

That’s how the US Fish & Wildlife Service proposes our getting out in the fresh air and enjoying nature -- tromping through flora and killing fauna.  Such fun.

For details on this horrific idea that the Animal Protection League of NJ (APLNJ.org) alerted me to, just read the flyer below, then please take action. . . against it!  Simply go to the link provided below and comment -- early and often!

Bobcat

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Expand Hunting and Fishing in Wildlife Refuges. Again. Tell them "No!" The deadline for comments is June 8, 2020.  The proposal opens up 2.3 million acres on wildlife refuges in nearly every state, including New Jersey's Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, where it would expand existing sport fishing to new acres. (Pictured above.) According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the plan will "open dozens of national wildlife refuges to expanded hunting of bears, bobcats, mountain lions and many other animals. What's more, it has suggested that doing so will give people something to look forward to after the pandemic." See the full plan by clicking here. The press release about this is here. Please go to this link and click the "comment now!" button: https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=FWS-HQ-NWRS-2020-0013 Proposed Rule Posted: 04/09/2020 ID: FWS-HQ-NWRS-2020-0013-0001 Please share this information with everyone you know.  It affects the entire country.

Thanks!

Wishing all animals a happy Mothers Day!

https://thedodo.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/d/A394848CDBBF94152540EF23F30FEDED/B430F3161C52921ADCCB6820C4466A74

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Meat to eat vs. human lives: an easy choice!

Indonesian meat market

For weeks now, I’ve written here about the need for humans to stop wild animal trafficking and consumption, which are believed to be the cause of Covid-19 and various other viruses that have come our way.  And I plan to continue repeating this call to action (more accurately, IN-action!) because in my view, it has always been cruel, wrong and yes: needless.

The American Dream

But I’ve come to doubt that such a change can occur.  People seem to be inextricably linked to their habits and traditions, like eating wild animals.  It would take conscious work to stop what’s been going on “forever,” and I doubt most people would buy into that concept or consider the myriad alternatives that do exist.  

Which is why I’m repulsed by Americans’ devotion to meat-eating, and enraged by the recent executive order to keep meat-processing plants open despite workers’ sickness and deaths from coronavirus.  But I believe our precious “food chain” will be kept stocked with beef, chicken, pork, etc. 

That would mean continuation of factory farming, with helpless, sentient animals often bred only for slaughter and consumption.  It would also assure that our meat-laden food chain will be maintained on the backs of low paid, involuntary workers who feel they must return to those horrific plants again if they’re to support themselves and their families.

It’s clear now that the vaunted “food chain” – a.k.a. meat supply -- seems more valued and important than human lives.  Shameful.

“Never mind that food-processing and meatpacking plants are hot spots for covid-19 — at least 79 have reported outbreaks.  Never mind that at least 20 workers in the industry have died from the disease or that the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) reports that at least 6,500 workers in the industry have been diagnosed or exposed.

“And never mind that shutting down plants is often the only way local officials can force safety improvements to protect the larger community from the disease’s spread . . . .”  – E.J. Dionne, Jr. in the Washington Post, 4-30-20

 Back to the animals, the involuntary stars of this horror story:  What happens to those who can’t be “processed” while meat-packing plants are closed?  

“The short answer is they will be killed. Slaughterhouse author Gail Eisnitz** said the American Veterinary Medical Association guidelines for emergency killing are extremely weak.  For poultry and pigs, they allow animals to be killed by simply shutting off the ventilation system fans (heat or carbon dioxide may be added).  The animals die of hyperthermia, baking and suffocating over a period of several hours.

“According to the Delmarva Poultry Industry, a large chicken processing company in Delaware and Maryland killed 2 million chickens earlier this month because worker shortages left them without workers to slaughter and butcher the animals.”--excerpted from the daily “Coronavirus Updates” in the Washington Post, Tues, April 28

Now conveniently forgotten: such things as health warnings about eating meat; the push for meat-free days; and even mad-cow disease.  In the throes of a killing pandemic with myriad other, more important things to be concerned about, people can’t do without their burgers, their steaks, their chicken.  Shameful.

Let them eat plant-based foods, lots of fruit and veggies, beans in countless ways, peanut butter.  Let them learn about vegan eating and its ingredients.  And even, as Marie Antoinette is alleged to have said (but most likely did not): “Let them eat cake!”

** Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry, by Gail A. Eisnitz, c. 1997 (updated in 2006 paperback edition)

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Think positive: think about caring for animals

During this shelter-in-place period, we could easily occupy ourselves with thoughts of Covid-19 and its fallout on our health, plans, jobs and finances because as the virus spreads, so do the reasons for brooding, worry, fear, anger.

But on some level, we must think of other things; we must think positive – which will help us feel more positive, or as the poet lamented, “Life must go on; I forget just why.”

One major “just why” for thinking positively is animals -- both wildlife and pets.  They can’t assure their own welfare and must count wholly on us.

By now we refer to Asian wet markets as a source of zoonotic infectious diseases – those spreading from animals to humans – because of the unconscionable ways humans treat animals in such places: live wild animals kept in squalid conditions until selected for slaughter and human consumption.

Vervet

After they’re butchered on the spot, more live animals replace them, developing chains of infection in the process.  Deforestation and destruction of habitats, along with factory farming, are other man-made situations that invite zoonotic infectious diseases.  That’s why we can count on more plagues like Covid-19 unless we change the ways we treat wild animals.  

(I expect there will be much to come here on this topic.) 

Then there are our pets. 

At least we needn’t worry about catching zoonotic infectious diseases from them.  They’re the ones who should be worried, since it’s recently been seen that zoo tigers and pet cats can test positive for the coronavirus, which, no argument, they caught from people, most likely, “their people.”  

But don’t worry about catching Covid-19 from pets.  There’s no evidence pets can transmit it to humans.  In fact, humans are a much greater risk to humans than animals are.

The best way you can care for your pets is to keep yourself healthy and sheltered from other people and the coronavirus, so you keep your pets healthy.

Sure, walk your dog.  Just don’t let other people pet your dog and don’t pet theirs. If you’re sick, stay as far away as possible from pets.  If a surrogate caretaker isn’t possible, at least wash hands thoroughly before and after interacting with pets and wear a mask.  Avoid cuddling, kissing and sleeping with pets.  

https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2020/4/24/21231806/coronavirus-pets-covid-19-cats-dogs?wpisrc=nl_animalia

Pets during pandemic

Our cats, Harry and Billy, have taken to sleeping on our bed with us lately.  One of them is doing more whining and sticking with us, while the other seems to relish being in his blankety cat-caves more than usual.  

Apparently, such different behaviors are normal in times like these, I’ve read.  Seeing much more of their people than usual, some pets may also be losing their personal spaces and having their own routines interrupted.  They could also be “internalizing some of the anxious signals from their owners.”

Pet owners are advised to be consistent about meal and play times, and walks.  And to plan now for pets’ comfort when the lockdown ends and people aren’t at home day and night.  That transition should be gradual. 

ttps://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2020/4/24/21231806/coronavirus-pets-covid-19-cats-dogs?wpisrc=nl_animalia

a blog-post echo

This is part reinforcement of what’s already been said here and part personal pride.  I was elated to read an opinion column in the NYTimes earlier this month that made many of the same points I made here in a blog post-editorial weeks before.  In order of appearance, here’s the post:

http://1moreonce.blogspot.com/2020/03/coronavirus-animals-revenge.html   

. . . and here’s the NYT column:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/opinion/animal-cruelty-coronavirus.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_200414&instance_id=17594&nl=todaysheadlines&regi_id=20760274&segment_id=25071&user_id=a360dad7b26df61ea65737080d3deedd

just for fun: 

https://thedodo.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/d/7E4ABDC5CA68E2052540EF23F30FEDED/083127FDFB36BBC9A0F01D70678E0DEE

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I hope you’ll comment on this post.  Just go to 1moreonce.blogspot.com.

Looking at life for wild animals during this pandemic

Wild Mountain Goats 

Wherever we turn, the news is about Covid-19 -- its horrors and deaths and the fearful people trying to avoid it.  The virus’s movement and effects are inescapable, as are conflicting opinions about how to treat and end it.  

We could drown in the stories of how people are (or aren’t) coping with shelter-in-place directives; how they’re getting along (or not) with those in the same place; and what they’re doing to occupy themselves.  At this point, there can’t be much news about waiting out Covid-19 at home.

Sea Turtle

So let’s change the subject to what’s been happening with animals during this period.  Since we recently talked about coronavirus and both our pets and wild animals in Asian “wet markets,” let’s look at other wild animals in the news. 

  

“Wild animals re-take their world”:  that headline got my attention!  It seems that as people retreated inside, leaving streets and towns virtually empty, animals moved in – or rather, back.  Coverage told and showed delightful tales of wild animals suddenly free to wander unmolested in areas they’d been squeezed out of.  

“For centuries, humans have pushed wildlife into smaller and smaller corners of the planet. But now, with billions in isolation and city streets emptied, nature is pushing back.” 

Water Buffalo

What a thrill to see the video of a herd of wild mountain goats running through a town in Wales, snacking from flower boxes and bushes as they traveled.  And buffalo on a highway in India.  And whales spotted back in what had been Mediterranean shipping lanes.

Wild boar showed up on streets in Barcelona, deer grazed on lawns in London and on closed Brazilian beaches, baby sea turtles hatched and made their way to the sea – not interrupted or harmed, but free.

You go, guys!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/coronavirus-wild-animals-wales-goats-barcelona-boars-brazil-turtles/2020/04/14/30057b2c-7a71-11ea-b6ff-597f170df8f8_story.html?cv-campaign=4fda08e2fbca0387b958bb44bf5cc2b6&utm_campaign=wp_to_your_health&utm_content=2020_04_15&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_tyh

Meanwhile, in zoos . . .

Egyptian Cobra

And then, alas, there are animals in zoos – involuntarily, they’re already sheltering in place.  But caring for them must continue even when the facility is closed.

Given short-staffing and limited supplies, some care has become harder to provide.  Non-emergency procedures may be on hold because social distancing can be impossible when it takes more than one person to work on an animal.

For the same reason, some animals too are on hold – think large animals like elephants, and dangerous ones, like venomous snakes.  Since they’re susceptible to human viruses, anyone even near zoo primates must wear a mask.  Same with anteaters, who are vulnerable to human influenza.  

So, different rules and challenges for different animals.

It could become tough to feed those who rely on a small variety of foods that could become scarce. Platypuses, for one, prefer “yabbies’,” or crayfish – live.  Their keepers hope to get them used to substitutes including frozen crayfish.  Koalas need eucalyptus, which could be held up by supply line interruptions.

Koala 

And if fresh sea water from the Gulf of Mexico becomes impossible to obtain for residents of one aquarium located near industrial sites, there’s “Instant Ocean,” dry sea salt and minerals in a box.

Zoos are cruel, unnatural places for wild animals -- one comment on the newspaper story read: "Nothing is learned from watching animals in captivity except that is okay to keep animals in captivity."  

But at least these captive animals are being cared for during the pandemic.     

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2020/03/27/zoos-are-closed-due-coronavirus-animals-still-need-care/?utm_campaign=wp_animalia&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_animalia

Helping wild animals

You may want to help a wild animal in need, but how?  Turn to a wildlife rehabilitator who’s trained and qualified to care for injured or orphaned wildlife.  The Animal Protection League of NJ offers a rehabber list showing those who can help during the pandemic.  Here’s the link to refer to, or to print and post.  

https://aplnj.org/find-help/help-injured-or-orphaned-wildlife-during-pandemic/

This Wednesday, April 22, is Earth Day – its 50^th anniversary!  

(https://www.earthday.org/)

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