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Courtesy Google Images During Wednesday's Lakers game the ESPN commentators could not stop wailing about the tragedy that Kobe Bryant was seen in this photo with a little dog. They ranted, wept and prayed for someone to "say it isn't so" that such a "macho" guy would have a lap dog. They lamented that any dog that could be "cradled" in one's arms was not an acceptable companion for such a man as Kobe. Finally, to their relief, Kobe contacted them during half time and comforted the hysterical commentators with the news that he had 4 dogs - two of which were German Shepherds. The commentators were outright thanking the almighty for this proof that the world is right again - that- their hero had 2 "manly" dogs which generously excused the presence of the little dog. First, the size of a man's dog is not indicative of the size of his penis. Second, let's not force men into behaving in projected stereotypical ways. Strong men can b...

  UPDATE - The "Ag-Gag" bill, sponsored by the California Cattleman's Association was  withdrawn by Assemblymember Jim Patterson. It will be technically dead after after the first week of M ay deadline. We were heard!! It is once again legislative season and your spcaLA is working on bills that will prevent animal cruelty. To that end, I will resume nagging you to voice your support or disgust to our employees - our elected officials.       Remember: The power of the people is greater than the people in power -Wael Ghonim Assemblymember Roger Dickinson introduced Assembly Bill 339 , which, in its current form, strives to ban the sale of live animals in swap meets and flea markets.  Husbandry, veterinary treatment, and often basic humane care are often non existent in these venues, which, unfortunately were excluded from recent enacted legislation prohibiting street corner sales of animals. This bill passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee th...

Courtesy Google Images On March 6th a five foot long white-tipped shark flown from New York to Los Angeles to be used in the filming of a Kmart commercial exhibited signs of stress on the set and ultimately died. The shark was treated on set by the trainer and then taken to a specialist to no avail. According to a source cited by the Los Angeles Times , Kmart's request for a replacement shark to be brought out for the shoot was refused by the production company, Boxer Films, who instead substituted an animatronic hippopotamus. The group American Humane Association (AHA) who certifies that "no animal was harmed in the making of a film" ,who receives funding from the film industry to monitor animal actors, and who is currently under fire for the fact that three horses died on set of the HBO show "Lucky" is investigating the matter. Notwithstanding the vigor of an actual shoot, the travel back and forth to and from the location, the living in strange quarters...

courtesy spcaLA If you don't believe in the link between domestic violence and animal cruelty-read this: Excerpts From spcaLA Press Release: Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles (spcaLA) investigation and supporting evidence led to a felony animal cruelty conviction against Terrance Hawkins of Los Angeles, after he threw his girlfriend’s dog out of a 5th story window during an argument. Bizzie, the beloved American Eskimo dog of Hawkins’ girlfriend, succumbed to his injuries and perished after twelve days in intensive veterinary care. “Where domestic violence is present, animal cruelty and child abuse can usually be found - we call it ‘The Link,’” said spcaLA President, Madeline Bernstein.  “The cycle of violence continues until it is broken by law enforcement, education or other intervention.” spcaLA offers the Animal Safety Net (ASN) ™ program which provides free boarding and veterinary care for the animals of domestic violence victims at an und...

courtesy spcaLA Against a landscape of mounting gun violence, our nation is finally willing to look at the issue of gun safety in a comprehensive manner. To that end, universal background checks, bans on high capacity magazines and gun/gun owner data bases are options on the table designed to manage who can obtain a weapon and what to do with that knowledge. However, the root causes of violence, whether attributed to mental illness, bullying, random circumstances of nature and nurture must also be studied so that they may be mitigated. We would be remiss in our duties if we did not point out that there are glaring symptoms and tangible early warning signs of future violent behavior that can be detected now, with or without new legislation, and successfully treated with early intervention - sometimes as early as pre-school age.  According to the FBI, the three behaviors most credited as precursors to committing violent acts are pyromania, enuresis (excessive bed-wetting) and animal ...

Courtesy spcaLA As we again come upon the busiest fund-raising season of the year I, again urge you to know your charity and donate locally. We are a generous and empathetic people who react with our hearts when seeing the ravages of a hurricane on the news, or expensive television ads of forlorn children and injured animals. We respond with our purses when celebrities beg for donations and plead with viewers to join them in giving. I do too - but I worry about how often we can be disappointed and develop charity fatigue. I fear for those who still need the help after the compassionate tire of giving. The combination of generosity, disaster, and fame can add up to a veritable "candy store" for the unprincipled, greedy and the opportunistic as nonexistent charities put up web sites to solicit funds, as the well-intended start their own charities but run them poorly, and as existing charities spend their funds on public relations, television spots and the appearance of helping ...

courtesy spcaLA Charles Ferguson, owner and operator of J.R. Ewing Guard Dogs, Inc. et al was arrested for 3 Felony and 9 Misdemeanor animal cruelty counts as a result of an investigation by spcaLA Humane Officers.  See release here:  http://spcala.com/newsreleases/article.php?release=297