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Courtesy Google Images Businesses that sell pets over the internet (sight unseen) will be subject to licensing and inspection under the Federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) as the USDA revised the 40 year old definition of "retail store". As "retail stores" are not covered under the AWA and the definition of "retail store" was put in place before the internet was invented, a huge gap was created whereby sales of animals over the internet, or "sight unseen" were unregulated as they were exempt from oversight under the AWA and invisible to state and local law enforcement.  Naturally, sick, injured and genetically inferior animals were being sold to naive buyers across the country with no checks and balances and no minimum care standards. This situation was not good for the consumer but far worse for the pets. The USDA restored the definition of "retail pet store" to its original intent which is "a place of business or residence at which ...

This has been a good week for animals in California! Governor Jerry Brown signed two new animal protection bills into law. The first mandates that the Department of Fish and Wildlife (formerly Fish and Game) must use nonlethal force when removing or taking mountain lions that do not pose an imminent threat to public health and safety. The bill is specific in that the aggressive behavior not be due to the presence of the responders. This is key as we have seen responders agitate a lion until it becomes aggressive and then shoot him/her. Hopefully the Department will train its officers in the proper use of non-lethal methods and in the definition of "imminent" so that they will be both successful in complying and able to assist and train other law enforcement that may be at a scene first. The second will only permit the sale of animals at swap meets and flea markets if requirements for their humane treatment both at the swap meet/flea market and in transit to and from the event...

Charles Ferguson, owner and operator of J.R. Ewing Guard Dogs, Inc. et al, was convicted of 4 felony and 4 misdemeanor animal cruelty charges, as the result of a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles (spcaLA) animal cruelty investigation .   The facts of this case were as horrific and gruesome as the actions of the defendant were cold and callous. For example,  one dog was found dead inside a truck with her uterus severed and missing.  A necropsy revealed that she was suffering from a severe infection and that her uterus was cut while she was still alive.  She slowly bled to death, in an enormous amount of pain before she died of bacterial shock.  After a trial encompassing the submission of over 40 exhibits and 17 witnesses, presented by  County of Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney, Christopher Frisco,  the defendant was found guilty. This case is particularly significant in that these crimes were committed against "working ...

Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law that applies improves the plight of trapped animals. The new law revises and further limits the use of certain traps such as certain "body gripping traps", it makes it unlawful to kill any trapped animal by certain methods such as drowning and chest crushing, and adds signage and warning requirements designed to prevent unintended animals and people from being harmed by the traps. Violations of this law is a misdemeanor. It is still mandatory that traps must be visited and animals removed at least once a day. Though our laws permit the trapping of wild animals - it should not allow the further torment and cruel treatment of those animals unfortunate enough to be trapped. This new law helps with that but further sends the message that there is no carte blanche to be inhumane to animals even under circumstances where they might be considered nuisances or lawful to hunt.

Gabriel Martinze via YouTube During an arrest of Leon Rosby for obstructing a police action, Hawthorne police officers shot and killed his  dog Max.  A spectator captured the incident on video, which has over half a million views on YouTube. The video shows Rosby, who was filming a blockade by police with his phone, being approached by Hawthorne PD officers.  Rosby then put his Rottweiler into the backseat of his vehicle and presented himself to the officers.  As he  was handcuffed, his dog, Max, began barking and jumped out of the back window of Rosby’s car to aid his Rosby.  The officer shot the dog multiple times who,staggered, convulsed and died on the street as Rosby stood by helplessly.  We are entitled to expect more from trained law enforcement personnel than panic. We expect that the difference between a trained officer carrying weapons and a civilian doing the same is training, discipline and control. I can panic - they cannot. Yet again...

Recently, professional athletes are using  Twitter to unload their family pets .  courtesy Google images Kendrick Perkins   (basketball), Anthony Davis (football) and Isaiah Stanback (football) all posted the desire to sell their dogs on Twitter, and at least Perkins and Davis sold their family pet in under an hour with the requirement by Davis to " Just don't be mean to him ". As I am willing to defer to the professionals in sports, I would ask that they, in turn, let me and other credentialed professionals find unwanted pets new homes. Notwithstanding the difference between merely getting rid of a pet to the first bidder and actually finding a pet a new home-(The former accepts the tweet for the highest bid while the latter searches, screens and tries to assess compatibility with the family)- there are darker issues at play here. Is the allure of the pet the fact that is belongs to a famous athlete? Is the intention to re-tweet and resell to the highest bidder? Wha...

courtesy Google images When California voters passed Proposition 2 which requires egg farmers to give egg-laying birds room to stand, spread their wings and move around, then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) added an additional requirement that all eggs sold in California must come from farms that meet California standards - a decree in keeping with the republican mantra of less federal government and more state sovereignty. Permitting assault weapons, governors refusing to enact the Affordable Care Act, regulating abortions and same sex marriages, to name a few, are all example of issues and instances where the tenet of states' rights was and is invoked as sacrosanct. Yet, in this case,  Republican Senator Steve King has added a section to the proposed farm bill that would prohibit states from imposing conditions on another state's agriculture production thereby effectively allowing big government to trounce California's law and Californians message that basic humane tr...