sutton078

Courtesy Google images In my capacity as both your spcaLA President and as chair of the State Humane Association of California legislative committee, it has been my responsibility to draft, study, support, oppose, testify, and ponder new or amended legislation affecting the welfare of animals. As many of you know it can be a very taxing, confrontational and contentious business. That said, when all involved behave professionally, with integrity and without personal animus – a lot gets accomplished and our constituency benefits. Unfortunately, that is not always the case and it is very disappointing to see members of our animal welfare community conduct themselves in a sub-standard manner. It is common for  exogenous parties, out of state organizations, lobbyists, and public relations operatives with no knowledge of local laws or the industry to place bills with attractive and important captions before the legislators and the public, which, if read carefully, actually say something ...

I have been inside more "hoarding houses" than anyone should ever have to. They are scary, dark, smelly and exude anguish, sorrow and hostility. Junk is piled from floor to ceiling, and, if animals are also hoarded, covered in poop, pee, puss and puke. Dead animals lie in the debris mixed with live pets that are starving, sick and suffering. A "true" hoarder considers this a loving environment and neither seeks nor accepts intervention willingly. They often attack. Though the A&E Network series has generated awareness of this phenomenon which spans all socioeconomic classes, it has made the problem "cool". Cat lady action figures, board games, art projects and clothing have all populated the market place and people feel comfortable referring to themselves as 'hoarders" if they have a lot of shoes. It should not ever be "in" or "hip" to be a hoarder. Ironically, "true" hoarders think they are fine and become insult...

Courtesy Google Images It doesn't matter if you think an animal is a nuisance or a pet,  gratuitously injuring or killing her is a crime in California. Jose Chavez,  took a wooden stick to a fence outside his apartment where a mother opossum and her babies lay.   Chavez then struck the mom in the head, knocking her from the fence.  She attempted to escape, but Chavez took her, with babies attached to her, to and beat her until he killed her. Then, Chavez placed the dead mom and her live babies in a plastic bag and put them into a dumpster. Your spcaLA Humane Officers investigated after which Chavez was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty where he ultimately struck a plea bargain. It doesn't matter that some animals may be characterized as nuisances, used for food, displayed in circuses or scare you for no reason. It does matter that they be treated humanely. It is simply shameful, particularly, as in this case the opossum was scared, protective of her litter...

Assembly Bill 2140 entitled the "Orca Welfare and Safety Act",  introduced by Assemblymember Richard Bloom, would ban holding whales captive in California for entertainment purposes, would create an orca retirement program and ban captive breeding programs among other things.  It is absolutely unacceptable that we, enlightened denizens of the 21st century should tolerate exploiting animals for entertainment purposes. Sticking a whale in a tank for his or her lifetime away from his or her social group, and sentenced to swim in circles and perform tricks is simply awful and certainly not the lesson we want to teach children. Are we mentoring respect for our animals and environment or are we teaching children how to be cruel and exploitative of our planet. SeaWorld is, of course, fighting to defeat this bill. Please locate and contact your representatives , urge them to support AB 2140 and spread the word!

A golden hair Tibetan Mastiff puppy, allegedly with some lion's blood is reported to have sold for 2 million dollars in China. According to NBC News - this is the most expensive dog in the world. Courtesy Google Images - not photo of dog in story Where did the lion blood come from? What is the procedure? Is it even true?  The dog is cute-but- frankly-  I am crying here.                                                                                                                                       

Google Images Deep within the new farm bill is an amendment to the federal animal fighting prohibition law (7 United States Code 2156) which is effective immediately.  It is now a federal felony to bring a minor (under the age of 16) to a dogfight or cockfight. So often these fights are treated as family affairs which expose and desensitize young children to acts of bloody violence and animal cruelty.  Such exposure can impair a child from developing the ability to empathize with other living things - a characteristic typical of both adult and juvenile violent felony offenders. It is also not uncommon for perpetrators to stash contraband in children's diapers for safekeeping. This change does not preclude law enforcement from still charging the adults with local relevant child endangerment laws. The revision also makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly attend a cockfight or dogfight! So cockfighters and dogfighters - SURPRISE!

Courtesy washingtonpost.com/google images Zoos are no place for animals. Copenhagen Zoo killed, dissected and fed a giraffe, Marius, to their big cats while children watched. The zoo asserted that this giraffe, though healthy, possessed genes too common with the other giraffes in the zoo to be used in their breeding program. This was done despite both the posting of online petitions opposing this course of action and the offers of other facilities to take Marius. The zoo argued that such "culling" occurs in the wild and that they have similarly done this many times with goats, antelope and boar. They further argued that seeing a giraffe this way was educational for youngsters. I understand that we are always confronted with the constant conflicts of choosing between saving the predator or the prey. Do you let a snake starve because you won't kill a mouse? Such contradictions exist everywhere in our lives. Criminals can behave kindly, pit bull fighters can cherish the fami...