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This Memorial Day weekend (May 28th and 29th)   spcaLA will again partner with Animals for Armed Forces®  to give pets to members of the military and their families at no charge. Photo courtesy of spcaLA Many veterans can benefit from a bona fide service dog to assist with head injury issues, and all can be helped by the therapeutic healing powers of a family pet. Unfortunately, the difficulties encountered by veterans in getting treatment for, or even recognition of their injuries, such as PTSD, have become insurmountable as we learn more each day about the ineptness of the Veterans Administration. Why is this important today? spcaLA opened 139 years ago protecting the vulnerable in our society. Women, children and pets - were all considered property, and were all bullied by those in power. Our veterans, some who are as young as 18, are over-driven  (3 tours of duty), used and discarded and are returning home injured, traumatized, suicidal and vulnerable. They are not tr...

Spring is a time that desert tortoises awake from hibernation and search for food and mating partners. As such, they can be seen walking around, basking in the sun, grazing, drinking, and, yes, crossing the road to get to the other side. They need to replenish their water and food reserves so they can go about their business and store up food and water for next winters' slumber. Attracted to colors, they will race to flowers, plants, litter, and toes with bright pedicures expecting a fabulous treat. Photo credit - Dustin Alpern If you see or are approached by a hungry tortoise, do not touch, and most importantly, do not pick them up to move them. Doing so will scare them and often cause them to pee which can dehydrate them and possibly kill them if they can't find enough fluids to safely hibernate.  Taking them home with you is especially dangerous for the tortoises as they require special care, diets, climate conditions and expert veterinarians. They can also pick up parasites...

Courtesy Google Images A few days ago I did a segment for NBC4 about adoption scams. Essentially, people saw an animal on line, sent money, then more money, only to discover there was never a pet at all. As the criminals frequently insisted on the use of debit cards only, the ability to reclaim the funds through credit card intervention was impossible. But that's not all.  The animal business is big business, and as such, is attractive to all types of human predators. Additionally, criminals are fully aware of the depth and strength of the human animal bond and will capitalize on that accordingly. Some examples of common scams are: a person posts a Facebook entry that they need financial help in order to rescue a pet from a local shelter when their IP address is not in this country at all. Or, someone posts requesting funds for a non-existent veterinary bill for an imaginary pet, Sometimes, a fake website, designed to help an animal, or victims of a disaster, materializes, raises...

courtesy Google images One of the reasons life exists on this planet is water. Humans, animals, vegetables all require water to thrive. Whether one is a conscientious omnivore or vegan, one will starve without water. Unlike some regions of the world, the United States is not water poor. So where are the geniuses? Why can't there be a national pipeline infrastructure system, essentially a giant irrigation network, that can transport water from areas where there is flooding to areas of drought? Where are the advances and creative uses of cloud seeding technology? We are surrounded by oceans. Are there no desalinization plants and creative uses for brine? Where are the ideas that I can't think of? Penalizing people for violating mandated water use restrictions won't work. It doesn't create more water. It does require expensive law enforcement efforts and a system to adjudicate offenders. It will also fail as there is no capability to monitor how many loads of laundry one ...

Courtesy Google images The article describing proposed California legislation, "The Sodomite Suppression Act", submitted by an attorney which mandates that all gay people be shot in the head, was sent to me by someone who demanded that I say something and would not stop yelling until I agreed to do so. Why me? Because your spcaLA has been protecting vulnerable classes - children, women and animals since 1877, and my personal and professional paths have frequently placed me between a bully and a victim. What can I say about this proposed law?  We are devolving into a society of ideologues, religious and secular, where idea segregation is being imposed on us all. "If you are not with us-you are against us" is shrieked from blogs, pulpits, news echo chambers and fundraising mailers. We no longer "agree to disagree" so much as plot the elimination of the enemy. I can't voice my opinion on the implementation of clowders without receiving a few threats and ...

Courtesy Google Images UPDATE: Ringling announced today that it is eliminating elephant acts May of 2016 rather than 2018 citing concerns over public opinion and pesky local ordinances! Ringling Bros.   announced   that they are phasing out elephant acts by 2018, Their parent company Feld Entertainment cited public concern for the welfare of elephants and this; "...    certain cities and counties have passed "anti-circus" and "anti-elephant" ordinances. The company's three shows visit 115 cities throughout the year, and Feld said it's expensive to fight legislation in each jurisdiction. It's also difficult to plan tours amid constantly changing regulations.." (President Kenneth Feld) We should take note that constant vigilance, intelligent opposition and local legislation can yield powerful results. We must keep this up for the benefit of the tigers, dogs and camels and other animals still asked to perform extreme acts for our entertainment. I...

Courtesy Google Images There was a great rage and fuss raised over a GoDaddy Super Bowl ad involving the selling of a puppy on line. GoDaddy responded by pulling the ad and assuring the public that the dog was adopted by a member of the GoDaddy team. What disturbed me was the other reaction by the public that animal people are humorless. I can say that is not true of me and most of my colleagues. It is my undying belief that, unless there is actual harm or criminal activity, everyone has a right to be offensive, write stupid copy and voice their opinions. We have the power to not watch, not buy and not vote for the proponents of those ideas and things we don't like. Most of us are not humorless ideologues. To those who are or who can't separate the make believe from the real I say this: Beware of advocating content based censorship in regard to things you don't like, as someone else will censor the things you do like. So, laugh, enjoy, and be glad you are not the person res...