An animal’s right to be rescued

Puppies found abandoned in El Paso, TX. Hired by the city to develop policy for the city shelter, Best Friends embraced turning animals away to inflate placement rates.

In an email to me, Nathan Winograd, America’s most knowledgeable person about animal rescue, included the following statement: While closing one’s doors to animals in need may not undermine an animal’s right to live it ignores an animal’s right of rescue. Nathan Winograd The right of an animal to be rescued is something I’d …

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Gabapentin substantially improves adoption rate of shelter cats rescued from a hoarding environment

Gabapentin combined with a behaviour modification program can substantially improve rescue cats' rehabilitation and therefore chances of adoption after being rescued from a cat hoarding environment

Cats living with a cat hoarder are almost invariably neglected. They are often only partly socialised, stressed and unhealthy. After rescue, a substantial percentage of them do not take well to a rescue facility. It may be so bad for them that they stop eating and toileting. They are essentially unadoptable because they’re so …

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Animal shelters are reluctant to allow a person to foster a cat if they have an existing cat

New cat

There appears to be a distinct difference in opinion between animal shelters and cat owners. I’m told that there is an increase in multi-cat homes in the US. I don’t know the percentage of homes in which there are several cats in that country but it must be substantial. But if you want to …

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Utah bans the use of gas chambers to kill shelter dogs and cats leaving 2 states where it is legal

Gas chamber being smashed joyously

Utah bans the use of gas chambers to kill shelter dogs and cats but I’m told by Nathan Winograd that in the USA there are two states were gassing unwanted rescue cats and dogs at shelters remains legal. They are Wyoming and Missouri. Just two more states to go before gassing shelter cats and …

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Cat owner’s desperate note to vet shows how Australia’s cost-of-living crisis affects cat welfare: ‘Sorry to have to do this’

Note left by a cat owner with her seven cats when she dumped them at a veterinary clinic in Australia

NEWS AND OPINION– AUSTRALIA: Inflation in America 2023 is around 6%. In Australia it is around 8% and, in the UK, it is around 10%. Inflation hurts dog and cat ownership. Therefore, it hurts the animals and it probably leads to an increase in shelter animals being killed. There is a really uncomfortable report …

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Kind acts like volunteering for an animal charity beats therapy for depression

Doing kind acts can reduce depression

Depression or just feeling down is not uncommon. It’s part of life. We need to accept it and enjoy the moments when we feel livelier and happier. But if you’ve ever felt blue and I’m sure pretty well everyone reading this has at some stage, the secret to boosting your mood is to do …

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Stress should not be a death sentence for shelter animals. Discuss.

Dog in pound in the US

The words of the title come from Nathan Winograd, America’s leading expert on animal shelters and one of the country’s leading animal advocates. He is referring to new legislation for New York State that came into force recently having been signed off by New York Gov Kathy Hotchul. Nathan Winograd argued very cogently against …

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NY Governor Kathy Hochul agrees that shelter animals ASSESSED as suffering mentally can be killed

Nathan Winograd, a US attorney and major animal welfare advocate, has written an open letter on Facebook to New York State’s governor, Kathleen Hochul, urging her to veto a proposed bill (S6870/A6246) in the state of New York (Companion Animal Care Standards Bill – now an Act – see below). Winograd argues that the …

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