Smuggling of Puppies Still Plagues Region

I lost my beloved Soda in October of this year. She and Sparky are at the rainbow bridge playing with each other waiting for us.

I was fortunate though, Soda and God sent me Rex. I got him through Chessie Relief & Rescue. I had no intention of getting another "furbaby" so soon but Rex really needed me and I knew that I needed him just as much. So it's going to be a kind of mixed-emotions Christmas for me. Rex doesn't replace Soda but he's an absolute king of a dog and I truly love him and thank God every day for sending him to me.

http://www.breederville.info/petnews/redefining.htm

Fewer and fewer dogs are entering shelters every year, and shelter deaths are down and continuing to fall. This steady decline in intakes and deaths pays tribute to the tireless efforts of shelter employees, responsible dog breeders and rescue volunteers who have worked, prayed, and bullied their way to a future when the demand for pets would equal or exceed the supply and they would no longer be forced to euthanize healthy, adoptable animals.

That future is now! Nationwide, studies show that during the last 30 years shelter intakes and euthanasias have decreased by 70-90 percent or more in many cities, particularly those located on the east and west coasts. One consequence of this remarkable development is a steep decline in the number of shelter dogs available for adoption in many parts of the country. In order to deal with their newfound success, some shelters and rescue groups have had to realign their efforts, sometimes with surprising results.

Faced with fewer small dogs and puppies to offer the public, a handful of shelters and organizations have swapped their traditional mission for a new bottom line strategy aimed at filling consumer demands. Simply stated, they have become pet stores. Some are importing stray dogs across state lines and from foreign countries to maintain an inventory of adoptable dogs.

More:
http://www.breederville.info/petnews/redefining.htm

http://www.breederville.info/petnews/humane-insane.htm

Humane or insane?
Importation of foreign stray animals into US shelters
threatens health, sustains ‘overpopulation’
Patti L. Strand, president; National Animal Interest Alliance

* The flies in the ointment
* Health matters
* Footnotes

If you don’t know what’s happening at your local animal shelter, or what local pet rescue groups are doing, it’s time to find out! Dangerous practices are emerging that threaten public health, sustain ‘pet overpopulation’ and undermine responsible dog ownership and breeding.

Finding out what’s happening in the world of animal sheltering and rescuing, however, is not that easy. Although most shelters use the issue of ‘pet overpopulation’ to fundraise, it turns out that few of them have sufficient records to support the term. In fact, a major impediment to solving the US stray and surplus pet problems is the lack of reliable shelter statistics.1

Many shelters combine dog and cat statistics, thus making it impossible to track dog or cat trends individually. Shelters also tend to lump together all shelter deaths regardless of the reason for euthanasia, even though their data would be of far greater statistical value if categorized, such as: 1) owner requested due to health, temperament or old age; 2) shelter mandated because the animal was judged too sick or too dangerous to be rehabilitated and placed; 3) and, shelter mandated because insufficient resources existed to continue maintaining an animal even though it was healthy and adoptable. Of these three categories, only the last, the adoptable pet that died for lack of a home, signifies a surplus animal problem. But muddled euthanasia statistics combined with fundraising campaigns to stop ‘pet overpopulation’ encourage the public to believe that all shelter deaths are part of a massive ‘pet overpopulation’ problem.

The practice of relocating pets from a crowded shelter to one with empty runs within the same community also leads to confusion if the source of the animals is not reported. The practice itself may be reasonable and humane if it increases adoptions, but too often all participating shelters count the same animals in their totals inflating the number of shelter animals reported for a given community.

Over-representing shelter impounds hinders the development of an accurate baseline for shelter populations. Without an accurate baseline it’s impossible to get a handle on pet population trends and difficult to identify remaining problems, much less to plan appropriate strategies to solve them. Over-representing shelter impounds or shelter euthanasia statistics has few negative consequences, while higher numbers and the appearance of a crisis buoy donations and budgets.

Another confusing factor is that the actual number of euthanized adoptable dogs (surplus dogs) varies enormously from one region to another and from rural to urban areas within states and regions. Generally speaking, many of the larger cities in the Pacific Northwest, New England and the Great Lakes region have dog population dynamics that are in balance, meaning that the demand for dogs equals or nearly equals the supply of dogs in their regions. This may seem incredible to people living in cities or regions where shelters are still brimming with surplus animals, as in the farm belt states, parts of the South and in the rural areas of most states – but it is true.

In many US cities today, campaigns to end ‘pet overpopulation’ have been so successful that the demand for dogs far outstrips supply. In fact, shelters in many of these cities would have a significant percentage of empty dog runs were it not for the mushrooming practice of moving dogs around from one region to another and from one shelter to another within regions, an activity known somewhat euphemistically as humane relocation.

Humane relocation began as a common sense method for helping animals to get adopted through cooperative efforts among city shelters. It made no sense for the humane society to euthanize dogs for lack of room while the local animal control agency had the space and resources to help get them adopted. Over time, as the number of surplus dogs in some cities continued to drop, they began taking in animals from greater distances. For example, some shelters in the greater Portland metropolitan area routinely accept dogs from other counties in Oregon, Washington and sometimes from states as far away as Hawaii.

As long as participating shelters publicly disclose what they are doing so that taxpayers and donors can assess the risks and benefits, and as long as exporting municipalities and shelters increase their commitment to the responsible pet ownership programs in their areas, humane relocation can be a helpful tool. However, if exporting regions do not increase spay/neuter and public education programs, humane relocation could amount to little more than a constant reshuffling of dogs and resources and would not lead to further reductions of surplus animals. Irresponsibly used, humane relocation could be used for maintaining the status quo and making money instead of solving long-term shelter problems.
The flies in the ointment

Unfortunately, humane relocation is not being conducted responsibly by a small but growing number of shelters and rescue groups. The answer for some shelters with empty runs has not been to contact shelters in their own regions or in other areas of the continental US, but to institute programs of importation from other countries and territories. According to their own records, one foundation, the Save a Sato 2 program championed by PeTA, has already sent 14,000 dogs to the US. Satos (a slang term for mixed-breed street dogs in Puerto Rico) arrive in US cities practically every day. Dozens of shelters are involved. Some of the shelters NAIA is tracking bring in 100-200 dogs each month and are placing them for $200-$250 each.3

More: http://www.breederville.info/petnews/humane-insane.htm

Who is Save a Sato?

# http://www.petpopulation.org
# http://www.saveasato.org
# http://www.daws.org/sato.htm
# http://www.northeastanimalshelter.org/special.html
# http://www.sterlingshelter.org/services/puppyrescue.html
# http://www.geocities.com/~t-aarf/main.html
# http://www.humanityforanimals.org/howyoucanhelp.html
# http://www.buddydoghs.com/html/satoInfo.html
# http://www.naiaonline.org/body/articles/archives/aragenda.htm
# http://www.idausa.org
# http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpb/lcdc/osh/info/rage_e.html

I thought I'd post that photo of Sparky for you again...

And my beloved Soda

I don't understand the problem. we snuggle our pups ALL the time.

oh....... never mind.......

tsk tsk tsk...

Our puppies just liked to snuggle:

Some people will never understand...others will instantly understand. I do. Cherish the memories.

Awww! What breed?

oh....... never mind.......

OK. :^)

They are Springer Spaniels. Hope this brightens your day just a little, Chicaolady. (Chicago is my hometown) Our Madison and Oskar had a litter of ten three years ago this coming Valentine's Day. We sold them all to good people. We interviewed each person and got to know them a little before we let the pupppies go.

Springers are the most playful dogs I've ever met! Beautiful!

I like the Kipling poem, but this is my personal favorite:

THE CURATE THINKS YOU HAVE NO SOUL

The curate thinks you have no soul;
I know that he has none. But you,
Dear friend, whose solemn self-control,
In our foursquare familiar pew,
Was pattern to my youth -- whose bark
Called me in summer dawns to rove --
Have you gone down into the dark
Where none is welcome -- none may love?
I will not think those good brown eyes
Have spent their life of truth so soon;
But in some canine paradise
Your wraith, I know, rebukes the moon,
And quarters every plain and hill,
Seeking his master... As for me,
This prayer at least the gods fulfill;
That when I pass the flood and see
Old Charon by the Stygian coast
Take toll of all the shades who land,
Your little, faithful, barking ghost
May leap to lick my phantom hand.

-- St.John Lucas

Springers are the most playful dogs I've ever met! Beautiful!

We have two. Madison is off hunting with my father-in-law and will be back on Friday. Oskar is not much more than a throw rug. He'll lay there and let my 3 yo son do anything he wants to him.

As I was typing this my son just made his first letter on the drawing board. He made an "A" which is the first letter of his name. (Tears in my eyes, chest all puffed out and happeeeeeee!)

I need another baby! Congrats! Give your son a hug from me please.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the poem!
Yes, Sparky tore my heart!

I am so glad that Rex got a new home to be in for Christmas!

Lucky Dog! Lucky You!!

I'm a German Shepherd person myself. You better believe I know all about hip dysplasia and OFA certifications.

Thanks a Million!! That's my boy!!!
The best looking German Shorthair this side of the Mississippi!!

I am sure Soda and Sparky are whooping it up at Rainbow Bridge!!

Eating a lot of munchies too!!