Wild Animal Orphanage, A French Journalist is Looking for your Story, Cool Animal Bracelet and MORE.....

[Punum]

1. Best known for the “I'm Tired of” bracelets, ITo introduced the No More Homeless Pets bracelet and now supports nine different animal causes. ITo will give half of every sale to Best Friends Animal Society to help support their efforts to dramatically reduce the number of homeless pets.

Best Friends Animal Society is guided by a simple philosophy: kindness to animals builds a better world for all of us. In the late 1980s when Best Friends was in its early days, roughly 17 million dogs and cats were being killed in shelters every year. Despite the commitment of shelter workers to the animals in their care, the conventional belief was that little could be done to lower that terrible number. Read more about this by clicking here

2. Tragically, 50% of domestic violence victim’s delay seeking help for fear that an abuser will harm a pet...

Animals are the silent victims of domestic violence. Most people treat pets as members of the family. Unfortunately, when it comes to domestic violence, pets are also deemed part of the family unit and forced tosuffer in silence at the hands of abusers. Some studies estimate that:

• 50% of domestic violence victims delay seeking help out of concern that their pet may be harmed by the abuser.
• 88% of companion animals living in households where domestic violence occurs are routinely threatened, harmed
  or even killed.

The ASPCA witnesses firsthand the connection between animal abuse and domestic violence. Just last month, police in Little Falls, NY, arrested Mark Beacraft, Jr., for assaulting a four-year-old child. The suspect has a history of violence—including a guilty plea in 2007 for murdering a neighborhood cat. He was sentenced to one year in a county jail but was later released under house arrest.

This is unacceptable—and they need your help to keep criminals like Beacraft off the streets. The ASPCA works tirelessly to educate law enforcement and the public about the link between animal cruelty and domestic abuse and to lobby for stricter punishments for pet abusers. To help click here.

3. Moscow Dogs
I thought you might enjoy this story. Dogs are allowed on public transport in all of Europe, but generally with their master. This is even more interesting.

Here is a Canine commuter….A wild dog waits on the platform!!
STRAY dogs are commuting to and from a city centre on underground trains in search of food scraps. The clever canines board the Tube each morning. After a hard day scavenging and begging on the streets, they hop back on the train and return to the suburbs where they spend the night.

Experts studying the dogs say they even work together to make sure they get off at the right stop after learning to judge the length of time they need to spend on the train...

The dogs choose the quietest carriages at the front and back of the train. They have also developed tactics to hustle humans into giving them more food on the streets of Moscow.

Scientists believe the phenomenon began after the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, and Russia’s new capitalists moved industrial complexes from the city centre to the suburbs. Dr. Andrei Poiarkov, of the Moscow Ecology and Evolution Institute, said: “These complexes were used by homeless dogs as shelters, so the dogs had to move together with their houses”.

Because the best scavenging for food is in the city centre, the dogs had to learn how to travel on the subway to get to the centre in the morning, and then back home in the evening, just like people.

Here is an experienced dog enjoying a nap on the underground. Dr. Poiarkov told how the dogs like to play during their daily commute. He said: “They jump on the train seconds before the doors shut, risking their tails getting jammed”. They do it for fun. Sometimes they fall asleep and get off at the wrong stop.

This dog is tired ...A mutt naps on tube seat in Moscow.

The dogs have learned to use traffic lights to cross the road safely, said Dr. Poiarkov. They use cunning tactics to obtain tasty morsels of shawarma, a kebab-like snack popular in Moscow. They sneak up behind people eating shawarmas then bark loudly to shock them into dropping their food.

With children, the dogs play cute by putting their heads on youngsters' knees and staring pleadingly into their eyes to win sympathy and scraps. Dr. Poiarkov added: “Dogs are surprisingly good psychologists”.

The Moscow mutts are not the first animals to use public transport. In 2006 a Jack Russell in Dunnington, North Yorks , began taking the bus to his local pub in search of sausages. Two years ago, passengers in Wolverhampton were stunned when a cat called Macavity started catching the 331 bus to a fish and chip
shop.

4. A French Journalist contacted me. She wanted to know if I could send her true stories depicting peculiar relationships between a child and one or several wild animal(s).

Some examples:

* They're going to tell the story of a little girl in South Africa looking after elephants with her parents in a sanctuary.
* Two little boys in India who protect snakes with their father and who are not scared to handle them. They're "working" with their father at freeing the snakes they find in the cities to protect them.

They're looking for a young girl or boy (aged under 15), fond of scuba diving, swimming with dolphins, whales.... In the end a child passionate in marine life.

Any histories are welcomed!!

One important thing: Their aim is not to promote proximity between wild animals and humans. They DO NOT want promote people taming wild animals!
They're just looking for extraordinary stories relating a peculiar relationship between a child and an animal at a
specific moment.

If you've heard about such stories you are welcome to contact Mélodie TISSOT. Her contact information is on this site.

5. Emergency Situation at Wild Animal Orphanage, San Antonio, Texas

The Board of Directors of The Wild Animal Orphanage in San Antonio, Texas, announces the existence of a financial, personnel, and management crisis at their sanctuary where more than 400 wild, exotic, and domestic animals reside.

The sanctuary has been in operation for 24 years and the decline in contributions along with the recent discovery of severe personnel and management issues have created this crisis. Steps have been taken by the
Board of Directors to resolve some of the problems including replacement of the CEO with an acting director, Mr. Jamie Cryer, a Texas businessman, who has willingly agreed to work without compensation to assure
the feeding and care of the resident animals.

Funds are needed immediately to continue providing food and care for the lions, tiger, bears, wolves, cougars, primates, and other species that reside at the 2 sites of the WAO.

Compassionate animal care-givers are still reporting to work to feed, clean, and care for the animals, however, there are no funds available for payroll and their pay is already several weeks behind. Six of the animal care-givers are temporarily working without compensation.

The Board of Directors is reaching out to all caring individuals and humane organizations to please step up to the plate and help us take care of these 400 animals that have no one to depend on except generous people. To learn more and find ways you can help click here.

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be measured by the way its animals are treated." -- Mahatma Gandhi

Watch the video below (Could not the get picture to appear on WQ but link works)

6. If you live in California, or will be visiting, you might want to attend the “Power and Action for the Animals” May 9th Newport Beach, CA.

It’s a gathering of animal advocates, lovers, caretakers, guardians & protectors. Click here for more details.

7. May is National Arthritis Month

Just like humans, many dogs suffer from arthritis pain and inflammation as they age. Joints and bones naturally degenerate over time. Fortunately, arthritis can often be managed with the help of acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine, supplements and nutrition. Natural and alternative therapies are generally safe, effective and can be used in conjunction with western medicine.

Ancient Solutions for Canine Arthritis is a site for dogs suffering from arthritis.

If you are an acupuncturist interested in learning more about treating arthritis in dogs with TCM, and getting continuing education credits, click here.

8. This is a great clip you can watch. It is to honor Buddy, the dog, and so many other dogs that are treated like him.

You can read more about buddy by clicking here.

[Punum]

Thanks for the email. I will post it on my site.
Have a fabulous day!

[Sally Rose]

This was a lot of fun to read. The Russian dogs were an awesome way to personalize animals. Sad statistics....