October
2007
October
2007Welcome to the online edition of the NEFHS newsletter. In order to direct more of our resources toward our Annual Conference, and to be more responsive and timely in sharing news and information, we are using this format to replace our print newsletter. Please help us spread the word about this new resource by forwarding it to other animal welfare advocates you think may be interested in signing up. We hope you enjoy it!
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In this Issue:
Dear
Friend,
Are you an animal lover?
Do you work or volunteer on behalf of animal welfare? Does your humane society, animal shelter, or rescue group aim to prevent cruelty to animals in its community?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, take some time to answer this one: Which animals?
Those of us who work in traditional animal welfare organizations tend to focus our attention and limited resources on the relatively narrow issues of companion animal welfare. It is a good thing we have, too, because our work on behalf of cats and dogs has led to monumental improvements in how our communities care for pets.
Still, we all know there are millions more animals out there who need our help. From factory-raised pigs and chickens to sport-hunted coyotes to net-tangled dolphins--the list of species in peril seems endless. In fact, some even consider humans endangered (think global warming).
As animal lovers, what is our obligation to protect species other than cats and dogs? Many animal welfare workers act privately on behalf of non-companion animals everyday--by making humane choices when we eat, shop, or vote.
Individual efforts like these are meaningful…. but what is the obligation of our traditional humane organizations to help protect species other than cats and dogs?
As the local humane society or animal shelter, we are the community’s symbol of kindness towards animals. We have an organizational obligation to wear our humane ethic on our sleeve, to set an example for our community, and to practice what we preach. Maybe we do this by expecting our humane educators to address larger animal welfare issues, not just of animal cruelty, but also of environmental degradation and compassionate consumer choices. Maybe we do this by making humane decisions about the types of prizes we offer at our benefit auction, the food we serve to our donors, or the recycling program in our office.
In our everyday work, the humane choices we make show our commitment to protecting all animals, not just those who share our homes.
For the animals,
Leslie Harris
President
New England Federation of Humane
Societies
P.S. If you’d like to share your thoughts with me on this or other animal welfare topics, please contact me at lharris@dpvhs.org.
Shelter staff and shelter volunteers are needed to help provide daily care for 260 dogs through October.
For more info: Katie Lisnik at HSUS Maine klisnik@hsus.org.
Don't forget to add these dates to your calendar:
March 28, 2008 Town Meeting
Location: Tufts, North Grafton, MA (to be confirmed)
Topic: Kill vs. No-Kill: 15 Years Later, What have we Learned, What has Changed
April 28 - 30, 2008 Our Annual Spring Training Conference
Location: Burlington, VT
Watch our website (www.newenglandfed.org) for more details about topics, speakers, and registering.
Our online store has a lots of great gifts for you and your pets.
Profits from the sale of these items help support our Fed events.
Come visit our online store at http://www.cafepress.com/nefhs.
The Fed is looking for your input on the subject of transporting pets within New England. Do you currently accept pets from overloaded shelters and transfer them to your own facilities? Do you transfer your pets to other organizations? Do you restrict transfers to within your state? What issues or problems have you encountered in the process? What recommendations do you have for other organizations interested in doing the same? Do you have specific relationships established with other organizations? Are you interested in establishing relationships or a program for "sharing the load"?
We are interested in your thoughts and recommendations on the above questions, and any other comments you wish to share on this subject. Please send your responses to info@newenglandfed.org. Thanks!
ASPCA Henry
Bergh Book Awards
Named in honor of ASPCA founder Henry Bergh, the annual ASPCA® Henry Bergh Children’s Book Awards recognizes books based on their exemplary handling of subject matter pertaining to animals and the environment. This year, legendary Jean Craighead George is the recipient of with the 2007 ASPCA® Roger Caras Achievement Award. The eleven winning authors were honored at a ceremony at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. For a list of the award winning books or for more information about the ASPCA® Henry Bergh Children’s Book Awards visit www.aspca.org/bookaward.
HSUS
Campaign to Stop Puppy MillsThe Humane Society of the United States ranks the shutting down of Puppy Mills as one of their foremost campaigns and has unveiled a new website at http://stoppuppymills.org/. This site provides background information on puppy mills and ways that citizens can take action to stop these breeders and help prevent the suffering of thousands of companion animals.
September - October, 2007 ♦ New York State
Sponsored by the ASPCA Technical Animal Rescue and Large Animal Rescue classes will be presented throughout New York. Visit www.empiresart.com/events.html for more information.
October 15 - 16, 2007 ♦ MSPCA Springfield or October 17-18 ♦ ARL of Boston
Animal Emergency Services, presented by American Humane, includes information on how to manage large and small animals, coordination of animal shelters and emergency response, interagency cooperation, and more. To register, email American Humane at training@americanhumane.org.
October 24, 2007♦ Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association, Mansfield, MA
Two tracks of programs for Animal Control Officers and animal sheltering professionals and volunteers:
Animal CSI: Do It Right: Procedures, medical considerations and legal context to improve animal abuse investigations and prosecutions.
Healthy Animals, Healthy People at Massachusetts Animal Shelters: Keys to shelter animal and worker health, and the law on animal importation.
For more information, go to www.massvet.org/calendar.cfm.
November 2 - 3,
2007 ♦
November 3 - 6, 2007 ♦ Society for Animal Welfare Administrators National Conference, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
For more information visit www.sawanetwork.org.
November 7, 2007 ♦ Combating Compassion Fatigue: Coping Mechanisms for Animal Care Professionals, VT
This class will be presented by Joanne Bourbeau and sponsored by Upper Valley Humane Society.
For more information or to register call 603-448-6888 x 123, email training@uvhs.org or visit www.uvhs.org.
November 8 - 11, 2007 ♦ Eastern States Exposition The 10th annual Equine Affaire in New England offers four days of clinics, seminars, and demonstrations from renowned horse-industry professionals along with a panorama of horse breeds, world-class shopping, and youth-oriented activities. For more information, go to www.equineaffaire.com/.
Second Chance Fund Grant Program
Through its Second Chance Fund, the American Humane Association provides financial assistance to animal welfare organizations and breed-specific rescue groups responsible for the temporary care of animals as they are prepared for adoption into permanent homes. The program provides animal victims of abuse or neglect with a second chance at life.
Due to the overwhelming number of abuse cases nationwide, the Second Chance Fund is offered only to organizations that are current agency members of the American Humane Association, and only in select cases of animal abuse or neglect. Individuals, businesses, corporations, and non-member organizations are not provided for in the guidelines of the fund. Funding to any one agency is limited to $2,000 per fiscal year.
For the remainder of 2007 and in 2008, American Humane will be doubling the total financial assistance provided. This additional grant funding is a result of American Humane's partnership with Pedigree Food for Dogs ( http://www.pedigree.com/ )The application deadline is open.
More information about Second Chance Fund grants, including stories of animals who have benefited from getting a second chance, can be found at the American Humane Association Web site at http://www.americanhumane.org/ .
The following is a popular Internet comment on the Michael Vick dog-fighting case.
CONNECTICUT
The Connecticut General Assembly advanced several crucial pieces of animal welfare legislation this year, including a bill requiring state and local officials to plan for the evacuation of service animals and pets in case of a major disaster. In addition, ACOs will now be able to take physical custody of an animal when they have reason to believe that the animal is in imminent danger, and judges will be able to include animals in temporary protective orders and restraining orders.
The16th Annual Pet, Dog and Cat Show returns to Hartford at the Connecticut Expo Center on Saturday, October 27 and Sunday October 28, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sponsored by the Connecticut Humane Society, the show includes Bwana Jim with his “Wild Ways" and a fashion show by www.Eccentricpets.com. For more information, go to www.osbornejenks.com/petshows.html.
MAINE
Local, state and national groups stepped in to help with a puppy
mill seizure in Buxton, Maine, on August 21. Volunteers are
still needed to help with the long-term operation of a temporary
shelter that is being set up for more than 250 dogs and puppies in
the York County area. The dogs were primarily miniature Australian
shepherds,
According to a written release from the Buxton Police Department the charges include 14 civil charges alleging they ran a kennel without a license, two criminal counts of alleged animal cruelty and one criminal count of alleged failure to provide necessary medical treatment to animals.
If you would like to volunteer your time, the Department of Agriculture's Animal Welfare Program is looking for volunteers to fill in shifts from mid-September on. Please contact Katie Lisnik at 301-529-0372 or klisnik@hsus.org for more information.
MASSACHUSETTS
PILOT involves a partnership among large and small organizations, veterinarians, and various volunteers to help transport, evaluate behavior, provide foster care and training, when needed, and act as "case workers" for each dog. The task force intends to track mileage, money and volunteer hours to determine how much it costs to take a dog from "rags to riches." The program is limited to dogs for the roll-out period but is designed to be applied to cats at a future date.
A ballot question to phase out greyhound racing has been filed. Signature collection will begin on September 19th and volunteers are needed. Please email info@protectdogs.org if you can help. The question will appear on the ballot in November of 2008.
Many bills are still pending and awaiting hearings in the Massachusetts legislature.
S. 512 would improve the antiquated animal control laws by increasing fines, improving the mandatory spay/neuter law, strengthening the dangerous dog ordinance (while preventing breed-specific policies), updating the kennel definitions and requiring animal control officers to receive training.
H. 1546 is a bill that would specifically permit the inclusion of pets in abuse prevention orders, is based on the increasing knowledge about the link between animal abuse and violence toward humans. Sent to Judiciary Committee (no hearing date set).
H. 1529 would increase the penalty for those arrested for being present at an animal fight. Current law imposes a fine of up to $250 and/or 30 days in jail. Nationally, 46 other states have stricter penalties than Massachusetts for those convicted of this crime. This bill would make this a felony with a penalty of up to 5 years in jail and/or fines up to $1,000. Sent to Judiciary Committee (no hearing date set).
NEW HAMPSHIRE
The The Million Dog March will be held at the State House in
· The 2007 New Hampshire legislative calendar began with a flurry of excitement for animal welfare advocates, but, sadly, at the end of the session, not a single bill emerged successfully from the Legislature. Here is a summary of the failed bills:
HB 585 would have added much needed funding to the state's low cost spay/neuter program
HB 565 would have prohibited the use of steel jaw and conibear traps, except in emergency situations.
HB 332 would have required the state to purchase eggs only from farms with cage free chickens.
HB 552 would have set certain humane requirements on the intensive confinement of factory-farmed chickens.
HB 923 would have prohibited live greyhound racing.
SB 205 would have eliminated the state’s subsidy of the cost of drug testing on the animals at New Hampshire's dog and horse racing tracks
HB 581 would have corrected a previous decision that inadvertently reduced the penalty for torturing or mutilating a service dog from a Class B felony to a Class A misdemeanor.
HB 604 would have prohibited deer baiting--the practice of luring prey to a particular location with tempting food treats so hunters can shoot them.
For more information about all of the bills, or to join a mailing list for updates, go to www.Give-Us-Shelter.com.
If you are interested in attending, or for more information, contact Stephanie Hagopian at shagopian@hsus.org.
VERMONT
The
Vermont Humane Federation (VHF) and The Humane Society of the United
States are embarking on a year-long project to develop county-wide
Cruelty Response Systems (CRS).
to educate the general public about animal cruelty through a publicity campaign,
to see that all complaints are properly investigated, and
to ensure that enforcement action is taken to rescue animals in immediate danger and to prosecute offenders fully.
In
order to hire the consultant leading the project, the VHF received
grants from the Bosack Krueger Foundation, the Rudolph Steiner
Foundation, the Edith Goode Foundation, the William and Charlotte
Parks Foundation, the Vermont Community Foundation, the Nancy
Boardman Foundation, and a private donor. This program has the
potential to not only improve
A new law that went into effect on July 1 will allow law enforcement officers to issue civil tickets of up to $500 for certain animal cruelty infractions. Prosecutors will still have the ability to pursue criminal charges if warranted, and the money collected from fines will go back to each municipality minus a small administrative fee. For more information, contact Joanne Bourbeau at 802-368-2790 or jbourbeau@hsus.org.