California Cruelty – Justice for Zephyr

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The dog in this photo went from being a healthy, vibrant 10 month old puppy to an emaciated, frozen corpse in less than two months.

2125327031_876347884a_m.jpgI know what to call it when a puppy mill commits this kind of cruelty on an innocent animal, but what do we call it when the perpetrators are an animal SHELTER – the very people we charge to save and protect animals from this very kind of cruelty?

Apparently, you call it Los Angeles County, and its Department of Animal Care and Control.

Nathan Winograd, the National No Kill Advocacy Center, and two pet rescuers have “jointly filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles County, its Department of Animal Care and Control, and the Department’s Director, Marcia Mayeda. The lawsuit alleges unlawful and abusive treatment of animals at all six Los Angeles County animal shelters.” I’ve attached their 29 page press release, which you can read in PDF format.

Some of the charges contained in this report are:

(T)he County Department of Animal Care and Control routinely:

  • Kills healthy and treatable animals before their state mandated holding period expires;
  • Misclassifies animals as “ill” or “injured” in order to kill them before their holding period expires even though the animals are not irremediably suffering as required by state law;
  • Kills lost animals without making reasonable attempts to find the animals’ owners;
  • Fails to provide adequate veterinary care to impounded animals, resulting in animal deaths;
  • Fails to provide adequate nutrition, water, shelter and exercise to impounded animals and to treat the animals humanely and kindly;
  • Refuses to release animals to rescue groups that are willing to care for the animals until adoptive homes can be found and, instead, kills the animals.

In addition, the County Department of Animal Care and Control unlawfully retaliates against animal rescuers and volunteers who publicize its unlawful treatment of animals.

The shelter, btw, REFUSES to co operate with breed rescues, even while animals of those breeds are being systematically euthanized. They use bogus, unproven ‘temperament tests’ as a blanket reason to kill healthy animals, and thereby fudge their shelter’s stats to enable them to say they place ‘90% of all adoptable animals’. This ‘amazing’ figure is easy to accomplish, when you euthanize 85% of the animals you take in as ‘unadoptable’.

More links, including hi res graphic photos and details on Zephyr’s fate:

http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/whatsnew.html

http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/pdf/LACountyPressRelease_000.pdf

http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/12/20/lawsuit-alleges-la-shelters-neglect-abuse-animals/

http://laanimalwatch.blogspot.com/2007/08/open-letter-to-marcia-mayeda.html

http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/558767

Media coverage of Zephyr’s death:

http://cbs2.com/video/?id=54196@kcbs.dayport.com

Carol

A much better morning

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After a very LONG 24 hours of every two hour feedings, the little boy seems much better this morning. He’s gained almost .4 ounces, he feels ‘fuller’ in my hand, and he’s back to being active and wiggly. I plan to keep on bottle feeding him for a few more days, and I’m encouraging him to nurse from Mae as much as possible.

I said this once already, but it bears repeating – thanks SO MUCH to everyone for their support. Sitting there in a cramped whelping room with a sick puppy can seem like the most desolate, isolating experience. Knowing people are out there wishing good thoughts your way really makes all the difference in the world.

Carol

A long night.. with more to come

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I’m starting to think I must be cursed. This boy isn’t gaining ANY weight – in fact, he’s lost weight. I was up all night trying to get him to nurse, but he just drops off the nipple as soon as I let go of him.

Some nutracal perked him up a little bit, and he’s since nursed this morning, but he wears out in no time flat and drops off. Mae seems to have milk, albeit not a ton, so I don’t know what the problem is.

Sean’s going to go out and get some goats milk and yogurt, and if he doesn’t perk up by this afternoon I might try to bottle feed him. The last pup I bottle fed, I lost, so this isn’t the best day of my life.

I have a whole house full of kids + assorted boyfriends/girlfriend due to show up this afternoon, and I am not feeling the holidays, that’s for sure.

Carol

Mae's Pups & a Meditation on Breeding

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Wednesday, when I went to bed at 10 pm, Mae was doing fine. No temperature drop, no funny behavior – just Mae, being Mae and looking happy to see me every time I came into the room to check on her, wiggling her Mae Mae butt and grinning her grin.

At 2 am, I woke up out of a dead sleep, convinced something in the house wasn’t right. I came down to check on Mae, and found her nesting in her bed, panting heavily and discharging signs of lochia in her pee. Despite being two days earlier than our earliest estimated due date, Mae was in labor, and there was no time to wait for our regular clinic to open at 8 am.

The emergency vet was wonderful – she worked fast, she anesthetized lightly, and she had the pups out within 10 minutes of getting Mae under and on the table. Unfortunately, two of them were dead before birth, with obvious signs of first stage decay. It kills me that there was nothing that could be done to try to save them.
The third pup, a little cream boy, is doing well, although he’s rather small. He eats well and vigorously, and Mae is being an attentive mom. The poor little solo puppy looks very small and very alone in that big whelping box, with no company. Mr. Monkey will be joining him for snuggling as soon as I give him a good clean, and we’ll give him lots of snuggling, but it really can’t be a substitute for the company of litter mates.

This has been a hard year for me with pups. I haven’t had a litter in almost seven years, and then two out of my first three have dead pups. I know it’s just all about bad luck and bad timing, but it’s hard not to take it personally. I’ve been lucky when it comes to breeding – until now, I’ve only ever lost three pups at birth, one litter due to veterinary negligence, and one week old pup. That’s pretty good, for almost 18 years of breeding. As I said to Sean, if I’d had this kind of bad luck in my first year of breeding, I doubt I’d still be in Frenchies. This kind of heartache is hard to justify on an ongoing basis.

For now, I’m just going to watch over this little tiny one, and give extra hugs and kisses to Dexter, Izzy, Harley and Delilah. I’m more thankful for them now than ever.

Here are a few pictures I shot yesterday. The rest can be found over on Flickr.

Thursday Thirteen – 13 Most Useful Books on Dog Breeding

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Thirteen Things Most Useful Books for Dog Breeders

I should note here that I don’t think that any book can ever replace the best source of information and advice on dog breeding, and that’s a mentor. A mentor is an older dog breeder who ‘takes you under their wing’ and offers hands on advice, help, suggestions (and usually really good gossip).

That said, I’ve also gotten a lot of useful, practical advice from the following books, including a crash introductory course on canine genetics.

A caveat: books with asterisks beside them are pretty much French Bulldog specific only.

1. Born To Win: Breed to Succeed
Patricia Craige’s book is a really great crash course on how to go beyond just ‘dog breeding’ and start breeding to win.

2. Genetics of the Dog
Malcom Willis’ book is considered to be the classic ‘layman’s’ guide to canine genetics. Invaluable for understanding – or at least trying to understand – coat color genetics, in particular.

3. Canine Reproduction: The Breeder’s Guide
Patricia Holst’s book is a wellspring of practical, no nonsense advice and tips. I refer to this book at least once per litter.

4. Successful Dog Breeding: The Complete Handbook of Canine Midwifery
Offering more than just practical advice, Chris Walkowicz emphasizes the ethics and responsibility that goes along with breeding.

5. The Whelping and Rearing of Puppies: A Complete and Practical Guide
A great book that covers all of the ‘what ifs’ and best and worst case scenarios. Spiral binding makes it a breeze to use in the somewhat hectic conditions of the whelping room. And no, I’m not saying that just because Muriel is my editor at ‘Just Frenchies‘.

6. Puppy Intensive Care: A Breeder’s Guide to Care of Newborn Puppies
This is just about the most useful book for a novice breeder. It comes along with shopping lists, and a companion CD showing video illustrations on such topics as tube feeding and a live delivery.

7. Breeding Better Dogs
Long time breeder and judge Carmen Battaglia shows you how to apply canine genetics to your specific breeding program.

8. Another Piece of the Puzzle: Puppy Development
This useful little paperback helps breeders to develop the absolute best puppies possible, utilizing puppy’s varying developmental phases to enhance temperament and behaviors. Really useful and simple to follow.

9. The Joy of Breeding Your Own Show Dog
This book, like “Successful Dog Breeding“, shows you how to plan out a breeding with the ultimate goal of producing a show winning litter. Helping you to see beyond just what’s down on paper, to what’s actually within your dog’s genes.

10. Dog Owner’s Home Veterinary Handbook
Every dog breeder needs a good, basic, simple to understand veterinary handbook, and this one does an exceptional job at being easy to read and follow.

11. The Healing Touch for Dogs: The Proven Massage Program for Dogs
This might seem like an odd choice for a list on dog breeding, but I’ve found that using massage on pregnant moms, moms in whelp and on puppies enhances their health and wellbeing. New, nervous moms can be calmed into accepting their pups more readily if you use massage while introducing them – especially useful if mom is shaking off the effects of anesthesia from a c-section.

* 12. The French Bulldog by Steve Eltinge
Yes, we know this book require deep pockets, but this is the classic book on French Bulldogs, and contains some fantastic photos of dogs you’ll find behind the pedigrees of most of the top show dogs in North America. Put it on your wishlist.

* 13. The French Bulldog (Kennel Club Classic)
Pockets not quite deep enough for the Eltinge book? Muriel Lee’s new book is a fantastic, more up to date alternative. Covering health, history and much more on the Frenchie, it’s an essential addition to the library of any aspiring French Bulldog breeder.

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