Dog suffering from distemper. Note the telltale eye discharge.
Excellent reporting out of Colorado on the importation of sick dogs into the state. This time, from a rescue charged with knowingly importing puppies with distemper. Distemper is a serious, contagious disease that can be fatal or permanently damage a dog's nervous system. So not only were these puppies suffering, they could have spread the disease to other dogs in Colorado. Read the entire piece for details on how many dogs are shipped into the state by rescue organizations and the lack of oversight these transporters receive.
This can be a difficult issue to take a stand on, because who doesn't want all pets to have permanent homes? Who wants to be called a heartless ogre for bringing up the consequences of unfettered pet transportation? But the truth is that pet homelessness and retention is a problem best solved at its source, and "humane relocation" - or whatever we are calling it this week - is a cure that simply trades one set of problems for another.
Current and former employees of nearly all levels at a Las Vegas shelter, The Animal Foundation, are reporting overcrowding, understaffing, and dirty conditions. Already hemorrhaging staff, the COO resigned on November 1st, while the CEO is set to step down at the end of the year.
Aside from several all-too-common issues - lack of food, feces everywhere, respiratory illnesses - there are several heartbreaking individual accounts, as well. A puppy accidentally thrown in the trash, dogs cooked to death in the summer heat, and a veterinarian's report of animals sitting in kennels with broken limbs for up to a week to mention a few. What makes these tragic stories infuriating is that the issues leading to these incidents were known, and the staff's concerns, while reported and acknowledged, were never corrected. Many staff members love their work and are overjoyed when the animals they care for find permanent homes. But their working environment made it impossible to feel like they were making a positive difference. If ever there were a poster child for transparency and oversight, The Animal Foundation is it.
It is important to remember that COVID-19 hit rescues and shelters particularly hard, and many are still reeling. All across the country you can find reports of personnel and facilities stretched to their breaking point - but of course this does not change the fact that the animals need food and a safe, clean place lie down. The difficulty and pain faced by rescues in the current environment is something we can all empathize with. It is the lack of transparency and unwillingness to make necessary changes that puts this into the category of preventable tragedies.
We've covered lots of news items recently about people not doing right by the animals they care for - so how about a change in focus? How about animals that absolutely, positively can ruin your day? And the drumroll please...
The list has expected entrants, like the dreaded black mamba, box jellyfish, and saltwater crocodile, and deserves kudos for its inclusion of two less glamorous, but nonetheless deadly animals: mosquitos and the hippopotamus. We tend to think of mosquitos as more of a nuisance, and many people (at least those who don't live in Africa) view hippos as large, but innocuous beasts. Both animals, however, are deadly: one as a disease vector, the other with numerous ways of crushing and drowning the unlucky person who ventures into its territory.
