No More Homeless Pets
Weekly News

January 2, 2005
From super adoptions to spay/neuter successes, people working together to bring about a time when there will be No More Homeless Pets.

• Amazing Animals
• Feral Cat News
• Adoption News
• Fabulous Fundraisers
• In Your Communities
• International News

TOP STORY

Portland, Oregon - Supporters of greyhound welfare had a special reason to celebrate this Christmas, as the last greyhound racetrack on the West Coast announced that it was shutting down.

Magna Entertainment Corp. has announced that it will not renew its lease of the Multnomah Greyhound Park in Portland, Oregon. The lease expired at the end of 2004, and Magna announced there will be no more greyhound racing at the facility.

Carey Theil and Christine Dorchak of the national greyhound welfare group GREY2KUSA hailed the news as a major victory, and "the best holiday present the greyhounds could ever receive."

Magna cited competitive pressures as the reason for closing the track, noting that business has been down as a result of video lottery terminals located across the state, Indian casino gambling, and the availability of off-track betting.

The company has further announced that the adoption kennel of the Oregon Greyhound Association will remain open until all of the former racers are placed into new homes. If you are interested in providing a home to a greyhound retired from the Oregon track, please call (503) 669-2129. For more on this story, see the Seattle Times.

AMAZING ANIMALS

Raeford, North Carolina - Prospects looked pretty bleak for Emmy Lou the beagle, after she was shot and left for dead near Friends for Life at The Haven, the largest no-kill shelter in North Carolina.

The bullet severed Emmy Lou's spinal cord and left her back end permanently paralyzed. But now, thanks to The Haven and help from members of the community, the naturally cheerful beagle is up and about again, able to come and beg for treats.

The one-year-old dog was examined by vets and physical therapists volunteering from the Animal Rehabilitation and Wellness Institute in Raleigh, who determined that they couldn't operate on the dog, but could help her learn to "walk" again with the help of a cart. After a plea from The Haven, two carts were donated to help the little dog, who immediately took to her new wheels and began racing around the exercise yard.

After a stretch of physical therapy, Emmy Lou should be ready to go to a new home, but The Haven is asking people to continue to donate to the fund established in her name to help future animals in need of major veterinary care. Learn more about Emmy Lou and her progress from The Haven.

FERAL CAT NEWS

Mount Holly, New Jersey - A trap/neuter/return policy for feral cats has been approved in Burlington County, and organizers hope it will become a model for programs like it throughout the state. Organizers estimate there are between 30,000 and 50,000 feral cats in the county, who previously had been rounded up and euthanized when residents complained. The pilot program will be propelled by a $50,000 start-up grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and will pay to have the cats spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped. Read more from nj.com. (Content free, but registration required.)

ADOPTION NEWS

Sacramento, California - A public display of homeless cats and kittens has proven to be a good business both for the cats and the business that gave them temporary quarters over the holidays. The felines, who came from the FieldHaven rescue, were housed in the window of Il Giardino, a store that sells garden decoration items. The project is the brainchild of FieldHaven owner Joy Smith, who teamed up with her friend, storeowner Nora Rudolph, to put the cats in the window. The results were impressive. In the first 20 days of the project, 27 of the cats and kittens on display found homes. And as for Rudolph, her store has received considerable attention -- and more window shoppers -- as a result of the venture. Read more in the Sacramento Bee.

FABULOUS FUNDRAISERS

North Carolina - When Dale Earnhardt Jr. was voted NASCAR's Most Popular Driver for the second straight year, animals in North Carolina were the real winners. Earnhardt donated his $10,000 winner's check to two rescues from near his Carolina base, The Animal Adoption League and Lake Norman Lucky Cats. The popular race car driver has a well-known love of animals, and said he wanted to return the money to the community that supported him in the NASCAR balloting. Read more from crash.net.

Fairfax, Virginia - Homeless cats are a little happier in the Fairfax area, thanks to a new program known as "Operation Happy Sock." Project founder Martha Powers and several volunteers collect socks from donors, fill them with catnip, and donate them as toys for shelter cats in the Northern Virginia area. The program also teams up with area schools so that students can fulfill their community service requirements by collecting and stuffing the socks, and then delivering them to the shelters -- and the students always find some time to play with the cats they help.

IN YOUR COMMUNITIES

Missouri - A new audit released by the state auditor's office in Missouri shows that the state's Department of Agriculture has made little progress toward better regulation and inspection of the 1,400 registered commercial dog-breeding facilities in the state. The report shows that violations uncovered by state inspectors still go unpunished. It further notes that the state fails to inspect most "puppy mills," and that seven of the state's nine inspectors don't believe it is necessary to report all violations found. For more information, see the Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation.

Los Angeles, California - In an effort to organize the humane vote in Los Angeles, Citizens for a Humane Los Angeles (CHULA) will host a first-of-its-kind political convention on Jan. 9. The event, for animal advocates, will focus on the March 8 primary election for mayor of Los Angeles. Each mayoral contender will have the opportunity to address the convention, after which delegates will endorse one candidate. Read more about this event from the Animal Legislative Action Network.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Belgrade, Yugoslavia - Nikola Pasic Square in Belgrade offered Christmas decorations with a twist this year. The Organization for Animal Care (ORCA) asked city residents to help decorate a Christmas tree dedicated to homeless animals. The tree will eventually be planted in Mitic Park and will be declared the Tree of Abandoned Animals. In addition, ORCA has conducted a contest for building the best dog house (with more than 200 entries), and plans to organize a campaign to provide homes for abandoned animals. Read more from OneWorld.net.