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Cross My Heart Dog Rescue and BJC Animal Control are proud to announce "Pupp-A-Ween" on Sunday, October 25th, from 3-5pm at Pickwick Plaza. Bring your pups dressed in their Halloween attire and allow them the pleasure of trick-or-treating... Or, find your next canine family member from the adoptable dogs in costume! If you are a rescue group or merchant that wants to be involved, let us know by Oct. 9!

REGISTRATION
$40 Family - Includes 2 adults, dog(s) and any number of children under 18 years of age.
$25 Single - With dog
$50 Rent a dog - Adult pre-registration applicants.
$15 Unaccompanied - Walk to support Getting to Zero™
Free - Registration when you raise $100 in pledges. Receive a special bandana for your dog!

GETTING TO ZERO™
In the continuation of expanding our promotion for responsible pet ownership the money raised from the Paws in the Park will be used towards our Getting to Zero™ Campaign. The goal of this plan is to make ALL of Hamilton County a “No-Kill Zone” for unwanted pets who are trainable, adoptable and treatable (TAT).

The Surf City Surf Dog brings together the community, surfers, dog lovers, families and pets for a day of FUNdraising at one of Southern California’s most pristine beaches - Huntington Dog Beach, in Huntington Beach. Interactive exhibits, dog rescue booths, contests and more will make this a tradition for all.

The inaugural Surf City Surf Dog is bound to attract attention as man's best friend takes on the challenge of surfing! Grab your surfboard and pup and join us! Or, if surfing isn't your thing, enter:

Surf City Surf Dog brings together the community, surfers, dog lovers, families and pets for a day of fun at one of Southern California’s most pristine beaches - Huntington Dog Beach.

Benefits:

Four-legged friends and their human’s are encouraged to raise money for one of our official charities by recruiting pledges! Ask your friends and family to sponsor you or your pooch with a pledge. You do not have to be a surfer to pledge! All are encouraged to join the initiative to help our charities!

Hot Diggety Dog Expo Featuring:

Parking/Carpooling:
For those NOT familiar with Huntington Dog Beach, parking is VERY limited. You may be have a bit of a walk ahead of you - be prepared and carpool if possible.  In addition, please come prepared with change, as all parking adjacent to dog beach uses meters.

Surf Dog Clinics:
Clinics are FREE to registered pups. During registration, you will be asked to select the date you would like to attend the lessons. This is on the page in which you are asked your name, address, t-shirt size, dogs name, etc. If you’d like to attend the clinic without registering for the event, the cost is $10. . on the next page under "Select the Categories," simply select the Surf Lesson date you would like and proceed through the rest of registration.

• Great prizes available and 50/50 sweepstakes

• Lane sponsorship and raffle donations currently being accepted

• Free game coupons distributed throughout the event courtesy of Farmingdale Lanes

• There is also a large bar broadcasting the NFL games and a great snack bar too!

Cost is $30 (cash only) and PROOF of Rabies vaccine is required.
Low cost Rabies vaccines are available for $4 the day of the clinic.

Maria Sorg, DVM will be administering chips and vaccines.  Because this is an outside event, we are not doing cats. Dogs must be on a leash.

Only a limited number of microchips available. Call Paula today at 910-540-2743 or e-mail patpaye@bellsouth.net for appt/info.
100% of proceeds to benefit Pender County Animal Shelter.

It’s Hurricane Season. Don’t take a chance. Microchips offer peace of mind.

The Humane Society of Boulder Valley’s annual 5k Doggie Dash race and pledge walk is held annually in the fall. The event includes a T-shirt, pancake breakfast and pet expo.

Learn all about native Colorado reptiles, get care info about your own pets, and support the homeless animals at the shelter. Monthly workshops teach safe handling methods, identification of common health issues, proper feeding, and more.

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If you have items you can obtain and can help, email Juliann@adoptagoldenatlanta.com.

For more information go to www.adoptagoldenatlanta.com

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A $1 bill in your wallet may not go very far these days, but it can really go the distance for homeless pets. Help Atlanta Animal Rescue Friends raise a FULL mile of dollar bills, with all the proceeds going to support our Foster Program and Silver Paws Program by the end of 2009!

We know in this current time, thousands of pets are the unseen and unheard victims of economic hardship. The number of pets in need is increasing every day, while the resources and spaces are dwindling. Look around your own streets and you’ll see the need. Visit a county shelter, and you will be overwhelmed by the desperate faces that plea for help behind the bars of the cages.

We need your help to save more lives! Since a $1 bill is approximately 6 inches long, we will need 10,560 bills to raise a mile of money. You can help us save more lives, one step at a time ($4 per step). And you will have the opportunity to remember your pet or a loved one with every step along the way. We’ll track the progress on our website, and every person who takes a step with us (with a minimum $4 donation) will be listed on the site. The top finisher who completes the most steps will be recognized when we reach our goal.

Help us help them. Go the extra mile for Atlanta’s homeless pets.

Ideas to donate:

1) Save your $1 bills for a month. Keep $1 from your change in restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, etc. At the end of the month, contact AARF to pick up your envelope of “steps.”

2) Keep a jar of change for a month, and at the end of the month, visit a coin processing machine at your local grocery store. You’ll be amazed how many “steps” you can help us take with the coins in your pocket.

3) Transfer one “step” into a savings account with each paycheck. At the end of the year, you will have taken several “steps” toward the mile.

4) Make a commitment to donate one step per week online.

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From now on anyone in Washington state who is convicted of animal cruelty in the first degree, RCW 16,52,205, or has a second conviction of 2nd degree animal cruelty shall be permanently banned from owning or possessing an animal similar to the one abused. The animal must have been ordered forfeited for the law to apply.

The new law, S.B. 5402 also bans ownership or possession of animals similar to one abused for those convicted the first time of animal cruelty in the 2nd degree, RCW 16.52.207. Again, the animal must have been ordered forfeited for the law to apply.

Animals kept in violation of this must be seized.

A person who has 2 convictions for animal cruelty in the second degree may petition for restoration of the right to own animals five years after the second conviction. The petition must be to the same court in which the person was convicted the second time. In deciding whether to grant the petition, the court will consider the circumstances including the "harm and violence" inflicted on the animal, whether the person has completed the terms of the sentence and any other information that is "reasonable and material" to determining the likelihood the person will harm another animal.

More and more states are giving judges the authority to stop convicted animal abusers from owning or possessing other animals. Really, why should anyone be given a second chance to hurt animals?

The Oregon legislature has now passed SB 299 which bans anyone convicted of misdemeanor animal cruelty from possessing a domestic animal for five years. For a felony conviction, the ban is 15 years.

A violation is a Class C misdemeanor and also may mean, of course, removal of the animal from the person's possession. (Yes, "may"; the court has the discretion not to order removal of the animals.)

A similar bill is pending in California, AB 243, that would ban ownership or possession of any animal for 5 years upon conviction of misdemeanor animal cruelty and 10 years for felony crimes against animals. Anyone caught owning or possessing an animal in violation of this would only be guilty of a misdemeanor.

The California bill also provides for an exemption from this prohibition if the defendant proves (1) imposition of the provisions of the section would result in severe or undue economic hardship to the defendant's livelihood, and (2) the defendant has the ability to properly care for all animals in his or her possession.

This bill has passed the Assembly and is pending in the Senate. Assembly Member Pedro Nava sponsored the bill in the Assembly. Senate sponsors are Sens. Mark DeSaulnier and Dean Florez. Find all California state senators here including your own if you live in that state. Urge them to pass this bill, AB 243 and keep animals away from convicted abusers.
 

Article courtesy of Animal Law Coalition

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Puppy mill "I'm a changed woman," says Oprah. The famed talk show host, Oprah Winfrey, says she will never buy another dog, that she will only adopt dogs from shelters. This after Oprah produced a show about puppymills. The show aired on April 4, 2009.

With Bill Smith of Main Line Animal Rescue and Wayne Pacelle of Humane Society of the United States as guests, Oprah showed her audience film from an undercover investigation by Lisa Ling and Smith of several puppymills. The film depicted puppy mill dogs living or existing in filthy deplorable conditions, almost all in crowded cages too small for them to move around much, if at all. The cages often had chicken wire for flooring. The dogs were covered in waste, matted and starving with open wounds and other injuries. The female dogs were in particularly poor condition, having been bred continuously since they were puppies. The dogs were desperate to get out of their cages.

Many dogs could not even walk when they were removed from the cages. In many cases, they were unsocialized and afraid of people. At least one miller had shoved a pipe down the dogs' throats to debark them.

Puppy mills are motivated by profit. The dogs that produce offspring are inventory. The puppies are a product.

Smith and Pacelle said 99% of dogs sold by pet stores or online are from puppy mills. Most people have no idea the dogs they buy come from places like this. They don't realize they are supporting puppy mills and horrific cruelty to animals when they buy a dog.

Oprah also made the point 25-30% of dogs from puppy mills, purebreds, end up in shelters, many times euthanized. Oprah showed film from Ft. Worth's public animal shelter where more than 90% of dogs are euthanized. The audience saw shelter workers euthanizing dogs by lethal injection. Oprah's audience was spared a view of animals killed in gas chambers or by heartstick.

Oprah got the idea for a show on puppy mills from a billboard just off the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago that said "Oprah: Do a show on puppy mills; the dogs need you." The billboard was courtesy of Main Line Rescue, known for its billboard campaigns against puppy mills.

Oprah is a long time dog lover. She just lost her longtime companion, Sophie, a cocker spaniel. Now Oprah will join rescuers in saving dogs that end up in public shelters. An awesome and incredible friend for the animals! Kudos to Main Line Animal Rescue, http://www.mlar.org/ and the Humane Society of the United States for their work in exposing to the public the cruelty of the pet trade.

For more information about the pet trade, particularly in puppy mills, go to http://www.oprah.com/ and also watch the video at the end of this article.

How You Can Follow Oprah's Lead and Help End Pet Mills:

1. Don't ever buy pet from pet stores, online or newspapers or other ads! Instead, adopt a dog from your local shelter or rescue.
2. Encourage family and friends to adopt instead of buying pets.
3. Learn about puppy mills and other pet mills.
4. Educate others about puppy mills and other pet mills and encourage them to avoid supporting commercial dog and other pet breeders by adopting instead of buying pets.
5. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper or contact local radio stations about puppy mills and other pet mills and call on people to adopt instead of buying dogs and other pets.
6. Join a local group that advocates against puppy mills or other pet mills.
7. Organize or join a protest at pet stores that sell pets. 99% of dogs sold in pet stores come from puppy mills.
8. Encourage local pet stores that sell pets to stop selling and instead offer animals from the local shelter for adoption. Encourage the pet stores to sell pet supplies to the public, not pets.
9. Many puppy mill dogs are sold at specially held dog auctions. Organize or join a protest at these auctions.
10. Support legislation to end puppy mills and other pet mills including laws requiring registration of mills, background checks and criteria for mill operators, limits on breeding and the numbers of animals kept and sold, humane sheltering and care of the animals, record keeping, unannounced inspections, registration and spay/neuter of animals sold as pets, bans on pet auctions and roadside sales, fire safety, proper disposal of waste and dead animals, and fees and fines that will help fund adequate enforcement. Contact your Congressional, state or local representatives to learn existing laws and how they could be made stronger and more effective or how they can be better enforced. Write or call your legislator and urge them to support an end to puppy mills and other pet mills.
11. Start or sign a petition in protest of puppy mills or other pet mills.
12. Look for puppy mills or other pet mills that may be just starting and are applying for local permits, or those that are renewing their permits. Work with local officials to oppose permits for puppy or other mills or set stringent requirements for the permit. Or attend hearings on the permit application and write or call local officials to let them know they should oppose the permit or conditions issuance of the permit on compliance with strict requirements.

13. Report all cruel, inhumane treatment you observe at a commercial dog or other pet breeding operation (aka puppy mills and other pet mills) and potential violations of regulations governing commercial dog or other pet breeders.

14. Find out if your state has a pet lemon law and, if not, work to pass one. Urge anyone who has bought a pet to report

15. Take an ad out in the local paper or circulate online messages educating the public about the cruelty of puppy mills or other pet mills and urge everyone to adopt instead of buying pets. Contact local radio stations and ask them to do public service announcements on this issue.

16. Volunteer at your local public shelter. 25-30% of puppy mill dogs end up in shelters. They often need special care and attention because they typically have received poor or non-existent care and no socialization.

Article courtesy of Animal Law Coalition

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“Over the counter products involve chemicals that have been around for 30 years and often times the product is too toxic when incorrectly applied to a pet,” says Chapman. “Products sold by veterinarians are new, safer and guarantee protection.”

Pets should be treated with appropriate flea and tick medication recommended by veterinarians. Although products purchased at veterinarians’ offices may cost more, there are rarely problems associated with them. Veterinarians will also demonstrate proper application of the product and how to examine a pet after exposure to fleas or ticks. GVMA recommends year-round preventive treatment to control heartworm infestation.

GVMA is a professional association of more than 1,260 veterinarians committed to advancing the veterinary medical profession and supporting the veterinarian's role in improving animal and public health.

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