Cosmetic Surgeries Face Extinction in Illinois

This week, SB 139 was introduced in the Illinois legislature. This bill is attempting to amend Illinois's current Humane Care for Animals Act by defining ear cropping and tail docking as animal tortue unless performed by a licensed veterinarian for medical purposes.

To many people, that sounds like they are doing the right thing...

Sadly, the wording of this amendment is all wrong. Whether you agree or disagree with the practice of cropping the ears of Dobermans, Schnauzers, Boxers, etc, if the procedure is going to be done it should be done by a licensed veterinarian. But, by stating that the procedures can only be done for medical purposes is the sticky point...ear crops and tail docks serve no medical purpose.

See how powerful just a couple of words can be....

If I had one of the breeds that allows for cropped ears, I don't know whether or not I would put a puppy through that surgery. BUT, if I did, I sure as hell would want a veterinarian doing the surgery and not the ham-fisted breeder or some young kid with a pair of pinking shears! Are you shocked? Are you saying to yourself, "that never happens"?

You, my friend, need to spend a summer in a big city animal emergency room and I will guarantee you that you will see several puppies that come into the hospital with ears that have been mangled by idiot who thinks he can wield a scalpel blade. More likely, the idiot probably just tried to use a meat cleaver! Stopping the professionals from doing these surgeries only increases the chances that emergency rooms will see more dogs with messed up ears.

Or, how about the rubber band around the tail trick?? Ever seen that? Believe me, it is not a pretty sight!

If ear cropping and tail docking are truly evil, then let's work from within the purebred dog establishment to change standards and help judges pick "best of breed" winners who have floppy ears rather than trimmed ears. No legislation prohibiting veterinarians from doing a job will stop people from wanting Boxers that look "mean". We need to make the change at the level of breeders, breed clubs, and show people. Then, when the majority of pet owners are content with floppy ears and long tails, then we can make it illegal to perform these surgeries.

Will Eating Your Veggies Make You Sexier? PETA Thinks So!!

Wow! In my rush of assimilating all of the economic woes and weather related news of the day, I almost missed this little tidbit of information...

PETA approached NBC about doing a Super Bowl ad!!

Odds are that they weren't really all that serious, as you can see from the video of their commercial. But I liked how the articles' author asked a very pointed question...is it okay to exploit women in order to save animals??

(Seriously...I did visit the webpage strictly for the article!)

This is not the first time that PETA has resorted to the use of scantily-clad or even nude women in order to generate publicity for it's "work". Nude models refusing to wear fur and nude women in cages are just a few of the stunts they have used in the past. The animal rights group Win Animal Rights (WAR) also stages protests of fur, but as you can see, they focus less on the clothing optional route and more on the hurl insults routine.

Don't get me wrong...I won't turn away from looking at a scantily clad woman, but I don't think the sight is going to make me dispose of the T-bones I bought for dinner tonight...

Can They Make You Spay and Neuter Your Pets?

So, 2009 is barely a month old and already numerous states and cities across the country are looking at mandatory spay and neuter legislation ("MSN laws") for dogs and cats. Florida is considering legislation mandating sterilization of all dogs and cats within 30 days of turning 4 months old.

Obviously, the goal here is to limit the number breeding animals so that fewer puppies and kittens will be born, thereby relieving pressures on burdened city animal shelters and animal control facilities. But, how well does it work?

In Feb 2008, Los Angeles mandated spaying and neutering of all animals over 4 months of age and began enforcement in June of that year (letting people have time to schedule the surgery). According to KC Dog Blog, numbers of relinquished animals are increasing as are euthanasias in the LA area. His blog has several links for following the data trail, but I found that this link to an internal LA government document most revealing.

Within this document from the City Controller's office are numerous concerns. One of the most glaring examples of why mandatory spay neuter programs don't work well comes from page 20 of the document. On this page, the controller's office notes that:

Department management indicated that they have attempted to aggressively
increase the number of sterilizations performed. Employees at Care Centers
know this is a priority, which has resulted in lax controls for the distribution of the
Free Certificates. Rather than prevent or deny a subsidy because an individual
does not meet or cannot prove their eligibility, it appears that staff provides a
subsidy to anyone that requests one.

Furthermore:

While the surveyed municipalities had strong controls in place to ensure limited
resources benefit a well-defined target population, the Department lacks clear
and consistent guidelines. Since the Department can only distribute a finite
number of Free Certificates, the ambiguous eligibility criteria and lax control
procedures to verify the individuals’ eligibility may result in the denial of
assistance to an implicitly prioritized group of residents that genuinely need it.

So, what I read into this is that in an effort to boost spay and neuter numbers, employees of the city's Animal Control division were handing out certificates for free or discounted spays and neuters to ANYONE who asked! As you can probably imagine, this leaves fewer resources for pet owners who are the ones in most need of the help!

And this is just one of the eleven major problems found by the audit. Solutions to all of these problems are marked as "urgent" or "needed".

Now...don't get me wrong. Controlling pet population through appropriate spaying and neutering is a good thing, but mandating sterilization of your pet is not the way to save lives and get pets into homes. Even the American College of Theriogenologists (veterinarians who study reproduction in pets) agrees that MSN is not a good idea.

The biggest concern comes from veterinarians who believe that mandating sterilization will give people another reason to avoid going to the veterinarian. Believe me, this is true!! Many pet owners equate veterinarians with authority and erroneously believe that the owner will be "reported" for not neutering their pet. Recently, Chicago's pending MSN law was amended to exempt veterinarians from the need to report intact animals.

Bottom line, these type of laws put way too much government interference into the daily lives of pets and their owners. There are many factors to "pet overpopulation" and it will take a multi-faceted approach to resolve this issue.

Sea Kittens?? Abandoned Rats??

Did you hear about this?? PETA, in their infinite wisdom, has decided that fewer people would enjoy the sport of fishing if we simply renamed fish as "sea kittens"

Seriously!! You can read the LA Times story here.

Their strange theory is that people will be disgusted by the thought of "hooking a kitten through the mouth and dragging it behind their car". Puh-leaze!!

What about the billions of people who rely on fish for sustenance? What will they eat if eating "kittens" is not appropriate or allowed? I guess they could try and cook some seaweed...or would that constitute destruction of the "sea kittens" house and home???

I think PETA has quite literally gone off the deep end...again!

In other strange news this week, a Rhode Island man has been ordered to perform 50 hours of community service and pay $1000. His crime...he abandoned his rats. All 280 of them!

Evidently this former rat lover left his pets on the side of the road in aquariums and cages. When the rats were discovered, more than 70 had died and, as you can imagine, the rest were deciding that cannabilism offered a lot of benefits at the moment. The SPCA euthanized the survivors.

Why did he leave them? He had a new baby at home and didn't want the baby and rats in the same apartment!

Pets Now Involved in Salmonella Scare

Sadly, as I anticipated, the current Salmonella scare involving a multitude of peanut butter products has spilled over into the pet world as well.


PetSmart issued a voluntary recall of Grreat Choice Dog Biscuits due to potential contamination with Salmonella. You can see the specific types of biscuits on the recall notice in the link I gave you.


So far, no illnesses have been reported from these biscuits and we likely won't see any as most pets are fairly adept at handling the Salmonella bacteria. Dogs and cats rarely develop any symptoms from exposure to Salmonella and when they do it is usually limited to diarrhea and vomiting with subsequent dehydration. The bigger problem is how the pet's owners handle Salmonella.


Salmonella can be devastating to anyone with compromised immune systems. This includes the elderly, young children, and anyone whose immune system is not functioning at 100% whether due to illness (like HIV) or drugs (chemo patients or organ transplant recipients).


For now, if you have any peanut butter type of treats for your pets in the household, you might be well advised to wait and see how many more foods are affected before giving any to your pets.


Other important things to remember about Salmonella:


1) Always wash your hands after handling any reptile or bird as these are the species most likely to harbor the bacteria.


2) If you prepare raw food diets for your pets, be especially careful and wash all utensils and kitchen surfaces after preparation. Similarly, when cleaning up after your pet, consider that his or her feces may contain Salmonella organisms.


3) Ordinary disinfectants and bleach are usually successful at killing Salmonella.


4) If you have concerns about your pet, or if you purchased the Grreat Choice Dog Biscuits, it wouldn't hurt to call your veterinarian for advice.

1-21-09: Here is an update to the story from CNN

AKC Grants Full Recognition to Three More Breeds

Here's something you don't see extremely often...the American Kennel Club has increased the number of recognized purebred dog breeds to 161 with the addition of the Irish Red and White Setter, the Pyrenean Shepherd, and the Norweigian Buhund.

The AKC's press release does a nice job of detailing each breed and there are some attractive pictures of each breed as well.

Personally, I am interested in hearing more about the Pyrenean Shepherd... :-)

Take Some Steps to Lower Your Pet's Costs

Earlier, I pointed out a few "misunderstandings" people might have about saving costs in relation to their pets. Trying to save money by purchasing vaccines online or using a less expensive flea medication often leads to bigger bills and potential danger to your pet.''

Luckily, there are a lot of easy steps you can take to help minimize your pet's healthcare costs.

First, (and this sounds very simple) play with your pet! Veterinary behaviorists all agree that a tired dog is a happy dog and happy dogs don’t tear up furniture or get into trouble. Since behavior issues are the number one reason for abandoning pets, this fun task might literally save your pet’s life.

Playing with your pet has health benefits as well. A well-exercised pet is less likely to be overweight and suffer from obesity related problems such as arthritis, certain cancers, or diabetes. Just think how a couple extra walks each day will help your pet and help trim your waistline!!

Next, when exercising your pet, use appropriate restraints and confinements. Pets who roam freely are often hit by traffic, get into fights or eat something dangerous. Emergencies like these can end up hitting your wallet very hard.

Even loving your pet has money saving benefits. Petting and caressing your pet can help find those little lumps and bumps sooner. Cancer is very common in our pets and can be very expensive to treat. Earlier detection generally means a better outcome and usually less expensive treatments.

Despite all of these precautions, some pets will just get into trouble or develop a serious disease. Although veterinary medicine is still a bargain compared to other health services, most of us would be hard pressed to pay a big veterinary bill out of pocket. Companies like Pets Best Insurance offer a variety of insurance plans to assist owners with unexpected costs. But even today only a small percentage of pet owners insure their pets’ health.

If paying a premium every month isn’t appealing to you, consider investing in a Pet Health Savings Plan. PetVetPro helps people save money for potential pet emergencies. Unlike insurance, the money you pay into the program is yours. This allows you the flexibility to use the savings for car repairs, dental work, or whatever – including emergency surgery for your pet!

These are challenging times and likely will be for some months, maybe even a year or longer. It is a challenge to think about your furry friends safety when just feeding the family stretches your budget. If you have concerns, talk with your veterinarian. Sometimes less expensive drugs are available or you might be able to get a written prescription for a generic form. The big lesson here is to simply communicate. Don't take matters into your own hands or you just might end up hurting your wallet in addition to your pet!

Dr. Patty Khuly, a friend of mine from the Veterinary News Network, had a recent blog post detailing a case in which well-meaning clients avoided her recommendation in order to save some money. Long story short, their dog needed extra surgery at an additional costs. So, although we all have a need and a desire to save money, cutting corners with our pets is probably not the best option.