ASPCA Blog

100,000 Take Action Against Puppy Mills—Want to Join Them?

Monday, May 21, 2012 - 1:30pm
Take Action Against Puppy Mills

YES! We are super-happy to report that as of today, more than 100,000 people have signed our "No Pet Store Puppies" pledge! The pledge aims to reduce the demand for puppy mill puppies by asking consumers to not buy any items at a store that sells puppies. "Huh?," you ask?

You see, the logic is simple: Most pet store puppies come from puppy mills. Even if you know better than to buy a puppy from a pet store, by purchasing any item from a store that sells puppies, you are still supporting the puppy mill industry. So please, don’t buy anything! No kibble, no kitty litter, no toys—no nothing!

And while you’re at it, visit NoPetStorePuppies.com and take the pledge. It’s not that we don’t trust your new humane shopping plans, but adding your name to our pledge list will go a long way in proving to the industry that we mean business. As they say…it takes an army!

Don't forget to spread the word to friends and family on Facebook and Twitter! It's time we put an end to puppy mills. 

Tags: 
Animal Cruelty
Puppy Mills
Take Action

Calling All Foodies: Little Lola Is Your Kindred Spirit

Friday, May 18, 2012 - 3:45pm
Lola the Chihuahua at ASPCA Adoption Center

Hello! Do you have a snack? A dog treat? Just a small, delicious morsel? Could you maybe just give that to Lola? OK, you guys are now BFFs for life.

It's really that simple with our crazy-adorable lap dog Lola, who has been patiently waiting at our Adoption Center for longer than we really understand. A Chihuahua through and through, Lola wants to sit on your lap and be unwaveringly loyal and close to you. (Especially if you have something tasty for her.)

Frankly, we're not sure how anyone could resist her sweet face, tiny paws and penchant for affection. Maybe people are a little wary of her age—nine—but that’s barely middle-aged for a Chihuahua, and she has all the energy and spirit of a pup of three. Like most Chi Chis, she needs a little time to get to know a person before falling in love with them, but that amount of time is really short. (It's basically however long it takes you to produce a treat.)

There's a song in Damn Yankees that goes, "Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets," and that's been true for her at the ASPCA Adoption Center—but the one thing our Lola really wants, to go home at last, remains a wish unfulfilled.

Can you give her the life she deserves? (And can you hook her up with lots of treats? Seriously, she'll do anything you ask. For treats.) Learn more about her on her page and please share her on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. If you think you’d like to adopt her, please call our Animal Placement department in NYC at (212) 876-7700, ext. 4900.

Thank you for helping Lola find a family!

Tags: 
Adoption
Take Action
Volunteer

Tips to Handle a Pet Food Recall

Friday, May 18, 2012 - 1:45pm
How To Handle Dog Food Recall

In response to the recent spike in pet food recalls, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center has some suggestions on how to best keep two-legged and four-legged family members safe:

Do your research. Salmonella is the contaminant that appears to be the cause of concern during this most recent round of pet food recalls. If you suspect your pup has eaten contaminated food, a trip to the vet should be first on the list of to-dos, and then the food manufacturer should be notified. You can identify the recalled foods by visiting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s website at www.fda.gov.

Know the signs. While healthy adult dogs are relatively resistant to illness from Salmonella bacteria, pets with health issues (such as young puppies, elderly and pregnant dogs who could have compromised immune systems) may be at greater risk for becoming ill. Dogs who are affected by Salmonella may exhibit symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, fever, lethargy, and drooling or panting—an indication of nausea. In severe cases, the bacterium may spread throughout the body, resulting in death.

Clean is key. Salmonella isn’t only dangerous to the pet eating the food—it can also affect the pet parent serving the food. Salmonella can be spread through direct contact with the affected product and animal feces, so exposure should be avoided. The best way to protect family members, including other animals in the home, is to thoroughly wash your hands (or paws) after any dealings with the product or feces. In addition, all bowls, utensils and surfaces that may have come in contact with contaminated food should be washed using hot, soapy water and rinsed thoroughly or sanitized in the dishwasher.

For more information about the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center and potential pet toxins, visit www.aspca.org/apcc. 

Tags: 
Pet Care
Poison Control

We Just Reached 100,000 Followers on Twitter—Thank You!

Friday, May 18, 2012 - 9:45am
ASPCA Reached 100K Twitter Followers

High-fives and paw shakes—we just passed 100,000 followers on Twitter! We're not ashamed to admit that Twitter is the first thing our social media team checks in the morning—we love chatting with our followers and spreading animal welfare news. Together we have fought for tougher laws to protect animals, shared vital pet care tips with friends, pledged to fight puppy mills...and, of course, found homes for hundreds of homeless pets.

You've given so much to the animals, and now we want to give a little something back.

All Day: Prizes on Twitter!
How have you helped animals? Did you adopt a pet or maybe you volunteer at your local shelter? Today only, send us (@ASPCA) an animal-related tweet and include the hashtag #ASPCA100K—photos earn extra points! Throughout the day we'll select the top 10 tweets with the best animal protection message—and winners will receive some awesome ASPCA swag! (Must be 18 or older at the time of entry to enter. This contest is void where prohibited and is limited to legal U. S. residents.)

Hot $10 Deals!
As a special thank you to all our fans, for the next 72 hours, you can get any of these animal-friendly gifts for just $10 using coupon code TW100K. 

Together we are 100,000 voices for animals—thank you! And if you're not following us on twitter already, get on that.

Tags: 
Events

Undercover Video: The Barbaric World of Horse Soring

Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 4:00pm
Sad Horse

Guest blogpost from Nancy Perry, Senior Vice President of ASPCA Government Relations.

"Every walking horse that enters into a show is sored. They've got to be sored to walk. There ain't no good way to put it, but that's how it is.”

These were the words of Barney Davis at his sentencing hearing in a Chattanooga, Tennessee, federal court onFebruary 27 after being found guilty of soring horses. Last night our friends at the Humane Society of the United States released horrific undercover footage showing horses being whipped, kicked, shocked in the face, burned with caustic chemicals, and violently cracked across the head and legs with heavy wooden sticks. These are just a few of the barbaric training methods used in the walking horse industry.

What Is Soring?
Soring is a training technique that is even worse than it sounds. Painful chemicals and other devices are used to cause such agony to a horse’s front limbs that any contact with the ground makes the horse quickly jerk up his or her leg. Soring is done to elicit “the big lick,” a high-stepping gait prized and rewarded at horse shows. And it gets worse. To hide their cruelty, trainers also do what they euphemistically call “stewarding”—beating and inflicting even greater pain to the horses so they don’t react poorly during inspection.  This brutality, as captured in HSUS’ footage, masks the fact that trainers are soring the animals. It sounds impossible that this practice continues, even when showing sore horses is banned by the Horse Protection Act (HPA).  This practice is violent and abusive—and we will not tolerate it.

What Is the USDA Doing about It?
Last year, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors had the resources to attend just 62 of approximately 700 walking horse shows nationwide. In addition, although the USDA promised in March to release rules that would take an important step toward enforcing the ban of these unethical and cruel practices, they have failed to do so.

While the USDA drags its feet, the 2012 walking horse season is well under way.It’s time to finally take the power out of the hands of criminals!  Join the ASPCA Advocacy Brigade to use your voice to help these under-protected animals.

Tags: 
Advocacy
Animal Cruelty
Equines

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