Does Macomb County, MI Need a New Animal Perspective?

Our apologies about the difficulty in reading the article below, but it’s worth the effort.  This article was written by the founder of Pet-a-Palooza in SE Michigan, who previously sat on the board of the Macomb County Animal Shelter.  He is able to provide an interesting perspective on animal rescue efforts in the Detroit Metro area, and asks some questions that are well worth considering.

‘Oreo’s Law’ Would Give Dogs a Second Chance at Life

A story has been drawing alot of attention on the Internet recently.  It’s about a long-abused animal who was ultimately thrown off a 6th floor roof by his abusive owner.  Miraculously, the dog named Oreo survived and was taken in by the ASPCA.  The animal received 5 months worth of life-saving medical treatment and presumably social interaction and affection.  However, recently, the head of the ASPCA made a decision to euthanize the dog, presumably because he had incurable aggression issues.  This decision was in spite of the fact that an animal sanctuary had begged to be allowed to take possession of the animal to care for him and re-train him.  The ASPCA leader’s decision has caused the organization to have to take a defensive position in the face of animal lover’s nationwide who are vocally outraged.  Now, politician’s in New York, the state where this incident took place, have proposed legislation to insure that a similar situation can never again occur in their State.

Read the details of the case below and let us know what you think.

____________________________________________________________

by Nathan Winogard

MANHATTAN — A bill to allow animal welfare organizations the right to request animals be given to their care when a shelter is planning to euthanize them will be introduced in the State Legislature this week by Assembly Member Micah Z. Kellner and State Senator Thomas K. Duane.

The bill is named Oreo’s Law in memory of a pit bull mix who became well-known after she survived abuse at the hands of her former owner, including a fall from a six-story building, but was eventually euthanized after the ASPCA determined she was untreatably aggressive. Pets Alive Animal Sanctuary, a no-kill animal shelter located in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains, specializing in the rehabilitation and care of abused animals, offered to take Oreo, but the ASPCA refused the request.

“As a dog owner and a foster parent for an animal rescue group, I was heartbroken to learn that Oreo was euthanized. When a humane organization volunteers their expertise in difficult cases, a shelter should work with them to the fullest extent possible.” said Assembly Member Micah Z. Kellner. “I am hopeful that Oreo’s Law will ensure that no animal is ever put to death if there is a responsible alternative.”

“The humane treatment of animals in the care of shelters is an issue about which I feel very strongly,” said Senator Thomas K. Duane, who will introduce Oreo’s Law legislation in the New York State Senate. “No animal should be put down by a shelter if a reputable humane or rescue organization is willing to assume responsibility for its well being. Oreo’s Law would make sure that in instances where animals aren’t rabid or physically suffering, such organizations have the authority to take possession with the payment of the normal adoption fee, and that Oreo’s sad plight will not be repeated.”

“We are deeply moved that Assembly Member Kellner and Senator Duane have taken up Oreo’s cause. We all need to be the voice for these innocent animals,” said Kerry Clair and Matt DeAngelis, Executive Co-Directors of Pets Alive Animal Sanctuary. “We have asked our local legislators to support the bill and we hope that Oreo’s tragic and unnecessary death will offer life to thousands of others.”

Oreo’s Law is modeled after a provision in California state law, adopted there in 1998 as part of a general animal welfare reform package known as the Hayden Law (named after the Senator who authored it).

“Oreo’s Law” would prevent shelters like the ASPCA from killing dogs that legitimate rescue groups are willing to save. It is named after the dog Oreo who was killed by the ASPCA despite a No Kill shelter/sanctuary’s offer to provide her lifetime care.
 

The Meaning of Oreo

Over the last several days, the ASPCA’s killing of a dog named Oreo has ignited a furor among animal lovers nationwide. They tried to justify it by claiming she was aggressive. But the question of whether or not Oreo was beyond rehabilitation is merely a side story to the most significant issues raised by Oreo’s execution. And while Oreo’s killing by those who were supposed to be her protectors has left too many questions unanswered, what has emerged as the most significant one is why did Ed Sayres, the President of the ASPCA, rush to kill an abused dog when the public demanded that she be saved and a sanctuary had offered her lifetime care?

Last June, a one-year old dog named Oreo was intentionally thrown off a sixth floor Brooklyn roof top by her abuser. Oreo sustained two broken legs and a fractured rib. Although the facts are sketchy, Oreo also appears to have been beaten in the past—several of the neighbors in the building where Oreo lived reported hearing the sounds of the dog being hit. The ASPCA nursed her back to health and arrested the perpetrator. They also dubbed her the “miracle dog.”

The miracle was short-lived. According to Ed Sayres, the President of the ASPCA, when Oreo recovered from her injuries, she started to show aggression. After a series of temperament tests, Ed Sayres says he made the decision to kill her. The New York Times reported the story the day before Oreo’s scheduled execution. Despite the best efforts of Sayres to spin the outcome, the furor and condemnation by dog lovers all over the country was immediate.

In an attempt to contain the wrath of the animal-loving community against him, Sayres issued a press release replete with crocodile tears (“We are all upset by this”), saying that she was truly vicious, and arguing that lifetime care in a sanctuary would have meant no quality of life. Sometimes, Sayres said, there are no happy endings. Early on Friday morning, Oreo laid dead, the victim not of her former abuser, but of an overdose of poison from a bottle marked “Fatal-Plus,” at the hands of a shelter bureaucrat.

 

Refusing a Lifesaving Alternative

Facts are troubling things. Facts get in the way of a contrived story. And there is one troubling fact that all of Ed Sayres’ double-speak simply cannot overcome. Try as the ASPCA might to argue that Oreo’s death was unavoidable, Sayres’ misrepresentation has one fundamental obstacle: Oreo had a place to go. The issue doesn’t turn on the real extent of Oreo’s aggression. The real issue is that a No Kill shelter and sanctuary, with experience rehabilitating aggression in dogs, which works with area shelters that could have vouched for their credibility, which enjoys wide community esteem, and which is only a short drive outside of New York City, offered to give her lifetime sanctuary, and was refused.

They called and left a voice mail message on Sayres’ telephone. They called his secretary. They called the ASPCA Press Office. They contacted everyone on the ASPCA website contact page. And they were ignored, hung up on and lied to.

Pets Alive in Middletown, New York, is not only a member of the Mayor’s Alliance for New York City animals, of which the ASPCA is also a member, they are not only an Alliance-approved rescue partner, they not only have had experience with aggressive dogs, but they agreed to take responsibility for a dog the ASPCA was committed to putting in a body bag and then dumping in a landfill. Even though Pets Alive is already an approved rescue partner, the fact that Oreo may have presented a special case didn’t mean the offer should have been rejected out of hand. The ASPCA could have visited Pets Alive; they could have checked veterinary references, community references, could have insisted on specific precautions and liability waivers. But instead, early that morning, before the “media circus got out of hand,” Ed Sayres, willfully, neglectfully, cruelly, and dishonestly, chose to kill Oreo instead. That is the true face of the ASPCA. And that is intolerable.

 

Lowering the Bar

Ironically, had these events taken place in California, it would have been illegal for the ASPCA to kill Oreo instead of giving her to Pets Alive. In 1998, the California legislature overwhelming and bipartisanly passed a law making it illegal for a shelter to kill a dog if a No Kill shelter or rescue group is willing to save that dog—even in cases where the shelter says the dog is aggressive. Having worked in San Francisco, Sayres should be sensitive to the fact that the ASPCA, which claims a leadership position in this movement, should not have a more regressive policy than one approved by an overwhelming number of politicians on both sides of the political spectrum and the State’s Republican governor.

And yet the ASPCA, under Sayres, proves once again that the large national organizations have no vision, no desire to truly raise the status of animals in society, and despite claiming they are setting the bar on how society should relate to animals, that they are in reality staffed by those who would rather perpetuate the violence and betrayal Oreo already experienced by killing her—even as true animals lovers offered them a simple, life-affirming alternative, and the second chance at life Oreo so richly deserved.

And as an agency which claims to be the leading voice of animals, the ASPCA has a duty to continually push the envelope and raise the bar on these issues: to ask the tough questions, to give the issue the time it needs to arrive at a just and thoughtful resolution. Instead, the ASPCA rushed to kill Oreo and permanently closed the door to an animal that needed the full force of the ASPCA’s compassion—and vast resources—the most.

 

Ignoring the Public

A few short years ago, this case would have had the same tragic ending, with the majority of the dog loving public angry that Oreo’s life had come to this short end. But their anger would have been directed only at her former abuser. Today, that anger is still strong, but it is also being directed at the agency which was supposed to protect her from that ultimate harm and fundamentally failed. This is the same anger that forced Humane Society of the United States CEO Wayne Pacelle—like Sayres, another stalwart defender of killing—to stop pursuing the automatic destruction of abuse victims. Today, despite the claims of aggression which would have ended the dialog in the past, people want, deserve, and believe the dogs deserve the happy endings to which they are not only entitled, but which are readily available if men like Sayres and Pacelle would only give it to them. But time and time again, they choose not to.

That Oreo may not have been an immediate adoption candidate due to aggression issues is therefore secondary to the will of the people who wanted Oreo saved, who demanded that Oreo be saved, who were not swayed by false calculations of quality of life, of talk of being traumatized, of any other rationale that would have allowed Sayres and Pacelle to kill dogs without public condemnation. People are tired of the excuses, they are tired of the justifications, and they are tired of the killing.

Because I was quoted in the New York Times article (a bit misquoted actually as I would never call a dog an “it.” I was referring to the testing, not the dog), I was flooded by e-mails and telephone calls. The anger at Sayres was resolute. As one of those individuals noted,

Missing completely from the ASPCA’s response is any acknowledgment whatsoever of the concerns and outrage of the public who fund their work. The public was disrespected; their concerns guided by compassion disregarded.

The gulf between what the public expects from a humane society and the conduct of the ASPCA and others in their league is so at odds with humanity, a gulf so wide, it cannot be crossed. Instead of building a bridge to create needed dialog, Ed Sayres mounted a barricade from which he ran a self-serving propaganda campaign to force his views. He forgot that the ASPCA is publicly funded. He behaved like a dictator, not a leader.

 

Set Up to Fail?

No analysis on Oreo’s death would be complete without an evaluation of how the ASPCA determined that she was aggressive: Did the ASPCA evaluate her fairly? Given the abuse she suffered, how painful was she? Did they give her enough time to learn to trust again? Critics have charged that the ASPCA set her up for failure. That is an important issue and one that cannot be left to the often self-serving claims that have defined the ASPCA over the years.

As in many of these cases, people are questioning whether she was truly as aggressive as Sayres is trying to make out. There have been unconfirmed reports that staff and volunteers have claimed the ASPCA is exaggerating, and the ASPCA has not yet released any videotapes of her which would shed light on the real extent of her alleged aggression. According to unconfirmed reports, two staff members indicated that while the dog did show aggression, she could also be very affectionate, and as a result, they felt she was treatable. Unconfirmed reports also indicate that staff members asked Sayres for a reprieve so she could be placed in a sanctuary. And finally, unconfirmed reports indicate that a volunteer was able to go in and handle Oreo, despite some aggression issues. I have not been able to verify the veracity of these claims, but since this is secondary to the main issues above, their resolution would not alter what should have been the outcome.

On top of these nagging issues, there is the question of whether Ed Sayres is fit to make the final determination. I worked very closely with Sayres at the San Francisco SPCA. It was Sayres who was responsible for the decline and eventual abandonment of the No Kill goal in San Francisco. It was Sayres who embarked on the boondoggle of building a $20 million specialty hospital despite other specialty veterinary hospitals in that city and surrounding areas; and projections that it was not needed, would ultimately harm the San Francisco SPCA’s finances without meeting an unmet need, and cause programs for homeless animals to be curtailed. It is no surprise that those predictions have come to pass: The SPCA is now losing $3,000,000 every year, has eliminated 25% of its staff, has cut lifesaving programs, and appears to be racing toward financial oblivion, all due to the legacy of Sayres’ catastrophic leadership. As I wrote in Redemption about his tenure in San Francisco, Sayres inherited an,

SPCA with a strong infrastructure, departments that had become the envy of the growing No Kill movement, and a fundraising apparatus that had amassed an endowment of over forty million dollars. [He] would not fully leverage the opportunity he was given. In a short period of time, with money being wasted, fundraising opportunities missed, deficits created, an increasingly bloated bureaucracy developing, and key programs gutted or eliminated, the SPCA finally abandoned all pretensions toward No Kill in San Francisco.

This is a man who, as head of the wealthiest and most powerful SPCAs in the nation, claimed on the front page of USA Today, the most widely circulated newspaper in the country, that not killing was the moral equivalent of killing. This is a man who in Austin, Texas, has chosen to attack No Kill and shelter reform advocates and hinder their goals by throwing his organization’s support behind a shelter director who refuses to embrace alternatives to killing and who also kills tens of thousands of animals annually despite hundreds of empty cages at her facility. Sayres is also taking credit for the modest decline in killing this year which is exclusively the result of the work of a private rescue group saving the animals the ASPCA-partner shelter is otherwise determined to kill.

During my tenure with him in San Francisco, Sayres rarely ventured out of his office, almost never walked the kennels or interacted with the animals, and was so detached, that he simply signed off on whatever his staff said, no matter how regressive those he hired were (and there are plenty of regressive people at the ASPCA also). But there is one incident in particular which sheds light on the Oreo case.

When I was working with Sayres in San Francisco, he had signed off on the killing of a dog who I felt deserved further evaluation. He made the decision to kill a dog without seeing the dog, without observing the evaluation, without, I would venture, even being able to pick the dog out of a kennel of other dogs. I objected and suggested that we needed to set the bar higher. I gave him a formal proposal that, before killing an animal, he appoint a guardian ad litem, someone who would represent the dog (or cat) the same way an attorney would defend the accused during a death penalty case. It would not cost him anything, as I was an attorney, I already worked there, and I agreed to represent the animals whenever a behaviorist or veterinarian issued the death warrant. He said, “No.” Ironically, that is the process used in the criminal and civil case against dog slayer Michael Vick. A guardian was appointed by the federal judge overseeing the disposition of the dogs. As a result, the vast majority of Vick’s victims were saved. In other words, when Sayres is given the chance to be fully involved, he chooses not to be, even when it means death for dogs at the shelter he oversees; or when it means a lost opportunity to advance this movement, as would befit someone in his position.

 

The Great Betrayal

In 1866, over 140 years ago, Henry Bergh began the modern humane movement in the United States with the founding of the ASPCA. For the rest of his life, Bergh devoted himself to saving the lives of animals in and around New York City. For over two decades, Bergh spent each and every night, regardless of freezing temperatures, walking the streets of New York City tending to sick animals, fighting for their rights, working to save them, and confronting—and stopping—their abusers.

At the time, New York City had the largest horse-pulled railway in the world. In one poignant incident, one evening in February of 1871 during the evening rush hour, working people rushed for the cars, and the horses began to strain with heavy loads through snow and slush. As one overloaded car reached the corner near where Bergh stood, the driver was ready to give the horses another lash when the call came to “Stop!” and “Unload!” It was Bergh. “Who the hell are you?” came the reply from the driver. “Unload!” called the order again. When the driver refused, Bergh reportedly pitched him into a snow bank and unhitched the horses. Often, Bergh would completely stop traffic on the lines, causing traffic jams that would leave thousands of people stranded and cursing to no avail—because one man had stopped all the traffic to protect a single horse.

As hard as Bergh labored to protect all animals, he worked equally hard to protect dogs, particularly against abuses at the hands of city dogcatchers. Through prosecutions of abusive dogcatchers, lobbying for stronger laws and greater protections, and by striving himself to save them, he reduced deaths for dogs at the hands of the city pound by over 80 percent in just one year alone. Henry Bergh would not have killed Oreo.

Today, Ed Sayres sits in the chair once occupied by Bergh. He does not advance the cause of animal protection. He is not a tireless champion on their behalf. He does not faithfully represent Bergh’s vision, nor does he faithfully represent how most Americans now feel about animals. Instead, when given the opportunity to save the life of an animal, he cowers in his office, refusing to return telephone calls, while collecting a paycheck of half a million dollars a year. On the afternoon of Friday, November 13, Ed Sayres had a personal driver take him home. Oreo’s body was sitting in a freezer, waiting to be delivered to a landfill.

Toward the end of his life, Bergh would often lament, “I hate to think what will become of this [SPCA] when I am gone.” Ed Sayres has answered that question for him. And Sayres’ answer: “an agency that kills savable dogs,” would have hurt Henry very deeply.

When I was growing up, the ASPCA represented very little beyond an annual fundraising calendar with pictures of kittens and puppies and platitudes about the human-animal bond. And while we have all grown up to demand more than calendars and killing, the ASPCA has not. And while that agency claims to be a leading voice for the animals and the people who love them, their actions toward Oreo demonstrate otherwise: The ASPCA doesn’t represent the dog lovers at Pets Alive. It doesn’t represent the values of the American people. It no longer represents the fierce compassion of its founder. And it certainly doesn’t represent dogs like Oreo.

A New National Initiative: The Shelter Pet Project

Have you ever adopted a new pet?  Where did you get your pet from; the pet store, a friend, a breeder, a newspaper ad?  Did you even consider adopting a rescued animal from an animal rescue or shelter?  Probably not, and you’re not alone.

Consumers tend to have the perception that animals who land with rescues or in shelters ‘have something wrong with them’, whether it be medical or behavioral issues.  In fact, however, such is not the case.  In fact, most animals ending up in such a situation are there because of a situation that has occurred in their owners life such as: divorce, a death in the family, bankruptcy, moving to a place that won’t allow pets, etc.  Some of these animals are surrendered to shelters, most are just abandoned to fend for themselves.

According to The Humane Society of the United States, of the 8 million pets that enter animal shelters and rescue groups every year, approximately 3 million of these healthy and treatable pets are euthanized due to a lack of adoption. While there has been steady progress on the issue (the number of animals put down was approximately 24 million in the 1970s), the continued euthanasia of our best friends and family members is a national tragedy. 

The euthanasia of pets by animal shelters and animal control agencies comes at an enormous moral and economic cost. Each year public and private agencies spend hundreds of millions of dollars on animal care.   Increasing the adoption rate from rescues and shelters would diminish labor, feeding, and physical infrastructure costs. 

Adopting a pet is a life-changing and enriching experience. When adopting a pet, people are obtaining companions that give them unconditional love, affection, and attention. Adopting a pet from a shelter not only saves an animal’s life, but is also good for our own well-being as research shows that owning a pet has many positive psychological and physical health benefits. The animals rescued from shelters know you’ve saved their lives, and they typically treat their rescuers with lifelong loyalty and affection. And, adopting from a rescue or shelter makes space so that another animal may be rescued in his/her place.

To help get this message out to the public at-large, the Humane Society of the United States and Maddie’s Fund are joining with the Ad Council on a national multi-media public service campaign.  The goal of this effort is to increase shelter pet adoption by showing people that shelter pets are loving, well-adjusted animals who are homeless through no fault of their own.  HomeFurever is proud to endorse and promote this effort.  Click HERE to learn more about this wonderful initiative, and how you can help increase animal adoptions from rescues and shelters.

Two National Fundraising Contests for Animal Rescues/Shelters

Two national pet-listing websites, Adopt-a-Pet and Petfinder, are sponsoring contests to help animal rescues and shelters across the country raise funds to help animals.  Each of these contests is won by votes from YOU for your favorite animal rescue or shelter.

The America’s Favorite Animal Shelter contest, sponsored by Care2 and Adopt-a-Pet.com, is a chance for animal lovers everywhere to raise awareness of the need to adopt shelter and rescue animals while helping their favorite shelter win a much-needed donation.  Their contest takes place from November 5 thru December 16, 2009.  The winning shelter/rescue gets $10,000, and a random shelter/rescue is selected weekly to win $500.

Click HERE to vote for HomeFur-ever in the Adopt-a-Pet contest .

The second contest, sponsored by Petfinder, is on the Animal Rescue Site.  If you will click on the link below and search for “home fur-ever” (you have to spell it that way) and vote for us, you will help our chances of winning a grant that’s part of $100,000 being awarded! You can vote once a day, but if you use Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera, that means you can vote 4 times a day – once on each browser.

If you would like a reminder to vote daily, the Rescue Site offers a free Daily Reminder email service that you can sign up for which also results in extra food donations to shelters if you are a new registrant on the site.  Sign up by clicking HERE.

Voting for this contest began September 14th and continues thru December 20th.  The following are the prizes that will be awarded:

Prizes will go to the eligible Petfinder.com organization with the highest accumulative votes for the duration of the Challenge as specified in the rules.  

Grand Prize:  One $20,000 grant!

Second Prize:  One $5,000 grant!

Third Prize:  One $3,000 grant!

New! Most Touching Story*:  Two $2,000 grants! (judged by The Animal Rescue Site)

State Winners**:  Fifty-one $1,000 state grants (50 U.S. states and Washington DC)

Canadian Winners*:  Two $1,000 grants will be awarded

International Winner:  One $1,000 grant will be awarded.

Click HERE to vote in the Animal Rescue Site contest. 

We would very much appreciate your votes in both contests (daily if your schedule will allow), and would appreciate you informing all pet lovers you know to visit the site and vote as well; HomeFur-ever and all of our rescued animals can really use your help!

Why Should You Volunteer for an Animal Rescue?

Maybe these statistics will answer the question; are you aware that…

• 6 to 8 million lost and unwanted animals enter animal shelters nationwide annually?
• 3 to 4 million animals are euthanized in shelters every year, well over 250,000 per month?
• the leading cause of death of healthy dogs and cats is euthanasia?
• only 1 in 3 animals have a home that lasts their entire lifetime?
• only 20% of animals currently in homes were adopted from shelters?

If the statistics don’t convince you, how about this?

There are few things more rewarding than seeing a family brimming with excitement over their new pet, especially if it is an animal you have come to know and love, and it seems like the perfect match.

Or this?

There are so many situations where an animal is neglected or abused that you might think that this type of work would be depressing.  In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

When you see a starving, flea infested dog who is trapped in an abandoned building and you know that his life depends on you, the feeling can be overwhelming. But once you’ve rescued that animal, cleaned him up, insured he has medical attention and some food and then placed them in a foster home, you then experience a tremendous feeling of hope. 

Then when you see that dog a few weeks later after he’s been treated with love in that caring foster home and his coat is shiny and his tail is wagging, you are overcome with happiness and satisfaction that you’ve played a role in saving that animal’s life and dramatically improving his circumstances.  Your heart just wants to burst!

If these reasons aren’t enough, we encourage you to visit HomeFur-ever at one of our upcoming adoption events – because we’re certain the faces of the many animals currently in our care will absolutely convince you that volunteering for an animal rescue is one of the most important things you can do with your life!

THANK YOU to Those Who Have Provided Assistance After Our Recent Robbery

To those who have provided assistance after the recent theft of our equipment and supplies:

HomeFur-ever would like to extend our deepest gratitude to those who have provided us with equipment & supply donations, cash donations and offers to volunteer assistance during this time of extreme need. 

While a situation as we recently experienced with the theft of all of our equipment and supplies is never easy to deal with or to overcome (see news release and media coverage if you are unfamiliar with our recent situation), we are VERY proud to say that the assistance we have received from the Detroit community has helped us to continue the care of our animals, and has shown a very positive side of the Detroit metro area.  Additionally, we have received substantial support from outside the Detroit community as a result of our participation on Twitter and Facebook; and we would like our new friends to know how very appreciative we are of their well-wishes, assistance and support.  In times like these the support of your friends – new or old – gives you the strength to do what needs to be done in spite of the obstacles!

Though the gifts we’ve received, large and small, have been too numerous to list here individually, we hope that every group and individual who has offered that assistance to us will accept our sincere thanks on behalf of our group and the animals we care for.

As one might expect, the need continues as we have a long way to go to recover, and to replace what was taken from us and our animals.  However, we are very confident  that our friends and animal-lovers both inside and outside the Detroit community will help us to obtain everything we need to insure that our work helping animals can continue without interuption.

Thank you again one and all for your support of HomeFur-ever Animal Rescue!

HomeFur-ever Animal Rescue Suffers Huge Loss from Robbery; Ability to Help Animals Currently Hindered!

You never think it can happen to you – unfortunately, HomeFur-ever Animal Rescue is proof that it can happen to anyone; even those who dedicate their lives to doing good works!  We were robbed!  Yes, you read that correctly.  HomeFur-ever Animal Rescue was victimized by thieves this week who stole our donated van and trailer and everything contained within.

On the postive side, they abandoned our vehicle and trailer after removing almost every single thing contained inside.  A city-contracted towing company retrieved it, and we were eventually notified by police that we could claim the vehicle.  We are hopeful that vehicle damages sustained in the theft will be covered by insurance – we sure could use that bit of luck!

Unfortunately, luck is not on our side when it comes to the contents of the vehicles.  All we were left with were a few small crates (unfortunately, most of our dogs are large).  So now we’re in a quandry – do we cancel our participation in Saturday’s adoption event because we have nothing with which to transport our animals safely, or do we appeal to the community to assist us short-term and then develop strategies to help us obtain donations to replace all our stolen items (which, by the way, was pretty much everything we own – we don’t have a building; that van and trailer serve as our permanent storage).

We’ve decided to appeal to the community for help and try to re-group as quickly as possible.  Our dogs need us to keep moving forward as quickly as we can!  They need new homes!  But in the meantime, they also need fed, medicated, groomed, etc.  So we’ve all jumped into action and all of our volunteers are making extra efforts to get the word out and help us get back on track.

We’re starting to see some results.  So far, we’ve had TV coverage on two stations in Detroit. Click HERE to view our coverage; we’ll keep adding to it if we obtain more so feel free to check back.   We also posted our News Release on Twitter and Facebook; it’s getting re-tweeted and shared ALOT, so we’re hoping that will start to generate some donation activity. (By the way, if you would like to join us on Twitter and Facebook, our sites are located at:  http://www.twitter.com/homefurever and http://profile.to/homefurever).  Our volunteer marketing firm, Strategic Growth Concepts, will also be placing information about our dilemma on LinkedIN.

We hope you’ll send good thoughts our way as we work to recover from this setback and keep moving forward to help our animals.  If you are motivated to make a contribution, you may do so by clicking HERE.

Help Us Help Animals with Your Vote!

We would appreciate your assistance with votes on the Animal Rescue Site.  Our organization has an opportunity to win some much needed money that will help us help more animals!

If you will click on the link below and search for “home fur-ever” (you have to spell it that way) and vote for us, you will help our chances of winning a grant that’s part of $100,000 being awarded! You can vote once a day, but if you use Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera, that means you can vote 4 times a day – once on each browser.

If you would like a reminder to vote daily, the Rescue Site offers a free Daily Reminder email service that you can sign up for which also results in extra food donations to shelters if you are a new registrant on the site.  Sign up by clicking HERE.

The contest is sponsored by Petfinder.com and voting begins on September 14th and continues thru December 20th.  The following are the prizes that will be awarded:

Prizes will go to the eligible Petfinder.com organization with the highest accumulative votes for the duration of the Challenge as specified in the rules.  

Grand Prize:  One $20,000 grant!

Second Prize:  One $5,000 grant!

Third Prize:  One $3,000 grant!

New! Most Touching Story*:  Two $2,000 grants!

  (judged by The Animal Rescue Site)

State Winners**:  Fifty-one $1,000 state grants

  50 U.S. states and Washington DC)

Canadian Winners*:  Two $1,000 grants will be awarded

International Winner:  One $1,000 grant will be awarded.

We would very much appreciate your votes (daily if your schedule will allow), and would appreciate you informing all pet lovers you know to visit the site and vote as well; HomeFur-ever and all of our rescued animals can really use your help!

Click HERE to vote. 

Dearborn Shelter Gets Legal Custody of Chihuahuas

Tanveer Ali / The Detroit News

Dearborn — All 112 living Chihuahuas found in a bungalow last week where authorities recovered 151 frozen dead dogs now belong to the Dearborn Animal Shelter, paving the way for adoption that could begin as early as next week, city officials said.

City spokeswoman Mary Laundroche said the sister of Kenneth Lang Jr., who lived alone in the home with the dogs on Orchard, signed paperwork ceding ownership of the Chihuahuas to the city. Laundroche said the animal shelter will screen nearly 200 adoption applications received since authorities entered the home July 22.

“The gentleman no longer has any control over any of the dogs,” Laundroche said.

Police are still conducting a criminal investigation that could result in animal cruelty-related charges for Lang. Lang’s lawyer, James Schmier, has said he doesn’t expect charges to be filed against his client because police are aware he suffers from mental illness.

Laundroche also said the sister, who has become Lang’s legal representative, also gave the city the right to dispose of all furniture, trash and electrical equipment that clean-up crews took from the home as they searched for living dogs.

After the home was rendered unlivable, the city is seeking to demolish the home, but the legal process will take time, Laundroche said. The sister also is in talks with demolition crews to take down the house.

In an interview with WJBK-TV (Channel 2) from a Macomb County facility, Lang said he kept the dogs out of love.

“I’m thinking that I may lose the home and maybe lose all my possessions,” Lang said.

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HomeFur-ever Animal Rescue is very pleased that the citizens of the Detroit community have shown such strong support to the Dearborn Animal Shelter and the rescued animals.  Like our organization, the staff and volunteers at the Dearborn facility work very hard every day to help animals in need and we’re certain they are grateful for the support.

We would also like to mention to those who have applied to adopt the rescued animals, if your application is not one of those selected to receive one of the rescued chihuahuas, we would encourage you to contact us at Home Fur-ever as we also have a large number of wonderful animals in need of a loving ‘forever’ home!  We can be reached via comments on this blog or via our email address at homefurever@comcast.net .  We would love to introduce you to the many loving and deserving animals we are currently caring for!

Dearborn Dogs May Go Up for Adoption Soon

Tanveer Ali / The Detroit News

Dearborn — The 112 Chihuahuas recovered from a squalid bungalow may find new homes within weeks after city officials said Monday they all appeared adoptable. 

Spokeswoman Mary Laundroche said the city was sorting out legal details. Hundreds of people visited the Dearborn Animal Shelter over the weekend, hoping to take home one of the dogs.

Legal rights to the dogs remain with the homeowner, Kenneth Lang Jr., 56. His lawyer, James Schmier, said he doesn’t expect the dogs to return to Lang, who has been undergoing evaluation since authorities entered his home Wednesday.

The police investigation is expected to conclude by the end of the week. Authorities also found 150 other dogs frozen in freezers.

Schmier said he didn’t think Lang would be charged because police “are sensitive to Mr. Lang’s mental issues.”

But Linda Shanks, the woman whose call to animal control led to the canine discovery said Lang should not go unpunished.

“I know he’s getting help and I’m glad he’s getting help, but I still think he should be charged for something,” said Shanks, who works in the neighborhood. “I’m not without feeling for Mr. Lang, but what he did was unbelievable.”

The city is continuing to remove materials from the home, searching for animals that may remain. The house may be destined for demolition, officials say.

Police officials say any decision to charge Lang rests with the prosecutor.

“Everybody recognizes (Lang) didn’t abuse the dogs,” Schmier said. “He told me he was just about ready to clean the place. This is not criminal behavior. He was scared to death and overwhelmed.”

Schmier said his client had a limited income and suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder.

“Given the situation that they were in, these dogs are in good condition,” Schmier said. “He would love to have the dogs back even though that doesn’t look possible.”

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HomeFur-ever Animal Rescue is very pleased that the citizens of the Detroit community have shown such strong support to the Dearborn Animal Shelter and the rescued animals.  Like our organization, the staff and volunteers at the Dearborn facility work very hard every day to help animals in need and we’re certain they are grateful for the support.

We would also like to mention to those who have applied to adopt the rescued animals, if your application is not one of those selected to receive one of the rescued chihuahuas, we would encourage you to contact us at Home Fur-ever as we also have a large number of wonderful animals in need of a loving ‘forever’ home!  We can be reached via comments on this blog or via our email address at homefurever@comcast.net .  We would love to introduce you to the many loving and deserving animals we are currently caring for!