Granting animals “legal personhood” is one way the law could recognize animals as living beings with interests, or rights, of their own.  You can learn more about this issue and concept on the Animal Legal Defense Funds website here.

It has come to light that the City of Austin is no longer allowing Austin Pets Alive! (APA) to pull animals into their facility at the Town Lake Animal Center (TLAC) and only allowing APA to take dogs if they are going into foster.  Many supporters of APA are up in arms as they fear this new policy will endanger the no-kill status of Austin and kill animals that do not need to die.

While I’m really concerned about the welfare of the animals in Austin as well, I can see where the city is coming from on this decision (and see why the pressure is there to stop sending animals to TLAC).  As an outsider now, I have seen four news stories in the last six weeks that covered facilities issues at TLAC: the facility failed inspection, heat didn’t work during a cold spell, it floods when it rains, and fires in the laundry area. Four incidents showing TLAC as an unsafe facility in that short amount of time is incredibly concerning.  Hopefully APA can get some capital money to improve TLAC and have it pass inspection/avoid the news catching these stories of facility issues and get the city on back on board with TLAC being a safe place to house animals.

Until then, PLEASE consider adopting from the Austin Animal Center, fostering for Austin Pets Alive!, and spreading the word for adoption/fostering to everyone you know in Central Texas so we can keep these animals safe and get them in loving homes.

Also, please remember that most human food is dangerous for animals so just go ahead and skip sharing your meal with your fur friends.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Yep, Michael Vick has launched a clothing line “V7”.  The fact that this man still is employed with the NFL and receives star treatment on a regular basis is disgusting enough, but now he wants to capitalize on this and have a clothing line.  So kids all over this great nation can not only idolize this football “star” but now they can also look like him, too!  And maybe, just maybe, one day they can be as cool as him and murder dozens of dogs in horrific ways.  Yeah…

Please join me in boycotting this man and his clothing line.  Never forget what this man did – and what he is capable of.

“The details that got to me then and stay with me today involve the swimming pool that was used to kill some of the dogs. Jumper cables were clipped onto the ears of underperforming dogs, then, just like with a car, the cables were connected to the terminals of car batteries before lifting and tossing the shamed dogs into the water. Most of Vick’s dogs were small – 40lbs or so – so tossing them in would’ve been fast and easy work for thick athlete arms. We don’t know how many suffered this premeditated murder, but the damage to the pool walls tells a story. It seems that while they were scrambling to escape, they scratched and clawed at the pool liner and bit at the dented aluminum sides like a hungry dog on a tin can.

I wear some pretty thick skin during our work with dogs, but I can’t shake my minds-eye image of a little black dog splashing frantically in bloody water … screaming in pain and terror … brown eyes saucer wide and tiny black white-toed feet clawing at anything, desperate to get a hold. This death did not come quickly. The rescuer in me keeps trying to think of a way to go back in time and somehow stop this torture and pull the little dog to safety. I think I’ll be looking for ways to pull that dog out for the rest of my life.”

Happy to announce my newest addition, Calliope!  She is a five month old kitten from the Fort Collins Cat Rescue and was adopted from the FELV+ room.  Welcome to the Clan, Calliope!

As a fundraising professional, I take my hat off to the genius minds behind this marketing campaign.  This is an amazing example to all the nonprofits out there of how to go viral and get the word out about your mission to the world.  I myself was finally challenged by my cousin, David Loper, late last week.  I figured it was only a matter of time the challenge made its way to me since this campaign has become more popular than kitten videos.  A lot of time was spent pondering which I should do:  the ice or the donation, and I finally came to my conclusion this morning.  I will be doing neither.

ALS is a terrifying disease, and I wish the Foundation all the luck in the world in finding a cure.  But I am conflicted with the waste of natural resources while so many parts of the world are experiencing severe droughts and also cannot bring myself to give money to an organization that continually tortures and murders animals with no result.  Instead, I will personally give the $100 to a charity close to my heart and invite everyone to do the same.  Happy investing in your community!

Pam Anderson’s response (which I whole-heartedly agree with):

Sorry –
I can’t bring myself to do your Ice bucket challenge.
I enjoy a good dare- It’s always good to bring awareness – in fun, creative ways

I don’t want to take away from that.
but it had me thinking. Digging a bit deeper. I found that we may not be aligned – in our messages. So…
– I thought Instead I’d challenge ALS to stop Animal testing

Recent experiments funded by the ALS Association, mice had holes drilled into their skulls, were inflicted with crippling illnesses, and were forced to run on an inclined treadmill until they collapsed from exhaustion. Monkeys had chemicals injected into their brains and backs and were later killed and dissected.
What is the result of these experiments (other than a lot of suffering)? In the past decade, only about a dozen experimental ALS treatments have moved on to human trials after being shown to alleviate the disease in animals. All but one of these treatments failed in humans—and the one that “passed” offers only marginal benefits to humans who suffer from ALS. This massive failure rate is typical for animal experiments, because even though animals feel pain and suffer like we do, their bodies often react completely differently to drugs and diseases. According to the FDA, 92 out of every 100 drugs that pass animal trials fail during the human clinical trial phase.

Happy Anniversary to the two most important people in my life – congratulations on not only not killing each other over the last 38 years, but also loving and supporting each other as well.  Love you!

(a portion of his letter to a high school class in 2006)

… Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.

Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives. Draw a funny or nice picture of Ms. Lockwood, and give it to her. Dance home after school, and sing in the shower and on and on. Make a face in your mashed potatoes. Pretend you’re Count Dracula.

Here’s an assignment for tonight, and I hope Ms. Lockwood will flunk you if you don’t do it: Write a six line poem, about anything, but rhymed. No fair tennis without a net. Make it as good as you possibly can. But don’t tell anybody what you’re doing. Don’t show it or recite it to anybody, not even your girlfriend or parents or whatever, or Ms. Lockwood. OK?

Tear it up into teeny-weeny pieces, and discard them into widely separated trash recepticals [sic]. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned a lot more about what’s inside you, and you have made your soul grow.

As many of you have heard, I am moving to Fort Collins, CO  in a few weeks to work at the Boys & Girls Clubs there BUT I am also working for the AMAZING New Mexico Pets Alive! team (they are copying the format of our Austin Pets Alive! and are trying to make New Mexico no-kill, a truly noble cause!)… if you were at all ever thinking “oh, getting Jenna a nice going-away gift would be a great idea” I humbly request that you make a donation in my name to New Mexico Pets Alive.  😀

You can make a direct donation here or you can get a tile in their dog training center (also makes a GREAT gift for the recent grad, father’s day or the newly wed couple).  You can also donate via paypal to mail@newmexicopetsalive.org.

Even if you cannot donate, but are willing to share the links to animal lovers you know, I would be forever grateful.

Thank you and wish me luck with the move!

Kitten season is almost upon us, so I wanted to quick touch base on what to do if you find a litter of kittens outside somewhere:

When you find a litter of kittens with no mother cat in sight, do not assume the litter has been abandoned.  The mother frequently leaves her litter in order to find food and water, and can be gone for hours at a time.  This is normal behavior for all animals.

Collecting kittens and taking them to the shelter is never the best solution.  Most shelters in the US will kill those kittens instantly because they do not have the setup to handle neonatal kittens.  Plus, very young kittens must be with their mothers during their first few weeks of life in order to survive.

Please leave litters where they are.  Mom will be back soon!  And if you are really worried, check back in a few hours – most likely mom will either be back by then or the litter will have been moved.

Happy Spring aka Kitten Season!