Animal Sheltering magazine May/June 2014: Table of Contents

The HSUS’s visionary founders knew not to duplicate the work of the local animal shelters, but to complement and augment their work by professionalizing the field and taking on problems beyond their reach. In our early years, this included promoting and embedding in our culture the notions of sterilization and adoption, cracking down on animal dealers, and eliminating particularly inhumane methods of euthanasia.

Vaccines have long been a mainstay of routine preventive health care for both people and animals. Their use has controlled and prevented widespread epidemics of numerous infectious diseases that otherwise would claim many human and animal lives each year. In the past few years, however, the safety of vaccination has been called into question. Vaccines have been blamed for the development of many chronic diseases, including cancer. Such claims have led medical professionals to study not only the potential benefits of vaccination, but also the possible risks.

As part of her work helping prosecuting attorneys navigate animal cruelty laws, Sherry Ramsey has created an online network for prosecutors nationwide to share lessons learned.

All too often, rescue groups find themselves scrounging for funds for an animal in need of significant vet care, struggling to find enough volunteers to maintain all their programs, or puzzling through setting the organization’s policy on taking in owner-surrendered pets. They daydream, “If only we had a committee to deal with these broad policy issues and long-term fundraising goals, our staff and volunteers could focus on the day-to-day issues.”

Every year, on the fifth of July, animal control officers get a huge volume of calls about pets who, frightened by the noise of the parades and fireworks, escape from their families or dig out of their yards in a desperate attempt to flee. Download this Mouthpiece to help encourage your community to keep their pets safely indoors during the fourth of July weekend.

On a blustery February day in 2013, our humane officers Tim Harland and Shannon O’Herron responded to an emergency call about a neglected puppy. They arrived to find a 7-week-old cane corso-pit mix puppy with a severe eye condition who weighed less than 10 pounds. His owners were unable to afford care and asked us to rescue him so he could receive needed medical treatment and proper food and shelter.