![]() News is breaking that the United States Department of Agriculture is using hundreds of healthy kittens for scientific research and then simply killing the kittens once the experiment is done. According to White Coat Waste Project, a non-partisan watchdog group, the USDA facility in Beltsville, Maryland uses up to 100 kittens a year to study toxoplasma gondii by intentionally feeding the cats meat infected with the parasite. The researchers then collect the parasite from the cats’ feces and after 2-3 weeks of collection, kill and incinerate the kittens. These experiments have been occurring for decades, undoubtedly resulting in the death of many helpless kittens. Science has evolved beyond these outdated research models and many researchers are now calling for an end to animal testing altogether. The European Union has made strides to end animal testing and has banned all cosmetic testing on animals. The European Commission, an institution that proposes and implements legislation in the EU, supports the ultimate goal of phasing out all animal testing and replacing it with scientifically valid alternatives[i]. Support for non-animal models seems to be on the rise, likely because non-animal models are more accurate, less time-consuming and more humane. Alternatives to animal testing include computer models, cell and tissue cultures and humans who already have the disease or ailment. Pharmaceutical drugs tested on animals have over a 90% failure rate on humans. This has lead the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to spend millions on developing a non-animal alternative to drug testing[ii]. This model, “human-on-a-chip”, is a miniaturized version of human organs such as livers, lungs and intestines. Many have hailed scientific advancements such as this because these studies will better translate to humans, rather than animals who have many biological differences to people[iii][iv]. Regarding the kitten study on toxoplasma gondii, non-animal models already exist. According to a review in Trends in Parasitology entitled “Toxoplasma gondii: One Organism, Multiple Models”, using test tube samples of toxoplasma gondii is an effective method of studying and experimenting on the parasite[v]. There is no need to force kittens to suffer, especially when humane alternatives exist. Michigan representative Michael D. Bishop has also shown concerns over these harmful and archaic experiments in a stern letter to Secretary Perdue, stating, “As you can imagine, I was shocked to hear that the USDA, the very organization set out to enforce animal welfare laws and regulations, was treating the life of animals with such contempt (…) it appears that this project uses kittens as test tubes. Put simply, it creates life to destroy life.” Alley Cat Rescue is committed to helping all cats. This is why we started a petition to demand that the USDA end these kitten experiments. You can sign our petition here. [i] Cronin, M. European Commission. (2017). Non-Animal Approaches: The Way Forward. [ii] Frequently Asked Questions About Animal Testing (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pcrm.org/research/animaltestalt/tailtox/frequently-asked-questions-about-animal-testing [iii] Woods, B. (August 15, 2017). It sounds futuristic, but it’s not sci-fi: Human organs-on-a-chip. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/14/fda-tests-groundbreaking-human-organs-on-a-chip.html [iv] Knight, A. (2008). Non-Animal Methodologies within Biomedical Research and Toxicity Testing. Alternatives to Animal Experimentation, 25, 213-231. [v] Szabo, E.K. & Finney, C.A.M. (2017). Toxoplasma gondii: One Organism, Multiple Models. Trends in Parasitology, 33(2), 113-127.
3 Comments
![]() This month is all about kittens at Alley Cat Rescue! Kitten season has arrived and Alley Cat Rescue is hearing from many passionate supporters asking how they can help. There are many ways you can get involved to help kittens, whether it is hands-on or through the comfort of your home. Alley Cat Rescue has been hard at work for kitten season and has launched a campaign as part of the Saving Pets Challenge to raise funds to help cats in Los Angeles. We are beginning week 2 of our challenge and are already almost 30% to our $5,000 goal. We would love to win this week’s challenge where $5,000 goes to the group that raised the most donations from 5/8-5/15. You can get involved helping cats by joining our team as a fundraiser or by donating directly to the campaign. Check it all out here! You can also get involved by signing our petition to end the harmful and unnecessary experiments the USDA is conducting on kittens. The USDA is killing up to 100 kittens a year during research on Toxoplasma gondii. The kittens are purposefully exposed to the parasite and killed at the end of the experiment. These tests are simply barbaric and cruel. Further, more humane, non-animal models exist for studying toxoplasma gondii. Sign our petition here and share with friends and family to spread the word. If you are more of a hands-on person, now is a great time to get out in the field and trap-neuter-return cats. During kitten season, local shelters see an influx of kittens brought to them. Unfortunately, these shelters do not always have the resources to care for kittens and may euthanize many healthy kittens. TNR stops the breeding cycle and prevents kittens from being born to an unknown fate on the street. Watch our how-to video to begin TNRing cats yourself: Thank you for all you do for kittens! Together we can make a huge difference in the lives of many animals.
![]() In 2015, Kristen Lindsey made national headlines after she killed a cat who had wandered onto her property with a bow and arrow and then posted on social media bragging about it. Lindsey posted a photo on Facebook of her smiling and holding the cat on the end of her bow and said, “My first bow kill lol. The only good feral tomcat is one with an arrow through its [sic] head! Vet of the year award…gladly accepted.” Lindsey tried to excuse her cruel behavior by claiming she thought the cat she killed was a feral cat. The cat is actually believed to be her neighbor’s companion animal named Tiger. Regardless of whether the cat was owned or feral, Lindsey’s actions are inexcusable- especially as a veterinarian who is supposed to save animals. Feline expert and Texas veterinarian Dr. William Folger even testified that Tiger appeared to still be alive after he was shot in the head and was used for the photo . Thankfully the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners’ also became concerned with her actions and revoked her veterinary license. The Board revoked her license for five years, disallowing her from practicing for the first year. After that, she could practice under supervision and would need to complete continuing education in animal welfare classes. This punishment was a good start but not enough for a person who has proven that they do not have the compassion or judgement needed to properly care for animals. After a long legal battle and multiple appeals from Lindsey, the Texas Third Court of Appeals ruled against her in two separate appeal cases last week stating that they disagree with Lindsey’s challenges to the Board’s authority to seek disciplinary action and her challenges to findings in the case. Lindsey’s veterinary license will stay revoked. Alley Cat Rescue is happy that Tiger is receiving the justice he deserves. This poor cat had to die in a barbaric and painful manner just for a few social media likes. We hope this case illustrates just how cruel eradication methods against feral cats can be, especially when people decide to take actions into their own hands. We at Alley Cat Rescue have been ramping up our trap-neuter-return (TNR) work in Los Angeles. Currently, TNR groups are overwhelmed with the large number of cats in need of help and the lack of support from city government. We have been in the field TNRing and seen the shortage of resources first hand. This fieldwork brought us to the Baby Panther kittens.
These tiny black kittens were found while an ACR volunteer was TNRing a local colony. The kittens were malnourished and had severe URI infections. One of the kittens had such a severe infection that he couldn’t even open his eyes. Our experienced volunteer searched the area but could not find their mother. She knew she had to act fast to save the kittens and decided to take them into her care. The Baby Panthers proved to be a full-time job! They required warm compresses, antibiotic treatments and daily eye ointment and eye drops, on top of the normal around-the-clock supplemental feedings kittens receive. Our volunteer got some unexpected help when another feral mama cat she was fostering began to show interest in the kittens. The mama cat was introduced to the kittens and immediately accepted them as her own. The mama cat even let them nurse while she cared for her own litter of kittens as well. Although the mama cat is not socialized to people, she is very gentle and maternal towards the kittens and diligently watches over them. After three weeks of diligent treatment, the kittens’ eyes are healed. Unfortunately, many kittens born on the streets suffer with similar conditions as the Baby Panthers, but never receive the care they need. This is why TNR is so important. Trappers are able to reduce cat overpopulation through sterilization and identify at-risk kittens in need of help. Now the Baby Panther kittens are almost ready for adoption and a lifetime of love. We want to increase our impact on the cats in Los Angeles this year, and we need your help to do it. This week we launched our campaign to raise funds to sterilize feral cats in LA as part of the Saving Pets Challenge. At the end of the month-long challenge, the non-profit with the most dollars raised wins a bonus prize of $50,000! You can support our work to help the estimated 1-3 million feral cats in LA by joining our campaign as a fundraiser or by making a donation to the campaign here: https://www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/alley-cat-rescue1 Thank you for your generous support, and together we will continue to make a life-saving difference for the free-roaming cats of LA. ![]() Years ago, declawing a cat may have been considered a routine veterinary procedure but advocacy groups, such as Alley Cat Rescue, have been fighting against this perception and for stronger laws against the practice. Slowly, the tides have been changing as more pet owners learn about the negative welfare implications. Legislative changes against this harmful practice have been even slower but California may become the first state to ban the practice. SB 1441, introduced by Senator Henry Stern and co-authored by Senator Scott Wilk, would prohibit non-therapeutic declawing in cats. This bill would not prohibit the rare times declawing is recommended for medical reasons. First-time offenders would be punished with a fine of up to $250 and second and subsequent violations would be a misdemeanor. While 20 countries and the UK currently ban declawing, it is not banned federally or at the state level in the United States. Cities such as Hollywood, California, Santa Monica, California and Norfolk, Virginia have bans on declawing in place. California and Rhode Island have passed laws that ban landlords from requiring tenants to have their animals declawed or devocalized. ACR hopes SB 1441 will be the first state law against declawing. The declawing procedure is simply amputation: amputation that can lead to lifelong injuries and behavioral issues. The declawing procedure involves removing the first joint of the cat’s toe, equivalent to amputating the first knuckle off a person’s fingers. Cats can suffer from symptoms such as pain in their feet, arthritis and difficulty moving around. Owners may declaw their cats to prevent the cat from scratching but declawing can actually cause more “problem” behaviors. Declawed cats are more likely to go outside of the litter box because the litter can be too painful for their paws and are more likely to bite because they cannot use their claws for protection. Further, scratching is a natural cat behavior that can help them exercise and tone their muscles (click here for more reasons why you should not declaw your cat). Proponents of declawing will claim that the practice keeps cats in homes. US cities that have banned declawing have actually seen a decline in the number of relinquished cats since the ban was enacted. Declawing can bring about problems such as litter-box issues and pain-induced aggression which may make an owner even more likely to relinquish their cat. We thank Senator Henry Stern for being an advocate for animals and introducing this bill. Let’s make California the first state to ban this cruel and outdated practice! If you live in California, please reach out to your representatives and ask them to support a ban on declawing cats. Even if you do not live in California, you can help get this bill passed by signing this petition: https://www.change.org/p/henry-stern-we-support-anti-declaw-legislation-in-california If you live in New York, New Jersey and Hawaii your state is also considering a bill to ban declawing so get on the phone and tell your representatives you support a statewide ban on declawing. ![]() A Maryland bill that would allow judges to prohibit animal abusers from owning animals is going to Governor Larry Hogan’s desk for signature. An Act Concerning Animal Cruelty- Sentencing Conditions (HB 212/SB 1038) passed the Maryland General Assembly and now just has to be signed by Governor Hogan before it becomes law. This bill allows judges to prohibit a defendant convicted of aggravated animal cruelty from “owning, possessing, or residing with an animal for a specified period of time.” Aggravated animal cruelty includes crimes such as intentionally mutilating, torturing and cruelly beating an animal. These offenders have proven that they cannot humanely interact with animals. Although some animal abusers may be able to rehabilitated, aggravated abusers display a violent personality that can escalate over time. This bill will protect innocent animals from ending up in the hands of these dangerous offenders. So far 26 states and the District of Columbia have laws mandating or allowing judges to ban animal abusers from owning animals. Help Maryland become the next state that passes this law! Contact Governor Hogan here and urge him to sign HB 212/SB 1038 into law. If you do not live in Maryland or would also like to help out animals at the federal level, check out our list of federal bills that will help cats here. ![]() The Western Governors’ Association (WGA) recently released a list of the “Top 50 Invasive Species in the West”. Somehow feral cats were ranked 13th out of the top 25 terrestrial invasive species in the West. WGA specifies that all feral cats, including cats who have been trap-neuter-returned, are included on the list. WGA has been supportive of lethal eradication plans for invasive species and says, “Programs for the control and/or eradication of invasive species must result in more on-the-ground prevention, management and eradication.” Eradication programs continually fail to manage cat overpopulation and inhumanely kill one of our country’s most beloved animals. A study by Faunalytics in 2015 found that 68% of people support TNR for managing community cats while only 24% support eradication. Why is the WGA ignoring the will of the people and scientific studies showing the effectiveness of TNR? ACR has seen firsthand the positive effect TNR can have. Last year, our TNR program and spay/neuter clinic helped reduce cat intake at the Prince George’s County Animal Shelter by 18% and euthanasia rates by 38% in our targeted area. Sign our petition to tell WGA that cats are not an invasive species today: https://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/841/456/513/ If you live in one of these states, click to contact your governor and tell them cats are not an invasive species: ![]() Last week, California State Senator Scott Wilk (R-Antelope Valley) announced the introduction of the Animal Welfare and Violence Intervention Act of 2018 (SB 1024) to address the clear link between animal cruelty and violence against people. This bill aims to end the cycle of violence by mandating all offenders of severe crimes undergo mental health assessments and ongoing counseling, if it is deemed beneficial. It will also require offenders of specified crimes to complete an animal abuse education course. The bill will increase the fines for crimes against animals, helping to offset the costs. SB 1024 will address the root causes of animal cruelty and prevent re-offense, protecting countless animals and people. Animal abuse is an indicator of a violent personality. A 10-year study of at-risk youth found that children who were cruel to animals were more than twice as likely to be referred to authorities for violent offenses. By proactively treating animal abusers we can break the cycle of violence and prevent abusers from escalating in violence. It is incredibly important for our laws to work to end the cycle of violence. SB 1024 will do just this by focusing on treating and rehabilitating animal abusers. Many of these animal abusers are young adults who have grown up in violent households. While animal abusers should be punished, our criminal justice system should also address psychological factors so we can truly prevent animal abusers from re-offending. Alley Cat Rescue saw the cost of animal cruelty firsthand earlier this year when we rescued Hardy, an innocent kitten who had been tortured and mutilated over a course of weeks. Thankfully Hardy survived, but many animals die at the hands of animal abusers. Call your state representative and ask them to co-sponsor and vote for SB 1024. If you do not live in California, call your state representatives and tell them animal cruelty is an important issue you care about. Download our form email here Currie, C. L. (2006). Animal cruelty by children exposed to domestic violence. Child Abuse & Neglect, 30(4), 425–435. Becker, K.D., Herrera, V.M., McCloskey, L.A. & Stuewig, J. (2004). A Study of Firesetting and Animal Cruelty in Children: Family Influences and Adolescent Outcomes, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 43(7). ![]() Last week, Alley Cat Rescue received a call from an owner of a local construction company. Both she and her staff had been caring for a colony of cats, but they’d begun to worry about the cats reproducing. What began as just a few cats slowly moving onto the construction site had now become a whole established colony. The employees had fallen in love with the cats and built them multiple shelters. One of the cat houses even has multiple levels and might be nicer than some DC apartments! These workers spend their lunch breaks with the colony, and the cats love to get a bit of shared food. With kitten season fast approaching, the owner knew she had to act. There were multiple females in the colony who were at risk of having kittens. The owner loved the cats but had never done Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) before, so we decided to head over to the site and do a little teaching so that she and her employees would be trained and empowered to sterilize any new cats that entered the colony. When we arrived at the site, the cats immediately appeared. Although they stayed at a distance, they were used to people being present and didn’t run away from us, even as we set the traps. The construction company’s office cat, Sam, happily followed us around and watched us set up. Sam too would be coming with us to get sterilized, but all we had to do was pick him up and put in him a carrier! Two minutes after we set the first trap, we had already trapped a cat. The owner did a great job at preparing for the rescue and had stopped feeding the cats 12 hours before we arrived. These kitties were hungry and definitely wanted some of the wet food in the traps. An hour later, we had caught all but two cats. These last two cats were masterful at avoiding being trapped. The orange male even ducked his head into the trap and quickly grabbed some wet food before scurrying off! We decided to add more food into the traps, this time a very fragrant salmon wet food and wait out of sight for an hour. Sometimes the commotion of having people around can put the cats on edge, making them less likely to go into the trap. At the end of the day, we finally had all the cats trapped and they were off to our spay/neuter clinic! When we later returned the cats to the construction yard they were happy to be home. Sam, the working cat, was so happy to be back that he leapt from our arms before stopping in his tracks and coming back for more belly rubs. The owner and construction workers are excited to have their colony back! They’re relieved to know there won’t be any new kittens born outside in their colony and are now actively monitoring the colony for any new members in need of TNR. ![]() Alley Cat Rescue had a busy 2017! We hit the ground running and sterilized 1,433 cats last year alone. We were able to accomplish such a feat by continuing to offer our Cheap Fix clinic to the local community, while also training animal control officers in Roanoke, Virginia how to implement trap-neuter-return (TNR) and by performing TNR ourselves. The number of cats we sterilize per year has grown dramatically. From 895 cats in 2010, to over 1,400 cats this passed year … that’s a 60% increase! Moving forward our goal is to sterilize over 1,500 cats in 2018. ACR also works to promote sterilization through our May Spay Challenge, where participating veterinarians have already sterilized 35,000 cats across the globe. Why is promoting sterilization and TNR so important? Because they’re the most effective and humane methods of reducing cat overpopulation. Providing spay/neuter and TNR services stop the reproduction cycle in its tracks. When cats are left to breed, this results in high rates of euthanasia of healthy animals at shelters across the country, simply because shelters cannot care for the high number of cats and kittens being born each year. Currently, the ASPCA estimates that 860,000 cats are euthanized every year. It’s true that the number of cats euthanized per year has been decreasing, however, we still have a lot of work to do. No healthy cat should be euthanized simply for lack of resources or homes. Promoting sterilization and TNR is a large component of ACR’s mission of protecting all cats. You, too, can get involved in spay/neuter and help save cats’ lives! Watch ACR’s step by step guide on TNR and get out in the field yourself. Together we can assist cats and our communities. If there are no feral cats in your neighborhood, please consider donating to ACR so we can continue to help cats. |
Details
AuthorAlley Cat Rescue is leading in the way in promoting humane and compassionate care for ALL cats. Archives
June 2024
Categories
All
|