Indian wildlife rangers to be paid reward for every poacher they shoot

[jeneticallymodified]

Actually they are, unless a whole lot more people step up and adopt the ones currently in shelters/pounds, plus everyone antes up to spay/neuter. And the trend in the U.S. is in the opposite direction - over two million fewer households include companion animals, for a net loss of homes for over ten million cats and dogs. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...120822_1_pet-insurance-pet-ownership-pet-dogs

not everybody lives in the US.

in many parts of the usa, and other places, people are stepping up.

in the city of toronto (near me) it's now illegal to sell cats and dogs in pet stores. this nukes a substantial amount of puppy mill trade locally. all pet stores who want to have cats and dogs available for customers now have to work with rescue agencies to facilitate this, and have companion animals temporarily placed in store- available for adoption. this has caused a cascade reaction- national chains who previously worked with puppymills are now working with rescues, way outside of the city limits.

the charity i volunteer for is strictly no kill, and 100% volunteer. we don't have a shelter, let alone a warehouse. we also don't have government funding, or take home paychecks- including the executive. we have a huge network of foster homes, and work with partner stores and friendly businesses who feature cats short term in sort of kitty hotel suites, and/or for promotional adoption events throughout the year.

we actively remove felines from high kill institutions, as well as working with hoarders, caregivers who screwed up on the spay front and suddenly find themselves covered in kittens, we work with individuals who have found or rescued a homeless feline, and with people who for whatever reason want or need to rehome a cat.

our adopters have to go through a screening process. our agreement includes the legal right to enter their home and take back a cat, should they break our contract (screw up). we've done it.

we also work with feral colonies, supporting trap, neuter, release, monitor work (this includes providing ongoing healthcare for resident ferals, winterised shelters, daily feeding, etc), plus we help to promote and educate about the need for spay neuter and responsible caregiving in the community.

we do a lot of work towards real change. i see things turned around for cats every day.

 

[mlp]

Well, I do live in the U.S., and so I specifically addressed the situation here, with which I am all too familiar and which is terrible, and not getting better, despite the efforts of many groups of volunteers who foster in their homes, others who do TNR, etc. In most places in the U.S., it does come down to long term warehousing, a quick and relatively merciful death, or leaving/putting them out into the street. And that's not even addressing the feral situation.

Why do I have the ungodly number of cats I do? Because the no kill shelters around here have been full for years, and the kill shelters kill on a weekly basis to make room for more. As it is, I have brought in only the most vulnerable, and those who I have left as outdoor cats have yet to survive a year - everyone puts out poison, makes a sport of hitting them with cars, etc.

It's great that Canada and other places are doing so much better, but the reality here is grim, and getting grimmer with the economy being what it is. And I'm glad that Canadian law allows you to enter private property to remove an animal you've adopted out. Good luck trying that in the U.S. - you'd have to file a lawsuit to enforce the contract, and then after you spent well in the five figures taking the case to trial, a judge might or might not force the adopters surrender the cat to you. But they certainly don't have to open the door to you without a court order and a law enforcement officer to back it up.

A few years ago, after decades of trying, Missouri (a notorious puppy mill state) finally enacted, by referendum, a law specifying minimum cage size and some other requirements for puppy mills. Within months, the legislature enacted a law overturning the public referendum and abolishing the requirements. So, please, tell me how things are turning around for cats and dogs every day here.

 

[Ansciess]

jen, when most Canadians and Europeans hear about people in the US unable to get basic healthcare, there's kind of a disconnect because they've grown up in a system where basic healthcare was always available to them. Sure, there's another way to do it here - we could do it like you do it there - but there's not enough will to change things, and a lot of powerful interests fighting it. Same with the animal issue, I guess. Sure, there's theoretically another way to do it than killing or warehousing, but at this point in time, in most places in the US, there's not the public will to change things. So at this moment the choice for millions of animals sitting in shelters is to kill or warehouse. Americans in particular are extremely private property oriented, no one's going to tell them what to do or how to treat their property, and unfortunately animals are property.

 

[jeneticallymodified]

i don't think it's the animals choice at all.

 

[mlp]

i don't think it's the animals choice at all.

Well, not much is, for those animals who were bred by and/or live with humans. For example, I don't think that spaying/neutering was your cats' choice either.