tagged w/ Humane Society of the United States
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Los Angeles Times...
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Los Padres sanctuary goes to the rescue of wolf dogs
29 animals are seized from an Anchorage attraction accused of possessing them illegally. 'It was heartbreaking to see,' one of the rescuers said.
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PHOTO:
Matthew Simmons is greeted by one of the 29 wolf dogs rescued from a roadside attraction near Anchorage and brought to the Lockwood Valley Animal Rescue Center in the Los Padres National Forest. "Overall, they honestly seem to understand that this is a better environment than where they came from," said Simmons.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times / December 22, 2011)
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By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times
December 27, 2011
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Chained to posts on a half-acre lot, the 29 wolf dogs languished for years behind stockade fencing at a roadside attraction near Anchorage.
The wolf hybrids were unable to touch one another except when they were bred through chain-link fences. Several had sore backs and legs because they had never been able to move more than a few yards at a time.
The animals were seized by Alaskan authorities as evidence in an ongoing criminal investigation and scheduled for destruction before the Lockwood Valley Animal Rescue Center intervened. The center had the wolf dogs spayed and neutered, then transported by plane and truck to its sanctuary in the Los Padres National Forest, about 90 miles north of Los Angeles.
They arrived at the 20-acre sanctuary Dec. 12 and will live the rest of their lives unchained, in sprawling enclosures and networks of wire holding pens.
Striding toward a pen shaded by scrub oaks and pine trees, Lori Lindner, co-founder and president of the nonprofit sanctuary, introduced visitors on Thursday to members of her new "packs": a black female with dark honey-colored eyes featured in Sean Penn's 2007 film, "Into the Wild," and a large male that fathered seven of the rescued wolf dogs.
Lindner, 46, recalled with a sigh arriving at the Wolf Country USA attraction in Anchorage earlier in the month to begin preparing the animals for the long trip to California.
"It was heartbreaking to see so many of these animals on chains," she said. "Wolf dogs are products of human vanity and machismo."
The trouble is that crossing wolves, which have been bred by nature for millions of years to be wild, with dogs, which have been genetically manipulated for thousands of years to serve humans, creates a conflict of innate behaviors. As a result, they are often chained up or given away, turned loose or killed, or they escape and are shot or poisoned.
In a 2½-acre enclosure dubbed "wolf mansion," Lindner's husband, Matthew Simmons, called out to six juvenile wolf dogs that were adjusting to a measure of freedom.
"No more pain," said Simmons, 38. "They're getting along amazing well, although there have been a few tussles in which one girl pushed another girl around. But overall, they honestly seem to understand that this is a better environment than where they came from."
The Humane Society of the United States has taken a hard stand against wolf dogs as unpredictable, destructive and rarely trainable. At least 16 states ban them, and California and 20 other states have restrictions on ownership. Alaska prohibits ownership of wolves or wolf dogs unless they are spayed or neutered, fitted with microchips and registered with state authorities.
Lindner and Simmons were alerted by sanctuary accreditation officials that Wolf Country USA was under investigation, accused of illegal possession of wolf dogs. The zoo-like attraction boasted "the largest wolf pack in Alaska" and charged $5 to walk along a path close enough to the animals to take snapshots and, in certain cases, pet one.
"We flew to Alaska and met with the assistant attorney general," Simmons said. "He told us that the state had no place to keep them, and if we didn't take them he was going to dispatch state troopers to shoot them and toss them into a freezer until the court battle with Wolf Country USA was resolved."
In a telephone interview, Werner Shuster, owner of Wolf Country USA, denied that the wolf dogs had been mistreated or that he had broken the law.
"We raised them since they were pups, each one had 12 to 15 feet of space and they were the healthiest animals on the planet," said Shuster, 82. "They do better on chains. That way they don't fight, and people can pet them."
Money to take the wolf dogs to the sanctuary came from a $5,000 donation from the Humane Society and a "very, very large donation" from Bob Barker, who hosted the TV game show "The Price is Right" for 35 years, Simmons said.
Because of their histories, size, strength and often unstable temperaments, the wolf dogs need lots of care. The nonprofit International Fund for Animal Welfare donated $43,000 to construct nine new enclosures with 10-foot-high fencing.
The sanctuary needs $3,000 a month for maintenance and about $350 a day for raw meat, day-old products bought from local grocery stores at a discount. It is also negotiating the purchase of a nearby 180-acre property that would be devoted to dozens more rescued wolf dogs and wolves. "We need $250,000 for a down payment on the property," Simmons said.
To help reduce the costs of the operation, which already housed 20 rescued wolf dogs, the sanctuary launched Warriors and Wolves, a program designed to pair wolf dogs with combat veterans volunteering there to try to overcome physical injuries and lingering anxieties.
Stanley McDonald, 48, who was diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder after he returned from the Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm, is among veterans who have become full-time volunteer ranch hands at the sanctuary.
Stepping through the gate of an enclosure where three wolf dogs paced warily, McDonald said, "I see a lot of myself in these animals. Like them, I was lost and troubled until I came here. Now, there's a lot of healing going on."
.Los Angeles Times...
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Los Padres sanctuary goes to the rescue of wolf dogs... more
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The real agenda of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is to remove money from your wallet and put it into their CEOs' retirement funds, to ignore animal shelters, and to forever destroy your ability to keep and live with animals.The real agenda of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is to remove money... more
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Yellow Tail wines are produced by Casella Wines Pty Ltd., based in Yenda, Australia. The Casella family produced wine in their native Italy since the 1820s, but moved to Australia to pursue a better life. But Yellow Tail has failed in to pursue the better life in at least one way: they donated $100,000 to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). This was a huge mistake, Yellow Tail. If you'd done your homework, you'd know that HSUS is not the same as your local humane societies.Yellow Tail wines are produced by Casella Wines Pty Ltd., based in Yenda, Australia.... more
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Let me remind you that, if you care about animals, you do NOT want to support the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS, more typically known as H$U$). This organization sucked up millions of dollars donated by people from around the world, claiming they would help save animals affected by Hurricane Katrina, but almost none of those funds went to save any animals at all. Who was the most helpful in saving animals? Members of the American military!Let me remind you that, if you care about animals, you do NOT want to support the... more
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Video report about where Where do all those millions of dollars in charitable donations to the Humane Society of the United States go: If you think H$U$ uses those monies to help improve the lives of animals, think again! Also, seven things about the Humane Society of the United States that everyone should know.Video report about where Where do all those millions of dollars in charitable... more
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This investigative news report documents what we've always known: the Humane Society of the United States is nothing more than a fat, bloated charade of "animal lovers" who want everyone to lose our pets along any relationship with animals that we might have, whether they are companions, partners, teachers or the source of information or food. Contrary to their claims, HSUS does not support local animal shelters, does not help provide homes to homeless animals, and advocates that no human shall ever breed animals for any reason, whether it's for medical or scientific research, for conservation purposes, for educational purposes, for food or for companionship.This investigative news report documents what we've always known: the Humane... more
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Feld Entertainment, the parent company of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, has filed a lawsuit against the HSUS, two HSUS lawyers, and a number of other animal rights organizations under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) ActFeld Entertainment, the parent company of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey... more
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Called the Wilde Puppy Mill Task Force, it is a welcome addition to the Humane Society of the United States.Called the Wilde Puppy Mill Task Force, it is a welcome addition to the Humane Society... more
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The Humane Society of the United States has formed the Humane Society University and was recently granted a license to grant bachelor's degrees in three areas; animal studies, animal policy and advocacy, or humane leadership. They also are licensed to grant certificates for graduate study in those same areas. Required courses are offered online or at their Washington DC site starting autumn term in 2009.The Humane Society of the United States has formed the Humane Society University and... more
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This video documents how the HSUS -- by their own admission, caught on this video -- abuses the public's trust by misdirecting funds raised to save homeless pets to their employees' high salaries and for lobbying congress to remove our pets from our homes -- forever.This video documents how the HSUS -- by their own admission, caught on this video --... more
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This video shows you a little information about the Humane Society of the United States or H$U$ -- is a tax-free corporation that supports terrorist organizations while pretending to the public that they raise funds to provide shelter to homeless animals. Terrorist? What can I possibly mean? Watch ...This video shows you a little information about the Humane Society of the United... more
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PHOTOCREDIT: Farm Sanctuary Calves in 'veal crates'
What is a sheet of paper? For my writer husband, a sheet of paper signifies a myriad world of stories to tell, for a first grader it may represent a canvas for great art, but for most chickens in California, a sheet of paper represents home.
That is because egg-producing chickens spend their entire lives in barren conditions, several chickens cramped in a cage with personal space that is smaller than an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. These chickens cannot spread their wings or do anything else that comes naturally to them like pecking or grooming or acting like, well, chickens. Battery cages are cruel and unusual punishment for creatures who did nothing to deserve such treatment. The same is to be said for pigs in gestation crates and baby cows in veal crates. photo credit: Farm Sanctuary
That's why I'm looking forward to Election Day, when my fellow California voters will turn their attention to a unique and important proposition that will phase out some of the state's most cruel and inhumane factory farming practices.
Proposition 2--the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act--will simply ensure that certain farm animals in California can turn around and extend their limbs. When approved, it will phase out three of the worst factory farm abuses: veal crates for calves, battery cages for egg-laying hens, and gestation crates for breeding pigs.
photo credit: East Bay Animal Advocates
It's not much to ask factory farms to merely give animals a bit of room to move, but as we saw earlier this year with a shocking undercover investigation into a California dairy cow slaughter plant, we can't trust factory farms to regulate themselves.
It's early in the election cycle, but there's already a tidal wave of support for Prop 2, with hundreds of endorsements including Senator Feinstein, The California Democratic Party, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, and city councils like Los Angeles and Davis. Groups like The Humane Society of the United States, Center for Food Safety, Center for Science in the Public Interest, and Sierra Club-California have endorsed, as well as hundreds of California veterinarians and the California Veterinary Medical Association. Almost 800,000 California voters signed petitions to place the initiative on November's ballot.
At the same time that humane groups are getting the word out about Prop 2, agribusiness companies and factory farms are funneling millions of dollars into a massive opposition campaign. This is despite the fact that Arizona and Florida voters have overwhelmingly approved similar citizen initiatives, and state legislators in Colorado and Oregon have passed similar laws.
For those of us who care about animal welfare, there's never been a better time to donate and get involved--even for people who don't live in California.
PHOTOCREDIT: Farm Sanctuary Calves in 'veal crates'
What is a sheet of... more
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