Oh Dog! We’re a couple of days late with Hisses and Purrs this week. Seems the holiday got us a bit off track. But fear not, for Hissy Fit Jones and June Buggie are here now to keep you up to date on the latest animal welfare news around the world.
OK, Hissy, you’re on!
Hisses to the Denver Zoo for allowing visitors to pay to feed and pet a black rhino. A woman was sent to the hospital after the rhino, Mshindi, bit the woman’s finger. Some reports indicate a finger was bit off.
Hisses to Robert Losasso, 68, of Somers Point, N.J., who was recently arrested for shooting birds protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Losasso is accused of shooting red-tailed hawks, sharp-shinned hawks, red-shouldered hawks and Cooper’s hawks.
Hisses to New Zealand fashion designer Annah Stretton, who recently gave an interview to the Sunday Star Times in which she said she supports animal rights. Why the hisses? In the same article was published a photo of her with her two dogs on a bearskin rug. It seems Ms. Stretton, who loves taxidermy, does not see the death of the bear, killed in a culling of bears in a national park, as hypocritical. Perhaps she could learn a thing or two by following the badger cull in the UK.
And speaking of that badger cull, Hisses to the Sixty-three marksmen who were paid by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the UK to shoot and kill badgers in Somerset recently. They were paid £30 per badger killed and disposed of.
Whoa! Some wicked stuff there Hissy. Every one of those hisses was well-deserved!
OK, June Buggie, how about calming out our blood pressure with some sweet purrs?
Purrs to the New Zealand Labour Party for introducing an amendment to ban the testing of ‘legal high’ drugs on animals.
Purrs to the Montreal SPCA, Humane Society International/Canada, and the ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec for rescuing over 100 dogs from abysmal conditions in a commercial breeding facility in the Montérégie region of Quebec. The dogs were kept in small wire cages with no socialization, exercise, or vet care.
Purrs to Brazilian veterinarian Veterinarian Daniela Cervaletti for using acupuncture to relieve the pain of an albino alligator who lives at the Sao Paulo Aquarium. Bino, who suffers from scoliosis, has shown some improvement since the procedure has been used with him. He is now able to swish his tail, where before he couldn’t.
Purrs to Chief of Staff Dr. Dana Zimmel and the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida, for refusing to provide veterinary care at a zoo whose level of animal care has “fallen below the level that is required for accreditation” by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and below the standards of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Central Florida Zoo of Stanford disputes the claims, and believes the rift will be resolved and vet care will resume. Why does it matter? The agreement for vet care was a factor in obtaining and maintaining accreditation for the zoo.
Much better!
Your turn now. What hisses or purrs do YOU have to share this week?
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Dogpaddling Through Life 
Even as a child, I never liked circuses or zoos. I don’t like seeing animals in cages or being forced to perform. It makes my skin crawl.
Unlike you, I didn’t see anything wrong with it. I have grown into my consciousness. But now my skin crawls too.
😦
Thanks for posting, Rumpy.
Hi Jamie! Thanks for caring!
I have serious hisses for a local zoo I visited but that is a whole post worth and I have launched an official complaint about the conditions of the guinea pigs in their ‘fun farm barn’
It’s terrible what zoos get away with. If they can manage complicated needs of some fancy big cat I fail to see why they cannot meet the relatively simple needs of the common guinea pig.
~ Amy
They’re not meeting the needs of the big cat either…. they just hide it better.
I think I’ll have to stop going to zoos, I can’t stand to see it anymore. And I hate to think money I pay goes toward keeping the animals in conditions like that.
I’m going to have to do something about guinea pigs in zoos. More complaints or something. It is really awful that people see those conditions and think they are ok then will keep their own piggies like that. They should set a good example.
Thank you for opening my eyes to animal welfare, before I read your blog I didn’t used to look to closely in farms and zoos and now I’m heartbroken by what I see
xxxx
Wow, I’m going to look up that albino alligator story. I’m curious to know more about the gator. Thanks for the hisses & purrs.
Be sure to look up that zoo in Sanford too. It’s not so far from you.
It’s not, unfortunately. 😦 I’m glad they refused to treat the animals. It does no good to treat them if the conditions they live in are bad.
My cousin Mabel is a German shepherd and she has acupuncture and says it really really helps her! =^.^=
Awesome!!!!!
Hisses and Purrs is my favorite feature, Rumpy. Thanks for sharing!
Woo woo!!!! Thanks Vickie!!!!
I didn’t know about the acupuncture treatment for animals, which sounds fabulous! And rescuing 100 dog is amazing, too because the number is quite big, isn’t it? Oh no…how disappointing to see the picture of Annah Strettons who is innocently smiling at the camera…..poor bear….she should learn what the animal rights means….
I think acupuncture is working wonders for animals!!!
They deserve all your hisses. I’m always doubtful, when I read bout “VIP’s” who allegedly support animals. Like this whatever-model-girl what posed first for PETA and later she went to a party with a fox-vest,
I’m not surprised about the model. Ugh!
Reblogged this on Cats & All That ™.
Thanks!
As always thank you for letting us know about the good and the bad!!
I think it’s important to talk about the good stuff too!
On a bearskin rug? FAILLL
Epic fail!!!!
Great post, Rumpy.. and good job on the hisses and purrs..
I will tell the gang you said so!
Ugh. Those hisses make me mad, and so very sad that there are so many humans who show such disregard for animals. I was especially upset when I learned about the badger cull. 😦
Me too 😦
I love that cat! c
MEOW!!!!
I have to agree with many of your previous commenters in regards to zoos. Since becoming a blogger and learning more about animal advocacy from amazing people such as yourself, I now get uneasy whenever I enter one…and with my day job as a nanny, I have no choice but to enter them on occasion! 😦
Then use it to your advantage. Take photos if you see something that doesn’t sit well with you, and speak up for those animals.
Thanks for Highlighting the Plight of the Badgers here in the UK Rumpy it just awful espcial as bovine TB is a man made disease why can’t they find a way to netrualise the disease the the badgers carry with out killing them is beyond me,all the money wasted on killing these beautiful animals should spent on stopping the disease from transmitting to the badgers in the first place!xx Rachel and Speedy
That’s what humans do, Speedy. They cannot be trusted.
The British Government are a waste of space whatever party is in! It is not proven about badgers spreading TB to cows. It’s just a knee jerk reaction. Also I am heartbroken that so many farmers are losing their livelihoods and their herds to TB. Too much needless slaughter when a bit of money spent on research could benefit everyone.
The way this has been handled is simply appalling to an outsider looking in.
I’ve set a link to your article at http://flickrcomments.wordpress.com/2013/09/08/animal-rights-2/#comment-45745
Thanks!