Bill mandates 'fixing' of cats, dogs before sale

By Rob Shikina

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Apr 17, 2011

State lawmakers are looking at a bill that would require pet retailers in Hawaii to sterilize all cats and dogs before selling them.

Passing such a law would lessen the suffering of feral cats because of overpopulation and reduce the number of animals euthanized in shelters, said Inga Gibson, state director of the Humane Society of the United States. Many feral cats are the offspring of abandoned house cats that haven't been sterilized, she added.

House Bill 243 notes that an unsterilized female cat can give birth to two litters a year, which, extrapolated over seven years, could lead to 400,000 cats.

Feral cat colonies continue to grow despite various efforts to control the cat population, and the pressures of overpopulation lead to starvation of the weakest and the spread of disease and mange, a form of animal cruelty when uncontrolled, the bill says.

"It's a tremendous issue," Gibson said. "We have a large feral cat issue throughout the state. One of the contributing factors is the sale of unsterilized cats."

Feral cats are also a threat to Hawaii's endangered birds, according to the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife.

The bill is just one version of animal cruelty legislation that is heading to a conference committee to work out differences between House and Senate versions.

State laws mandating the spaying or neutering of dogs or cats appear to be rare. At least one state, Rhode Island, mandates it if the animals are released from a shelter. Some counties on the mainland, however, completely ban the sale of cats or dogs, while a Los Angeles ordinance from 2008 requires pet owners to sterilize their dogs or cats by the age of 4 months.

Despite the large feral cat population, the Humane Society opposes euthanasia and supports managed cat colonies for unsocialized cats, where a caretaker will get the animals sterilized, microchipped, vaccinated, fed and looked after.

"It's not an easy life for a cat that's not part of a managed colony," Gibson said.

Theresa Donnelly, who breeds boxers and is secretary of the Boxer Club of Hawaii, said the bill wouldn't affect purebred dogs because hobby breeders usually sell person to person, which is not regulated by the bill.

"Any reputable breeder would never sell to a pet store anyway," she said. Hobby breeders want to meet potential owners to make sure their dogs will have a safe home and possibly establish a relationship with the new owners to promote ethical breeding, she said. "People who want to breed animals should be mentored."

Tish Rothwell, owner of the Pet Depot in Ewa Beach, said her business has been fixing cats before adopting them out ever since hundreds of animals were rescued from a Waianae no-kill shelter when the owner died in July 2009.

After the rescue, shelters were full and couldn't take animals from people who were trying to give up their pets. Rather than see cats euthanized in shelters, Rothwell's store took the animals and sterilized them before adopting them out for a fee that covered medical costs.

"We want to be responsible and keep that out-of-control cat population down," Rothwell said.

However, she has concerns about mandating the fixing of dogs. They recover slower than cats after being spayed or neutered and require more care, raising the cost of the animals.

Brent Chung, manager of Kalihi Pet Center, said some customers may not mind if the bill becomes law, but pet stores may require breeders to have dogs fixed before selling them to the retailer, reducing the supply of dogs in stores. He said some veterinarians are backlogged and the dogs may be months old by the time an animal can be sterilized, frustrating customers that want dogs as young as 6 weeks old that are easier to train. He suspected the bill could also boost sales of unsterilized dogs outside of stores. "They'll beat the system, no matter what," he said.

The bill has an effective date of January.

Honolulu Star Advertiser: http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110417__Bill_mandates_fixing_of_cats_dogs_before_sale.html

Coyote, black Lab form unlikely partnership in Duluth

A black Lab and coyote have been seen together near
Orange Street in the Piedmont Heights neighborhood.
This photo was taken in 2008. (Photo by Steve Owen)

Published March 26, 2011, 12:05 AM

People in the Piedmont Heights area of Duluth assert that a black Labrador retriever is living a wild life in the woods. And that’s only the half of it. The other half is that the canine has formed a relationship with a coyote.

By: Lisa Baumann, Duluth News Tribune

People in the Piedmont Heights area started talking after the News Tribune reported last month about a black Lab taking down a deer in someone’s driveway.

Sue Hansen, owner of Hansen’s Auto Service on Trinity Road, said she saw the article and couldn’t wait to speak with customer Andrew Frielund when he came into the store.

“I asked why he didn’t write (a letter to the editor) explaining about that black Lab,” she said with a laugh. “He said he didn’t want people to think he was nuts.”

They assert that a black Labrador retriever is living a wild life in the woods. And that’s only the half of it. The other half is that the canine has formed a relationship with a coyote.

“Don’t laugh, because seriously, they exist,” Hansen said. “They were outside on the wood line of my house tearing up a deer about two months ago.”

“They are well-documented in the area,” Frielund added.

He’s seen them twice together in the woods near the antenna farm by Orange Street. He also has seen what he believes could be their offspring — an animal he calls “the creature.”

Bunter Knowles, who lives on Orange Street near the famed ice volcano, has seen the pair several times in the past few years.

In fact, he’s seen them out his window, the coyote sleeping while the Lab stands sentinel.

“There’s no question there’s been a pair of a coyote and a black Lab traveling together. … I’ve seen them 30 yards away with binoculars,” he said. “It’s quite a funny pairing.”

When asked about it Friday, Martha Minchak, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources assistant area wildlife manager in Duluth, said she wasn’t buying it.

“There wouldn’t be a Lab and coyote running around together,” she said.

And then she saw the photos taken by Steve Owen in 2008. He was able to sneak up on the pair as they were lounging in the backyard of his mother’s house at 2328 Springvale St.

“So, I stand corrected and obviously (the dog and coyote) haven’t read the behavior books!” Minchak wrote in an e-mail. “I have no real explanation other than the coyote must have been rejected from its pack for some reason and has obviously taken up with the Lab. It seems like it’s been a successful strategy for both of them if they are catching deer.”

She also said it was possible for the two to breed.

Owen said Friday he knows the Lab is alive and well because he last saw it on Monday.

“He was lying in the grass, sunning himself,” he said. “I didn’t see any coyotes with him.”

Owen said he doesn’t believe the Lab has a human home to visit.

“He was skittish enough the day I took their pictures,” he said. “As soon as the coyote and dog saw me, they went away. It wasn’t like he wanted to come down and look for a treat.”

With an abundance of deer in the city, Minchak also speculated that the dog was on its own — except for the coyote.

“It’s more like the Lab has gone over to the coyote side,” she said.

No one interviewed said they’d experienced any aggressive behavior from either animal, and Duluth animal control officer Carrie Lane said no one has ever reported the animals to her office, whether as a nuisance or a curiousity.

Knowles said he’s been out in the woods nearly every day snowshoeing and although he thinks he hears the Lab bark at his dog, they never approach him.

“I haven’t seen any damage by them so I wouldn’t have any recommendation to make to interfere,” Knowles said. “It’s something that’s unusual … but it’s not as if I’d try to break up a mixed marriage.”

Minchak concurred.

“Before I would have said (the two together are) something from Walt Disney movies, but now I guess I’d say it’s a classic odd-couple pairing,” she said.

She said she’d leave them alone because she didn’t think anyone would be able to rehabilitate the dog.

For her part, Hansen isn’t so sure.

“I don’t like domestic dogs that have gone wild,” she said. “I haven’t walked in my woods since then. It makes me a lot more nervous in that area than I’ve ever been.”

Do you have any pictures?

Send your photos of the black Lab-coyote pair to news@duluthnews.com.

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/194848/

Wild boars must be contained or declared an invasive species

RIGHT: Feral pigs are a threat to agriculture. (Michigan Wildlife Conservancy)

September 07. 2010

By most accounts, free-ranging feral swine are as much of an ecological threat as Asian carp. Leading agricultural and natural resources organizations in Michigan are worried enough to want them eradicated and banned from the state, but that would shut down at least 40 game ranches whose owners collect as much as $2,000 apiece from hunters eager to stalk and shoot them on the ranches.

A balanced approach that avoids putting these entrepreneurs out of business seems like a better option, provided the owners are willing and able to keep the critters contained. Such an undertaking would require stronger state regulation of the hunting ranches, the cost of which should be fully covered by user fees. Taxpayers shouldn't have to subsidize private hunts or pay for the disease and damage caused by feral hogs that escape.

Feral swine can be hunted at all times outside of the ranches on private land. If they are to be shot on public land, hunters must have a small game license.

Michigan residents already have been saddled with a $415,000 tab for actions to protect local pork production facilities when 19 wild hogs were diagnosed with Pseudo rabies (PRV) at a private hunting facility in Saginaw County in 2008, according to Michigan United Conservation Clubs.

There are an estimated 5,300 feral swine on the loose in Michigan and the population is growing, according to the Department of Natural Resources. Some escaped from hunting ranches, others from hog farms. They have easily adapted to Michigan's wilds and now are producing offspring that compete with other animals for food. They threaten the spread of PRV, brucellosis and other devastating diseases to $500-million-a-year pork production industry.

The United Conservation Clubs are among organizations pushing to have feral hogs listed as invasive species, which would simply outlaw them. A club official says the group believes the swine already meet legislated criteria for listing as an invasive species. Michigan's Natural Resources Commission considered doing so on Aug. 12, but held off after hearing from game farm owners who said they've invested millions setting up their operations and obtaining wild boar from Canada and elsewhere.

A popular YouTube video features hunters with wild boar they bagged at Bear Mountain Lodge near the Upper Peninsula's Negaunee. They compare the experience to stalking Russian boar in Siberia, a cutting-edge hunting adventure these days. Three Republican House lawmakers are proposing legislation to keep the ranches in business with increased state oversight. The bill would require ranch owners to pay a $1,000 fee every three years, install tougher enclosures, test all of their boars for diseases and keep detailed records of each animal.

The problem is that stronger enforcement proposed in the bill would cost $2.3 million a year, according to DNR estimates -- far more than the $40,000 or so the proposed fees would raise over a three-year period. With the state budget more than $1 billion out of whack, taxpayers can't afford to make up the difference. If the disparity can't be resolved through higher fees, invasive species listing might be the only alternative.

http://detnews.com/article/20100907/OPINION01/9070303/1007/rss07#ixzz0yrSZpaHy

Wild boars must be contained or declared an invasive species

RIGHT: Feral pigs are a threat to agriculture. (Michigan Wildlife Conservancy)

September 07. 2010

By most accounts, free-ranging feral swine are as much of an ecological threat as Asian carp. Leading agricultural and natural resources organizations in Michigan are worried enough to want them eradicated and banned from the state, but that would shut down at least 40 game ranches whose owners collect as much as $2,000 apiece from hunters eager to stalk and shoot them on the ranches.

A balanced approach that avoids putting these entrepreneurs out of business seems like a better option, provided the owners are willing and able to keep the critters contained. Such an undertaking would require stronger state regulation of the hunting ranches, the cost of which should be fully covered by user fees. Taxpayers shouldn't have to subsidize private hunts or pay for the disease and damage caused by feral hogs that escape.

Feral swine can be hunted at all times outside of the ranches on private land. If they are to be shot on public land, hunters must have a small game license.

Michigan residents already have been saddled with a $415,000 tab for actions to protect local pork production facilities when 19 wild hogs were diagnosed with Pseudo rabies (PRV) at a private hunting facility in Saginaw County in 2008, according to Michigan United Conservation Clubs.

There are an estimated 5,300 feral swine on the loose in Michigan and the population is growing, according to the Department of Natural Resources. Some escaped from hunting ranches, others from hog farms. They have easily adapted to Michigan's wilds and now are producing offspring that compete with other animals for food. They threaten the spread of PRV, brucellosis and other devastating diseases to $500-million-a-year pork production industry.

The United Conservation Clubs are among organizations pushing to have feral hogs listed as invasive species, which would simply outlaw them. A club official says the group believes the swine already meet legislated criteria for listing as an invasive species. Michigan's Natural Resources Commission considered doing so on Aug. 12, but held off after hearing from game farm owners who said they've invested millions setting up their operations and obtaining wild boar from Canada and elsewhere.

A popular YouTube video features hunters with wild boar they bagged at Bear Mountain Lodge near the Upper Peninsula's Negaunee. They compare the experience to stalking Russian boar in Siberia, a cutting-edge hunting adventure these days. Three Republican House lawmakers are proposing legislation to keep the ranches in business with increased state oversight. The bill would require ranch owners to pay a $1,000 fee every three years, install tougher enclosures, test all of their boars for diseases and keep detailed records of each animal.

The problem is that stronger enforcement proposed in the bill would cost $2.3 million a year, according to DNR estimates -- far more than the $40,000 or so the proposed fees would raise over a three-year period. With the state budget more than $1 billion out of whack, taxpayers can't afford to make up the difference. If the disparity can't be resolved through higher fees, invasive species listing might be the only alternative.

http://detnews.com/article/20100907/OPINION01/9070303/1007/rss07#ixzz0yrSZpaHy

Cat ticklers

31 August 2010 16:30 GMT

Tourists are reportedly flocking to a Taiwanese coal-mining town to tickle some of its 100 cats with feather-tipped sticks.

While just 200 people live in Houtong, cat-loving tourists are said to be descending upon the town to buy feline-related souvenirs and catch a glimpse of the stray cats, which love to be tickled.

One visitor from Tapei said: "It was more fun than I imagined. The cats were clean and totally unafraid of people. I'll definitely return."

The former industrial town was going through economic decline until it reinvented itself as a cat-lover's haven and it is now hoped Houtong will carve out its future as a tourist resort.

http://entertainment.stv.tv/showbiz/194954-cat-ticklers/

Cat ticklers

31 August 2010 16:30 GMT

Tourists are reportedly flocking to a Taiwanese coal-mining town to tickle some of its 100 cats with feather-tipped sticks.

While just 200 people live in Houtong, cat-loving tourists are said to be descending upon the town to buy feline-related souvenirs and catch a glimpse of the stray cats, which love to be tickled.

One visitor from Tapei said: "It was more fun than I imagined. The cats were clean and totally unafraid of people. I'll definitely return."

The former industrial town was going through economic decline until it reinvented itself as a cat-lover's haven and it is now hoped Houtong will carve out its future as a tourist resort.

http://entertainment.stv.tv/showbiz/194954-cat-ticklers/