Month: August 2011

Categories
Critters

And the Missouri Smoke and Mirrors Continue

Attorney General Koster has come out with a look how much we care about the doggies site, which is basically a load of bilge water.

Two breeders have been closed down. Two. And both breeders were allowed to hold on to their dogs until resolution of their cases, and one is even allowed to breed dogs again in six years.

I don’t really care about the political party of all the people involved, because both Democrats and Republicans have tried to help the dogs, and both Democrats and Republicans have done a lot of damage to the cause of animal welfare in this state. What I do care about is truth, which is sometimes hard to see when politicians use so much smoke, and so many mirrors.

This little joy-joy announcement was a good reminder, though, that I need to re-focus back on my Missouri Kennel Campaigns. Currently I’m going through the entire USDA APHIS database, as well as other resources, finding what I feel are the worst breeders. Then we’ll start the battle anew.

Because contrary to what the Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation states, contrary to what Governor Nixon, Director Jon Hagler of the MDA, and AG Koster claim, things are not better for the dogs in this state.

Categories
Critters

Putting Lies into Context: Debe Bell and the Six Bell’s Rabbitry

updated

Several Tea Party pundits have jumped on the media bandwagon for Debe Bell and the Six Bells Rabbits.

“There was no warrant”, they claim, based solely on what they were told by Bell (never bothering to fact check).

“The rabbits were in great shape!”, they shouted, again based on what they were told by Bell (assuming that Bell was telling the truth, while a dozen or so veterinarians, animal care personnel, and sheriff’s department personnel were all lying).

Well, nothing like a few facts to show how foolish these people are.

In the sidebar to the story is a link to both the warrant and a slideshow of the conditions on Bell’s farm. You better have a strong stomach before clicking the link to the slideshow.

The sad thing is, many puppy (and bunny) mills in Missouri share similar conditions, but they’re not being closed down.

update

The Baltimore Sun picked up the story as have the Denver TV stations.

second update

A judge has denied Bell’s restraining order and the rabbits can now go up for adoption. Finally, these bunnies have a chance.

Last I heard, though, Tea Party friends of Bell have decided that the photos were doctored, that Colorado has entered into a conspiracy with the USDA and HSUS (and probably little green aliens from Mars) to deny Bell her Constitutional rights to continue treating rabbits like crap.

Categories
Just Shelley

Golden Girl: This old broad

If you’ve been reading my weblogs in their various incarnations since the painful beginning, you’ve read me talking about my car, Golden Girl.

Golden Girl isn’t a fancy car. It’s a 4 door 2002 Ford Focus with a Zetec engine and painted in metallic gold. It is my very first car.

No, I’m not so young. I’m just one of those who didn’t decide to drive until I was…well, older than most people when they learn to drive. I started to learn to drive in Boston, practiced cross country, and received my first driver’s license in San Francisco. I bought Golden Girl a few months later via the internet, at a time when this was still a very new idea. I test drove a Focus, but didn’t meet Golden Girl until I picked her up.

My car was my delight. I drove her from California to Missouri, and from Missouri to Idaho, and back to Missouri, and on to Florida, then Missouri, and back to California and then returning, once more, to Missouri. Once in Missouri, I visited every nook and cranny in the state—including many dark hollows posted “Do Not Trespass”, with guard dogs that look at you as if sizing up which part to bite first.

Golden Girl is no longer young. A broken strut earlier has today been joined by a cracked thermostat housing, which followed a massive amount of work last year. There’s a short in the car somewhere, most likely in the instrument cluster that causes the instruments to peg out, go to zero, and then eventually recover. One could live with hyperactive instruments but the car’s lighting also dims as the same time, which can makes things a bit interesting at night.

I take her in to be worked on more frequently than I take her in to have her oil changed. And I no longer trust her for driving outside the city. Heck, half the time I don’t trust her for driving in the city.

I can’t afford to get a new car, and I won’t buy a used car full of someone else’s problems. I have to consider that at this point I’m driving Golden Girl until she can go no further, and then hopefully some charitable organization can get a little extra good from her.

Then I’ll be as I was before I bought Golden Girl—living carless.

It’s hard to think about going without Golden Girl, though. This last decade has not always been easy, with some sad losses along the way, but I’ve always had my car.

Categories
Critters

Bunnies again, but this time Six Bells Farms

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

updated

I seem to be getting links to cruelty cases related to bunnies. The most recent was a link about a bunny mill that was raided in Colorado, and the owner charged with cruelty. The mill is named Six Bells Farm, and the owner is Debe Bell. More on the story in The Denver Post.

Bell states to publications that she sold rabbits as meat, not pets, but her own web site proves this isn’t true. Sheriff’s deputies and animal control found 25 dead bunnies on the property, and Bell stated that she was holding the dead bunnies to donate to a zoo. However, no reputable zoo would take meat from rabbits that died from unknown causes, and she’s not identified the zoo.

Three vets that attended the raid have stated that the animals were not in good condition, and needed immediate help. Bell’s neighbor stated that this couldn’t be true–and of course, I’m sure she’s more knowledgeable than three veterinarians. No reason to be biased, either.

Puppies…bunnies…. No animal should be treated cruelly in mills, roadside zoos, or the other places where greedy people prosper from animal suffering. I’ve extended the scope of this site to cover other types of animals, as well as other types of places that the USDA monitors, such as the deplorable roadside zoos found in too many states. My primary interest is still in closing down puppy mills in Missouri, but all these critters need all the champions they can get.

update

A Denver Post article states that the bunnies should be available for adoption soon. As for the condition of the rabbits when they were taken from Bell:

The shelter is caring for 154 of the animals. Strickland said when the shelter received the rabbits July 21, many couldn’t urinate or defecate because their fur was so matted.

I tried to get a copy of the court case, but Colorado has subcontracted out its court access to a company, Acxiom (CoCourt.com). The prices are outrageous, the site primitive, and the design of the system is hopelessly flawed. I’m so thankful that Missouri takes its commitment to open records seriously and provides an excellent no-cost court case record system.

Categories
Critters

Bunnies Again

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Puppies…bunnies…. No animal should be treated cruelly in mills, roadside zoos, or the other places where greedy people prosper from animal suffering. I’ve extended the scope of this site to cover other types of animals, as well as other types of places that the USDA monitors, such as the deplorable roadside zoos found in too many states. My primary interest is still in closing down puppy mills in Missouri, but all these critters need all the champions they can get.

More at Puppies at Burningbird.

Another bunny mill story, but this time in Colorado. One angora pulled from a cage in the 85+ degree building was so covered in matted fur that you could barely see its face. As the sheriff stated, not only were the rabbits thirsty, they were “aggressively thirsty”.

I’ve decided to extend the scope of Puppies at Burningbird. It’s still Puppies at Burningbird, but now covers other critters in addition to puppies. Because all of these critters need all the champions they can get.