Maryland one of the best states to be an animal abuser
December 29, 2009
Posted by Jill Rosen at 10:12AM
There are a lot of year-end wrap up lists out there, but this one has to be among the bleakest. The Animal Legal Defense Fund compiled its list of the states where it's not so bad to be an animal abuser, the places where the cruelty laws don't have teeth and an abuser might not be prosecuted.
The states are: Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, and North Dakota. The organization points to Kentucky as the single worst state in the nation for animal protection laws.
Maryland, by the way, is on the bottom tier. That's pretty bad. Pretty embarrassing, actually.
The report states: Why are these five states in the dog house when it comes to getting tough on animal abuse? The legislative weaknesses seen in the states at the bottom of the animal protection barrel include severely restricted or absent felony animal cruelty provisions, inadequate animal fighting provisions, and lack of restrictions on the future ownership of animals for those convicted of cruelty to animals.
Source: http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/features/mutts/blog/2009/12/the_best_states_to_be_an_anima.html
Showing posts with label statistics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label statistics. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
Israel: When it comes to pet products, it's raining cats and dogs
Israel: When it comes to pet products, it's raining cats and dogs
By Rina Rozenberg
"What gorgeous shoes. I just have to buy a pair for my little one." One might be excused for assuming that the gushing footwear fiend had a child. Indeed she may, but the woman in question was in a pet store and "the little one" she was referring to was her 4-year old mutt.
Economic crisis be darned: Demand among Israelis for pet accessories, especially unique ones, has soared in recent years. Importers and retailers are happy to meet the challenge and offer a range of specialty products.
Shampoo for blondes at the drug store is so 1990s: how about special shampoo for black-furred dogs? (Or cats, if you dare.)
Maybe some perfume for your pooch? Then there are of course vitamins and minerals, special beds and enough toys (for enough species) to give Toys R' Us a run for its money.
Not only are the accessories proliferating: so are the sales points. This year the list was augmented by Pet Point, a 450-square meter Tel Aviv supermarket for petware and nothing but.
Experts in pet pampering a la Holy Land think it's just the beginning of the trend. Meanwhile, Pet Point features more than 10,000 products for pets.
"Just like the Tambour shops turned into Home Center, and all the mom & pop groceries turned into outlets of giant chain stores, the small stores in the pets sector too - which charge higher prices and offer a smaller range - are going to get swallowed up over time," predicts Oded Shilon, owner of Pet Point.
Shahar Dominitz, owner and CEO of rival retail chain Jungle, seconds that. "We've opened a roughly 250-square meter store in Yokne'am. In my opinion, the niche [of giant pet-product retailers] is going to develop at the expense of the 20-meter stores. The range available in Israel of chemical preparations, accessories and food for pets is so big that today customers look for stores with the biggest possible range, not a store like the neighborhood grocery."
Shilon of Pet Point says the market for pets is worth over NIS 100 million annually in the greater Tel Aviv area alone, which constitutes more than half the nationwide market.
One has to wonder whether the sheer abundance of goods and goodies leads pet owners to spend more than they need to.
"Naturally, 300 years ago, nobody dreamed of such plenty and they got along just fine," says Shilon. "But you could ask the same question about people. Look how many products there are at the drugstore chains, or food chains. It's actually a question about consumption culture. A person could also live on nothing but rice and chicken, but it's a question of quality of life. The quality of life, the health care and the recreation of pets has risen."
You can't argue with the fact that the higher the quality of life to which one aspires for Kittie or Spike, the more it will cost. But there are plenty of products out there that do nothing whatsoever to improve your pet's quality of life, from rubber chickens to designer cat litters to plastic pirates in your fish tank.
"The industry of toys for dogs and cats derives from personification, thinking of cats and dogs as human," says Dr. Danny Freudenthal, head of the Animal Care department at CTS Group, which imports and markets products for the healthcare, agricultural and veterinary sectors. "There are dozens of toys at the stores that look like objects humans use - a rolled-up newspaper made of plastic, a rubber steak, a silicon chicken. The thing is that it doesn't matter to the cat or dog whether the toy is a squeaking plastic steak or a simple tennis ball. He doesn't realize it represents a steak. You don't need these toys for pets."
Eau de Fido
People may want their beloved furry friends to have something to do while they're alone at home. But these purchased toys generally bore them after a short period of time, Freudenthal says.
That doesn't mean there aren't pet toys that really are useful, he qualifies: like toys that clean the teeth.
"The chew toys given to dogs to prevent plaque do some good, but they only postpone the problem. They don't solve it. You can't avoid plaque with dogs, like you can't with humans," says Freudenthal.
Put otherwise, buying Buster chew-sticks for NIS 5 a day may be pointless.
Treating pets as humans doesn't end with toys. Today you can find a range of perfumes for dogs that can cost as much as NIS 60 a bottle. Freudenthal says the scent evaporates after 10 minutes.
And then there's the bath. Where once you might have aimed the hose at the dog, today you can find high-end shampoos for animals based on natural components, or on protein, that cost as much as NIS 70 for a small 100-milliliter bottle.
And would you spring for a fur styling? That may cost as much as NIS 150 - and it's completely unnecessary.
"Why do people cut their dogs' fur? It's superfluous," says Freudenthal. "It contributes nothing. Shedding continues. It doesn't cool down the dog [in summer], quite the contrary - fur insulates against heat and cold. Generally speaking, if we brush the dog once or twice a day, most of the shedding fur will stay on the brush rather than scatter around the house. The only reason to cut a dog's fur is for the look."
And that's an indulgence for the owner, not the pet.
There are of course things pet owners can't do without. The heaviest outlay is food. The range of regular dry foods for dogs is NIS 150 to NIS 250 for a 15 to 18 kilogram bag, which will last a medium-sized dog a month or two.
A bag of regular dry cat food lasting a month or two may cost anywhere from NIS 80 to NIS 140. (There are specialty foods, for instance for cats with a propensity for kidney trouble, that may cost much more.)
Regarding dogs, the pros recommend premium food, even though it costs more than regular food. That's because the dog digests more and excretes less of it: 85% versus 50%.
The main ingredient in premium food is poultry powder, while the inferior foods have more corn and other carbohydrates.
The highest degree of digestibility is super-premium food, where the digestion level climbs to 92%.
But the difference between premium and super-premium is less significant than the difference between regular food and premium.
Don't forget the vet and his bills. They're as important as food. Pet owners may spend thousands of shekels a year on veterinary care. Some of that is essential: inoculations, flea shots.
But most people are somewhat in awe of their vet and don't question his convictions. In case of doubt, counsels Freudenthal, call another vet for a second opinion, and when the moment of totting up the bill arrives, do try to negotiate. You might get a discount.
Source: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1137617.html
By Rina Rozenberg
"What gorgeous shoes. I just have to buy a pair for my little one." One might be excused for assuming that the gushing footwear fiend had a child. Indeed she may, but the woman in question was in a pet store and "the little one" she was referring to was her 4-year old mutt.
Economic crisis be darned: Demand among Israelis for pet accessories, especially unique ones, has soared in recent years. Importers and retailers are happy to meet the challenge and offer a range of specialty products.
Shampoo for blondes at the drug store is so 1990s: how about special shampoo for black-furred dogs? (Or cats, if you dare.)
Maybe some perfume for your pooch? Then there are of course vitamins and minerals, special beds and enough toys (for enough species) to give Toys R' Us a run for its money.
Not only are the accessories proliferating: so are the sales points. This year the list was augmented by Pet Point, a 450-square meter Tel Aviv supermarket for petware and nothing but.
Experts in pet pampering a la Holy Land think it's just the beginning of the trend. Meanwhile, Pet Point features more than 10,000 products for pets.
"Just like the Tambour shops turned into Home Center, and all the mom & pop groceries turned into outlets of giant chain stores, the small stores in the pets sector too - which charge higher prices and offer a smaller range - are going to get swallowed up over time," predicts Oded Shilon, owner of Pet Point.
Shahar Dominitz, owner and CEO of rival retail chain Jungle, seconds that. "We've opened a roughly 250-square meter store in Yokne'am. In my opinion, the niche [of giant pet-product retailers] is going to develop at the expense of the 20-meter stores. The range available in Israel of chemical preparations, accessories and food for pets is so big that today customers look for stores with the biggest possible range, not a store like the neighborhood grocery."
Shilon of Pet Point says the market for pets is worth over NIS 100 million annually in the greater Tel Aviv area alone, which constitutes more than half the nationwide market.
One has to wonder whether the sheer abundance of goods and goodies leads pet owners to spend more than they need to.
"Naturally, 300 years ago, nobody dreamed of such plenty and they got along just fine," says Shilon. "But you could ask the same question about people. Look how many products there are at the drugstore chains, or food chains. It's actually a question about consumption culture. A person could also live on nothing but rice and chicken, but it's a question of quality of life. The quality of life, the health care and the recreation of pets has risen."
You can't argue with the fact that the higher the quality of life to which one aspires for Kittie or Spike, the more it will cost. But there are plenty of products out there that do nothing whatsoever to improve your pet's quality of life, from rubber chickens to designer cat litters to plastic pirates in your fish tank.
"The industry of toys for dogs and cats derives from personification, thinking of cats and dogs as human," says Dr. Danny Freudenthal, head of the Animal Care department at CTS Group, which imports and markets products for the healthcare, agricultural and veterinary sectors. "There are dozens of toys at the stores that look like objects humans use - a rolled-up newspaper made of plastic, a rubber steak, a silicon chicken. The thing is that it doesn't matter to the cat or dog whether the toy is a squeaking plastic steak or a simple tennis ball. He doesn't realize it represents a steak. You don't need these toys for pets."
Eau de Fido
People may want their beloved furry friends to have something to do while they're alone at home. But these purchased toys generally bore them after a short period of time, Freudenthal says.
That doesn't mean there aren't pet toys that really are useful, he qualifies: like toys that clean the teeth.
"The chew toys given to dogs to prevent plaque do some good, but they only postpone the problem. They don't solve it. You can't avoid plaque with dogs, like you can't with humans," says Freudenthal.
Put otherwise, buying Buster chew-sticks for NIS 5 a day may be pointless.
Treating pets as humans doesn't end with toys. Today you can find a range of perfumes for dogs that can cost as much as NIS 60 a bottle. Freudenthal says the scent evaporates after 10 minutes.
And then there's the bath. Where once you might have aimed the hose at the dog, today you can find high-end shampoos for animals based on natural components, or on protein, that cost as much as NIS 70 for a small 100-milliliter bottle.
And would you spring for a fur styling? That may cost as much as NIS 150 - and it's completely unnecessary.
"Why do people cut their dogs' fur? It's superfluous," says Freudenthal. "It contributes nothing. Shedding continues. It doesn't cool down the dog [in summer], quite the contrary - fur insulates against heat and cold. Generally speaking, if we brush the dog once or twice a day, most of the shedding fur will stay on the brush rather than scatter around the house. The only reason to cut a dog's fur is for the look."
And that's an indulgence for the owner, not the pet.
There are of course things pet owners can't do without. The heaviest outlay is food. The range of regular dry foods for dogs is NIS 150 to NIS 250 for a 15 to 18 kilogram bag, which will last a medium-sized dog a month or two.
A bag of regular dry cat food lasting a month or two may cost anywhere from NIS 80 to NIS 140. (There are specialty foods, for instance for cats with a propensity for kidney trouble, that may cost much more.)
Regarding dogs, the pros recommend premium food, even though it costs more than regular food. That's because the dog digests more and excretes less of it: 85% versus 50%.
The main ingredient in premium food is poultry powder, while the inferior foods have more corn and other carbohydrates.
The highest degree of digestibility is super-premium food, where the digestion level climbs to 92%.
But the difference between premium and super-premium is less significant than the difference between regular food and premium.
Don't forget the vet and his bills. They're as important as food. Pet owners may spend thousands of shekels a year on veterinary care. Some of that is essential: inoculations, flea shots.
But most people are somewhat in awe of their vet and don't question his convictions. In case of doubt, counsels Freudenthal, call another vet for a second opinion, and when the moment of totting up the bill arrives, do try to negotiate. You might get a discount.
Source: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1137617.html
HI: Hawaii gets low ranking for animal protection laws
Hawaii gets low ranking for animal protection laws
By BRIAN PERRY, City Editor
POSTED: December 25, 2009
PUUNENE - While a California-based animal rights group contends Hawaii ranks among the worst states in the nation in terms of animal protection laws, Maui Humane Society Chief Executive Officer Jocelyn Bouchard says she's not surprised.
Only two or three years ago, after trying for eight years, animal rights groups were successful in lobbying state lawmakers to make animal cruelty a felony, she said. But even that law specifically excluded chickens because of the strength of Hawaii's cockfighting lobby. "We knew it wasn't perfect, but we knew we could get it through (the Legislature)," she said Wednesday. In lobbying for legislation, "you pass what you can, (and) work year after year to get it better and better."
In ranking animal protection laws, the Animal Legal Defense Fund looked at animal abuse laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Its study grouped Hawaii with Kentucky, North Dakota, Idaho and Mississippi as the five worst states. The nation's best states are Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Oregon and California, according to the group.
The group says that Hawaii state law doesn't include felonies for extreme neglect or abandonment of animals or provisions requiring veterinarians to report suspected abuse. It also says that Hawaii's animal fighting laws are insufficient and its peace officers have no duty to enforce animal protection laws.
Cockfighting in Hawaii is a "huge obstacle" for animal rights advocates, Bouchard said. Cockfighters are "very organized," and they "speak against any legislation that might affect them," she said.
Bouchard said she'd like to see tougher state laws against cockfighting specifically, but also against dogfighting, which "is starting to become a problem on Maui." She speculated that gaining legislation against dogfighting might be easier to do because laws against the blood sport are "something more people can rally around." Also, current state law bans cruelty against pet animals, such as dogs, cats and caged birds, but it excludes chickens, Bouchard said.
Hawaii law requires those prosecuting abuse to show someone was "willful and intentional" in inflicting pain or disfigurement, she said. Maui Humane Society officials investigate reports of abuse, but need physical evidence, such as injuries to the animal, to successfully prosecute a case.
Bouchard said that animal rights advocates would pursue improved laws during next year's legislative session, which begins in mid-January. Among the measures they expect to seek would be a law making it illegal to tie up a dog 24 hours a day or to use a heavy chain that would injure it. Another measure would put a limit on the number of dogs and cats that could be kept together in a cage, she said. "We've got a lot of work to do, and we're aware of that," she said.
* Brian Perry can be reached at citydesk@mauinews.com.
Source: http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/527063.html
By BRIAN PERRY, City Editor
POSTED: December 25, 2009
PUUNENE - While a California-based animal rights group contends Hawaii ranks among the worst states in the nation in terms of animal protection laws, Maui Humane Society Chief Executive Officer Jocelyn Bouchard says she's not surprised.
Only two or three years ago, after trying for eight years, animal rights groups were successful in lobbying state lawmakers to make animal cruelty a felony, she said. But even that law specifically excluded chickens because of the strength of Hawaii's cockfighting lobby. "We knew it wasn't perfect, but we knew we could get it through (the Legislature)," she said Wednesday. In lobbying for legislation, "you pass what you can, (and) work year after year to get it better and better."
In ranking animal protection laws, the Animal Legal Defense Fund looked at animal abuse laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Its study grouped Hawaii with Kentucky, North Dakota, Idaho and Mississippi as the five worst states. The nation's best states are Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Oregon and California, according to the group.
The group says that Hawaii state law doesn't include felonies for extreme neglect or abandonment of animals or provisions requiring veterinarians to report suspected abuse. It also says that Hawaii's animal fighting laws are insufficient and its peace officers have no duty to enforce animal protection laws.
Cockfighting in Hawaii is a "huge obstacle" for animal rights advocates, Bouchard said. Cockfighters are "very organized," and they "speak against any legislation that might affect them," she said.
Bouchard said she'd like to see tougher state laws against cockfighting specifically, but also against dogfighting, which "is starting to become a problem on Maui." She speculated that gaining legislation against dogfighting might be easier to do because laws against the blood sport are "something more people can rally around." Also, current state law bans cruelty against pet animals, such as dogs, cats and caged birds, but it excludes chickens, Bouchard said.
Hawaii law requires those prosecuting abuse to show someone was "willful and intentional" in inflicting pain or disfigurement, she said. Maui Humane Society officials investigate reports of abuse, but need physical evidence, such as injuries to the animal, to successfully prosecute a case.
Bouchard said that animal rights advocates would pursue improved laws during next year's legislative session, which begins in mid-January. Among the measures they expect to seek would be a law making it illegal to tie up a dog 24 hours a day or to use a heavy chain that would injure it. Another measure would put a limit on the number of dogs and cats that could be kept together in a cage, she said. "We've got a lot of work to do, and we're aware of that," she said.
* Brian Perry can be reached at citydesk@mauinews.com.
Source: http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/527063.html
NY: Filling Your Pet's Stocking this Christmas
| Filling Your Pet's Stocking this Christmas | |
| Sarah Sheridan | |
 | |
December 24, 2009 HORSEHEADS---Many people trekked to the stores to finish up last minute shopping for friends and family this Christmas Eve. But others have been flocking to buy gifts for the other member of the family, their pet. Despite the tough economy, people are still getting their furry friends something to put under the Christmas tree. Just like other retailers, pet stores are luring in customers with great deals. Shoppers in the Southern Tier have been filling their carts with squeaky toys, bones, toy mice and sweaters. A local pet store manager says merchandise has been flying off the shelves. The PetSmart in the Southern Tier Crossing in Horseheads has already done double the business this year compared to last. Petsmart Store Manager, Jessica Haight, says, "Alot of people this year came in. We have been busy non-stop for the last two weeks now. We get alot of 'I can't believe I spent this much on my on my dog or my cat.' A recent national survey by PetSmart claimed that out of 1,000 dog and cat owners, 95 percent said they would buy their pet a gift or special treat this holiday season. Source: http://www.weny.com/News-Local.asp?ARTICLE3864=9150180 | |
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