The Baby Borrowers- Animal Creulty

The episode won't be up much longer on Hulu but I still wanted to write about it.

I am appalled and disgusted.

The episode in question is Episode 4 of Season 1. The clip is about 6 minutes in.
Here's a screen shot:



I've sent an email to NBC. It is absolutely unacceptable that they showed even a feeder rat in that kind of condition. There is NO EXCUSE for this. That rat can't even turn around, and seemingly it was in that for more than a day or so. This is animal creulty, and no one even notices, they're too busy getting squeamish over the fact it's a rat.

Frankly, I'm horrified they let that air. It's not the live feeding that irks me, (though I'm a totaly advocate for humanely raised f/t) but the inhumane conditions they are keeping it in prior to feeding. Unacceptable, as by law even feeders require humane treatment prior to being fed.

I let them know that depending on their response I'd be talking to the ASPCA. I took screen shots and am perfectly able to create a campaign. If you have a moment email them and let them know your thoughts on the matter too.

I Made a Mistake Last Night...

EOTM will be returning in a day or so.

I'm sorry for my absence, especially int he beginning of my blog! I've had one hell of a week.

Last night though taught me one of the most important lessons I will ever learn in rescuing: even if they say they treat exotics in their ad make ABSOLUTE CERTAIN the doctors on staff at your local Emergency Vet will see your type of animal.

Last night there was an accident. I've been working on introing two groups of rats together and while there was some dominance battles there was nothing major. One of the new rats, a young neutered male named Damien, is a squealer. In rat terms, he's very rude. Rather than accepting the alpha female's dominance he screams and mutters protests. He screams if other rats touch him or even look at him funny. This screaming sets off the alpha-female Apocalypse. Up until last night all she would do is flip him over everytime he made a peep.

Last night I was putting them in after free-range time and I lifted Damien in a box with a small opening. Thinking nothing of it I plopped the box into the cage. Another girl came in and he started protesting, which set off the alpha female to run in there to make him stop. Being that there was only one exit and the other female blocked the way, he was trapped. He wouldn't stop screaming, so rather than flip him as she normally did, she outright attacked him drawing blood for the first time in 2 weeks they'd been together.

I pulled him out and saw he was bleeding badly. Closer inspection revealed several superficial wounds and one major bitewound in the pad of his back foot. It was very scary. We put pressure on the wound and after 5 minutes of seeing if it stopped called the e-vet for advice and possible stitches.

They refused to see him. They don't treat rats.

"Put pressure on it" they told me. I said I had and by this point it was 10 minutes and a lot of blood loss. "Well he may need stitches" said the woman on the other end.

"So I can bring him in?"

"No. You'll need to see *insert name of vet school here*

"But that's more than a two hours drive! he'll be dead before we get there!"

"Continue putting pressure on it. I'm sorry, we don't see exotics, unless you need euthanasia."

It's not that I don't understand that their doctor doesn't specialize in rats. I totally would not bring a rat/possum/cow to a cat or dog vet and expect them to know all of the ailments. But...stiches? I would think if they can perform (what I hope is) humane euthanasia they'd be capable of stitching a wound!

I got off the phone and he started to go into shock. We gave him a yogie (one of those unhealthy high sugar treats rats love so much and I am a sucker and give sparingly) and kept him warm; he came right back with the sugar. We used cornstarch as a stipic powder and cooled the limb. It finally stopped bleeding about 40 minutes later and he was weak and dehydrated (thankfully I keep carrots and pedialyte around). We are now in the cleaning the wounds and keeping them clean. He and his brother are back in a seperate cage.

My lesson is two-fold. One, never ever put a box in a cage of newly introduced rats that has only one small easily-blocked exit. Second, unless you call up infrequently and make sure they still see exotics and even if they do, never assume there is always an exotic vet on the nightshift. Also don't assume that E-vets are willing to see rodents, even if the problem is easy to treat.

FREE wth rehoming fee!

One of the biggest problems in rescue is that it's a one puppy forward 3 puppies back (well, depending on the litter.) I generally advocate a friendly, informing approach but unlike ignorant pet owners who just aren't good with their animals, most breeders seem to feel that they are experts.

Then you have people like this gem. Yessiree, a responsible breeder always gets their animals free (with rehoming fee) off craigslist!


Lets hope this gets flagged faster than lightspeed:
http://westernmass.craigslist.org/zip/773602055.html

"1 year 2 month old purebred husky. She knows her commands and how to ask to go outside to use the bathroom and all those such things. she is quiet, and has all her papers and is current on her shots. Great for breeding, or great pet to LOVE. Ask me about her. The dog is free. But we just ask for a small re-homing fee."

WTF is free with a small rehoming fee? What does that mean? Getting around the rules much? This is a beautiful animal but she needs to be spayed.

I don't understand why people think that papers = breed it. Even my parents when I was younger saw it that way, (though we never actually bred a dog!) . I think that some of it may be the status symbol that some purebreds are given. In my opinion, the best way to deter people not already breeding would be to show them how many purebreds end up in rescues. According to the HSUS 20-30% of shelter animals today are purebreds. All sorts end up in rescue.

Part of the problem is lack of education. So many of these BYB's compare themselves to puppy-mills and pat themselves on the back for being so much better. Many do take good care of their animals, but this is not enough to be a responsible breeder. However, since most people don't know a quality dog or what to look for, many people are able to sell their puppies at a high profit without investing much in care/shots/proper nutrition/screening. Clearly papers=quality to many people.

I feel like the only way we can change this is education. If we can somehow advertise the wide-availability of purebreds in rescue we can get rid of a lot of these misconceptions. I'm embarrassed to say it was only recently I learned myself of the amount of purebreds in rescue and I'm genuinely interested in rescue! This means it is most likely not the general knowledge that it ought to be.

How can we fix this? Thoughts anyone?

Sorry for the downtime!

I haven't forgotten about the blog! I typed up a long entry on friday at work when we had a power outage, then had to evacuate the building because the old emergency generator gave off toxic fumes O_o

I was so frustrated that my hard work got deleted that I took the weekend off of the blog. I will be back with more entries come tomorrow!

In the meantime, if people could do me a favor, on the Western MA craigslist there is a rat "breeder" *coughbybcough* who keeps posting her rats in the pet section. They are in Chicopee and she's still got half the litter. She's been trying hard to get rid of them and has even talked about how they have the "super rare hairless gene." When they weren't gone by 4 weeks old she offered them in the general section as live snake food and saying if anyone has snake owning friends contact her. (yes this same person claims to be charging a "rehoming fee" to prevent that from occurring when advertising as pets...). If and when you see her ad, flag her ass because breeders do not belong on craigslist. She keeps changing her ad, but in general it looks like this:
Sometimes it gets flagged in minutes, othertimes in days. Please help me keep this woman from selling these animals.

Introducing: Exotic of the Week

I’m going to run a feature for a while that covers exotic animals. Once a week I will be choosing a different exotic to cover. Many people are familiar with dogs and cats but are unfamiliar with the needs of other animals. I’m doing this because it’s beneficial to break out of your comfort zone and read information regarding other species. It offers a way to compare things and get experience. It’s taken for granted that exotic animal owners know what they are doing. Owning an animal, even for a long time, does NOT automatically make a person an expert.

This is also the section where I expect the most debate. See, I don’t believe in keeping most exotics as pets. Rescuing and rehoming is okay but capturing, breeding or buying these animals is not.

What?! I’m sure some people think.

Ethically I am against them because I feel that one of the biggest components of animal welfare is animal husbandry. To keep most exotic species in the average home many compromises are made in the animal’s care. For example, animals are kept in pens far too small, on incorrect substrates or are fed diets incorrect for their species simply because nothing better is available or cat and dog food is considered good enough. Most people get these animals for the “wrong” reasons and the animals end up in rescue (if they manage to survive the poor care that long!) or languishing away. Not enough information is available on many of these species to keep the care at an adequate level even in the most well-intentioned home. Often times the resources are just too much to keep these animals; for example the needs of prairie dogs include a social structure and environment that humans are simply unable to provide in a home environment.

I am against them because wild animals do not belong in a home environment. There is no reason that a wild animal should be forced to live in substandard conditions for the sake of a person owning one. Most make horrible pets. The ones that make “great” pets often show frustrated behaviors because they are not able to do the most basic things in their natural routine. Yes even “captive bred” wild animals are still wild. Domestication is a process that takes hundreds of years, and involves breeding the best and most friendly animals.

Speaking of breeding, let’s look at the sources of where they come from. Many types of animals are wild-caught directly, or bred from wild-caught imports. Some of them are harvested as babies, such as the black-tailed prairie dog in which captive-breeding efforts have been unsuccessful. The ones that can be captive bred are often kept in mill-type conditions. Exotics are often inbred (not linebred, there is a difference in the care taken) because there aren’t enough of them and the people who bred them show no more regard to their choosing than puppy-millers. They take whatever pairs they can get, related or not. Many of these breeding animals are kept in cramped cages. They are typically sold online, in flea markets and in other places without permits of any sort. There are no fall-backs to ensure adequate care; anyone with a male and female can breed. Unlike dog and cat breeders where there is a general consensus of what makes a responsible breeder many people are so desperate for whatever rare animal they have in mind any breeder is a “good” breeder.

The biggest danger to exotic animals is the internet. There are people all over who consider themselves experts due to reading care sheets or being a regular on forums on the net. These people often correct “ignorant” folk and replace bad information with “educated” info that is just as bad. Often these people have “kept X for many years without problems!” “Problems” seems to be defined by the notion that an animal got severely sick or died as a result. Most people don’t count signs of stress, neurological behavior or shortened lifespan. They don’t count minor health problems, and since wild-animals are genetically programmed to hide pain, the real problems often go unnoticed. Since most people seem to think education just means looking up how everyone else does it, misinformation soon becomes norm and the animals suffer.

Many of the people that own exotics genuinely love their “pets” and can’t imagine life without them. Is this enough reason to allow the continuation of cruelty that goes on to continue the pet trade? Is the “responsible” “best that can be provided” substandard care enough to justify the sourcing and treatment of these animals? If 2% are well-cared for is that enough to allow the other 98% to exist in captivity? I personally don’t believe so. I feel that permits should be required for keeping exotics and that licensing and basic competency exams should be part of that. If you really DO love a species then you should be willing to jump through hoops to keep it and do what you can to protect it.

This week there is no featured animal because I didn’t want it to get buried. You are free to agree or disagree, please just be respectful and think out your comments.

A note: this section is written assuming that the species in question is legal where it is being kept, understanding that this not only varies from state to state but from county to county.

Genet picture (c) L Dawson from Wikipedia

I support the stance of the HSUS

What is a rescue?

This is something that some people heavily debate. I'm curious as to others thoughts.

I personally feel that a rescue is an official organization, generally with non-profit status that is a full-time occupation. It should be run by at the very least more than one individual. It should handle a number of cases a year and the focus should be on rehabilitating and rehoming animals of one kind or another into proper, responsible homes. Most of the animals that enter should not stay forever. However, there should be facilities available to house animals should things not work out, and in the case of rodent and bird rescues, facilities for proper quarantine.

Foster rescues are still rescues, because the foster homes themselves can count as facilities. However, in this case at he very least the vet-bills must be covered by the rescue, otherwise it is merely a foster-system. There should also be frequent check-ins to ensure that the rehabilitation process is going smoothly and there are not underlying problems in the home.

Rescues should have a good relationship with a vet that is very experienced with the animals they deal with. I don't believe in exotic rescues that lack exotic vets; I don't care if the animal is rare. If the only tiger vet is in Alabama then I expect the tiger rescues to be in Alabama, not New York. They should be able to provide basic services for their animals (in many kinds of animals, neutering and spaying) and be willing and able to provide ongoing help to adopters throughout the animal's lifespan.

Events should be seen as educational opportunities as much as funding. Details about the organization should be available on an official website. You should be able to easily see their non-profit status, how they operate, the types of animals they accept and don't accept and the overall philosophy they go by.

I believe that a rescuer can be someone working independently off their own dime and can handle as many or as few cases at they are capable of. A person that takes in 2 animals a year can be a rescuer, but is not a rescue.

I also do not believe a sanctuary is a rescue, but that is a topic all it's own. I will delve into that later.

Why You Should Never Buy From A Petstore

I’m sure if you are reading this blog that you are most likely aware that pet-store animals come from some very nasty places. Most are “mill bred” not just the puppies. It’s become out of favor to buy puppies from petstores, and I haven’t seen a cat in one my entire life! This is due to the massive (and successful!) campaign efforts that many of the humane societies, rescuers and animal advocates have done. It is a victory.

But at the same time, we forget the smaller members of our pet trade. The hamsters, the rats, the ferrets, the rabbits, the parakeets and other critters that make up the bulk of pet-store live-purchases. Why weren’t they included in these campaigns?

These two photos are from the same 10 gallon (yes, 10) tank at the same time. 6 females and a male and the litters between them. This is where your pet-store rodents come from. Places like this. This is ALSO where non-humanely raised F/T rats come from, for people who just advocate frozen-thawed without thinking about where it comes from.

This heavily pregnant female is being held by her tail for this shot, I think I see the blood from the beginnings of degloving on her tail.

Of course mill-breeding has massive effects on the health and temperament of the offspring. They are also ill-socialized and prone to fearing humans. These crowded conditions and inbreeding generally lead to animals that die before the average lifespan. In the case of rats, they are prone to URIs and tumors and often come home with mites, worms and other problems. Finding rats missing eyes or ears or with infected wounds aren’t uncommon.
It’s sad to me that there is very little information available of mills other than for puppies. Just google it yourself, there’s very little. Other species experience the same harm, the same issues that puppies do and yet it’s considered perfectly acceptable to walk out of a petstore with critters.

Next time you are in a petstore and feel tempted by those cute little faces peering at you, remember this—everyone that you buy, you support this, regardless of how nice your pet display is at your store. Reptile people, when you buy F/T without asking how it is raised you are supporting this. Buying from a petstore is not rescuing. Upgrading one animal’s life, perhaps but by paying them any amount, you tell them that this is okay and acceptable, regardless of the expression you have on your face as you buy them, or what you tell them.

Oh, and you can thank Aqualand Pets Plus a petstore from Iowa for the above fantastic pictures of proper ratcare from their pet-care sheets. Really guys, their care-sheets are worth reading...if you want nightmares.