Scraps & Treats

The Iams Friends for Life Fund had such success in raising money to aid disaster relief for pets in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita it has now become a permanent fixture of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation (a community of philanthropic organizations). The Friends for Life Fund recently awarded nearly $60,000 to seven organizations that helped care for animals displaced by the hurricanes. Grant recipients include Operation Kindness (Carrollton, TX), Middleburg Humane Foundation (Marshall, VA), Humane Society of South Mississippi (Gulfport, MS), Humane Society of North Texas (Fort Worth, TX), Humane Society of Tulsa (Tulsa, OK), Animal Sanctuary of the US (San Antonio, TX) and the Louisiana State University Foundation (Baton Rouge, LA). The Iams Friends for Life Fund at the Greater Cincinnati Foundation will now be used to support not only disaster relief, but also rescue and adoption, responsible guardianship, and pet therapy programs wherever and whenever they are needed.
For more information visit www.IamsFriendsForLife.com or www.GreaterCincinnatiFDN.org/page25510.cfm.

 

Move over Great Wall of China, you’ve got competition. Angered by the number of unwanted dogs put to death each year in her native Ireland, artist Mary O’Connor has decided to take matters into her own hands. She’s created the Million Dog Wall Project to take a stance against pet overpopulation. O’Connor is asking people all over the world to upload a digital pic of their dog and email it to her website for $1 (or whatever is affordable). Once she hits the million dog mark, she plans to use the donations to print a giant photograph of the pooches and display it in capital cities around the world to show how important pets are to their people. Remaining funds will be used to build a new shelter in Dublin. So far hundreds have participated.
For more information visit www.MaryPOconnor.com/dogwall.html or email Dogs@marypoconnor.com.

Recent legislation across the U.S. has animal advocates smiling. Lawmakers in Maine made history in March when they enacted a first-in-the-nation law that allows judges to include pets in protection orders for spouses and partners leaving abusive relationships. Growing evidence of the link between domestic violence and animal abuse fueled the decision. In Santa Clara County California, an ordinance passed that calls for adding the word “guardian” to any reference to people with pets in county documents (the term is now pet “owner/guardian”). In making such a change, Santa Clara County joins other U.S. cities including Boulder, Berkeley, West Hollywood, and the state of Rhode Island. County supervisors are hoping the wording change will be part of an overall education program ultimately reducing
the number of stray and abandoned animals in the county. And finally, in Chicago, the City Council passed an ordinance that prohibits the sale of foie gras, a culinary “delicacy” made by the inhumane factory farming practice of force-feeding ducks or geese to create a diseased, fattened liver. According to HSUS, Chicago joins California and more than a dozen countries—including the United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland—in taking legislative action on the issue of foie gras and cruel force-feeding practices.