Category: News

Chinese Woman Buys 100 Pups Headed for Yulin Dog Meat Festival

Like millions of other animal lovers around the world, retired schoolteacher Yang Xiaoyun is disgusted by the annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival.

During this festival, celebrated on the summer solstice each year, meat from about 10,000 dogs (and some cats) — many of them stolen family pets — is enjoyed by hundreds of people.

But unlike nearly 4 million (and counting) other outraged people, Xiaoyun didn’t merely sign an online petition asking the governor to end the festival.

She got in her car and drove 1,550 miles to Yulin in an effort to spare as many dogs as she could from their terrible fate, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report.

Xiaoyun paid 7,000 yuan (about $1,000) yesterday to buy 100 of the dogs. She brought them to her home in Tianjin, where she runs the “Common Home for All” pet shelter.

This hero is not alone. Other animal lovers and organizations have also traveled to Yulin to demonstrate against the festival and try to save some of the doomed dogs.

The festival has nothing to do with Chinese tradition. It was started only to raise money for dog meat traders by boosting the dwindling sales of dog meat. Although an estimated 10 million dogs are killed for their meat each year in China, eating dogs is actually on the decline in that country.

“I often hear people say that we shouldn’t interfere with tradition, but it isn’t Chinese tradition to brutalize animals in this way,” Peter Li, China specialist for Humane Society International (HSI), said in a news release. “Eating dog meat hasn’t been considered fashionable or decent in China for more than a thousand years.”

Yulin’s Dirty Little Secret Exposed by Social Media

Although the Dog Meat Festival has pretty much flown under the international radar since it was first held in 2010, thanks to social media, it’s no longer Yulin’s dirty little secret.

Celebrities like Ricky Gervais have been tweeting pleas to end the festival, using the hashtag #StopYuLin2015.

“I’ve seen the footage that HSI has captured on video, and it breaks my heart,” Gervais said in the HSI news release.

“I will never forget the look of bewilderment and fear on the faces of these poor animals — the dogs and cats await a horrible fate. No animal deserves to be treated like this.”

About that horrible fate Gervais is referring to: In order to make their meat more tender, the dogs are pounded with clubs while they’re still alive. Their throats are then slit with knives that are often dull, and then they are skinned — again, often while they’re still alive. (A hidden camera captured much of the barbaric process in an extremely graphic Daily Mail story posted today. You’ve been warned.)

Yulin city officials insist the festival is not a sanctioned event.

“The ‘summer solstice lychee and dog meat festival’ is a commercial term, the city has never [officially] organised a dog meat festival;” Yulin’s news office tweeted on the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, according to the AFP.

Four years ago, a similar dog meat festival in Zhejiang’s Jinghua was ended at the urging of Chinese animal lovers. With all the negative attention being bestowed upon Yulin, it’s time for the city to follow Jinghua’s lead and end the slaughter.

How You Can Help End the Yulin Dog Meat Festival

Photos via Facebook; Twitter

What the What? Cat Wins spcaLA 2015 Hero Dog Award

For the first time in the award’s 33-year history, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles (spcaLA) has given its annual Hero Dog honor to a cat.

That’s right. Tara, a 7-year-old Tabby from Bakersfield, Calif., received the prestigious award today, along with a year’s supply of cat food.

You’ll probably remember this amazing cat from a viral May 2014 video. As 5-year-old Jeremy Triantafilo played in his front yard, a neighbor’s dog ran at him, bit his leg and pulled him off his bicycle. Before Jeremy’s mom, Erica, could do anything, Tara pounced on the dog, scaring him off.

The entire incident was recorded on the family’s security camera. Jeremy’s dad, Roger, uploaded the video to YouTube, where it’s been viewed more than 24 million times.

“We were so impressed by Tara’s bravery and fast action that the selection committee decided that a cat this spectacular should be the National Hero Dog,” spcaLA President Madeline Bernstein said in a press release.

“A cat who was abused, forgotten, or neglected by her family would not have been as likely to perform selfless, heroic acts to save her companion.”

Jeremy needed 10 stitches on his leg, but if not for Tara, who was a former stray adopted by the Triantafilo family, it could have been a lot worse.

The dog, an 8-month-old Chow/Lab mix, was surrendered by his owner to the City of Bakersfield Animal Care Center. Although several people offered to adopt and rehabilitate him, and thousands more signed online petitions asking that his life be spared, he was euthanized by the shelter per the owner’s request, the Bakersfield Californian reported on May 27, 2014.

The spcaLA National Hero Dog Award “continues to be a testament to how being kind to animals can be rewarding in so many ways,” according to the non-profit organization.

Good dog — er, cat — Tara!

Photos: spcaLA

Congress Votes to Return Military Dogs to US and Reunite Them with Handlers

JUNE 9, 2017 UPDATE: “Meagan Leavey” is now a major motion picture.

NOV. 25, 2015 UPDATE: Today President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law.

On average, every U.S. military working dog saves from 150 to 200 servicemen and women during his career. And what rewards are bestowed upon these heroes when they retire from duty overseas?

None. The sad fact is that they are usually left behind on enemy soil, since these retired working dogs are considered civilians and not permitted on military vehicles. The cost to transport them home is prohibitive.

But working military dogs may no longer have to face this undeserved fate. Yesterday the U.S. Senate voted 71-25 to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes a provision that these dogs will be returned by the military to U.S. soil when they retire, and their handlers will have first dibs on adopting them as pets.

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer (yes, he’s a second cousin of comedian Amy Schumer) pushed for the bill’s language that allows handlers to adopt the dogs who served alongside them.

“After all we know about treating debilitating post war conditions, like PTSD and other health afflictions, it makes absolute sense to keep service members joined with their service dogs,” Schumer said in a Memorial Day press release. “Here we have a commonsense policy that is good for the animals that give it their all for America — and for the American heroes who love these dogs so dearly.”

Three years ago, Schumer helped Cpl. Meagan Leavey adopt Sgt. Rex, her military working dog. Since Rex was 10 years old at the time and in declining health, Schumer urged the Air Force to expedite the process. All former military working dogs should be able to enjoy a retirement like Leavey gave Rex, Schumer said — one of “love, devotion and gratitude.”

The NDAA provision, supported by the American Humane Association (AHA), was introduced in the House by Rep. Frank LoBiondo and in the Senate by Sen. Claire McCaskill.

“Today, America’s military working dogs are one step closer to being guaranteed treatment as the heroes they are,” said Dr. Robin Ganzert, AHA president and CEO, in a press release today.

“We believe all our veterans – two-footed and four-footed – should come back to a hero’s welcome, a loving, forever home, and the happy, healthy, and dignified retirement they so deserve after a lifetime of service to their country,” Dr. Ganzert said.

“That hope is now within sight of becoming a reality.”

Photo credits: The U.S. Army; Cpl. Michelle Brinn

Study Finds Our Dogs Snub People Who Snub Us

This probably isn’t exactly earth-shaking news to most pet parents, but a new study confirmed that if your dog sees someone snub you, don’t expect your dog to warm up to that person.

Researchers at Kyoto University in Japan discovered that dogs will refuse food from someone who has not been helpful to their pet parents. The study, to be published later this month in the science journal, Animal Behaviour, proved that dogs have the ability to cooperate socially, which very few species (besides humans and some other primates) are capable of doing.

“We discovered for the first time that dogs make social and emotional evaluations of people, regardless of their direct interest,” Kazuo Fujita, a professor of comparative cognition who led the study, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Three groups of 18 dogs and their pet parents participated in the study. In each group, the dogs watched as their pet parents tried to open a box and asked two strangers for help.

In one group, one of the strangers refused to help the pet parent. In another group, one of the strangers helped open the box. In the third group, neither stranger interacted with the pet parent. In all three groups, one of the strangers remained neutral.

Each dog was then offered food by the two strangers. Fujita said the dogs who had watched their pet parents being rebuffed were much more likely to take food from the neutral stranger and ignore the stranger who refused to help.

The dogs in the other groups showed no preference for accepting food from the stranger who helped or the neutral stranger.

This proved the dogs were not acting out of self-interest, Fujita said. If that had been the case, an equal number of dogs would have accepted food from each of the strangers.

“We discovered for the first time that dogs make social and emotional evaluations of people regardless of their direct interest,” Fujita said.

“This ability is one of the key factors in building a highly collaborative society, and this study shows that dogs share that ability with humans.”

Photo credit: David Mertl

Chicago Police Save Life of Dog Shot in Domestic Dispute

While responding to a call regarding a domestic dispute late Wednesday afternoon, Chicago Police officers Steven Ommundson and Eugene Shields came across Sophie, a 6-year-old Shepherd/Lab mix.

Sophie had just been shot in the head, apparently by a man who also shot another man and then turned the gun on himself. The men died, but Sophie was still alive.

“It was kind of emotional because I grew up with dogs and just seeing a dog in that state, I mean, it’s a lot to take in,” Ommundson told WLS.

“I kept thinking to myself, how could someone do this to man’s best friend? You know, the dog didn’t do anything to anybody. It just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The officers carried Sophie to their patrol car and rushed her to BluePearl Veterinary Partners in Skokie, Ill.

“She was extremely disoriented and distressed when she was brought in,” Dr. Lauren Nazarian, a veterinarian with the hospital, told the Chicago Tribune. “We didn’t know at that point whether it hit her brain or what her outcome would be.”

Both Dr. Nazarian and Dr. David Wilson, a veterinary surgeon, credit the quick actions of officers Ommundson and Shields for saving Sophie’s life. She arrived at the hospital less than 15 minutes after she had been shot.

The day after she received emergency treatment, Sophie was able to stand on her own and even walk with a little assistance.

“Under the circumstances, she is doing quite well,” Dr. Wilson said today in a news release. “We’re mostly concerned about the trauma she sustained to her nervous system. We’ll know more about the extent of her injuries in the coming days. But I’m really impressed with her resiliency.”

Sophie suffered damage to her skull and jaw. Fragments from the bullet are lodged in her neck and shoulders.

Dr. Nazarian told the Tribune it could have been a lot worse had the bullet hit Sophie’s brain.

Sophie is expected to need about another week of care at BluePearl, and then she will be available for adoption. The hospital has already been getting calls from potential pet parents.

The medical expenses for Sophie’s treatment could reach more than $10,000. The non-profit Frankie’s Friends has launched an online fundraiser to help pay her bill. As of late Friday afternoon, more than $5,000 has been raised. All funds raised above the goal will go toward other pets in need.

“Sophie has a long road to recovery,” Dr. Wilson said, “but so far, she’s off to a great start.”

Photos via BluePearl Veterinary Partners

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