Pitty and Kitty She Nursed Will Get a Forever Home Together

A volunteer with Dallas Dogrrr–Rescue.Rehab.Reform. thought she was only rescuing a starving Pit Bull who’d been dumped by the side of a Dallas road last week. But an employee at a nearby junkyard told her the dog, who had recently had puppies, was nursing a two-day-old kitten who had also been abandoned.

Sure enough, when the volunteer found the kitten and brought her to the Pit Bull, the dog immediately cleaned her as she would one of her own puppies, and began nursing her.

The volunteer took them to Mercy Animal Clinic in Garland, Texas, where the pair is now under the care of Dr. Rick Hamlin.

The Pit Bull “had been nursing the kitten and had just dried up,” Dr. Hamlin told ABC News. He said the kitten would have died within a day, and the timing of the Dallas Dogrrr volunteer finding them was “the stars aligning.”

The dog and kitten, who both happen to be black and white, have been named Pitty and Kitty (although Dallas Dogrrr refers to them as Wilma and Pebbles on their Facebook page).

Dr. Hamlin takes Kitty home at night to bottle-feed her. The first night he removed her from the cage she shares with Pitty, the Pit Bull started howling. “It was the first vocalization she made since she arrived,” he told ABC News.

When Kitty was returned to their cage the next morning, Pitty “cleaned and cleaned and cleaned” her, Dr. Hamlin said. “It was a tremendous reunion.”

He told ABC News, “Pitty adopted Kitty and provided maternal needs for Kitty. Hysteria around Pit Bulls is exactly that.” Right on, doctor!

The pair will only be adopted together. According to Mercy Animal Clinic’s Facebook page, Pitty and Kitty “have a potential adopter who lives very close!”

Dallas Dogrrr was in the news earlier this month for rescuing a dog who lead them through the woods to a mother dog and their puppies. To help them continue their great work saving abandoned animals, you can make a donation via their new gofundme.com page.

Photo via Facebook

Proposed Nevada Law Would Mean Happier Endings for Laboratory Dogs

JUNE 23, 2015 UPDATE: Excellent news! Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval has signed this bill into law, and declared June 23 “Beagle Freedom Project Day” in Nevada. The law goes into effect on Oct. 1, 2015. Many thanks to the Beagle Freedom Project, Sen. Mark Manendo and other compassionate lawmakers for their hard work in getting this bill passed.

About 65,000 dogs are used in laboratory tests across the U.S. every year. When the tests are completed, most of those dogs are euthanized.

“Let’s move some of these precious babies from incarceration to liberation,” Nevada Sen. Mark Manendo told the Senate Natural Resources Committee during a meeting yesterday, the Associated Press reports.

Manedo and a majority of other Nevada lawmakers are sponsoring a “Beagle Freedom Bill” (SB261) that would require laboratories to give healthy dogs (and cats) to non-profit rescue organizations when the research is done. It also stipulates that an animal can only be used for testing for a maximum of two years.

The bill is supported by the Beagle Freedom Project (BFP) , a service of Animal Rescue Media and Education (ARME). Beagles are the most common breed used in laboratory tests, thanks to their sweet and docile temperament.

“Whether or not a dog or cat gets a chance at a life outside of the lab is completely discretionary and often dependent on the volunteer time of a staff member,” said ARME President Shannon Keith at yesterday’s meeting.

Most laboratory staff members choose not to volunteer their time, according to the BFP website.

It’s not surprising that laboratories are opposed to the bill. They claim it would mean more animals would be needed for testing because of the two-year timeframe.

The Nevada Veterinary Medical Association also opposes the required timeframe, claiming it would limit the testing of long-term effects of drugs and surgical procedures, as well as the ability to study geriatrics. The association also doesn’t see why a law requiring the animals to be adopted is necessary; instead, adoptions could be coordinated via working relationships between laboratories and rescue organizations.

While federal and state laws regulate laboratory animals’ bedding, food and water access, enrichment devices and pain management, until last year there was no legislation regarding what happens to the animals when the research ends.

In 2014, Minnesota became the first state to pass a law requiring that laboratory animals be made available for adoption. Similar laws are also currently being proposed in California, Connecticut and New York.

The Beagle Freedom Project also supports a nationwide federal ban on cosmetic testing on animals.

“After all these animals have endured for human products, pharmaceuticals, and academic curiosities they deserve a chance at a real life!” its website states.

With so many advances in technology, hopefully alternatives can be found in the not-too-distant future, and animal testing will be banned altogether.

Photos via Facebook; Mariano Szklanny

Owner of Dog Dumped at Gas Station Releases Her for $400

Butterbean will never be dumped at a Louisiana gas station again.

In a photo that went viral last week, the German Shepherd mix was seen chasing her owners’ pickup truck on a busy Louisiana highway after being left behind at the Highway 11 Shell station in Slidell.

As it turned out, this wasn’t the first time her owners had pulled this horrible stunt.

“It’s not uncommon at all for this family to abandon the dog at the station and let it chase their truck,” Jeff Dorson, director of the Humane Society of Louisiana, told ABC News last week. “They’ve done this multiple times and apparently think it’s no big deal, and they don’t seem to care about the welfare of the dog.”

Butterbean appeared to be happy and uninjured, Dorson said. However, the 6-year-old dog had been dumped in the area as a puppy, so it seems that being abandoned again and again (not to mention having to run through traffic to keep up with her owners) would be especially stressful for her.

“We are truly amazed that Butterbean has survived this many years,” Dorson told the Times-Picayune.

When the Humane Society of Louisiana first contacted Butterbean’s owners about giving their dog up for adoption so she could live in a safer, more compassionate home, the owners refused.

“They stated their intention is to now keep her tethered in their backyard, which of course is not an acceptable way to maintain a family dog in our view, apart from the history of extremely irresponsible pet ‘ownership,'” the Humane Society wrote on its Facebook page Friday.

Dorson told ABC News the Humane Society was “pursuing all avenues to gain legal custody of Butterbean to ensure she has the safe and happy life she deserves.” Her case was escalated to St. Tammany Animal Services, which has the authority to directly intervene.

Yesterday, one of Butterbean’s owners, Lisa Pearson, received a warning from St. Tammany Animal Services. Instead of taking Butterbean to a shelter or vet, Pearson said she would give up the dog — for $400. The cash was donated from the Humane Society.

“We certainly don’t like to reward this kind of behavior, but sometimes it simply takes too long for cases to move through the legal system,” Dorson said in a news release today. “Our first concern was Butterbean’s safety. We were convinced she could be let loose again to run in traffic at any time, and we might miss our opportunity to intervene.”

Butterbean is being treated for a heartworm infection and will be available for adoption soon. Dorson said anyone interested in giving her a forever home must go through an application and interview process. (Want to bet that one of the questions is, “Would you enjoy dumping Butterbean at a gas station for fun?”)

Dorson said the Humane Society is delighted that Butterbean’s story will have a happy ending. It won’t be such a happy ending for Butterbean’s previous owners, who are facing citations for violating several state laws. Pearson signed an agreement not to allow any animal to roam at large in the future, and not to chain or tether any animal, either.

The new campaign “Butterbean Buddies” has just been launched to help other dogs who are abandoned, chained or tethered.

“We’d love to save 500 dogs or more through our Butterbean Buddies during the next year,” Dorson said. It costs the Humane Society of Louisiana about $500 to rescue, provide veterinary care for, and spay or neuter a homeless dog. Housing, food and transporting the dog for adoption can cost an additional $500.

“If only a handful of people concerned about Butterbean pitched in to help, we could save thousands of dogs here in Louisiana,” Dorson said.

If you’re interested in adopting Butterbean, contact the Furry Friends Animal Hospital at 504-366-6060.

To donate to Butterbean Buddies, click here or send a check to Humane Society of Louisiana, PO Box 740321, New Orleans, LA 70174.

Photos via Facebook, Facebook

Abused Puppy Thrown in L.A. River Makes an Amazing Recovery (VIDEO)

It’s really a miracle that a horrifically abused puppy named Jordan is alive today.

Someone saw the puppy being thrown 30 feet into a concrete portion of the Los Angeles River. The eyewitness contacted L.A. on Cloud 9, a local charity that helps homeless people and their pets.

That group contacted Hope for Paws, which made a video of its rescue of the starved, mange-covered puppy from the riverbed.

“Oh my god,” gasps Eldad Hagar, founder of the non-profit, as he lifts the frail puppy into his arms. “Someone literally cut off his foot.”

Hagar gently puts the puppy in a basket, and volunteers raise him to street level. On the way to an animal hospital, Hagar names the puppy Jordan.

The hospital staff bandaged Jordan’s rear leg and gave him a bath. He received a blood transfusion from Laila, a dog Hope for Paws had rescued earlier that week.

Four days later, Jordan was strong enough to have surgery on his leg. Unfortunately, it had to be amputated.

Jordan was released from the hospital and began to thrive at the home of his loving foster mom, Lisa Chiarelli. His fur-legged foster sisters, Lola and Frankie, were also happy to look after him.

After a few weeks of physical therapy, you’d never know that Jordan has fewer than four legs. The small pup has no problem keeping up with his big (literally) sisters.

“Though Jordan lost his leg, he never lost HOPE,” reads a title on Hagar’s video of the puppy’s amazing recovery.

Hope for Paws is asking for a $5 donation; click here to help them make more miracles come true. Remember the viral 2012 video of a matted, blind Poodle named Fiona getting an amazing makeover? That was also the work of Hope for Paws.

Be warned that parts of this video are very graphic and difficult to watch. A longer, 9-minute version can be viewed on the Hope for Paws website.

Photos via YouTube

‘Abandoned’ Dog’s Owners Frequently Dump Her at Gas Station for Fun

It was a picture that broke a million hearts this week: A German Shepherd mix seen chasing her owner’s pickup truck on a busy Louisiana highway after he dumped her at a gas station.

To add to the heartache, the dog seen in the photo, snapped by Lorie Hollis on her cell phone Monday, then seemed to disappear.

“I saw a gentleman walking around the gas station with the dog following him, and I thought he was homeless,” Hollis told ABC News. “He then sat on the back of this pickup truck and talked to the dog, who seemed to be very in tune to what he was saying.”

She said another man came out and told the dog to go away. “He shut the tailgate, and the dog tries to put its paws up to climb, but he just enters the truck and they back up real fast, almost hitting the dog, and speed off.”

Hollis followed behind them, watching the dog weave around cars as he chased the pickup truck. “The truck crossed two lanes of traffic, and still the dog followed,” she said.

When Hollis lost sight of them, she returned to the Highway 11 Shell gas station in Slidell, where an employee told her the dog lived in the area and to “mind her own f-ing business.”

The dog’s owners were finally tracked down Thursday by the Humane Society of Louisiana. Its director, Jeff Dorson, told ABC News the dog, Butterbean, was uninjured and very sweet, but the discovery was “incredulous.”

“It’s not uncommon at all for this family to abandon the dog at the station and let it chase their truck,” Dorson said. “They’ve done this multiple times and apparently think it’s no big deal, and they don’t seem to care about the welfare of the dog.”

Butterbean, who had been dumped in the neighborhood as a puppy, is between 6 and 7 years old. “We are truly amazed that Butterbean has survived this many years,” Dorson told the Times-Picayune.

The dog is apparently co-owned by two families. She was found Thursday on the property of one of her pet parents, Lisa Pearson.

Dorson said the humane society would educate Pearson and the other owners about the dangers they’re posing to their dog, named Butterbean, and other drivers. “We’re hoping to get a citation issued through our local animal control against the owners for having their dog at large,” he said.

According to an update on the Humane Society of Louisiana’s Facebook page yesterday, the owners are refusing to rehome Butterbean. “They stated their intention is to now keep her tethered in their backyard, which of course is not an acceptable way to maintain a family dog in our view, apart from the history of extremely irresponsible pet ‘ownership,'” the humane society wrote.

Butterbean’s case has been escalated to St. Tammany Animal Services, which has the authority to directly intervene. Dorson told ABC News yesterday the humane society is currently “pursuing all avenues to gain legal custody of Butterbean to ensure she has the safe and happy life she deserves.”

Meanwhile, a Shell gas station employee named Sandra told an ABC News reporter on the phone, “Everyone is making a big deal, and it needs to stop.”

Many commenters on the Humane Society of Louisiana’s Facebook update support Butterbean’s owners. “All of you need to back away and leave these people and their pet alone!!” wrote Gregg NVicki Miller. “Has been happy until you decided that you are not happy with the way somebody else lives their lives. I don’t like the way you think its OK to step all over somebody.”

I wonder if Gregg NVicki Miller were driving down Highway 11 and struck and killed happy Butterbean, he’d feel the same way.

Photos via Facebook, Facebook

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