Last week, the agricultural subcommittee of the Virginia House of Delegates considered House Bill 429, which would add the add the following sentence to section 3.2-6546 of the Virginia Code: However, no pound may euthanize, or prohibit the adoption of, any dog based solely on breed. AWLA Executive Director Kay Speerstra traveled to Richmond to [...]
Archive for January, 2010
AWLA Explains Stance on VA HB 429
Posted in AWLA Policies, DC Area Rescue Orgs, Principles on January 31, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Insider View of AWLA Dog Evaluations
Posted in AWLA Policies, Principles on January 29, 2010 | 6 Comments »
Here’s a post sent to us by an AWLA insider who read the front-page article in AWLA’s Pawpourri newsletter about dog evaluations and felt compelled to present a less whitewashed view of those evaluations. ***** When a dog is brought into the AWLA shelter, either as an owner surrender or as a stray, a lot [...]
AWLA Defends Breed-Based Killing
Posted in County Contract, Principles on January 26, 2010 | 13 Comments »
Majority Leader Morgan Griffith recently submitted House Bill 429 for consideration by the Virginia House of Delegates. HB 429 proposes adding the following words to section 3.2-6546 of the Virginia Code: However, no pound may euthanize, or prohibit the adoption of, any dog based solely on breed. This language would prevent animal shelters from killing [...]
Missing the Forest for the Trees
Posted in AWLA Policies, DC Area Rescue Orgs, Principles on January 22, 2010 | 2 Comments »
The front-page article in the winter edition of AWLA’s Pawpourri newsletter is about behavior evaluations for dogs. It’s much longer than a typical Pawpourri article — seven full columns — and includes an excerpt from a 2003 article in Animal Sheltering, a magazine published by Wayne Pacelle’s HSUS. (This is the same HSUS that in [...]
Terminology Change
Posted in AWLA Policies, Principles on January 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
My “Random House Dictionary of the English Language” includes this definition: euthanasia: the act of putting to death painlessly a person suffering from an incurable and painful disease or condition. From now on, we’ll adhere to that definition when discussing animals, i.e. animals put to death painlessly when suffering from an incurable and painful disease [...]
Fee Waivers Boost Cat Adoptions
Posted in AWLA Policies, Yardsticks on January 4, 2010 | 1 Comment »
A reader sent this link to a USA Today story about shelters that have waived adoption fees for some or all cats and seen dramatic increases in adoption rates: http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/pets/2010-01-03-cat-adoptions_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip This is something AWLA should try for cats that have spent more than a few weeks on view at the shelter (though to avoid scammers, [...]
