Rainy night links

Big dude or dudette in the sky...? It's me, down here in SoCal. You can turn it off now. Drought's over. Rain gauge is busted. Thanks, dude, it's been real.

Say again?

Gonna get worse?! Gonna last the whole week?! Oh, duuuuude...


While I still have electricity, here are some links:

First of all, a must-read by Rinalia at For the Pits. [Have I mentioned that Pacelle, Goodwin and the HSUS make me puke?]

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The L.A. Times [better late than never] has a report on environmental groups' opposition to feral cat colonies, and the recent injunction by a Superior Court judge "barring the city from subsidizing or promoting the trap-neuter-release program until environmental studies are completed." For related links, see Cats in court.

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Following Pet Connection's post and discussion on Rescue pets: How do you know when it’s ‘right’?, along comes a post by Marie Finnegan at Dog Star Daily:

What I don't understand is why more people don't ask trainers their opinion in finding the right dog for them. We see and work with more breeds and shelter dogs regularly than they will ever meet in a lifetime. Some of us even live with multiple breeds in our own homes. Not to mention the fact that dog trainers know about dog behavior and breed traits because it is our job to know this information.

Makes sense, but there's that whole "arranged marriage" vibe, nome sane? I kid. It's a good idea to take a trainer you know, or better yet, a brutally honest friend and dog person. Second opinions are a good thing.

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Finally, please read Michael Jernigan's latest essay for the NY Times Home Fires project: it's an appreciation of his guide dog Brittani.

From the author's bio: Michael Jernigan, a contributor to Home Fires, served in 2004 with Easy Company, Second Battalion, Second Marine Regiment in Mahmudiya, Zadon, and Falluja, Iraq, where he was severely injured and blinded by a roadside bomb. He was medically retired from the Marine Corps in December 2005.

If I try to quote part of the article, I'll end up doing a copy-and-paste of the whole thing. Also, the link is in the essay, but I'll reprint it here: read more about the Paws for Patriots program at Southeastern Guide Dogs.

Cats in court

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes: Don Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuñiga, 1788. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Talk about a controversial story with next-to-zero coverage in the local news: a Los Angeles Superior Court judge "has banned Los Angeles animal shelters from encouraging feral cat colonies pending an environmental review."

The Urban Wildlands Group, Endangered Habitats League, Los Angeles Audubon Society, Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society, Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society, and the American Bird Conservancy were plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles and the L.A. Department of Animal Services. Here is the ABC's statement on the ruling. Excerpt:

A superior court judge has ruled in favor of a coalition of conservation groups, including American Bird Conservancy (ABC), to halt the controversial practice of Trap, Neuter, and Release (TNR) of feral cats in the City of Los Angeles, pending environmental review.

The court determined that the City and its Department of Animal Services had been “secretly and unofficially” promoting the practice of releasing feral cats to roam free in the city after they have been trapped and neutered or spayed, even though they were obliged by law to first conduct a review of the program under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
[...]
Despite denials by the City that an official TNR program existed, the judge ruled that “implementation of the program is pervasive, albeit informal and unspoken,” and ordered them to halt their actions and complete the necessary environmental reviews.

In June 2005, the Los Angeles Board of Animal Services Commissioners adopted TNR as the “preferred method of dealing with feral cat populations.” Under the CEQA, an analysis of the impacts of the program on the environment should have been completed, but never was. Yet the Department went forward in supporting TNR operations, including discounting spay/neuter operations for TNR cats, helping establish new TNR colonies on city property, and helping promote TNR programs, while refusing to accept feral cats at city animal shelters or issue permits to trap feral cats that were not going to be subsequently released.

The City must now implement the CEQA process, which includes full scientific review, assessment of alternatives, and potential mitigation measures. The public will have the opportunity to engage in the process and ensure an open, science-based approach to the issue of free-roaming cats in Los Angeles.

And speaking of science, this article from the September-October issue of Audubon is a must-read. [Related blog discussion here.] Also check out Critical Assessment of Claims Regarding Management of Feral Cats by Trap–Neuter–Return [pdf].

Related:
Birds 1, Feral Cats 0 -- Court Orders LA To Stop Controversial Feral Cat Program

Liveblogging No More Homeless Pets Conference: Opening
Liveblogging No More Homeless Pets: What’s new in feral cats?
[Honestly, when I hear someone say, "Don’t give them a chance to argue with you. There’s only one solution, and that’s to let the cats live; proceed from there," I ask myself, Did I miss that election? The one that made feral cat colonies more important than wild birds, sea mammals, the environment, public health...? Because that position is insane, and I like cats.]

Here are three posts from Ed Muzika's L.A. Animal Watch:

Urban Wildlife Wins Lawsuit Against City; TNR illegal Until CEQA Done

Longcore Refuses to Respond to My Charge That His Call for Cat Sanctuary Is a Cynical Cover For His Death Recommendations

Longcore Attacks Every Measure on Proposed Beverly Hills TNR Ordinance--A Sample

And an oldie from the NY Times: Kill the Cat that Kills the Bird?

Paging Jonathan Safran Foer

Maybe the authors of the study should get back to us once they've given everything they own to the poor and have subsisted on nothing but fallen fruit for a few years. I keed. But the suggestion that pariah dogs are "better for the planet" than companion dogs? That's just messed up. Click to embiggen.

Are dogs really worse for the environment than SUVs?

I keep a bunch of them [dogs, not Land Cruisers] and I beg to differ. Children are worse for the environment than SUVs, not that I'm advocating shipping all kids to Mars, because then I'd be out of a job. Companion dogs make the world a better place. We need more of them.

Stray and feral cats, though, are another story. And no, I'm not just saying this because neighborhood strays are busy hunting wild birds in my backyard [or would be, if it weren't for my dogs]. I'm saying this because of a bug that kills sea otters and other marine mammals. I'm saying this because outdoor and feral cats generally have short lives marked by contagious disease and infection, and miserable deaths.

Inside cats: wonderful! My Gus [formerly feral, from the local pound] was a super terrific cat [an inside-only, non-declawed cat, for the record].

Outside cats: bad news. Feral cat colonies: don't even get me started. Best solution: trap, neuter, and adopt them out or send 'em to a sanctuary. And let me make this as clear as I can: feral cats themselves are not to blame for the problems they cause and the countless ills they suffer. That blame falls squarely on people who believe that feral cat colonies must be maintained at any cost, environmental and public health concerns be damned.


Also: if Jonathan Safran Foer ever saw what a combine does to wildlife [I've seen it], he'd never eat wheat or oats or barley again. Eating fallen fruit from native plants is the only way to go. That, and hunting.

Cat mutilations: 18-year old arrested in Miami

And he's a white kid, so we'll see how virulent the "Skin him alive!" and "I hope his cellmate is a cat-lover!" internet outrage gets.

And yes, that kind of noise always freaks me out. Cruelty isn't justice. It's just cruelty.

Teen arrested in Miami-area cat mutilations

"Waffles grabbed a bee"

"Oh man! No more terrorist fist-bumps for Waffles..."

Truly, a priceless photograph and title [and comment]. From Wary Meyers, via the most excellent Hello Bauldoff.

Dunno about cats, but dogs can, and do, die from bee stings. A friend of mine has a corgi that's allergic to bee stings and goes into anaphylactic shock when stung — or would go into shock, if my friend didn't always keep an EpiPen® handy. If your cat or dog has reactions to bee stings, ask your vet about EpiPen®.

More info on bee stings and anaphylaxis:
Drs. Foster & Smith
Short-legged breeds - bee magnets?

My first [and last] "Caturday" post

Maru the cat at play. L'oeuvre de Maru. [H/T: Boing Boing.]

Narrow street

Photo by Pino Buongiorno.

Feline trouble

Both are from the director's YouTube site, with a new video due soon.

Run, Stuart, run!

Holly scares the rodents away at home, a deli in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Photo by Richard Perry for the NY Times.

So, where would you rather shop: a deli kept free of rodents by a resident cat, or a deli with no cat? [Hint: the deli with no cat has poisons, traps AND live rodents leaving their calling cards all over the merchandise.]

Cat, please.

Across the city, delis and bodegas are a familiar and vital part of the streetscape, modest places where customers can pick up necessities, a container of milk, a can of soup, a loaf of bread.

Amid the goods found in the stores, there is one thing that many owners and employees say they cannot do without: their cats. And it goes beyond cuddly companionship. These cats are workers, tireless and enthusiastic hunters of unwanted vermin, and they typically do a far better job than exterminators and poisons.

Many bodega owners reason that a cat is less of a health threat than an army of nibbling rats. “If cats live in homes and apartments where people have food, a cat shouldn’t be a threat in a store if it’s well maintained,” Mr. Fernández said.

Amen. I'm all for the legalization of store cats -- and they even have a site of their own: check out Working Class Cats.

I am not much of a cat person, and can't have one as long as someone whose initial is B lives here, but I am totally wanting a cat now.

"I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul." - Jean Cocteau