Louisiana Pet Lawyer

Let's Stop Puppy Mills: Start at Home

Please contact the Petland on Seigen Lane (225-291-7447) and tell them you are concerned about Petland's support of puppy mills.  And please carefully consider giving puppies as gifts at Christmas. Puppies are a not just a cute little bundle of fur; they are a lifetime committement. If you do decide to get a puppy, please buy from a reputable breeder and consider adopting from a shelter.

The Humane Society of the United States has just completed an investigation of puppy mills and found Petland to be a big supporter. They write:

Maybe you saw Oprah’s show on puppy mills earlier this year, and wondered how this cruelty can persist and who’s responsible.
 
Today, The Humane Society of the United States released the results of a shocking investigation showing that pet store chain Petland Incorporated is the nation's largest retail supporter of puppy mills. The cruelty must end – watch our video and take action today.
 
Our national, eight-month investigation shows that Petland stores in multiple states are marketing dogs from cruel puppy mills to unsuspecting dog buyers. The investigation into Petland stores in Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, and other states revealed that many of the puppies sold at these stores came from massive commercial breeders in Missouri and other states in the Midwest where hundreds of breeding dogs are packed into filthy, crowded cages.
 
Most of the puppies bred at puppy mills are eventually sold over the Internet or through pet stores, including many Petlands in the U.S. The unseen victims are the mother dogs who are forced to live their entire lives behind bars – without exercise, without socialization, without ever being part of a family or even seeing the outside of their cages.
 
We are committed to stopping puppy mill cruelty, but we can’t do it without your help. The holiday puppy-buying season is in high gear, so please watch our video and then tell Petland to stop selling puppies.

Act locally by contacting a Petland franchise near you and tell them you are concerned about puppy mills.

Tail wag: HSUS

Prayers for Pets

Our guest author for this post is Melanie Kadair. Many thanks to Melanie for sharing information about this worthy organization. Melanie writes:

Prayers for Pets is a wonderful, growing international and Christian denominational group of folks who have come together for the purpose of seeking God where the needs of animals are concerned. Our 'fearless leader', Kate Shue, was given the vision that a place to go when one needs prayer for the "other" member of the household, was an area that was generally lacking or unavailable. So Kate started prayersforpets.org with the idea that prayer requests could be submitted for anything having to do with animals, their owners, as well as general people requests.

Over 11 years and in the neighborhood of 20,000 prayer requests later, Prayers for Pets has developed into a great resource of comfort for the hurting, hope for the ailing, and miracle after miracle from long missing animals being returned home, to diseases being inexplicable healed.

We, at Prayers for Pets, are thrilled with pets and the concerns of owners being taken seriously by good lawyers.

BRAVA! And thank you!

Pet Groomers and Licensing

Did you miss it?

Cheryl Mercedes' story on pet injuries at grooming facilities and the possibility of licensing groomers. The story generated a lot of comments on this blog and plenty of calls to Channel 9. Find out what all the commotion is about.

Here's the link: http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?s=8256490

Pet Groomers Licensing & Injuries

Tune into Channel 9 this Wednesday at 10 p.m. for Cheryl Mercedes' story on pet injuries at grooming facilities and the possibility of licensing groomers in Louisiana. Complaints of pet injuries at grooming facilities is on the rise and there is a national debate on whether licensing groomers could help. Tune into Channel 9 April 30th at 10 p.m. for details.

Pet Care, Pet Care Business, Pet Law

Pet Health Insurance: Worth It?

The Wall Street Journal recently published results of their tests of several pet health insurance companies. Their findings in brief:

Buying pet insurance, we learned, is a crapshoot -- just like any other policy. The occasional benefits checks we received seemed to take the edge off veterinary expenses. But we soon realized that our premiums could ultimately cost more than veterinary care over our pets' lives. For example, one of our policies would cost about $4,200 over 10 years. Pre-existing conditions are generally excluded in policies. So insuring our pets in their infancy, before those ailments developed, could have helped offset bigger bills as our pets grew. We'd consider buying a policy for breeds prone to specific health problems -- such as pugs, who often suffer eye conditions.

Read the article here. Subscription may be required.

Pet Care, pet law

Call Today to Save Horses

The Humane Society of the United States is asking us to help end horse slaughter. They report in today's newsletter:

Today is the National Call-In Day for Horses! Together, we have
closed all U.S. horse slaughter plants. Now we need to pass the
American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503/S. 311) to end
the transport to slaughter of American horses to Mexico and
Canada.

It is a new year and a crucial time to make your voices heard.
Let's light up the phones on Capitol Hill to send the message
loud and clear that we want a permanent ban on horse slaughter
now.

For those of us in the Baton Rouge area, here is contact information for some of our representatives.

Richard Baker (202) 225-3901
David Vitter (202) 224-4623
Please urge them to co-sponsor H.R. 503/S. 311.

Mary Landrieu, is a sponsor of S. 311. Please call (202) 224-5824 and thank Sen. Landrieu for her
leadership on this issue.

Read more about the issue here.

Source for Post Humane Society of the United States.

Contact your legislators!

Paris Hilton's Dog - Truth Behind the Cute

Last summer, Paris Hilton brought home a new Chihuahua and Britney Spears a Yorkie -- both purchased from Pets of Bel Air, L.A.’s pet boutique to the stars.

At Pets of Bel Air, staff members perfume and coif their tiny puppies for sale, creating an illusion of perfection. That illusion fooled Paris, Britney, and many others -- showing that even the rich and famous believe what pet store clerks tell them about the puppies they sell.

The HSUS's undercover investigation revealed that many of the puppies sold at Pets of Bel Air come from puppy mills in the Midwest including Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. At these large-scale factory farm operations, HSUS found hundreds of breeding dogs living in barren wire cages where they are treated like production machines. Some had untreated injuries, were pacing frantically, and were housed in overcrowded cages that reeked of urine.

Each mother dog at these mills is sentenced to a miserable life in a cage so her puppies can be sold at pet stores across the country. In addition to the lifetime of neglect their parents will suffer, the puppies are also much more vulnerable to illnesses and disease due to the conditions in which they were born -- with many falling ill or dying within days or weeks of purchase.

Source: Humane Society of the United States. Click to watch their exclusive undercover video

Michael Vick Sentenced

Michael Vick, ex-quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, was sentenced to 23 months in prison this week for financing "Bad Newz Kennels," his dogfighting operation, and viciously killing dogs that his kennel used in fights. He was also ordered to pay more than $928,000 for the care of the 54 dogs seized from his property. The sentence exceeds the 12-18 month sentence recommend by the U.S. Attorney, and it takes into account the cost of care for the dogs rescued from Vick's fighting operation.

Source for Post Animal Legal Defense Fund. Click to find out how you can help fight dogfighting.

Technorati Tags: pet law

Check out Your Legislators' Votes on Animals Before the Election

The Humane Society Legislative Fund has released its 2006-2007 Louisiana Humane Scorecard.  See how your state legislators scored on animal protection issues during the past legislative session.  The scorecard tracks key votes on important animal welfare bills. It is designed for animal advocates like you to assess the performance of your Louisiana state representative and senator. Check it out before you head to the polls this Saturday

Click here for the scorecard.

Tail Wag: Humane Society Legislative Fund

Michael Vick: No Help From His Friends

According to the The Richmond Times-Dispatch, Michael Vick’s remaining co-defendants in his dog fighting case are pleading guilty and have agreed to testify against him in exchange for leniency in sentencing.

Read the whole article.

Tail wag: meowbarkblog

Technorati Tags: pet law