It’s no secret that throughout time, we’ve been seeking a human – animal bond. The American Veterinary Medical Association defines a human – animal bond as a mutually beneficial and dynamic relationship between people and animals that is influenced by behaviors essential to the health and well-being of both.
Today we see this drive to understand and be part of this bond from anthrozoology to the average pet owner. The American Pet Products Association says that the number of U.S. households that own a pet is on the rise. They say about 68 percent of U.S. households have a pet, more than 90 million dogs and 94 million cats. People are also changing the way they view their relationships with animals, both in the home, and outside it. » Continue Reading.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is planning to expand the list of animals regulated as “dangerous” in New York State.
Skunks, raccoons and bats would be added to the Dangerous Animals List, joining a much expanded list of more dangerous species of reptiles and mammals. The revised list adds all other non-endangered or threatened primates, and Canid and Felid species, except domestic dogs and cats and fennec foxes to the list of animals which cannot be kept as pets. » Continue Reading.
In honor of Friday’s World Vasectomy Day, the Center for Biological Diversity is encouraging men to “get whacked for wildlife” to highlight the pressure human population growth puts on wildlife and the role men can play in preventing unplanned pregnancies.
Men who pledge to get a vasectomy for World Vasectomy Day can get a free “Get Whacked for Wildlife” t-shirt featuring a polar bear carrying a pair of scissors on the front and text on the back that reads: “With more than 7 billion people, we’re crowding wildlife off the planet. Vasectomies help.” The Center is also planning to cover the costs for 20 vasectomies at two New York City clinics as part of World Vasectomy Day. » Continue Reading.
The North Country SPCA (NCSPCA) has launched a campaign on Adirondack Gives, Adirondack Foundation’s crowdfunding site. The NCSPCA is raising money for its low-cost Spay/Neuter Incentive Program, SNIP, which provides financial assistance for spaying and neutering pets.
Since November 2014, the SNIP program has helped nearly 150 local people spay and neuter their dogs and cats. » Continue Reading.
Murder? You bet it is. When we think of predators, we generally think of animals that kill other animals. But plant-eaters are killers, too. Listen here to a cereal killer confess to its heartless crimes.
My goal each week for the “All Things Natural” podcast is to throw in a kitchen sink’s worth of topical matter. One week I might write about how your beloved pet dog is really a wolf (the DNA doesn’t lie), and the next contemplate the sex lives of trees or the lonely life of the bobcat.
I write the pieces not just for nature lovers, but also with the idea of attracting even those readers and listeners who wouldn’t touch an American toad, slime mold, or magnificent bear dropping with a ten-foot pole. » Continue Reading.
This may be hard to believe but it is very likely that more people live in closer proximity to more wild animals, birds and trees in the eastern United States today than anywhere on the planet at any time in history.
For nature lovers, this should be wonderful news – unless, perhaps, you are one of more than 4,000 drivers who will hit a deer today, your child’s soccer field is carpeted with goose droppings, coyotes are killing your pets, the neighbor’s cat has turned your bird feeder into a fast-food outlet, wild turkeys have eaten your newly-planted seed corn, beavers have flooded your driveway, or bears are looting your garbage cans. » Continue Reading.
The Board of Directors of the North Country Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NCSPCA), an Essex County no-kill shelter providing refuge to more than 400 dogs and cats each year, have announced the selection of Jessica Hartley as the organization’s new Executive Director.
Hartley took over full-time at the new Frances Miller Adoption Center in Elizabethtown on July 1. She is expected to focus on finding new ways to fully develop the potential of the facility and has plans to expand programming, outreach and collaborative efforts with other animal welfare organizations.
The public is invited to the Adoption Center and meet Hartley during regular open hours or during the NCSPCA’s Grand Opening celebration on July 20 from 12-6pm. » Continue Reading.
The North Country SPCA has opened the new Frances Miller Adoption Center at 7700 Route 9N in Elizabethtown. More than 1,000 people contributed to building the new shelter, according to Margaret Reuther who co-chaired the capital campaign.
The Miller Center (named for the mother of a donor), is expected to care for more than 400 homeless, abandoned, and abused cats and dogs each year. The new facility replaces the overcrowded, Westport shelter, which was built in the 1960s. It is the only animal shelter in Essex County; a dedication ceremony and open house is planned for mid-June. » Continue Reading.
If you like horses (and who doesn’t?) and some funny grammatical errors, check out these two sentence segments from regional newspapers. From 1927: “Mounted on his favorite and favored horse wearing a white broad-brimmed hat … ; and from 1980: “Fans hurled confetti at third baseman George Brett, who was atop a horse wearing a grey cowboy hat.” Both excerpts contain misplaced modifiers: it’s a pretty safe bet that neither horse was wearing a hat.
But as silly as it sounds, it’s an idea that was actually once in vogue. About a century ago, many of northern New York’s horses were sporting the latest craze―hats for horses. » Continue Reading.
In The Mindful Carnivore (Pegasus Books, 2012), Tovar Cerulli traces the evolution of his dietary philosophy from veganism to hunting. As a boy, Cerulli spent his summers fishing for trout and hunting bullfrogs. While still in high school, he began to experiment with vegetarianism. By the age of twenty he was a vegan. A decade later, in the face of declining health, he returned to omnivory and within a few years found himself heading into the woods, rifle in hand.
Through his personal quest, Cerulli bridges these disparate worldviews and questions moral certainties. Are fishing and hunting barbaric, murderous anachronisms? Or can they be respectful ways for humans to connect with nature (and their food)? How harmless is vegetarianism? Can hunters and vegetarians be motivated by similar values and instincts? » Continue Reading.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has received about 1,200 letters, e-mails, and online comments from people who object to a plan to permit more hunting and trapping of bobcats. Only about 300 people wrote to support the plan.
That works out to 80 percent in opposition, 20 percent in favor. If this were an election, it would be a landslide. But when it comes to public policy, the majority does not always win. DEC will review the comments and may make some changes, but I doubt it will abandon the plan altogether, despite the pleas of animal-rights advocates. The department is expected to finalize the plan later this spring or in the summer. » Continue Reading.
What follows is a guest essay by Margaret Miller Reuther, past President of the North Country SPCA and now co-chair of the capital campaign to build a new animal shelter for Essex County. The Almanack asked Margaret to explain why we need a new shelter.
Since its doors opened in 1969, the North Country SPCA has helped literally thousands of surrendered, abandoned and abused cats and dogs find loving homes. Now, after more than 40 years of helping others, we need your help.
A new shelter is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. The current shelter in Westport is so old and rundown that our only option is to start over. In our small shelter we must put up to four cats in a cage that’s half the size the Humane Society recommends. Our dog cages are about a third of the recommended size. Also, we are forced to keep dogs and cats in the same room. This creates high stress levels, making the animals less adoptable because they are either more aggressive or very shy. And our shelter has no place to isolate sick cats and dogs, putting all of our animals at risk.
The North Country SPCA plans to build a new shelter in Elizabethtown. The new facility has been designed by ARQ Architects, a small firm which has revolutionized the field of animal care with major shelters in New York City and San Francisco.
The new facility will be a prototype for smaller shelters nationwide. It will feature animal housing which meets modern criteria for animal care, a get-acquainted room where people can spend time with a pet before adopting, and an energy-efficient “green” building that will save money as it uses up to 30% less energy. Finally, studies show that modern shelters increase adoption rates by 50 to 100 percent, so our new building will help many more cats and dogs, puppies and kittens find a second chance at a loving home.
Representative Teresa Sayward says “Our cat, Harriet, and I ask that you help us build a new facility that is properly equipped to house the dogs and cats that are awaiting a family of their own. Your tax-deductible donation will be greatly appreciated.” Senator Betty Little concurs. “A new facility is now needed and incorporating environmental and energy-efficient standards is the right long-term approach.”
We are 80% of the way to our goal, but we still need $250,000. To put us over the top, we recently received a Challenge Grant and until October 1st, all gifts will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to a total of $125,000. Please be generous and help us build a new home for the many needy dogs and cats in Essex County.
Westport vet David Goldwasser says “The woefully inadequate facility in Westport can no longer serve the needs of our homeless animal population. I am thrilled that we will finally have a new facility which we can be proud of.” Ticonderoga vet James Mack agrees, “A new shelter is a welcome and needed addition to the North Country.” And Sue Russell at the Westport Veterinary Hospital says “The 1960’s building has outlived its usefulness. A new shelter is a necessity.”
The NCSPCA does not received state or federal funding. Private donors provide 85 percent of our annual budget while adoption fees and town contracts account for only 15 percent.
The NCSPCA is the only SPCA animal shelter in rural Essex County. We are a no-kill shelter that provides refuge to over 400 dogs and cats each year. Some are brought in by owners who can no longer care for them. Others are strays. Numerous cats and kittens are dropped at our doorstep in the middle of the night. And the police bring us animals that are victims of unspeakable abuse.
Help out the Tri-Lakes Humane Society and get some original art at the same time. by attending “Giving Paws”, a fundraiser at the Adirondack Artists Guild during the month of February. Each member of the Artists Guild is donating work depicting animals for the fundraising silent auction. 100% of the proceeds will go to the Humane Society.
The show runs from February 4 through February 28. A reception with animal-inspired snacks hosted by the Humane Society will be held at the gallery on Friday February 11 from 5-7 PM. Everyone is welcome to visit the exhibit and bid on their favorite pieces, starting on Feb 4. In addition, Art students at Petrova Middle School have created a dog and a cat sculpture as donation boxes for the fundraiser.
The Adirondack Artists Guild is a cooperative retail art gallery representing a diverse group of regional artists residing and working in the Tri-Lakes region of the Adirondack Park.
The gallery is located at 52 Main St, Saranac Lake, 518 891-2615. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 until 5 and 12-3 on Sundays, closed on Mondays.
The event will be held on Friday, January 21st at 7:00 pm at the Whallonsburg Grange and will benefit the North Country Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NCSPCA).
Manske, who has been banding raptors for the past 25 years, is an educator, a falconer, and a New York State licensed nuisance wildlife rehabilitator. Hall, a retired nurse, runs a wildlife sanctuary with her husband in Wilmington, where she rehabilitates sick and injured animals, often re-releasing them into the wild. » Continue Reading.
The organization Adirondack Animal Rights (ADK-AR) has called on the Adirondack Museum to not conduct a beaver skinning and fleshing demonstration during the American Mountain Men Encampment this weekend. According to an announcement on the Museum’s webpage, “This year’s encampment may include blacksmithing as well as a beaver skinning and fleshing demonstration.” The event will take place today August 20th and Saturday, August 21st at the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake.
“Many local residents as well as others have joined with ADK-AR and have been contacting the Museum via email, phone calls and by leaving comments on their Facebook page telling the Museum that they are not happy with the possibility of such a demonstration,” an ADK-AR press release says. “I am deeply disturbed by this lack of compassion,” ADK-AR’s Founder Jessica Ryle said. “Using animal fur and flesh is no longer needed for our survival. While I find nothing wrong with celebrating our nation’s history, I think it’s completely unnecessary to continue to exploit other animals in this way.”
According to Ryle, museum officials told her that the animal used in the demonstration will have died from natural causes, been killed in an highway accident or met an untimely end in some other manner.
ADK-AR calls into question whether it is likely that a dead beaver will be found, and in the case of highway casualty, if it will be in a condition conducive to skinning.
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It’s no secret that throughout time, we’ve been seeking a human – animal bond. The American Veterinary Medical Association defines a human – animal bond as a mutually beneficial and dynamic relationship between people and animals that is influenced by behaviors essential to the health and well-being of both.
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