Interview with Andy Nibley, Director of Madonna of the Mills

Posted on August 21st, 2011 by Joy Ward

Andy Nibley is the Director of the new documentary, Madonna of the Mills, running August 24th on HBO.  Author, Sunbear Squad Board Member and Editor Emeritus of Dogster’s own For Love of Dog Blog caught up with Andy for this interview.

 

Andy: The idea behind the film was really to show a couple of things. One, that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. Laura is an office manager for a dentist on Staten Island and yet she, on weekends on her own nickel, rents vans and drives down to Amish country and picks up somewhere between 35 and 50 of these puppy mill dogs who have spent their entire lives in cages the size of dishwashers. They’ve never been petted. They’ve never been walked. They’ve never been bathed and she’s saved over 2000 dogs and she’s done that all on her own.  So that was one thing.

The other was what happens when you spare a life? So I follow four of the dogs that get saved and you see them rehabilitated from the point where they couldn’t walk because they’ve spent their lives in cages. There’s a nice story about an autistic boy and a golden retriever and one about a childless couple who end up with a cocker spaniel. It really shows these dogs can make wonderful pets if they’re adopted.

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Posted in Dogs & Cats, Interviews, Puppy Mills, Rescue Groups and Information, Rescues of Dogs & Cats, Reviews, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Madonna of the Mills — Catch this documentary on HBO!!!

Posted on August 19th, 2011 by Joy Ward

Set aside the evening of August 24th for the HBO unveiling of the insightful documentary “Madonna of the Mills.” This is a film that will stay with you long after the credits roll. The filmmakers have done an excellent job of revealing both aspects — the rescuers and those who run the mills. Director Andy Nibley and his team have crafted a film that needs to be seen by every American.

You’ll remember the enchanting determination of Laura, the woman who, with her family and friends, has rescued over 2000 dogs from the living hell of puppy mills. You won’t be able to look at the misleading pictures of seemingly gentle Amish country folk without remembering the ugly truth of the torture of puppy mills behind the barn doors. Of course, you’ll remember the dogs who Laura and her friends help escape. But what I hope stays with you and I know will stay with me is the casual craven disregard for the animals that is so ubiquitous among the puppy millers and their defenders.

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Posted in Abuse & Neglect, Dogs & Cats, Friends of Dogs and Cats, Movie reviews, Photography and Video, Puppy Mills, Rescue Groups and Information, Rescues of Dogs & Cats, Reviews, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Phoenix Pound Pups Get a New Lease on Life

Posted on June 19th, 2011 by Trish Roman-Aquilino

“It makes me too sad to go to the pound.”

“If I go to the pound, I will be so overwhelmed by all the animals needing homes that I won’t be able to choose just one.”

These concerns, and many similar ones, are often expressed by individuals when you suggest they adopt a pet from the county shelter here in Phoenix.  I have heard it said over and over again, and I know how they feel.  It can be a sad, overwhelming experience to visit our county shelters and try to pick out a pet.

Maricopa County Animal Care and Control (“MCACC”) is trying to address those impediments to adopting a “pound” pet with two new offsite adoption centers.

On February 12, 2011, MCACC launched a unique partnership with PetSmart, in Scottsdale, Arizona, that will hopefully be the foundation for similar partnerships around the country.

MCACC opened its first offsite adoption center located in PetSmart store, in the Old Town Scottsdale PetSmart located on Miller Road.  The adoption center can hold up to 44 dogs, and 16 cats, and is expected to save up to 1300 animals per year.  It has an area for potential adopters to “meet and greet” animals and a play area for the dogs.  The county animals selected for the cheerfully designed location will stay there, and will not be shuttled back and forth between the shelter and the store.

On February 26, 2011, MCACC, with the help of PetSmart Charities, launched its second offsite adoption center, in the Metrocenter Mall in Phoenix, called Under One Woof, in a vacant storefront inside the mall.  Metrocenter offered the space free of charge to MCACC.

“Our experience with our in-store adoption centers proves that satellite locations provide great visibility for shelter pets and expose them to new potential adopters,” said Susana Della Maddalena, Vice President and Executive Director, PetSmart Charities, Inc. “The mall location will provide Maricopa County Animal Care and Control the opportunity to showcase their adoptable pets to mall visitors and save more lives through adoption,” she added.

Under One Woof has 30 kennels, six retail display areas, a “meet and greet” area, a play area for the dogs, and will also offer onsite licensing for pets.  Like the location in Old Town Scottsdale, the animals will stay on location and not be shuttled between the shelter and store.   MCACC is hoping to adopt at least 20 animals each week from this location.

Both of these unique partnerships for MCACC address a long-standing concern for our shelters – getting exposure for homeless pets in a way that makes the adoption process a positive experience and less overwhelming, thereby assisting in creating better opportunities for  successful adoption matches for the animals.

Dr. Rodrigo Silva, Assistant County Manager, said that the partnership is a great opportunity. “Any time we can get the homeless animals in front of the community, good things happen,” he said. “I am sure that many adoptions will result from this new opportunity.”

Under One Woof – 9617 N. Metro Parkway, Suite 1116, Phoenix, AZ.

MCACC Adoption Center, Old Town Scottsdale PetSmart store, 4380 N. Miller Road, Scottsdale, AZ.

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Sunbear Squad Has Partnered with People Saving PetsTM

Posted on March 25th, 2011 by Trish Roman-Aquilino

Petsmart Charities, Inc. has launched a new movement that incorporates and empowers the animal-loving public in the fight against homelessness and euthanasia of companion animals.  The inaugural cities for the People Saving Pets movement are Phoenix, AZ and Oklahoma City, OK. Needless to say, Sunbear Squad jumped at the opportunity to partner with this effort that dovetails so well with our mission – to educate and empower everyday citizens with the tools and inspiration they need to be Good Samaritans for the companion animals in their own neighborhoods and communities. Sunbear Squad offers free tools such as an on-line neglect and abuse tutorial, Roadside Rescue Kit, Wallet Card, Pocket Posters in 2 languages, free ad materials, and disaster plans for pets, and provides inspiration with amazing true-life animal rescue stories, inspirational sayings, and an Animal Bill of Rights.

Like Sunbear Squad, People Saving Pets strives to inspire the public to take action in their communities, by educating and providing information to increase adoptions, spay and neuters and to encourage more people to volunteer for animal welfare organizations.

We encourage Sunbear Squad readers and members to learn about this program and join the movement.  While People Saving Pets is just getting started in two cities, this will be a nationwide program, coming to a city near you, very soon! Getting involved is easy and a few simple actions can make a big difference for our pets.

  • Join the cause: Visit www.peoplesavingpets.org to sign up and join us in the effort to end pet homelessness.
  • Share the news: Spread the word about People Saving Pets by inviting your friends and family to join. Visit People Saving Pets on Facebook and People Saving Pets on Twitter to share your commitment to save pets’ lives with your Facebook friends, Twitter followers and other social networks.
  • Adopt a pet. If you’re considering adding a new four-legged member to the family, adoption is the way to go. You can search for the perfect adoptable pet on the People Saving Pets site. And if you can’t adopt a pet, please, encourage your friends and family to do so.
  • Spay and neuter. Help control the pet overpopulation issue by spaying or neutering your pet and encourage the people in your life to do the same. This simple procedure can be done in half-a-day and will can reduce behavior issues and help your pet live a longer, healthier life. Find a spay/neuter program near you on the Spay & Neuter Program Locator.
  • Volunteer. Sunbear Squad can use your help! Check out our site and start your neighborhood pet watch today by downloading materials or requesting a watch kit today at http://sunbearsquad.org/. Then, ask your friends to join you.
  • Donate. If you don’t time, but still want to give – we can always use your generous donations of money.

People Saving Pets has the tremendous goal of ending pet homelessness in our communities – a goal Sunbear Squad supports wholeheartedly. If we work together, we can do it. Please join us in supporting this movement today.

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Watch Tip: Identification is Essential

Posted on December 17th, 2010 by Anna Nirva

Watch Tip for week of Dec. 19:

Watch for collars that are too loose or too tight, and that don’t have ID tags. Pets deserve better from their families. A roaming pet without identification is at high risk for being picked up as a stray and might even be euthanized. Reasonably-priced ID tags are available nearly everywhere. Speak with the owners or just do it anonymously. You may save a life.

War Hero Dog is Dead for Lack of a Collar and Tags

Target’s family didn’t put a collar and tag on her or get a microchip implanted. They didn’t prevent her from escaping from her yard. And the neighbor who found Target without wearing any identification of course had no idea who she was, so called the pound. She was picked up by animal control and her photo was posted on the internet.

Her family found her photo but did not check the web site to learn the weekend hours that the pound was open. They came on Monday to pick her up. At the pound earlier that morning, a careless employee was performing her routine euthanasia duties and picked Target by mistake, not following the organization’s process. “Oops.”

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How 24 circles of loving arms saved Mary and George

Posted on July 30th, 2010 by Anna Nirva

“Someone found them in an abandoned old building in Floyd County”

… said the rescuer in an email.  Someone looked inside, maybe alerted by kids, and saw two thin, friendly dogs with red patchy skin, swollen faces, and runny eyes. Someone noticed how Mary’s teats dangled long and thin. Someone knew the breeding cycle would begin again soon, and decided to take them away from the horrors of backyard breeder life in coal country Kentucky. This is how Mary and George’s rescue begins. (This is Mary at left).

Mary and George needed urgent medical care and weeks of recuperation, too much for this kind but poor Good Samaritan. So they were given to someone else who searched for a rescuer to take them. Mary and George were lucky; they were purebred Boxers. An independent rescuer, Moran, took them. (This was the third temporary home.) She wrote that they didn’t even know how to eat food from a bowl. They had only been fed on hard ground.

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IAMS Prescription Renal Cat Food Recalled

Posted on July 27th, 2010 by Joy Ward

If you are using IAMS Renal Cat Food it’s time to check those lot numbers. Proctor & Gamble has released a recall due to possible Salmonella contamination.

Here is the basic information from the official FDA announcement.

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Watch Tip: Heat Alert

Posted on July 24th, 2010 by Anna Nirva

Weekly Watch Tip for week of July 25:

Watch for dogs who play or run with their owners in hot weather—they can’t regulate body heat by sweating like humans do. Heat stroke kills dogs because they run until collapse. Watch for hard panting, ropey saliva, wobbly movements, red gums and tongue, vomiting, diarrhea. Intervene immediately or the dog could die.

Summer dangers to pets

Frisbee? Fetch? Hiking? Walks on the beach? Dog park afternoons? Happy times with your four-legged friends can end in tragedy for the uninformed.

Dogs—and cats too—can’t expel heat through the skin like humans can. They can sweat through the pads of their feet and by panting. On hot days, these methods are not enough to expel body heat built up by mild or vigorous activity, or by being trapped in hot cars or hot kennels and crates.

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Posted in Alerts, Health Warnings, Safety & Health Tips, Uncategorized, Watch Tips | 1 Comment »

Book Review — Saving Gracie

Posted on July 20th, 2010 by Joy Ward

Saving Gracie is more than a well-written, compelling book that should be in every animal lover’s  collection.  This is the book that makes the case against puppy mills and their supporters in a clear voice. Moreover, if I had the money I would make sure to give a copy of Saving Gracie to every legislator in the US.

Author Carol Bradley has written a rare book. It is an important book that is also a good read. The history and information in Saving Gracie makes the case against puppy mills while the writing carries you along like a good crime novel.

This book is a slap in the face to those who deny the absolute evil of puppy mills. I defy someone to read even the first few chapters of Saving Gracie and walk away with any ability to defend puppy mills for any reason. Bradley has woven a strong story line around some very painful facts and the figures to support them.

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Vern and Vera, and the Angel Who Loved Them

Posted on July 7th, 2010 by Anna Nirva

Early last November, I heard that Emanuel and Meko, two long-term senior coonhounds living in our nearby rural shelter, were to be adopted–together! It felt like a miracle, a blessing, a gift from heaven. These sweet old dogs had been waiting for months, and winter was coming. The shelter has heated floors and indoor-outdoor runs, but coonies have short coats and winters can be brutal in Wisconsin. “Manny” and Meko were friends, and I had often taken them together on walks. I was ecstatic and also curious about their adopter. Coonhounds are not popular dogs to say the least, and most people won’t adopt senior dogs. I heard the adopter lived in Kansas?

What can you say about a middle-aged woman who drove 1,000 miles to adopt two old coonhounds from a little country shelter in Wisconsin? In a word, wings. She was angel on earth who looked deeply at those long-eared sad old faces on Petfinder and was moved to open up her heart and home to them. (See Manny and Meko, still posted on the site). She filled out the adoption application and it passed inspection with flying colors, I heard. So she gassed up her SUV, loaded two dog crates, and headed north. And so it started. Manny and Meko became Vern and Vera, and they all became a family, along with two kitties, Bela and Shugrrr.

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