STUDY: What Is Living Inside Felines?

Holly Ganz, a researcher at University of California, Davis said, "Like us, animals are enveloped in a cloud of microbes. We're really interested in them because they influence health and behavior. The gut microbiome is really important, and it's also very diverse and complicated." Felines are known as obligate or true carnivores and are healthiest on high-protein diets. Many commercial diets however tend to be carbohydrate heavy. Ganz and a team of researchers have set out to discover the microbiome of domestic and wild felines. Microbiomes are the bacteria and microorganisms that inhabit a body.

Unsurprisingly, people do not know much about the microbiome of a feline. This gap in our knowledge however could have consequences for felines; microbes can affect digestion and the immune system and also influence obesity, diabetes, and irritable bowel diseases. Ganz’s study is the first one to closely examine the feline microbiome. The study will compare feral, domestic, and shelter cat microbiomes. By examining a wide population the research team can learn about how diet, the environment, and age can affect the feline microbiome.

The research is funded by crowdfunding as according to Ganz, "The money for studying companion animals is devoted to pressing things, like cancer." The project has already reached their minimum funding goal. Anyone interested in funding the study or having their cat participate may do so here.

In exchange for a feline fecal sample people will receive information about what is found in that sample and what that means to them. Ganz said, "We want to make it interesting to people." For people that are interested but do not have a cat they may sponsor a wild or shelter cat.

Ganz said, "We're committed to studying the cat microbiome for the next 10 years. And we can all have a little bit of fun with it."

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2015 Summit Forum: Compassion Fatigue

From volunteers to veterinarians, literature shows the Urban Animal industry is experiencing ‘care/compassion fatigue’ sometimes with deadly consequences. Does imperial evidence exist to define the magnitude of the problem and the possible solutions?

Sarah Hylton-Foster created a website to help people understand compassion fatigue. The ASPCA has also provided resources for people working in the pet industry. It is designed to help people understand the signs of compassion fatigue and provides resources to help people overcome it.

Can a strategy be developed that solves this dilemma across an entire industry? Can the urban animal industry build emotional intelligence and resilience for human resources that eliminates critical interventions and removes this blight from professional careers?

Get the facts, have your say, move the industry.

If you are interested in participating at the 2015 Summit for Urban Animal Strategies please contact Shannon Woodward, Urban Animal Program Manager. 

Pet Sales - What Do Americans Prefer?

In a survey conducted by Harris Poll Online, Americans wanted to see higher dog breeding standards with enforcement (67%) versus banning the sale of animals in pet stores (33%). 2,025 adult Americans participated in the poll. 89% of participants believe that tougher breeder standards will decrease puppy mill operations. 81% believe that banning dog sales at pet stores will not end puppy mills.

National Alliance for Dog Breeding Reform founder and Senior Vice President, Ron Sturgeon said, "We would all like to see a world where dogs bred for profit are treated humanely, shown kindness and bred using medically sound principles. The American Pet Council's survey shows that the American pet owners understand the limitations of pet store sales bans. Working toward higher standards for dog breeding is the best long-term approach to improving the lives of dogs being bred for profit. Banning puppy sales at pet stores does not solve the problem of bad breeding practices.” Sturgeon continues, "I would like to see pet stores selling more puppies and even adding dogs from local shelters into the mix. When they do sell dogs from a breeder, they should chose local reputable breeders and display full information so that consumers can meet the breeder and visit the kennel.”

At the 2015 Summit for Urban Animal Strategies specialists from across North America will be participating in a discussion and brainstorming event regarding rescue dogs (Forum 2015.C). As dog overpopulation decreases in North America and negative pressure is increased on dog breeders potential dog owners are finding it more difficult to find a good dog. Shelters have fewer dogs to adopt out and many are participating in humane relocation. Humane relocation, or the importation of dogs, poses risks to dog owners and the public.

What is the solution to safe and positive pet acquisition in Canada and the United States?

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What Are the Dangers of Bringing Foreign Animals Home?

As the homeless dog population decreases in Canada and the United States some shelters and humane societies have started importing dogs to ensure they have dogs for the public to adopt.1

Humane relocation began when city shelters began cooperating with each other. It was better for an animal to be moved to another shelter versus being euthanized due to a lack of space. Some agencies are no longer taking in animals from other regions in the same country but importing animals from foreign countries. For example, the Save a Sato program (as of 2003) had imported 14,000 dogs into the United States from Puerto Rico. Some shelters in the United States are importing 100-200 dogs per month. Dogs are not just arriving from Puerto Rico, but from Asian countries and Mexico. Some shelters are becoming similar to pet stores. Inventory (animals) is acquired at little cost, advertised using ‘rescue’ and ‘pet overpopulation’ campaigns, and selling/adopting the animals.2

Patti Strand said, “Even before considering the health issues, it is a reckless and indefensible practice to import stray animals into a country that pours hundreds of millions of public and private dollars annually, (and has for decades) into animal control and 'pet overpopulation' problems!” Importing dogs can threaten public health and sustain local pet-overpopulation. Dog importation does not save lives, it aids overpopulation and the killing of local adoptable dogs. Also, humane relocation does not reduce pet-overpopulation unless the exporting country/region increases public education and spay/neuter programs. 2

One of the health risks of importing dogs is that they may carry diseases and parasites that are not native to the importing country. Imported dogs are rarely pets in their exporting country; they are typically stray dogs that have not received quality veterinary care throughout their lives. The less-than-ideal conditions these dogs are living in makes them excellent carriers of disease. When these potentially unhealthy animals are introduced to a shelter the other animals in the shelter are exposed to whatever the imported dog may be affected by. Caregivers and adoptive families are also put at risk to zoonotic diseases and parasites. In countries without vaccination programs, dogs are often infected with rabies. According to the Centers for Disease Control a dog with rabies was recently imported into the United States. Rabies has been found to incubate in a dog from five days to years. Importation that does not require a quarantine period of at least 60 days is putting people and animals in the importing country at unnecessary risk. Patti Strand said, “Living in a country where it is difficult to get a banana through customs, and where livestock importation is strictly regulated and animal protection groups seek ever-tighter regulation of dogs from breed enthusiasts along with commercial breeders, it is a sick and intolerable paradox that poorly bred, often diseased, foreign-bred dogs enter our country by the thousands with the barest of regulation - often on airlines that fly them to the US at no charge to help out the 'cause’.” 2

Dr. Arnold Goldman said, "Even though relocating pets may feel good in the short run, it is a false, potentially dangerous and ultimately ineffective practice that does nothing to solve the problem of surplus dogs at the source. Improving animal well-being and solving animal welfare problems such as homeless animals must be addressed at the place where animals first interact with people, by the development of targeted programs in their cities, counties and states of origin." 3 So how can people help foreign animals? Patti Strand recommends that people help animals in developing countries by funding sterilization clinics and public education campaigns. 2

Huxley & Kent Launches Rescue Fund

A producer of upscale pet products, Huxley & Kent has started a rescue fund. The fund is designed to assist community rescues and shelters.

Each month a retailer will be selected to win a $250 USD donation to a rescue or shelter of their choosing. Retailers must order Huxley & Kent products to be eligible for winning.         

                    

Huxley & Kent Founder Robin Kershner said, “We are delighted to give back to the retailer communities with this fund. We feel that our retailers are all intimately involved in the needs of their pet rescue community, so who better than they to tell us where this money should go?  In addition, with at least 12—and we hope more—donations a year, there will be plenty of charities that will be impacted.”

   

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5000 Pets Find Homes During 2015 Maddie's Pet Adoption Days

Over 5,000 pets were adopted during a fee-waived adoption event, Maddie’s Pet Adoption Days. This is the sixth year for Maddie’s Pet Adoption Days and 89 shelters and rescues participated. Some locations even had lines prior to opening. Maddie’s Fund Founder Dave Duffield said, "Each year, Cheryl and I see the spirit of Maddie at every adoption location we visit. It's a tribute to her legacy and the power of one little dog to inspire a movement and bring communities together to find thousands of animals loving homes."

More than 35,000 dogs and cats have found homes during Maddie’s Pet Adoption Days. Maddie’s Fund donated $200 to $2,500 USD for each pet adopted to cover the cost of adoption. The funding helps support shelters and rescues throughout the year.

Maddie’s Fund President Rich Avanzino said, "We are on the one-yard line to achieving our goal of a no-kill nation. Events such as this help bring attention to the amazing companions who are waiting to find their wonderful homes in our nation's shelters. And we are thrilled at the sheer number of people who visited all of the locations over the weekend. We congratulate the groups on a successful event, and applaud the thousands of people who opened their hearts and homes to a shelter pet this weekend."

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Rescue Dogs from California Illuminates Sourcing Issues

Drew Van Niekerk

InfoStream Staff Writer

Rescue organizations continue to make news with continually evolving efforts to rehome stray, surrendered or abandoned pets. 

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“Thank Dog I’m Out” is a British Columbia based Canadian “rescue” organization that imports dogs from California shelters, transported via Bellingham Washington in collaboration with Wings of Rescue who flew dogs from California. B.C. families rallied to foster and adopt 100 dogs from California shelters through TDIO, again raising awareness that numbers of dogs available for adoption in Canadian shelters have dropped over the years. 

Sources of pets as puppies, kittens or re-homed adults has received considerable discussion with the Alliance for Urban Animals at the Regional Urban Animal Conferences and the annual International Summit for Urban Animal Strategies www.urbananimal.com. While some argue that pet families should only be adopting animals, breeders maintain that purposeful breed stock must be maintained, and consumers remain the driving force in demand for new pets, and it seems their appetite is still strong. 

Discussions continue over whether importation of pets is right or wrong, raising issues like the possible importation of disease with pets; or whether the efforts over years of humane and rescue work done locally are completely resolved. 

Are the efforts of an importation rescue service merely supporting unresolved overpopulation and breeding issues in places like California? What measures are in place to trace the origins of pets in shelters that are ‘rescued’? These are questions being asked by members of the animal industry in Canada.

Meanwhile, Canadian Kennel Club breeder registration numbers are dropping and pet stores are being picketed to close to pet sales. Quality breeders are struggling to justify their place in the supply chain but rescues allow an alternate, arguably broken, supply chain to function by gathering up the unwanted from that process. These are significant points to consider. 

Perhaps the transparency of knowing where every animal came would allow consumers to make educated choices and adopters to have all the facts.  Perhaps then the hard working people in the animal industry could focus their efforts on sourcing or ‘re-sourcing’ pets into homes in the best possible way without the judgment they currently face? After all, the market demands for pets are not linear, some families want purebreds, some want rescues. Other families want crossbred non-registered pets and still others prefer local and some folks will cross the country to buy or adopt. How could there be one answer?

Why We Rescue

Three years ago, photographer Theron Humphry adopted a coonhound to accompany him on his journey across the U.S. to photograph ordinary life. Since then, Maddie has become his inspiration and primary subject. 

Humphry's book, Maddie on Things, was published in 2013 and features the dog cooperatively posing on a variety of objects in locations across the U.S. His experience with Maddie was the inspiration behind Humphry's latest photography project to shoot animal rescue stories. 

Why We Rescue is a yearlong story-telling documentary that is traversing across all 50 states highlighting how pets change lives for the better. Several images from each story are posted on the Why We Rescue site along with a voiceover interview of rescue stories. 

"This project is an opportunity to share everyday stories on how those pets can open our homes and hearts to the world."

Humphry's Instagram feed, where rescue and Maddie photos are regularly posted, boasts a healthy 330,000+ following. 

The Pet Experience Project has set out to discover the pet experiences - both good and bad - of urban animal communities. Why We Rescue is positioned to capture rescue elements of the experiences sought by Urban Animal collaborators and offer both heartwarming and thoughtful stories. 

Are Exotic Pet Bans an Appropriate Answer??

The New Brunswick python attack has stimulated Urban Animal conversations across North America. In an effort to make this conversation available across the industry, InfoStream will open a new conversation in the Urban Animal Group area of LinkedIn. Here are some of the ideas and thoughts collected so far:

• Talk of municipal bans aimed at exotic pets has prompted a PIJAC Canada Blog
• A conversation involving municipal enforcement has undertaken the review of exotic pet legislation to understand if dangerous animals may be removed from a premises without charging the pet owner.
• A conversation has developed around an 'amnesty program' to be delivered by members of the local community such as pet retailers, humane, rescue and veterinary organizations that would allow non-compliant or dangerous animals to be surrendered in a manner safe for both people and pets.

Please join the conversation as you are able. These contributions will be made available to Summit 2013 Directors, Dr. Jason Coe and Dr. Drew VanNiekerk so they can be included in the onsite conversations. 

Iams DNA and Big Vision Serves Entire Industry

In May 2006, PetLynx Corporation and Iams launched Canada's first automated recovery service in the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Since that time, PetLynx has become the most recognized pet services brand in Canada and the AnimalTRACS (tm) Recovery System has assisted pet families to recover more than 250,000 dogs and cats in more than 240 communities across Canada.

Some have wondered why North America's nutritional leader would seed and pay for a public recovery service that is available to every pet family, every pet organization, every veterinarian, every identification provider, every municipal pound, humane society, rescue agency and SPCA in Canada regardless of their affiliation with a nutritional provider. This unique DNA was invested in the Iams brand more than 60 years ago.

In 1946, Paul Iams, the driving force behind the Iams brand not only had a vision to make a better pet food, he was driven to think about how pets could live better, longer and how pet families could have an awesome pet experience.

InfoStream invites you to watch the story of one man's dream