1. Victory! In a lawsuit by rescuers against the Los Angeles County pound, the Court of Appeal unanimously ruled that California shelters cannot kill animals rescue groups are willing to save by claiming those animals have “behavioral problems” based on temperament tests. 2. Specifically, the court ruled that “the County lacks discretion to withhold and euthanize a dog based upon its determination that the animal has a behavioral problem or is not adoptable or treatable.”

1. AB 595, Bowie’s Law, would require California shelters to notify rescuers before killing an animal. But it faces powerful opposition from regressive pounds and their enablers. Please email Appropriations Committee members and urge a YES vote on AB 595: 2. approps.committee@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.carrillo@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.holden@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.dahle@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.carrillo@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.Bryan@assembly.ca.gov
Assemblymember.dixon@assembly.ca.gov

1. Bowie's Law would require shelters to notify rescue groups before killing animals: bit.ly/40UeQvf.

The following groups betrayed shelter animals by opposing it:

- Amador County Animal Control
- ASPCA
- Animal Rescue Foundation
- Animal Samaritans SPCA

(cont'd...) 2. - Animal Shelter Assistance Program
- Antioch Animal Services
- Bakersfield SPCA
- Barstow Humane Society
- Berkeley - East Bay Humane Society
- Best Friends Animal Society
- Butte Humane Society
- Calaveras County Animal Services

(cont'd...)

Bowie's Law overwhelmingly passed its Assembly Committee vote today. There is still a long way to go, but the road just got a little less steep.

Thank you, Rep. @billessayli, for your leadership and today's testimony in favor. You are the wind at the animals' back. Animals have no voice of their own and need us to speak for them. So thank you Rep. @Patterdude as well, both for co-sponsoring the bill from day one and for your heartfelt testimony.

1. Hearing from constituents should always be welcome. It is called democracy. And AB 595 by @billessayli will save lives: nonprofit organizations often rescue from multiple shelters, are run by people with other jobs, and are foster-care based.

https://twitter.com/JenniferFearing/status/1636874752047583232

2. AB 595 would give them notice of animals needing rescue at multiple shelters without having to travel to each one while giving them time to arrange foster care and accept custody of animals before they are killed.

1 of 5. Los Angeles County’s shelter director admits killing Bowie was “improper” and that staff “did not proactively contact a rescue group to adopt him and provide behavioral rehabilitation” though it would have saved his life: bit.ly/3JbczFF. 2 of 5. Unfortunately, the director did not commit to doing so going forward. Instead, she admitted that many of these animals would continue to “not be networked for adoption”: bit.ly/3JbczFF.

1. Two women – one 60 years old and the other 84 – were arrested by police in Wetumpka, AL, and face more jail time if they are convicted after a trial. Their crime? Compassion. They are “accused of committing misdemeanors in their efforts to feed and trap stray cats.” 2. Their attorney “says the arrests are baseless and that the women were performing a service by working to spay or neuter the animals and prevent the stray cat population from growing”: bit.ly/3j5GHHC.

1. I tweeted earlier that “More than a dozen residents in Merryville [LA] were given notice that if they had a pit bull, they needed to move it out of city limits within 48 hours”: bit.ly/3Y8lYmW. I noted that banning dogs based on appearance is immoral and ineffective. 2. Several people came on the thread to promote the killing of these dogs, claiming doing so is appropriate. I want to explain why they are wrong.

1. Today marks the 13th anniversary of the @ASPCA killing of Oreo, an abused dog, who a No Kill sanctuary offered to save: nyti.ms/3kpJYwJ. 2. Oreo was killed by those whose mission it was to protect her. The kennel the sanctuary readied for her arrival lay empty and unused that day, filled with a soft bed, a pool of water, and several toys for her to play with. Instead, Oreo’s body was discarded in a landfill.

1. If you live in New York, please contact the Governor and ask her to veto S6870/A6246: governor.ny.gov/content/govern…. S6870/A6246 allows shelters to kill scared and shy animals, undermines rescue work, and incentivizes killing over adoption. It would result in a higher death toll. 2. S6870/A6246 allows killing for “mental suffering.” All animals can experience stress on entry to a pound. Not only is this a threat to shy and scared animals, but it is a first-of-its-kind, very dangerous precedent to introduce in the animal control laws of our nation.

1. NYS Assemblymember @DonnaLupardo condemned 25,000 animals to death, despite an immediate place for them to go. These are “very friendly” shelter animals who rescue groups are ready, willing, and able to save, but who will instead be needlessly killed. 2. As Chair of the Agriculture Committee, she refused to allow A7155, the Shelter Animal Rescue Act (SARA), to come to a vote, even though it had the support to pass. SARA would have made it illegal for shelters to kill animals if rescue organizations were willing to save them.

1. Many of us have long ago stopped using the euphemisms “euthanasia” and “putting them to sleep” to describe the killing of animals who are not irremediably suffering. Euphemisms obscure the gravity of what we are doing and make the task of killing easier. 2. Many of us also reject the term “shelter” to describe pounds that kill. A shelter is a refuge, a haven. By contrast, a pound is “an enclosure maintained for confining stray or homeless animals.” To impound means to “imprison.” Act like a dog catcher and you are a dog catcher.

1. Dymka, a cat suffering from frostbite that required amputation of all four of her legs, is walking again thanks to 3D printed titanium legs: bit.ly/3j0H97S. She’s one of many cats and dogs who were either born with a disability or suffered accidents. 2. There’s Vincent and Oscar in the UK and Perseus in Greece. Vito in Italy. And Naki’o in the United States. And then there are the thousands helped by wheelchairs. Technology is not just improving our lives, it is making life better for animals.

1 of 5. The No Kill Advocacy Center has model laws that save lives, including legislation that:

​- Makes it illegal to round up and kill community cats;
- Gives rescuers the legal right to save animals from pounds intent on killing them; 2 of 5. - Makes it illegal to kill animals unless those animals are irremediably suffering;
- Makes it illegal for anyone else to kill them, including private veterinarians;
- Prevents people convicted of animal abuse from acquiring animals;
- Bans cruel methods of killing;

1. Today is the anniversary of @peta's illegal taking and killing of Maya from her home: nathanwinograd.com/the-killing-of…. 2. On Oct. 18, 2014, two PETA reps backed their van up to a home in Parksley, VA, and threw biscuits to Maya, who was sitting on her porch. They were hoping to coax her off her property and give PETA the ability to claim she was a stray dog "at large": .

1. CDC says "there is no evidence that companion animals, including pets, can spread COVID-19 to people or that they might be a source of infection in the United States." So why is Maddie's Fund fear-mongering?

https://twitter.com/MaddiesFund/status/1245734123605577730

2. They are not alone, like the call by nat'l groups to "just stop" doing TNR and essentially abandon "feral" cats to a potentially deadly fate: blog.theaawa.org/open-letter-fr…

1. A judge has ordered a man who tortured his girlfriend’s cat to death in a case the Sheriff called "one of the most heinous acts of cruelty" he'd ever seen to do community service at an animal shelter: cincinnati.com/story/news/cri… 2. The cat was “hung by a rope and severely beaten, causing the death of the animal” to get back at the woman for breaking up with him. He should be in prison, not an animal shelter.