Looking at a photo of Miracle Baby’s tiny face in the plea for help to save his life, who could resist wanting to assist. Certainly not our Rescue Team, who answered Brooklyn Animal Care Center’s urgent appeal that stated he needed “nutritional support” and a place that could “monitor his temperature.” They immediately set up a transport to pick him up and bring him to North Shore Animal League America.
Innocent animals fall victim to abuse and neglect every day, and usually at the hands of someone who is supposed to love and care for them. If you suspect an animal is being abused, please contact your local SPCA or police department. North Shore Animal League America has put together this list of 12 things to look for to help you identify animal abuse and neglect.
Everyone who does animal rescue sooner or later encounters animal abuse. The horror and heartbreak are sickening. But we should not feel helpless in the face of it. Instead, we must speak up for the voiceless animals who suffer at the hands of sadists and monsters.
As Hurricane Laura was developing into a real threat, our Emergency Rescue Team began reaching out to our partner shelters in Louisiana and Texas to see what help we could provide. As always, supplies were at the top of the list, and clearing the shelters of as many homeless dogs and cats as we could to make room for those that would be displaced from their homes and families by this devastating storm.
The staff waited expectantly as the lifesaving transport pulled onto North Shore Animal League America’s Port Washington, N.Y. campus with 29 tiny kittens aboard, completing their journey to safety. Five of these innocent, young kittens had already been through so much hardship during their short lives. These babies had been abandoned with their mom when the tenant of a rural Virginia property just moved away and left them behind.
Kitten Season sounds wonderful, but it is a tragic situation. It’s the time of year when thousands of unwanted litters of kittens are born. These kittens often find their way to overcrowded shelters where they are often euthanized. Others roam the streets in search of food and shelter, often being subject to illness and injury. Wolfie and Nicholas are two kittens whose stories could have been drastically different if they had not found their way to our Pet Health Centers.
Cinderella, Brooklyn, and Emory, three neglected and abandoned mama dogs who came north with their pups to our Port Washington, NY campus on a rescue from Georgia earlier this year, have all found loving, responsible homes.
North Shore Animal League America often rescues pregnant dogs or dogs with litters of puppies. Two sweet mama dogs arrived with their pups on a rescue transport from Tennessee. Sadly, some of their pups started showing possible signs of canine parvovirus. The ones who tested positive were placed right away in isolation in our Freed Special Recovery Center. Thanks to this vital resource, our special procedures, and amazing staff, there is good news for the pups!
Pets, especially hunting and sporting dogs that love to swim, farm animals, wildlife, fish, and even people are at risk of getting sick and even dying from harmful algal blooms. These blooms are increasing around the world and the United States is seeing its fair share. In particular, our country’s freshwater ponds and lakes are being affected and the deadliest blooms are formed of blue-green algae or cyanobacteria. You should also be aware that this bacteria can grow in backyard fountains, garden pots, birdbaths, and anywhere there is stagnant water.
I am a very lucky person in more ways than I can count. And among the luckiest things in my life is my wonderful family, which always included animals. In fact, my parents firstborn was a Collie mix named Suzie-Dog, and we treated her as a member of our family — because that’s what she was.