Posts tagged "HSUS"

3,000 Postal Workers Are Hurt By Dogs Each Year
This week is National Dog Bite Prevention Week, and while many of us are focused on protecting our families, the postal service is recognizing the week in honor of the nearly 3,000 postal workers who were victimized by dogs last year, reports KERO-TV.

Octomom Says To Get Your Pets Spayed
Nadya Suleman has put an sign in her yard that says "Don't let your dog or cat become an 'octomom.' Always spay or neuter." The mother of 14 is being compensated by PETA with a $5,000 payment and a month's supply of vegan hot dogs and Boca burgers, reports L.A. Unleashed.

HSUS Offers Reward for Breaking Up Dog Fights
The Humane Society and Hudson Valley SPCA are teaming up to end dog fighting, reports WCAX-TV. The HSUS is offering $5,000 to anyone with information about dog fights while the HVSPCA is plastering posters throughout the area to raise awareness about the efforts.

by Cat Lincoln
I was caught by surprise again this year: the Canadian commercial seal hunt started yesterday, which I found out in an alert from the Humane Society of the United States.

It just doesn't make any sense to me -- how can the brutal bludgeoning and murder of defenseless baby seals continue, year after year, with permission from the Canadian government, despite having every possible reason to stop the hunt?

In past years -- I mean long ago -- commercial fishermen would pick up some extra cash during the spring off-season by hunting seal for the international fur market. That particular form of commerce has dried up, because no one wants to wear dead baby seal fur. Inexplicably, the seal hunt continues.

Kenai, a Bernese mountain dog mix was named "Dog of Valor" by the Humane Society of the United States' for alerting her family to a potentially deadly carbon monoxide leak.

This hero dog, who lives with her family in Erie, Colo., beat out nine other finalists for the national honor. The award recognizes dogs that exhibit "an extraordinary sense of courage or resolve by heroically helping persons in need," according to the HSUS.

Last winter, 14-year-old Kenai seemed more tired than usual after a day outdoors with her family in the mountains of Colorado's Western Slope. Kenai's owner, Todd Smarr, tells Paw Nation he thought she might have played too hard in the snow. But later that evening, after Smarr and his wife, Michelle, had settled down for the night in the basement of the vacation house they were renting with friends, Kenai began to whine and bark.

As Smarr tried to comfort Kenai, his friend Karen Hull who was also staying in the vacation home, got up and announced she was feeling ill. Smarr woke his wife Michelle to help, and moments later she collapsed in his arms. Smarr rushed to wake the rest of their friends and evacuate the house. The seven adults, two children and four dogs all escaped serious injury, although Michelle and Karen both required treatment in a hyperbaric chamber after being airlifted to a Denver hospital. They later learned the source of the carbon monoxide leak was the vacation home's oven.

Without the early warning from Kenai, Todd doubts that any of the house's inhabitants would have survived the night. Kenai is taking her newfound celebrity in stride. In addition to wining the "Dog of Valor" award, she was honored by the American Humane Association and the Colorado Veterinary Medical Foundation.

"She's the same compassionate and loving dog as always," says Smarr, who is using the experience to remind people of the importance of installing carbon monoxide detectors.

Bring out the tissues -- the stories behind the fearless, four-legged winner and runners up in the Humane Society of the United States' Second Annual Dogs of Valor Awards are sure to touch your heart and, if you're half as sappy as I am, bring a tear or two to your eye.

Taking the top honor is Baby, a Great Dane whose 82-year-old owner, Elwood, took her for a fateful drive one night. He'd been fighting cancer and just wanted to get away for a while without worrying his family. He snuck out with Baby, took a wrong turn, and plummeted downhill 20 feet in his SUV.

Elwood was trapped, and in the remote mountain area, nobody heard his honks and calls for help. Baby alternated between crawling out the window to seek help and cuddling the injured man to keep him warm. It took 10 hours, but Baby finally came back with assistance. Elwood was rescued by firefighters and treated for a cracked spine. He passed away earlier this year, but his words about his heroic dog live on here.