WildCare Inc.

Who They Are

WildCare Inc. is a non-profit organization located in south central Indiana dedicated to, "Providing professional care to sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife in Indiana". Originally, they were part of the Monroe County Humane Association (MCHA). However, they refocused their mission to caring for companion pets, so WildCare Inc. became a separate entity in the spring of 2001 dedicated to wildlife preservation. They pride themselves in the fact that they accept all forms of wildlife, except for adult deer and raccoons. They have taken in over 7,000 animals since their opening. However, due to their licensing, they are not open to the public. Most centers use the availability of the openness to the public as a chance to educate the community. Since they do not have this opportunity, they offer other beneficial educational opportunities to the community.

What they do

WildCare Inc. provides an important role to wildlife and the community. Saving wildlife for them is the ability to care for injured, sick, or orphaned animals, but then having the ability to release them back to the wild, so that they may live their lives as they were meant to. However, there are always some that become unreleasable due to certain situations. WildCare Inc. uses this opportunity to use these unreleasable animals as "ambassadors" for their education outreach programs. They offer a number of educational opportunities from allowing local fourth grade classes attend for free, WildCamp in the summer, and other programs.

A couple of their ambassadors.

In order to maintain their organization, they rely on donations. They offer a unique method of donating by allowing people that use their Pay Pal credit cards at Marsh, Speedway, or Kroger to make part of their purchase contribute to their organization. Running a non-profit is not easy, and they rely on members of the community to help support their meaningful efforts in saving local wildlife.

Matter of Importance

WildCare Inc is important to the community because it helps maintain local wildlife that might otherwise perish. They enable continuing generations to enjoy wildlife native to the area by saving these injured animals and then releasing them back to the wild. They also aid in helping educate the community. By offering several different programs, they ensure that children throughout the area will have a chance to see these marvelous animals first-hand and retain knowledge that will last a lifetime in maintaining wildlife for all to enjoy.

For more information on WildCare Inc, visit: http://www.wildcareinc.org/index.html.

Pets ALIVE Spay / Neuter Clinic

• Who they are

Pets Alive is a low cost, non-profit spay and neuter clinic located in Bloomington, Indiana. They first began in 2002 with their Adopt-A-Pet program. Within 14 months, they found homes for 350 pets. However, the cost of running this was too costly. Also, they felt that they were not solving the root of the problem. Instead, they began focusing on spaying and neutering in 2004. After conducting research for nearly a year, they based their organization off of the successful spay and neuter clinic based in Asheville, North Carolina: http://www.humanealliance.org/. Since they have opened in 2005, Pets Alive has sterilized over 20,000 pets.

• What they do

Pets Alive offers a number of important treatments for the pets of Indiana. For one, they offer low cost spaying and neutering at $55 for all dogs, $50 for female cats, and $30 for male cats. In order to have this operation, pets must have proof of Indiana's state required vaccinations, being a rabies vaccination. If they have not had their rabies vaccination, an $8 rabies vaccination will be given. Another important treatment they offer is microchipping. At a low cost of $25 pet pet, it enables pet owners to keep track of their pets if they were to become lost and returned to a shelter because the chip contains the owner's contact information. Also, for pets being treated, their owners receive recommendations to local veterinarians to increase awareness of responsible pet ownership.

Pets Alive offers a unique way to help donate to their facility. They offer the recycling of old cell phones and ink cartridges which aids in turning "trash into cash". This is just one example of how a non-profit organization can utilize the community to aid in generating extra money for their organization. Also, they welcome volunteers from the area to help with everyday tasks and relies on the community's support to thrive. Donations are what enables Pets Alive to continue its work of spaying and neutering pets at low-costs. Without donations, it would not be possible.

• Matter of Importance

Pets Alive serves an important role in ending animal overpopulation. Overpopulation leads to cruel and usual punishment of animals that are unable to receive loving, good homes. It also leads to the euthanasia of many pets that turn up in animal shelters. By providing a low-cost spay and neuter clinic to the community, pet overpopulation will decrease. Also, they enable pets to receive vaccinations for a fraction of the cost for people who would otherwise not even take their pets in for veterinary care. In an indirect way, they are also protecting the community against sick and stray animals. As many people know, rabies can be given to humans. This is why it is so important that they offer this service at their clinic. At the same time, they encourage the education of responsible pet owners by offering visitors to their clinic recommendations on local veterinary care. Also, they help support the end of pollution by offering donations to their clinic in the form of recycling old cell phones and ink cartridges that would otherwise be thrown away. Pets Alive offers a number of important roles in the community and will be able to continue to do so with community support.

For information about Pets Alive and opportunities for donations, visit:

http://www.petsalivespayneuter.org/aboutus.htm

Fort Wayne Children's Zoo

• Overview

Although a zoo may not be exactly what people think of in terms of an animal shelter, some are in the fact that they help conserve animals and wildlife, in not just their parks, but the wild as well. The Fort Wayne Zoo in Indiana does just that. They began their zoo as a nature preserve in 1952. Since then, they have expanded rapidly into a well-developed zoo through dedication to wildlife and fostering the community in wildlife education. They are also a non-profit organization supported by no tax dollars. They were one of the nation's first zoos that was able to support itself through admissions, concessions, rides, and so forth. By creating a publicly interactive organization, they are able to raise funds to help support their dedications to wildlife, and thus continue to strive. With preservation being their dedication, it is no wonder that they have so many great educational opportunities to interact with the community.

• Their Specialties = Their Success

The Fort Wayne Children's Zoo is successful because of the number of special activities that help get the community involved. A couple of the most important ones are the Adopt-An-Animal program and educational opportunities. Their Adopt-An-Animal program allows people to choose what animal they would like to adopt by paying fees that directly benefit the zoo and its animals. In return, donors receive photographs, fact sheets, certificates of adoption, and other great benefits. Its one way for them to receive funds and also to get the community involved. Aside from this, they offer a range of educational opportunities. Obviously, they allow schools to visit them and in exchange educate the children that come and give them a great experience in animal interaction. Another option they offer is for the zoo to go to them. They go to schools and can bring live animals to share with the students, enabling them to experience wild animals first hand and knowledge that will last a lifetime. For further education, they also offer volunteer positions each year as well as internships. Clearly, the zoo has several educational opportunities that make it as successful as it is.

• Benefiting the Community

The Fort Wayne Children's Zoo benefits society in a number of ways. Its educational opportunities encourage youth to enjoy wildlife and to learn more about it. Increasing interest in wildlife helps promote responsible citizens in caring for their environment as well as the possibilities of them developing a desire for those areas as professions. Their internships and volunteer programs allow teens to get hands on experience to find out if wildlife is their "calling". They also offer a $2,000 scholarship for high school students that are going into an animal field. The Fort Wayne Children's Zoo represents how important an organization can be to a community. The community gives and the zoo gives back. Without the community, the zoo could not exist, because they rely on their funds to achieve their goals of animal preservation. On the other hand, they give right back by helping develop educated members of the community and encouraging the pursuit of knowledge and care for the environment.

For more information, visit the following sites:

Zoo Website: http://www.kidszoo.org/

Their history: http://www.kidszoo.org/pdfs/fwczhistory.pdf

Fort Wayne, Indiana Animal Care and Control

The Fort Wayne, Indiana Animal Care and Control is a municipal animal care and control shelter. Its basic function is to protect public safety from animals, as well as provide shelter for neglected and abused animals. In order to achieve these goals and minimize the need, improvements in the community have to be established and maintained. This is done through law enforcement and community education.

Law enforcement is necessary in establishing standards for proper pet ownership by preventing cruelty and protecting the public. A couple major requirements for Fort Wayne is rabies vaccinations and being a registered pet. According to the Fort Wayne Animal Controls web site, "All dogs, cats, and ferrets must be vaccinated against rabies in the state of Indiana beginning at the age of three months. The animal's first vaccination is good for one year. Dogs and cats may receive three year rabies vaccines after that. Ferrets must continue to be vaccinated annually." Requiring vaccinations helps protect animals against these vicious illnesses, as well as protects people from obtaining them through being bitten by an ill animal. Vaccinations go hand in hand with Fort Wayne's requirement for all dogs and cats to be registered with the state. Proof of registration means that the pet should be wearing 2 tags on their collar. One tag signifies the rabies vaccination and the other signifies being registered. Registration fees are $5 for animals that are altered (spayed or neutered), but $100 for unaltered pets. This is another important step that Fort Wayne takes to prevent animal cruelty and helps protect the public. Higher fees are charged for unaltered animals to help deter people from allowing their pets to excessively breed and add to pet overpopulation. Pet overpopulation is what causes animals to be sent to animal control centers in the first place. Enforcing these laws is important to the health of the animals, as well as public safety.

Other than implementing laws for current problems, the Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control takes it a step further by educating the community to prevent animal abuse from occurring and making people into responsible pet owners. They offer several tours to schools and scouts in educating them on current legislation and how to care for animals responsibly. One exceptional education opportunity is their Learning For Life and Animal Careers Explorer Post Program. It is for teens ages 13-21 to participate and gives them opportunities to learn about the most current information on animal welfare careers. Its a great opportunity for teens to get hands on experience with animals and decide if a career in the animal welfare field is right for them. The Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control has several programs dedicated to the education of animal welfare for the community.

Clearly, the law enforcement and educational programs they offer are a great benefit to society and the communities economy. By having these, it helps protect the community from being injured by animals and teaching them to have responsibility for their pets. By offering such a great program to teens in the area, they are encouraging youth to learn. By encouraging them to learn, they are setting up foundations for learning for their possible careers in the future and helping make them into useful members of society. This extra guidance might be exactly what it took to get some students more interested in learning and into a field that was appropriate for them. In the long run, it may have the effects of increasing employment by encouraging employability of youth. It is important for communities to have programs such as these to enable learning outside of school and to become more familiar with fields of study before actually deciding what is the right choice for them when it might not really be the right choice.

For more information on the educational opportunities of the Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control, visit their website at http://www.cityoffortwayne.org/index.php?.option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=39

November Focus

• A Summary

From the end of August until the end of September, I focused on how to get an animal shelter started. Topics of tax breaks, non-profits, opportunities for starting and growing, and several others were discussed in how to maintain a successful animal care center. For the month of October, I discussed several topics of animal cruelty. In each posting I discussed the type of cruelty taking place, what can be done to end it, and why it is important for everyone to have awareness of these issues. The cruelty animals face is what has created the need for animal care centers. Although they serve a wonderful purpose in helping displaced animals, if animals were treated appropriately, there would not be a reason to have them in the first place. With proper education, things can change. For my next posts, I will be shifting gears back to individual animal centers rather than animal specific posts.

• A Preview

For the month of November, my posts will be changing back to the animal shelters. They play important roles in helping displaced animals. Without them, more cruelty would take place than currently and towns could be easily overrun with uncared for animals. As mentioned before though, it is somewhat sad that they are even needed in the first place. However, with proper education and awareness, these issues may be resolved. So, for the month of November I will be discussing several different animal shelters or care centers for domestic and wild animals. The following points will be examined:

1. Brief overview of what kind of animal center it is.
2. Discussion of what special activity the shelter uses to stay connected with the community.
3. How this activity provides benefits to the economy or society.

By discussing these topics, unique ways of running a shelter will be revealed as well as methods that other shelters can adopt to be successful and help educate the community.

Breed Specific Laws vs. Reckless Dog Owners

Let's face it. There are some dog breeds people are more afraid of or at least carry some type of negative connotation with their breed. As a result, some communities are trying to enforce breed specific laws. What this means is that some breeds might have heavy laws in regards to what their owners must follow through with in order to keep them, or they may be banned from the area completely. However, this is unfair and ineffective as the ASPCA reveals through statistical analysis.

Breed specific laws are unfair to pet owners, as well as all citizens in a community where they are enacted. It is unfair for pet owners because it disables them from choosing a breed they enjoy. If the breed is banned, people in the community will not be able to choose that breed. Also, if that breed is already owned, the owner will have to either give up the dog or may have severe costs associated with keeping it. On another note, it is completely unfair for all citizens in a community. In order to maintain such a rigorous law, there will be costs. Prince George’s County of Maryland is living proof. Their county spends $250,000 a year just to try to eliminate Pit Bulls in their area. The task force of the county has since tried to appeal the ban because of its cost to the county as well as the fact that banning Pit Bulls does not eliminate neglective, abusive, and irresponsible dog owners who either can encourage their dog to be aggressive or allow it to not be contained. The costs implemented with such laws is simply unfair to all citizens in communities that adopt such breed specific laws.

Not only are these breed specific laws unfair, but they are ineffective. There are several reasons why they are ineffective. For one, aggressive dogs seem to be more the result of irresponsible dog owners than breed specific. The ASPCA outlines the following facts on their website at http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServerpagename=cruelty_dogfighting_breedspecific:

1. 70 percent of all dog bite cases involve unneutered male dogs, and that an unneutered male dog is 2.6 times more likely to bite than is a neutered dog.
2. A chained or tethered dog is 2.8 times more likely to bite than a dog who is not chained or tethered.
3. 97 percent of dogs involved in fatal dog attacks in 2006 were not spayed/neutered.
4. 78 percent were maintained not as pets but rather for guarding, image enhancement, fighting or breeding.
5. 84 percent were maintained by reckless owners—abused or neglected, not humanely controlled or contained, or allowed to interact with children unsupervised.

Clearly, aggressive dogs are created by their irresponsible owners. So, simply banning dog breeds is not the answer. Another point mentioning is that even if a dog breed is banned, who is to say that these irresponsible owners will not simply look for another dog breed, say, for dog fighting? Other options must be accessed in order to protect society from aggressive dogs other than just simply banning certain breeds.

There are a number of options that will aid in decreasing the number of aggressive dogs given the previous statistics. For one, counties should require their citizens to spay and neuter their dogs. If they do not require it, then those owners seeking to keep their dogs unaltered, must pay fees. Require that dogs either not be chained, or if they are chained they are given ample room to access most of the property in order to give them the ability to exercise freely. Other measures counties can take are to require leash laws, micro chipping for permanent identification of aggressive dogs, and required owner education for certain breeds. All of these measures are simple ways of effectively solving the problem by requiring owners to be more responsible and help protect people in the community as opposed to being unfair and ineffective as the strict breed specific laws.

Federal: Protect Nonhuman Primates--Support the Captive Primate Safety Act

As many people know, there are often times '"loopholes" in government policies and laws. However, the loophole that exists in the trading of primates. Current legislation prohibits the importing of primates for pets. However, it does not prohibit primates already in the U.S from being soled through interstate commerce as pets. Fortunately, if there is enough support for the Captive Primate Safety Act this loophole can be closed. This loophole must be corrected to prevent cruelty to primates as well as prevent the the dangers that primates pose for humans.

• What is being done to primates?

Primates are being sold as pets in the U.S. The problem is that many of these "pet owners" do not know how to properly care for a primate. As infants, they are more cooperative, but as they age they often become aggressive. Most handlers do not have the proper education or training with how to deal with them. They are an animal that requires constant interaction and must be occupied or will become bored, depressed, and act out in consequence. They need ample amounts of room for exercising and having the ability to swing and have companionship with other primates. For the most part, as pets they are not given these opportunities, which creates dangers for the people caring for them as well as making the primates life miserable.

• What risks do humans have from the loophole that exists?

Unfortunately, primates are known to carry several diseases, including the following:

1. Ebola virus
2. Herpes B virus
3. Monkey pox
4. Simian immunodeficiency virus
5. Tuberculosis
6. Yellow fever

Obviously, allowing people to care for primates as pets can cause serious health risks. The spreading of these diseases would be quite easy as it was mentioned that primates can and often do become more aggressive as they age when they do not have proper care. Wounds may be inflicted through biting and scratching, which would allow these diseases to be transmitted.

• What can be done?

The Act must be supported. In order to prevent the tormenting conditions that the primates endure, as well as the health risks they provide for humans, primates should not be kept as simple house pets. There is no reason for them to live in captive conditions when they could be living free in the jungle. There is no reason for humans to have to worry about obtaining diseases from primates. End the torment and support the Captive Primate Act. Simply go to the ASPCA website at https://secure2.convio.net/aspca/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2223 and submit a form that is already filled out that shows your support.

All information regarding the use of primates as pets and the potential risks of this activity were found at the ASPCA website.