Animal Rescue Director Arrested For Animal Abuse
In the area where I live, we are involved with a breaking story about the executive director of an animal rescue organization. She has been arrested for the suspected abuse of over 80 animals.
Complaints filed with county animal services regarding the facility where the animals were being kept, include the following:
• Numerous animals in horrible condition"
• One of horse weighed 400 pounds less than when the owner dropped it off.
• The horse's coat was covered with deep cuts
• The only drinking water the horses had was a children's pool filled with green slime and two small metal bowls used to feed the horses were filled with dirt.
• A house at the location had dog and rabbit feces and urine all over the floor with no visible food or water.
• The main part of the house had eight to 10 dogs with feces and urine all over the floor and couch. There was no food or water.
• The lanai held a female shepherd mix with her six puppies. The dog's ribs were showing, the water bowl had slime in it and the food bowl was upside down. There was puppy diarrhea on the floor.
• A kennel attached to the house contained 10 to 12 thin puppies. The food bowl was empty and there was a three-gallon bucket full of green slime.
You can read the entire story in the Fort Myers News Press, as reported by Gabriella Souza.
Most states have specific statutes that provide minimal protection for companion animals in public or private facilities.
For example, the Iowa Statues provide in part:
"all dogs and cats handled by boarding kennels, commercial kennels, commercial breeders, dealers, and public auctions are provided with humane care…including…
adequate feed means the provision at suitable intervals of not more than twenty-four hours or longer if the dietary requirements of the species so require, of a quantity of wholesome foodstuff suitable for the species and age, sufficient to maintain a reasonable level of nutrition in each animal. The foodstuff shall be served in a clean receptacle, dish or container.
adequate water means reasonable access to a supply of clean, fresh, potable water provided in a sanitary manner or provided at suitable intervals for the species and not to exceed twenty-four hours at any interval."
If you suspect that a facility is not properly caring for animals, notify the appropriate authorities for an investigation.
Seperate the Caregiver and the Trustee in Your Pet Trust
I want to appoint my accountant as the Trustee for my Pet Trust because she has a full background and understanding of my financial condition. However, the accountant insists that she should also be the caregiver for Moxy, my terrier, so that she can combine duties to save time. Is this a good idea?
Rex Lavergne, Tennessee
The animal caregiver, custodian or guardian is an important component in the Pet Trust.
Usually a family member or close friend is appointed to this position. Someone who knows and cares for the pet. Perhaps, someone who has a history with your animal.
Professor Gerry W. Beyer has taken this position on the appointment of the Trustee as the caregiver. In 2008, he wrote:
"This is the most important decision because this person will provide the pet’s care. The pet, the prospective caregiver, and the caregiver’s family (human and nonhuman) should make sure they get along. It is important to name alternates in case the designated person is unable to care for the pet. The trustee may be given the ability to select a good home for the pet if none of the named beneficiaries can care for the animal. But the trustee must not be permitted to appoint him- or herself, as this would eliminate the checks-and-balances aspect of separating the caregiver from the money provider."
Heed the words of the experts in this field.
Separate the powers, duties and appointment of the caregiver and the Trustee in your pet trust.
Pet Blanket Made With Love
We recently wrote on a story about the daughter of a family friend.
Elizabeth Torrisi and her friend Julia are making blankets for pets that are waiting to be adopted from facilities at the Humane Society Naples, Florida.
You can see the complete story here.
Elizabeth now has her own website called missionpaws.org.
According to Elizabeth:
"The way we got started, was by walking through an arts and crafts store one day. We found ourselves in the fabric section, and I turned to the others and told them about my sudden idea. A couple years back I had made a few dog blankets for an animal shelter at a camp. All the fabrics just brought back memories, and since it was summer and we had nothing to do I figured “why not?!”. They thought it was a great idea and since we all have dogs of our own, it really meant something to us. Now we find ourselves day after day making home-made blankets on our sewing machines for the dogs and cats of the animal shelters."
Visit their website here.
You may decide to get involved for a good cause.
Pets needing a good home…
Pet Trusts in Kansas
I live in the Jayhawk state of Kansas, the home of the 2008 National NCAA Basketball Champions. Any information on a pet trust for my cockatoo, Benke?
Laurie, Agra, Kansas
Laurie, the State of Kansas has a Pet Trust statute that was enacted in 2003. The trust language is very short:
"(a) A trust may be created to provide for the care of an animal alive during the settlor's lifetime. The trust terminates upon the death of the animal or, if the trust was created to provide for the care of more than one animal alive during the settlor's lifetime, upon the death of the last surviving animal.
(b) A trust authorized by this section may be enforced by a person appointed in the terms of the trust or, if no person is so appointed, by a person appointed by the court. A person having an interest in the welfare of the animal may request the court to appoint a person to enforce the trust or to remove a person appointed.
(c) Property of a trust authorized by this section may be applied only to its intended use, except to the extent the court determines that the value of the trust property exceeds the amount required for the intended use. Except as otherwise provided in the terms of the trust, property not required for the intended use may be distributed to the settlor, if then living, otherwise to the settlor's successors in interest."
It is interesting, in that the statute states, that a trust can be created for an animal and does not specifically refer to a “pet” or “companion animal.”
Anyone for an elephant trust?
Contact an attorney and your financial advisers and begin your estate planning for Benke
Life Insurance for Your Pets
With the recent well-publicized collapse of American International Group, Inc. (AIG), the world’s largest and most powerful insurance company, I thought that it would be an appropriate time to re-visit insurance.
We have written before of some available plans for pet insurance.
These plans can cover veterinary care and most reimburse you for the cost of treatment due to accident or illness. Coverage can include the X-rays and lab tests required to diagnose an illness or injury, therapeutic drugs, hospital stays and surgery. Some plans even cover the cost of preventative care, like checkups and vaccinations.
We have found that some companies will provide life insurance coverage for your pet, including VPI Pet Insurance, PetPlan Pet Insurance, PetCare Insurance, National Insurance Company and the Oriental Insurance Company Limited.
Although we try not to endorse any individual commercial enterprise over another, we are using the information from the Purrfect Pet Insurance website to explain this insurance.
"We understand that no one can place a value on the pets that give us so much joy, unconditional love, dedication and companionship. That is why we developed life insurance plans for your companion and show animals.
Benefits range from $200 to $750 for non-show pets. Accidental death insurance is included in most policies and coverage for death from illness starts at under $1/month as a rider to your health insurance plan. Higher limits of $1,000 to $10,000 are available for qualified pts under an innovative stand alone plan.
You will soon be able to include liability coverage in your policy as well. We are the first and only U.S. provider of liability coverage with a pet insurance plan. "
If you have any interest in these policies for your pets, be smart, shop around, compare policies and companies, and then decide if it is right for you.
By the way, think that we taxpayers can get a guaranteed loan from the Federal government for $85 billion?
Donate Your Next Gift to an Animal Shelter
I recently read an article that explained that many couples were discarding older, standard ideas about gifts for birthdays, weddings and other special occasions.
Instead of another striped tie or a gift card to a local favorite store, many individuals are opting for a donation to their favorite charity.
Instead of gifts from guests, the recipient asks that a donation be made to a charity.
It seems to be a win-win situation.
No unwanted or re-gifted gifts and a worthwhile donation to a good cause.
Now, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has entered this arena.
They are promoting their ideas as follows:
"From exchanging environmentally responsible rings to sending out invitations made with recycled paper, many couples are tying values with vows and throwing wedding celebrations that truly make a difference. And while giving to charity through your wedding is a relatively recent trend, it’s one that's catching on fast. The ASPCA recently launched the ASPCA Wedding Pages, complete with photo albums, a guest book, and a link that asks guests to donate to your personal page in lieu of a present. We even provide a short URL that’s easy to remember, and an email tool for inviting friends and family to visit your wedding page.
And what about wedding favors, those often cliché token gifts that we’ve all received—and promptly discarded? Couples are now opting to bypass that tradition altogether and making a charitable donation on behalf of their guests instead. It’s a lot more meaningful than a bar of chocolate or heart-shaped frame, and will extend the impact of your gift beyond your guests to animals in need. We’ll provide elegant place cards with the ASPCA logo, letting your guests know you made a donation in their name. Please visit our website for more information—and best wishes for a beautiful day! "
Just another option for you to ponder for your next celebration.
Perhaps a monetary gift to your favorite animal shelter or center is an idea, whose time has come.
And as an side, you will not have to agonize over your next bad gift selection.
Happy Blankets for Shelter Pets
I always enjoy writing about people, especially younger ones, who do more than talk about the need to take care of animals.
These proactive people actually put their ideas into motion for the good of local animals and the community in general.
I am especially pleased to report on a recent story published in the Collier Citizen, of Naples, Florida, as the main character in the story is the ambitious and caring daughter of a friend.
Reporter Laura Archazki-Pacter, recently wrote:
"In the dog days of summer, 12-year-old Elizabeth Torrisi found puppy love, at the Humane Society Naples.
Regular visitors to the shelter on Airport Road, Torrisi and her mother, Diane, wanted to do more for the animals awaiting “forever families.”
“I was walking around Joanne’s Fabrics with my friends, when the idea came to me. I looked at the dog and cat motifs and decided to make ‘happy blankets’ and ‘comfort blankets’ for the animals,” says Elizabeth.
The mother-daughter team stitched up the winning idea – Mission Paws -- and have donated more than 45 blankets to the shelter.
“Happy blankets are for the animals waiting adoption and the comfort blankets are for the puppies and the pets in the clinic,” Elizabeth explains.
Fabrics for these blankets are different, too. The duo designed cotton quilted blankets for the canines and felines awaiting adoption, while comfort bedding is designed with two layers of fleece, to aid in the well-being of an animal following surgery.
“When pets come into the recovery room, the comfort blankets reduce their stress and they recover faster,” Diane says about how the blankets provide more than warmth in animals’ lives at the clinic.
Working with HSN public relations coordinator Stephen Wright, the Torrisis visit the shelter on weekends to deliver the blankets. Sometimes the happy blankets don’t survive the overly loving dogs, which the Torrisis have come to know on a first-name basis.
“Dogs would sometimes chew the blankets on their dog couches,” Elizabeth says as she pets Scoobie, a small mixed-breed puppy waiting to be adopted. “If we can repair them, we try.”
The blankets are the cat’s meow in the feline section of the shelter, too. Wright points to blankets made by the Torrisis lining the boxes he built for the cats three years ago. Previous visitors may recall metal cages, where each cat was housed individually in the viewing area. Wright’s creative, hand-painted cat nooks, combined with Torrisi’s happy blankets, now provide a well-crafted, healthier, homier atmosphere.
“They do it all, and they deliver. You can’t ask for better volunteers,” Wright says of the Torrisis.
The Community School of Naples seventh-grader reflects that commitment in her goal to expand the program.
“My goal is to get every single animal shelter in Collier County to use these blankets,” she says. “We hope it inspires other moms and children.”
Supporters can also provide financial donations to further the Paws cause. A $10 donation covers the cost of one dog blanket or three cat blankets.
As a straight-A student, Elizabeth also manages to find time for school work, dance, community service and care for her own pets - schnauzers Ralphie, Emma and Lilly, a rabbit Chloe and turtles Buddy, Junior and Franky.
For more information on Mission Paws and how you can help, email missionpaws@gmail.com."
Good story.
Great idea.
Nice young lady.
Thanks, Elizabeth.
Know Your Local Pet Laws
We often discuss, cuss and marvel at the animal laws in effect throughout the various local communities in the United States.
Some are comical. Some are virtually unenforceable. Moreover, some are surreal.
I recently took a closer look at the statue in effect for the county where I live and was surprised at the number of easy and perhaps normal ways that animal owners can inadvertently violate the law.
Ordinance No. 93-56. SECTION TEN: GENERAL VIOLATIONS.
1. It shall be unlawful for the owner of an animal to allow or permit his or her animal:
A. To be upon the beaches of the County, whether fettered or unfettered, unless the area has been designated by the Board as suitable for use by such animals, except a certified seeing-eye or hearing-ear dog actually in use by handicapped person, or animals used by law enforcement officers or County ordinance enforcement personnel.
B. To run at large in or upon any public street, road, sidewalk, other public place, or upon private property without the expressed or implied consent, subject to zoning, of the owner or any lessee of such private property.
C. To be within any park or upon public school grounds or public playground in the County, including the exercising of any animal, whether fettered or unfettered, for the purpose of elimination of wastes.
D. To enter any place where food is stored, prepared, served or sold to the public, or any other public building or hall; provided however, that this provision shall not apply to any blind or deaf persons using seeing-eye or hearing-ear dogs, to public building used for animal shows or exhibitions, or to dogs used for enforcement by any law enforcement officer or code enforcement officer.
E. To trespass upon private or public property so as to damage or destroy any property or thing of value, or to defecate and create a sanitary nuisance thereon, including defecating upon roadways, road rights-of-way, sidewalks, or other property so as to create a sanitary nuisance thereon. A sanitary nuisance exists whenever the feces are not immediately removed and properly disposed.
F. To chase, run after, or jump at vehicles or bicycles using any road or road right-of-way.
G. To snap, growl, snarl, jump upon, or otherwise threaten persons lawfully using any road right-of-way.
H. To bark, whine, howl, or cause other objectionable noise, which is offensive and of such a continuous duration of time so as to create a nuisance.
I. To be abandoned and thereby relinquish control of an animal with the intent or purpose of setting the animal at large.
J. To be confined in an unattended motor vehicle without sufficient ventilation or under other conditions for such periods of time as may endanger the health and/or physical well-being of the animal due to heat, lack of potable water, or such other circumstances as may reasonably cause suffering, disability, or death to the animal.
Many of these activities are everyday and ordinary.
Perhaps you should check your local laws to make sure that you are in compliance with your pet and your community.
Don't Horse Around With Estate Planning
While we usually focus our thoughts on dogs, cats and other smaller pets, there is really no limit on the love of animls by their owners.
The Del Camino Equestrian Academy of Scottsdale Arizona, offers the following insights into estate planning for your pets.
Most people have some life insurance and a retirement plan.
They have named beneficiaries who are family members, of course.
Most responsible people with minor children at home have made arrangements in their will or trust for those children, including naming a guardian.
Do we assume that the beneficiaries of these instruments that wisely fulfill our duties to people, will share with our pets as we would wish?
You might reasonably predict that the family dog would stay in the family. But if you are single with pets, are you certain that relatives in Nebraska will fly Fluffy out from Phoenix to join them for the rest of Fluffy’s life? If Fluffy is a St. Bernard, maybe not.
How will they know which pet adoption agency to use to find him a new home?
What if that no-kill adoption center wants a support fee until he is adopted, which would be fair?
Are they going to be willing to spend $100 per month for however many months it takes to find him a home?
Who pays for those vaccinations and groomings that might come due in the interim? Oh, ALL of my relatives would take care of Fluffy. They love Fluffy as much as their own pets. Good.
Now let’s move on to your two performance horses that are boarded at a nice training facility, or your three backyard horses that you spend 3 hours per day maintaining if not riding.
One of those, by the way, is Sweet Ole Paint, a 24 year old with Cushings who won you the State Championship 15 years ago, and is enjoying a quiet retirement just keeping the younger horses company.
What is going to happen to them, if something happens to you?
They provide some probing questions and thoughts for you to consider with your planning.
You can gain further information on these plans here.
How Do Animals Cope With Death?
We have discussed the grieving process involved when we loose a pet or companion animal and some of the methods we, as humans, use to cope with this loss.
What about the animals?
A recent article in the New York Times by Natalie Angier, recently discussed some reaction so animals to death.
Ms. Angier wrote about the observations of zoo workers of a mother gorilla and her deceased baby:
Yes, we’re a lot like other primates, particularly the great apes, with whom we have more than 98 percent of our genes in common. Yet elaborate displays of apparent maternal grief like Gana’s may reveal less about our shared awareness of death than our shared impulse to act as though it didn’t exist. Dr. Hrdy, author of “Mother Nature” and the coming “Mothers and Others,” said it made adaptive sense for a primate mother to hang onto her motionless baby and keep her hopes high for a while. “If the baby wasn’t dead, but temporarily comatose, because it was sick or fallen from the tree, well, it might come back to life,” Dr. Hrdy said. “We’re talking about primates who have singleton births after long periods of gestation. Each baby represents an enormous investment for the mother.”
Go to the site and read the entire article. It contains interesting thoughts about animals, their feelings and their mortality.
More Opposition to Pet Trusts
Recently, I presented an article by Christopher Caldwell here, that formulated a very different view regarding estate planning for pet owners.
From the very active and informative site of Professor Gerry W. Beyer, comes a new position by Ray D. Madoff (Professor of Law, Boston College Law School).
You can see the entire post here.
Professor Madoff states;
“There should be a limit — a dollar amount or a percentage of the estate — on the estate tax charitable deduction. People could still give to charity as they like, but after a point they would be giving after-tax dollars. The deduction should be lower for bequests to private foundations than for money given directly to good causes.”
In opposition to this position, Leslie Lenkowsky (Professor of Public Affairs and Philanthropic Studies, Indiana University), argues:
“Whatever one might think of her judgment in leaving the bulk of her estate to care for dogs, it was her money, and as the Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker wrote in his blog, "Respecting individual preferences, no matter how idiosyncratic, is one important measure of a free society, even when those tastes relate to bequests and inheritances."
Personal decisions for money usage or waste, tax avoidance or good planning, charitable use of money or beneficent ideas?
So what is estate planning for pets?
These issues will be discussed further on September 5, at a lunch session sponsored by the Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy.
You can be assured that the debate on this issue and philosophy is just beginning.
Hurricane Plans for Your Pets
As I write this, we are heading into the long weekend with tropical storms and possible hurricanes lined up in the Atlantic like the backed up runway at O’Hare.
If you find yourself with an impending weather emergency, you need to plan and protect your pets.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency has some suggestion to help:
"The family pet can be overlooked until the final frantic moments before Mississippi residents evacuate ahead of a hurricane, but a little planning can ensure pet safety and care during an evacuation.
Taking the pet along is the most important thing individuals or families can do for their animals during a hurricane evacuate ion. Pets that are left behind can be injured, lost or killed during a hurricane, say officials of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA).
Pet owners should put a hurricane evacuation disaster plan in place for animals before hurricanes threaten. Evacuation preparation is a key focus of Mississippi's eight-week Stay Alert. Stay Alive. preparedness campaign in advance of the hurricane season that started June 1.
Just like with your family, evacuation plans for animals take time and planning. The most important thing you can do for your pets now is to make sure their immunizations are current and they have proper identification.
Many hurricane shelters do not allow pets, except for service animals, so it is important to identify in advance those that do. Plan ahead to insure your family and pets will have a safe place to stay.
Here are some other tips for pet owners:
• Leave early if you live in an area that may be evacuated.
• Pets should wear up-to-date identification and be micro-chipped.
• Take your animal's food with you. Stressed animals may experience intestinal problems, but using the same food will help reduce the trouble.
• Have copies of pets' vaccinations, medical records and prescriptions.
• Keep a pet carrier and leash close at hand...."
You may visit their website here for additional information.
Stay safe during the coming times and be prepared, for yourself and your pets.
