Hundreds of evacuated animals are being cared for at three locations in Bernalillo and Torrance Counties: Los Vecinos Community Center; Bernalillo County Animal Shelter; and Torrance County Estancia Emergency Animal Shelter. ASPCA responders have been dispatched to all three locations to support local agencies with shelter operations and daily care.
The fire, which began June 14, has ravaged nearly 18,000 acres, destroying dozens of homes and forcing thousands to evacuate. As of Tuesday, local authorities began to lift some evacuation orders, allowing residents and their pets to return to their homes in certain areas.
“As evacuation orders ease, we’re seeing more and more people come in to pick up their pets and return home,” said Dr. Dick Green, Senior Director of ASPCA Disaster Response. “Our hope is that this continues as the fire dies down and that all these animals can be reunited with their owners soon. This fire has been nightmarish for the families in its path—we’re glad we could provide some relief for evacuees by caring for their animals during this traumatic time.”
The ASPCA frequently responds to wildfires, hurricanes and other natural disasters around the country, but none of our life-saving work would be possible without your support. Please consider making a donation today so we can continue to be there for animals in need at a moment’s notice.
The fluffy, gray kitten was discovered clinging to life on Rockaway Beach in late February. NYPD officers responded to a call about an injured cat and took Chandler to a nearby veterinarian for an initial exam and then to ACC of NYC in Brooklyn, the second stop on his 37-day journey to a new life.
Stephen recalls seeing Chandler for the first time: “He was lethargic, with dried blood and sand around his nose; I felt really badly for him.” Stephen contacted ASPCA staff who agreed to take in the compromised cat the following day. Stephen drove Chandler to ACC’s Manhattan location and the next morning, with help from ACC’s Joe Dipalo and Ryan Denmark, he was transferred to the ASPCA Animal Hospital.
Upon arrival, Chandler weighed just three lbs. and “was dehydrated, dull, and depressed,” reports Dr. Danielle Delfino, an ASPCA veterinarian who oversaw his treatment. “We suspected head trauma and gave him a lot of supportive care.” Chandler remained in the ASPCA’s Intensive Care Unit for nearly a week. He was treated with antibiotics, pain medication and fluids. “As he began to feel better, he came out of his shell,” adds Dr. Delfino.
Emma’s mom, Kristine, has been saving kittens for a long time now, and when Emma came along, she recruited her onto the team! And we’ve gotta say, at just seven years old, she’s already doing an amazing job.
Together with her mom, Emma has already helped save seventeen kittens.
Tiger Cub Used as Selfie-Prop by Drug Dealer Gets Rescued! A male tiger cub found wandering the suburbs outside of Paris was rescued after witnesses contacted the police. Authorities had already been on the lookout for the little one after finding photos of him on the phone of a man arrested on the suspicion of dealing drugs. According to Europe 1 radio, the cub’s caretaker would let clients snap a selfie for the small price of five euros.
Unlike in the United States, where backyards house more tigers than in the wild, owning a tiger is illegal in France. Authorities searched diligently for the little cub until he was found wandering the streets.
What can we do? First, if you ever come across a photo opp with a tiger — or any exotic animal, for that matter — don’t do it. Often times, these facilities will carry a false message of conservation, using the tigers for “educational” purposes. But, don’t be fooled. The main priority of these roadside attractions is one thing only and that’s living their own wallets.
Hopefully, one day soon, the United States will make keeping big cats as pets illegal. Then, more tigers, like Tonga, will be able to have a happy ending. Image source: Terre d’Accueil.
Rescued Kittens Nursed Back to Health After Being Abandoned. When Maria heard the sound of kittens crying off in the distance, she assumed that a feral cat mother had left her babies in a safe place while out searching for food. Little kittens aren’t exaclty the best asset to have in toe when out hunting for food, so feral mothers will often hide their litter and return with snacks. However, as Maria described on My Modern Met, it was a hot day, more than an hour had passed, and Maria began to worry about the crying kittens.
Going to investigate, Maria discovered not a den of safely tucked away kittens, but rather, a cardboard box with five kittens left alone in the middle of an abandoned lot. The kittens were skinny and infested with fleas as well as panicked from being left in a small space all alone. Maria immediately called her partner, photographer Alex Greenshpun and the two brought the crying babies to the vet to be examined, cleaned, and properly fed. The prognosis from the vet was not promising, kittens left without their mother rarely survive as they require a lot of attention and regular feeding via syringe. The couple were told if the kittens made it past two months then they would thrive.
Taking in these five little darlings, with the intention of nursing them to two months and then putting them up for adoption, Greenshpun quickly made the rag-tag litter the star of her latest photo series.
Five kittens found abandoned and left to fend for themselves in a cardboard box
What Elephant Who Lived With Bullet Lodged in His Head Teaches Us About the Ivory Trade. In a truly miraculous turn of events, a wild elephant survived being shot in the head. The attack was probably carried out by poachers intending to kill the elephant for his ivory. Had the shot been fired just five centimeters lower, the bullet would have entered the elephant’s brain and killed him.
Nicknamed Pretty Boy, the 25-year-old male elephant is believed to have been living with the bullet lodged in his head for up to six weeks. Despite this, he was relaxed and gentle while examined and treated by veterinarians from the Animal and Wildlife Area Research and Rehabilitation Trust (AWARE), a conservation organization in Zimbabwe.
“It usually takes more time to find the animal than it does to treat it,” details the AWARE Trust in a Facebook post, but this wasn’t the case for Pretty Boy who came right up to the team’s car and “made himself available for examination within half an hour.” Despite the harm done to him by humans, Pretty Boy was reportedly remarkably gentle towards the veterinarians who treated him.
While Dr. Marabini states she doesn’t usually feel fully comfortable coming quite so close to a wild elephant, Pretty Boy was extremely calm and “there were no aggressive vibes coming from him whatsoever.” The massive animal “literally emanated serenity,” according to her and it seemed “he knew we were there with the intention of helping him,” she adds.
Unfortunately, Mana Pools is an area frequently targeted by poachers who kill elephants to steal their ivory tusks and sell them at high prices. This problem runs rampant all across Africa. Most aren’t as lucky as Pretty Boy and thousands of elephants are killed for their tusks each year.
In fact, studies show that one African elephant is killed for ivory every fifteen minutes, that’s close to 100 elephants being slaughtered for this evil trade each day. Tragically, elephant numbers in Africa have been plummeting since the 1970s, slashed by 60 percent between then and now. This may lead to the extinction of this grand and significant species by 2020 according to scientists as elephants are being killed faster than they are being born.
Pretty Boy’s story proves how resilient, resourceful and intelligent elephants are. Yet, we continue to allow thousands of these majestic animals to be gunned down each year, their tusks ripped out of their heads so that a clueless consumer on the other side of the globe can purchase an ivory statuette.
If the illegal wildlife trade wasn’t bad enough, this impressive species faces a wealth of other threats from the human population. Worldwide, elephants are confined in zoos, brutally forced to perform tricks at the circus and ridden around to exhaustion as a tourist attraction. Elephants are strong enough to crush us with their trunks alone, but more often than not, they refrain from using their physical superiority to do us harm. Why, then, can’t we extend them the same privilege?
While most of us know the evils of ivory and of the wildlife trade, it is important to share that awareness for the benefit of consumers who may not yet be clued in about the extent wild animals suffer for this cruel trade. Moreover, there are countless easy steps to take to ensure we never cause elephants harm and to speak up for these magnificent creatures.
Firstly, never patronize a zoo, circus, tourist attraction offering elephant rides or any other facility that keeps wild animals captive for human entertainment and encourage family and friends to do the same. Additionally, you can speak up against poaching and wildlife trafficking by signing petitions against the bloody ivory trade on Rainforest Rescue, Avaaz, and SumofUs for instance. You can also check out these 10 Simple Ways to Stop Wildlife Poaching to help curb the illegal wildlife trade as a whole.
While Pretty Boy escaped death thanks to an auspicious twist of fate, countless other individual elephants continue to suffer at the hands of humans. These include Nosey, Kavaan, Hanako, Happy, Bubbles, Anna Louise, Laura, Lucky, Billy, and several others.
Finally, you can support organizations who are fighting for elephants, such as the WWF, the Born Free Foundation and IFAW, as well as the AWARE Trust who treated and saved Pretty Boy. All images from the AWARE Trust/Facebook
Adventurous Piglet Found Wandering on Highway is Successfully Reunited With Guardian. Pigs are rambunctious little creatures. Known to get bored fairly easily, pigs will do pretty much anything for some good entertainment. They know how to play games, they enjoy a good wrestling sesh, and they’re extremely social and love to explore.
In fact, just recently, a piglet, later named Dahlia, was found romping around the I-5 expressway in Oregon. Thankfully, the piglet was wandering around the edges of the expressway and even as people whizzed by, they took a moment to pick up the phone and call the state police. They reported that they had seen a dog on the highway (we could see how they could make that mistake, pigs are a lot like dogs) but when state troopers arrived at the scene, they figured out what was actually happening: there was a piglet on the loose!
How Dahlia managed to escape her guardian’s property is unknown but what matters most is that state troopers were able to successfully rescue the one-month-old piglet and relocate her to a nearby shelter.
A Group Of People Work Together To Save A Dog Seconds From Drowning
However, there are still some good left in this world. Our faith in humanity is restored when we see people who are passionate in saving animals. Just like the group of guys in the video below.
In the video, you will see a dog who somehow got stranded in what looks to me like a dam. One guy bravely went down to get the dog, but getting them up would be difficult. So a group of people worked together and formed a human chain to get them to safety! Click to watch the rescue!
Animal rescue: bear caught in wire trap freed and returned to wild by Four Paws Kosovo - TomoNews |
Beagles are the breed of choice for testing in the pharmaceutical industry due to their docile nature. In labs, they undergo extreme pain and are poisoned with experimental substances via force-feeding, injection, or skin application, in order to measure toxicity. Instead of getting to experience all of the love and joy that comes with being a beloved companion, these dogs know nothing but pain and fear for the duration of their lives in captivity. To make matters even more tragic, most dogs are euthanized after their trails are over.
Thankfully, there is an amazing organization dedicated to giving beagles, and other animals, a chance at life outside of the cold, concrete walls of labs: Beagle Freedom Project.
This organization works with laboratories to arrange for the release of their animals once tests are completed. They then help to rehabilitate these dogs – many of whom are terrified of humans and have no idea what it means to be a dog – and find them caring forever homes.
While life outside of the lab is difficult at first for many of these pups, most are not house broken and maintain strange coping mechanisms such as hoarding food or acting out aggressively, once they finally learn that they are safe and loved – things take a miraculous turn!
All it takes is one look at this photo to understand the power of freedom!
There is nothing that warms our hearts more than knowing that a better life is possible for former lab animals. You can help make more happy endings like this one possible by supporting the incredible work of Beagle Freedom Project.
We hope to see one day where all dogs get to know this freedom. Until then, share this post and encourage others to learn more! All image source: Beagle Freedom Project/Instagram
Saved From Life as Illegal Pets, 2 Otters and a Civet Find Peace in Sanctuary Home! Humans’ relationship with animals is dysfunctional, to say the least. Despite the fact that we both live on the same planet and have each created our own unique and intelligent way of surviving, humans are convinced that they are the superior being. With this egotistical mindset, it’s no surprise that humans often exploit animals for entertainment, scientific advancements, fashion, or sometimes simply to keep as pets. Take the two otters and civet who recently arrived at Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand‘s (WFFT) headquarters. The trio had all been kept as exotic pets, but as many owners eventually realize, wild animals are a handful to take care of. So after two years of selfishly housing these animals, the owner finally made the decision to drop these lil’ guys at the sanctuary. Like many otters and civets nowadays, these animals were likely illegally poached before being sold in the illegal wildlife trade.
On top of being frequently exploited, Asian small-clawed otters, like the ones rescued, are in severe decline due to habitat loss and are therefore considered endangered animals.
At 7:00 A.M., you brush a tiny kitten's body with a toothbrush to recreate the feeling of a mother cat's tongue.
At 12:00 P.M., you give a kitten a soothing bath and dry him with a gentle blow dryer, because he is not yet old enough to regulate his own body temperature.
At 3:00 P.M., you socialize with a kitten to ensure that she is friendly and comfortable being handled.
At 7:00 P.M., you warm a kitten's formula to 102 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature of the milk she would have received from her mom. - Donate
You continue this all day, every day, until each of the approximately 2,400 homeless newborn cats who come through the nursery's doors every year are ready for adoption.
This is only a small glimpse of the work that we do at the ASPCA Kitten Nursery. It is not easy, but it is essential: The nursery saves thousands of lives every single year, and helps give these most vulnerable animals a fighting chance. But none of this work—no feeding, no bathing, no playtime—can happen without your support.
When you donate to the ASPCA, you can make a critical difference for innocent animals in need. Your generosity can translate directly into life-saving programs just like the Kitten Nursery, and can mean the difference between a short, tragic life on the streets or the chance at a safe, loving home for an abandoned or neglected pet.
You keep our teams running, and without you, these helpless animals will have no one. Please make a gift to the ASPCA today.
Stray Dog with a 4 lb Mass Gets Life-Saving Surgery and A Loving Home |
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WFFT was called in to rescue Chico after his owner decided he no longer wanted the adolescent monkey. As a small baby, Chico was easy to manage and his human family happily played with him and set him up with an entire wardrobe of human clothing. But as Chico grew, he became stronger and grew aggressive, so it was decided he was no longer a suitable pet. When the WFFT rescue team stepped in to save the orangutan, they knew they’d be faced with a highly intelligent, emotional little animal – what they could not have realized is that when they rescued Chico, they rescued the world’s most interesting orangutan.
Meet Chico.
The Lengths These Compassionate People Go to to Help Farm Animals Will Give You Chills. There’s no doubt that people love animals. Just take one look at YouTube or scroll through Facebook and you are bound to find tons of cute videos supporting this fact. However, even the fiercest of animal lovers sometimes separate animals into two categories: companions and food. This dual perception can be seen in many of our actions. We’ll care for dogs and cats, going so far as calling them our “fur babies,” while at the very same time ignoring the plight of the millions of animals in commercial animal agriculture. We enjoy going to the petting zoo and feeding animals, and then right after we’ll go to a diner and eat a burger, without a second thought as to where that burger came from.
There are certain places, where this contrast does not exist. Places where animals of types are all given the same love, care, and chance to survive. Take Samantha, the sheep, from Farm Sanctuary, for example. Within the haven of Farm Sanctuary, Samantha is treated like an individual who deserves to live, even if she is not perfect. Even with her injured legs (something that would have likely gotten her terminated on a commercial farm) Samantha is given the best care possible. She’s not considered “broken” or “useless” but simply a work in process, just like anyone, human or animal, who accidentally gets hurt.
Thanks to the amazing people who work with Farm Sanctuary, particularly a man by the name of Ronnie Graves who has been providing state-of-the-art orthotic care to hundreds of animals, Samantha was able to get a cast and a prosthetic leg to help her achieve mobility.
And you know what? She’s still lookin’ cute as ever!
Alone in a land where each year as many as 100,000 homeless dogs are smuggled into dog-eating countries like Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam and China to fuel demand for a bloody, butchering meat trade. Where impoverished citizens abandon dogs and cats because they don’t have the money to feed or care for them.
As her useless back legs dragged behind her, Potato the crippled pup was in a frantic fight for survival. She was losing the battle. And as you’ll see in the video above, Potato desperately wanted to live…
Supporter, please join hands with us to fund a new partnership we’ve just begun with a remarkable sanctuary doing urgent work for stray animals like Potato.
It’s called Thai Animal Sanctuary. They’re a brave, shoestring rescue group operating out of remote and poverty-stricken corner of Thailand.
Their selfless efforts mean that hundreds (ultimately thousands) of dogs and cats have a chance at life that didn’t exist before. Were it not for their on-site veterinarian, the next closest care for these gravely ill and injured animals is an arduous four-hour drive away.
Somehow, sanctuary staff have also spayed, neutered, vaccinated, and cared for many more animals on the streets. It’s part of their quest to slow the sad cycle of overpopulation. And it’s working. Yet it’s reported there are up to ONE MILLION homeless dogs in Thailand.
So when the call for help went out, Network for Animals answered.
I knew that as someone who loves animals, you’d want nothing less. We’ve sent a significant donation to the sanctuary, and with your help will pledge continued monthly support.
Supporter, with your contribution of any size now, great good will continue to be done. $5 could pay for a vaccine, $10 for a bag of food, or $25 for emergency care. You will be a hero to Thailand’s animal rescuers and the stray dogs and cats they save.
With your help, Network for Animals will support more care at Thai Animal Sanctuary AND work to effect stronger legislation and stricter enforcement that will end illegal dog meat trafficking and the trade itself, similar to victories you helped bring about in the Philippines.
Join hands with me now and give generously for friends like Potato. Happy endings for Thailand’s suffering strays can’t happen without you.
Thankfully, there are a few sanctuaries that take in formerly captive big cats in and give them a home where they can truly flourish. The Wildcat Sanctuary in Minnesota is one of these havens. These cats even form strong friendships! Take Morgan and Shalico, the two wild cats in the video above, for instance.
Morgan, a bobcat, and Shalico, a Canadian lynx, were both abandoned by their owners. While this is a prime example of the negligence and frankly the lack of thought people who think keeping exotic pets is a good idea possess, we sure are glad these cats found their way to the Wildcat Sanctuary at the same time!
Since both cats were young upon arrival, sanctuary workers decided to introduce them to each other. Their love quickly blossomed and the two are now inseparable! In the wild, cats of different species don’t usually co-mingle, but within the safe and peaceful home at Wildcat Sanctuary, these cats were able to form a strong bond. We hope they are able to grow together for many years to come!
To learn more about the amazing work being done at the Wildcat Sanctuary, check out their website.
Courageous Mama Cat Who Sustained Horrible Burns Trying to Save Her Kittens Gets Rescued. They say there are no lengths that a mother won’t go to to help her children, and the story of Flame the courageous cat proves this. Flame was found covered with burns by members from the organization Alley Cats and Kittens. They discovered that a fire had broken out on a nearby farm two weeks ago and from the looks of Flame, she had likely sustained burns trying to rescue her babies who she had been nursing in the farmhouse’s shelter. Unfortunately, Flame’s babies were nowhere to be found.
Alley Cats and Kittens volunteers urged community members to keep an eye out for Flame’s kittens; however, it is most likely that they did not survive. This brave creature was in intensive care for two weeks at Rufford vets and the compassionate veterinarian even took Flame home for a time to show her some love and to help her cope with such trauma.
The kind people of Rufford vets treated this cat with respect, naming her Flame to demonstrate how this experience strengthened her.
To help Flame on her road to recovery, please consider donating to help pay for her medical fees. All image source: Asifyoudid/Imgur