If you live in California, you know all about the state's massive budget problems. State workers' salaries are being cut, social services are being pared back and various programs are feeling the pinch of a $24.3-billion deficit.
But now it looks like animal shelters - and the animals who are kept there in hopes of finding new owners - will also feel the brunt of California's fiscal woes.
Among the cuts proposed last week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is one that would end a state mandate to hold animal shelter strays for six days. Kiska Icard, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco SPCA, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the change - which is expected to save the state $24.6 million - would result in euthanizing more animals.
"Obviously, monies need to come from somewhere," she said, "but to do it on the backs of these animals is just really sad."
I've heard that shelters may euthanize animals after just three days. If that happens, it would be a major tragedy for thousands of dogs, cats and other lost or abandoned pets.
If you live in California and are thinking about adopting an animal from a shelter, now is the time. You could literally save the life of a cat or dog.
I love stories about how dogs can be trained to do just about anything - sniff out drugs, assist the disabled, even help rescuers find people trapped in rubble after a natural disaster.
Now, they're being trained to detect cell phones in prisons. Brilliant.
In Arizona, corrections officials report they have four dogs that are either working or being trained to work in state prisons to uncover cell phones being hidden by inmates. Such items, of course, are illegal.
According to the Associated Press, officials hope to have dogs in each of the state's 10 prisons by the end of next year.
Besides allowing inmates to conduct criminal activity outside prison walls, cell phones can also be used to aid an attempted escape. So far, dogs have found 50 illegal phones.
And now that phones are getting smaller, they're more easily hidden.
"When they started getting smaller and easier to conceal, that became a problem," said Angelo Daniels, commander of the Correctional Officer Training Academy in Tucson. "The smaller they get, the more concerned we get."
FYI: Dogs are trained to detect unique odors associated with cell phones and their components.
My wife and I took a short vacation to Hawaii recently, and while there I saw a story in the Honolulu Advertiser about new legislation designed to protects family pets in cases involving domestic abuse.
Specifically, it allows animals to be included under the protection of temporary restraining orders when a person feels his or her pet is being threatened by a spouse or partner.
"We have had numerous cases where an abuser uses the domestic violence victim's pets to control the victim," city prosecutor Peter Carlisle said in testimony that was submitted to the Hawaii Senate Judiciary and Government Operations Committee.
"These abusers have, in many instances, threatened to harm or actually injured or killed the victim's pets in order to frighten the victim into remaining in the relationship."
The Advertiser reported that five separate studies found that between 49 and 71 percent of battered women said their pets had been threatened, harmed or even killed by their partners. And the Humane Society of the United States reports that a national survey of battered women's shelters found that 85 percent of those surveyed who sought shelter in safe houses said their pets were harmed.
It's unbelievable to think that a person would harm their spouse's dog, cat or other pet to maintain control of the relationship, but then, I'm never too surprised at the cruelty some people show toward animals.
Fortunately, laws like this are taking hold. At least 11 states have similar legislation, including California, Nevada, New York, Maine, Connecticut and Colorado.
If Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle signs the bill, it will go into effect Jan. 1, 2010.
While the eyes of the public and the media are focused on Michael Vick, let's not forget about the dogs who suffered in the dogfighting ring he and others owned and operated. I can happily report that some have been rehabilitated and are up for adoption, thanks to rescue groups like Bad Rap.
Located in the Bay Area, Bad Rap (Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pitbulls) exists to rescue Pit Bull Terriers and dispel some of the myths about the breed. They've care for several Vick dogs and have found homes for some.
Fortunately, many of the Pit Bulls that were victimized by the dogfighting ring have been featured on a number of TV shows such as Anderson Cooper on CNN and the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. And they're finding homes.
That's the good news in this story.
Whether he's sincere about making a change or is just taking his first step at resuming his pro football career, Michael Vick is reaching out. He wants to work with the Humane Society of the United States to eliminate dogfighting among urban teens.
Vick, who was released today from federal prison in Leavenworth, Kan., and will begin serving two months of home confinement, met recently with Humane Society president Wayne Pacelle. The two spoke recently after one of Vick's attorneys requested the meeting, according to the Associated Press.
"He indicated that he's tremendously remorseful about this, and now he wants to be an agent of change, to work to end dogfighting and to specifically get young kids to cease any involvement in these activities," Pacelle told the AP.
Although it's uncertain what type of role Vick would play, it's likely the Humane Society could ask him to appear in public service announcements or speak to youth groups.
"There are no successful dogfighters; it is a dead-end activity," Pacelle told the Los Angeles Times. "More than anybody, he can tell the story about how it set him back in his life in a very dramatic way."
I'm still skeptical, which I pointed out yesterday. It's going to take more than a couple of 30-second PSAs to convince me that Vick has learned from his crimes and will do whatever it takes to end dogfighting.
I'm not sure 19 months in prison has done that.
