Poop City

Pol proposes "Paw and Claw Tax"

A Republican state senator has introduced a bill that would tax products for "dogs, cats, gerbils, hamsters, rabbits, and caged birds." The three percent tax would include a levy on pet food.

The Sun reports that collected revenues would go "toward financing animal shelters and wild life rehabilitators."

"When people realize the money is going to shelters, they will understand it's for a worthwhile cause," the bill's sponsor, Senator Frank Padavan, said in a telephone interview yesterday.

Sounds good, especially considering Governor Spitzer's apparent distaste for animal welfare funding. A possible Spitzer veto notwithstanding, there might also be concerns that the money could someday be diverted from its intended use. But Padavan, described as "the animal protector of the Legislature," is apparently sincere.

This year, he has also introduced a bill that would ban the electrocution of fur-bearing animals and one that would prohibit canned hunts.

Of course the so-called "Paw and Claw Tax" will have to make it by politicians, including the governor and Republican Senate majority leader Joseph Bruno, who have promised no new taxes. Heaven forfend the lives of animals stand in the way of cliched political pandering.

Park pellets may be toxic

Rubber pellets underneath acres of artificial turf being installed in city parks could be unsafe, according to academics who have studied the synthetic stuff.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports:

Preliminary testing indicated the rubber pellets, made from recycled tires, contain high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that exceed levels deemed safe by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, according to City College psychology professor William Crain. He conducted the study with chemists from City College and Rutgers University.

Crain said the city should stop using synthetic turf, already installed on 70 fields, including Cadman Plaza, until testing can be done to ensure that the chemicals don’t absorb into the skin or dissolve when ingested by children, who tend to put their hands in their mouths.

City Parks and Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe has, not surprisingly, defended his department's widespread use of the turf, citing industry studies and acceptance of the turf by sports teams.

"Of course, asbestos and PCBs were also widely used for decades before both substances were banned because of later studies that exposed their health risks," the Eagle reports.

While the story is primarily about potential dangers to people, especially children, it seems pet parents should take notice as well. Like human kids, dogs will put almost anything in their mouths that will fit.

Thanks to Brooklyn Heights Blog for making the pet connection.

Photo: Brooklyn Heights Blog

98.7 percent of food not inspected

Straining to keep up with market globalization, the Food and Drug Administration inspects just 1.3 percent of imported foods, the AP reports.

And much of that 1.3 percent is contaminated.

Consider this list of Chinese products detained by the FDA just in the last month: frozen catfish tainted with illegal veterinary drugs, fresh ginger polluted with pesticides, melon seeds contaminated with a cancer-causing toxin and filthy dried dates.

Ew.

The remaining 98.7 of food imported into the United States is not inspected at all. Instead, it goes straight to the market. Imports now account for 13 percent of food consumed in America annually.

Even foods that are considered "safe" can contain hidden contaminants. If the wheat gluten now suspected to be responsible for pet sicknesses and deaths across the U.S. had been inspected, it would not have been tested for melamine, because melamine isn't (or wasn't) considered "toxic."

Photo: hober via Flickr

Welfare program funds restored

This bit of news was inadvertently omitted from yesterday's P-O-R good government report.

From the ASPCA:

Thanks to your efforts, the New York legislature restored funding to two crucial animal welfare programs during last-minute negotiations to finalize a state budget by the April 1 deadline. The budget now awaits Governor Spitzer’s signature!

- The Senate and Assembly agreed to restore $150,000 to the Animal Population Control Program, which provides low-cost spay/neuter services to low-income New York pet owners and to state residents who adopt their pets from shelters and humane societies.

- Both houses also agreed to restore $100,000 to the pet dealer licensing program, which oversees licensing and inspection of pet stores and “backyard breeders” in New York State.

Governor Spitzer’s proposed budget would have diverted these funds to instead pay the salaries and fringe benefits of state employees.

Please take a moment to contact your state representatives, Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and thank them for acting to ensure the integrity of these vital animal welfare and consumer protection laws.

P-O-R: Good Government Edition

NO CLASS: Democrats in the House and Senate have proposed federal legislation to prevent "Class B" animal dealers and unlicensed dealers from selling dogs and cats to research labs. "This bill," writes the ASPCA, "would eliminate the incentive for 'bunchers' - people who collect animals from random sources and sell them to Class B Dealers - to obtain dogs and cats through illegal [i.e. theft] or unethical [i.e. 'Free to Good Home' ads] means, as there would be no profit in doing so." Read the ASPCA endorsement for more details about S. 714/H.R. 1280, the Pet Safety and Protection Act. And, most important, be sure to contact your Senators and Representative (click here if you aren't sure how or who).

PROPERTY RIGHTS: New Jersey lawmakers are looking to crack down on pet food makers who release contaminated food into the marketplace. One bill, proposed by Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, would require food makers to certify that their products are safe, and would hold them liable for damages if proved otherwise. Another legislator wants tighter controls on the retail level in order to ensure that recalled food doesn't remain available for sale. The New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance, while applauding those efforts, believes the state should take a more holistic approach by elevating pets above "property" status.

IMBY: Support New York's own animal-defending government watchdogs by attending the League of Humane Voters of New York City spring membership meeting, tomorrow (Wednesday) at the LGBT Center (208 W. 13th St., Rm. 101, 6:30 p.m.). Come for the animals, stay for the animal-free pizza.

Giuliani dogged by Post readers

Dog lovers (or "animal-rights activists," as the Post calls them) are reacting to coverage of Judi Giuliani's work history, which includes a stint at U.S. Surgical, a company that killed dogs to demonstrate its products.

Here's a sampling:

To witness or participate in the pain and suffering of a living being tells so much of a person's lack of character, greed and selfishness.

This is unforgivable, and she should be ashamed. The thought of Giuliani as first lady sickens me.

Rudy Giuliani has lost my vote. Anyone who can condone animal abuse is a loser in my eyes.

If Giuliani desires to be the first lady, she must understand two things: It is not a good idea to ignore public opinion, and Americans like animals and have a special fondness for dogs.

Giuliani's indifference to suffering obviously carried over to people, evidenced by her escapades with Rudy while he was married.

Ouch.

For his part, Mr. Giuliani doesn't think the issue is worthy of comment. At least not yet.

Photo: pwilnyc via Flickr

Ban "tethering," not pit bulls

District 22 Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) was already causing a stir with his proposed ban on pit bulls, and understandably so. But opposition to his latest proposed pet legislation - restrictions on outdoor "tethering" - is as hard to parse as the proposal itself.

Under Vallone's proposal, Newsday reports, pet guardians who leave a dog tied outside for more than three hours during a 12-hour period would be subject to a warning, followed by a $250 fine for a second offense. Vallone is also considering a ban on outdoor "tethering" between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

What could be wrong with that? Plenty, say some. According to the Dog Federation of New York - which is organizing against both the pit bull ban and tethering regs - such restrictions would punish "responsible" caretakers, including poor and minority pet parents.

Maybe I'm missing something, but what responsible pet guardian of any income level or background would leave his or her dog chained up for more than three hours in a day - much less leave a dog chained outside overnight? Considering just two very recent cases of dogs tied or caged outside and left to freeze or starve to death, it's high time for an anti-"tethering" law.

That said, suspicion of Vallone's motivation is warranted. Though he calls himself an "animal rights activist" and "animal lover," his record doesn't completely bear that out.

In addition to his maliciously ignorant assault on an entire breed of dog, Vallone hasn't always come to the aid of animals - even domestic animals - when presented the opportunity to do so. The councilman scored 60 out of 100 on the latest scorecard from the League of Humane Voters of New York City. Though certainly not the worst on the council - Speaker Christine Quinn rates a shameful zero - Vallone has yet to get behind what is possibly the LOHV's highest local legislative priority: the Pets in Housing Bill, which would save animals' lives by ensuring that no-pet lease clauses, once waived, can not be reinstated during a tenant's residency.

Backing such a rule would seem a no-brainer for someone who calls himself an "animal lover," much less an "activist," but the fact that Vallone is not a sponsor of the languishing Pets in Housing law casts doubt on the purity of his intentions.

No more so, however, than the opposition by a group of "caring" pet "owners" to another law that would dramatically improve, not to mention save, the lives of countless dogs, shackled all day every day, who can only watch in longing as the world passes them by.

Photo: UnchainYourDog.org

Giuliani killed dogs for money

The Post reports that First Lady hopeful Judith Giuliani once worked for a medical supply firm that routinely maimed and then killed dogs during surgeries performed for the sole purpose of demonstrating its products.

U.S. Surgical killed "hundreds" of dogs from the 1970s through the 90s, the Post says. Giuliani got a job there in 1975, as a saleswoman in North Carolina, and worked for the company for four years.

"It was a horribly cruel, outrageous program," Friends of Animals President Priscilla Feral said about the demonstrations of medical staplers on dogs ...

The dogs were "either put to death following the sales demonstrations because they can't recover from them, or they die during them," Feral said.

A campaign spokesman for Rudy Giuliani told the Post that Judith Giuliani "was in the operating room hundreds of times," but would not say whether she participated in demonstrations involving dogs.

Seems likely she did, though.

As the story says [emphasis added]:

The company, now part of Tyco Healthcare, has long acknowledged its salespeople routinely demonstrated staples on anesthetized dogs as part of sales pitches to doctors.

Then-CEO Leon Hirsch defended the practice in the 1980s, saying there was no other way to properly show how the staplers worked.

"A dead dog doesn't bleed," Hirsch said in a 1988 issue of Time magazine. "You need to have real blood-flow conditions, or you get a false sense of security."

Did someone say security? Yes, security!! Homeland Security!! Terrorism!! 9/11!! Run Rudy run!!

Day Eight

- With no word yet on the cause and an unofficial death toll nearing the 1000 mark, Animal Medical Center vet Cathy Langston tells ABC News she has "already heard about 200 cases" of Menu Foods-related illness, and says there "are probably going to be thousands." It is unclear if she was referring to cases nationwide, or those in New York City alone.

- Neil Shaw, chief medical officer for NYC Veterinary Specialists & Cancer Treatment Center in Manhattan, says vets are seeing cases of chronic kidney failure in addition to acute onset. Yet some vets are reportedly telling pet parents not to be concerned unless their animals develop symptoms - even if they ate food subject to the recall. Having lost two cats to renal failure myself, I would not only ignore this advice, but end my relationship with any vet who offered it. Testing blood and urine is easy. Watching your buddy die slowly is hard.

- Newsweek reports that FEMA - er, the FDA - only inspects pet food plants on a "for-cause" basis - that is, when it's too late.  Still, claims industry flack Duane Ekedahl: "Pet foods are the highest regulated product you'll find in the grocery store." Let's hope not. Says Ann Martin, author of three pet health books: "It's wide open. As far as ingredients go, there is no regulation." Which would explain the "road kill, zoo animal carcasses and fecal matter" Martin says is found in some brands. Luckily, according to Newsweek, this whole recall business has only affected a "small number of families."

- The Newsweek story also points out that the suspect Menu Foods plant, in Kansas, is still open. The company says safety checks are being performed "around the clock," but if they don't know what they're looking for, how can they look for it?

- There is still doubt as to how Menu Foods became aware of the contamination. The FDA has said it was revealed through routine taste testing, but it has been widely reported that Menu Foods was alerted to the problem by consumer complaints. If the FDA version is correct, does that mean Menu released the food into the market before they tested it? Or did they not test until their customers' pets started dying?

- California chain Pet Food Express has yanked all Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet and Nutro foods from its stores' shelves, and is selling other Menu products "only if a client is fully aware of the recall and the potential risk posed by feeding a product made by Menu Foods." Despite assurances from the company, PFE says, "we cannot and do not vouch that they are safe." PFE has posted a useful list of food brands, showing what is and isn't manufactured by Menu. Did you know Newman's Own is a Menu product?

In other recall news:
- A victim's parent questions the recall list. [BARC]
- Plaintiffs wanted for class-action suit. [Progressive Law Group]

Photo: ilun, via Flickr

Spitzer: Come to New York, Kill Something

Eliot Spitzer seems to have it in for New York's animal population.

Even as he plans to divert tax moneys from crucial (and already under funded) spay-neuter and welfare enforcement efforts, the governor wants to pump (no pun intended - really) additional state resources into promoting hunting and fishing, which he believes will boost tourism revenue.

For those of us who don't see how slaughtering unarmed animals qualifies as recreation, much less as "sport," that might be bad enough. But Spitzer wants to up the ante - way, way up.

As part of his outdoor agenda, Spitzer said no new gun law will be adopted without hunting group consultation ...

Naturally, the gun nuts are overjoyed at their luck, if a little suspicious - since Spitzer was previously sort of against the proliferation of firearms. Says Tom King, president of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association:

"If you go back to Gov. Spitzer's record as attorney general, he attempted to limit gun ownership in many ways. For him to do a broad initiative like this is really a very good thing for the hunters of New York state."

Could be that this is a ploy to get the hunting lobby to back down on its opposition to Spitzer's choice to head the Department of Environmental Conservation, Assemblyman Alexander "Pete" Grannis.

Certainly there must be some logic behind it, but until Governor Spitzer's endgame becomes apparent, I think I'll go back and see if I can find exactly when Candidate Spitzer promised to hand over the asylum to the inmates.

Related:
- ASPCA calls for action in re welfare budget cuts. [ASPCA]