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May 2009 Not for Sale Paws Up! To the City of South Lake Tahoe for banning the retail sale of puppies and kittens. City of South Lake Tahoe council members voted to ban the retail sale of puppies and kittens in pet stores. The ban took effect May 5 and gives retailers two years to comply. NHES wrote council members in January 2009, supporting them in their effort to bring about such a ban and we applaud their recent decision. The majority of puppies and kittens sold in pet stores come from puppy and kitten mills. Breeding animals live a life of deprivation, starvation, disease, and debilitation. Puppy and kitten mills often house several hundred animals in makeshift cages and pens with little or no human contact. Their offspring are typically shipped long distances in crowded trucks. Some never make it to the pet stores. Take Action: California residents, please contact your local city legislators and urge them to follow the City of South Lake Tahoe’s lead. Source: www.cityofslt.us/cityclerk/minutes/2009/040709.pdf # Protection For Bats Paws up! To the U.S. Forest Service for closing thousands of caves in 33 states to protect bats. According to news sources, “The U.S. Forest Service is closing thousands of caves and former mines in national forests in 33 states in an effort to control a fungus that has already killed an estimated 500,000 bats.” The deadly white-nose disease was first spotted in New York about two years ago and has spread south and west. Caves will be closed for up to a year to determine how the disease is being spread. State Bat facts: While some bats are solitary, others colonize in caves in the millions. Their diet consists of insects and fruits with only three species living off the blood of other mammals. They are shy, nocturnal creatures who will not fly in the rain because it interferes with their echo locution abilities. Please write the U.S. Forest Service thanking the agency for protecting bats—an animal deserving of protection and vital to many ecosystems. Abigail R. Kimbell, Chief U.S. Forest Service U.S. Department of Agriculture Sidney R. Yates Federal Building 201 14th Street, SW Washington, DC 20024 Phone: 202-20-1661 Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BAT_FUNGUS?SITE=NEYOR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518702,00.html http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/05/ap/tech/main4993652.shtml # |
