GOOD NEWS: Montecito Pet Shop Stops Selling Milled Dogs

ANOTHER VICTORY FOR LAST CHANCE FOR ANIMALS' PET SHOP PROJECT!

THE MONTECITO PET SHOP STOPS

SELLING PURE BREED DOGS FROM BREEDERS

Last Chance for Animals (LCA) has succeeded in convincing another pet store to carry only rescue dogs! The Montecito Pet Shop in Santa Barbara will no longer buy pure breed puppies from breeders but instead will only re-home shelter dogs!

Santa Barbara residents contacted Kim Sill who heads LCA's "Pet Shop Project," wanting to protest the pet store after watching the special Dog Whisperer episode: "Inside Puppy Mills" this past May. LCA's investigation of the Pet Shop determined that the store was buying pure bred puppies from backyard breeders. Elyse Kuhn, who has owned the Montecito Pet Shop for 22 years, agreed to work with LCA after many meetings with Sill. She decided it was time to help the dogs on death row in the overcrowded shelters in California instead of participating as part of the problem.

On October 23, 2009, The Montecito Pet Shop welcomed their first litter of rescued puppies to their store! Sill delivered the six eight-week old pups, the last of the dogs to be removed off the Bemis property in Mojave.

Click here to watch video of The Montecito Pet Shop welcoming their first litter of rescue dogs!

Kim Sill of LCA commented: "It was very rewarding to watch the change in perceptions as the customers viewed the rescue puppies. The mood is different when people know that it is a rescue, there is hope and there is change in Santa Barbara tonight."

LCA is working towards a day in making Los Angeles a no kill city, where pet stores no longer support puppy mills and breeders, but shelter animals and rescue groups. LCA is committed to oversee and endorse pet stores in Los Angeles that are willing to change their business practice and re-home shelter animals.

SB 250 - The Pet responsibility Act has been put on hold until January. This bill would provide a reasonable, fiscally responsible step towards reducing pet overpopulation in California. The bill simply requires that dogs be spayed or neutered unless their owner/guardian obtains an unaltered dog license when they license their animal. It also requires that roaming cats be spayed and neutered by their owner/guardian.

In California shelters alone, since January 1, 2009, 237,457 pets have been killed, and $118,586,524 tax dollars have been spent to house and kill animals.

Campaigns Department
Last Chance for Animals
310-271-6096 x27
Campaigns@LCAnimal.org

ACTION ALERT: Pet Safety and Protection Act 2009

Call your legislators and urge them to support and cosponsor the PET SAFETY AND PROTECTION ACT 2009!

Last Chance for Animals (LCA) urges you to call your Senators and Representatives and tell them to support the The U.S. Pet Safety and Protection Act (S. 1834/H.R. 3907), which was reintroduced on October 21, 2009 by Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii). The legislation is also cosponsored by Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey), Carl Levin (D-Michigan), and Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey). The PSPA 2009 amends the Animal Welfare Act and prohibits Class B Dealersand unlicensed individuals from selling dogs and cats to research laboratories. "We must stop stray and stolen dogs and cats from being illegally sold to research facilities," said Senator Akaka. "It will end the fraudulent and unethical practices of certain dealers and the unnecessary suffering of dogs and cats in their care." LCA have been pushing for the passage of the Pet Safety and Protection Act (PSPA)since 1997! Class B Dealers are people who collect dogs and cats to sell to the research industry. They often acquire these animals through illegal and unethical means, such as responding to "free-to-good-home" ad in newspapers, falsifying records to keep the true origins of the animals unknown, and stealing pets kept outside in yards. Class B Dealers also buy animals in bulk from "bunchers" whose methods are even more questionable. Eliminating Class B Dealers will also remove the profit motive of bunchers, providing a much needed safety net to ensure that beloved pets are not stolen or obtained under false pretences and sold to facilities that test on animals. The PSPA would prevent dogs and cats from being sold to research facilities by Class B dealers. When the PSPA passed in both the House and Senate as amendments in their respective 2007 Farm Bills, it was also known as "Buck's Bill." Unfortunately, it was excluded in the final version of the 2008 Farm Bill. The PSPA (a.k.a. "Buck's Bill), was originally introduced as a direct response to LCA's undercover investigations of Class B Dealers. Buck was one of the many animals rescued by LCA during the 2003 raid of the nation's most notorious Class B dealer, C.C. Baird. Buck was very ill on the day of his rescue, struggling with stage 3 heartworm disease, rocky mountain spotted fever and parasitic pneumonia. Buck spent 7 months at a vet clinic before he was able to be moved to a foster family. Buck died in foster care, succumbing to the abuse he suffered at the hands of C.C. Baird. All who knew Buck fell in love with him. May we never forget him. The National Academies' Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR) advises the federal government on issues related to animals used in research. On May 29, 2009, they released their report entitled "Scientific and Humane Issues in the Use of Random-Source Dogs and Cats in Research." This report finds that it is not necessary to obtain animals from Class B dealers for National Institute of Health research. All members of the National Academy of Sciences committee viewed LCA's HBO film "Dealing Dogs" as part of their deliberations, and LCA is recognized on page 76 of this report. Please contact your senators and representatives, urging them to support and cosponsor the Pet Safety and Protection Act (PSPA). Click here to contact your representative! Click here to contact your senator! Click here for more information on PSPA!

For the animals, Campaigns Department Campaigns@LCAnimal.org Last Chance for Animals 310-271-6096 x 27