| 2)
So-called "Bunchers" gather free pets until they have enough for a trip to a
Class B Dealer who is licensed by the USDA to sell to sell animals from "random
sources" for research. The Buncher may only get $25 a head for former pets, while
a dealer can between $100 - $450 per pet. The Class B dealer probably already has a
contract with certain facilities, and will transport them to other areas within a state,
even out of state. While,
unfortunately, there are legitimate medical reasons to use some animals in
experimentation, the majority of reputable medical labs use animals bred for the specific
purpose. However, there are many, many different types of animal "research," and
many types of facilities that use dogs. Almost every cosmetic, household, and chemical
product is tested on animals, including former pets obtained from shelters and Class B
Dealers. Veterinary schools and medical schools, and even some engineering schools use
dogs and cats in classrooms and "research." Textile manufacturers who make
products for medical use test and demonstrate on dogs, frequently retired racing
greyhounds.
Research facilities that use live
animals in testing are supposed to be registered with the USDA (though not all are); the
USDA list of such facilities on their website cites 34 in the state of Michigan, mostly
colleges and universities, as well as Borgess Medical Center, Dow Chemical, Dow Corning,
Pharmacia & Upjohn, etc. (Please note that not all of these use dogs or cats.)
3) Free animals are taken to "blood"
pit-bulls--to train fighting dogs how to kill, and to enjoy it. This can be dogs and
cats, of any size--in fact, rescuers suspect that a recently rescued cat was used in this
manner. Often, a larger dog's muzzle will be duct-taped shut so that he can't bite back,
and the fighting dog will gain confidence in killing a dog larger than he is.
4) One "adoptor" in this area took
free kittens to his "good home"--as dinner for a pet snake.
5) Unspayed or unneutered pure-bred dogs may
end up as "breeding stock" in a puppy mill. One woman was certain that if
she didn't give away her Dalmatians' AKC registration papers along with the dogs, she
could keep them safe from millers. Wrong. Unscrupulous breeders, who use puppies as cash
crops like other farmers raise cattle, pigs, or chickens, aren't above forging
registration papers, or using those from deceased dogs. Rescuers have learned the hard to
way to make sure that all pets they place have been spayed or neutered before going to new
homes.
6) So-called "collectors" watch the
newspapers for Free to Good Home animals. These collectors truly believe they are
"rescuing" the animals. Animal Aid had dealings with one such collector,
right here in Southwestern Michigan.
When the two Animal Aid volunteers
and the policeman walked up the steps of an ordinary-looking house in Galien, MI, they had
no idea they were walking into a living hell.
Neighbors had complained about foul
smells coming from the house; the owner, they said, kept dozens of cats in there, but they
hadn't seen her in a couple of weeks.
The place smelled, all right; a
strong odor assaulted their noses the minute they got out of the car. Still, nothing in
their experiences could have prepared them for what stunned their senses as they opened
that front door: the unimaginable sights and silence and stomach-churning stench of mass
death. Light was dim, and they saw trash all around--trash, and bodies. The owner of the
house had simply locked the doors and windows and left dozens of cats behind with no food
or water, to die. The only thing that kept the volunteers from collapsing in despair were
faint rustles, scratches, mews, coming from just out of sight around the corner. There
were still live cats in this house of horrors.
Estimates range from 40 - 60 as the
number of cats this lady had abandoned; it was impossible to tell for sure. Over the next
few days, volunteers from Animal Aid and the Humane Society trapped and removed all of the
live animals they could find. There were 18, in a wide range of ages, and of these, two
later died.
All of them were starving, dehydrated,
and totally unsociable. They had survived the only way they could, by preying on the
small, the weak, the sick, and the dead. Rescued kittens lived in fear of adult cats;
adult cats lived in fear of each other--and of human contact.
Phoenix and Zorro went to an Animal
Aid volunteer for fostering; they have since been adopted. The other 14 went out to the
Humane Society of SW MI, where all but three have also been adopted--most locally, but two
are now thriving under the care of a lady in Kansas City, MO! Phoenix and Zorro still
mistrust humans, and to quote one of the rescuers about the three who will probably live
out their days at the Humane Society, "They need to go to a home that doesn't expect
anything from them but just to live there."
Meanwhile, a warrant was issued for
the arrest of the house's owner, and the entire area was outraged to learn that this was
her THIRD offense! The THIRD time she had "collected" a house full of cats, and
then abandoned them, the SECOND time in this very same house!
How could this happen? It's not
as unusual as you might believe--or hope. Such people are called "collectors;"
they take in orphaned dogs or cats, watch the "free to good home" ads, either
don't believe in spaying and neutering or run out of funds for the vet bills. These
collectors actually think they are "rescuing" the animals! More and more free
pets come to them--they're very convincing; and they truly do love pets--and the ones they
have keep reproducing, until the collectors are overwhelmed. In the best circumstances,
animal rescue organizations are called. In the worst--the collector simply walks away.
This particular collector was located
in another state, and brought back for trial. She will serve jail time, pay a fine, do
community service, but there is no guarantee that when her sentence is served, she won't
simply move to another house in another community in another state, and start answering
"Free to good home" ads again.
As for the police, the neighbors, and
especially the volunteers involved in the rescue of the Galien kitties--more than a year
later, they're still having nightmares. |
