KRISHA WILLIAMS

Sherwood Humane Animal Services received a grant from Petfinder.com Foundation and an international animal health company to vaccinate dogs against canine influenza virus, Petfinder announced in a news release.

The virus is new and many dogs have not built up immunity to it, the release said. The grant, also funded by Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health, makers of the NOBIVAC(r) Canine Flu H3N8 vaccine, is part of a program to increase awareness of the virus and boost immunity.

Dogs contract the virus from infected dogs, toys or food bowls. People also can also spread the germs if they come in contact with infected dogs. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

JONESBORO — The moments after realizing a beloved pet has gone missing can be frantic. Getting the word out quickly can help.

In Jonesboro one man helps do just that by posting descriptions and photos of lost and found pets on the Internet and distributing them to local veterinarians’ offices.

Fred Thiel, a volunteer with the Northeast Arkansas Humane Society, goes to the shelter every Friday to pick up the latest list of lost animals. Then he goes to work uploading the information to the NEAHS Web site. Read the rest of this entry →

KRISHA WILLIAMS

Another 500 or so freshwater drum fish were found dead Friday near Ozark Lock and Dam on the Arkansas River, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission announced in a news release Monday.

More than 83,000 dead and dying fish were seen on the surface of the river Dec. 29.

No cause was found for the December fish kill despite multiple tests, the release said. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

KANAB, Utah — At the Pro Bowl this weekend in Hawaii, Michael Vick will start at quarterback — an unmistakable benchmark for what has been a rapid, successful and, in some circles, surprising comeback.

A few thousand miles away in the wilderness of Utah, the pit bulls Vick once owned are making a comeback of their own, though theirs has been a much slower, steadier climb.

Take the case of Little Red. Three years ago, she would race to the nearest corner and cower, her face buried against the wall, at the sight of any human or dog. Or Ellen, who would growl at anyone who came near her, especially if they dared glance over at her food dish. Read the rest of this entry →

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE

A Missouri animal-welfare group came to Mountain Home on Saturday to help care for more than 100 horses that a Vilonia man has been charged with abusing.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is providing 24-hour care, and the horses are on the mend, spokesman Kyle Held told the Baxter Bulletin Saturday. When the horses are helathy, the group will offer registration for adoption.

The Humane Society of the United States, along with several local rescue groups, had representatives at an old auction site in the city where stables have been set up to treat the horses, the paper reported on its website. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Saline County prosecutor’s office says an Alexander man has been sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of aggravated cruelty to a horse.

A news release from the prosecutor’s office Tuesday said Robert Everett Keck’s prison sentence was one of the first to be imposed under a new law approved by the Legislature in 2009 that made first-offense cruelty to dogs, cats and horses a felony.

The release said that, in addition to the two-year prison sentence, Keck was given a two-year suspended sentence. Read the rest of this entry →

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE

What two people say was a botched attempt to put down a suffering dog led to the arrest of a Barling man Thursday, the Greenwood Police Department said in a news release.

Charles Grindle, 63, faces charges of aggravated animal cruelty and discharging a firearm in city limits.

Responding to a call about a man shooting a dog in the 1700 block of Nashville St., the Greenwood Police Department spoke with the homeowner who said she called her friend, Grindle, to end her dog’s suffering. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WILLMAR, Minn. — When the Humane Society of Kandiyohi County and an animal rescue group asked for volunteers to foster a Marine’s puppy while he was away at basic training, the response was remarkable.

The Marine’s friend, Diane Henjum, says they had a list of volunteers three pages long who were willing to care for the 7-month-old Basset Hound-Springer Spaniel mix named Oreo. Henjum says the dog has been delivered to a foster family in Montevideo.

The 19-year-old Marine is expected to be in training at FORT Leonard Wood in Missouri for six months. The Hawk Creek Animal Shelter is donating the cost of having Oreo vaccinated, spayed and microchipped. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SALEM, Ark. — Animal-welfare officials and a Fulton County deputy say food is on the way for more than 80 horses found starving in fields and a barn where they were being held for slaughter.

Deputy Sheriff Lance Gray told the Batesville Guard that the rescue effort Thursday began after he was called to remove a horse from a highway and found scores more standing listlessly in a nearby field.

Gray said he obtained a search warrant and went to the property with Desiree Bender, Arkansas director of the Humane Society of the United States, and three Missouri officials of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Read the rest of this entry →

ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

HECTOR — Officials removed more than 120 dogs last Tuesday, some with mange and other medical issues, living at what authorities described as an overcrowded volunteer-run animal rescue outside Hector in Pope County.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Best Friends Animal Society, working with the Pope County sheriff’s office, went to the property with a search warrant after authorities received complaints.

The Best Friends Animal Society is providing shelter services, and a local veterinarian is evaluating and treating the dogs.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Videos appealing to a sexual fetish by showing women killing small animals will be banned under legislation that cleared the Senate Friday and is heading to President Barack Obama for his signature.

The voice vote in the Senate followed a vote in the House on Monday to ban so-called crush videos that depict the abuse and killing of animals.

Congress banned such videos in 1999, but the Supreme Court earlier this year struck down the law, saying it was too broadly written and violated First Amendment free speech protections. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BEIRUT — A 12-year-old chimpanzee was heading to a sanctuary in Brazil on Monday after animal rights workers discovered him smoking cigarettes to entertain visitors at a Lebanese zoo.

Omega, who weighs around 132 pounds, has never climbed a tree or seen other chimpanzees. But he often puffed cigarettes that zoo visitors threw in his cage.

“The chimp still regularly smokes … if someone will throw him a cigarette he’d pick it up and go for it straight away,” said Jason Meier, executive director for animal rights group Animals Lebanon. Read the rest of this entry →

Photo courtesy of Horses for Healing

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE

Horses for Healing welcomed kids and adults to Halloween Fun Day on Saturday in Bentonville.

Emmy Schaller, 12, of Rogers dressed up as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, a popular theme for the day, and was among participants in a costume parade at the nonprofit riding center, 14673 Daniels Road.

The day also included a potluck picnic, a haunted hay ride, a scavenger hunt and readings by a fortune teller. Read the rest of this entry →

An Arkansas Democrat-Gazette file photo

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel was honored as a humane lawmaker by the Humane Society of the United States during its 4th awards ceremony recognizing officials who have “made meaningful progress against animal abuse,” the humane society announced in a news release Tuesday.

Once ranked by the national organization as among the five worst states in animal-welfare protection, Arkansas is now 25th in the HSUS rankings after the introduction of a felony animal cruelty law, the release said.

Law enforcement officials from across the country attended the 2010 Humane Law Enforcement Awards ceremony Friday in Washington, DC. Read the rest of this entry →

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE

Feline Rescue and Rehome will hold The Cat’s Meow, its fall fundraiser yard sale, Nov. 5-6 on the lot at Kavanaugh and Cedar in Little Rock.

A hodgepodge of clothing, toys, furniture, electronics and more will be on sale from 7 a.m. until dark Friday and Saturday.

FURR will be setting up for the sale from 10 a.m. until nightfall Thursday, Nov. 4, and welcomes volunteers and donations. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES — A once-abandoned dog that helped save lives after the Haiti earthquake and a three-legged cat that inspired a series of children’s books have received national honors.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals announced its dog and cat of the year awards Monday. Both are one-time California castoffs.

Pearl, a 4-year-old Labrador retriever, was abandoned at a shelter, then trained and sent this year to Haiti with a rescue team from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The county’s seven rescue teams helped bring 12 people to safety. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WALDRON, Ark. — The Sebastian County Humane Society says its members have rescued 18 dogs from property in Scott County, but some were in such poor health that they probably will have to be euthanized.

The group helped officers with the Scott County sheriff’s office when they searched the property Thursday.

Bekah Trotter of the Humane Society told Fort Smith television station KHOG that the owner of the dogs apparently moved away and left the dogs to die in pens. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

GUTHRIE, Okla. — The Logan County Sheriff’s office is investigating the deaths of several exotic animals that were shot, then beheaded and mutilated.

Earlier this week, farmer Jerry Logan found three deer and one of his sheep dead on his property north of Guthrie. Logan says the antlers from one of the deer had been removed.

Chief Deputy Rob Groseclose says the animals are worth $9,000. Read the rest of this entry →

THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

The chief of the nation’s largest animal-protection organization praised Arkansas legislators for stiffening penalties for animal cruelty and encouraged them to adopt new laws.

“We should be good to the least among us,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of The Humane Society of the United States. “We should use our power properly. In the relationship between humans and animals, we hold all the cards.”

Pacelle spoke Thursday at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock. Read the rest of this entry →