THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Several states including Arkansas are considering constitutional protections for hunting in a preemptive move to thwart efforts of advocacy groups to make shooting animals illegal.

Arkansas, Arizona, South Carolina and Tennessee have referendums for constitutional amendments on the ballot this year. Kentucky is poised to follow in 2012.

If successful, they would join 10 other states that already have constitutional protections to ensure that hunting could never be outlawed without a statewide vote of the people. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Washington County sheriff’s deputies say they’ve captured a snake that might have endangered small children or pets.

A telephone call from a resident near Farmington reported a large snake on the front porch of the caller’s home.

But the snake was not a rattlesnake, water moccasin or copperhead, all native to Arkansas. It was a 9.5-foot Burmese python, a constrictor that disables its prey by coiling around them and squeezing. (more…)

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE

Faulkner County will hold its Pet Fair from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 25 at the Faulkner County Courthouse in Conway.

Any rescue organization or Faulkner County club wishing to participate will receive free booth space at 801 Locust St.

Food and merchandise vendors may buy a 10×10 space for $25. Paypal is accepted. (more…)

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE

The Humane Society of Pulaski County celebrated 10 years at its building at 14600 Colonel Glenn Road on Sunday.

Cake and free portraits with a pet adopted from the shelter were offered at the celebration.

The humane society needs foster homes for recently rescued pets. (more…)

Photo courtesy of Out of the Woods Rescue — River and his new owner play.

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE

RESCUE IN THE ROCK

No party is planned for the third anniversary of Out of the Woods Animal Rescue of Arkansas.

“We have too much to do!” said president Kathy Woods, who founded the nonprofit in 2007 to help animals other shelters in the area could not.

“We don’t turn people down. That’s what sets us apart,” Woods said. “We’ll help anybody who’s willing to take on the responsibility for the animals they’ve taken in.” (more…)

Photo by Krisha Williams Turbeville

THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

About 100 people stood sweaty and eager to see a streak of black fur leap out of a concrete building Saturday morning. When the small metal door finally rattled open – nothing happened.

Then, just as some in the crowd started to lose hope, a black 2-year-old leopard named Spyke strode out of his den, pausing to stretch and scratch on the deck of his new home at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge.

Founded in 1991, the refuge is home to lions, tigers, leopards and bears, most of which would have otherwise been euthanized. Its staff travels the country rescuing exotic animals that were not meant to be pets, according to its website. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TEXARKANA, Ark. — Two organizations have asked a federal judge to halt construction of a $1.7 billion coal-fired power plant initially designed to supply power to electric customers in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.

Audubon Arkansas and the Sierra Club said Monday construction of the Southwestern Electric Power Co. plant is destroying wetlands. Owners of a hunting club near the plant site sued previously to stop construction — also on environmental grounds.

Audubon and the Sierra Club say the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should not have issued water permits to the plant and an emergency court order is needed to prevent immediate danger. (more…)

THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Down miles of gravel roads in the rolling hills of Fulton County sits Ken-Mar Farms, just outside of Salem.

When guests walk through the front door of the Lewis home, they’ll be greeted with a wide variety of dogs. All but Lulu, the Chihuahua, were rescued by Martha Lewis. The occasional horse may stroll into the home as well.

“It’s an absolute zoo,” Lewis said as she rounded up several dogs of various breeds. Lewis’ caring nature shone as she told the story of how she obtained each dog. (more…)

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE
RESCUE IN THE ROCK

About 50 people gathered Monday evening for a sold-out wine tasting and silent auction benefiting Central Arkansas Rescue Effort for Animals, Inc.

“We were very pleased with the turnout” at the first Paws in the Vineyard at Metropolitan National Bank, said CARE President Harry Light.

Light, also the Cammack Village mayor, said the group expects to raise $2,000 from a silent auction for two works by Little Rock artist Jim Johnson and an original, framed print by Amy Reges, a New York artist. (more…)

PHOTO COURTESY OF UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE

RESCUE IN THE ROCK

The United States Postal Service has teamed up with comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres to promote the Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet commemorative postage stamps.

The 44-cent stamps, which were introduced to the public last month on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, feature photographs of five cats and five dogs taken by veteran stamp photographer Sally Andersen-Bruce.

All 10 animals were adopted from a shelter in New Milford, Conn., according to a U.S. Postal Service news release. (more…)

RESCUE IN THE ROCK

Less than a week remains in the Fresh Step fund-raising effort benefiting The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Through June 30, Fresh Step cat litter will donate $5 to the ASPCA for each person who visits the Fresh Step Facebook page and clicks the “like” button.

The page can be found at http://bit.ly/HelpASPCA. (more…)

THE TIMES RECORD

To say Shana Garner has a soft spot for animals is an understatement.

Literally thousands of dogs owe their lives to her.

Relying on the generosity of donors, the help of some volunteers, cooperation with like-minded organizations and contracts with a few Arkansas towns, Garner operates a shelter/rescue operation out of her home on Oliver Springs Road, just outside Van Buren. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CAHOKIA, Ill. — Mr. Muggles strolled through St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia recently as if he had been flying all his life. But it was his first flight and one that helped save the dog’s life.

Mr. Muggles is a puggle, a cross between a pug and a beagle, and was flown into the Metro East from Arkansas, where he was on death row at an animal shelter.

Melanie O’Brien, of IlMo Pug Rescue, arranged for the dog to be flown in, and she will have him listed for adoption in a few days, she said. (more…)

ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Two Johnson County women charged with felony animal cruelty for running a mass dog breeding operation were sentenced to probation and given fines after they pleaded no contest to all eight counts against them.

Deputy prosecutor Bruce Wilson said Christine Yarrington, 60, and Lynn Burkett, 51, were sentenced Wednesday in Johnson County Circuit Court to five years’ probation and were fined $1,500 each, plus court costs.

They also were prohibited from having any animals in their possession and were ordered to undergo counseling on proper ownership and treatment of animals, Wilson said. (more…)

BRENDA LOOPER

501PETS

Saturday may have started out as a damp and dreary day, but that didn’t stop participants at the 11th annual Paws on the Pavement from having a good time.

As runners and walkers lined up with their pooches at Murray Park in Little Rock for the start of the 1K Fun Run/Walk, the atmosphere was jovial, with dogs sniffing their neighbors while their owners chatted with old and new friends.

By that time, several of the participants had already run the 5K earlier in the morning, and were ready for a little cool-down with their best friends on four legs. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FORT JACKSON, La. — The bird bath to remove crude oil started with a canola oil rinse. The lighter oil helped break up the crude blackening the brown pelican from beak to tail, bird rescuer Rebecca Dunne explained to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Saturday.

The bird was still black as it went into the first of four deep sinks full of soapy water at pelican body heat of 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Even beak and pouch had to be soaped and rinsed, to keep the bird from swallowing more oil or getting oil back onto its feathers by post-bath preening.

It was a job for three people. At times, one held the beak, another held the body and a third held a wing outstretched for scrubbing or rinsing. All wore bright blue waterproof suits, yellow, shoulder-length waterproof gloves and rubber boots. Their shirts and pants were wet after the 35-minute bath and rinse — sweat, said Dunne, of Newark, Del.-based Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research, contracted by BP to lead the operation. (more…)

THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

In the wake of the beating of a puppy, a California lawmaker has proposed the creation of a registry of animal-cruelty offenders, akin to those that list sex offenders.

California Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez, a Bakersfield, Calif., Democrat, has proposed legislation to create an animal abuse registry, the first in the country if approved. People convicted of felony animal cruelty would be required to list their address and criminal history on a registry.

The bill follows the recent conviction of a former Los Angeles County firefighter who beat his neighbor’s dog so severely it had to be euthanized. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TULSA, Okla. — Officials with animal shelters and rescue groups in Oklahoma say the economic downturn has reduced donations and led to the abandonment of more animals.

Jamie Suarez, president and founder of Tulsa-based Oklahoma Alliance for Animals, said many shelters and animal rescue groups are being inundated with animals.

She said she also knows of instances in which people have left behind pets in foreclosed-upon homes because they’re afraid to take them to a shelter. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missourians seeking new restrictions on the state’s dog breeders delivered tens of thousands of signatures in more than two dozen boxes to get their proposal before voters.

The group was among several that are trying to beat the clock and deliver their initiative petitions before the 5 p.m. Sunday deadline. Two already have been filed — on dog breeding and earnings taxes in the state’s major cities — and several more could be submitted.

Supporters of the dog breeding restrictions took photographs and posed with several dogs outside the secretary of state’s office building near the state Capitol. Boxes were wheeled in on carts and given to state election officials. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ATLANTA — The number of cats and dogs put down at metro Atlanta animal shelters is rising amid sharp budget cuts.

The number of cats and dogs destroyed at animal shelters in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties has jumped 24 percent in the last two years. Those five core metro Atlanta counties killed almost 30,000 cats during that time.

Gwinnett County led the metro area with 7,588 dogs and cats put down in 2009. County officials say almost half of the animals were destroyed because the shelter could not house them. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO, Nevada — Activists say stress and trauma are to blame for most of the 86 wild horses who died in a government roundup of mustangs north of Reno.

A report issued by the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign says 43 percent of the deaths are due to diet and metabolic failure induced by stress and trauma.

The report says 22 percent of deaths are due to the poor condition of the animals, and 19 percent are blamed on traumatic injury. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Knoxville veterinarian trying to save an injured dog was killed by a hit-and-run driver.

Police spokesman Darrell DeBusk told The Knoxville News Sentinel an officer was working traffic in North Knoxville on Thursday night when he heard a vehicle strike a dog that had escaped from a nearby home.

The officer was checking the lab mix when 37-year-old Kathyrn Denise Geiger Gilpatrick came out of her home to help. DeBusk said the veterinarian was struck by a hit-and-run driver as the officer was moving his cruiser to block traffic. She died of her injuries on Friday morning at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. (more…)