THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis City Council committee is recommending mandatory spaying and neutering of dogs and cats.

The Commercial Appeal reported the proposal by Councilman Shea Flynn comes after dogs running loose attacked 71-year-old William Parker on July 20. Parker had a heart attack during the incident and died. A woman who let the dogs out of an apartment has been charged with negligent homicide.

Flynn’s proposal could require all cats over six months and any dogs over 30 pounds be spayed or neutered. There are exceptions for service animals and police dogs. (more…)

An Arkansas Democrat-Gazette file photo

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE

Feline Rescue and Rehome of Little Rock received a $600 grant last week from Petfinder.com Foundation to vaccinate cats in its care for a year.

“This grant will make a huge difference toward ensuring the cats seen in our clinics will receive their vaccinations when owners cannot afford them and ease the burden for so many abandoned and homeless cats coming through our program,” said FURR President Lynn McAllester.

The money will buy feline viral rhinotracheitis vaccine, which protects cats from three contagious diseases: rhinotracheitis, calcivirus, and panleukopenia. (more…)

THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

A Pulaski County woman was arrested Friday morning after sheriff’s deputies found at least 30 malnourished animals at her home, including horses, dogs and cats, according to the sheriff’s office.

Deputies arrested Shelia Ford, 43, on four felony counts and 30 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty after deputies found two of her horses loose and “in poor physical condition,” sheriff’s office spokesman Lt. Carl Minden said in a news release.

Ford was being held Friday evening at the Pulaski County jail in lieu of $20,676.58 bond, jail records show. (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…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CINCINNATI — Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble Co. said Sunday it is voluntarily recalling two lots of Iams brand prescription renal dry cat food because it could be contaminated with salmonella.

The products are available by prescription through veterinary clinics.

No illnesses have been reported, but an FDA analysis identified positive results on two lots of Iams Veterinary Formulas Feline Renal 5.5 lbs: numbers 01384174B4 0 19014 21405 1 and 01384174B2 0 19014 21405 1. (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…)

PHOTOS BY SUSAN LOESCH

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE

RESCUE IN THE ROCK

What began with a phone call to Animal Planet ended in the rescue of 25 dogs, a raccoon, four cats and a horse when four central Arkansas rescue groups helped an overwhelmed El Paso woman.

Animal Planet Executive Producer Dan Jackson said the footage would premiere sometime in July on a new, as yet unnamed show.

“It will be about helping people who have too many animals,” Jackson said. (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 ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

A Pulaski County Quorum Court committee wants Public Works Director Sherman Smith to study implementing a pet-licensing program to encourage people to spay and neuter animals in an effort to reduce strays in unincorporated areas and those being euthanized by North Little Rock.

Steve Goss, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said he added the issue to the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting after a good friend who volunteers at the North Little Rock animal shelter at Burns Park lamented over how many animals were being euthanized there.

In 2009, North Little Rock’s animal shelter in Burns Park took in 1,863 dogs and 1,148 cats from North Little Rock, said Billy Grace, North Little Rock’s animal control director. Another 656 dogs and 116 cats were brought in from the county, for a total of 3,783 animals. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Three members of a family preparing to move from Port St. Lucie to North Carolina have been charged with packing more than 20 cats in poorly ventilated wooden boxes.

The new owner of a Port St. Lucie home spotted three wooden boxes stacked near her neighbor’s yard on Saturday. Animal control responded and freed several cats. Authorities say 34-year-old Jessica L. Eskew arrived in a van with dogs and cats inside. The van was towing an open trailer, which was carrying a wooden box with 20 more cats. Some of the cats were close to heat exhaustion.

Eskew’s parents, 59-year-old James F. Eskew and 56-year-old Shelia N. Eskew, arrived and all three were charged with felony animal cruelty. (more…)

THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

For more than 37 years, the Hot Spring County 4-H Club and its members have sponsored an annual rabies vaccination clinic as a public service to aid Hot Spring County residents.

The Hot Spring County Extension Service, the Hot Spring County Department of Health and the Hot Spring County 4-H Clubs will host a countywide Rabies Vaccination Day on Saturday. Following is a schedule of vaccination times and sites: (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

OCALA, Fla. — Hundreds of dead animals have been found at an Ocala-area home.

An official at the Marion County Animal Center says 348 dead animals, mostly just skeletal remains, were found across the property, as well as in cages, in feed bags and in plastic bags stuffed in the owner’s freezer. Another 375 animals were found alive but malnourished.

The live animals included 151 dogs and 156 birds as well as cattle, tortoises, cats, hamsters, sheep, horses, rabbits and lizards. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WILKES-BARRE, Pennsylvania — A woman convicted of animal cruelty for marketing “gothic kittens” with ear and neck piercings has been sentenced to six months of house arrest.

Luzerne County Judge Tina Polachek Gartley also ordered 35-year-old Holly Crawford to close her dog-grooming business for more than two years.

Gartley allowed her to keep her pets, which include a dog, three cats and three snakes. (more…)

THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

The national Tour For Life, an animal-adoption campaign that encourages giving stray dogs and cats a home, will stop in North Little Rock on April 20 at Lakewood Village.

The event will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Lakewood Village, 2851 Lakewood Village Drive, in North Little Rock. The tour stop in North Little Rock is in partnership with the North Little Rock Animal Shelter.

The tour, sponsored by the North Shore Animal League and in its ninth year, annually travels to about 20 cities nationwide to help bring attention to finding homes for dogs and cats. (more…)

Photo courtesy of ANGELS CARE ANIMAL RESCUE

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE
RESCUE IN THE ROCK

Angels’ Care Animal Rescue is inviting dogs and their owners to sniff out more than 5,000 treat-filled eggs Saturday at the Fifth Ever Dog-Gone Easter Egg Hunt in Little Rock.

The event at Reservoir Pavilion, on Cantrell Road one block east of Reservoir Road, begins at 1 p.m., but registration is 30 minutes prior, said Pamela Galloway of Angels’ Care Animal Rescue.

Every egg contains a dog treat, and some also hold special prizes. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO — Animal shelters must keep stray animals for four weekdays before putting them to death.

A state appeals court has ruled that shelters can no longer count Saturday as a business day when determining how long to keep an animal. The ruling affects state laws that set different holding times for dogs, cats and other animals.

The ruling was in response to the 2006 case of a Berkeley woman whose dog was impounded in Pinole on a Thursday and relinquished to another person on a Wednesday. The shelter argued that it had held the dog for four business days as required by law–Friday, Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PENSACOLA, Fla. — Animal control officers have removed 161 cats from a Florida Panhandle home.

Escambia County deputies found the animals, along with eight dead cats in a freezer, on Saturday in Pensacola.

Sixty-one-year-old Larry Kruger has been charged with animal cruelty. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

OAKDALE, La. — A couple accused of flouting a snake permit law now also faces charges of cruelty to 17 dogs and five cats taken from their property.

Allen Parish Chief Deputy Grant Willis says 44-year-old David Beauchemin and 23-year-old Tawni Beauchemin were booked Tuesday on 22 cruelty charges. They run High End Herps and Happy Hounds Rescue.

Willis says neighbors had long suspected the couple of feeding stray pets to the snakes. He got a warrant when an animal rescue worker brought evidence they were asking $300 for a dog they had claimed to adopt. (more…)

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE
RESCUE IN THE ROCK

Arkansas offers a bevy of spring festivities, many of which benefit and some of which welcome the state’s furry friends.

Here are several:

SATURDAY: The 18th Annual Kite Festival, “Art with an Attitude,” will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, 7 miles outside Eureka Springs on Arkansas 23. Admission to fly kites is free, but regular rates apply for those wishing to tour the big-cat habitat. Kaleidokites has donated a Japanese fighting “Rokkaku” kite and a tiger kite to be raffled off. For help building kites, a donation to the rescue is suggested. Proceeds go to the nonprofit. For more information, please call (479) 253-6596 or (888) 836-6251, or visit the Turpentine Creek Events Page. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — In Ashley Mutch’s view, Almost Heaven was anything but.

As she inspected the huge kennel outside Allentown, the SPCA police officer was hit with an “immensely strong” odor of urine and feces. Mutch said she saw dogs living in their own waste, suffering from matted fur and skin ailments, and lacking access to food and water. Her inspection report described a filthy, neglected compound bursting with 779 animals, primarily dogs but also cats, guinea pigs, horses, ponies, fowl, monkeys and a pig.

The 2008 raid at Almost Heaven Kennel resulted in criminal charges against its owner, Derbe “Skip” Eckhart, who goes on trial Monday on animal cruelty and other counts in a case that state dog-law officials are using to illustrate their get-tough approach to unscrupulous breeders. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ROBINSON, Texas — As the area’s only licensed wildlife rehabilitator, Jane Thomas cares each year for 600 to 800 battered, bloodied and needy animals that otherwise wouldn’t have a prayer.

Hawks that slam into 18-wheelers. Deer tangled in shredders. Pelicans shot by children given a gun for Christmas.

For the past 32 years, the 54-year-old Thomas has spent her days wrapping broken limbs, cleaning foul-smelling cages and chopping up meat and vegetables to feed a variety of animals — from bobcats and deer to baby rabbits and roadrunners. (more…)