Sassy Sunday - 6/10/12

Hello, Everyone!  Happy Sassy Sunday. :)

It's gonna be a quiet day here, at least for a few hours.  My boys went to the Cardinals baseball game so Barb is here with just us girls.  (Spooky the cat is here too.  He's a boy but we don't count him. heehee)  She's got work to do on the computer so I have to get this done so she can have it.  She's working on her lecture for Tuesday.  She's teaching a class in Human Sexuality and Reproduction this summer.  I don't know anything about that.  For one, I'm not human.  (Shhhh!  Don't tell Barb) Second, I'm spayed.  I'm sure I'd make super adorable puppies, but it's actually a really good thing I'm spayed.  Lemme 'splain.

Barb has been telling me about something no dog should have to hear about.  It's our animal control facility and how so many dogs (and cats too) go in and never make it out again.  In 2010, according to public record (State of Illinois Department of Agriculture), 4,130 pets went into the Madison County Animal Control.  Only 1,037 left alive.  That's almost 75% of the animals going in left the building in a garbage bag.

So, we've started a petition and letter writing campaign.  These are the things we are asking for:
1. Open Madison County AC for public adoptions.  Right now, you cannot adopt from there.  If your dog or cat is there, you can claim them.  A very few rescue groups can come in and try to get any adoptable pets out.  But otherwise, they will be euthanized.
2. Remove the many restrictions on state licensed rescues and shelters so more can pull animals.  Right now only a few are able to get animals.
3. Remove the "death only" for owner surrenders.  Did you know that at many animal control facilities, if you surrender your pet they will not be adopted out?  They will be killed immediately because no one is looking for them.  Even if they are a highly adoptable pet.
4. Remove the "death at the end of the hold time" if space allows.  Right now, any pet that has been in the facility for 5 days will be put down, even if they are the only one there.
5. Only count business days.  Now they only have 5 days, including weekends and holidays.  What if a family loses a pet while they are out of town over a holiday weekend?  They can't go on Monday because it's a holiday.  They show up on Tuesday when the AC opens to find out it's too late.  All animals are put down Tuesday morning before opening. 

Barb believes these are not only plausible changes, they are no-brainers.  She's planning to attend a meeting tomorrow of the Safety Committee that oversees animal control.  She'll be there with representatives of our favorite animal rescue (Hope Rescues).  There is a Facebook page and a link to the petition.  If any of your two-legged family members would like to sign the petition, tell them to do it!  Anyone can sign, not just residents of Madison County Illinois.  Some people as far away as the UK have signed it already.
Here's the link to the Facebook page.  Here's the link to the petition.  Tell them Sassy sent you!

On a happier note, we saw a cute little bird gathering up dog hair from the deck to use in building his/her nest this morning.  Check it out.

If you look closely, you'll notice that the bird mainly has Ginger's hair.  She sheds something crazy!  Chili and I both shed too, but our hair is nice and short. :)
Speaking of Chili, Barb got a picture of her just as she finished sniffing some flowers on the deck.  Barb wasn't quite quick enough to get her actually smelling the flower, but it's a good picture anyway.

 And here are a couple of other photos from the deck yesterday.  It was a nice day.

 Even though it's Sunday, we are linking up with the Saturday Pet Blog Hop.  Check out all the great pet blogs out there!!
See you soon,
Sassy