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A Dying Puppy’s Rags to Riches Story

January 8, 2019 by Leave a Comment


The News

While driving through a remote village in Liberia in November, 2016, Jenny Desmond, who runs a nearby chimpanzee sanctuary, saw a dying puppy lying on the side of the road. After confiscating the dog, who she named Snafu, she brought him home in an effort to save his life.

According to Jenny’s husband, Jim, who is one of two veterinarians working in Liberia, Snafu was digesting his own muscle and near death. TheirTurn, who was in Liberia documenting the Desmonds’ chimpanzee rescue and conservation efforts, captured Snafu’s rescue and his extraordinary journey from rags to riches.

After saving Snafu’s life, Jenny and Jim Desmond brought him to Colorado to live with Jenny’s sister and her family.

The Desmonds moved to Liberia in 2015 to oversee the care of 66 former research chimpanzees who had been abandoned by the New York Blood Center on six islands on a river about 1.5 hours outside of Monrovia, the country’s capital. Shortly after the Desmond’s arrival, forestry authorities began bringing them baby chimpanzees who they seized from poachers attempting to sell them as pets on the black market. With 35 chimpanzees in their care, the Desmonds are racing against time to build sanctuary in the forest that can house rescued chimpanzees and serve as a conservation center to help protect Liberia’s remaining wild chimpanzees in their forest home.

Your Turn

For more information and to see how you can help, please visit Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection.


Filed under: Companion Animals
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Chicago Bans Sale of Commercially bred Dogs, Cats & Rabbits

March 5, 2014 by Leave a Comment


The News

According to the Chicago Tribune, the City Council today voted 49-1 to ban the sale of commercially bred dogs, cats and rabbits in Chicago. According to a City clerk, the law “cuts off a pipeline of the animals coming from the horrendous puppy mill industry and instead moves us towards a retail pet sales model that focuses on adopting out the many, many homeless animals [from shelters and rescues] in need of loving homes in this city.” Chicago joins Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and many other U.S. cities have already instituted a ban. In January, New York state passed a law giving local municipalities the power to impose their own regulations on pet sales, according to the Daily News. The NYC Council has since introduced a bill that would prevent city pet stores from buying cats and dogs from unlicensed breeders.

puppymill

News & Opinion

Until every homeless animal in a shelter or at a rescue finds a forever home, we must continue to lobby for the passage of laws banning the sale of companion animals from commercial breeding operations. And, even then, we must always fight for the closure of puppy mills, which are cruel and dangerous businesses that treat animals like commodities. To anyone working in animal rescue, the “kill lists” are a daily reminder of the crisis of overpopulation and the importance of adoption and animal birth control. If helping homeless animals is important to you, please consider volunteering at a local shelter, helping place animals in foster homes, lobbying for laws banning the sale of commercially bred animals, and, of course, encouraging people to adopt, not shop.


Filed under: Companion Animals, Victories
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Strays of Sochi Shine a Light of Plight of Homeless Animals

February 5, 2014 by Leave a Comment


The News

After the Russian government hired a pest control company to slaughter the stray dogs of Sochi in advance of the Olympics, a Russian billionaire donated funds to build a makeshift shelter to save as many as possible. According to the NY Times, “local animal rights workers say many of the strays were pets, or the offspring of pets, abandoned by families whose homes with yards were demolished over the past few years to make way for the Olympic venues.”

Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

News & Opinion

The round up and slaughter of strays in Sochi shined a light on the plight of homeless animals around the world and the taxing and unending job of rescuers to save them.  All of us can help by promoting adoption and animal birth control, by volunteering at local shelters and by using our social networks to help find forever homes for homeless animals.


Filed under: Companion Animals
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