ASPCA cruelty law 'pocket' cards ... become familiar with anti-cruelty laws in your state and help the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals... [ASPCA] (we adopted one of our beloved dogs from the ASPCA... )

So, just what makes a person evil... [Boing Boing]

Perhaps, evil arises when there is an absence of good, or  in institutionalized evil, presents as a kind of... 'collective thoughtlessness that the philosopher Hannah Arendt described as the banality of evil...' [The New York Times, For the worst of us, the diagnosis... ]

Just what makes a supposed savior of animals go over to the dark side, as some 'animal shelters' occasionally do? (Whistleblower Accuses California Oakland Animal Shelter of Systemic Abuse, Berkeley Daily Planet, Animal Adoption Network under fire; operator charged with animal cruelty, Monroe Courier)

This phenomena is not unlike the common power strip surge protector, which when stressed to its breaking point, goes 'bad' and goes over to the 'dark side' by ruining the very equipment it is harnessed to protect. 

Animal shelters which lack the support and involvment of the communities they serve seem doomed to a similar transformation...

Certainly, the strain of accommodating a 'euthanasia' policy which kills shelter animals instead of rehoming them is too much for some shelter employees.

"A 2003 Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) study estimates that of the 6 to 8 million cats and dogs that enter animal shelters each year, nearly one-half are euthanized..." [Lincoln Tribune]

To end the evil... perhaps:

'The need for euthanasia starts and ends with everyone... By treating animals humanely and engaging actively in spay and neuter programs, the need for euthanizing healthy, but unwanted, animals will die away over time...'  [Steven Rogelberg, associate psychology professor]

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Shelter Owner Faces Animal Cruelty Charges | Pet-Abuse.Com - US Animal Abuse Cases - Saraland, AL: Dog Owner | Ontario SPCA - Library | Ontario SPCA - Library | UnchainYourDog.org | Animal Cruelty Cases: Dogs Chained and | The Chronicle OnLine: headline news page 1 | Maui couple faces prison for cruelty to animals - The Honolulu | Parents Charged for Child and Animal Neglect | WTAP | Man Faces Animal Cruelty Charges | Animal Rights Cafe - Animal Rights in the News

W O O F [Computer Cartoons, Google Images via Blogoscoped] Blogoscoped is full of interesting finds: Search engine puppy for exact searching (not puppies, sorry, but your precise topic)

more dog cartoons via Google images

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Funny Cartoons - Funny Dog Stuff | Happy Dog - Cartoon - EXTREME Funny Pictures | Christmas Dogs Cartoon - Funny Pictures | Funny Dog Pictures -- Funny Cartoons - Funny Pictures | Triumph the Insult Comic Dog in Spin Alley - Triumph Dog Video | Funny Videos - Political Videos and Cartoon Animations | Funny Videos - Political Videos and Cartoon Animations | Funny Pictures | jokes cartoons funny stories humor dog jokes humour fun stuff | AAA Cartoons , Funny Pictures, Photos, Comics, and Jokes!

From the weird facts archive:

"Nose prints are used to identify dogs in the same way finger prints are used to identify human beings. Breeders and trainers keep a dog's nose prints on file as part of its permanent record and insurance companies now require them whenever a dog is to be bonded. At one time paw prints were used as a means of canine identification, but these proved less accurate than noses..." [Animals Skygaze]

Trailer trash: Officers identify the only clean item in a mobile home overrun with dog feces, cockroaches and trash: "a half-gallon of Crown Royal whiskey in the bedroom" [ABC News] (but no mention of finding the dog... maybe the 'dog' feces belonged to a different species of animal.)

Stupid pet trick... headline touting new way to calculate your dog's age without multiplication. But it will set you back about $24.00  oh! [Investor's Business Daily]

cosmetic surgery for pets, not!  CA West Hollywood may soon bann tail-docking, ear cropping, debarking, declawing and other non-essential surgeries for pets [NBC Sandiego]

Pet therapy, an oasis of comfort for dying Canada '...All the nurses and staff here do everything they can. But there are some things that we can't do that a pet will do. And the pet doesn't judge you, so regardless of whether a patient's in a wheelchair or has difficulty in communicating or is not as alert or has some cognitive problems, that is nothing to a pet...' [CTV.ca]

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Open Directory - Recreation: Pets : Animal Assisted Therapy | North Lake Tahoe Bonanza - Your Town | Therapy Dog Associations and Programs | Dog -Play: Therapy Dogs , Animal Assisted Therapy and Animal | Pet Therapy | CSUS Gerontology Program

Siberia: friendly foxes more intelligent than unfriendly foxes... or are they just clever foxes... outfoxing their human observers... Siberian foxes bred for friendliness also appear to have more social intelligence, according to scientists studying them. [Nature]

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ABC TV Science - The Animal Attraction - Program 1 - Fact Sheet 5 | The domestication of the russian silver fox. (40 year fast track | Pravda.RU Homeless man in Novosibirsk region eats an armchair | Pravda.RU German artist wants to be buried with his rubber woman | Pravda.RU Candidate to people's deputies performed strip-tease | West Siberia Oil Industry Environmental and Social Profile | RUSSIA MAKES IT FUNNY | RUSSIA MAKES IT FUNNY | Rantburg: Tomorrow's news today!