View a new 16-minute video about Trap, Neuter and Return of feral cats at http://www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/feral_cats/
Summer Adoption Sale!
Oakland Animal Services is overstocked with dogs, cats and rabbits! We have so many that we’re offering up to 75% OFF our regular adoption rates on already spayed & neutered animals thru September!
Already spayed / neutered:
- Dogs are $39.99
- Cats are $19.99
- Rabbits are $29.99
Adopt one rabbit or cat and get one free!
And that’s not all!!! The adoption fee includes spay/neuter, microchip, microchip registration, vaccinations, 30 days of pet health insurance, and one free vet exam!!!
Download adoption-special-clearance-sale2 brochure here. Help us advertise this incredible special!
Puppy Care Videos
Oakland Animal Services “Community Outreach Program Manager” – Megan Webb is featured in a series of videos on puppy care.
Reward Offered in Dog Abuse Case
OAS Partners with BAD RAP
Seagull Saved by Staff
Yesterday, several staff members and volunteers went to dinner after working at the Shelter all day. We found a parking spot in Downtown Oakland and began walking to the restaurant when we saw a seagull standing in the gutter. He looked stressed and unhealthy. When we approached, it became clear that he had something wrapped around his neck. He began to try to get away but we pursued him and were able to catch him since he was very weak. He had fishing line tied around his neck and down his throat. We worked as a team to release him from the confines of the line. When it was finally all cut off and pulled off of him, he seemed to be relieved. We asked the restaurant for a bowl of water and some rice and brought it to him. He began gulping water and the rice. He stayed by the restaurant for the next hour or more while we had dinner and then flew off.
Director Update: Chickens!
Although the majority of the animals we see here at the Oakland Animal Shelter are dogs and cats we do get a variety of other animals. Some of these animals are less common pets, others are wildlife, and then some are animals who have been bred or raised for human use. Just the other day we took in a colorful bird who had a metal ring through his bright red beak. He was a Chukar Partridge raised to be hunted as a form of entertainment. This guy somehow ended up out on his own and thanks to Animal Control Officer McKenna who found him he will get the chance to live the rest of his life in peace.
Recently, Officer McKenna was faced with another case which involved hundreds of victims of human misuse. These victims were 500 one day old chicks being mailed through the USPS. Thanks to an observant postal worker Oakland Animal Services was called in to assist the chicks who were dying of overheating and overcrowded conditions. They were shipped over 100 birds per small box with no water or food. They had been put in the mail early Monday morning and by Tuesday afternoon several of the chicks had died and the others were dying. And their journey had barely begun. This is when the postal worker called in OAS. Officer McKenna responded and quickly removed the remaining birds (483 survived). The shipper was contacted. He surrendered the birds saying he was shipping them up north to be raised as “meat birds.” He said he shipped them out the morning they had hatched as this was the requirement by law. He said he usually prefers not to send birds through the mail because several of the birds will die each time. He called them “straight run” chickens and admitted it would not be worth his time to drive to Oakland and repackage them for shipping. He hung up the phone saying “I hope you find them a home.”
Thankfully we now have rehomed almost all of the chicken as we said goodbye to 200 of them who went to Animal Acres in Southern California. Thanks to East Bay Animal Advocates for helping to find a home for these chickens and for renting the van and driving them all down there.
Sadly, the lives of these birds will not be normal. Broiler chickens are bred to be obese and these birds will have countless health problems ahead of them and shortened lives. It was hard, watching the chicks peeping and eating and flocking together, to understand how they could be boxed up and mailed with no more care than it takes to mail a letter.
Unfortunately the shipping of chicks is a routine occurrence in the chicken business. While a person would surely be prosecuted for shipping dogs under similar circumstances the death of chicks during shipping due to being crushed by other chicks or overheating is routine. Chickens, along with other farm animals, in fact, are often subject to the most horrendous cruelty which, historically, is excused as “routine agricultural practice.” But things have been changing as the last couple of years have seen several cruelty prosecutions involving commercial food production and even more recently the seizure of animals being abused in commercial food production.
This year the Humane Society of the United States has sponsored a ballot initiative in California that seeks to ban some of the most heinous practices in food production. This ballot initiative would ban battery cages, where egg laying hens are crushed into overcrowded cages which cause injury and death to countless birds, along with veal crates and gestation crates (crates used to keep mother pigs cruelly confined). Though this initiative does not address the mailing of living beings through the postal service it is a step in the right direction. As a state, and as a country, we have to move away from thinking of these living beings as solely a commodity. We must begin to respect and address their needs. If we are to continue to use animals for our purposes we should have the decency to treat them as humanely as possible. I urge you to support Proposition 2 on the November ballot if you want to help reduce the cruelty that food animals face in California. To learn more about the proposition go to www.humanecalifornia.org.
Staff Go North to Help with Fires
The Oakland Police Department’s Animal Services is sending two of their Animal Control Officers to Butte County to help evacuate and shelter small and large animals displaced by the many fires in the county. They will be stationed at a Red Cross shelter that is temporarily housing both people and their animals. The disaster quickly overwhelmed the capacity of the five Animal Control Officers that cover the region so the State Office of Emergency Service put out a call across the State for 20 Animal Control Officers.
The two Oakland Animal Control Officers, Troy Snell and Robby McKenna, will be leaving for Butte County on Friday morning in an Oakland Animal Control truck. They are scheduled to stay for three to four days. Adam Parascandola, Director of Oakland Animal Services, volunteered after Katrina rescuing animals and has talked with the Officers about what they might encounter.
A Blind Dog's Story
An Animal Control Officer responded to a call outside the Oracle Arena of a “dead dog”. He arrived during an A’s game and there were crowds of people everywhere. A staff person pointed him to the “dead dog”. When he got closer, he realized that the dog was actually alive…but she was paralyzed with fear. He went up to her and petted her head. She immediately started wagging her tail when she realized that it was a friendly stranger who was there to help her. She tried climbing into his lap and he saw that her left eye was red and swollen and she appeared to have no eye on the right. Her tongue also moved out of her mouth only on one side and her tail was crooked.
He picked her up and took her to the vet. The vet said she appeared to be blind and that her ailments could be due to a birth defect or to some kind of trauma. There was nothing to be done to “fix” her. The Officer brought her back to the Shelter and placed her under a desk in our administration office since she was still frightened and needed a quiet place to rest. She immediately snuggled into her bed and fell asleep. She was exhausted – what an overwhelming day she had!
Oracle has now gained her strength back and has made many friends at the Shelter. She happily greets everyone who passes her by in the admin area. She loves to sit in laps and adores belly rubs.
She now needs someone to adopt her. She barely notices that she is blind and depends on her other senses to get around. She also eats just fine with her crooked tongue. She also really loves other dogs and loves to play! If you are interested in meeting Oracle, please come to the Shelter and ask about her.
A Blind Dog’s Story
An Animal Control Officer responded to a call outside the Oracle Arena of a “dead dog”. He arrived during an A’s game and there were crowds of people everywhere. A staff person pointed him to the “dead dog”. When he got closer, he realized that the dog was actually alive…but she was paralyzed with fear. He went up to her and petted her head. She immediately started wagging her tail when she realized that it was a friendly stranger who was there to help her. She tried climbing into his lap and he saw that her left eye was red and swollen and she appeared to have no eye on the right. Her tongue also moved out of her mouth only on one side and her tail was crooked.
He picked her up and took her to the vet. The vet said she appeared to be blind and that her ailments could be due to a birth defect or to some kind of trauma. There was nothing to be done to “fix” her. The Officer brought her back to the Shelter and placed her under a desk in our administration office since she was still frightened and needed a quiet place to rest. She immediately snuggled into her bed and fell asleep. She was exhausted – what an overwhelming day she had!
Oracle has now gained her strength back and has made many friends at the Shelter. She happily greets everyone who passes her by in the admin area. She loves to sit in laps and adores belly rubs.
She now needs someone to adopt her. She barely notices that she is blind and depends on her other senses to get around. She also eats just fine with her crooked tongue. She also really loves other dogs and loves to play! If you are interested in meeting Oracle, please come to the Shelter and ask about her.
