No-brainer for pet stores to be banned from selling commercially-bred cats and dogs

There are several jurisdictions in the United States where pet stores have been banned from selling cats and dogs bred in puppy mills which means breeding establishments where they have inadequate standards of animal welfare and where commercial profit trumps the welfare of the animals.

Puppies at a puppy mill in Tennessee. Image: Humane Soc.

And in these jurisdictions pet stores can adopt out shelter animals with whom they work in partnership. That is my understanding of the aim of another jurisdiction namely the state of Michigan which is debating a new bill called HB 4838 which would ban the retail sale of commercially-bred animals in pet stores.

California enacted a similar law in 2017 and they were the first state to ban such sales according to the Associated Press. Other states followed such as Maryland which banned the sale of cats and dogs in pet stores. This caused a pushback from pet store owners of course and the breeders who supplied them. They challenged the measure in court.

Illinois followed along the same lines a year later. And New York band pet stores from selling cats, dogs and rabbits near the end of 2022.

Clarification needed

I am reading some reporting which appears to be misleading. These laws are meant to allow pet stores to adopt out rescue animals but not sell commercially-bred animals.

But some news outlets such as the Huron Daily Tribune state that there will be a ban on the sale of cats and dogs at pet shops. This appears to be an absolute ban. And it implies that you will be unable to adopt a cat or dog at a pet store in Michigan when the law is in force.

However, the bill's title states that there will be a requirement in pet shops for them to sell only certain animals. That comes direct from the bill itself.

So, my understanding of this is that pet stores will be able to sell some animals but not commercially bred cats and dogs (and rabbits) and they will be able to adopt out rescue animals. When a customer wants to adopt a rescue animal from a pet store, they will have to pay a fee of some sort I expect. This is not strictly speaking a purchase but it would be an adoption fee as I understand it.

No-brainer from animal welfare standpoint

I would like to see clearer reporting on this to be honest. But the concept is a no-brainer as I stated in the title. Why is it they no-brainer? Because of the obvious reason that there are too many unwanted cats and dogs in America in many jurisdictions where they are in shelters and where some of them will be euthanised because they cannot find a person to adopt them. These will be healthy animals. So, it's killing not euthanasia.

To be killing animals in one place i.e. shelters and then selling the same species of animal in another place i.e. pet shops is simply untenable and it is certainly unethical. That's why HB 4838 is a good bill and I would expect it to become law which is planned for July 1, 2025.

I also believe the law will refer to rabbits as well by the way. The Huron Daily Tribune also quotes a part of this bill which apparently states the following: "Beginning July 1, 2025, a pet shop shall not sell, adopt, exchange, or transfer, or offer for sale, adoption, exchange, or transfer, a dog, cat, or rabbit."

That confuses me as well because it's stating that a person coming into a pet store after the bill has become law would not be able to adopt a rescue cat or dog or rabbit from the store when this is the whole purpose of the bill.

If someone can clarify that then please do so in a comment.

It works

Here is a comment by Nathan Winograd:

Such laws do three things:

1. Encourage people to adopt/rescue;
2. Educate the community about dog and cat (and rabbit) abuse in mills;
3. Stop that abuse.

And they work. Thanks to the passage of these laws nationwide, the number of commercial breeders in the U.S. has declined by 30%, and “Nebraska Department of Agriculture records show that half of the state’s commercial dog and cat breeders have left the business.”

Woman adopts 20-year-old shelter cat to remove him from the shelter

Image: Quora.com

On Quora. com:

"My friends daughter went to adopt a cat from the local shelter... she chose this cat because he was 20 years old & didn't want him to spend the rest of his life in a shelter...

There aren't words for a moment like this... the picture says it all..."

~Copied and pasted from another page~

RELATED: 26-year-old Rescue Cat Quickly Adopted.

Comment: brilliant. It's the kind of attitude all us should have when it comes to cat adoption. 

I'll tell you this: I bet this was and probably still is a brilliant relationship with rewards on both sides.

New York City stray cat is too sweet not to be adopted

Date: 17th Nov. 2021: This is a really cute male cat who has been a stray for 1.5 years in New York City. You can see from the video that he desperately needs to live with a human companion. The person who made the video is asking for social media users to adopt him (Reddit.com). 

They also ask if it is okay to take him to a shelter. I'm not sure about taking him to a shelter. He might not get adopted at a shelter. If he's not adopted he may be euthanised. Taking him to a shelter, depending upon the type of shelter it is, might be a death warrant for this little fella.

Stray cat needs a human companion. Screenshot. Sorry for the poor quality.

The best thing is to try and find a home for him locally. This is in fact what they are trying to do. They can't take him in themselves because they have a 17-year-old cat who does not get along with other cats. I totally get that. It can be disastrous to bring in a new cat to join a resident cat.

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

---

When you see cats like this it breaks your heart really. He's left alone all the time in the urban jungle, through different weather conditions. He is vulnerable to being harmed. Where does he get his food from? Probably kind people feed him but is reliant upon that and the supply may be sporadic. He needs a proper home where he is loved all the time.

For me, there are too many cats and dogs without homes, unwanted and living under difficult if not intolerable circumstances. I hate to be negative but it does paint a very negative picture to me. We can't expect perfection from the human but I think that we can expect a little better than our current performance in the human-to-cat relationship worldwide.

Man looks after severely neglected cat but is accused of stealing the cat by the owner

This is a cat ownership story that ends well but it's a bit of a saga to get to that point. It appears to come from America where a kind-hearted man was concerned about a cat that had been locked outside for around two years by his owner, a woman. The man took pity on the cat and fed him and let him in when he could. As a consequence, the woman came around to his home and accused him of stealing her cat. He felt obliged to stop helping the cat at that point as he didn't want to cause any trouble.

Read the story in the light of this update, please: I have learned that the woman's then boyfriend insisted the cat was put outside. She complied. She's now dumped her boyfriend. I feel sorry for her but she's lost her cat. Moral: stand your ground if your boyfriend tells you to get rid of the cat.

He is now called Jarvis. This is the star of the story. He's now loved by a good man. Photo: Reddit.

About two weeks later he actually saw this cat hit by a car while crossing the road at a time when his neighbour was not at home. The cat was badly injured. The man took the cat to the vet where a leg was amputated at a cost of $3000.

The man decided to take steps to keep the cat. He reported the cat as a stray to the vet. The vet checked the cat for a microchip but he didn't have one so he helped him contact a shelter to file a "lost pet" report. There is a five day holding period at that shelter during which the owner can claim ownership. After the five days is up the cat is available for rehoming. Nobody claimed the cat. The man claimed ownership.

The previous owner, the negligent woman who had previously accused him of stealing the cat, saw the now three-legged cat in the man's window and demanded that he hand over her pet. She threatened him by saying that she would contact the police. She accused him again of stealing her cat. He said that she must have the wrong cat because he has three legs. He slammed the door in her face.

She screamed through the door for a while and then left. The man is waiting to find out if she did indeed contact the police. He posted the story on Reddit.com and ask for advice. Everyone said that he did a good job. They praised him. They said he was safe from any prosecution for theft because he had reported the matter to the local shelter and the true owner had had a five day period to claim her pet.

He posted on Reddit:

"The cat’s name is Jarvis and he is very happy back as an indoor cat. He is chipped even though I didn’t plan on letting him out again. He’s been recovering remarkably well, even if he’d rather meow at me to carry him rather than walk on his own -.- we’re gonna have a good life together."

My opinion: Great ending. Nice man. The Reddit users are correct. The man did the right thing. He is safe from prosecution. The woman is all mouth and no trousers. She has lost her cat companion and rightly so. The story ended up well as this cat is now loved and in a warm and friendly home. Sadly he has lost one of his legs in the journey to a good home. This should not have happened. This man is also very generous in spending $3000 on someone else's (at the time).

Top three reasons why Australians adopt cats from animal shelters

A study published in 2015 titled Determinants of Choice and outcomes for adult cats and kittens adopted from an Australian animal shelter found that the top three reasons for adopting a cat from an animal shelter are (1) it was the right thing to do and (2) they wanted to help the shelter and (3) they believed that the shelter was a trusted and a credible option. The remaining 13 reasons are listed below in a chart and in words:

The shelter provided cats and kittens which are sterilised, vaccinated and micro-chipped. It was also convenient to get to the shelter because their opening hours were suitable. Another reason is that they had checked perhaps online and wanted a particular kitten at a shelter. They also wanted after adoption support and they found that shelter cats and kittens were good value. They also believed that a shelter provided lots of choice and that they were convenient to get to. Some had already adopted from a shelter and they were happy with the experience while others had been referred to a shelter. Some felt that shelter cats and kittens were cheap to adopt and had heard about low-cost promotions for cats. Others found that cats and kittens were cheaper when adopted from a shelter and finally others said that friends and family thought that they should adopt from a shelter because, I presume, they advised that it was the right thing to do.

The chart:

Chart showing reasons for adoption. Source: the study referred to above.

The study was conducted by Sarah Zito, Mandy Paterson, Dianne Vankan, John Morton, Pauleen Bennett and Clive Phillips.

The study confirms that the type of person who adopts from an animal shelter is thoughtful and in general wants to do the right thing which is what I'd expect.

Cat coat colour and personality stereotyping

'You can't judge a cat by its colour' is the mantra to follow at a cat shelter. Adopters should spend time with cats at shelters and not prejudge using stereotyping. Some people judge domestic cats by their coat colour but there is little evidence that a cat's coat type and colour has an effect on personality. 

Male white British Longhair cat bred in Russia by the Golden Leris cattery. Photo:  Питомник британских кошек Golden Leris located in Moscow, Russia. White cats seen as aloof.

It is anecdotal and stereotypes circulate on the internet. The trouble is that typecasting cats by their colour has implications at cat shelters. We know the colours which are the least popular such as black. Here are some more associations between colour and personality:

• Orange cats (usually orange or red tabbies) are stereotyped as friendly;
• Black, white and tricolour (tortoiseshell) cats are stereotyped as being antisocial;
• Black cats are regarded as having less extreme character traits;
• White cats are typecast as being aloof, shy, lazy, and calm;
• Tortoiseshell cats are regarded as being intolerant ('catitude) and are more trainable.

The lead author of a study, Delgado, on this stereotyping said: "To date there is little evidence that these perceived differences between differently colored cats actually exist, but there are serious repercussions for cats if people believe that some cat colors are friendlier than others...".

Perhaps it is time for a definitive study on the link between coat type and color and the cat's personality if a link exists. 

Red tabbies are regarded as 'leadership material'! (my thoughts). 

Tortoiseshell and calico cats (tortoiseshell-and-white) cats are widely seen as having an attitude problem of sorts. 

Black cats are seen as bring bad luck. A stupid throwback to the Middle Ages. You'd think that by now people would have given up this absurd stereotype. 

Delgado and his fellow researchers used Craigslist to reach out to cat owners, requesting them to rate on a scale of 1 to 7 the personalities of black, white, bicolor, tricolor (tortoiseshell) and orange cats using the following traits: active, aloof, bold, calm, friendly, intolerant, shy, stubborn, tolerant and trainable. 

Most participants said that personality was an important factor in selecting a cat to adopt but coat color played an unconscious or conscious role in that choice. 

When more than one black cat is in a shelter adoption room few adoptions take place said Berkeley East Bay Humane Society (BEBHS) cat coordinator Cathy Marden.

Beware deposit scams when buying kittens during Covid pandemic

I'm going to write a series of posts about the dangers of buying a kitten or cat during the Covid pandemic. The news media have spoken a lot more about purchasing dogs. These are always purebreds. There has been a surge in dog adoptions but there's also been an increase in cat adoptions for the same reason: companionship during long lockdowns. And people have almost nothing to do if on furlough so it is a good opportunity to get to know your new companion animal.

Watch out for deposit scams when buying kittens and cats online during Covid pandemic. Photo: Image by Andrew Martin from Pixabay 

But against this background the scammers have moved in big time to take advantage of very keen purchasers some of whom are gullible to be quite frank. For example, in today's Times newspaper, Jenni Russell, one of their journalists, describes her struggles to try and purchase a dog. She tells us that there is a frenetic amount of activity to the point where she says that, "Entire litters, whether they were anonymous piglet-like newborns or six-week-old charmers, were being reserved by non-refundable deposits of up to £1,000 within five hours. So purchasers are buying dogs unseen and reserving that dog by pushing down £1,000. Sometimes they are giving away £1,000.

That money is going into the ether to a person they don't know for a dog they haven't seen and for a breeding establishment they have no knowledge of. It is extremely dangerous and this leads me to the topic of today's discussion which is deposit scams. Some of the people that Jenni referred to are going to be scanned and will no doubt lose their £1,000.

Siamese kitten. Pic in public domain. Siamese have a
high incidence of inherited diseases by the way.

Be careful before you buy. Always put the brakes on, pause and count to ten because there's no rush if you adopt a companion animal for the lifetime of that animal. This is a purchase that will last 15 to 20 years possibly. You can wait a week before you dive in. Actually you should never dive in under these circumstances.

Scammers sometimes send photographs or videos to persuade potential purchasers to make a deposit in advance. Can you trust them? Is this the cat or dog that you are going to purchase? Is this the mother of the kitten that you see in the video or photograph? You should see the mother with her kittens. You should actually be in the room with the mother and kittens but of course Covid has put a block on that.

Scammers might also ask for further funds to cover unforeseen costs such as vaccinations and pet insurance after you've already made an initial down payment. This might be another scam. I certainly wouldn't get sucked into paying that without some cast-iron evidence.

You put down your deposit and pay the extra money and then things go silent. The kittens are never provided and you can't contact the scammer because they have given false contact details which also means that they can't be traced. Over and out - you've lost your money and there's no going back.

If you are purchasing a purebred, pedigree cat, you should be better protected in my opinion because breeders are affiliated with the cat associations and they do take deposits to reserve after you have viewed kittens at around 8 to 9 weeks of age. Most breeders will keep the kittens in their home until 13-14 weeks of age until after their second vaccination. But some breeders are better than others and some purebred cats although very beautiful and charming may not be healthy. In fact some cat breeds carry inherited congenital conditions and some are predisposed to a long list of illnesses. You have to do your research.

But this lesson is about deposit scams. My basic rule in life is never to pay money upfront for anything except a house when the money goes into escrow. You pay money for something in a straightforward contract. That is not paying upfront. But putting down a deposit to reserve something is, I think extremely dangerous if it is done online without any hard evidence that what you're doing is sound and safe. During the Covid pandemic I would make a presumption that you are dealing with a scammer until they can prove otherwise. There are too many of them about.

Cat very angry at owner for bringing new dog to the home

Cat sees his owner with a new dog from r/PublicFreakout

I don't know whether it's 100% certain that this cat is responding so angrily to the appearance of their owner arriving with a new dog companion but if it's true then the human has a mightily difficult job in integrating the dog into the family. This cat is going to resist it all the way judging by his or her reaction.

Cat does not get along with the family dog. Photo: Pixabay.

The issue of integrating a new companion animal into a home where there is a resident companion animal is problematic. Not enough people endeavour to ensure that it goes off well. And it is very hard to make it work predectably.

I think animal rescue organisations should allow adopters to have the adopted animal for a week with the option to return at the end of the week if things don't work out and to keep the pet if it does. Perhaps they already do it but I have not read about it.

We know that there are disharmonious relationships between companion animals in homes but we don't know how common they are. And the friction caused often never really dissipates. The animals learn to live together but cat and dog owners want more than that. They want harmony and their pets getting along and supporting each other.

That is one of the objectives of getting another animal.

Three things to think about before adopting from a shelter

I will leave it to Joanna Miller, the Director of Operations at the SPCA, to explain three points worth considering before adopting a cat or dog from an animal shelter.

 

Risk Factors for a Broken Human-Cat Bond

Risk Factors for a Broken Human-Cat Bond

This is a cross-post from the main site (to spread the word).  It's actually an important subject because it goes to the heart of what is troubling people in the world of domestic cats, namely, unwanted and abandoned cats who are relinquished to local shelters because of a breakdown in the relationship between the owner and cat.

There are what experts describe as “risk factors", which if present in a home occupied by a domestic cat and a person indicates that the relationship between the person and the cat may fail leading to the abandonment of the cat to a local shelter.

In round terms and generalising somewhat, these risk factors center around the attitude of the person before adopting a cat and during the early part of the adoption process i.e. during the first 6 months of the relationship.

Before a person adopts a cat they really should be aware of what looking after a cat entails and in addition they should be aware of what natural cat behaviour is and how to allow it in the home. Accordingly, if a person adopts a cat casually, particularly a young kitten in the first 6 months of her life then the chances of success are weakened.  You can add to that another risk factor namely whether the young cat is neutered or spayed.  If the cat isn't then once again the risk is higher for an abandonment.

You can see where this is going. This is about a person who adopts a cat rather casually. The person likes the appearance of a young kitten because, after all, they are very attractive. It is the spur of the moment adoptions without due consideration which are more likely to lead to failure because adopting a cat is not like buying a motorcar or any other inanimate object. You have to look after the cat for the life of the cat and that takes quite a lot of input and some money. When that dawns on people later in the day some of them might not like it and some don't have sufficient patience to see it through.

The same rather casual approach to cat adoption and caretaking is carried over into veterinary care. Another risk factor is whether or not the cat is taken to a vet at any time during his or her stay with their new caretaker.  If not at all then it indicates that the owner is either neglectful or without funds and this scenario points to a possible abandonment of the cat to a shelter.

Perhaps the most important risk factor or the most significant is whether the person who adopts a cat has fixed and entrenched views about how her cat should behave in the home. If those views are incorrect and centred around what the person wants and likes with a disregard for the need of a cat to express natural behaviour then once again the relationship between cat person is heading towards a breakdown, at least potentially.

You can actually change the title from "risk factors for broken human-bond" to "the sort of person who is likely to abandon their cat".  That person will adopt the cat/kitten casually without sufficient research and without sufficient funding and not be that keen about keeping a cat or unsure and uncommitted.  They may be ambivalent about it.

By contrast, a person who has thought long and hard about adopting a cat for the life of the cat and has ensured that they have sufficient funding to manage veterinary bills and all overheads while also having studied to a certain degree cat behaviour and the need to provide an enriched, calm and pleasing environment for their cat, will succeed.