Tagged: Humane Society

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Stray Rescue

6:35 am

Thu July 7, 2011

Stray Rescue reflects on a year as St. Louis' official dog shelter

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Credit (Photo by Warren Nichols/St. Louis Department of Health)

The city’s pound on Gasconade once held most of the stray dogs the city would pick up in a day. Now, it houses just dangerous or bite dogs, and those that are part of the court system.

Credit (Rachel Lippmann/St. Louis Public Radio)

The transition to the city’s current animal control strategy started when Rodney McAllister was mauled to death 10 years ago by a pack of dogs in Ivory Perry Park, where this memorial tree now stands.

Credit (Rachel Lippmann/St. Louis Public Radio)

The city planned to raise enough money through donations and a tax check-off to build a new shelter at Arsenal-Ellendale Park on the city’s south side. But the effort failed.

Credit (Johanna Mayer/St. Louis Public Radio)

In July 2010, Mayor Francis Slay ordered the closure of the pound on Gasconade, and Stray Rescue became, for all intents and purposes, the city’s animal control agency.

Credit (Johanna Mayer/St. Louis Public Radio)

Stray Rescue does not allow owners to surrender their pets at the shelter. They offer food, veterinary care and counseling to encourage owners to keep their animals. That’s a tactic that’s brought criticism from other animal welfare agencies.

Credit (Johanna Mayer/St. Louis Public Radio)

Stray Rescue has 24 paid staffers, only half of whom work full-time. It depends on volunteers to do loads of laundry, clean the cages, and feed and exercise 200 dogs. Another 300 are fostered in the community.

Credit (Johanna Mayer/St. Louis Public Radio)

Stray Rescue is now responding to animal control calls from city residents. These calls came in over Father’s Day weekend.

Credit (Johanna Mayer/St. Louis Public Radio)

Donations keep the back of the rescue Jeep stocked with all the supplies necessary for a rescue.

Credit (Johanna Mayer/St. Louis Public Radio)

Stray Rescue executive director Randy Grim calls bologna and hot dogs a stray dog’s best friend.

Credit (Johanna Mayer/St. Louis Public Radio)

Grim’s priority this morning is a report of nine dogs and 15 cats in an abandoned home on Cottage Avenue.

Credit (Johanna Mayer/St. Louis Public Radio)

A police report said the doors would be open, but Randy and his fellow rescuer Donna Lochmann have to improvise when that turns out to be wrong.

Credit (Johanna Mayer/St. Louis Public Radio)

The initial report of nine dogs and 15 cats is also wrong. These skinny little pups are the only living animals found in the house. Randy and Donna will later find the carcass of another pup the survivors fed on.

Credit (Johanna Mayer/St. Louis Public Radio)

One of two pups rescued from the house on Cottage. Grim says the hair is deceiving – he could feel their hip bones.

Credit (Johanna Mayer/St. Louis Public Radio)

Neither dog had ever been outside or on a leash. This one needed some extra help getting to the transport van.

Credit (Johanna Mayer/St. Louis Public Radio)

Another Stray Rescue employee, Darrell Antalick, brings out the corpse of the dead puppy that had served as a food source for the two rescued animals.

Credit (Johanna Mayer/St. Louis Public Radio)

Grim’s second call of the day is to pick up a stray pit bull mix that kept wandering into a yard on Vera Avenue.

Credit (Rachel Lippmann/St. Louis Public Radio)

Grim estimates Stray Rescue has to raise $50,000 a week to keep up with demand. Most of the expense is veterinary care. Grim will not put a dog to sleep until all options are exhausted.

By Rachel Lippmann

Last year, 90 dogs left the St. Louis city pound for what Mayor Francis Slay hoped would be a better life. The move marked the end of an attempt by the city to replace its aging pound with a state-of-the-art shelter funded by donations.

From that day on, Stray Rescue - a non-profit with 24 employees and an army of volunteers - cared for all but a handful of dogs and answered the city's animal control calls: all without taking a dime of city money.

If you believe the city’s health department, there are fewer strays on the street, and more dogs are being adopted. But there are questions about how long the success will last.

Dog breeding law

1:01 am

Thu April 21, 2011

Dueling Prop B rallies held in Mo. capital as Nixon weighs options

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Credit Marshall Griffin, St. Louis Public Radio

Several hundred people attended a rally at the State Capitol calling on Gov. Nixon to sign SB 113, which would roll back many of the provisions in Proposition B.

Credit Marshall Griffin, St. Louis Public Radio

A young woman holds a sign lampooning the Humane Society of the U.S., which opposes any changes to Proposition B.

Credit Marshall Griffin, St. Louis Public Radio

Around a hundred Proposition B supporters rally in front of the Mo. Governor's Mansion, calling on Gov. Nixon to veto Senate Bill 113.

Credit Marshall Griffin, St. Louis Public Radio

Demonstrators hold signs while calling on Gov. Nixon to veto Senate Bill 113, which would roll back many of Proposition B's regulations.

Credit Marshall Griffin, St. Louis Public Radio

Rebeccah and Greg McNay of Kansas City brought their dogs, Bonnie and Clyde, to the pro-Proposition B rally outside the Governor's Mansion.

By Marshall Griffin

As Governor Jay Nixon (D) weighs his options on a bill to roll back voter-approved dog breeding regulations, supporters and opponents of Proposition B staged dueling rallies a few blocks from each other in Jefferson City.

Several hundred people gathered outside the State Capitol to urge the governor to sign a bill passed by the Missouri House and Senate that would remove the 50-dog per breeder limit and relax provisions for living space and veterinary exams.

Proposition B

9:41 pm

Mon April 18, 2011

Proposition B supporters, opponents, agree on compromise proposal

Credit (Photo by: Hamed Saber, Flickr Creative Commons)

By Marshall Griffin

A compromise has been announced between supporters and opponents of Proposition B on a new proposal to overhaul dog-breeding regulations passed by Missouri voters last year.

The agreement would remove the 50-dog limit, allowing breeders to have as many dogs as they want.

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