Friday, March 15, 2013

Rally the Troops

Friends, it's with great dismay that we write this afternoon after hearing about an op-ed article in yesterday's Orlando Sentinel written by Ted Williams, field editor for the magazine Audobon.


In it, he writes, “There are… effective, humane alternatives to the cat hell of TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return). One is Tylenol (the human pain medication)—a completely selective feral cat poison.”

Friends, not only is this illegal, there is nothing humane about Tylenol poisoning.

We called Dr, Sara Huber of Leawood Plaza Animal Hospital and here is her response:
"To say Tylenol is humane is completely inaccurate. In fact, Tylenol poisoning is terribly inhumane. It causes severe, life threatening anemia - basically the cat will bleed to death."

And to say it is a completely selective poison? No poison is completely selective. If it's left out in the open, any animal can ingest it, including indoor/outdoor pet cats who are not feral. And while the active ingredient in Tylenol, acetaminophen, is generally safe for rodents such as squirrels and chipmunks, it is not safe for dogs.

Not only is Mr. Williams' article inaccurate and misleading, it encourages individuals to break the law:

“Killing a cat is a criminal offense in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Ted Williams used a major media platform to call for cats to be illegally and tortuously killed. It cannot be excused,” says president and co-founder of Alley Cat Allies, Becky Robinson.

We join Alley Cat Allies - and fellow bloggers all over the world - in calling for the immediate dismissal of Ted Williams by Audobon. Please click here to sign their petition.

This article is more than egregiously irresponsible reporting. It calls into question the man's journalistic ethics. This is a personal vendetta, plain and simple. And it must stop.

17 comments:

  1. I'm so disgusted by what this guy wrote. Yes, our troops must rally, indeed!

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  2. It is appalling! We have signed the petition.

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  3. MY God. What a filthy man. Not even worthy of the name man.

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  4. I have signed the petition, sent emails, and shared on facebook. I am SO OUTRAGED by this I can't even think straight. We live outside Chicago and in 2007 the city passed an ordinance which legalized managed colonies, licensed caretakers, etc. Several shelters offer weekly workshops on TNR and several clinics offer free spay/neuter services for ferals. It is a very successful program and now these nut jobs are taking it back before the city demanding that this policy be repealed. There's a hearing this Tuesday and I hope to go. If you are interested in also writing a letter in support of the Chicago program, let me know and I will send you the information.

    Kristin (Pip's assistant)

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  5. I will sign this. I will also use my Pope Stick to do some selective things to Ted Williams.

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  6. We wanna scratch this guy's eyes out!

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  7. This is so awful, we signed the petition. Well we had Mommy sign it. Thanks for getting the word out.

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  8. Sickening! We will sign the petition right now.

    The Florida Furkids

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  9. OMC! How horrifying! All of us here were homeless for a time before we found our forever family...I shudder to think of the innocent kitties and woofies who could be harmed.

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  10. Oh my God...I just read this. I'm shocked, saddened and infuriated.
    Going over to sign the petition right now.

    I hope he loses his job.
    And shame on Audubon for publishing this horrible thing.

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  11. I've got some things I'd like to do to this guy, not the least of which is poop in his shoe. Horrible man and I hope this story doesn't go too wide or other evil people will get ideas.

    Such a sad, sad man.

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  12. What a complete \\@%&(%%$ ! Words for once fail us. Nasty person.
    Best wishes Molly

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  13. That's absolutely awful. This man needs to be heavily reprimanded!

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  14. Whatever could feral cats have done to this man to make him so hateful? Mommy says we aren't allowed to write down exactly what we think of this man or we might be blocked...so, SHAME ON YOU, TED WILLIAMS!

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  15. I can't stomach so-called writers who submit their work to a magazine and it accepts it without thinking of the repercussions, not to mention the fact that the writing itself was terrible. I read the entire article, saw his other published work and know he's a regular. Such stupidity hurts the reputation of a fine magazine. The Orlando Sentinel picked it up and sensationalized it and got everybody in an uproar. These editors are stupid to accept such poor research and writing; their readers will react with their pocketbooks and funding could be jeopardized.

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Coolio! A comment? For US?