National Tools Day

Seriously, folks. We don't make these up. We just report on them!

TOOLS. 

Mine come built in.  

*snick!*

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Tomorrow: National PINK Day

Guess you saw that coming.  :-)

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Goats' Milk Soap Giveaway
  

We have a WINNER!

Congratulations to Nicole M., who has won THREE bars of Happy Goats' artisanal soap - your design choice!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

We'd be honored if you'd consider us. 
You can nominate daily thru June 30.

You'll need our URL:

www.atonkstail.com

Thank you!

Blog The Change: Jammies' Story

Thanks for stopping by as we participate in today’s Blog the Change for Animals Blog-a-thon! The folks over at the site Be The Change For Animals sponsor a quarterly Blog The Change day – and today’s the first in 2012.  Animal lovers everywhere are joining forces today to talk about causes near and dear to their hearts. 

Our first entry in the Be The Change Blogosphere this year is Jammies' Story.

photo courtesy HELP Humane, Belton, MO

Jammies is gorgeously golden – all buff with a cream muzzle and big golden eyes that stare sadly out at you.

Jammies was dropped off anonymously at HELP, a no-kill animal shelter here in the KC metro area. When staff arrived for work that day, they saw this lunging, screaming, biting ball of fury trapped in a carrier. Once inside the shelter, Jammies was so aggressive that no one was willing to open the carrier door.  They noticed something odd about the paws that were attempting to strike out at anyone who dared approach, and an abnormal tendency to shift from paw to paw, indicating discomfort.

When they couldn’t get close enough to Jammies to even determine if this kitty was a boy or girl, they decided to visit their vet.  Poor Jammies was so aggressive, so agitated, that the vet had to anesthetize him to even determine it was a “him”!

By this time, everyone involved suspected that Jammies was suffering from being declawed.  Everyone had heard of “bad declaws” (as if there are good ones?!?) but this one…wow.  As one shelter worker put it, “some vets are really butchers when it comes to this.”

They asked the vet to x-ray Jammies' paws. What those pictures revealed was horrendous: Jammies had shards of bone – remnants of the declawing procedure and possibly even regrowth of the claw – inside his paws. Imagine the pain poor Jammies was in.  What would your disposition be like if you were forced to stand on or walk barefoot over broken glass...day in and day out? 

It’s no wonder he became aggressive and struck out at all who came near.

The International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management and other schools of Veterinary Clinical Sciences have published studies that indicate that fifty percent of cats undergoing a declaw will have one or more complications from it that include lameness, pain, hemorrhage, infection and even internal regrowth of the claw.

Is it any wonder that over 20 nations have declared this practice illegal? Indeed, just this past November, Israel added its name to the ranks with an impressive penalty for those caught in the act: a fine of up to 20,000 shekels and one year in jail.


Normally those of us who live in the U.S. like to think we're a nation that is forward-thinking with regard to the welfare of animals. The fact that declawing is not against the law here is sad but unfortunately not surprising. The number of cat owners who are informed on this issue is shockingly low. And that is why we've chosen to focus on this issue as our Blog the Change entry by telling Jammies' story.

Fortunately, Jammies’ story has a happy ending. He’s on his way to a pain-free existence thanks to the surgical attentions of a responsible vet who removed the bone shards from inside his paws. He’s in the caring hands of staff and volunteers at the HELP shelter – all of whom are teaching him that some humans can be trusted. And he’s well on his way to exchanging aggression for cuddles.

When Jammies was picked up at the vet to go “home” to the shelter a few days ago, the tears flowed as this golden boy – finally on his way to being pain-free – greeted his caretaker with a head butt and a purr for the very first time.

photo courtesy HELP Humane, Belton, MO

Please…pass the word.  There is no such thing as a good declaw.

BREAKING NEWS: Israel Bans Declawing

On November 28th Israel unanimously passed a resolution banning the declawing of cats except in rare cases of medical necessity. This comes with a punishment of up to $20,000 in fines plus a one year jail sentence for anyone caught in the act.

Israel joins the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and most of Europe in banning this procedure as cruel and inhumane.

For this eminently civilized legal action, we give Israel two enthusiastic paws up....WAAAAY up!

To read more about it, visit The Discovery Channel's blog

Tigger: recent shelter kitty & victim of mangled declawing procedure

[source: Ynet (Hebrew), Arutz Sheva]