David Friedman, KE7GOY, Disaster Services Coordinator, MUTTSHACK WASHINGTON
cell: 206 390-9461; hm/office: 360-794-3109; dfnow@verizon.net
www.muttshack.org

dfnow@verizon.net, 2/2/08 — For animals who survived the catastrophic flood in Lewis County [Washington State], the winterlooks bleak. Donations of hay or money to buy hay are needed... Families are struggling to remove mud and debris and rebuild their homes... Many went to extreme measures to save their animals from drowning. Families lost all their hay in the flood and don't have the resources to purchase it again... We’ve distributed hay in Lewis, Thurston and Grays Harbor. Each semi costs about $7500 and the cost increases every month...

https://www.folcas.org — Housing, feeding and caring for animals in Lewis County affected by the floods will continue through the winter. Donations of hay and grain are still desperately needed. Approximately 30 tons of hay each month for the next 6 months is necessary for farm animals to survive. We need to raise about $7500.00 each month to accomplish this.
READ MORE ABOUT DECEMBER 2007 FLOOD RELIEF FOR ANIMALS: https://www.folcas.org/Flood_Relief.html

All monetary donations go to purchase feed to help animals. There are no administrative fees, salaries or overhead costs.
1. CREDIT CARD, ONLINE: Friends Of Lewis County Animal Shelter
https://www.folcas.org • https://www.folcas.org/Donate.html

2. CREDIT CARD, BY PHONE: Contact Patty Kaija, FOLCAS President, at 360-508-0151 or pattyk@folcas.org

3. SEND DONATION, BY MAIL:
FOLCAS (Friends Of Lewis County Animal Shelter) • PO Box 1421 • Chehalis, WA 98532

Donations can also be made at any Security State Bank. United Way donations may also be directed to Friends of Lewis County Animal Shelter. Friends of Lewis County Animal Shelter is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and all donations are tax deductible. Receipts available on request.

BETA – Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, CONTACT: beta.team@hotmail.com • www.betalebanon.org

beta.team@hotmail.com — There has been a lot of international news about Lebanon recently and we want to update you on the situation here. Yesterday there was a large explosion which is being reported as targeting a US embassy vehicle. Footage aired on all the major news networks — the smoke, destruction and burning vehicle. There has been a drastic increase in bombings over the last month... Lebanon is still without a President since November and elections have been delayed more than ten times.

This does greatly affect BETA, but we are continuing our vital work here. Currently we care for more than 350 dogs and cats in our shelters, as well as provide boarding services, spaying and neutering of stray and feral animals, and rescue of many animals in need... We have no plans to stop.

However, bombings and insecurity make things very difficult for our operations, and specifically our ability to fundraise within Lebanon... Due to instability and concern in the coming months, some of our donors are not able to give as much or, unfortunately, anything. Fundraising events are also less successful or need to be postponed or canceled completely... In times like this we need to reach out to the international community.

ONLINE DONATIONS: Beirut For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals
www.betalebanon.org/donate.asp • www.betalebanon.org/sponsor.asp

adopt@betalebanon.org — For adopting one of our cats or dogs or follow-up on rescued animals
donate@betalebanon.org — For donating to BETA, our sponsorship program, our fundraising events
volunteer@betalebanon.org — For our volunteer program and how to get involved with BETA
contact@betalebanon.org — For general information

THE CENTER FOR ANIMAL LOVERS, www.cal.ir
ph: +98 21 22900118; email: info@cal.ir or fatemehmotamedi@hotmail.com
Flat 2, 1st FL, No. 785, Khayam Ave.
1161934157
Tehran, Iran

fatemehmotamedi@hotmail.com — The Center For Animal Lovers (CAL) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Iran. CAL runs a shelter for dogs called: VAFA. Vafa is a word that means “loyalty.” A few months ago, we were accepted as a member of World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA). www.wspa-international.org/members/IRAN.HTM

CAL’s website is not available in English. If interested in supporting this group, and welfare for animals in Iran, contact CAL directly: ph: +98 21 22900118 • email: info@cal.ir or fatemehmotamedi@hotmail.com

STOCKTON, Calif. - The house was ravaged — its floors ripped, walls busted and lights smashed by owners who trashed their home before a bank foreclosed on it. Hidden in the wreckage was an abandoned member of the family: a starving pit bull. The dog was too far gone to save — another example of how pets are becoming the newest victims of the nation’s mortgage crisis as homeowners leave animals behind...

Pets “are getting dumped all over,” said Traci Jennings, president of the Humane Society of Stanislaus County in northern California. “Farmers are finding dogs dumped on their grazing grounds, while house cats are showing up in wild cat colonies...” The first people to enter an abandoned house, such as property inspectors and real estate brokers, have discovered dogs tied to trees in backyards, cats in garages, and turtles, rabbits and lizards in children’s bedrooms. Anecdotal evidence suggests that forsaken animals are becoming a problem wherever foreclosures are climbing. Stockton and Modesto have some of the nation’s highest foreclosure rates...

The situation has become so widespread that the Humane Society urged home owners faced with foreclosure to take their animals to a shelter. Shelters are trying to keep up, but the spike in abandoned pets comes at a time when fewer people are adopting animals. Home sales are plunging to their lowest level in decades, and new homeowners are often the most likely to seek a pet. [But] even people who are buying homes are not adopting pets...

Bloggers are furious with the “foreclosure pet” phenomenon, especially after seeing photos of emaciated animals on the Internet. Some critics say pet owners have already proved irresponsible by buying houses they could not afford or mortgages they did not bother to understand... Abandoning animals is illegal in most states under anti-cruelty laws, but the laws are not rigidly enforced...

CONTACT: Laurie Loveman, Fire Safety in Horse Barns, www.laurieloveman.com • 440-543-1640

January 12, 2008 (FPRC) — CHAGRIN FALLS, OHIO As reported to the media in 2007, the United States suffered 203 barn and other animal facility fires in which animals perished. This does not include the hundreds of companion animals and birds who died in house fires. Of the 203 fires, only 4 were arson or suspicious. The remaining 199 fires were probably all preventable, since the fires in which the causes were determined were all preventable.

The largest numbers of animals killed, per fire, occurred in factory farms and took the lives of:
• 57,500 turkeys and turkey chicks
• 35,820 ducks, ducklings, geese and goslings
• 619,882 hens and chicks
• 4,902 pigs and piglets

In other livestock facility fires, mainly dairy farms and horse barns, these animals died:
• 304 horses
• 423 dogs (pets, farm dogs, puppy mill dogs, dogs in animal hospitals, shelters, pet shops)
• 387 cats (pets, barn cats, cats in animal hospitals, shelters, pet shops)
• 664 cattle and calves
• 103 sheep and lambs
• 202 goats and kids

In pet shop fires, 487 small mammals, 70 birds, and 220 reptiles died. Twenty wild animals died in zoo fires. In an unusual incident, 150,000 fish were killed in a barn fire at a fish farm.

Can we save animals from death by fire? Absolutely! Every government jurisdiction should adopt as an Ordinance, the National Fire Protection Association's 2007 Edition of NFPA 150 Standard on Fire and Life Safety in Animal Housing Facilities for use in all new construction of livestock facilities, and everyone who cares about keeping animals safe from fire should visit my website for the latest information on fire safety in barns.

I’m an officer in the Highland Hills (Ohio) Fire Department, a state-certified fire inspector and I have a B.S. degree in Fire and Safety Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. But more important, I have more than 40 years experience in the horse industry and over 20 years in the fire service, and I know first hand the tragedy of preventable fires...