Posts by Sunny Weber
Protecting the Vulnerable
I awoke again today to my next-door neighbor’s two Shetland Sheepdogs barking. They are like wind-up toys—the minute they shoot out of their back door, they dodge around the yard yapping. They do not quiet until they are back inside. The old man often lets the dogs out early or late, and has been cited…
Read MoreThe Link Between Animal Abuse and Violence Against People
By Phil Akow, National Coordinator https://nationallinkcoalition.org/ Over the past 35 years, researchers and professionals in a variety of human services and animal welfare disciplines have established significant correlations between animal abuse, child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, elder abuse and other forms of violence. Mistreating animals is no longer seen as an isolated incident…
Read MoreIs a Life-long Commitment On Your Gift List? Gifts of Pets From/To Others
“Hello, I was given a dog for Christmas and cannot get a leash on her. She is ruining my apartment because I can’t get her outside. Can you help me?” This email came through my website (www.sunnyweber.com) two weeks after the holidays. I immediately responded and asked for the woman’s phone number. I knew the…
Read MoreThe Captive Wildlife Crisis: Part Two
Part Two By Pat Craig, Guest Blogger Founder and Executive Director of The Wild Animal Sanctuary, Keensburg, Colorado Note from Sunny: I present this guest blog to assist in the education of the public regarding this lesser-known animal welfare crisis. The wider the educational efforts of all animal welfare enthusiasts spread, the more public…
Read MoreThe Captive Wildlife Crisis: Part One
Part One By Pat Craig, Guest Blogger Founder and Executive Director of The Wild Animal Sanctuary, Keensburg, Colorado Note from Sunny: I present this guest blog to assist in the education of the public regarding this lesser-known animal welfare crisis. The wider the educational efforts of all animal welfare enthusiasts spread, the more public…
Read MoreNot All Working Dogs Have Job Titles
Jessie was scheduled for euthanasia as a “behavior problem”–a separation anxiety nutcase, a house destroyer, a crazy bag of bones abandoned. He came to me for behavioral rehab. His intelligence, sensitivity, and 100% reliability with all other animals and humans of all ages was almost missed–until he graciously showed me what he needed. I understood…
Read MoreSome Dogs
Some dogs don’t move you to poetry. Some dogs quietly, slowly, meld themselves into literature’s prose; not flowery, not romantic, not shiny. Jessie was a dog who grew slowly into a soul mate. He arrived frantic, anxious—a house destroyer, a wreck of rejection, an abandoned teenager who had lost everything he knew in a dog’s…
Read MorePuppy Mills: Part One – Good-bye, Rosie the Riveter & Hello, Farmer John
The late 1940s turned the financial difficulties of the Great Depression and WWII around. The economic boom years of the 1950s brought the United States interstate highway system, widespread corporate wealth, and the construction of the American suburban sprawl. A new phenomenon, suburbia provided affordable houses to thousands of returning soldiers and their new families.…
Read MorePuppy Mills: Part Two – Taken From Mom: Now What?
There are four usual ways puppy mill proprietors divest themselves of puppies they have bred. They are: selling directly to pet stores, advertising on the internet, selling to a broker, and selling at auctions. Pet Stores The first way a mill breeder can unload puppies is to sell directly to their regular clients of pet…
Read MorePuppy Mills: Part Three – Will Economics Always Overcome Ideals?
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” – Mahatma Gandhi Why is it so difficult to ban puppy mills in Colorado? House Bill 1084 died February 22, 2020 in a 6-5 vote in the Colorado Legislature. Originally blocking pet stores from selling…
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