A SILVER LINING FOR CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS IN THE "FISCAL CLIFF" LAW

Unnoticed while the smoke cleared from the "fiscal cliff" is an important provision.

The "IRA Charitable Rollover" has been reinstated for 2012 taxes.

This means that if you are 70½ years or older, you may donate up to $100,000 from your traditional or Roth IRA (any 501(c)(3) should be so lucky!) directly to ISAR until January 31, 2013. Your contribution will count against your mandatory 2012 IRA withdrawal, and the amount of your contribution can be a 2012 charitable deduction.

Please consult your personal financial advisor for confirmation and to obtain more specifics.

Oh yes! - there's another benefit: you'll be helping ISAR carry on its work in furthering animal rights.

ISAR's Stop Devocalization Now Video

Recently, ISAR has brought to the attention of our supporters and others, the widespread cruel practice in the United States of surgically cutting the vocal cords of canines (and, less often, felines) known formally as ventriculocordectomy. Synonyms often include "debarking," "devocalization," "silencing," "bark softening," and "cutting the vocal chords."

In 2012, ISAR launched it's newly-created, one-stop, educational website aimed at exposing and prohibiting the barbaric practice of dog and cat devocalization, www.stopdevocalizationnow.org. In addition to the creation of our new website, ISAR produced an Xtranormal video entitled, Silence is Not Golden, and drafted an exceptional and informative Model Statute entitled, ISAR's Model Statute Restricting Devocalization.

Now, to continue our educational efforts against devocalization in 2013, ISAR is kicking off our Stop Devocalization Now project with our latest Youtube video. With this recent video, ISAR further solicits the help from our friends and supporters while encouraging them to help us spread the word against devocalization.

To view ISAR's Stop Devocalization Now video, click on the image below or click on this link.

If you like it as much as we do, please forward it to as many people as you can, asking them to do the same.

Once you are on the video page, the share button will enable you to email or repost ISAR's video on your Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

If you have a website or blog and would like to embed our latest video on your homepage, ISAR encourages you to do so by copying and pasting the embed link found on our Youtube video page.

Together we can accomplish great feats to help companion animals and one very simple way to do that is by keeping ISAR visible to the public eye.

WANTED - VOLUNTEER LAWYERS FOR ISAR's AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF PROGRAM

ISAR has long used the legal system in behalf of animal rights.

The first federal case ever to use the phrase "animal rights" was Jones v. Butz, 374 F.Supp. 1284 (SDNY, three-judge court, 1974). ISAR's chairman, Professor Henry Mark Holzer,[1] on behalf of a wide-range of plaintiffs challenged sections of the federal Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act on the ground that its religious exemption -- which effectively nullified the act's protection for countless livestock animals -violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

The first state case ever to use the phrase "animal rights" was Jones v. Beame, 45 N.Y.2d 402 (1978). Professor Holzer on behalf of ISAR's then-president, Helen Jones, and ISAR itself sued to close the Central Park zoo in New York City on the ground that the treatment of the animals confined there violated the anti-cruelty statutes of the State of New York.

As long ago as the early 1970's ISAR sued the United States government to stop the slaughter of millions of blackbirds.

In the decades since, Professor Holzer has provided tactical and strategic legal advice to a wide range of animal rights/welfare organizations and their lawyers in cases involving the protection and advancement of animal rights. As of the beginning of January 2013 ISAR has begun offering strategic and tactical advice to a California law firm in connection with its case seeking to reform an animal shelter.

We've filed amicus curiae briefs in state and federal courts, for example:

• O'Sullivan v. City of San Diego, 2007 WL 2570783 (2007) -- a case that sought to protect the federal recognized seal rookery at Casa Beach in La Jolla, California, from depredation by swimmers and fishermen. Professor Holzer on behalf of ISAR and several other animal protection organizations consulted with the lawyers for the plaintiffs and submitted amicus curiae briefs in the California Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of the State of California.


• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah, Florida, 508 U.S. 520 (1993), in which Professor Holzer on behalf of ISAR and eleven other animal protection organizations filed amicus curiae briefs in the Supreme Court of the United States in support of Hialeah's ordinance that prohibited the Santeria cult from sacrificing animals as part of an alleged religious ceremony.


• United States v. Stevens, 559 U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 1577 (2010) in which ISAR and Professor Holzer (together with Lance Gotko, Esq. of the New York City law firm Friedman Kaplan Siler & Adelman) filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the government's argument that the federal statute criminalizing the making, selling or possessing depictions of "crush videos" and other torture and killing of animals was constitutional.

Increasingly, there are animal-related cases in appellate courts all over the country, involving experimentation, hunting, farming, sport, education, spay/neuter, and more -- cases needing amicus curiae briefs from a pro-animal perspective.

There's a lot of appellate work for lawyers who would use the legal system in behalf of animal rights. Unfortunately, virtually all of it is pro bono publico.

Lawyers interested in volunteering to work with Professor Holzer and ISAR to perform amicus curiae appellate services in aid of animal rights are encouraged to contact ISAR via email (contact@isaronline.org), phone (570-586-2200), fax (570-586-9580) or through the USPS at ISAR, P.O. Box F, Clarks Summit, PA 18411, and provide us with the following information:

1. Name.

2. Firm name.

3. Office address.

4. Telephone and fax number(s).

5. Email address.

6. Year(s) admitted to practice, and jurisdiction(s).

7. Specialization(s), if any.

8. Post-law school judicial clerkship(s).

9. Judicial experience.

10. Experience with animal-related cases.

11. Amount of time available annually.

12. Whether you and/or your firm has a formal pro bono program.

Although at the initial stages of the amicus curiae brief process -- issue analysis, research, tactics and strategy -- Professor Holzer will be involved and will be named on the brief with volunteer counsel, the work product will be entirely theirs. (It will be the responsibility of volunteers to obtain permission to file the brief, and for filing it. ISAR will pay printing and filing costs.)

Thank you.

[Please forward this request to any lawyer(s) who might be interested in participating].

***

[1] In The Birth of Animal Rights Law: The Role of Lawyers in the Animal Rights/Protection Movement from 1972-1987, Joyce Tischler, Esq., founder and president of Animal Legal Defense Fund, set out to "explore the roots of a large scale, organized movement, which started in the early 1970s in the United States, spearheaded by attorneys and law students with the express purpose of filing lawsuits to protect animals and establish the concept of their legal rights, regardless of the species of the animals or the ownership interest of humans."

In that article, Ms. Tischler graciously names as "the first animal rights lawyer" ISAR's chairman, Henry Mark Holzer, professor emeritus at Brooklyn Law School.

She credits Professor Holzer, then a practicing attorney professionally associated with ISAR, with three accomplishments crucial to establishing the field of what today is known as "animal rights law": with ISAR, having brought the first federal and first state lawsuit to invoke the moral concept of "animal rights"; with ISAR, having founded the Animal Rights Law Reporter, which became "the legal clearinghouse for animal rights law information"; and, again with ISAR, having organized the "First National Conference on Animal Rights Law"-an undertaking, in Ms. Tischler's words, "[t]he significance of which cannot be overstated."

Another "Half a Loaf"

Colorado Springs is the county seat of El Paso County, Colorado. The county is the most populous of the 64 counties in the state.

Recently, by a 3-2 vote of the county commissioners, the following law was adopted: “It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, trade, barter, lease, rent, give away, or display for any purpose a pet animal on any public street, road, highway, alley, sidewalk, or any other public place, or in open areas where the public is invited by the owner or person controlling such areas, including commercial parking lots, outdoor special sales, sap [sic] meets, flea markets, parking lot sales, or similar events.”

Violation can result in a fine.

ISAR certainly approves of the law’s intention, and has long disapproved of, and fought against, so-called “roadside sales” of companion animals.

That said, however, the El Paso County law raises once again the problem we have addressed in the past: “Half a loaf.” (Half a Loaf, Half a Loaf, Revisited and The "Half a Loaf" Problem Rises Again)

While Section (a) of the law, quoted above, could have been better drafted, it would probably get the job done standing alone.

The problem is that it doesn’t stand alone. Section (b) is shot through with exceptions which take much of the punch out of Section (a).

Section (b) does not apply to:
1. Agents of state licensed pet stores.
2. Events for the sale of agricultural livestock.
3. Shelters.
4. Sales of pet animals on private property who have the owner’s permission.

Cumulatively, these exceptions allow for many animals to be sold at the “roadside,” gutting to a considerable extent the intent and express language of Section (a).

Although ISAR has long approved of, and fought for, mandatory spay/neuter laws, several years ago we opposed one introduced into the California legislature because it, too, was gutted by exceptions (Mandatory Spay/Neuter Beat Goes On.)  We believed that its enactment would have allowed the opponents of mandatory spay/neuter to resist further, proper legislation on the ground that the pro-mandatory spay/neuter forces had already received enough and that no further laws were necessary or appropriate.

Since the El Paso law was narrowly passed on a 3-2 vote of the county commissioners, it is unlikely that a tougher law without some or all of the Section (b) exceptions would have been enacted. So the majority obviously accepted the exceptions.

In other words, they accepted “half a loaf.”

In ISAR’s view, that is not “better than none.”

ISAR gets out the word about our Stop Devocalization Project

As our friends and supporters know, we have recently created a stand-alone project aimed at prohibiting the barbaric practice of devocalization. Because ISAR is truly an international organization, our newsletter, blog and eBulletin goes out to our friends and supporters not only in the United States, but worldwide.
 

Last month we received a supportive email from a Swedish veterinarian who wrote that "As a veterinarian I am ashamed that some of my American colleagues are taking part in this unnatural and unhealthy modification of healthy animals to make them suit their owners. Fortunately this is illegal in Europe. USA should follow."

We could not agree more!

ADVANCING THE INTERESTS OF ANIMALS v. CITY OF INDIO, ET AL.

 

ISAR wants to call your attention to a lawsuit filed recently in the Superior Court of California, County of Riverside, Indio Division. It is entitled ADVANCING THE INTERESTS OF ANIMALS v. CITY OF INDIO, ET AL., Case Number INC 1207510. The attorney for Petitioner is Diane C. Blasdel of the Rancho Mirage law firm Ealy, Hemphill & Blasdel, LLP.
 

The action seeks mandate, declaratory judgment and a temporary and permanent injunction in connection with acts of commission and failures to act at the Indio, California, animal shelter which are alleged to violate several California statutes.

ISAR wholeheartedly supports the lawsuit's goals.

For more information please click HERE.

ISAR's Autumn 2012 Newsletter

President's Message

Dear Friends,

It is with great pleasure that I formally announce the launch of ISAR's new website Stop Devocalization Now.

Unknown to most custodians of dogs and cats and the public at large, there is a widespread practice in the United States of surgically cutting the vocal cords of canines (and, less often, felines). That's correct: cutting their vocal cords.

This mutilating procedure when not performed for the medical benefit of dogs and cats but instead for the convenience of humans, must be ended throughout the United States. And it must be ended now!

To accomplish that goal, International Society for Animal Rights has created our stand-alone Stop Devocalization Now Project, dedicated to helping those who are willing and able to engage in the legislative-lobbying actions that ISAR, as a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation, can not directly perform.

While commonly known by the euphemism "debarking," synonyms for cutting a dog's or cat's vocal cords include "devocalization," "silencing," "bark softening," "cutting the vocal chords" -- and by the formal medical term "ventriculocordectomy." (In this announcement, as shorthand I'll use dogs and the term "devocalization" as examples.)

Now for the gruesome details. A dog is devocalized by having her vocal cord soft tissue cut by the veterinarian making a surgical incision in the dog's neck, or by inserting tools through her mouth.

The consequences for devocalized dogs can be, and often are, horrific. For example, breathing can become a struggle for devocalized animals because of airway obstruction, which in turn can cause a later administration of anesthesia for legitimate medical reasons to be problematic. A dog can choke on food, inhale vomit into her lungs, choke, gag, cough. Scar tissue buildup can require multiple surgical procedures. And more.

The devocalization procedure can cause severe blood loss and infection.

Police -- anyone, for that matter -- encountering a devocalized dog trained to attack will have no warning.

It has been reported that a devocalized dog is more likely to be dumped or surrendered to a shelter, adding to the already serious overpopulation problem. Indeed, it has been reported also that in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts shelters received many devocalized animals before the practice (with a narrow exception) was outlawed.

There is much more to be said about the medical aspects of devocalization, but just what I've said so far should suffice to demonstrate that devocalization is cruel, brutal, dangerous -- let alone immoral -- in its treatment of animals as if they were simply inanimate objects to be used and abused by humans without regard to their ability to experience pain and their need to live natural lives.

By devocalizing a dog, the veterinarian's knife assaults not only the animal, but its ability to communicate -- and the idea of a humane society that humans should strive for.

Putting aside body language, the only other way an animal can communicate is through vocalization. Sever that ability literally and figuratively, and the animal has no means to convey its mental state to other animals and humans. It lacks the ability to control the tone, intensity and frequency of its voice. Lacking that, the dog cannot communicate fear, aggression, danger, pain - everything the animal "knows." To get a sense of what devocalization means to a dog or any other animal, one need only ask a mute human being what he's deprived of because of his inability to speak.

In order to precipitate a national discussion about devocalization, and to arm those likeminded people and organizations such as International Society for Animal Rights who want to end the practice, ISAR has created the Stop Devocalization Now Project.

We will provide all information possible about devocalization, including but not limited to links containing the following:

Aspects of Devocalization

Medical

Ethical

Behavioral

Opponents and proponents

Activism

ISAR's Model Anti-Devocalization Statute

Suggested Letter-to-the-Editor and others

Veterinarian/behaviorist non-devocalization support and pledge

Initiative and referendum

Petitions

Anti-devocalization efforts abroad

Australia

Elsewhere

Law and Legislation

Existing domestic anti-devocalization legislation

Massachusetts

New Jersey

Warwick

Rhode Island

Newtown, Ohio

Ohio

Pending anti-devocalization legislation

California

Virginia

Failed anti-devocalization legislative attempts

California

New York

Cranston, Rhode Island

Congress

Lobbying

Cases related to anti-devocalization legislation

Constitutionality of anti-devocalization legislation

Public Education

Anti-devocalization videos

Radio Interviews

ISAR's potential supporters are literally countless. Our constituents are every dog and cat that is a potential victim of the scalpel. Potential activists are the many good people throughout the United States who understand the nature of devocalization, and are willing to work to end it. 

We are actively seeking volunteers to work legislatively to end devocalization. 

As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, ISAR cannot lobby for or against the enactment of legislation. However, we can support those who are willing to fight for legislation that will end vocalization throughout the United States. 

A volunteer's task is not difficult:

• The ISAR volunteer should identify a sympathetic legislator(s) on a municipal, county or state level;
• The ISAR volunteer should make the legislators aware of and provide to him or her the material contained in this website, especially ISAR's Model Anti-Devocalization Statute;
• The ISAR volunteer should encourage the legislators to solicit as many co-sponsors as possible in support of ISAR's Model Statute;
• The ISAR volunteer, once the bill is introduced and assigned to a committee, should identify sympathetic members of that committee and seek their support for the bill.

Ideally, the bill's sponsor and/or at least one co-sponsor will have some leverage with the committee chairperson and legislative leadership so that the proposed legislation will get out of committee and obtain a majority vote of the legislature. (On our website, we have provided a lengthy Table of Contents for NIFAA president and author, Julie Lewin's book entitled Get Political for Animals and Win the Laws They Need, which contains detailed information and instruction about how to lobby on behalf of animals.)

ISAR knows there are willing anti-devocalization advocates in legislative bodies throughout the United States, but we can't find them. But volunteers can.

And, as we have learned, in Massachusetts, New York and elsewhere, there are powerful legislative enemies of efforts to end the barbaric practice of devocalization.

But with the help of likeminded people, whose volunteer participation we sincerely solicit, this is one battle dogs and cats can win. ISAR will continue to assist in strengthening and enlarging current laws and in drafting state and federal animal protection legislation.

ISAR has begun publicizing our latest Stop Devocalization Now Project using online social media sites, e-newsletter, Twitter and even a radio interview on the Animals Today Radio Show, which can be heard on our website.

On another front, ISAR commemorated the 21st anniversary of International Homeless Animals' Day on Saturday, August 18, 2012 with hundreds of observances throughout the United States, Canada and abroad.

ISAR conceived and began International Homeless Animals' Day® in 1992. Now, twenty-one years later, observances have consistently grown in number. They bring people all over the world together to shed light on pet overpopulation and the spay/neuter solution. By now, International Homeless Animals' Day events have been celebrated in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, over in 50 countries and on 6 continents, saving millions of animals' lives.

ISAR's International Homeless Animals' Day is devoted to bringing humane organizations and concerned individuals together globally to combat pet overpopulation head-on by promoting spay/neuter and adoption campaigns. As a direct result of ISAR's International Homeless Animals' Day observances in 2012, many elected officials were enlisted to help lead their communities in pet overpopulation awareness campaigns and the simple spay/neuter solution. ISAR's Proclamations declaring the third Saturday of August as International Homeless Animals' Day were signed by many Governors, Mayors, city council members and other elected officials worldwide. ISAR's International Homeless Animals' Day observances result in the placing of companion animals into loving families and the performing of countless spay/neuter surgeries saving millions of animals' lives.

ISAR would like to thank all of the coordinators who have participated in International Homeless Animals' 2012, and who by doing so have contributed to advancing the war against dog and cat overpopulation.

We cordially invite our supporters, and those individuals who are receiving our E-Newsletter for the first time, to explore ISAR's website and familiarize themselves with the work we have been doing for animal rights during the past half-century.

Because of your support, ISAR has remained in the forefront of the battles for the rights of animals. Your contributions will allow us to continue our work, making great strides on behalf of our beloved companion animals.

Sincerely,

Susan Dapsis

President, ISAR

*****

ISAR's International Homeless Animals' Day® 2012

International Homeless Animals' Day 2012 was commemorated for the twenty-first consecutive year on August 18th with Candlelight Vigil observances in more than 20 U.S. states, Canada and involvement in at least 10 foreign locations including Australia, China, Cyprus, France, Guam, Malaysia, Panama, Russia, South Africa, and Switzerland.

Introduction

On Saturday, August 18, 2012, animal protection organizations and compassionate individuals from all over the world joined together to commemorate ISAR's 21st annual International Homeless Animals' Day. Since 1992, the year ISAR conceived and began International Homeless Animals' Day, dedicated vigil coordinators have orchestrated events on the third Saturday of August, shedding light on an epidemic that sadly claims the lives of millions of dogs, cats, puppies and kittens on a global scale each year: pet overpopulation. Events that often accompany International Homeless Animals' Day observances promote pet overpopulation's simple solution: spay/neuter, educate individuals and communities about responsible pet care, and increase shelter pet exposure and adoptions. Low-cost spay/neuter clinics, adopt-a-thons, microchip clinics, information stalls, special guest speakers, volunteer appreciation ceremonies, animal shelter open houses, and candlelight vigils are just a few of the activities held on International Homeless Animals' Day around the world. ISAR is extremely grateful for the hard work our devoted vigil coordinators put forth every year leading up to our August event. Because of their loyal commitment, ISAR's International Homeless Animals' Day observances result in the placement of companion animals into loving new families and the performing of countless spay/neuter surgeries.

ISAR offered its online virtual vigil for the 11th year in a row, allowing people who could not physically attend an International Homeless Animals' Day observance the option to participate. Visitors from all over the world including Canada, Colombia, New Zealand, Philippines, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States lit candles online in memory of victims of pet overpopulation, thus further driving home the importance of spay/neuter.

2012 Vigil Highlights
While ISAR encourages all vigil coordinators to contact us with feedback, due to space restraints we are not able to acknowledge the many events that took place on August 18, 2012. Some representative examples follow.

The Warwick Valley Humane Society hosted their third annual International Homeless Animals’ Day Candlelight Vigil on August 18, 2012. Pictured from left to right are: volunteers Steve and Dina Feneck, Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton, Councilman Russ Kowal, Warwick Valley Humane Society President Suzyn Barron, Councilman Floyd D’Angelo, Justice Nancy D’Angelo and The Animal Rights Alliance, Inc.  founder, Steve Tardiff. Photo By: Roger Gavan

The Railroad Green in the Village of Warwick, NY was the setting for the third annual International Homeless Animals' Day Candlelight Vigil observance hosted by the Warwick Valley Humane Society. Elected officials from New York's Orange County, the Town of Warwick, the Village of Warwick and the Village of Greenwood Lake all issued proclamations based on ISAR's designating Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012 as "International Homeless Animals Day." Special guest speakers, including Village of Warwick Mayor, Michael J. Newhard, Town of Warwick Supervisor, Michael Sweeton, Councilman Floyd D'Angelo, Town of Warwick Justice, Nancy D'Angelo, Councilman Russ Kowal and founder of The Animal Rights Alliance (T.A.R.A.), Steve Tardiff, took the stage to discuss the importance of community involvement when it comes to our animal companions, spay/neuter and adoption practices, and to acknowledge the important work of the Warwick Valley Humane Society and its dedicated staff and volunteers. Earlier that Day in conjunction with International Homeless Animals' Day, T.A.R.A. set up their low-cost spay/neuter clinic fixing close to 50 animals helping to combat pet overpopulation.

The Humane Society of Elkhart County in Bristol, Indiana, commemorated International Homeless Animals' Day 2012 with approximately 220 people in attendance. Ms. Anne Reel, Executive Director, said of their annual International Homeless Animals' Day observance, "the event continues to be a huge success for our shelter as a way to raise awareness about homeless animals and to celebrate successful home connections with owners and their loving companions." Media coverage leading up to their event included television spots and local newspaper articles, while a local news anchor from an ABC affiliate acted as Master of Ceremonies for the evening. To reinforce the spay/neuter message, the Humane Society of Elkhart County hosted organizations working on behalf of feral cats and a local low-cost spay/neuter clinic. A moving blessing of pets rounded out the event, shedding light on the homeless animal epidemic.

Commemorating their 18th annual International Homeless Animals' Day Candlelight Vigil observance on August 18th, Defenders of Animals, RI, once again turned on the spotlight to educate others about the pet overpopulation epidemic and its simple spay/neuter solution. This year, Defenders of Animals honored members who were instrumental in assisting the enactment of crucial animal-friendly legislation, including those who fostered shelter animals, or went above and beyond the call of duty helping animals throughout the year. Live music and a candlelight vigil ceremony in memory of those affected by pet overpopulation closed out the evening.

Beth Hackney, President of Cats Angels

Inc., SPCA carries her "Spay/Neuter. It

Stops the Killing!" sign along a busy

roadway during their 11th annual

International Homeless Animals' Day

awareness walk in Fernandina Beach, FL.

Clutching vibrant signs boasting the spay/neuter message, members of Cats Angels, Inc. SPCA of Fernandina Beach, FL held their 11th annual International Homeless Animals' Day two mile walk and candlelight vigil on August 18th. Mayor Filkoff of Fernandina Beach declared the entire month of August as International Homeless Animals' Month and Saturday, August 18, 2012 as International Homeless Animals' Day. Throughout August 2012, Cats Angels performed 138 spay/neuter surgeries, preventing the births of hundreds more unwanted kittens. When asked why Cats Angels observes International Homeless Animals' Day, President, Beth Hackney said, "We participate in International Homeless Animals' Day every year because we feel it brings attention to the plight of all the homeless animals who have nobody to speak for them. Cats Angels has so many spay/neuter surgeries in the summer months, because that is when we see the most animals coming in. Sometimes I get real discouraged wondering if we are truly making a difference, but I just look in the eyes of some of the babies we help, and I know we can't give up, even if we help just some of them."

Along a major highway in Tamuning, Guam, Fur-Ever Kinda Love displayed 10,000 twinkle lights, representing the number of animals killed by shelter euthanization or on local roadways in 2011. Informative banners promoting the spay/neuter message and a push for companion animal adoptions accompanied the touching light display. According to Fur-Ever Kinda Love volunteer, Shirley Miller, on the week prior to International Homeless Animals' Day, a proclamation was signed by 19 mayors of the Guam Mayors Council declaring August 18, 2012 as "Guam Homeless Animals' Day." Senator Judith Guthertz, a long-time animal supporter, also introduced a Resolution based on ISAR's Proclamation to the Guam Legislature where it was signed and presented during the ceremony. Also, in honor of International Homeless Animals' Day, the Guam Mayor's Council has agreed to work with Fur-Ever Kinda Love to implement spay/neuter campaigns in Guam's villages as well as promoting animal adoption from local shelters.

Spay/Panama and Angeles De Los Animales in Bethania, Panama, commemorated International Homeless Animals' Day once again by performing more than 100 spay/neuter surgeries on August 18th bringing their total number of animals sterilized to just over 44,000. A big supporter of International Homeless Animals' Day and promoting spay/neuter, Congressman HD Victor Juliao is not only working on creating and enacting the Animal Protection Law for Panama, he is also working with Spay/Panama to provide a spay/neuter mobile unit to travel and perform cat and dog sterilizations in several locations. A candlelight vigil comprised of 500 attendees took place in Parque Urraca after the Day's spay/neuter clinic to memorialize the animals that lost their lives due to pet overpopulation. When asked of their overall effectiveness in educating others about pet overpopulation and spay/neuter on International Homeless Animals' Day, Patricia Chan of Spay/Panama said, "International Homeless Animal's Day brought us all together. Each attendant will now become a spokesperson."

Pawlooza, also known as "the ultimate dog party" of London, Ontario, Canada, surpassed last year's attendance record this year by hosting a whopping 25,000 attendees, some of whom brought with them as many as 6,000 dogs, on International Homeless Animals' Day at the Plunkett Estate. On this Day, rescues and animal shelters from across Canada were invited to educate the public about pet overpopulation and spay/neuter, bring adoptable animals seeking new homes, fundraise for their cause, and network with others. With approximately 200 vendors and rescue organizations on hand, attendees and their pooches spent some quality time together for a good cause while enjoying games, contests, demonstrations, information stalls, and much, much more.

Special Thanks

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the humane-minded elected officials who recognized August 18, 2012 as International Homeless Animals' Day in their communities by signing ISAR's Proclamation, acknowledging the plight of cat and dog overpopulation while encouraging the public to be part of the simple solution: spay/neuter. A special thanks to Mayor Arlene Filkoff of Fernandina Beach, Florida, for declaring the entire month of August 2012 as International Homeless Animals' Month, and August 18, 2012 as International Homeless Animals' Day. ISAR would also like to express our deepest gratitude to the Mayors' Council of Guam for signing ISAR's International Homeless Animals' Day Proclamation and a special thanks to Senator Judith Guthertz for introducing a resolution based on ISAR's Proclamation that was adopted by Guam's Legislature highlighting the importance of spay/neuter and pet adoption and further emphasizing, "Pet owners who neglect to have their pets spayed or neutered are accountable to taxpayers of Guam for the financial burden the community incurs as a direct result of the over-population crisis." Thank you to all elected officials from New York's Orange County, the Town of Warwick, the Village of Warwick and the Village of Greenwood Lake who issued proclamations based on ISAR's designating Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012 as "Homeless Animals Day."

ISAR would also like to take this opportunity to thank the many media outlets as well as all individuals who helped to publicize the plight of homeless animals by promoting ISAR's International Homeless Animals' Day 2012. Articles and interviews focusing on ISAR's International Homeless Animals' Day circulated in newspaper publications including Russia's St. Petersburg Times, and on television and radio stations around the globe. Countless websites, including The Voice of Russia, petmeds.org, PetMd.com, and Jane Goodall's rootsandshoots.org helped advertise the importance of International Homeless Animals' Day along with many blogs, and tweets on Twitter, including one from screenwriter Brian Lynch who encouraged others to visit an animal shelter if they were considering adding a companion animal to their family. ISAR is also grateful to those compassionate individuals who took the time to help publicize International Homeless Animals Day 2012 on their social media networks, by writing letters-to-the-editor, and simply by encouraging others to work for positive change for unwanted animals by adopting from shelters and promoting spay/neuter.

Organize a Vigil for 2013

ISAR extends a heartfelt invitation to all of our veteran International Homeless Animals' Day event coordinators, as well as to a host of new ones, to join us on Saturday, August 17, 2013 in commemorating ISAR's 22nd annual International Homeless Animals' Day. We encourage you to be part of something special and band together with us in solidarity to raise awareness of the plight of homeless animals.

ISAR offers free International Homeless Animals' Day packets to all who are interested in coordinating an event, whether it is a small modest event or a large public gathering.

ISAR's informational materials will assist you in organizing an effective observance with suggestions for site selection, reaching target audiences, speakers, sample press releases, ISAR's proclamations, and much more.

Please contact ISAR by mail, phone, fax or email to receive your International Homeless Animals' Day 2013 packet.

Together we will continue to be a voice for the animals and continue to demand an end to the suffering and exploitation inflicted on animals each day.