Chickens Flood Shelters As Backyard Farmers Call It Quits

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From Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine, the idea of living off the land, eating locally and growing food are admirable concepts that appeal to many city dwellers. Unfortunately, urban homesteading often provides a romanticized view of farming providing the bounty without all the work. When an erstwhile farmer lays down his pitchfork and ignores the vegetable garden, nothing much happens. However when a chicken farmer gives up on the dream of collecting fresh eggs, a new home must be found for the hens.

Now, some shelters are reporting a dramatic increase in the number of chickens surrendered to them as urban chicken farmers – who were unaware of the work involved with keeping chickens – turn them over to people better equipped to care for them. “Many areas with legalized hen-keeping are experiencing more and more of these birds coming in when they’re no longer wanted,” Paul Shapiro, spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States (which publishes a list of considerations for potential backyard chicken enthusiasts), told NBC News. “You get some chicks and they’re very cute, but it’s not as though you can throw them out in the yard and not care for them.” The Chicken Run Rescue in Minneapolis, Minn., has seen a steady increase in surrendered birds with fewer than 50 in 2001 to nearly 500 in 2012. Farm Sanctuary currently has 225 former backyard chickens waiting for new homes.“It’s the stupid foodies,” Mary Britton Clouse, the owner of the Chicken Run Rescue organization, told NBC News. “We’re just sick to death of it.”

(MORE: The Great Chicken Run of Iran: Why Poultry Makes Tehran Anxious)

While some urban hen owners are willing to care for chickens, many cities allow hens, but not roosters — who are frequently barred from urban districts due to their propensity to crow and be aggressive. Unfortunately, when purchasing chicks, it’s notoriously difficult to tell the difference between hens and roosters, meaning some well-intentioned city farmers end up needing to find new homes for their roosters. Other problems can arise when farmers realize that chickens frequently only lay eggs for two years, but can live up to ten. Additionally chickens can attract pests like rats and can fall victim to predators including raccoons and even neighborhood dogs. Plus chickens, like other household animals, can get sick and rack up expensive bills at the veterinarian.

While chickens can be problematic for the uninitiated or unwilling, many others are committed to set up a backyard coop to gather fresh eggs in the morning. Rob Ludlow, who runs a website for chicken-raising enthusiasts and is the author of “Raising Chickens for Dummies,” told NBC that “it’s very rare” that people make such mistakes or underestimate how difficult it is to raise chickens. “Hundreds of thousands of people are realizing the wonderful benefits of raising a small flock of backyard chickens,” he said adding, “[They're] the pets that make you breakfast.”

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China Bans Ancient Dog-Eating Festival Amid Online Outcry

David Gray / Reuters A truck carrying dogs travels along a road on the outskirts of Beijing in June 2011

For the first time in 600 years, residents of Qianxi Township, China, will be banned from holding an ancient dog-eating festival after the public voiced their discontent on the Internet.

The three-day event, which usually takes place in October, commemorates a historic 14th century military victory of the Ming Dynasty. According to legend, the army of Zhu Yuanzhang secretly invaded Qinaxi and killed all the dogs so that the animals wouldn’t bark and give away the troops’ position pre-battle. When the city was secured, the army celebrated by feasting on the meat of the slaughtered dogs. Thus the tradition was born.

While animal advocates around the world may shudder at this thought, in China, and other parts of Asia, it’s not uncommon for humans to eat dogs. In ancient times, dog meat was considered to have medicinal purposes, while today, it is still socially acceptable for the Chinese to purchase dogs and cats at local markets for the sole purpose of sustenance.

(MORE: Chinese Animal Activists Save Hundreds of Dogs from Being Eaten)

Keeping dogs as pets was banned in China throughout the cultural revolution. However, since that ban has been lifted, dog ownership has become increasingly popular in China’s middle class.

This is perhaps why the Qinaxi festival has garnered more and more criticism in recent years. In an effort to prove that the meat vendors were selling was fresh, many merchants have taken to skinning and slaughtering the animals in the streets during the event. For a country that is slowly becoming more animal-friendly, this gruesome development didn’t go over well among citizens.

According to Xinhuanet, hundreds of thousands of people have posted criticisms of the festival on Internet forums and social networking sites. Additionally, the Qianjiang Evening News reported that most local villagers opposed the carnival, citing a local government survey.

(MORE: China Completely Bans Animals Circuses)

However, there are still some villagers who are unhappy about the ban. “It’s our tradition, which the government has no right to ban,” one local villager told Xinhuanet. “The dog-eating carnival is like the Spring Festival to me.”

Chinese legal experts recently proposed a ban on eating dogs and cats, based on beliefs that the animals are poorly treated and bred purely for slaughter. While a ban has not yet been considered, it has sparked hopes among animal advocates that China’s record of poor treatment of animals may soon come to an end.

Erin Skarda is a reporter at TIME. Find her on Twitter at @ErinLeighSkarda. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.

PHOTOS: The Animals Are Outside Today

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Animal Cruelty Crackdown: California Enacts Ban on Roadside Pet Sales

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They’re cute, lonely and in need of loving homes. But California lawmakers are now doling out strict penalties — as well as warnings to the public – on the unregulated sale of pets in hopes to curb acts of animal neglect and cruelty.

In a landmark piece of legislation that passed last week, California governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that will greatly increase legal protections to animals throughout the state, as well as crack down on a significant concern among animal advocates: inhumane puppy mills.

The two-part law, which was introduced by Senator Ted Lieu, prohibits the sale of animals at any kind of public venue, such as on roadsides, street corners and in parking lots, as well as increases the penalties for animal neglect to be in line with that of animal cruelty.

According to Jill Buckley, senior director of government relations and mediation for the ASPCA, prohibiting the roadside sale of animals not only helps to protect animals from irresponsible breeders, but also shields consumers from being scammed into paying for an animal that may be sick or even dying.

(MORE: The World’s Most Expensive Dog Breeds)

“This has became an animal welfare issue, where animals were being kept in unsanitary conditions, sometimes without water or food,” Buckley told NewsFeed, pointing out that these types of sales take place even in urban areas such as Los Angeles’ downtown fashion district. “Many [of these animals] have not received any kind of inoculations against diseases. People purchase them and bring them home and if they die or get sick, they have no recourse.”

The sales ban is part of a larger initiative by the ASPCA and other animal advocates to decrease consumer demand for dogs that come from puppy mills — commercial breeding facilities that focus more on profits than animal welfare. While it’s not exactly known how many of the pets sold on roadsides and in parking lots come from these puppy mills, Buckley said that the probability is “very likely,” especially with smaller dogs, such as Yorkshire Terriers and Chihuahuas.

The California bill covers a large range of concerns, from selling animals on street corners to connecting with a so-called breeder over the Internet and meeting to purchase an animal in a neutral location. Animal adoptions and giveaways are exempt from the law. But if money changes hands, and a buyer is not offered the opportunity to visit a seller’s home or business where the dogs are bred, then it’s likely the sale falls into illegal territory, where the seller could be subject to fines or misdemeanor charges.

(PHOTOS: Man’s Best Friend, Muted)

“A legitimate breeder is going to talk to you and find out if you’re going to make a good home for the dog, and they’re happy to show you where the dog was raised,” Buckley said. “Someone who is willing to take the dogs in a box onto a street corner or parking lot doesn’t seem to be showing a responsible manner of breeding dogs.”

The roadside sale of animals of all kinds — from dogs and cats to turtles and rabbits — is not a new phenomenon. According to Buckley, this is a countrywide issue. Yet California is the first to enact a statewide ban on roadside animal sales, even when many counties and localities throughout the country have considered or passed similar legislation.

It remains to be seen whether these types of laws will curb the business of puppy mills, but for animal advocates, it’s a step in the right direction.

Erin Skarda is a reporter at TIME. Find her on Twitter at @ErinLeighSkarda. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.

PHOTOS: Animals That Can Think

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Chinese Animal Activists Save Hundreds of Dogs From Being Eaten

Courtesy of China Underground

Hundreds of dogs were spared being served on the dinner table in China after activists staged a 15-hour standoff to save them.

(More on NewsFeed: Read about China’s live animal keychains)

Last Friday afternoon, hundreds of dogs were on their way to Chinese restaurants when a suspicious driver swerved his car in front of the truck to stop it. He then alerted activists on his microblog, who gathered 200 strong around the truck. They rendered the vehicle immobile, jamming traffic on the highway.

After a long standoff right outside Beijing, an animal activist group managed to free the dogs by purchasing them for 115,000 yuan ($17,600). Conflicting reports differ on the number of dogs involved, but the Global Times has placed the number as high as 520.

(More on NewsFeed: Read about China banning animal circuses)

Sadly, many of the dogs were found with collars and nametags, indicating that they may have been stolen from their beloved owners. The healthy dogs will be put up for adoption while the sick ones were sent to pet hospitals in the nation’s capital. Unfortunately, it is unclear whether some of the allegedly stolen dogs will ever be reunited with their owners.

Both dog and cat meat are popular delicacies because they are believed to promote bodily warmth during the winter season. In recent years, authorities have considered putting measures in place to outlaw the practice.

Local newspapers suggested that the transporters would probably face no repercussions. Animal protection laws barely exist in China, and the truck had all the legal permits to transport the animals. Still, it’s one significant victory for Fido lovers everywhere.

(More on TIME.com: Read about tiger abuse in China)

Erica Ho was previously a reporter for TIME in Hong Kong where she wrote about technology, pop culture and Asian international affairs. Before that, she worked at Gizmodo, Lifehacker and AOL. She now currently runs Map Happy, a travel-oriented site.

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China’s Year of the Rabbit: Not So Great For All Those Abducted Baby Rabbits

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2011 is, by the Chinese zodiac cycle, the Year of the Rabbit, which is far worse news for baby bunnies than you might imagine.

As China hippity-hops into the Lunar New Year, street vendors, pet shops and flower stalls across the mainland (and in other parts of Asia) are selling infant rabbits en masse. To meet a surging demand for the little furballs, the prices of which have been significantly raised, vendors often wrench them from their mothers much too early.

Rarely do the bunnies, once purchased, survive the trip home. Those that do make it are usually abandoned by owners who very quickly tire of their new pets.

(See TIME’s top 10 animal stories of 2010.)

Web retailers have also jumped on the bunny bandwagon, posting rabbits illegally by regular mail to online customers. Most of the hares are dead on arrival, having suffocated or frozen to death in their cardboard confines, but that hasn’t slowed a proliferation of orders. According to Shanghaiist, these companies demand that the rabbit corpses be returned to them if consumers want a refund.

PETA and other animal rights groups have issued statements imploring Chinese residents not to buy into the egregious trend. “There’s no better time to help rabbits than during the Year of the Rabbit, and you can do so by refusing to support the pet trade that causes so many animals to suffer,” Maggie Chen, a Beijing-based PETA campaigner, told the AFP.

(Read “Energizer Bunnies: Turning Rabbits into Green Fuel.”)

The rabbits are being disposed of in dumpsters and mailboxes by ill-equipped New Year’s celebrators who fail to realize how fragile and high-maintenance a bunny can be. “Rabbits aren’t just cute and fluffy,” Chen says, noting that the animals, like any other pets, require a significant amount of attention and veterinary care.

The hares are seen as bringers of luck, but a dead bunny doesn’t seem like a particularly good omen for the future. (via Shanghiist)

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Animal Academics: Using the Word ‘Pet’ Insults Your Pet, er, Companion

Here’s a frightening thought: The cat ladies are right. Kitties (and their doggie counterparts) are companions, not pets, and calling them otherwise is just plain offensive.

According to a report published in the Journal of Animal Ethics, using “derogatory” terms such as “critters,” “beasts,” and — you guessed it — “pets” when referring to animals of any kind can affect the way they are treated.

(More on TIME.com: See pictures of surfing dogs)

In other words, a note for animal caretakers (don’t even mutter the word “owners” — that’s even worse than “pets”) everywhere: You’re doing it wrong.

We know what you’re thinking: What kind of far-out piece of academic research are you alluding to here? But in all seriousness, researchers from the Oxford Center for Animal Ethics, along with the University of Illinois and Penn State University, suggest that using these words to describe animals degrades the relationship that exists between humans and these… friends. (Is that term allowed? We just don’t know anymore!). Instead of referring to animals as “wild” and “vermin,” which dates back to times when animals were treated unkindly, we should be cultivating a language that shows mutually respectful relationships between humans and the animals that live among us.

(More on TIME.com: See pictures of the world’s ugliest dog show)

“Our existing language about animals is the language of past thought – and the crucial point is that the past is littered with derogatory terminology,” the report states. “We shall not be able to think clearly unless we discipline ourselves to use less than partial adjectives in our exploration of animals and our moral relations with them.”

So there you have it. Your cat or dog is now your companion, the rats you see on the subway are “free-living” and those pesky pigeons? You know, they’re just free-roaming, ready to fly at your face at any moment.

But for what it’s worth, we’re pretty sure that you dog doesn’t mind being called a “pet” just as long as you keep up with the tasty food, belly scratches and long walks around the neighborhood.  (via The Daily Mail)

(More on TIME.com: Watch 12 videos of bizarrely adorable animal friendships)

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Dog Gets Pro Bono Attorney in ‘Death Penalty’ Case

A pit bull in Georgia will receive pro bono legal representation to determine whether it should be euthanized after attacking a 5-year-old boy

G.G. Rigsby / Savannah Morning News

The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to legal representation for people involved in criminal cases, but it appears that canines too sometimes need a little help with their defense. This month, a pit bull in Georgia will receive pro bono legal representation in an attack case, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Kno, the dog in question, allegedly attacked a 5-year-old boy from Effingham County in July while the child was playing with a friend inside a neighbor’s house. The boy survived the mauling, but he had severe injuries and had to undergo two surgeries. The right side of his face remains paralyzed, the Huffington Post reports. WSAV says officials do not know what provoked the pit bull.

Superior Court Judge William E. Woodrum Jr. has appointed attorney Claude M. Kicklighter to represent the dog in court. Kicklighter, who will not receive a fee for his work, will also represent Kno’s owners. Woodrum said he made the decision “in the interest of justice,” the Savannah Morning News reports.

Kno’s owners surrendered him to the local animal shelter on the day of the attack, and he was classified as a dangerous animal, the Savannah Morning News notes. Effingham County filed a petition with the superior court to request a hearing to decide if Kno could be euthanized. The county does not believe Kno or his owners need an attorney.

(PHOTOS: Abused No More: Rehabilitated Attack Dogs)

Kno’s hearing is set for Oct. 25, and he remains in solitary confinement at the shelter.

“There has to be a lesson for dog owners and for people not to allow their children to go to other people’s houses with dogs,” Romie Currier, animal-control director for Effingham County, told the Savannah Morning News.

The Associated Press has likened Kno’s situation to a death-penalty case. Assistant county attorney Elizabeth Pavlis told Reuters that the judge did not have to assign an attorney to represent Kno, but he likely did so “just to cover his bases.” Bruce Wagman, a San Francisco attorney who specializes in animal cases, told Reuters it is uncommon for judges to appoint attorneys to represent animals; he is aware of only two similar situations, including the Michael Vick case. In 2007, the NFL quarterback pleaded guilty to participating in an elaborate dog-fighting enterprise, and in the case, the U.S. District Court appointed a guardian and special master to advise the court regarding the best interests of 48 pit bulls seized from Vick.

There are, in fact, organizations of lawyers dedicated to the representation of animals within the legal system. New Jersey–based Lawyers in Defense of Animals claims to provide counsel to such clients as “the dog on death row” and “the cat whose guardian is evicted.” For years, there was an appointed “animal advocate” lawyer in Zurich who acted on behalf of such clients as a pike fish that experienced “excessive suffering” after a fisherman struggled (successfully) to ensnare it, according to the Guardian.

The ultimate question — present in both the Kno case and efforts in Switzerland to require an animal-rights lawyer in all districts — comes down to, as the Guardian puts it, whether animals deserve the “the same legal right to representation as any other victim in a criminal trial.”

MORE: Can Animal Rights Go Too Far?

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