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.

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“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.

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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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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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New Protests in Egypt: Activists to Picket Cairo Zoo for Animal Rights

Dana Smillie / Bloomberg via Getty Images A lion looks out from its cage at the Giza Zoo in Cairo, Egypt

The Egyptian uprising was enough to wrestle a dictator from his long-held post and bring shadows of democracy to a Middle Eastern nation. But can people power also be utilized to elicit support for an animal-rights movement?

A coalition of organizations and activists in Egypt have banded together to demand an overhaul of animal treatment within the country, and just as weeks of protests forced the resignation of former president Hosni Mubarak in February, they hope that a citizen demonstration will bring a renewed focus to the issues that have long plagued the country and seem to only get worse over time.

The Egyptian Society for Mercy to Animals (ESMA), along with the Egyptian Society of Animal Friends (ESAF) and Animal Welfare Awareness Research (AWAR), announced over the weekend that a protest will take place outside the Giza Zoo on April 16 to bring to light matters ranging from the state of the zoo itself to illegal wildlife trades, unregulated pet breeding and the government’s propensity for shooting or poisoning homeless animals in order to control their population.

(More on TIME.com: See the fate of Cairo’s many cats)

Mona Khalil, ESMA co-founder, said in a press release announcing the protest that now is the time to seek rights for Egypt’s animals, as the nation is currently focused on building a more humane society overall.

“The way Egypt treats animals is a shame. The Giza Zoo is a national disgrace, Egypt has become known as a hub of the international illegal trade in wildlife, and the municipal policy of controlling street animal populations by shooting and poisoning is deplorable,” Khalil said in the release. “At the root of all this is a not only systemic corruption but also policy failure, as Egypt is lacking even the basic animal welfare legislation that would enable the prosecution of violators.”

As a new, democratic government is being constructed within Egypt, these organizations and their supporters have outlined specific (and likely controversial) demands, including launching investigations into corruptions at the Ministry of Agriculture and enacting legislation that will provide legal standards on how animals should be treated within the country. But while Egypt has a history of respecting — and even revering – animals like cats and camels, the current environment is a far cry from ancient times.

Whether or not the demands of these demonstrators will be met remains in question, but NewsFeed agrees with the group’s effort to piggyback on the country’s newly-united spirit. After all, if you’re going to reform a nation, why stop at its human citizens?

(More on TIME.com: See TIME’s top 10 heroic animals)

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More Sad Baby Animal News: Only a Fortnight after Knut’s Death, the Berlin Zoo Loses a Young Elephant

As far as we know the baby elephant shown is still alive. Berlin Zoo's baby elephant didn't fare so well Getty Images / Carsten Koall

We hope this isn’t becoming a (super sad) pattern. 

Early Tuesday morning, six-year-old Indian elephant Shaina Pali died at the Berlin Zoo. Coming just weeks after the highly publicized death of beloved polar bear Knut, this second death raises the question–why the tragic fate for Berlin’s babies?

(More on TIME.com: “Did Negligence Kill Knut the Polar Bear?”)

According to the AP, elephants can live for up to 80 years in captivity. But Shaina Pali fell victim to what the zoo’s vet believes was an infection; although they plan to perform a necropsy to be sure. “It’s simply very sad,” says a zoo spokesperson who maintains that the two deaths are completely unrelated.

(More on TIME.com: See pictures of Knut)

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London Zoo reveals winners of the ZSL Animal Photography Prize 2013

Breathtaking images depicting the magic of the animal kingdom from the annual competition run by the Zoological Society of London are on display at ZSL London Zoo from Friday 20 September. For more information see http://www.zsl.org/about-us/zsl-animal-photography-prize/

Category Four - Size Matters.

Adult Winner.

A GIANT TROPHY FOR A SMALL ANT by Bence Mate.

“This photograph shows two leaf-cutter ants where one of them is carrying back a curly pink leaf particle to their nest. Leaf-cutter ants are one of the strongest species on Earth; they cut and collect leaves which they use as a food source. I took a whole series of photographs of leaf-cutter ants at work, and I chose to enter this photo in the Size Matters category not only because ants are generally small creatures, but because of the obvious difference in size between the small ant and its disproportionate trophy – giving the title an underlying meaning as well.”

Picture: Bence Mate (c) ZSL

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Mass Animal Deaths Are Back: Millions of Dead Sardines Float Ashore in California

Updated, 3/9: We were starting to get worried that it had been too long since we saw a sign of the impending apocalypse.

But then millions of dead sardines washed ashore early Tuesday morning in Redondo Beach, Ca. A foot-deep layer of dead fish flooded the King Harbor Marina, just south of Los Angeles.

(More on TIME.com: See if the death of 200 cows confirms a biblical prophecy)

Redondo Beach police Sergeant Phil Keenan hypothesized to Reuters that the fish had exhausted the oxygen supply by congregating in too small a space. “The issue now is cleanup because we have tons and tons of dead fish rotting and purifying, which obviously creates hazardous material,” Keenan said. “We’re in the process of figuring out what we’re going to do.”

There’s added time pressure to the cleanup, as temperatures are expected to rise into the 70s later this week.

(More on TIME.com: See the top 10 strange mass animal deaths)

Update, 3/9: We’ve changed references from “anchovies” to “sardines,” after later reports clarified what type of fish floated ashore.

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Animal photos of the week: 9 August 2013

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Animal photos of the week: 16 August 2013

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Animal photos of the week: 30 August 2013

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Animal photos of the week: 23 August 2013

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Animal photos of the week: 26 July 2013

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Animal photos of the week: 13 September 2013

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Animal photos of the week: 6 September 2013

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Animal photos of the week: 2 August 2013

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Cute Animal Photos

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