SF Chronicle Article – The article says that OAS now ” might rank among the top municipal shelters in the country, according to Maddie’s Fund, a nonprofit that tracks shelters nationwide.”
Animal Control Officer Rescues Dog From Well
Before and After Grooming Photos
Small Dogs Sent to Other States!
Oakland Animal Services has seen a huge influx this year in the number of small dogs we are getting into the Shelter. This may be a result of movies that highlight little dogs as the stars or the downturn in the economy – people are downsizing to apartments and getting small dogs and then moving out of the area and leaving these little dogs behind. Whatever the reason, we now often have 75 small dogs in the Shelter at any given time! The Shelter was not designed for small dogs. We’ve had to make major changes in our dog housing to accomodate these little guys.
We’ve also developed partnerships with rescue groups outside of the state that can help adopt them out. States like Oregon, Washington and Arizona have not seen an increase in small dogs in their shelters and are able to get them adopted much faster than we can here. This partnership helps us find homes for these little dogs and also helps them compete with puppy mills to prevent an overpopulation of unaltered small dogs in their areas.
We’d like to thank all of the volunteers who helped coordinate the transfer (especially Patty Ozenne), volunteers who transported the dogs out of state, and the organizations who took the dogs:
- Humane Society of Southern Arizona – 20 small dogs on October 3, 2009
- Ginger’s Pet Rescue of Washington State – 18 small dogs on October 17, 2009
- Collar of Hope Rescue of Washington State – 7 small dogs on October 17, 2009
Barbaree, Patty, Sugi and Marnie help get OAS dogs ready to go to Washington State!
OAS dogs on their way to Washington State!
Woman Charged with Two Counts of Felony Animal Abuse
After months of joint investigation by the Oakland Police Department’s Oakland Animal Services (OAS) and the Crime Investigation Division (CID) – Theft Section, La Preda Thomas of Oakland was arraigned on Friday, October 9, on two felony counts of animal abuse charged by the Alameda County District Attorney’s office. Thomas is accused of severely injuring more than 15 cats and kittens in incidents dating back to 2006.
Thomas became known to Oakland Animal Services and several animal rescue groups in 2006 when numerous times she was found with cats or kittens she claimed to have “rescued” that had serious and unusual injuries, ranging from multiple broken limbs to huge puncture wounds to a severely injured eye. Many of these cats also had their claws crudely cut off, sometimes with portions of their toes removed.
In one case, in 2007, OAS seized a group of kittens from Thomas’ residence that had been left in a cage in the hot sun with no water. Upon further examination, it was discovered that two of the kittens each had a front leg that was completely broken in half in almost identical locations. OAS learned from CID that Thomas was on probation for burglary. Terms of her probation included a search of her residence. OAS requested and participated in a search of the home this past July and again in September. In the first search, OAS and the search team rescued three kittens; almost every limb of each of these kittens had a fresh or healing break or fracture.
The second search of her home revealed an injured female cat and her kitten; the mom had a badly broken front leg and shattered hip that probably will need surgery. These cats are all healing and safe, thanks to the Montclair Veterinary Clinic, which donated all of the many radiographs needed to charge the case, and to Island Cat Resources, which assisted in finding the victims loving foster homes.
Experienced OAS veterinarian Dr. Jyothi Robertson says, “As a veterinarian, this is the first time I have seen so many severely malnourished animals with similar fractures coming from a single person claiming to be a rescuer.”
Despite the number of injured cats rescued from Thomas, she denied hurting any of the animals, claiming only that she specifically looks for injured cats to rescue, trapping or grabbing them in the community. OAS located a resident who had given kittens to Thomas. This person stated that the kittens were healthy, normal, and active before she gave them to Thomas. These same kittens were later found at Thomas’ residence. One was dead; the other’s front legs were both shattered, and he had pneumonia secondary to several broken ribs.
Thomas remains in custody awaiting a preliminary hearing.
Megan Webb, the director of Oakland Animal Services since April, says that one of her main priorities in her new role as director is to prosecute serious cases of animal abuse and neglect in the city. “Animal abuse is a crime and should be treated as such,” she says. “I’ve been so impressed with the support and assistance we have received from the police department on these cases.” This is the third felony animal-abuse case that OAS has helped to charge since Webb became director. The first was a cock fighting case where more than 150 roosters were seized. The third involved an 18-year-old man who is accused of having slashed the throat of his neighbor’s cat on two separate occasions. He remains on a psychiatric hold until he is transferred to Santa Rita jail.
Small dog adopt-a-thon! Sunday, Oct. 18, 12-5
The Oakland Animal Shelter has lots of lovable small dogs available for adoption. Find the right dog for you at our small dog adopt-a-thon!
On Sunday, October 18, from noon to 5 p.m., we’re hosting a special adopt-a-thon just for our small dogs at the shelter. Each adopted dog will receive a free gift (while supplies last)—but, more importantly, they’ll get a good home.
The $135 adoption fee covers spay/neuter surgery, vaccinations, and microchipping. Please bring proof of home ownership or a document showing that your landlord allows dogs (a lease or a letter).
Check out all of our dogs and our other adoptable animals on Petfinder! See you Sunday, October 18!
Oakland Firefighters Rescue Wounded Pitbull
One heart-winning young pit bull will soon meet with the Oakland firefighters who saved his life. Remy, as the dog’s rescuers named him, was the victim of a shooting here in Oakland nearly three months ago. Firefighters responding to the call of “shots fired” that evening on May 7, 2009 arrived on the scene fully expecting to find a human in need . . . but were hard-pressed to find any victim at all. That is, until a careful search of the Oakland address led firefighter Ryan Minnagen to a black-and-white pit bull puppy suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Firefighters on the scene rushed the injured dog onto their fire truck and to a local emergency veterinary clinic. As luck would have it, the team members that day were all dog lovers, firefighter Dwight Garcia explained; no one hesitated in getting the dog the quickest treatment possible.
The puppy won over the veterinary clinic staff as quickly as he had the firefighters. Everyone was pulling for the pup‘s survival despite the fact that Remy had multiple gunshot wounds, including his front leg, pelvis, and back. Vet staff even shared nights fostering little Remy while he stabilized, and everyone’s efforts paid off: He was eventually ready for transfer to Oakland Animal Services, where he has been since May 27th, enough time to once again became a favorite of staff and volunteers alike.
Despite all of the effort behind Remy’s recovery since the shooting, the pup isn’t totally in the clear. One of the bullets that struck Remy’s legs damaged a growth plate in his front leg, causing that bone to stop growing even as the others around it continued. The result is that one of Remy’s front legs has bowed significantly, and he will need surgery to correct the condition. Oakland Animal Shelter’s nonprofit foundation, Friends of Oakland Animal Services, has begun gathering donations to fund the surgery, which will be performed by a local veterinary specialist. Several local vets regularly perform such intricate procedures for Oakland Animal Shelter’s needy animals at a discounted cost.
With any luck–and Remy seems to have a lot of it–this affable little pit bull will soon be meeting his firefighter friends on a much happier occasion. Maybe his next ride in a fire engine will be just for fun.
Donations for Remy’s surgery and other animals like him can be made HERE or sent to Friends of the Oakland Animal Shelter, 1101 29th Ave. Oakland, CA 94601. Here are some photos of Remy today!
These gorgeous photos are courtesy of Sara Atkins Photography.
“There’s no place like home”
We called Ana today with great news – we found her dog Toto! She had lost him nearly five months ago! Toto was brought in by a citizen who found him wandering in the street. Poor Toto was bruised, scraped, skinny, and caked in dirt and foxtails. We were able to quickly reunite him with his owner Ana because of Toto’s microchip that East Bay SPCA had implanted in Toto at one of their community dog fairs. Toto is going to be fine and he’s eager to return home! This story reminds us all of the importance of microchipping!!!
It is so important to microchip your pet! Every animal that is adopted from Oakland Animal Services comes with a microchip.
Beatrice and Simon, what a match!
These two pups came to the Oakland Animal Shelter separately but were paired as “playmates” during their stay. One of our dog volunteers captured this sweet video of Beatrice and Simon playing together and having so much fun at the Shelter. They’re just adorable together!
A couple from Santa Rosa saw the video online and came to visit them at the shelter. They wound up adopting the two playmates together! We love happy endings like this.
More about “Beatrice and Simon, what a match!“, posted with vodpod.
Kitten Partnership!
Oakland Animal Services has partnered with other organizations to help foster and adopt kittens that come into the Shelter. Since the beginning of April, 2009, we have transferred 106 kittens and moms to these partners:
- 67 to Hopalong Animal Rescue
- 22 to Berkeley Humane Society
- 17 to East Bay SPCA (In addiiton, SPCA took in 86 orphaned kittens from the Oakland community at their Oakland shelter and clinic!)
Thank you to these groups!
We need more foster parents – please let us know or fill out this form if you are interested in fostering kittens!
