Cruelty to dumb animals is one of the distinguishing vices of the lowest and basest of people. Wherever it is found, it is a certain mark of ignorance and meanness.
~ William Jones, English divine and naturalist
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Posted By Lydia on September 20, 2009
On September 9th, the world lost a very special rat boy. Chester’s human has written a beautiful tribute:
Chester – June ??, 2007 – September 9, 2009
All that can be added is the origin of teh Chester’s name – Chester’s Fun Spot, a Philly landmark and periodic jazz club. More information can be found in the linked article (near the bottom):
A toast to Chester, a great boy rat who will be sorely missed.
Posted By Lydia on September 11, 2009
Two extraordinary dogs, Salty and Roselle, survived the terrorist attacks of September 11th and were later awarded the prestigious Dickin Medal. The link below is to an Eadie’s House archived site page:
Posted By Lydia on August 17, 2009
Elizabeth Carlisle has pled not guilty to the drowning of two rabbits during the course of her employment in an Akron, Ohio Petland. Ms. Carlisle has a pre-trial hearing scheduled for September 3rd, before Judge Stephen Fallis. The defendant was represented in court today by an Akron attorney who claimed the incident was a misunderstanding, and his client is actually an, “avid animal lover,” with an odd sense of humor.
Ms. Carlisle’s attorney also hinted Petland store policy may have been a factor.
Information on Judge Fallis may be found at the link.
Posted By Lydia on August 13, 2009
The Honorable Brian G. Williams
Ohio House of Representatives
77 S. High St
12th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
August 13, 2009
Mr. Williams,
The purpose of this letter is to express support for your continued campaign to strengthen Ohio’s animal cruelty laws. The current lack of a true felony cruelty law in Ohio has been illustrated on a national level by the case of Ms. Elizabeth Carlisle, the Akron Petland employee accused of drowning two rabbits during the course of her employment. Ms. Carlisle could only be charged with two counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty under current Ohio law, with no consideration for the aggravated circumstances of her alleged crime. In addition, Ms, Carlisle, age 20, appears to be in need of psychological help, yet current Ohio law does not include a mandatory counseling component.
Thank you once again for your dedication to the animals of Ohio, and we can only hope the Carlisle case will provide needed impetus for your campaign.
Sincerely,
Concerned Citizen
Posted By Lydia on August 13, 2009
The Honorable Douglas J. Powley
Chief City Prosecutor
City of Akron Prosecutor’s Office
Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center
217 S. High Street, Room 203
Akron, Ohio 44308
August 13th, 2009
Mr. Powley:
The purpose of this letter is to express my concern over the prosecution of Elizabeth Carlisle, a Petland employee accused of drowning two domestic rabbits during the course of her work. Unfortunately, despite the aggravated nature of Ms. Carlisle’s offense, she was only charged with two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, because Ohio does not have a true felony cruelty statue. Please make certain Ms. Carlisle is barred from future contact with animals and remove any animals currently in her care, in addition to asking for the maximum sentence possible under ORC 959.13.
Following the AVMA Guidelines for Euthanasia, drowning is never euthanasia and always inhumane. Drowning two rabbits in a pet store is a clear violation of ORC 959.13 which states:
(A) No person shall:
(1) Torture an animal, deprive one of necessary sustenance, unnecessarily or cruelly beat, needlessly mutilate or kill, or impound or confine an animal without supplying it during such confinement with a sufficient quantity of good wholesome food and water;
In addition to the alleged inhumane death of two rabbits, Ms. Carlisle made a deliberate, conscious series of decisions to openly publicize her actions on a popular social networking site. The defendant did not exhibit any sense of remorse, or awareness of the impact her actions might have on her direct employer, Petland, or the community at large. Ms. Carlisle’s alleged actions are not a youthful indiscretion, and must be punished to the fullest extent possible in order to send a strong message that the illegal killing of unwanted pet store animal stock will not be tolerated in Ohio.
Sincerely,
Concerned Citizen
Posted By Lydia on August 13, 2009
The House Rabbit Society (HRS) is asking Petland to stop the sale of rabbits, and has provided contact information for the corporation, in addition to excellent talking points:
Petland Employee Drowns Rabbits
HRS, a highly reputable animal welfare organization, alleges Ms. Carlisle’s cruelty was not an isolated incident, and instead represents an ongoing pattern of animal abuse by Petland employees.
Posted By Lydia on August 13, 2009
Continuing the case of Elizabeth Carlisle, the woman accused of drowning two injured rabbits at an Akron, Ohio Petland, PETA is now requesting the city of Akron’s chief prosecutor, Douglas J. Powley, prosecute to the fullest extent of the law and demand jail time.
Glee Over and Disrespect for Animals’ Suffering Runs Rampant in ‘Pet’ Industry
Certainly, PETA is correct in asking for Ms. Carlisle to receive the harshest punishment possible under Ohio law. In fact, if you also wish to write a letter to Mr. Powley supporting PETA’s position, the address you will need is below:
The Honorable Douglas J. Powley, Chief City Prosecutor
City of Akron Prosecutor’s Office
Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center
217 S. High Street, Room 203
Akron, Ohio 44308
However, there are two additional issues that are being ignored in the rush to convict Ms. Carlisle.
First, Ohio does not have a true felony cruelty law. Animal advocates have been trying for years to fix the problem, without success. The Nitro Foundation is fighting for felony animal cruelty on behalf of a rottweiler who died at High Caliber K-9, a horrific animal cruelty case involving multiple acts of starvation and abuse, only able to be charged at the misdemeanor level.
Now is the time to push Ohio towards true felony animal cruelty, so that in future, aggravated cruelty defendants like Ms. Carlisle will be charged with a felony, not a slap on the wrist.
Second, and more morally troubling, is the concept of compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue is normally associated with shelter workers who are forced to euthanize large numbers of animals as part of their daily employment. Veterinarians, emergency workers, veterinary technicians, cruelty investigators, anyone who works with animals in crisis on a daily basis is also in danger of suffering from compassion fatigue, a serious mental health issue. According to Petfinder.com, the normal reaction to performing euthanasia includes, “sadness, fear, guilt, irritability, depression, anger, helplessness, or hopelessness.”
If those feelings are not expressed in an appropriate fashion, the results can be deadly:
If you don’t express these feelings you are at risk for destructive behavior such as substance abuse, isolation, misdirected anger, and in extreme cases, suicidal or homicidal behavior. Suppressing emotions can also lead to physical illness.
Numbness to animal suffering is also a typical compassion fatigue symptom. Numerous sources have stated Petland employees were routinely forced to participate in acts of animal cruelty, exposed to animals who had suffered abuse, and were expected to kill animals in their care. In fact, the caption for Ms. Carlisle’s photograph was, “A Normal Day at Petland.”
Although the concept of comparing an animal cruelty defendant to shelter workers is highly distasteful, one must wonder what the long-term impact of being a Petland employee truly is.
Petstores treat small animals as commodities, and each animal is worth very little money. The cost of veterinary care is normally far higher than the cost of the animal, in fact, basic euthanasia is not cost-effective. Therefore, pet store employees are often expected to watch the bottom line and kill unwanted animal inventory. The methods used are illegal and barbaric, “bashed into floors and walls, stomped to death, drowned, placed in freezers so that they would die of hypothermia, and intentionally denied food, water, and veterinary treatment.” <http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=13424>
In many of the ‘back rooms’ investigated by Eadie’s House, pinky rats and mice are left in small containers for customers to select throughout the day, with the remainder thrown in the freezer as a matter of routine. Rats are routinely killed with ice picks, slammed into table edges, thrown on concrete floors, by employees who find such brutality perfectly normal. All of the methods described are illegal acts of animal cruelty, and yet are rarely reported and almost never prosecuted. In such an environment, is it strange to believe anyone’s ability to distinguish right from wrong, moral from immoral, could become twisted? That a soul could slowly turn numb? That drowning two small rabbits, already half dead, could become blase routine to a 20 year old woman?
When petstores allow a culture of extreme cruelty to flourish as part of protecting the bottom line, no one should be surprised at the monsters who emerge. And we must recognize our part in the creation of such monsters. When you purchase mass-bred ‘pocket pets’, you are supporting an industry that treats living creatures as commodities and survives on cruel practices.
We will never know the real reason for Ms. Carlisle’s actions, and there is no excuse for her poor decisions, but the mitigating circumstances are compelling, considering how many other petstore employees were expected to kill animal stock today as a matter of routine.
Posted By Lydia on August 7, 2009
Petland has a long history of animal cruelty complaints; however, PETA may have just caught one franchise in the act. On August 4th, 2009, PETA released the following statement:
Employee Seen Grinning and Holding Drowned Animals’ Bodies on Facebook
In short, Petland employee Elizabeth Carlisle allegedly drowned two rabbits at a Petland store in Akron, Ohio (located at Chapel Hill Mall). Allegedly, a Petland manager took a photograph of Ms. Carlisle holding the dead, dripping wet animals, and that photograph was posted onto Ms. Carlisle’s Facebook page. During the ensuing Facebook discussion, Ms. Carlisle allegedly confirmed she had drowned the two animals, possibly due to severe injuries sustained while in Petland’s custody.
PETA has asked for the immediate cessation of rabbit sales by Petland, an internal investigation, and for Petland corporate to support any criminal prosecution of Ms. Carlisle.
The photograph, with additional commentary, may be found at the following link, and is extremely graphic:
Two Dead Rabbits Held By Elizabeth Carlisle
On August 5th, 2009, Petland closed the Akron, Ohio store, and the franchise agreement was terminated. All of the animals were removed to another location. It is interesting to note that Petland is a franchise; PETCO and PetSmart are chains under direct corporate control.
The Humane Society of Greater Akron has investigated the incident; Ms. Carlisle has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. The defendant is scheduled to appear in Akron Municipal Court on August 17th, 2009; however, this information cannot currently be confirmed on the electronic docket. Eadie’s House assumes the defendant has been charged under ORS sec. 959.13, which is misdemeanor animal cruelty on the first offense, and rises to a fifth degree felony on each subsequent offense.
Ohio does not have a true felony animal cruelty law in place, therefore, no matter how heinous the alleged acts, felony charges could not be filed. There will be no criminal prosecution of Ms. Carlisle until she commits another act of animal cruelty.
Once Ms. Carlisle’s court appearance has been confirmed, additional information will be posted. Please sharpen your pencils.
Posted By Lydia on July 30, 2009
The Consumerist, a favourite blog in these parts, recently published a short science piece:
Blue Food Coloring Used in M&Ms Has Actual Medicinal Use
complete with two illustrations. The first is a funny mock-up of Dramatic Prairie Dog tinted a lovely shade of blue.
But the second illustration has upset several Eadie’s House readers, because it depicts a laboratory test subject from the University of Rochester Medical Center, with a broken back and skin tinged blue from intravenous BBG (Brilliant Blue G). BBG is a derivative of FD&C blue dye No.1, a food additive used to dye candy and sports drinks.
During the course of spinal cord injury research, a ten gram weight is dropped on the back of each rat test subject to induce paraplegia. BBG is then administered according to a pre-determined protocol in order to test the efficacy of the substance in promoting healing by blocking ATP at the site of the injury.
The research does show promise, and may one day help the millions of people who suffer from spinal cord injuries. Yet even if you whole-heartedly agree with animal testing and medical research, the test subject photograph still must raise concerns. If a more mainstream animal had been used in the illustration, obviously injured and dyed blue, the public might have been made uncomfortable. We have seen this phenomenon before, with mice who grow human ears and glow green in the name of science. No matter how nifty the research, those images always represent death and suffering on the part of another sentient being who feels pain, fear, and confusion.
The idea of rats being turned blue with M&M dye is funny, but the larger truth is that we need to start making a greater effort to respect the contribution of all animal test subjects and acknowledge their suffering on our behalf. Such a small thing, but so difficult for many people.
Posted By Lydia on July 19, 2009
Governor Jan Brewer has signed into law AZ SB 1115, a pastiche of animal welfare issues, including horse tripping and the expansion of previous dog fighting legislation to cover all animals. The final text of the bill may be found here:
The bill also contains provisions to allow for county inspection of privately held dog kennels on receipt of a written complaint alleging animal cruelty or dog fighting, and the creation of a state equine rescue facility registry.
Horse tripping is a rodeo sport where a galloping horse is lassoed by the front or rear legs and thrown violently to the ground, often resulting in severe injuries to the animal. Horse tripping is more commonly seen in small charro-style rodeos, and is not sanctioned by any American rodeo organization, such as the Professional Cowboys Rodeo Association (PCRA). You may read more about horse tripping, and the cultural controversy, at the following links:
Horse Tripping Bill Passes Arizona House
Horse Tripping Facts
Animal Defense League of Arizona (ADLA) has also provided a breakdown of the bill, and contact information for the legislators involved:
Congratulations to all of the activists who worked so hard to secure the passage of SB 1115, and SB 1278 will be given another chance next year, when the budget issues will hopefully be less contentious.
