Author: Nathan J. Winograd

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that, A Chicago alderman who long championed the city’s anti-puppy mill ordinance has reversed his position and wants to lift a key restriction on pet shops, a move that comes after he received donations from a Lincoln Park store owner whose business sells primarily purebred and designer dogs… “Chicago was among the first major cities in the country to pass a law that permitted pet shops to sell dogs only…

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Rosenberg, TX, passes the most progressive community cat law in the nation. For the first time in its history, Rosenberg, TX, finished the year with a better than 90% placement rate: 97% for dogs and 90% for cats. In the midst of the worst global health crisis since 1919 that saw many shelters across the country close their doors, turn animals away, and abandon the duties they owe residents, the Rosenberg shelter stayed open as…

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But our responses might be more dire. Teenaged kids aren’t the only ones to enter a phase of conflict with their parents or other caregivers. Dogs do, too. Unfortunately, that has more important implications because it could mean punishment for the dog, relinquishment to a “shelter,” and depending on the policies of that “shelter,” life and death. Like adolescent humans, a new study “found when dogs reached puberty, they were less likely to follow commands…

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Denver voters overwhelmingly approved Measure 2J which allows dogs identified as “pit bulls” to live in the city for the first time in decades. It allows dogs to be adopted. It stops dogs from dying. And it keeps families together. This is good news for other reasons, too: 50% of dogs labeled as pit bulls lack DNA breed signatures of breeds commonly classified as pit bulls. Dogs targeted for breed discriminatory laws are not more…

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A new study of pet cemeteries finds that over time they mirror the changing nature of our relationship with animal companions. Looking at grave markers before and after World War II, the study authors found a profound shift in the language in the 20th century, with a larger number of them reflecting last names for the animals, the suffering of those left behind, listing survivors as “Dad” and “Mommy,” and even that they will be…

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