Allie Phillips, the author of How Shelter Pets are Brokered for Experimentation: Understanding Pound Seizure, uncovers the ugly truth that several shelters throughout the United States hide.
As an animal advocate myself, I was eager to learn about “pound seizure”, which until now, I had never heard of.
Pound seizure has existed since the 1940′s. It is when shelters sell cats and dogs to third parties licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and those third parties sell both live and deceased (euthanized) animals to research and testing facilities nationwide.
While researchers say that this practice is in the best interest of humans and is practiced in the name of science, Phillips negates those theories in this book and exposes the terrible reality of these animals’ fate.
Every day litters of stray cats and kittens, puppies and dogs, are taken to local shelters by good Samaritans hoping that these animals will find loving forever homes. Sadly, often times, this is not the case. Most shelters have a mandatory waiting period from when a lost pet enters a shelter until the pet is released for adoption, euthanized, or as a lot of people are unaware of, sold to research. Many shelters fail to adhere to the waiting period, and many families who could have been reunited with their beloved pet, never get the chance. In some instances, animals are stolen right out of the backyards of their owners by brokers wanting to make a few bucks at the pet and family’s expense.
Phillips discloses the ugly, but offers advice to readers on how they can speak out as an advocate to end pound seizure while protecting oneself from legal retribution.
Many first-hand animal accounts are included and cited. Some ending tragically, others not. But if you are a pet owner, animal lover, volunteer, and/or advocate, this book is a must-read.
“Allie Phillips is vice president of human-animal strategic initiatives at the American Humane Association. She specializes in advocacy and lobbying on child and animal welfare legislation, particularly pound seizure advocacy on federal and state legislation and conducts trainings on advocacy techniques and animal cruelty prosecutions. She has conducted over 100 trainings for prosecutors, judges, law enforcement, child protection, animal welfare, domestic violence, and medical/psychological professionals on best practices in child and animal protection. She is the vice president of No Paws Left Behind.”
More information on Allie Phillips and pound seizure can be found on her website: www.alliephillips.com.
The book will be available for purchase on September 16, 2010. You can pre-order your copy from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. I am also giving away three copies of this book on my other website.
You can follow this link to get to the article there, and follow the directions to enter.
Comments