News Briefs for the Week of July 29, 2002
By Marcella Durand for Cat Facts
- AVMA Endorses Spay-Neuter Stamp
They just keep climbing on board to endorse this bright idea. And how could they say no? After all, how could you reach more people for a lower price than a stamp? (Yes, even though the rates have gone up, they're still cheaper than shooting a television show!) And the stamp is even self-adhesive-which you definitely can't say about most sitcoms!
The U.S. Postal Service's new spay-neuter stamp was recently endorsed by the American Veterinary Medical Association, which also featured the stamp on July 13 at its annual convention in Nashville, Tennessee. The stamp, worth 37 cents, shows a picture of a kitten or a puppy, former shelter animals who have since found new homes.
Even though it's due to be issued September 20, the stamp is already major-league popular. Usually only 80 million issue-specific stamps are issued, but, because of overwhelming interest in the new spay-neuter stamp, the quantity was first increased to 125 million, and then to 200 million. Now, that'll be something to look forward to in your mailbox this fall!
- New Partners in the Fight Against Animal Cruelty
It's sickening, disgusting and, unfortunately, widespread. It's animal cruelty. And it runs the gamut from cruel teenagers setting cats on fire to grown men training Pit Bulls for dog fighting.
Regular people-that is, normal, compassionate human beings like you and me-feel horrified and helpless when they hear a story about animal cruelty. And we also sometimes feel that the law isn't tough enough to effectively combat these crimes. That's why it's such good news to hear that the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has joined forces with the National Cruelty Investigations School (NCIS), which teaches animal cruelty investigators at the federal, state and local levels how to investigate animal cruelty complaints. Under the new partnership, HSUS experts on animal cruelty will teach classes at the NCIS.
"It's very important for police and animal control officers to have the skills and knowledge to investigate animal cruelty cases," says Virginia Prevas, who runs the HSUS program called First Strike, which raises awareness of the link between animal cruelty and human violence. "Successful prosecution of animal cruelty cases clearly helps people, too."
The NCIS, which is part of the Law Enforcement Training Institute at the University of Missouri-Columbia, offers three tiers of classes nationwide several times each year. Some advanced class topics include investigative procedures for cases involving animal fighting, traveling animal entertainment shows, puppy mills, pet store inspections, and animal hoarding. Formed in 1990 in response to the lack of training programs for animal cruelty investigators, the NCIS now has reached over 1,000 agencies in all 50 states, as well as in Canada.
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