EAGLE SHOT IN GREENE COUNTY INDIANA-REWARD!!!!

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=31470093

The American Bald Eagle recently shot in Smith Township has died.
The severely injured 3 1/2-year-old male eagle was reported to Indiana Conservation officer Mike Gregg last Sunday afternoon near County Road 800W -- just north of County Road 600N -- northeast of Linton.
The eagle -- suffering from a massive gunshot wound -- was taken to a federally license rehabilitator, Return to the Wild, Inc., located in Nashville, Ind., for care. The age of the bird was determined after an assessment was made at the Hillview Veterinary Clinic in Franklin.
"The eagle had to be put down -- euthanized -- last night (Thursday) about 6 p.m," Indiana Conservation Officer spokesman Max Winchell told the Greene County Daily World on Friday morning. "It had just too much damage to several different bones and the muscle tissue wasn't responding like they had hoped. I guess it was too bad. I asked them if they could have amputated the wing to save it and they said part of it would have had to been amputated anyway. It was just a really bad wound."
The dead bird has been turned over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Winchell stated.
Through x-rays the type of caliber weapon that was used has been determined, but investigators don't want to release that information at this time, according to Winchell.
The DNR spokesman said investigators have received several leads in the case since news of the incident was released to the media Tuesday morning.
"We're following up on some leads. We've got some other leads that were called in. We really appreciate that. If anyone has any other information, we still want that," he said. "We are still actively working on it."
A minimum of a $1,500 reward is available for information leading to an arrest of the person responsible for shooting. Greene County Crime Stoppers also is offering a reward.
Winchell said the shooting of an American Bald Eagle is a serious federal crime.
The bald eagle, America's national symbol, was removed from the U.S. threatened and endangered species list in 2007.
Bald eagles were first listed as "endangered" in 1967, after hunting, poisoning and widespread use of DDT reduced the number of bald eagles to 417 breeding pairs in the continental United States. The eagles' status was changed from "endangered" to "threatened" in 1995. Today, there are bald eagles in Alaska and all of the lower 48 states, and 10,000 breeding pairs nationwide, according to a story that was published in the Washington Post.
Even though bald eagles are no longer listed as "endangered," federal laws and policies -- specifically, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act protects them.
The shooting of a bald eagle -- whether it dies or not -- is a felony under federal statute with a fine up to $100,000 and/or up to one year in jail or both, according to Winchell.
Winchell said it's a possibility that the eagle may have been mistaken for a turkey vulture or other large bird, and he added that an immature eagle does resemble a turkey vulture because it's all black.
"They (eagles) are considered mature by the age of five and this one was 3 1/2, but most of its head feathers were white," Winchell pointed out.
Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw called the eagle shooting a shame and indicated that legal action would be faced by the individual or individuals responsible if investigators are successful in their probe of the incident.
"I can't believe that anyone would intentionally shoot a bald eagle," Holtsclaw said Friday afternoon. "The number one rule of hunting is identify your target before you fire the arrow or shoot the gun. It's a shame this happened."
Conservation Officers have been interviewing area residents and are seeking any information about this crime.
"There have been other animals that have been shot in the area and we believe the shootings may be related," Gregg said earlier this week.
Conservation officers are interested in speaking with anyone who was traveling in the area of CR 800W and CR600N on March 15 or that has traveled through the area in the last month.
"This is a fairly remote and low traffic area. Information about vehicles that have been seen in the area could help make this case" Gregg noted.
Anyone with information relating to this case is asked to call the Turn in a Poacher hotline at 1-800-TIP-IDNR.

IT'S BEEN A LONG, HARD YEAR....BUT WE ARE STILL HERE!! NEITHER EARTQUAKE, FLOOD or TORNADO'S deterred our mission!

It's been a hellaciously rough year in our area, with earthquakes that made massive old oaks which provided shade unstable and they had to be removed. After that came severe flooding. Flooding, oddly, turned to drought, with no flowing water to homes for nearly a week (a water main broke under a flood area and could not be reached to be fixed). Shortly thereafter our county was likewise declared a disaster area due to Tornados damage.

We feel happy and blessed that despite some damage and costs we lost nothing that wasn't replacable, and the animals in our care continued to receive all the care they needed.

WE COULD REALLY USE YOUR HELP!!! With all the disasters befalling elsewhere and people losing their homes and jobs, donations and grants have been very sparse. We do all we can to continue top notch care for animals in our sanctuary but we are unable to continue to take in new animals in need as we struggle to maintain those we have. PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO GROW AND HELP MORE ANIMALS BY DONATING TODAY! We gratefully accept any donation via mail at Rt 2, Box 219C, Jasonville, IN. 47438 or through our Paypal site which is listed and linked on our home page at midwestanimals.petfinder.com. THANK YOU FROM THE ANIMALS AND THE HUMANS HOLDING DOWN THE FORT!

IS COMPASSION THE RADICALISM OF OUR TIME?

Based on the names I've personally been called in my efforts to help animals, Compassion IS indeed the new radicalism. This is from our friends in Ohio.

While driving down River Road the other evening the car ahead of mine made a definite swerve into the opposing lane in an effort to hit a cat that was sitting in the road. They hit and killed the cat.
It was difficult to ascertain from behind, but my guess is they were in their late teens, early twenties and out for a joy ride. I could see them waving their arms around in the air in a triumphant manner.
Tears came to my eyes, because the death of this cat affected me in an entirely different way.
Why is it, do you suppose, that so many children are becoming less compassionate? What would possess someone to not only senselessly take a life, but to enjoy the act of killing, as if they had earned a game point?
Dr. Albert Schweitzer, Recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952, said, "There slowly grew up in me an unshakable conviction that we have no right to inflict suffering and death on another living creature unless there is some unavoidable necessity for it, and that we ought all of us to feel what a horrible thing it is to cause suffering and death out of mere thoughtlessness. And this conviction has influenced me only more and more strongly with time. I have grown more and more certain that at the bottom of our heart we all think this, and that we fail to acknowledge it because we are afraid of being laughed at by other people as sentimentalists, though partly also because we allow our best feelings to get blunted. But I vowed that I would never let my feelings get blunted, and that I would never be afraid of the reproach of sentimentalism."
Compassion is indeed the radicalism of our time.

THIS STORY OF HOPE AND COMPASSION FOR ANIMALS IN THE MIDDLE OF IRAQI WAR ZONE, BROUGHT TEARS TO OUR EYES.
Dog Saved by Marine Gets Home in US
By CHELSEA J. CARTER,
AP
Posted: 2008-02-22 12:17:29
Filed Under: Iraq News
SAN DIEGO (Feb. 22) - It began with a simple act of kindness to save an abused, injured dog from becoming one more victim in the Iraq war.

Major Brian Dennis, AP
The DogsOf War
1 of 4
While on patrol in Iraq last October, Marine Maj. Brian Dennis and his squad got to know a dog who came around and took scraps of food. One night in late December, Dennis found the dog in bad shape. It was bitten, stabbed, nearly freezing and close to death. Dennis treated the dog, whom he called Nubs, and slept with him that night to keep him warm.
But what followed for Marine Maj. Brian Dennis and the mutt was a tale of friendship and loyalty that spanned miles and overcame long odds - one set to take a turn Friday with the anticipated arrival here of the Marine's best friend."This dog who had been through a lifetime of fighting, war, abuse ... is going to live the good life," Dennis told his family in an e-mail from Iraq.The tale unfolded in October, a few months after Dennis deployed to Iraq from San Diego to work as part of the military team building infrastructure along the Syria-Iraq border and training Iraqi forces to take over.Dennis, 36, of St. Pete Beach, Fla., had volunteered for the assignment. It was a departure from his role as a fighter pilot. He had seen the country from the air, but it was different on the ground.


Dennis wrote stories home about the reciprocal relationship that desert dogs, strays wandering outside border towns, had with Iraqis."The dogs get to eat the Iraqi scraps and have a home in the middle of the desert," he wrote in an e-mail. "The Iraqis get an incredible early warning system; these dogs hear anything approaching from miles away and go nuts and scramble to defend their territory."While on patrol in the Anbar province, Dennis spotted what appeared to be a gray and white, male German shepherd-border collie mix. He named the dog Nubs after learning someone cut the ears off believing it would make the dog more aggressive and alert.Within weeks, Nubs was greeting Dennis during routine patrol stops along border communities. The Marines fed him bits of their food and by November, the Marine and his unit were keeping an eye out for the dog, which routinely chased their Humvees when they departed.Life on the run, however, was taking a toll on the dog. He had lost a tooth and been bitten in the neck. In late December, Dennis found Nubs near death in freezing temperatures. The dog had been stabbed with a screwdriver.Dennis rubbed antibiotic cream on the wound and slept with Nubs to keep him warm."I really expected when I woke up for watch he would be dead," Dennis wrote. "Somehow he made it through the night."Dennis thought he had seen the last of the dog days later when his squad headed back to its command post some 65 miles away. He couldn't take the dog with him and watched as it tried to follow the Humvees away from the border.Two days later, while Dennis and a comrade were working on a Humvee, he looked up and saw the dog staring at him."Somehow that crazy damned dog tracked us," he wrote Jan. 9.But the reunion was short lived. Military policy prohibits having pets in war zones, and Dennis was given four days to get the dog off the base or kill him.The decision was easy: Nubs was going to San Diego. The logistics, though, were anything but easy.With help from his Iraqi interpreter, Dennis managed to find a Jordanian veterinarian to get the care and paperwork needed to get the dog to the states. He also negotiated the red tape to get Nubs across the border into Jordan.His family and close friends helped raise the $3,500 needed to get the dog from Amman, Jordan, to San Diego, said his mother, Marsha Cargo."I just can't believe it. Out there in the middle of nowhere these two find each other," Cargo said.A colleague in San Diego agreed to care for the dog and have it trained until Dennis returns in March from Iraq."We anticipate a real steep learning curve for Nubs," Capt. Eric Sjoberg said. "We want him to learn to just be a dog."For now, though, Dennis will settle for the knowledge that Nubs is finally safe - and waiting for his master to follow him.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-02-22 08:46:45

HELP KEEP KITTENS "KOZY" !!!! DONATE TODAY!!

Winter weather is bringing massive increases in our electric bills, as we heat 3 buildings to be comfortable for our feline friends to relax in. Although we are being as frugal as possible, our electric provider has steadily increased the cost per kilowatt of energy, and this is the first winter of heating our 3rd building for constant cat residents. We make sure all our furbabies are snuggly and cut back in all areas possible. Usually we can get by with heat lamps throughout the buildings, but recent extreme cold temps means we have to use of portable oil heaters to keep the temps livable. PLEASE HELP OUT WITH A DONATION IF YOU CAN, and HELP "KEEP KITTENS KOZY"! Thank you!

A Forgotten Dogs Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there
The children were nestled all snug in their beds
With no thought of the dog filling their head
And Ma' in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap
Knew he was cold, but didn't care about that
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter
Away to the window I flew like a flash
Figuring the dog was free of his chain and into the trash
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below
When, what to my wondering e yes should appear
But Santa Claus - with eyes full of tears
He un-chained the dog, once so lively and quick
Last year's Christmas present, now thin and sick
More rapid than eagles he called the dog's name
And the dog ran to him, despite all his pain
"Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONNER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
Let's find this dog a home where he'll be loved by all."
I knew in an instant there would be no gifts this year
For Santa Claus had made one thing quite clear
The gift of a dog is not just for the season
We had gotten the pup for all the wrong reasons
In our haste to think of the kids a gift
There was one important thing that we missed
A dog should be family, and cared for the same
You don't give a gift, then put it on a chain
And I heard him exclaim as he rode out of sight
"You weren't given a gift! You were given a LIFE!"
Author Unknown

MAJOR PUPPY MILLER EXPOSED IN ODON INDIANA AMISH COUNTRY- LEVI GRABER

"Puppy Mills" are horrendous places were dogs are used as livestock, kept contained in small cages, bred until they can breed no more and then killed". The shame of this industry is throughout Indiana and many other states and is the prime reason pupppies should never be purchased from 'pet stores' and 'back yard breeders'.

As reported on Indianapolis WTHR news channel.

http://www.wthr.com/global/Story.asp?s=7409962

13 InvestigatesIndiana's Puppy Pipeline
Posted:
var wn_last_ed_date = getLEDate("Nov 26, 2007 3:03 PM EST"); document.write(wn_last_ed_date);
Nov 26, 2007 03:03 PM EST
Updated:
var wn_last_ed_date = getLEDate("Nov 26, 2007 10:50 PM EST"); document.write(wn_last_ed_date);
Nov 26, 2007 10:50 PM EST

Puppy Pipeline Part 1
Puppy Pipeline Part 2: Preview
Check All Clear All

This cocker spaniel puppy at a south-side pet store...
...came from this commercial breeding farm in Daviess County.
Puppy broker Levi Graber tried to have WTHR staff arrested during their recent visit to a puppy breeder.
Richard Isley plays with schnauzer puppies that will not become part of the Puppy Pipeline.
Joe Street says the caged breeding dogs that supply Uncle Bill’s with puppies “have all their needs met.”
if (document.layers) {document.write(''); document.close();}
coreAdsCreate('wnsz_20', 'loc', '100');
HEADLINES


Bob Segall/13 Investigates
Have you ever wondered where pet shops get all those cute little puppies? We did, and what 13 Investigates discovered is something many pet stores do not want you to see. We went undercover to help you understand how this big business operates and to show you exactly where most of these dogs come from.They are cute, cuddly companions just waiting for a new family. But where do pet store puppies come from?
"Our puppies come from local breeders who are USDA-licensed," a sales clerk told me during a recent visit to a pet shop. She was truthful. At the same time, she was not telling the whole story.
What most pet shops do not tell customers is their abundant supply of puppies comes from a well-hidden puppy pipeline. That pipeline is a big business made possible by commercial breeding, a process that requires many dogs to live their adult lives confined to a cage.
13 Investigates spent eight months tracking the state's internal puppy pipeline, and it begins in a place few people would expect.
Daviess County is a quiet farming community two hours southwest of Indianapolis, and it is also the puppy breeding capital of Indiana. Towns such as Odon and Loogootee are home to dozens of Amish families who operate large-scale breeding kennels.
The kennels are not advertised. Many are tucked behind picturesque farm houses well away from publicly-traveled dirt roads. They are commercial breeding operations and each year, the facilities supply local pet shops with thousands of puppies. During our visits to Daviess County, 13 Investigates found cage after cage filled with dogs whose sole purpose is to breed puppies. Many of the facilities cage between 60 and 200 dogs and, together, they offer pet stores nearly any breed desired.
From the breeding farms, puppies are loaded inside small cages in a cargo van to be delivered to pet stores which, in some cases, are located hours away. Which pet stores the puppies are delivered to is not a big concern to the breeders.
"When they leave here, we've got no idea where they're going," said one of the breeders.
The breeders do not know the destination of their puppies because the sales and deliveries are controlled by a middleman or "broker." The most prominent broker in Daviess County is Levi Graber, who provides puppies to Safari Pets (PDF) and Uncle Bill's Pet Centers in Indianapolis and Pass Pets in Bloomington. Graber does not like strangers asking questions about the puppy pipeline.
When 13 Investigates went to the home of a breeder in Odon, Ind., to ask about details of her commercial kennel, Graber met WTHR photojournalist Bill Ditton and me in front of the home, blocked our news vehicle from leaving the driveway and called sheriff's deputies to have us arrested. Two Daviess County deputies responded to the complaint and declined to issue charges. "You obviously didn't do anything wrong," said one of the deputies.
At that point, Graber told us "hit the road, and I mean do it immediately." He then followed us for more than an hour and filed another complaint with the sheriff's department as we drove around Daviess County gathering more information for our investigation.
Several days later, the puppy broker apologized.
"I should not have treated you that way," Graber said during a face-to-face meeting in Indianapolis. "That was not a smart thing to do, but we are very skeptical when people start asking lots of questions."
Graber said his breeders have nothing to hide. He said they maintain clean and safe facilities, regularly call in a veterinarian to inspect the animals, and "do whatever's necessary to make sure the dogs are happy."
It is important to point out that all of the dogs and puppies we saw appeared to be well fed and in good health. Still, Graber says the public is not welcome at the breeding facilities. "When strangers come in, it means a lot of stress for both the dogs and the breeders," he explained.
There is another important reason the puppy pipeline is not open for public viewing: it would create a public image problem for pet stores.
"People's perception of this is not going to be good," said Joe Street, vice president of Uncle Bill's Pet Centers, the largest pet store chain in central Indiana. "I have no problem with what you found, but most people will not like seeing that."
Uncle Bill's sells about 2,500 puppies a year, according to Street, and most of those come from Levi Graber and his network of Amish breeders.
"Without a doubt, unequivocally, I can state that they are the best quality puppies that we have been able to find," Street said. At the same time, he admits many of his customers will not like seeing the reality of commercial breeding, which 13 Investigates captured on undercover video.
"People are going see all those dogs in cages and think 'I wouldn't want to live in those conditions ... I wouldn't want to live in a cage,'" he said. "What they don't realize is dogs are not people. They do fine in cages and, actually, they'd rather be around other dogs than around your or me. The reality is all of their needs are being met, so I have no problem with that whatsoever."
Not everyone agrees.
Richard and Linda Isley breed AKC-registered schnauzers in their Franklin home. Unlike the dogs and puppies we saw in Daviess County, the Isley's schnauzers sleep in a warm bedroom, they have plenty of room to run and play and they get lots of human attention. The family breeds one litter of puppies per year and you won't find any of those puppies in a pet store.
"Dogs are very social. They want to be with you, Linda Isley said. "In commercial set-ups they don't live that kind of life. It's kind of like a prison. A responsible breeder would never sell their puppies to a pet store."
Raising puppies with human interaction helps to socialize them for a future home, according to Deborah Howard, founder of the Companion Animal Protection Society. The organization opposes commercial breeding because of its impact on adult dogs.
"If your dog was kept in a run or kept in a cage day in and day out, didn't get out, wasn't socialized, wasn't allowed into a home, didn't get to interact with people, would you want your dog in that situation?" Howard asked. "That's a commercial livestock condition."
Graber said some of his breeders allow their adult dogs out of their cages to run free "on nice days." 13 Investigates visited commercial breeding facilities in Daviess County on several warm, dry days this fall and saw only caged dogs - none running free.
WTHR's undercover video troubled veterinarians at the Humane Society of Indianapolis. The video shows lots of flies and piles of feces in and around some of the cages. The veterinarians expressed concern not only with some of the hygiene conditions, but also with the construction of some of the cages. Those cages have floors consisting of wood slats that are spaced apart to allow for urine and feces to pass through. Janet Lubinski, the Humane Society's senior director of shelter services, says the slats may be spaced too far apart.
"It's an opportunity for [dogs'] feet and their legs to get caught and injured in those spaces," the veterinarian said.
After seeing WTHR's video, Street told 13 Investigates he plans to visit the kennels that provide puppies to Uncle Bill's. If he sees any conditions that are detrimental to the dogs, Street said he will require the breeders to make changes.
"If the animals' needs are not being met, they know I won't do business with them," he said. "I've been down there before; the conditions have always looked good...and I really do believe this is the best way to produce healthy companion animals for people."
If it is the best way, few people get to see it. Pet stores, breeders and brokers - none of them want you to see puppies moving along Indiana's puppy pipeline. That's why the pipeline has been such a well-kept secret. Despite the secret, there's a huge supply and lots of demand, and that means this pipeline will keep on flowing.
In the meantime, local animal shelters and Humane Societies remind you they have thousands of dogs looking for good homes through adoption.
Coming up Tuesday on the Nightbeat: For some local pet shops, the puppy pipeline stretches far outside Indiana. Bob Segall and 13 Investigates is going to take you undercover again -- hundreds of miles away -- to show you something you've never seen before. It's the private world of dog auctions -- where the highest bidder wins, but consumers and puppies sometimes lose. See that part of our undercover investigation Tuesday night on Eyewitness News at 11:00 pm.
Thinking about adopting a pet?
If you are thinking about purchasing or adopting a new pet, here are some resources to check out:
Indianapolis Humane Society 7929 Michigan RdIndianapolis, IN 46268(317) 872-5650 Indyhumane.org
Puppy Buying Guide Tips from Humane Society of U.S.Companion Animal Protection Society American Kennel Club list of dog rescue organizations