Vick Sentenced to 23 months in Prison

RICHMOND, Va. (Dec. 10) - Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison Monday for his role in a dogfighting conspiracy that involved gambling and killing pit bulls.The suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback could have been sentenced up to five years by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson. Vick, who turned himself in Nov. 19 in anticipation of his sentence, was wearing a black-and-white striped prison suit.After Vick apologized to the court and his family, Hudson told him: "You need to apologize to the millions of young people who looked up to you.""Yes, sir," Vick answered.Vick acknowledged he used "poor judgment" and added, "I'm willing to deal with the consequences and accept responsibility for my actions." To read full story go to http://www.njafa.org/mikevickanimalabuse.htm

Success Stories: 'Magnificent 7'

Update on Magnificent Seven Adoptable Animals

All the pups from the "Magnificent Seven" have been adopted into great families!

Winkie

Sad day for us at NJ Aid for Animals. Winkie is dead.

This is Winkie. He is a three week old kitten that was surrendered to us a few days ago in Camden, NJ. When we asked the owner where they got the kitten, we were told a man was "giving them away on the street". Three weeks old and already separated from his mother..not a good sign. No immunity built up and he had more fleas on him than any animal we have ever had in our rescue and the fleas were literally sucking the life out of him.

Winkie was wet when we picked him up but could not understand why. We took him to the vet and discovered he was born without a uretha. So he somehow managed to force two holes through his bladder where urine was coming from. But in the three weeks he was alive, the urine was going under his skin and everywhere else. His belly was bruised and purple. Plus he had a heart murmur. Our vet said she had never ever seen anything like this before.

When she opened the scrotum, urine poured out.

Winkie only was on this earth for 21 days. We had him for five. While we had him he was free of fleas and slept in this little bed with a heating pad. Although severely disfigured in his genitalia, he was very hungry and ate copious amounts of kitten food. When we came into the room where he was, he would follow our feet and "hitch a ride" on our feet.

We told the vet to do everything possible to save Winkie. While he was under anesthesia to create an opening for him to urinate, he passed.

Winkie has been buried under our St. Francis statue.

Adoptable Pets : Millie

Millie

Millie will be available for adoption at Petmsart in about two weeks in Mt. Laurel or Moorestown. She came from a litter of kittens in Millville and is a sweet and loving little girl. For information, click here...

Success Stories : Snickers

UPDATE 9/24/07 -

Snickers, a Cairn Terrier, was surrendered in Camden. He was filthy dirty, full of fleas, badly matted and fearful of men. Our friends at Animal Control Dog Training socialized and trained little Snickers and now he is in his forever home with Lucinda! What a happy ending for Snick A Doo Doo.

OUR NEWEST LITTLE BOY FOR ADOPTION

Don’t let this little guy’s funny teeth scare you off!!! He is a love bug. He rolls over on his tummy and loves to be petted. “Snickers” is a Shih Tzu mix. He had to be shaved down because he was so matted and full of fleas when he was surrendered in Camden City to our President, Kathy McGuire.

Poor little Snick-a-Doo-Doo……He also had a severe ear infection and flea bites all over his skin.

Snickers hair, although matted severely, was very long and once it grows back will have long beautiful hair … he is neutered, maybe 2 yrs old, all shots and sleeps next to the foster’s bed in his little crate all night without a problem. He also follows the foster around like a little SHADOW.

Snickers gets along fine with the other dog in the house (a Finnish Spitz) and doesn’t seem to mind the cats.

Snickers will do best with someone who is home or with someone he can ”travel” with so he isn’t left alone all the time unless there is another dog for him for company.

For adoption information contact: info@njafa.org

NJ Aid for Animals: Dauntless, Dedicated, Educated

CAMDEN COUNTY -- There’s a new animal rescue in town: a group that is unfettered by the kind of bureaucracy and politics that seem to bog down the other animal rescue behemoths. And the good news is, New Jersey Aid for Animals (NJAFA) is making a difference.
Kathy McGuire, Founder and President of South Jersey-based NJAFA believes that directly working the problem is the only solution to solving it. This diminutive, dedicated dynamo is so serious about rescuing helpless creatures from the horrific conditions imposed by their abusers, she’ll go right into places others fear to tread and is an intrepid traveler checking out tips from all over New Jersey about cruelty and then reporting it to the authorities when others “may not want to get involved”.
Topping the list of priorities on her daily to-do list, when she is not investigating the cruelty tips that come in, is educating people about spaying and neutering their pets –
“We are the ONLY non profit that travels regularly into Camden and personally takes animals from people's homes to get them altered and returns them the same night because these individuals don't have the money or transportation to get it done themselves. No one else does what we do. NJAFA is adamant about the importance of spaying/neutering because of the severe overpopulation of cats and dogs. McGuire explains “Checking out cruelty tips and then reporting it to the authorities, is as much of a priority for me as helping to prevent it – and a major way of doing that is educating people on the importance of spaying/neutering and getting it done myself if that’s what it takes She is well known in Camden and gets calls daily from individuals to have their animals spayed or neutered.
“We aid animals in all counties of New Jersey but focus our dedication and compassion for Camden City, New Jersey's animals,” McGuire explains. “Because we are headquartered in Camden County, a Camden County animal may receive a major portion of our funding for spaying and neutering and, when we have the funds, for needed medical procedures.” Armed with a tough, no-nonsense approach that offers zero tolerance for uncivilized behavior of humans toward the helpless, McGuire doesn’t just field calls from concerned citizens who report abuse cases – she acts on them. A seasoned animal rescuer for almost two decades, McGuire is a certified NJ State Cruelty Investigator and Animal Control Officer, she has done due diligence to make sure of her legal standing when putting in her time and efforts on behalf of abused animals and against the abusers.
In fact, when she was newly certified three years ago, the NJSPCA asked her to coordinate the rescue and placement of two major animal hoarding cases because of her unique approach to saving animals. McGuire pulled out more than 100 animals from two hoarders and saved 98 percent of them from being forced to shelters and being euthanized, which is the usual protocol.
In her tireless mission to stop the suffering – one animal at a time – McGuire is all too aware that animal abusers will many times escalate to abusing and even murdering other humans. This proven phenomenon provides even more motivation to eradicate the cruelty and support changes in legislation on the local and state level that give more latitude to investigators and cruelty officers and toughen the consequences for abusers.
Lauded for her “unique quality for investigation” by her instructor at the police academy where she acquired her training, McGuire possesses a rare kind of integrity that is part of her day-to-day routine: whether it is raising funds, attempting to reason with an abusive animal owner or fearlessly obtaining video of the abuse. Her tenacity, coupled with her talent for research and knowledge of the statutes, make her a formidable crusader for animals in distress.
Heads up to animal abusers: Watch out – love her or hate her, she’s here to stay.
New Jersey Aid for Animals in privately funded by donations and has no paid staff. The organization has 501-c3 tax-exempt status and is registered with the State of NJ Attorney General’s Office to solicit donations.
For more information, to volunteer or to be considered for our Advisory Board, please log on to www.njafa.org or call McGuire directly at (856) 498-3978.

Success Stories - Taz - Miracle in Camden

MIRACLE IN CAMDEN


Many times in the past as a volunteer with one of the animal humane enforcement officers in Camden, I have reached out to help local citizens who either cannot afford to take care of their animals or do not have a car with which to transport their animals for vet care. Such was the case on a hot night in late June when I received a call from a Camden animal control officer that a resident needed help transporting her dog to a vet.

Arriving in Camden, the temperature was a scorching 96 degrees. No breezes cooled the hot cement that doubled as “backyards” nor were there any grass or trees to offer respite in Camden that night. I entered the tiny house with no air conditioning late in the evening and saw a thin German Shepherd lying with its head on its master’s lap. I immediately sent my husband to the CVS to purchase a thermometer to take the dog’s temperature. While it was hovering around l03, which is a little above normal, we all decided the best place for Tazzie, the shepherd, was to come home with me so I could transport him to my vet first thing in the morning.

Once at my home, Tazzie slept in a soft bed with a gentle breeze in a backyard full of trees in a safe, quiet environment, away from the chaos and cacophony of Camden.

The next morning at 7:00 am, when I went to check on Taz, he was dead. Dead in the literal sense that he was almost not breathing, he was in shock, he had no capillary response, his eyes were fixed and dilated, he was totally limp. Taz was lying in and covered with blood and diarrhea..

Still in my nightclothes, I scooped him up and put him in the back of my SUV. Minutes away from my local vet I reached the office just as they were opening.

We carried Taz into the hospital on a stretcher. When asked “how far do you want to go to save this dog”, I didn’t hesitate. I advised my vet to “do whatever has to be done to save this dog.”

Tazzie was plunged into a bath of cool water and an iv drip was started. Taz’s temperature was a staggering ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT DEGREES!!! Taz should have been and by all rights was dead.

Urgently, the doctor and the vet tech pumped Taz with antibiotics and fluids. Ice packs were placed around his body while I used a hose to keep cool water flowing on him and rinse away the blood and feces covering his limp body. I was told Taz would probably not make it and to be prepared to make the decision to put him down.

Miraculously, Taz survived that day and into the night. The next day Tazzie was trying to hold up his head. Each day that went by, his will to survive was stronger and stronger. He spent four days in intensive care and was released to me because it was a holiday weekend and I lived very close to the vet in case Taz would go back into a coma again.

Tazzie had survived the mean streets of Camden, a temperature of l08 degrees and four days in intensive care. Almost two weeks after Tazzie’s near death experience, he was surrendered to me so that I could provide him with a safe environment and a loving family.

As summer continued her sojourn and Taz regained his strength, he started to gain weight and began to play and discover his new surroundings. One day Taz decided to venture a paw, with trepidation, into our pool. One paw, two paws and off Tazzie went the rest of the summer swimming in our pool, with or without us, it didn’t matter. We had to buy him a life vest so that he would be safe while he swam all the time.

We knew the family Taz would be adopted to had to love the water and that is the family we found. Although I received literally dozens of requests to adopt Taz, only one stood out among them all. One family I knew almost immediately would be the family I would select to provide the love and a second chance at a happy life for Taz. The fact that they had emailed or called me every day for two weeks to see if they had been selected certainly made me feel that I had made the right decision.

Almost two months to the day on Labor Day weekend, I delivered Tazzie to his new home. He could not be more loved, adored or spoiled. Taz swims with his new brother and sister, Nicky and Samantha and they even brush their teeth together!!!

Taz’s story is a miracle and demonstrates what all of us can do when we are willing to go the “extra mile”, put ourselves out for an animal and never give up even in the most extraordinary circumstances. Tazzie, didn’t.

Success Stories - Precious

UPDATED 8/2007 - Adopted

Precious – Adorable Black Chow

What can we say about this little girl? Her owner was selling puppies on the streets of Camden and she was the only one left, so we told the owner we would take the puppy but we would PAY FOR the mother to be spayed and get all her shots.

Precious’ mother was spayed last Thursday courtesy of NJAFA after having had four litters of puppies. She is an adorable little dog and the father is a full bred black chow whom we have not been able to locate. We were able to find the owner of Precious’ sibling and we will be having that puppy altered as well.

Precious is currently living with a foster who has small children, a baby, a large German Shepherd and two other small dogs. She is paper trained, crate trained and friendly with cats….she doesn’t mouth like most puppies .. 4.9 pounds and 9 weeks old…she loves to be held and will be about 40 pounds full grown