Stubbs, Cat Mayor Of Alaska Town, Wins Community Support After Dog's Assassination Attempt

Source: Huffington Post

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The honorary mayor of a tiny Alaska town is noticeably absent this week, when he should be hanging out at the general store or sipping his water-catnip concoctions from a wine glass at the pub next door.

Instead, Stubbs the cat is sedated and under veterinary care after he was badly injured in a vicious dog attack in Talkeetna, a quirky community of 900 that elected him in a write-in campaign 15 years ago. Talkeetna has no human mayor, so you could say 16-year-old Stubbs is the reigning leader – of the feline sort, anyway.

"He's everybody's guy," said Stubbs' owner, Lauri Stec, who manages Nagley's General Store, where the orangey-beige cat lives and mingles with locals and tourists alike. Saturday's attack by the loose dog left Stubbs with a punctured lung, bruised hips, a long deep gash on his side and a sternum fractured to the point it might need to be repaired with a plate.

Stec has reported the attack with borough animal control officials.

Because the cat was so severely injured, Stec has not been allowed to visit him at the veterinary clinic that took an hour to get to after the nighttime attack. A local veterinarian went with her for the long drive in heavy rain. Because it wasn't a sure thing that Stubbs would even make it to the emergency treatment, the vet took along a euthanasia kit.

Stec has gotten the go-ahead to pay a brief visit to Stubbs Thursday afternoon. The next few days will be crucial in his recovery, but the cat has begun to sit up and eat. A tube inserted his lung has been removed. All in all, Stubbs is holding his own, Stec said.

"He's a freaking tough boy," she said.

Stubbs also gained multiple fans outside of Alaska when word got out about his role in town, a popularity that earned him national stories and visits from tourists stopping in the community that serves as the last stop for travelers and climbers visiting Mount McKinley, North America's tallest peak.

The town, 115 miles north of Anchorage, is purported to be the inspiration for the town in the TV series, "Northern Exposure." It's a place dotted with artist shops, where bachelors are auctioned off at a yearly fundraiser ball and where women compete in a wilderness contest.

Even in such a place, Stubbs is a star.

"We all love him," said Geoff Pfeiffer, a waiter at the West Rib Pub and Cafe located inside the same building as the general store. The staff there is hanging on to Stubbs' wine glass, hoping they get to fill it again with water and a catnip garnish, a feline cocktail for a regular who commands attention every time he comes in.

"It's like Elvis has entered the building," Pfeiffer said.

Stubbs has his own Facebook page, filled with posts this week from well-wishers around the world. He also has his own Twitter page. On Wednesday morning, "Stubbs" tweeted: "If the dog community believes b/c the Mayor was declawed he won't fight back they're wrong. Dead wrong. Old Yeller wrong."

Before Saturday, Stubbs had already used up a few of his nine lives. In the past, he has been shot by a BB gun, and still has a BB lodged inside. He's fallen into a cold fryer vat at the West Rib when the staff was changing the oil. He rode on a garbage truck before jumping off.

His is a big personality, both in his adventures and social encounters, letting people pick him up and photograph him.

"He's a little pistol," Stec said. "He's got a great personality."

She's not alone in thinking that. Donations from well-wishers as far away as Australia have been pouring in for Stubbs' veterinary bills. There's also a jar for donations at the general store placed near a photo of Stubbs.

Alaska feline mayor Stubbs the cat suffers dog attack
Source: BBC.com

Image: Stubbs the cat was elected mayor of Talkeetna 15 years ago.

A cat which was elected mayor of an Alaskan town 15 years ago has been badly injured in a dog attack.Stubbs the cat, mayor of Talkeetna - which has no human mayor - is receiving veterinary care.
The cat, aged 16, was elected in a write-in campaign 15 years ago. In the wake of Saturday's attack, Stubbs has been left with a punctured lung, bruised hips, a long deep gash on his side and a fractured sternum, the AP news agency reports. Talkeetna, 115 miles (185km) north of the state's main city, Anchorage, is dotted with artist shops and is said to be the inspiration for the US TV series Northern Exposure.

Grumpy Cat Has an Agent, and Now a Movie Deal

By KATHERINE ROSMAN
Source: Wall Street Journal

Some celebrities simply cannot be pleased. Just ask Ben Lashes, a talent manager in Los Angeles. This week, he landed a major motion-picture deal for a client who nine months ago was an unknown living in Morristown, Ariz., population 227.  When he told his client that she was heading to Hollywood, she looked bored. "She hates movies," says Mr. Lashes of his client, Grumpy Cat, a cat with a mouth puckered into a frown whose viral photos have ricocheted around the Internet.

Grumpy Cat

Mr. Lashes, 34 years old, is an agent for Internet cats. When an ironic photograph of a feline becomes Internet famous, Mr. Lashes contacts the pet owner and offers to help strategize ways to prolong, protect and monetize. He says he operates with this question in mind: "What would Walt Disney do if he created Mickey Mouse and it went viral on YouTube?" Grumpy Cat, the Arizona sourpuss, is Mr. Lashes's star client. The cat is having a mini-Mickey moment. Last September, Bryan Bundesen, 34, a cable technician from Galion, Ohio, was visiting his sister Tabatha in Arizona. He snapped a photo of her cat, a mixed breed whose real name is Tardar Sauce. (Ms. Bundesen, who works as a waitress at a Red Lobster, says her daughter thought the cat's fur was the color of tartar sauce, but misspelled it.) Mr. Bundesen posted the picture on the website Reddit. People thought it was funny. Many began to overlay the photo with sentences expressing what they imagined to be the cat's irritation with humans: "I thought I could not be more disappointed…you proved me wrong," reads one of thousands. "There are two kinds of people in this world…and I don't like them," says another.

From Grumpy Cat to Keyboard Cat, when online fur balls are ready for prime time they turn to Internet talent-manager Ben Lashes to score commercials and licensing deals WSJ's Linda Freund reports. Within weeks, photos and videos of the cat had been shared and posted to social-media sites millions of times.
Mr. Lashes, whose legal name is Benjamin Clark, became the cat's representative in October. He says he is trying to help the Bundesens capitalize on the cat's fame without overexposing it. This week, Mr. Lashes helped negotiate the sale of a film option based on Grumpy Cat's persona to Broken Road Productions, the production company responsible for Adam Sandler's 2011 vehicle "Jack and Jill." Terms of the one-picture deal weren't disclosed.

This week, Grumpy Cat is coming to New York to promote the forthcoming Chronicle Books release, "Grumpy Cat: A Grumpy Book: Disgruntled Tips and Activities Designed to Put a Frown on Your Face" at BookExpo America, the publishing industry convention.

Mr. Lashes also has forged a deal with Grenade Beverage LLC to create and distribute a line of Grumpy Cat coffee-in-cans and bottled beverages. Excluding the movie deal, the Bundesens have earned a low-six-figure sum off the cat thus far, Mr. Bundesen says. Mr. Lashes's take is about 20%, clients say. (Mr. Lashes declined to comment on financial arrangements.)

"He is really good at helping us not get taken advantage of," Mr. Bundesen says of Mr. Lashes.
Mr. Lashes grew up in Spokane, Wash. After a year of college, he dropped out in 2000 to pursue his dream of becoming a professional musician. He fronted a band and worked in talent scouting for an independent label.

In 2010, he heard from Charlie Schmidt, an old friend of his father's and a multimedia artist in Spokane. Back in 1985, Mr. Schmidt told Mr. Lashes, he had dressed his now deceased cat, Fatso, in a blue T-shirt, sat him at a keyboard and manipulated the cat such that it played a song Mr. Schmidt wrote. Mr. Schmidt had recently posted the old video on YouTube. Keyboard Cat was blowing up.

Mr. Lashes started helping his family friend, creating a social-media strategy to fan the cat's grass-roots popularity. He told Mr. Schmidt to adopt a new cat and make more videos. Then came the licensing deals with T-shirt, toy and novelty gift companies. Soon, Mr. Lashes was making deals for the cat to appear in marketing and ad campaigns. In all, Mr. Schmidt says he has made nearly $300,000 from Keyboard Cat deals Mr. Lashes has arranged.

Mr. Lashes now lives in West Hollywood, Calif., where he works out of his one-bedroom condo. His newest client is Princess Monster Truck, a cat with an underbite. "When it comes to cats, Ben knows who is going to be big," says Christopher Torres, a client of Mr. Lashes and the creator of Nyan Cat, a digital, square-shaped feline. Mr. Lashes also represents other photographs, images, sayings or ideas that spread online and become cultural inside jokes.

Mr. Lashes says he tries to help his clients protect their brands as well. Last month, Messrs. Torres and Schmidt filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court in the central district of California. They allege that 5th Cell and Warner Bros.—respectively the developer and publisher of the Scribblenauts franchise of videogames—have infringed on the copyright and trademark right of Keyboard Cat and Nyan Cat, by including the characters in Scribblenauts games.

"If you're a big corporation and you normally pay for the use of these things, we will come after you," says Kia Kamran, an attorney who works with Mr. Lashes on his clients' transaction matters and who also represents the intellectual property rights of the tattoo on former boxer Mike Tyson's face.

A spokeswoman for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment declined to comment. 5th Cell didn't respond to requests for comment. Mr. Lashes says he is driven by a desire to "protect the little guy" but also to have fun. At the South by Southwest tech convention in Austin, Texas, in March, he arranged a paid-appearance deal for Grumpy Cat from the website Mashable. For two-hour stretches over three days, the cat lay on a cushioned pedestal in Mashable's tent and conventioneers waited in line for hours to have their photo taken with the nonplused puss.

The logistics weren't that complicated to work through—Grumpy Cat was already scheduled to be in Austin to tape a celebrity edition of an online game show, "Will Kitty Play With It?" As part of the travel expenses covered by Friskies, the cat-food brand that sponsors the game show, Mr. Bundesen says he chauffeured Grumpy Cat around Austin in a black BMW BMW.XE -1.12% X5, with tinted windows. When they left the final day of the Mashable appearance, he says the car was swamped by 40 to 50 people taking photos of the cat through the car windows. "It was like the paparazzi," he says.

Write to Katherine Rosman at katherine.rosman@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications
Benjamin Clark is the legal name of the cat talent agent who goes by the name Ben Lashes. An earlier version of this article failed to note that Lashes isn't his legal name.A version of this article appeared May 30, 2013, on page A1 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: A Hollywood Agent Helps Web's Cats Claw Their Way to the Top.

Cat allergy research offers new clues

By Helen Briggs BBC News. Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23436589

 

Cats are common culprits for pet allergies. Scientists have discovered how allergic reactions to cats are triggered, raising hopes of preventative medicine. A University of Cambridge team has identified how the body's immune system detects cat allergen, leading to symptoms such as coughing and sneezing. New treatments to block this pathway raise hopes of developing medicines to protect sufferers, they say. Allergy UK says the research is "a big step forward" in understanding how cat allergen causes allergic reactions.

Researchers led by Dr Clare Bryant of the University of Cambridge studied proteins found in particles of cat skin, known as cat dander, which is the most common cause of cat allergy.
They found that cat allergen activates a specific pathway in the body, once in the presence of a common bacterial toxin. This triggers a large immune response in allergy sufferers, causing symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, sneezing and a runny nose.

Cat allergies

• Cats are among the most common culprits for pet allergies
• People with cat allergies are allergic to proteins in the cat's saliva, urine, and dander (dried flakes of skin)
• Symptoms of a cat allergy can develop in a few minutes or take hours to appear
• Some people with allergic asthma have severe flare-ups after coming in contact with a cat

• Your stories: 'Cat allergy made me feel like an outcast'

Dr Bryant told BBC News: "We've discovered how the cat allergy proteins activate the host immune cells. "By understanding the triggering mechanism, there are now drugs that have been designed that are in clinical trials for other conditions, such as sepsis, that could potentially then be used in a different way to treat cat allergy and to prevent cat allergy."

The charity Allergy UK said the research, published in Journal of Immunology, was a big step forward in understanding how cat allergen causes such severe allergic reactions. "Cat allergen is particularly difficult to avoid as it is a 'sticky' molecule that is carried into every building on people's shoes and clothes," said director of clinical services Maureen Jenkins. "It can also still be found in a home, on the walls and ceiling or fittings, even a few years after a cat has ceased to live there.
"Therefore, this new information identifying the specific receptor interaction in the immune system could pave the way for treatments for those with persistent disease triggered by cat allergen and, in the future, potentially dog and house dust mite allergen."

Allergic reactions happen when the immune system overreacts to a perceived danger. Instead of responding to a harmful virus or bacteria, it misidentifies allergens, such as cat dander, and mounts an immune response. The research was funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council.

The Year of the Cat
By LIESL SCHILLINGER, Source: New York Times 

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the Year of the Snake began on Feb. 10. But by most other standards, 2013 is shaping up to be the Year of the Cat. In the first week of February, Hasbro, makers of the Monopoly board game, announced they were replacing one of the traditional tokens, the flat iron, with a curvaceous silver pussycat. Ailurophobes howled, blaming the “all-powerful cat lobby” (so teased a reporter on NPR), but the evidence suggests that public taste alone explains the switch. There are 86 million cats in American households, and in a Facebook survey, the nimble cat instantly leapt ahead of the regular Monopoly retinue to become players’ piece of choice — nearly twice as popular as the Scottie Dog, and three times more popular than the Car and Battleship. Take that, cat detractors! 

In March, Grumpy Cat, a scowling feline who receives one and a half million hits a month on her Web site, grumpycats.com, further heightened the profile of her species with a multistop media blitz. On the 6th, she traveled to Austin, Tex., where she was met by her sponsor (Friskies) and her agent, Ben Lashes (who manages many memes), and attended the South by Southwest 2013 festival. Two weeks later, she flew to New York, where she appeared on “Good Morning America,” gave an interview to Forbes, and dropped by Time Magazine for her close-up as meme of the moment. 

There is no word on a reality TV show: the bases on that are covered, what with “My Cat From Hell” having just begun its fourth season on Animal Planet (hosted by the tattooed “cat listener” Jackson Galaxy), and a family-friendly new program, “Psycho Kitty,” set to be broadcast on Discovery UK this fall, hosted by the Nashville-based animal behaviorist Pam Johnson-Bennett, who is the author of seven books on cat training. (Yes, apparently, you can train a cat.) 

Still, Grumpy Cat nabbed a book deal, even though clowders of other cats have beaten her to the punch. April saw the publication of “Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology” (Bloomsbury, 176 pp., $20), written by the amateur pilot and seasoned cat lover Caroline Paul and illustrated by her partner, the artist Wendy MacNaughton. Last year, while recovering from a bad accident in an experimental plane, in which she smashed her ankle and broke her leg, Ms. Paul suffered the further trauma of having her cat Tibia (Tibby) go missing for weeks — “waving his wild tail, and walking by his wild lone,” as Rudyard Kipling once put it. 

Tormented by visions of “catnappers, vivisectionists,” Ms. Paul blanketed her neighborhood with fliers and even consulted a psychic, to no avail. Luckily, the cat came back. Upon Tibby’s return, Ms. Paul clipped a GPS tracker to his collar in an effort to reconstruct where he had strayed (seedy juke joints, she thought, or a Russian bathhouse, or Antarctica). In the book, her text and Ms. MacNaughton’s ink and wash drawings record the sometimes true, sometimes fanciful results of her sleuthing (and guesswork) in memoir form.

In a different memoir, “Another Insane Devotion: On the Love of Cats and Persons” (DaCapo Lifelong, 304 pp., $24), Peter Trachtenberg tried to figure out what motivated the various women and cats in his life (particularly his cats Bitey and Biscuit), and failed entertainingly at both endeavors. “I’m always conscious that my judgments about what a cat is thinking or feeling aren’t really judgments but projections,” he writes.

Far from frivolous, such meditations lie at the heart of the scientific quest. In her optimistically titled book, “The Cat Whisperer: Why Cats Do What They Do — and How to Get Them to Do What You Want” (Random House, 336 pp., $24), Mieshelle Nagelschneider explains that cat owners’ D.I.Y. inquiry follows the time-honored research practice of “speculative tracking.” Her findings may come in handy for Mr. Trachtenberg. And if Ms. Paul and Ms. MacNaughton had been able to read Ms. Nagelschneider’s chapters on “The Compulsive Cat,” and “Mind-Throwing: Inside the Being of the Cat,” Tibby might not have strayed in the first place. 

Then again, being a cat, he might have.

The heartbreaking stories behind 5 adorable bionic dogs.

Source: Yahoo!.com

Tortured, shot at, or left to die, these brave pups each got a new lease on life with the help of artificial limbs.

When Naki'o was a puppy, he was found, along with his litter mates and dead mother, abandoned in a foreclosed home in Nebraska. Naki'o was literally frozen into a puddle on the floor, and had to have all four of his paws and part of his tail amputated as a result. A Colorado Springs veterinary assistant named Christine Pace got wind of the dog's woeful story and was so taken that she adopted the severely handicapped puppy. At first, Naki'o was able get around on his stumps, but as he grew, his weight limited his activity. Pace raised enough money to get him outfitted with prosthetic limbs for his back legs, which suffered the worse damage. Seeing that the playful pup managed so well on his bionic paws, Martin and Amy Kaufman of Orthopets created a pair of front-leg prosthesis as well. (You can watch a short documentary on his inspirational little life — but beware: You will cry.) (REUTERS/Rick Wilking)

 In 2011, Pay de Limon was reportedly the victim of a Mexican drug gang assault. It's believed that Mexico City gang members used the Belgian shepherd mix — whose name means lemon pie in English — as practice for other gruesome crimes. They reportedly cut off his two front paws to test out intimidation tactics they would later use on human hands. The dog was left in the trash to die, and a passerby heard his cries and took him to Milagros Caninos, a local sanctuary for abused animals. The staff nursed Pay de Limon back to health and raised more than $6,000 through donations to pay for two front-leg prosthetic limbs. He's now accustomed to his new legs and can be seen happily trotting around the sanctuary like any other dog. (REUTERS/Tomas Bravo) **

 

Abayed was once a working sheepdog in Jordan. But in 2011, a stranger, mistaking him for a stray, shot Abayed and paralyzed his hind legs. His owner found the howling dog and took him to a local animal shelter, where the medics said it was clear the dog had a will to live. Instead of putting him down, the shelter took the handicapped dog in as their own and eventually outfitted him with a pair of wheeled legs. The harness gives the former shepherding dog the freedom to roam the shelter's grounds, wrangling the occasional rogue sheep or goat just for the fun of it. (IMAGE: REUTERS/Ali Jarekji) **

 

Phil and Nancy Stafford would do anything for their long-haired collie mix Maulee. And in the summer of 2001, when their beloved pet got tangled in the blades of a wheat cutter near their home in Jasper County, Ga., their dedication was put to the test. Maulee lost part of her right paw in the accident, and nearly bled to death. But after five days in the hospital, the dog recovered and the Staffords began calling around to veterinarians who could create a prosthetic for their dog. The initial search proved difficult, with some vets even laughing at the idea. But eventually, a medic who specializes in human artificial limbs agreed to the unique challenge. "When I designed Maulee's socket, I approached it very much like I would if making an arm for a patient that had the same level of amputation," Daniel Holzer said. After several iterations, Maulee was outfitted with a nylon sock and a flexible limb that allowed her to roam the fields like before. (Erik S. Lesser/Getty Images) **

 

Cassidy was already missing a leg when Steve and Susan Posovsky adopted him from a New York shelter in 2005. At first they just wanted to care for and love the dog, but it quickly became clear that the handicap was taking a toll on his mobility and health. "You could see his posture; it was really hard for him," Susan Posovsky said. Cassidy's owners went to veterinary orthopedic surgeon Dr. Denis Marcellin-Little in North Carolina, who was inspired to create a canine first — an integrated artificial leg. "We worked for about a year to try to design an eternal brace that was fairly sophisticated, but did not work very well," Marcillin-Little said. Cassidy ended up graduating to a permanent prosthetic — a titanium rod implanted into Cassidy's lower leg bone. A carbon-fiber foot with a rubber tread for traction is screwed onto the implant, which, over time, fused seamlessly with the real bone. Now, the dog can sprint with the best of them. "Watching him run on the beach is a very emotional thing for me personally," said Steve Posovsky, pictured getting a kiss from Cassidy. (AP Photo/The News & Observer, Shawn Rocco)

Baby Hedgehogs Have a Cat Mom

Source: English Russia

When you have too much love it’s not so important who you share it with. This kind cat has recently become a mother and it raises its own kittens together with these little hedgehogs.

Aren’t they cute?

Ron Finley: A guerilla gardener in South Central LA

Ron Finley plants vegetable gardens in South Central LA -- in abandoned lots, traffic medians, along the curbs. Why? For fun, for defiance, for beauty and to offer some alternative to fast food in a community where "the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys."

See this exhilarating and life-changing TED talk at TED 1,000+ Talks, http://www.ted.com/talks/ron_finley_a_guerilla_gardener_in_south_central_la.html
 
 

 

A plea for bees

"For bees, the flower is the fountain of life. For flowers, the bee is the messenger of love."

 "VanEngelsdorp says "pollinators are canaries in the coal mine," and their disappearance is a referendum on the state of our environment -- a reminder of the brilliant and frightening interdependence of our ecosystem."
Salon.com 


Watch this fascinating talk at TED 1000+ Talks, http://www.ted.com/talks/dennis_vanengelsdorp_a_plea_for_bees.html

Justice For Toby - "Toby's Law." You can still sign the petition!

 

To sign the petition:  http://www.change.org/petitions/justice-for-toby-toby-s-law?utm_campaign=friend_inviter_chat&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=permissions_dialog_false   

Three years ago in Texas, three young boys kidnapped a neighbor's 5-month-old Pomeranian puppy, named Toby, and took him to an abandoned house. There, they climbed to the top of the building and repeatedly threw this poor pup off the edge, breaking all of his legs. They then strung him upside down BY HIS BROKEN LEGS and proceeded to hit him repeatedly with a wooden board embedded with nails, basically treating this tortured puppy like a piñata. These young monsters then lit his genitals on fire. One of them grabbed a pocketknife and started to cut Toby's throat. It was at this point that this poor, victimized pup died of his wounds.
     
 The boys who committed this terrible murder were 12, 14, and 16 years of age at the time it occurred, and although they were initially arrested and had their day in court, they were sentenced with mercy due to their ages. The prosecutor, whose very job consists of fighting for the victim regardless of what age the perpetrator might be, was the first to tell the media, "They are just children."
     
 Congressman Rahall, I have high respect for you and your views towards animal rights. Being a lover of animals, I am certain that you see the injustice in this case. The law states that animals are mere property; not family, not LIVES, as you, I, and millions of others in our country place them as. To us, they matter as much as our children. As much as our own lives. They search, rescue, protect, comfort, and love. They know joy and suffer heartbreak. They identify with each other, and with us, and show qualities at times that are almost human in its refinement. The law, in this aspect, is very wrong. It is unjust. Inadequate. Unacceptable. 

But many of us have hope; hope that an individual who loves animals as we do, and who has the political standing to be able to directly invoke positive change, will finally come to bat for all the innocent animals that have fallen victim to killer kids. The more research and networking that I have started to do of late, the more I see how common an occurrence this actually is. Every day I hear at least two stories of a child/younger person/minor who has abused, mistreated, or killed an innocent animal. Three teens kidnap and decapitate a dog. A group of preteens are caught burning alive two puppies as the pups scream in agony and huddle against each other in fear and excruciating pain. A teenage girl decides (for kicks) to tie several newborn puppies down with bricks and toss them into a river to drown as they scream repeatedly for mercy, and as her brother callously videotapes the entire murders. A couple of youngsters set off firecrackers in a dog's mouth, leaving the dog in complete agony and forced to be euthanized by the kind people who rescued him. A fifteen-year-old girl with a history of weapons and animal abuse charges puts a kitten in an oven and slowly cooks her alive while the poor kitten scratches frantically to get out, screaming in pain. I could continue for hours, filling pages and pages with information on miniature monsters who prey on the innocent.
     
     Toby's murder was not an isolated incident. None of these cases are. There is a pattern. Children are seeing, more and more of late, that there are just minor consequences to abusing and/or killing an animal due to the inadequacy of the law to protect them properly. If you do not fear the consequences, what is to stop you from doing it again and again? According to the FBI files, over 85% of the most notorious killers, including serial killers, always began by torture and slaying of animals as young children. These events were clearly documented, some in great (and gruesome) detail, so it was well known by everyone but yet nothing was done. And alas, society helped shape and create such monsters as Ted Bundy, Sam Berkowitz, and Jeffrey Dhamer, just from failing to see these as warning signs of worse things to come, in addition to lack of justice for the victims. (Yes, animals do count as victims, for they have life and it was ripped from them violently)

By letting these events go with a mere slap on the wrist and a "time out," we are now shaping the next generation of sadists, rapists, and serial killers. If a person, particularly a child, gets any pleasure out of tormenting and innocent animal, this is not something that is going to be "cured" or "helped." It is a deep seeded characteristic, as true and consistent as any personality trait, and it will always reoccur. And rest assured, the vast majority will not stop there. If you like to kill, you like to kill. Eventually they will grow tired of animals, and graduate to people. They were, more than likely, doomed from the very beginning. They need to be constantly watched, given whatever treatment the law will probably insist on humoring them with, but more importantly when they commit these vile acts, they must be locked up, regardless of age. Evil knows no age. As hard as it might be for plenty to admit, children CAN be evil. They can be sadistic. Worry about the victims, not the killers! The victims were innocent, the killers were guilty, plain and simple.
     
     Even without the fact that animal murderers will almost always evolve to victimizing people, that should truly be beside the point in the long run. Animals being victimized, tortured, abused, mistreated, and killed is well enough to call for justice! Life is life, as I am certain you can surely agree! Furniture is property. A car is property. Neither are living, breathing creatures with feelings and emotions. Animals are life, family, cherished by millions. They are not inanimate objects. They are not property. The abuse and/or murder of animals should hold much harsher, stronger sentencing with NO special treatment given to killer children and teens just for lack of age. Believe me, if they are old enough to consciously inflict unnecessary and sadistic pain on an innocent creature, they are also old enough to know the difference between right and wrong. Bad parenting or hard childhoods are of no consequence; plenty of people have grown up in awful conditions and grew up to be wonderful people. It is no excuse. There is no excuse. It is simply this; are you human, or are you a monster hiding inside of a humans body? Lately it seems that there are too many cases of the latter.

     Toby's Law is needed in our country, sir. It is widely supported among the American people, both devout animal lovers and "neutral" individuals alike, for even the "neutrals" agree that the statistics supporting killer children is uncanny and cannot be ignored any longer.

      Toby's Law would state that no child, minor, or underage person should be given immunity from punishment in the event of causing willful harm, torment, or emotional anguish to any domesticated animal, wild animal, or livestock. The same is to be said for any such action that directly, or indirectly, results in the death of an animal. Incarceration should be required as well as heavy probation, and the individual shall never be allowed to harbor, own, care for, or be alone in the presence of any animal indefinitely. 

It would also state that no confidentiality of such child, minor, or underage person be given in any case, regarding such things as the media and public files. 

     The confidentiality of the identities of many animal murders committed by children and underage people are a frustration to the highest degree for people like me. I deserve to be aware if there is someone living down the street from me, a child for instance, that has a history of abusing and/or killing animals. I have a right to know that there is an immediate possible threat that I need to keep an extra close eye on. The law does it for sex offenders, as they are forced to register. Animal abusers and killers should be required to do the same, which is something else that Toby's Law would entail. This registry would include any minor or underage person, as they will be given no immunity for their actions due to their age. It is time that we start taking younger people and children seriously, for they are not as clueless or innocent as they might act. They are sharper than we give them credit for, and they are fully aware of what they are doing. They need to start becoming responsible for their actions. It is time that our country stops babying the younger generation. Spoiling children never amounted to anything in families, did it? What good will it do as a whole nation? What will that do to the future generation, the people who in the future will be running our country? It is terrifying to consider .....
     
     Please take Toby's Law and show direct support in getting it passed into law, as I believe you are a person who believes in its cause. Although I am distrusting of most politicians due to a tendency towards cynicism, I read your interviews and visit your web page on a daily basis. I believe that the words you speak are the truth, Congressman Rahall. I believe that your love and devotion to animals is as true as my own. People like you are the only hope that the millions who fear for our four-legged family members have to hold on to, the only hope that gives us the light we seek at the end of a seemingly endless dark tunnel. I ask of you, humbly and without shame, to give this the time and and support needed to pass, and in doing so, ensuring that our animal brethren can be given the peace, dignity, and if needed - justice - that they so very much deserve, and currently do not have.
Please be their hero, and ours as well.

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  Animals, like humans, suffer emotionally. We must strive to cause them neither physical pain nor emotional anguish. - EXODUS 34:26

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   I said in my heart, Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.
For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity.
All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust.
- ECCLESIASTES 3:18-20

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HOW DIDN'T THEY KNOW?
By Kristen Sharer
When Billy was 6, one fine Easter day,
He received a gift with which he could play.
It was a sweet little bunny with hair to the floor.
What could have happened when it was found dead by the door?
Accidental, they said. Billy's just a child.
He just played too rough. He got a little bit wild.
When Billy was 10 at a neighbor's house.
He poured some bleach on a friendly pet mouse.
Boys will be boys is what they said.
Be careful, they added as they patted his head.
When Billy turned 12 they found some deep cuts.
On the face and the neck of the sweet family mutt.
No harm was done. The dog's not hurt bad.
He didn't mean to do it. He truly feels sad.
When Billy was 16, he took a gun to school.
He fired upon them while calling them fools.
When Billy was finished having his fun.
He smiled at his carnage and lay down his gun.
The town went on weeping all through the trial.
He showed no remorse. He showed not a smile.
What happened, they asked, to a boy so fine?
How could it be, he showed not a sign?

What about me? Said the ghost of the long dead mouse?
And I the rabbit who was found dead in his house?
And the elderly dog with scars that still showed.
Softly whined and wondered,
HOW DIDN'T THEY KNOW?