Neighborhood Stunned After House Cats Mistakenly Euthanized

Some residents call county officials "cat killers"

By Bryan Russo and WAMU 88.5 - American University Radio

|  Tuesday, Apr 17, 2012  |  Updated 8:59 AM EDT

Bryan Russo

A makeshift sign posted in front of a house on Waterview Drive in Worcester County, Md. Some residents of the street say their neighbor rounded up housecats and brought them to the local animal control where they were euthanized.

Some residents of a small Eastern Shore neighborhood in Maryland are calling Worcester County officials "cat killers," after a number of house cats mysteriously disappeared. But the county is making no apologies.

Waterview Drive is nothing short of a quintessential coastal neighborhood: a winding, no-outlet road past a handful of houses with boats docked out back leading to a pristine panoramic view of one of the Worcester County's many coastal bays.

But when you turn around and go out of the neighborhood, one of the first things you see is a number of makeshift plywood signs tagged in red spray paint in bold letters with messages such as "U killed my pet" and "cat murderer." 

The signs are all pointed toward one neighbor's house, and that's because, according to residents, this person trapped their house cats and turned them directly over to animal control.

"I can't imagine trapping cats and not seeing where they belong before euthanizing them," said Canille Davies, director of the Worcester County Humane Society.

Davies says the county animal control's decision to put down at least three of the seven missing cats from Waterview Drive was made too quickly and without merit.

"A de-clawed, spayed, 16-year-old cat? No way is that going to hurt anybody," Davies said.

County officials say they followed policy, and claim they did attempt to find out if the un-collared cats had homes before euthanizing the ones they say were either wounded or aggressive.

But this is not the first time Davies has heard about a situation like this in the county, she said.

"I don't let my cats out, because I'm afraid of what could happen," she said.

And for residents of Waterview Drive, many are left wondering in hindsight if there was a more humane or even neighborly way to handle this situation.

Copyright WAMU 88.5 - American University Radio. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright WAMU

Dead and Deformed Sea Creatures Point to BP Oil Spill

• by Nancy Roberts
• April 18, 2012
• 10:07 pm

 

• 
  

Fishermen and scientists operating in the northern Gulf of Mexico are noting huge numbers of deformed sea creatures, including eyeless shrimp, clawless crabs and fish damaged by lesions, along with high rates of dolphin stranding in the Gulf near the area of the BP Oil spill of 2010. Fishing industry workers are also observing declining numbers of key species two years after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and the release of some 4.9 million barrels of oil followed by the application of  hundreds of thousands of  gallons of chemical dispersant.

Disturbing images in the video report below from Al Jazeera English show the deformed sea creatures and scientists’ concern for damage to species health, biodiversity and the food chain:

Dolphin Strandings Skyrocket, Ill Health Observed

Comprehensive physicals of 32 live dolphins from the northern Gulf of Mexico area, Bataria Bay, showed  that many of the dolphins examined are “underweight, anemic, have low blood sugar and/or some symptoms of liver and lung disease. Nearly half also have abnormally low levels of the hormones that help with stress response, metabolism and immune function.” In addition, NOAA has declared and unusual mortality event (UME) because more than 675 dolphins have stranded themselves in the norther Gulf area, up from an average of 74 strandings per year.

NOAA reports, “NOAA and its state and federal partners are researching multiple ways Gulf dolphins may have been exposed to oil, including through ingestion, inhalation or externally. Dolphins could have routinely ingested oil from sediments or water while feeding or by eating whole fish, including internal organs and fluids such as liver and bile, which can harbor chemical contaminants.”

Earlier this year the FDA assured us that Gulf seafood was safe to eat. However, there are other concerns beyond simple immediate human consumption needs. The number, health, and population numbers of the  species affects the food chain and ultimately the balance of the entire ecosystem.

Besides the known toxicity of oil, the dispersant Corexit is also suspected to harm life when used in vast amounts. One year after the spill, scientists found that Corexit, which was supposed to degrade soon after application, was still present in the water three months after application. Some 771,000 gallons of the dispersant Corexit were used to break down the oil into smaller droplets.

The news comes as BP announced that is has finalized a $7.8 billion settlement agreement with some 100,000 plaintiff individuals and businesses  from the Gulf area harmed by the oil spill and its aftermath. It is one of the largest class action settlements in U.S. history. One thing we can be sure of: no amount of dollars will help the the shrimp, dolphins and other  species that are suffering the dire consequences of the disaster two years on.

Related Stories:

Gulf Oil Spill: 10 Horrifying Facts You Never Wanted To Know

Dispersing Ain’t Cleaning: Ask Congress to Investigate Oil Spill-Dispersing Chemicals

Will the Gulf Oil Spill Ever Be Cleaned Up?

Read more: BP spill, deepwater horizon, dolphin, environment, gulf, sea life, shrimp, wildlife

Image of eyeless shrimp. Still from Al Jazeera video via YouTube (embedded above)

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/dead-and-deformed-sea-creatures-point-to-bp-oil-spill.html#ixzz1sbxPS8YA

Three Years Passed.

It's been three years.
Harry and I spent the day together and we talked, we laughed and I cried. Harry said to me, "Mom, don't cry. It's okay, here, come here," and gave me a big hug. He then said "G, we miss you all the time, so if you want, you can come here any time and I made you a maze on the shell and put it right over there for you, and we put some things you'll like, but please, if you can, come visit us, we miss you." He made sure to say something about doing the maze he had drawn on the shell, saying to my father, "Come down any time you feel like doing it and just do my maze, okay?"

It was Easter, but to us, it was not a holiday to celebrate (we're not religious anyway, not in that way at all) and we only had each other, so we had veg*n dinner and watched some of Harry's favorite shows, played a game, read some books and said goodnight to G and told him we miss him.

It doesn't seem like three years, but it's three years and it felt like last week when we visited last Sunday. Harry and I left seashells he picked, a rock he found right on the beach, washing in and out of the ocean; it had some green color in it and green is Harry's favorite color so he wanted to leave it there. We also left a baby bird figurine, then we draped netting of shells all around the area.

©2012 Suzanne Hayes / spookie Not to be used without permission.

©2012 Suzanne Hayes / spookie Not to be used without permission. 

I can't write more about it because my blog is public, and though it was originally supposed to be a blog about everything in life—covering personal to global issues—it can't be, at all, anymore. It probably never can be again, because sometimes people get on a power trip and decide they need to control other people's lives. They don't actually know you, but they assume they do and then they manipulate situations to fit their agenda.

Then again, there's THE STALKER, 100% legitimate stalker as per the police, and I rather she not know my personal business. It's a shame some people only listened to one side of the "stalker" story and never even knew of the serious, disturbing trauma this psychotic stalker put me and my immediate family through—when it began, how it began or why, my having to get the police involved (and their two visits to this stalker's home to warn her to stop or face the consequences) and how come I had to protect myself by blogging about the stalkers/cyberbullies to keep them from doing any harm on a more serious level. But as I mentioned before, there's no point to having a blog if it's hidden, so due to this insane stalker harassing me whenever she feels manic or the need to abuse strangers and blame them for her miserable life, I have no choice but to NOT blog about anything of a personal nature anymore. Not until this woman is legally stopped; by police or by psychiatric orders by a court.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

All images noted as Suzanne's or spookie's that reside on this site are Copyright © Suzanne and you may not copy or modify those images without permission. You may not extract those images and use them on your site. You may not use the images from this site on your blog, personal social site or mock profile pages. Photos of me—Suzanne/spookie—are not allowed to taken for personal use at all unless you have written permission. All photos that reside here might be on other sites. They are still copyrighted, as stated above. Fair Use does not apply to my personal image. Use of my photos without direct permission can result in monetary damages and other legal action(s).

If you have any questions about these rules, please do not hesitate to send an email.