Little Brother's Pet Roundup

This week the Supreme Court will consider its first animal cruelty case in over fifteen years.  Justices will decide whether to uphold a law written by Representative Elton Gallegly of California that prohibits the sale of videos featuring depictions of animal cruelty.  Astonishingly, Gallegly's measure was overturned by the 3rd. Circuit Court of Appeals.  Critics had argued that the law was unconstitutional and infringed on free speech.  (Which is absolutely insane.)  From The Hill:  The case will touch upon how in the mid-1990s, underground "animal crush" videos spiked in popularity as a result of an unusual fetish.  Gallegly said a district prosecutor told him of the video - which featured images of women digging their high heels into the skulls of puppies and kittens - that “perverts" were peddling.  "It’s more horrible than you can ever believe.  It's beyond despicable. It’s barbaric," Gallegly said.

A dog that was taken to Metro Nashville Animal Control has been mistakenly euthanized by a careless employee.  The dog "Gypsy" belonged to a man named Jeffrey Sadler.  Apparently the yellow lab mix bit Sadler while he was breaking up a fight between her and another dog.  The man says that when he went to get the wound treated, the doctor informed him that the Gypsy had to be quarantined for ten days to make sure she didn't have rabies.  On WSMV's video, a teary-eyed Sadler says he feels like he is "being punished for doing the right thing."  (The moral of this story appears to be:  If your dog accidentally bites you, tell the attending physician that a stray did it.  Frankly, it would take more than a doctor's suggestion for me to hand over one of our furkids to animal control.)

Exactly a month ago, I wrote about a cat in Indiana that survived after being shot through the head with an arrow.  Now it's happened again - in Mississippi this time - where archery season has just started.  Randolph Henderson says his pet, named BC, didn't seem to notice anything was wrong.  "He was trying to put his head in the food bowl, the arrow was hitting the bowl.  It was amazing to me he was living, walking, rubbing because the arrow looked like it was through his brain."  A veterinarian removed the arrow, and BC is doing fine.  According to WLBT, the cat was allowed to roam free and hadn't even been neutered by its owner!  (Dismal stewardship by Henderson, IMO.)

Six thousand dogs produce approximately six tons of dog turds per year, which inevitably end up in the nation's landfills (more than No. 1 and 2 plastics combined).  Some clever entrepreneurs at EnviroWagg have figured out a way to turn canine feces into profit by converting the waste into fertilizing products called, irresistibly, Doggone Good Compost.  (America is the land of poop-portunity!)

STLToday reports that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has sided with a family currently fighting in court for their autistic son's right to bring his service dog to school.  Chris and Melissa Kalbfleisch sued the Columbia Community School District after officials refused to allow the boy's dog into his special education pre-kindergarten class.  Madigan's office contends that the outcome of an appeal filed by the school district "has the potential to set precedent that will impact other Illinois students with disabilities who use service animals."  (This isn't as cut-and-dried as you might think.  There's at least one student in that class who is allergic to dogs.)

After all this, you may be needing an "Awwww" moment.  (I know I did.)  Mercury News provides the heartwarming story the a 12-year-old Siberian husky that adopts two kittens.