Oakland Animal Services came to the aid of more than 500 day-old chicks taken into custody at Oakland Airport. The chicks were being transported by the United States Postal Service from a Santa Cruz hatchery to a destination in Washington State on Tuesday, May 13.

The Oakland Airport Postal Service discovered many sick and some dead
chicks among the shipment of five boxes of 106 chicks each - or 530
total - and contacted Oakland Animal Services for assistance; 47 birds
were found dead. The chicks were from Cal Cruz Hatchery in Santa Cruz
and when reaching Oakland airport had already been traveling for over 24
hours before Oakland Animal Services impounded them.

Animal Place, which frequently works with animal control agencies to
help find adoptive homes for farmed animals confiscated in cruelty
cases, is working to help place the chicks. Because the rescued birds
are “broilers”, or chickens raised for meat, they are bred for rapid
growth so they can be slaughtered at six weeks of age.

“Shipping chicks through the postal service is common practice. It is
a given that many will die in route, but the losses are expected and
accepted by industry,” said Adam Parascandola, Oakland Animal Services
director. “These poor chicks were less than a day old before their
nightmarish journey began.”

“It should be illegal to transport any animal through the postal
service, let alone day-old chicks,” said Kim Sturla, Animal Place
director. “This is another example of treating farmed animals as
commodities and not living creatures. If only people knew the suffering
that went into their roasted chicken!”

It is legal to ship young birds through the mail, as long as they are
under 24 hours old when presented for shipping, and delivered to the
receiver within 72 hours. The practice of sending chicks through the
postal service began over 100 years ago, when the first commercial
hatchery in America sent 50 chicks from New Jersey to Illinois in 1892.
Today, millions of chicks are shipped each year through the mail,
without food or water or proper housing, and as a result, large numbers
die before reaching their destination, while many more suffer
unnecessarily. Animal advocates have long condemned the practice, and
although the U.S. Postal Service has instituted modest policy changes,
transport of live animals through the mail remains inhumane and results
in countless deaths each year.

This coming Saturday, May 10^th from 1-5 pm will be the fifth event at the Oakland Animal Shelter for Oakland Raider’s fans.  Come on out all you Raider fans, tailgate with Coop, and maybe even adopt that fuzzy little companion that you have been thinking about for awhile now.  There will be Raider players, Raiderettes, great food, and a raffle.  The shelter is located at 101 29^th Avenue, Oakland 94601.  For more info, go here.

We’ve been working hard to find ways to improve the lives of the animals while they are in our care.  Small dogs are often extremely frightened when they come into the Shelter since they are surrounded by much larger and much louder dogs in the kennels.  We wanted to find a way to house these little dogs in a new way.  So, we found a room to remodel and with the help of multiple volunteers we repainted the room and filled it with comfy furniture and bedding to make “Smallville”.  Now, little dogs will live in this room together without cages and away from the noise of the “big dog” kennels.  We have already noticed a major change in the behavior of the first small dogs that we’ve placed in this room.  They are much less stressed and outgoing!

Pinky came to the Oakland Animal Shelter over one year ago in April, 2007!  He was a very shy boy and his skin showed through his short fur.  He was a very sweet dog, but tended to sit in the back of his kennel.  He was moved into adoption and slowly gained confidence.  Months past though and he was not adopted.  Amy, a Shelter volunteer, decided to foster him and worked for months to find him just the right home.  It’s finally happened!  Thanks to everyone who cared so much about him to make sure he has a happy future.

Lynda Dann (www.lyndadann), artist and Oakland Animal Shelter volunteer, painted each of the Shelter’s animal socializing rooms with themed murals.  Dann donated a large amount of her time for this project and the rest of the costs were co-sponsored by Friends of the Oakland Animal Shelter (www.oaklandsanimals.org) and Pet Food Express (www.petfoodexpress.com).

The staff and volunteers of the Oakland Animal Shelter have been making the Shelter warmer and more inviting for visitors. “Many people imagine animal control facilities as dark, depressing institutions and therefore won’t adopt from them” says Oakland Animal Shelter Director Adam Parascandola. “Our goal is to make our Shelter a fun, comfortable destination spot for families to meet all of our adoptable animals.  These murals are an important part of this project.” 

Lynda Dann has transformed each socializing room to make the visitor feel as if they are standing in the center of a garden, undersea world, and an expansive meadow.  Dann says “The first two murals, “Zoe’s Garden”, and “Mr. Zip’s Aquarium, honor the spirits of two treasured cats who saw both myself and my husband through some difficult journeys.  The third mural, “Vincent’s Magic Mountains”, celebrates the memory of hikes taken through the years with my late brother and our various family dogs.”

Dann has lived in Oakland for over 23 years and has been a Shelter volunteer for nearly three.  Her paintings and artwork depict real or imagined objects one might find in nature. Dann says “This project is very special to me.  I wanted to create environments for the cats and dogs by giving them magical imagery as backdrops.”

Oakland Tribune article, http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_8983340

Coco was at the Shelter for over 8 months waiting to be adopted!  She has now, finally, found a loving home!  Thank you to all of the volunteers who spent so much time with Coco while she was here to help her pass the time while she waited for her new family! 

The Shelter will be open on Easter Sunday from 12-4pm.  Thank you!

Jarrod Cooper, Oakland Animal Shelter volunteer and players for the Raiders, is featured in the Sacramento Bee this week for his work at the Shelter:  http://www.sacbee.com/raiders/story/764231.html.  Photo from Sacramento Bee.

On Saturday, March 1st, Oakland Animal Services received the first orphaned baby squirrels that the Yggdrasil Urban Wildlife Rescue (YUWR) Shelter in Oakland has seen this season.  For the last three years, YUWR has seen the first babies on March 3rd…so they came two days early this year.   YUWR fosters and then releases hundreds of baby squirrels every year.  They need squirrel foster parents - so please go to www.yuwr.org for more information!

If you find a baby squirrel that is pink/hairless on the ground, place it in a box with blankets and bring it to the Shelter or contact YUWR.  If the baby squirrel has fur, leave the baby squirrel by the base of the tree for the mother to come pick it up.  If found in the afternoon, leave out until just before dusk, but bring it indoors for the night. Do not attempt to feed any baby squirrel.

Its a BIG day at the Oakland Animal Shelter!  Our new outdoor dog exercise area (The Coop) is complete and ready for dogs!  We now have ten, large areas for dogs to play outside.  Volunteer, Jarrod Cooper, donated the funds through the Friends of the Oakland Animal Shelter to have the area cemented and the kennels built!  We are now able to get dogs outside throughout the day which will significantly improve their quality of life at the Shelter!  http://eyespot.com/share?cmd=permalink&r=0XCzIG2UEokNkXiEJW0yIWmmdR