Category Archives: Euthanasia

Rebecca Stevens, president/CEO of Humane Society for Hamilton County, is eager to help the shelter raise the funds needed to move into a new space. Indianapolis Star

While the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc this year there has been unexpected upside:pet adoptions are on the rise as people stuck at home seek companionship.

Thats especially true in Hamilton County, where adoption rose 8% over last year and the number of people fostering animals has soared.

I have never seen our cages so empty,"said Rebecca Stevens, president of the Humane Society for Hamilton County. They are flying out the door.

Adoptions have been going so well that the no-kill shelter has been taking in hard-to-adopt animals targeted for euthanasia at other Indiana shelters and is still finding homes for them. Recently, a pit bull mix with special needs named Taylor who had waited two years was adopted.

Hamilton County Humane Society Behavior Manager Gina Doyle walks Goliath, one of the shelters longest residents of six months, up for adoption at the Hamilton County Humane Society, 1721 Pleasant St, Noblesville, Ind., on Friday, Dec.11, 2020. Pet fostering and adoptions have been up across the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.(Photo: Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar)

Grand piano, chandeliers, shoe shine station:Here's how much Hotel Carmichael decor cost

She is asthmatic, plus she has to be the only pet in the house, Stevens said,"and is a pit bull, so she had three strikes against her."

An accountant who had been working from home during the pandemic adopted her.He gives Taylordaily breathing treatments for chronic asthma.

We are seeing that a lot, its a national phenomenon, people are stuck at home and seeking company or have the tine to care for a pet that never had before, Stevens said.

The community adoption rate for pets from January to June nationwide was 73%, up from 64% last year, according to Shelter Animals Count, a non-profit that helps share data on shelter animals. At the same time euthanasia was down 43% because fewer animals are being given up and more people are fostering, the organization found.

The Humane Society of Indiana said puppy sales are also rising but the organization doesnt keep numbers on adoption rates statewide.

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Anecdotally, I have heard that shelter and rescue adoptions have increased throughout the state this year, said Sam Morton, Indiana state director,"since people are staying home and want to spend time with companion animals."

Pet stores and veterinarians have reported increasesin business as a result of the growing number of pet owners. Dog leash sales increased to $44.6 million, up 13% for the 24-week period ending Aug. 15, according to a Nielsen survey, and pet toy sales increased 18%, to $243 million, for the same period.

David Horth, chief executive officer of the Humane Society of Indianapolis, said adoptions have picked up recently and are running quite strong now but I do not believe we will see a year-over-year increase.

Possible, Horth said,"but not probable."

Garfield is a seven year old cat up for adoption at the Hamilton County Humane Society, 1721 Pleasant St, Noblesville, Ind., on Friday, Dec.11, 2020. Pet fostering and adoptions have been up across the state during the COVID-19 pandemic. He is one of the "Home for the Holiday's" pets at the shelter. (Photo: Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar)

Marlene Christie, of Noblesville, adopted Rocco in early in November. The diabetic and overweight 8-year-old cat was in the Hamilton County shelter for six months before sherescued him.

Hes considered an older cat, the kind people dont like adopting, but I like older cats, Christie, 62, said. They are calmer and more reserved. I want a cat that will just sit with me, not a kitten who is going to tear things up.

Christie said Rocco developed diabetes because the previous owners fed him too much. He weighed 22 pounds when Christie adopted him but is down to 18. Hes proven to be a valuable companion for her other cat, Toby, who she also adopted two years ago at the advanced age of 10.

They get along great, Christie said,"which is good for them when Im out babysitting my grandchildren."

Hamilton Countys adoption and fostering surge has come even as donations have decreased because large fundraisers have been curtailed, Stevens said.

Hamilton County Humane Society Director of Operations Megan Gonterman walks Willy, a dog up for adoption at the Hamilton County Humane Society, 1721 Pleasant St, Noblesville, Ind., on Friday, Dec.11, 2020. Pet fostering and adoptions have been up across the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.(Photo: Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar)

However, its biggest annual fundraiser, a formal dinner called Tinsel & Tails, raised more money this year despite being all virtual, netting $251,159 compared to $150,844 last year.

Many people who had reserved and paid for tables didnt ask for refunds and the organization was able to sell enough virtual tickets to increase the overall take.

But another event the Woofstock Survivor 5K and Dog Walk, raised only half as much as last year $77,000 and the shelter has had to close its resale shop.

Stevens said she expects 2021 to be another challenging year financially because of the pandemic and because the shelter is moving into a new home in Fishers. Our operating expenses are going to increase, Stevens said.

The $12 million building at Hague Road and 106th Street in Fishers is scheduled to open in April2021 and will replace the current home in Noblesville.

In the meantime, the shelter is proceeding with its Christmas push to adopt the 12 cats and dogs who have waited the longest for a home.

For more information on those 12 pets, visitthe shelter's website atwww.hamiltonhumane.com/programs/events/home-for-the-holidays.

USA Today contributed to this story.

Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418. Email at john.tuohy@indystar.com and follow on Twitter and Facebook.

Read or Share this story: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/hamilton-county/2020/12/29/humane-society-hamilton-county-humane-society-of-indianapolis-animal-shelters-planning-2021/3862370001/

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'Flying out the door': With adoptions up and donations down, animal shelters look to 2021 - IndyStar

TNR (trap, neuter, return to their outside home) is a humane and successful program that helps manage the cat overpopulation in communities all over the country without euthanasia.

The program is limited to community cats already living outdoors on their own. Without TNR, these cats would continue to breed excessively since there is no owner to get these cats fixed.

TNR simply allows those cats living in their natural habitats to continue to do so and reduces the risk of overpopulation and all its ensuing problems as well as eliminates nuisance behaviors associated with nonfixed cats.

In 2016 Aiken County passed a resolution to implement a return-to-field program. It has been highly successful and a life saving program for thousands of outdoor community cats.

Jennifer Miller

FOTAS President

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Letter to the Editor: TNR is a good thing - Charleston Post Courier

Dear Editor,

Are we properly considering the cost of all the COVID restrictions?

Just within my own neighbourhood, I know of multiple people combatting loneliness, one person struggling with depression and thoughts of euthanasia, two deaths of isolated individuals, and one suicide.

According the the BC Center for Disease Control statistics specific to COVID-19, in the Northern Health region we have had a total of nine deaths since the beginning of the year.

Meanwhile, 106 people in the Northern Health region died of drug overdoses since the beginning of the year, 10 just in October.

Domestic violence and abuse is up. Neighbours who used to look out for each other are now being encouraged to snitch on each other.

Disposable masks litter the streets. Small business owners struggle to find space in their cramped floor plans for social distancing, while companies such as Amazon, Canadian Tire, Costco, and Walmart are raking it in.

The elderly are barely allowed contact with their loved ones even as they near deaths door.

Young people are being tempted to call in sick instead of working for a living because they easily recieve a cheque from the government.

National debt increases weekly.

And now when we need them most, religious gatherings are banned. When I told my four-year-old son that we couldnt go to church because it has been deemed non-essential, he saw through the inconsistency of these restrictions immediately and called it how it is: But we can go to the swimming pool!

Please, Bonnie Henry, explain why I cant enjoy worship and fellowship with other believers in a safe, distanced setting, but its OK to spend several hours splashing and mingling at the local pool with two dozen other people.

Alcohol and cannabis are not essential. UFC Fight Night at the sports bar is not essential. Movies are not essential. In fact, most of these things are not truly beneficial to society in the long run, yet they are still on the essential list.

Seeking out the hurt, lost, and lonely is essential. Caring for the elderly, especially when all they have left to enjoy in this life is visits with family, is essential. Small businesses are essential. Motivating people to work rather than collect handouts is essential. Gathering together for worship and fellowship is essential. All of these things are beneficial to society in the long run, but we are rapidly losing the freedom to enjoy these things.

Lets rethink the irrational response to the COVID-19 pandemic and come up with some consistent guidelines that protect the vulnerable without completely crippling the basic, essential functions of the rest of society.

Austin Olij,

Smithers

Smithers Interior News

Originally posted here:

What is the cost of COVID-19 restrictions BC Local News - BCLocalNews

Euthanasia as an option for Canadian nursing home patients who are sick of lockdowns

A final family get-together with Nancy Russell /ctvnews.ca

This is just one story amongst many but it raises serious questions. A 90-year-old woman, Nancy Russell, chose euthanasia last month in Toronto. She was not suffering unbearable pain. She was just sick and tired of lockdown isolation in her nursing home.

According to a report in CTVNews, Residents eat meals in their rooms, have activities and social gatherings cancelled, family visits curtailed or eliminated. Sometimes they are in isolation in their small rooms for days. These measures, aimed at saving lives, can sometimes be detrimental enough to the overall health of residents that they find themselves looking into other options.

She, almost overnight, went from a very active lifestyle to a very limited life, and they had, very early on, a complete two-week confinement just to her room, said her daughter. She was just drooping. It was contact with people that was like food to her, it was like, oxygen. She would be just tired all the time because she was under-stimulated.

Ms Russell supported Canadas medically assisted dying but the first doctor to whom she applied refused because she had too much to live for. She applied again after more concrete medical health issues emerged. This time, the doctors gave her the tick of approval.

She just truly did not believe that she wanted to try another one of those two-week confinements into her room, her daughter said.

When you stick someone alone and deprive them of the usual things that bring them interest in joy, that can be an incredibly isolating, lonely, depressing experience, Samir Sinha, a geriatric specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital told CTV News.

And frankly, when you can't look forward to getting out of your room, to having meals or doing activities with others, to even seeing your own families and loved ones, you can imagine for a person in the last few years of their life where these are the basic things that actually bring them joy and really defined what they would call their own quality of life, when you actually deprive a human being of these things, you can imagine that that can have significant psychological consequences that can really give people no real will to live anymore.

Even to die, Ms Russell had to leave her nursing home. She spent a week with one of her children before she was given a lethal injection surrounded by her relatives on October 20. She was able to direct a peaceful, pain free death on her own time and avoid a great fear of hers, which was to endure winter and lockdowns, her daughter said.

Michael Cook is editor of BioEdge

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Euthanasia as an option for Canadian nursing home patients who are sick of lockdowns - BioEdge

Memories on the net are written in indelible ink. However much you want to forget and move on, even with laws permitting it, data is always available in some corner on the Internet, waiting to do damage.

By Sujit Bhar

To forget is an intellectual probability, as much as it is a legal improbability. Even restricting the debate to the cyber world, it becomes highly improbable that a person wanting all references of him or her, in pictures, writings, or in documents to be removed from the internet could ever achieve that.

The Orissa High Court, during a recent judgment, suggested that that there should be a provision for the right to permanently remove objectionable content, photos or videos from the internet. This means that if a wrong picture or video has been posted on the Internet, then the victim should have the right to demand that it be removed forever.

This would be the elusive Right to be Forgotten.

Why elusive? The Right to be Forgotten is possibly as, if not more, contentious than the controversial right to euthanasia. The right to euthanasia is unlikely to become law in India, ever, depending mostly on case-by-case judgments by the courts as was in the case of nurse Aruna Ramchandra Shanbaug, where the Supreme Court allowed passive euthanasia which was carried out on May 18, 2015. If the Right to be Forgotten is a Human Right too, then finding a way to implement it is a Himalayan task.

The court observed that there is no law in the country regarding this right. So the court suggested that it can be included under Article 21 of the Constitution. The court said that many European countries have given this right to their citizens and the Orissa High Court is the first constitutional institution which has deemed the need of Indians to get this right.

Before venturing beyond the boundaries of the country, one should look at the intended legislations in India. The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 has a section Right to be Forgotten. However, the bill itself is in limbo. It was first tabled before Parliament by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is also the minster here) on December 11, 2019.

It was sent back to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for a detailed analysis, in consultation with experts and stakeholders. The committee, headed by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi, was tasked with finalising it on a short deadline. Probably the Covid intervened, but the Bill is pending, still.

As per the Bills section 27, Right to be Forgotten:

(1) The data principal shall have the right to restrict or prevent continuing disclosure of personal data by a data fiduciary related to the data principal where such disclosure:

(a) has served the purpose for which it was made or is no longer necessary;

(b) was made on the basis of consent under section 12 and such consent has since been withdrawn; or

(c) was made contrary to the provisions of this Act or any other law made by Parliament or any State Legislature.

Following caveats in sub-section 2, sub-section 3 clarifies methodology as follows:

(3) In determining whether the condition in sub-section (2) is satisfied, the Adjudicating Officer shall have regard to

(a) the sensitivity of the personal data;

(b) the scale of disclosure and the degree of accessibility sought to be restricted or prevented;

(c) the role of the data principal in public life;

(d) the relevance of the personal data to the public; and

(e) the nature of the disclosure and of the activities of the data fiduciary, particularly whether the data fiduciary systematically facilitates access to personal data and whether the activities would be significantly impeded if disclosures of the relevant nature were to be restricted or prevented.

Technically, if its not the Licence Raj, there is a distinct possibility of it becoming an Adjudicating Officer Raj. Technically, your personal right isnt for you to decide, it seems.

One hopes these rough edges are sandpapered while deciding on the final format of the Bill before it is again put before Parliament.

That, though, is the part where legal apathy and government eagerness to maintain oversight on your personal affairs is predominant. That is a political fight, and should be fought, tooth and nail.

There are improbabilities hindering progress of this thought, though. It is the reign of international laws, business interests and technology. It also has reference to Indias claim of localising data and its possible benefits.

The broader canvas

Yes, the EU has a good right to be forgotten law. But the grass on that side isnt as green as it seems from here. That law, as a recent court ruling has pointed out, has its limitations. According to a BBC report of September 24, 2019, the EUs top court ruled that Google does not have to apply the right to be forgotten globally. What does that mean? The ruling meant that Google only needs to remove links from its search results in Europe, following a request to the effect. It has no obligation to remove the links from anywhere else. This was the outcome of a French privacy regulator suing Google.

It started in 2015, when CNIL ordered Google to remove search result listings to pages containing damaging or false information about a person. And this should be done globally, it demanded.

To that Google created a technical solution. It introduced a geoblocking feature which prevented European users from being able to see delisted links. However, users elsewhere had no problem accessing those links.

This is an aberration of the right to be forgotten rule in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), also known as the right to erasure, which gives a EU citizen the right and the power to demand that data about him/her be deleted.

Here, too, there seems to be a Controller Raj in place. This is evident in the following guidelines incorporated in the GDPR: Anybody can request any organisation to remove data related to him/her. This request can be verbal, or in writing. The organisation has been given a month to respond.

There is where the complications begin.

In the case in question, Google argued that the obligation could be abused by authoritarian governments trying to cover up human rights abuses, if they were to be applied universally, which is beyond European borders.

What Google explained was this: Since 2014, weve worked hard to implement the right to be forgotten in Europe, and to strike a sensible balance between peoples rights of access to information and privacy. This was the companys statement, issued after the ECJ ruling. Then, quite like a snide aside, it added: Its good to see that the court agreed with our arguments.

What all this means that link to, say, an objectionable photograph, outlawed and obfuscated by Google in Europe, could be accessed across The Atlantic and immediately relayed back to websites in Europe, making the original ruling of any court a joke.

In its decision to not allow obfuscation outside Europe, Google had on its side other tech giants, such as Microsoft, Wikipedias owner the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the UK freedom of expression campaign group Article 19, etc.

Even ECJ adviser Maciej Szpunar had surmised that this right (the Right to be Forgotten) should be limited to Europe.

There are benefits of this ruling and Googles decision. There are negatives too. The negatives are being overruled by a demand for transparency of information. The problem is that this strikes at the root of privacy laws around the world. When a non-profit reporters committee joins hands with the tech giants, there is need to introspect. How would an attempt at creating an unbiased piece of legislation based on the Orissa High Courts recommendation look like on the world stage, or even across the country? Would such a move enable a terror organisation to forcefully remove all data related to their activities from the Internet?

The accepted policy and methodology in a terror group or drug cartel tracing is scrutinising money trails. A Right to be Forgotten, if universally applied, will stymie this effort.

On the other hand, illegal references on the net to a rape victim, her pictures and identity, should be wiped clean from all databases. Thus, yes, it will be a case-by-case reference, in which case the universality of the law would be in doubt. It will be a Controller Raj and open to the inherent corrupt practises that most Indians have been known to perpetrate.

That leaves us with the other option: end-to-end encryption, technologies that apps such as WhatsApp employ.

What is end-to-end encryption? An article in CNBC explains this well:

End-to-end encryption is a security tool used by some apps and services including WhatsApp, Signal and Facebook Messenger to provide a greater level of privacy. Messages sent using this tool are encrypted before they leave the senders phone or computer, with a key unique to the devices at either end of an exchange. Even if they are intercepted during transmission by a hacker or a government agency, the messages are unreadable, since the only devices able to decode them are those belonging to the sender and the intended recipient.

Hacking of messages encrypted end-to-end is very difficult. The only way such a message can come out into the open is through active participation of one of the participants. That leaves little option for unauthorised grabbing of data and uploading of such data out into the open.

What is encryption? This is a very ancient technique, widely used and developed into an art form during the World Wars, in which data, or a message, is turned into an undecipherable format. The format accepts a logic that a key can provide at the other end. Encryption has progressed beyond simple symbols of old and is generally computer generated. There is little a third party can do in this.

There is normal (or link) encryption, in which data from sender can be deciphered by a middle party such as a social media operator and then encrypted again for the receiver. In this case, the deciphered data remains available with the middle party.

For end-to-end encryption, this middle party accepts no role and the cipher remains undisturbed.

As in every coin, the flip side of end-to-end encryption is that it creates a safe space for criminals. Hence investigating agencies such as Interpol, who look into money transfer trails, will face a wall.

The encryption part

However, all this may hit yet another legal wall soon. Encryption, in India, is not illegal so far. There is no bar on anybody encrypting any message or data for storage or transfer via any means.

But if a study published in a Carnegie Endowment journal of May 2019 is to be believed, some legislation regulating encryption based on its perceived hindrance of lawful data collection is imminent.

The article studies different statuses of privacy-related legislations in India and finds that the atmosphere is right (within the government) for such a legislation. It says: The exact nature of the regulation remains undecided because of a need to balance law enforcement needs, apprehensions about the proliferation of unsecured devices, concerns about the security of digital payments and freedom of expression. Whatever the outcome of this debate, it will significantly affect Indias newly recognized fundamental right to privacy, burgeoning economic activity in cyberspace, and security architecture as a whole.

The author of the article tries to look into government activities in cyberspace in arriving at such conclusions. He writes: The Indian governments present adversarial posture toward regulating online content primarily stems from a lack of capacity to address cyber and cyber-enabled offenses. This is compounded by an inability, under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), to systemically gain access to electronic evidence stored abroad. For example, encryption has often been at the core of the confrontation between Indian law enforcement and U.S. technology companies. Indian laws, especially the Information Technology Act 2000, bestow wide powers on law enforcement agencies to intercept and decrypt communications, but these powers are rarely exercised to gather electronic evidence. Instead, agencies rely on legacy search-and-seizure provisions like Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, when seeking access to electronic communications.

The author brings in the Blackberry incident, where the Indian government was trying to force the company to decrypt its internal, encrypted free messaging system. That, probably, showed the way for things to come soon.

The outcome

The Orissa High Courts judgment, in the face of it, should hugely benefit any free-thinking member of the public. However, achieving a balanced legislation on this would be a Herculean task.

The problems, as discussed above, would be the objections that can, and will, be raised by investigation agencies, especially the NIA and the NCB in India, claiming that this would corrupt efforts to track terror funding and drug cartel money movements. This is a legitimate claim.

There will also be problems in the search for missing children. This database especially facial recognition data is one that needs sharing among different police forces. But a privacy law can infringe on rights of policemen to deal with minor girls photos and identities. How that can be handled could end in a new chapter.

The issues involved in writing a new legislation in this regard, thus, are humongous. While the intent of the Orissa High Court is commendable, any attempt at implementation may result in having to open a Pandoras Box of troubles.

Read Also: Governor signs UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance 2020

Read more from the original source:

A Right to be Forgotten law will be almost impossible to implement - India Legal

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Mobile, AL (WALA) Biologists said the sperm whale spotted in Mobile Bay for nearly a week was euthanized Wednesday morning.

Dr. Ruth Carmichael with the Dauphin Island Sea Labs Marine Mammal Research Program said the whale was just too sick to survive.

The euthanasia was deemed the best option for this animal who was suffering and unable to swim and survive any longer in the wild, said Dr. Carmichael.

Boaters first spotted the 36-foot long sperm whale in the bay on Thursday. Researchers with the sea lab said it was the first time a sperm whale had been seen in Alabama.

A necropsy will be performed to find out what caused the whale to venture into the shallow waters of Mobile Bay.

Its a deep water species, so whatever it is that affected it there is a chance that it could be affecting other animals that are out that might wash up in other locations, said Dr. Carmichael.

The necropsy should be completed by Thursday, but it could take weeks before researchers get test results back to determine what was wrong with the whale.

Carmichael said the whale weighs about 30,000 pounds and is either a fully grown female, or a young adult male.

Biologists estimate there is a population of 1,000 sperm whales in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

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Biologists euthanize sperm whale in Mobile Bay deemed too sick to survive - KTVZ

In George Boardmans column of Nov. 17, he talked about winners and losers resulting from the recent election. He wrote: LOSERS: Evangelicals who are dismayed that the next president actually takes religion seriously and practices his faith. But Protestant fundamentalists never much liked Catholics anyway. Worded as such it is offensive to both religious communities. Evangelicals and Catholics are Christians.

I take issue with Boardman regarding Biden taking his Catholic identity as being serious. Its anything but. The only thing serious was him trying to please Catholics into voting for him. Joe Biden is a CINO (Catholic in name only) as he does not believe in, or practice, what the church teaches. I dont know what he takes seriously, but its not religion or practicing his faith. Youll never hear Sen. Feinstein saying to Biden the dogma lives loudly within you.

Biden uses the old Im personally opposed, but excuse while beholding to the Democratic Partys platform of abortion for all who want it, any time, for any reason up to birth, I believe. He supports euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research, artificial contraception, as well as same-sex marriage. These all are intrinsic evils in Catholic teaching.

Dennis Babson

Grass Valley

Excerpt from:

Dennis Babson: Biden and religion - The Union of Grass Valley

BTS, "Be" (Big Hit Entertainment)

February seems like an unfathomable lifetime ago. That's when BTS' "Map of the Soul: 7" which trails only Taylor Swift's "Folklore" for the year's bestselling album debuted at No. 1 around the globe.

This trim, eight-song album often slower, more reflective and refined than its last marks the coronation of the South Korean group as not just a commercial juggernaut but a driving force in American pop culture.

Without a worldwide stadium tour, BTS had much more time on its hands. That meant more original songwriting and production work from the band members. "Dynamite," the breakout single on "Be," has already topped the Billboard Hot 100 with its fizzy, throwback disco vibes. "Stay" and "Telepathy" are right in line with it, heavy on the post-EDM sizzle and funk bass driving hits like Dua Lipa's "Break My Heart."

But new songs like "Life Goes On" and "Dis-ease" each driven by slow-rolling retro hip-hop beats acknowledge the grind of the COVID-19 world while trying to keep fans resolved that better days are ahead. "Blue & Grey" is beautifully harmonized bedroom emo, and like Swift's "Folklore," a document of this homebound, lonely era of music where we're making the most with the tools we have at hand.

August Brown, Los Angeles Times

Nick Cave, "Idiot Prayer" (Bad Seeds Ltd.)

On the heels of last year's excellent album "Ghosteen," Cave had scheduled a tour with the Bad Seeds that got scuttled. Instead, we have a solo performance he filmed last June, seated at a grand piano in London's cavernous, empty Alexandra Palace.

This 85-minute soundtrack album serves as a toned-down Cave retrospective, including early Bad Seeds songs such as "Stranger Than Kindness" and "The Mercy Seat," Grinderman songs including "Palaces of Montezuma," such recent works as "Galleon Ship" and one new song, the brief "Euthanasia." Somber and stately, it highlights his thoughtful voice, romantic piano playing and poetic lyrics.

Steve Klinge, Philadelphia Inquirer

New Releases

Billie Joe Armstrong, "No Fun Mondays"

Hatebreed, "Weight of the False Self"

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Smashing Pumpkins, "Cyr"

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Album reviews: BTS lets it 'Be' while Nick Cave offers an 'Idiot Prayer' - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Vets are experiencing a mental health crisis after being targeted on social media, a survey has found, revealing it is no longer an idyllic career.

Some 74 per cent of 565 respondents said they were "very or quite concerned" about stress and burnout as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, according to research by the British Veterinary Association.

They are being bombarded with messages by demanding clients who chastise them if they fail to reply quickly, putting them at higher risk of psychological distress and suicide, it is claimed.

Vets are used to dealing with the death or euthanasia of animals, which means they are more likely to turn to self-harm compared with many other professions, said Lucy Grieve, president of the British Equine Veterinary Association.

As we are expected to deal with death regularly, with euthanising animals being a unique way of having to deal with death, were quite familiar with it and some have argued suicide becomes an easier option as a result, she said.

That sounds raw, but the concept of euthanasia is part of our job so one could argue its not too big a step if youre in a very dark place.

Mrs Grieve said one of the biggest problems facing vets is their inability to "switch off" after finishing their working day.

It can subtly chip away at you if in your spare time youre getting bombarded with messages. But were responsible for our own boundaries so vets should equally say Ill get back to you tomorrow, or not reply until the next day.

Graham Hunter, a veterinary advisor at IVC Evidensia, agreed that mental health is a huge issue in the industry.

Vets are often working alone, in the middle of the night, and these are huge pressures," he said. "If youre sensitive, and out in this world where people can be brutal, you can see why people sometimes struggle."

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Vets in mental health crisis, survey finds - The Telegraph

Every day volunteers go to a little pink house in Uptown New Orleans to do life-saving work.

They arrive bringing clean laundry or folded newspapers. Some bring cat food or litter. Most pick up cat traps to trap the multitude of unfixed cats in New Orleans that are breeding prolifically.

These heroes trap 50 to 60 cats a week and get them spayed and neutered via the Louisiana SPCA and Dr. Antoine Saacks.

Most of the cats that are trapped have dedicated "feeders" who start feeding one or two cats then over the course of a few months have a proliferation of breeding cats to feed. They realize that if something isn't done they will soon have 20 mouths to feed.

Some start calling local veterinarians and learn that spaying and neutering can cost $300 or more. Eventually, they find "Trap Dat Cat," a New Orleans Cat Trapping group. Our phones ring constantly for help with getting the cats spayed or neutered for a reasonable fee. If people can't pay for the service we will pay to get the cats altered so no more cats are born on the streets to suffer.

We need the help of the veterinary community to assist in offering reasonable spay-neuter pricing to stop the overpopulation of cats. We need volunteers to help trap cats. We need donations to help pay for the surgeries.

If you love cats help us reduce shelter euthanasia and intake of cats and kittens into our shelters and rescues. No one likes seeing tiny kittens on the streets.

NITA HEMETER

volunteer cat trapper

New Orleans

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Letters: Help needed for spay-neuter services to limit unwanted cat population - The Advocate