Stop MI county from sending lost pets to research labs

I just received the following email. Though I’m not from the county, I still took action and you can too:

Subject: Help STOP it, Pound Dogs & Cats Sold for Research, Montcalm Co, MI

Hello,
A few weeks ago many of us rescues, transporters and other animal lovers were all included in a series of e-mail pleas that were an effort to rescue 11 dogs headed to a research lab.  Several of us have combined our efforts, including web searches, to try to help stop the practice altogether.  This letter comes to you in hopes that you will all join in to send a strong message to the people who can do something.  And if we all write to them it WILL be a strong message.  We have effected change before with our combined voices.

I am told that Montcalm County, Michigan, routinely sells animals to research.  Several rescuers have been working non-stop to rescue animals from that facility–from a fate worse than death.  But what also has to be done is to stop the practice.  The county’s contract with the Class B dealer (R & R Research of Howard City, Michigan) is up for renewal in early January.  The Montcalm County commissioners need to hear from all of us that this barbaric practice has to stop.  There is an organized effort underway.  Please go to
http://www.cccmontcalm.org to see how you can help.  There is a box in that website where you can write your note; ask the county commsioners to vote not to renew the contract with R&R Research.  You can also sign the petition.  I just signed it and there were ONLY 443 signatures as of Dec 28!  Come on folks, lets make ourselves heard. Please cross post widely to all your friends.  Contact Montcalm County officials.  Be persistent.  Be well reasoned.  And always be polite.

There are two sample letters at the bottom of this email.  This will come up for a vote at the commissioners meeting on Jan 12, so please do not delay.

It might be effective to contact national and state media, too.

Here are two other links if you wish to learn more.  One of them lists the shady and unethical dealings and behavior of R&R Research, the Class B dealer that gets animals from Montcalm County to sell to research.
http://www.michanimalnews.com/Montcalm_Animal_Control.html
http://www.care2.com/news/member/525884267/

Thank you,
Susan Hayley

CONTACT THE LINK ABOVE TO HELP THE MONTCALM  COUNTY RESEARCH DOGS.
I AM NOT THE CONTACT PERSON.

Sample Letter # 1
Ladies and Gentlemen:

People throughout the country (and throughout the world) have learned of the plight of stray animals in your county—first abandoned by their people, only to then face the ultimate betrayal—being sold to an unethical Class B dealer for subsequent use as research animals—with the whole operation being funded by taxpayers despite their vehement protests.

Montcalm County is one of the few remaining counties in the country that still betrays the trust of its citizenry by turning animals from the “shelter” over to the atrocities of research.  Not only is the practice barbaric, outdated and sharply criticized by ethicists, medical experts and animal lovers alike, but the lab that Montcalm chooses to deal with (R&R Research, Inc. of Howard City, Michigan) has come under fire for unethical operations and flagrant violations of law.
R & R has engaged in less than ethical practices including listing itself as an animal shelter in the yellow pages.  The State of Michigan Attorney General’s Office ordered the ads removed.  Quite obviously, R & R is no shelter.  Ionia County Animal Control ended its relationship with R & R after it was discovered that a dog that an Ionia Animal Control Officer claimed was shot to death, was actually at R & R Research.  An undercover investigation by WOOD TV in the 1990’s showed video of R & R owners gassing animals in a rusty 55 gallon drum.  In 2006, the USDA cited R & R for improperly transporting dogs. The poor creatures were chained to the side of a livestock trailer, which is illegal since the regulations demand that each animal is transported in an individual compartment. In 2005, a USDA inspection found sick cats, quarantined without a treatment plan. In both cases, it’s clear that R & R’s actions led to the suffering of animals.
Compassion and ethical considerations aside, Montcalm County is, in this time of financial crisis, enriching R & R, a private corporation, at the expense of its taxpayers.  Montcalm County is giving dogs and cats to R & R and based on R & R’s own submission to the USDA, R & R resells the animals for an average of $311 each.

The only one who has benefited from the deal is R & R which resells animals at a huge profit. The animals don’t win since they loose the chance at finding a new home. Montcalm County looses any income from adoptions and also the goodwill that a well run shelter generates. Instead, the relationship between the dealer and the shelter is a source of bad publicity for Montcalm County and its elected officials, with many groups even calling for a boycott of all Montcalm businesses until the shelter stops selling to research.

I respectfully request that, in considering the renewal of the R & R contract (or even entering into one with another Class B dealer), you take into account the concerns and welfare of your community (economic as well as social) and have Montcalm County take another step into the 21st century by leaving pound seizure behind.  Please do not renew the R & R contract.  It is the ultimate betrayal.

Sincerely,

Sample Letter # 2
To whom it concerns,

Please vote against renewing the R & R Research contract on Jan 12.

The contract allows innocent dogs and cats, some of them surrendered pets, to be turned into research subjects where they suffer cruelties and atrocities. I have read of some researchers putting acid in a dogs eyes, inflicting pain and withholding pain medication, gassing the animals, chaining them, allowing sick animals to go without treatment.  I have read that R & R has been criticized for violations and for cruelty.

Breeding and using companion animals for research purposes is barbaric and inhumane.  Allowing it to continue is wrong.

It is understandable that people can become desensitized to behaviors, conditions and practices once they have become accustomed to them.  This could make it seem “normal” for dogs and cats to be used and abused in this way when it has been happening unchallenged for generations.  Or sometimes human nature can cause people to turn a “blind eye” to awful things and simply be in denial.  I’ll bet those poor animals aren’t in denial.

Please open your hearts and vote accordingly to STOP the practice of using companion animals in research.  Please do not renew the R & R contract.  Please embrace compassion and courage.

Sincerely,

Filed under Animals |