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Be the Change 4 Animals—How the Government Shutdown Affects Us



It's all good unless The Woman who launches the rockets & feeds me is furloughed.

The government shutdown is ticking off a lot of humans, who are pointing fingers at each other. In case they haven't noticed, it's also affecting other species, Our favorite shelter, A Call 4 Paws, had a few links on their FB page to the ASCPA blog, which gave a short list. I'll summarize what I learned so I'm not just regurgitating what they wrote.

  1. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is not performing all their duties under the Animal Welfare Act. One duty it's not performing is inspecting puppy mills and pet dealers. We all know how that can affect the lives of innocent animals.
  2. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service  WILL be monitoring food safety and humane treatment in slaughterhouses; HOWEVER, measures to ensure the safety of pet foods are currently NOT being implemented, according to an article on CatTimes.com.
  3. The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will NOT be inspecting show horses to ensure that they have not been sored, putting show horses at risk.
  4. The Animal Welfare Act that regulates exotic animal exhibits will NOT be performing it's duties EXCEPT the Smithsonian Institution, who retained essential employees.
  5. There are no USDA watchdogs ensuring that minimum standards of care are being met for laboratory animals.
  6. All National Wildlife Refuges are closed to the public meaning hunting and trapping on these lands is prohibited, which is a good thing.
  7. Also, according to Cattimes.com, there is a possibility that investigations into the import and export of dog fur and cockfighting birds into and out of this country could be hampered. It can also be easier to transport dogs across state lines for dogfighting.
I'm sure this isn't a complete list but I wanted to keep this brief. For more information, read the Animals & Politics blog. Now that I see how these furloughs are affecting other species, I say it's time humans put their petty squabbles aside and end this shutdown. The law is the law and no amount of crying, pouting or posturing is going to change it. Stop acting like two-year-olds and do your job or perhaps it's time to start electing cats to run our government.

♦ ♦ ♦  ♦  ♦ ♦ ♦ 

Now for something completely different. Flu season is approaching and our humans can get whiny and demanding when they're sick. However, it's best that we keep our distance from them. I know we want to nurse them back to health and give them comfort; but, did you know you can catch the flu from your human? It's called reverse zoonosis (zoonosis meaning animals can give diseases to humans). Humans can get flu vaccines but there are currently no flu vaccines for us. If you've been nursing your human, it's important for them to make sure that you don't come down with flu or respiratory symptoms. If you do, they should take you to the stabby place to get checked. The first case of this was in Oregon in 2009 and since then, there are at least 13 cats and one dog with H1N1 flu virus that appear to have come from humans. I know I like to get treats from my human; however, this is one thing they can keep for themselves. They're doing more research on reverse zoonosis. You can read more here.

Would you like to comment?

  1. That is very interesting. Dad is a RN and he will want to know this.
    Purrs
    Timmy

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  2. Very important info CK. Stupid idiots in Congress. I cannot post my real words. This is a family blog

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  3. Very good post, CK! Some peeps need to be pee'd on, in our opinion...

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  4. Never thought that those departments would not be functioning. Quite worrying. Have a terrific Tuesday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  5. That was good CK!!! If we would spay and neuter all politicians maybe the problem would eventually disappear!

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  6. Interesting post.

    And now we have reason to tell Jan to sleep on the couch instead of our bed when she's sick!

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  7. Pawsome blog post CK, such great information. We did not even think about those things.*paw whap on Mom and Dad's hands* and the flu thingy is totally new. So far so good and not flu here for years...but ya never know. paw pats, Savannah

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  8. Brian's comment made us MOL! They should make Congress go on no pay leave...

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  9. Thanks for letting us know to stay away from the Mom if she gets sick. So far she has stayed well and we would like to keep it that way.

    We really should put doggies and cats in charge of the government we would do a much better job then those people currently in office.

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  10. I didn't realize that there were SO many ways the government shutdown is affecting us kitties and other animals! My human has been really bummed about the whole situation.

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  11. I'm not sure about the food inspection thing for cat and dog food....I think that might depend on the size of the company and if it is "mainstream"....not sure.
    Also, I knew about the flu but dogs and cats catching it from humans isn't common and it is only certain strains that they can catch (not sure what those are)

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  12. We're with Brian. We think the politicians need to be spayed and neutered. Maybe they'd quit all this petty squabbling and do their dang jibs!

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  13. Dog fur?... I think I've heard everything now... I've never seen any kitties or woofies get the flu from their human before, but I know it's possible. They do got a H1N1 shot for the woofies, but none for cats as far as I know.

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  14. "Furlough" is an interesting word!! I thought a furlough was given to someone, not that they took it off their own bat!!!

    Well said CK!!

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  15. Thanks for the ASPCA short list of animal related jobs waiting to be done (or secret doings happening off the Cat radar.

    What about the hungry 80-year-olds like the couple my friend saw in line at the grocery store. They live on a tiny fixed income and can't eat with out food stamps.
    Their card was denied. My friend gave them all his cash saying, "I wish this was more. Get what you can from your shopping cart."

    So glad you Blogged for the Change today. Hope we keep #Btc4a growing and growing.

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  16. Great post, CK! We had totally forgotten about the flu. That might be something good to amplify again in a couple months when the flu season hits full swing.

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  17. Great post there CK, as always you make very good points. (You are make the best nurse evah!)

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  18. Great post CK!
    I sure wish I could shut down Waffles and make everyone else get back to their jobs. ;)

    ...Glogirly's got to get her shot as soon as she's off antibiotics. When she was super sick and went to the doctor, they thought she had influenza. YIKES! They did this fancy new test they have for it which involved sticking a really long stick up her nose.

    Should have been there for that.
    ; ) Katie

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  19. Thank you for the great post and important information! I agree, they gotta stop acting like 2-year-old children.

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  20. ha ha - I love what Brian said too. We need to fire all of them - hold their salary when they start acting like they have recently. We cats can do better than they can. Good article CK. We never thought about all the things that affected animals either.

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  21. Great post and shared. Feel free to post at my FB page.

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  22. No problemo. I don't do "nurse" duty. When she's sick, she can take care of herself. She's of no earthly use to me except for the can opening.

    Glad those peeps will be back on the job tomorrow--or soon anyway!

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  23. At least our government is up and running again. Mom says she is embarrassed to be an American right now! The politicians are idiots and that they continued to get paid is outrageous. Your right…elect cats!

    We had no idea that we could get the flu from our humans. We are so glad that they've already had their flu shots 'cause we sure don't want to give up our places in bed next to them. Thanks for sharing this good info.

    Purrs and hugs, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

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  24. Very good post, CK!
    Next my mom get sick I tel her that she can sleep on the sofa far away from me and dad :)
    XOXO

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