James and Sharon Pierce rode a 500-mile, 7-day journey across the state of Iowa in memory of their dog Max. In 2014, they raise $5,000 for Friends of Chicago Animal Care and Control. Help them “MAXimize” their ride again this year. They’ve designated an amount for each stop along the way. Help make sure James and Sharon make it all the way and donate today!
Additional information can be found at Miles for Max 2015
The new law is the product of a lot of deliberation on the part of many independent animal shelters
and rescues working together with the increasingly progressive management of Chicago Animal Care and Control.
Kittens barely days old like these two need a home environment immediately if they are to survive.
The new law helps save the babies. Thanks to the new early live release ordinance, orphaned puppies and kittens can now be released immediately into the hands of rescue organizations that care for them in foster homes. No more waiting in the highly stressful conditions of the shelter for 5 days before being released. No more succumbing to disease because they haven’t been alive long enough to develop the resistance adult animals have. Baby animals are the most vulnerable animals in the shelter AND the most adoptable—if they live. And now they have a better chance of making it out alive than ever before.
Stray cats get a head start on a second chance. The early live release ordinance now allows rescues to take any stray cat (one without identification) into their care on Day 1 of impoundment. Of the thousands of stray cats that come into the shelter each year only a handful are ever reclaimed. Until now, ninety-nine percent plus have been confined to stressful shelter conditions for 5 days before they could be released to rescue groups. Not anymore. The early live release ordinance allows rescues to save just about any stray kitty immediately. (Those strays not taken in by rescues remain at the shelter for the usual holding period.)
Stray dogs have to be a little more patient. For dogs without identification, early live release can take place within 3 days now instead of the usual 5. A shelter environment, no matter how well designed, isn’t as good for any animal as the love, care, and companionship they experience in a home. Now stray dogs can be released to those willing to provide them with foster care on Day 3 of their impoundment instead of spending another 2 days waiting for a former owner who never comes. (Statistics show that if a stray dog is reclaimed, it is most likely to happen in the first 3 days of impoundment. After that, the odds of ever being reclaimed drop dramatically.)
What about dogs and cats with i.d. tags or microchips? Dogs and cats with proper identification aren’t considered strays. Microchips and i.d. tags are the best gift you can give your pet, be it cat or dog. They are the surest way to help your pet find its way back to you should it ever get lost.
What else has changed? Except for the life-saving provisions outlined here, the standard holding periods before an animal becomes the property of the city remain as they have been for many years. Read the new early live release ordinance to confirm this information.
–FCACC is entirely responsible for the content of this message.
Join us to celebrate the 10th annual Celebrity Chefs event, Big Night, on Thursday, October 16th from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Chicago Cultural Center. The event features over a dozen of Chicago’s finest chefs serving tastings of their favorite dishes, complemented by wine and the famous “muttini” bar, as well as a live and silent auction, raffles and live entertainment.
All proceeds from this night will go directly to benefit Chicago’s neediest animals!
Honorary Chairperson: Founder, Chef Jackie Shen
Emcees: Channel 7 Sportscaster Jim Rose and Lifestyle Design Expert Lakesha Rose
Entertainment: Pop and Rock String Artists the CoverGirls Violin Show
Court Case Dogs truly beat the odds. They have been given a second chance at a great life thanks to a long line of heroes: The police; animal control officers; the justice system; Chicago Animal Care and Control (“CACC”); Safe Humane’s Court Advocates, volunteers, dog training and behavior professionals; partnering rescue groups; and the families that welcome them into their homes.
Friends of Chicago Animal Care and Control and Safe Humane Chicago have been partners in saving lives since 2010, when Safe Humane Chicago’s Court Case Dog program first begun.
It wasn’t long ago that Chicagoland animals seized from neglectful or criminally charged owners were viewed solely as evidence. They were rescued, but then languished in a cage until their owners’ court cases concluded. Unlike their owners, these dogs did the time, but not the crime. After they satisfied their evidentiary role, these dogs were typically euthanized.
The Court Case Dog Program was a first step toward justice for these animals. What began in January 2010 as a partnership between Safe Humane Chicago, Best Friends Animal Society and CACC to advocate for, support and re-home these animals is now a thriving program managed by Safe Humane.
Since that time, Safe Humane has taken hundreds of dogs into its program. After the dogs have been either voluntarily relinquished by their owners or transferred by court order to the City of Chicago, a team of dedicated volunteers, professional dog trainers and behavior consultants focus on helping the dogs reach their full potential. The dogs are walked, participate in obedience and manners classes, and run in playgroups with other dogs off leash. Through Safe Humane’s partnerships with rescue organizations, like Friends of Chicago Animal Care and Control, these Court Case Dogs then find loving homes.
Safe Humane will also provide the family that adopts a Court Case Dog with training and behavior support.
Some of the Court Case Dogs transferred to Safe Humane’s program have endured especially unjust treatment. All Safe Humane dogs are behaviorally assessed, and then provided with the training, socialization, enrichment opportunities, and love that they need to become wonderful companions.
The Court Case Dogs’ resilience and ability to move beyond their histories and into forever families’ hearts is awe-inspiring.
If you are interested in adopting or fostering a Court Case Dog through Friends of Chicago Animal Care and Control, please contact Kat Budrean at kbudrean@hotmail.com.
Each month, Chicago’s 47th Ward Service Office has an Adoptable Section of their email newsletter that is sent to 10,000 people. The Adoptables Section highlights homeless pets that are available for adoption from various agencies in the City, including Friends of Chicago Animal Care and Control, Treehouse, Chicago Canine Rescue, Found, Famous Fido Rescue and Adoption Alliance, and One Tail at a Time.
In addition, the 47th Ward collects food and supplies for the Friendship Pet Food Pantry. The monthly food pantry operates within the Lincoln Square Friendship Center to help families who have fallen on hard times keep their beloved pets by providing food assistance.
If you would like to learn more, please contact Dara at dara@chicago47.org.