Animals

On Oct. 16, the Burbank City Council is expected to vote on an ordinance to prohibit the sale of commercially bred dogs and cats in pet stores in Burbank. For those who don't know, “commercially bred” most times means animals that come from puppy and kitten mills that breed these animals under horrific conditions. Many of the “pedigree” papers are falsified and these animals have extraordinarily high incidence of disease and premature death. The profit motive for pet store owners gives little incentive for them to evaluate the conditions upon which their suppliers are raising these animals.

No people died, but a fire that killed more than 30 pets at the rented home of Daniel Payne ranks among the most tragic in recent Burbank memory. More than 20 cats died in the fire, along with 10 guinea pigs a pit bull and a Chihuahua. Beside Payne -- who received second-degree burns to his shoulders and chest -- the only known survivors were a Siamese cat named Sumac and another feline named Josephine. The house was destroyed and will be torn down.

Ryan Carter NORTHWEST DISTRICT -- It was a day for the volunteers and the community to get together for the sake of furry felines and adorable dogs whose quiet purrs and loud barks beckoned for only one thing: a home. Volunteers from the Burbank Animal Shelter held their second annual Burbank Animal Shelter Fair on Saturday with a goal to raise funds for volunteer programs and to raise awareness about the shelter, volunteer president Diane Good said.

When Missouri voted to pass proposition B to improve the conditions for dogs in puppy mills, the lobbyists went to work. Within weeks, the state Legislature in Missouri voted to overrule the vote. The proposition simply stated, “…adopting new rules for dog-breeders, including capping the number of dogs that were used for breeding purposes, requiring resting periods between breeding and establishing other requirements.” The measure required that dog-breeders only have 50 breeding dogs and required them to feed those animals daily and regularly.

Amber Willard RANCHO DISTRICT -- More than 100 wild horses and burros gathered from herds in western states will be up for adoption this weekend. The animals will be available for viewing from noon to 5 p.m. Friday and from 7 a.m. Saturday at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, 480 Riverside Drive. Bids for the mustangs and burros will be taken from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, with registration at 8 a.m. Those animals not chosen in the morning will be available for adoption later in the day and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Jackson Bell The dog days of summer might be over, but Friday was a day for dogs, cats and a menagerie of other beloved pets at a Blessing of the Animals. In honor of the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, Father Dick Albarano blessed hundreds of pets on the playground at St. Francis Xavier School. The celebration, which included a snake and an alligator, began with a group blessing followed by a reading from Genesis and individual blessings from Albarano.

At the March 27 council meeting, Councilwoman Stacey Murphy broadsided Councilman Bob Kramer and managed to wrest the animal shelter show from him. After congratulating Kramer on the great job he did with the animals and acknowledging that he was the one who started the program, she suggested it could be improved upon if the host were rotated among the Burbank population. She managed to get Councilmen David Laurell and Dave Golonski to vote with her. Mayor Bill Wiggins was the only member who rose to the support of Kramer.

Molly Shore People who love animals have the opportunity to make the lives of orphaned pets happier. The Volunteers of the Burbank Animal Shelter will host the shelter's 2003 fund-raiser, "Stand Up for the Animals," beginning at 6 p.m. Oct. 19 at The Castaway. "We will open with a silent auction, and have fabulous prizes including hotel accommodations, concert tickets, spa certificates, tickets to Disneyland and Universal Studios, gift baskets and a gigantic surfboard," said Eva Sippel, president of the volunteers.

Ryan Carter BURBANK -- Linda Blair has now gone from Academy Award-nominated star of a classic horror film to author. The Burbank resident just finished her first book, "Going Vegan!," a chronicle of how Blair -- inspired by what she saw as cruelty to animals -- went from a meat eater to a strict vegan who digests no animal products. "I just realized that maybe I had a pretty good amount of knowledge in this area, and that maybe I could help other people," Blair said.