Sunday, August 26, 2007
Donna Miller, Plain Dealer Reporter

Women and children being abused in their homes by the men in their lives have trunk loads of problems to overcome in order to escape. One of those hurdles is fearing for the safety of their helpless pets. They feel trapped because domestic violence shelters can't accommodate pets.

That's why veterinarian James Prueter and family-law attorney Leslie Gentile founded SAFE -- Safety for Animals and Families in Emergencies. It's a network of foster homes, the Cleveland Animal Protective League, veterinarians and battered women's shelters in Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Lorain counties. SAFE spokeswoman Lesley Ashworth is working to bring Medina and Summit counties into the fold.

When a woman seeks shelter, her pets are taken to safe homes or boarding facilities, where they remain until the woman relocates. Foster-care givers are carefully screened volunteers.

SAFE is a nonprofit organization founded in 2002 that relies on donations and grants to pay for veterinary care and pet food. More money and more help are needed. Get details at safe.cuyahogacounty.us, safeanimals1@yahoo.com, or 216-970-3035.

Northeast Ohio is fortunate to have SAFE. A recent survey by the Ohio Domestic Violence Network found that nearly all shelter workers know of women who stayed in abusive homes because they feared for their pets and had nowhere to take them. Many if not most of the 70-plus women's shelters across the state lack programs that would help these women and their beloved pets who have shared their lives of fear and pain. Find the shelter nearest you -- actionohio.org/dvshelter.htm -- to help get a pet program started. The people at SAFE will gladly share their trail-blazing, life-saving expertise.

World Rabies Day
Seems there's a day for every thing lately. The first Rabies Day is Sept. 8. The goal is for 55,000 people across the world to take action on this day -- one for ev ery human who died last year of rabies -- to educate people about the disease, which is transmitted through saliva. The single most effective thing you can do is vaccinate your dogs and cats, even indoor cats, who occasionally escape.

Most rabies deaths occur in Asia and Africa, where dog rabies is common.

In Ohio, raccoons are the carriers people or pets are most likely to come across, which is why health departments drop vaccine-laced pellets along Ohio's southern and eastern borders, trying to stop the migration of rabid raccoons from Pennsylvania and Virginia. The disease used to occur mainly in Florida, but fur trappers unwittingly brought rabid raccoons north.

Still, most of the ill raccoons -- skinny, pus in the eyes and nose, wheezing, walking drunkenly, disoriented -- don't have rabies; they have distemper, another viral disease preventable with vaccinations. World Distemper Day, anyone? Not likely.

Distemper is not contagious to humans, just your cats and dogs. But your furry friends are way more likely to be bitten by a raccoon than you (unless you make a habit of running up to sick raccoons to sniff them). If pets had clout, there'd be a World Vaccination Day.

More cockfighters:
You read about them in Lorain County in my last column. Since then, four Medina County residents were sentenced for cockfighting in York Township on Feb. 18. Medina Municipal Judge Dale Chase said property owner Earl Kanzeg must serve 40 days of a 120-day sentence. He'll be on probation for five years. Yvonne Brine was sentenced to 30 days of house arrest and a year of probation. Dale Lind must serve 30 days in jail and five years probation. Doug Engler will spend 10 days in jail and five years on probation. All are barred from owning live poultry or being on property where live poultry is kept.

Send animal news to djmiller@plaind.com; fax 216-999-6374; 216-999-4852; 1801 Superior Ave., Cleveland, Ohio  44114.

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