How Shelter Pets are Brokered for Experimentation: Understanding Pound Seizure [Hardcover]

Allie Phillips (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1442202114 | ISBN-13: 978-1442202115 | Publication Date: September 16, 2010

Back in the 1940s, the practice referred to as Opound seizureO became a common practice in taxpayer-funded animal shelters across the country. Whether for cosmetic testing, human or animal drug testing, medical technique and tool testing, or biochemical testing, these once-family pets are subjected to experimentation that often ends in death. While many states fail to keep accurate data, the number of pets that become victims of pound seizure easily reaches the thousands and though most citizens are unaware of the practice, it may very well be happening at their local animal shelter. Pound seizure remains a dirty little secret in American society, but the practice is moving toward extinction with the help of local citizens advocating for change at their shelter, as well as animal rescue and welfare organizations providing assistance and advocacy. Learning more about the practice, as well as alternatives, will help give readers a fuller picture of whatOs happening in American animal shelters and what they can do to stem the tide of dealers and brokers sweeping off animals to their almost-certain demise.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When Phillips, who had once worked as a volunteer at an animal shelter, learned of the practice of pound seizure, she turned a "betrayal of trust" into action. As vice president of No Paws Left Behind and director of public policy at the American Humane Association, the former prosecutor has made it her mission to expose and fight the practice of shelter's giving or selling cats and dogs to research facilities, universities, or Class B Dealers (animal brokers licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture). Extensive research and expert opinion result is a thorough history of a little known practice "often intertwined with the legitimacy of medical research." Phillips outlines some of the ways in which seized animals can be used for research, including "the testing of medical techniques (surgical techniques or medical tools), pharmaceutical testing (human and animal drugs), blood banking for other animals, cosmetic, industrial, and biochemical." Though many organizations are phasing out the use of such testing, these sections are still disturbing. Taking readers methodically through the facts of the issue, Phillips hopes to not only create awareness but also advocacy, and provides a bounty of practical resources for anyone who wants to take action.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Allie Phillips reveals a tragic failure to protect former pets from unnecessary-and at times, unlawful-use and abuse in science labs. She lays out the issues and the influences that have evolved over decades, and points to a solution that starts with each of us. She is an inspiring, model advocate, with courage and tenacity. (Sue Leary )

Allie Phillips shares an insider's view of the generally unknown business of Class B animal dealers and pound seizure. As a lawyer, pet owner, shelter volunteer and currently VP of Public Policy for American Humane Association, Allie details the ways that some animals have been silently diverted from pounds and sold into a murky research world. The good news is it appears fewer are being sold now, but that pound seizure exists with no visibility violates a public trust. This book is a recommended read for everyone working in animal welfare. If we could change the hearts of people... (Hugh Tebault )

This is not an easy book to read, but it is a necessary one, and Allie Phillips is uniquely qualified to tell the story of "America's Dirty Little Secret." Allie takes her own wrenching experiences with pound seizure and applies her legal background to present the definitive volume, from the law, policy and legislation, to the science and personal stories-and more-about the animals and people caught up in this world. (Beatrice M. Friedlander )

This book is a must read for anyone who knows nothing about pound seizure, as well as for the person well versed in this heinous practice and who wants to understand what she or he can do to make the madness stop. This book is for anyone who considers themselves a Good Samaritan in helping to get animals in-need to shelters, yet may be contributing to the delivery of a pet to an animal research facility. This book also painfully illuminates how owners who surrender their pets due to situations beyond their control, or have their precious pets stolen from their own yards, can never be sure that their pet won't end up splayed on an operating table or housed in sterile lab conditions and subjected to repeated experimentation. The message is simple - this is a practice that could literally affect you and your pet tomorrow. For the local animal control or community animal shelter, this book is a message that engaging in pound seizure is a practice that, if discovered, can and will result in the withdrawal ofprecious donation dollars, loss of community support, and loss of compliance with stray dog laws and abuse/neglect laws. I highly recommend this as an important book both for educating the pet-owning public as well as for animal advocates seeking advice (Debrah Schnackenberg )

When Phillips, who had once worked as a volunteer at an animal shelter, learned of the practice of pound seizure, she turned a 'betrayal of trust' into action. As vice president of No Paws Left Behind and director of public policy at the American Humane Association, the former prosecutor has made it her mission to expose and fight the practice of shelter's giving or selling cats and dogs to research facilities, universities, or Class B Dealers (animal brokers licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture). Extensive research and expert opinion result is a thorough history of a little known practice 'often intertwined with the legitimacy of medical research.' Phillips outlines some of the ways in which seized animals can be used for research, including 'the testing of medical techniques (surgical techniques or medical tools), pharmaceutical testing (human and animal drugs), blood banking for other animals, cosmetic, industrial, and biochemical.' Though many organizations are phasing out the use of such testing, these sections are still disturbing. Taking readers methodically through the facts of the issue, Phillips hopes to not only create awareness but also advocacy, and provides a bounty of practical resources for anyone who wants to take action. (Publishers Weekly )

Consider this your go-to source on the tragedy that is "pound seizure" and all of its ugly truths. (Stephan K. Otto, Esq. )

This book is a must read for anyone who knows nothing about pound seizure, as well as for the person well versed in this heinous practice and who wants to understand what she or he can do to make the madness stop. This book is for anyone who considers themselves a "Good Samaritan" in helping to get animals in-need to shelters, yet may be contributing to the delivery of a pet to an animal research facility. This book also painfully illuminates how owners who surrender their pets due to situations beyond their control, or have their precious pets stolen from their own yards, can never be sure that their pet won't end up splayed on an operating table or housed in sterile lab conditions and subjected to repeated experimentation. The message is simple - this is a practice that could literally affect you and your pet tomorrow. For the local animal control or community animal shelter, this book is a message that engaging in pound seizure is a practice that, if discovered, can and will result in the withdrawal of precious donation dollars, loss of community support, and loss of compliance with stray dog laws and abuse/neglect laws. I highly recommend this as an important book both for educating the pet-owning public as well as for animal advocates seeking advice and a road map in their work to ban pound seizure in our country. (Debrah Schnackenberg )

By far the best researched report on pound seizure to appear between book covers. (Animal People )

The target audience of this book is the lay public. However, laboratory animal professionals, administrators, and scientists would be well served to read it in order to better understand the public's perception regarding the use of shelter dogs and cats in research. (American Association For Laboratory Animal Science )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (September 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1442202114
• ISBN-13: 978-1442202115
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,288,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Allie Phillips is a former prosecuting attorney who turned her love of animals into a mission to protect them. As the former Vice President of Public Policy and Human-Animal Strategic Initiatives for American Humane Association, she has lobbied for better animal protection laws and created national initiatives to help animals (such as the Sheltering Animals & Families Together (SAF-T) Program, formerly the Pets and Women's Shelters (PAWS) Program). As Director of the National Center for Prosecution of Animal Abuse at the National District Attorneys Association, she trains criminal justice professionals about the importance of taking animal cruelty seriously. And at a personal level, she volunteers in shelters and opens her home to care for and re-home homeless cats. Allie is dedicated to being a vocal advocate for the protection of animals and empowering others to join the movement. Check out her website at www.alliephillips.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do you know where your pet is?, December 18, 2010

By 

katiecowgirl - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Shelter Pets are Brokered for Experimentation: Understanding Pound Seizure (Hardcover)

Twenty-two states have no laws limiting the seizure, sometimes called "release," of animals from pounds or shelters as of this writing. Nine states leave it up to each shelter to decide whether to relinquish animals to Random Source Class B dealers (those who do not deal in animals raised especially for research) for re-sale to industry or universities or not. In the rest, except for Minnesota and Oklahoma, which *mandate* pound seizure, meaning that it cannot be denied the dealer, you can feel safe. I was unaware that when I adopted one kitten from a home and took in another that had been abandoned at our doorstep in Montcalm Co., Michigan, in 2002 that I was saving them from a short life in a laboratory. Until recently, they would have been sold, along with other unwanted or even kidnapped pets, to be used in various experiments and then killed, perhaps painfully.

Phillips documents the cruelty of dealers who see adorable dogs and cats as merchandise, and establishes that many of those pets that are killed after experiments or surgery lessons die needlessly. She cites studies showing that the public does not want animals they turn over to shelters out of mercy or must surrender when they can no longer care for them to be treated inhumanely, experimented on, and then killed. People state overwhelmingly that they would not financially support shelters that allow these practices. Yet, in many states they continue, in spite of public outrage. "Now is the tipping point," she says, when public awareness can lead to a total ban on the practice. Drug experiments are not necessarily valid when performed on animals, as the failure of some recent new drugs has shown; vet students can perform surgeries, including neutering, for free, and return animals to owners or shelters rather than "putting them to sleep."

This is the book for you or your activist friends to read. This is something we can fix.

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond Disturbing, October 12, 2011

By 

Sara McGaughy "Sara McGaughy, Author of Matil... (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Shelter Pets are Brokered for Experimentation: Understanding Pound Seizure (Hardcover)

The author does a wonderful job of shining a light on a horiffic practice. I had no idea that this type of thing was going on. Kudos to her for educating and empowering others.

Matilda Mae: The Dog Who Needed a Name

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ - EMPOWERING!, April 16, 2011

By 

Julie Michigan - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Shelter Pets are Brokered for Experimentation: Understanding Pound Seizure (Hardcover)

This book is a must read for anyone who lives in Michigan, or near any state that engages in the selling of lost pets in shelters for experimentation (pound seizure). Basically, if you have a pet, the practice of pound seizure affects you no matter where you and your pet live!

The author's passion and life changing journey brought her to find the courage to take on the grossly negligent and incompetent "system" and "industry" that is notoriously illegal and shady...she helps bring vampires out into the light - where they can't stand it!

The stories of pets who were witnessed as seized, and the total failures of the current laws to protect them, exposes why pound seizure simply never will be a practice that can be trusted by anyone.

Pound seizure is a dirty little secret and this book exposes those who would engage in such practices - and public servants who fail to uphold the law and taxpayer interests. No matter what issue you are passionate about, this book will give you insights on how to fight an outdated system of the 'good ol boys' and win local battles that will both improve community trust and save our pets from horrible torturous deaths.

This book is empowering to help any citizen learn not to fear battles with the "status quo" when you know you are right - vampires can't stand the light!