How Shelter Pets Are Brokered for Experimentation: Understanding Pound Seizure

"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. 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 important book as a way to educate the pet-owning public and provide advice for animal advocates, as well as a road map to ban pound seizure in our country."---Debrah Schnackenberg, vice president of animal programs, American Humane Association

"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 a 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, Animals and Society Institute, Inc.

"As a lawyer, pet owner, shelter volunteer, and current vice president of public policy for the 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, The Latham Foundation

"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, president, American Anti-Vivisection Society

"Consider this your go-to source on the tragedy that is `pound seizure' and all of its ugly truths."---Stephan K. Otto, Esq., Animal Legal Defense Fund

Back in the 1940s, the practice referred to as "pound seizure" became common 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 tens of 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 with 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 what's 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.

Winner of a 2011 Muse Medallion^TM Award from the Cat Writers' Association. Judge's comment: “This is a necessary book on a difficult subject. It’s very well done. The book is enlightening and heartbreaking.”

Hardcover nonfiction book from Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Inc. is 238 pages and was released August 1, 2010. Available to backorder.