January 7, 2009 – The Arkansas Farm Bureau is supporting a bill that will deem aggravated animal cruelty to be a class D felony on first offense, punishable by up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Read full text of story here.

Cocoa

• Name: Coco

• Rescued From: A family who was unable to care for her and her brother, Mugsy

• Journey: Animal Advocates Alliance first discovered Coco roaming La Brea Blvd. with her brother, Mugsy, wearing no collar or tags. AAA discovered that Coco and Mugsy, as well as their mother, belonged to a low-income family who was unable to care for the puppies properly. Unfortunately, this was largely the result of the family’s failure to spay the mother, who had already produced a litter of puppies once before. AAA agreed to foster and re-home the puppies on the condition that the family would allow AAA to spay the mother to prevent future litters, which they did. AAA fostered Mugsy and Coco for 10 weeks before they were adopted by a wonderful family in Hancock Park

• Adoptive Family: The Kamin/Genco Family

• Favorite Activity: Jumping on the kitchen table and cuddling with her brother, Mugsy

Mugsy

• Name: Mugsy

• Rescued From: A family who was unable to care for him and his sister, Coco

• Journey: Animal Advocates Alliance first discovered Mugsy roaming La Brea Blvd. with his sister, Coco, wearing no collar or tags. AAA discovered that Mugsy and Coco, as well as their mother, belonged to a low-income family who was unable to care for the puppies properly. Unfortunately, this was largely the result of the family’s failure to spay the mother, who had already produced a litter of puppies once before. AAA agreed to foster and re-home the puppies on the condition that the family would allow AAA to spay the mother to prevent future litters, which they did. AAA fostered Mugsy and Coco for 10 weeks before they were adopted by a wonderful family who live in Hancock Park

• Adoptive Family: The Kamin/Genco Family

• Favorite Activity: Getting belly rubs and playing with his former foster sister, Sammy, during visits to the foster home

• Name: Fisher

• Rescued From: South Los Angeles shelter

• Journey: Fisher (formerly “Bandit”) was found as a stray and spent one month in isolation at the South Los Angeles shelter with a broken left hind leg and no pain medication. The night before he was scheduled to be euthanized, Animal Advocates Alliance pulled him from the shelter and placed him in foster care at the Goldberg/Gharabegian home. Because the bone in Fisher’s leg had fused at an angle, it had to be re-broken, shaved, and stabilized with metal rods. Fisher spent the next 10 weeks recuperating from surgery, which was paid for by Animal Advocates Alliance, with help from a couple of donors including Elayne Boosler of Tails of Joy. Fisher now lives with his adoring new family in Simi Valley where he sleeps in bed with his human brother, Jackson, and enjoys regular visits to the doggy spa

• Adoptive Family: The Slade Family

• Favorite Activity: Biting sprinklers and burying chew toys

Quincy

• Name: Quincy

• Rescued From: East Valley Shelter

• Journey: Quincy was adopted from the East Valley shelter only to be returned by his adoptive family because of his “high energy level”. AAA agreed to foster and re-home Quincy. While on a walk with his foster dad, a local family met him and immediately expressed interest in adopting him. After a brief trial period, they decided that he was “the perfect dog” and now describe him as “pure awesomeness”!!

• Adoptive Family: The Hermann Family

• Favorite Activity: Taking walks with the family and playing with the kids