Bunny’s Billionaire Helper

 

Rarely heard from and almost never seen, there is a silent supporter in Los Angeles’ animal welfare world.  He lives a quiet life, drives an 8-year old dog-friendly PT Cruiser and does his own grocery shopping, and while this hero manages to stay out of the public eye his generous contributions speak for him.  His name is Dr. Gary Michelson.

One of “Forbes 400” richest Americans, Dr. Michelson built his fortune inventing spinal surgical devices. Now retired, he devotes his wealth to benefit causes aligned with his philanthropic passions, including founding two charitable organizations—one focusing on human genetic research and the other dedicated to helping homeless companion animals.  

Pets have always been a positive force in Dr. Michelson’s life, providing great comfort through difficult times, and in return he is committed to ending the needless euthanasia that is the current de facto animal control policy in the United States and beyond.  

True to his entrepreneurial roots, Dr. Michelson’s Los Angeles-based Found Animals Foundation (www.foundanimals.org) is taking a different approach to animal welfare.  In true innovative fashion, Dr. Michelson decided to treat animal issues the same way he would a business problem and brought in a professional staff (led by Stanford MBA Aimee Gilbreath) to tackle what he calls “an experiment in social entrepreneurship”.  This insightful team is bringing new thinking and business principals to bear on everything from spay/neuter to adoptions.  For example, a recent live streaming “kitty cam” garnered nearly 800,000 individual viewers in a matter of only two weeks, which helped to nearly triple weekly adoption numbers at the shelter where it was hosted. —-

In October of 2008 Found Animals announced The Michelson Prize in Reproductive Biology, which is representative of Michelson’s visionary thinking.  The program offers $25 million to any group that can develop a non-surgical sterilant for cats and dogs, helping to overcome the costs and challenges of the current surgical spay/neuter standard.  Found Animals also offers a companion grant program to provide funding (up to $50 million) to help researchers pursue other promising non-surgical sterilization procedures.  The program was featured in USA Today and spoofed on Saturday Night Live within a week of its launch.  Over forty applications for grant funding are currently being processed.

The Found Animals staff works hard to promote new ideas.  Among them are ways to use social psychology to encourage the adoption of shelter pets, and brainstorming how to harness some portion of the $43 billion Americans spend on their pets each year.  The organization plans to use L.A. as a test market and will expand nationally, possibly world wide, according to their success.  

Michelson is a firm believer in the ability—and responsibility—of government to work for the benefit of furry constituents.  An eternal student, he’s made a point to research good policy and is convinced that doing right by animals actually saves taxpayer dollars over time.  Found Animals researches best practices and makes information available to local officials on everything from subsidized spay/neutering to dog licensing as a revenue source.

Meanwhile, Michelson is content to remain in the background and go about his very un-billionaire like daily routine.  He shares his home with three dogs, two happy and outgoing pit bulls (one of whom weighs in at over 100 pounds) and a graceful and reserved whippet.  Seeing them now you would never guess that they were rescued from confinement in a tiny chicken coop or picked up off the street after being abused and left for dead.  The dogs don’t know that Michelson is a hero to animals worldwide, they just know that he’s a sucker for puppy dog eyes—and that he never runs out of treats.

By Shane & Sia Barbi

LA’S HOMELESS AND THEIR PETS

 

By Shane & Sia Barbi with Robin Torme

 

Beverly Hills is known for it’s rich and famous. Yet, even its tree-lined borders can’t escape the images of homeless people sleeping on the streets, and often with their pet companions.  L.A. has a substantial homeless population who along with their voiceless pets, suffer the consequences of inadequate housing. Many homeless suffer from loneliness and adopt pets to fill void emotional needs and for protection.  Pets are often the only family they have. 

Every year, heart-wrenching scenarios occur where a homeless man or woman dies in severe weather while searching for shelter to ’save’ their companion versus abandoning them to a cold death.  But there are none. In recent California fires, a homeless man and his dog burned to death.  During the torrential rains, a home- less woman and her cat froze to death, curled together in a shoddy blanket.  During Hurricane Katrina, a man who became homeless had a heart attack when forced to abandon his dog.  Anyone can end up homeless.

Sadly, homeless are often mentally impaired, left without healthy boundaries to survive, vulnerable to darker reasons for owning pets where they starve, neglect or create wounds on them to evoke food,  sympathy and money.  ”Sometimes officials just don’t seem to care”, says Sia.  ”As a community, we are failing the homeless while these animals endure a slow torturous death.  When I reported such abuse, it led to a dead end.  Haunted by the dog’s bloodshot eyes pleading for help, officials showed up to take a report then let the man go with the dog despite obvious signs of abuse.  They didn’t check for licensing explaining that homeless have no address so they let these cases “slide.” The man escaped with the dog who then died, enduring two years of beatings, being dragged when it couldn’t walk from a severe paw infection.  The man then got another shelter dog still without an address…and animal crimes can’t be reported without one.  To not arrest for animal abuse has ramifications on society as evidenced by research showing most violent offenders start by torturing and killing animals.

Karley’s Story

An L.A. County assistant fire chief, 54 year old Glynn Johnson, was recently charged with animal cruelty in the beating death of Karley, his neighbor’s puppy.  Travis Staggs, a neighbor, was returning the escaped puppy to the owners, when Johnson insisted on taking over.  Johnson claims the puppy attacked him but eyewitnesses say the puppy did not attack, but rather Johnson tried to break the pup’s jaws, then bashed its head fatally with a rock.  Neighbors suspect him of other animal deaths in the area.  Staggs said he tried to intervene but couldn’t.  Johnson has pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty, with sentence-enhancing allegations of using a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony.  Many are just as outraged as Johnson has now been “retired” which includes pay from the fire department and remains free on $10,000 bail.  Johnson has since filed a lawsuit against the owners of the pup, the Toole family, who have two children, claiming the puppy has left him permanently disabled.  As parents, the Tooles are concerned over the effects that this has had on their traumatized kids, claiming they don’t sleep well and cry about their disappointment in the system.

According to the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, Johnson alleges that he suffered physical and emotional trauma as a result of the “pup’s brutal attack.”  He’s scheduled to return to Riverside County Superior Court for a felony settle- ment conference on February 20th.

Perhaps it’s time that we examine priorities and hold highly-salaried officials accountable to much higher standards.  Do we allow politicians to spend on lavish issues that pale in comparison to the living and the breathing?  A solution would not require additional funding, but simply enforcement, re-allocating, cutting the wasteful budgets, and supporting a new law defining animals as living beings and not ‘property.’  The Toole Family is working to get such a bill passed.  In an era where violent offenders have more rights than animals, isn’t it time those who feel the same pain we do are treated with nominal respect?  It’s beyond our own race and religion, but basic moral standards as a community.

If this story is as disturbing to you as it is to us, there is something that you can  do.  SuperStar music man Willie Nelson has recently signed the ongoing petition against Johnson. You can as well.  Looking at Karley, in plain sight is an angel with wings in the shape of a cross holding a ball of light.  It’s located right in the middle of her sweet little chest.  It’s incredibly unusual and some believe it’s a mark, perhaps confirming her mission here, chosen to give her life for a purpose, wearing a symbol of an angel spirit representing change for animals everywhere.  This symbol is recognized in some religions as “the perfection of power in which an angel spirit shines in everlasting life”.

DOWNTOWN DOG RESCUE is a great organization working in the poorest neighborhoods to help the homeless, their pets and stray dogs. They need your help setting up programs that can ensure a safe and healthy life for L.A.’s homeless and their pets.