peace-love-pets

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why is barbie’s the nutcracker the only good film adaption of the nutcracker that has ever been made

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How can one fishless cycle for a 1.5 gallon tank?

Step 1: Throw it in the trash

That’s it!

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That seems about right.

@cannibalcoalition @thebibliosphere

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quick! i gotta send some noods before the ban hits!!

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Morning aerobics

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When I was seven I got kicked in the face by a grown ass horse while I was cleaning his hoof. I never told anyone and just continued like nothing happened. That being said, I never went back to horse riding lessons.

We should confess things before the tumblr bomb goes off like in a movie

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Mr. Fishy only ever provides me with quality photos of his butt 🤷🏻‍♀️

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SIP Blue Boy

You were one angry bastard

Thank you for rekindling my love in bettas

SIP

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video proof that every creature is dogs

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Animals needing Help

WARNING: Some of the things described are graphic and upsetting, and include animal neglect, death, and mistreatment. I have tried to keep things as benign as possible.

Long story short, the Prairie Park Nature Center in Lawrence, Kansas has been neglecting and improperly caring for its animals for years.

The staff have no power to do anything about it, as the supervisor (i’ll call ‘MB’,) rules the place with an iron fist and promptly fires anyone who would question her authority or care for the animals. One person lasting only 3 weeks before being fired, strangely after bringing up a bad fungal infection of the Iguana. That person tried to treat it, and since they are gone it is not being treated anymore.

The rose tailed boa was caged improperly, and received severe burn scars all down its back, resulting in great difficulty in shedding its skin. (I do not have a photo at this time and can not go get one, but if you go there, its the snake in the hallway by the bathrooms).

The lovely Asian box turtle that was donated to the center by a teacher (a tropical animal), was put in an improper pond under the direction of the supervisor. It died within a week.

At least six of the birds at the center need beak and talon care. This is a picture of one of the worst examples: The beak getting caught stuck open from being too long. The supervisor does not allow anyone but herself to do this, and has proclaimed repeatedly that “we are just too busy” to justify the neglect. I know there has since been significant down time, and the birds are still neglected. Other birds include a Red Tailed Hawk, a Barred Owl, a Screech Owl, a Scarlet Macaw, and an African Grey. 

To be sure that I was not overreacting, I contacted the Minnesota Raptor center and shared pictures. Turns out that not only are they being neglected, but the center is also violating multiple federal regulations in regards to the birds housing and care. 

The proper length of a bird’s talons must allow it to rest its feet flat on the ground. As you can see, they are so overgrown the toes can not touch the glove. If left unchecked, they can be at risk of developing bumblefoot. 

The screech owl, also with its beak getting stuck open. The screech owls have also been caged improperly for years, in the small cage in the corner o the picture with improper cover. Originally three screech owls were in this cage, but they killed each other, likely due to stress. Small owls are difficult to keep because they often hide their stress.

A picture of the scarlet Macaw, with its beak and talons too long. Behind it you can see the screech owl cage. Speaking of improper caging, many of the back cages not viewable by the public are rotting away due to the plywood not being treated. In the past raccoons have gotten into two of the cages and killed birds (A peregrine falcon and an owl). While I hear materials have been bought to repair the cages, it still has not been completed and is treated like a low priority despite having lost birds in the past.

The bird in the picture cannot escape because it cannot fly. But that also means that it is unable to defend itself. The Peregrine falcon cage and one-eyed eagle cage suffer similar weaknesses. When you touch the wood it crumbles in your hands.  

The center is also used as a drop-off location for rehab animals for the supervisor’s non-profit organization, where rehab animals are improperly housed and the majority of the time die. A baby great horned owl, considered a rehab animal is on public display despite being against federal regulations, and an Opossum that is frequently handled and used in programming is also a rehab animal that ‘will be released’, in truth she never will be despite there being nothing wrong with her. They have done this with multiple Opossums. 

 The city does not allow the center to rehab animals despite it doing so on a regular basis, and the staff being unwilling volunteers for the supervisor’s operation. The supervisor lives in another city entirely, and will not drive all the way to the center if an animal gets brought in when she is not working. So the staff is overwhelmed by animals being brought in, phone calls, and etc for things that not only are not their job, but that they do not have the training for. Mysteriously, no vets in the town will serve the nature center, possibly due to the supervisor’s knack for burning bridges. 

 Multiple times animals, particularly turtles, were left in the back room to die with gruesome injuries (Hit by car, exposed bone, missing limbs, etc) because the supervisor ignored them and no one else knew what to do/were not allowed to take them to a vet that would know how. Most animals are euthanized (Via CO2), and fed to the other animals as free food, despite this potentially exposing the animals to disease/parasites and making the staff feel pretty awful. Not to mention she encourages using mice caught in mouse traps to be fed to the animals, and every square inch of the center is contaminated with heavy amounts of mouse urine and feces, including on animal care items such as food, bandages, and scalpels. The sanitary situation is not good.

The supervisor has also been seen handling the birds roughly, and the caging setup has resulted in fighting over food and injury. One of the bald eagles got taloned by another and got a serious infection that left her in a small kennel in the back for a month.

 I want to hone in on the point that the part time staff are great people doing their best, but they are overwhelmed and mismanaged by their supervisor. Other staff have done research and found that the animals have been found in similar states in the past and that this is not a new problem. I can go on about other troubling aspects, but that is for another time. (like using boxes that held frozen rats for solar ovens cooking hot dogs by camp kids, yikes).

The Douglas County Conservation officer was contacted, but as of this time there have been no reports of him going to the center. And with hunting seasons on the horizon it is doubtful he will. The Fish and Wildlife’s Law Enforcement office was contacted, but are understaffed with only ONE person in the entire state, and thus any inspections, let alone reports of someone violating their bird of prey permit is a low priority. 

In truth, I am at a loss at what to do now beyond just spreading the word. The people with enforcement powers have no interest or time, so the cycle of neglect just continues on and on.The birds of prey should be confiscated from the center, and the supervisor fired. The city knows of the problems but due to the nature of the three strikes protection, will not do anything about the behavior. 

Spread the word on social media, contact who you think could help. Reblog if you can. If you are a Lawrence, Kansas resident, contact the local CO officer and see if you can get action done. Tip off a local station that you think will care more about the situation, feel free to use my photos to do so (keep me anonymous please).

I also want to make it clear, please do not harass the staff at the center in any way. They are helpless and they just want to keep their jobs. The center is a wonderful place, it is just currently bent to the will of someone who is not interested in caring for the animals anymore. 

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My reaction if rihanna was doing my makeup.

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Puppy attempts to reclaim bed from cat