"Mary Cummins" Animal Advocates Wildlife Rehabilitation: Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, spotted skunk on D...

"Mary Cummins" Animal Advocates Wildlife Rehabilitation: Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, spotted skunk on D...: "A photo of one of our spotted skunks made it on Squee! More photos of spotted skunks can be found in our Flickr account. Western Spotted S..."

"Mary Cummins" Animal Advocates Wildlife Rehabilitation: Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, baby opossum calls...

"Mary Cummins" Animal Advocates Wildlife Rehabilitation: Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, baby opossum calls...: "This is a baby opossum calling for its mother. Her mother died so she is now being cared for by Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates a wildlife ..."

"Mary Cummins" Animal Advocates Wildlife Rehabilitation: Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, raccoons being rel...

"Mary Cummins" Animal Advocates Wildlife Rehabilitation: Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, raccoons being rel...: "These raccoons were found as orphans. Their mother had died. We took them in, bottle fed them then taught them how to be wild raccoons. They..."

"Mary Cummins" Animal Advocates Wildlife Rehabilitation: Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, baby raccoons in t...

"Mary Cummins" Animal Advocates Wildlife Rehabilitation: Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, baby raccoons in t...: "These are baby raccoons. They are in the tub while I ready their cage. They will be released back to the wild. Mary Cummins of Animal Advoca..."

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"Mary Cummins" Animal Advocates Wildlife Rehabilitation: Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, baby skunks stomp ...: "These are baby skunks. They are striped skunks. This is how baby skunks play. They stomp their feet, go into a handstand then scoot back. Th..."

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"Mary Cummins" Animal Advocates Wildlife Rehabilitation: Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates and a baby opossu...

"Mary Cummins" Animal Advocates Wildlife Rehabilitation: Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates and a baby opossu...: "This is a baby opossum. She is calling for her mom. If mom were nearby, she'd come and retrieve her baby. Unfortunately this baby's mom is d..."

"Mary Cummins" Animal Advocates Wildlife Rehabilitation: Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates and an opossum

"Mary Cummins" Animal Advocates Wildlife Rehabilitation: Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates and an opossum: "This opossum was found as a baby. His feet were deformed. His toes had grown together. He was unreleasable so he was used for education. Thi..."

"Mary Cummins" Animal Advocates Wildlife Rehabilitation: Mary Cummins rescues a baby bunny, Animal Advocate...

"Mary Cummins" Animal Advocates Wildlife Rehabilitation: Mary Cummins rescues a baby bunny, Animal Advocate...: "This baby bunny is the only surviving baby of a litter. A dog found the nest and killed the others. A kind woman delivered this baby to Mary..."

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Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates The City of Los Angeles Approves a New Wildlife Policy 8/24/2004 2:50:00 PM LOS ANGELES, Aug 24, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Los Angeles Animal Services Commission yesterday unanimously approved a new wildlife policy for the city. Under the new policy, the department will allow wildlife rehabilitators licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game to respond to calls from members of the public, and take ill, injured and orphaned wildlife from city animal shelters. Additionally, the department will only issue trapping permits to trap animals that are ill, injured, orphaned, or pose an immediate threat to public safety. Animal Services will no longer issue permits to trap healthy wildlife that pose no threat. As per Fish and Game regulations, all healthy trapped wildlife taken to the shelter legally would have been killed. Mary Cummins LA Animal Services Commission Vice President Alex Rubalcava said, "Animal Services' new wildlife policy reflects our desire to teach city residents how to co-exist with the native wildlife in their communities, and minimize the flow of animals into our shelters. Working with rehabbers -- who have the requisite knowledge and experience, as well as licensing from Fish and Game -- was the perfect way to achieve our goal of returning animals to their habitats instead of being forced to euthanize them. Our thanks go out to Animal Advocates, The Urban Wildlands Group, and others who helped us devise this program." Mary Cummins. Mary Cummins, President of Animal Advocates, first submitted the proposed wildlife policy over two years ago. Cummins stated "Animal Advocates is very pleased to have been able to help the city implement a plan to save the city's wildlife. We would like to thank Mayor Hahn, City Council members, LA Animal Services commissioners, members of the Wildlife Committee, The Urban Wildlands Group and the Department for their help in approving this much needed new policy." "We applaud this forward-looking effort to live more harmoniously with the City's wildlife," said Catherine Rich, Executive Officer of The Urban Wildlands Group. Mary Cummins. The Wildlife Committee is currently looking for more licensed wildlife rehabilitators to help pick up and rehabilitate the wildlife. They also need people to answer inquiries from the public in regard to nuisance wildlife issues. SOURCE: Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates Animal Advocates, Los Angeles www.AnimalAdvocates.us Cummins Real Estate Services, http://www.marycummins.com, http://www.mary.cc, http://www.facebook.com/marycummins

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Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates - Biography - Resume

Mary Cummins is President of Animal Advocates. She is licensed with the California Department of Fish & Game, was licensed with the USDA and is licensed with the city of Los Angeles to rescue and rehabilitate wildlife. Cummins speaks to local community groups and students about respecting wildlife and humane wildlife control. She is also a Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator. She has written manuals on small mammal rehabilitation besides numerous articles. Mary Cummins


She was born and raised in Southern California. She attended Beverly Hills Good Shepherd Catholic School and Beverly Hills High School. Besides being a member of Junior Mensa and on the Dean's list, she was a top ten national swimmer and competed on the men's water polo team. She began college at the age of 15 attending the University of Southern California on scholarship, majoring in Psychology/Sociology. Mary Cummins


After college Cummins became a licensed real estate agent specializing in income property in Los Angeles. She obtained her real estate appraisal license, real estate brokerage license and currently does real estate consulting, expert witness testimony and review appraisals. Mary Cummins


Click to view videos of Mary Cummins on
Wildlife Rescue television show.


Mary Cummins

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Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates

Animal Advocates has been rescuing ill, injured and orphaned coyotes in the Los Angeles area of California. We also provide humane coyote control and speak to groups about dealing with coyote issues. We recently received our permit to permanently rehabilitate coyotes at our own facility. Mary Cummins

Coyotes in Los Angeles, California weighs 20-35 pounds and stand 23 to 26 inches at the shoulder. The coyote looks similar to a smaller tan colored shepherd-type dog with long pointed muzzle, large ears, long legs and a bushy tail. Mary Cummins

Coyotes, whose natural habitat is the Los Angeles basin, have adjusted to their shrinking habitat by living closer to humans, sometimes in residential areas, parks and on the landscaped areas of the freeway system. Mary Cummins

Because coyotes are now habituating closer to humans, they suffer the effects of our existence. They are hit by cars or are poisoned from eating poisoned ground squirrels and rats. They also succumb to sarcoptic mange from mites.
If you find ill, injured or orphaned wildlife, contact us or visit our website so we can help you or refer you to someone who can. Mary Cummins

Animal Advocates is a non-profit corporation recognized by the IRS. We operate on donations from the public. We are licensed by the California Department of Fish & Game to rescue ill, injured and orphaned wildlife for release back to the wild. We rescue coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, foxes, opossums, skunks, squirrels, moles, voles, gophers, bats and more. Mary Cummins

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Dr. Pia Salk wrote an article about a gopher which her friends rescued and gave to me to rehabilitate. The article is in the Martha Stewart website in the Daily Wag section. Her column is titled "Adventures with Francesca and Sharky." She is a major contributor to the blog. Thanks to everyone who helped the gopher! MaryEllen Schoeman is currently carrying for Charlie the gopher until he's ready for release. Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, http://www.marycummins.com http://www.animaladvocates.us http://www.facebook.com/marycummins http://www.facebook.com/animaladvocatesusa http://www.youtube.com/marycummins

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Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates

July 17th my vet called me about a wolfdog which needed around the clock care. It seems his owner did not feed him properly and his bones were very weak. He stood up and broke all four of his legs. He'd just had surgery to pin one leg and could not walk. I agreed to care for him. He was born 5/7/10 and was 11 weeks old and weighed 17 lbs. Mary Cummins

He was not allowed to stand so he was confined to a crate. I had to move him every two hours, carry him out to pee and poo, hand feed, water and clean. I could not let his feet touch the ground as he couldn't put any weight on his legs. I'd let him lie on his side or back on the couch to exercise him. Mary Cummins

His owner had been feeding him milk, eggs and meat. As the puppy was under weight he also was not being fed enough food. The vet put him on a new diet of Innova XL puppy food soaked in water, puppy vitamins, vitamin C and Calcium powders and raw chicken necks. He loved his new diet and very quickly put on weight. Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates

After two weeks he was xrayed again. His bones showed marked improvement. The bone density increased and the breaks were healing. His baby teeth were still see through and pink. His baby teeth were breaking because they were so thin because of lack of calcium. I only allowed him to have soft bowls and toys for this reason. Mary Cummins

After a few more weeks I slowly let him put a tiny bit of weight on his legs. Then I'd let him stand but only on the couch. Slowly I let him stand more, then he started to walk. After a month he was free to walk about the living room. During this time he became friends with the cats and Lyle the bunny. The cats slept next to his crate, so did Lyle. Here is a video showing him running and jumping September 7. Sirhan video

Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates

September 25th we took Sirhan back for another xray. By now he was running and jumping around the house. His coat was finally full and plush. His adult teeth started to grow in and they were solid and very white. His xray showed that he was perfectly healthy and did not need any more surgery. We were all thrilled. He now weighed 42 lbs. Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates

We contacted the owner who wanted us to ship him over seas to where he was currently living. We got him ready then the owner started stalling. October 5 he told us he didn't want him any more. We would have to find him a new home. October 6 I emailed a few wolf and wolfdog rescuers to see if they knew anyone who would want him. Mary Cummins

I emailed Mike Lehane of Wolfdog Rescue Resources. He put me in touch with a woman who rescues wolfdogs and knew me and my vet. Turns out we'd known her for years but didn't know she and her husband rescue wolfdogs. As luck would have it her husband was driving near my house that same day. Mary Cummins

He came and met Sirhan. I have never seen Sirhan happier! Sirhan was jumping for joy and dancing around him, rolling on his back, showing his tummy, playing with toys and his hat. He agreed to take him. I gave him one last kiss and hug. Then we put him in his crate and loaded him into his SUV with his box of food, toys and nutritional supplements. He already had a few wolfdogs sitting in the back seat. Mary Cummins

I waved a quick goodbye with some happy tears in my eyes. Sirhan has the best home ever! He will live in their house but also have access to their HUGE enclosures with others just like him. He's only an hour away and they told me we can visit him. Sirhan is one lucky wolf. Things could not have worked out better. I will still miss his howling whenever he heard a police siren. Mary Cummins

*All videos and photos are copyrighted. Do not use for your own use without permission.

**Sam Blake, Samuel Blake of Never Cry Wolf Rescue had nothing to do with Sirhan. He stole my photos of Sirhan as a puppy, put his domain name on them, told people Sirhan the puppy needed medical care and they should donate money to Sam. Sirhan is healthy and doesn't need medical care. I cared for Sirhan at my own expense and I'm a non-profit. If he wanted Sirhan to get the funds, he should have told people to donate to me but he didn't. He also offered up Sirhan for adoption with an adoption fee again showing his puppy photos even though he was much older. Sam never had and never would have Sirhan. I asked Sam to remove my photos and his fraudulent story. He refused. Facebook took my photos off of his page along with his fraudulent story. I also asked him to return the money to people. Again, he refused stating because he's a 501 3c, he has the right to solicit donations any way he likes. He does not have the right to defraud people. I've since reported him. Do not give money to Sam for Sirhan. Sirhan is in a good home now and is healthy.

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Emu rescue

by Mary Cummins on Monday, December 20, 2010 at 11:19am

Emu's cute face, Mary Cummins

An emu ranch closed down and one emu escaped. He made his way to the neighbor's house on a lake and lived there for a few months. Then the HOA told them they could not have an emu and had to get rid of it. Mary Cummins

December 15th they called me. I only handle wildlife so I contacted  Gentle Barn, Animal Acres but no response. Frank Allen of Animal Acres did give me some emu handling tips. I decided to place ads for him on Petfinder, AdoptAPet, Craigslist and Facebook. I offered to transport if someone would adopt him for free. December 16th a few people responded to the ad. I chose the person who already had a female emu and emu experience. Thanks to everyone else who offered him a home. Mary Cummins

I'd assumed that I could get the emu to sit in a large crate in my PT Cruiser (don't laugh). Seems you must transport them in a trailer or truck with sides and top. I called all over to rent a horse trailer but couldn't find anyone with a small horse trailer. The adopters then said that they will transport him in their truck. We agreed to transport him December 19 meeting at a truck stop in Barstow at 1 p.m. Mary Cummins

Morning of December 19 was of course a huge rain storm. I left at 9:15 a.m. to get there by 1. Thank god I did. I had my wipers on high almost the entire way. My car hydroplaned quite a few times. I could only drive in the middle lane of the 10 freeway because the side lanes were flooded. As I approached the 60 a police car slowed traffic and closed that freeway completely because of accidents. Mary Cummins

I continued on in the heavy rain. Even with the wipers on high I could barely see. I was white knuckling my steering wheel while leaning forward and opening my eyes as wide as possible to try to see better. It didn't help. I just ended up with dry eyes and a neck ache. Mary Cummins

When I got to the 15 there were multiple car collisions littered on both side of the highway. I must have seen at least 50 tow trucks that day. There were 4x4, SUV and trucks in those accidents. I was driving a PT Cruiser with a lowered sport package and racing wheels, not what you want to drive in a rain storm. Mary Cummins

By the time I neared Barstow the rain stopped and a rainbow appeared. I was so glad we would be loading the emu in dry weather. I pulled into the truck stop where we were supposed to meet at 12:30. I called everyone. They would all be late because of the weather. Mary Cummins

The adopters truck wouldn't start that morning so they had to jerry rig someone else's truck with a gate, sides and a roof. The people who owned the house where the emu was staying arrived at 1:30. We had fun chatting and joking around until 3:30 when the adopters showed up. By then it was sprinkling and windy. We drove to pick up the emu as a motorcade. Mary Cummins

New owner hugging the male emu, Mary Cummins

As soon as we arrived at their house the emu came towards us to say "hello." The adopter went up and hugged the emu. Now we weren't quite sure the emu was a male or female as none of us are emu experts. I think the emu smelled the female emu on the adopters shirt because he soon showed us he was definitely a male. He tried to make some moves on the adopter. Mary Cummins

Now to try to get the emu in the truck. We had no ramp so we'd have to lift him into the truck. Mind you he's 6' tall and weighs 150 lbs. Emus also have sharp claws on their feet. In fact a few weeks earlier a six foot side winder bit the emu on the leg. Then the emu killed it with his feet. His leg swelled a little and he was under the weather for half a day but he was fine. The vet they called said emus aren't too badly affected by venomous snake bites. Mary Cummins

They also have sharp scales on their legs which they can open at will and cut you like multiple knives. We decided to wrap his legs in a towel I'd brought then lift him into the truck. The adopter, his daughter and I lifted him into the truck sideways. Unfortunately the towel didn't cover all of his legs and the scales really cut the adopter's thumb. There was blood all over his bumper. He wrapped his thumb and applied pressure but it kept bleeding. Mary Cummins

Loading up the emu in Barstow to go to Canyon Country

After securing the emu in the truck with all the gates it was time to go to his  new home. The old owner gave us some cookies and cake for the road. The first few miles the emu was sticking his head out, slipping, butt in the air, feet in the air, feathers in the air. He finally calmed down when we hit the freeway. Then it started to rain, and rain, and rain. Mary Cummins

We took the 15 freeway south but then had to take a two lane highway all the way to Canyon Country. There was a lot of mud, some rocks and tons of water. Every time we'd hit a dip we'd get sprayed with muddy water from the other cars. One time a semi-truck hit a flooded muddy dip and literally sprayed a tsunami of solid mud over both the truck and my car. Even with my wipers on high it took six wipes to get the mud off so I could just barely see. I was going 50 at the time, driving blind. Mary Cummins

We finally made it to the 14 and could see a ton of flashing lights ahead across the entire freeway. The police shut down the 14 freeway and rerouted us because of yet another multiple car collision. A few miles later we were finally able to get on the 14 with no traffic. After another half an hour or so we were at the emu's new home. Fortunately the rain trickled down to a light shower. Mary Cummins

The emu's new home is a ranch mansion! As soon as we  pulled into the automatic gates the female emu came up to us. She was making her sex calls and getting in the position. She let us pet her. Mary Cummins

Motion sick male emu in the truck bed. We had to help him out.

By now her new friend was really motion sick. He was just sitting in the truck with a green look on his face. We had to help him out of the truck. Then he took a big dump then stumbled away. The new adopter went up to him and held him steady while he walked. It really looked like someone walking a drunk out of a bar. They walked around a bit then took him to see the female. Even though he was in the mood when we left he was too motion sick to even say "hello" to her. They did do a group hug at least. He finally sat down for 20 minutes or so. The female came over and checked him out. Mary Cummins

Helping the emu walk. He was really dizzy from motion sickness.

New owner with male and female emus together. The male is still dizzy from the trip

Motion sick male emu sitting on the left while the female checks him out

His new owner was giving me some produce from his other truck for my animals. I was filling up my bags with produce when the  male emu came to investigate. He had to look in the bags. I was so glad he was feeling better. We then said our goodbyes and I drove home. I drove over 300 miles that day because of the closed freeways. 

Unfortunately when I got home my office was flooded. I guess it rained hard here at home as well. The roof leaked at the sky light right on top of my desk. The only leak in the house would be on top of my iMac, laptop, camera chargers, wireless network. I took apart my laptop and chargers to dry. The laptop is working, will have to take the iMac to the shop. 

Video one of the rescue

Video two of the rescue

Full photo album of the rescue
Mary Cummins
President
Animal Advocates
http://www.animaladvocates.us
Cummins Real Estate Services
http://www.marycummins.com 

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Mary Cummins

By James Spooner of Timeless Tattoo in Hollywood, California. You can't use shading needles on hand tattoos as they can't get the ink deep enough. He could only use the bigger deeper needle. Hand tattoos fade (and hurt) so they aren't recommended. Colors fade more than black or brown. This will fade into a solid color in a little bit. In this photo you still see the blue outline from the transfer. That will wash off. It's a black/brown tattoo. Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, Cummins Real Estate Services

I rescue coyotes. I also lobby for them. I want to shake politicians' hands with my coyote paw print tattoo. Mary Cummins

Contact James Spooner at spoonertattoo@gmail.com or http://www.facebook.com/jamesspooner or http://jspooner.wordpress.com  Great article about him here http://www.veganmainstream.com/interview-vegan-tattoo-artist-james-spooner His shop is Timeless Tattoo at 738 N. Vine (near Melrose) Hollywood, CA 90038. He's Vegan and a real nice guy. 

*He did not want to do a  palm tattoo because they hurt and fade quickly. I convinced him to give it a shot. I told him I'm okay if it hurts or fades. I've noticed with palm tattoos that it's the colors that fade which is why he used no color. 

Mary Cummins

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Animal Advocates year end report and thank you

by Mary Cummins on Wednesday, December 29, 2010 at 1:06pm

Animal Advocates 2010 year end report

Here are a few things we've accomplished in the last year. Mary Cummins

Wild animals we rescued

• 125 Fox Tree Squirrels
• 122 Opossums
• 27 Raccoons
• 18 California Ground Squirrels
• 5 Gophers
• 7 Striped Skunks
• 7 Pigeons
• 4 Wild bunnies
• 3 Coyotes
• 1 Stick Insect
• 1 Praying Mantis
• 1 Spotted Skunk

321 with a 95% release rate (3% euthanized, 2% died)

Domestic animals we rescued - Mary Cummins

• 1 Dog: Buddy
• 1 House Bunny: Beaux
• 1 Guinea Pig
• 1 Emu: Mumu
• 3 Cats: Mac, Beauty Queen, Hattie
• 1 red eared slider
• 1 Wolfdog: Sirhan

9 (6 were re-homed, 2 are still here, 1 died)

Other activities - Mary Cummins

• Paid to spayneuter 18 animals owned by others
• Received our coyote rider so we can rescue coyotes
• Built new coyote enclosure
• Added two more large enclosures
• Gave wildlife presentations at two public events
• Became a full YouTube partner
• Uploaded 117 new videos to YouTube
• Now have over 2,000 YouTube subscribers
• Now have almost 3,000,000 video views on YouTube
• Posted viral video "Baby bunny noms a flower" on YouTube for 920,000 hits
• Became top three pet channel on YouTube for a week because of bunny video
• Videos/photos picked up by over 21,000 websites
• Uploaded 847 photos of animals rescued to Facebook
• Helped out at a cockfighting raid on HSUS NDART team with over 1,500 birds
• Rescued a human bicyclist with a broken collar bone and wrist
• Protested the sale of whale meat and animals in the circus
• Attended Ratfest and recruited a new volunteer
• Attended bat research techniques seminar at Desert Research Center
• Taught a class with Dr. Jennifer Conrad at the Ecostation
• Helped Dr. Conrad with her documentary on cat declawing
• Fed baby bats from 7 a.m. to past midnight for a week straight
• 7,500 new fans of Animal Advocates Facebook page
• Responded to over 1,200 emails asking for animal advice/help
• Responded to over 1,500 phone calls asking for animal advice/help
• Attended the Zoo & Wildlife Veterinary conference in Spain
• 600 new MySpace friends

• 300 new Twitter followers
• 300 Flickr animal photos/videos with 7,500 views
• 500,000 hits on our website Animal Advocateswww.AnimalAdvocates.us
• 2,100,000  hits on our website Squirrel Rescuewww.mary.cc/squirrels 
• Rescued animals were featured on Cuteoverload three times
• Rescued animals were featured on LA Times "morning adorable" twice
• Glue trap gopher featured on Martha Stewart's "Daily Wag" by Pia Salk
• FDA released final results of Petag investigation showing formula was tainted
• Strangled a bull fighter in Spain (not for real but it was still fun)
• Got a tattoo of a coyote paw on my hand

With all positive news also comes some sad news. The sad passing of animal friends Peach the educational opossum, Daisy the head injured squirrel, coma squirrel boy, paralyzed girl squirrel, Mac the cat and stick bug. Also the sad passing of human friends Dr. Frank Ryan a great animal lover, Andrew Sacks a  much loved High School friend and Bill Tobin an irreverent man with a razor sharp wit. Mary Cummins.

With every year there are also many thanks. Many thanks to the people who adopted animals especially Buddy the dog, Mumu the emu, and Sirhan the wolfdog. Thanks to Dr. Kenneth Jones and his wife Suzann for all their amazing help. Thanks to Ha of Rescue Helper for all the dog food, treats, formula and cat milk. Thanks to bunny rescue for the 450 lbs of rodent blocks, caging, blankies and toys. Thanks to all who made money donations. Thanks to people who helped transport animals. And of course, thanks to Vice President MaryEllen Schoeman and all the volunteers. Thanks everyone for all the love and support. And a special thanks to anyone I accidentally left off the list. Mary Cummins

Animal Advocates has many more things planned for 2011.

• We're looking for a new house with more land that backs up to city or state parkland.
• We'll be rewriting our wildlife rehabilitation manuals and finishing a book.
• We'll be redoing the websites.
• We expect to get our wildlife rescue numbers back up. No more dog fostering.

If you're doing some  year end tax planning, keep in mind that Animal Advocates is a 501 3c non-profit corporation recognized by the IRS and California Attorney General. All donations are tax deductible. Our PayPal button is on our website http://www.animaladvocates.us/ or you can always send a check to Animal Advocates, 645 W. 9th St. #110-140, Los Angeles, CA 90015. That's a p.o. box so don't deliver animals there. If you want your donation to go toward MaryEllen's rescues, put her name on the bottom of the check or in the PayPal comment box. 

Thanks from everyone at Animal Advocates for caring about animals. We wish you a happy and wonderful New Year!

Mary Cummins

President

Animal Advocates

http://www.AnimalAdvocates.us/

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Rescuing a raccoon from a tiny, dirty cage from a boat

by Mary Cummins on Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at 3:59pm

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Raccoon in his tiny dirty cage. Four year old male not neutered with cataracts in both eyes. He can see a little out of one eye. He was kept in this cage for four years on a boat by a mentally ill person. He only ate dry cat food. He broke his teeth chewing on his cage. They put a chain around his neck, don't know why. We removed it. Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins received an email this morning from Peter Wallerstein of Marine Animal Rescue. He said the Los Angeles County Sheriff had impounded a boat that had a raccoon in it in a tiny dirty cage. Mary Cummins assumed someone had trapped a raccoon and just forgot about it. I drove to the Sheriff station to take a look at the boat. Peter agreed to meet me there to help.

The raccoon lived in that 2' x 2' x 2' cage. The cage door didn't open. When we finally took off the front of the cage we realized he was living on top of four inches of feces. He had no water. The boat was impounded. Sheriff called me when they saw the raccoon. Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins met Sheriff Office McSchwab who told me about the raccoon. He said it wasn't in a trap but a cage like a pet. It had a chain around its neck. He took me to the boat to take a look. This is what I found. A four year old male raccoon in a 2' x 2' x 2' cage. There were four inches of feces on the bottom of the cage and no water. There was no door as it looked like the owner never opened the cage. The cage was in an awkward spot and had been assembled in the boat which would make transfer to the carrier more difficult. Fortunately Peter Wallerstein showed up to help. Unfortunately so did the "owner" of the raccoon.

We had to take the cage apart to get the front off. Then we placed the carrier in the cage with the door off. I wedged the carrier over the raccoon and pressed it against the back wall. Peter and the Sheriff then replaced the carrier door on the other side. The raccoon was in the carrier. We went inside to wash up.

As I went to get my car to drive it around to the dock to pick up the raccoon the owner started following me. He's an older man whom I believe is mentally ill. He said "why did you put the raccoon in that small box when I had him in a big cage?" I ignored him and went to pick up the raccoon. 

Because he was a pet raccoon and could be unpredictable I thought I'd take him to Dr. Kenneth Jones in Santa Monica to get the chain off his neck and look him over. The raccoon had shown no aggression at all, just a little cage craziness. I gave him some water out of a sippy bottle because he looked dehydrated. He was very gentle and thirsty.

At Dr. Kenneth Jones giving the raccoon anesthesia. We wrapped the pet carrier in a plastic bag. This is the safest way.

Dr. Jones' staff gave the raccoon anesthesia so we could examine him. The easiest way to anesthetize an animal like this is to wrap the carrier in a big trash bag then use gas. After he was under they removed the chain. He had cataracts in both eyes though one cataract was smaller. He could probably see a little out of one eye. He had a cracked canine probably from chewing on the bars of his cage. He had some matts and was dirty and smelly.

This is his new enclosure, 6' x 6' x 4'. It has a padded cage and is smaller than my other enclosures. He's never climbed or walked before so I need to start him in something small. UPDATE: I just added a ramp in his cage. He cannot climb at all and can barely see anything.

I took him home and put him in a 6' x 6' x 4' cage with a padded floor. He came out of his carrier then I realized he couldn't really walk. He walks on the back of the "wrists" on his forelegs and on the heels of his back feet. I don't think he's ever stood up all the way. He cannot climb at all and has very little vision. He was relaxed and sweet. I can easily hand feed him food. I had to add a ramp to his cage so he can get to the lower level. I have him  next to the baby raccoons so he won't feel threatened by my injured adult females. He is a bit smaller than my adult females, probably from malnutrition.

This is how he walks. He walks on the back side of his wrists. He also sleeps with them in this position. Obviously some metabolic bone disease. The pads of his feet look fine.

Thanks to the Los Angeles County Sheriff http://www.lasd.org/ and  Peter Wallerstein of Marine Animal Rescuehttp://www.marspecialists.org/ I wouldn't have been able to rescue the raccoon without their help. I will add updates on his progress.

Mary Cummins, Cummins Real Estate Services, Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, http://www.marycummins.com http://www.animaladvocates.us http://www.facebook.com/marycummins http://www.youtube.com/marycummins