Showing posts with label rehabilitation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rehabilitation. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, Real Estate, Wildlife Rehabilitation


User:Mary Cummins

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mary K. Cummins
Mary Cummins.jpg
BornDecember 17, 1965 (age 47)
Long Beach, California
ResidenceLos Angeles, CA
NationalityUnited States
Alma materBeverly Hills High School
University of Southern California
OccupationReal Estate
ReligionCatholic
Mary Cummins is a real estate appraiser and wildlife rehabilitator in Los Angeles, California. She is President of non-profit Animal Advocates which rescues ill, injured and orphaned native wildlife for release back to the wild. She is also a real estate appraiser and expert with Cummins Real Estate Services.

Early life and education[edit]

Cummins was born in Long Beach, California December 17, 1965. The family soon after moved to Beverly Hills, California. She was raised mainly by her grandmother Mary R. Cummins also known as Maria Rivera. Her grandmother was born in Tacubaya in the Federal District of Mexico in 1899. Her grandfather is Robert Cummins who died in WWII. She has an older sister who is an actress named Juliette Cummins who is most well known for acting in horror movies.
She attended St. Victor's Catholic School then Beverly Hills Catholic School now called Good Shepherd Catholic School in Beverly Hills. She then attended El Rodeo public school in Beverly Hills for 7th and 8th grades andBeverly Hills High School. She later attended the University of Southern California on scholarship as a biology/psychology major. She was on the Dean's list in high school and college.
Growing up she was on the Beverly Hills YMCA swim team, Culver City Roadrunners Swim Team, Beverly Hills High School swim and water polo teams and University of Southern California swim team. She was a top ten swimmer in the United States.

Real Estate[edit]

Cummins received her California real estate sales license in 1984. She became a full broker in 1986. She received her California real estate appraiser license in 1994 when they were first mandatory. Cummins has been a real estate expert in both civil and criminal trial cases in California. She was one of the appraisers of the Ambassador Hotel in the eminent domain case in the 1990's. She's also done appraisals for eminent domain cases for the Los Angeles Metro and pro bono work for local non-profits. Besides teaching real estate appraisal theory classes she's also written many articles on all aspects of real estate appraisal and sales. To date she has done over 20,000 real estate appraisals for AMC's, brokers, lawyers, accountants, government agencies and private individuals. She has worked for Merrill Lynch, Westside Properties, the Apartment Owners Association (AOA) and Forensis Group.

Freedom of Speech[edit]

Cummins is an advocate on freedom of speech issues. In the past 20 years she has written reports on securities fraud and animal cruelty cases. In two of these cases she was sued for defamation in retaliation for posting her reports on the Internet and filing complaints with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and authorities.
"Fredric Rittereiser, Ashton Technology vs Mary Cummins", 2000. In this case the CEO of Ashton Technology Fredric Rittereiser and the company sued Cummins for defamation and tortious interference. Cummins represented herself pro se and won this case in November 2001.
"Kathy Knight-McConnell vs Mary Cummins", July 2003. In this case company paid stock promoter Kathy Knight-McConnell sued Cummins for defamation, trademark infringement and securities claims. Cummins represented herself pro se and won in 2004. This case set case law precedence as this was the beginning of internet law.

Animal Activism[edit]

Cummins has always been a strong proponent for animal rights. She has rescued animals since she was a small child rescue a fawn, bunny and squirrels at the age of six. Cummins started her own non-profit Animal Advocates in 2002. She is licensed with the California Department of Fish & Game and the USDA to rescue and rehabilitate wildlife including coyotes, bobcats, foxes, raccoons, skunks, opossums, squirrels, all the way down to bats. Mary Cummins speaks to local community groups and students about respecting wildlife and humane wildlife control. Mary Cummins is also a Wildlife Control Operator. Mary Cummins has written manuals on small mammal rehabilitation besides numerous articles.
Cummins also lobbies and speaks out for animal rights. She worked with other animal rights groups to help pass the West Hollywood fur ban. She also worked with Dr. Jennifer Conrad of the Paw Project to help ban the declawing of domestic cats, large cats and wild animals. In 2004 she was able to change the wildlife policy for the City of Los Angeles. She also made an amendment to zoning in Los Angeles County to allow wildlife rehabilitation. She's also lobbied for many new bills such as SB 1229. Cummins went through the Rio Hondo Police Academy and the Humane Academy to become a Humane Officer. Cummins also worked for American Humane and the Found Animals Foundation. She was also outspoken about the tainted and rancid puppy and kitten formulas made by Petag.

Selected Articles[edit]

  • 2002 "What to do when you find a baby squirrel"
  • 2002 "What to do when you find an injured squirrel"
  • 2003 "How to reunite squirrels babies with their mothers"
  • 2003 "How to trim trees with wildlife in mind"
  • 2003 "How to properly care for un-releasable squirrels"
  • 2003 "How to build proper caging for wildlife"
  • 2003 Cat Fancy Magazine, "Mama Mia"
  • 2003 "How to humanely deal with coyotes"
  • 2004 "Rehabilitation of tree squirrels" manual.
  • 2004 "Rehabilitation of ground squirrels" manual.
  • 2004 "Rehabilitation of skunks" manual.
  • 2004 "Treatment of Malocclusion in Squirrels," Co-author Dr. Bill Ridgeway
  • 2004 "How to trim rodent teeth"
  • 2004 "How to make pet squirrels wild again"
  • 2004 "How to set up a wildlife referral system in animal shelters"
  • 2005 IWRC, "Journal of Wildlife Rehabilitation," "Raising baby tree squirrels from weaning to release"

Media[edit]

Animals
  • 2003 Animal Planet "Beverly Hills Vet, Squirrel Rehabilitation"
  • 2003 CADFG "Scrawl of the Wild"
  • 2003 LA Times "Rodent poisoning project angers animal activists"
  • 2004 Cable television show "Wildlife Rescue," six episodes, Doggy TV
  • 2004 Gardena Valley News "Helping furry friends survive urban jungle"
  • 2004 KROQ radio interview with Scott Mason
  • 2005 Discovery Channel "The Undetectables, Squirrel Care"
  • 2005 LA Weekly "A Billionaire's Bark"
  • 2005 KROQ radio interview with Scott Mason
  • 2005 Thousand Oaks Acorn "Public outcry over slain tiger loud but not universal"
  • 2005 LA Times "Urban remedies: Dealing with new arrivals"
  • 2005 Thousand Oaks Acorn "Public outcry over slain tiger loud but not universal"
  • 2005 LA City Beat "Welcome to the jungle"
  • 2006 Daily News "Stuckey stays on as $50,000 City consultant"
  • 2006 Book "Squirrels: The Animal Answer Guide"
  • 2006 Daily News "County relaxes restrictions on llamas, animal rehab"
  • 2006 Daily News "Council hears Stuckey critics"
  • 2006 LA Times "Fired City Official's appeal in limbo"
  • 2007 LA Times "Opossums: your garden's evening clean-up crew"
  • 2009 LA Times "Your morning adorable, baby skunks and the handstand dance"
  • 2010 Martha Stewart "A gopher named Charlie"
  • 2010 Martha Stewart "A second chance for Charlie"
  • 2010 LA Times "Your morning adorable: rescued rabbit enjoys a meal"
  • 2010 LA Times "Your morning adorable: rub a dub dub, raccoons in a tub"
  • 2010 Top YouTube pets video channel in March
  • 2011 Ventura County Star "City says bats remain at Moorpark home"
  • 2011 CBS Los Angeles "Moorpark Says Homeowners Not Doing Enough To Fight Bats"
  • 2011 NBC "WeHo one step closer to fur ban"
  • 2012 Santa Monica Patch "Wild Animal in Town? Call on Us, Vet Says"
  • 2012 Santa Monica Daily Press "Groups want policy change after mountain lion death"
  • 2012 ABC "IDA Rally held in Santa Monica in protest of fatal shooting of mountain lion"
  • 2012 NBC "Animal-Rights Group Protests Santa Monica Mountain Lion Shooting"

Real Estate[edit]

  • 1985 LA Times "People in Westside Real Estate" Cummins joins Merrill Lynch
  • 1990 LA Times "People in Westside Real Estate" Cummins joins Westside Properties
  • 2002 LA Times "Suggestions for the bidder whose offers are rejected"
  • 2007 LA Times "Historical homes, not for everyone"
  • 2009 LA Weekly "Jimmy Nasralla finds a lawyer"
  • 2009 LA Weekly "Is LA City Attorney Trutanich screwing over the little guy?"
  • 2009 LA Weekly "Jimmy on the edge of town"
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Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.

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Thursday, July 18, 2013

Los Angeles County allows amendment to zoning for wildlife rehabilitation, llamas and alpacas


Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Los Angeles County officials gave animal lovers some good news Tuesday, making it legal to operate small wildlife rehabilitation facilities in unincorporated areas and easing rules for raising llamas and alpacas.

The practice of rehabilitating small wildlife had been illegal in unincorporated areas but legal in the city of Los Angeles.

``I'm ecstatic,'' said Mary Cummins, president of the nonprofit animal rescue organization Animal Advocates, which has a wildlife permit to operate in the city. ``This amendment will help protect the public and save animals.''

Cummins said about 50 people and organizations have been illegally rehabilitating thousands of wild animals each year in the county.

Last year, wild animal rehabilitators saved more than 80,000 animals statewide, including bobcats, skunks, opossums, racoons, wild mice and pack rats, Cummins said.

The new ordinance approved by the Board of Supervisors will allow facilities to temporarily care for sick or injured small wild animals until they become healthy and can be put back in their native habitat, said Department of Regional Planning Ordinance Studies Section official Leonard Erlanger.

The new ordinance also is expected to help relieve the county's overburdened animal shelters.

``We do occasionally get opossums,'' said Brenda Sanchez, spokeswoman for the county Department of Animal Care and Control. ``A lot them are either trapped by residents in the area or injured and we have to euthanize them.''

The state Department of Fish and Game requires all licensed wildlife rehabilitation facilities to show they have zoning clearances before it will grant a wildlife rehabilitation permit.

Before Tuesday's vote, the county did not have a mechanism to provide such clearances.

Under the new ordinance, people seeking to operate such a facility will need to obtain a state permit for the animals. Under the new requirements, the animals also must be indigenous to the county, weigh less than 30 pounds and cannot be dangerous, such as bears and mountain lions.

The provision also limits the number of animals in a facility to 20, but that limit could be waived under some circumstances.

The supervisors also voted to make it easier for people to raise llamas and alpacas in unincorporated areas.

Currently, the county's zoning laws refer to alpacas and llamas as wild animals and prohibits them in light agricultural areas - which essentially precludes Antelope Valley residents from raising the animals.

The new ordinance allows the animals in light agricultural areas and classifies them as pets that can be kept in residentially zoned areas - just like horses, cattle, sheep and goats.

Troy Anderson, (213) 974-8985

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com


Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.


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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Mary Cummins, raccoon rescue, Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates

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 
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Take 3 Film Festival at Plaza de Cultural y Artes by Mary Cummins, Maria Rivera

Take 3 Film Festival presented by East LA Film Festival , Panamanian International Film Festival/LA and La Plaza de Cultura y Artes was hel...