How Shelter Pets Are Brokered for Experimentation: Understanding Pound Seizure

Allie Phillips is an author, attorney and advocate for the protection of animals and vulnerable victims. She is a former prosecuting attorney who has worked for the National District Attorneys Association where she launched the National Center for Prosecution of Animal Abuse. She was previously employed with American Humane Association as the Vice President of Public Policy and Vice President of Human-Animal Strategic Initiatives. Allie is a nationally-recognized expert on issues involving animal protection and advocacy. She is a volunteer with King Street Cats (Alexandria, VA) and Vice President of No Paws Left Behind. She co-founded Michiganders for Shelter Pets, is a council member of the Michigan State Bar Animal Law Section, on the steering committee of the National Link Coalition, and a Practitioner Member of the Shelter Animal Reiki Association. To learn more, please visit alliephillips.com.

Pound seizure or pound release involves a shelter selling or giving away cats and dogs to research facilities, universities, or Class B Dealers (random source animal brokers licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture) to be used for experimentation that often ends in death. This book offers an overview of the problem of pound seizure, and its history, and provides practical tips for how anyone can become an advocate to end pound seizure in their community, while protecting oneself from legal attacks from Class B Dealers and the research community. With personal stories, firsthand accounts, and vivid examples, the author relays the seamier side of this practice and offers a plan for ending it.

Section I - Discovering the secret Chapter 1 - A terrible discovery Chapter 2 - What is pound seizure? Chapter 3 - Laws and Legislation on pound seizure Chapter 4 - Betrayal of Trust Section II - The faces of pound seizure Chapter 5 - Exposing dealers that violate the law Chapter 6 - Experiments on random source animals Chapter 7 - Alternatives to animal research Chapter 8 - The victims of pound seizure Chapter 9 - Voices of the research community Chapter 10 - Shelters and pound seizure Chapter 11 - Voices of the advocates to stop pound seizure Section III - Taking Action Chapter 12 - Advocacy Techniques Chapter 13 - Threats, intimidation and lawsuits Chapter 14 - Conclusion Appendix A = Laws Appendix B - Federal and Michigan pound seizure bills Appendix C = PCRM medical school charts