Mary Cummins Wildlife Rehabilitation Animal Advocates News Los Angeles California

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

The lady and her tiger by Pat Derby - Book review by Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates

Pat Derby, The lady and her tiger, PAWS, Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, California

A year before Pat Derby passed away Patty Shenker gave me a copy of Pat's book "A lady and her tiger." I misplaced it but found it yesterday and finally read it. It's a very good read about what animal training was like pre 1970.

Back in the day animal trainers made animals perform out of fear and fright. They considered the animals as merely something to be used to make money. They did not provide them with the best enclosures, nutrition or care. When they were no longer useful they sold them for canned hunts, to become taxidermy mounts or merely euthanized them. They did not treat them the way we do our beloved pets.

Pat Derby felt that animals should be given the best nutrition, care, enclosures and enrichment. She believed that it is better to raise them with love and encourage them to do certain behaviors for food and praise as rewards. She did not believe in declawing, defanging, forcing an animal to work, frightening an animal to act or negative reinforcement. Over time other animal trainers came to see the light though some such as Have Trunk Will Travel still use bull hooks, hot sticks and negative training techniques.

The book "A lady and her tiger" takes you through Pat's upbringing in England to her becoming an animal trainer in California. She shares her experience working with different animals and animal training companies. She calls it as she sees it and admits early on she was not the most enlightened person when it came to animal training in her early years. Today of course her sanctuary Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) cares for ex-exhibit animals in a sanctuary environment.

Pat Derby, The lady and her tiger, PAWS, Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates, California

Patricia Bysshe Shelley Derby (June 7, 1942 - February 15, 2013) was a British-born American animal trainer for American television series, commercials during the 1960s and 1970s and later became a crusader for animal rights. Father was Charles Boswell Shelley (1897-1954) a Cambridge professor, Mother Mary (1900-1977), older brother Derek (1920-1947), husband Theodore Ralph Ball Derby (1934 - 1976) and partner Edward Stewart.

Hardcover: 284 pages
Publisher: Dutton; 1st edition (1976)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0525142754
ISBN-13: 978-0525142751

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

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Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate Services has been in real estate since 1983, over 35 years. She is licensed by the Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers. Mary Cummins was an agent and broker licensed with the California Department of Real Estate selling residential income, commercial buildings, raw land and homes for Merrill Lynch Realty in Beverly Hills and Westside Properties in Los Angeles before concentrating on appraisals. Mary Cummins currently provides real estate appraisals, expert witness testimony, historical research, legal real estate research for mortgage brokers, banks, lawyers, factors, insurance companies, financial consultants and private individuals. Mary Cummins was born and raised in Southern California. Cummins attended Beverly Hills Good Shepherd Catholic School and Beverly Hills High School. Besides being on the Dean's list, Mary Cummins was a top ten national swimmer and competed on the men's water polo team. Mary Cummins began college at the age of 15 attending the University of Southern California on scholarship, majoring in Psychology/Sociology. http://www.animaladvocates.us http://www.facebook.com/AnimalAdvocatesUSA

Friday, January 2, 2015

How to keep yourself and animals warm when power goes out - Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates

Our power went out again last night. I woke up freezing when the house was 32 degrees. I had to get creative to keep myself and the animals warm. I now have a few tips. Feel free to add more in the comments.

1. Instantly put on a couple of layers of warm clothes including two pairs of socks, hat, neck warmer, gloves, long johns, pants, shirt, sweat shirt, jacket.

2. Instantly put a few blankets, comforter on the bed. Layers are good.

3. If you have a fireplace, keep it ready with wood, kindling, newspaper, matches, lighter to get it going. You should have enough clean, dry wood to replenish it for a day. Candles also provide some heat.

4. If you have a gas water heater, you will still have hot water. You can make hot water bottles, jars covered with a sock to stay warm.

5. You can put a big pot of water on the stove to boil to help heat up the room.

6. You can go into your car and turn on the heater. Be sure to start the car up so you don't lose the battery.

7. If you have car seat heaters, turn them on so you can sit on them or put animals on them. I had to bring our incubators into our car. Thank god the car is big enough.

8. Some cars have AC outlets so you can plus in a converter to run heating pads.

9. Have a head lamp, flash lights with new batteries handy.

10. Use a portable solar charger if the power is out for a while.

11. 7/11 are 24 hours and have microwaves. You can reheat heat gel pads, heating pads/socks with beans inside which will stay warm for an hour or so.

12. There are kerosene, oil, propane heaters, lights. Make sure they are safe for indoor use. Do not bring a fire pit, BBQ into the house as you can die from carbon monoxide poisoning.

13. If you have a gas stove or oven, you can turn it on five minutes every hour. Don't leave it on longer as it can cause carbon monoxide gas buildup.

14. You can stay in one room in the house to conserve heat. Close off the other rooms and vents.

15. Store bought hand warmers. Have them handy.

16. Exercise to keep warm.

17. Cook a warm meal or hot drink on the gas stove.

18. Snuggle with your loved ones and pets.

19. If it gets bad and you're not snowed in, leave the house. Go somewhere where they have power. This is when your cell phone comes in handy as long as cell tower has also lost power then you don't get reception. Call a local Starbucks. They generally have generators. Also public libraries, schools...or emergency centers have heat.

20. When the sun rises and hits the window, open the blinds, drapes to let the sun in. Keep the windows closed.

21. Get a backup generator with or without auto switch to the power box. Have it installed by a professional. There are also portable gas generators with plug outlets that can run some appliances with extension cords.

If you have any more tips, please, post them in the comments.

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

Mary Cummins

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Animal Advocates year end report for 2014 - Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California

Animal Advocates, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California

Here are a few things we've accomplished in 2014 thanks to you and all your help.

Wild animals we rescued for release

▪ 211 Tree Squirrels

▪ 134 Opossums

▪ 42 Raccoons

▪ 39 California Ground Squirrels

▪ 14 Gophers

▪ 36 Striped Skunks

▪ 92 Pigeons

▪ 28 Wild bunnies

▪ 5 Coyotes

▪ 3 Bobcats

▪ 7 Foxes

▪ 39 Rats

▪ 46 Mice

▪ 21 Pip bats

▪ 22 Hoary bats

▪ 25 California myotis bats

▪ 98 Mexican free-tail bats

862 wild animals, 94% release rate (2% euthanized, 4% died)

Domestic animals we rescued

11 House Bunnies
23 Cats
42 Red eared slider turtles
2 Iguanas
34 Koi fish
25 Domestic rats
11 Domestic mice
36 Hamsters

184 rescued, all rehomed

Exotic pets transported out of state

We have permission to bail exotic pocket pets for transport out of the state. We bailed and arranged for transport of 21 exotic pets.

1,067 total animals rescued. We're finally back over 1,000 again.

Other activities

Paid to spayneuter 42 animals owned by others
Added two new large outdoor enclosures
Gave wildlife presentations at five public events
Uploaded 16 new animal rescue videos to YouTube
Now have over 4,800 YouTube subscribers
Now have over 7,800,000 video views on YouTube
Now have over 58,000 Facebook fans
Now have over 1,300 Twitter followers
5 humane coyote exclusions
14 year perfect inspection reports from USDA
Consulted with two cities about educating the public about coyotes
Taught a class for small mammal rehabilitators
Responded to over 1,000 emails asking for animal advice/help from all over the world
Responded to over 1,100 phone calls asking for animal advice/help
Over 500,000 hits on our website Animal Advocates http://www.AnimalAdvocates.us
Over 2,000,000 hits on our website Squirrel Rescue http://www.mary.cc/squirrels
We were approved for our new native species exhibiting permit by Fish & Wildlife
Were named top non-profit by LA Business Journal
We are an approved rescue by Adopt-a-pet.com
We became a 100% "green" organization

Every year we have to say a few sad farewells. Goodbye to Mindy the blind squirrel. She was much loved here at Animal Advocates. She never recovered from seizures caused by loud noises on July 4th. Goodbye to David Middlesworth of V-Dog a wonderful person who donated food to us. Goodbye to Molly Anderson of vegan Madeleine's Bistro. She was a loving and wonderful caring person. With every year there are of course many thanks.

Thanks to Dr. Jennifer Conrad for the Paw Project documentary.

Thanks to Frank for all the formula.

Thanks to Paul Koretz for banning bull hooks in Los Angeles

Thanks to Eldad Hagar for helping animals.

Thanks to PETA for stopping the cruel "Possum Drop."

Thanks for the hay and amazon.comdonations.

Thanks to everyone in the food recycling program.

Thanks to Brenda Barnette for allowing us to pickup wildlife from the shelters.

Thanks to new Mayor Eric Garcetti for all his help with animals.

Thanks to Governor Brown for allowing us to rehab mountain lions.

Thanks to Fish & Game Commission for outlawing animal hunt contests.

Thanks to people who helped transport animals.

Thanks to all the volunteers. Thanks everyone for all the love and support. And a special thanks to anyone I accidentally left off the list and our anonymous donors.

2015 Marks our 13th year as a non-profit organization. We have a lot of new things planned!

▪ We're looking for a new property with more land that backs up to city or state park land.

▪ We'll be rewriting our wildlife rehabilitation manuals and finishing a book.

▪ We'll be redoing the websites.

▪ We'll be hopefully getting some incubators.

▪ We'll be starting a membership with a newsletter, special offers and live wildlife programs.

▪ We'll be applying for grants to expand our program.

▪ We expect to get our wildlife rescue numbers back up. We should be over 1,300. The economy has really taken a toll on our finances.

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 Attorney General. We are also recognized by the state of California as a legal non-profit corporation. 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 90015-1640

That's a P.O. box so don't deliver animals there. Here are more ways you can help Animal Advocates.

We also have a GoFundMe campaign but would prefer direct donations as GoFundMe takes 10%

http://www.gofundme.com/Animal-Advocates-GoFundMe

We have an Amazon Smile account

https://smile.amazon.com/ch/48-1287089

We have an eBay account you can friend, fan or donate to.

http://www.ebay.com/usr/animal.advocates

We have an iGive account

http://www.igive.com/welcome/lp15/wr33d.cfm?c=69066&p=19992&jltest=1

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

Mary Cummins, MaryEllen Schoeman and everyone else at Animal Advocates

http://www.AnimalAdvocates.us

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

Mary Cummins

Animal Advocates rescues ill, injured and orphaned coyotes in Los Angeles, California

Coyote pup rescued by Mary Cummins of 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.

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.  

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.

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.

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 & Wildlife 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, Animal Advocates authorized to rescue and rehabilitate ill, injured and orphaned coyotes in Los Angeles, California

Mary Cummins
Animal Advocates
http://www.AnimalAdvocates.us
Mary [at] AnimalAdvocates.us
http://www.FaceBook.com/AnimalAdvocatesUSA
http://www.AnimalAdvocates.us

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

Mary Cummins

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Virtual tour of Animal Advocates' wildlife rehabilitation facility in Los Angeles, California

Animal Advocates wildlife rehabilitation facilities, enclosures, Los Angeles, California

Due to Fish & Wildlife regulations we are not allowed to let members of the public see wildlife which is being rehabilitated for release back to the wild. We can only legally show our educational animals to the public in person. The only exception of course is if someone is a legal volunteer. Because we can't give physical tours I thought I'd make this virtual tour of our facility because everyone keeps asking.

As you all know everything we do is as "green" as possible. We build our enclosures with used, repurposed materials. Some materials we get free on Craigslist, freecycle or from the movie industry. Some enclosures we bought used on Craigslist. We had to pay to get the exercise wheels made but they are made from repurposed hoolahoops and rabbit hutch wire. We used a grant last year to buy used material and enclosures off Craigslist to build more outdoor enclosures. Our cages cost 1/5 the cost of new enclosures for this reason. We need to stretch our dollars as much as possible to save as many animals as we can.

We have a separate building as our ICU and nursery which has heat, AC, bathroom, sink, shower. Along two walls we have 18" deep storage shelving with incubators on the lower shelves and caging for juveniles on the top. The photo only shows one wall. There are also separate pet crates for injured adults. There are heating pads under all the incubators, crates and cages which we turn on if needed. They're attached to electric strip outlets which are on the back of the shelves. Along another wall of this room is stacked dog crates for larger orphans and injured adults such as coyotes, bobcats, foxes, raccoons, opossums. I generally have towels over the cages and front doors so they won't be stressed but took them off for this pic.

When the animals are old or well enough we put them into large outdoor enclosures. These large enclosures help them acclimate to outdoor weather, sights and sounds of nature. This is also where they get needed excercise and learn to climb, jump, make a nest and forage for hidden food in their enclosure. We have custom made exercise wheels in the enclosures. Once the orphans can feed themselves, we no longer handle them. This is how they become wild again. It's their natural instinct.

We have predator animals on one side and prey animals on the other divided by cage walls and materials so they can't see each other. The cages face out for this reason. They all have roofs, flooring, next boxes, things to climb, tree branches, logs, lofts, hidey holes, food bowls, ponds, swings, enrichment items... Below are a few of our enclosures. All of these enclosures are more than the minimum requirements in terms of size, strength... They are all at least six to eight feet tall walk-in aviary enclosures. There are two bird aviaries on another part of the property. With all these enclosures we are able to save over 1,000 wild animals per year by having the animals in there in shifts. We do one litter size of animals at a time, e.g. six juvie skunks, racoons, squirrels, bobcats, coyotes....in an outdoor enclosure. When we release those we put in another litter size of animals to condition for release.

If you look in the background you can see our compost container. We also have water collection containers and we grow some of our own vegetables to feed to the wildlife. Nothing gets wasted here. Most of our food is donated. Thanks so much!

Animal Advocates wildlife rehabilitation facilities, enclosures, Los Angeles, California, Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins

Friday, December 5, 2014

Judge blocks law that created loophole for opossum drop - Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates

PETA, possum drop, opossum, Mary Cummins, California

"Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins granted a preliminary injunction against a law the General Assembly passed in June that created a regulatory loophole for the Clay County business that holds the Possum Drop."

http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/video/14248918/

Law makers passed a law stating no laws apply to opossums, possums during the last week of the year, i.e. HB 1131 "Clay County opossum wildlife exclusion law." The law would have made it legal to rape, kill, light on fire, draw and quarter, torture an opossum in North Carolina for the last week of the year. That new law is of course unconstitutional.

Previously the opossum drop was being done illegally. PETA shut them down a couple of years ago because they didn't have proper permits. The next year the possum drop person got the necessary permit. PETA then filed suit saying the department which gave them the permit did so erroneously. Then they state passed the opossums right to work act, i.e. bill 60. Again PETA stated it was unconstitutional.

More about the opossum drop

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Possum_Drop

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

Mary Cummins

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Please, help Animal Advocats on #GivingTuesday

We're raising money to get ready for our huge up coming baby season. As we are the only licensed wildlife rehabilitation facility in Los Angeles City which covers over 500 square miles and 4.3 million people we get inundated with babies besides ill and injured wildlife. Any day now baby tree squirrels will start pouring in by the shoe box full. After that we get baby opossums, ground squirrels, flying squirrels, raccoons, skunks, foxes, bobcats and coyotes. Next summer we'll get baby bats and yet another round of tree squirrels, opossums and late raccoon, skunk, fox babies.

Please, help us raise funds for incubators, food and veterinary costs. With the help of a grant we expanded our outdoor enclosures so we can take in more animals. While we're very grateful to be able to expand this has caused our regular budget for food, veterinary and supplies to sky rocket.

You can donate via PayPal to donate@animaladvocates.us or click this link.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=58WN7JLLXNRMU

You can also send us a check to Animal Advocates, 645 W 9th St #110-140, Los Angeles, CA 90015-1640. If you can't donate, you can always share this link. Thanks so much!

Mary Cummins

President

Animal Advocates

http://www.AnimalAdvocates.us

http://www.facebook.com/AnimalAdvocatesUSA

Licensed by the California Department of Fish & Wildlife and USDA

Legal 501 3c non-profit organization recognized by the IRS since 2002 EIN # 48-1287089

http://www.guidestar.org/organizations/48-1287089/animal-advocates.aspx

Legal California non-profit corporation since 2002

http://www.animaladvocates.us/animal_advocates_legal_corporation.jpg

#givingtuesday

Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins Animal Advocates Los Angeles California Wildlife Rehabilitation Real Estate

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Friday, January 2, 2015

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Friday, December 5, 2014

Tuesday, December 2, 2014