AngieS🌍 ☮️

INDIANA STATE POLICE K9 LEO JUST GOT A VEST THAT COULD STOP A BULLET OR A BLADE. Leo now has a donated ballistic and stab protective vest, thanks to the nonprofit Vested Interest in K9s. That’s a good day for Leo and for the trooper who works beside him. These dogs run into the same danger their handlers do, and now Leo goes in with a little more between him and the worst day of his career. Here’s the part most people don’t know. A lot of K9 vests in this country come from charities and donors, not from the agencies themselves. Thank you to everyone who chips in to make days like this happen. Stay safe out there, Leo. Did you know most police dog vests are paid for by donations? H/t: WISH, WRTV and WWBL

SNUGGLES IS HEADED TO THE COURT OF APPEALS. Snuggles' family isn't backing down. Their legal team just filed the opening brief challenging the destruction order. Now the other side has 40 days to respond. That's 40 more days of Snuggles still here and still fighting, with his family in his corner the whole way. If you've been following his story, don't look away now. The petition and the GoFundMe are in the reply below. H/t @JenniferEvn22

I have Crohn’s disease and inflammatory arthritis. I do everything right. I eat healthy, consume very little sugar, exercise, drink a gallon of water a day, and take my medications. Biologics, methotrexate, prednisone when needed. For nearly a decade, I was mostly in remission. Then, two months ago, everything changed. Out of nowhere, I developed a fever, ended up hospitalized, and had surgery the next day. I still need another surgery. After a decade, my biologic stopped working. I'm starting a new treatment this week. And right now? I'm in pain. Some mornings I wake up and can barely walk. I can barely use my hands. Crohn's is flaring. Inflammatory arthritis is flaring. Despite doing everything "right." Because that's the reality of chronic illness. You can do everything right and still get incredibly sick. I can't take NSAIDs because of Crohn's. Yet somehow, we've reached a point where the prevailing narrative would have you believe that opioids don't help chronic pain, and conditions like mine shouldn't require them. I'm here to tell you that Crohn's HURTS. Inflammatory arthritis HURTS. And opioids absolutely CAN help. I cannot believe how far off the rails we've gone. Patients are suffering, losing access to medications that help them function, and there are STILL people pushing to restrict opioid prescribing even further. How much more do chronic pain patients have to endure? How much more access needs to be taken away? When will it EVER be enough? I will never stop fighting for patients like me. Because I know firsthand what it's like to live in a body that hurts despite doing everything you're supposed to do. And I refuse to let anyone pretend that pain isn't real or that relief doesn't matter.

Police say a camera caught a grown man in Pembroke Pines, Florida stalking a mother duck, then stomping her and standing on her until she was dead. A second camera shows him going after her ducklings. They were found dead too. Christopher Antoine, 40, was arrested Sept 7. He was already on probation for a 2024 felony, which runs until 2028. In Defense of Animals says prosecutors filed just one count of aggravated animal cruelty. Florida law allows a count for every animal. That mother and every one of those babies should count. Broward State Attorney Harold F. Pryor, charge every animal and don't hand him a soft plea. Share this, and the petition is in the reply. H/t: @4realhomeboy

13 DOGS SEIZED BURNED, BITTEN AND IN SHOCK. ONE HAD TO BE PUT DOWN. HIS PUNISHMENT? 2 DAYS AND $25 A COUNT. This is Carter County, Tennessee. Back in June there was a fire at Wendell Hodge's home. When the dogs were seized, they had facial trauma, burns, bite wounds and fleas, and some were in suspected shock. One was hurt so badly it had to be euthanized. Hodge just pleaded guilty to 2 counts of animal cruelty. The rest of the charges got dismissed. His sentence is 2 days in jail, and he already gets credit for time served. He pays a $25 fine per count plus court costs, does 1 year of probation, and can't have animals while he's on it. Fifty bucks. That's what 13 dogs were worth to this court. Is that justice, or is Tennessee telling every abuser it's open season? H/t: WCYB

Feel like your Opioid medication isn't as effective? "An investigation by MedShadow found that certain types of opioid medications are more likely to be recalled.. many are produced in facilities repeatedly cited for poor quality control." @Breelee420 😎👍 u rock! #MedTwitter

I find it fascinating that chronic pain patients are so often attacked for pointing out the differences between taking prescribed opioids within the healthcare system for physical pain and using opioids outside that system. We're repeatedly told we're all just "PWUD" (people who use drugs), and that there is no meaningful distinction. Yet Northeastern University's new 48-page Countering Misinformation About Harm Reduction toolkit doesn't mention chronic pain patients or prescription opioids used to treat pain. Not once. You devote pages to stigma, kinder language, treating people who use illicit drugs with dignity, and educating others about the dangers of misinformation. You couldn't have given us ONE paragraph? Not even one? I mean, talk about misinformation. You know what's happening to chronic pain patients. You know people are being forcibly tapered, abandoned by their physicians, and left suffering without adequate pain relief. Elderly patients who have been stable on medication for decades are being left to fend for themselves. Some patients have turned to the illicit drug supply. Others have lost their lives to suicide. Patients being denied pain meds after major surgeries like limb amputations and double mastectomies. This is a healthcare crisis, and misinformation, stigma, and deeply flawed narratives about prescription opioids have helped shape the policies driving it. Yet in an entire toolkit dedicated to countering misinformation about harm reduction, we don't even warrant a mention? We're constantly told we must stand in solidarity with everyone harmed by drug policies. But when it's time to defend chronic pain patients from those very same harms, where is that solidarity? Not even a paragraph. Nothing like another reminder that it's up to us (sick patients without resources), and a handful of dedicated physicians and researchers to fight for these patients. Thanks for the reminder.

On Global Lobular Breast Cancer Awareness Day, we call for more awareness and targeted research. Give now and be part of meaningful progress in #MBCresearch. Click the link in our bio! #LobularBreastCancer #MBC #BreastCancerAwareness #METAvivor #FundMBC

Just imagine the patient continuing to complain about pain after the nurse diverted pain meds to themselves. Then the patient gets nasty notes in their chart about drug seeking, being uncooperative or aggressive, etc. Or look at all the videos of HCWs making fun of their patients in pain.