New Canaan resident helps animals but shutting down reasons to kill them

If you don't know Cathy Kangas, a New Canaan resident and owner of the beauty product company PRAI, then chances are your dog or cat will. Well actually, that is probably not the case, but if they could articulate their appreciation for her work, they certainly would. Who wouldn't praise the work of an individual who has helped protect and save hundreds of their brethren?

"I've always loved animals, cared for them, felt for them and I would say my biggest pet peeve is when I see unnecessary cruelty and bullying of a creature that's helpless," Kangas said. "Things like that just really upset me as a kid,"

For as long as she could remember, Kangas has been doing everything she can do help animals, particularly those that are exploited and treated unfairly.

"As a child I once [saw] a man on the street kicking a dog and I was only about 6 but I ran over and pummeled him," Kangas said with smile. "So I've always had that love for animals."

But it was not until her late 20s that Kangas' tactics for helping animals evolved from tackling villains on the street to tackling villains all over the world.

"Unfortunately in the animal world, there is always some horrible thing occurring somewhere. It's almost like once you put one thing to bed and another horror is looming," she said. "I've watched and I've seen the baby seals in Canada. There are mothers and babies over there who are trusting of us and yet we destroy that trust. People go up there bludgeon them with weapons and skin them alive. We go to Africa and see fields of elephants, who have great memory and feel emotions. And yet, everyday now, 100 elephants a day are being massacred in Africa and it's all for one reason. Every piece of cruelty you see is attached to money. And I've really started putting a lot of emphasis on when we fight campaigns, we go not just to the act but now we're going back to where we can shut the money off."

It's a novel concept and one that seems to be working to Kangas' benefit. Instead of focusing on the acts of cruelty, she is zeroing in on the reason for those acts and eliminating them.

"Right now the slaughtering of elephants is catapulting because suddenly there's a wealthy province in China and they think, sadly, the thing to have is ivory again. It has suddenly become the thing to have," Kangas said in disgust. "What we're trying to do, as an example, for the seals is focus on the markets as opposed to the actual act of cruelty. What we've instead done is gone into the European Union and shut down the seal pelt markets. Europe has joined, America has always done it and so now it's very tough for them to get the pelts through Europe or into Europe. So we've kind of cut off the demand. Seal pelt prices have now gone from $100 to $12. That is the way I think we have to go an tackle the whole ivory industry."

According to the Humane Society of the United States, 97 percent of seals that are killed are pups younger than three months old and are done mainly for their fur. The HSUS also says Canada's commercial seal hunt is the largest slaughter of marine mammals in the planet. Nearly one million seals have been killed in the past five years.

Kangas also shed light on an issue she thinks is a huge problem here in the United States concerning puppy stores, which she believes are no better than puppy mills -- commercial dog breeding places that are known for putting profits in front of animal welfare.

"I see people, educated people who don't want to hurt anyone, go to puppy stores and they don't know that when they do that, they are supplying a terrible industry that basically kills three out of every 10 dogs," Kangas said. "It is mainly because they are sickly or ill and they say `Oh that one won't make money. Throw it in the garbage.' It's a terrible trade. Millions of dogs every year are put to sleep in the United States. Why? Because the supply is far greater than the demand."

Kangas blames fashion and fame for the fate many of these dogs face.

"The puppy mills are churning out all these fashionable kind of new breeds they are creating for, what I would call, silly celebrities who don't think that their celebrity is going to drive the public to go copy them. So you've got people like Paris Hilton walking around with a dog under her arm as if it's a fashion," Kangas said. "People then go get one and realize it's like having a kid. You're tired and you have to feed them, walk them and they cost money. So then they get thrown away after that as if they're last year's handbag."

Kangas always tells people to get dogs from a shelter, where they have plenty of pure breeds and mix breeds.

"Sadly, if you buy from a puppy store, you are buying from a puppy mill. It's just that simple," she said. "If people want a dog, first go to a shelter, [or] go to a reputable breeder, but don't buy dogs in stores. It's a whole terrible industry."

So it's an ongoing battle for Kangas, who will continue to tackle anything and anyone hurting the helpless. The only difference now is that her successes do not go unrecognized. Her work with the seals has actually earned her an award from the HSUS. She recently attended a celebration held by the HSUS, Nigel Barker, the photographer for "America's Next Top Model" and Chefs for Seals, a group of more than 250 chefs from New York, which basically encouraged Canada to end their commercial seal slaughter. The event focused on having restaurants, chefs and consumers boycott Canadian seafood until Canada's fishing industry decides to stop participating in and supporting the commercial seal slaughter each spring off the east coast.

"For me, it was far more exciting and emotional than, frankly, if I'd been given an Academy Award," Kangas said on the honor. "I was just thrilled. It's something I care about so much and I am determined we are going to end this thing."