Dry Pet Food Storage

Warm weather and humidity can wreak havoc on a good bag of pet food! 

 Dry dog and cat foods usually have a one-year “shelf life.” That means the food is “good” for up to one year after the manufacturing date. Many dry foods stamp a “best if used by” date on the package. This applies only to unopened bags.   High-quality dog food companies use bags that provide protection from oxygen and moisture. If the bag is intact, not enough oxygen and moisture can migrate into the food in one year to cause significant oxidation or microbial growth problems. Though problems can occur between the manufacture of food and the customer opening the bag, it’s what happens after the bag is opened that we are most concerned with in this article.  

What happens after you open the bag of dog food?  As soon as you open a bag of food, oxygen, moisture, light, mold spores, storage mites, and other potential spoilers enter the bag.  

Oxidation of fats

Oxidized fats may cause cancer and contribute to many chronic health problems in humans. The same is true for dogs.
 
Dog food companies use antioxidants (sometimes vitamin E and other natural sources) to forestall oxidation. Every time the bag is opened, oxygen enters. Eventually the antioxidants are all oxidized (used up) and some of the fats are damaged, starting with the more fragile omega -3 fatty acids.
 
Degradation of all micronutrients

Vitamins particularly susceptible to oxidation and damage due to long term room temperature storage include vitamin A, thiamin, most forms of folate, some forms of vitamin B6 (pyridoxal),vitamin C, and pantothenic acid. The nutrition in the food at the bottom of a bag left open 39 days will be considerably less than the nutrition in the top of the bag. Fresh is best.

Molds and mycotoxins

Storing open bags of dry dog food for 39 days in warm, humid areas (most kitchens) promotes the growth of molds. Some of the waste products of these molds (mycotoxins) are increasingly being implicated as long-term causes of cancer and other health problems in humans, poultry, pigs and other animals. Dogs are particularly susceptible to these toxins.
 
When dry dog foods absorb moisture from the surrounding air, the antimicrobials used by most manufacturers to delay mold growth can be overwhelmed, and mold can grow. The molds that consume dry pet foods include the Aspergillus flavus mold, which produces Aflatoxin B1, the most potent naturally occurring carcinogenic substance known.
 
You can’t see low levels of mold, and most dogs can’t taste it.  While many dogs have died shortly after eating mycotoxin-contaminated foods, mycotoxins kill most dogs slowly by suppressing the immune system and creating long-term health problems in all organs of the body.
 
Infestation

Bugs, storage mites, mice, and other unpleasant invaders thrive on dry dog food.  Recent research has shown that allergic dogs are frequently allergic to the carcasses of storage mites, which may infest grains, especially those grains used in low cost dry dog foods. So, daily, allergic dogs ingest a substance to which their immune system reacts negatively.
 
Keep food fresh!
 
1. Keep food in its original bag, even if you use a container. Plastics can leach vitamin C out of the food. The components of the plastics themselves may leach into the food. Rancid fat, which lodges in the pores of plastics that are not food-grade, will contaminate new batches of food.
2. Buy small, fresh bags of food; only enough to last 7 days. Look for manufacturing or “best if used by” dates on the bag. If you don’t see one, or can’t understand the code, write the manufacturer and ask where it is or how to interpret their codes.
3. Keep food dry. If the food looks moist, throw it away.
4. Keep larger bags in the freezer. This is the only way we think large quantities of food may be kept safely.
5. If the food has off color, throw it away.
6. If the food smells rancid or like paint, throw the food away.
7. If your dog says no, do not force her to eat.
8. Don’t buy bags that are torn.  

Consider the value vs the risk of buying bags of food that are too large for your pet(s) to finish before the expiration date.  Sometime paying a little more to buy smaller bags as you need them can save you a lot of money and heartache in the long run!
 
Follow these simple recommendations to radically reduce the deadly toxins your dog or cat encounters. 



 For those of you that are relocating with your pet; ship some of your pet’s food ahead so you have it when you get there.  Not all brands are available everywhere.  This will save on an upset stomach in a new country or town.  

One of my favorite books on the right way to feed pets is “See Spot Live Longer” by Steve Brown and Beth Taylor.  Below is an excerpt from Ms. Taylor’s website that I thought was important to share with companion pet owners.

 

2000+ Dog Books And All Things Dog 

Dogwise, All Things Dog!

Monthly Feature: BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN DOGS

Wagging the Dog, and a Finger – Emotional Service Dogs

 

 

On a sun-drenched weekend last month, cafes from TriBeCa to the Upper West Side were swelling with diners, many of whom left dogs tied to parking meters in deference to Health Department rules that prohibit pets in restaurants. At French Roast on upper Broadway, however, two women sat down to brunch with dogs in tow: a golden retriever and a Yorkie toted in a bag.

 

Illustration by Hadi Farahani; photograph by Robert Daly/Getty Images

 

 

“They both said that their animals were emotional service dogs,” said Gil Ohana, the manager, explaining why now all of a sudden in the last several months, we’re hearing this.”

Anthony Milburn, at right with four of his dogs, rely on their pets for emotional well-being.

he let them in. “One of them actually carried a doctor’s letter.”

Health care professionals have recommended animals for psychological or emotional support for more than two decades, based on research showing many benefits, including longer lives and less stress for pet owners.

But recently a number of New York restaurateurs have noticed a surge in the number of diners seeking to bring dogs inside for emotional support, where previously restaurants had accommodated only dogs for the blind.

“I had never heard of emotional support animals before,” said Steve Hanson, an owner of 12 restaurants including Blue Fin and Blue Water Grill in Manhattan. “

The increasing appearance of pets whose owners say they are needed for emotional support in restaurants — as well as on airplanes, in offices and even in health spas — goes back, according to those who train such animals, to a 2003 ruling by the Department of Transportation. It clarified policies regarding disabled passengers on airplanes, stating for the first time that animals used to aid people with emotional ailments like depression or anxiety should be given the same access and privileges as animals helping people with physical disabilities like blindness or deafness.

The following year appellate courts in New York State for the first time accepted tenants’ arguments in two cases that emotional support was a viable reason to keep a pet despite a building’s no-pets policy. Word of the cases and of the Transportation Department’s ruling spread, aided by television and the Internet. Now airlines are grappling with how to accommodate 200-pound dogs in the passenger cabin and even emotional-support goats. And businesses like restaurants not directly addressed in the airline or housing decisions face a newly empowered group of customers seeking admittance with their animals.

WHILE most people who train animals that help the disabled — known as service animals — are happy that deserving people are aided, some are also concerned that pet owners who might simply prefer to brunch with their Labradoodle are abusing the guidelines.

“The D.O.T. guidance document was an outrageous decision,” said Joan Froling, chairwoman of the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners, a nonprofit organization representing people who depend on service dogs. “Instead of clarifying the difference between emotional support animals who provide comfort by their mere presence and animals trained to perform specific services for the disabled, they decided that support animals were service animals.”

No one interviewed for this article admitted to taking advantage of the guidelines, but there is evidence that it happens. Cynthia Dodge, the founder and owner of Tutor Service Dogs in Greenfield, Mass., said she has seen people’s lives transformed by emotional-support animals. She has also “run into a couple of people with small dogs that claim they are emotional support animals but they are not,” she said. “I’ve had teenagers approach me wanting to get their dogs certified. This isn’t cute and is a total insult to the disabled community. They are ruining it for people who need it.”

The 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act states that anyone depending on an animal to function should be allowed full access to all private businesses that serve the public, like restaurants, stores and theaters. The law specifies that such animals must be trained specifically to assist their owner. True service animals are trained in tasks like finding a spouse when a person is in distress, or preventing people from rolling onto their stomachs during seizures.

But now, because the 2003 Department of Transportation document does not include language about training, pet owners can claim that even untrained puppies are “service animals,” Ms. Froling said. “People think, ‘If the D.O.T. says I can take my animal on a plane, I can take it anywhere,’ ” she said.

Aphrodite Clamar-Cohen, who teaches psychology at John Jay College in Manhattan and sees a psychotherapist, said her dog, a pit bull mix, helps fend off dark moods that began after her husband died eight years ago. She learned about psychological support pets from the Delta Society, a nonprofit group that aims to bring people and animals together, and got her dog, Alexander, last year. “When I travel I tell hotels up front that ‘Alexander Dog Cohen’ is coming and he is my emotional-needs dog,” she said. She acknowledged that the dog is not trained as a service animal.

“He is necessary for my mental health,” she said. “I would find myself at loose ends without him.”

It is widely accepted that animals can provide emotional benefits to people. “There is a lot of evidence that animals are major antidepressants,” said Carole Fudin, a clinical social worker who specializes in the bond between animals and humans. “They give security and are wonderful emotional grease to help people with incapacitating fears like agoraphobia.”

Groups of pet owners with specially trained “therapy dogs” have long visited hospitals and volunteered after disasters. Following the 9/11 attack in New York, 100 therapy dogs were enlisted to comfort victims’ families at a special center.

But Dr. Fudin said that emotional reliance on an animal can be taken too far. “If a person can’t entertain the idea of going out without an animal, that would suggest an extreme anxiety level,” she said, “and he or she should probably be on medication, in psychotherapy or both.”

The question of when an animal goes from being a pet that provides love and companionship to an emotional-support animal, without which an owner cannot get through a day, is subjective.

Elicia Brand, 36, said the role her Bernese mountain dog played in her life changed drastically after Ms. Brand suffered severe traumas — being trapped on a subway during the 9/11 attack and being raped the next year. “I am a strong person and it almost did me in,” she said of the rape. “My dog was my crutch. If I didn’t have him I wouldn’t be here now.” After Sept. 11, Ms. Brand enrolled her dog in disaster relief training and put him through 10 weeks of training so he could be a therapy animal to others as well as herself. The dog now accompanies her everywhere, even to work. She also sees a therapist and takes medication.

One reason it is difficult to sort out the varying levels of dependency people have on their animals is that it is a violation of the disabilities act to inquire about someone’s disability, and although service animals are supposed to be trained, there is no definitive list of skills such animals must have.

“The A.D.A. started with the idea of the honor system,” Ms. Froling said. “The goal was to make sure that people with disabilities were not hassled. They didn’t list the services an animal should perform because they didn’t want to limit creativity, and they didn’t want to specify dogs because monkeys were being trained in helpful tasks.”

These days people rely on a veritable Noah’s Ark of support animals. Tami McLallen, a spokeswoman for American Airlines, said that although dogs are the most common service animals taken onto planes, the airline has had to accommodate monkeys, miniature horses, cats and even an emotional support duck. “Its owner dressed it up in clothes,” she recalled.

There have also been at least two instances (on American and Delta) in which airlines have been presented with emotional support goats. Ms. McLallen said the airline flies service animals every day; all owners need to do is show up with a letter from a mental health professional and the animal can fly free in the cabin.

There is no way to know how many of the pets now sitting in coach class or accompanying their owners to dinner at restaurants are trained in health-related tasks. But the fact that dog vests bearing the words “service animal” and wallet-size cards explaining the rights of a support-dog owner are available over the Internet, no questions asked, suggests there is wiggle room for those wishing to exploit it.

One such wallet card proclaims: “This person is accompanied by a Service Dog — an animal individually trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities. Service Dogs are working animals, not pets.” On the back is a number to call at the Department of Justice for information about the Americans With Disabilities Act.

One 30-year-old woman, a resident of Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., said she does not see a psychotherapist but suffers from anxiety and abandonment issues and learned about emotional-needs dogs from a television show. She ordered a dog vest over the Internet with the words “service dog in training” for one of the several dogs she lives with, even though none are trained as service animals. “Having my dogs with me makes me feel less hostile,” said the woman, who refused to give her name.

“I can fine people or have them put in jail if they don’t let me in a restaurant with my dogs, because they are violating my rights,” she insisted.

In general, business owners seem to extend themselves to accommodate service animals. Though Completely Bare, a chain of health spas in New York and Palm Beach, Fla., has a policy barring animals in treatment rooms, Cindy Barshop, the company’s owner, said that she made an exception for a customer who insisted that she needed her large dog for support while she had laser hair removal. “We had to cover the dog with a blanket to protect its eyes during the procedure,” Ms. Barshop said.

One area in which business owners have resisted what they see as abuse of the law is housing. Litigators for both tenants and landlords say cases involving people’s demands to have service animals admitted to no-pets buildings in New York have risen sharply in the last two years, with rulings often in the tenants’ favor.

“If you have backing of a medical professional and you can show a connection between a disabling condition and the keeping of an animal, I have 99.9 percent success,” said Karen Copeland, a tenants’ lawyer.

One of her current clients maintains that she needs an animal in her apartment because she is a recovering alcoholic and, apart from her pet, all her other friends are drinkers. Another client, Anthony Milburn, lives in Kew Gardens, Queens, with five cocker spaniels and one mixed breed. He says he has severe chest pains from stress and has a note from a social worker saying that he relies on his pets for his emotional well-being. He is pursuing a case against his landlord.

Bradley Silverbush, a partner at Borah, Goldstein, Altschuler, Schwartz & Nahins, the largest landlord law firm in New York, said people are manipulating the law.

“I’m a dog owner and a dog lover but to claim emotional support is beyond affection,” he said. “People send letters from doctors saying the person relies on the animal, or a person has just lost a parent and purchased a Pomeranian. Some doctors will write anything if asked by a patient.”

Jerri Cohen, the owner of a jewelry store in Manhattan, said she tried living without animals when she married a man who bought an apartment in a no-dog building. “I went into a severe depression and had to go on medication,” she said. “Three years later a friend bought me two pug puppies, and I refused to give them away. My co-op threatened us with eviction. An attorney suggested I get a letter from my psychiatrist. She wrote that I was emotionally needy and the lawyer said that was no good. So she wrote that I can barely function or run my store without them. I won the case.

“They sleep with me,” she said. “They have a double stroller. They go to restaurants with me and fly with me.”

By BETH LANDMAN, originally published – New York Times:  May 14, 2006

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Humane Society of the U.S. finally changes its policy on fighting dogs

Great Update About Dogs Removed From Michael Vick’s Compound

Wishing You All A Happy, Prosperous and Safe New Year!!

If you have room in your home and in your heart please adopt just one more pet in 2009 and help stop unnecessary pet and animal euthenization.  And please be an animal advocate by supporting the humane treatment of all animals and reporting even suspected abuse and cruelty.

Another great way to help is to become a foster parent for pets (and all animals if you have the room) in need or waiting for homes or placement.

Below are some some photos of our gang… our four (a chihuahua and three chiweenies) and our daughter’s two ( a papillion and a chorkie) taken on Christmas Eve.  We also do some temporary emergency fostering.

Any home is made better with the special love of a pet!!  And all animals are God’s creatures and deserve fair and humane treatment, so help spread the love.

Photos by:  Marion Algier – The UCLA Shutterbug

Wishing You All A Very Merry, Happy and Safe Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanza

We wish you and yours, including your furry, feathered and scaled family members Blessings and a Great Holiday!!

Tim, Princess, Santa, Apachi, Angel, Marion and Angelina

Holiday Pet Hazards

Nothing makes a holiday more memorable than a panicked trip to the emergency room. Too often that’s the final destination when a pet gobbles down a plate full of buffalo wings or chocolate cupcakes, nabs turkey legs off the table and crunches down on glass ornaments or electrical wires.

Stephanie Risvold of Irvine, Calif., won’t ever forget the year that her Lab mix, Cookie, swallowed 13 chicken hot wings in the minute or two that it took her to escort guests to the front door.

“We rushed her to the emergency clinic and got her X-rayed. That’s when we saw the ‘belly of bones,’” Risvold says. “All we could do was to have her X-rayed again and again to make sure the bones were dissolving and not causing a blockage. We had our vigil for a few days and Cookie was fine.”

During the holidays, pet owners fret over the dangers of their dog or cat chowing down bones, chocolate or even tree trimmings, but not all holiday pet hazards are equally worrisome.

 Here’s what you need to know to have an emergency-free celebration this season.

Jet Blue Introduces JetPaws Program

Dear Pet Parents,

Jet Blue is introducing JetPaws, JetBlue’s exclusive program designed to provide pets and their owners the tips and tools they need for a smooth trip from start to finish.  They are committed to each and every customer-including the four-legged ones.  There’s no charge and the program provides:

TrueBlue® points – TrueBlue points each way when traveling with your pet.

Pet carrier bag tag – a bag tag will be attached to every pet carrier at check in to let everyone know your pet is ready to jet.

Travel Petiquette™ – a handy list of JetBlue’s social graces of pet travel.

JetPaws welcome email – once you book your pet, you will receive a welcome email with useful information such as next steps, Petiquette and travel tips.

Free Pet Travel Guide – a useful, downloadable e-booklet featuring:
The ins and outs of jetting with your pet from the moment you book your flight to your arrival at your final destination.

Travel Petiquette

Pet-friendly hotels, restaurants and parks plus animal hospitals in some of JetBlue’s major cities

JetPaws is also Running a Pet look-Alike Contest

Are you and your pet two of a kind? Submit a photo for a chance to win a JetBlue Getaways vacation package!

Related Articles:

• New Pet Airline – Airline Just For Pets Takes Off
• Airports Offer Relief for You and Your Pet

In Pets We Trust

Kathleen McCabe weeps when she recalls the death of Alexis Jarose. Not only did McCabe lose her best friend, but she couldn’t save Jarose’s dog, Schweppes, a wirehaired fox terrier. “I would have willingly taken him, but when Alexis died, her caregiver immediately put the dog to sleep. There was nothing I could do, because Lex had revised her will leaving out any mention of Schweppes,” she recalled.

A similar fate won’t befall McCabe’s beloved terrier, Spencer. Since McCabe first crafted a will with her husband, Stephen, 40 years ago, provisions have always been made for their pets.

Animals who outlive their owners face uncertain fates. Under the best circumstances, a family member or friend cares for your pet for the rest of its life. If not, your pet goes to a shelter, is euthanized, or is simply let out the front door. The Humane Society of the United States estimates six to eight million dogs and cats enter shelters annually. Only half are adopted.

Should an accident befall payroll specialist Millicent Reed, 50, or her husband Jimmy, her sister-in-law Patricia would get first right of refusal to their seven cats. Another sister-in-law is next in line. Reed said a plan is essential. Six years ago, her aunt was in an auto accident and later died.

“We knew my aunt’s cat, Pepper, was alone, but it took us a week to fly to my aunt’s home,” she said. By then Pepper was out of food and scrounging through the garbage cans. Now Reed always leaves her pets enough accessible food and water to last at least a week should something catastrophic occur. 

Thinking of leaving a chunk of change to Fido or Fluffy? Think again. “In our current legal system, an animal can’t own property. Some human has to be in charge. A will is a transfer of assets. Once it’s done, there’s no ongoing supervision,” explained Mary Randolph, a non-practicing lawyer and the author of “Every Dog’s Legal Guide” (2007).

Randolph suggests a pet trust. This legal document—recognized in 39 states and the District of Columbia—outlines the continued care and maintenance of domestic animals and names new caregivers or directs trustees to find new homes for pets. “A trustee has a legal duty of carrying out your wishes,” she said.

While owners may simply include their pets as provisions in their wills, Michael Markarian of the Humane Society believes a trust is a better option in case of disability. He said, “Wills may take weeks to be executed and could be contested, but a living trust can be written to immediately take effect.”

Creating one does take time. Select a pet-friendly lawyer or estate planner and expect to pay from $500 to $1,000 for their services. Be sure to consider your pet’s financial future. Some owners make outright gifts of cash for their animals’ care.

Hilary Lane of Louisville, Colo., has set aside $5,000 to offset costs for the person who ends up with her dogs, Luna and Frisbee. Likewise Carol Brown, 72, an antiques dealer in Walpole, N.H., has money set aside for the care of her three Norwich terriers and two horses, should any outlive her. “I didn’t want to place a financial burden on their caregivers,” she said.

Some animal lovers don’t advertise the fact that money is part of the deal. One pet owner who wishes to remain anonymous reveals that upon her death, there are 10 people listed as potential trustees to take care of her male cat. What the new caregiver won’t know at first is that the estate is instructed to award the person $10,000 if the feline is still with him or her after six months. “I want someone to take him out of the kindness of their heart and be rewarded if they keep him and fall in love with him like I did,” she explains.

Others leave money to be distributed over time—monthly, annually, or as reimbursement for expenses. 

Want even more security for your pet? Name someone other than the caregiver as trustee to dole out the cash. This reduces the risk of someone taking the money, but selling or destroying your pet.

That’s Dane Madsen’s plan. After his divorce, the 50-year-old corporate strategist from Henderson, Nev., created a living trust for his three rottweilers. “Should my ex-wife be unable to care for any of my pets, two trustees have explicit instructions to use their best judgment to find homes for my pets. The dogs should be kept together, and the new caregiver will receive $150 per month, plus money for veterinary bills and other expenses,” he said. “In the event an animal falls ill, the caregiver and vet jointly decide their end-of-life management.”

More of a do-it-yourselfer? For $89, Peace of Mind Pet Trust (POMPT) will e-mail you simple forms for creating a trust according to the laws of the state in which you live. The brainchild of an Illinois lawyer, Peter Canalia, the kit includes checklists, tips for funding your trust, and paperwork to create a durable power of attorney. Pet trusts can stipulate all the details an owner finds important, from the kind of food the pet eats to its medical needs and walking schedules. The Humane Society also offers a free fact sheet on estate-planning. The sheet includes advice on both wills and trusts.

Bottom line: Just as you would if you were picking a guardian for a child, talk to potential caregivers for your pets. Find someone you trust. After all, what you really want is someone who will love your pet.

By: Laura Daily | Source: AARP.org

Pets in Estate Plans Fact Sheet in English

Pets in Estate Plans Fact Sheet in Spanish

 Every Dog’s Legal Guide 

Stroke Heroes and Their Pets

I have two cats. Buddy is a large tabby tom cat that I found in a snow bank when he was a kitten. He was very young, weak, thin, and had frostbite on the tip of his ear and part of a paw. I can only guess that a thoughtless owner of a litter of kittens tried to get rid of them. I only found one.  Lucy is a smaller tabby queen that I inherited when she was a kitten. She is my granddaughter’s cat.  I am the permanent foster mom since my granddaughter is not allowed to have another cat in her apartment building. Buddy and Lucy are best of friends. One entertains the other and they are usually found rolled up in a big ball of fur on the couch. They are strictly indoor cats.

Over 16 years after having two strokes, I’ve had a dog, bird, and now the cats. The bird was a cockatiel named Kato that I taught to talk, or perhaps the bird taught me to talk too as I was aphasic (a language problem caused by stroke or damage to the brain which leads to trouble speaking, understanding, writing, or reading) post-stroke. Eventually, the bird talked so much that I couldn’t keep him quiet! When I was on the phone he must have thought I was talking to him and would go on and on about how pretty he was and screeched out to “Be quiet! I’m studying!” It wasn’t difficult to figure out that the old bird had picked that quip up from my years at the university.

The dog was a miniature schnauzer named Cindy. She was our family pet when the kids were young. Cindy used to dance on her hind legs when we played the piano. I’m not sure if it was because she wanted to do a jig or because she wanted us to stop playing. Either way, she added great joy to our family.

Now, the children have grown and I live alone. But I am never lonely with Buddy and Lucy around. As a pet owner I have the responsibility of making sure they are fed each day and are provided fresh water. I make sure they are current with their immunizations and vet checks. I brush them at least once a week. And I talk to them too. Not that they understand me but they do react to the intonation of my voice. Believe it or not, they sleep with me too. No matter how many times I’ve sent them from my room they always come back to cuddle. Buddy curls up by my abdomen and Lucy wraps around my lower legs. Everyone is comfortable, except when I move they seem disturbed and meow their discontent.

Pets are important to all of us. After a stroke, pets can be wonderful housemates as well as giving us an opportunity to care for something else other than ourselves. Pets can heal our souls too. Cindy made me laugh when she danced to music. The cockatiels comb was always messy and he’d cock his head and look at you just to make you smile. The cats play with my knitting yarn then run and hide as if to say, “I didn’t do it!” All of these little creatures have added enjoyment to my life. They have helped me to keep depression, a side effect of stroke, at bay. They have helped me realize that I am an important individual in their lives as well as my own. 

by  Cleo Hutton @ MyHeartCentral

Permalink: http://justonemorepet.wordpress.com/2008/10/16/stroke-heroes-and-their-pets/

Shelters Full of Chihuahuas

By FIELDING BUCK
The Press-Enterprise 

“Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” which earned $29 million over the weekend and topped the Inland box office, is alarming some animal advocates who fear it will lead to an upswing in abandonment.

“I’m appalled by this movie,” said Meredith Brittain, who runs a small pet-rescue operation in Devore.

Rescuers say they were already overrun with abandoned Chihuahuas because of the stalled economy’s impact on pet owners and media overexposure to the breed from Taco Bell commercials and Paris Hilton paparazzi shots.

The arrival of an eye-poppingly cute Disney picture filled with talking critters is the equivalent of one more bank closure, they say.

“It’s been the worst year ever,” said Ann Pollock, of a San Diego County Chihuahua rescue operation.

Experts urge people who may be thinking about getting a Chihuahua to adopt at a shelter or rescue agency instead of breeders, stores or online ads. People who have seen “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” say it may send a positive message about abandoned animals. The title character is homeless after being stolen.

      

Carrie Rosema / The Press-Enterprise

Shelter officials say people interested in adopting Chihuahuas do their research and don’t judge animals solely on looks.

Both its canine leads were adopted by the film’s animal trainer. Rusco, the male who plays Papi, was saved from Moreno Valley Animal Shelter in November 2006, after his owner refused to claim him.

“Fantastic movie! I loved it,” said Denise Raymond, office supervisor for animal services, who went over the weekend just to see Rusco’s big debut.

The fear, however, is that the film will cause a repeat of what happened in 1996 when Disney released its live-action “101 Dalmatians.” Filmgoers rushed out to purchase purebred puppies they quickly found they didn’t want.

Brittain said problems begin with buying instead of adopting.

“They buy puppies. They dump them when they turn into dogs.”

Brittain fears people will see “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” go out and buy a male and female and then try to sell the resulting litter at $50 a pup.

      

Experts urge people who may be thinking about getting a Chihuahua to adopt at a shelter or rescue agency instead of stores.

She said a “flood of unwanted dogs” has created gridlock in the rescue system. If potential owners are waiting, then rescuers can’t place the dogs.

“We’re doing this out of our grocery money, most of us,” Brittain added.

She said can she can only handle one or two dogs at a time and does not publicize her activities because if she did she would get eight to 10 calls a day.

There is a high percentage of Chihuahuas in the animal-rescue system, experts say.

Kathleen Summers, program assistant, for puppy mills with the Humane Society of the United States, said that when the organization heard about the “Beverly Hills Chihuahua, it did an informal survey of Southern California shelters.

“Almost all of them said they were the most common breed they rescue.” She said five had Chihuahuas come in on the day of the call.

Rescue Me… Please!

      

Carrie Rosema / The Press-Enterprise

Stacie Gendreaux, of the Riverside County Department of Animal Services, holds a Chihuahua.

Brian Cronin, division chief for San Bernardino County Animal Care and Control, said that on Monday there were 21 Chihuahuas or Chihuahua mixes and about 50 small-breed dogs out of 172 dogs in the shelter system and 297 animals total.

Among them are two “five-week-old guys” that had to be bottle-nursed in foster homes provided by staff.

John Welsh, spokesman for Riverside County Department of Animal Services, said that on Monday there were 94 Chihuahuas or Chihuahua mixes in the county’s four shelters.

Determination of breed is done by the staff. “None of our animals ever have papers,” Welsh said.

Teryn Hartnett, Riverside County’s senior animal behaviorist, said the region’s shelters see a lot of pit bulls and Chihuahuas because of “two different demographics”: the people who breed pit bulls for defense and the people who see paparazzi favorite Paris Hilton posing for photo ops with her pet, Tinkerbell.

A happy ending isn’t guaranteed animals that enter the shelter system. Welsh said Riverside County handles about 30,000 animals a year and about half have find homes. The rest are euthanized.

“It’s a statistic we’re always trying to improve.”

Cronin and Robert Miller, director of Riverside County Animal Services, took steps to neutralize the impact of “Beverly Hills Chihuahua.” They are on the board of California Animal Control Directors Association, which drafted a letter of Disney president and CEO Robert Igor.

Dated Aug. 8 and signed by board president Kathleen Brown, it states that in California shelters, one animal is euthanized every 63 seconds and that “Chihuahuas are small, easy to acquire and frequently abused in high-volume breeding operations.”

Cronin and Welsh said that Disney responded by including a pitch for responsible pet ownership in the film’s publicity.

Chihuahuas are high-energy dogs that require a high level of commitment. Hartnett said one factor to consider is whether you’ll enjoy taking them for regular walks.

Chihuahuas will be a companion for a long time. Small dogs can live up to 20 years, Hartnett said.

“That dog might be in their house longer than the children,” she observed.

She advises people who are thinking about adopting animals do their research on breeds and then bring their whole families to shelters to meet the animals. Don’t judge on looks or color, she said. Judge on temperament.

Summers advised people to be realistic in their expectations. “Beverly Hills Chihuahua.”

“They don’t understand the difference between a cute Chihuahua that jumps into your arms in the movie and a Chihuahua in your house.”

Riverside County: www.rcdas.org

San Bernardino County: www.sbcounty.gov/acc

Moreno Valley Animal Services: www.moreno-valley.ca.us/resident_services/animal/ index_animal.shtml

Permalink: http://justonemorepet.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/sheltors-full-of-chihuahuas/

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Quality Time With Your Companion Animal

Once again, a new school year has begun. With busier school and activity schedules, it’s also the time when pet parents may find themselves with less time to spend with their companion animals. Here are some easy tips for making the most of the time that you do have:

Set aside a few minutes in the morning to groom your dog or cat. While brushing or combing, talk about your upcoming day. If your pets don’t enjoy grooming, then just spend a few minutes petting them. Whatever your daily morning interaction, try to do it at the same time and in the same place. Your companion will find comfort in the regimen – and so will you!

If you have a dog, do something that he or she will enjoy after you return home from work, like a game of catch, hide-and-seek, or take a long walk. If you have cats, we recommend using fishing poles with dangling feathers – your cat will love the chase!

Incorporate teeth cleaning, ear cleaning and/or nail trimming into your new routine. Too often, these health necessities are viewed begrudgingly as chores. Commit to making this time as pleasurable as possible, like time at the spa. 

Massage is a wonderful way to connect with your companion animals. Check out one of the many pet massage books currently on the market to help you develop a technique. There is even evidence to suggest that massage can improve your pet’s health, and it will relax you, too.

Just remember – spending quality time with your companion animal can bring about dramatic changes in temperament, improving the bond you share with your pet and your overall quality of life.

Source:  Healthy Pet Net