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Holiday Weekend Pet Safety

Memorial Day weekend is upon us. We have our annual Blues Festival here in Silver City and it’s a fun weekend of music, dancing and maybe even a beer or two. Many of you will be having family and friends over to celebrate and maybe a little BBQ action is in store. Others may be headed for the beach or the river to escape the heat. Whatever your plans, don’t forget the pets. Holidays can be stressful, and in some cases dangerous times for pets.

Memorial Day is right up there with the Fourth of July when it comes to pets getting lost. Be very careful with cats especially when family and friends are coming and going a leaving doors and windows open.

Here are a few more tips to help keep your cat and dog safe:

1. Talk to the kids, and in some cases, the adults. Let them know how to approach and play with the cat or dog. Some cats don’t take kindly to being picked up by a little stranger, let alone grabbed by the tail. Same goes for the dog. You’ll need less antibiotic ointment and fewer band aids if you lay a few ground rules.

2. Leashes, collars,tags and chips: Make sure the cat and dog have their collars on and discuss the rules for taking them outside or for walks. If you use tags to identify your dog or cat make sure the info is up to date. If you micro chip your pet make sure the info in his database is up to date, too.

3. Windows and doors: With all the family and guests coming and going escapes can be a real issue. Stressed dogs and cats may seize any opportunity to bolt. Keep a watchful eye and see number 2 above.

4. Food: Try to keep the pets on their normal diet. Hold the rich food, desserts, chocolate and raisins. They won’t feel left out if you deny them their own rack of ribs. If each one of your guests gives them an itty, bitty treat it can add up fast. It’s enough to clean up the kitchen after a Memorial day cookout let alone cleaning up after a sick dog or cat.

5. Give them some attention: Your pet is going to be dealing with a lot so don’t forget to take them for walks and give them plenty of pats and hugs. They will need it. You probably will, too. Your pet, unlike your mom, sibling or in-law, probably won’t look askance as you grab that second piece of pie or don’t grab that second piece of pie, for that matter.

6. Finally, if the lake, river or beach is on the agenda, use some common sense. Many dogs love the water and unless they are good, experienced swimmers, they can get into trouble just like the kids or aunt Milly. It’s ok for them to jump in a take a swim, but don’t try for an Olympic distance record when you are heaving the stick.

Some dogs may be totally inexperienced around the water. I’ll never forget the first time I took Darcie in the canoe. She got up on the seat and calmly stepped off right into the river. She had no idea that the water surface would give. It was a shocking revelation for her.

Miles is a very strong swimmer like most Labs, but we take him swimming all the time and we know his limits even if he does not. If your dog is not familiar with the water, don’t throw the ball or stick out into the current or across the river. Don’t throw it too far into the lake either. They can easily become exhausted if they are not used to swimming for exercise and they will drown if you are not careful.

Even pet insurance can’t revive a dog or pull one from the current of a rushing river.  One final word of caution; unless you are a strong swimmer yourself, avoid the temptation to go in after a struggling pet. I know this is hard advice, but every year someone drowns trying to save a pet that should not be in trouble in the first place. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of heroics in this situation.

h/t to PurinaCare.com Blog

Doggin’ The Black Hills: 15 Cool Things To See When You Hike With Your Dog

"If your dog is fat," the old saying goes, "you aren’t getting enough exercise." But walking the dog need not be just about a little exercise. Here are 15 cool things you can see around the Black Hills while you hike with your dog.

ABANDONED MINES. The old rail lines-turned trails are good places to see vestiges of old mines. Along the Deerfield Trail you can see the remains of the Black Tom Mine and there are traces of several mines on the Mickelson Trail. Chief among them are the White Elephant Trail, where feldspar was pulled from the ground, and the Wasp Mine, that collapsed on the rail line in 1927.

BISON. When hiking the prairie trails through the Black Hills it won’t be long until you see North America’s largest land animal. Herds that once numbered in the millions were reduced to as few as 15 animals in the 1880s before conservation efforts began. Now Custer State Park is home to more than 1,500 free-roaming bison, one of the world’s largest public bison herds. Another small herd is in Bear Butte State Park.

BRIDGES. Railroad builders used bridges to level out the rollercoaster terrain of the Black Hills. There are more than 100 wooden trestles on the Mickelson Trail alone. The largest was the Sheep Canyon Trestle, 126 feet high and 700 feet long. Therickety trestle was considered so dangerous that engineers and brakemen would walk over the bridge instead of riding the train.

COLD WAR RELICS. In Memorial Park in Rapid City stands America’s largest exhibit devoted to the Berlin Wall – double 12-foot segments of the concrete wall. On the ground on either side of the Wall are tank traps. Photos and interpretive panels tell the story of the dominant symbol of the Cold War. Memorial Park is on the Rapid City Recreation Path.

DAMS. Flood control has been a theme in the Black Hills since the 1930s. Dams across streams and rivers have spawned water recreation areas that are favorite destinations for an outing with the dog. The largest such lake in the Black Hills is the Pactola Reservoir with trails along much of its 14 miles of pine-scented shoreline. Others include the dam at Cold Brook Lake Recreation Area on the Fall River and the Cottonwood Springs Dam.

FAMOUS CABINS. The Badger Clark Historic Trail in Custer State Park starts at the former home of Charles Badger Clark, South Dakota’s first poet-laureate. Clark rook five years to build the stone-and-frame cabin and lived here for 30 years. He also laid out most of the footpath. In Wyoming, along Sand Creek, publisher Moses Annenberg built historic Ranch A, now used for meetings and classrooms. Canine hikers can view the log home at the Dugout Gulch Botanical Area.

GHOST TOWNS. Mining towns came and went very quickly in the gold rush days of the 1880s in the Black Hills. The most intact deserted town in the region is Tinton, visited on the Big Hill Trails. There is an old miner’s hall, a post office and the Black Hills Tin Company store to explore. At the Mystic Trailhead on the Mickelson Trail is theMystic Townsite, where seven buildings and 14 foundations remain from a gold mining community.

HISTORIC BUILDINGS. Hikers can check out the Bulldog Ranch on Rochford Road that was a favorite stopping point for travelers in the late 19th century. Proprietoress Sarah Anne Erbe was known as "Madame Bulldog" for two dogs she kept died up out back to dissuade chicken thieves. Another building from that era that can be inspected up close is the Kroll Meat Market and Slaughterhouse in Spearfish City Park.

LOFTY PEAKS. There are many mountaintops in the Black Hills that can be reached with your dog. Harney Peak, at 7,242 feet, is the highest and Bear Mountain (7,153 feet) is right behind. Ski enthusiasts have carved 16 miles of year-round trails at Bear Mountain. The craggy peak of Flag Mountain serves up expansive views, including a long look to the east of Reynolds Prairie, the largest of three open grasslands in the vicinity. Crow Peak may only be 5,760 feet high but what it lacks in height, it makes up in difficulty. Your reward for a grueling climb is 360-degree vistas at the summit.

LOGGING FLUMES. Water flumes served two purposes in the Black Hills: to transport logs to railheads or to move water into isolated areas for hydraulic gold-mining. The latter is best exemplified by the Rockerville Flume, that operated in the 1880s. An 11-mile trail (the flume was 20 miles long) in the Black Hills National Forest now follows the route of the wooden flume. Remnants of the Warren-Lamb flume used to float logs can still be seen along the Deerfield Trail.

MOVIE SETS. For the 1990 Oscar-winning Dances With Wolves, star/director Kevin Costner filmed the Indian winter camp was set up in Spearfish Canyon in the Black Hills National Forest; the exact spot of the final scene where Costner and Mary MacDonnell leave the tribe was once marked by signs but have long since succumbed to souvenir-hunters. The opening sequence, where Costner receives his orders at Fort Hays to travel to Fort Sedgewick, was filmed on a private ranch east of Rapid City. Two of the set pieces, the major’s house and the blacksmith shop have been moved to this tourist spot known as the Fort Hays Film Set (four miles south of Rapid City). The Sage Creek Wilderness Area in the Badlands National Park was the backdrop for the wagon trip through Sioux Indian country to Fort Sedgewick.

OLD FORTS. As you hike through Fort Meade Recreation Area you can still see stone jumps used to train horses in the old cavlary outpost. If you look closely, you may also notice some circular depressions in the hillsides created by exploding shells from artillery practice. The Old Fort Meade Cemetery is still on the grounds as well.

PRESIDENTIAL FOOTSTEPS. Calvin Coolidge became the first United States President to spend the summer west of the Mississippi River, selecting the State Game Lodge in Custer State Park for his "summer White House." Today, the Grace Coolidge Walk-In Fishing Area is an easy three-mile walk on a dirt path along a creek to Center Lake. Earlier Theodore Roosevelt was a frequent visitor to the Black Hills and a short trail leads to Friendship Tower on Mount Roosevelt, named in his honor. Alas, dogs are not allowed on the trails at Mount Rushmore and can experience this presidential memorial only from the car.

PUBLIC ART. As you walk your dog around Belle Fourche you can see bronze statues of some of the famous rodeo performers – human and animal – that have visited town. The favorite subject in Deadwood is Wild Bill Hickok and you can see his likeness several times as you hike through the historic gaming town.

RAILROAD SOUVENIRS. Anyone can appreciate obvious reminders of the railroad age in the Black Hills like the caboose in Edgemont Park but a more discerning eye can see more fascinating relics. For instance, on the Mickelson Trail near the White Elephant Trailhead, a canine hiker can see a sign with a "W" emblazoned on it. This is one of four places in the more than 100 miles of track that engineers were instructed to blow their whistles to warn people and animals. And near a bridge trestle you can see one of the original mile marker signs made of heavy metal and painted white with a numeral that pinpointed a train’s location on the line to .01 of a mile. Only a few of these old markers remain.

Source: Hike With Your Dog – Re-posted:  Just One More Pet

‘Until One Has Loved an Animal, Part of Their Soul Remains Unawakened’

Our pups are now 3,4 and 6-years old…  Yes 4, pretty amazing for people who never had or really wanted pets.  I always liked animals, but really didn’t want one of my own.  Perhaps I just realized that I wasn’t in a place or ready to take care of them yet and my husband was allergic to everything with fur and feathers.   So when our daughter was young we gave in starting with hamsters, mice, rats, geckos, lizards, fish, turtles… and then birds.  Then our daughter came home with a dog while she was working part-time at a pet store, the summer after her first year of college.  She was supposed to be earning a little pocket money for the next year. Instead she pretty much spent all she earned and came home with a papered Chihuahua… who became our Angel.

Baby Angel

My husband said, “no way!” Our daughter was going back to the dorms and he was allergic, so took Angel right back to the store.  They wouldn’t take her back because our daughter had signed the contract and they had given up a full paid sale to let her buy Angel at the employee discount, less than half of what they had had an actual customer for.  And of course, our daughter went back to school and the dorms, with Angel in tow insisting she could sneak her in and keep her there. Less than an hour after her arrival at school with her 4-legged roommate, we were on our way to pick Angel up.  My husband went through 18-months of allergy shots after that so we could keep her.

A year later our daughter was off sailing around the world with Semester at Sea.  When she got back mid-year, she was assigned a lulu bell for a roommate and bargained with us to get an off-campus apartment a semester early. She wasn’t there a month… when she brought home a Chiweenie puppy, Apachi, who was being given away outside the pet store, near school, where she had just gotten a part-time job after returning from her sail.  A pet store job is never a good idea for her.  Major Problem… it was a no pet apartment and we had signed a year’s lease.

Baby Apachi

Not long after getting Apachi, our daughter’s colitis flared up to an extreme level (I tend to think some vaccines that they got overseas might have exacerbated her condition adding to some stress in her life at the time and too much drinking and partying during that period and trip). After a week at an alternative care facility in an attempt to avoid radical surgery, she unfortunately ended up having to have 2 major surgeries and I spent a total of 54-days (24/7) in the hospital sleeping on a cot in her room, with her.  My husband was home with Angel and Apachi and visited daily.  With all that was going on we really didn’t think about the fact that neither 6 month old Apachi nor Angel had been fixed.  Angel is a half long-hair half short-hair fawn face Chihuahua with a really easy going disposition and everyone had said, if we could breed her with a like-type male, they’d love to have a puppy, so I was looking for a mate for her and Apachi was just a baby and taking him in just got lost in all the goings on.

Next thing we knew… we had 4 puppies: Angelina, Magnum, Princess and Goji

Angel was a natural and great Mom and Apachi watched over them from somewhat of a distance… until they were weaned, at which point he took over.

The boys (Magnum and Goji) and Angelina went to new homes at 10-weeks of age and we decided to keep Princess.  Then a few weeks later Angelina came back to us, because her new family couldn’t keep her and we had requested that if anyone who took a puppy had problems that we would get the puppy back.  Long story short… we kept her too and that is how we went from birds, turtles and rats, at the time, to 4-dogs and a fish who survived being fed to our turtles.

Goji and Magnum

Princess and Angelina

We have been very blessed to have found homes for Magnum and Goji with wonderful families who keep in touch and let us know how the boys are doing at least a couple times a year…

Goji and Magnum above… Angelina and Princess below at age 2

Usually at the holidays or the pups’ birthday

Our 4 Sing Happy Birthday

The puppies were about 6-months old here

And this is them now…  Angel 6, Apachi 4 and the pups 3

It has been an amazing experience to watch this little family grow and interact.  An experience that most people and even animals don’t get to have unless you live in the country.  People ask, “Wow, aren’t they a lot of work?”.  I can honestly say that the joy so out-weighs any work, that I never even notice… and I cook for our four for all their meals.

As for our daughter… she went on to get  more furkids…

Precious (a Pomeranian), Merlin (a Papillion) and Annabelle (a Chorkie)

By Marion Algier/Ask Marion – Just One More Pet

Photos by the UCLA Shutterbug

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Be Kind To Animals (And Report People Who Aren’t!!)

Ya know…There is a lot of animal abuse going on these days. And it just makes me sick, every time I hear  about those poor, defenseless animals, being abused.

What makes people do things like that? They must be out of their minds, to hurt all these furry little creatures, that are so sweet & loveable. What did these animals ever do, to deserve such treatment?  Let’s put a stop to this, now!! ! If you see or hear, of any abuse on these animals, please notify the authorities, immediately.

I have 5 dogs & 3 Cats, and some baby kittens. My dogs are…3 Chihuahua’s & 2 Beagles. My one Chihuahua, Molly, I rescued from an animal abuser, back in 2001.

She wouldn’t come near anyone for at least 2 month’s, she was that scared. After 2 month’s, she started coming to me, only. It took her, a whole year & a half, before she would go to anyone else, besides me. She was so scrawny looking, when I first got her, in 2001. She was a year old then. And now she’s so beautiful and loveable. There are still times, when she won’t go near someone, but she’ll always be that way, because animal’s are a lot like children. And, they all, never forget, how they’ve been treated. But, animal’s can sense, when not to go to someone, where children can’t sense that, but they as well, never forget what happened to them, which also makes them afraid of other people. And it’s really disgusting, that someone has to be abusive, like that!  Let’s put a stop to it now!!! Help fight, all this abuse!!!

Carol – AARP Dog Group

Carol is certainly right… and in order to change things we must all stand up and be heard, be their voices (or more sometimes) as the ASPCA says. Ask Marion/JOMP

Posted: Just One More Pet

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Joan of Ark – Joanie’s Story

Joan of Ark, “Joanie” was discovered near a roadside in Denton and picked up by Animal Services, who transferred her to Noah’s Ark Animal Shelter in Gainesville.  She was nearly starved to death, dehydrated and was so weak she could not even stand up for more than a minute or two.  The vet said she was the worst case of emaciation he had ever seen in a living dog.  She has no visible muscle mass and is literally skin and bones.  We don’t know how this happened, but Joanie is one tough little dachshund.  She’s learning to trust people again, and has learned that everyone who encounters her now wants to shower her with love and compassion.  Because she is so thin and frail, she eats small meals throughout the day.  She will need some dental work at some point in the future, but that will have to wait until she’s whole again.  Her blood work came back showing anemia, but amazingly there were no signs of illness or renal failure.  She is also heartworm NEGATIVE, much to everyone’s surprise.  She is now taking short walks outside for brief potty breaks, then she settles down for a nap in her soft little bed, covered in blankets.

So many of the abused or injured animals taken in by shelters require medical attention, medication, love and patience to become healthy and happy again.  This is where ATDR stepped in.  A loving and experienced foster family has welcomed Joanie into their home where she will be closely monitored and cared for around the clock.  Little Joanie has a long road ahead of her and she will require extensive blood work, a special diet, gradual exercise and lots & lots of TLC to see her through the next few months.  If Joanie has touched your heart like she has ours, please consider making a donation toward her ongoing care.  We will post frequent updates on this precious soul so that all who have fallen in love with her can follow the progress of her journey.  Our heartfelt thanks to Debbie Lhotka, Noah’s Ark Animal Shelter in Gainesville for taking the first brave step to save this special life, and for trusting us to do the rest.

Joanie enjoying the sunshine

Resting after her walk

April 16, 2009 – Joanie had her first visit with an ATDR vet today.   She is in a catabolic state which is preventing her from gaining weight – a result of severe starvation where the body starts breaking down to produce energy/calories.  He prescribed an anabolic steroid to reverse the condition, but it’s a controlled substance and not readily available.  Cindy, Joanie’s foster mom, called and visited about 20 pharmacies before she finally found one who will compound a special chicken flavored dose for Joanie.  It will be ready Monday, April 20th.  While at the vet’s office they weighed her – she weighs 7 pounds, but this INCLUDES HER BED.

Joanie’s doing as well as can be expected.  Her menu today consisted of two good sized hamburger patties (with cheese); 1/2 can of IVD brand Duck and Potato canned food (all spaced out throughout the day in very small portions), and she enjoyed a few very tiny licks of cherry vanilla yogurt for dessert.  She remains alert when she is awake, but she has been sleeping a lot, which is a good thing.

April 18, 2009 – Joanie is more alert today and resting comfortably in her bed, covered up with her fleece blanket in true dachshund fashion.  Cindy thinks she saw a little tail wag today, but can’t be certain.

April 19, 2009 – Cindy had some gardening to do today & it was such a pretty day Joanie came out for some fresh air.  She was very “active”, sniffing the air, soaking up the sunshine, even walking the rows of the garden for a bit.  All this activity made her sleepy so she rounded out the day with a nap under the apple tree.

April 21, 2009 – Joanie had her first dose of the anabolic steroid Winstrol yesterday.  Veterinary Pharmacies of America in Houston prepared it in “chicken flavored” liquid form and she’ll get it twice daily.  She has a very good appetite and her drinking has definitely increased since she started the Winstrol.  Cindy says she’s more alert today and has gone for two walks in the garden.  Her bark is a little stronger too.  She was weighed using a baby scale and it registered 3.56 pounds yesterday.  Today she weighs 3.58 pounds.

April 23, 2009 – Today’s update comes from Joanie’s Foster Mom, Cindy.  “Joanie has shared a week of her life with me as of today. Despite the fact there is very little change in her appearance, there have been very obvious changes in her personality and overall being.  She is stronger,  more alert and, though she rests a lot, she does not sleep as much. She does not growl when I go to pick her up like she did at first and I think that is because maybe she just feels a little better overall.  Her appetite continues to be good and her water intake is steady.  I put up a puppy pen outside under one of our big trees and she has spent the majority of yesterday and today hanging out – watching the birds come to the feeder above and over just a bit from her, enjoying the breezes and filtered sunlight and putting out an occasional much healthier bark when one of my crew gets too close to her pen for her liking.  I am pleased to report that she weighed 3.6 pounds this morning, before breakfast so she is going in the right direction so far!  I am going to need to get her a bigger bed too (actually two new beds – one for inside and one for outside).  She really enjoyed stretching out on a pillow today while outside.  She stretched out and put her little foot up in the air towards me as if to say “scratch my chest”, but we just did not quit there.  The absolute best part of the day today was when I picked her up to bring her inside she actually gave me a little lick on the cheek – I GOT A KISS!!!!  How great is that!?!?”

April 29, 2009 – Joanie had a small setback just after her 1 week update.  She became a little aggressive and it was obviously from the steroids, so her dose has been reduced and she seems to have leveled off now and is more like her former self.  She is so much stronger already and doesn’t wobble or fall forward nearly as much as she did only a week ago.  She’s up and moving around more and even played a little with her blanket today.  She went to back to the vet this morning and she weighed 8 POUNDS (without her bed)!!  The vet’s notes show she weighed 6 pounds on the 17th so she’s gained TWO pounds!  (Note – The baby scale was not right and we apologize for the inaccurate information.)  All the prayers, good thoughts, boiled chicken and steroids have made a significant difference in Joanie’s life.  Please keep the prayers and good thoughts coming; Cindy will take care of the chicken and steroids!!

May 13, 2009 – Hi everyone!  So sorry for the delay in posting an update on Joanie; our webmaster has been on vacation!  All the news on Joanie is good, as she continues to thrive and soak up plenty of TLC, good food and relaxation.  A few days ago she spent a big part of the day outside helping her foster parents, Mike & Cindy “work” in the yard.  She must’ve worked up quite an appetite because when she came inside she discovered her foster brother’s food dish and proceeded to eat the entire bowl of Wellness kibble!  As you can imagine, Wellness is now on her list of foods!  Her weight hasn’t changed much, but she has gained about a 1/2 pound.  Her attitude is wonderful, she’s much stronger and she’s moving about more & more to explore her surroundings.  We are all so touched by the outpouring of support and emails we’re receiving for Joanie!  Thank you all for your good thoughts and prayers for this tough little girl!!

May 21, 2009 – Look at the Glamour Girl!  The news continues to be good for little Joanie.  While she hasn’t gained much weight (she’s holding steady at 8.5 lbs) her coat is looking better and she’s feeling GREAT!  She’s alert, active and is pretty much Cindy’s shadow around the house.  What Cindy does, Joanie does; if there’s yardwork or gardening to be done Joanie’s right in the middle of things; and she has a bed set up in Cindy’s office so she can monitor all activity in there as well.  When she’s not with Cindy, she’s set up in the utility room with beds and several piles of blankets & sheets so she can hide in different parts of the room – and she does; she goes from pile to pile!  Her energy level is good; she can trot down the driveway and does it almost daily!  This past weekend Joanie attended a local animal event with Cindy and she spent some time visiting our volunteers while they worked the booth.  She got plenty of laptime as they took turns holding her in one of her new beds.  Here are some photos taken on Sunday, May 17th.  What a beauty!

May 28, 2009 – Joanie continues to grow stronger and Cindy says, “she’s extremely happy!!”.  She has so much rebuilding to do internally, but if you look closely you can see the improvements in her coat and overall appearance.  She’s grown quite comfortable in her new surroundings and has plenty of outdoor space to explore and enjoy.  Of course she also gets plenty of lap time and TLC when she’s not outside soaking up the sunshine!  Here’s a couple of photos taken a few days ago when she was out surveying the property.

---

June 14, 2009 – Joanie’s progress has been, and will continue to be extremely slow.  Her body is unable to digest food properly.  While she was on her own, starving, her body did the only thing it could do – it began digesting her own intestines and her pancreas in an effort to survive. The lining of her intestines and her pancreas are badly damaged because of this.  The vets have determined it will take about a year for the lining of the intestine to repair itself.  In the meantime, she is being given pancreatic enzymes to assist her in digesting and absorbing more of her food.  We will post updates and pictures as frequently as we can while she continues to improve.  Her activity level is getting better every day and hopefully, one day soon she’ll start to look like a normal dog. Should anything major occur and we have anything new to report, we will surely let you all know.  Thank you for all the prayers and good thoughts that have been sent her way!

July 8, 2009 – This update comes from Joanie’s foster mom. “Joanie has been on pancreatic enzymes for a little over a week now.  She’s been very interested in eating, along with getting up and around more.  She has varied her menu and is dining on two different brands of kibble, Wellness still seeming to be her favorite.  The dry food is down all the time for her, and 3 times a day she also gets her serving of wet food with the enzymes mixed in.  She recently took possession of a huge dog bed – it actually belongs to one of my Lab rescues, but she found it one day and has made it her own. The center pillow has been replaced by one of her favorite comforters though, because she was having a tough time burying herself under that big pillow!  It stays under the desk in the office, right next to the computer station and she can peek out and check on me periodically.  She had lost a little weight, but is back up to 8.5 pounds. Her first rib, closest to her chest, is almost gone from sight!

We continue the Winstrol only once a day now and just this week when I had the Vet call in a refill for her, the young lady at Veterinary Pharmacies of America said that the owner had read her story and was so touched by what we were doing for her that he instructed them to refill Joanie’s prescription at no charge!”

Donate to Help Joanie:  All Texas Dachshund Rescue

Source: Facebook/All Texas Dachshund Rescue, Inc

Posted:  Just One More Pet

“The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

…Mohandas Gandhi

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Goldens Bearing Gifts

Cute story out of:  Sea Isle, N.J. — The big news here is that Simba, our one-and-a-half-year-old golden retriever, just won “Best of Show” in this year’s dog show on the boardwalk.

“Paws on the Promenade” is not exactly the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden, but he had dozens of good competitors, including five other top-notch goldens, a beautiful Bernese mountain dog, a cute Jack Russell terrier, and a big black poodle wearing a nylon net tutu.

Simba won $155 in prizes, consisting of two free tickets to the upcoming “Great Balls of Fire” concert on the Ocean City Music Pier (I don’t know if dogs are allowed, or if he can get a date), a $100 gift certificate at Parkway Vet in Cape May Court House (we donated it back for someone adopting a pet), and a $25 gift certificate from Pawsitively Pets, a local dog-toy store. Simba loves toys! His favorites are tennis balls, some furry stuffed squirrels and a musical Christmas tree.

The contest is sponsored by Beacon Animal Rescue, a local no-kill adoption shelter. They make money in the local beach communities in a unique way, offering a “Goose Chaser” service: “We’ll bring our dogs to you and let them chase the geese off your land. The geese find somewhere else to go, our dogs get exercise, and you get your land back. Small donation requested.”

Back home in Pittsburgh, Simba is fascinated with what began as our backyard bird feeder but ended up as a hanging basket full of squirrels. We bought him a family of toy stuffed squirrels of his own.

Goldens love to bring gifts and each day Simba carries one of his stuffed pet squirrels out to the basket of real squirrels. The floor underneath the hanging squirrel basket is littered each day with an assortment of toys and gifts from Simba. Perhaps these are a sort of peace offering to the real squirrels, we thought, until one morning we found him on the back porch with one of the squirrels squirming, feet flying and pinned to the ground. Simba had him by the neck (the squirrel got away after we yelled for Simba to back off).

Simba can act tough, but he’s afraid of the dark. When we let him out at night in the backyard, he treads cautiously, looking around for any monsters or giant squirrels that might be lurking back there, with his musical Christmas tree playing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” to ward off any evil spirits.

Simba’s toughest challenge, though, is our bed, which he has always thought of as his permanent puppy pile. But our 9-year-old golden, Chloe, thinks he has outgrown the pile, and so do we. So Simba is kicked out of bed most nights and left to fend for himself alone around the bedroom.

To keep him off the bed, Chloe makes a face at him with her eyes glowering and her teeth bared. That used to work for her with our other golden retriever, Nugget, but Simba simply won’t give up. He brings us crazy things in the middle of the night, which to him are sort of like hostess gifts. Some nights, crying and whimpering, he brings us his stuffed squirrels.

One night he jumped into bed between us with his largest stuffed squirrel, soaking wet, pushing it on our faces. We had no idea if he had left it out in the rain or if he had been dipping it in the toilet.

Last week, after being kicked out of bed by Chloe’s growl and evil face, he jumped back into bed crying and carrying in his mouth — the bathroom rug!

We could have told the people at “Paws on the Promenade” that there was no getting ahead of this dog (his Dad’s name is Bad-As-I-Wannabe). Simba came to the contest late and had to sign up in the only remaining category, “Best of Show.” He walked over to the judge, laid his head gently on her knee and looked up into her face with his soft dark-chocolate eyes. She patted his head and said, “He’s so sweeeeet!” As she started to melt, he laid his head on her chest and gently licked her neck.

“What’s his number,” she asked. There I was with a big number “35” around my neck but she couldn’t take her eyes off Simba. Said the male judge sitting next to her, “Boy, that dog knows how to win.”

By Ralph R. Reiland –   The American Spector

Posted:  Just One More Pet

Stop California SB 250 – Save Our Dogs and Our Rights

I hate “the sky is falling, the sky is falling” as much as the next gal, but you know, when big hunks of blue stuff dotted with clouds are crashing into your head while you walk across the street, what are you gonna do?

So, Californians who think that medical decisions about your animals should be made by you and your veterinarian and not the good folks in Sacramento, please check out this action alert from Laura Sanborn of Save Our Dogs, who says that despite recent amendments, the core provisions of California’s SB 250 are unchanged — and very similar to the defeated mandatory spay/neuter bill, last year’s AB 1634:

Violate an animal control law even once and you may never be allowed to own an intact dog ever again. One violation and your intact licenses can be denied or revoked at any time, forever. No one can have intact dogs under those conditions. Suppose your county unknowingly hires a PETA member as head of animal control. In an effort to balance the budget, this person revokes and denies all intact licenses, including yours, generating millions of dollars in fines. He/She is fired six months later but it’s too late, your dogs have already been surgically sterilized. It’s not possible to reattach the parts even if they decide to give you back your licenses.

This will cost local jurisdictions money. Say you get a citation for some minor animal control infraction. No longer can you just pay the ticket.  You have to fight tooth and nail every step of the way to preserve your future right to own intact dogs. If you lose you either get out of dogs or leave the state. Instead of getting a check for $50 in the mail, the county will have to hold a hearing, and maybe an appeal hearing, go to court, etc. In the end the county will pay thousands in staff costs to collect one $50 fine. It’s only $50 to the county, but it is your life with your dogs to you so you’ll do whatever it takes.

The new fees for having intact licenses denied or revoked almost seem designed to drive dog owners underground. The state has a poor licensing compliance rate already, 10-30% compared to over 90% in Calgary. If you apply for a license and it is denied, you can be charged an additional fee for having the license denied. Maybe the local agency doesn’t charge such a fee now, but they may when it is time for renewal. Just one more thing to drive people away. And of course what will they do if you don’t pay the fee? Impound and kill your dogs, of course. You can’t even sell your dogs or give them away. You have to have a intact license to do that.

All these new fees and punishments will be enforced with the threat of impounding your dog. Any law that impounds owned dogs or increases the cost of redeeming impounded dogs will kill dogs. Most owned dogs that are forcibly impounded are ultimately killed. Taking dogs from their owners is usually a death sentence. Increasing the costs to redeem a dog, especially with an 11% statewide unemployment rate, will kill dogs. Before they are killed, the impounded dogs will sit in the shelter for the state mandated waiting period. The state is required by the existing Hayden Act reimbursement mandate to pay local governments for this cost. The state already pays over $20 million a year for this reimbursement. How many more fire fighters, police officers, teachers, and nurses will have to be laid off to cover the addition reimbursement the state will have to pay out if SB 250 passes?

We fail to see the point of this bill. There is no action that is currently legal that SB 250 makes illegal. All it appears to accomplish is give local animal control the power to forcibly spay/neuter as many dogs as possible. What it does do is make responsible pet owners afraid of their local animal control agency. This will reduce licensing compliance and licensing fee income. It will increase the cost of enforcement. Fewer dogs will be adopted because the public will avoid contact with the shelters. More dogs will be impounded. More dogs will be killed.

SB 250, The Pet Owner Punishment Act, just kills dogs and strips pet owners and people in general of another right.

This is a terrible and stupid law. It will not do what it claims to want to do, and it will worsen the lives of pet owners, cost money, and kill pets. Please follow these simple action steps and help stop SB 250. Act now!

UPDATE: Gina mentioned this in the comments, but I’m adding it here, too: Alley Cat Allies is urging Californians to contact their legislators to speak against SB 250, saying it will hurt stray, homeless, and feral cats. You can read their take on it, and use their action tool, here.

Source:  PetConnection.com

SB 250 – full Senate votes this week!

Posted:  Just One More Pet

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Dog that saved owner from fire is euthanized

Bulldog whose barking awakened owner had been diagnosed with Cancer

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A terminally ill bulldog whose barking awakened her owner in time for both to escape from a burning house in Michigan has been euthanized.

The Grand Rapids Press reports that 9-year-old American bulldog Brittney was euthanized Tuesday at an animal hospital.

Owner Scott Seymore said Brittney woke him up early Saturday when a fire started in his home in Grand Rapids. 

The fire came two weeks after a veterinarian discovered the dog had several cancerous tumors. 

The vet said the dog might not survive surgery and Seymore believed chemotherapy would be too hard on Brittney.  

He decided to let Brittney live, with medication for pain. But since the fire Brittney’s growing misery changed his mind.  

Seymore says it was “really depressing.”  

As we all know, it is part for the cycle of life, but it doesn’t make it any easier!

 – Photo by: Johnny Quirin / The Grand Rapids Press

Posted:  Just One More Pet