There’s a new website called Hipster Puppies that cracks me up. I’m thinking I might have to get creative with my dogs and send in some pictures. Anyone have ideas for what I should do? Here are some of my favorites!
Thanks to @SarahDisgrace for this find!
Popularity: 3% [?]
Tags: hipster puppies, sarah disgrace
I’m headed down to Austin, Texas today to attend SXSW. I’m so excited because I am going to get to hear a lot of my “blog idols” speak and meet tons of great people! I’ll still be posting while I’m gone, (thank goodness for the pre-scheduling function on Wordpress), but I won’t be as active on the site as I usually am until after March 15th when I return.
In honor of my trip, I wanted to profile this adorable “Jet Set” sweater by Oscar Newman.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Tags: dog apparel, jet set dog sweater, oscar newman, sxsw
Look who I found hiding in our pantry! Kind of random, but Leroy decided that he wanted to chill out by his food in the closet. This is one of the many reasons I love my dogs. They make me laugh everyday! Sometimes it’s easy to get bogged down in day-to-day life… I have been in that frame of mind in the last few days. We’re leaving town soon and I have been overwhelmed with getting ready to leave. On top of that, I’m trying to shove down the feelings I have about leaving Will for five days.
Will and the dogs will be in very good hands…my parents are staying at our house and I know they will spoil them all like crazy. I’m just having some mother’s guilt, given that it’s the first time leaving Will for more than a few hours. Leave it to Leroy to give me a good chuckle and lighten the mood!
How have your dogs helped you recently?
Popularity: 6% [?]
This is from my local paper, the Omaha World Herald. I hope more businesses follow this trend of letting dogs in. It seems like the coasts are much more dog-friendly when it comes to this kind of thing than we are in the Midwest. Way to go, Canfield’s!
It’s a small dog’s world after all
By Christine Laue
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Canfield’s Sporting Goods is inviting canines into the store as a strategy to survive today’s dog-eat-dog retail world.
In this competitive economy, retailers need to stand out, said Rick Canfield, owner of the outdoor equipment and apparel store at 84th Street and West Center Road. And that includes allowing customers to shop with and show off their four-legged family members.
“It’s really one of those inexpensive ways to get people in the store, and it’s a nice thing to do,” he said. “We don’t care if they buy anything or not. It lifts the spirit of the store to have them in here.”
It also could lift sales.
Since posting a sign reading “Dogs welcome — must be on a leash,” about a month ago, about 50 dogs have accompanied their owners into the store, Canfield said, and the owners have tended to buy things. “Sometimes we’ll have six, seven dogs on a Saturday.”
Employees provide water and doggy treats and request permission to take their pictures for a sort-of doggie guest book on Canfield’s Web site. People who go to the site will see photos of Picasso, a 15-week-old Pomeranian mix, Peewee the pug and Emo, “the first Rhodesian Ridgeback to visit Canfield’s.”
Last Saturday, Yogi, a Pekingese, ventured in with owner Jennifer Schlitter of Bellevue.
Schlitter said she bought the pup that same day from a pet store and then went to Canfield’s with her husband, who needed boots. She remembered previously reading the sign that dogs were allowed and liked that she didn’t have to leave Yogi in the car.
Canfield’s employees treated the pooch like a king, Schlitter said.
“We had a really good experience,” she said. “It was really enjoyable being able to take him in.”
The dogs have behaved so far — none has bitten other dogs or people or had accidents on the floor, Canfield said. “There’s no down side to this at all.”
Canfield came up with the idea after his wife, Sandy, commented that she wished she could take her three dogs into more stores.
Pam Wiese, spokeswoman for the Nebraska Humane Society, said doggie boutiques and national pet supply chains like Petco and Petsmart have long allowed leashed dogs to accompany customers. A few Old Market businesses and other shops do as well, Wiese said.
After making sure it was legal to allow dogs in the store, Canfield decided to give it a try.
“I put a sign up just for fun, and all of a sudden, people started coming in,” he said. “It’s really become kind of an event.”
Canfield’s caters to hunters, who generally own dogs, Wiese said, so allowing dogs inside makes more sense there than for, say, a kitchenware store.
Canfield’s carries some dog supplies and toys, but those items aren’t its focus.
“It’s somewhat uncommon, I think, to allow pets into stores unless it’s a store that specially caters to pet supplies and pets,” Wiese said.
Sales at the longtime Omaha retailer were flat in 2006 through 2008 but improved after the company changed its strategy, Canfield said. As destination shops such as Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s entered the market, Canfield’s shifted its main emphasis away from fishing and hunting and toward camping, kayaking, rock climbing and snowboarding.
Sales increased 10 percent in 2009 and are up 15 percent in the first two months of this year, he said.
By defining a new niche and watching expenses, Canfield’s survived the recession, he said. By welcoming dogs, he hopes to keep on surviving — and to have a lot more fun doing so.
“Dogs have magical powers.”
Popularity: 5% [?]
Thanks to Sigrid Ruge for this great video of her dog, Amoz and her cat, Embava. Sigrid rescued both animals from her local shelter as adults…we love her for that. I get such a kick out of how loving Embava is with Amoz and then when Amoz tries to reciprocate, she bats him in the face! Classic! Thanks also to Julie Larson for telling me about this great video!
Popularity: 8% [?]
Tags: rescue dogs, unlikely friendship
This commercial is pure genius! What a beautiful depiction of dogs! I’m admittedly not a fan of Pedigree Dog Food…their second listed ingredient is “chicken by-product meal”, which is another word for “crap”. (I’m a food snob when it comes to my dogs.) I do, however, love all the programs they have to help shelter dogs. For every Facebook Fan they get they will donate a bowl of food to shelters. Pedigree also does a lot to help educate people about dog adoption and lists other ways to help on their site.
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Popularity: 7% [?]
This breaks my heart. I guess I have mixed feelings about using dogs in combat if this is the result. This article was especially interesting to me because my Grandpa, Floyd Harmon trained dogs for combat in World War II. I hope they get Gunter back home ASAP and make the effort to rehabilitate him. They owe him that given his service to our country.
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By MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS (Wall Street Journal)
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan—When the Marines cry “Havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war, one remains in his kennel. Quivering.
Out of the 58 bomb-sniffing dogs the Marines have in Afghanistan, only one—a brown-eyed, floppy-eared yellow Lab named Gunner—is suffering from such severe canine post-traumatic stress disorder that he had to sit out the ongoing offensive in central Helmand Province.
“He’s the only combat-ineffective dog out here,” says his kennel chief, Cpl. Chad McCoy.
Like their human comrades, some war dogs can handle combat, and some can’t. One Marine Corps explosives dog, a black Lab named Daisy, has found 13 hidden bombs since arriving in Afghanistan in October. Zoom, another Lab, refused to associate with the Marines after seeing one serviceman shoot a feral Afghan dog. Only after weeks of retraining, hours of playing with a reindeer squeaky toy and a gusher of good-boy praise was Zoom willing to go back to work.
“With some Marines, PTSD can be from one terrible event, or a cumulative effect,” says Maj. Rob McLellan, 33-year-old operations officer of the 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, who trains duck-hunting dogs back home in Green Bay, Wis. Likewise, he says, the stress sometimes “weighs a dog down to the point where the dog just snaps.”
Gunner snapped.
He graduated from bomb-dog school in Virginia. He could hunt and tolerate gunfire. He could sniff out explosives, including the homemade ammonium-nitrate fertilizer bombs that inflict most allied casualties in Afghanistan. But he was skittish even before he arrived in the combat zone in October and was posted to a front-line battalion. He reached a crisis soon afterwards.
He reacted so nervously to the rattle of gunfire and deep boom of artillery commonplace around military outposts that he never even got a chance to test his mettle on a real patrol. His handlers aren’t sure what pushed Gunner over the edge. His official record is damning, however: Gunner, it reads, “is not mission capable and is a liability if he is to leave the wire.”
Capt. Michael Bellin, an Army veterinarian working with the Marines, says he’s seen canine post-traumatic stress disorder cases before. “I think it’s possible, depending on what they went through,” says Capt. Bellin, 33, from Delafield, Wis.
Gunner was sent to the main kennel at Camp Leatherneck, a rear base. There, bomb dogs recuperate from illness or injury, under the care of Cpl. McCoy, a 25-year-old member of the famed feuding clan from Hickman County, Tenn.
Cpl. McCoy, a sandy-haired man with sunburnt cheeks, tries to strike a balance between encouraging the dogs’ natural whimsy and keeping his own emotional distance. The handlers can’t grow so fond of their charges that they hesitate to send them into danger’s way.
Still, it’s hard to stay very aloof from the slobbering, enthusiastic Labs. Although the dogs generally live in 9-by-9-foot aluminum cages, Cpl. McCoy sometimes lets Gunner sleep on a camouflage-patterned sheet on a cot in his tent.
The Marine Corps gives each dog a military rank, one notch above his handler’s, to reinforce the idea that the dogs deserve respect. Gunner is formally assigned to a gunnery sergeant, so he’s a first sergeant, a high rank among enlisted Marines, human and canine.
For weeks after he arrived at Camp Leatherneck, Gunner refused to leave the kennel compound. Even now almost any sound sends him into a panic. If a shipping container door slams somewhere nearby, Gunner hunches down and bolts for an open cage door. If an artillery round goes off in the distance, he races into Cpl. McCoy’s tent, then weaves around the cages, his tail low and twitchy. Even the click of a camera shutter can send him flashing back to some bad experience only he can recall.
Lately, the corporal has been able to persuade Gunner to take walks around camp, though the dog tugs at his leash in fear and appears to take no pleasure in the activity.
There are moments, however, when Gunner resembles his old self. On a recent day Cpl. McCoy drove him out to the training area to try his nose at finding hidden bombs. The corporal buried three sticks of C-4 plastic explosives in a few inches of dirt.
“He won’t make it 20 feet,” Cpl. McCoy predicted, letting Gunner off the leash some 100 yards from the hidden C-4.
But Gunner surprised him. Despite the roar of helicopters overhead, he ventured out in the direction of the buried explosives, dodging left and right in response to the corporal’s whistles and hand signals.
At no time, though, did he drop his nose to the ground to sniff for explosives. “It’s a miracle he did that well,” the corporal said afterwards, tossing Gunner his red-rubber toy as a reward for his effort.
Next he let another Lab, Mag, give it a try. Mag was in rehab for a condition from which he tired quickly and lost mobility in his tail and legs. But Mag is an enthusiastic bomb hunter.
At Cpl. McCoy’s command—”Back!”—Mag sprinted across the rocky desert, sniffing and searching in instant response to the signals. Soon he caught a whiff of something and dropped to his belly—directly on top of the spot where Cpl. McCoy had buried the C-4.
The corporal assured him he was a good dog and let him play fetch for a few minutes. “This is a constant game to them,” says Cpl. McCoy. “They don’t know it’s life or death.”
Gunner gives the impression that he understands exactly what’s at stake. On the next trial, Cpl. McCoy dispatched him to find explosives buried under a soda can on the side of a dry ditch. There was machine-gun fire audible in the distance, and Gunner got no more than 20 or 30 feet before he changed his mind and circled back to the corporal’s side.
“Gunner’s a lover,” Cpl. McCoy says. “Mag’s a fighter.”
The corporal holds out little hope that Gunner will one day be fit for combat, searching for hidden bombs amid the din of war. He’ll consider it a success if Gunner casts his demons far enough aside to be a good pet for someone back home.
“We’re trying to get him into the dog mind-set,” Cpl. McCoy says.
Popularity: 7% [?]
Tags: floyd harmon, michael m phillips, ptsd in dogs, wall street journal, war dogs
This dog makes my day. Who knew that jumping on a trampoline could bring such joy!
Popularity: 8% [?]
Tags: dog on trampoline
I have the travel bug. My husband and I have been together for over eight years and we really haven’t taken a vacation together. “But what about your honeymoon?” you ask… See, we didn’t go on a honeymoon. We decided instead to use that money to build a fence in our backyard for our dogs. (Still one of the best decisions we’ve ever made). So the only time we’ve traveled together has been for work conferences or to visit family.
Maybe that’s why this little doggy passport cover by owlsay caught my eye. Don and I are dying to go overseas and explore. On our short list is Germany, Italy and Buenos Aries. Don is obsessed with watching travel shows and reading travel guides…especially when it comes to Rick Steves. I know that when we eventually get to travel, he will be a great travel guide!
Where would you travel to if you could?
Popularity: 9% [?]
Tags: etsy, owlsay, passport cover, question of the week, rick steves
By Sharon L. Peters Special for, USA TODAY
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A long-practiced custom — chaining up a dog outside, where it spends most of its life — seems to be inching its way toward unacceptability.
Passionate arguments by grass-roots groups, animal welfare organizations and animal lovers have reached the ears and altered the habits of many dog owners in recent years, and now lawmakers are responding.
“Stabbing into a long-standing societal practice is never easy,” says animal behaviorist Stephen Zawistowski of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which, like many welfare groups, has been steering dog owners away from chaining.
Thirteen states, including California, Vermont, Texas and Maryland, have passed laws restricting tethering or chaining, according to the Animal Law Coalition, and bills are being considered now in seven more states. Most of the state laws restrict the manner in which dogs are chained (requiring shelter, for example, and minimum tether lengths); most proposed new bills set similar restrictions and limit the hours a dog is chained.
A bill proposed in Illinois, however, would be the strictest state-level law if it passed — the first requiring that any time a dog is tethered, it be visible to its owner.
Scores of communities also have passed their own laws. A few, including Miami/Dade County, Fla.; Asheville, N.C.; and Fort Worth, have passed laws banning all unattended tethering. Some, like Little Rock, ban unattended tethering to stationary objects such as trees, but not to cables and pulley systems. And some ban tethering during certain hours or for long periods.
‘It’s easy to forget them’
Having a chained-up “outside dog” was common in earlier decades. But constantly tethered dogs are at far greater risk of strangling or injuring themselves; illness or painful conditions are rarely discovered early; dogs grow frustrated from isolation, insufficient exercise and inability to flee from ill-intentioned people or animals; and they’re more apt to bite or kill than untethered dogs, studies show. Moreover, says Adam Goldfarb of the Humane Society of the United States, “When they’re out there, it’s easy to forget them.” They’re often underfed and parasite-ridden, and lack water and shelter.
The surge in anti-tethering laws occurred quietly and quickly. Six or eight years ago, only a few were on the books, but in “2005 to 2006,” says ALC founder Laura Allen, “several suddenly emerged” — though, she points out, the trend has been to pass tethering laws with few restrictions first, then move to more restrictive ones.
Indeed, says Goldfarb, “some of the laws are very modest.” And proponents say much remains to be done to change long-held ideas.
Anti-chaining group takes action
“There are still thousands and thousands of dogs leading isolated lives on chains,” says Tamira Thayne, who founded the non-profit anti-chaining group Dogs Deserve Better in Pennsylvania and is regarded by some as the godmother of anti-tethering public awareness. She has twice been convicted of breaking the law while checking out calls about chained dogs, including last week, when she was convicted of defiant trespass for taking food, water and bedding straw to what she described as two “very underfed” dogs chained to doghouses when the wind chill was minus-11 degrees.
Dogs Deserve Better has grown to 121 area reps in several states, and the group receives almost 900 e-mails a week from people seeking advice on how to drum up support for local anti-tethering laws or asking how to get animal control to respond to chained-dog complaints.
Many imagine tethering to be mostly a rural practice, but that isn’t the case, Zawistowski says. Urban dogs are often chained to fire escapes and porches; some country dogs are chained, “but I see it primarily as a suburban practice.” And owners, he says, usually offer the same explanation: “My family always tethered their dogs, I’ve always tethered my dogs and they’ve been fine.”
But today, “our understanding of animal behavior and care has advanced,” Zawistowski says.
Laws won’t completely abolish tethering, partly because enforcement requires manpower, experts say.
But another reality is the “chasm between those who view dogs as part of the family and those who have a more utilitarian view of them,” Goldfarb says.
Still, many believe, as Zawistowski does, that when laws are proposed, important conversations take place: “Key questions surrounding tethering laws are starting to bring out what we need to bring out.”
Popularity: 11% [?]
Tags: anti chaining laws, aspca, humane society of the united states, sharon l. peters, usa today
LOVES, LOVES, LOVES the February 8, 2010 cover of the New Yorker! Wish I would have known about it when it originally came out. The artwork, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” by Ana Juan amazing!
This one by Brian Stauffer is cool too…so true this winter. There are a lot of little dogs that didn’t get many walks after this year’s snowfest!
Popularity: 11% [?]
Tags: ana juan, brian stauffer, the new yorker
Apparently dogs can read their horoscopes too! There are a few places to find out more about what your dog’s astrological sign says about him/her. One of my favorites is the Dogscopes from Animal Planet.
Bitch New York posts weekly horoscopes for your dog. Zoey is a Pisces, Leroy is an Aries and Stella is a Leo. I’m not sure that either of these sites have pegged my dogs, but they’re fun to read! Here are the dog horoscopes from Bitch New York for the week of March 1, 2010:
Aries (Mar21-Apr20): How frustrating to be in a playful mood, but finding yourself with limited opportunities to let loose! Though the climate of this week is somewhat restrictive, and you may find yourself losing ground or slipping backwards, that’s no reason to curl up and sulk. The caring connection you have with your people comes to the fore more clearly than ever when someone at home is either physically or emotionally under the weather. Use this chance to offer gestures of comfort to someone in need.
Taurus (Apr21-May21): An electric vibration, which you can hardly escape noticing, invades your thinking and it sets you up for mischief making or flashes of insight. You tune in to more than one person or pet who’s sending out a subtle frequency and these messages contribute to your being able to attract experiences of one kind or another; it’s up to you. Someone at home quickly intuits what you’ll respond to positively or negatively so your otherwise unpredictable reactions are not likely to surprise them.
Gemini (May22-Jun21): Whether you count the month just ended as having been agreeable and productive is a matter of attitude and interpretation. How nice you’re in a communicative frame of mind now because the wind recently changed! Take it all in stride; during those days when things go your way, you’ll feel easy and breezy, but beyond that, you’ll have quite a few challenges in your path now. Though you may be a bit edgy, take steps to remain calm and look to your companion for comfort.
Cancer (Jun21-Jul23): Although being outdoors may not be possible due to weather conditions, you suddenly find yourself longing to be at water’s edge. Most people agree that listening to the sound of running water is calming and hearing children splash about in pools in summer lifts one’s spirit. The connection you have with water makes it very important in your life; if confined currently, find some joy in your reflection looking back at you as you dip your tongue in a bowl of wavy liquid!
Leo (Jul24-Aug23): If uncertain conditions continue to keep you and your people indoors, take it as an opportunity to create fun at home. As fascinating as an excursion into the great outdoors might be, if it’s not possible at the moment, you and your friend can get some virtual enjoyment watching travel programs on television. Whether you get to see documentaries featuring the plant life of jungle locales or expeditions of discovery to mysterious distant lands, you’ll both feel as if you’ve actually been on a journey.
Virgo (Aug24-Sep23): Must you be told making a display of temper when guests are present is a blemish on your otherwise perfect persona? It’s reasonable to want to react when provoked, but try to control yourself. Your companions may not have been paying enough attention to you, but being edgy won’t get them to respond in a way you’d like. Instead, why not set aside your upset and work at seducing them with brushes of your silky coat across their bare feet; that’ll tickle their mood nicely!
Libra (Sep24-Oct23): What could be more fun for you and your people than working together to create lovely environment within your home. Of course that includes the sweet emotional climate of your relationship as well as setting up the pretty physical decor you both savour. If your utopia is intruded upon by a pop in guest, don’t fuss, put your relationship skills to work helping the unexpected visitor settle in. Visiting children may require your special attention, a task you’re wonderful at when you’re called on to be!
Scorpio (Oct24-Nov22): Fanciful thoughts and images are afloat as this month begins and your could fall prey to some less than fortunate ones. Don’t go about tasting dried up bits of this and that after they’ve been tucked away in infrequently visited parts of the house. Some of these samplings are unpleasant indeed and even with your keen vision, you might be deceived by shadows that play in unexpected ways. Though you welcome encounters with the strange, be cautious during your current meanderings in murky places.
Sagittarius (Nov23-Dec21): A bright attitude overcomes even an unpleasant few days, or weeks, if necessary. You’ll need to call on that disposition currently as you seem more than a little upset with someone who’s been inattentive. Scratching furniture or chewing items of clothing is never the way to turn things in your favour. You must recall that you’ve gone through cycles when you were too distracted to attend to all your companion’s wants, so be patient now until they have more time for you.
Capricorn (Dec22-Jan20): What a turnabout is taking place; the idea of keeping busy all day every day has been replaced by an urge toward relaxation and napping! If you allow it, you’ll find yourself able to sleep soundly and lose yourself in wondrous and amazing dreams. Never imagine this is a waste of time; taking such excursions into restful slumber refreshes you so you’re later more invigorated to take up all the tasks and chores you so adore doing for your nearest and dearest at home.
Aquarius (Jan21-Feb19): Having friends come to see your people almost always tickles you, but as the week wears on you’ll notice a change in the rhythm and frequency of these pop ins. Though you may not like it at first, this turn toward quiet and inward reflection is quite beneficial to both you and your companion. It’s not possible or even healthy to be continually engaged in social interactions. Use this period to interact more closely with your housemate; you’ll notice something you previously missed about them.
Pisces (Feb20-Mar20): The comings and goings of the postman intrigue you more than usual currently and you’re delighted to help bring in deliveries of interest to your housemate. How pleased you are to note there are greetings and packages arriving that are specifically addressed to you. Though some envelopes that come in for your people contain unwelcome bills, which potentially cause stress or anxiety for your companion, you’re on the scene with sweet attentions to help alleviate any tensions and establish a climate of calm.
Many thanks to Russell Grant!
Popularity: 10% [?]
Tags: animal planet, bitch new york, dog horoscopes, dogscopes, russell grant
This is a simple list, but a good reminder of things to watch out for. If you notice any of these things, please call your local humane society or law enforcement. We need to be the voices for many abused and neglected animals.
9 SIGNS OF NEGLECT, CRUELTY
• Tick/infestation Such a condition,if left untreated by a veterinarian, can lead to an animal’s death.
• Wounds on the animal’s body.
• Inadequate grooming, such as matted hair, which is painful and leads to serious injuries.
• Extremely thin or starving animals.
• A collar so tight that it eats into an animal’s neck.
• An owner striking or otherwise physically abusing an animal.
• Pets repeatedly left alone without food and water, often chained up in a yard.
• Pets that have been hit by cars, or are showing any of the signs listed above, and have not been taken to a veterinarian.
• Pets kept in small cages or outside without shelter in extreme weather conditions.
Popularity: 9% [?]
OH. MY. GOSH. I just got done watching the Olympic Closing Ceremonies and then The Marriage Ref was on. It seemed like a cute concept so I watched it. The first marital fight is about a husband who lost his beloved dog and got him stuffed by a taxidermist. The wife was MORTIFIED. Her husband wants to display his stuffed dog in their home in front of a shrine honoring him. The ref is supposed to decide who is in the right after it is debated by three stars.
Apparently last year 1000 people stuffed their dog after the dog passed. Now…I LOVE my dogs. I may, in fact, even be a crazy dog lady. But…I would NEVER have my dogs stuffed! Are you nuts? Why would you want a daily reminder that your dog is dead? Plus, wouldn’t you have to dust it? Gross. I plan on having several dogs over my lifetime, so can you imagine if I had them all stuffed? Where would I put them all?
I can totally relate to grieving a deceased pet and wanting to honor them. I think I will choose to donate to a dog charity in their name when that time comes. I promise you will NEVER see a deceased dog stuffed in my house. Sheesh.
Popularity: 15% [?]
(Picture taken Nov. 2009, when Will was one month)
My parents are in town visiting. I’m always so excited to see them, but now that Will is here the excitement has increased tenfold. It’s just so much fun to see their reactions to all the new things that Will can do and how much he’s grown.
I also love seeing the dogs’ reactions to my parents. They get so excited to see “Grandma and Grandpa”. Zoey whines and jumps up and down, Leroy runs around with his tail wagging, and Stella barks… and barks and barks . My parents are so good about giving the dogs equal attention because technically they were their first “grandkids”.
It’s funny to think about when we first got Zoey… my parents were shocked. It didn’t take long for them to fall in love with her though. And then, when we rescued Leroy, they had a lot of questions. “Could we afford another dog?” “How would we travel with two dogs?” “How would Zoey react to another dog given that she was used to being our one and only?” Again, Leroy quickly stole their hearts and became part of the family. Lastly, when we decided to rescue Stella, they thought we were just plain off our rockers. Now my dad is her favorite “fetch partner” and my mom gives her kisses and cuddles just like the other two.
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So this leads me to the question of the week:
How did/do your parents react to your dog(s)?
Popularity: 15% [?]
Tags: question of the week
I have to admit that I’m not always a huge fan of PETA…sometimes they are so out there that they really turn people off. I also don’t appreciate some of the graphic images they use…I know they’re just trying to make a point but that stuff just breaks my heart. They do have some great campaigns though…namely this one. I love the Adopt, Don’t Buy ad that they did with Twilight’s Kellan Lutz. There’s a video that goes along with it, but I must warn you that they also talk about some other topics like seal clubbing and there are some very graphic images included. Maybe just listen to it and don’t watch it.
According to PETA, about 8 million unwanted dogs and cats enter shelters every year — and half of them are euthanized due to space issues. “There are surprisingly many animals in these shelters,” Lutz says. “It’s sad, and knowing that they get euthanized. For the fans of Twilight out there who have so much love, give that love to a pet if you don’t have one.”
I just can’t tell you enough about how important it is to educate the people around you about the importance of adopting. Pass it on!
Popularity: 12% [?]
Tags: adopt don't buy, kellan lutz, peta, twilight
Love this idea! People need to be exposed so that shelters and breeders do not give animals to these awful people. Thanks to my friend Lisa for sending me this article from the L.A. Times- L.A. Unleashed
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Photo: Ramon Muniz of the LAPD Animal Cruelty Task Force walks with fellow task force officer Kim Lormans through the North Central Animal Shelter kennels, looking for animals that may have been abused by their owners. Credit: Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times
Animal abusers may soon be on same level as sex offenders by getting listed in an online registry, complete with their addresses and where they are employed, if one California senator has his way.
Friday, state Sen. Dean Florez (D) announced a bill for a statewide registry in California. If passed it would create the nation’s first criminal registry for animal abusers.
Written with the aid of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the proposed bill would require any person convicted of a felony involving animal cruelty to register with the police and provide an array of personal information along with a current photograph, much like sex offenders. The information, along with the registrants’ specific offense, would then be posted online, much like Petabuse.com, which offers limited listings.
The registry would list people convicted of a range of crimes from acts of violence (torture, mutilation, intentional killings, etc.), sexual abuse and animal fighting as well as neglect, including hoarding. Such registries would help protect animals, pet guardians and communities by preventing repeat offenses from anyone with an established history of abusing animals.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund has even launched a campaign, Expose Animal Abusers, to help states establish public animal abuser registries. The website enables the public to contact their state lawmakers and urge them to propose legislation for the creation of state registries.
They pointed to a number of instances in which a registry would be beneficial to prevent future abuse of animals. One of those was Shon Rahrig. While living in Ohio in 1999, Rahrig allegedly adopted several cats and a puppy from local shelters and tortured them sadistically. He poked out the eyes of a cat named Misty, broke her legs and jaw, cut off her paws, and left her bleeding in a laundry basket. His girlfriend turned him in, and he took a plea bargain that admitted abuse of only one animal. Rahrig was forbidden to own an animal for five years, but he was subsequently seen at an adoption event in California./p>
Florez said he is confident that he has the votes needed to move the bill forward and estimates that the registry would cost less than $1 million to produce.
“I think people think, well, if Dean is supporting it,” he said, “it can’t be that off the wall.”
Popularity: 13% [?]
Tags: aminal abuse registry, animal legal defense fund, expose animal abusers, l.a. times, l.a. unleashed, petabuse.com, senator dean florez
Thanks to the Des Moines Register for this article…I wish that more states would work on this kind of legislation and we could make puppy mills obsolete. There’s no reason in this day and age that puppy mills should be allowed to exist. Let’s get with the program, people. (Note…these are some hard pictures to look at, but this is what you support when you buy a dog from a pet store…so stop it.)
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Iowa is one step closer to tightening regulation of “puppy mills,” in a bill approved Wednesday by the House.
Iowa would pick up the responsibility to inspect roughly 450 breeders who are currently inspected by the United States Department of Agriculture, under House File 2280.
Advocates say the bill would save millions of dogs from cruelty at the hands of irresponsible breeders who have little oversight.
Opponents argue that the federal government has failed in its responsibilities and that that failure will cost innocent Iowa operations – such as nonprofit pounds and animal shelters – new $75 fees.
In total, the bill would cost Iowa businesses $335,000 a year, mostly in new license fees. It would also require the state to hire five new inspectors.
“Yes, I love dogs and yes I care about whether or not they’re getting the proper care but there needs to be more work put into this bill,” said Rep. Dave Heaton, R-Mount Pleasant. “The way it sits right now, I can’t support it.”
Advocacy groups such as the Iowa Voters for Companion Animals have lobbied for several years to tighten regulation of some Iowa breeding facilities. Documentation in both video and public records on the group’s Web site show emotional scenes, such as a dog that grew permanently deformed because she lived too long in a small cage.
“We have an epidemic,” said Rep. Mark Kuhn, D-Charles City whose wife rescues dogs from puppy mills. “There’s an overpopulation of these animals. If we are concerned about the humane treatment of these animals, it’s imperative that we pass this legislation.”
A 10-member study committee of both Democratic and Republican lawmakers voted unanimously in September to recommend that the 2010 Legislature authorize state inspectors to begin inspecting federally licensed dog breeders when they get complaints.
Committee members have said their appeals to federal regulators have largely gone ignored.
The bill passed in a 77 to 22 vote and now heads to the Senate for further consideration.
“Saving one animal will not change the world but it will change the world for that animal,” said Rep. Jim Lykam, D-Davenport who led discussion on the bill.
Popularity: 14% [?]
Are you guys as in love with the show “Glee” as I am? My husband and I watch it religiously and can’t wait for it to come back in April. My husband is even ok with the major crush I have on Matthew Morrison because he has a crush on Lea Michele! The show appeals so much to the show choir geek in me…most of you probably don’t know that I was in show choir (Old Gold Singers) for three years in college at the University of Iowa. Glee is one of those shows that is pure joy and I know I’m not the only one that feels that way.
Dianna Agron plays “Quinn Fabray“, the head cheerleader and president of the celibacy club, who just happens to be preggers. I follow her on Twitter and I was so ecstatic when she tweeted out a link to her blog and a picture of her new rescue dog! She rescued this cutie from The Amanda Foundation. Congrats, Dianna! Thank you so much for rescuing…that’s one lucky little guy. I can’t wait to hear what you end up naming him.
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Popularity: 14% [?]
Tags: dianna argon, dog rescue, glee, lea michele, matthew morrison, old gold singers, the amanda foundation, university of iowa
