It’s 4th of July weekend, and that means it’s time for a public service announcement:
Do not bring your dog to fireworks displays. Do not leave your dog out in the yard this weekend, especially at night.
Your dog doesn’t need to come with you to stand on hot pavement and watch chaotic parades or be terrified by noisy pyrotechnics. As far as the average dog is concerned, America’s independence is a terrifying affair.
This weekend, animal shelters across the country will be filled with dogs who ran off during 4th of July celebrations. Don’t let one of them be yours. It’s just not worth it.
If you really want to include your dog, bring him a doggie bag from the cookout, but leave him home, safely tucked away indoors.
One more thing … With summer here, I feel the need to add the obligatory hot car warning.
This is seriously the most preventable cause of death in dogs: Don’t leave your dog in the car. Not even “for a few minutes.” This time of year, your car is an oven on wheels, and I’ve already started to see way too many articles about dogs dying in cars. And if you see a dog roasting in a parking lot, don’t hesitate to alert the store management and/or the police.
November 1st was National Mutt Day, a day to celebrate the mixed breed dog.
November 2nd is Election Day.
What do these two things have to do with one another? A lot.
You know those laws that say what type of dog you’re allowed to own, or that create special rules if your dog looks a certain pit-bull-ish way? Or those city councils who refuse to fund animal shelters, to give them the resources they need to save lives? Or the toothless legal codes that allow animal abusers to get away with barely a slap on the wrist?
Guess who creates those policies — and has the power to undo them? The people who are put in office on Election Day.
It goes far beyond your mixed breed dog, too. From your local government to the state and national legislatures, laws are created that stop animal cruelty, protect wildlife, give animals a voice over special interests … or not. Tomorrow is your chance to not only cast your ballot, but vote on behalf of your dog, cat, and all the other non-humans who aren’t allowed in the voting booth. They need you.
So, among all the other great reasons to vote on Tuesday, go give animals a voice.
Want to know where your federal officials stand, or what some of those ballot measures mean for animal welfare? Check out the Humane Society Legislative Fund.
Last month, a Pennsylvania woman took Max, her 11-year-old chocolate lab, with her to run an errand. She says he’s like a member of the family. When she returned home that day, she forget her family member in the car. I have personally never met a labrador retriever who you could just forget was in the car with you, but Max’s owner went inside and started cleaning.
About an hour later, she heard a car horn. She went outside, looked around and didn’t see anyone. So, she went back to her chores. The honking started up again and this time she noticed Max sitting in the driver’s seat of her car.
She rescued her panting dog from the car, brought him inside and tried to cool him down with water and cold, wet rags. I wonder if Max told her to do that, too. The vet who ended up seeing him said, “Max saved his own life by honking the horn to get himself out of a very, very overheated car.” Read the rest of this entry »
Ever since witnessing my first hoarding cases while working at the local humane society, I’ve tried to understand how something like this happens: What makes someone fly past the tipping point of having multiple animals to having an unlivable situation? It’s one thing not to notice the dustbunny in the corner or the recycling that’s a few days past needing to go outside, but piles of feces and dead animals laying around the house? I remember one case in particular where there were so many dirty dishes in the sink and so much garbage piled around the kitchen that the homeowners had rigged up a hose from the sink, run it through the house and tied it off in various spots where they’d want access to water. At what point did that contraption make more sense than doing the dishes, or even just throwing the dishes out?
That desire to fathom the unfathomable is what had me looking forward to the new Animal Planet Confessions series that premiered on Wednesday.
Did the show meet my expectations? For the most part, yes.
We all want to believe that our pets are priceless, but when you show up on the doorstep of the emergency animal hospital in the middle of the night, or when your vet returns to the exam room after running bloodwork or taking an x-ray with that you might want to sit down for this look, that priceless theory is put to the test.
Vet care isn’t cheap, and the more we know, the more it costs us. Amazing advances in veterinary medicine are opening doors for everything from chemotherapy to skin grafts. Unfortunately, those open doors often lead right into your bank account, and a new survey says that pet owners are paying attention to the price tag on their pets’ lives.
This might seem like a random topic to post on Father’s Day. But other than the fact that it’s Sunday, and therefore a convenient time for me to catch up on my blog, it’s also a very relevant topic when it comes to my relationship with my dad. The only serious, refusing-to-speak-to-him fight we’ve ever had was over a dog. When I had decided I was getting my first dog, I was still in college. He was so sure that it was too much responsibility, financial and otherwise. He even played the “I’ll stop paying tuition” card (I’m pretty sure it was an empty threat, but still …). I adopted Juno anyway, and I’ve never regretted it. Dad was wrong, but more on that later. Read the rest of this entry »
Not that anyone is doubting Betty White’s extreme awesomeness these days, but the 88-year-old actress and lifelong animal activist just keeps on giving.
May is Pet Cancer Awareness Month. Although I might argue for a little less awareness in my household, this is obviously an important issue. Cancer is the number one disease-related killer of pets and more than 50 percent of dogs over age 10 will die from it. Not nearly enough is known about what causes cancer (in humans or animals) or how to treat it. So, Betty White teamed up with Petco and Blue Buffalo to raise $1 million this month for Morris Animal Foundation’s cancer research programs.
You can read more about Betty White taking on cancer at Change.org and watch the PSA below.
I’m going to be honest, this post is part lazy blogging (because I really need to spill my thoughts here more than once a month) and part shameless self-promotion (just in case you’re somehow reading this blog and unaware that I’m now the Editor of Change.org’s animal welfare and wildlife community). But mostly, I hope, it’s informative about some of the issues animals have faced over the past month.
So, in the spirit of last week’s announcement of the latest Webby Award winners (Congratulations, ASPCA!) and to celebrate my awesome new job, here are some recent highlights from the last month on the Change.org Animals blog:
Best Animal Story: Where There’s a Protest, There’s Riot Dog - It’s said that this stray dog in Athens, Greece, hasn’t missed a major political protest in two years. And he’s not just a mascot; he barks at the police, dodges tear gas, runs from the scene … it’s almost as if this guy believes in the cause. He may be a stray, but I think he’s living the life that many spirited dogs I’ve known would have loved.
Most Fun to Write: Zynga Removes Pit Bulls From Mafia Wars - When Mafia Wars announced the addition of a pit bull weapon to the game, more than 500 Change.org community members signed a petition and contacted Zynga, asking them to protect the pit bull image. Zynga contacted Change.org, letting us know they were removing the pit bull. During the email exchange, I found out that they’re a pretty cool dog-friendly, pit-friendly company. Campaign victory + positive image for pit bulls = Win!
Best Overdue Idea: Animal Shelters Go Green - Even though I’m leaving you, Ecology Center, I’ll always have a soft, green spot in my heart (that’s environmentalism, folks, not Michigan State or some strange disease). It was only a matter of time before the green building movement hit animal shelters, and some sweet upgrades are being incorporated into new shelters that help animals and the environment.
Most Disappointing: Will Obama Sell Out Whales on Earth Day? After a series of sketchy back-room talks, including an Earth Day meeting, Obama seems to be backing the legalization of commercial whaling. Even George W. Bush upheld the moratorium on whaling. ‘Nuff said.
I wasn’t always sure that I believed in chemotherapy for pets.
In humans, chemotherapy conjures thoughts of months of suffering through nausea, hair loss, and other side effects. People can choose to bear this treatment because they know they’re aiming for a light at the end of the tunnel. But your pet wouldn’t understand why she was feeling so sick, which would cause serious quality of life problems. And, with any treatment, it might be all for nothing.
Except for most animals – about 95 percent of them – there are little to no side effects. In terms of advances in veterinary medicine, chemotherapy is no joke. I mean, they’ve figured out how to blast cancer cells in multiple species. And when it works, it really works.
Not every animal can, or should, be treated. Specialty vet medicine really needs to be considered on a case by case basis. When Sierra was diagnosed with lymphoma, her abdomen was so full of fluid (which is caused by a number of things, all bad) that her digestive system was being pushed almost against her spine. Her liver was enlarged, as were the lymph nodes near her chest.
Lymphoma can’t be cured, but it’s known for responding pretty well to chemotherapy. “They” say the usual response is 9-12 months, qualified by “not all dogs respond” and “some dogs live a lot longer” and “sometimes it can be treated more than once.” There was some concern with her liver already involved, since that can get in the way of properly processing the drugs. Sierra is only about 8 1/2 years old and, other than a loss of appetite most likely due to the pressure on her internal organs, she didn’t really have any symptoms. She was maybe a little lethargic and looked a little skinny, but in between her bloodwork appointment and her ultrasound, she went to the park and trotted around like nothing was wrong.
That’s just how she is, and that’s why there was no question that I was going to try to treat her. Read the rest of this entry »
The man set down his gun to retrieve some duck decoys a few yards away. That’s when the dog stepped on the shotgun, disengaged the safety, and fired at her companion a la Dick Cheney.
One headline on this story read: Hunting dog triggers shotgun, hits master. I wonder how they think “master” is defined…
Change.org, that is. This socially conscious social network just launched a shiny new Animal Welfare blog…and I’m lucky enough to get to write for it.
If you’re not already on Change.org, you should be (and if you are, why aren’t you my friend?). Every day, I’ll be blogging about animal stuff – the latest news, primers on the issues, updates, amazing/tragic/fillintheblank stories, or whatever happens to be on my mind. Got something on your mind that you’d like to see a post about? Let me know!
Check out the new blog, join the cause, and help me spread the word!
DandyID
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Change.org
Last week, a hunter in California was 
