Guiness

I wanted to share this picture I took of a beautiful Huskey that I met in the park yesterday.

My Bella Getting Friendly with Duke the Pit Bull

Why I Am the Way I Am About Dogs

Someone recently said to me something about how I really love dogs. He said it in kind of a sarcastic (but playful) way. I haven't really been able to get it out of my mind. It doesn't bother me really, but I thought it would be worth it to explain where I'm coming from.
I always loved dogs. Growing up we had german shephards. I also had cats. But, as an adult, I never had a dog until Bella. And I've only had her since 2005. She really changed a lot in my life. But, the reason I am so into rescue, and pitbulls, and no-kill, etc. is because of the Oprah Winfrey show about puppy mills. It wasn't so much the puppy mills that outraged me. Oh, I was outraged, but I kind of knew about them already. What got to me was the segment in the shelter. They showed a shelter employee go around and systimatically pick out the dogs who were going to die that day. These were perfectly healthy dogs, but they were out of room in the shelter. They showed him give the injection to one of the dogs. Place the body in a garbage bag, and throw it in the dump with dozens of other dogs. This they called euthanasia. This is not euthanasia. This is murder, pure and simple. I knew dogs were killed in shelters. I knew. We can bury our heads in the sand for only so long. But then something happens - for me it was seeing this show, and it changes you forever. I knew from that moment on, that I would not just sit back and pretend like this kind of thing doesn't happen every day. I don't do much, but I do what I can. I wish it could be more. It horrifies and upsets me that this kind of thing goes on in a place called a 'shelter'. They can do better. There is a man out there that has given very good and viable suggestions and plans, yet people fight him and say it can't be done. Well, it can and he's proven it. His name is Nathan Winograd and he wrote a book called Redemption. It is just not necessary to be killing healthy, innocent animals. And it shouldn't be acceptable.


"There can be no knowledge without emotion. We may be aware of a truth, yet until we have felt its force, it is not ours. To the cognition of the brain must be added the experience of the soul."

-- Arnold Bennett

Break Out the Tissues For This One

Quote

I love this quote:

" He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion" - Unknown

New Pet Only Airline

How cool is this!

http://petairways.com/

Theresa Looking for her Furever Home

This is Theresa from Best Friends. She just starred on Dogtown last Friday. She is in search of her furever home:

Desparately Seeking a Home - Nala

Nutro

If you feed your pet Nutro, please check the link below:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/04/nutro_foia.html

R.I.P. Spicey

1995-4/20/09

Saber Alert System for Lost Dogs in MA

I had no idea such a thing existed, but apparently there is a Saber Alert System that can be used when a dog is lost for 48 hours or more in MA. Here is a link for more info:
http://www.acoam.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=6&Itemid=66

John Garcia on the Ellen Show - 4/15/09

I LOVE John Garcia and Best Friends!

Petition to Replace the Current Board of Directors of NYACC

When you click on the link there will be an explanation of why is is so necessary to sign this petition:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/22/a-petition-to-replace-the-current-board-of-directors-of-nycacc

Vicktory Dogs at Best Friends

And people thought they should be destroyed:

Looking to Foster a Sweet Dog?

Underdog ResQ is desperately seeking a foster home for sweet Rose:

Underdog ResQ Desperately seeking a new foster home for Rose. Her foster parent's cats do not like her presence and one injured herself running away while Rose tried to play. We'll have to board her. :( Please spread the word - she needs a foster home or permanent home. Learn more about fostering on http://www.underdogresq.org/HowCanIHelp/FosterCareFAQs.asp

The Animal Rescue Site Shelter Challenge

Please vote for your favorite shelter:

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces

Shocky Looking for her Forever Home

What Happened to Michael Vick's Dogs

For anyone who missed it (like me!), there was an article in Sports Illustrated about the Michael Vick Dogs. You can view that article here:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/magazine/12/22/vick.dogs/index.html

Goober

This is Goober who is available for adoption. He is currently residing at Best Friends in Kanab, UT.

The Story of Jasmine

This is a wonderful story that I just had to share:

The Story of Jasmine

Posted using ShareThis

Careers With Animals

I am at a crossroads in my life. Well, that's not exactly accurate. I've been in this place for several years now. But, quite frankly, I'm sick of being here. It's time for a career change. Problem is, I'm trapped in a job that is sucking away at my soul. I've been in this job for 12 years and need this job to pay my mortgage.
What I really want to do is work with dogs or horses. My dream job would be to have my own rescue that specializes in bully breeds. Or to open a 'pet' store that only has rescue dogs. I have no business background at this point.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find work with animals that will pay enough for me to live on. So, I'm looking for suggestions and/or ideas. Here's what's out for me - Vet or Vet Tech. I just don't have the stomach for it. I'll be looking for any and all suggestions.

$1M Mo. animal shelter makeover never happened

This is just wrong. This really upsets me. This was a highly publicized contest, not only on Zootoo's website, but in the media as well. Randy Grim, who has written 2 wonderful books (well, I've only read one, but I assume the other one is just as tood. The books are 'The Man Who Talks to Dogs' and 'Miracle Dog'.), is a wonderful man who works endlessly for homeless dogs in MI, and in his shelter, Stray Rescue - http://www.strayrescue.org/.

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/new_jersey/20090408_ap_1mmoanimalsheltermakeoverneverhappened.html

State of Massachusetts Animal Response Team

For anyone who lives in MA, if you're interested in volunteering to help animals in disasters, this is a great website with lots of trainings you can attend:

http://www.smart-mass.org/

Dog Food

If you're curious at all about what you're feeding your dog, check out this awesome website. I warn you though, it is a realy eye-opener for those who aren't educated about dog food.

http://www.acreaturecomfort.com/truthaboutpetfood.htm

Spicey

I know this is a blog about dogs, but I felt the need to write a little something about my cat. You see, my cat has cancer. This does not surprise me. He's barely eating. Just eating some wet food right now. But I really knew something was wrong when I left a trash bag out for 2 days and he never even tried to get into it.
Spicey has never been a 'normal' cat. On the way home from the shelter, some 14 years ago, he let out gas (lots of it) all the way home. He got into the trash if I left it out. I couldn't leave food out. Ever. Or he would eat it. Didn't matter what it was. He ate SOAP. He licked aerosol cans. And he vomitted. A lot. ALL the time. His poop was, as my father put it, the size of buffalo poop. And it stunk! There were many times I wanted to dropkick him right off my deck. I'm not going to lie, he drove me nuts. It was definitely a love/hate relationship. I even seriously considered re-homing him. But when it came right down to it, I just couldn't bring myself to let him go. He is a love. Always wants to be right there with you. He LOVES going out on the deck and laying out in the sun. I hope he makes it a bit longer so he can enjoy that luxury a little while longer. As I mentioned, he came from a shelter. I really believe there's something going on with his brain. He's just never really been right. And now that he's really sick - no more vomitting. Go figure!
I will miss Spice. He's been a permanent fixture in my life for 14 years. He's put up with a lot himself. I had him de-clawed. That's right. I did it. But it was either that, or I couldn't keep him. He handled it quite well. He never went outside except to lay on the deck. He went from being the king of the house to taking a backseat to not just one, but now TWO dogs. And he always stood his ground and let both dogs know who's boss.
Even now, he still purrs like a train and lays on my shoulder looking for some love.
Spice, I really will miss you...

Boomer From Best Friends Looking for Furever Home

Animal Cruelty

This happened in my small hometown of Tewksbury, MA. People can really be evil:

Just a Dog

From time to time, people tell me, "lighten up, it's just a dog,"or, "that's a lot of money for just a dog."They don't understand the distance traveled, the time spent, or the costs involved for "just a dog."Some of my proudest moments have come about with "just a dog."Many hours have passed and my only company was "just a dog,"but I did not once feel slighted.Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by "just a dog,"and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of "just a dog" gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day.If you, too, think it's "just a dog," then you will probably understandphrases like "just a friend," "just a sunrise," or "just a promise.""Just a dog" brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust,and pure unbridled joy."Just a dog" brings out the compassion and patience that make me a better person.Because of "just a dog", I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future.So for me and folks like me, it's not "just a dog" but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future,the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment."Just a dog" brings out what's good in me and diverts my thoughts awayfrom myself and the worries of the day.I hope that someday they can understand that it's not "just a dog",but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being"just a man or woman."So the next time you hear the phrase "just a dog"just smile...because they "just don't understand."
by Richard Biby

Standing up Against PETA

I want to share a post from a woman named Michelle who I know from a message board I frequent. She writes about her experience with PETA and how she stood up for what she believes in despite being one of the only people in the room who felt that way. It made me want to stand up and cheer. I was given permission by Michelle to post:

Last night I engaged in a little legal, non-violent, social dissent. Dan Matthews the exec. VP of PeTA (People for the ethical Treatment of Animals (the lowercase e is thier's not mine)) gave a lecture at my school. Of course, I had to go. Many of you probably do not know it, but I am staunchly anti-PeTA. I won't get into a discussion of my views here, but if you have any questions on how a devoted animal lover like myself could hate an organization that is "for the animals," please check out the website: www.petakillsanimals.com. You will be shocked and appalled. If you can only read one page, I would read this one: http://www.petakillsanimals.com/article_detail.cfm?article=134 There are also some great informative videos on PeTA on Youtube, if you search for videos posted by PSVIDZ08. I've never been much of a protestor. I have spoken out about things I don't agree with at meetings etc. I have written to and spoken to congress people about issues. I've written articles. I've educated a lot of people about subjects I'm passionate about. However, I have never been the sign holding, flyer dispensing, one angry woman against the world type. But I decided to make an exception last night. I decided to post my experience, as a few people have asked me about it. I started off the evening by putting up my flyers in each stall in the lady's room outside the lecture hall. Then I seated myself in the small terraced lecture hall so that there were people behind me on both sides. I then took out my laptop and nonchallantly started playing the PSVIDZ08 YouTube videos. Mostly I played the ones about PeTA killing animals, the Vick dogs and medical research. I occassionally moved my laptop to garner a new audience. People saw them. One guy behind me was watching the Vick video which starts by showing pictures of happy pits with their names under them. He pointed out a few of the dogs' names to his friends. Once the info about PeTA calling for thier deaths came on the screen there was no more talking. While I was playing the video of the animals PeTA killed and threw in the dumpster, a woman behind me but across the aisle stage whispered to her friend (or husband) "LOOK AT THAT! Look what she has on her laptop." I smiled nicely and positioned the laptop so she could see better. She was there to thank PeTA for thier help with getting pets into condos... which is funny since PeTA's goal is "total animal liberation" which includes no pets. I sat politely through the talk. Mr. Matthews is a very engaging speaker: handsome, approachable and humorous. They chose their voice well. He knows his stuff and is good at deflecting negativity. But... I'm not so bad myself (despite the fact that I was horribly nervous and my hands were shaking the entire time). I have to give it to him that he called on me twice and then shook my hand after. But then again, PeTA is all about looks. There was one dissenting voice besides mine. A guy brought up the Vick dogs, which was nice because I couldn't get to them. The rest of the people there were PeTA supporters. I brought up two issues: 1. The 97% kill rate of last year. He countered with pet overpopulation and said that it was an emotional issue. I countered with puppies and kittens were killed in a van. I brought pictures. After this, people boo'ed me and one girl shouted "why are you even here? Why don't you just leave?" I've never been boo'ed in my life, so this was a surprising if not novel experience for me. They then gave Mr Matthews a round of applause (brought about by a rabbi in the audience, which I find hilarious due to PeTA's stance on Kosher slaughter that states that Jews have misinterpreted the Torah and PeTA's depiction of the killing of chickens as a holocaust complete with pictures of dead holocaust victims. 2. I brought up their tax exampt status in light of them supporting FBI recognized terrorists and convicted criminals with donations and legal defense. He countered with they don't endorse violent behavior and don't support the groups. I countered with they gave them donations, so doesn't that mean they support them. He replied that that is up to interpretation stating: "You decide." Afterwards, I left flyers on the desk where I was seated. I walked down past Mr. Matthews and he turned to me and said thank you for your interesting questions. Then he shook my hand. I said, thank you sir. You are a very engaging speaker. However, I do not agree with your beliefs. He then said, we probably are not that different, you and I. I said, well that may be true about some issues but not about others. I do not believe in animal abuse. I am active with rescue. I work with therapy dogs. I work with the disabled community who use service dogs, which PeTA is against. I am studying to be a doctor, so I believe in animal research, as 80-90% of what we know with medicine is based on animal research. He said I should read the study out last year from the NIS about that. I told him that I had indeed read the study and it had some good points, but also several innaccuracies. I then said, sir, you said at the beginning of the lecture that you use no animal products of any kind. He smiled and said, oh yes, that's VERY important to me. I said, Sir, do you ever get vaccinations? He said yes and started to look nervous. Someone came up to him and started to draw him away. I spoke a little lounder and said sir, vaccinations are make in eggs. Think about that the next time you have your tetanus shot. Then I left. On my way out, I left a bunch of flyers by the sign for the lecture. I've never been the ONLY dissenting person in a room. Even when I have gone up against other issues (like mandatory s/n and some school stuff), I have never been the ONLY one. I found the experience to be very lonely and very scary. I was actually pretty surprised by my reaction, as I am usually a bit of a tough cookie about stuff and tend to speak well in public. I guess it was in part due to the slick image they have. If you didn't know any of the other stuff, you would think from his presentation that PeTA is this wonderful, SMALL, caring organization. And that he is this lovely handsome man, who was picked on as a kid and came from a poor background and just wants to help the animals. The audience didn't help, as they all believed the hype. I, on the otherhand, wanted to SCREAM! I knew that by my questions (I tried to be nice... really I did ...but how can you be nice about thier kill rate? ) I was being protrayed as the bad person who hates animals... because I disagree with PeTA. That really bothered me. So all in all, it was very nerve wracking... but I did it. In my nervousness some things didn't come across how I would have wished them to... but at least I did it. Hopefully, at least one person will read a flyer or have seen a video or listened to my questions and look for more information. Hopefully.

Article on BSL

I want to share this really wonderful article on Breed Specific Legislation:

http://expositionhat.blogspot.com/

Challenge

Click on the link below and find the pitbull:

http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

ShelterSource

I want to recommend a great website called ShelterSource Community. It has a forum and has tons of resources for animal advocates:

http://sheltersource.ning.com/

I want to share this account of someone who just visited Best Friends last month. It's really wonderful and gives a great overview of what Best Friends is like, particularly Dogtown. And what it's like to volunteer there. Enjoy!

http://xaqtly.com/bestfriends

Book Recommendation

I'd like to recommend a very important book for no-kill advocates called Redemption, by Nathan Winograd. It really is a must read.

http://www.amazon.com/Redemption-Myth-Overpopulation-Revolution-America/dp/0979074304

My sweet Bella