Off The Leash

Catch Up

Why have I been so quiet?

I've helped many pets travel abroad in the last couple of months at my job.
I attended a conference on Dog Friendly Communities (while my dog and her gracious host-cat terrorized each other).
I took a vacation to the family farm in Florida and took a NYC cat to live there because it would be far better than his current digs in the  basement-level cat room.
I visited Athens, Georgia for a day: home of one of my favorite musicians ever.
I made new pillows for the couch.
Scott & I attended a home buyer seminar, not that we can afford NYC real estate...
I visit/feed/pet/love this cat from time to time.
I've been selling stuff on eBay.  Goodbye clutter and good riddance to you too.
I've been trying to keep up with the NYCityPets.com blog and my Flickr page.
I finally met Al Franken and he reminds me of an Ann Arbor hippie in that comforting-kind-of-way.
Scott has a new job and he loves being a New Yorker (where his clothes can be dropped off at laundromat for cleaning, and groceries can be delivered to the apartment for eating...)
Honey has been keeping our block rat-free so she earned a (real) bone.  And some stranger gave her chicken on the street.  Let's all hope that won't happen again because now she thinks everyone is packing poultry.

Good news I've heard recently...
Ann Arbor is closer to getting a dog park (or possibly several)
My pet blog has been listed in the links for the new Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition (BARC) blog
Chris & Erica are engaged and so are Amanda & Noah.
John Wyatt is coming to NYC this weekend.  So where are the rest of you?!

What's next:
Hopefully, more frequent updates...and some good summer concerts!

AWFNJ

I am attending the Animal Welfare Federation of New Jersey conference this weekend in Iselin.  Scott has been great with dog duties and I will be back to regularly scheduled programming this evening.  Tomorrow I start at the Center for Animal Care & Control (CACC) as a Petfinder volunteer.  The pets in the shelter move in and out so quickly that only time will tell how helpful our efforts will be for increasing adoptions. 
I'll be checking to see if I can also post the pictures on Flickr because I think that is another way to get the stories out and increase adoptions.

Westminster Dog Show

On Valentine's Day, we ventured out to the Westminster to see the prettier than all the others of  doggies.  Seriously, the Golden Retriever was the cutest of its kind, ever!  I was rooting for the Dalmatian and Scott wanted the Scottish Deerhound to win, but the Bull Terrier came out on top.  I knew that the Pug blew it when the judge went to examine him and he backed away, twice.  That motion was his doom.

Interesting things I found at the show:
-Only the following breeds can be judged on a ramp: Clumber Spaniels, Sussex Spaniels, Basset Hounds, Whippets, Kerry Blue Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Bulldogs, Chow Chows, and Keeshonden. 
Some of these make sense to me, but why the Whippet and the Chow Chow?

-There are separate exercise pens for bitches in heat.  What I wonder, however, is what they do when a show dog is in heat at the show.  Are there doggie tampons?  That sounds awful.

-Jodi Whitsell is cool.  We display her artwork in my office and she gave me a sweet Chihuahua print at the dog show where she had a booth.

-The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever is cute as ever!

Red Cross: No pets in our shelters

I follow Gina Spadafori's blog, Dogma, and her post about the Red Cross not allowing pets in their shelters just reaffirms my decision not to send any funds their way, but rather, to support animal rescue organizations that re-home and reunite pets with their owners.  It is a shame that pets are left behind in the worst weather-related catastrophies because organizations will help only people but not entire families.
The bottom line is that when the Red Cross or any other organization that assists people in times of crisis do not help pets, they are increasing the work of animal rescue organizations a great deal because the teams are unable to get to all of the animals until after the destruction from a disaster makes conditions unsafe.  The animal rescuers go into the worst conditions to save lives, just like the disaster workers who save people.  Why isn't there a better, more collaborative plan of action?  I suspect one is on the way as this hurricane season comes to a close (after Wilma, that is).
Support Noah's Wish and your local Humane Societies.  I'll bet there is a pet, or several, available in your area that came from the Katrina aftermath.  Sure, homeless animals abound in all of the communities in America, but it has been wonderful to see shelters bring in animals that don't stand a chance in the Gulf Coast area because the shelters there are probably not fully operational at this time.   I hope that the people and pets in southern FL are safe today.

More Artemis Kitties

Artemis (At Animal General on West 67th Street) has 3 kittens ready for adoption.  They are black and two of them have a little white on their coats.  Very playful and good at boxing with one another.  Their Mom is available also.

Annie, the fiesty one, is available for someone who has patience with this once-very-feral cat.  She is sweet if you let her come to you and pet her only when she asks for attention.

Cow is a wonderful guy when he is kept in the cat room, but I have heard he doesn't do well with open spaces.  I think the best situation for this cat is a barn or a small room where he feels protected and comfortable.  He has been nothing short of a sweetheart to me when I visit him in his room.

Sad Story-updated

Just when I thought it was fun to go to the dog park...
Honey and I went out last night for an evening stroll to McGolrick Park and learned that a couple had abandoned this cute dog at the run.  The account I heard was that the couple told a girl, "Here.  Take our dog." and they were strung out on crack.  Another lady told the police who came to take the dog to a shelter (no loving soul could accomodate the dog in a home last night with short notice) that the dog belongs to a couple that had been evicted from their home this week.
Clearly, there was more to the story then just an unwanted pet.  Or was there?  We'll never know.  The reality is that these idiots will one day get another dog because no one attempted to find them and prosecute them for this crime.
After speaking to the officers, I learned that this is a typical situation in the fall months when people who no longer desire to care for an animal in the harsh winter weather will dump them in a local park.  It was a rarity to see a dumped dog in McGolrick Park.  Usually the police find the dogs in McCarren Park, a much larger park a little further south of McGolrick.

I ran into a local Polish deli and asked for some meat to bait the dog into the crate for the police; however, they refused to use the bait and insisted on darting the dog with a tranquilizer.  The cops totally freaked out the poor dog and I felt very sorry for him (and for the police for not taking the advice of someone who may know dogs a little better than they do).  I weep for the City of Ann Arbor, as they no longer even have one animal control officer and I am certain that stray dogs receive similar treatment by the police there just like the dogs in NYC.
I can tell you this pooch is a big guy, and probably a golden and akita mix.  He was called Max by the girl who was trying to find him a place to stay for the night.  Perhaps his listing is this one in petfinder.  It is highly unlikely that he'll survive the week in the shelter, unless a local rescue will snatch him up because he seemed to be a really good dog.  He even had a rabies tag on his collar and that gets me thinking about why no one tried to look up the animal hospital that gave him that tag and thereby learning the identity of the couple that left him to the care of the New York Police Department.
UPDATE:  I was informed that no tranquilizer was used on this dog and that he gave no trouble to the officers who were looking after him.  He was pretty calm, and not totally freaked out by everyone.  He was nervous and scared--he yelped when one person was petting his back.  I am happy to learn that dog-loving officers are on the job in Greenpoint.  Now we just need to get the community members on board by setting up a phone tree of people who are willing to look after our own abandoned pets. 
I'm looking into finding out why the information on rabies tags is not used to find the criminals who abandon pets.  Also, I'm researching animal law to determine just what can be done to deter people from dumping their pets.

Artemis Kitties

I am working on putting together some action shots of the kittens and cats that are available for adoption from our animal hospital.  The rescue org. is called Artemis (you can find it in petfinder), but they don't have a website and the static images/headshots don't do the kitties justice.
Many of them take over our office and they are really good cats.  There is also a dog seeking a home away from the confines of our office.  Here are her details.

Two very different dogs: Tom Cruise and a sickly graffiti pug

If you remember the Tom Cruise interview on Oprah and his strange behavior/ridiculous world views, then you should read this piece by Noah Baumbach who  imagines Cruise as a dog.  Baumbach is unkind to belittle canines this way, but it is still a humorous bit.
This pug lives nearby, on a wall in Williamsburg.  I found him on Flickr and I think I saw him while walking with Honey last week.  He makes me wonder if the artist was trying to show an image of the new dog flu that people are freaking out about.  For the record, the dog flu is nothing to panic about and-as with all illness-if you think your pooch is sick (coughing, runny nose or eyes, etc.) then make an appointment with a veterinarian for goodness sake!  A crazy middle-aged, partially toothless woman stopped her SUV in the road to shout at a couple in the dog run last week to warn them of the deadly flu and I tried to tell her that it isn't going to swoop in and kill her dog.  She just kept going on about it, so I gave up and walked away.  Naturally, Honey started coughing a couple of days later and I had to pay a car service to take us to my office for her checkup.  She stopped coughing after only two days and I must have overreacted (since she doesn't have a vaccination against bordatella/kennel cough).  Better to be on the safe side, as Honey is a new dog in town and there are new illnesses to be had.  I feel silly for being so rash, but at least I'm not hovering around at dog runs telling everyone the lie: "Beware the scary flu.  Your dog is in danger"!

One track mind

Animal issues currently in my field of (tunnel) vision:

-Congress introduces bill that will keep downer animals out of human-grade food.  Funny, I thought that was already taken care of.  I thought downers were only good enough for bad dog food.  So meat eaters get some too.  Mmm.  My favorite part about this article: "More than 99% of the approximately 22,000 public comments strongly supported the ban, but industry lobbyists have been pushing to weaken it."  So a nearly perfect majority of those who take their time to comment are put on hold because of the industry interests.  And I thought this was a democracy by majority!
-Congress passes bill to give animal fighters a reason to think twice about their activities (since fighting will be a federal felony)
-The cigarette butts are always more noticeable when I'm walking my dog.  I mean seriously, this is an important issue in NYC.  Just like poo.
-Pets are still being rescued from New Orleans.  And if you want to contemplate the phenomenon of people being more generous to the animal victims of Katrina then their human counterparts, please read Jon Katz's book, The New Work of Dogs.  I think he asks the right questions about how dogs are charged with new jobs in the world and why people value their bonds with animals more than other person-person relationships.
-The media frenzy over the "deadly" dog flu and the rebuttal from sane persons like Gina Spadafori.
-The thugification of Oscar, former boy-toy of Honey's.
-The lives of veterinary staffers at my new job and the Artemis Project (which has its home in our office, and these cats share our desk area and often steal our seats).  Dot is a fun cat.  Too bad Honey would try to maul her if I brought her home...

PAWS

On my list of animal-related issues that I really want to write about (but currently have little time to transcribe):
The Pet Animal Welfare Statute: Senator Santorum (not my favorite guy, but he's doing something good here, I believe) is sponsoring this bill to amend the Animal Welfare Act to increase the regulations for breeding.  There will be more USDA involvement for breeders that profit from selling 25 or more animals in a year (or over 6 litters in a year).  There are many people trying to scare dog owners, fanciers, and their own senators from supporting this bill. 
Here are some of the scary "facts" they are inventing:
-PAWS will put rescues and shelters out of business.  (This is not true because rescues and shelters are not-for-profit entities that will not be affected by increased regulations from this bill.  And even if some rescues are required to be regulated by the USDA, what is wrong with that?  If the rescue organization is unable to obtain not-for-profit/501c3 status, they shouldn't be a rescue anyway because they aren't doing it for the greater good of the homeless animals.)
-PAWS will lead to a national mandatory microchip law in the US.  (This is nowhere in the PAWS bill and this conspiracy theory is bringing the people who fear government and "big brother" out into this debate.  That just makes this an ugly, irrational conversation that is clearly not about the welfare of the animals.  And the latter is what this bill is really about.)
-PAWS will end all cat breeding and prevent many dog fanciers from obtaining good quality purebred show dogs--as most dog breeders will also be put out of business.  (Again, this bill is for the welfare of animals and if you are a dog breeder that truly cares about the breed, you will find a way to set up the facilities that are required by the USDA to properly care for litters of puppies.  Even if you home raise the pups, you still need facilities to care for them and not just an outdoor pen or a large box.)  (As for cats and other animals, if you truly care about the animals, you will find a way to set up the facilities that are required by the USDA.  If you don't have the money to do so, you clearly don't have the money to administer proper care and for veterinary visits for your animals if they become ill.)
-PAWS will prevent anyone from obtaining a purebred in the future since breeding will dramatically decrease.  (The ability to get a puppy is like picking up a gallon of milk from your nearest store.  Perhaps PAWS will make people wait a little longer, like waiting for your take out food to be prepared after you called in the order.)
-PAWS is just an alliance between unlikely bedfellows to increase their profits.  (So the AKC, HSUS, and PETA support the same bill.  So what does that mean?  I think it is clear.  They are all organizations that have committed to support the animals in some way.  These three orgs. have very different agendas, but I don't think they are diverging on the issue of kindness to animals.  Only those breeders that don't want to be regulated are clearly not concerned with the best interests of all animals.)
-PAWS is about intrusion into the homes of breeders.  Oh wait, this is true.  And if you can tell me what is wrong with it, I'd be happy to listen to what you have to say!

I have been thinking a lot about this, and I am still trying to come up with ways that the passionate animal people from the rescue world and the breeding/fancier worlds can come together to make this world a better place for animals and those who care for them.  We cannot model our behavior after politicians who know only how to attack their opponents when it is time to talk about real issues.  Avoid the problem, berate the other guy.  That is how not to get things done for animals.
I think that PAWS will be a positive step in the lives of animals and that people from both sides should look at this bill as a meeting place for other, positive approaches to animal breeding and care.