Pet Monologues

Another sustainable product. Make that pet product. Make that dog product. Here’s why it’s a good idea. In the US, our dogs produce enough waste to fill an 800-foot-tall football field every year - not the most glamorous image. And scooping all that poop into petroleum-based plastic bags not only leaches toxic chemicals as the whole package slowly breaks down (for thousands of years) in a landfill, but preserves what needn’t be preserved.

Leaving scat on the ground isn’t an eco-friendly option either, as 20-30% of all pollutants in waterways can be attributed to canine waste.

Solution: use a biodegradable bag. The Business Bags from Spike are made from corn, and the company recently worked with a domestic company to devise an entirely homegrown product. One of our ecofabulous ladies can attest that they decompose in the promised 45 days. Keep in mind; not much biodegrades in a landfill. Business Bags are a simple, great option for people with municipal composting. For the rest of you, check DIY composting here.

For the political poop visit dogs 4 democrats featuring the “Mission Accomplished” bag.

via ecofabulous

Caw to art! is an effort to showcase animals and pets in an ARTFUL manner. A photograph, fine art, a scribble, sculpture. A poem, a monologue, a short story, motion.

Submissions: Beginning Wednesday 6/25/08 thru Friday and maybe
a bit longer…

designapplause submits touching tactile surfaces
lady omega submits peep show
thru my eyes submits beautiful face
paintalicious submits art and ghosts
cameraporn submits smiling eel
petmonologues submits ric stultz
diane clancy submits sebastian in flowers

touching

peep show

beautiful face

art and ghosts

smiling eel

ric stultz

sebastian in flowers

Still steeping…

…in the meantime. Questions? Comments? Editor’s note: please look at Comment 1 below for more C2a! details as well as look at the previous editions of Caw to art!…

and while you are curating your submissions don’t forget Friday Ark roster for this weekend. And Carnival of the Cats which goes up every Sunday.

http://designapplause.com/2008/hardcore-finnish-design/143/

This post celebrates World Animal Day and Bless the Animals. Follow the links to learn more about PM’s initiative which started on October 4.

The first squirrel ads may have appeared in 2001 for Geico, a Berkshire Hathaway-owned insurance company based in Washington, D.C. The tagline for the Geico commercials reads: “Fifteen minutes could save you 15 percent or more on car insurance.”

The Geico Gecko character was created by the Martin Agency, a Richmond, Virginia based ad firm. The latest Gecko animation is supplied by Framestore, a New York-based company.

TRIVIA NOTE: A follow-up of very funny 30-second Geico ads appeared in 2001. The series of three spots were called “Squirrel”, “Car Pool” and “Wuxia.” The “Squirrel spot (written by Joe Lawson and Raymond McKinney and art directed by Tye Harper) shows a couple of squirrels playing chicken on a country road that causes a car to swerve off the road and crash. Thrilled with their results, the giggling squirrels give each other a high-five for surviving the ordeal. Read the rest of this entry »

On average, caring for a cat costs $1500 annually and a dog $2000.

With the U.S. economy currently on very shaky ground the falloff is tighter family budgets or worse, completely new business models for family households. In an effort to help keep households together, including family pets, let’s talk about possibly surrendering your pet to a shelter, how to pinch pennies on pet-care, and, a philosophic POV on saving animals.

Downsizing the family to make ends meet.

If you feel that you really can no longer afford your pet please consider finding another family for your pet first. If you can’t find a foster home then take the animal to a shelter, don’t abandon your animal. Here’s a story that was in the Chicago Tribune several weeks ago…

More strays linked to once-happy homes.
The sad stories have been all over the news. Pet owners who have fallen on hard times are coming into shelters and reluctantly, sometimes tearfully, surrendering their animals. Read the rest of this entry »

Two Chihuahuas wear wedding outfits at a fashion show during the VenusFort family dog fiesta in Tokyo May 17, 2008. (Getty Images photo / June 18, 2008)

June brides are everywhere in the media at the moment, we don’t want to be left out.

An article by John Kass, Chicago Tribune…
My brother has selected a puppy for his family’s pet—a Parson Russell terrier pup he’ll call Wrigley (he’s a Cubs fan)—but even before all the kids play with it I’m wondering how I’ll feel the day Wrigley gets married.

Will the “bride” wear white? Will I begin to cry, like a big fat baby?

When the “reverend” performing the pet marriage says, “By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you dog and . . .”—is that when Satan pops out of the wedding cake and takes us all straight to hell?

Also, how much for the Pet Wedding Consultant?

“It varies,” said famed pet counselor-wedding consultant Shirley Scott, from Walla Walla, Wash. “It could be between $500 to $1,500. But that’s just an estimate.”

I found Scott’s name in a recent, and terrifying, news report on the American pet wedding phenomenon. Americans spend $40 billion a year on their pets, and the pet wedding industry wants its cut. There are fees for clerics to say the rites and blessings, and black tuxedos for four-legged grooms, and cakes and caterers, and beaded satin wedding gowns.

“Your little bride will be so beautiful walking down the aisle wearing this elegant, fully-lined white satin and lace wedding gown set,” promises one pet wedding Web site I won’t name in the hopes of staving off damnation. “The six layers of tulle can be separated to make this beautiful wedding veil very full and elegant. This set also includes a matching white satin leash.” Read the rest of this entry »

Caw to art! is an effort to showcase animals and pets in an ARTFUL manner. A photograph, fine art, a scribble, sculpture. A poem, a monologue, a short story, motion.

Submissions: Beginning Wednesday 6/18/08 thru Friday and maybe
a bit longer…

diane clancy submits chase in butterfles
pat dypold submits comiski
paintalicious submits gale franey

chase in butterflies

comiski

gale franey

Still steeping…

…in the meantime. Questions? Comments? Editor’s note: please look at Comment 1 below for more C2a! details as well as look at the previous editions of Caw to art!…

and while you are curating your submissions don’t forget Friday Ark roster for this weekend. And Carnival of the Cats which goes up every Sunday.

No, that is not a typo in the headline. Read on…

NEW YORK––The bride was radiant. Some guests said it was the sunlight bouncing off her cascading white chiffon veil; others commented that it was a “pregnancy glow,” because Ashley Nunn was carrying octuplets. The groom’s excitement was visible: Buddy Lewinski drooled and wagged his tail vigorously as he waited for his bride to reach the altar.

Ashley, a blackmouth cur mix, and Buddy, a tri-color beagle, were married in Katy, Texas, in 2002 by Rev. Lynn Turner, a licensed minister who marries both pets and people (although not to each other). These unions, called “Bow-wow vows,” are on the rise in the United States and are often accompanied by a cadre of professionals, such as pet marriage counselors, pet wedding planners, pet caterers, pet trainers and pet priests.

“Holy Muttrimonies, Bark Mitzvahs and pet ceremonies in general have really started taking off,” said Diana Guerrero, animal behavior expert and pet-trend watcher. “People treat their pets like their own children. Sheltering organizations, church leadership, party planners are saying, ‘Holy hot dog! Here’s all these people with pets and they’re spending a lot of money, let’s welcome them in.’ ” Read the rest of this entry »

Is Rover coughing? It could be dog flu.

Experts urge pet owners to be on the alert now that the disease has been confirmed in Illinois. Read the rest of this entry »

Caw to art! is an effort to showcase animals and pets in an ARTFUL manner. A photograph, fine art, a scribble, sculpture. A poem, a monologue, a short story, motion.

Submissions: Beginning Wednesday 6/11/08 thru Friday and maybe
a bit longer…

scott stulberg submits eye to eye
brown cat submits untitled
diane clancy submits freckles in flowers
pet monologues submits nicholas di genova in silent pursuit
injuriousfeline submits cat knows

eye to eye

untitled

freckles in flowers

in silent pursuit

cat knows