Pet Monologues

True. If, and I say only if, there are no cats on the premises.

Opus by Berkeley Breathed.

Found on salon.com and Bark Bark Woof Woof’s “Sunday Reading.”

HSUS reveals extensive puppy mills in Virginia.

An HSUS undercover investigation in Virginia revealed that puppy mills are out of control. Read the rest of this entry »

Irving council approves ban on unattended tethered dogs.

Owners of unattended, chained pets to receive Class C misdemeanors. Read the rest of this entry »

Ellen Degenres brought “rescue” and “shelter” to the media. A good thing because when people talk, issues are better understood. It’s been a week. Let’s review.

Public reaction
The public response was swift, polarized, and far reaching. There were few surprise reactions with the exception of Craig’s List pet forum. PM was somewhat surprised by how the pet forum responded. Because this pet forum is an experienced, emotional, pro-adoption group, we expected the forum to attack the shelter for taking dogs away from a home, from children. On the contrary, CL sentiment was that Ellen should have read the contract, called the shelter, and not take this public on her show. The shelter got death threats.

The skinny
The inevitable inaccuracies are identified. We learn that her new dog was at a dog trainer for most of the days under Ellen’s care. That the shelter, Mom’s & Mutts, didn’t go to the media first. That the dog was finally, and confidentially, placed. That taking this to the airwaves is not going Ellen’s way a week later. That the shelter has not budged telling Ellen “If Ellen wants to place dogs and decide what’s a good home, then she should start her own rescue group. But I’m the one doing this and I know what I’m doing.” We learn that Ellen has given away a pooch(es) before.

Rearview mirror
It could be concluded that this was a fight between a star and an animal rescue group. Both sides trying to do what they thought was best for the dog. That there are two sides to whether the animal should be returned to the shelter: The American Humane Association “recommends” a more open adoption process that does not require the animal be returned to the shelter. Mom’s & Mutts, among other shelters, are standing fast: return the dog to the shelter. Most everyone stresses that the shelter or adoption agency should be kept in the loop and made aware of the pet’s whereabouts. Read the rest of this entry »

Center for Biological Diversity. Save endangered species.

Dear PM,

We’re in the fight of our lives to save the Endangered Species Act from an all-out attack by the Bush administration, and we need your help! Read the rest of this entry »

On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind–the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way. Woof! Meow! Squawk! Whinny! Talk!

When PM thinks of the environment we think about the relationship between humankind, animals, the environment. Humankind, we the people, exercise control over our environment like never before. As our control grows so do our choices. We can make things worse: or better. A good choice would be to spread the word about Blog Action Day. Another would be to share words of wisdom, a story, an image, or environmental resources in comments.

Bless the animals.

World Animal Day occurs annually on 4 October. Animal welfare groups, sanctuaries, and individuals throughout the world hold special events to heighten public awareness of animal issues and to encourage people to think about how we as humans relate to animals.

World Animal Day Mission Statement

* To celebrate animal life in all its forms
* To celebrate humankind’s relationship with the animal kingdom
* To acknowledge the diverse roles that animals play in our lives from being our companions, supporting and helping us, to bringing a sense of wonder into our lives
* To acknowledge and be thankful for the way in which animals enrich our lives

“In this photo the Rev. Ron Spahn blesses an equine member of the 10:15am service at Christ Church Grosse Pointe. It was like Noah’s Ark without all the rain.” Photo: Brendan Ross/brossphoto.com

Designer: “Puppy” by Eero Aarnio

History

World Animal Day was conceived at an ecologist’s convention in Florence, Italy in 1931 as a way of highlighting the plight of endangered species. October 4th was chosen as World Animal Day because it is also the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, a Catholic Church holiday which is often celebrated with an annual “blessing of the pets”.

Since then, it has grown to encompass all kinds of animal life and has been widely celebrated around the world. It is intended as a day of celebration for anyone in the world who cares about animals. It is not restricted to any one nationality, creed, religion, political belief or ideology. Read the rest of this entry »

Eco-friendly pet toys and accessories…

Get green! Make a statement! For you and your pet!

“I think people should be more aware and not just assume everything is safe,” says Chicago veterinarian Julie Mayer. “They should be skeptical and critics of products out there.

“We need to read the labels. We have to educate ourselves, because no one is going to help us out, unfortunately.”

Here, then, are a few ways you and your dog and cat can live greener lives, and some problems to watch out for.

Wipe and paws

Wash their feet after they come in. What the dogs pick up from outside—animal and human waste, traces of pollution and car exhaust, etc.—can find its way into their systems as they groom themselves. Anything you can do to keep them clean is beneficial. Read the rest of this entry »

Almost a week after Bravo! a raw pet food diet producer, announces a product recall, Melinda Miller, one of the principals of Bravo and a co-founder of the North American Raw Petfood Association (NARPA) writes a memo and sends the following email:

*******
A Message From Bravo:

*ALL* raw meat carries pathogens. Whether you buy from the grocery store, from wholesale meat suppliers, or from prepared raw diet manufacturers.

It is impossible to avoid. The USDA allows poultry producers to have up to 23% Salmonella contamination on poultry. A good portion of chickens are actually *born* with Salmonella. So the poultry products that manufacturers must use are contaminated long before it ever gets to us. Since these are *RAW* diets and we don’t cook them, the bacteria is left intact. This is true for *every* raw diet manufacturer and for every person who feeds raw regardless of their source. Raw meat has bacteria - that’s why people are told to wash
their hands after handling raw meat. ANYONE who has fed raw has fed pathogens such as Salmonella and Listeria.

Do Salmonella and Listeria pose a threat to our dogs and cats? Not really. If you go to our website you’ll find a recall FAQ that gives citations about how Salmonella is a normal part of the intestinal flora and how dogs apparently neutralize the bacteria. There’s even a quote from the FDA Consumer magazine that acknowledges that healthy dogs and cats rarely become ill from Salmonella.

So why is the FDA involved and why did we do the recall? You can find more information on that on our website also. But briefly you should know some of this:

The FDA agents told us that we are just the first of the raw diet companies to be visited, and that they hope to be able to shut down the raw diet industry and stop raw feeding. So this is an industry problem, not a Bravo problem.

The FDA has a very black eye due to the melamine recalls. So, they want an easy win so they can prove they are safeguarding America’s pets. Raw diets are an easy target for them.

The FDA is holding raw diets to a *cooked* diet standard and has no desire to be reasonable and acknowledge that you can’t hold *RAW* meat to the same regulation that governs *cooked* meat.

The FDA and USDA are currently in a bitter battle. The FDA is trying to take control of USDA operations. We believe one of the reasons Bravo was chosen was that we are a USDA facility. By bashing Bravo
they are able to bash the USDA.

This recall is the result of politics and unreasonable bureaucrats. Bravo raw products carry the same risk - and BENEFITS - as any raw product - whether home-prepared or manufactured.

We have been a company dedicated to high quality. That’s why we use antibiotic-free poultry, and grass-fed, hormone-free red meats. It’s why we manufacture in our own USDA plant under USDA human processing
standards. Other than the reality that all raw meat has some pathogen presence, nothing has changed. You can still count on us to make a high quality and beneficial products.

To those who have been sending notes of support, thank you very much. We’re caught in the midst of a political struggle and it helps to know there are people who understand and appreciate the passion
and care we put into Bravo products.
FMI: www.bravorawdiet.com

Melinda

Melinda Miller
Bravo Raw Diet

The HSUS releases list of best and worst state dogfighting laws.

Idaho, Wyoming, Georgia, Nevada and Hawaii ranked worst. New Jersey, Alabama, Colorado, Mississippi and Arizona ranked the best. Read the rest of this entry »