Pet Monologues

The first article I read on this topic was dated March 2005 from Fairfax County Virginia, so this is not exactly a new idea. Two years later we have the following article revisiting this issue…

Dangerous dogs in Virginia get online registry.

RICHMOND, Virginia: Bear is a golden retriever-shepherd that attacked a bicyclist. Dee Dee, a pit bull mix, killed a cat. Cody, a Labrador mix, bit the neighbor.

Their mug shots, misdeeds and home addresses went online last week at Virginia’s Dangerous Dog Registry, a new Web site modeled after the state’s sex offender registry. It lets residents locate dogs in their county that have attacked a person or animal, and that a judge decided could cause injury again.

Created after dogs killed a toddler and an 82-year-old woman in separate incidents over the last two years, Virginia’s registry is part of a growing effort by states to deal with canines deemed dangerous. Thirty-one states now make owners legally liable if their dogs maim or kill, and in 2006 Ohio became the first state to ban some breeds outright.

In the last two years, nearly 100 municipalities have taken similar steps - banning pit bulls, Rottweilers, English bull terriers and American staffordshire terriers, or passing regulations that require owners to use muzzles or short leashes in public, according to the American Kennel Club. Read the rest of this entry »

Woman buys clone of dead pet.

Not a very computer related tale, but one worth telling, comes from The Register, who have a tale of a curious cat. “Little Nicky” is a very special cat indeed, because he is a clone of his owner’s previous cat. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the word that I long to hear my husband say, but he has so much trouble uttering it - it begins with an “L” and he’s just too shy and self-conscious to say it aloud in public, but in the privacy of our home he’s not afraid to say “Labradoodle.”

I first noticed this at the park. When a woman asked what kind of dog was attempting to strangle itself at the end of our leash, I began to say “labradoodle,” but my husband steamrolled over me and said, “Oh, he’s a mutt. Some kind of lab mix. We aren’t really sure.” Her curiosity satisfied, she went on her way and I gave my husband an inquisitive look, which he shrugged off.

Next our neighbor, who isn’t exactly a dog person, asked where we got the blond wookie. A big strapping guy who spends way too much time polishing his Harley Davidson and too little riding it, he first remarked that we needed another dog “like Iraq needs sand.” Ha-ha. Then he pointed out that the dog looked like a big poodle. My husband bristled a bit. “Hey, he’s a lab. Well, he’s mostly lab. He’s not a poodle.” Read the rest of this entry »

Theresa Hoang, the owner of runaway Gracie, sent an email to Team Vivi members thanking them for their help—from posting fliers to calling veterinarians — which ultimately made the Italian greyhound’s ending a happy one.

“I would like to specially thank all of you for your tremendous help and support” when Gracie was wandering the streets of Brooklyn, she wrote. “I have never seen such a coordinated effort … I [would love it] if we could meet each other some day.

The dog was missing since July 15, 2007, in Brooklyn.

Now wait a New York minute! Just who/what is Team Vivi? The short version is…who really wants the short version? This is a blog! Let’s go for the long version!

SEARCH FOR A PRIZE-WINNING SHOW DOG BECOMES A NEW YORK OBSESSION Read the rest of this entry »

PM wishes to keep dialog open and alive with regard to the pit bull terrier. That’s because, when people are talking, remedies for polarizing issues come easier.

We have an adult family member with no children who adopted two such dogs and they are great dogs. However, one afternoon when we were packing to go home, it was a cold January afternoon, a jacket with a hood was zipped up and the dogs clearly became agitated at the site of the hood. The jacket very quickly came off and the dogs led to another room. The dogs are one-year-olds and the owner, who is in his fifties, is an experienced dog owner who lives in a neighborhood with plenty of space and no children. So far with conditions as they are everyone is optimistic. We have become very fond of these two dogs and we also handle them with care.

That said, the following article is about finding homes for dogs who may have been exposed to dog-fighting. These dogs who are saddled with “issues” really require evolved sensibilities.

Here is a recent story found in the Chicago Tribune.

by Bill Hageman, Chicago Tribune

Catherine Hedges says she gets a lot of e-mails from people who want to help Michael Vick’s pit bulls.

“We can’t,” she says. “But we can save these South Holland dogs.”

Photo: Chicago Tribune

Hedges spent nearly a decade in pit bull rescue before stepping aside for health reasons. She has been busy lately, though, working behind the scenes with American Animal Rescue Society in an effort to find homes for the dogs that were seized in that big July raid in South Holland. Read the rest of this entry »

Company sinks teeth into dog time shares.

“It prevents dogs from being adopted and then returned to the shelter by people who realize it wasn’t a good fit.”

From the state that popularized purse puppies, drive-thru dog washes and gourmet dog food delivery comes the latest in canine convenience _ a company that contracts out dogs by the day to urbanites without the time or space to care for a pet full-time. Read the rest of this entry »

This week PM was vastly entertained by several couples who are expecting the birth of a child and witnessing the naming process, if that is what it could be called. Naming a child may be more challenging than naming a pet. Or is it? Well, animals may have more options to choose from and maybe an interesting story behind it. It reminds me of a dog named PD which translated into poor dog because the dog had reached what we describe as rock bottom. Now here is an article to kick this can down the road and see if we can provoke more stories…

By Linda Goldston.

A rose is a rose is a rose—but a pet name? That can be almost anything.

Every year, names like Max, Jake and Buddy show up on many lists of Top 10 names for dogs, while Max, Smokey and Shadow make it on the cat names list. Read the rest of this entry »

Abstract

Relationships inevitably develop between humans and animals, regardless of the function or use of the animal partners. The need to recognize the existence of these human-animal bonds, as well as acknowledge the use of the animals, is widespread. Religious memorial services for animals in certain areas of the world provide an historical basis for such acknowledgment activities. The diversity of sacred and secular approaches to memorializing or acknowledging animals is illustrated by representative examples of such events. The need to establish such events, particularly in academic and research settings, is emphasized. The pros and cons of developing and establishing acknowledgment activities in addition to the benefits of implementing such events are discussed. Read the rest of this entry »

Somewhere between astronaut, basketball player and “American Idol” winner, veterinarian is the job of choice for kids today. The thought of working with furry, four-legged friends and cuddly cats is just too good to pass up, and veterinary work may be the only animal career people think of.

But you don’t have to be a vet to work with animals.

Art: Dorling Kindersley

In reality, there are a variety of other ways to combine a love of animals with a paying job. Do you enjoy teaching and working with people as well as pets? If so, you might want to be an animal trainer. Do you have an interest in rescuing or offering a helping hand to neglected animals? You might want to work in an animal shelter, wildlife refuge or zoo. Or maybe you’d like to make animals comfortable and neat by starting your own grooming business. Read the rest of this entry »

Can cats talk? Many cat owners would like to think so and some even claim that their cats speak a number of recognisable words. A Brazilian cat takes claims one step further by apparently being able to sing a number of well known songs while the Fortean Times carried a report of a cat which speaks several words in Turkish and suggested, with tongue firmly in cheek, that the reason many owners cannot understand their cats is because the cats are speaking Turkish. But before cat-owners rush out for phrase books, are these cats really speaking or are their owners just talking turkey?
Photo: Kevin Steele

For humans, the terms ’speech’ and ‘talk’ are not restricted to vocalization, but encompass human body language (which most of us read without realising it), gestural languages (sign language) and tactile languages (of deaf-blind individuals) which are equally expressive among those fluent in their use. Further, human language comprises both verbal and non-verbal components (including the written extension of body language through gestural substitutes such as the , symbols within Internet communication). Read the rest of this entry »