Volunteers, we have our date

The brave souls who came out and met at John's Incredible Pizza on April 22 now have a volunteer orientation date, thanks to Cindy Holloway's determination and Maggie Kalar at Kern County Animal Control.

If you've been sitting on the fence about being a volunteer for the county shelter, it's time to get that application in and be a part of the solution. Be there or be square, gang. Need details on the orientation? Drop me a line and I'll be happy to oblige.

And geez, can someone who has an ounce of artistic talent create a logo for them? Besides their site being one of the ugliest on the Internet, it would be great to have a cool logo that can be dropped into posts like this.

Peace.

Pew Commission says it's time to change our ways

A two year study by the Pew Commission says it's time for us to move away from the factory farming practices that are making us, the environment and the animals in our food system ill.

Read the report here. Then support the Prevention of Farm Cruelty Act on this year's ballot in California.

Another lapse, but I have an excuse

O.K., I’m feeling guilty that I haven’t posted here for a bit, but I’ve been busy getting my official certification as a volunteer for the Emergency Animal Rescue Service (EARS).

EARS is a program run by United Animal Nations to respond to disasters, both natural and man-made. We’re not the people who go out in boats --- we’re the people who set up the shelter and provide a place for the people in the boats to bring the animals left behind during disasters.

We also do outreach in the community, letting people know about planning for their pets during disasters and letting local agencies know that we are here and available in the event of an emergency.

Obviously, I’m super cooled-out about the whole thing. I have to start working on getting my “deployment bag” ready, even though I have no idea when, or if, I’ll ever go out on a run. I’m sure I’ll eventually do something, even if it’s just a short stint at a long event.

Interestingly enough, one area where EARS is seeing more calls these days is to respond to puppy mill and hoarding situations. I would love, love, love to take part in a rescue of that nature.

If by chance another EARS person catches a glimpse of this, drop me an email. At my training it looked like I was the only one from this far south, so if there are more of you out there, let me know.

Peace