If you won't quit smoking for your own health

Turns out nearly one in three pet owners will quit for the health of their pets. According to an article by HealthDay reporter Ed Edelson, pet owners would consider quitting smoking after hearing how secondhand smoke may shorten the lives of their furry friends. For the full article, click here.

Los Angeles getting proactive about animal cruelty

The L.A. Times published a great story this weekend about their county's efforts to combat animal cruelty. Although parts of the story were difficult for me to read, as I have a hard time shaking the imagery associated with cruelty stories, the efforts of the LAPD and the District Attorney's office to get serious about animal abusers are to be commended. As Deputy District Attorney Deborah Knaan said in the article, "They cannot talk. They cannot get away. . . . They're totally vulnerable. It's our huge obligation to them to take care of them."

I'm glad to be living in a time where I can actually witness the changes being made in the public's views towards animals and our treatment of them, and that as those changes are being made they garner this sort of press attention. Here's hoping that Los Angeles provides a model that will be duplicated across the country. To read the article in its entirety, click here.

Breed profiling hits Lancaster CA

On January 27, the Lancaster City Council voted unanimously for mandatory spay/neuter for Pit Bulls, Rottweilers or dogs whose physical characteristics are determined to look enough like one of those breeds, as determined by law enforcement. The law is to go into effect thirty days from the date of the meeting. The council also voted in stiff fines and other penalties for owners of these breeds should the dog be determined to be “potentially dangerous” or “vicious”.

This measure was voted in supposedly to target gang members, who law enforcement says uses these dogs to terrorize other citizens. According to the Los Angeles Times, Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris believes that law enforcement can tell which brown people in Lancaster are gang members and which are citizens just by looking at them. Same goes for the dogs.

Boy, I’m glad to hear that there are psychics on staff who can determine, just by looking at them, which dogs are “potentially dangerous”. And to hear that if you cannot punish those whom you believe to be responsible for wrongdoing, you’ll take the big-man step of killing their dogs instead. After all, if one reads the article in the Antelope Valley Press you’d think the streets were slick with the blood of small children killed by dogs on a near daily basis.

Except, of course, that during a three month sweep in the area, most of the 283 calls animal control officers got about pities were for loose or stray dogs, and that the one attack that seems to be on the record happened in 2006, when a toddler was attacked at the home of a family friend --- not at the hands of the local gangs.

And it’s darn big of the mayor, when asked about good dogs being affected by the ordinance to be willing "to bear the weight of some injustice" against responsible pittie owners.

Look, I’m completely in favor of responsible pet ownership, and I strongly believe that some form of animal population control is definitely in order, not only for Lancaster, but for huge swaths of the Central Valley. But to be so single-handedly vitriolic towards a couple of breeds is wrong. And he clearly seems to have a deep personal bias against these dogs and the people who choose to own them.

"Even if people who are not gangbangers have their pit bulls taken away, it means that these beasts are off the streets," Mayor Parris said. "And they are indeed beasts.”

No, Mayor Parris, they are dogs. What people have done to them is beastly, and your inability to tell the difference between the two doesn’t make you much better.

For a couple of other takes on the matter, head to L.A. Now or Unleashed.

If I Didn't Have so Many Dogs & Cats . . .

Another Internet gem I thought I would share...


If I Didn't Have so Many Dogs & Cats . . .

I could walk around the yard barefoot in safety.

My house could be carpeted instead of tiled and laminated.

All flat surfaces, clothing, furniture, and cars would be free of
hair.

When the doorbell rings, it wouldn't sound like a kennel.

When the doorbell rings, I could get to the door without wading
through fuzzy bodies who beat me there.

I could sit on the couch and my bed the way I want, without taking
into consideration how much space several fur bodies would need to get
comfortable.

I would have money and no guilt to go on a real vacation.

I would not be on a first-name basis with 6 veterinarians, as I put
their yet-unborn grandkids through college.

The most used words in my vocabulary would not be: out, sit, down,
come, no, stay, and leave him/her/it ALONE.

My house would not be cordoned off into zones with baby gates or
barriers. I would not talk 'baby talk'. 'Eat your din din'. 'Yummy
yummy for the tummy'...

My house would not look like a day care center, toys everywhere.

My pockets would not contain things like poop bags, treats and an
extra leash.

I would no longer have to spell the words B-A-L-L, F-R-I-S-B-E- E,
W-A-L-K, T-R-E-A-T, B-I-K-E, G-O, R-I-D-E.

I would not have as many leaves INSIDE my house as outside.

I would not look strangely at people who think having ONE dog/cat
ties them down too much.

I'd look forward to spring and the rainy season instead of dreading
'mud' season.

I would not have to answer the question 'Why do you have so many
animals?' from people who will never have the joy in their lives of
knowing they are loved unconditionally by someone as close to an angel
as they will ever get.

How very EMPTY my life would be!!

The story of Opie

I'm a sucker for feel-good stories, especially during these tough economic times. This wonderful video tells a great story about how a few people can make a world of difference. It's a little longer than many, coming in at around nine minutes or so, but well worth it.

The Story of Opie