On Wednesday, August 25th, the n August 25, the ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Agents arrested Matthew Soto, co-owner and daily manager of Bark & Play, a dog-boarding and day-care facility in Brooklyn, NY. Soto has been charged with five counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty for severely neglecting several dogs boarded at the kennel.
In June, ASPCA agents began an investigation of this facility. At that time, it was discovered that animals were being left in poorly ventilated and extremely dirty areas (the areas where the animals were kept were covered in urine and feces). feces. Two underweight Pit Bull mixes, boarders at Bark & Play, were actually treated for severe urine burns.
According to an article published by the ASPCA, the rescued animals had been housed at the facility by local rescue groups. These groups paid a boarding fee to keep the animals at Bark & Play until such time as permanent homes could be found. If convicted, Soto faces up to two years imprisonment. Needless to say, Bark & Play has closed its doors.
In my next post, I’ll provide tips for choosing a quality daycare and/or boarding facility.
Last weekend it was hot. Okay not as hot as on the East Coast, but hot for the Bay Area - and I decided Jade was desperate for a walk. The front of my house has two driveways divided by about 30 feet of lawn (a friend of mine claimed that the second driveway was for speedboat storage); I put Jade on a leash and we walked down the “boat” driveway, parallel to the front lawn, and back up the driveway in which we actually park - and right back to the front door. And nothing, not even treats, convinced Jade that we should go for a longer walk. I opened the front door, he dashed inside, flopped down on the tile inside the front door, and began snoring. Which leads me directly to suggestion number one for helping your pets beat the summer heat.
Tip #1: Provide Your Pet With a “Cool” Room
Designate one room in your house to be a “cool” room. Last year the Bay Area experienced record breaking highs, and I began reading stories in the newspaper about animals who had died from heat exhaustion in their homes. You don’t need to air condition your entire house to keep your pet safe. Instead, pick one room and make it as cool as possible. Put up blackout curtains to block out the heat of the sun; install a window air-conditioning unit and leave it running on hot days (keep the door partly closed so that all the cool air does not simply escape); if you have a pet who is extremely prone to overheating, consider purchasing a cool bed for your pet to sleep on (my favorites are those made by K&H manufacturing).
Tip #2: Exercise At Dawn and Dusk
Dusk and dawn are the coolest times of day and your pet is least likely to overheat at these times. Personally, I don’t believe “dawn” is a time that any normal human being should actually be awake, so I take advantage of the long daylight hours and head out for a walk around 6:30 or 7pm when I get home from work. And try to avoid blacktop and pavement and stick to grass and dirt trails - paved trials, even in the evening, can be so hot they can actually burn your pets’ paws. A good rule of thumb: if it’s too hot for you it’s too hot for your pet.
Tip #3: Ensure Your Pet Has Access to Water Fresh Water At All Times
Ensuring your pet has access to fresh water is never so important as during hot times. Pets are especially prone to dehydration in hot weather. Dehydration can lead to permanent organ damage and even death. The simplest way to prevent dehydration is to ensure your pet always has access to fresh water. In addition to fresh water, you can give your dog the occasional frozen treat. Fill a Kong with water or diluted chicken broth and place it in the freezer. Once the liquid is frozen, give it to your pet (outside is best) for a doggy version of a Popsicle!
My cousin Danielle was the one who turned me onto this site: http://www.ranchoraccoon.org/top2/ I turned around and immediately shared it with my dad, implying of course that he and my mom should foster a baby raccoon. This suggestion is not actually as strange as it sounds. As a teenager living in New Jersey, my dad and his family had a raccoon named Shorty as a pet. The raccoon was free to come and go as it pleased, but it was the official family pet.
When my parents got married, they bought a Coatimundi - raccoon-like animal that is native to the American deserts. Just in case you were wondering, Coatimundis make terrible pets. They are incredibly curious, have very very sharp teeth, and cannot be litter box trained. On the flip side, they do an amazing job of training their owners. After a few years of living with my parents, the Coatimundi took up residence with my paternal grandparents (he loved living with them - he had his own hutch that opened to the outside and could come and go as he pleased; according to my dad, he never left the property). Every night, when my grandfather got home, the Coatimundi would run outside and chrrr and chitter and shriek and complain until my grandfather got a shovel and dug up nightcrawlers for it to eat. Keep in mind - the Coatimundi was more than capable of doing this for itself, it just saw no reason to when it could convince its human to do the work while he reaped the rewards.
After Crumply went to live with my grandparents, they adopted Lokey - the Siamese guard cat. Lokey hated every human being alive with the exception of my parents. In fact, Lokey’s favorite activity in the whole world was to sit on top of the refrigerator in my parent’s apartment and swipe at anyone who attempted to walk past. Perhaps in another blog I’ll tell you about the robin they had at summer camp who got too fat to fly, or the pony (same summer, same summer camp) who got its kicks from charging at campers.
All this to say, it did not seem at all odd for me to suggest that my parents foster a raccoon baby. My dad’s reaction when I first shared this idea was “You have to be kidding. Your mom and I already have a dog who has already had one tangle with a raccoon and chases them from our yard nightly and a cat who would probably get eaten…oh show me the website.”
So while I think the odds are slim that a raccoon baby will soon be added to the Nemeth menagerie, please take a moment to look at this website and see if you can help make a difference.
My best friend Shari really really wants a pet - preferably a dog. Her husband Mark is really really happy just having Jack, their goldfish. For the summer, Shari has hatched a plan. Her thinking was that if she could just bring something furry into the house for the summer, perhaps Mark would become so enamoured of having a pet in the house this summer that he would do a 100% turnaround and, come fall, agree that absolutely they should get a dog.
In the meantime, Shari, her husband, and their (almost) four-year old daughter are hosting Duster - the lion-headed rabbit that normally resides in Shari’s daughter’s preschool classroom. I was fortunate (or unfortunate depending on your point of view) enough to be present when Shari brought Duster home. Here is what I learned in the first 20 minutes of Duster being in his new house:
1) When the books tell you that rabbits will chew on everything including electrical cords, they mean that rabbits will chew on everything including electrical cords. We let Duster hop around the study where he was being housed (we figured three adults could keep him from escaping) and he immediately headed under Mark’s desk where he intently examined every computer and electrical cord he could find. Mark, Shari and myself spent most of Duster’s free time lying on our stomachs on the cold stone floor attempting to coax Duster away from the electrical and computer cords (it’s astonishing how even the most interesting rabbit toy pales in comparison to a tasty electrical cord).
2) Rabbits growl. Rabbits growl as a precursor to lunging and biting. Rabbits growl as a precursor to lunging and biting when they are very angry or very scared. Sticking your hand into a rabbit’s cage, or failing to follow the instructions for appropriately picking up a rabbit will cause said rabbit to become extremely scared and angry. Let’s just say I speak from experience on this one and leave it at that shall we?
3) When a rabbit is curious he will stand up on his hind legs. This is an extremely cute behavior. Whenever one of us would unwrap a new rabbit toy anywhere near Duster, he would immediately stand up on his hind legs, stretch out to his full height, and sniff the air all around him eager to determine what wonderful new treat we had for him.
4) A rabbit will lunge for something he really really wants. Amongst the various goodies we bought for Duster, was a large grass ball that he could shred, roll, and eat. As I started to put this into the cage, Duster lunged for it at the speed of light. Since the last time he lunged I came off the worse for wear, I was fully prepared to run from the room screaming “killer bunnies!” (if you do not get this reference, may I recommend heading out immediately and renting Monty Python and the Holy Grail). It turns out however that while a rabbit may lunge when he is angry or scared, he will also lunge for something he really wants and is very excited to get his paws on. In this case, since there was lunging but no growling (not to mention the fact that Duster immediately went to town on his grass ball) I proceeded to drive Mark and Shari completely nuts by explaining several times over that Duster’s behavior indicated that he clearly loved the ball that I had chosen for him.
5) Choosing to ignore your husband saying “I don’t want a pet” can actually be exactly the right tactic. Up to and including the moment we actually took Duster out his cage, Mark was repeating his mantra: “I want nothing to do with this rabbit.” 10 minutes after we took Duster out, Mark was mumbling something that sounded distinctly like “tomorrow I’ll build a little ramp so he can get in and out of his cage more easily.” And by the end of the first night, he had blocked all access to the various electrical cords and placed a variety of empty cardboard boxes around the study so that whenever Duster was out he could hid in them or chew on them as he wished.
Crunch crunch crunch. Silence. Crunch crunch crunch crunch. That sound woke me out of a sound sleep at about 2am this morning. For anyone who owns a dog or a cat (heck even a rabbit, ferret, or guinea pig) that “crunch crunch crunch” sound usually means that your pet is having a snack. And since Jade’s kong toy is kept both in the bedroom and filled with food, I naturally assumed that Jade (who had eaten relatively little foodthe day before - he had come to work with me so he dined off treats most of the day) had gotten hungry and was having a rather late dinner.
The only problem with that assumption was that the other sound of which I quickly became aware was of Jade snoring. Again - this is not out of the ordinary. Jade practically rattles the windows in the house with his snoring. The odd part was the snoring was coming from directly above my head. And sure enough, when I reached out my hand, I encountered Jade sleeping extremely soundly with his body on my pillow and his head on my husband’s. That discovery caused me to sit bolt upright in bed - and the crunching immediately stopped.
Figuring that I Jade’s snoring had wormed its way into my dreams and been translated into a crunching noise I lay back down. Crunch crunch crunch. Well so much for that theory. At this point I did what any modern, secure, woman would do - I rolled over and woke up my husband.
“Tim - do you hear that crunching noise? What is it?”
“I dunno - sounds like Jade eating.”
“That’s great honey - except Jade is sleeping on our pillows right above our heads.”
That statement got his attention.
“You turn on the light” I told him “and see what’s there and tell me if I need to freak out.”
So Tim rolled over, turned on the light, and sat up.
“Huh.”
“What? What is it???”
“Raccoon.”
That got my attention. This time it was my turn to turn on my bedside light and sit up.
“I don’t see any raccoon.”
“It scampered as soon as I turned on the light.”
No sooner are the words out of Tim’s mouth, then this huge raccoon (I’m serious - this animal had to be at least 20lbs) saunters into our bedroom and heads straight for Jade’s food. it was actually REALLY fun to watch him - he was using his little hands to fish out every possible piece of dog food. And once he was positive there was nothing left, he sniffed all around the carpet and Jade’s bed, and then (as best we can determine since he didn’t seem to be anywhere around this morning) moseyed back out the dog door.
Jade, just in case you were wondering, slept through the entire incidence.
On Saturday, my husband Tim and took Jade and Shana to Stinson Beach. It was a GORGEOUS day. Tons of families were out with children; teenagers were setting up cookouts; and dogs were romping everywhere (chasing everything from bits of seaweed to the occasional water bird). The wind and high waves beckoned to kit surfers who donned wetsuits and skimmed along at high speed.
It was such a pleasure being outdoors. And yet the whole time I was out, I could not help imagining what it would be like if the beach did not look like the photo above, but instead looked like this:
Bird Covered in Oil After Spill
As hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil pump into the Gulf of Mexico (this spill is expected to be the worst one in recorded history), wildlife experts are preparing for the worst. Birds receive the most attention when there is an oil spill. The news flashes photos of animals on beaches and in rescue centers being cleaned and nursed back to health after becoming coated in oil. The birds are definitely at risk. This oil spill is heading straight for the migratory nesting grounds of birds - at a time when a huge variety of birds come in to breed and raise their young. Birds however are not the only ones at risk.
Plankton for example provides food for animals ranging from oysters to mussels shrimp. Oil smothers plankton leaving the animals that depend on it without an alternative food source - and over time they will die. In turn, the River Otters who depend on the mussels are left without food. Dolphins and Sperm Whales are known to swim in the oil coated area, and the oil can settle on their skin and have a toxic effect. Moving higher up the food chain, the fishermen, shrimpers, and oyster farmers who depend on the sea for their livelihood are wondering how they will earn a living if the wildlife they depend on is cruelly depleted.
Want to lend a hand? Conservation groups, ranging from the Audobon Society to the Alabama Coastal Foundation, are putting out calls for volunteers and donations. CNN has provided a phenomenal list of organizations looking for volunteers and donations. If you encounter an oiled animal, do not attempt to touch or pick up the animal - for your safety and theirs. Instead, please call the hotline at 800-557-1401 and leave as detailed a message as possible. Messages are checked hourly and trained workers will be sent to rescue the animal.
When Jade was a puppy, I attended training classes given by a wonderful trainer. She was a believer first and foremost in positive reinforcement, and second in socializing animals as much as possible as early as possible (we used to do things like put on wigs or walk around the class with open umbrellas so that the dogs could start getting use to sudden differences in their environment). She also taught me two mottos that I continue to share with everyone I know who has a dog:
1) A bored dog is a destructive dog
2) A tired dog is a happy dog
With a few exceptions, dogs do not get enough exercise. When people come to me looking for product recommendations for a dog that is literally eating them out of house of home, or who barks frequently, my very first question is always “how much exercise does he get?” The answer is usually “plenty - we go for at least one walk to the nearby park or around the neighborhood a day.” I’ve seen miniature Chihuahuas who walk around the Lafayette Reservoir (that’s 2.7 miles and it’s hilly) at a decent pace (figure one hour to walk the reservoir) and are ready for a 2 hour game of fetch immediately afterwards. So a walk around the block may not be cutting it for your pet.
I’m one of the rare people who’s dog literally hates going for a walk. He will let me take him to our nearby park (it’s maybe 1/10th of a mile from the house), sniff around until he finds just the right patch of lawn, and then literally pull me in the direction of the house. If I pull back or attempt to steer him in a different direction, he simply plants all four feet and refuses to budge. He’s only 20lbs so I could of course just pick him up - but that defeats my reason for taking him out in the first place.
A personal trainer, realizing that people and their pets need more exercise, has decided to try a new approach. She has created a DVD called “My Best Friend’s Workout” (please note that I am neither recommending this DVD nor saying it’s a terrible idea - I’m choosing to blog about it because I think the concept is really interesting, and because I have a dog who’s idea of a “workout” is to leap around on his hind legs long enough to convince my husband to give him treats). The idea is to incorporate cardio and strength training exercises, into your outing with your pooch. Here’s my question though: If this is meant to be a workout done on the go, how are you supposed to watch the DVD and simultaneously walk the dog and do the exercises?
Yes I know - I’m a little late with this blog posting. However, you have to consider that this is coming from the writer who did not actually watch the Academy Awards this year, but who still has it recorded on her TiVo because there is always the possibility that she might actually watch them before next year’s award ceremony.
You know that disclaimer “No Animals Were Harmed” that you see at the end of movie credits where animals are featured in a film? Movies that earn that seal of approval have been closely monitored by the American Humane Association. Founded in the late 1800’s, American Humane works to protect the rights of both children and animals. The organization also gives its own, unofficial, nod to the Oscars by presenting Pawscars to animals featured in films that have received the American Humane’s “No Animals Were Harmed” title.
This year’s winners included a Mastiff named Uno who Best Newcomer Actor for her role in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, a Bull Mastiff took Best Cameo for his part in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and the Na’vi, the computer generated horses (although real horses were used as models) featured in Avatar, won for Best Alien Animals.
As the title of this posting indicates, March is National Adopt-A-Guinea Pig month. And I’m not kidding. I looked on about 20 different websites, and all of them confirmed that March is in fact National Adopt-A-Guinea Pig month. And I have to admit that when I sat down to write this blog posting, I was pretty skeptical. I know that thousands of cats, dogs, and even rabbits end up in shelters every month, but guinea pigs? Well, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times, there are a vast number of guinea pigs out there all looking for loving homes. These rescued animals come from a variety of places. Some come from larger shelters, others have been found abandoned in back yards or pulled from garbage cans where they were dumped.
On some days, the smaller shelters that specialize in small animals can have up to 100 furry creatures that need a place to live. Many of these small shelters rely on foster homes to help take care of these animals before they are adopted. If you would like to foster a guinea pig, you can easily find rescue organizations by going to the internet and typing “guinea pig rescue” into your search engine. And over the course of this month, I’ll be providing various tips, tricks, and stories about taking care of these cute and lovable animals.
On most days, the piers at San Francisco’s Pier 39 are crowded with sea lions and tourists who come to watch these endangered animals (although their population has increased from its lowest point in the 1960s, these animals are still susceptible to a variety of diseases; they are also illegally hunted or become entangled and trapped by floating debris) . Last November however, Pier 39 was crowded with tourists, but no sea lions.
Based on the fact that high numbers of sea lions started showing up off the coast of Oregon, not long after the sea lions disappeared from California, it seems reasonable to assume that they migrated north, probably following a food source. Recently, these intelligent and playful creatures have begun returning to the floats at Pier 39.
