Ensure Your Pet Always Has a Way Home.

Homeless and lost pets fill our animal shelters to capacity.  True, some animals are "dumped" there, but the majority of them have been picked up roaming the streets unescorted.

Satchmo, bless his soul, was the epitome of the escape artist.  He could get through spaces much too small for him and be gone in a flash!  Once out and about, he was only caught when he wanted to be caught.  My biggest concern as I chased after him was "when will he finally get tired and want to come home?"  but my next thought was always, "what if he gets hit by a car?" because he knew nothing about traffic and streets.

There are many ways a responsible pet owner can make sure that their pet is returned to them if lost.

First, start out simply click here to get your pet an engraved tag stating the animal's name and having your last name and telephone number on one side.  Make sure to attach this to the animals collar or harness.

Secondly, click here to get your animal microchipped.  However, a caveat.  If you don't keep the information current, this is a worthless piece of junk inside of your pet.  Most microchips can be reconfigured to input new information if you move, but you must notify the company to get the information changed.

Another way to keep your pet safe is to use a GPS collar to track your dog.  These products have become more and more affordable as GPS gains in popularity.  With this system in place, you simply notify the company and they will notify you of your dogs location.

There is also the option of joining an online pet finding company where you can register and pay, then if your pet is lost, the company will call all shelters, put up flyers, send out email alerts to your area, call all of your neighbors to alert them of the lost pet.  This type of service is excellent and has a really good track record of finding lost pets.

With all the options available, there really is not a good excuse for your pet to be one of the lost and scared animals sitting in our over-crowded shelters, is there?

Related articles

• Pet owners encouraged to microchip family pets (money.marksandspencer.com)
• Safeguarding your pet with microchipping technology (savingsroundup.com)
• Dogs and microchips - the best way to keep your pooch safe (thenewssource.co.uk)
• Find your lost pet with GPS-powered Tagg The Pet Tracker (digitaltrends.com)
• Unprecedented Collaboration Helps Lost Pets Reunite with Owners (prweb.com)
• Well Blog: For Lost Pets, Tags Are Critical (well.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Where can you find a dog at (wiki.answers.com)
• Qualcomm Shows Public Face With Pet-tracking Service (pcworld.com)
• Getting Your Dog a Microchip, a Necessity For the Domestic Canine (lifewitharie.wordpress.com)
• Is Your Pet Connected? PetBam Unites Pets and Animals and Those Who Love Them (prweb.com)

ASPCA Provides Critical Water Rescue for Pets Stranded by Irene

Image via Wikipedia Let's all remember the animals that are affected by hurricanes.  Remember the dogs from Katrina?  Now we have the dogs from Irene.  Please help your local ASPCA, or donate to rescue organizations that are trying to help these animals. 

This article is from the ASPCA Blog and you need to see that there is a need here.

__________________________________________________________________________________

September 1, 2011





After a state of emergency was declared in the area, the ASPCA deployed to Schoharie County, New York, to assist with the emergency rescue and sheltering of animals stranded by severe flooding. Small towns are engulfed by water, and roads and bridges have been closed across the county.
“We’re providing emergency water rescues for pets trapped inside flooded homes,” says Tim Rickey, ASPCA Senior Director of Field Investigations and Response. “People can’t get home; the damage caused by Tropical Storm Irene is just devastating.”
Rescued animals will be taken to the Animal Shelter of Schoharie Valley where they will be triaged and housed until they can be reunited with their families. PetSmart Charities has supplied much-needed provisions such as crates, blankets and bowls.
“We’re committed to helping families and pets impacted by Tropical Storm Irene,” says Rickey. “We’ll be here for as long as they need us.”
Schoharie County residents looking to rescue or shelter their pets or wishing to report lost pets should contact Animal Services at the Schoharie County Emergency Operations Center at (518) 231-2718.
Stay tuned to ASPCA.org for more on this breaking story.

Related articles

• ASPCA Urges Pet Owners to Plan Ahead for Disasters (prweb.com)
• Pets Welcome At City Shelters During Hurricane Irene (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• Hurricane Irene Pet Emergency Plan (huffingtonpost.com)
• A Message For Pet Owners In The Path Of Hurricane Irene (lukewilliamss.wordpress.com)
• ASPCA, Best Friends Animal Society Rescue More Than 120 Dogs from Overwhelmed Animal Facility in Arkansas (prweb.com)
• Hundreds of Cats at Pennsylvania Animal Sanctuary Rescued by ASPCA With Assistance from American Humane Association & PetSmart Charities (prweb.com)

Love conquers all

Here is an article that touches my heart.  Please read this and the others you will find at Best Friends News.
Saving a dog, no matter the health or age is always an act of love.  This couple personifies that act.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

August 8, 2011 : 3:37 PM ET

By David Dickson
Falling in love with an animal is easy, and often entirely unexpected. You walk into a room, stare into a pair of big brown eyes, and that’s all there is to it: a sudden and powerful love that lasts a lifetime. That very thing happened to Bruce and Nancy Palmer when they met Maddy, a former puppy mill dog who came to Best Friends recently through the Pup My Ride program. “I was pretty much smitten from the first time I saw her,” says Bruce.

Maddy

They were certainly interested in adopting. When they learned Maddy had a history of cancer, however, Bruce explains that he and Nancy experienced at least a moment’s hesitation. Already 9 years old, Maddy (formerly Teva) had a cancerous lump that vets removed at the Sanctuary. The medical team at Best Friends explained that Maddy could have four months or several years left. It was impossible to know. In the end, Maddy’s health history didn’t sway Bruce and Nancy for long. They decided to adopt.

“If she’s going to have four months, she’s going to have a good four months with us,” says Bruce. “She’s going to have the best life she can have with us.” Besides, Bruce and Nancy remain optimistic she’ll be with them a lot longer than four months. As it turns out, Nancy and Bruce have gone through this before with another Best Friends animal.

Niles

In June of 2009, they adopted Niles the cat from Best Friends. They’d met and fallen in love with him while volunteering at the Sanctuary. Bruce and Nancy volunteer several times each year. When they adopted him, Niles had a clean bill of health. Nearly a year later, though, he developed lymphoma in the stomach and required surgery.

Bruce and Nancy never hesitate to do anything they can for their animals. With Niles, they consulted with a specialty vet in Phoenix, who put Niles on a course of treatment that included surgery and radiation. For quite a while, Niles’ health was Nancy and Bruce’s top priority. All the TLC paid off. Niles is now cancer-free and doing great. “Niles is just Mister Personality,” says Bruce. “Nothing seems to phase him.”

In fact, Niles got to feeling so much better that Bruce and Nancy felt they had room for another animal in the family. As it turns out, this was Maddy’s lucky day.

Bruce and Nancy brought their dog Kody, a 9-year-old they’d adopted from a golden retriever rescue, to meet any possible new pals at Best Friends. Maddy got along perfectly with Kody. Nancy and Bruce knew in their hearts that they wanted to adopt this gentle spirit, no matter her health history. They haven’t looked back since.

Maddy snoozes with her best friends.

“With Maddy, the day she got to our house it was like she’d been there forever,” says Bruce. That included making fast friends with the two cats in the house, Niles and Lucy. Kody prefers to ignore the cats, but with Maddy, that just won’t fly. She loves the cats! Sometimes she even startles them accidentally when they’re snoozing on the bed and she leaps up for an impromptu snuggle session. They’re not used to having a dog around who wants to hang out so often.

Maddy loves exploring every inch of her new 5-acre yard, yet even then she prefers doing so right next to Bruce as they walk together. She adores playing fetch and would probably chase tennis balls for hours at a stretch if given the chance. In other words, this former puppy mill dog is having the time of her life in the home she’s always deserved.

“None of us know how much time we have,” points out Bruce. “Every day is this incredible gift.”

Donate!
By giving to Best Friends, you are helping to save a life! All the animals at the Sanctuary receive all the TLC they need to be the best companion animals ever!

Adopt!
We have pets of every breed, temperament and size looking for their perfect forever homes! Check out our Adorable Adoptables.

Become a Champion!
Help a homeless pet today! By becoming a Champion of Love, you can help save lives in your free time!

Related articles

• Adopt Don't Shop! (tailsfromthefur.wordpress.com)
• Find a Feline Friend, It's Adopt a Shelter Cat Month (offtheleashsd.wordpress.com)

How can anyone be so cruel--The story of Jack, the Heeler mix

Dispatch from the Espanola Valley Humane Society, March 25, 2011

On Thursday, a local police officer brought a Heeler mix he called Jack into the Espanola Valley Humane Society. The sight horrified those present, and the stench permeated the entire shelter grounds. Jack’s right front leg had been mutilated, and the injury was clearly not new. According to the officer, the dog had been hit by a car about six weeks ago, and he was now worried maggots would begin eating away at the infected limb.

I met Jack yesterday (Friday), after he’d already undergone the amputation surgery. He lifted his head just a tad to sniff my fingers before resting it again on the blankets, still groggy from the sedation. The shelter behaviorist and I sat with him a few minutes, trying to be of some comfort, but knowing the only real relief would come with time — and the strongest legal painkillers.

The photos taken of Jack at his arrival will likely be used as evidence in the court case against his owners. (The images are difficult to look at, but one is available here— view at your discretion.) From the socket hangs what looks like a partially-eaten chicken drumstick. In places, no skin, no cartilage, no tendons. Just completely exposed bone with a knob at the bottom where his paw turns under and a round, deadened area at the top connecting the leg to what was left of his shoulder.

In New Mexico, animal neglect is a misdemeanor. Outright animal cruelty is considered a felony, but like in many states, rarely prosecuted. No question this dog endured extreme neglect, but he was also a victim of outright cruelty. How does a person live day in and day out, for six weeks, with an animal in obvious excruciating pain? I’m not being flippant when I say that ignoring the sight and stench would have had to have taken more effort than simply asking for help.

So far, the Espanola sheriff’s office sees it that way too. A case is being made to prosecute Jack’s owner (if and when they can establish that the man who surrendered him was indeed his owner – the officer has since changed his story) on felony charges. A clip from the local news is avaliable here.

Espanola is not a wealthy community, and the actual shelter building reflects the area’s depressed economic conditions: cement floor, blocky brick walls, makeshift signs, and ramshackle shelving. What it lacks in beauty and warmth is made up for by an utterly devoted staff. When Jack arrived, there was no question they’d do everything they could for him, despite knowing his medical care would cost thousands of dollars. This dog would not be failed by humans again.

As I write this story on Saturday morning, the official update from the shelter reads: “Jack is awake today but having a hard time. We are working on getting him through this rough spot.”

Please consider helping. Donations can be made online at www.evalleyshelter.org/donate (in honor of Jack), over the phone at (505) 753-8662 or mailed to Espanola Valley Humane Society, 108 Hamm Parkway, Espanola NM 87532 (just put "Jack" in the check memo).

Read previous Shelter Dispatch
Read all Shelter Dispatches

Jack, recovering Saturday morning

Topics Dog Rescue And Animal Rescue Stories, News

Related articles

• 76 dead dogs found at Lower Valley Pike shelter (daytondailynews.com)
• Hoosick man arrested again on animal cruelty charges (troyrecord.com)
• Nevada Bill Seeks to Upgrade Animal Cruelty to a Felony Offense (news.change.org)
• 100 dogs remain at fairgrounds (dispatch.com)

Puppy Love

Here's a cute little article about ratties and children at a Mother's Day Out.  I thought I'd add it because I chuckled when I looked at the photo.  I hope this brings a smile to your face also.


I am thankful for the love and devotion I get from my little man, Satchmo.  I hope to enjoy his company for many more years.  Won't you take a moment and be thankful for the animals in your life, too?


__________________________________________________________________________________

Daily News Photo,
11-25-2009

First Baptist School’s “Mothers Day Out” class invited two special guests to campus Thursday. Rat terriers Alice and Rudy shared kisses in exchange for doggie treats, which the class donated to Animal Relief Foundation’s no-kill animal shelter. The class, instructed by Dale Robertson-Agosto, spent the entire day learning about animal friends. Participating students included Reese Monvoision, Avi Coleman, John Mason Futch, Kameron Kratzer, Jamell Davis, Jack Guidry, Olivia Benoit, Hudson Carter, Rossi Armstrong, Ian Albro, Waylon Wild, Abby Ortego, Ahnnie Albro and Mason Futch. (At left) Olivia Benoit makes a face after receiving a kiss from Alice.

For more local news, please subscribe to Jennings Daily News by clicking the “SUBSCRIBE” link at left or by calling 337-824-3011.

This article is from The Jennings Daily News online

Related articles by Zemanta

• Meet Oreo! (magnoliavoice.com)
• Imagining puppies (timesunion.com)