Saturday, April 24, 2010

“Pestered by pets - The Spokesman-Review” plus 3 more

“Pestered by pets - The Spokesman-Review” plus 3 more

Pestered by pets - The Spokesman-Review

Posted: 24 Apr 2010 12:01 AM PDT

April 24, 2010 in Features
People with problem pets must make their own peace
'); $("#content-tool-box-"+tool_name).jqm({trigger:this,overlay:20}); } }); });

Angie Best-Boss has tried changing litter boxes, types of litter, brands of litter.

But something has gone terribly wrong with Tiger.

"I loathe my cat," says the New Palestine, Ind., freelance writer. "Actually, loathe might be too weak of a word. I hate it.

"The stupid, stupid cat pees. On clothes. Only on clean clothes. And beds.

"Regardless of what spray I buy, what medicine she takes, she just really, really likes to pee."

Dogs chewing through table legs. Cats diving for the family dinner. Biting cockatiels.

At a time when many people are scrimping on themselves to indulge their animals, the love is lost for owners of infuriating pets.

Still, many can't bring themselves to dump their wayward animals in shelters.

Instead, they pay sky-high vet bills for interventions that don't work. They endure in-your-face barking rants in the middle of the night or are startled awake by the routine hacking of hairballs.

Some wish out loud their pets would just run away.

When Cherie Miller's 16-year-old cat, Kitty, goes out, he wants in. When he's in, he wants out.

He whines relentlessly and refuses to eat unless a human stirs the kibble around in his self-feeder. The family calls it "whooshing."

"When it scratches on the bedroom door at 3:21 a.m. to have its food whooshed, it's enticing to imagine creative ways to ditch this cat. I'm a pet lover, but come on," says Miller, who lives in suburban Atlanta and was inspired to start a blog about pesky pets called pet-peeves.org.

So how does a human make peace with a problem pet? Venting helps, says an expert, though the griping may be more emotionally complicated for the humans involved.

"We all know couples who look like they like to fight. They let fights happen because, it seems, they're getting something out of it. Some people have that relationship with their pets," says psychologist Stephanie LaFarge, who specializes in the human-animal bond as senior director of counseling services at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"Some people like to think they love their animals so much they're willing to be victimized by them," she says. "It's proof of how much they love that animal and proof of what a good animal person they are and what a good person they are. It's part of their identity."

There's no national clearinghouse for where and how people acquire their pets, but about 63 percent of all U.S. households have at least one, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Ten to 20 percent of cats and dogs come from shelters and rescue organizations, sometimes arriving in well-meaning homes with heavy emotional baggage.

Others, like Jellybean, just drop into the lives of their humans and stay a good long while.

Jellybean is the nippy childhood bird of Jennifer Guild, who lives in Richmond, Va. The bird materialized one day, and Guild's parents took her in.

After she and her siblings moved away, Guild took on Jellybean, despite a bird allergy.

"Jellybean has always been pretty mean. When you try to take her out of her cage, she tries to bite you," Guild says. "My husband has always hated her."

She tried her local SPCA with no luck, so Jellybean is confined to a back bedroom in virtual exclusion, at maximum volume.

"Try sleeping in on a Saturday morning with a bird screeching in the next room," says Guild.

About 5 percent of the dogs and cats placed in homes by the ASPCA's adoption center in New York City last year were returned, says its senior vice president, Gail Buchwald.

Allergies and housing problems are common reasons, but many people don't relinquish pets out of shame or fear of being judged.

"You can never predict an animal's behavior in a home 100 percent," Buchwald says. "To some extent, every adopter is expected to roll with the punches a little bit, to know that animals, like children, come with their personae and sometimes come with the sniffles and sometimes they might develop personality traits that we wouldn't have put on top of our list."

Elizabeth Castro, who lives outside Chicago, finds her life with her cat Phil one huge compromise.

He regularly urps between her sheets. She tried to foist him off on her in-laws, only to have him returned.

"I decided to pretend he was a different cat named Morty, the smarter twin brother who doesn't have a hairball problem," she says.

"My 3-year-old daughter wants to play with him so bad, and he just hates her – runs away and hisses."

Taking a deep breath is a good place to start when other strategies fail, LaFarge says.

"It's very hard, when the animal does something we don't like, to say why is he doing this to me, when in fact that animal may be just being an animal and fulfilling his own needs," she says.

Joseph Lilly of Las Vegas knows exactly what LaFarge is talking about. He and his wife have made a mission of taking in rescue dogs considered "unrescuable."

They have four, including Bennie the border collie mix. He was found in a street nearly dead after he was hit by a car.

"The day of the rescue, he clawed me so badly that I had a scar for a year," Lilly says. "He became violently aggressive in the car.

"He would let us pet him and then suddenly turn on us. I wanted to throw him off a bridge for nearly a year."

Now, through training, reinforcement and discipline, Bennie is "neurotic but a big love bug."

"He's still very hyperactive," Lilly says. "I still run him and train him regularly but he's just, well, he's just a border collie."

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Lend A Paw with Walmart and Help Improve Pets' Lives - FOX News

Posted: 14 Apr 2010 04:55 PM PDT

BENTONVILLE, Ark., Apr 15, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----Walmart and its top pet suppliers are asking Americans to join them in their support for the ASPCA(R) (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and its Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month.

Animal lovers everywhere are encouraged to visit www.facebook.com/lendapaw and help "Lend A Paw" to support the ASPCA's mission to save and improve the lives of millions of animals nationwide. By clicking on the "Create a 'Lend A Paw' Post" button, Walmart, through the generous contribution of key pet suppliers, will donate $1 for each post (for a total donation of up to $100,000). All funds raised go to support the ASPCA, the first organization in the Western Hemisphere dedicated to the humane treatment of animals.

"Pet overpopulation, caused by far too many pets not being spayed or neutered -- even by otherwise responsible pet parents -- is a leading cause of unnecessary euthanasia," said Elysia Howard, Vice President of Marketing & Licensing for the ASPCA. "In fact, half of all puppies and three-quarters of all kittens born are from unintended litters. Every dollar raised up to $100,000 through the 'Lend A Paw' campaign will help us get one step closer to our goal of helping pets in need. For example, $100,000 would help spay or neuter 1,000 animals."

"Walmart offers everything pet owners need to care for dogs, cats and other pets," says John Kunkel, Senior Pet Buyer, Walmart. "We are ecstatic about partnering with the ASPCA to help promote the importance of pet adoption and responsible pet ownership, and actively engage the American public to take part in such an important cause."

Enhancing Pets' Lifestyles

Walmart.com makes shopping for pets enjoyable and convenient through the Walmart Pet department webpage (www.walmart.com/pets). Shoppers can find everything from outdoor kennels, self-cleaning litter boxes and safety gates to flea and tick treatments, fashionable collars, interactive toys and more.

Shoppers will find information from behavior and training to pet care nutrition for all animals, in addition to featured articles and videos on everything from potty training to traveling with and socializing pets. At great prices, Walmart.com carries a broad assortment of pet care products for dogs, cats, fish and small animals -- all at Every Day Low Prices customers trust and expect from Walmart.

Importance of Responsible Pet Ownership

According to the ASPCA(R), approximately five to seven million adoptable dogs and cats enter animal shelters nationwide each year. Of those, approximately 3-4 million are needlessly euthanized simply due to a lack of space or resources to adequately care for them.

After visitors click to donate, they can learn more about pet adoption and the benefits of spaying and neutering at www.aspca.org, including:

-- Helping pets live happier, healthier, longer lives by reducing uterine infections and cancer, and encouraging positive pet behavior.

-- Helping pet parents reduce expenditures when having and caring for a new litter of puppies or kittens.

-- Helping communities by reducing strays and aiding community shelters in promoting responsible pet care, adoption and wellness.

About ASPCA

Founded in 1866, the ASPCA(R) (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals(R)) is the first humane organization established in the Americas and serves as the nation's leading voice for animal welfare. One million supporters strong, the ASPCA's mission is to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States. As a 501 [c] [3] not-for-profit corporation, the ASPCA is a national leader in the areas of anti-cruelty, community outreach and animal health services. The ASPCA, which is headquartered in New York City, offers a wide range of programs, including a mobile clinic outreach initiative, its own humane law enforcement team, and a groundbreaking veterinary forensics team and mobile animal CSI unit. For more information, please visit www.aspca.org.

About Suppliers

Walmart is a leading retail destination for quality pet care products at great prices. Thanks to the support of generous pet suppliers including the makers of Fresh Step(R) litter, Petmate(R), Iams(R), Pedigree(R), Evenflo(R), Smarty Cat(R) , Waggin' Train(R), Oster(R), SimplyDog(R) and Dyson(R), Walmart offers everything pet owners need to care for dogs, cats and other pets.

SOURCE: Walmart 

    Purple Door Communications     Sam Curley, (415) 505-9064     sam_curley@yahoo.com    
Copyright Business Wire 2010        **********************************************************************        As of Sunday, 04-11-2010 23:59, the latest Comtex SmarTrend� Alert,     an automated pattern recognition system, indicated an UPTREND on     02-01-2010 for TO @ $2.90.        For more information on SmarTrend, contact your market data    provider or go to www.mysmartrend.com        SmarTrend is a registered trademark of Comtex News Network, Inc.    Copyright � 2004-2010 Comtex News Network, Inc. All rights reserved.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Pets in peril: Feds threaten to evict Galveston Island ... - KHOU

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 08:33 AM PDT

GALVESTON, Texas — More than 75 dogs and cats might get tossed out of the island's only animal shelter in two weeks if the federal government follows through with a threat to evict the Galveston Island Humane Society from a building at 53rd Street and Avenue S that once was a National Guard armory.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages a lease with the city on the building long used as a police substation, has demanded it be vacated by May 1, Assistant City Manager Lloyd Rinderer said.

The humane society, which cares for abandoned animals and those picked up by the city, has been using the 53rd Street building since Hurricane Ike flooded its shelter on 76th Street and Interstate 45 more than 18 months ago.

If the corps forces the city to vacate the building, the humane society will be forced to ship animals to another humane society, and Galveston will no longer be able to collect abandoned or stray animals, humane society Director Caroline Dorsett said.

The humane society's new building is under construction but won't be finished for nine months to a year.

"We're in quandary," Rinderer said.

Corps officials knowledgeable of the situation could not be reached for comment Tuesday, Ed Rivera, corps public affairs specialist, said.

The corps surveyed the building without informing the city and claims the city had not complied with the lease agreement, Rinderer said.

The corps objected to the city using the building as an animal shelter instead of as a police substation as specified in the lease from June 1995, Rinderer said.

The city stopped using the building as a police substation when all its officers moved into the Joe Max Taylor Law Enforcement Center, 601 54th St.

The 53rd Street building sat vacant for years, used only as storage for some police records, until the city in August 2008 agreed to let the Humane Society use it as a temporary shelter while a new shelter was being built.

Within a month of that agreement, Hurricane Ike struck, flooding and ripping the roof off the animal shelter.

As humane society employees and volunteers rescued thousands of dogs and cats left behind in hurricane-damaged houses, the city opened the 53rd Street building to house pets until their owners could come back to the island or until the humane society could find them new homes.

The hurricane-damaged shelter was demolished, and the humane society broke ground on a new one at the same site in October.

Rinderer said the corps also contends the city violated its lease by failing to make repairs it promised to the building when it signed the 20-year lease in 1995.

The city never repaired the building, which Rinderer estimates to be more than 50 years old, because it lacked the money to do so, he said.

The humane society has spruced up the place since it moved in, however, including laying new tile, painting the walls and installing new appliances, such as sinks, washers and dryers, Dorsett said.

The humane society is using every inch of space in the building, Dorsett said. Volunteers transformed a shower into a laundry room and a garage into a kennel for large dogs. When the rooms get too crowded, as they often do, dogs in cages spill out into the hallways, Dorsett said.

"We're making the best of a bad situation," she said.

The city has been asking the corps to reconsider the eviction since late February, but so far, the corps has been unwilling to relent, Rinderer said.

The city has asked state Rep. Craig Eiland, D-Galveston, and U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, to intervene and stop the corps from evicting the humane society.

The organization cannot obtain another facility that is both financially feasible and operationally suitable for the needs of an animal shelter, Rinderer said.

Dorsett said the members of the humane society board have been unable to find an affordable building zoned to allow an animal shelter.

It would strain the society's finances to move a shelter into a new facility, which would have to be redesigned for animals and retrofitted with the shelter's phone and data lines, only for a few months until the new shelter is finished.

"If only they'd let us stay just for another six months," she said.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

N.M.: Plague found in pets - Durango Herald

Posted: 18 Apr 2010 10:56 PM PDT

by The Associated Press
SANTA FE - Several cases of plague among dogs and cats around New Mexico have public-health officials urging people to be wary of a possible spread to humans.

New Mexico hasn't had any human cases of plague or hantavirus so far this year, but plague cases in pets can serve as a warning that human cases might follow, public-health veterinarian Dr. Paul Ettestad said.

The wet winter and spring can mean growing rodent populations, increasing people's risk of becoming ill from the diseases rodents carry, Ettestad said.

Plague is a bacterial disease of rodents generally transmitted to humans through the bites of infected fleas. It also can be transmitted by direct contact with infected animals, including pets.

Symptoms in humans include sudden onset of fever, chills, headache and weakness. In most cases, there also is a painful swelling of the lymph node in the groin, armpit or neck areas. Prompt diagnosis and antibiotics can greatly reduce the fatality rate.

The Health Department recommends seeing a doctor about any unexplained illness involving a sudden and severe fever. The agency recommends avoiding sick or dead rodents and rabbits and their nests and burrows; cleaning up areas near homes where rodents could live; and cleaning up nests and droppings with disinfectant. People also should air out shuttered buildings before entering.

The New Mexico Department of Health's Scientific Laboratory has confirmed plague in a dog near San Jon in Quay County.

Other confirmed cases for 2010 include a dog and cat in the city of Santa Fe and the rural Santa Fe County subdivision of Eldorado and a dog and cat from the Alcalde and Abiquiu areas in Rio Arriba County.

New Mexico had six human plague cases last year, including one in which an 8-year-old Santa Fe County boy died.

Hantavirus also is transmitted by rodents - especially the deer mouse - through their urine, droppings or saliva. People can contract the disease by breathing in the aerosolized virus.

Early symptoms are fever and muscle aches, possibly with chills, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and cough.

The state had four hantavirus cases in 2009, none of them fatal. It had two cases in 2008, both fatal.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
Posted by at

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)