Would you like be a Secret Santa for animals?
All posts by Dr. Marty Becker
Can we find a loving home for a cat whose human died?
It’s every pet owner’s worst nightmare: Something happens to you, and your pet is left homeless and alone.
One of my team members was recently at the Embrace Pet Insurance offices in the Cleveland, Ohio, area, and she met Nama, a dear 7-year-old cat whose human died. Fortunately she was taken in by Berea Animal Rescue Friends, and even more fortunately, she became the first Embrace office foster pet!
She’s now staying busy and happy during the work week, and going home to live the good life with different Embracers on the weekends. But we can do better than that for Nama in her golden years, don’t you think?
If you or someone you know might want to meet her and you’re not too far from Cleveland, you can contact Pat Brinks at arfcats@gmail.com or 440.223.1275.
It’s Adopt a Senior Pet Month right now – and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than help this sweet lady find a home! Thank you for your help!
When animal lovers should celebrate, not educate
Sometimes, animal lovers really should let an opportunity to educate others about responsible pet relationships pass by.
Let me tell you why I say this.
If I post a story about a lost cat who is reunited with his family, most of my readers will rejoice, but some will use it as an opportunity to post a mini-lecture about not letting cats outside.
If a dog is injured and saved by a Good Samaritan, again, most of my followers will applaud the rescue, but a few will rant about how the “irresponsible owner” could have avoided the pet getting injured in the first place.
Inspiring story of a shelter that went the extra mile for a pet? Mostly praise, with a dash of condemnation for other, less enlightened shelters.
Moving account of a police officer who rescued a stranded pet from a hazardous roadway? Cue the outrage over police killings of dogs.
Yes, there are irresponsible pet owners, bad shelters, and law enforcement officers who harm animals. But do you ever stop to wonder if souring a sweet moment with those realities does anything to change that?
I believe in positive reinforcement. That’s why I single out individuals and organizations for their heroism, compassion, bravery, and kindness. I want them to feel honored for their acts on behalf of animals, because I believe that will both encourage them to keep doing it, and encourage others to do the same.
I realize there are times when we need to point out cruelty and injustice, as I am doing in supporting the American Humane Association in its fight to ban gas chambers in animal shelters. But when you react to a positive story with negativity, it probably won’t make the irresponsible responsible or the cruel kind.
It will just make animal lovers look like we are never satisfied.
So the next time you read a story about a person or group that did something great for animals, let the praise stand on its own. Try to feel the joy just long enough to let the rest of the people reading it feel it, too.
Thank you, my friends!
Are fitness trackers for the dogs?
Fitness trackers are all the rage for humans right now, and anything that gets us up and moving is a good thing. But how useful are they for our dogs — who could also benefit from more exercise?
My Pet Connection co-writer, Kim Campbell Thornton, did some research:
The benefit for pets — primarily dogs — is the ability to monitor how active they are every day. A lot of us probably think our dogs spend time running around in the yard chasing squirrels while we’re gone, but that’s not necessarily the case. Those of us who work at home know that our dogs tend to snooze the day away, getting up only when we go to the kitchen or call them to go out for a walk. Putting an activity tracker on your pet can be a wake-up call, alerting you that perhaps he’s not quite as active as you imagined.
While the monitors are good at detecting movement, they can’t always differentiate between types of movement. For instance, a dog who sniffs the ground vigorously while lying down moves his head enough to register activity on the tracker, but that doesn’t qualify as exercise. And a dog who scratches all day will rack up minutes of activity, but that’s also not true exercise.
Some measurements may not be as accurate for some movements, says internal medicine specialist Bess J. Pierce, director of the Center for Animal-Human Relationships at Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in Blacksburg, Virginia.
“For example, in one study, there was no significant difference between trackers in all test dogs for trotting and walking, but the measurements became more variable when dogs were trotting up and down stairs.”
An activity tracker can’t assess overall fitness, but it can be useful for determining how many minutes per day your pet is active and the distance he logs, whether he’s running around in the yard, walking with you on leash or hiking off leash with the opportunity to run back and forth. Most trackers allow you to monitor activity trends over time and keep logs or diaries of downloaded data. An app can allow you to compare his activity level to other dogs of a similar age, breed or size.
Read more, including about Ebola and pets, in this week’s Pet Connection!
Three dogs are alive today because of you
Three dogs played on the grass today. They went for a walk, took treats from a volunteer’s fingers, and had a nap. But those things very nearly didn’t happen, because all three dogs were scheduled to be killed on Nov. 1.
Fortunately, that didn’t happen, because of the power of each and every one of you who read about Davinci, Stella, and Hunter on my Facebook page and shared their story far and wide — 7,141 times, in fact.
So far that a shelter called Sweetpea Friends of Rutland Animals in Massachusetts saw it, and said they’d step up and take them!
Now I’d like to ask you to show your gratitude for their generosity by donating to Sweetpea Rescue. I’m pretty sure if we all dig deep, we can raise thousands of dollars for them to help them save even more pets facing that darkest day!
Please go to the donation page on their website, right here: http://www.sweetpeafora.org/donate.html
You can also mail a check payable to Sweetpea FOR Animals to:
Sweetpea Animal Shelter & Kennels
1090 Pleasant Street (Route 122)
Paxton, MA 01612
Give what you can, and whether you can or not, please ask your friends, family members, and co-workers to give. Imagine the joy in the animals’ eyes this holiday season when they are marched out to meet their new adoptive family at last! You can make that happen!
Thank you and God bless you, Sweetpea, and thank every one of you who fought to save Davinci, Stella, and Hunter!