Weighing and Measuring

I love to bake - for me there is no downside ( except on my backside : ) to baking. It makes the whole house smell great and I can't imagine domestic bliss without home baked things for both the furkids and myself.
Baking is a pretty precise art - and the best results are achieved by careful measuring and close attention to timing.
That type of precision can't be applied to defining responsible pet ownership. If you put a dozen animal lovers around the table, there would be a dozen different definitions.
No matter what the specifics most will agree on these three things, that responsible pet owners try to provide:

• the commitment for life,
• the comfort and security of consistent routines and boundaries, and
• the compassion and understanding that a pet is a living breathing sentient being not a thing or a possession

Those who have the commitment will always do their darnedst to work with the curve balls that life offers - moving, new partners, new babies and allergies. Those who understand the need for a steady routine are well down the training road, even if they let their pet sleep on their bed, walk in front of them or eat off their plate. Kind, compassionate people understand that pets are companions who need to spend time with and be close to their people, not to be shut away all alone.There is no denying that there are some pet owners out there who do give up too easily. There are others who seem to be caught on a treadmill where they keep giving up one pet for another that they think will be more suitable. Those, I think, will continue that way as long as they can cling to the anonymity of a free online ad site.

There are rescues and shelters out there that will occasionally take owner surrenders, but there is usually a waiting list for that. Metro has inherited a policy not to accept owner surrenders - it will be interesting to see if that changes as the petfinder policy and hours have.

Its a real crapshoot to be a pet. The really lucky ones wind up in good homes with committed and kind pet owners for life. Should a pet be penalized for having the bad luck to have an inexperienced or an uncommitted pet owner? Not accepting owner surrenders seldom punishes the pet owner - they just dump them someplace and tell themselves they had no other choice.

What if there were some conditions to owner surrenders? If the person couldn't afford a surrender fee, why not negotiate some volunteer time at the shelter. Seeing what its like for homeless animals might put a different spin on pet ownership. It goes without saying that a quiet list could be maintained to help avoid repeated surrenders.

In the course of my work with the homeless pages, I have seen some real steps forward with Metro. They are discovering that listing their pets with petfinder does boost adoptions. Its easy to see how well things like their Adopt a Senior pet month is working when I do site updates for the homeless pet project. If I'm not mistaken, they have changed to more user friendly shelter hours too. Who knows what other new and cool things will be coming?

With this kind of progress, wouldn't it be wonderful if the old inherited policy could be revisited?

The Dogs of War

None of the seven layabouts sprawled in front of the fire tonight have a job to do. That's as it should be, they are my friends and companions, not my servants. Not that there aren't still pets out there with jobs. They hunt and they herd - they retrieve and they rescue.... not to mention the vermin they keep under control. They guide the blind and ferret out drugs and explosives. And they go to war.
Go to war? As long as animals have been (often foolishly) placing their trust in mankind, mankind has brought them into battle. Records dating back over two millennium have mentioned the often active role that was played by animals on the field.
In the last century, animals of all types played important roles in every active engagement. Dogs have run messages and hunted for wounded. The first therapy dog, Smokey, the "Yorkie Doodle Dandy", only weighed four pounds and his monument in Cleveland Ohio portrays him sitting in a combat helmet.
Here in Canada, there is a carved plaque just outside the Memorial Room in the Peace Tower to commemorate all the animals who have served. Visitors to the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa can learn about Simone the cat, Gandy the Newfoundland dog, Squeeker the carrier pigeon, Bonfire Jr the horse, Winnie the Bear and even Elie the Elephant.
There are hundreds and hundreds of unsung heroes. In WWI, dogs travelled with stretcher bearers and medics to scout the battlefields for wounded and missing soldiers. It is estimated that at the very least they saved many thousands of lives. During the Second World War, all the major powers used dogs on the battlefront. Once again they found the wounded and missing, but they were also messengers and scouted out machine gun nests. Smokey, the little Yorkie, became a hero when he saved the day by running a communications wire though a seventy foot culvert too small for anyone but a 4 lb Yorkie.
During the Vietnam War, it was actually hard for police forces south of the border to get police dogs because so many of the suitable dogs had already been recruited for sentry and guard duty with the US Military.
Anyone who claims that animals have no soul should go back to their history books. Over the centuries, animals have been loyal and steadfast in their duties. Tomorrow, when you honor the fallen and remember their courage, don't forget to include the unsung heroes - all the animals of war.

Turning off the tap

On any given day there are at least three hundred cats and kittens listed on rescue and society websites and petfinder pages. Sadly that is only the tip of the iceberg. Hundreds more are listed on bulletin boards and free online ad sites. Still more kitties are struggling to survive after being dumped in a remote enough spot for the culprit to make a clean getaway.
There's been a lot of debate lately about whether rescues and the society should be accepting owner surrenders. Yet would that solve the problem? Not even close.
Simply accepting owner surrenders is a bit like mopping the water off the floor when the bathtub flows over. Cleaning up the water isn't going to do any good until someone turns the tap off.
If accepting owner surrenders isn't going to work, and not accepting them clearly isn't working .... well then perhaps its time to try some new tricks with the old:

• how about groups and the society providing a 'stay at home' petfinder listing service for all pet owners who agree to participate in a low cost spay neuter program.
• provide no questions asked early age spay/neuter clinics for kittens.
• offer munical microchip clinics for cats - its not safe to have a collar and a tag on cats and a municipal listing of kitty microchip numbers could allow AC to give the kitties a 'free ride home' too ( see note below)
• providing low cost temporary boarding/foster for pets whose people are going through times of crisis
• offering an information program for landlords and tenants about renting options for people with pets
• providing low cost spay neuter/vaccines/testing for people who find strays as well as guidance on introducing new pets to the existing ones
• And yes... it goes without saying that strong support for any TNR activity, whether engaged in by groups or individuals, will be a critical cornerstone.

Somewhere along the line too, while we are teaching young girls about strength and confidence in themselves, we should be teaching them that it is never a healthy thing when a new partner will insist on them giving up their dearly beloved pet. In many instances that should be a warning sign of other ways the partner will attempt to manipulate and dominate. That however is a separate rant for another day as it is sadly nothing any rescue or even the society can do anything about.

Note: I read about the 'free ride home' concept for dogs in the recently declassified report, http://www.nshomelesspets.com/2008_04_24_10_17_51.pdf. In a nutshell, it suggests free lifetime municipal dog licenses for dogs that are microchipped and spayed or neutered. When these animals are picked up by AC, they get a free ride home instead of to the shelter. I love this concept because it promotes pet retention and population control by rewarding pet owners for 'good' behavior. After all, every pet that goes home is one less pet needing to be rescued.

A better day than I expected

It was supposed to be a really rainy day here. Instead the clouds are already trying hard to break up and the sun is actually shining though in places. On a balmy plus 16 day like this its hard to imagine its really November.
This morning I drove a good friend to the vet for his young dog's annual checkup and vaccines. This is new ground for him, because he grew up in a world where taking good care of one's dog meant feeding them well and letting them live in the house. Vet care never figured into that equation anywhere.
But his sister and I have been a 'bad' influence on him, so right from the start with this puppy he has been doing everything right. Brooke is a typical sweet amstaf mix and the apple of everyone's eye at the vet. Last year when he went in to be neutered, they had to take him into the lunchroom to say goodbye to everyone before he could go home : ))))
When we walked in the front door of the vets, the first thing that caught my eye was a nice big poster for the Kings County SPCA. Its bristle board sized and with an eye catching deep blue background. Along with the logo, there were well over a dozen good sized pictures of the cats they have available for adoption.
Well then... perhaps there are more than one kind of clouds breaking up around here.
Does that mean its time to break out the champagne? Not even close - the shelter is still sitting empty and by their own admission the cats in their care are only a fraction of the ones in need.
Still - even small steps foward shouldn't be sneered at. While I was waiting for my friend to square up the visit at the counter, I noticed a group of three women come by who were very interested in the poster. When they came into the office, they were still talking about how much one of the pictures looked like a kitty one of them had just lost after long years together. Who knows how many other people will be interested in the kitties ?
When BOD members are reading Redemption, who knows what else might be possible?

The Chicken and the Egg

There was a misty half moon tonight to admire while the dogs were scouting the yard for signs of visitors. With the woods at our back door and three ponds out front, there is never any shortage of interesting scents for their noses to follow.
The yard has changed a lot since I first moved out here. When I bought the land, the previous owner had opened up the old pond at the front of the property, hoping to drain the bottom piece and perhaps improve its value.
The lower pond is fed by two natural springs and a small creek, so I thought it was pretty unrealistic to think that it could be drained at all. Instead, I had another pond dug in the swampiest area and had the lower pond closed back in. The result is a pretty area that has naturalized into a little wildlife habitat spot.
Over the years I have planted trees and shrubs, dug gardens, sculpted a little ornamental pond and I am still working on the hardscaping. It took a lot of work, a fair bit of cash and a whole lot of patience.
I'm retired now, but I wouldn't have had the resources to do any of that if I hadn't worked for as many years as I did. It takes more than energy and enthusiasm to get anything done.
Is it the same thing for the society to have the sheltering contract for animal control in HRM? By their own admission in the financial report for last year Metro does have a financial dependence on the contract.
Is it a conflict of interest? There is no immediate viable alternative for sheltering for HRM. One only has to look at the sudden enthusiasm our politicians on every level are developing for fiscal restraint to realize the odds are pretty slim that HRM is about to invest in its own Animal Sheltering facility. Given all that, it shouldn't create a conflict when the society needs to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Metro isn't the only group that doesn't like the idea of owner surrenders. None of the No Kill groups like it for sure, and those who will accept owner surrender charge a surrender fee.
In Metro's case there is a 'chicken or the egg' aspect to the question. Would there be as many strays if Metro took owner surrenders? Would the sheltering contract be smaller if there were less strays?
Or to take another tack - could they help the strays without the contract or would that put them in the same boat as the cape breton branch?
There are no black and white answers to pull out of a hat with this. I am fifty four, not fourteen and do not expect a handful of people to undo years of harm in a month or two. One doesn't need a crystal ball to see that the new BOD likely spends a fair bit of time walking up the down escalator.
One of my favourite Nathan Winograd quotes is " No Kill begins with a decision by shelter leadership. But it cannot succeed without community support. How do you get the community involved? Do a good job, tell people about it, and ask for their help."
We have seen some really promising starts down that road - better use of petfinder, more publicity, more user friendly hours. Its not everything that is needed, but its a great start. There's another chicken and egg bit - the more adoptions , the more animals they can save. The more animals they save, the more adoptions and support there will be.
Is it fair to describe the animal loving community as being 'very passionate"? You bet. We are passionate for the animals and will step up to the plate for a 'good job' And that is the last chicken and egg bit for tonight - does the society have the ability to 'speak up' without our support or do they need to 'speak up' to be supported?

AC has a heart sometimes

UPDATE: Louise has a new name and a great new home. Her new name is Molly and she has a buddy who also came from rescue. Have a great life little lady!

This is Louise and she is one of the bravest little dogs I have ever seen. She had been running at large for a couple of months in the Waterville area, but just wouldn't come to anyone. People were concerned, not only because she had taken shelter under a barn but because they were also afraid she had had a litter of pups.
They did finally manage to secure her with a live trap and then lifted up the boards in the barn floor until they found her puppies.
Right now Louise is at the Kings County Animal Contol shelter, and they are desperately looking for someone to foster her and her puppies. The puppies are already all 'spoken for', but right here right now AC would like both Louise and her puppies to have a chance to be socialized.
They would really love to find a good Forever Home for Louise too - but the immediate need is for a good safe home where Louise and her puppies can learn to feel safe around people.
If you can help, go to http://www.glinx.com/~djbishop/dogsadopt to find out how to contact Darlene.

In the Name of Love

I'd like to introduce Duke. He's a sweet and friendly senior fellow who is waiting at the Yarmouth SPCA for someone wise enough to understand what a great gift a senior pet is.
There was an indignant comment on the last post that was trying to explain to me why people would be refused an adoption application. Not to be mean but that's a bit like preaching to the choir : ))) Even with groups with good screening criteria, I have seen good pets reappear on petfinder after being adopted.... with some new little tidbit added to the description or a no kids, cats and/or dogs added to the listing.
Responsible rescues screen. The society screens. Good breeders screen.
It is the backyard breeders, the pet stores supplied by puppy mills ( as opposed to places like Petcetera that house satelite pet adoption centers ) and the morally reprehensible people like Gail Benoit who don't screen. Even when these people actually sell a healthy pet with no genetic disorders, they do not care what kind of life the pet will have after.
Take Duke for example. He was surrendered because his eighty something Dad did not have the energy to give him the exercise and the boundaries that he needs to be his best self. Duke will be a great guy for someone willing to invest the love and energy to help him become his best self. Like all rescues, the Yarmouth SPCA will make sure that he is adopted by someone suited to him and his needs.
No matter what type of life a person leads, there really is a homeless pet out there that would suit their lifestyle. There really is Somebody Out There for everyone.
We live in a world where complex issues are resolved in slick fashion on tv in an hour or less. Adopting a pet should take more time than just stopping at the store. The screening process is there to help when people fall in love with the sweet face without thinking things through.
Just the other day, a sweet young dog was listed with a firm 'no children' tag and the rescue was swamped by adoption offers from kind people in response to his story, many of whom had children.
The bottom line is when we fall in love quickly, it is referred to as infatuation. When that happens, logic flies out the window and "fools rush in where angels fear to tread" The screening process is designed to protect pets and ensure that love is not blind.