“For the love of pets - Altoona Mirror” plus 3 more

For the love of pets - Altoona Mirror
Dogs dress for animal responsibility awareness - The Daily Athenaeum
Pets being given up in hard times, groups say - StarPhoenix
Essential Products For Proper Nutrition: Raw Diet ... - Salon

Posted: 25 Apr 2010 08:24 PM PDT

For the love of pets

By Amanda Clegg, aclegg@altoonamirror.com

Paul Gottshall of the Central Pennsylvania Humane Society says animals are family and their owners need to be able to care for them.

"It's a family member, and you want to keep it like a family member," said Gottshall, a humane society police officer.

Veterinary care, licensing and keeping a pet up-to-date on shots are all part of responsible pet ownership, he said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture also has dog laws that owners must abide by. Spokesman Justin Fleming said by law, dog owners must make sure their dogs have current licenses and rabies shots. They also must keep their animals under control, on a leash and not let them run loose, he said.

Problems with those laws have landed Darlene Kleiner of Hollidaysburg in trouble with the humane society over her dog, Charley, a Jack Russell terrier mix. Charley, who is about 2 years old, has gotten loose numerous times in his Hollidaysburg neighborhood.

Kleiner, 82, of 158 Larch St., contacted the Mirror recently because she wants her dog back. She signed him over to the humane society after Charley's most recent escape.

Her neighbor and humane society board member Rick Vanevenhoven said neighbors are concerned for the dog that was escaping his home near Route 36 two to three times a week.

"We all want Charley to have a safe, happy home, wherever that may be," he said.

Kleiner was charged with failure to confine her dog within her property in December, according to online court records.

CPHS Executive Director Mary Anslinger said Charley has gotten loose multiple times. He was taken to the shelter as a stray six times since last summer, according to a letter from the humane society to Kleiner's attorney, R. Thomas Forr of Altoona. A copy of the letter was included in a civil complaint filed on Kleiner's behalf against the humane society in an effort to have Charley returned to her.

In her complaint, Kleiner claims she did not realize what she was signing and was "intimidated with the possibility of having charges filed against her."

The complaint also alleges that the humane society believes because of Kleiner's age, she and Charley are not a good match. Kleiner said she declined the humane society's offer to substitute a "more sedate animal" as a replacement for Charley.

Anslinger said the society takes steps to try to make successful matches between a pet and an owner.

Those steps include performing behavior assessments on dogs to determine their temperament and activity level.

Kleiner said the humane society told her she had to put up a 6-foot fence before they would return Charley to her. The letter from the humane society to Foor explained the reasoning for the fence.

"We agreed with this arrangement because 1) we understand the love that Ms. Kleiner has for Charley; and 2) we wanted to ensure Charley's safety since he consistently runs off," the letter states.

Kleiner also said she was going to see about obedience training for Charley.

"The dog is wanted," she said. "The dog is loved."

For now, Charley is on hold from adoption at the humane society.

In the meantime, the organization is busy with other calls related to concerns over pets. Gottshall said 90 percent of the calls are about dogs that are chained. Others are about animals left in vehicles during the summer when temperatures can spike inside a vehicle, causing shock, heatstroke and death, he said.

Gottshall said recently he is coming across numerous cases where pets are neglected because their owners are addicted to drugs.

"We spend a lot of time in court with folks who literally can't take care of themselves, let alone an animal," he said.

Mirror Staff Writer Amanda Clegg is at 949-7030.

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Dogs dress for animal responsibility awareness - The Daily Athenaeum

Posted: 25 Apr 2010 07:48 PM PDT

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Chaz, a Boston Terrier, wears a toga during the "Toga Party Gone to the Dogs," an event held at the Animal Sciences Farm. The event featured barbeque and pet-related items for sale to raise money for the Morgantown Spay and Neuter Program. Pets ...

Pets being given up in hard times, groups say - StarPhoenix

Posted: 25 Apr 2010 10:26 PM PDT

When times are tough, people have to give up things.

Pets are one of those things, according to Jan Olson of Surrey-based Better Life Dog Rescue.

She knows the tough economic times have already had a big effect in the U.S. as her group has found homes for more than 100 dogs from hard-hit California.

But Olson thinks the crisis is here, too.

"It's rampant," said Olson. "It's the worst it's ever been and I think the economic times have a lot to do with it."

Instead of running a shelter, Olson's group finds permanent or foster homes for abandoned dogs. Normally she gets a plea for help every two weeks.

One of the calls she received recently was from a dog owner going from a big home to a townhouse that didn't allow pets while another was from a man who was living in his van with two dogs.

"It's probably quadrupled, the number of calls we get," she said.

But Bob Busch, manager of operations for the B.C. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said there has only been a "slight increase" in surrenders to his organization.

"We have seen a slight increase in the number of animals surrendered to the SPCA over the last six months, especially really large dogs that people can't afford to look after any more," said Busch.

Olson believes that's because "the SPCA charges people to take their dogs in."

The B.C. SPCA's 37 shelters take in 40,000 animals annually and manager of community relations Lori Chortyk said the increase in animals being surrendered wasn't "significant."

But she acknowledged the situation could change.

"I think we're just starting to see the impact of the economic changes here in B.C.," said Chortyk.

Christine Reed, executive director of the Fraser Valley Humane Society, agrees that pets are one of the first luxuries people discard.

"The most common story is that people have lost employment and have to move and often they cannot find somewhere they can take their pets with them," said Reed, whose small Mission non-profit shelter deals strictly with cats.

"In the last two to three months, we have seen probably a 20- to 25-per-cent increase in the number of surrenders," said Reed.

She thinks more cats are simply abandoned.

"I would imagine many of them are are put out the door, as opposed to asking to bring them in," said Reed, whose shelter is currently in a "quiet" period with only 50 felines.

fluba@theprovince.com

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Essential Products For Proper Nutrition: Raw Diet ... - Salon

Posted: 25 Apr 2010 08:38 PM PDT

Cats are natural carnivores while dogs are omnivores. A raw diet give new life on how our pets' ancestors have survived in the wild for thousand of years.

Their typical daily diet involves catching or seeking another animal to eat, which is similar to their wild cousins (the big cats and wolves). Making it appear that they have hunted and caught their "complete" supper, a raw diet restores our pets to this more natural form of nutrition.

There is an increasing number of professionals in the world of dogs and cats (breeders, veterinarians, breed ring handlers, sports competitors) and thousands of concerned pet owners are supporting a second look on what we feed our animals. An increase in awareness where dogs and cats need a raw, natural diet for them to be healthy and that ordinary commercial pet foods are not sufficient in sustaining the essential nutrients for good health and long life. Too much wrong ingredients may satisfy a hungry pet but may also contribute to long-term health problems.

Raw diet is supposed to be providing all the nutrients that are lost in the processing of commercial foods, which is the proper nutrition needed by your pets. Bravo is a nature-designed diet for healthy dogs and cats. Every ingredient is selected carefully for quality and freshness.

Bravo provides your pets with superior, clean, wholesome meats, which are the kind of meats your pet carnivores need and love. These meats are from animals that are hormone-free and raised without use of antibiotics. It even has a feature called Bravo Feeding Calculator on its web site, which is an online calculator that can assist you in determining how much you can feed your pet according to its weight as well as how much to order in a week's supply.

My practice at Animal Fitness Center can furnish you with vital information regarding nutrition and diet for your lovable pets such as the Bravo diet. I can personally discuss it with you or you can easily visit my site's nutrition section to know more about it. I also make sure that nutrition and proper diet is properly shared to its owners on every visit aside from the animal chiropractic care that I offer my animal patients.

This is Ava Frick and I take care all of my animal patients at my clinic, Animal Fitness Center in Union Missouri to receive animal animal chiropractic care and proper nutrition diet. You can drop by my clinic or at www.AvaFrick.com to learn more about giving your pets the best nutrition and proper diet they essentially need.

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