Furry Friday..sorta

Well, unfortunately I don't have any pictures today. The runs at the shelter are under construction so we need to walk all the dogs on leash, which is fine, but it puts a serious damper on my photo taking ability. I actually got one cute picture of the giant rottie Malcolm by getting him to follow the light that the camera was casting on the ground, then I quickly snapped his picture...but alas, I have left my camera at home.

I'm hoping to get some cute pictures this weekend, because this weekend is PET PICTURES WITH SANTA!! (plus a bake sale). The concept of Pet Pictures with Santa is hilarious to me, and I cannot even wait. So cute! Also...we are giving free bandanas to all the animals that have their pictures taken with Santa, so this means we have made teeny, tiny little bandanas, because if someone brings in their guinea pig...they are getting a bandana god dammit! Please stop a moment and picture the chaos that will likely ensue during this event. Hilarious yes? I can't even wait.

I baked up a storm this week, so hopefully all my goodies actually entice people to spend money.

I have mentioned before that the shelter is right next door to a Tim Hortons...the line up for the Timmies stretches right along the back outdoor run, and there is a patch of grass in between. When I walk the dogs outside, I usually walk them through this patch of grass. Last night I was walking this Catahoula Leopard Dog mix, who is just cute as a button, but he's huge and strong. He kept stopping, and I could not for the life of me move him. Of course he chose right by the Timmies line to be ornery. It's embarrassing. Then he decided it would be a great time to roll around in the ditch. This is usually the point where people start yelling things from the drive thru line, and I have to shrug my shoulders, like, "welps, not my dog, what can you do??" Most of them walk pretty well, but you get the odd one that just drives you insane.

What else, what else....a TON of the dogs are adopted and this makes me veeery happy. But Charlie still needs a home. I planted the seed in the assistant managers ear that maybe they could pitch a story to the local newspaper about Charlie, who has been at the shelter for almost a year now. People love a good sob story, and honestly at this point, I'm not above milking the situation a little. Charlie needs a home, and this is all I'm asking Santa for this Christmas. *Hopefully* something comes of the paper thing.

A couple disturbing things happening here in Canada regarding animal rights.

First off, over 100 neglected sled dogs found tied to trees in Quebec. The kicker?? Because this jackhole willingly surrendered the dogs, he won't get charged with anything. The laws for animal abusers need to be way tougher in this country.

Second, several employees at the Toronto Humane Society have been arrested on animal cruelty charges. This includes the General Manager, the head vet, the president and two others. I pretty much have no words for this. These people are supposed to HELP animals. They work for a HUMANE society. Jessssus. I was looking through some of the pictures that animal cruelty investigators took, and they are fucking appalling. Don't even bother clicking on the link because your faith in humanity will pretty much be out the window.

Thankfully, those huskies are getting a happy ending...a lot of them have already been placed with foster homes or adopted.

The Toronto Humane Society has over 1000 animals in their care. That is a huge responsibility, and god, you hope that when you have an organization like a humane society, that they would treat the animals, you know, humanely! Lord love a duck.

I hope karma gives these people a swift kick in the ass.

Anyway, happy news! Guinea pigs in christmas bandanas! Cats looking unimpressed at sitting on Santa's lap! Dogs barking for hours on end! Cupcakes!

I'll try to post some cute dog pictures if I can.

Happy Friday!!

On Wild Animals in Captivity

Yesterday I read about the new TLC show My Monkey Baby on another blog, and frankly the show sounded hilarious. People with monkeys who treat them as though they are children. Funny on the one hand, batshit crazy on the other. I had the pleasure (?) of watching this show yesterday, and oh my god. It is quite possibly one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen on television. Ever. In my life. And I'm counting all future programming in that. One part showed a lady putting makeup on her monkey, because the monkey apparently likes it. Does she? Did she tell you that, crazy lady? Does she also like wearing that mini wedding dress? My word.

These people are clearly delusional, and while I am sad for these people, my inner animal activist is outraged for these poor monkeys. And at TLC for putting such crap on the air, and probably encouraging people that buying a pet monkey is a good thing to do. Maybe I'll adopt a monkey and get my own show. Maybe I'll adopt a giant fucking hippopotamus and keep him in my bathtub, even better! It was bad enough they saddled the world with Jon and Kate, but now this? TLC, the learning channel? Please change your name.



I just, I don't get the need some people have to have wild animals for pets. Seriously. The other day I read an article about a woman who was killed by her pet bear when she went in to clean his cage. HER PET BEAR? It's tragic no doubt, but come on, why do you have a feckin bear as a pet to begin with? Get a dog, get a cat, get a turtle, but how about not getting one of the deadliest animals on earth? How it is in any way a pet, and not a sideshow? Do you walk your pet bear? Do you play fetch in the backyard? No. You keep him locked in a cement cell where he probably was slowly going insane. That is not a pet.

And remember the story from about a year ago about the lady that got attacked by her neighbours 200 pound chimp? Again...why does someone have a giant chimp who clearly belongs ummm not in a house as a pet? The chimp attacks the owners neighbour, and then the chimp ends up getting shot by the police. This completely boggles my mind. These animals are not meant to be pets; they are dangerous and aggressive. (don't click on that if you get queasy easily). They belong in the wild with other primates.

Apparently 15000 people in the United States alone have monkey's for pets, most of them buying them when they were babies. a) What happened to all the mothers of these little monkeys, and b) could you possibly use that $5000 you paid for your pet monkey for something constructive that will benefit society in some way and not make you appear mentally unstable. c) it's a monkey, it is not a child. As much as I love all my shelter dogs, I know that all they will ever be are dogs, and thus have to be treated as such.

I can only hope this show will open up people's eyes to the issue of having wild animals as pets. I am hoping people will become duly outraged by this, and act accordingly. Click here for more info. The crazy needs to stop.

Furry Friday

Last night's models were:
-the cutest Beagle you will ever see in your life
-and Angel, the German Shepherd cross who is a absolute dollface.

Next week I will have better pictures, as last night was a little busy.

The cutest Beagle you will ever see in your life (TCBYWESIYL) is a lovely dog, and I hope she gets adopted soon. Beagles just have that look about them that make them look sad allll the time. I don't know that dogs can actually feel "sad" though, so it's probably just the perception of the human.

Last night I was standing in the kennel when a girl walked in to look at the dogs, and as soon as she saw TCBYWEVIYL, so started to bawl. Which is awkward, I mean, I was RIGHT next to her. Do I pat her on the back? Give her a hug and tell her she doesn't need to be sad for these dogs, because they get a lot of love? I went with saying, "you okay?", to which she replied "it's just hard for me to see them in here". I get that, I do, but really...better in the shelter being fed and sheltered and loved, then say, out in the street as a stray, or being in a situation that is abusive or neglectful. I just don't find it sad. Yes, oftentimes the situation that the dog came from is sad, but it's not anymore. Being a shelter dog is not an ideal life for them I'll give you that, but it is a step above many other situations. There are a lot of great volunteers that work with the dogs at the shelter, and those dogs are loved, they are absolutely loved.

I'm sure there are some shelters that are way worse, and have many more dogs that don't get nearly enough attention, but from where I'm standing, most of the dogs in our local shelter have it pretty good. I'll admit it irritates me a bit when people think that the dogs lead this dreadful life in there. They don't know half of it. Some of the stories I've heard break my heart, but the shelter itself, specifically the adoption room in the shelter is more about hope than sadness...to me at least. When I'm there, I"m doing everything I possibly can to make the lives of these dogs better, so DO NOT come in there and cry to me about how awful the dogs have it. Just don't. I get that it is an emotional situation, I do, but please.

A note on Lucy the elephant, and why I LOVE Bob Barker:

Lucy is a female Asian elephant living alone in a small enclosure in the Edmonton Valley Zoo. Zoocheck has been working with Bob Barker to try to get Lucy moved to a sanctuary in the USA. Lucy suffers from arthritis and has had chronic foot infections, the leading cause of death in zoo elephants. On top of all of that, Lucy is alone, which is akin to torture for a highly social animal.

In addition to the letters that have been sent to council, a petition has been set up to ask the Edmonton City Council to move Lucy to a sanctuary.
Please take a moment and sign the petition and send it to everyone on your
list. Lucy will appreciate your support.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/FreeLucy/index.html

Thanks for your continued support of the campaign to get Lucy moved to a
sanctuary.

That's it for today! I'm leaving for the cottage in t minus 6 hours, and I cannot wait.