We’ve been through this before…. her customers showing up with puppies they can’t (or don’t want to) keep any longer. Our combined efforts have found homes for a schnauzer, a bishon friese, and a maltese, just to name a few. Those were all purebred dogs, though, and with no obvious health issues. But this little guy? Wow, what to do?

Because I am, and have always been, an animal advocate and rescuer, the first thing I said to my daughter was “Please, whatever you do, DO NOT let him take that puppy to the local animal shelter!”  The reasons are obvious. Far too many “adoptable” dogs already occupy the local shelters, and unfortunately, even many of them never find their way out except in the very sad solution of euthanasia (cough, cough, sputter, sputter!). There would be no question about this particular puppy’s fate if turned in to a regular animal shelter.

I got on the phone and began calling friends, and the responses I got were quite interesting. Most of them said “Oh, how said. Perhaps the kindest thing to do would be to put the poor thing to sleep!” Then I spoke to my dear friend, Diane, who founded PAALS (People And Animals Living Synergistically), a “no-kill” animal sanctuary located on a gorgeous 160 acre ranch in Colorado. Her response, unsurprisingly, was quite different. Even though her sanctuary is struggling through these difficult economic times with an influx of animals and a decrease in donations, like so many across the country, she immediately, without hesitation, said  enthusiastically, “Let’s find some way to get him to me! We could make this puppy a star for all special needs animals, you know, like Faith, the famous dog born with no front legs! Call your local news/media outlets and suggest it as a story.” Amazing, the difference in attitude.

This morning I called my daughter to tell her the good news. Unfortunately, she has no contact information for the man who had the puppy and unless he shows up again, asking for help, we’re at a standstill for this little guy. In the meantime, I’ll keep my fingers, toes and eyeballs crossed he does show up with puppy in hand.

I can do one more thing…..appeal to you to make a donation to Diane’s sanctuary (www.paalsforlife.com) or a no-kill animal organization in your area. They all need our help desperately right now. So many lives depend on it. PAALS has a new documentary, if you’d like to see the ranch, on youtube at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aflfi_gkFQ

Feral Cats

About two weeks ago I went to a business meeting at a local hotel and today I have to rant about what I found.  As I approached the entrance, I noticed many cats lurking around the perimeter of the building. After the meeting, I asked the hotel clerk about them. She told me they are all feral cats and the hotel staff feeds them. Hmm …..perhaps some better solution could be found.

I called the local police department to find out what, if any, programs the city had in place for dealing with the problem of feral cats. I was shocked when he laughed at me and said “Hey lady, those feral cats are part of the eco system! Why would you want to mess with the eco system?”  I’m sorry, but that just seems a very coldhearted and uninformed point of view! These poor animals are all skinny, many starving, all  subjected to diseases, probably flea-ridden, suffering. I don’t get it. Aren’t we better than this as a society? How tragic.

Ok, here it is almost the middle of March and I need to rant a bit because  it’s freezing in here. You can’t tell me climate change isn’t happening. I live in the Pacific Northwest, where typically, it’s mellow all year long. Sure it rains, but this year that moisture is coming down in the form of snow. I really don’t like it. I spent an hour and a half on the phone with my daughter yesterday as she was driving through a blizzard and was terrified. God, that’s a nerve-racking process. Thankfully, she got home safely with no incidents, but we were both exhausted.

Here’s another thing that gets me. My home is only about 1200 sq. ft. and I keep the thermostat set at 55 degrees. My energy bill arrived last week. $208!! I called the energy company to see if I could get on their “equalization plan”, you know, where you pay so much a month all year long. Well, not only did I opt NOT to do that, I learned that their rates go up in the winter months! Did you know that? How is that right?

And so, I’m bundled up again this morning in layers of clothes, sipping a cup of hot tea and listening to the furnace kick on far more often than I like. On the other hand, I am most grateful to have a home and a working furnace!

Today it is so easy to rant about this subject because I think it’s absolutely tragic how humans feel so free to manipulate nature! Today there is the extremely sad case of the chimpanzee who attacked some poor woman and tried to detach her face. Birds aren’t meant to NOT fly, and chimpanzees are not meant to live in houses under the pretense they are humans.

I wonder when the exotic pet trade will stop. I wonder when society will wake up. It’s only then that these horrific events will cease happening.

It seems we’ve become very disrepsectful of nature, not just in the exotic pet industry. Somehow, for human pleasure, it’s ok to keep a magnificent elephant chained in place till show time. Or it’s ok to raise 8000 chickens, all crammed into cages designed for 800, never letting them see the light of day or scratch at the dirt. Or better yet, let’s breed those mutations together and come up with the distorted things like those poor ”munchkin” cats, you know….the ones with shortened legs.

It’s pathetic. A power trip. Selfish and so very disrespectful.

 I wanna go back to the farm! Well water and tomatoes on the vines I planted and nurtured, eggs right out from under the cluckers. Things I trusted were safe to ingest. It freaks me out that I’m now so reliant on “the system” to provide my safety!