Great Pet Net

Ted Schneck describes his mission:

It was 11:00 A.M. on a Tuesday, in March 2007, when I got the phone call that changed my life. It was the vet, calling to tell me that the bump we’d noticed in my dog Marty’s mouth was, indeed, the late stages of full blown cancer.

And so began my journey into the world of Canine Cancer care.

Because as much as the vets tried to convince me that Marty had only 3 - 6 months to live, max - I was lucky to have some friends who knew better. They taught me natural treatments that helped me care for Marty and keep him strong and healthy for almost 18 months - amazing “bonus time” that I got to spend with my friend and companion of 8-1/2 years. And with Marty’s success I began my journey as a dog cancer author and mentor. I wrote the book Curing Canine Cancer as my “one stop” guide to teach other dog owners what we’d learned, and help them care for their dogs in need.

Until then I was just your average “Corporate Lawyer… turned Massage Therapist… turned Internet Marketer” (you know us, a dime a dozen - from Michigan Law School, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and one of the top law firms in the country… to giving massages at day spas and typing away on my laptop computer at Starbucks coffee houses in my hometown of Portland Oregon - Trust me, my mother wasn’t exactly thrilled…).

Now I was Working for a Higher Cause

But now I was working for a higher cause. Helping, as best I can, dog owners face their own times of need and despair. And loving that I could help, and the grateful messages I receive in the process. (Last Thanksgiving, one of my clients actually wrote to tell me that “this Thanksgiving we’re giving thanks FOR YOU - and all that you’ve done to help us with our dog… ” Now that’s cool!)

But as many people as I can help, the same problem keeps coming up over and over again - Clients who desperately want to help their dogs - to give them the same chances that I gave Marty - but who simply can’t afford to pay for their dog’s care.

So, while I’d do my best to console them, donate a copy of my book “Curing Canine Cancer” to their dog’s care, and point them to the few, underfunded charities that they could petition for assistance - I finally decided that I needed to do something about it…

I Finally Decided That I Needed to
Do Something About It

And that’s why I’m riding this summer across America - 4,281 miles in 82 days - Pacific to Atlantic - to raise money to help these dogs - these sweet innocent victims of this terrible disease - get the care they deserve.

I’ve posted some touching stories about events at the Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary over the years. This piece profiles the founders, Alayne Marker and Steve Smith, and provides some insight into their lives and their hearts. Click here and take a few minutes to get to know a little bit about their world.

Slide show courtesy of AARP Bulletin Today.
Photo of Ellie May the blind and deaf cocker spaniel courtesy of Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary.

Molly is a gray speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Katrina hit southern Louisiana, USA . She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier, and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected and her vet went to LSU for help. But LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case. You know how that goes.

But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn’t seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her. She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight, and didn’t overload her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic.

Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there. (more…)

From The Daily Puppy:

Buster was saved from a puppy mill and had a very difficulty life. He now lives on five acres in Oregon, Ohio and loves to run and play.

Oddee describes Tillamook Cheddar, a Jack Russell Terrier from Brooklyn, New York. Widely regarded as the world’s preeminent canine artist, she has already had seventeen solo exhibitions in the U.S. and Europe.

Her first official biography, Portrait of the Dog as a Young Artist by F. Bowman Hastie III, is published by Sasquatch Books (2006).

The artist’s primary process is a dynamic color transfer technique. In preparation for each of Tillie’s works, her assistants assemble a touch-sensitive recording device by affixing pigment-coated vellum to a sheet of lithograph paper backed by mat board. Working on the outside surface, she applies pressure with teeth and claws in a methodic ritual marked by dramatic shifts in tempo and intensity. The resultant sharp and sweeping intersecting lines complement the artist’s delicate paw prints and subtle tongue impressions, composing an expressionistic image that is revealed on the paper beneath when she is finished.

A story in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution describes how feral cats are helping police stations stay free of rodents.

The Working Cats program of Voice for the Animals, a Los Angeles-based animal advocacy and rescue group, has placed feral cats in a handful of police stations with rodent problems, just as the group placed cats in the rat-plagued downtown flower district several years ago — to great effect.

Six feral cats recently were installed as ratters in the parking lot of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Southeast Division, and another group will be housed at the Central Division early this year.

Their reputation as furtive and successful exterminators grew after feral cats were introduced to the parking lot of the Wilshire Division nearly six years ago. Rats had been burrowing into the equipment bags that bicycle officers stored in outside cages; inside the facility, mice sometimes scurried across people’s desks.

“Once we got the cats, problem solved,” said Cmdr. Kirk Albanese, a captain at the Wilshire station at the time. “I was almost an immediate believer.”

After Albanese moved to the Foothill Division in the northern San Fernando Valley, he introduced feral cats to the building’s mice-infested basement in 2004.

“I think it’s a very humane way to deal with a very stubborn problem,” said Albanese, now assistant to the director in the office of operations at downtown’s Parker Center, which has its own rat problem.

From True Stories of Hero Pets | Pet Life | Reader’s Digest

Cashew, my 14-year-old yellow Lab, is blind and deaf. Her best friend is Libby, 7, her seeing-eye cat. Libby steers Cashew away from obstacles and leads her to her food. Every night she sleeps next to her. The only time they’re apart is when we take Cashew out for a walk. Without this cat, we know Cashew would be lost and very, very lonely indeed. It’s amazing but true: This is one animal who knows what needs to be done and does it day in and day out for her friend.
– Submitted to Reader’s Digest by Terry B., Middleburg, Pennsylvania

David St. Lawrence describes some unusual behavior by two pairs of cats that didn’t know each other until recently. The social behavior of cats can be very interesting.

Gretchen and I were trimming our female cat’s claws. This is not major surgery, nor is it painful, but Buffy is well-skilled at playing the victim card. After the first few seconds, she gave out an outraged squall that sounded like the sound track of a horror movie. I was holding Buffy and splaying her paws while Gretchen was doing the actual clipping. I might add here that Gretchen was only clipping the very extremities of the claws, where they were curling back on themselves from lack of wear.

Continue reading at this link: Our cats are exhibiting “tribal” behaviour

Here’s a story by Meredith’s mother:

There is a kind soul working in the dead letter office of the US postal service.

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:

Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick. I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her You will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.
Love, Meredith.

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, “To Meredith” in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, “When a Pet Dies.” Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

Dear Meredith,
Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away. Abbey isn’t sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays In your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don’t need our bodies in heaven, I don’t have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I am wherever there is love.
Love, God

According to her mother, Meredith was comforted by the book and letter and was unastounded that God saw fit to write back. “She wasn’t surprised because she had such faith that her letter was going to get to God.” (The oldest of the Scrivener children, 6-year-old Andy, was impressed, though: He “thought it was pretty special his sister got a book from the angel,” says his mum.)

While Mrs. Scrivener considered asking at the post office about the package, she decided against it. “I kind of like not knowing,” she said. “I don’t know who took the time to do it, but it was an angel. We all think about doing these things, but no one takes the time to do it.”

Note: This story has been verified as true by Snopes.com

via Joanne Starodub

Arielle understands speech and speaks thoughtfully using English words, phrases, and sentences.

She spontaneously applied the word “wet” to puddles on a sidewalk. Her linguistic abilities and her vocabulary, composed of 4000+ variations of words, phrases, and sentences, challenge listeners.

A book describing Arielle, Another Kind of Mind: A Talking Bird Masters English, transcribes hundreds of cognitive statements from recordings. In one unprompted message, she independently quoted and attributed speech to a child, “‘You’ve got a friend in the bathroom.’ Jackson said that!” Arielle’s volunteered words convey her knowledge of language and that she is conscious.

The hardcover book, wrapped in a 4-color jacket, consists of 288 pages including 11 pictures and reference materials. The price is $24.95 plus $4.95 for shipping and handling in the continental U.S.A.; Florida residents add 7% state sales tax.

Arielle Publishing
P.O. Box 4634
Clearwater, FL 33758
www.ParrotSpeech.com