My Avatar

This week I finally decided on an avatar to use where ever I show my jewelry on the web. An avatar is a small photo that you use that people associate with your name or product. I decided to use a photograph of a piece of my jewelry, instead of a photograph.

You will see me use this photo on my Flickr site and any other place I post my jewelry on the web. So if you see my ring, you will know it's me.

A Dog's Journey

I read a lengthy article in my local sunday paper by Cheryl Wittenauer of the Associated Press. It was about the pitbulls that were rescued from Michael Vick's (NFL football player) home where he and others staged pitbull fights and destroyed the animals that were not aggressive enough or that had become too injured to fight anymore.

"Vick is serving a 23 month federal sentence after admitting that he bank rolled the dog fighting operation and helped kill six to eight dogs." Three others were also sentenced and all four are now facing state animal cruelity charges. Personally I think the charges should have been tougher.

During the police raid at Vick's home, police rescued over 50 pitbull terriers and mix pitbull breeds and sent them to city and county pounds and shelters. Teams were assembled by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals to evaluate if the dogs could be rehabilitated into society, and then adopted into families.

What was found was that most of the dogs were tolerant with other dogs and were actually social with other dogs in the shelters. Once the dogs were evaluated, only one was put down for being too aggressive. Half have been sent to a Utah sanctuary, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, where they will be trained and worked with for eventual adoption. Others were evaluated as being ready for adoption and were taken to different adoption groups.

When I read this article, I felt happy that these dogs were given a second chance at life instead of just being judged as too aggressive and being destroyed. Each dog was evaluated individually to see if he could be socialized and trained to lead a normal family dog life. And many, if not all, have gone on to do just that. My heart hurts for the pain and fear they must have felt living with Vick and his friends. That is over. For that I am thankful. And I am thankful to all the human angels that have helped in rescueing and rehabilitating these dogs. Now they will get the love they overwhelming deserve, and for that, my heart is happy.

Bird Lovers Only Rescue

I'm not sure if I have recommended this blog before but I know I have a link to it in my favorite blog sites.

Bird Lover Only Rescue is a blog site dedicated to the education, rescue and adoption of birds of all kinds. If you are a bird lover, I think you would enjoy this site.

One of their featured birds is Snowball, a dancing cockatoo. There are a few short videos with Snowball dancing to different songs. The latest entry was on 12/26/07. It features Snowball dancing to a Ringo Starr Christmas song. It is so very worth taking a look. It is cute, it is funny. What a great bird.

Snowball also like to dance to the Backstreet Boys. That was the first video I saw and the link is in my favorite blogs listing to the right. Take a look-I think you will enjoy.

Bird Lovers Only Rescue

There is a link to the above named blog at the bottom of my favorite links. If you go to this blog, there is a video of a bird dancing to a Backstreet Boys song that is really cute/funny. I recommend taking a look. But you do need to watch it to the end. You'll see why.

Dogs in Danger

I saw this article in the newspaper on Sunday also and I was mortified. It is about a new website named "dogs in danger" which works with 120 shelters nationwide , helping them match dogs with new owners before the dogs may be euthanized. This is not the part that upsets me. I am glad this website exists. Very glad.

The part that upsets me is the stated fact from this article, that each year, in this country alone, 4 million dogs are euthanized. "How much time a dogs get before death varies from state to state. If a dog is found in the street, it must be kept a minimum number of days, while animals abandoned at a shelter by their owners can often be put to death immediately." This is not what the shelter wants to do, they have to follow state law which wants to control the animal population.

The way the website works is that shelters post information directly on the site about their dogs, with daily updates and information on how to reach the shelter. The adoption service is free to both the shelters and the people searching for pets.

"A shelter can sometimes delay a dog's death date-if it has room in its kennel and few new strays coming in. A death date can also be moved up if the shelter becomes overcrowded."

It doesn't have to be this way. To me it seems there is a simple solution, spay or neuter your pet, cats included. It is cruel to bring another dog or cat into the world if you do not have homes for the puppies or kittens. I am the first to agree that baby animals, of all kinds, are so cute and alluring. But they grow up. And they still need to be loved, and fed, and given attention. Bringing a new pet into a family is a commitment, for your life or the life of the pet.

I think I will stop here before I get too wound up. I just ask that people think before they take a pet home. Can you care for it for its lifetime? That could be 10-15-20 years. If not, are you committed to finding it the best new home possible? These are all things to consider. Before bringing home a new pet, do some research. Go to the library, bookstore, or pet store and find out what you may need to know about the animals care. Make a knowledgeable choice. This will benefit both you and a new pet.