Updates, and Revisiting “Field and Stream”
IMPORTANT UPDATES. The most recent dog law regulations pertaining to commercial kennels now mandate 50% solid flooring in cages with mothers and puppies. It will be voted on August 19th.
The employment rate for Seeing Eye dog users is 70%. Monday, July 26th is the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which allows dog users access to the workplace. The Seeing Eye was established in 1929 and those were economic hard times too.
The FDA has developed an online reporting system for safety problems relevant to foods–INCLUDING PET FOODS. The new system will enable information to reach the public more quickly. For example, IAMS has recalled canned cat food (Proactive cat and kitten ) due to a thiamine deficiency. This type of information will now be able to reach consumers much more rapidly.
COYOTES, RACCOONS AND BEARS, OH MY! Un-vaccinated pets in urban and town areas are now more at risk of picking up diseases. Co-existing with neighborhood wildlife may mean more vaccinations for health safety, especially as virus’s jump species barriers. In Pennsylvania the danger is magnified by the high population of outdoor and feral cats that could form reservoirs of diseases.
KITTENS AND PUPPIES MOVE OVER –SENIOR PETS MAY BE NEW IMAGE OF NEW PRODUCTS. Keep that elderly cat and dog well groomed and trim. He may soon be in front of the camera touting a new wonder drug. A Previcox (NSAID) ad was recently spotted with the declaration–”Once daily dosing with no age restriction”and another showed a cat wearing horn-rimmed glasses! The Pet of the Week at the Danville SPCA was a ten-year-old Pug mix!
When I see advertisements for the TV program, PIT BOSS, I think of Dr. Randall Lockwood. In his early pre-HSUS days Lockwood devised a projective test to reveal the psychology of pet owners using various sketches of people and dogs. For example, there was a picture of a small, delicate woman walking a big dog. The answer to this personality test was that she was a DOMINATING person. According to the interpretation the woman is saying, “don’t mess with me I can control this big dog!” Given the small stature of the main character in PIT BOSS and the pit bulls involved I have to wonder how Lockwood would interpret this program.
MORRIS AND ESSEX. Daughter Lee discovered some old copies of Field and Stream (1930s) and they contain fascinating articles about sporting breeds. One of them announced the largest benched outdoor show in the country to be held in Madison, NJ. Over 4,000 dogs were judged. The show was a birthday present from Mr. Rockefeller to his wife Geraldine Dodge who owned Giralda Farms. (For the woman who has everything!) When I visited in the 1980s I saw what I believed to be a children’s playground complete with see-saws and slides. It turned out to be an early version of an agility course! Puppy kindergarten in those days consisted of the Canine Good Citizen program taught by Pia Silvani. Modern canine traditions continue on these beautiful grounds. And, speaking of sporting breeds–did you know the FIRST AKC GRAND CHAMPION is a Weimaraner?
Aug 03, 2010 | | Uncategorized