Safety First
Friends of mine are quite excited about ripping out floors and installing new hardwood and/or laminate flooring in their homes. This wouldn’t work here. I know that Cagney, my 13-year-old, would find this footing difficult and perhaps slippery and so I would need to add firm non-slip scatter rugs. I DECORATE DOG–and I decorate with both health and safety in mind. I decorate in the “animal well-fare style”–good for my pets and good for me.
On April 27 the Canine Health Board will hold a meeting on flooring in kennels–under consideration is HOG PANEL FLOORING. Clearly this isn’t good for dogs although puppy millers may find it cheap to maintain.
Dogs are not livestock. Dogs do not have hooves like swine or pigs. Dogs have soft feet and their puppies have softer feet. Even though the cast iron brightly colored wire hog panels are more attractive than the chicken wire it replaces, it is not suitable for dogs. However, we all understand that wire flooring is easier to clean and not as labor-intensive as other forms of flooring. Still, we dog lovers don’t think of the cost but of the safety of our best friends. Once again–dogs are not livestock. As one shelter manager wrote, “ when you treat dogs like dogs and not like pigs or chickens being fattened for slaughter there is no profit to be made. Will we be eating our older dogs and those who do not reproduce?” Do write your elected representatives. Some are hoping the new U.S. Supreme Court Justice will be a woman or a Protestant or someone who is not part of the legal system. I am hoping for an animal lover–hopefully a dog lover. I want someone who will uphold a law aimed at animal cruelty videos. I happen to agree that videos showing women in high heels stepping on little animals, videos that depict dog-fighting, videos that show people having sex with animals and child pornography are not entitled to constitutional protection. Justice Roberts may have voted against the sale of these videos because they would impact films about hunting but I disagree. I happen to believe that any form of animal cruelty is wrong and that Roberts does hunters a disservice by placing them in the same category as child pornographers and dog fighters. However, since these films are legal it is up to us to be extra vigilant and to report animal abuse and cruelty immediately. Remember–someone’s life may depend on it!
A new FDA brochure addresses ONLINE PET PHARMACIES. Apparently there is no fool proof way to assure a “good pharmacy”; however, the brochure lists guidelines that can help. The best advice is to make sure the pharmacy has the VET-VIPRS seal of approval listed in its literature. These pharmacies have completed a voluntary certification program by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy and, according to the AVMA, can be judged as licensed and legitimate. For more information: www.fda.gov and click on online pharmacies.
“In the day” when I visited a veterinary hospital and drugs were prescribed I often found that when returning to my car there would be a brown paper bag on the seat with extra medications that had been given the hospital as samples. I have also had a veterinarian give me medications with an expired use date–at less than the regular cost. A different time.
PHARMACEUTICAL DISPOSAL–NEVER FLUSH PHARMACEUTICALS INTO THE TOILET OR SQUIRT DOWN THE SINK.
Apr 25, 2010 | | Uncategorized