Clearing the decks: Short attention span pet blogging
By Gina Spadafori
November 10, 2009
Post it notes. They’re everywhere. Lots of little stuff that just isn’t worth an entire entry but that has gotta be noted nonetheless ….
First, and I’m almost done with Zenyatta blogging (really!), but I gotta say this picture by Mighty Bob Mayberry is my favorite shot of the entire weekend – and it doesn’t even have a horse in it! Check out the reaction shot of Charles Pravata, all-around cool guy and awesome racing photographer, when his girlie Zenyatta showed her pretty, pretty heels to the boys she left eating the rubber racing surface behind her. Some of Charles’ own pictures of her are on his Flickr.com photostream. One thing all cub reporters learn from Day One (if they’re smart): There are no cooler people on God’s green earth than photojournalists. I’m smart: I learned this and have never forgotten.
OK, now … in no real order …
- Kudos to Cardinal pet products for taking their manufacturing facility in Southern California off the grid. Two cool things about this: 1) Solar; and 2) American. Details here.
- Check out DrawTheDog.com. Nothing else out there like it. Nothing. A dog cartoon a day, inspired by stories shared by dog-lovers. Serious contender for the highly coveted blogroll here, I gotta say.
My friend Darryl Young snapped a picture of Bo eying a hydrant. First Dog has paparazzi. Ruff life, that. D and I were trying to figure out the other day how long we have known each other, and in the end we decided we have known each other for so long that we are not telling how long. That’s a long time.- The next time I think my day job sucks, I will pull out a copy of the current issue of the University of California, Davis, vet school newsletter and be grateful I don’t have to write headlines such as, “Carcass Disposal Conference Increases Preparedness” and stories to go with same. The bigger, sadder news from the same issue is the closing of the country’s very first pet-loss support hotline, a fixture of the UCD vet school for years, and a great training ground for a great many veterinary students. The reason? Budget cuts. Download the newsletter.
More coming … must eat something first.
It saddens me to read that the U.C. Davis pet-loss support hot-line is or has closed. I received some brochures from them on pet loss and was quite impressed. It will be a much missed resource to grieving pet owners.
Comment by Snoopys Friend — November 10, 2009 @ 2:08 pm
Yes, that’s a huge loss. I can’t help but think of all the people those wonderful vet students have helped over the years, including me!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 10, 2009 @ 8:30 pm
Gina—
Please, please add DrawTheDog.com to the Petconnection blogroll. Too wonderful.
Lisa in Cape May County, NJ
Comment by Lisa — November 11, 2009 @ 6:06 am
Done. You’re right: It’s wonderful. I’m so glad the folks behind it sent me a note. You know, the last two blogs added — FullCry and now DrawTheDog — I am not sure I ever would have bumped into on my own had the people behind them not reached out to us. Both newbies are fantastic additions to our blogroll.
I get so many requests to “trade links” or otherwise promote sites that clearly have little behind them except the idea of “cashing in on stoopid pet-lovers.”
When I run across sites that are about a true passion for animals and the bond we share with them, I do a Snoopy happy dance.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 11, 2009 @ 6:57 am
Thanks for the heads up on the websites and the sad news about the pet loss hotline.
Hopefully someone will grant support such a service…because the need is growing.
I’ve missed popping over. The Draw the Dog campaign is out promoting and I got an email too.
Glad to see you added it—very fun.
Comment by Ark Lady — November 11, 2009 @ 9:55 am
This just in, an example of a pitch that’s dead on arrival, from the pet-owners are so stoopid school of PR:
“We know some celebrities’ pets just as well as we know their owners …”
No, we don’t. We don’t want to, and we don’t care to. Sell it somewhere else. Meh.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 11, 2009 @ 10:23 am
I am a stoopid pet-lover, too. Guess that’s why we still own rescue dogs 20 years after the first one ate our couch. Really appreciate the kind words and inclusion in your blogroll. (Bruce at Draw the Dog.)
Comment by Bruce Kasanoff — November 12, 2009 @ 10:06 am