pet connection

Your presidential pet fact of the day:

According to the Presidential Pet Museum, only two U.S. presidents were completely pet-free while in office: Chester A. Arthur and Franklin Pierce. All other presidents and their families have shared their lives with many different companion animals, starting with George Washington, who was well-known for his fine eye for a good foxhound. The presidential pets have had a lot of interesting names, but perhaps the one that says most about the power of the presidency is the name James Garfield gave to his dog: Veto.

***

How much do I love Glenye Oakford of “Full Cry: A Hound Blog”? So much that she and I are pitching an article together  to the Smithsonian magazine on a historical topic related to horses, lawyers and land grants.  But you don’t have to wait until (if) we get to write that piece to enjoy her writing. Get over there and read:

• About what those who follow the hounds do when the footing’s too treacherous for horses: They break out the beagles and go for a long, brisk walk.
• About a mysterious hunting horn bought for a song at an auction in Zimbabwe.
• About the work of the houndsmen, part 1 and part 2.

While the rest of us are pretty much writing about the same shared topics — even if not the same shared point of view — there is absolutely nothing else on Teh Internets that’s even remotely like “Full Cry.” Fascinating stuff, and I’m utterly hooked.

***

Start with the really, really bad idea of turning carnivores into vegans. Or better yet, stop with that idea. If you want a vegan pet, get a rabbit. If you have dogs and cats, feed them in a species appropriate way. To do otherwise is not humane, even if the Humane Society of the United States says so.

But the idea of vegan carnivores isn’t the only thing wrong with the new “food” from the HSUS. As Terrierman notes:

How much of a kickback is HSUS getting? They’re pocketing a 6 percent kickback from the wholesale price of each 6.6-pound bag of dog food sold, and that’s money that comes straight out of the pocket of anyone buying this dog food.

What? The dog food is being sold in a 6.6-pound bag?

Yes, that’s what the HSUS press release says.

Apparently you can never have too much packaging in an “environmentally friendly and ethically responsible” dog food!

Of course at the price this dog food is going for — $18 for a 6.6 pound bag — no one would even think of buying a 20- or 40-pound bag of the stuff.

And what about freshness?

Well, I can assure you that this dog food will be about as fresh as any dog food can be after it bounces from warehouse to warehouse for 5,000 miles across the steaming-hot equator.

And what is in this dog food made out of?

The first five ingredients are ground canola seed, brown rice, soybean meal, buckwheat, and flaxseed.

Eh? That’s not dog food, that chicken food!

Read the rest. And note: For far less than $3 a pound you can feed your pet while supporting local, sustainable family-owned ranchers and farmers. Join a buying co-op, or make some bulk buys with friends. Really, it’s damn easy to to feed your entire family in a healthier, cheaper way that supports family farms and ranches, not questionable foreign imports or massive U.S. food processors and agribiz. Support a farmer as if your life depends on it, because it does.

***

David was on the road over the weekend, but still managed to find a piece about … DUCKS! Turns out that it’s true what Pet Connection BFF Dr. Patty Khuly and I have been warning all along: Chickens and ducks are a gateway drug as far as livestock is concerned. You get one. You want more. The next think you know, you have a goat. And it won’t stop there.  The City of Cambridge, Mass., knows if they allow a duck or chicken, the next thing they’ll be looking at is a stockyard. Or a professor of medieval English literature. Either way: Bad news.

From the Boston Globe:

In the photograph, Penelope, Potassium and Ferdinand pose in a backyard looking as cute as can be. But the Cayuga ducks and their two Wyandotte chicken companions, Henrietta and Frances, may have to leave their coop — if the city of Cambridge gets its wish.

Cambridge has determined that the backyard birds are illegal and violate city ordinances. And for the past 11 months, the birds’ owners have been locked in a fight with city officials and their neighbors over their residency.

The city’s zoning board and inspectional services department have agreed [with a cranky pants neighbor], saying the birds were not considered customary pets like dogs and cats and must go. [The owners] filed an appeal in December, in a futile attempt to save the birds. They also launched a website called savetheducks.org.

But the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals rejected their plea on Thursday. Now the group is turning to the City Council for one last reprieve.

Seriously, if there’s a smell or fly problem, fix the problem. The problem isn’t the poultry: It’s the people. Lighten up Cambridge. Save the ducks. And the Wyandottes, too.

***

No, of course it all can’t be light and amusing.  The Anchorage Daily News reports on a cost-saving measure by one Alaska town that decided it was cheaper to shoot their shelter dogs rather then put any effort into finding them homes or even killing them humanely. Authorities there are befuddled that anyone sees a problem here.  Hey, Mr. Mayor: “Common practice” isn’t an excuse.  Incest is common practice, too, after all.

***

But … we end on a good note!

Pet Connection pal Laura Bennett of Embrace pet health insurance has asked us to help get the word out on the first-ever conference for pet-related bloggers, and I’m happy to do so. It’s BlogPaws 2010, and it’s being held April 9 & 10 in Columbus, Ohio.  I’m on a world-of-hurt book deadline this spring — yes, that’s a good thing — and also giving a keynote address in Houston that same month at the Texas Federation of Animal Care Societies conference, so I won’t be there except in spirit. Maybe next year!

Finally: Christie and our Dr. Becker are en route to the Western Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas, and they’ll both be writing from there this week, and maybe Dr. Tony, too. So stay tuned.

Image: President Garfield. Just say “Veto.”

Got something cool to share? Toss it in the comments. And David’s back, so you can also let him know by e-mail.

Share & Enjoy

Facebook	Twitter	Google Buzz	Digg
Technorati	StumbleUpon	Delicious	Email