pet connection

Tip of the hat to Pat for pointing out this AP story on behaviorist Dr. Emily Weiss of the ASPCA and her work trying to “cat”-egorize felines into personality types:

“People come in and say, I had a black and white tuxedo cat before, so that’s what I want,” says Jim Monsma of the Washington Animal Rescue League in Washington, D.C. “But cats are not all the same. They have widely divergent personalities.”

That’s why the shelter is now using the Feline-ality program, developed by behaviorist Dr. Emily Weiss of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Part of the ASPCA’s Meet Your Match program, which also includes Canine-ality for dogs, the program assesses a variety of behaviors in individual cats. It rates the animals on confidence and sociability, which Weiss’ research has shown are independent of each other.

The program then tallies those assessments to place the cat into nine personality categories, which can be matched with a family’s situation and desires. [...] The program is used at 45 shelters, with additional facilities preparing to use it.

Our Pet Connection behavior team, Susan and Dr. Rolan Tripp, just wrote a piece (coming out next week) for our newspaper clients on how to judge personality types in kittens.

Cats aren’t as diverse in their personalities as dogs are, but certainly the person who wants a quiet lap-cat isn’t going to be happy with an adventurous, always in motion go-kitty. And of course the person who wants a playful, engaged cat will find the lap-kitty too boring.

I’m glad shelters are trying to look at feline personality types to help people make a better match.

Completely unrelated: Check out the lattice mane braid (click the image to see it larger) done and photographed by the amazing Sarah K. Andrew, lead photographer for our Ultimate Horse Lover book. Sarah, you rock! (I also like this picture revealing the secret of the equine photographer: Who needs a tripod when you have a quad-pod?)

More completely unrelated, but way cool: Thanks to everyone who sent me this one:

When Yosuke the parrot flew out of his cage and got lost, he did exactly what he had been taught - recite his name and address to a stranger willing to help.

Police rescued the African grey parrot two weeks ago from a neighbor’s roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo. After spending a night at the station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for clues, local policeman Shinjiro Uemura said.

He kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet.

“I’m Mr. Yosuke Nakamura,” the bird told the veterinarian, according to Uemura. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs.

Not just “Yosuke Nakamura” but “Mr. Yosuke Nakamura”! Ha!

Alexandra Roumbas of the Dogs Trust in the the United Kingdom dropped me a note about a post on their blog, on case studies where dogs have helped people with a range of issues from Asperger’s Syndrome and depression to lack of confidence.

“Sometimes saving a life is different from classic image of pulling someone from a burning building,” she writes.

True, and here’s the link to that post.

Now, the really strange thing: I was drinking coffee from a Dogs Trust cup when I opened her e-mail, my first e-mail ever from anyone at Dogs Trust. Now, this is not like a mug from my local SPCA. I picked up the cup more than four years ago, at a booth (well, in England I believe it’s more properly called a “stall”) at the Crufts dog show in Birmingham, England.

I have lots and lots of cups. How strange to be drinking from that particular one at that particular moment! (Cup pictured below, with my dog Woody in the background — the real dog, not the metal one!)

I don’t have a problem with PETA advocating for animal rights, although I do not agree with their agenda which, if followed to its simple, logical conclusion, would mean the eventual end of all domestic animals, including pets.

This is America, after all, and you can advocate for any point of view you want. What I have long had a problem with is PETA jumping into every animal-related issue and neglecting to mention that agenda, which is, in PETA’s words, that “animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on or use for entertainment.”

That’s why, like Pet Connection BFF Dr. Patty Khuly, I have a problem with PETA demanding the reform of horse-racing, when in fact what they surely want is abolition. I felt the same way when PETA showed up in support for the Michael Vick dogs, even though PETA’s Ingrid Newkirk has written in favor of pit bull bans. Again, she’s entitled to her opinion, but her organization needs to be consistently open about these views in their outreach to animal lovers, especially the majority of us who don’t share them. This is even more important when fund-raising is involved.

As it stands, what PETA has put out regarding horse-racing is disingenuous.

On Dolittler, Dr. Khuly writes in response to a PETA e-mail (which she reproduces in her post):

1-How does sanctioning the jockey fit into this? Since Sunday when this news broke (sans e-mail), I’ve been marveling at PETA’s dumbfoudingly ridiculous jab at the jockey. What’s that all about? Almost all those jockeys whipped their horses. Why not call for a uniform suspension of all jockeys?

2-And the trainer? Show me one that bests Big Brown’s for his well-documented, disgusting, horse-doping behavior. After examining this guy’s pedigree, you’ll never convince me that Eight Belles’ trainer deserves a special sanction over all the other guys in his field—just because his horse was the one to go down.

3-And finally, am I really to believe that PETA seeks to reform the sport? If their approach to pets is any measure, it’s clear to me they’d love nothing better than to see the entire shebang shut down overnight and its animals summarily dispatched by a bevy of vets wielding pink juice.

But they don’t say so. Nope—they won’t. They’d rather have you believe their aims are to make the sport safer. Their target? The average animal lover who wants to believe they’re helping animals wherever they can…even if it takes sending PETA a few bucks to help make it happen.

Look, horse-racing has had years — decades, really — to work on its downward spiral, and it hasn’t. Let’s take it all the way back to the first time it lost lots of fans: The day Ruffian died. And then … Go For Wand in the Breeders Cup (worst catatrophic breakdown I’ve ever seen) … more fans gone, unable to stomach the carnage. Barbaro, of course, and now Eight Belles. Plus thousands and thousands of cheap claimers no one ever paid attention to, dying on the days when you could count track attendance in the hundreds, not the hundreds of thousands as on Derby Day.

Instead of reforming, American horse-racing chose to look the other way on rampant drug use that keeps horses who shouldn’t be running on the track. It chose to embrace and accelerate the “quick return on investment” trends by concentrating faster, more fragile breeding lines, and by pushing young horses to the breaking point, literally. It stuck to its BS traditions instead of actively seeking changes that would make the sport safer for horses and jockeys alike, such as moving away from fast, hard dirt tracks towards more racing on turf and synthetic tracks.

Instead of working to keep or even grow a base of fans, racing decided to double-down on a losing bet, chasing a smaller and smaller pool of dying off horse-racing gamblers (younger gamblers play online poker or go to casinos) and demanding of state legislatures that racetracks be allowed to put in slot machines to prop up the falling profits.

Much as I loathe PETA’s opportunistic concern for race horses — where were they the day before the Derby, when I was writing about these issues? — horse-racing brought this on itself. They had a chance to make changes after Barbaro, but they haven’t done much. (Especially with regard to drug use … nada.)

Horse-racing is not getting it even yet, but they’d damn well better, and soon.

Unlike PETA, Dr. Khuly and I truly are calling for reform, not secretly hoping for an end to horse-racing. You can start by refusing to watch any more Triple Crown races. And letting the tracks, the networks and the sponsors know why.

Newsweek Online has a good piece on the heated debate between those who see shelters killing instead of placing pets as lacking in community engagement and vision and those who see the killing as the only way to cope with the animals made homeless as a result of human irresponsibility:

[M]any animal lovers don’t realize is that PETA itself may have put down some of those unwanted [pets]. The organization has practiced euthanasia for years. Since 1998 PETA has killed more than 17,000 animals, nearly 85 percent of all those it has rescued. … Shelters around the country kill 4 million animals every year; by some estimates, more than 80 percent of them are healthy. In recent years those grim statistics have split the animal rights community. Ironically, PETA has emerged as a strong proponent of euthanasia. In defense of its policy PETA has insisted that euthanasia is a necessary evil in a world full of unwanted pets. But while the group has some well-known allies, including the Humane Society of the United States, a growing number of animal rights activists claim to have found a better, more humane way.

[...] Bonney Brown, executive director of the Nevada Humane Society, says that in 2007, the first year her group went “no-kill,” her shelters managed to save 90 percent of the 8,000 animals they took in. Among other strategies, the organization ramped up its volunteer force, from 30 to 1,700, expanded its hours so that people could come in after work and engaged in extensive media outreach.

Here’s the rest.

We drew from our e-newsletter subscriber list on April 1 for the winner of the first of our monthly prize drawings for a $1,000 retail value collection of goodies.

Premier Pet was the first company to step forward with a donation, putting together a $500 basket of the tools top trainers love for the winner, and another identical $500 basket for the local rescue group or shelter of the winner’s choice.

B.J. Hodge of South Lake Tahoe won the goodies. And the matching gift is going to Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue, per B.J.’s direction. This is a great organization! I’ve known many people who’ve adopted from them, and I’ve even fostered for them a couple of times . I couldn’t be happier to see a $500 gift basket heading their way. And B.J.’s, too. Congratulations to them both, and thanks to Premier for the donation!

Our next drawing is on May 1, and features a donation of $500’s worth of grooming products from the Oster company, plus a $500 Petsmart gift certificate. That $1,000 worth of the best for your pet, and all you have to do to be eligible is sign up for our FREE monthly e-newsletter.

What are you waiting for? Sign up!