pet connection

It’s finally time to reveal the winners of my $70,000 shelter/rescue group giveaway, held as part of my BIG Bus Tour across America in celebration of the release of my book “Your Dog: The Owner’s Manual.” Are you ready?

The Grand Prize winner is Legacy Boxer Rescue, which serves the Dallas/Forth Worth area of Texas. They’ll receive $20,000 worth of prizes donated by our wonderful sponsors! The photo of some Legacy volunteers was taken in Dallas, when they all turned out for the last stop on the BIG Bus Tour to say hello! Congratulations to a great organization!

Winner of the Second Prize was Villalobos Rescue Center, a rescue, rehabilitation and placement facility for abused and abandoned pit bulls located in Canyon Country, Calif. They’ll receive $5,000 worth of donated prizes (with an extra wag of the tail from my own rescued pit bull mix, Gracie!).

The group with the third-highest number of votes, and winner of  the Third Prize, is Great Lakes Bengal Rescue, a non-profit Bengal cat rescue within the Great Lakes region serving Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. They maintain a network of over 25 foster homes, and will be receiving $4,000 worth of donated prizes. Great work, friends!

Winning the Fourth Prize is Blind Cat Rescue and Sanctuary, a North Carolina-based organization that provides a safety net for blind cats who are homeless. They will receive $3,000 worth of donated prizes, which we know will be put to great use!

Our Fifth Place winner is Detroit Dog Rescue, which saves abused, abandoned, injured and starving dogs off the streets of Detroit. They are in the process of fundraising to build a no-kill shelter in the city, and already let us know that whatever they win will be given to to members of the Detroit community as part of a “Free Dog Food Day” giveaway of their own. That’s something I’m proud to be part of!

Now for some more exciting news: Every single one of the rest of our 50 finalists will receive at least $1000 in donated prizes! I’ll post later this week about just how that was made possible, and thank the donors who came through for us.

I want to take this opportunity to thank our prize donors, everyone who nominated rescue groups and shelters in the contest — more than 13,000 of you! — as well as thank all the dedicated rescuers and shelter volunteers and workers who do so much for the cats and dogs every day!

I am proud and honored to be able to support you in any way possible, my friends!

Here are the rest of the finalists who will each receive at least $1000 in prizes, under the jump:

(more…)

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Hi. Remember me?

I’m not sure I do, after spending the last couple months on the road, the majority of them on a custom-wrapped 45-foot luxury bus previously used to haul rock stars and TV celebrities around the country. For six weeks I got up before dawn, dressed to meet people, put a nametag on me and a Doodie Pack nametag vest on McKenzie. Then I headed with Dr. Marty Becker to a TV studio, a veterinary meeting, a book-signing — and then hopped on the bus for long ride to the next city, up to eight hours away.

And I did this six days a week, promoting the new book, “Your Dog: The Owner’s Manual.”

I’m not sure how I managed it, but I did. And so did McKenzie, who spent the entire trip handling new experience with grace and style, from the dense urban core of downtown Philly to high-rise hotels to TV studios with robotic camera. She never set a foot wrong for two months, with the exception of the triple-take she gave a three-foot Kachina that was perched on a table  in the Albuquerque Courtyard By Marriott. And she charmed everyone from front-desk staff in hotels to news producers to pet-lovers on the street.

We got home yesterday after a three-day drive from the tour’s end in Dallas, and quite promptly ate a non-road food meal and fell into bed. This morning, life returns to normal.

But not quite, because of this:

Yes, that’s a tattoo. My first, but I think not my last. I’ve been wanting one for a decade, and over a three-day break in Portland while Dr. B was giving a speech in Toronto, I finally got one. And yes, that’s the Pet Connection logo from the website here, designed by Jay Gavron of Gotham Park Studios here in Sacramento. Crazy? Maybe, but so what? The heart-paw logo … it’s me! (The pic was taken a couple days after the engraving. It’s finishing its “dead-skin phase” now and will look rather scruffy for a few days yet.)

The other great things that happened: I met people. Lots of people. People whose names appear regularly in the comments here. And they were all pretty darn wonderful. Lots of fantastic new people, and lots of fantastic dogs.

Because of the lightning-fast pace of the trip, I didn’t see all that much of the 29 cities we blazed through. Just enough to make a list of the cities I can’t wait to visit again (Baltimore, Philly, Cleveland, Salt Lake City), the ones I’d consider moving to (Kansas City, Boise) had I not decided the city I will be moving to as soon as I can (Portland).

Back at home, the house seems quiet without Woody, but Teh Big Orange Kitteh looks even bigger and Bernadette the duck and her feathered entourage all look just fine. The garden is growing well thanks to my house-sitter, and I don’t have to leave home again for a few more days.

So … did you miss me?

***

While McKenzie was asking “Are we there yet?” all the way home from Barstow yesterday, her sister was competing in the Purine Incredible Dog Challenge. And once again, the amazing Ms. Sprinty rocked the agility world, finishing 2nd as the lone non-border collie on the podium. Congrats Sprint and T-Rod!

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It’s here: The BIG Bus Tour’s last stop. Dr. Marty Becker and his team rolled into Dallas last night after a great stop in Austin.

Today, Tuesday, June 7, Dr. Becker, Gina Spadafori and McKenzie the Dog will be at the PETCO at 5177 Eldorado Parkway in Frisco, Tex., to celebrate the release of “Your Dog: The Owner’s Manual: Hundreds of Secrets, Surprises, and Solutions for Raising a Happy, Healthy Dog” and spread the message that “Healthy Pets Visit Vets”!

Bring your dogs and join them from 12:30 to 2:00 PM. Come on down!

For those in the area, this morning at 8:35 AM, Dr. Becker will be on KDFW-FOX 4′s Good Day Dallas show, talking about pets and “Your Dog: The Owner’s Manual.”

We spoke to Dr. Becker by phone this evening, and asked how he felt as the tour came to a close.

“I kept expecting exhaustion to knock, but if it did, I was so exhilerated, I didn’t notice,” he said. “Let me tell you one story. A lot of people came to the appearances, bringing their dogs, telling me the stories about how much they love them and care for them. But there were also stories like this one.

“This dog hadn’t been eating, and then they started hand-feeding him, and now he wouldn’t eat anything. They weren’t sure what to do next. And I knew that dog had needed to see the veterinarian quite a while ago.

“These kind of stories just break my heart, knowing that if people headed for the veterinarian earlier, they’d save the pet a lot of suffering, and in most cases, save themselves money, too.

“That’s why I am so passionate about the message that ‘Healthy Pets Visit Vets,’ and that’s what kept me going.” He laughed. “That and knowing I’m going to be seeing my beautiful wife, Teresa, at the end of the tour!”

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In 2006, the Sanofi unit of Merial LLC hired Dr. Kari Blaho-Owens to be its global head of pharmacovigilance. She was charged with making sure that Sanofi followed standard practices for procedures and compliance.

There was a good reason she was hired. The FDA had started hearing complaints that HeartGard Plus was not proving as effective as advertised in preventing heartworm. Once she got to work, Dr. Blaho-Owens learned that not only were the allegations true, but that the company had known it since at least 2002 and hadn’t done anything to change the problem. They also hadn’t updated any of their public marketing materials or documentation to alert veterinarians (or end users, for that matter) that the medication wasn’t doing its job, as stipulated by FDA. From Consumer Affairs,

In 2005, the FDA instructed Merial to change its labeling and to stop claiming 100 percent effectiveness and, the suit says, the company agreed to do so but didn’t. In August 2006, the FDA warned Merial that it was in non-compliance.

The FDA repeatedly demanded changes in product labeling. When a class-action lawsuit was initiated in 2009, the company’s U.S. director of regulatory affairs allegedly directed Dr. Blaho-Owens to destroy key documentation. She refused. From Courthouse News:

She says she did not destroy the document, but reported the exchange to Merial’s legal counsel. She says that led Merial to retaliate by putting her on a “performance improvement plan, which cited a ‘lack of understanding of differences in levels of priorities’ between Dr. Blaho-Owens and management.”
She says she was fired after she filed a claim of retaliation with the Labor Department’s OSHA division.

Dr. Blaho-Owens is suing in federal court, asserting Merial “extortionately fired” her, and in so doing violated the whistleblower protection sections of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and is seeking damages. Thanks to Cathy B for the links.

Good dog! Bear is a huge (180 pounds) German Shepherd. He’s a service dog in Parker, County, Texas. His owner suffered a seizure and hit her head, which prompted Bear to go door to door (literally) to get help. From the Star-Telegram,

After being unable to awaken his owner, Bear went to a neighbor’s house and scratched on the door to try to get help, but no one was there, said Karen Kessler, Parker County animal control supervisor, who saw Bear going door-to-door.

Bear went to another neighbor’s house, but that home owner had replaced their fence and the new fence was too high for the dog to jump over, Zeisler said.

Kessler found the dog wandering around in the 100 block of East Cattail Lane in Millsap on Saturday while answering an unrelated call with a co-worker, Kessler said. Or perhaps Bear actually found Kessler.

“Bear just crawled up in my lap while I was sitting in the truck,” Kessler said. “One of his tags said ‘I am a service dog’ and another said ‘I am a seizure dog.’ When we found him we knew there was a problem because service dogs normally don’t leave their people.”

Bear had been adopted from a local shelter a year ago.

The rescue in Bastrop: Dr. Becker, Gina and McKenzie are in Austin, Tex. today on the next-to-last stop of the Big Bus Tour. That makes it a good time to give you the story about a huge rescue from nearby Bastrop County, courtesy of the Austin Humane Society. It’s a cautionary tale about hoarding. I’d caution you that the attached video is tissue-worthy. Thanks to Rori.

Bedbugs are no match for The Nose: There is such a thing as a “bedbug location canine,” and Susan Fox sent me the link to an SFGate article about thirty of them competing for certification in Philadelphia.

How do you lose that many? Los Angeles shelters are having a problem that I would think would be a matter of simple inventory tracking: they keep losing animals. In the course of one year, one shelter (in Lincoln Heights) has allegedly misplaced forty dogs, cats and other animals. Across the system, 64 animals went missing during the year. Brenda Barnette is the general manager of the Los Angeles animal services department, and she was willing to go on the record with the Los Angeles Times.

Although some animals could have been incorrectly listed as missing because of clerical errors, at least some have “wrongly disappeared,” Barnette said. Many of the missing animals were considered “highly adoptable” and officials are trying to determine if any were stolen and sold for a profit.

“They were the young ones, the cute ones,” Barnette said. “They were ones that would have been likely to have been sold or be a nice gift for someone.”

Except in this case, if they were, the authorities couldn’t tell you one way or another. Shelter fail. Thanks again to Susan for the tip.

RIP Edward Gardner: A very sad story from examiner.com:

Edward Gardner loved animals, said his best friend Jim Gollwitzer. He loved them so much that on Memorial Day he pulled his car over on an Illinois interstate and got out to protect a family of ducklings trying to cross. For that act of compassion, after a limousine ran into him, Gardner paid the ultimate price—his life.

Our condolences to Mr. Gardner’s family and loved ones.

Plump kittehs on sale. If you’re near Columbus, Ohio and you want to adopt  a cat, heavier ones are on sale. No really, I read it in boston.com.

And finally,

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

I always like to hear from readers, especially if you have tips, and links for interesting stories. Give me a shout in the comments, or better yet, send me an e-mail.

Photo credit: Heartgard image from ConsumerAffairs.com.

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It’s our excuse to use the word “penultimate” in a sentence: Austin, Tex., is the second to last stop on the BIG Bus Tour.

Dr. Marty Becker, Gina Spadafori and McKenzie the Dog will be at the PETCO at 19000 Limestone Commercial Drive in Pflugerville, today, Monday, June 6, to celebrate the release of “Your Dog: The Owner’s Manual: Hundreds of Secrets, Surprises, and Solutions for Raising a Happy, Healthy Dog.”

Bring your dogs and join them from 12:30 to 2:00 PM. Come on down!

For those in the area, this morning at 6:40 AM, Dr. Becker will be on KVUE’s ABC News Daybreak show, talking about pets and “Your Dog: The Owner’s Manual.”

The entire tour schedule is at DrMartyBecker.com. You can also follow Dr. Becker on Facebook and Twitter, and McKenzie on Facebook and Twitter.

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