pet connection

It may be time to come together to save the animals in Miami, but what exactly is the community supposed to come together and do?

This morning the Miami Herald published an editorial exhorting local activists to “put down their signs” and unite to help the new shelter director do a better job for the animals of Miami-Dade.

Specifically, it urged them to abandon their current form of activism — organized protest — and instead work to implement and support spay/neuter programs, calling them “the only proven method to bring down the shelter population.”

To paraphrase Senator Daniel Moynihan, the Miami Herald, like all of us, is entitled to its own opinions — but not its own facts.

Spay/neuter programs, while essential, are not the “only proven method” of reducing shelter population.

Innovative return to owner programs — like those in Reno, Nev., and Calgary, Alberta — have been proven to bring down shelter population.

Foster care programs have been proven to bring down shelter population.

Aggressive, creative adoption programs have been proven to bring down shelter population.

Owner retention programs — support and assistance to pet-owners who are struggling to keep, feed or get vet care for their pets — have been proven to bring down shelter population.

Great community relations so you can have lots of rescue groups, volunteers, supporters and donors to help get pets rehabbed, treated and adopted have been proven to bring down shelter population.

Bringing in great people who know how to get community and local government support has been proven to bring down shelter population.

A good relationship with the media, in order to get the word out to the community about adoptions as well as spay/neuter and owner retention support, has been proven to bring down shelter population.

Putting the entire burden of improving shelter intake and shelter numbers on spay/neuter just creates a sense of helplessness in everyone currently working to save animals, from the local government to the shelter director to the local media to the volunteers, staff and rescue groups all the way out to the entire community.

That’s because spay/neuter is always “someday.” It does nothing to save the lives of animals already born, nor those in the shelter right now. This means people put all their effort and energy into something without any immediate reduction in the suffering and death of their community’s animals. It’s demoralizing.

All those other proven programs, on the other hand, create excitement. They give people a sense of purpose. They create immediate gratification, thus rewarding volunteers, activists, employees, fosterers and rescuers for their efforts — which typically causes people to try even harder.

The animals those programs save are also pretty glad about it.

It’s possible, Miami Herald, to ask your community to come together and get a job done without asserting as a proven truth something that isn’t so, and asking them to embrace a paradigm that is both ineffective and demoralizing.

By all means, beg them to keep your community’s low-cost spay/neuter program in place. But to say that’s the whole game? You are doing your community, its animals and the shelter staff and director a huge, huge disservice.

Bashir almost stopped my heart tonight.

After feeding the dogs tonight I began cleaning the kitchen — wiping down counters and putting dishes in the dishwasher. The news was on TV and I was thinking about tomorrow’s classes at Kindred Spirits. I was multi-tasking, as is normal.

But then something caught my attention. Nothing in particular; just something out of the ordinary. I looked towards the dogs and saw Bashir pawing at his mouth in a panic. He began running and I realized he was in trouble. I called him to me and even in his panic he came. I opened his mouth and saw he was already blue.

I pinned him between my knees as I opened his mouth and reached down his throat. Nothing. I reached under him, grabbed my hands under his upper belly, and lifted sharply. Pop! A chunk of meat came flying out.

He began gasping right away and while trying to gain his breath, reached towards the chunk of meat. Blasted dog. I’m trying to wrap my head around what just happened and he wants to re-eat the meat. I took it away.

Minutes later I realized my good dog almost died. He could have died right then and there. Oh, I couldn’t have handled that. No way; not now; not like that.

Although years ago I was a registered veterinary technician, that was a number of years ago. However, a few years ago we began offering the Red Cross Dog (and also the cat) first aid courses. All of Kindred Spirits’ trainers were the first class.

Today, tonight, I’m glad we did that. I probably would have remembered what to do anyway, but I’m glad I refreshed my skills because it had to have helped me remember what to do.

Bashir is fine. He never lost consciousness and began breathing again without assistance. He’s at my feet now as I write this. Thankfully.

Photo: My good dog, Bashir. By Liz Palika.

Embattled Memphis Animal Shelter administrator Matthew Pepper threw in the towel on August 9. The story broke this evening on WMC-TV; h/t to Ryan Clinton:

Pepper sent his letter of resignation to Director Janet Hooks on August 9.

Pepper was named to the position in February of 2010.  In the year since he took the job, the shelter has been plagued with problems, including employees charged with animal cruelty.

Blogger Shirley Thistlewaite at Yes Biscuit!, who has been covering problems at MAS relentlessly for more than a year now, had this to say:

He leaves in his wake a city pound in turmoil, with one ACO facing criminal charges on multiple counts of animal cruelty, daily webcam images which appear to show needless killing and abuse, and locks on the doors to the stray area where hundreds of dogs languish without hope.

I hope, with all my heart, that the annual slaughter of thousands of healthy, friendly Memphis pets ends here.

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This is your moment Memphis.  You have a choice.  Please, stop the abuse.  Stop the killing.

From your keyboard to Dog’s ears, Shirley.

Photo: Just one of thousands of heartbreaking images from the MAS webcam, as published on Yes Biscuit!

My dual career as an author and a practicing veterinarian provides me with a unique vantage point. Not only am I privy to the issues my veterinary colleagues are stewing about, but I also get lots of emails from readers candidly venting about their experiences as consumers of veterinary medicine. It’s rare that those on both sides of the exam room table are growling about the same issue, but these days that’s exactly what’s happening.

See if you can identify the elephant in the exam room based on the following quotes from recent correspondence with my readers:

• “Most of the decline in veterinary visits is primarily due to the bad economy. If you are barely scraping by, you are certainly not going to the vet for a very pricey annual exam, especially if your pet seems fine.”
• Eighty-nine percent of current veterinary school graduates have student debt. The average student loan debt of students graduating in 2010 from veterinary school was $133,873 (15% have debt in excess of $200,000) and the average starting salary was $48,674. (Veterinary Information Network News Service, January 4, 2011)
• “I’d love to take each of my cats in for dental cleaning on a regular basis, and I have two cats that desperately need attention now. For me, it’s a matter of costs. Vets continue to increase their charges. and there’s no break for multiple pets. Dental disease is a precursor for renal failure in cats and yet it’s so expensive for cleaning – yet alone extracting any teeth. Then blood work is usually advisable to be on the safe side. It’s a small fortune when you leave the vet’s office for one pet. Next you’ve got the cost associated with monthly flea control. You have to draw the line somewhere and hope for the best.”
• Fifty-four percent of cat owners and 47% of dog owners report that they would take their pet to the veterinary hospital more often if each visit were less expensive. (The Bayer Veterinary Care Usage Study 2011)

Have you identified the common thread amongst these comments and statistics? No doubt in my mind that the gripe du jour is the M word: money.

This post is not intended to create or perpetuate harsh judgments. Please understand when I say that not every veterinarian or every person who brings their pet to see the vet is thinking primarily about money. Clearly, however, money matters are on the minds of many, in fact more so than I’ve witnessed throughout my thirty-year career. Never before have I observed colleagues declare bankruptcy. Never before have I spent so much time in the exam room trying to help folks figure out how to do more with less.

My goal in presenting this information is to create some understanding about what’s going on in the minds of individuals on both sides of the exam room table. Blame this financial state of mind on the diseased economy, veterinary competition, or the expense of going to veterinary school. Whatever the cause, there is an awful lot of emotion tangled up in the financial aspects of providing and receiving veterinary health care these days.

What are your thoughts? Let’s talk about it and in doing so we will be able to kick that big ol’ elephant out of the exam room!

Merrick Pet Care is recalling some of their Doggie Wishbone dog treats due to possible contamination with salmonella.

August 8, 2011 – Merrick Pet Care, Inc. of Amarillo, Texas is recalling a single lot of its Doggie Wishbone pet treat (ITEM # 29050, UPC # 2280829050, Lot 11031 Best By 30 Jan 2013) because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.  Merrick Pet Care has made the decision to recall the Doggie Wishbone pet treats in the abundance of caution.  248 cases of this lot were manufactured and shipped to distributors in 10 states.  Those distributors have been notified.  Only one lot of Doggie Wishbone is affected by this recall.  No additional Merrick Pet Care products are involved in this recall. No other Merrick brand products are involved.

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Consumers who have purchased the Doggie Wishbone with the lot code 11031 are urged to return the unused portion to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-800-664-7387 M-F 8:00am – 5:00pm CST.

The recall notice is on the FDA website, but nothing on the Merrick website or their Twitter stream. If they’re wise (which I doubt) they’ll follow Purina’s lead and post a sponsored ad to let folks know about the recall. Transparency isn’t a hallmark of Merrick’s, but we can always hope.