Monthly Archives: November 2009
Cure for a Case of the Mondays
Submitted by Sarah V.
Traveling with Your Pet Just Got Easier
GoPetFriendly is a newly launched website that helps pet owners plan their travel and/or outings with their pets.
This site provide up-to-date pet policies of thousands of hotels, restaurants and parks. And consumers can use the site to trade stories about where they and their four-legged friends felt particularly welcome. They’ll also tell you which businesses accept cats and large dogs.
Do you like to travel with your pet? Will you use this site for your next outing?
Friday Cuteness Overload!
Submitted by Dina M.
This is Sky. She is 5 years old and is a Pet Harbor alumni. Sky adopted us about 3 months ago. She came from a shelter in Montgomery County and she is as sweet at pie. Such a love. All she wants to do is make everyone happy and she does just that. She loves to go on long hikes and loves the dog park. If we don’t go one day, she spends the day giving us dirty looks. Quite a social butterfly. Oh, and the stuffed husky is her baby. She bathes it everyday and treats it with such love 
Video: Kitty Loves a Man in Uniform
Check out this cute news article and related video captured by a Texas police officer’s dash-cam. He had pulled over an SUV for a traffic violation when a persistent kitten decided it wanted to say hello.
Police Chief Jeff Straub said Urban never mentioned the feline encounter until he became concerned that the cat might have been injured when they parted ways.
Straub said the video shows “incredible patience on the part of the officer.”
Do you think this police officer handled the situation well? Do you think he could/should have done things differently?
Cure for a Case of the Mondays
Submitted by Sarah V.
Friday Cuteness Overload!
Submitted by Cory R.
Kiki, Kai, Koby and Katie are taking Pet Harbor volunteer Cory R. for a walk
Kiki, age 10, and Koby, age 5, own Pet Harbor volunteer Tomoko K. Both Kiki and Koby are Pet Harbor alumni.
Kai, age 11.5, and Katie, age 8, own Pet Harbor volunteer Cory R. Kai was adopted from The Husky House and Katie was adopted from the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria.
Missing Bomb-Sniffing Pootch Found in Afghanistan
We all love happy endings, right? Well, take a look at this story: A bomb-sniffing Labrador in Afgahnistan went missing, but was found 14 MONTHS later!
Sabi was with a joint Australian-Afghan army patrol ambushed in restive Uruzgan province in September 2008, triggering a gunfight that wounded nine troops and earned one Australian soldier the country’s highest bravery medal.
But there was no sign of Sabi after the battle, and months of searching failed to find any sign of the retriever — until now.
Defense officials said Thursday that a U.S. soldier recovered Sabi at an isolated patrol base elsewhere in Uruzgan. Further details about the base were not given. [...]
Exactly where Sabi has been or what happened to her during the past 14 months will probably never be known, though her being in good condition when she was found indicated somebody had been looking after her, military spokesman Brig. Brian Dawson told reporters in Canberra.
See the entire story here.
Illinois Dog Breeder Charged with Animal Cruelty
Breeder Sheri Thompson has been charged with two felony counts of cruel treatment to animals and five misdemeanor counts of violation of owner’s duties and operating a kennel without a license. On Oct 16, two adult dogs, a Labrador Retriever and a pregnant Siberian Husky, and four Lab puppies – one deceased – were discovered at Thompson’s 10-acre property without adequate food, water or shelter.
According to the forfeiture petition by Lee County prosecutors:
“Two puppies were found in a wire metal cage that was propped off the ground by cement blocks. There was not any food or water in the cage. The third [living] puppy was found in a pull-trailer with two small holes on the door. There was not any food or water in the trailer. The Husky was in a metal fenced kennel and was pregnant. The kennel did not have a clean water supply nor appropriate bedding. The cage had feces throughout. The Husky gave birth to [seven] Husky puppies on October 31, 2009. The animals were seized by members of the Lee County Animal Control and the Lee County Sheriff’s Department.”
The dogs and puppies are all doing well in the care of the Lee County Animal Shelter.
It’s no surprise the article also mentions that Thomson previously pled guilty to two counts of animal cruelty and operating a kennel without a license in 2006 and was given a year’s probation.
“Several months later, the American Kennel Club suspended Thompson’s privileges for 10 years and imposed a $2,000 fine.
Nearly a decade before that, the AKC banned Thompson from breeding cocker spaniels and collies for 10 years after she refused to allow an inspection of her records and practices.”
Some Employers Offer Pet Health Insurance
The Washington Times reports that some employers are offering pet health insurance as a part of their employee benefits package. These companies are hoping to remain competitive and meet the demands of current and potential employees.
Many companies are afraid their best employees will leave when the economy recovers, but offering competitive benefit packages is one way to retain them, he said.
In fact, pet insurance is one of the three most requested voluntary employee benefits, according to a 2007 survey by Vsurance of Canton, Ohio.
Companies can help employees purchase the insurance at discounted rates by offering it as a voluntary benefit, which can generate “tremendous good will,” Mr. Lummis said.
Concerto Networks is one of those companies. The D.C. company, which provides information technology support to small businesses, makes an effort to appeal to “pet-loving employees” by offering pet insurance to its small staff and allowing them to bring their pets to work, owner John Videna said.
Other companies are slowly catching on. Just 3 percent of U.S. companies offer pet insurance as a benefit, according to a 2009 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management.
While it costs employers nothing to offer pet insurance to employees, many bosses simply don’t know about it. Others are afraid they will confuse employees if they load up their benefit packages with too many options, said Ken Stallings, sales director at Veterinary Pet Insurance of Brea, Calif.
“McDonald’s can’t have everything on their menu,” Mr. Stallings said. “You have to pick and choose what’s the best for your customers.”
Read the entire article here.
Does your employer offer pet health insurance? Would you like to see this benefit offered? Would it help persuade you to work for (or stay working for) a company if they offered this benefit?