The Harbor Master's Log

Siberian Husky Rescue in Virginia

Monthly Archives: January 2010

Pet Rescue Service Helps Veterans to Heal

David Sharpe, a former Air Force senior airman and Iraq war vet, started an animal rescue service called Pets2Vets.  It helps veterans find a homeless animal to adopt by way of local shelters.  Mr. Sharpe believes this service will not only help save hundreds of needy pets, but also help war veterans to heal.

Washington Animal Rescue League Executive Director Dr. Gary Weitzman said the
partnership with Pets2Vets was an ideal fit for his organization, which in the past
has worked with veterans at nearby Walter Reed on an individual basis. Pets can be
matched with vets up to two months before their discharge date and make weekly
visits with them; there also are volunteer opportunities to spend time with shelter
animals for soldiers who can’t yet be matched with pets of their own.

It’s a win-win situation for the shelter and the vets, Dr. Weitzman said: “We
provide them a healing environment, to continue their recovery, but they also help
our animals, many of which are recovering from traumas themselves.”

With the success of its pilot program, Pets2Vets plans to expand early next year to
additional shelters in the D.C. area and then across the country in partnership with
local veterans organizations.

Mr. Sharpe said his long-term goal is to extend the program to police, fire and
rescue workers, and victims of natural disasters and other traumas. While helping
the estimated 10 million to 12 million cases of PTSD in this country, he said,
“imagine saving the lives of that many dogs and cats.”

Of course, Mr. Sharpe would add that it’s not just the animals who are being saved.

“She saved me,” he said of Cheyenne.

To read the entire article, click here.

Dog Saves Unconscious Man

A 15-year-old dog is credited with saving an elderly man’s life after he led his owner to the 94-year-old’s unconscious body.

Police credit a 15-year-old German Shorthaired dog with saving the life of an elderly, unconscious man in Pine City. Brett Grinde said he took Effie out for their usual walk on Monday evening, but within a couple minutes she started pulling on the leash, wanting to go in a different direction.

Effie then took off running, leading Grinde to a neighbor’s house where a 94-year-old man was on face down on the driveway. The dog started licking the man’s face. Grinde called 911, then started CPR.

KARE-TV reported the eldery man, William Lepsch, regained consciousness and is in serious condition at North Memorial Medical Center.

Dogs Win in Pet Wars

According to a recent poll, people who love dogs greatly outnumber the people who love cats. In fact, the number is almost double.

Clearly, there are dog people and there are cat people. But it’s not much of a contest: 74 percent of people like dogs a lot, and only 41 percent like cats a lot.

Cats win the dislike vote handily, according to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll. Fifteen percent of the adults questioned said they disliked cats a lot while the number who said they disliked dogs a lot was just 2 percent.

To read the entire article, click here.

Personally, I’ve never of anything so ridiculous in my entire life.  I mean, who could possibly prefer a dog to a cat?

But seriously folks, what is your preference… Cats or dogs?  Why?

 

Dog Saves 11-Year-Old Boy From Cougar

Austin Forman, left, was saved from a cougar attack by his 18-month old golden retriever, Angel.

An 18-month old golden retriever, Angel, saved her 11-year-old owner, Austin Forman, from a cougar attack in his backyard.   Austin was outside collecting firewood when the cougar suddenly appeared.

When the cougar charged, Angel ran to protect the boy.

“She intercepted the cougar,” Forman said. “Austin came into the house very upset, and I had to get him to calm down so I could understand what he was saying. Finally he said ‘there’s a cougar eating Angel.’”

Angel and the cougar fought under the family’s deck, while Austin’s mother called 911 for help. A constable was in the area and able to make it to their home and kill the cougar quickly.

Forman said when her nephew pulled the cougar’s body off Angel, who at first appeared fatally injured, the dog sucked in a “big breath of air and then got up.” Ever the protector, Angel “walked to Austin, sniffed him to make sure he was alright, then sat down.” Despite receiving a few deep bites and scratches Angel’s prognosis is good.

To read the entire article, click here.

“Cat” Among Most Common First Words

In the UK, a national poll as conducted of the most common first words spoken by babies. 

The most common first word was ”dadda” or ”dada,’ cited by 15% of those questioned, compared to ”mamma” or ”mama” mentioned by 10% of parents.

Apart from variations on ”mum” and ”dad,’ the most common first word was ”cat,” listed by 2% of parents.

To read the entire article, click here.

Microchip Reunites Missing Cat & Owner Years Later

A Florida woman lost her cat 2 years ago during the holidays.  She never lost hope that she would one day be reunited with her Himalayan, Fluff.  And thanks to a microchip, this story has a very happy ending.

A supervisor at Hillsborough County Animal Services said a woman turned Fluff in recently, claiming she only had the cat for the last few weeks and was unable to care for the animal anymore.

Animal services supervisor Melvin Dean said a microchip implanted in Fluff provided information regarding the cat’s true owner and the long-awaited reunion between human and feline took place.

“I have been here for 17 years. This chip literally has brought dozens of pets and their owners back together. There have been a lot of happy reunions that I have seen,” Dean told WFTS.

To read the entire story, click here.

Top 10 Dog and Cat Names of 2009

The nation’s largest pet insurer has released a list of the top dog and cat names for 2009. 

For six years in a row, Max ruled the top spot. But in an upset that is sure to have dog owners talking, Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI), the nation’s oldest and largest provider of pet health insurance, has declared Bella the most popular dog name of 2009. VPI crunched the numbers on its more than 475,000 insured pets to determine this year’s most common names, and Bella beat out Max by more than 400 dogs. Fans of Max, however, can rest assured that for cats, that name is still top dog – er, top cat.

The top 3 dog names:  Bella, Max, Bailey.
The top 3 cat names:  Max, Chloe, Bella.

To see the complete list of top 10 dog and cat names, click here.

Starved, Neglected Huskies Rescued from Breeding Facility

Acting on a tip, animal control went to a sled-dog breeding facility in Colorado.  There they found approximately 100 starving huskies and husky-mixes.  Eight were already dead. 

Mary Steinbeiser, regional shelter manager, said that on a weight scale of zero to 10 with zero being dead and 10 being obese, these dogs were probably about a one.

“It looked like no one had been there to feed and water them for quite some time,” Steinbeiser said. “The conditions were horrible. They found empty dog food bags with bodies in them.”

The worst part is that this was not the first time animal control had been called to this facility.

Animal control officers said they had been called to the property before and records show that the owners were issued “notices of warning” by the state on cruelty to animal violations in 2004 and 2006.

To read the entire article, click here.