Happy Saturday to everyone-and whadayasay we go hoppin’ right away?!
We’ll meet at the Old Elm Tree, chase some squirrels, and then visit everyones’ blogs together-how does that sound? And if Timmy is off at the spa getting a volcanic clay wrap, so be it! We’re chasing squirrels and blog hopping!
Photo by www.rachellaurenphotography.com
Here are just a few, easy-to-follow rules for joining this hop:
__ Use the Linky tool provided to sign up. Note: if your blog is not pet-related it will be removed from the list.
__Follow the three hosts at the top of the list (and while you’re at it, follow us-we’d appreciate it!)
__ Peruse these fabulous blogs and follow and comment as you desire.
Don’t forget to enter our “Timmy’s weekly disaster” contest next week. Here’s the initial write-up of the contest to get you started: boccibeefs.blogspot.com/2011/03/announcing-fun-contest.html.
And a hearty congrats to our Week 21 winner! We had a hard time choosing among all of the excellent (and hilarious) submissions-thanks! Just click on Timmy’s red text above and congratulate the winner yourself! Feel free to enter on our Facebook page-it’s easy and fun: www.facebook.com/pages/Boccis-Beefs/190090017696328.
This essay on animal cruelty was posted on the Huffington Post blog just yesterday by the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Cory Booker. Mayor Booker tends to be in the news frequently: he’s practically a cult figure what with the hip, innovative programs he’s helped implement to revive his ailing city (he was just on CNN’s Piers Morgan the other night with the co-founders of Twitter, discussing his use of social media to rally his constituents), his friendship with Oprah, blah, blah, blah.
Anyway, he obviously felt compelled to speak about the horrendous act of animal cruelty that occurred in his city just a few weeks ago. Many of you have probably heard about “Patrick, the St. Patrick’s Day Miracle Dog”, a Pit Bull mix who was found by a sanitation worker inside a trash bag, quite literally at death’s doorstep. If you’d like to read more about Patrick, and see pictures and video of Patrick’s road to recovery, check out Life With Dogs-they did a marvelous job with this story.
Mayor Booker’s essay discusses what Newark plans to do to help increase awareness, and thus help prevent animal abuse, including the building of a state-of-the-art animal shelter (now to be named “Patrick’s Place”) that will hopefully become a model for the rest of the country.
Enjoy the full article here: www.huffingtonpost.com/cory-booker/post_1903_b_845225.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=040611&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BlogEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief.
And take a look at this video in which Mayor Booker discusses this heinous crime and his City’s response.
We hope you enjoy the essay and the video…and will do what you can to spread awareness about animal cruelty. Check out Patrick’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/PatricksLawNow?ref=ts&sk=wall, and keep your paws crossed for his full recovery. “May the miracle that is Patrick inspire you to do great things.”
Many of us still operate under the old adage that all dogs age seven years for every one year that a human ages, but recently we’ve heard that this is now regarded as less than accurate, or “bunk”, as we like to say. So how do we try to estimate our pooch’s age to better access and treat potential health problems?
Photos courtesy of NY TImes and Reuters
This recent article from the New York TImes sheds some light on the matter, by summarizing new information from Web MD’s dog age calculation chart. For example, dogs mature at a faster rate than children during their first couple of years, so the first year of a dog’s life is probably equal to 15 human years, rather than seven. And as most of us already know, a dog’s size and breed also influence the rate at which a dog ages. Read the full article here: well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/calculating-the-real-age-of-your-dog/?scp=1&sq=dogs%20and%20cats&st=cse
Parental Unit just used that chart to calculate my “real” age and I’m still in my early thirties! I look raring to go, don’t I?
Photo of me by Rachel Lauren Photography
Even though this story is terribly tragic, it’s worth bucking up and reading the full article. It made the front page of today’s New York Times, and I’m sure it’s already made the rounds on the Internet.
You might recall that earlier this year, Parental Unit shared a Times story that featured the hero military dogs from Afghanistan that were able to return to the U.S. with the soldiers they had bonded with in war. Please revisit that post here: boccibeefs.blogspot.com/2010/09/four-legged-heroes-from-afghanistan.html
Well, there’s a tragic end to one of those hero dog’s story. Her name is Target, and she was happily living with one of the soldiers who had witnessed her bravery (Target unnerved a suicide bomber and saved the lives of 50 soldiers). That soldier, Sgt. Terry Young, is an army medic and helped treat several of the dogs and soldiers who were wounded in that aborted attack. Target received a hero’s welcome when she finally was transported to the U.S., and even appeared on the Oprah show.
Late last week, Target somehow escaped from her yard, but Sgt.Young managed to track her down at the local shelter. He paid the retrieval fee online, but mistakenly thought the shelter was closed for the weekend. When he arrived at the shelter on Monday, he received the horrifying news: just that morning a shelter worker had mistakenly euthanized his beloved Target.
Read the full article here: www.nytimes.com/2010/11/19/us/19dog.html?_r=1&ref=us
Now, we all know that this was a terrible mistake, but the real issue we must focus on is the millions of dogs and cats that are needlessly euthanized each year. Do allow us to get on our soapbox for a moment: we must band together to support spay and neuter campaigns, stop “shopping” for our pets at pet stores and with breeders that we can’t verify as reputable online (this will help dry up the puppy mill market), support as many shelter and rescue adoption campaigns that we possibly can, and finally, lend our singular support to no-kill rescues and shelters.
Apparently, Target has her own Facebook page, originally set up to chronicle her new life in the U.S., but Parental Unit is having trouble locating the link-we’ll pass it on to you all as soon as we locate it. Her Facebook page is now being used to help rally support for the “no-kill” movement. If any of you know the link to Target’s Facebook page, please pass it on to us!
As always, thanks for your support!
Hey, not that Parental Unit is over 50 or anything…hehehe. But we thought this article that appeared in the Huffington Post just a few days ago was very helpful. The woman who wrote this piece, Barbara Hannah Grufferman, has also written a book titled: The Best of Everything After 50: The Experts Guide to Style, Sex, Health, Money and More, so it seems that she’s done her research!
The article does a marvelous job of intertwining two issues that we’ve discussed here quite a bit: adopting dogs and making sure that your dog gets enough daily exercise for his or her breed. Grufferman also provides helpful tips for running with your dog, especially in warmer weather, along with a list of other reasons why dog ownership is good for you humans. A win-win situation, we say!
Enjoy the full article here: www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-hannah-grufferman/health-benefits-of-dogs_b_883684.html
Please stay tuned for tomorrow’s post that will offer a variety of opinions on how to keep your pooch safe and happy over this (noisy) holiday weekend.
Think these posts will act as earplugs?
The article does a marvelous job of intertwining two issues that we’ve discussed here quite a bit: adopting dogs and making sure that your dog gets enough daily exercise for his or her breed. Grufferman also provides helpful tips for running with your dog, especially in warmer weather, along with a list of other reasons why dog ownership is good for you humans. A win-win situation, we say!
Enjoy the full article here: www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-hannah-grufferman/health-benefits-of-dogs_b_883684.html
Please stay tuned for tomorrow’s post that will offer a variety of opinions on how to keep your pooch safe and happy over this (noisy) holiday weekend.
Think these posts will act as earplugs?
Photo of me by Rachel Lauren Photography
