“Bless the beasts and the children.” As the Mail Tribune courts, social services and pets reporter, this song goes through my head a lot. Working these beats – and because of my former life as a vet assistant and stable manager – I know kids and animals are consistently put in harm’s way due to the poor decisions and actions of adults. But sometimes it’s [...]
I love dogs. All kinds of dogs. Big ones. Little ones. Long coats. Short coats. Purebred or Heinz 57 mutt. They’re all beloved bundles of unconditional love. But there is a special place in my heart for service dogs, and the folks who train them. I was searching for some information on a recent fundraiser for Dogs for the Deaf, when I stumbled [...]
You have to love a gig where your day involves a drive in the country to meet a 700-lb Yorkshire swine named Lisa. Monday’s visit to Sanctuary One’s latest rescued critter began with a 30-minute cruise through the beautiful Applegate Valley to the 55-acre Double Oak Farm. Upon arrival, photographer Bob Pennell and I were greeted by Sansa Collins, caretaker extraordinaire. We patted ponies and waded [...]
“It’s raining men! Hallelujah!” I know. I know. But the musical earworm is worth it. For, by all reports, a good time was had by all – and all for a good cause. Local bachelors recently agreed to participate in the “It’s Raining Men” auction - all proceeds to benefit Sanctuary One at Double Oak Farm in the Applegate. Sanctuary One states their trifold mission is [...]
Josephine County Animal Control got a reprieve in the form of a cash infusion into their starving budget. Good news for the animals in our neighboring county who now have a better shot at a new home. Inadequate funding had the shelter headed towards shortened hours of operation, less adoptions, and more deaths for the shelter inhabitants. But a [...]
News that Josephine County Animal Control may have to euthanize more dogs and cats is the tragic answer to a negative fiscal equation. Inadequate funding = shortened hours of operation = less adoptions = more animals euthanized. According to news reports, the shelter has been struggling to maintain services since the county removed it from the general fund in 2006, effectively cutting its $271,000 annual budget in half. Like Jackson [...]
Found a cracked egg in the gravel driveway at my riverside cottage this week. It was a big white sucker, dropped there by the duck who laid it – or a critter who’d tried to scavage it. Sometimes the young ducks haven’t caught on to nest-building or the responsibilities of motherhood. Many times I have witness a squat, drop [...]
In this week’s Southern Oregon Journal column, I wrote about the dangers – to humans and animals - of giving live chicks, ducklings and bunnies to the kiddos for Easter. I may have seemed kinda “preachy” in the column. But quite frankly, my dear, I don’t give a rat’s patootie. My hope is that an advisory column (and blog) on this topic becomes unnecessary before next [...]
The Oregon Attorney General’s office is warning scammers are working a free-puppy program. Sometimes the ad offers a free puppy. Sometimes it says a purebred dog needs a new home. The scam works like this: Although the dogs are “free,” the seller will ask to be wired money to ship the dogs safely. Some victims have [...]
Sorry to be so long away from the keyboard. I promise I wasn’t having any fun. Certainly not reclining on some sunny, sandy beach - holding an over-sized glass that contains too much fruit for the amount of alcohol. Nope. Not me. I’ve been home sick with the Dreaded Gungybungus going around the Rogue Valley for the past several weeks. My version of the particularly nasty respiratory buggy arrived atop some chemical irritant I inhaled [...]
