Lost Dogs of Hurricane Katrina.
The forgotten victims of the horror of Katrina were the pets. Residents who were evacuated were not allowed to take their animals with them – in fact many were forced to leave their homes at gunpoint by the emergency services.
This 80-minute documentary by novice San Francisco film maker Geralyn Pezanoski reduced audiences to tears at the SXSW Film Festival last week. The film is titled “Mine”, and it describes how hundreds of pets were left at the scene of Hurricane Katrina. Many of their owners have dedicated their efforts since then to finding their lost loved ones. Deaths of the pets were inevitable, but the survivors were mostly picked up by animal rescue volunteers. Rehoming to new families has now ended in tug of love cases between the distraught Katrina victims and the new adopting families. Have the tissues ready as you watch this tearjerker and see how much the love of a dog means.
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If the Obamas do decide to adopt a Portuguese Water dog this spring, the new pet has an exciting life to look forward to. There will always be someone willing to walk him – if Malia and Sasha are busy doing their homework there are dozens of staff on hand who will be only too pleased to take the First Dog for a walk.  This breed appears to be favourite after advice from Ted Kennedy, who has two Portuguese Water Dogs of his own and he thinks they sould be well adapted to life in the Oval Office.  these are not a breed of dog likely to climb on the stereo cabinet or misbehave in other ways, so they can be trusted when disinguished visitors are in the building.

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and a lot of us are thinking about the cost of gifts and restaurant meals on the day.  Buy roses today and they will probably cost at least twice the normal price.  The same goes for a meal out tomorrow night. We have decided to stay in on Saturday and donate the money saved to one of my favourite dog charities, Rescue Remedies.  I feel much better for doing this, the dogs are having a hard time this winter and dog rescue organisations are being stretched to their limit. There are a lot of ways we can save money and give to a worthwhile cost – imagine if one-tenth of teh costs of Vegas vacations taken from Gatwick was donated to a good cause!!

If you would like to donate to the dogs, just click the link and your money will be sent immediately by a secure Paypal transaction.

Rescue Remedies is a small rescue charity run by volunteers who rehome dogs of all kinds, including purebreds, cross-breeds, special needs dogs or older dogs.

Rescue Remedies is based close to where we live,  in the South East of England. If you would like to help their vital work, click here to see the donation page.

At least we are not alone – I met a friend last week who had to prepare to take her pet to be euthanised the following day. There is no worse feeling that I have known. The build up to the day was unbearable, even though I knew he was suffering. The saying is true – “the pain of loss that is so much greater than the joy of possession”.

But I still hope to get another dog in future: when there are so many animals who need a loving home, how could I not adopt?

Part of the necessary euipment could include dehumidifiers for those little accidents .. there, I am tearful again!

I was very pleased today to read about the Animal Rescue Foundation in Chicago, which was set up by Tony LaRussa, Manager of a Baseball team over there.  The charity operates a “no-kill” policy which is especially valuable for older dogs who are homeless.  Kevin was nine years old when he was found straying in the street.  Many of our dog shelters would have put him down because older dogs are hard to rehome. Fortunately he was taken to the Mayhew Animal Home, which pledges to keep all healthy dogs alive and find them a new home.  If you are thinking of getting a dog please go to one of these shelters and give a dog a lovely home. It beats giving your money to a commercial breeder’s POS system.

I want to highlight the horrible advertising campaign by LOOT, the advertising network, called “Flog your Dog” with a photo of a bulldog. I saw this ad in the Evening Standard on 14 August and I was horrified that they could be so irresponsible. I have complained to the Advertising Standards Authority
because the ad promotes the sale of pets through the Loot’s newspaper publication and online ads. It finishes with the wording. “no animals were hurt during the making of this advert. We take animal welfare very seriously at Loot”. I find this ad. offensive and irresponsible, in the way it promotes the sale of a sentient animal as a commodity. I know it is not illegal to sell pets, but trading unwanted animals through classified ads is completely unregulated. It opens the way for puppy farms to make money out of dogs and for those involved in illegal dog fights to obtain animals that are used as bait in these sickening activities.

If you have time, please join me in complaining about these advertisements, which are putting dogs in danger. Anyone who finds they cannot keep their dog any more should take it to a registered animal shelter so that the pet can be rehomed with responsible owners who will care for him, not sold like a second hand car. I am really shocked that the people at Loot allowed this ad. to be published.