Muttville Celebrates Its 2000 Senior Dog Saved!

Photo of  Varsha, a nine-years young cattle dog mix, courtesy of Muttville.org

We're pleased to trumpet the latest accomplishment of one of our favorite rescues: Muttville Senior Dog Rescue in San Francisco, California: they've just rescued their 2000 senior dog! And Varsha, pictured above, is that lucky rescue -doesn't she look ready to play?

Founder of Muttville, Sherri Franklin, whom we 've written about before, says that "Our success reaching this milestone shows that people do love senior dogs and can see just how special a senior dog can be...and with the help of Muttville's volunteers, foster families and donors, we will reach 3000 in no time." When you have time, check out their Senior Dog Wall of Fame, that proudly displays photos of all 2000 senior dogs the good folks at Muttville have saved since they opened in 2007. Kudos to Muttville!

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Sunday's "Living With Your Pet" Tips: Caring For Senior Pets

    Fabulous photo of me by John Clark of Clark Creative

O.K. we're a day late...but we thought these tips on caring for senior pets from the AAHA were worth the wait! We never cease to be amazed at the correlation between care for humans and care for our pets, for both preventative measures and disease treatment. And the usual suspects always crop up: proper nutrition/obesity, lack of exercise, pain management...

Speaking of senior dogs, we're happy to pass on this information about Muttville Senior Dog Rescue, started in 2007 in San Francisco. Since that time, it's saved the lives of over 1600 older canines and allowed them to live their golden years in loving homes. They even have a "Seniors for Seniors" program that waives adoption fees for those 62 and older (what a great idea). A hearty thank-you to Sherri Franklin and her innovative ideas that continue to save senior dogs!

         Here's Sherri and her special needs Bichon Frise, Rosie.

P.S. Stay tuned tomorrow for our second in a series of posts from our interview with Bill Berloni, Broadway dog trainer extraordinaire, and more behind the scene's antics with his "Sandy", the lovable canine star of Annie the Musical!

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Dogs, Coyotes and Humans: Can They Co-Exist?

Well, from our urban lair vantage point , we say a hearty, "Yes"! But apparently a few San Franciscans don't agree. This article in The New York Times from just a few days ago discusses the continuing controversy in that fair city about "how close is too close" for wildlife to co-exist with us domesticated animals.

Coyotes have started to appear in the city's vast number of parks, and sometimes into "expensive backyards" and this has caused a bit of an uproar in the city where so many hearts have been left behind. City officials have been proactive: cordoning off trails and even barricading a restroom in Golden Gate Park where coyote sightings have been reported: April through August is the pup-rearing season, and the coyotes are believed to be protecting their dens and newborns.

But in this city where dogs significantly outnumber children, dog owners don't always heed officials' warnings to keep their canine companions leashed, and that's when some of the trouble ensues. Although no coyote attacks on dogs have been documented this season, unsubstantiated reports are "raising the hysteria level", said the director of the city's Animal Care and Control.

Yikes! A Wiley Coyote Alert!  Photo courtesy of Ramin Rahimian for The New York Times

What we find most interesting about this controversy is the differing opinions on how to approach a workable solution. Some residents think it's "pretty cool" to see wild animals within the boundaries of a big city, others abide by the trap and remove theory of "coexistence".

What side do you come out on-or is there a solution that accommodates both? We'd love to know!

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San Francisco Disaster Relief-Pets Included!

      Photo of Kat Brown and friend, Deputy Director of San Francisco's Animal Care and Control, courtesy of The New York Times

We ran across this article in The New York Times from last month and thought it was worthy of discussion. We were heartened to learn that San Francisco has taken the lead among major cities preparing for potential emergencies - in San Francisco's case, earthquakes-to include pets in their disaster planning efforts. Here's the new mantra, at least in the Bay Area: "Take your pets with you " in the event disaster strikes!  According to this piece, "San Francisco's pet-centric approach to disasters represents the vanguard of a national trend in post-Katrina disaster response that takes pets into ever-greater account...Now Animal Care and Control has a role alongside other rescue agencies." In fact, the city has received $350,000 in federal funds over the last three years "to supplement local animal disaster preparedness."

We think this value being placed on pets is long overdue. After all, most of us feel like our pets are bonafide members of our family-and who wants to leave a family member behind during a disaster?
We applaud the city of San Francisco and others emulating this model of comprehensive disaster relief.

 How would you feel if your were forced to leave your pet(s) behind in the event of a disaster of some sort? Do you think federal funds should be allocated to municipalities for animal disaster relief? Let us know!

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A Pet Store And A City Shelter Collaborate On Pet Adoption

                                     Cute Kitties

And it's been a win-win-win situation since last fall, when San Francisco's Department of Animal Care and Control partnered with Pet Food Express, a pet food and supply chain that got it's start in San Francisco. The city and the for-profit company teamed up to help place abandoned cats by installing adoption centers in their stores. And now, said Rebecca Katz, head of the City's Animal Control Agency, "It's been incredible. We can barely keep it stocked with cats," In fact, Pet Food Express said that about 1000 cats and kittens have been adopted from their stores since last fall. Now, the company is expanding into harder to place (or less adoptable) cats. They recently brought in kittens with a neurological disorder, and within a few weeks, they were all adopted.

We know that companies and government or non-profit agencies frequently collaborate to spur pet adoption-we just need more communities to see the value in this collaboration-we sure do!

And speaking of helping shelter animals...please don't forget to join us tomorrow night for the "Warm Bellies Initiative" Twitter party-the fun starts at 7:00 pm EST. See the details here: www.boccibeefs.com/2012/03/warm-bellies-initiative-and-twitter.html. We'll look forward to chatting with you all there.

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Warm Bellies Initiative And Twitter Party!

Hey, have you all heard about the Warm Bellies Initiative? Well, keep reading...and you will.

P.L.A.Y (Pet Lifestyle And You), a hip company that sells beautifully designed, modern pet beds and accessories, and who naturally believes that "Every dog deserves a warm place to sleep", has partnered with The Petfinder Foundation for the Warm Bellies Initiative, a fun way to help pets in need: For every Artist or Original Collection pet bed purchased on their website or through a participating retailer, P.L.A.Y will donate a Special Edition Chill Pad to a shelter pup in need. What's great is that the Warm Bellies Initiative will run for at least a year, and has the potential to be ongoing!

To raise awareness for this special program (and to kick off National Pet Month-you thought April was just for spring showers, ha!), P.L.A.Y. (@PetPlaySF) is hosting a Twitter party on Tuesday, April 3rd, 7:00-8:00 pm EST. Use the hashtag: #WarmBellies to join in the fun. They'll have industry experts in adoption (Petfinder.com, of course), training, and doggie fashion on hand to answer your questions, and they'll be giving away cool prizes every ten minutes!

To register for the Twitter party and get the whole scoop, check out P.L.A.Y's Warm Bellies Inititaive information page. We're already registered and rarin' to go.

By the way, Andrea Arden, that star of a plethora of Animal Planet shows, will be at the Twitter party to answer all of your dog training questions. I'll bet you all remember that Parental Unit and I got to meet Ms. Arden at the very first BlogPaws here in Columbus, Ohio. Well, even if you don't remember, we're here to remind you!

Hope you all enjoy the pawty!

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Rising Dog Population in San Francisco Causes Spats

Photo of San Francisco dog walker courtesy of The New York Times

According to this New York Times article, tensions are rising in the Golden Gate city over... believe it or not, our canine friends. How could dogs cause a problem, we Fido lovers ask? It seems that the number of canines is greater than the number of children in San Francisco-but that's not what's causing the tiff. Rather, it seems to be the lack of regulations to help dog owners set boundaries for their canines' behavior, both indoors an out.

San Franciscans are notably protective of their scenic beauty, and proposals are in the works to restrict off-leash dog areas in their beloved Golden Gate National Recreation Area-national park land within the city boundaries-because our canine friends have been known to, ahem, "destroy" the natural habitats and species.

So, what do you think is a fair solution-in San Francisco and other city's around the world?  How do we strike the right balance among dogs and their owners, non-dog owners, and the natural and scenic areas that we all realize must be protected, but where canines and their human companions love to roam?

We'd love to hear what you think!

Important reminder: Speaking of roam, the deadline for entering our giveaway to win a copy of that amazing novel, Roam, by composer Alan Lazar, is fast approaching! Check out the review and details to enter here: www.boccibeefs.com/2011/12/roam-were-giving-away-one-copy-of-this.html. You have until Tuesday evening at 7:00 pm EST to get lucky. This is a book that will stay with you for a lifetime, so don't miss out on the chance to win a copy.

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