Remember a few months ago when I introduced you all to my sister’s newest kitten addition, Gracie Lou…?

(See post here: Gracie the Kitten)

Well Gracie is “all growed up” now almost…she’s gotten so big — and “gerthy.” We call her Chunk-Chunk because she’s a little bit of a wide load!

She is still the sweetest most playful thing ever, and is starting to purr and cuddle more. She lets the resident Basset Hounds chase her and play with her and baste her with kisses all the time. I wish she were mine (hint, hint sister…!)

This is Gracie the rescue pet as a baby, to refresh your memory:

Well this is the Chunk-Chunk now…she is so adorable and keeps getting cuter…with her green eyes and little white socks-on ankle-feet…:

As you can see she is quite big for a 6-8 month old kitty…we think she’s going to be a really big girl! She’s made herself right at home in my sister’s new house and has all her favorite spots marked for herself (like the windowsill above.) Her favorite time of day is dinnertime, and she loves to watch and spy on the birds and butterflies out the windows.

So speaking of adorable kitties – dont forget to enter the Cute Kitten and Cute Puppy Picture Contest going on right now at ThoughtsFurPaws! Pictures should be of “babies” anywhere from 8 weeks to 5 or 6 months old. I’ve already received some adorable entries and can’t wait to see what everyone else sends in so please Tweet and post to Facebook about the contest!! Thanks:)

So summer is here and it’s time for me to announce another photo contest! Hooray!

Feel free to enter up to three photos per email address, and submit to thoughtsfurpaws@gmail.com. Please put “Summer Contest” in the Subject Line.

For this contest, which runs from today through June 17th at 5 p.m., I want to see your cutest, most adorable puppy and kitten photos. There can only be one winner, but you never know… I usually have a weak spot and end up giving out second and third prizes too, not to mention honorable mentions.

The cool thing is that the contest prizes – which are some very cool pet products - is being sponsored by a cool new site I found that has a very different array of pet products. It’s called OrangeOnions.com. Ever heard of it? Well they have some really neat stuff that you wouldn’t really find anywhere else, so that’s where the prizes are coming from.

OrangeOnions.com was generous enough to provide our first place prize package: a $50 value, and it will be either cat or dog-themed, depending on what your photo is of.

Also, if you want to take advantage of OrangeOnion.com’s cool pet products right now, they are running a Pet Supply Sale through June 15, which is 20% off anything listed on the company’s pet supply page.  Use the coupon code: PET20.

So start sending those adorable kitten and puppy photos to me now; and spread the word about the contest on Twitter and Facebook, too! Good luck:)

** By the way, the winner will be announced on Friday, June 18th sometime before the end of the day EST. **

Okay, so this is definitely NOT my typical ThoughtsFurPaws fare, but this post is about a cause that I’ve backed since I took Environmental Politics in college in 2000. It’s about wildlife and an endangered species – two issues very close to my heart that I’ve been involved with for 10 years. And today, WE GOT A BIG WIN FOR AMERICA’S THREATENED POLAR BEARS!!

This news is from Defenders of Wildlife, one of  the most reputable organizations dedicated to protecting and preserving endangered species and their environments–including ours.

From their email to me:

I have some fantastic news about our threatened polar bears!

In the wake of the largest oil spill in U.S. history, President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today took an important step toward preventing the next offshore oil disaster – one that could jeapordize the survival of America’s already fragile polar bear population.

Around noon Eastern Time, the president announced a moratorium on deepwater offshore drilling in the Chukchi Sea – offering these majestic Arctic hunters a much-needed reprieve from Shell Oil’s dangerous drilling scheme in key polar bear habitat.

Over the last few weeks, caring Defenders supporters like you sent more than 118,000 messages to President Obama, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke (who oversees the National Marine Fisheries Service).

Today, your hard work paid off, as President Obama and Interior Secretary Salazar acknowledged the very serious threat that drilling activities pose to the sensitive ecosystems that sustain the Chukchi’s polar bears, bowhead whales and other wildlife.

Defenders’ senior marine policy advisor Richard Charter put it best in a statement to the press earlier today:

“President Obama and Interior Secretary Salazar should be commended for suspending Shell’s plans to drill in the Arctic Ocean this summer. The Arctic environment absolutely could not stand an oil spill like the one we’re now seeing in the Gulf of Mexico — any spill, in fact, would have devastating effects on Arctic wildlife, and it’s clear that we couldn’t clean it up.”

Please read our statement and learn more about this important victory for polar bears.

Today’s announcement by the Obama administration is a HUGE victory in our fight to prevent the next offshore oil disaster, but make no mistake: our fight is far from over.

Defenders of Wildlife will continue to push for a broader, more permanent ban on dangerous offshore drilling activities that threaten our wildlife. We will continue our on-the-ground work to save the lives of sea turtles and other wildlife threatened by the Gulf offshore oil disaster.

And we will keep fighting to ensure accountability in government agencies charged with overseeing drilling permits and hold BP accountable for the catastrophic ecological damage that their negligence has caused in the Gulf of Mexico and beyond.

There will be plenty of work to do to protect and restore our natural treasures in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. But, for the moment, please accept my sincere thanks for taking the time to make a difference for our polar bears.

For more information on the DOF fight to save the endangered polar bear, click here.

From the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals press release and some info from the group’s site:

The ASPCA® was horrified and saddened to read the Office of the Inspector General’s audit detailing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s lax and ineffective enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) against licensed large-scale dog breeders and brokers known as “puppy mills.” 

The report found that despite regular inspections, breeders are allowed to operate facilities where dogs live in inhumane conditions—kennels overflowing with pools of urine and feces, food laden with dead cockroaches, dogs infested with ticks, and unattended injuries such as a mutilated leg, among other atrocities—without penalty.  Unfortunately, we were not surprised. 

The ASPCA has been painfully aware of the cruel conditions to which dogs are regularly subjected at the hands of puppy mill operators who put profit above providing the most fundamental standards of care. 
 
We commend the Office of the Inspector General for its important audit and urge consumers to avoid purchasing dogs from pet stores—retail or online—and instead adopt from their local shelter or a breed rescue group, or buy from a responsible breeder.
 
For more information about puppy mills, please visit: http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/puppy-mills/

Here you’ll find all sorts of resources and information on puppy mill scams and cons, 10 Ways You Can Help Fight Puppy Mills, laws protecting dogs and consumers, and so much more.

In case you don’t know, a puppy mill is a large-scale commercial dog breeding operation where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs. Unlike responsible breeders, who place the utmost importance on producing the healthiest puppies possible, breeding at puppy mills is performed without consideration of genetic quality. This results in generations of dogs with unchecked hereditary defects.

Puppy mill puppies are typically sold to pet shops—usually through a broker, or middleman—and marketed as young as eight weeks of age. The lineage records of puppy mill dogs are often falsified.

For a list of common problems with puppy mill dogs, click here.

So is your dog bored of squeeky toys, rope pulleys, and balls? Does he play for 3 minutes then walk away uninterested? Perhaps it’s time to refresh his toy collection…

I have the perfect solution for you: the new interactive doggie games from The Company of Animals in the UK. These games will keep your pooch mesmerized for quite awhile, and make them exercise their brains/thinking skills and actions/motions all while learning something new at the same time.

As the UK’s leading specialist in dog behavior and training products, The Company of Animals  recently introduced three new interactive, reward-based games to its Nina Ottosson Collection.

The games are designed to keep pooches mentally active while reinforcing a special canine-human bond. The new additions—Dog Finder, Dog Twister and Dog Casino—work on the same principle as the original games—Dog Tornado, Dog Brick, Dog Magic and Dog Spinny—where the dog moves the parts around to reveal hidden treats. However, these new games are the most challenging in the collection.

Every Nina Ottosson game is suitable for dogs of all ages and sizes and comes with free training guides and DVDs.

We tried out the Dog Finder, and boy did Benson ever have fun with this one!! As the “runt” of his litter, Benny isn’t the smartest Golden you’ll ever meet  – except when it comes to anything to do with food or food preparation. (What he lacks in brains he makes up for with sweetness!) Anyhow, at first Benny just sniffed around all over the place, and got super-excited because he could smell his treats underneath the plastic bone-like shaped toppers. 

The dog’s task in this puzzle is to slide the bone to a wider area of the groove and then dislodge it (i.e. actually pick it up and remove it from the board) to access the hidden treat.

Dog Finder, pictured here at left, is a little more challenging than some of the games in the collection and takes practice to master. Treats are placed under the white plastic bone shells, which the dog must slide through a channel to be able to remove.

The ground-breaking Dog Finder, which retails for only $29.99, is definitely given an A+ from ThoughtsFurPaws for keeping our dog entertained and teaching him new skills and learning activities. Now when we pull the toy out of the closet, Ben can’t wait to get started on it!

You can purchase the Dog Finder and other Nina Ottosson Interactive games (such as the Dog Twister, Dog Casino, etc.) at The Company of Animals. (The easiest way to find the toys on the site is to type the name of the specific toy into the Search Bar I’ve found.)

I highly recommend the Nina Ottosson Interactive Game Collection to anydog — it would especially make a good pet lover’s gift! Your pooch will have so much fun, and will learn and use their memory at the same time. It’s genius!

Wags from Benson

**This product review was written after a sample game was sent for trial

House Bill 55:

- HB 55, known as the “Animal Cruelty and Pet Protection Bill” encourages judges to include pets in domestic-abuse protective orders. A protective order is a legal order issued by a court that requires one person to stop harming, stay away from and/or cease contact with another person or, in the case of HB 55, that person’s pets as well.

This critical bill also emphasizes the need to counsel convicted animal abusers and strengthens misdemeanor penalties for intentional torture of livestock and wildlife. The bill would help ensure that Ohio treats animal cruelty crimes seriously by making additional acts of torture to livestock and wildlife misdemeanors of the first degree (punishable by up to six months’ imprisonment and/or a $1,000 fine). This very modest increase goes a long way toward making Ohio a more humane state.

HB 55 just passed the House Criminal Justice Committee. However, the lengthy summer legislative recess is quickly approaching. Now is the time to ask House Speaker Budish to put HB 55 on the House floor for a vote!

Learn more about this important bill.

Ohioans for Humane Farms (trying to get on November ballot):

- Ohioans for Humane Farms is spearheading a new, citizen-backed ballot initiative to prevent some of the cruelest factory farming practices in Ohio. The measure will require the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board to adopt certain minimum standards that will:

* prevent animal cruelty

*improve health and food safety

*support family farms

*safeguard the environment throughout the state of Ohio

The ballot measure is backed by HSUS, Farm Sanctuary, the Consumer Federation of America, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Ohio SPCA, the Toledo Area Humane Society, the Geauga Humane Society, the Humane Society of Greater Dayton, Medina County SPCA, Mercy For Animals, and a quickly growing list of other reputable organizations.

With more than 600,000 signatures needed to get on the November ballot, the group desperately needs volunteers. While the opposition will have big agribusiness contributors, we’re relying on you—our supporters—to help us get there. Please sign-up above to join the campaign. Thanks for all your help to protect farm animals.

Endorse the campaign: join the growing number of Ohioans endorsing our campaign. Print out one of the following pdf forms and mail or fax it in to our HQ:

Business
Elected Official
Celebrity/Prominent Individual
Organization
Veterinary
Farm
Congregation/Religious Leader

Find the group on Facebook under “Ohioans for Humane Farms,” or, to find an event, click here.

Also, check out the HSUS article on this effort here.

House Bill 79:

Introduced last year by Rep. Barbara Sears of Sylvania, HB 79 will strike down breed bans, particularly those on our precious pit bulls. It would remove the longstanding BSL from state law. Late in 2009 the Bill moved to the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. This bill needs all the support it can get.

Image courtesy BADRAP blog

See this post for good information on this bill. Residents, please contact your state representative and let them know you support HB 79: http://www.house.state.oh.us/

The bill can be tracked here: http://lsc.state.oh.us/coderev/hou128.nsf/House%20Bill%20Number?SearchView&Query=HB%2079&start=1&count=10

Previous alert and more info on the bill: http://stopbsl.com/2009/03/18/ohio-hb-79-would-remove-bsl-from-state-law/

House Bill 70:

We all are familiar with this one – the Ohio Puppy Mill Bill. Sponsored by Rep. Gerberry it passed the House and is on its way to Senate. The “Puppy Mill Cruelty Bill” specifically prohibits cruel treatment of a companion animal by an owner of a kennel, including cruelty and depriving the animal of food, water or shelter, and makes it a felony of the fifth degree.

An Ohio Puppy Mill

This Bill is ALL OVER the Internet: simply Google “Ohio Puppy Mill Bill” and a huge list of pet blog posts and animal welfare site articles will pop up with additional information and updates, as well as opinion pieces and petitions. For Ohio Puppy Mill Bill articles on ThoughtsFurPaws, type the same thing into the Search Bar on the bottom right of this page.

**This is perhaps the most FAVORED of all of Ohio’s animal welfare legislation right now. If you haven’t already, sign the petition here please.

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There are a few other animal welfare issues up for debate in Ohio right now – most moving at a snail’s pace through the legislature. (What else is new?) Seems to me that most of Ohio’s designated Reps and Sens just don’t care enough about animals in general to put these Bills at the top of the priority list.

**For more information on Ohio Animal Welfare Legislation, visit the Humane Society Legislative Fund’s State Legislation Page, or click on the “Animal Welfare” Category tab to your right on this blog’s home page.

Franklin and Barney the rescue Bassets enjoy their nice new couch together.

Where do we humans sit?

Of course — on the floor!

Silly Basset Hounds…

I recently received samples of Holistic Select: Select Actives for both my dogs  (I split it between our dog and my sister’s Bassets) and my cat — historically picky eaters…all of them. So trying a holistic, healthy, natural recipe meal made me a little nervous at first.

Made with natural ingredients, including different sources of proteins, grains, fibers, fats and oils, and vitamins, Holistic Select isn’t just your ordinary healthy dog and cat food. It’s top-notch, the best of the best.

I am shocked, yet pleasantly surprised to reveal, that both my Golden Benson, the Basset Hounds AND my kitty Sasha LOVE the Holistic Select foods chosen for them! Sasha actually smelled the food through the bag on the floor after I received it and somehow managed to bite her way through it in the middle of the night and helped herself to a midnight snack! I woke up the next morning and found little teeth and tear marks on the side of the bag and little crumbs on the floor!!

For Sasha, I tried the Feline Select Actives Radiant Adult Health with Anchovy, Sardine, and Salmon Meals. It’s a premium fish meal blend for high digestibility, has 32% protein and 20% fat, naturally Omega 3 rich fish oil for shiny coat (which IS noticeable – especially with her long hair), and added taurine for eye and heart health. She chowed it down!! And getting Sasha to switch from her dry diet of Fancy Feast (which I know is SO bad and packed with fillers but she’s just so damn picky) was quite easy once she tried Holistic Select.

As for Benson (and the Bassets), we tried the Radiant Adult Health Anchovy, Sardine and Salmon Meal Recipe. It has 22% protein, 12% fat , a premium fish meal protein blend so it’s highly digestible, and naturally occuring Omega 3 rich menhaden fish oil for coat and skin health.

We actually started by mixing this food in with the boys’ regular food before fully switching them over and it worked like a charm.

This food is SO much healthier that what they were getting — and they were on PRESCRIPTION diet food. In my opinion, this just goes to show you that some of these holistic pet food companies and natural/organic food recipes are just as good as the ones you can pay an arm and a leg for at the vet…

I would highly recommend that you at least try a bag of Holistic Select for your dogs and cats – I bet they will love it. They will feel and act healthier, and you will notice the difference.

To learn more or become a member of the community, click here. To locate a store where you can find Holistic Select, click here.

Each year, 5 to 7 million dogs and cats enter the nation’s 5,000 shelters  — or are taken in by over 2,000 rescue groups. Some of these animals are lucky: they get adopted.

But 3 to 4 million dogs and cats are euthanized every year — most of them  loving animals who would make perfect companions, but lack one crucial thing: someone to adopt them.

The ASPCA is acutely aware of the myriad of problems that many community shelters face, including lack of space, staff and funds needed to house these animals, care for them and pay for their vet costs in order to get them adopted. It also recognizes that to be successful in their goals, these shelters need direct support from the communities in which they operate.

That’s why on April 8, 2010 (yes I’m a little late telling you), the ASPCA launched a new competitive grant aimed at helping shelters save more lives and elicit community involvement.

Save More Lives: ASPCA $100,000 Challenge will award a $100,000 grant to the shelter that saves the most animals’ lives during a three- month period in 2010, compared with the shelter’s same three-month period in 2009. The ASPCA will also award an additional $25,000 to the shelter that does the best job of getting its local community involved.

Bert Troughton, MSW, ASPCA VP of ProLearning, says, “We’re tapping the collective intelligence of shelters nationwide to bring forth the best programs and practices for saving more lives. To be competitive shelters must save at least 300 more lives within a three-month period (YOY) and increase their community’s direct involvement to help homeless animals.” She notes, “Above all, we want to help shelters raise public awareness about animal homelessness and how adopting from a shelter can make all the difference in the world.”

The ASPCA $100,000 Challenge is limited to 50 shelters, and will run during August, Sept, and Oct. Shelters must be non-profit organizations or government-controlled, and they must spay or neuter animals before adoption.

Ed Sayres, ASPCA President and CEO says, “Unique from our other grants that fund specific programs, the $100,000 Challenge is a competition to inspire creative solutions for increasing pet adoptions and improving return-to-owner rates.”

Shelters up for the grant include those from coast to coast, including those in: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. For information on the specific shelters selected in these states, click here.

For more information on the $100,000 Challenge, please visit www.aspcapro.org/challenge. For a media kit chock-full of information on how you can help your favorite shelter, and even more details, click here.

**Some of the info in this post was taken from the “ASPCA Action Spring 2010″ print mailer

Thanks to Mary O’Conner Shaver (Columbus Top Dogs) for this info. She is a vital part of this campaign and a HUGE arm of the animal welfare legislative movement in Ohio. Thanks Mary:)

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The next Ohio Dog Auction is scheduled to take place on May 22 (“Back to the Kennel”) and over 300 dogs are expected to be placed on the block. Now is the time to send a strong message to our state legislators that dog auctions are an embarrassment to Ohio and its humane minded citizens, and voters and taxpayers are committed to supporting a 2011 ballot initiative to ban these events from our community!

Results of The Daily Record’s Reader’s Poll: “Should dog auctions be allowed to operate?” – > http://www.the-daily-record.com/news/poll_forum/4810486

7% – Yes
92% – No
Total votes: 1,714

For a complete listing of media releases relating to our ballot initiative, please click here – > http://banohiodogauctions.com/Campaigns.html

MAY 22 PEACEFUL RALLY AGAINST THE OHIO DOG AUCTION!

Following the very successful region-wide rally at the Licking County Pound in Heath, Ohio – attended by 250 humane advocates – animal advocates are ready to stand united against the Ohio Dog Auction in Holmes County!

DATE:
Sat., May 22, 2010

TIME:
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

LOCATION:
Route 39 – Holmes County, OH (details of exact rally location will be mailed under separate cover)

Media coverage of the Ohio Dog Auctions and their relationship to puppy mills and pet homelessness has been extensive, and as with the rally in Heath, we are expecting over 200 humane advocates at this peaceful rally! Many of our protesting rescuers are committed to initiating humane reform at county pounds and shelters, and they are ready to assist the Coalition to Ban Ohio Dog Auctions in initiating positive change through their ballot campaign (Ohio Dog Auctions Act).

For details on the rally (as they become confirmed), please click here: http://banohiodogauctions.com/Events_02UZ.html

JUST 214 DAYS REMAINING UNTIL DECEMBER 1!

Puppy Mills Profit from Dog Auctions

As of May 1, a total of 12,653 signatures have been collected of the minimum 120,700 signatures required. 272 volunteer Petition Circulators have raised awareness of the Ohio Dog Auctions Act by helping to collect signatures from 72 counties!

Voters across the state are communicating with their fellow citizens and starting to gather a goal of a minimum of 120,700 signatures by December 1, 2010 to put the proposed law before the Legislature in January 2011.

Volunteer petitioners are needed to make this initiative a reality in Ohio —we have until December 1, 2010! We need everyone’s participation to make this vital effort a success!

·-Campaign Kits! Our campaign kit to help gather signatures contains a media release, an informational sheet on the top questions (with answers) everyone needs to know on Ohio dog auctions and an informational sheet on best strategies in helping to raise awareness and gather signatures from registered voters.

To download these and other informational materials, including a copy of the Initiative Petition (Ohio Dog Auctions Act), please click here:  http://banohiodogauctions.com/Campaigns.html

- Town Hall Meetings! Learn more about the Ohio Dog Auctions Act by participating in a Town Hall Meeting for your county!

For dates, times and locations (as they become confirmed), please click here – > http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbanohiodogauctions.com%2FEvents_02UZ.html&h=77490

- Signature Gatherings! With over 120,700 signatures needed for the Initiative Petition to be placed on the 2011 ballot, much help is needed from volunteers!

For dates, times and locations of upcoming Signature Gatherings (as they become confirmed), please click here: http://banohiodogauctions.com/Events_02UZ.html

SIGN THE CARE 2 PETITION LETTER TO THE HOLMES COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, BOARD OF DIRECTORS!

Get motivated and get involved! We need many voices to serve as a strong voice against the Ohio Dog Auctions! Sign the Care 2 Petition Letter which will be presented to the Holmes County Chamber of Commerce, Board of Directors on May 21. Our goal is 3,000 signatures!

To sign the Care 2 Petition Letter, please click here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/120/support-the-coalition-to-ban-ohio-dog-auctions

Thanks everyone for continuing to serve as a strong voice for the animals!

**Picture courtesy ColumbusTopDogs.com