I’ve gotten quite a response to this month’s poll question about giving your dog Thanksgiving fixin’s. When asked what you give your dog for Thanksgiving dinner, 52% of you said just a little bit of turkey in his regular chow. Surprisingly, 29% said they give their dog turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and whatever else they want. So regarding that, I thought I should post this little tidbit from the ASPCA about Thanksgiving dinner and your pets. Thanks to the ASPCA newsletter for this article, just in time for the holidays.
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Friends, family and feasts—the main ingredients for holiday fun can actually result in distress for pets. Not only can too many table scraps set furry tummies a-rumble, but many animals get anxious at the change in household routine. Says the ASPCA’s Dr. Steven Hansen, Senior Vice President, Animal Health Services, which includes the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center in Urbana, IL, “As you begin to prepare for a festive season, remember to be wary of activities that can be potentially dangerous to pets.”

The following safety tips will help to ensure a safe and fulfilling Thanksgiving for you and your pets:

Talkin’ Turkey: Giving your pets a little nibble of turkey is okay, just be sure that it’s boneless and fully cooked. Raw or undercooked turkey may contain salmonella bacteria, and dogs can choke on bones, which splinter easily.

A Feast Fit for a Kong: While the humans are chowing down, give your cat and dog their own little feast. Stuff their usual dinner—with a few added bits of turkey, dribbles of gravy or vegetables like sweet potato and green beans—inside a Kong toy. They’ll be happily occupied trying to get their meal out, and way too busy to come begging for table scraps.


Sage Advice: This peppery herb makes stuffing taste delish, but sage also contains essential oils and resins that can cause pets to suffer stomach upset and possible depression of the central nervous system.

Battery Power: The holiday season means lots of cameras, radios and other battery-operated electronics. Please don’t leave batteries lying around. If swallowed, they can cause choking or obstruction; if punctured, the chemicals in alkaline batteries can cause burns to the mouth and esophagus.

To learn more, read our complete list of holiday safety tips and special Thanksgiving safety advice straight from our experts.

If you suspect your pet has ingested a harmful substance, on Thanksgiving or at any time, please call your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.

Have a safe Thanksgiving with your pets everyone!

Jaime, Theodore, Sasha, Benson and Gibson

Thanks to an American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) press release for this information:

There’s nothing better than gathering with friends and family for the holidays; eating, drinking, and putting up festive decorations. While enjoying this time of year, the ASPCA wants pet parents to be aware of potential hazards that certain goodies and decor can pose to our furry friends.

“Many of our winter habits and holiday traditions could pose a potential threat to our companion animals,” says Dr. Steven Hansen, a board-certified veterinary toxicologist and senior vice president of the ASPCA’s Animal Health Services, which includes the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center in Urbana, Ill. “As you begin to prepare for a pfestive season, remember to be wary of activities that can be potentially dangerous to pets.”

To keep pets happy and healthy during the holiday season, the ASPCA offers pet owners the following helpful hints:

-Avoid a sour stomach. ‘Tis the season for overeating, but remember to keep your pets on a normal diet. Any change of diet, even for one meal, can give your dog or cat severe indigestion and diarrhea. “Please don’t give pets holiday leftovers, and do keep them out of the garbage.” advises Dr. Louise Murray, director of medicine at the ASPCA’s Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital in NYC. Poultry bones can splinter and cause blockages, while greasy, spicy and fatty foods can cause stomach upset.

-Use caution with cocktails. If your plans include adult holiday beverages, be sure to place unattended alcoholic drinks where pets cannot reach them. If ingested, the animal could become very sick and weak and may go into a coma, possibly resulting in death from respiratory failure.

- Skip the sweets. Several popular holiday treats are toxic to pets. Candies containing the sweetener xylitol can be poisonous to dogs. Even small amounts of xylitol can cause a sudden drop in blood sugar, which leads to depression, lack of coordination, seizures and even liver failure in certain cases. “Chocolate, especially baker’s and dark chocolate, can also be potentially poisonous to animals, especially dogs,” advises Dr. Hansen. Symptoms of significant chocolate ingestion may include vomiting, diarrhea, hyperactivity and increased thirst and urination, as well as abnormal heart rate/rhythm and even seizures. Cats also love to play with candy wrappers, but ingesting aluminum foil or cellophanes can pose a choking hazard or cause intestinal blockage.

- Floral arrangements should be given forethought. Be careful with holiday floral arrangements and Christmas tree decorations. Lilies are commonly used this time of year and all varieties, including Tiger, Asian, Japanese Show, Stargazer and Casa Blanca can cause kidney failure in cats. In addition, common Yuletide plants such as mistletoe and holly berries can be potentially toxic to pets. Should a cat or dog eat mistletoe, they could possibly sugger gastrointestinal upset and in rare cases, cardiovascular problems. Holly can cause vomiting, diarrhea and lethargy if ingested.

- Cover the Christmas tree water. Christmas tree water may contain fertilizers which, if ingested, could cause stomach upset. Stagnant tree water can also act as a breeding ground for bacteria, and if ingested a pet could end up with abdominal discomfort, vomiting and diarrhea.

-Decorations can be dangerous. Consider decorating your tree with ornaments that are relatively less enticing to pets, such as dried non-toxic flowers, wood, fabric or pinecones. Traditional decorations such as ribbons or tinsel, if ingested, can become lodged in the intestines and cause intestinal obstruction. This is a very common problem, particularly with cats. Also take care to prevent your pets from having access to glass ornaments, wires and cords from holiday decorations. If chewed, such ornaments can damage your pet’s mouth from shards of glass or plastic, while a wire can deliver a potentially lethal electric shock.

- Careful with candles. Ensure any candle decorations are kept well out of your pets’ reach. Animals can easily knock over holiday candles and start a fire, and curious kittens are particularly at risk of getting burned by candle flames.

Please read the below update from Darrin and Josy at MyCutePetPics about the work the three of us have been doing to fight the gas chamber being built in Taylorsville, UT.

From MyCutePetPics: “We just wanted to make a few announcements and explain why we haven’t updated the blog in the last few days.  We have been so busy working with our good friend Jaime, from ThoughtFurPaws, plus many other animal organizations & animal activists.  We have been doing everything we can to stop a shelter in Utah from building a gas chamber to perform euthanasia on all their unwanted pets. This method, as you all know, is barbaric and considered to be cruel by every other animal organization and true animal lover.”

We have spoken with the mayor and one of their council members several times over the last few days, trying our best to put a stop to this.  Tomorrow we have two phone calls to make that will hopefully join all the animal organizations, activists and animal lovers that are involved in this fight.  We will keep you posted on the progress.  For everyone who has written to them to voice your opinion on the matter, we applaud you and thank you so very much.  In case anyone else wishes to help make a difference we will provide the mayors e-mail below as well as the council members’.  If you write an e-mail to one you can just copy and paste it to each one, if you wish.

The mayor Russ Wall seems to be a caring man who really wants whats best for these animals. The only problem is that the shelter’s director, Kelly Davis, is doing everything she can to prove her point, that using gas chambers as a form of euthanasia is painless and good for the pets. (**Kelly Davis has replied to our emails with canned responses, referring us to the city’s website for more information. Darrin, Josy and I have all argued every false claim she has made with facts from the AVMA, HSUS, ASPCA and many other animal organizations.  The problem is we are not there and she is doing everything she can to mislead the mayor and council members.)

Darrin and Josy go on to say that she or someone made the mayor witness 7 acts of euthanasia to prove her/their point. The huge problem is that that person did it by intentionally performing lethal injection euthanasia, against AVMA’s recommended methods. The shelter out there made the Mayor watch one gas chamber euthanasia that apparently went well and quickly.  Experts that Darrin and Josy spoke to (after they have seen all the facts and e-mails) all agreed that she or whomever was responsible may have used a very high dose of the gas to ensure no complications — which no shelter could afford to do all the time when nobody is watching.  Then the shelter performed 6 euthanasias by lethal injections and half or more of them by way of abdominal injections (which is a whole different beast).

What kind of fair argument is this shelter trying to prove by comparing one method with one example compared to 6 examples using the other method? What this shelter did to these poor dogs & cats on purpose to try and prove their point should be considered severe cruelty. They intentionally made those poor animals suffer more so they can continue to build a gas chamber.

Shelters worldwide are known to favor gas chambers because only one staff member is needed for this type of torture, compared to two employees needed for lethal injections. This is an outrage and we cannot allow them to get away with this!

This is the Mayor’s last statement to Darrin and Josy after he viewed what a shelter (we do not know which one at this time) wanted and ill intentionally caused him to see:

“Bottom line for me is that after two days of observation, and after reading much information (and disinformation), and after much discussion with the people who have to deal with this regularly, I believe that most euthanasia procedures could and perhaps should be done by lethal injection. But there are many times when that form of euthanasia causes much more stress on animals (and human handlers) than a 15-30 second procedure in a CO chamber. I know many people may disagree but I saw what I saw and pray to God that I never have to do see any form of euthanasia again.”

**So at least he agrees that lethal injection is the best way, but for God’s sake, this is about the animals being comfortable as they’re on their death beds, NOT the humans being stressed. C’mon. And he still gave way to the other side at the end of his statement by saying there are times when that form causes more stress. So I don’t consider him to be 100% convinced.**

Just for the record the AVMA states that some pets have been known to take as long as 14 minutes to pass away in the gas chamber.  On top of that it is also a known fact that some pets survive all that suffering and then must be put down by other methods.  Include all that, the added pain and risks to health staff and you have to wonder why any shelter that is supposed to love animals more than anyone, would want to partake in such cruelty.

Please voice your opinion on this shelter’s plan and this form of euthanasia.

To voice any strong oppositions and to tell the shelter’s Operations Director, Kelly Davis, how barbaric her plans are for planning on using this form of euthanasia, here is her contact info.

Kelly Davis
Operations Director, Animal Services
West Valley City
4063 South 7200 West
West Valley City, UT. 84044
(801) 963-3364 Office
(801) 252-7541 FAX
kdavis@wvc-ut.gov

To contact the mayor (who is a very nice man) directly to voice your opinion, here is his contact information.

Mayor Russ Wall - rwall@taylorsvilleut.gov  1-(801)963-5400

The nicest person we spoke to thus far is Councilman Corey Rushton, but the more opposition to this shelter’s plan, the better it is for those poor animals. Here is his info:

Council Member Corey Rushton - Corey.Rushton@wvc-ut.gov

Their local news station aired a story but I have to warn you - the images are disturbing.  If you still wish to watch the video, Click Here.

Thank you all so much and any help, suggestions or media contacts, would be greatly appreciated.

We have all heard of the famous Banfield, The Pet Hospital, right? Well I bet you haven’t heard about Banfield’s Season Of Suppers®,. “A Pet Food Drive For Pets In Need,” it aims to help more seniors and their pets fight hunger.

For a third year, Banfield hospitals across the nation have teamed up with the Meals on Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) for a national pet food drive. They are collecting pet food at their locations and donating it to their local MOWAA program to feed pets of senior citizens who receive meals.

Banfield, The Pet Hospital is a private veterinary practice with hospitals located in many communities across the country. Central to their mission is a commitment to providing quality, loving and wise care to pets and their owners.

From a Banfield press release, “We know that many seniors in our community are compromising their own nutrition by sharing their meals with their pets,” says Phil Shippers, director of the Visiting Nurse Meals On Wheels program of Rochester, N.Y.

“Awareness and action are key to preventing this from happening” says Shippers, who began a pet feeding program in September through partial funding from a $1,000 grant from the Season of Suppers campaign. “In the short period of time since we started a pet feeding program, we have seen great interest and support from not only our meal recipients but the greater community as well; we strongly believe this support will continue to grow and help us enhance the lives of seniors.”

Last year, Banfield’s Season of Suppers campaign raised more than $51,000 to help 50 senior meal programs start or augment pet feeding programs across the country, according to the press release.

“Since the first Season of Suppers campaign over 100 Meals On Wheels programs have started pet feeding programs, “says Enid Borden, President and CEO of MOWAA. “While companion pets are the direct beneficiaries of this campaign, homebound seniors are helped as well – and that’s MOWAA’s primary concern. Before the Season of Suppers campaign, many of these seniors lacked access to pet food and were sharing their own meals with their pets. Now, both seniors and their pets are getting proper nutrition. It’s a win-win.”

With Thanksgiving and Christmas rapidly approaching, this is the perfect time to get into the holiday spirit of giving, and help out some needy pets and people. Go to your local Banfield from now until December 31 to make your monetary or pet food donation to Season of Suppers. You can find your local Banfield here: http://www.banfield.net/hospital-locator.

My dogs have a new favorite treat: they’re called Omega Treats from Pet Botanics. Chewy little squares filled with chicken goodness, they’re actually a healthy treat and my dogs LOVE the taste of them. The low calorie treat comes in Chicken flavor layered with Cod Fish and Sweet Potatoes. In fact the first four ingredients are Chicken Liver, Sweet Potato, Cod, and Chicken! How can you get any healthier than that?

These treats are in the shape of a 1 inch rectangle and they are perfect for training and everyday treats. These treats contain Omega 3 & 6, fatty acids and antioxidants that help add shine to your dog’s coat. The Chicken, Cod and Sweet Potatos provide a balance of protein, vitamins, minerals, and potassium for added protein. The treats also come in other delicious doggy flavors: Salmon, Duck and Tuna.

A ThoughtsFurPaws reader sent me an email yesterday and I think the topic is worth bringing up here. When I saw the subject line my heart sank. It said: “West Valley City, Utah-Animal Shelter Gas Chamber.” Although I don’t live in Utah or anywhere near where this is occuring, I nonetheless would like to draw attention to this matter.

The reader writes, “I was unaware that the West Valley City Animal Shelter was going to have a gas chamber in their new facility to kill innocent animals. I am completely appalled about it and I think that you should be too. Animals are living and breathing just like you and me. I wouldn’t want someone to do that to me or any other living thing. It’s one thing to euthanize an animal with a shot. It’s another thing to put live animals in a chamber, close the door and turn on the gas and KILL THEM. Who would think of such a cruel way to kill an animal? Why would the Mayor allow this to happen? This is MURDER! This is CRUEL! This is WRONG! Please help do something about it before it’s too late and they take the lives of innocent animals.”

I must say that I agree with this reader. Although her statements are harsh and a little brutal, they are true. It IS cruel and it IS like murder. I shudder at the thought…

A further note in the email is from another concerned citizen reaching out to animal advocates. She says:

You may be aware that the new West Valley City Animal Shelter, currently under construction, will have a gas chamber for euthanasia. This is not a quick, painless or humane death for our animals that society has discarded.

Over 2,400 dogs and cats are euthanized at just this one shelter in a year. The Humane Society of the United States, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the American Humane Association, and the National Animal Control Association have all determined injection of sodium pentobarbital is the most humane, safest, least stressful and most professional means of euthanasia. Lethal injection is slightly less expensive than carbon monoxide gas chambers and does not entail the inherent human health hazards of the gas.

*We urge you to email, write or call all the elected officials in West Valley City and Taylorsville to register your objections to the installation of the euthanasia gas chamber at the new West Valley City Animal Shelter as soon as possible. Timing is critical. Once the gas lines are installed it will be too late for them to reconsider.

Contact information is listed at the bottom of this email. Your personalized message will be even more powerful. Please be respectful in your communications.

*The following dates are for council meetings at West Valley City and Taylorsville. Please mark these on your calendars and plan to attend. If you are a citizen of West Valley City or Taylorsville, we would appreciate you making a brief statement at the meetings. Please contact me for “talking points” or additional information.

*West Valley City – November 18 – 6:30 pm – City Council Chambers, West Valley City Hall, 3600 Constitution Boulevard, West Valley City. 801-963-3203

For more information, please contact Marylin Segall at 801-949-5991.

*Taylorsville – November 19 – 6:30 pm – 2600 West Taylorsville Boulevard, Taylorsville. 801-963-5400

On a personal note, I would like to say that I am currently working on a strongly worded letter to these folks on the City Council. Please contact me if you would like to cut and paste my letter and also send it with your name. Contact me at thoughtsfurpaws@gmail.com.

**Please cross-post this!**

As Halloween draws nearer, many of us are either ramping up kids for the big night, or getting ready to dress up and parade our pets around. The ASPCA is offering “trick-free” Halloween tips to help pet parents avoid potential hazards as they celebrate Halloween tomorrow.

According to the ASPCA:

“That parade of kids, adults—and yes, even pets—in funny outfits is due to arrive at your door, bringing all the sweet and scary joys of Halloween! But pet parents, as you carve the Jack-O-Lanterns and fill those bowls of candy, please be aware that your furry friends may stumble upon dangers you hadn’t thought of.

Warns Dr. Steven Hansen, board-certified veterinary toxicologist and senior vice president, ASPCA Animal Health Services, which includes the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center in Urbana, IL, “Many of our favorite Halloween traditions could pose a potential threat to our companion animals. As pet parents start to make plans for trick-or-treating or costumes, they should be aware of Halloween-related products and activities that can be potentially dangerous to pets.”

Here are some of the ways animal lovers can keep their pets safe this Hallow’s Eve:

1. Skip the sweets. Several popular Halloween treats are toxic to pets. Candies containing the artifical sweetener Xylitol can be poisonous to dogs. Even small amounts of xylitol can cause a sudden drop in blood sugar, which leads to depression, lack of coordination and seizures. “Chocolate, especially baker’s and dark chocolate can also be potentially poisonous to animals, especially dogs,” advises Dr. Hansen. Symptoms of significant chocolate ingestion may include vomiting, diarrhea, hyperactivity, and increased thirst, urination and heart rate, and even seizures.

2. Watch out for those wrappers. Cats especially love to play with candy wrappers, but ingesting aluminum foil or cellophane can cause intestinal blockage and induce vomiting.

3. Trick-or-treating is for kids, not pets. During trick-or-treating hours, it’s best to keep pets in a room away from your front door. “Halloween brings a flurry of activity with visitors constantly arriving at the door, and pets may escape the safety of their home. Be sure that your pet has identification tags should he/she accidentally get loose,” recommends Gail Buchwald, senior vice president of the ASPCA Pet Adoption Center in Manhattan. Make sure your pet is wearing a collar with tags and/or is microchipped.

4. Careful with costumes! If you dress us your pet for Halloween, make sure the costume does not limit his movement, hearing, sight, or ability to breathe or bark. Also check the costume for choking hazards. A smart alternative to dressing your pet from head-to-paw? A simple, festive Halloween bandana.

5. Decorations can be dangerous. Re-think putting candles in Jack-O-Lanterns. Pets can easily knock them over, and curious kittens are particularly at risk of getting burned by candle flames. Also take care to prevent your pets from having access to wires and cords from holiday decorations. If chewed, a wire can damage your pet’s mouth from shards of glass or plastic, or deliver a potentially lethal electrical shock.

*On a more personal note, if you have a black cat, be sure he/she is safely inside on Halloween night. You never know if some superstitous whacko will scoop your black cat up in the name of Halloween fowl play. My black cat got catnapped one Halloween when she was a baby and ever since then, it’s indoors for her all day and all night on Halloween.

I just found this very interesting post from Lisa Wogan over at the Bark Blog.

“If the obstacle to pet overpopulation is money–consider that challenge handled. Orthopedic surgeon, inventor, and 346th richest American Gary Michelson will give $25 million to the brainy someone who conjures a safe, one-time non-surgical means to sterilize male and female cats and dogs. And that’s not all.

Michelson’s non-profit Found Animals Foundation will provide an additional $50 million to support the research into plausible approaches. Michelson and others, including the Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs, believe an inexpensive, convenient alternative to traditional spay and neuter is the essential missing line of attack in the battle to save millions of dogs and cats from euthanasia every year.

My favorite line in the USA Today story on the program is when Michelson says, “No one will stop what they’re doing and turn their attention to this problem for $10 million. That’s not enough.”"

I think this is such an important news story, don’t you? Please cross-post as you see fit.

From MSNBC, regarding Menu Foods…

“A federal judge (last) Tuesday approved a $24 million settlement for owners of dogs and cats who were sickened or died after eating pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Noel Hillman clears the way for U.S. pet owners with claims to start receiving checks next year. A Canadian judge has scheduled a hearing for Nov. 3 to determine whether the settlement can also apply in that nation.

Under the deal, pet owners have until Nov. 24 to file claims.

The settlement is to compensate owners for many expenses, including: the cost of the food, medical and burial expenses for their animals, the value of the animals or the cost of replacement pets, checkups for animals who ate the food but did not get sick, replacing carpets ruined by sick pets, and time the owners took off work to seek treatment for their animals.

Sherrie R. Savett, a lead lawyer for plaintiffs in the case, has said she believes that more than 1,500 animals in the U.S. died after eating the food last year.

10,000-plus file claims
Lawyers said that so far, more than 10,000 people have filed claims. Of the claims analyzed so far, the average is nearly $1,500. But the lawyers say that average could drop when an administrator reviews the expenses to make sure they are reasonable.

If money is left over after all pet owners have been paid, it would go to animal-welfare charities. If the fund does not cover all the claims, pet owners would receive something less than 100 percent of their economic losses.

A few dozen pet owners formally objected to the settlement — some of them because they believe it should also compensate them for pain and suffering due to the loss of their pets. Some wrote letters to the judge describing their animals, who died after eating contaminated food, as best friends who should not be regarded as mere possessions.

But lawyers in the case say the law is not on the side of their deeply felt sentiments, and a hearing on the settlement Tuesday focused on more routine legal matters.

The case began in March 2007, when dogs and cats began mysteriously getting sick. It turned out that the common thread was pet food produced under nearly 200 labels — much of it by Streetsville, Ontario-based Menu Foods Income Fund.

Food tainted with melamine
Most of the food turned out to contain Chinese-made wheat gluten laced with melamine, an industrial chemical. Since then, the nitrogen-rich chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers have been found in a variety of food products in China. Authorities there have issued guidelines limiting acceptable levels of the chemical in food.

Hundreds of pet owners sued over the contamination. Just over a year after the pets began getting sick, lawyers for pet food manufacturers, stores that sold it, and pet owners had worked out the settlement, which would be in addition to about $8 million already paid by the companies to pet owners.

At Tuesday’s hearing, the judge also considered the issue of payment for the lawyers in the case. Fifty-five firms did work for plaintiffs. Savett told the judge that the lead firms alone had put in work worth more than $5 million.”

Read the full article

Great news (from the ASPCA website)…

“Trying to shed its reputation as “The Puppy Mill Capital of the East,” the Pennsylvania Legislature on Wednesday night passed HB 2525, a bill that will improve the lives of tens of thousands of dogs living in Pennsylvania’s puppy mills.

Introduced in May, HB 2525 doubles the cage space required for dogs in Pennsylvania’s commercial breeding facilities, prohibits wire flooring and the stacking of cages, mandates exercise and twice-yearly veterinary exams for all dogs, and requires that animals be humanely euthanized by licensed veterinarians.

The ASPCA has been working with the Governor’s Office and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture for over three years to increase enforcement and standards of care for dogs in the state’s commercial kennels. We lobbied for passage of HB 2525 by activating the Pennsylvania members of the ASPCA Advocacy Brigade and by spending much of the past several months in Harrisburg, the state capital, promoting the bill to legislators. Governor Ed Rendell signed HB 2525 into law the day after it was passed.”

The ASPCA website goes on to say this: “Although we are not pleased with some of the amendments that were added to the final bill…This legislation will have an enormously positive impact on the lives of tens of thousands of dogs in Pennsylvania’s puppy mills.”

The Humane Society of the United States also worked hard in getting this bill passed in PA. According to them, “Raids of puppy mills during the last few months – including one last week that is reputedly the largest in state history − have shown how critical this legislation is for the well-being of dogs in less-reputable kennels. Pennsylvania is considered one of the worst puppy mill states in the nation.”

This is a HUGE step towards accepting the reality of and existence of puppy mills, which so many local and state governments avoid touching. If PA can do it, so can Ohio, Missouri and other puppy mill-heavy states.

What do you think about this legislation? Do you think other states will follow suit? Do you think it’s enough to combat the problem of puppy mills?