DogNblog

An LA Times story talks about the plethora of small dogs in a large metro area shelter, and a Canadian philanthropist rescuing them.  One can only hope….

Thanks to pop culture and the likes of celebrity nothings….we have too many pocket pets.

Say NO to puppy mills and the pet stores that support them.

This may explain the line item expense for pet food in the Billings City animal shelter ACTUAL expenses budget.  I could never understand the ACTUAL expense of pet food, when the shelter supervisor repeatedly stated they had no cost for pet food since they got significant donations from stores.

Then someone told me it was for the police dogs.  I wondered aloud why the PD dog food was part of the animal shelter budget.

Something tells me it wasn’t.

The city of  Billings, Parks and Recreation department, is still working toward the creation of fenced dog parks.  According to their January 2010 meeting minutes they’ve collected just over $17,000 in donations.  That’s great.  But.  It appears they are teaming with a local nonprofit to house those funds,  rather than solicit them directly.

Sigh. The city of Billings can’t seem to get it:  they can solicit funds directly.  It is a tax deductible donation to the donor when they donate to a governmental body.

Why can’t Billings have a Philanthropy department like San Diego does?  Then more city departments could benefit from donors, not just departments who attract special interests.

Here is a link to the city of San Diego Philanthropy Department’s FAQ page.

This is a short youtube video of a grateful dog. (Smart Lab too!)

It’s true, these dogs will sell like hotcakes. Hard to believe they aren’t from a puppy mill.  Click here to read today’s Gazette article.

I can’t find information on the organization, HOPE.  What is the article saying, is HOPE a new venture for HHP?  HOPE is a popular acronym used by animal rescues ( google it).

“They were brought to Billings by volunteers Rhonda Kuehn and Jason Rieker, who rescue dogs in Arizona. Kuehn and Rieker partnered with Help for Homeless Pets to launch Road to HOPE, or Helping Orphaned Pets Everywhere.”

Here is a cool pet store. The owner sells pets obtained from shelters…instead of puppy mills.  They are spayed or neutered, vaccinated, loved.

This is a great 2:31 minute video on Service Dogs.  This program is in Denver, CO.

According to the video, all of their dogs come from shelters.

Here is a little more information about this organization that was formed in 1987: (gotta love the transparency, btw!)

FSD Annual Report

2008 Form 990 for Freedom Service Dogs

This is worth looking at.  The vacuum worked with my kids.

A great poem, or prose, if you will, about, well, you could say it is about a boy and his dog.

Lucky dog.