Fleas Navidad

I finally finished putting together 

Orphan Animal Dream Team 2011

(and my Christmas Card)

Cheers!!!

Hit the YouTube icon to view larger

Thank You from Sue at theDogWorksCATS2 
for a another great year!
 

Village Lights 2010 in Historic German Village

Here's a sampling from Village Lights 2006 

 theDogWorksCATS2

( then Urban Axis... before we totally went to the dogs! ) 

So there's this kitty...

This guy one of the cool ones. He's not so sure about dogs, but I heard that one tried to attack him down the street before we hooked up, so he's hissy with them (I'd be, too!). I'm helping him gain his confidence with trusty Ginger the furry roommate and I think he will be fine once he has some good dog experiences. He seems pretty young... I'm guessing less than a year and he's just happy to have his belly full and a spot to cuddle the night away. 
I trimmed his tootsies with no problems. 
Wouldn't you love to give this great cat a good home?

Worse Than a Bad Breakup After a 10 Year Romance... or a Blessing in Disguise?

   Now that the dust has settled a bit and my total state of shock has lessened to a mild numbness, it's time to talk about the acquisition of Natura Pet Products, the makers of Innova, Evo, California Naturals, Healthwise and Mother Nature brands of pet food and treats... by Proctor and Freekin' Gamble. 

   Yep, if you haven't heard the news yet, it's sad but true. But the good news is that P&G has made an agreement not to change the high standards that Natura has set, at least not "for the foreseeable future." OK... and I'm supposed to BELIEVE what P&G says? Truth is... they probably won't change it in any way that you can determine from the packaging, ie ingredient panel, guaranteed analysis, etc. But it WILL change because small, Independent retailers have been the only folks allowed to sell this quality brand of products for a number of reasons...  mainly because Independents have more passion and principals regarding what they sell, and choose product for good reason: to set themselves apart from the mass marketers with no real knowledge of or passion for the products that they sell. I've heard quite a few Independents state that they too will no longer be carrying the line.

   Now, you may or may not know that P&G bought Iams and Eukaneuba a number of years ago and managed to ruin a decent brand in short order by cheapening the ingredients and cutting prices a bit and slamming them into every venue they could. "WOW!" says the grocery store shopper. "LOOK! Iams is now in my grocery store so it's now affordable AND convenient!" (hehehe) Gotcha!... grocery shopper. Slowly but surely the Independents began pulling the wool out of the eyes of grocery and big box shoppers and once those bright eyed pet owners started feeding a better quality food, they realized how they had been taken by slick advertising. I mean... P&G never made a commercial that said, "We compromised the quality of these fine brands to bring you an affordable food that you THINK is a good one."

   Well... now I personally think P&G is sorry that they ruined the good name of those brands and figures they have reached the point of no return regarding the damage they've already done, so they're ready to try again because they HAVE to have a bigger share hold of the ever growing holistic pet food segment. On the flip side... from what I've gathered, Natura's sales have flattened and I'm guessing that the plethora of "holistic" and "all natural" foods that have flooded the market in recent years has something to do with that.

   Can you tell me how I'm supposed to continue to sell and support a brand owned by a company that has been notorious for their horrific animal testing? Even if they maintain the quality of the food and no longer test their soaps and chemicals in the eyes of poor lab animals or surgically remove muscle segments to see how their food is performing for the dog, the history is there and they can't be trusted.

   So, even though I thought the world might end when I heard the news of the acquisition, eventually I came back to earth and decided that this might be my perfect opportunity to convert more pet owners to a more natural diet... specifically, a raw meat diet.
   I raised my foster kittens on raw and their health was stellar even though I got them at 3 weeks old and they never had an ounce of western medicine. They were really pleasant to have around because you could pet them without getting a handful of fur and their litter box didn't smell even though it was in the small, closed off kitty room, aka my bedroom.

   Many customers have already made the switch, or partially switched and are clearly seeing a difference in their animals. Skin & coat, grungy ears, energy level (up AND down), stool volume, teeth & gums and even disposition are all changed for the better on this biologically appropriate way of feeding, as nature intended. 

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I'll chat more later about this, but I have
to go help somebody clean litter boxes.

There's my glamorous life again!

 

yummy green beef tripe

stinkalicious

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OK! It's a new day and I'm ready to chat it up some more! You're quite excited, I can see.

   So about 5 years ago or so, I got a solicitation from the ASPCA for a donation. I wasn't sure if that donation would actually benefit animals in my area so I went to their website to do a little investigating and found IAMS ads plastered all over their home page. I found this rather curious since I knew that P&G had always been on PETA's naughty list for animal cruelty. So I went to PETA to see what was up with them and found a recent undercover investigation. More info here. Well, I didn't need to look any further and figured that the ASPCA was actually guilty of prostitution by taking P&G's money to advertise on their site. Needless to say, I didn't make that donation and continue to keep my donations local, for the most part.

   About a year later, I thought once again about the ASPCA site and went there to see if Iams was still their main sponser. To my surprise, there was a statement there regarding P&G's animal testing and the ASPCA said that they were "working with them" to get some of their policies changed. Hmmmmm... guess I wasn't the only one that took issue with this confusing partnership! So YEA PETA and everyone else that takes a stand for the animals!

Freezing Fun

What to do on your day off when there is yet another all day hammering of snow and one should be tending to inventory totals and tax preparation? Why... make mushroom barley soup, zesty cauli-mac & cheese and have fun with photos (trying to forget the laundry and cleaning part)! Thought I'd share a few of the photos, at least. Some are new... others, older.

This first one above is Ducks on Nearly Frozen Schiller Pond. Winter in German Village...

I used to sleep with this really laid back dude named Sebastian.

He had a great sense of humor and was very entertaining, although he snored a lot and could get a bit possessive when I paid attention to other boys. Sebastian broke my heart last summer when he moved to Vegas with his Mom. Who needs an insecure momma's boy, anyway?

My life as a pet sitter is so glamorous.

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Continued on Tuesday, February 17th FAT TUESDAY!

I decided that today would be a great SNOW DAY! This is about as good as it gets when making the decision to open the shop or not... and since enough other businesses seemed to feel the snow was severe enough to keep their doors shut, I had to agree! Yes, I could walk to work if I wanted to... but my ouchie back area doesn't enjoy slipping and ruts these days and we all know how well everyone clears their walks around here!

So how about some more pics?

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If I were a malamute I wouldn't have an excuse to take the day off. WOOF!
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I just got a jpeg of the poster I requested for Rascal Unit's Spay Day
so will include that here. It's fairly hard to read so go to www.RascalUnit.org
for more info. Great idea for a "cheap fix" if you know of someone who got a puppy that can't actually afford one. (did I say that?)

Better News For Pet Shop Puppies!

An encouraging message from Kim Townsend

PetShopPuppies.org

I'm just starting to put together numbers for the year and so far it paints a very ugly picture. (Pretty picture for the dogs, ugly for the dog industry.) Overall, the average pet store puppy price in 2009 was $887. That compares to $1019 in 2008, $1031 in 2007 (the all-time high). If the Industry was expecting Christmas sales to pull them out of the slump, they were grossly miscalculating the economy and the public's increasing knowledge of puppy mills and the pet store connection.

The average 2009 Christmas puppy (from Thanksgiving until Dec. 31st) was $936; in 2008, $973; in 2008 $1095. Volume was also EXTREMELY LOW, however many customers don't fill out a request for information until weeks, or even years, after they purchase the puppy, so we can't yet calculate the volume of 2009 holiday sales. The highest prices Christmas puppy I researched for 2009 was $1800. This compares to $3300 in 2008, and $4950 in 2007.

The dog industry itself has been quoted as saying that holiday puppy sales make up 50-60% of their entire year's profits for stores that sell puppies. We saw many pet stores close their doors in 2009, but suspected many were just trying to make up for their 2009 losses by trying to stay open until after the 2009 Christmas season. It will be interesting to see how many fold in the next month. It will also be interesting to see the deep after-Christmas discounts on pet store puppies.

More statistics will be coming in our Winter 2010 Newsletter. If you aren't yet subscribed, please go to www.petshoppuppies.org and follow the Newsletter link to subscribe. It is a very low volume list -- right now, quarterly, but it could be as many as 6 newsletters a year if there is a fund-raising need that comes up (don't anticipate one for this year).

Permission to cross-post this message is granted.

Kim Townsend

http://www.petshoppuppies.org