And the best use of Twitter goes to…

/2 Comments/in /by

Twitter addicts cartoon

I am a haphazard user of Twitter. Part of the time, I’m using it for work, as a sort of announcement page for our company. Usually, it’s me talking about what the dog underneath my desk is doing (there’s a surprise), but I also use it to talk about new product launches, packaging changes and that sort of thing.

Personally, I use twitter as a re-feed for this blog, and to occasionally enter into a war of words with nit wits who engage in dog rescue, but still think Pit Bulls are scary man eating monsters (cough HoustonDog cough). I also seem to end up passing snarky comments back and forth with YesBiscuit, who keeps me up to date on American Health Care reform, as well as the life and times of antiquarian rock stars and their teenaged Russian girlfriends.

I have also spent time wondering just what the point of twitter is – I know it’s supposed to be about us interacting with each other, but 99% of the people who want me to read their tweets are companies just like the one I work for, who see twitter as a sort of promotional tool. That, or they want me to click a link to take their ‘free test’. Phishing scams sure do adapt quickly, don’t they?

That’s what makes the #garden project so freakin’ awesome. Started as an interactive art installation, it allows us to actually take part in a back and forth exchange with living beings who exist based on our actions (even if those living beings happen to be plants).

In the words of #garden project’s creator, Craig Fahner –

#garden is a piece that investigates the social media impulse. Several potted plants are set up in the exhibition space, rigged with electronic sensors and a water pump. Based on sensor data, the #garden will communicate its mood nightly via Twitter, a social media “microblogging” platform. Twitter users can give the #garden water by responding to its posts.

Over 50,000 Twitter messages are posted per hour. These messages may include political statements, eyewitness journalism, or mindless expressions of boredom — all on the same page. Cast-off thoughts of movie stars, and reminders from family members appear side by side. Twitter achieves this kind of democracy only by limiting its users: each post must be no longer than 140 characters. This limit of expression is the great equalizer.

#garden disrupts the limiting nature of social media by bringing it off of the screen. Interactions with the #garden, rather than being lost in a sea of fleeting transmissions, cause a physical response by contributing to a tangible community garden. Participants can communally support the garden, or via the impulsiveness of social media, drown and destroy it.

In simple terms, our actions grow the garden. We give it water, we give it light – all via twitter. In return, it gives us updates on its condition, and its needs.

To interact with #garden, please visit http://www.twitter.com/twtrgrdn, and type either “water” or “light” to keep it growing.

source – Spark

Owen Sound Animal Shelter Under Investigation

/6 Comments/in /by
Resident cat at Owen Sound Animal Shelter.

Resident cat at Owen Sound Animal Shelter.

Looks like my local shelter, the Owen Sound Animal Shelter, has been emulating the Toronto Humane Society – and not in a good way.

The Owen Sound Animal Shelter is an independent entity from Owen Sound Animal Services, just as Toronto Humane Society is completely unaffiliated with Toronto Animal Services. Like THS, Owen Sound Animal Shelter is a ‘no kill’ facility, stating that it euthanizes only the animals too ill or too aggressive to be placed for adoption.

Like THS, this (perhaps initially well meaning policy) has degraded into a distressing combination of too little veterinary treatment for some animals, combined with overly enthusiastic, poorly carried out euthanasia for others.

From the Owen Sound Sun Times –

Candice Ford says she is still troubled by the memory.

As she tried to comfort an obese, geriatric cat, an operator of the Owen Sound Animal Shelter struggled to euthanize the animal by repeatedly attempting to inject the killing agent T-61 into its heart, without sedation, the former shelter volunteer and employee said.

“He poked her more than once and this poor cat was obviously suffering. But he couldn’t find the heart and he kept trying and trying,” said Ford

The Owen Sound Animal Shelter has been under investigation since 2008, when former employees of the shelter started coming forward with complaints about the treatment of animals at the facility. Their litany of offenses committed at the shelter echo those we’ve been hearing about at the THS. In addition to misuse of veterinary euthanasia drugs, the former shelter workers also allege –

..that between 2005 and 2008 they witnessed:

• Stray or feral cats euthanized, without being registered in the shelter’s database.

• Cats and dogs euthanized for reasons other than aggression or illness, despite the “no-kill” policy.

• At least three dogs — an aggressive dog named Blondie, a Labrador-collie cross named Tripp and an elderly bulldog named Sumo — living in a cage for years, with little exercise.

• Cats with abscesses not treated by a veterinarian.

• Animals dying shortly after procedures not performed by a veterinarian, including a kitten that had maggots removed from its head, a pregnant cat that broke its leg and a dehydrated orange tabby that was force-fed fluids.

• A freezer full of euthanized animals emptied about twice each month by Gateway Cremation Services of Guelph.

• Animals sprayed with bleach and other cleaning agents while cages were cleaned.

Owen Sound Animal Shelter is also accused of gross mismanagement, including –

spending donated money inappropriately, posting pictures of euthanized animals as adopted and refusing to accept local animals while housing cats and dogs from Quebec and the United States.

I’ve been rather surprised at how many shelters are now seem to be doing that latter item – cherry picking cuter, ‘more adoptable’ animals from distant cities, rather than actually offering a service to the homeless pets in need in their immediate areas.

The Owen Sound Animal Shelter has been under investigation by the OSPCA, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Natural Resources, Owen Sound Police Services and City of Owen Sound. So far, no charges have been laid, but “The OSPCA and OMAFRA have six months from the receipt of a complaint to gather sufficient evidence to warrant laying charges.”

Read the full article here.

Another Stolen French Bulldog Comes Home!

/in , /by

There have been a rash of stories lately about stolen French Bulldogs. With increased popularity for our breed has come increased awareness of just how much they are worth. Now, thieves don’t just take your television – they take your Frenchie, too.

In Austin, sisters Leah and Cayah Haney had been searching for their French Bulldog, Banner, since he was stolen on November 22cnd. According to Austin police, the thieves took “laptop computers, flat screen televisions and Banner.”

On December 2cnd, an east Austin woman called to say that she’d found Banner roaming around Austin’s East Riverside area.

More about Banner’s theft and return here.

In Edmonton, Princess the Bulldog puppy was stolen in much the same way as Banner.

Thieves broke into the apartment of Damien Boisvert and his girlfriend on November 12th, and along with electronics and other valuables, they also stole Princess. For twelve days there was no word of her whereabouts, until the owner of a local Lacrosse team volunteered to put up a $10,000 reward for her return.

On November 24th, someone called the tip hotline that team owner Bruce Urban had set up, and announced that they’d found Princess wandering loose in a park. They were instructed to bring Princess to the local shelter, where she was identified as the missing puppy.

More about Princess’ return here, along with video.

Having a dog stolen is every pet owner’s ultimate nightmare, as I know firsthand.

Thames Valley Police has a good list of tips to help prevent dog theft, and to help in getting your lost or stolen dog back home as quickly as possible.

How to prevent dog theft

* Make sure that your dog wears a collar and identification (ID) tag when in a public place. Include your surname, telephone number, address and full postcode – if there’s room put ‘microchipped’ on the tag if your dog has a chip.
* Microchip your dog so that it is permanently identifiable should the collar and ID tag be removed.
* Do not leave your dog tied up outside a shop or unattended in a car.
* Keep all documentation relating to your dog in a safe place, and include clear photos of front and side profiles of your dog. Also make a note of any unusual markings.
* Make sure that your dog does not go out of your sight on walks. Vary your walk times and routes.
* Be cautious when you invite people into your home to view dogs or puppies for sale. Restrict the number of visitors and their access, and always have someone with you.
* Make sure that your dog is neutered as this will reduce the chances of theft for breeding.
* Make sure that your fencing is adequate and check it regularly for wear and tear. Keep your dog in view when it goes out into the garden.

Godspeed, Sammy

/6 Comments/in /by
I hope there are biscuits and fluffy beds in heaven

I hope there are biscuits and fluffy beds in heaven

He kept at true good humour’s mark
The social flow of pleasure’s tide:
He never made a brow look dark,
Nor caused a tear, but when he died.
~Thomas Love Peacock

I’m very sad to report that Sammy, the senior Pug I have been relentlessly trying to get adopted, has been put to sleep.

Charlotte Creeley, Sammy’s foster mom and a Pug Rescue volunteer (as well as the founder of FBRN and the French Bulldog Village), passed along this message about Sammy’s last day —

had my 13 year old blind Pug foster boy, Sammy, euthanized this evening. I held him while the vet injected him, I would like to think he was not afraid, was maybe even a little pleased by the attention. He had started struggling to urinate last night, only drops coming out, and then this morning, the same. I got home early this afternoon, and found him restless and still unable to pee more than a few drops, so I took him to my vet.

My vet was unable to insert even the smallest catheter, and figured it must be a bladder stone blocking his urethra. He took x-rays and found what he took to be the bladder stones. The only way to remove them would have been to cut his bladder open, and Sammy was just too old and too weak to put through that. On top of that, Pug rescue could not afford to put up the $1200-$1500 the surgery would have cost, especially for a little old blind Pug with no prospects.

He was here only since Saturday, 11/21/09. He really did not even have the chance to settle in as part of the family, and I am so sorry for that. It breaks my heart when a little old rescue dies. I just wish they could live forever…

I know that many of you on Twitter have been endlessly supportive of Sammy, re tweeting his story in hopes of finding him a home. Thanks for all of your help.

Senior dogs are the most heartbreaking of all the rescues, aren’t they? Little old dogs do best with lives of regimented scheduling. They like to know that they eat, sleep and pee at the same time every day, that their beds will always be in the same place, and that their favorite blanket will be placed just so on the couch.

Tearing them out of that world, into a strange place with strange people, has to be unbelievably hard and confusing. Add to that how few people seem to want them, leaving them languishing in foster homes, or, more usually, simply put down for lack of time and space.

But adopting or fostering a senior dog gives back so very, very much. You can be the kind, safe place that makes their final months or years easier. You can give them the security that they lost, or perhaps had never even known. You can do the ultimate kindness, and be there at the end, to offer a soft word of reassurance as they leave us for the other country we’ll all travel to some day.

Godspeed, Sammy – and God bless Charlotte, and everyone like her who makes space in their hearts for the little old dogs and cats that no one else wants.

And yet more puppies…

/in /by

I’m living vicariously through my friend Paula’s Bullmastiff puppies, since I can NOT wrap my head around having a litter of puppies that will be as large at eight weeks as my crew are fully grown.

Here’s video of Paula’s pups at 2 weeks and change. You can learn more about her dogs over on her website.