Why does this cat look happy?

This is my cat Whisky dreaming about all the places he can now shit outside now that the cat portion of bylaw A300's been struck down.

I was just talking to my HRM Councillor - and it turns out that the cat portion of Bylaw A300 was defeated yesterday in a closed door session of City Council. In a Chronicle Herald newspaper article - it didn't mention that - but in a CBC online article - it did, sort of - so today I contacted my Councillor and had it confirmed - the cat portion of the bylaw is gone.

One note - all the other parts of A300 ARE set to go into effect on April 1st however, so all the shitty parts of A300 still need to be dealt with.

Here's the CBC article:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2008/02/27/cat-bylaw.html

Cats may get the last meow as the Halifax Regional council moved
Tuesday night to scratch new rules that would require their owners to
license them.

Councillors decided on Tuesday to delete all references to cats in a
new animal control bylaw that was to take effect in April.

The requirement for cat licences and provisions to deal with nuisance
felines were added to the bylaw in October after years of debate on
the issue.

And council reversed that decision Tuesday night behind closed doors
at an in-camera session held to discuss a proposed contract for new
animal shelters to house cats running afoul of the bylaw.

When councillors emerged from the private meeting, they had decided to
stay with the existing animal shelter and remove the cat provisions
from the bylaw.

After the decision, Mayor Peter Kelly would only say that cost had
been a factor in the decision.

Cats may get the last meow as the Halifax Regional council moved
Tuesday night to scratch new rules that would require their owners to
license them.

Councillors decided on Tuesday to delete all references to cats in a
new animal control bylaw that was to take effect in April.

The requirement for cat licences and provisions to deal with nuisance
felines were added to the bylaw in October after years of debate on
the issue.

And council reversed that decision Tuesday night behind closed doors
at an in-camera session held to discuss a proposed contract for new
animal shelters to house cats running afoul of the bylaw.

When councillors emerged from the private meeting, they had decided to
stay with the existing animal shelter and remove the cat provisions
from the bylaw.

After the decision, Mayor Peter Kelly would only say that cost had
been a factor in the decision.

"In that contract, we discussed dollars and, you know, the challenges
with dollars in terms of a budgetary allocation," Kelly said.

The cost of implementing the bylaw, including setting up a new
shelter, was estimated at $3.3 million.

The vote was 8-6 to scrap the bylaw, and Coun. David Hendsbee was left fuming.

He immediately asked council to reconsider the decision at next week's
meeting and suggested councillors might need help from the public to
sort it out.

"Perhaps it's time for this council to suspend further debate on this
issue and go to the people on a plebiscite. Let the public decide.
Should we have pet registration, yes or no? Should that include cats,
yes or no?" Hendsbee said.

Meanwhile, council will have to hold another public meeting before it
can change the animal control bylaw again. No date has been set.

A Good book and a funny cartoon

My Dad sent this cartoon to me - I thought it was hilarious. I'm not a cat person, and I've always demanded that I be the only sentient being in the house who has the ability to breed - but this cartoon is funny none-the-less.
One of my Dad's friend bought my this book - "On Being a Dog with a Bone by Peggy McColl - it is a great book! It's written by a Canadian, and it's like a self-help book on motivation and uses dogs as a metaphor. There's even a chapter on leashes - and it says:

"So, if your leash isn't long enough, know that you have choices. You can get a new leash - a longer one or an adjustable one. In other words, if an old belief is holding you back, get rid of it, extend it or get a different belief. Although the leash is limited in length, the length can be changed. And there's another option: Let go of the leash and run freely in the direction of your goals."

I've always been a passionate off-leash advocate - I wonder if that's why I've never really taken any stock in authority or "the man" - this book is making the 2 things correspond - so that's kind of neat. It's a good book

Dirty Dirty Politics

I had wanted a dog all my life. When I was a kid I knew all the dogs in my neighbourhood - I knew the daschund over on Charles Street was really nasty and tried to bite all the kids when we walked to school everyday, so I didn't fool with him - but I took the sheltie who lived behind us - named "Lassa" - for walks all the time. As an adult when I couldn't stand it any longer, my husband and I looked for an apartment that was dog friendly and moved JUST so that I could finally get a dog.


Our first dog was George - a name I'd been waiting to name my first dog my whole life. I wanted to call him George because of a Bugs Bunny cartoon - the one where Bugs Bunny goes up to the North Pole and he becomes a pet of the Abominable Snow man and the Abominable Snow Man says "I will love him, I will cuddle him, and I will call him George".

And so my first dog's name was George. And I fell madly, deeply in love with George - a beagle, shepherd mix who topped out at about 30 pounds. Tragically I only had her for about a year and a half because of a genetic defect we didn't know about. She had a quite long back - and one day when coming home from a walk at Point Pleasant Park and running up the steps she yelped out really loud - it turned out that a disc in her spine had popped out and then popped back in - damaging her spine, causing her to gradually become more and more paralyzed over the next 48 hours until there was nothing we could do even with the best veterinary care - Dr. Carnegy at the time. He said even if we took her to the PEI vet college there was only a 3% chance of survival.


So then we had Charlie and Leonard - and it was with them that I began my adventures on the internet - it started out as a web page called "Leonard and Charlie like to play" - and it was photos of them playing in various parts of the city - showcasing Halifax as a great place to own dogs in. Kind of silly, but kind of fun. Nothing much but one dog owner's amusing past time.

And then my marriage broke up and I was looking for something to take my mind off my misery and something to take Charlie's mind off the fact that his sister was missing from his life (Leonard) - and "Charlie loves Halifax" was born. A website dedicated to improving the quality of dogs' and their owners lives in Halifax and working toward a dog friendly Halifax - "Charlie loves Halifax and he wants it to be dog friendly!" It started in May of 2002 - and people have loved it. There's other sites sort of like it on the internet - but there's none that are completely not not for profit and run by just one person for the hell of it. That exist solely so that OTHER people can make money. And that's how I like it.


And then in 2004 I started writing this blog - "Me and my Dogs in Halifax, Nova Scotia" - a companion to the Charlie Loves Halifax site - separate from the website, but still part of it.

I consider myself nothing more than a dog owner who has access to too much technology. And I've always said - if you don't agree with what I say - start your own blog, or your own website. It's not rocket science.

I've had the blog since 2004, like I said - so in that almost 4 years now - I've blogged about just about everything and everyone - I've gone to just about every dog event that's happened in the HRM, taken photos of almost everyone, given money to just about every local animal charity, given every person a reason to have an opinion about me one way or the other.

But for some reason, I've always figured that I've been pretty much anonymous. That nobody cared about me or really read this blog. I've never been one to look at the usage statistics to see how many "hits" this blog gets - because that's not something I really care about. I've never thought my blog had any sway with anyone to change anybody's mind about topics of any concern.

But today I learned that my blog obviously must have a lot of power in some circles, that very important people must be reading it regularly, and that it must be affecting them very much. I am completely amazed. You have made me much more powerful than I actually am.

So much so that they want to affect the lives of innocent animals. They are trying to use dirty politics and bullying tactics to get me to change what I say on this very blog - a blog that is simply about me, my dogs, our daily adventures, and whatever else I feel like ranting about. Can you believe that?

I never realized that the things I typed out could have that much effect.

I know that 99.9% of you have no idea what I'm talking about at this point - but that doesn't matter - because if things get worse - maybe you will. Bullying is a terrible problem in today's society, and I've never been very good at putting up with it.

Suffice it to say that the love I have for my animals is boundless, and my belief that the things I say on my blog are always true - whether they are about my own animals and our daily adventures, or my observations about local dog culture. I will once again reiterate the saying I have at the top of my blog - I am unapoletic about the things I say here. I do it because I want to advance positive dog culture in the Halifax Regional Municipality, but nobody has any creative control over this blog except for me. Sorry.

I think that this blog and my website have proven that the home I've provided for them is one that is loving, happy, healthy, with the best interest of the animals in mind, and one in which I waited a long time and worked hard to be able to achieve. I don't imagine there's too many homes out there who are documented quite so intricately on the internet as well, either. Here's a little taste of what's been going on while I've been writing this blog post:

SPCA Membership Drive & An Early Easter

I got an email that the NS SPCA is having a new membership drive - and my membership is up for renewal, so I decided to take a drive out to Bedford and get my membership renewed in person


They have the membership forms available on line for you to print out - you can mail them in if you like - and the fees have gone up by $5 which isn't too bad I guess because of all the increased costs of things that have been going on lately - it's weird they're having a membership drive since I heard recently that "all memberships were under review" - but I guess that new memberships must be welcome, anyway!.
Luckily I was able to get mine renewed, so I'll be able to go to the Annual General Meeting in April - like a lot of people, I'm looking forward to that meeting.








On a completely different topic - my Dad is leaving for Florida for a month in a couple days - so he's not going to be home for Easter - so he bought me this Easter chocolate dog since he's not going to be home - isn't it cute? I thought it looked just like Jack.

It currently doesn't look anything like Jack though - because it now is missing his head! It's not going to make it to the end of the evening - let alone until Easter! I am a choco-holic.

Today's GPAC Doggie Expo!

Today me and Buttercup went to the GPAC Doggy Expo at the Halifax Forum - we went and pretended we were selling our dehydrated liver - but really we were there to go around and yak at everybody in the room and everyone who came by our table that we were sharing with one of our best friends - Maureen Tate - who sells the super yummy raw dog food - Urban Carnivore. This photo is of my friend - also called Maureen with her daughter Caitlin and their dogs Rudy and - shit, I'm having a mental fart on Caitlin's dogs name. I'll think of it and edit this part as soon as I think of it!!
This was Kathleen Duffy's booth - the new and very proud and happy owner of Tailwagrrr's K-9 Wellness Centre out on the Bedford Highway - the everything in one place store - a doggy daycare, dog boutique, groomer, doggy birthday party, doggy cafe - you name it, they're going to have it there! (and oh yeah - she's got my liver there too! haha!)
This is the very beautiful, and very patient - Nellie, the leonberger
And this is Seven - a deaf, and slightly blind australian shepherd who's owners Amy and Adina are completely in love with. Can you think of why they called him Seven? Because of the movie of the same name? Could it possibly be because they are so dog crazy that he is their SEVENTH dog? BINGO! And what a lovely family they have! At last year's doggie expo they brought 2 of their other dogs - and when I wrote up that event I took pictures of them there - you can read about it - here and see pictures as well!
These are the ladies from Three Dog Bakery - who have just opened up over in Dartmouth Crossing - I can can tell you that the stuff they were dipping and selling today - I was having a hard time not wanting to buy and eat for MYSELF! It looked that yummy! I don't think they are going to have any problems with their business. Their stuff is awesome.

This is the most beautiful Lisa and her beautiful, but in a different way - Oscar. Lisa also has Delta - who has appeared several times on this blog - she's an equally photogenic boxer. You can see her when I talked about an SPCA dog jog and when I talked about her and Daisy's love of toys.
The HRM's Animal Services had a booth set up so that people could come and get their city tags for dogs and cats today in preparation for the new A300 bylaw coming into effect April 1st - and the fee is only $10 as opposed to the $15 I know that I've had to pay in previous years - so I took my own dogs' collars over to see if I could renew my guys' tags for next year for the same $10 while I was getting a new registration for Jack - and luckily they let me do it for everyone - so for $40 I was able to do everyone, and I was glad for that. Now everyone's legal again until March 31st 2009. And all registered under such benevolent terms as "Lab mix" and "doberman mix" - not the deadly terms of "killer rottweiller" - like my neighbours like to call Charlie and Daisy - I mean, not that there's anything wrong with rottweillers - they are some of my best friends - but that name can get you killed in some places.
I finally got to meet a couple people that I've been corresponding with for a long time - and one of them was Charlotte Estabrooks from PEI - who is THE go to person for daschunds - she came all the way from PEI to set up a table for Dachshund Rescue of North America, and I thought that was really neat. Also in the photo was another person I was really happy to meet - Elsie - who Truro is SO lucky to have as their Animal Control person - and another fabulous person I met today - Paula!
This is Lynne who is the force behind the new Halifax magazine "Furry's Halifax" - I talked about this in another post when it first came out, and they're coming out with their second issue this week - I'm sure that this magazine is going to do great things for dog culture in the HRM - and meeting Lynne today assured me that her positive personality is going to do great things!

This is what Charlie was doing today.
And this is what Jack was doing today.


This is a couple photos of my friend Colleen's dog - Grendel - he's a breed of dog that's native to Canada - but the breed is of course escaping me at the moment, some kind of inuit something or other. I'm having a bad night for brain farts unfortunately....





Other links relevent to this post -

Doggie Expo from 2007: http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2007/02/responsible-pet-owners-in-hrm-love.html

Doggie Expo from 2006: http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2006/02/we-survived-our-first-show.html

Doggie Expo from 2005: http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2005/02/me-and-buttercup-went-to-doggie-trade.html

GPAC Dog Carnival in 2006: http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2006/08/gpac-dog-carnival-was-today.html

President's Choice has gone too far

I was out grocery shopping last night - and I put a dollop of soft dog food in with my "fit for human consumption" kibble so that to me it seems more palatable to the dogs - I'm sure the dogs would eat whatever I put in front of them because they hoover down anything that hits the floor except for fresh mushrooms and green peppers - and last night I saw on the shelf - "APPLE CRUMBLE: DOG DESSERT". A President's Choice brand product.

I could not believe my eyes. Can you believe it? First we have water for dogs. I couldn't believe that either. But now - DESSERT for DOGS? In addition to the kibble that costs me almost $100.00 per bag - I've got dessert available for them too? My dogs eat some of everything I eat - they eat their kibble - but they also eat table scraps, and I also cook for them - so if they are going to eat apple crumble - they are going to eat REAL apple crumble - NOT apple crumble for dogs. CAN YOU IMAGINE!!

Gail Benoit's Lawyer in the news today

There was a story in the Chronicle Herald today because Gail Benoit - Nova Scotia's most notorious purveyor of sick and dying puppies and dogs - lawyer said he wants all the current charges against Gail and her common law husband Dana Bailey dropped because the SPCA were abusing their power by charging his clients with animal cruelty.

Kelly very kindly already posted the article in a comment on a previous post to this blog at this link here - so I don't have to post the article again - but suffice it so say, I hope no judge takes his proposition for anything but the bullshit that it is - although it IS an interesting idea.

The idea is that the SPCA is trying to punish the Benoit's because the SPCA wants to control WHO is selling dogs and puppies in Nova Scotia - NOT that the Benoit's are selling sick and diseased puppies and dogs.

I would submit that IF the Benoit's were selling lovely, genetically sound healthy, parasite free, home raised mixed breed - or purebred puppies out of their home - the NS SPCA WOULDN'T have any problems with that - because there ARE a lot of people out there doing that - and the NS SPCA isn't attempting to seize their puppies and dogs. However - since at least 2001, from the research that I've personally done - Gail Benoit and Dana Bailey have been in the news and under prosecution for selling diseased and dying puppies and dogs.

It is only because the public doesn't have the tools and doesn't understand that they are buying their companion animals in a good way - that the Benoit's are allowed to continue peddling their damaged (and still barely alive) goods.

In 2001 - Gail Benoit and Dana Bailey were charged with animal cruelty for having emaciated and parasite infested dogs and puppies in their care left outside in the elements in the winter time - and were subsequently convicted of those charges in 2002 - they were banned from owning any animals for 5 years and fined several thousand dollars.

In 2003 however, because of negligent actions of the SPCA - the charges were thrown out by the court and the conviction was overturned and Gail Benoit got off scott free for torturing all the animals that she had up until that point - and she didn't have to pay one red cent.

In October 2003 there was an article in the Chronicle Herald entitled "Pet buyers beware: know your sellers; Dogs bought in recent weeks sick, flea-ridden, women say" - you can go to the Chronicle Herald Online and buy archived articles for $4 and read the article - it talks about a couple people who bought dogs from Gail Benoit that is eerily similar to many other newspaper articles that have come up over the years whenever Gail Benoit has been in the news - except this article is from OVER FOUR YEARS AGO. It seems that the public never learns.

The reason I am writing this all out is to give an online presence to this information - so that when someone types the name "Gail Benoit" into an internet search engine - hopefully this blog post will come up - and this information will be available to them - so that they can see some truth. And hopefully Gail Benoit's career will be shortened a little bit and a few puppies lives will be saved - they will go to someone else's home other than hers. We can only hope.

Other posts on this blog that relate to Gail Benoit:

Province's Most Notorious Puppy Miller/Stealer is Arrested

Gail Benoit - Puppy Miller - in court today

The newest employee of Dogkisser Creations!

This is a photo from this morning while my Dad and me were cutting up liver - getting ready for next weekend when we'll be selling liver at the GPAC doggy expo at the Halifax Forum - needless to say - Jack seems to be enjoying living in a house where the supply of dehydrated liver seems to be flowing freely!

Unconditional Love

Yesterday Lisa left a comment it's so strange Jack went unhomed for so long when he's behaving so beautifully in my home. Jack was adopted out and returned 3 times, then adopted out to a very bad place for quite a while, and then since he's been back in Halifax I was his second foster home - and I am loving having him here, and I think he should spend the rest of his life here because he is fitting in perfectly.
But I think it's got less to do with his perfect behaviour and more to do with what I think of as unconditional love. It was the same with Daisy - she was adopted out and returned to me 3 times before I adopted her myself. With Jack - the lady who had fostered him for a very long time has been waiting for a phone call from me saying that the "honeymoon phase has ended - and the real Jack has appeared!"

I'd say the real Jack has already appeared shortly after he arrived - he's bitten my Dad twice, me once on my hand, my feet about 3 or 4 times, he barks ALL the way through every meal looking for something from our plates, he's an incorrigible barker in the back yard, he definitely likes to get his own way all the time - but he's also a beautiful little dog who's soul is going to emerge at some point when he starts to feel safe here, and that is going to be something amazing to watch - and I will be honoured to have taken some part in that. I wrote a think called "why rescue dogs are better than pet store dogs" that explains a little bit about the transformation that happens when you bring a dog that's been through a tough time into your house - and I am looking forward to seeing that with Jack.

But back to the unconditional love thing - when I decided to bring him home - I decided that my love for him was going to be unconditional - so it didn't matter if there were going to be tough days - I knew that there were going to be some of those - but he is an alive little being who has good days and bad days, and he has a personality, and our different personality's just have to learn to mesh together - it's as simple as that.

I also have a training philosophy of "distraction, lowered expectations, and lots of liver" - which has seeemded to worke out so far.

Just as long as the dogs' personalities don't clash so much that they want to kill each other (which they don't!) - I think we're going to be a pretty happy famiily.

Toys are good for keeping Buttercup happy
And toys are good for keeping Charlie asleep

Jack goes to the Beauty Parlour at Tailwagrrrs

Today was a very busy day - this is sort of a double duty post, because Jack went and got his first hair cut - and we went to the newly opened K9 Wellness Center - Kathleen Tailwagrrs out on the Bedford Highway. Kathleen Duffy used to be the groomer at Metro Dog Wash, and she's opened her own fabulous new place - and it looks awesome.
This is the front of the store, which is across the street from Clearwater Lobsters - so it's pretty hard to miss - she's going to have adirondack chairs in the summerstime if you want to hang outside while your dog eats the delectable mutt muffins you've just bought for him while you have some water or free coffee that they'll have available - because part of the business is a K9 Cafe and Doggy bakery. Won't that be neat?
This is her main store area - she's of course got a doggy bakery because she's the smart person behind mutt muffins and doggy birthday cakes - so she's also going to be offering "birthday Pawties and other functions" at her store. She's also going to have a doggy day care which is set up at the back of the building - with a separate area for small doggies and bigger dogs.
This is another photo of the boutique - and so is the below photo -
This seating area looks out onto the cafe area - another thing that the store will be offering is a self serve dog wash - on the weekends - and if you adopt a dog from a local rescue like the SPCA or Bide-a-wile or ARC - your first self-serve dog wash is FREE! Isn't that super!
These were 2 of the resident doggy day care customers there today - they seemed to be pretty happy to be there! Lots going on!


So now we get to Jack's haircut photos - the transformation was beautiful - I'll just let the photos tell the story....






Didn't he turn out beautifully? He's such a handsome boy now!
You put him in a room of dogs and he just looks like a normal little llasa apso! Yea!
These are some shots from the bed tonight - he loves love, that's for sure...

Daisy is looking like she's been caught in the act of something....
This is one of Jack's tricks we've discovered - he'll stand up looking for treats. It's pretty cute!
So this is out on our walk tonight - I've bought him a matching leash to Buttercup's and made a matching end - and I put a COAT on him. #1 - I don't think he's ever had a coat on before because he kept shaking - like as if he had water on him, shaking. And he also wouldn't move. I think he hasn't felt bare ground in so long because he had so much hair on his body that he was all freaked out - because he absolutely did NOT want to be outside! Our walk last about 10 minutes. And he pulled us all home. Jack is one FUNNY dog! And I also had to remove his coat about 1/2 way through our 10 minute walk! So much for having a second frou frou dog! Probably the pearl necklaces are out too!

Jack goes to the Vet

Today Jack went to the vet - he wasn't too happy about it - he's pretty much blind - but one of his eyes is completely sunken in and his third eyelid has swollen up, and I was a bit worried about it - so we went to the vet out in Tantallon - Westwood Hills Vet Clinic - which is where Animal Rescue Coalition gets their vet work done, and we had some stuff done.
I learned first of all that Jack has a condition called "keratoconjunctivitis sicca" which went untreated for way too long, so it's afffected his sight in a very negative way - but he still does have some sight in his right eye. I got some drops so that we can maintain what he does have in that eye - which is a good thing.
The vet tech also cleaned is ears, gave him a microchip so he never gets lost again, shaved off all the horrible mats that were on his body, and cut his nails. Some of his nails had grown so long that they had curled around and grown into his pads - I think tonight he's actualy tripping around because he can't quite remember how to walk without walking on his really long nails - but he was also sedated too - I was wishing I could have had some of that too!
This is him with his now very skinny legs - I'm going to try and give him a bath tomorrow night and then get him a proper grooming - I think he's going to be very beautiful. I don't see Buttercup CAN'T fall in love with him after that!

I took the day off today to settle everybody in and everything's going super. I have never seen a dog SO happy to be put onto a bed as this little guy was last night when we went to bed - he spent about 1/2 an hour rolling and snorting and rubbing himself before he finally settled on one of the pillows at the top of the bed - luckily it's not a part of the bed that Buttercup is the queen of - Buttercup has the fiefdom of the OTHER side of the bed, luckily - the part Jack has chosen is free for the taking.
This is Jack discovering the cat bed under the computer table - what a FIND! I don't know if Whisky's going to agree the next time he comes in for a snooze though! haha
Daisy and Buttercup missing the middle of the sandwich which is me...
Jack with the toy he came with - a boomerang that he is VERY fond of!
Sometimes dogs can talk - this is Charlie saying - where's that treat you always give me when I've gone out to make my poop!
Okay - I won't scream so loud - now will you give me that treat?

Sometimes taking a good photo is difficult when you're trying to juggle a dog and take a picture when your camera weighs about 5 pounds - these 2 photos are the best I could do tonight when I was trying to take photos of Buttercup on my chest and Jack laying next to us - Jack seems very happy to just lay next to us - which is very good news for me.

Santa Cruz wants to be dog friendly too!

My jaw dropped as I read the below article today - it seems that there are ONE THOUSAND people in Santa Cruz California who feel the same way I do about working towards a dog friendly city. I couldn't believe what I was reading. They are actually organizing dog walks through their city to raise awareness about dog friendliness so that they can gain greater access for themselves as owners of dogs so that they can more places to go with when they go out with their dogs. I could NOT believe what I was reading. The last sentence of the article says - "It's time that people realize that dogs are a billion-dollar market, and they should be treated as one," he said. "We've got one woman who has a closet full of clothes for her dogs." WOW, these people really get it. I was completely blown away.

Here's the article: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_8231347

SANTA CRUZ -- In a coordinated effort, dozens of dog owners took to the streets with their canines on Sunday under beautiful blue skies.

They started at Kelly's French Bakery on the Westside, then walked down Swift Street to West Cliff Drive before winding it up full circle at Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, where the dogs were welcomed into the courtyard.

The only thing missing was the red carpet.

It was the first such Sunday walk in Santa Cruz.

More are expected in the coming weeks -- if you want to become part of a movement whose purpose isn't just to have fun but to promote the rights of dogs in a city that some contend isn't exactly "dog friendly."

The outing was orchestrated by Society Dog, which actually started out as a singles club in Los Gatos in the late 1990s, then morphed into a dog club over time. It now boasts 1,000 members. And that's just the people.

The number of dogs has reached well over the 1,500 mark.

"We all have a common thread, a common leash, and we're all house trained," quipped Doug Festa, whose wife, Terri, founded Society Dog back in 1999, eventually meeting Doug at one of the dog gatherings.

Mission accomplished: Romance was kindled through dog-dominated conversations. Glances were exchanged over fur.

The rest is history.

Their children are all the dogs at large, which were in great abundance outside Kelly's French Bakery on Ingalls Street, where the sign on the wall jokingly reads -- "Please leash owners to their dogs."

There were labs, terriers, pit bulls, poodles, shepherds, shelties, spaniels, bouvier des Flandres.

Come again?

That's a cow dog from Belgium, if you're not up to speed.

While the idea behind the walk was to just have fun under the sun, the greater purpose was to try and open up close-minded attitudes toward dogs around town, participants said.

Dogs, for example, can no longer run without leashes at Lighthouse Field in Santa Cruz.

Along Pacific Avenue, dogs are banned.

"If you look at each dog here, you can see they're smiling," said Mary Anne Blanc, a Los Gatos resident who arrived with her best friend, Toby, an 8-year-old mutt [part shepherd, part lab].

Nancy Cleveland, the proud owner of Cooper Lou, her 5-year-old beagle, said it's time the city of Santa Cruz changed some of its laws.

"It's just not right," she said.

Equally not right is the stereotype that Billy Foley's female pit bull, Britney, 4, so often endures.

"Having a pit bull isn't easy because of their reputation, what happened with Michael Vick," said Foley, referring to the Atlanta Falcons football star who was recently sentenced for dogfighting and betting on them.

But at Society Dog, all dogs are created equal.

All are accepted.

Heck, cats are even accepted, too, notes Doug Festa.

"It's time that people realize that dogs are a billion-dollar market, and they should be treated as one," he said. "We've got one woman who has a closet full of clothes for her dogs."

Valentine's Day Card

I got this hilarious Valentine's Day Card today
I thought it was very funny!

Introducing a new family member

This is Jack this is him lounging in the middle of my living room floor
a shot of his eyes - he's always had eye issues - but lately they've gotten a bit worse, unfortunately
him getting a scratch from me in the back of his head - he seems to enjoy that - it also turns out he's crazy for liver - which is a good thing in my house! Seeing as how I make the stuff
Him going out for his first pee - let's hope he keeps it up!
Buttercup being very unimpressed as usual! She's been hanging out on my Dad's bed the whole evening - she likes being the only small dog - but she's been getting awfully lazy lately and I think she can use a little competition - any exercise is good exercise I'd say!
Jack checking out the kitchen

Where he finds the water bowl - excelsior!

Today's Halifax Kennel Club Show

There were some interesting dogs and some interesting vendors at today's Halifax Kennel Club Show -

There were 2 booths selling really neat things to wipe your dogs' down when they come in from the back yard, or you could also keep them in your car for when they jump in from coming back from walks -
they're sort of the same principle as oven mitts except that they're made from terry cloth. I thought they were really neat - so I bought a pair of them from both sellers! The first booth's name was called "Charity's Creations" run by Charity Visser and you can see she also sells dog beds and her email address is fayevisser@hotmail.com
The second lady - who makes the type that I took the picture of above - also sells dog treats and scarfs and stuff - goes to the Farmer's Market every Saturday and unforutnatly I didn't get her card.
These were really neat! These are dog beds made to fit into dog crates - but they're custom made and they're absolutely beautiful! The lady who makes them is Diane Langlois - and she makes them out of really good foam and puts a high quality mattress cover that's liquid proof and washable so that the foam will last forever - and she'll also do custom orders so that the bed can match the decor of wherever you want your crate to go - or you can put the dog bed right out in your living room. They have a zippered cover for easy washing. She lives here locally in Fall River and her email address is dmlanglois@eastlink.ca
I love poodles! Buttercup is part poodle, and Teddy, dog rest his soul - was a toy poodle. Isn't this guy beautiful?
I had to take a couple pictures of him/her
I feel head over heels in love with this guy! He is the biggest dog I've ever seen in my life. His name is Murphy, and he's 3 years old and the top of his head came to about the top of my shoulders. He had the most beautiful confirmation I've ever seen. Most great danes you see - their bones are all sticking out and their hips are starting to go, and they don't do stairs very well - this guy is perfect. I was absolutely blown away by him.
Look at this face.
This is my friend Maureen's table - we're going to be sharing a table at the Doggie expo on February 24th - I'll be selling my liver and she'll be selling her Urban Carnivore stuff.
These are a couple shots of the airedale terriers and the local President of the CKC showing one of her dogs.

I love this shot of this dog - his ears have gone flat and his tail is crooked - he somehow looks happy and goofy!

Whew! I'm glad I'm starting to get my whits back. I've figured out who my anonymous commenter is who thinks I should shut my blog down, and I also think I know why she thinks that. I'm not going to say what I think her name is, but I think if I said her name has some of the same letters in it as BULLSHIT - anyone who knows her would know who I'm talking about. And they'd also know why she wants me to shut down my blog, seeing as how she called one of my former friends last week and said "you've got to do something about Joan's blog!" So now that I've figured out what the agenda is, I'm pretty comfortable with not shutting down my blog. Especially since I think in the coming months I'm going to have quite a bit of material to talk about.

So I'm feeling MUCH better now. What a load off my shoulders. Wow. I'm feeling SO much better now that I know it's just a dim-whit with an agenda.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming of pictures of Me, my dogs, my cat, my fish, whatever else I feel like ranting about along with pictures of the aforementioned that I've taken - as well as pictures of various and sundry pieces of rope or buoy booty - and most of all, me being UNAPOLOGETIC.

A comment:

Im sure this will be deleted but you brought it on yourself Joan. You lent your support of these NUTS and now that it is clear that they are Sickos you are embarrassed.

You know in the movies when the hero s fighting for the truth and all the other people are ignoring and ignorant....your one of those people.

I respected you for publishing both sides of this debate but you stated it. I see your posts from months ago, seems to me you didnt have your facts straight now did you.

Why is it so hard for people to admit they are wrong.

Actually I'm not embarrassed, I'm sad - I'm very sad that a human being I actually know could've done such horrible things. And I'm also in deep mourning for all the friends I've lost this week because I thought I was doing the right thing and standing up for a friend, but in the end none of my friends stayed with me and I've lost them all.

I've had this blog for 4 years and written 900 posts - detailing tons of fundraising that I've spent $100's at, and other people have spent tons of money at, I've talked about bsl, puppy mills, dog politics - and I am crucified for standing up for one of my friends when I had the same information as the rest of the world.

When I found out what was going on - at the same time that the rest of the world found out - I did talk about it here on this blog and apologized to the dogs that were afffected, and was remorseful - but no one seems to remember that.

The world is full of so much hate - and 99.99% of this blog has been about being positive dog culture.

So that's it.

A new start

This area of the internet is not wishing to court anymore controversy.
Any hint of salaciousness has herewith been removed, whether it be about the legalization of in home doggy day care and the owner of said such business, the person who started that legal battle; the recent news about a certain rescue in the eastern part of Nova Scotia and the perceived ineffectualness of the provincial facility tasked with protecting the innocent companion animals who have no voice of their own -

This blog is, and has always - been about one dog owner who likes to take pictures of her dogs on their daily adventures in the Halifax Regional Municipality - and then write about them - and also write about her observations about local dog culture and it's dog friendliness

She (me) will continue to do that.

.







But I guess there will be fewer photos of her friends and local dog culture - and more photos of just her dogs. Take it, or leave it. Blogs are always vanity projects - and this one has always been completely that. Completely for my own pleasure and no one else's.

Either that, or I may never make another post again, I haven't decided yet.

Another busy day - Shelly the pet physiotherapist!

This is of course the camera being focused on me for those of you who happened to see me and the dogs being interviewed on Global television tonight about all the fracas going on this week. That's all I'm going to say about that.

Now getting blog back to it's regular schedule....

This is Buttercup waiting for her very own physiotherapist - the very busy Shelly Malcolm - owner of Pawsitive Action Physiotherapy - to arrive and help her get her back legs working again. Buttercup wasn't sure she was going to like the experience. My Dad was so uncomfortable about the whole thing he high-tailed it back to west end Halifax.
Charlie and Daisy showing us that there's nothing wrong with them!

Look - I've got a toy! No, don't look at my knees! I've got a toy!
Oh shit, she's started to rub my belly while she's causing me great unease by touching my knees - what am I going to do now?
When I get out of here, I am going to KILL you! Especially since all you're doing right now is taking my picture!
Daisy thought the whole was FABULOUS! Buttercup getting some kind of torture treatment, and it wasn't her or Charlie for once. Yea!

Comments to my blog about Celtic Pets

I have had well over a hundred comments left on this blog about the Celtic Pets story - it's a national news story, as it turns out, and people must be googling it like crazy. Even the neighbour who says he put in the original complaint against Zonda's kennel, and I think now considers himself somewhat of a hero, left a comment this morning on one of my posts.

I've let a lot of them go through - but ones that are personal attacks against me, or personal attacks against Zonda, or personal attacks against my friends - I've pretty much NOT let go through - I don't really see any point in those comments.

There's some comments I'm going to address here though, that I think need to be talked about.

I have a question, I would like you to answer on your blog. Where were you and her "friends" during this? You knew there was an issue. Why didn't you go check it out? Why throw blind support and assume that the SPCA is lying?

What people don't seem to understand is that Zonda MacIsaac seems to be suffering from a mental illness - the mental illness called "animal hoarding" - and she was hiding it from her friends and from the whole world. I live about a 5 hour drive from her kennel - but her friends that live a 5 minute drive from her kennel also did not see the inside of her place. It was a deep, dark, dirty secret she was keeping from the world. If someone wants to do something and keep it from the world - there's not too much the people around them can do about it until everything starts to collapse around them.

One of my best friends in university tried to kill herself. And just before she did it, I was at her apartment - and she wanted to get the act of killing herself underway - so she told me that she was going to visit her boyfriend in Sheet Harbour for the weekend.

So I walked her to the bus stop around the corner from her house and I left her there and we said good-bye and we said we'd call each other Sunday night.

Once I was out of sight she walked back to her apartment and started drinking liquor and taking pills and when she felt adequately anaesthetized - she slit her wrists and slit her neck.

Luckily - she did NOT die - but it shows you that if someone's going to do something - they're going to do it whether you want them to or not. It's the same with any kind of secret. And it's the same with this horrible situation. Zonda lives 5 hours from me - but even if she had lived 5 minutes from me - I think it would've been the same - she wouldn't have let me visit her either way.

As to the second part of the question - that is something very difficult to answer - it involves politics and personalities and why some actions are taken and other actions are not - why some shelters are allowed to continue killing dogs daily and use temperament tests that involve stupid white hands and beautiful little terriers don't have a chance.

your a fucking moron and should be muzzled! you are truly in need of mental help and your whole community knows it you sick fucking bitch!

It's nice to see that Kyra is still visiting my blog. I was starting to miss her.

You're just as sick as she is for believing any of what you wrote. I knew people spoke the truth when they call you a complete idiot.

Yes, I really let ALL those comments go through. Those ones are really helpful.


So long story short - I really don't think it's my fault that those 100 animals suffered for up to 3 years in Zonda's kennel. I don't think it's anybody's fault of any of the rescue community here in Nova Scotia - as much as any of the people who are out there Googling Celtic Pets want to put the blame on somebody out there right now. If ANY of us knew what was going on - or had the merest whiff of it - we WOULD have done something about it. I really have to think that we would have. On tonight's news Premier Rodney MacDonald said he's going to pass legislation so that laws can be drawn up so that this doesn't happen again in any shelter/pound - the SPCA is going to be given powers so that they can inspect pounds and shelters - which was the problem here. I hope that this happens.

If you want to effect some positive change - maybe YOU can help it happen - contact Rodney MacDonald yourself and tell him that the NS SPCA needs to have the power to inspect shelters/pounds when they believe they have grounds to do so - and that legislation should be passed giving them that power. He said on the news tonight that animals need to be given more respect in this province than they're currently being given - and that is HUGE thing for a politician to say - especially when our province is currently facing the spectre of province wide breed restrictions. Tell him that dangerous dog legislation is one thing - but that breed specific legislation is WRONG.

Let this horrible tragedy be an impetus to improve the lives of all our companion animals in this province. Maybe we can let Zeus and Charlie's and all those 70 or so cat's suffering not have gone on completely in vain - maybe it can be the start of something that will set Nova Scotia apart - world class humane legislation. Now THAT would be something.

Rodney MacDonald's contact information is:

Toll-free Message Line: 1-800-267-1993
E-mail Address: premier@gov.ns.ca

Address:
Office of the Premier
PO Box 726
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3J 2T3

Here are some links about animal hoarding for you to have a look at - it might give you some insight:

http://www.ilmorescue.org/animal_collector_syndrome.htm

http://www.arkonline.com/kittles.html

http://www.bestfriends.org/allthegoodnews/specialfeatures/hoarding1.cfm

http://www.nspca.co.za/page.aspx?Id=132&CateId=15&Category=Information&SubCateId=59&SubCategory=Family%20Pets

Here's the Global News story from tonights news program

The aftermath of Celtic Pets

What can I say. What has happened down in Port Hastings Cape Breton is an animal hoarding tragedy of national proportions. My friend Zonda MacIsaac is a woman who has been ill for a long time and has been hiding her illness from the whole world - me included.

And it is so unfortunate that this illness affects other sentient beings in a real and horrible way. Animal hoarding is a horrible - I can't think of any of adequate adjective to describe what it could be like - for the animals, or for the human suffering the disease.

And to the person who thought that snapping little dog WASN'T her little dog Charlie? It actually WAS. It was her little dog Charlie - she had let her own dogs get into that condition and live in cages.

The photo at the top of this post is Zeus. He's a bulldog that's been living at Zonda's for way too long. I'd like to personally apologize to him. He's a former chained dog that I had no idea that Zonda had possession of. I've been going back through cached pages of Zonda's website and the first time he shows up is March 5, 2005. That is too long to be waiting for a home, Zeus. I wish I would've known about you.

Mental illness is something that can just sneak up on you. It can fool you into thinking that you're making all the right decisions. That's when the people around you are supposed to step in and say - you're acting crazy - go get some bloody help! Wasn't there ANYBODY down there who saw the conditions in her kennel and house? Who knew that dogs were trying to eat through their cages and that they'd been there for years? If I'd known that I would've had a completely different take on the whole thing and would've moved heaven and earth to get her the help she needed.

But to all the people who are currently villifying her and calling Zonda a monster - she is NOT a monster - she is a person who needs help. Please encourage her to go get that help - she does not need any hatred right now - she needs medical intervention. She has been in a hospital since the seizure of the animals, and I'm glad for that.

If you see her - help her. If you talk to her - help her. She needs it now more than ever.

The animals are all now safe - they are all going to be fine and go to safe homes and have happy lives for the rest of their lives. It's all over. We've all learned a lot - all of us have. We have all learned that serious animal hoarding can even happen here amongst the seeming most innocuest rescuer.

It can even happen to our friends and we have no idea that it's happening right under our nose.

Here are some links about animal hoarding for you to have a look at - it might give you some insight:

http://www.ilmorescue.org/animal_collector_syndrome.htm

http://www.arkonline.com/kittles.html

http://www.bestfriends.org/allthegoodnews/specialfeatures/hoarding1.cfm

Anti-Cruelty Charges Pending Against Celtic Pets

Please read http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2008/02/aftermath-of-celtic-pets.html before you read this entry so that you can read the end of the story first...

So I've Spent quite a bit of today talking to people and thinking about the seizure of the animals yesterday from Celtic Pets. There's been several comments left on my posting from yesterday, and people have been really quick on my rescue lists to condemn Zonda who had previously supported her because of the news that's come out in the last 24 hours - the NS SPCA is veritably jubilant in what's going on currently.

If you missed the Global News Report tonight - I taped it, and put it on You Tube - here it is:



There are some things about it that are very troubling, and some things about it that are very questionable. One thing is that there's a really short shot of a dog snapping out of a cage - I think that is one of Zonda's personal dogs - a dog named Charlie - who is a dog like my Teddy (dog rest his soul) - a dog that wouldn't be alive except for the fact that someone in rescue adopted him. Charlie is a horrible, hateful biter who hates everyone in the world except for Zonda. He has to be drugged to just have his nails trimmed - forget about trying to give him a bath.

So if they removed EVERY dog from the premises - then they probably ALSO removed Zonda's PERSONAL dogs - of which she has about 10.

So there are SO many sides to every story.

Maybe the best thing that could happen to this is that cruelty charges are brought so that Zonda can clear her name for once and for all - in a court of law - instead of continually living in an air of suspicion.

But I for one am not going to jump on the band wagon and believe what the NS SPCA is telling me carte blanche. That is for sure. I've been listening to what they've been saying for years - and their language is never spoken in plain english - and it's certainly not being spoken in that way today - that is for sure. I can assure you of that.

Bud Wheatley was Lying when he said he was going out of business

Bud Wheatley had said he was going to go out of business - but I guess he was lying - there's an article in the newspaper over in PEI about him -

http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=104431&sc=98

Snookums may not be out of business yet, website indicates
TERESA WRIGHT
The Guardian

The owner of Snookums pet store may not be quite out of the puppy business yet.
Bud Wheatley, whose pet store has sparked considerable controversy in the last few weeks and months, is still selling puppies.

He announced to The Guardian last week he was liquidating his business, selling the 75 puppies he had in store at reduced prices.

But his website is still advertising new breeds of puppies coming soon, as late as Feb. 21.

This isn’t the first time Wheatley has advertised liquidation. A few years ago, he had a similar liquidation sale, but told The Guardian last week that was simply to get out of the pet supply portion of the business.

Wheatley said Friday that he is indeed liquidating this time, but because he has deals with over 125 breeders across the Maritimes there are forthcoming litters of puppies he still must sell.

“I have a couple of puppies that weren’t ready to go until the end of February. So we’re going to put them into a home.’’

When asked if he’s getting out of the business once all the puppies have been sold, he said it is his current plan, but left some wiggle room.

“You can never say never,’’ he said.

After the media coverage he received last week detailing his plans for closing, Wheatley said a local group approached him with interest in buying the business.
“And if we made a deal with them, they’ve got lots of money, they can fight the system. Then you never know, it may be a new Snookums next week.’’

If this group took over Wheatley said it would be “up for negotiation’’ as to whether he’d be involved with them.

“I’m a little tired and I’m running out of money to be trying to educate the population out there,’’ he said.

“But I’m the guy who built this little industry.’’

Wheatley claims he has been unfairly portrayed in the media along with a number of people advertising on Facebook who plan to protest in front of his store next week.
Many have complained about Wheatley’s no-refund policy on animals that die after purchase.

“A warranty will protect your wallet and the money that’s in it. What does that do for the puppy,’’ he asked.

On January 25, 2008 there was an article in the Guardian where he said:


Snookums selling off puppies after wave of negative press

JIM DAY
The Guardian

Bud Wheatley says a concerted negative attack is chasing him out of the business of selling puppies.

He said he is reeling from recent media coverage of customers claiming they had unwittingly purchased sick puppies from his business called Snookumspets.com, which is located on St. Peters Road in Charlottetown.

A Facebook site rallying support to see Snookums shut down hasn’t done much for his reputation, either.

A “peaceful protest’’ to close Snookums is set for Feb. 9.

“It’s just destroyed the business,’’ Wheatley said of the negative campaign. “We’re liquidating it as quick as we can get the last of the puppies sold.’’

A notice of mortgage sale ran last week in The Guardian for the commercial lot at 521 St. Peters Road, which houses Snookums, and .47 acres of land.

Mortgagor Lloyd Bud Wheatley and Donna Wheatley were listed as the guarantors being in default of the principal money and interest.

This isn’t the first time Wheatley appeared on the verge of leaving what is now a 15-year run in the pet business. A few years ago, he also had a liquidation sale, but said in an interview with The Guardian Thursday that was simply to get out of the pet supply portion of the business.

Wheatley said his business has been unfairly slammed as a result of customers complaining about buying sick puppies from him. Post-mortems conducted at the Atlantic Veterinary College on four puppies purchased from Snookums since October concluded they died from parvovirus.

Wheatley washes his hands of any blame.

“We don’t think for two seconds it is our fault,’’ he said. “Snookums is not the bad guy but Snookums is being crucified . . . Any bad press brings out every crazy customer that you’ve ever had.’’

He said he has a good track record of selling healthy pets. He said he has been selling more than 3,000 puppies and kittens a year (the large bulk being puppies).
Wheatley said Snookums is supplied puppies from over 125 private breeders. He claims to have inspected every single one of the breeders.

Wheatley said while ideally puppies shouldn’t be purchased until they are almost four months old, in order to reduce the risk of the animal becoming ill, he sells puppies on average between the ages of eight to 10 weeks “because that’s the demand.’’

He said his city business provides customers with detailed instruction on how to provide proper care to their puppy, such as strongly recommending they stick with the same food the puppy has been eating.

“People need to take responsibility for these animals,’’ he said.

Wheatley said Snookums does not give warranties nor does the company even guarantee that its puppies are free of disease. Tests will be done on any puppy if the customer is willing to foot the bill, he added.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) considers Snookums to currently hold an “unsatisfactory business performance record.’’

The BBB gives such an assessment when a company “has failed to resolve or respond to complaints, repeatedly failed to respond or resolve issues in a timely manner, failed to resolve the underlying issues for a pattern.’’

Wheatley dismisses the negative assessment. He said some customer complaints have simply been “outlandish’’, suggesting they were not worthy of any action or response on his part.

The best protection for a puppy's life is the fact it is not under warranty he said.
“Then you will take responsibility for it.’’

There is something deeply wrong going on here in the province of Nova Scotia

Originating in Cape Breton - the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities - is trying to enact province wide dog legislation in 2008 that will give breed restrictions province wide. I first wrote about this in August 2006. It's going to come to fruition this year if Lloyd Hines has his way. How can this happen in a province where people like me live? Will it happen? I can't believe that it will happen - and if it does - there is definitely something wrong with this world that I am living in.

And don't even start with Bylaw A300 and the wording that has continued to be left in it that I have talked about before as it relates to dangerous dogs and the definition of what an attack is. And the idea that they can't tie income from their Animal Control services to fines generated - that fines have to go to the Police Department and the province - when you look at Calgary their fines are 4 pages long - they even have a fine for letting your dog's head hang out your car window! They are punitive to the 10th degree and the people love it. They have a high compliance rate because they know they'll be caught and they have a multi-million dollar shelter because their fines pay for it. And they also have over 100 off leash parks - and do you know why they do that? Because they know they need them - and then they can FINE anyone who's off leash anywhere that's not an off leash park! I tell you, it's not rocket science. Give the people what they need - and then make them compliant.

Today is a very sad day for Nova Scotia - and 2008 may be a very bad year for dog owners - if dog breed restrictions pass throughout the province - how will that affect us? A LOT. If Bylaw A300 passes as it's currently written - how will that affect us? A LOT.

We are in very very dark days - it could go either way - dog positive - or very dog deadly. I don't even know if there's anything we can do about it.

The Burning Hell!

Tonight me and my friend Janet went to an alternative music Festival at Fred's Cafe called "In the Dead of Winter" and saw a bunch of bands.
It was super - I took video of one of the bands that I thought was particularly good - they were called "the Burning Hell" - and below is my offering for you - I hope you enjoy them, and the video!
This is Buttercup modelling the cd I bought - isn't she cute! haha!