So the City has decided to permanently close Robert Park Drive off leash dog park - effective January 10th, 2010 - you can read more about it on the HRM's website at http://www.halifax.ca/RealPropertyPlanning/OLPS/
At the Robert Drive Dog Park community meting last September I asked about the final report of the Off Leash Strategy Implementation - that's supposed to come out in early 2010 - we'll wait now I guess and see what the City thinks about off leash exerice for dogs. I can't imagine that it'll be good.
I had an email from my friends Betty and Mary up in Antigonish who have Dakota - a basenji, and Nova - a rescued greyhound, and
Nova is very much the character - and she proved this once again this Christmas, as you can see from the below photos. Dakota got a new bed for Christmas - and he loves it very much - but it turns out so does Nova!
Here is Dakota enjoying his new bed -
and here is Nova enjoying the same bed - although for her the dimensions are a bit different! haha! This photo reminded me of another photo on my computer from a few years ago -
This is Delta - who's Mom Lisa is pretty well known in some local dog circles, she's a foster dog mom extraordinnaire - and if you can't tell here, Delta is a boxer dog! Is this photo hilarious? Delta is like Nova I guess and likes to fit in small spaces. So here is your laugh for the day - thanks to 2 beautiful dogs.
I came across a very disappoint article yesterday on "Halifax News Net" - called "Pets should never be given as gifts" from the "experienced staffers at Bide a wile shelter" where they say "responsible shelters and breeders do not adopt out pets over the holiday season".
Do you know what I say to that? Bullshit. That is SO old school. That is a myth that has been so debunked that for anyone within rescue to still be spouting that off just blows me away. It's the same thing as saying that it's more humane to kill an animal than to keep it in a cage for a little while so that it can be adopted out. Stupid.
Here's some reading for those who don't believe - http://www.thenokillnation.com/?p=152 - from the "No Kill Nation" - an article called "Take them Ho Ho Home for the Holidays where they say "The overblown fear that holiday adoptions equal impulse gifts that will be given up soon after the holiday decorations are taken down has been replaced by the knowledge that the risk of an animal dying in a shelter is far greater (and far worse) than being returned to the shelter in a few weeks"
And in a blog post titled "a puppy IS for Christmas" a lady quotes Nathan Winograd when he says -
And the idea that you shouldn't give pets for Christmas? Outrageous, says Winograd. The holidays are a perfect opportunity for adoption drives: "We have to stop focusing our policies under the false premise that the public can’t be trusted, that the animals are better off dead than in the homes of those who believe that there is no better display of holiday spirit than to open their home to an animal in need."
Even Janet Young over at Reigning Cats and Dogs agrees with me and wrote a post about it pre-Christmas this year. And she's always right.
One of the biggest adoption drives in North America is AT Christmas time - called "Home for the Holidays" - how much more blatant can I be than that?
I think I am probably the only person in my demographic that hasn't been to Pete's Fruitique - but today was the first time I've ever been there, and I discovered this stuff there today, and it looks pretty good. I'm going to try it on Charlie's old man elbows. The good news is that it's a local company - they have a website at http://www.earthelementals.ca/ and they're also on Facebook!
Its a shame that you will be on the internet less, I really do enjoy the interesting dog stuff you post, plus the exposure you give to rescues for their events is really fantastic. Don't let the negative people get you down. Its your blog and you can say what you want, if they chose to read it, thats their problem.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a breeder or rescue organization, I'd investigate potential dog parents the same as I would at any other time of the year. Are they making a well thought through decision? Are they equipped for the kind of animal they want? Or have they decided on a pet cause they just watched a warm and fuzzy Hallmark movie? In that case, I'd have them return after the kids are back in school and the first credit card statement arrived.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, promoting animals in need au masse at a time of year when people might be in the giving feeling is not any different than selling a litter of puppies at a mall parking lot.
Aside from that, I second the last person who left a comment. I would quite miss your posts for it's great informational, but also entertaining value. Maybe you just need to get out of the sandbox where all the maturity-stunted people play.
Ignoring the ass-wipes who troll the Internet, I'm sorry to hear the city is shutting down Robert Drive Park. I hate to say it, as bad as a certain individual who oversees off-leash parks in HRM is, I also blame the neighbours who seemed determined to shut it down for no seemingly good reason. As we know, EVERYTHING in HRM is complaint driven. Don't like the your neighbour? Just complain about a bit of peeling paint and they will be ordered to repaint it. Don't like the fact a bunch of dog lovers are enjoying the park more than your lazy kids? Complain and the city will shut 'er down. I'm sick of the mother fuckers.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm sick of whack jobs like Francesca and her ilk ruining things I love, like Joan's blog.
Yeah, I said it (and I guess I couldn't in the end ignore it).
Sylvia, I truly love your training philosphy but would beg to differ about the home for the holidays bit .... its not about 'selling' pets en masse but rather about promoting adoption as a superior option to the pet stores, kijiji, etc..... IMHO, it is a way of educating potential pet owners and encouraging them to become part of the solution instead of adding to the problem. Because of course any reputable rescue that I know of would screen out the "saw the warm and fuzzy movie crowd"
ReplyDeleteThanks for your feedback, Old Maid - and your compliments regarding my training philosophy. I know that humane societies and rescue organizations do their best to screen people thoroughly, but as a person who goes to people's homes I see the fallout from mismatches, and I am concerned that the mismatches would increase if staff has less time, cause more people need to be screened, and if people, because of Christmas, act more emotionally than rationally.
ReplyDeleteWhen I volunteered for a small, rural humane society in Alberta, they did not let dogs or cats go a week before Christmas, partly because they wanted to ensure that people still felt the same after Christmas, and partly because they did not want to expose shelter stressed dogs and cats to the holiday stressors in a new home. True, some people were upset and went elsewhere, but I wonder if people that can't wait for one week would be a pet owner I'd want my animal go to. Most people where understanding, left their deposit and came every day the shelter was open to walk and spent time with the pet they committed to.
Exceptions were made for puppies in their impressionable learning stages who benefit from every day in a stable home, and the odd other case where staff felt it was in the best interest of the animal to go home right away.
That approach seems most sensible to me.