Ding Dong, Yo!

The Case for Working With Your Hands

The Case for Working With Your Hands, an article from the New York Times Magazine. Fantastic. Thanks to bookofjoe for leading me to it.

Shelby County, KY

Shelby County has become KY's first No Kill county! Awesome!

Fail?! WIN!

Phoenix

Phoenix is a sweet young female pit bull in Baltimore who was saved by a police officer who smothered the flames after she was set on fire. Follow the link for information about donations for her medical care.

UPDATE: Phoenix has passed away, euthanized due to the extent of her injuries. My thanks to all who helped her.

UPDATE: Baltimore shelter BARCS, where Phoenix was taken, has posted a $3000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person who set her on fire. You can find out more here and contribute to the reward fund if you would like - put in the notes that it is for the Phoenix Reward Fund. If the reward goes unclaimed after six months, it will roll over to The Franky Fund, where it will be used for medical care for animals at the shelter that are seriously sick or injured and in need of specialized medical care.

Cocktails for Two

[via]

Pet Stores

Know anyone planning on buying a pup from the internet, or from a retail outlet? They really should read this first.

Another Mensa Member

[via]

Balloons Gotta Go

Thanks, Scott!

Who Loves PETA?

Who Loves PETA? Winograd counts the fans.

best of craigslist

I lived in New York long enough to at least consider the possibility that this might be for real.

Video games

[via]

Chihuahua cows cougar, frees terrier

Do NOT mess with a chihuahua.

Thanks, Kara!

Don't ignore your dog

[via]

Dorothy, You Must Surrender

Thanks, Scott!

Subway Cheese Conspiracy

Shiny Brown Turd, Now in HD

Zune HD, they never learn.

I'm moving to the UK

That's right, when I heard there was a Butt Hole Road, I had to go. Of course, now they're changing it - MOVE'S OFF!

Best Friends Loses a Legend

The dog, the myth, the legend: Blue Bear passed away on Saturday, May 23rd, 2009. He was 14 years old.



Blue Bear arrived at Best Friends at around the age of one and quickly set about establishing a reputation as one of the toughest customers on the property. Fighting earned him a roughed up face, a split ear and the loss of a leg in an accident more than a decade ago. Caregivers who have been around for a while have told me outlandish stories - that he would attack his caregivers if he wasn't the first in his run to be fed, and that he would pass his time with the dog in the run next to his taking turns grabbing each others' lips through the fence and pulling - for fun.



I didn't know any of this when I became a caregiver and began to care for Blue Bear, who was at that point 13 years old and in failing health. He needed twice-daily medical baths because he was incontinent, which I was taught to do after muzzling him for protection. After a while when we had built a trust, I stopped using the muzzle and never went back - I never had a problem bathing him, although he didn't like me to do it with strangers watching. He was a proud, stoic old man, but he also had a very affectionate side to him - he would eventually roll over for belly rubs for me and loved chin scratches. By that point in his life he was having some trouble walking, so instead I would lift him into my golf cart and take him on rides around the property so he could see and be seen with the wind in his face, resting on my lap. In his old age, Bluey had discovered human companionship, affection, and love.



Bluey still had the old spark, though - 13 years old, weak and incontinent as he was, he laid down the rules in his run. A quiet growl of disapproval from the Blue Bear was all it took for his canine companions to drop their shenanigans and leave him alone. If he was feeling particularly spirited that day and he felt I had slighted or ignored him, he might mount an attack on my shoes when I entered his run. Affectionate as he could be, he still commanded respect from both people and dogs wherever he went.

At the end of last year, his health started to take a serious turn for the worse and we were afraid he would not survive the winter with us - our facility was no longer suitable for his needs. We scrambled to find a solution and eventually he was transferred to Dogtown Heights, to a building with extended caregiver hours that had a setup better suited to him. He thrived there, quickly becoming a favorite of his new caregivers, who doted on him. It was there that his caregiver Paul had the idea of getting him an all-terrain wagon so that he could once again go on walks in the company of other dogs, which he loved.



By the beginning of May his health had declined to the point where his quality of life was seriously affected and he had run out of treatment options. The decision was made to let him go, and he peacefully crossed the Rainbow Bridge surrounded by friends and former caregivers who loved him dearly.

Blue Bear never let a day go by that he didn't grab in his teeth and shake everything possible from. To the end he remained a proud, determined and independent-minded dog. I and many others loved him, and he will be sorely missed. Goodbye, Old Warrior. We will not forget you.

Queen Wedding

In Bed with Monsters

Nathan Winograd's In Bed with Monsters, a damning indictment of Wayne Pacelle's leadership of the HSUS. There are many positive aspects to the HSUS, and some genuinely groundbreaking programs - but with Pacelle at the helm, many of us will remain distrustful and skeptical, as he has done so much to repeatedly undermine, insult and betray actual animal welfare advocates.

Time for a change.

Excellent use of twitter

Lonnie

My boy Lonnie went to his new home today. He was so happy!

Cam the Ladybug

I pray that someone, somewhere in the northeast will someday see what a special dog Cam is and take him home, so he no longer will be subjected to indignities like this.

Some images [via]

[via] - the comments are priceless

Unlikely to end well

Flirty

The Twittering Office Chair

How to make The Twittering Office Chair.
[via]

Brilliant

Retired Catholic Archbishop: We Didn't Know Molesting Children Was a Crime

Well, at least he'll sell a lot of books before ending up in prison.

Cleveland

Fallon

"We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own, live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan."

-Irving Townsend

We love you, pretty girl. I hope the next life treats you a whole lot better than this one did. RIP Fallon, 5/22/09.

Well, you could always blog it

Not amused!

Thanks, Scott!

I never get to do anything fun

Thanks, Scott!

But did it cry wee wee wee all the way home?

Thanks, Scott!

More on the HSUS

You know, I wasn't going to re-post this when I first came across it, mostly because it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know and it features the blatantly self-promoting David Martosko, spokestoad for a barely-concealed front group of the agribiz, restaurant, alcohol, and tobacco industries - whom, although an occasionally useful tool, is still a tool.

When the HSUS started to go to such effort to stop the spread of the video - even getting it removed from the TV station's website (WSB-TV of Atlanta) - I started to take notice. What are they so afraid of? Although I find Mr. Martosko distasteful, I dislike censorship more. See and decide for yourself.



Update: The video's being chased off of servers all over the net, but you'll find it in .torrent form in perpetuity at The Pirate Bay. They don't do takedown notices.

Michael Vick’s dogs get another shot

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Animal tested

[via]

[via]

Michael Vick Released from Prison Today

[via]

True

Thanks, Scott!

Argh

Q: What's the difference between the HSUS and Michael Vick?
A: Michael Vick only wanted to kill some pit bulls.

Match made in heaven, I tells ya.

Damn Straight

[via]

Why?

Why does Tim Pawlenty hate your dog?

Paying for a poet

Idaho Governor under fire for hiring a state poet as the state faces a $9B budget shortfall over the next two years.

But I already do that

No CPDT needed

Thanks, Scott!

Whack-A-Kitty

I'd like to play a version of this with the cats I'm currently housesitting for. It wouldn't be as gentle, especially with the one who likes to poke at my head at 4am.

[via] & Scott

As if swine flu wasn't enough...

Thanks, Scott!

There's one in every crowd

Thanks, Scott!

Bully Bling

Thanks, Scott!

Thanks, Sarah!

Viking Kittens

Viking Kittens

Thanks, Toni!

Doing it Right

"So here’s a simple test to know whether you are on the right side of a sheltering issue. Do HSUS and PETA support your efforts? If so, you are doing it wrong. When dog killers, dog killing apologists, and those who testify in court or in the court of public opinion that dogs should be killed are applauding your efforts, it is truly time for change."

-Nathan Winograd

I know where she's hiding the battery

Thanks, Scott!

Starsky

Have you checked out my boy Starsky on the Best Friends Sponsors Blog? I'm so proud.

Sounds like a sticky situation

Thanks, Scott!

Still alive?

[via]

Go Away and Let Us Sleep

Thanks, Scott!

Stumpy the Shark

Gay Scientists Have Isolated the Christian Gene!

Which has killed more Americans, Swine Flu or Clowns?

Swine Flu: 4. John Wayne Gacy: 33.

LA Animal Services Investigation

There is a petition requesting an investigation into animal abuse committed by workers at LA Animal Services.

Puppy Pulling Power: The Film

[via]

Pit Bull Bathes Bunny

Thanks, Cathy!

SEXY PEOPLE: Bobby

[via]

LA Animal Services - Fire Everyone, Start Again

Excellent Advice

Riverdance