Cheetah

I write too many of these, I know. I took a few weeks off from the wired world and I'm sliding back into my blogging/FBing/Tweeting routine again, but I can't continue without taking note of the passing of a very special dog that I knew.

I met Cheetah at Pets Alive back in 2007. She was a senior dog even then, the matriarch of a group of semi-feral dogs that had been trapped nearly a decade ago at a building that was being torn down. She was the most feral of the group, and in a very special way: while the others had little experience with people and displayed a lot of fear, Cheetah was not afraid when we entered her pen. She had just made up her mind that the people thing wasn't for her.


Slowly but surely, Cheetah came to accept human beings... to a point. She enjoyed her walks, but she was always happiest and most comfortable in the presence of her pack, where she quietly ruled the roost - she lived with semi-ferals Tarzan and Lonesome and the dapper and fully socialized Stuart Noble. Adopted out twice, she came back to Pets Alive because she was unhappy living in houses with lots of human attention. She wanted her pen, her pack, and her familiar surroundings. She was happy at Pets Alive.


When I came back to New York after two years away, I could not believe she was the same dog. She actually approached me and solicited petting; she not only allowed herself to be picked up she actually seemed to enjoy it. Perhaps it was just the dementia of old age, but she was finally fully comfortable with human contact and was enjoying her life to the fullest.

Cheetah passed away on Oct 13, at the age of... well, very old. At least 13 or 14 and very possibly considerably older than that. I find myself not sad that she never went to a home, because that was what she chose for herself. I am happy that I got to know her.

Puppy Mill Rescue Reunion

I really should have posted this the other day - at the recent Best Friends Strut Your Mutt event in NYC that raised more than $130k for local area rescues we had a mini-reunion of some of the dogs from the mill rescue Ginger is from.


Mabel, Anti-Puppy Mill Spokesdog pictured here with her person Lynne Przychodzki, is reunited with my friend Jen's dog Sadie, who came from the same puppy mill. We theorize that they may be related, possibly mother and daughter - they both have unusual body types and head shapes for beagles and have a very similar look.


The three girls are reunited. It's hard to get all of them to look at the camera at the same time! They're all in very happy adoptive homes now.


As for this picture, I really have no good reason to post it other than that I find Doga (Yoga with dogs) hilarious. Hey, as long as the dog is having fun...

Ginger's Freedom Day

Like many dog people, I celebrate my dogs' birthdays. With rescue dogs that gets a little tricky, so I use their estimated age and celebrate their adoption day as their birthday. I don't get too crazy about it, but the dogs might get an extra biscuit or two.

Ginger, however, gets another day of celebration every year: today is the third anniversary of Ginger's freedom from puppy mill hell as a breeding dog in an infamous VA puppy mill. This Amish-run facility had no electricity or running water and had already burned to the ground once in March of 2007 from unattended propane heaters, killing 167 dogs. Best Friends rescued 178 dogs and saw the facility shut down three years ago today - when I met Ginger, who was then known as Butterscotch. I am in awe of her resilience, her determination, and especially her sense of humor - this little dog has quite the mischievous streak and I love her for it.

Puppy mills are now on the public radar more than ever before, but this is no time to let up the pressure. The place that produced Ginger never should have existed in a civilized society. Please help me celebrate her Freedom Day by learning about puppy mills - and how to stop them. You might also want to check out the story of Mabel, Freedom Day spokesdog.

Goodbye Don Bain

Best Friends employee and my friend Don Bain passed away today. You can read a little about him and his interesting history in this article. Don was the first guy in Dogtown to remember me by name when I started volunteering. He took the time to show me a little about the desert and about the Indian artifacts I was walking by and over every day without even realizing it. When I was a volunteer, taking his puppy class was one of the highlights of my day.

Don created that puppy class in response to a problem: puppies adopted from Best Friends were being returned at a high rate, so he created a class that would socialize them with people and help prepare them for the real world. Nearly every morning he could be found conducting the class, a favorite of volunteers. The return rate of puppies dropped like a rock. He would later oversee the expansion of the program after the Puppy Care Center building opened earlier this year.

Don was an extraordinarily good and kind man who loved animals and who loved people as well, which made him a wonderful teacher. I will miss him.