Welcome to my blog that was established to bring awareness to the National Dog Week Movement begun in 1928. To read more…please see ABOUT.
Nitro’s Law HB108 (formerly HB70) was reintroduced on February 22, 2011. Please… Now it has to be PASSED, contact your Ohio Legislators now! http://www.house.state.oh.us/index.php?option=com_displaymembers&Itemid=55. Among other places, Nikki was recently interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on CNN and will talk with Howard Stern tomorrow, February 28th, at 7am on Sirius XM Radio. Good work on the part of Nikki, Bocker and the Nitro Foundation!
Bocker the Labradoodle on the runway at a recent fashion event
Steve Duno, author of Last Dog on the Hill: The Extraordinary Life of Lou is currently hard at work on another dog book. Some have asked if there is a dog in Steve’s life now. He tells me that there are two, “Flavio, shep/chow mix, almost 14 and Rico, a beefbrained pit/shep mix.” We look forward to hearing more about Steve’s new project…
February is National Spay and Neuter Month, and today, February 22nd was Spay Day USA…help put an end to the nation’s pet overpopulation epidemic and make sure you are responsible pet owners….not just during February, or today, but year round…If anyone can provide information on spay and neuter clinics that offer financial help to pet owners in different areas of the nation, or clinics please contact me at pst39crd@aol.com and I will post…thanks (or post a comment).
This was submitted by my Facebook Friend Pat Needham for those in Kentucky: Erik Fleming Regional Low Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic 9142 Morehead Rd. Flemingsburg, Ky 41041 phone 606 876-2697. They opened Feb. 22 and it is a very nice facility.
More news… Erika Friedman of Canine Celebration and Amy Calmann are currently collecting Kong Dog Toys for shelter pets. Kong toys, which contain a tempting “hidden” treat, help provide stress reducing activity for crated shelter dogs ultimately making these homeless dogs calmer and more adoptable. To read more, please check out the Canine Celebration Page on Facebook. Please watch for a related post…
As Nikki Moustaki’s “Eating Dog Food for Nitro’s Law” campaign heats up across media outlets, and in saute pans across America, she is bringing wide-spread awareness to the way state laws across the nation affect the way our pets are treated. To read more about this, please see my previous post that features my interview with her or go to http://www.nitrofoundation.com. Anyone who is a regular reader of these posts, or visits my Facebook wall will be quick to notice comments to and from, and photos of Bocker the Labradoodle as standard features in those places! I met Bocker and his “mom” Marie in August of last year and again at Ada Nieves’ Pre-Westminster Fashion Show in New York on February 11. Not only is Bocker an actor/model, he also works as a “literary assistance” dog, helping kids to read, and tirelessly works with his mom to help raise funds for shelter dogs.
Now, Bocker is joining Nikki to help bring awareness to her mission to get the State of Ohio to pass Nitro’s Law. In these tough economic times, the voiceless among us are often forgotten, in this case our dogs. Nitro, and several other dogs, starved in silence, at the hands of someone who purported to care. Now, Nikki, and those who are helping her, hope that a bill that showed great promise won’t starve in silence also.
Bocker is now eating human food in his effort to get Nitro’s law passed and in doing so, getting other states to take a look at laws affecting their pets. To learn how you and your dog (or cat) can get in on this good cause please go to http://www.facebook.com/bocker#!/photo.php?fbid=171947436185324&set=a.171947432851991.42880.171725899540811&theater.
I am sure dogs of America will only be too glad to help in this case…but they do so much, asking for so little in return, they won’t even know that they’re helping a good cause, as usual.
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February 24, 2011 at 4:47 am
askwilliewonka
I am VP of “Project Pets -Spay,Neuter,Love ” a fairly new non profit corp. in North Carolina. I have been involved in rescue and am an active advocate in animal law and welfare. The more I saw, the more I was convinced that we have to attack the over population problem before the litters are born. With all respect to Nathan Winograd and the No Kill movement, I believe their is a serious pet overpopulation problem in the US right now. I wanted to start a simple program ,and make it an easy model to copy. I did not try to reinvent the wheel, I took the ideas from other S/N groups that were successful. If we did it right, anyone should be able to duplicate it in their county. It is literally just going from vet to vet and asking them to be part of the solution. There are mobile S/N vans than will come if we have a lot of animals to do and we hope to reach that point by the summer.
We depend 100% on donations. We help families who have pets but not the $ to S/N their pet. Often they have several. If they truly can not afford it, then pay it and ask them to volunteer an hour of their time. If they can spay some. we ask them to donate what they can afford. We are only 4 months old, but we have S/N over 120 animals so far. Cats and dogs. We “Partner” with other S/N groups who have people in place in that county. S/N Carolina has been there for much longer but they had limited funds and no real fund raising plans. They do get some grants from the county and state. We help them get more animals paid for with our donations.
We have worked out deals with some of the local vets . The others are not very happy about it but they have a choice .they can join us or not. Some vets understand it gives them exposure to the community. They give us rescue rates or better. We give them positive publicity and send them patients. The Humane Alliance in Asheville,NC. has been terrific. They have an incredible S/N Program there. Once a month we bring as many animals as we can to them and they S/N all of them the same day. We then bring them back to Gaston and in some cases, deliver them to their homes.
To the general public we have the following program :
Now is registration for the S/N Clinic March 16th. We will be at Gaston County police department from 5:30-6:30. Prices are $55 for male or female dog, $55 for female cat, and $35 for male cat. Please bring proof of rabies if you… have it if not a rabies shot will be given by the clinic for a extra $7.
ANYONE can use this service and we will bring their animals to Asheville to be S/N and return them at no extra charge . Everyone wins – especially the animals, There are several feral cat colonies there and every month we take a few females and have them spayed. It is just a beginning , but it does add up. We have helped 57 animals this months- preventing many homeless litters for ever being born.
This is not as sexy or exciting as rescue and raising $ is much harder. “Save this baby” sounds more important than “Stop these babies”. But to be honest, I feel much better now. Being a part of S/N makes me feel like I am finally fighting the problem where it matters. “Projects Pets -spay,neuter,love” has a FB page as does “Spay and Neuter Gaston”. We are looking to partner with other well run S/N groups and be even more efficient . “Neuterthons” work very well but you need to do 75-80 animals in a day to make it all work right. We are still waiting for the official 501c3 but we are not waiting to get to work. When it is official we can have the restaurants and local stores helping promote and donate to our program. I am very proud to be a part of this S/N organization I will be at the S/N clinic in Asheville next month for a 3 day seminar on S/N . I’ll let you know what I find out. Feel free to contact me with any questions : williesaves@gmail.com
Education is crucial for this to succeed. Ignorance is out biggest enemy. Tell someone about this please.
February 24, 2011 at 9:18 am
nationaldogweekbook
Willie,
Thank you so much for what you do and then sharing with us how everyone can get involved…Fantastic.
February 24, 2011 at 5:55 pm
askwilliewonka
Thank you for providing an intelligent and timely forum.
When I re – read my post I wish I had not said “I” so many times. I always mean “We”. I could be doing this without my good friend and our President. Jo Burchfield.
Megan Grayson is our eyes, ears and hands in Gaston now. Megan is driving to get animals, bring them into the vet and then return them, S/N at the end of the day.
She is always looking for volunteers. We need to make a small army of animal lovers there. We are each just animal loving people, We wanted to do more than rescue. We can not “save” our way out of this mess. ANYONE can volunteer for a local S/N organization in their county. They’ll see if they enjoy helping prevent homeless litters.
Thank You very much !
I am very happy to be here : )
BTW – My girl “Jasmine” looks exactly like the dog in the photo here : “flying in the snow”. She is only 20 lbs and she can fly too : )
February 24, 2011 at 6:30 pm
nationaldogweekbook
I love the term “small army of animal lovers” because that it up so well. Thanks for all the credits, and taking the time to comment. Many comment on Facebook and e-mails, but here is where it “really” counts because of the connection.