The HAPPY Act

I try to stay up to date on what's going on in the world, but it can be difficult sometimes with so much on my plate. This past week while checking my Facebook I noticed an update from NPR on a tax break for our four legged friends and it clearly caught my eye.

The article is entitled, "A Four-Figure Tax Break For A Four-Legged Friend?" and it discusses the idea of giving pet owners tax deductions on their animal care expenses. They're calling it the HAPPY Act. Representative McCotter from Michigan is pushing for this to go thru while many others are on the fence or simply against the idea. For example, in the article there is a reaction to the HAPPY Act from a Georgia woman who says, "are you kidding?" "Pets are an option." And she's right, pets are an option...but so are children and no one's complaining about the tax deductions you get for having kids. Obviously when choosing to get an animal, as an owner, you need to be prepared for the worst because pets get sick (like children), pets sometimes need daycare (like children), and pets eat (....like children). But the unexpected happens, we've all seen it! You lose your job and coincidentally the exact same week "Lucy" gets hit by a car.

Maybe those who are against the HAPPY Act should go spend an entire month volunteering at an animal shelter and truly see the vast number of pets who are dropped in the middle of the night at the shelter's doors. There are many pet owner's who find themselves in tough times and are no longer able to care for their furry kids, but maybe if they were able to receive these tax deductions for being a pet owner they'd be able to negate some of the costs and not have to abandon their pets.

I think what bothers me most about this whole thing is the enormous line people place between animals and children. There are some of us who don't necessarily see much of a difference between the two and believe pets are another member of the family.

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Furry Friend of the Day is........... PIRATE!!!

I found Pirate on the Humane Society of Greater Dayton (Ohio) website. He's a 7 month old terrier mix (obviously) who seems to be new to the Humane Society.
I absolutely adore how scruffy he is!!! I love his crazy wired-hair look!

It's the small things...

Today has been one of the most difficult days of my life. It seems as though every little thing is bringing me to tears, sad or not. I went into work for a few hours, unintentionally, a few of my classes were canceled and I needed to pick up my paycheck, and I figured I might as well clock-in and make a bit of cash. I think it helped to simply be around friends and laugh and talk to people who truly understand what it is I'm going through.

What has been the most difficult has been coming home from the clinic and not having her with me. I expect to be greeted with her wagging tail and big grin. I've compared the silence in my home and Midnight's absence to someone who has a limb amputated. I've always heard that amputees experience a phantom leg or hand where there is no limb, and in the early morning when I'm searching for her with my foot at the top of the stairs to make sure I won't step on her and then slowly realize....she's not there. Those little things are what are slowly breaking my heart. Another example is while at work we were signing up to get our dogs the canine influenza vaccine and I thought to myself.."do I need this? $17?" and then realized that I don't have a dog to vaccinate.

This weekend boyfriend and I are going to go up to Brasstown Bald to get away and plus, it's supposed to be really pretty (NO RAIN!!!) and the leaves are now beginning to change so it should be nice. I'm also hoping to hang out with some girlfriend's on Saturday night and hopefully take my mind off of things.

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Today's critter of the day is:

MOLLY!!!

Molly is a year and a half and I found her online at the Cape Cod Animal Care and Adoption Center in Boston, MA. I personally have a HUGE thing for black and white kitties but the two things I adore about Molly are her big gold eyes and the little black smudge right below her nose.

Midnight 9/15/1995-10/14/2009

I am apparently no good at this whole blogging thing! It's been about two months since I last posted. Eek! With school starting up again, interning this semester, and trying to get some hours in at the clinic I've been wicked busy!! I'm going to try harder--I promise!!

So this post is, in all honesty, going to be all about me and the love of my life.

On Tuesday October 13th we decided to start my 14 year old labx, Midnight, on Tramadol. She had previously been on Rimadyl but after a bought of bloody diarrhea I decided to take her off the drug, knowing the effect it has on a canine's tummy and intestinal tract. We decided to put her on Tramadol at 50mg BID and Meloxicam at 7.5 mg SID. We started the Tramadol Tuesday morning and later in the day noticed she had not eaten her breakfast and seemed quite lethargic. By Tuesday evening we made the choice not to give her the second does of Tramadol due to her severe sedation and lack of ability to walk and obvious discomfort.

By Wednesday morning (today) we realized we needed to take her in. The Tramadol was given on Tuesday at approx. 6 AM and it was now 8AM the following day and the symptoms were persisting. We took her into see my vet and immediately the vet looked at her eyes and gums, something I had done the night before and not noticed anything out of the ordinary, her gums and the white's of her eyes appeared yellow--jaundiced. We decided to hospitalize her for the day and give her fluids as well as run some blood work.

At about 2 PM we received a call from our vet who told us that her blood work results were all over the place and the results of an ultrasound showed her liver which looked terrible. He also stated that she was extremely anemic and the fluids we were giving her weren't doing anything.

We decided as a family to go visit her at the clinic. The second she saw us she began wagging her tail and smiling. We decided to bring her into a room so we would be able to spend time with her and say our goodbyes. Our decision was made by viewing how uncomfortable she was as well as hearing the testimony of the vet, who I trust, saying he would make the same decision if it was his dog.

Today has definitely been an awful day; to say goodbye to the dog that has been with me since I was in the 5th grade is absolutely heart breaking. And the hardest part has been to come home and not have her waiting there for me, wagging her tail.

It's good to know that she wasn't in a lot of pain over a long period of time and that she is happy now.

Tonight I plan on reading through Rainbow Bridge and thinking of my sweet girl.

I know many may not read this, but thanks to all who have supported my family and I.

Today's pet of the day is my sweet girl, Midnight:

She was born approx. September 15, 1995 and she died October 14, 2009. She will be missed!

I know you're sick of him but...

So I know this issue has been hammered into the ground, but I've found myself to be suddenly unsure. When Michael Vick was first charged with dog fighting it broke my heart. I'm a pit bull fan and to mistreat any dog, regardless of breed, is just wrong. Thankfully many pits from Vick's kennels were able to be rehabilitated and given great homes. Do I think what Vick did was wrong? YES, of course!! But where's the equal justice in this situation? Yes, what he did was wrong, but there are other players in the NFL that have committed crimes and served their time and they are now playing in the NFL. Vick has served his time and has also attempted to make amends with organizations such as the ASPCA and The Humane Society of the United States. I suppose what I'm trying to say is: if we're going to allow others who have committed crimes to return to play in the NFL, then why won't Vick be able to? Either allow all "badly behaved" players to play or none.

Vick has recently been allowed back in the NFL, but many teams are refusing to consider him as a member of their team. Is this because animal issues play at the heartstrings of America more than other crimes? Are teams worried that if they allow Vick to play for their team they will receive flack for it?

I'm interested in what will be the results of this issue and don't get me wrong, I hope he never plays in the NFL again and ends up working at a local 711.

I made a mistake in my last post when I said I was going to post a "Pup Du Jour" in each post. I suppose I should change this to "Pet Du Jour" since canines won't be the only critters I'll be posting.

I'd like you to meet Mollie ...

Mollie is at a rescue in Southern California called CARE (Cat and Canine Assistance, Referral and Education). The website doesn't specify her age but it does say that she's a senior citizen who's enjoying the important things in life. I think her one brown eye and one blue eye are so cute and unique.

To service dogs and meatballs...

I've always thought the idea of owning a service animal would be amazing. Who doesn't want a dog that is extremely well trained that they can take EVERYWHERE with them? But due to me not being in need of a service animal I will most likely not be able to enjoy this pleasure. But this does not mean that I have not looked into the many programs that are available and how I can get involved. Many programs throughout the country offer service puppy's to pet owners to be socialized from 16 weeks to 12 months. So you get a lab/golden/shepherd puppy and raise it for one year and expose it to as many elements as possible. The problem with this is what happens at 12 months? You have to give service puppy back to finish training for its future owner. It would just be heartbreaking.

A friend of mine recently brought this program in Oregon to my attention. Unlike many other programs that use specific breeds for assistance dogs, this program takes rescue/shelter dogs and trains them to be of assistance to those who are hard of hearing. The program's called Dogs for the Deaf and it's out of Central Point, Oregon. According to their website, in over 30 years they have managed to provide 3,000 dogs for people. Their program is broken down into 4 different categories. They have Hearing Dogs (rescue mixed breed dogs up to 36 months old who help the deaf population), Miracle Mutts (pups that provide emotional support for those who are struggling with depression or loneliness), Harmony's Hounds (humans aren't the only one's with special needs. Harmony hounds are dogs that may have medical problems or need a bit more tlc.), and Career Change Dogs (dogs that are wonderful companions). They also have a program for Autistic persons that provides a dog to specifically help Autistic children.

Overall the program costs about $25,000 to train each dog but the placement of a dog is free-of-charge for the person receiving the canine.

I think this program's awesome because not only are Dogs for the Deaf training animals to assist individuals but they're also giving homes to dogs that may be otherwise euthanized.

I've decided that for each post I'm going to have a Pup Du Jour. I'll show a dog that in need of a home in various parts of the country. And of course they'll be super cute!

And so, without further ado....

Meet Meatball

I found Meatball through the ASPCA group on my Facebook. I receive updates from them regularly but this one caught my attention more than most. He's a pit bull and he's estimated to be about 3 years old. Those crazy ears and that speckled nose just did it for me. You can find Meatball through the ASPCA in New York City. I hope you all enjoy him as much as I do!!

7.28.09

I chose to create this blog to put my passion for animals in print. I work part time at an animal clinic and I have been there for about three years. I have a 13 year old lab mix named Midnight and a 4 year old tuxedo cat named Bumble (or Kitty and sometimes Bit).

I'll try my best to not drown this blog in negative animal news, as we all know, cruel things happen out there in the world but there are an equal number of great things that are happening for our pups and kitties.

Here are a few photos of my loves.

My pup Midnight

She's a bit older in this photo, 14 this year.

Bumble

Being silly.

As a college student I tend to get side-tracked so every post may not be about our fuzzy loved one's, but I'll try and I'll try to post semi-often.

Enjoy!