The No Kill 2009 Conference will be held on May 2-3, 2009 in Washington, DC.  From their site:

The No Kill Advocacy Center is teaming up with the Animal Law program at George Washington University Law School to bring together the nation’s most successful shelter directors and the nation’s top animal lawyers. They will help you create a No Kill community and teach you how to use the legal system to save the lives of animals.

Learn from animal control/shelter directors who are now saving over 90% of all animals using the building blocks to No Kill success—programs and services that have had results in both urban and rural communities—to increase adoptions, reduce length of stay, increase redemption rates, rehabilitate animals, and much, much more.

Learn from animal law experts who have challenged our legal system to help animals: Whether it’s drafting model laws, fighting breed specific legislation, eliminating the gas chamber, filing impact legislation, or protecting condemned dogs, learn how to use the legal system to save the lives of animals.

Learn from activists fighting entrenched and regressive shelters in their own community as they show you how to launch successful campaigns for reform.

Harmony,

Janet Roper

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Here we are in March, and it is officially Adopt-a-Rescued-Guinea-Pig Month.  While you are looking to adopt (not buy) your cuddly guinea pig, here are some tips to keep in mind:

• As with all pets, an adult should be the primary caretaker.
• Guinea pigs need ample room; their living quarters should be at least 18 inches wide, 25 inches deep and 14 inches high.  The larger their living space, the more active they will be.
• Aquariums do not provide adequate ventilation for guinea pigs.
• Guinea pigs chew to wear down their growing teeth so everything in the cage must be non-toxic.
• Use plenty of lining for the cage.
• Plenty of high quality hay provides nesting and snacking opportunities for your guinea pig.
• Your guinea pig will also need a gnawing log, platforms for climbing and tunnels for crawling, a food bowl and a water bottle with a sipper tube.
• Handle your guinea pig carefully as they are disposed towards stress.
• Introduce deep leafy green vegetables one day at a time, such as romaine lettuce, kale and collards.  Watch for any stomach upset.
• Guinea pigs like fruit such as melon slices and apples. Be sure to remove the toxic apple seeds.
• Because their cages double as bedding and litter box, the cages need daily cleaning.
• Guinea pigs are social animals, so you will want at least two.  However, make sure they are compatible as well as being of the same sex.

Check with your local Humane Society to adopt your guinea pigs.  The Guinea Pig Handbook by Sharon L. Vanderlip, D.V.M. is an excellent resource on care of your new guinea pig.

Harmony,

Janet Roper

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For those of you wondering how pets are faring through Hurricane Gustav, here’s some links to investigate:

Pets Evacuate from NOLA

USA Today article

Gustav Pets

Twitter

Harmony,

Janet Roper

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Shiloh is keeping his eye on us.

Horses need help, folks, and it’s up to us to do it.

Victoria at Teachings of the Horse suggested I check out a couple of blogs: Anne at smellshorsey.com and Mrs. Mom at ohhorsefeathers.blogspot.com. I did, and I am grateful to both Anne and Mrs. Mom for their posts and their gallantry in writing the posts.

I couldn’t read all of it – I literally couldn’t stomach the story or the pictures. Not all horses are as lucky as Classic Maverick.

As Mrs. Mom pleads, let’s make a difference – one horse at a time. These last remaining days of June I invite everyone to take one action, one step, to help (at least) one horse. Maybe it’s donating time or money to a horse rescue, pitching in for vet care, helping a rescue horse that may be at your barn or giving a rescue horse’s human caretaker a break. It’s up to us to change the world for horses – each action we take, no matter how small, will begin to shift the energies, creating a better world for all horses.

Finally, I ask that you focus your energy on helping the horse(s) and not dissipate your energy on judging who or what circumstance caused the horse to be in the shape or condition s/he’s in. And doing that is tough, tough, tough.

It’s not our place to judge how the horse got in that condition, but it is our place to help the horse into a better condition.

So, before the end of June, help a horse, come back and share your experience with all of us. Let’s make the world a better place for horses!

Harmony,

Janet Roper

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Yesterday you learned how some boarders at the barn where I keep Shiloh came together to rescue Classic Maverick, a thoroughbred off the track. Yesterday’s story ended with Fred and Darla’s timely intervention of Classic Maverick being taken to the kill place in Canada. Here’s the rest of the story, some of it may be difficult to read. For up to date information on Classic Maverick, check out his MySpace page.

“The kids and I were up at the barn before 5:30, let our horses and some more out to pasture to graze and pulled out our chairs to wait. The big truck pulls up again and they took Classic Maverick out and I took him into the white barn, his new home. He had been only gone for a few days. He really got beat up. I read on the internet from a news article about this place he had been and it ain’t pretty. They keep them 3 to a small stall while they wait for the Tuesday ride to Canada without getting fed. Well, the first thing I did was to give him a huge scoop of grain, a huge scoop of sweet corn, and huge serving of hay and some fresh water. Later we took him outside to eat some grass and sprayed his bite wounds from the last few days with medicine and ran cold water over his hurt leg for about 10 minutes. He went back to his stall and fell asleep.

“Since Sunday, we have arranged to have this horse saved, his board and rehab paid for, she also paid the $550, another donor has committed to two months board, another lady who has committed to give, a lady who has worked for the Minnesota Zoo for twenty years commit to retraining him to be a riding horse (she has four horses she has saved at her farm), two girls who have been around horses all their lives and know all about thoroughbreds commit to help retrain and care for him and another vet tech lady commit to watching after his health almost on a daily basis.
These people have always desired to help these horses and are excited about starting a non profit. Karen and Eleanor are going to be on the board. We have also found a lawyer to do the work to start it for free.

“This is one lucky horse and he sure is pretty. We were going to dedicate the foundation in memory of Classic Maverick, but now it will simply be called The Classic Maverick Foundation. Hey, if it is just one horse at a time, at least we will make a difference. We now have three horses and the kids are crazy about the life.

“I don’t have anything against these people who race horses for business, but I do have a problem with people who can just throw an animal away that quickly. Emily even had asked the guy if he could wait till she could secure a rescue place for him. His response? At $20 dollars a day board, he is gone. ~ Fred Jeffery”

Harmony,

Janet Roper

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Fred and his wife Darla are boarders at the same barn where I board Shiloh. The other day when I pulled in, Fred told me this story, and later sent me an email. With Fred’s permission, I’m sharing the story with you. For some of you, this may be difficult to read, but rest assured, that at this moment in time, Classic Maverick is receiving the best care possible.

To learn more about Classic Maverick, check out his MySpace page.

“Darla and I had been planning maybe a couple of years from now after the kids are done with school, to rehab some horses and have a ranch for the future grandkids to visit.

“We have our horses at a thoroughbred training facility. There are very few boarders there and it is a great place for us few boarders. We have Moses, a retired race quarter horse, Dolly, a paint, and take care of Buzz, an old quarter horse.

“Canterbury Downs is a racetrack a few miles up the road from there. There is at any given time about many race horses around the barn we are at. We, of course, go through the big blue barn and make friends with the race horses, give them treats and try to make their life a little more enjoyable. It is a rough life for them except when we boarders are around. One of those horses, a VERY sweet one is Classic Maverick, a three year old.

“Sunday afternoon, a woman pulls up in a big truck and a huge trailer asking me where Classic Maverick is. I showed her which stall he lives in and she took him away. I asked Emily, she works there and boards her two horses there and another boarder, a lady who has her horses there and comes EVERY night to feed the cats, sheep and takes care of a lot of things, where the horse was headed. I wasn’t prepared for the answer. They told me that I don’t want to know. I said I wanted to know. Well in a few days he would be dead meat up in Canada because he had recently hurt a tendon in his front leg. The tendon would heal in time, but the owner didn’t want to pay board anymore for a horse that would not race again.

“I walked back up to our white barn and told Darla. We saw Classic Maverick getting loaded into the trailer. It was not pretty. The horse fell down getting into the trailer and the woman didn’t even bother to put the ramp down for the guy. Darla started crying because Classic Maverick had been one of her favorites. We decided Sunday night that one day we would start a non profit and name it in memory to Classic Maverick.

“Today I got a phone call from Darla and she said she found a donor to pay for his rehab and board for a year. She told me to find the dang horse. I call the guy who runs the place we board at and left him a message. Not good enough. I called a horse auction I had heard someone mention before. The lady that answered told me that no females would have been driving a truck to pickup horses, but gave me the owner’s cell number. I called him and left a message. He called right back and told me it may have been his brother’s wife and gave me his number. I called and the guy said that yes it was them and his wife was down at the barn right now loading the horses to haul up to Canada today.

“I told him I wanted Classic Maverick back. He said I had to come down today by 6 P.M. with $500 to pick him up. Well, I don’t have a truck or horse trailer. I asked if he could hold onto him until I could arrange to pick him up. He told me he could deliver the horse back to the barn at 6:30 for $50. Deal done. He mentioned before I hung up that it was my lucky day because the horse was being loaded as I called.”

Come back tomorrow to learn the rest of Classic Maverick’s story.

Harmony,

Janet Roper

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