PetHobbyist.com Site Blog

Every 4th of July pets go missing when they try to run from frightening fireworks. This year, kids in Seattle, Washington are getting ready to help some of those pets find their way back home.

Some junior pet detectives are on the case this week, but these kids are looking for dogs that won’t go missing until this weekend.

Pet detective Kat Albrecht has deputized several dozen kids at a day camp in Kent.

"We're providing the supplies, they're providing the kid power," says Albrecht, a former police detective who founded Missing Pet Partnership over ten years ago.

The kids are using stencils to turn fluorescent poster board into missing pet posters.

"We have a specific way of making these that captures the attention of people driving by," explains Albrecht who's overseeing the kid's efforts.

Read the rest of Pet detectives tracks July 4th orphans.

Rather than risk having your pet become lost during the fireworks this weekend, keep them inside!

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There are lots of great pet photos in our Photo Gallery... and throughout the year, we'll be featuring the best of the best. So come upload yours... it's free!

California sea otters are struggling to survive.

The sluggish recovery of the southern sea otter of California, a threatened population on the Endangered Species list, appears to have stalled once again.

U.S. Geological Survey scientists say the latest 3-year average (2,813 sea otters) was 0.5 percent lower than last year, the first time the trend has been negative since the late 1990s. A leveling off of population growth has occurred over the last 3 years.

For southern sea otters to be considered for removal from the Endangered Species List, the 3-year running averages would have to exceed 3,090 for 3 continuous years, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Southern Sea Otter Recovery Plan.

Read more about the sea otters.

How remorseful is Columbus Ohio firefighter David P. Santuomo after he killed his own families pets "execution style" in his basement? Apparently not very, based on the rude hand gesture he flipped to reporters covering his hearing. What was the motive for this gruesome crime that sounds like it was culled from a mob movie? Mr. Santuomo couldn't be bothered to board his pets for the family vacation.

The firefighter took both of his families adopted pets down to the basement, affixed a makeshift silencer to his rifle, tied the animals to a pipe, and then murdered them, shooting at least one of them 6 times in the head. Santuomo's crimes came to light after he bragged to other firefighters and dumped the bodies in the trash bin behind the station.

Santuomo, who did not give a statement in court, will spend 90 days in jail, pay $4,500 to cover the cost of his investigation and serve five years' probation, Judge Harland H. Hale ruled. Hale also fined Santuomo $150 and ordered him to perform 200 hours of community service. He must not have pets or weapons in his house for five years and must undergo random home inspections. Hale agreed to allow him to serve his jail time in 10-day stints over two years.

Sadly this individual appears to remain on duty as a representative of the City of Columbus.

Santuomo, a firefighter since 1996, remains on active duty while awaiting a disciplinary hearing with Fire Chief Ned Pettus Jr.

If you would like to drop the Columbus Fire Department a note to let them know your feelings email your thoughts to the administrative office of the Columbus Division of Fire at ldmmurphy@columbus.gov

To read the whole article Click Here

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There are lots of great pet photos in our Photo Gallery... and throughout the year, we'll be featuring the best of the best. So come upload yours... it's free!

Be sure to tell docsperf you liked it here!

There are lots of great pet photos in our Photo Gallery... and throughout the year, we'll be featuring the best of the best. So come upload yours... it's free!

From the blog of the Coalition of Human Advocates for K9s & Owners (CHAKO), disquieting news:

The California State Board of Equalization has been visiting the AKC website and searching out breed clubs. Any person who has his or her name and address listed there or at the breed club's website is subject to harassment by the California State Board of Equalization. The Board uses this information to send out letters advising people they need a seller's permit to sell dogs or puppies and demanding they respond within 30 days. A copy of one of these letters is depicted at the end of this blog entry.

CHAKO called Jenny Chau with the Board and asked her about these letters. She confirmed these letters have gone out, and her supervisor (Bermudez) instructed her to send them. We asked Ms. Chau, since the government has the burden of proof and citizens have a constitutional right not to incriminate themselves, what would happen if someone did not respond to the letter.

Interesting, isn't it, that the people who vow to end all dog and cat births and who keep proposing all these poison-pill regulations and laws that would effectively end any kind of home-based hobby breeding -- like saying that someone who has a litter every few years to maintain a small hobby breeding program needs to have a business license and be treated as a business, which would effectively end all home-based hobby breeding since very few people live in homes that are zoned for businesses, let alone the kennels that are also often required by this type of regulation -- are also always screaming that all breeders are tax evaders?

And now the State of California, which is even now considering a draconian mandatory spay/neuter law, is singing the same song.

Read the rest of the post here.

From MSNBC.com's Kim Campbell Thornton, a warning for pet owners:

Bacon, a French bulldog, likes to munch on the rhododendron bushes in the front yard of his Washington, D.C. home. His owner, Susan Rosenau, had heard that rhododendron might be toxic to dogs, but Bacon never seemed to suffer any ill effects, so she didn’t worry too much about his snack habit.

She was shocked, then, to learn that the showy shrub had the potential to cause vomiting and diarrhea, seizures, and even to affect Bacon’s heart rate and rhythm.

“Many people aren’t aware of just how toxic some of these really common plants are,” says Dr. Sharon Gwaltney-Brant, a veterinarian and board-certified toxicologist who is vice president of the Animal Poison Control Center, based in Urbana, Ill. “A rule of thumb is that the prettier it is, the more likely it is to be toxic.”

Read the whole story here.

Stephen and Sally Miller, the owners of ChemNutra, have pled guilty to importing protein concentrates contaminated with melamine from China. The concentrates ended up in pet food that sickened and killed thousands of dogs and cats, and led to the largest consumer recall in U.S. history and other pet food recalls worldwide.

The recalls, which began in March 2007, did more than that; they marked the beginning of a food safety scandal that has spanned the globe and pointed out huge weaknesses in our national security when it comes the importation and inspection of food.

Melamine and other contaminants, some not yet identified, have turned up in foods from China, including dairy products, candy, and infant formula; even non-food items like drywall from China have been found to contain dangerous contaminants.

More details here.

Update: This one finally passed on the second day it was brought repeatedly to a vote. It now goes to the California State Assembly.

A sneaky version of mandatory spay/neuter -- in many ways actually worse than last year's defeated AB 1634 -- is trying to sneak under the wire today in its third vote in the Californa State Senate. It went down twice yesterday, but word from Laura Sanborn of Save Our Dogs is that some senate staffers are reporting far more phone calls in support of the bill than opposed -- very different from yesterday.

Please call these senators, all of whom abstained, thank them for doing so, and ask them to continue to abstain in today's votes. (An abstain is as good as a "no" vote in this case, but easier for the Senators politically.) From Laura:

Correa (916) 651-4034
Moreno Ducheny (916) 651-4040
Pavley (916) 651-4023
Wolk: (916) 651-4005
Wright (916) 651-4025
Yee: (916) 651-4008
Negrete-McLeod (916) 651-4032
Simitian (916) 651-4011

The above senators will be getting a LOT of pressure from Sen. Florez — SB 250 author and Senate Majority Leader — to change to a Yes.

If you haven’t already called, call the offices above and say:

“Hello, my name is [your name]. I live in [your city’s name] California. I’m calling to thank the Senator for abstaining on SB 250, mandatory spay/neuter for dogs and cats. I’m asking the senator to continue abstaining when it comes up for a reconsideration vote later this week.”

You might want to add that the AVMA, the CVMA, Alley Cat Allies, and the ASPCA have all come out against mandatory spay/neuter as being bad for animals -- not even HSUS is taking a stand in favor of this bill.

Call now, folks. This bill is a misguided and doomed -- and very expensive -- effort to reduce the numbers of animals dying in shelters in California. But mandatory spay/neuter has never accomplished that goal anywhere it's been tried. Instead, it's resulted in increased impounds and surrenders, and more deaths. If you want more specifics as to why SB 250 is so very bad for animals and for pet owners, read Save Our Dogs' analysis here.

And call!