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Guilford County Animal Control officers say they have seen a significant increase in the number of pets being surrendered, left abandoned in vacant housing and dropped off along the side of a road to fend for themselves.

“This is definitely something new,” said officer Leanne Garrad. “We have seen increases usually in the summertime, but right now it’s the economy and people haven’t been able to take care of animals.”

According to Guilfrod County Animal Shelter Director Marcia Williams, most of the pets are being surrendered or abandoned against the owners’ wills.

“It’s mainly because they are losing their jobs, losing their home and they can’t afford to keep them,” she said.

But relinquishing your pet isn’t the only solution during tough economic times. Guilford County officials suggest the following when faced with the decision of giving up your dog or cat:

1. Ask family, friends and co-workers if they would care for your pet and give it a loving and responsible home. If you are looking for a new home by using newspaper ads, ask for references and make a home visit to assess the type of environment your pet will be entering. 2. Never advertise to give an animal free to a good home. Charge something, even if only $10. 3. Have your pet neutered or spayed before going to its new home. 4. If your pet is elderly, disabled or has chronic health problems, you may consider humanely euthanizing such a pet. 5. Contact the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of the Triad at (336) 375-3222. The SPCA Cares program assists with education, food, shelter, spaying/neutering and veterinarian care.

Copyright © 2009, WGHP-TV

Hero Dog Alerts Family of House Fire

Monday, February 02, 2009 

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A Raleigh family’s dog is being hailed a hero after he alerted them to a fire at a neighbor’s house, MyFOXMemphis reported.

The dog, named Tiger, woke up his owner Velma Boyd with loud barking. Boyd said she smelled smoke and ran to get her neighbor, Patricia Calvin, away from the fire.

It took firefighters three hours to put out the blaze. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire, but officials say they believe it was started by faulty wiring near the dryer.

In an ironic twist, Tiger had been sick and Boyd could no longer afford his medicial bills, and she was ready to give him up. She had called the Humane Society earlier Monday to pick up the dog to be put down. They never showed up.

“It’s a blessing in disguise,” said Boyd.

Read the full story from MyFOXMemphis.com.

A NaturalNews Special Report by Dr. Lisa Newman and Mike Adams 

Click here to read  ~~>Pet Food Ingredients Revealed!

Blowing wishes your wayfor this New Year to bring you

For all you dog lovers out there – a performance so touching, it brought tears to my eyes. I have watched this video several times, not only to witness an amazing relationship between an animal and a human being, but also to hear the hauntingly beautiful piano solo that accompanies them. I fell in love with the song so much so, that I was compelled to track down and purchase the sheet music. It is called “I Giorni” by Ludovico Einaudi, inspired by a West African 12th-century folk song about a hippo who was loved by the people of the surrounding area but shot and killed by a hunter. Einaudi writes, “The song is sung as a lament for the death of a king or a great person or for the loss of a loved one.” I haven’t touched the piano in years, but I’m hoping I still have the skills to play this one.

 Originaly Posted by

Breathing Easy

Dog Breeders Issue Massive Recall Of ‘07 Pugs

WASHINGTON, DC—Citing centuries of quality- control issues that have resulted in chronic unreliability, cascading system failures, and even total unit shutdown, the American Pug Breeders Association announced a recall Monday of all pugs produced between February 2006 and the present day.

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“We apologize wholeheartedly to any and all owners of the 2007 pug,” APBA director Betty McAndrews said at a press conference, standing before a table where 10 defective pugs were displayed. “While pug owners are accustomed to dog malfunction, the latest animals are prone to more problems than just the usual joint failures, overheating, seizures, chronic respiratory defects, and inability to breed without assistance. The latest model pug is simply not in any way a viable dog.”

According to the APBA’s online recall notice, pugs produced in the specified period are at “moderate to high risk” for convulsive respiratory failure, soft palate suppuration, corneal ulcers leading to sudden deliquescence of the eyeballs, catastrophic lung collapse, ingrown ribs, diabetes, patellar luxation, encephalitis, Lou Gehrig’s pug’s disease, impacted hips, neck dysplasia, tracheal fissures, morbid obesity, cranial arthritis, and leakage of the anal sacs. In addition, due to strong allergic reactions to almost all medications, 97 percent of pugs are untreatable. Click here to continue reading

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Keagan, the Australian Shepherd inspects the Kersey Valley Maize Adventure with the cameras rolling.

High Point, NC, USA – 08/11/08 – Keagan, the Australian Shepherd representative of Animal Rescue Groups of NC and Classy Sassy Paws, Inc. inspected the Kersey Valley Maize Adventure in High Point, NC; yesterday after learning the Maize Adventure had expanded its fun filled family events to include the pets of its guests. With cameras rolling Keagan had a blast sniffing out the fun! The Maize Adventure is all about the adventure in getting lost in the maze created with Maize, also known as…corn. Lights, Camera, Action!

Keagan felt it was vitally important to ensure the Maize Adventure would even be of interest to pets like himself, so he inspected it personally yesterday. Keagan reports to us that, “BARK! BARK, BARK, ARRRRF, ROTE, ROTE, BARK!” and his mom, Ginny Wiltsey, President of Animal Rescue Groups of NC and Classy Sassy Paws, Inc., kindly translated his excited dogspeak for us.

She said, “Keagan wants you and all the pets out there to know how incredibly fun his day was! He went panning for gems, an activity he really recommends for those pets who don’t mind getting a little wet. Oh and the fossil dig, well you know how dogs love to bury bones!” Keagan added, “BARK, BARK! ARRRFFF, BARK, WOOOOOF!” Ms. Wiltsey again translated and said, “Keagan is telling you how nervous he was when he first entered the Maize. He said not being able to see over the corn was a little intimidating initially, but once he got further in, he loved it and it became like a mission to get to the end.”

Keagan, smiling happily as his mom translated, jumped in again to add, “WOOOOOOOOOFFF, BARK! AHRRR-ROOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Ms. Wiltsey laughed heartily and translated, “Keagan is telling you about how he got to stand on the Look Out Bridge in the Corn Maize and all the people there with him raised their arms and starting cheering, so he joined in with his own howls of excitement!”

This high draw attraction is celebrating the addition of pets with The Amaizing Pet Adventure - A Paws Adopt-A-Thon Production on September 27, 2008 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Keagan excitedly reports that pets everywhere are going to love the Kersey Valley Maize Adventure and highly recommends everyone to go there as a family…..the WHOLE family, too.

Watch for more from Keagan as he has been chosen to be a spokes dog and model for Envy Pets and he says “mums the word on Envy Pets or in his case barks the word!”

  Animal Advocate Ginny Wiltsey Joins the Board of Directors of the Humane Society of the Piedmont 

 High Point, NC, USA – 08/01/08 – Local Animal Advocate and Business Owner Ginny Wiltsey was unanimously voted in and inducted to the Board of Directors of the Humane Society of the Piedmont Wednesday, July 30, 2008.

 “I am deeply honored to be given this incredible opportunity to assist The Humane Society of the Piedmont in its efforts to eliminate animal cruelty and the tragedies of pet overpopulation through an aggressive spay and neuter program,” said Ms. Wiltsey. 

The Humane Society of the Piedmont addresses a variety of animal issues, but is currently focused on the need for implementing widespread sterilization programs by educating pet owners on the urgency of spaying and neutering all companion animals.  The issue has been critically compounded by the housing crisis as pet owners all over the nation abandon pets when they abandon their foreclosed homes.  Additionally, more people are giving up their pets as they determine ways to trim their budgets due to rising gas prices and the impact to the cost of living. 

“I’ve been directly involved in animal rescue and related efforts for years now and I consider this my challenge to advance to the next stage, which is creating an educated public whose single-minded goal should become reducing animal population to controllable levels,” added Ms. Wiltsey. 

Ms. Wiltsey went on to say she does not intend to cease her efforts in animal rescue.  “I think we must address the absolute need to change society’s view of animal issues by championing new laws to reduce cruelty via stronger and harsher penalties, and by creating avenues of animal welfare education that jump start our youth at an early age onto the path of compassion and responsible care for the animals in our world.  Early education on responsible pet ownership is the key and the challenge is to find multiple ways to create a different mind-set in our society so future generations are not as careless about animal population control tactics and more caring towards saving animals.”

Ginny Wiltsey is the Owner, President and Designer of Classy Sassy Paws, Inc., a locally based wholesale pet couture company.  She is also a couture designer for people and celebrities on a custom order basis.  She is an animal welfare & rescue advocate active in rescue, event coordinating, adoption, fostering and fund-raising.  She is a public speaker on various topics related to animal advocacy such as Responsible Pet Ownership.  Ginny is also the creator of Animal Rescue Groups of North Carolina (www.argnc.com), a web site dedicated to being a one-stop information clearinghouse for various aspects of animal advocacy, including rescue, spay & neuter clinics and public education on animal welfare.

Where is the Outrage? op-ed Kevin Belton 

When did it become acceptable to use fish for a pedicure? On Good Morning America this morning they did a segment on a northern Virginia spa that now uses over 1000 fish (in lots of 100 per tank) to start the pedicure process. Customers soak their feet in tanks while hungry fish devour loose skin. Once this process is complete the pedicure proceeds as usual. Here is my problem, if this were any other animal people would be crawling out of the woodwork screaming abuse but since it’s just fish who cares! Let me tell you what happens to fish when the water conditions are not ideal, they start to gasp then as water conditions deteriorate the get lesions on the gills and eventually suffocate because they can no longer extract enough oxygen from the water. The spot on TV says nothing about the type of care or filtration used to maintain the health of the fish. Continued exposure to human feet will introduce bacteria and lack of stability in the waters PH levels. I would be interested to know out of the 1000 fish on hand how many are dead every morning when the employees come in. My point to this little rant is the value we put on life. Fish rate low on the scale obviously, everyone will go watch shark week on Discovery and cringe when they see how the reefs are being killed by commercial fishing and pollution and after donating to some cause to make them feel better about themselves enjoy the new fad of fish pedicures that will soon be sweeping the nation.

 People are quick to cry out against a puppy mill or and overcrowded shelter but have any of you ever been to a commercial fish wholesaler? Most experience a 5% loss per day of livestock, but as long as little Sarah has a goldfish in her bowl when she wakes up, well that’s fine. Tell me what breeder or puppy farm you think it’s ok to have a 5% loss per day. I didn’t think so. So do I think we should stop commercial fishing for the pet trade? No, I think we need to stop being hypocritical when an acquaintance buys a dog or cat from a breeder instead of adopting, or when a horse breaks it’s leg at the next Kentucky Derby or your next door neighbor goes hunting and kills a deer (that he also eats). People condemn those without a second thought. Meanwhile killing 50 fish per day for a pedicure is just an acceptable loss for a service provided. Whatever you have to tell yourself to sleep at night.

Junk food is causing pet obesity epidemic
By Andy Bloxham
Last Updated: 6:06PM BST 20/07/2008
Pet owners are increasingly feeding their animals a dangerously unhealthy diet of junk food, including curry, pizza and ice-cream, a charity has warned.

JOHN ROBERTSON
Pets are being fed chips, cheese, scones and even curry

Researchers for The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals found that in the past year there has been a 10 per cent increase in the number of overweight animals.

Around 500,000 pets are affected, ranging from cats and dogs to rabbits, rats and even budgerigars.

They are suffering symptoms identified with obesity in humans, such as low energy levels, breathing problems, arthritis, asthma, diabetes, liver and heart disease and poor fertility.

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PDSA senior veterinary surgeon Sean Wensley said the pets’ weight gain could be down to their owners giving them fatty and sugary snacks with little knowledge of what harm they were doing.

He said pets were being fed chips, cheese and scones.

“Others that have been mentioned are crisps, curry, pizza, ice-cream, cake, and sweets,” he added.

He said owners appeared not to understand that a single biscuit or crisp for a pet could be equivalent to an entire packet for a human.

The experience of the PDSA is reflected elsewhere.

The Guinness Book of Records has withdrawn its listings for heaviest animals over worries that some owners may be overfeeding their pets to gain recognition.

Inspectors from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals last year took a labrador called Rusty away from Derek Benton, 62, of Fordham, Cambridgeshire, and his brother David, 53.

The pair had allowed the dog to reach 74.2kg (162lbs/11st 5lbs).

There have also been cases of a cat called Ginger which was too fat to get out of the cat flap and a dog that was so overweight after being fed English breakfasts that it could not move.

Helen Briggs, of the RSPCA, said: “Overweight animals tend to be made objects of fun, but it’s a serious animal
“Overweight animals tend to be made objects of fun, but it’s a serious animal welfare issue.”
Helen Briggs, of the RSPCA.