Today
Sections
More
Features
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Happy ending
The phrase "happy ending" gets a nice twist to its meaning with this story. This beautiful, older, long hair red cat came into our care as a stray on December 15. Paralyzed in the hind end, perhaps the result of a car accident, Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA's veterinarians struggled for days over what was right and best to do for him. He couldn't urinate on his own and his prognosis for recovery was extremely poor, but he also seemed happy with every hand that touched him and clearly was demonstrating a will to live.
After several days with the doctors here gently massaging his bladder to make him pee, this sweet and seriously injured cat began to show a bit of renewed feeling in his back legs. A neurologist was consulted, and the decision was made to keep trying and to monitor his progress.
PHS/SPCA volunteers and staff regularly comb both print and electronic media looking to see if any of our animals have matches with postings from people looking for their best friends. Ironically, we found that his owner had posted a Lost Ad on Craig's List but, obviously the result of her own distracted and worried state, had neglected to leave contact information. Two of our staff (an Animal Control Officer and the head vet) posted their own Found Ads on Craig's List hoping to connect, our Officers patrolled the area where the kitty was found looking for flyers, and one of our staff called the local veterinary practices to see if someone recognized the cat as one of their own patients.
Finally, the lost cat found his human -- and even better, he continues on the road to some level (perhaps, with his good luck!) even full recovery.
As to those "happy endings", I'm attaching here links to three You Tube bits posted by the cat's person (a cat, by the way, who we now know is named Muning) which show that feeling and movement are indeed returning to our friend's previously most unhappy "end".
I'm hoping that the links here will work, but this is the first time I've tried to do this and I am a low tech, high touch kind of guy. My apologies if the links don't work but trust me, it's worth taking the time to cut-and-paste to find them.
So, from his person:
"I wanted to update you on my little trooper... I have very exciting news, but instead of telling you, I wanted to show you. So this was taken on New Year's Eve, December 31st. Still bound to his bed, but Muning is back to his playful self. He can also sort of roll on his back..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtGcVMW8nQk
"This one was only this past Monday, January 10th. As you can see, he can now move his tail:"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F005drrm5D0
"Also this past Monday the 10th, I took a video of him WALKING! Yes, I said walking... Sort of wobbly, and sometimes he still drags his legs, but if the distance is a little far, he seems to kick and attempt to walk using his hind legs!!!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mXdXJ_xImk
"I am so very thankful, and so very proud of him. My little warrior is still fighting!"
| Jan 18 at 08:29 AM
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Quote of the week
Here lies Dash, the Favourite Spaniel of Queen Victoria
By whose command this Memorial was erected.
He died on the 20 December, 1840 in his 9th year.
His attachment was without selfishness,
His playfulness without malice,
His fidelity without deceit.
READER, if you would live beloved and die regretted,
Profit by the example of DASH.
...attributed to Queen Victoria, inscribed on her obviously beloved Spaniel's tombstone
| Jan 16 at 10:30 AM
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Heaven
I'm not big fan of forwarding jokes and all the other mass-distributed email messages. Generally I just press delete when they show up. But because the sender was someone I so deeply admire, I opened a message recently to discover the following. Reprinted here without attribution (who writes all this stuff showing up in our in-boxes?), I share this wonderful little story with you now.
A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them. After awhile, he and his dog came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. The wall looked like fine marble and sat at the top of a long hill, broken at the hill's apex by a tall arch and magnificent gate that glowed in the sunlight. The path that led to the gate looked like pure gold.
He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out, "Excuse me, where are we?" "This is Heaven, sir," the man answered.
"Wow! Would you happen to have some water?" the man asked. "Of course, sir, come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up." The man gestured, and the gate began to open. "Can my friend," gesturing toward his dog, "come in, too?" the traveler asked.
"I'm sorry sir, but we don't accept pets." The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog. After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road which led through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book. "Excuse me!" he called to the reader. "Do you have any water?"
"Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in."
"How about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to the dog. "There should be a bowl by the pump" was the answer. The man and the dog went through the gate together, and sure enough there was an old fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.
The traveler filled the bowl and took a long drink himself, then gave some to the dog. When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree. "What do you call this place?" the traveler asked.
"This is Heaven," he answered.
"Well, that's confusing," the traveler said. "The man down the road said that was Heaven, too."
"Oh, you mean the place with the gold streets and pearly gates? Nope. That's Hell."
"Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?"
"No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind."
| Jan 13 at 08:30 AM
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
An alternate career
I just was at an early morning meeting, sitting around a table with about a dozen or so people, when one of those telltale "ping" noises went off to tell the ping-ee that her or his very smart pocket device had received some message. Instantly a dozen or so people, me among them, all reached for our pockets and purses to retrieve said devices to see which one of us was being notified that the world was coming to an end or whatever critically important message had landed. Watching this example of conditioning and response I thought to myself that, should he ever need a new career path, Steve Jobs could probably be one amazing dog trainer.
| Jan 11 at 08:57 AM
Sunday, January 09, 2011
Quote of the week
"We need a boundless ethics which will include the animals also."
-- Dr. Albert Schweitzer
| Jan 09 at 10:25 AM
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Something else on Governor Brown's plate
Here's part of my post ("Ban on the importation of turtles and frogs") from March 9 of last year: Last week, the California State Fish & Game Commission unanimously voted to end future importation of live turtles and frogs for the State's live animal food markets. By this 5-to-zero vote, the Commission has instructed the Department of Fish & Game not to issue any future permits for importing these animals for sale as food. While neither the Commission nor the Department is especially well known for doing the right thing, this is an excellent decision, bringing to a positive end a 16 year long battle on this issue.
This ban, if implemented (and we'll come back to that "if" in a moment) would have stopped the annual import into California of some two million bullfrogs and 300,000 turtles for the live food markets. The ban was supported by an unprecedented alliance of hunting groups, animal welfare advocates, public health professionals and environmentalists who, together, helped generate 4,000 letters in support of the ban from members of the general public sent to the Fish and Game Commission.
The unifying issue at the core of this gathering of unusual bedfellows, these imported reptiles and amphibians carry with them diseases and parasites which are extremely dangerous to people (these animals are sold for human consumption), native wildlife (purposely and accidentally, some number of these animals are entering California's ecosystems, introducing contagious diseases and new parasite loads with them), and the habitat (ditto). Add to that the truly horrific conditions in which these animals are shipped, housed and then killed (often tossed live into frying pans and stewpots), and you've got a real reason to care about this.
Remember my "if" above, and my comment that California Fish and Game is not "especially well known for doing the right thing"..? Well, this is sadly not proving to be the exception to their past performance.
Towards the end of 2010, California Department Fish and Game's Director John McCamman announced that his department will in fact continue issuing permits, although now only on a month-to-month basis. His number 2 in the department, challenged by one of the Commissioners who had previously voted in support of the ban, responded: "The Director acts at the pleasure of the Governor." That, of course, was in reference to Governor Schwarzennegger who may or may not have earned his green credentials in terms of alternate energy but has never been seen as especially good for the animals (either pets or wildlife) of the state. Guess this is now one of Governor Brown's many issues to resolve.
| Jan 06 at 10:28 AM
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
By the numbers...
A quick review of 2010, by the numbers -- this past year, Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA saved the lives of 2,381 dogs and 2,142 cats and 759 other companion animals (rabbits and pets rodents, pet birds and reptiles) and 1,290 native wild animals. That's a total of 6,572 lives saved in one year by this one group of staff and volunteers working in and with the generous support of this one community.
That's the good news, and we're proud of it. That there were so many animals in need of help (so many animals sick and injured, abandoned and orphaned, stray, neglected, cruelly mistreated, or simply unwanted), that so many animals were in need of help in our community is a sad fact.
Two more facts. First, there are so many animals in need of help in every community, last year and certainly again this year. And second, there are organizations in your community committed there -- as we are here -- to help those animals.
Start the New Year right, please. Find your local humane society, your local SPCA, your local animal care and control agency; if you can't figure out who is working on behalf of the animals in your community just email me and I will do that legwork for you. And, then, help them in 2011. Adopt, volunteer, donate.
| Jan 04 at 09:19 AM
Thursday, December 30, 2010
New Year's Resolutions
I'm making my New Year's resolutions with help and advice from my dogs and cats.
With help from my cats Tsimmes and Isabel, I resolve that 2011 will be my year to learn the joy of appreciating the world just outside my front door. Watch a cat watch her world and you see someone who fully appreciates all that their eyes can see. We hung a special bird feeder outside our sliding glass doors to the yard, a dangling sock thingy that attracts goldfinches by the dozen. Our cats (indoor cats, of course) now spend uninterrupted hours at that door, watching birds come and go. For every single flittering bird moment (and there are hundreds of bird moments every day even in these winter months) our cats quiver with enthusiasm: fur vibrates, ears quirk about rapidly. Sometimes they chatter a rapid fire sound accompanied by clacking teeth, sometimes they are silent, transfixed, meditative.
Watch a cat watch her world and you see an animal fully alive in that moment. I want to learn more about that, a resolution for 2011.
With help from my dogs Frida and Archie, I resolve that 2011 will be the year for me to learn more about two things which seem to come quite naturally to dogs: the serious business of play, and the joy of rest. Frida first, and the serious business of play.
I admire how she takes the simplest things around her and, in each, finds there the reason for joyful celebration: each and every thing she has is the best and most exciting thing she's ever had. Every stuffed animal, rawhide chew or captured dust bunny is gleefully tossed into the air, every one of them on every day. I love to watch her dance with her toys as they bounce along the floor, pushed by her pretty little nose until, eventually, that particular round of play is exhausted. And then she finds another wonderful thing and it starts all over again.
No, it's not my plan to start chasing rawhide chewies around the living room floor, but I do admire, even envy, that abandon and pleasure found in something simple, in activity with no particular purpose or agenda. I resolve to find joyful celebration in the commonplace and the everyday.
And now to our big dog, Archie. Archie started life as a seriously abused animal. Rescued from that violence, he was both watchful and distrustful when he first came into our family. Over these years, he's forgiven our species for the abuse he received early in life at the hands of few rotten humans. He has grown remarkably loving.
Dogs love to hang around, relaxing, and "lazy dog" is an expression we all understand. It's been my experience that those dogs like Archie who've lived a life of abuse and who never could really let down their guard, that if life changes and they learn that they are safe then those dogs come to relax even more deeply than most. Archie has now mastered the fine art of relaxation, practicing it regularly and with complete abandon, his big head tossed back on his loose and sloppy Jell-O neck, snoring away the day happily and noisily. He rests pleasurably, deeply, trusting that the world around him is safe.
And so, from lessons I hope my animals will teach, this year I too want to observe deeply, to play joyfully, and to rest and relax thoroughly. I have hopes for a great year, and I wish you the same.
| Dec 30 at 08:31 AM
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Love and all that Jazz
Again, a letter that deserves sharing, this from Lisa and Mark...
Jazz was the most fabulous canine companion ever. Sadly we had to have her put down two months ago due to her having contracted osteosarcoma. But we are sending this note to share the story of ten years of fun, adventures, and unmatched loyalty from our family member and friend.
Jazz was five months old when we adopted her, fearful and not fully socialized with people and animals. The attentive volunteer advised us to socialize Jazz as soon as possible in order to avoid fear-based aggression. For seven solid months we worked with her; honestly sometimes, as I pulled my hair in frustration, I'd look at her wondering "What did we get ourselves into with this big, smart girl?" as she challenged the hierarchy. Looking into her eyes, I imagined if she could talk she'd say "You want me to heel, when?" Then, seemingly overnight, Jazz blossomed into a calm, bright, responsive dog, growing to 90-pounds of noble pleasure to walk, play, and hang out with.
Her most humorous trait was her bossy affection. While some dogs will come to give a gentle lick, Jazz would punch her snout against your face, slobbering nose and mouth at the same time, giving you a goofy grin that said "There! You got your kiss." But this toothy smile that greeted me whenever I returned home made me laugh every single day that Jazz was with us.
She was a loyal girl, guarding her pack with focus, always facing herself toward the door. Yet, when there was a house full of people, she preferred to stay quietly among everyone, often circling round and round then settling down in the middle of the action. I don't know whether it was because people had a pre-conceived notion that a 90-pound Doberman might be aloof and unapproachable, or because she carried a very big, special spirit, but everyone loved Jazz. It is the latter reason, don't you think?
In closing, our thanks for the noble work of the wonderful animal caretakers at the Peninsula Humane Society, for it is the way that they take time to carefully evaluate and prepare the animals and thoroughly educate the adopting families in return, that create the type of successful connections that Jazz and her family experienced. Your work is valuable and appreciated.
| Dec 28 at 08:30 AM
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Just the right holiday gift
There I sat, one of many, completely stopped in traffic on 19th Avenue in San Francisco, this traffic likely the result of a million cars snaking in and out of the Stonestown mall and other last minute holiday shopping nuttiness. Traffic doesn't upset me and so there I sat, listening to music, staring out my windshield when quite unexpectedly a beautiful red tail hawk dove from the sky down to a home's front lawn and, seamlessly, without any apparent effort or noticeable change in his speed he turned up again to land on top of one in that long line of utility poles dividing north and south bound traffic. And there, on his tall perch, he began to rip into the rat picked up from that lawn.
Perhaps for everyone except the rat, it really was just the right holiday gift. (Heck, even for the rat, this sudden rise and quick death is arguably a far better ending than starving to death frozen to a glue trap or bleeding out from ingested anticoagulant rat "bait".) Yes, just the right holiday gift: the hawk got his meal, proving himself and his kind able to adjust to life within this urban jungle, and I witnessed it.
In this landscape of malls, cars, telephone poles and lawns, a member of this current generation of an endless progress of predatory birds lives out again the story of his kind. I find that encouraging, although of course no guarantee, that the story will go on and on regardless of what else we may do as we continue, self-focused animals that we are, to alter the backdrop of that story. Yes, again, the right holiday gift as one more year comes to its end and another is about to begin.
| Dec 23 at 09:00 AM
Editor's note:
This is an SFGate.com City Brights Blog. These blogs are not written or edited by SFGate or the San Francisco Chronicle. The authors are solely responsible for the content.
advertisement
|
your ad here
Featured City Brights
