Thanks to Chris for pointing out this puff piece on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. In it, it describes Romney packing up the family for a summer trip:

Before beginning the drive, Mitt Romney put Seamus, the family’s hulking Irish setter, in a dog carrier and attached it to the station wagon’s roof rack. He’d built a windshield for the carrier, to make the ride more comfortable for the dog.

I echo Chris’ sentiment of “WTF?”  Who the heck puts their dog on the roof of their car?  And we’re supposed to be all “Wow, he’s so caring about his dog!” when he builds a windshield for the carrier?

Here’s some news for Romney: dude, your dog isn’t a piece of luggage.  If the family were to get into a car accident, the dog wouldn’t stand a chance.  At least inside the car he has the protection of the vehicle’s frame.  What if the carrier came loose and fell off the car?  Again, the dog has no chance.

This is just another example of “animals as property” that so pervades our lives.  To Romney, the family dog isn’t worth space in the car.  Having him dangerously perched on the roof as they fly down the roads at 65mph is a risk that’s reasonable to him.  Would he consider that same risk with his kids?  Of course not.

Want another example of how Seamus gets treated as property?  OK.

A brown liquid was dripping down the back window, payback from an Irish setter who’d been riding on the roof in the wind for hours.

As the rest of the boys joined in the howls of disgust, Romney coolly pulled off the highway and into a service station. There, he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, then hopped back onto the highway. It was a tiny preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management.

Animals rarely get much respect from the oval office.  Sure, President Bush’s dog Barney gets a nicer home page than most people have, but he’s also used to create stupid White House promotional videos.  Then, of course, there’s the debacle that is the presidential turkey pardon at Thanksgiving.  But if Romney were to become president, Seamus would be the worst-treated First Dog since Warren G. Harding’s lab named Seat Cushion.  (That last sentence was said in a manner imitating Jon Stewart.  Imagine me looking coyly at the camera.)

How you treat animals is usually a good indicator of how you treat people.  Perhaps we should keep that in mind when looking at presidential candidates.

I’m not sure, but I think the animals in my neighborhood have been conspiring on Dogster to escape their homes.

It started about two weeks ago when I saw a nearby dog named Bandit wandering around. Fortunately, he let me come right up to him and put a leash on him. He was also wearing a tag, which made it easy to get in touch with his caretaker, who didn’t even realize he had escaped. (Here’s a shot of us hanging out before we could get in touch.) “Bandit never does this,” he told me. “If he gets out of the backyard, he usually just sits on the front step.”

A week later, Bandit escaped again. This time my sister saw him and returned him home (no one was even home at his house at the time).

Last night, I was walking Amina and an tiny, older mutt was loose. I found out where he lived even though he only had a non-identifying rabies tag on. The woman there had no idea he had even gotten out. “He’s never done this before,” she told me. I nodded and suggested she consider getting him an ID tag, just in case.

This morning, for the first time in the 16 months she’s lived with us, Amina forced her way past me and bolted out the front door. I freaked out and yelled to her, which only made her keep running. So I took a deep breath and slowly followed. She had already gotten halfway down the block and visions of her getting hit by a car or running where I couldn’t find her had already entered my head. I kneeled down and called to her and offered her a treat (which I didn’t really have) and she came back, thankfully. But it’s really weird, because it’s totally against her normal personality to do something like that.

So, dogs, if any of you are reading this (including you, miss Amina!), cut it out. Stop running away.

Some new neighbors moved in across the street earlier this year. The woman just had twins and as a gift, her father (or father-in-law, I’m not sure) gave her a pair of Macaws. I’m not quite sure of the logic behind giving a pair of tropical birds to celebrate the birth of twins, but perhaps there’s some cultural significance I’m not aware of.

It’s become commonplace for us to wake up at 7am to the sounds of very loud squawking from the birds when they’ve been put in the backyard. We don’t really mind it, and kind of laugh because the sound is so out of place in our neighborhood. In fact, I can only imagine how much it annoys the idiot down the street, so sometimes I’m glad they’re there.

From what I’ve heard, though, the family is having a really tough time. They don’t know what to do with the birds. The birds make the noise in the house, too, which is not really conducive to babies sleeping. And I’m sure that these tropical birds aren’t terribly enjoying Virginia, though I’m sure it’s been warm enough for them here recently. I’d like to be able to help them out (the birds and the family) by helping them find a humane way of getting the birds relocated. The birds seem like they’re well taken care of, but I’d rather make sure that they get the chance to live somewhere more appropriate before their current guardians get frustrated and perhaps do something that wouldn’t be in the birds’ best interest.

Does anyone have any experience with any specific bird rescue organizations? Phoenix Landing or Rescue Me seem like good options. Any other ideas?

A little while back I wrote about the guy on my block who really hates dogs. Since then, I’ve walked by him a few times while walking our dog. Each time, I’ll say, “Hello!” in a friendly fashion, trying to hide any disgust I have for him. Never once has he replied. He just stares at me, like he’s waiting for Amina to do something in his yard. This, despite the fact I’m carrying a full poop bag.

Well, today I had an “encounter” with Mr. Dog Hater himself. Amina and I were coming back down our street and he was walking out to his car to go to work. He looked down the street and saw us coming and just stood at the edge of his driveway waiting for us. Staring our way and just… waiting.

As I approached him, I gave him a friendly, “Good morning!” and didn’t expect a reply, just the usual hateful glare. Well, this time I got a reply, though not exactly a courteous one:

“Some dog’s been shitting in my yard.”

*blink*

“Some dog’s been shitting here and I’m going to fucking kill the dog.”

I stopped, said, “Well…” and pulled out one of Amina’s empty bags to show him that, yes, we are responsible for our dog’s left-behinds. He said, “I’m not saying it was you. But some dog’s been shitting in my yard. And I’m going to kill the dog once I find out who it is.”

He paused.

“Do you know who it is?” By this time, he’s walking to his car across the street.

I could go into a tirade telling him he needs to chill the hell out, but I’m honestly shaken up — this guy is a freaking loon. “No clue. But I’ve seen it in my yard, too,” hoping maybe that’ll show him that not everyone in the world threatens death to get their way.

He replied, “I think I know who it is. I just need to catch him. And then I’m going to kill the dog.”

Well good morning to you, too, mister. Nice to know we have such a psycho neighbor on the block.

Needless to say, we’ll be avoiding his house altogether. And if anything happens to another dog, now I can serve as a witness of some sort.

What a jerk.

I just mailed the following letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer as a response to an article titled “Aid pours in for dogs rescued from kennel:”

I’m writing in response to the “Aid pours in for dogs rescued from kennel” article that ran on February 24th, 2006.

It’s touching to see that so much aid and support has poured in for the dogs rescued from an allegedly abusive and neglectful breeder. I’m thankful there are so many people willing to help companion animals in need.

However, I was disheartened to see that the article also featured a list of ways to “Pick a Good Breeder.” Much more appropriate would have been a list of “Reasons to Adopt Rather than Buy from a Breeder,” especially considering the nature of the piece.

Every year, millions of dogs in the United States are killed because there simply aren’t enough people to care for them or enough room in shelters to house them. Often, strays and lost dogs are picked up, kept at a shelter for seven days, and if no one claims them, they are killed to make room for more animals.

Surely, there are good and ethical breeders, but because of the sheer number of surplus dogs that are killed, there is simply no justification for purchasing from a breeder or, even worse, a pet store. If someone is looking to bring a companion animal into their lives, they should adopt from a shelter or rescue organization. Petfinder.com can help in the search for a specific breed, if that’s an important consideration.

Perhaps when the pet population comes under control, buying from breeders will be an ethical choice. But for now, it’s vitally important we save the animals that most need our help.

Ryan MacMichael

Last night Amina and I were out for our evening walk when we bumped into a former shelter-mate of hers, a sweet Golden Retriever named Jasmine. When my wife and I were first looking at dogs, we visited Friends of Homeless Animals in Northern Virginia and walked and played with quite a few of them. Jasmine was the first one that I really felt like we clicked with. But, we held off on adopting her because we weren’t totally sure and we were headed to New York the following week, so we wanted to wait until after that to make a decision. By the time returned from our trip, Jasmine had been adopted. I was a little bummed, but happy for her that she had found a home; it turned out well because that visit was the day we met Amina and there’s no doubt in my mind now that we were meant for each other. The three of us are so similar in some ways, it’s frightening.

But, it was great to see Jasmine again. She was doing really well and was clearly well loved. It was also a little weird — kind of like being with your wife and bumping into your ex-girlfriend; you hope she’s doing well and it’s good to see her, but there’s that weird two-worlds-colliding thing going on. Jasmine sat by me and was loving the head scratching and Amina only got mildly jealous, so it went well.

Something else I realized is that there seems to be an unspoken bond between people who rescue animals. Shortly after we adopted Amina, she and I were walking and a man asked us about her. When I said she was a rescue, he said, “Thank you. Thank you for doing that.” Turns out he lived with a couple of rescued German Shepherds.

Every so often I visit the FOHA site to see how some of the other dogs are doing. At this point, there aren’t too many names left that I recognize from our visit, but there are a few. JoJo, an older female Rottweiler that totally had my heart the first time I saw her, is still there. I doubt she’ll be adopted because of her age and health issues, but she’s being fostered, so at least she has a nice temporary home. Thankfully, every dog or cat that finds their way to FOHA gets the respect they deserve, even if they aren’t adopted right away.

(I realize this post was all over the place, but that’s what happens when I try and write something over the course of eight hours.)

A few months back, a guy a few doors down threatened to a kill a man’s dog because he mistook the man for one who doesn’t pick up after his dog. Cops were called, there was a whole thing. Shortly thereafter these signs went up.

Sure enough, just walking by this guy’s house with your dog gets him glaring at you like you’re the one about to squat in his yard and leave it.

I get annoyed when people don’t clean up after their dogs, but it takes a special kind of person to threaten death.

Eric over at An Animal-Friendly Life points to this story in the Washington Post about how having to euthanize so many animals puts an enormous emotional strain on the employees at animal shelters. This just goes to support something I mentioned a while back, that with so many unwanted dogs and cats, there is no reason that anybody should be supporting breeders at this point. Adopting an animal from a shelter is better for the animals and for the people. Kind of similar to how not eating meat is also a humanitarian statement for all of those working in the most deplorable of slaughterhouse positions, huh?

This sentence caught my eye:

… the sweet-as-can-be pit bulls, a breed that Loudoun, like many jurisdictions, forbids shelters from making available for adoption.

Hm… is it only shelters that aren’t allowed to make them available for adoption? The organization we adopted our dog from regularly adopts out pit bulls. In any event, the idea of banning a whole breed from adoption is a bit short-sighted. I’ve met quite a few really sweet pits… there’s no reason they should have been euthanized (and, thankfully, they weren’t).

I really wish the public would become more aware at just how deep the problem is for companion animals and the people that are forced to kill them. I hope articles like this will help spread the word.

Be sure to check out HSUS’s slide show of some of the animal rescues they’ve done over the last week.

I haven’t commented here yet on Hurricane Katrina and the many, many animals that had to be left behind during the evacuations. I think it’s partially because I can’t look at the pictures or read the stories and still get it together enough to form a coherent thought about the whole thing.

So, I won’t attempt to. Instead, I’ll just encourage you to donate some time or money to Noah’s Wish or the HSUS. Don’t forget about the members of the families that had to be left behind.

Also, please read some thoughts from other bloggers who verbalize what I’m thinking better than I can at the moment:

• Almost Vegan: No Food Today
• An Animal-Friendly Life: Hurricane Katrina and the Animals
• Herbivore: The Other Victims of Katrina
• Vegan Chai: Katrina’s Snowballs
• Vegan.com: Erik’s Diner: September 1, 2005 (podcast)

I also want to remind you not to forget your local charities. Non-relief charities were hit particularly hard after September 11th and the tsunami as most of people’s charitable giving was directed at relief efforts. I suspect the same will hold true with this disaster.

Just before writing my previous Oops I Pooped entry, I had ordered a couple boxes of the environmentally-friendly doggie poop bags. They arrived late last week (to my house, because I can’t be receiving poop-related items at work, you know), so we’ve gotten a chance to give them a try a few times over the weekend.

The report: they’re well worth the money. As promised, their dark color hides the contents of the bag. For all anyone knows, I’m carrying a small lunch treat with me as I walk the dog. Also as promised, they help keep the smell in. When sealed tightly and tied off, there is almost no odor, even within a few inches of the bag. I was a bit scared to confirm this, but I’m glad I did.

It may be tough to justify in your mind spending money on bags when you probably get plenty from grocery shopping, but trust me: there’s a world of difference. So recycle those plastic bags and pick up some Oops I Pooped for your favorite four-legged friend.

How can you not love a product called Oops I Pooped?

OIP bags are “biodegradable waste bags” for cleaning up after your dog. They completely degrade in a landfill and leave no harmful residue behind, something that can’t be said about those spare plastic bags from the grocery store you’ve been using (and by “you’ve been using” I mean “I’ve been using”). Plus, they’re black, so you won’t have to carry around a nasty see-through plastic bag after your dog’s done her thing.

The nice thing is that these bags are also quite affordable at only $8 for 88 bags. Presumably they don’t need to be double-bagged, so that’s going to come to about $4 a month. Unless your dog poops more than mine does.

I’ve ordered two boxes worth and look forward to trying them out. Hopefully they mask the odor better than regular plastic bags do because man oh man… this morning our trash can was out on the curb and when I walked within ten feet of it I caught a whiff of the nasty scents contained therein.

The Oops I Pooped site’s simple, but fun, and has a cute “infauxmerical” that’s worth checking out.

Time for a link dump to catch up on some stuff in the news. Let’s start with:

Study Reports Increase in Portly Pets

If you haven’t gotten enough of the “America’s so fat!” message recently, here’s a study pointing to the increase in the site of our companion animals. The reason I mention the story, though, is that they mention vegetarian diets for cats and dogs:

Cats, the report notes, are descended from carnivores and their digestive system is designed for absorbing nutrients from animal-based proteins and fats.

Cats should not be fed a vegetarian diet because it could result in harmful deficiencies of certain amino acids, fatty acids, and vitamins, the report stresses.

While dogs prefer animal-based food, they can survive on a vegetarian diet as long as it contains sufficient protein and other nutrients, the report adds.

A question for Veg Blog readers: if you’re vegan or vegetarian and have a cat or dog, what do you feed them? I’d like to hear some different thoughts on if and how vegetarians’ beliefs affect how they raise their pet, especially ethical vegetarians.

Can you crochet, knit, quilt, or sew? If so, why not donate a little time to the Snuggles Project, which makes an effort to donate comfortable blankets to pets kept at animal shelters. It sounds like a great project than can bring some happiness and comfort to the animals locked away while they await adoption (or something else not so pleasant to think about). A full list of participating agencies is included as well as general size guidelines. It sounds like a great program that gives you another way to make a difference in an animal’s life. (via Daily Peril)