Dee, Hope’s Mom, is barking in President Isabel’s Animal Abuse Commission about Bravo TV’s Project Runway.

Hi Everyone,

Please send an E-Mail to Bravo TV and let them know how displeased you are about their Show “Project Runway”.

In the third episode, small dogs were referred to as the “hottest new fashion accessory”.

Thinking such as this results in shelters and rescues filled with “accessories‿ that are no longer wanted.

Link to Bravo TV

Thanks,

Dee (Hope’s mom)

Thanks Dee and Hope for bringing this to everyone’s attention!

Small dogs, like all other dogs, are NOT fashion accessories like belts and shoes that can be tossed off to Goodwill when the fashions change. A dog is a long-term committment with expectations of food bills, vet bills, time house-training and all the other time and expense that goes along with pet companionship.

Dee is right when she says this kind of dilettantism leads to “unfashionable” small dogs being dropped off at already over-burdened shelters or worse.

If Project Runway wants to instruct their designers to design for dogs or wants to show dogs around the sets or anything else that celebrates dogs as part of a family or group, that’s fine! Just don’t encourage people to treat them like inanimate objects without their own needs and lives.

When writing, please be aware that most of the people who read your letters may not understand the full ramifications of using dogs in this way. Tactfully and sensitively explain why its a problem. Let’s educate them, not fire massive volleys their way. Let’s get them on our side, showing images of how dogs SHOULD be treated!

A police dog jumps through hoops of fire during a military parade to celebrate Peru’s Independence Day in Lima, July 29, 2006. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo (PERU)

What can you say to that but WOW!

This photo came from Yahoo News photos.

We’re starting a new weekly feature called the Sunbear Squad Watch Tips! Every week we’ll have one watch tip to help all of us get better at watching out for the dogs around us, ours and those in our neighborhoods. The ever alert and helpful Sunbear Squad are supplying the tips and, having read ahead, I can tell you they cover things I would have never considered.

So check in every Monday for your new Sunbear Squad Watch Tip! And between times check out the Sunbear Squad site with lots of great info on topics such as setting up neighborhood watches.

Here’s our tip today:

Watch for pets that have matted fur from stickers and burdock—they may get infections in their mouths from attempts to clean their fur because the tiny barbs become embedded in the mouth tissues.

As you listen to the news coming out of the Middle East, are you wondering what’s happening to the pets?

Aid for bombed animal shelter in Beirut

WSPA has released funds to aid an animal shelter that was partially destroyed by a missile during the conflict in Lebanon, leaving 200 dogs and cats vulnerable and in need of food and veterinary care.

The shelter, run by WSPA Member Society Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA) is located on the border of Dahye, a suburb where many of the attacks are taking place.

Many of the animals are visibly suffering due to ongoing noise and destruction, and the necessary goods to care for them are becoming expensive and harder to find.

WSPA’s support will enable BETA to provide food and veterinary care to the animals, as well as temporarily re-home dogs who were left without shelter due to the missile strike.

“By supporting our group on the ground in Beirut we can help to ensure that animals are not suffering or forgotten during this conflict,” said WSPA Disaster Management Directore Mark Yates. “Fortunately WSPA had a team in the area that was able to assess the situation and advise how best we could help.”

BETA and WSPA will continue to assist the animal victims of this ongoing conflict.

Follow this link to read more.

This is an article from the BETA site.

War in Lebanon threatens the lives of hundreds of rescued animals

Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (BETA) is a registered charity actively working on animal welfare issues in Lebanon.

Since its inception, BETA has been at the forefront of the battle to ensure animals are respected and cared for in Lebanon. Now a registered NGO, BETA has rescued over 500 stray and abused cats and dogs, founded Lebanon’s first cat and dog shelters while spaying / neutering almost half of its rescued animals. A pioneer in its field, BETA has also found homes for many of its rescued animals. We now have three separate shelters caring for more than 130 dogs and 100 cats.

As we hope you are all aware, sadly the country of Lebanon is now at war. The country is under attack and in the last two days the only international airport has been completely destroyed, foreign warships are now stationed in its sea ports, and the main roads to Syria are now in ruins. Lebanon is effectively cut off from the rest of the world, it is nearly impossible to enter or leave the country and trade has come to a halt.

The necessary goods to care for our animals are becoming more difficult to find, and what is available is now becoming more expensive due to their scarcity.

BETA and the animals in its care urgently need your help. With the country shut down, all of our in-country fundraising projects have been forced to stop.

Many of us are quite literally risking our lives to visit each shelter and care for the animals early in the morning and again before nightfall. The dog shelter is located on the border of Dahye (a block street from Dahye), a suburb where many of the attacks are taking place. The shelter is in sustained danger and many of the dogs are visibly suffering due to the ongoing noise and near destruction. Trips to our cat shelters take us through a large part of Beirut and the attacks and destruction continue making this more difficult and dangerous.

We urgently need funding to get the animals through this period, most of our normal fundraising options have been forced to stop, and we are now calling on you to help support these animals. While cash donations will be the most effective to get us through these days, we are also in need of cat and dog food as well as cat litter. Our vet is still donating his services for free but donations of medications are extremely helpful.

Follow this link to read the rest of the story.

Dogster Binkey is a little dog with with a health problems and no way to pay for the help she needs. Those of us who are also on Petster can vote for her to be dog of the month for August. Kim and Eddie Essig wrote in to ask me to bark about Binkey.

Kim Essig wrote:
Dear Joy,

You do such wonderful and amazing things for so many people and their pets, and we all thank you for that. There is a new addition on Dogster that could use some help. If there is anyway you can help her, please do. Seems like she needs a break to me.

So if you’re already a Petster member, give Binkey your vote for dog of the month. Its a $1000 prize and a lot of help for a little dog.

Gibbon wrote:
Joy,

Lucia and I wanted to give you an update on the donations made on behalf of our winners of the First Annual Adopt 06 Stroll and Contest. I have communicated with each winner and made donations to the organizations of their choice. As each pup was rescued, they all decided to donate to the organization that rescued them and found their forever loving homes. So wonderful to give back
to those that rescued them!

The names of the winners and links to the organizations that received the donations are below. Again, congratulations to all who won and those who entered! And the fact that donations were a result of this wonderful contest makes it even more special!

1st Place Winner Rajah Q.
$20.00 to The Humane Society of Clark County

2nd Place Winner Kasey
$15.00 to The Humane Society for Campbell County

Mister T., Third Place Winner
$10.00 to Adopt-A-BuddyPug Rescue

Gracie Jane
$10.00 to STARS (Save the Animals Rescue Society)

And thank Joy for the wonderful Blog!

xoxo Gibbon

Thank you Gibbon for reporting the donations back to the blog!

Leave it to Dogsters to make the world better! Betty Rose barked in to let us know about a new organization started by a Dogster.

Betty Rose wrote:
Dear Joy,

I wanted to write to tell you that Orlando Pug Rescue & Adoption (OPRA) is a new rescue for that area in Florida. A wonderful fellow Dogster member, Mary, Mom to Lucille and Sledgehammer has undertaken this huge project.

Mary has a HUGE need for volunteer assistance. Mary has applied for a 501(c) designation and is awaiting final approval. At this point, she has not raised any money at all and is personally financing this endeavor to help save a life. I am hoping that our fellow Dogster members in the area can help out.

One dog, a lovely blind female pug, who came to Mary’s attention today thanks to a concerned person (and is hopefully at time of writing this already surendered) was owned by a woman who said she wished her dog was dead. She wanted this sweet little girl to “just get heartworms and die”. She
wanted to take this dog to be euthanized because she did not want her.

While I am sure you get many requests to post information on rescues, OPRA is facing dire cirumstances as one person cannot successfully assist in the rescue of animals alone.

This is the link to the OPRA site.

I thank you in advance for your consideration in adding it to your dog links or anywhere else you may deem appropriate.

We really appreciate your dog blog! It’s a great place to gain information and read some great stories about fellow Dogster members

Warmest Regards,
Betty Rose

Any Orlando Dogster members want to help Mary out, visit the OPRA site and let her know you’re ready to lend a paw or two! Meanwhile, I’ll post the OPRA link on our blogroll.

The Sunday Mail reports that a dog who once belonged to one of the world’s most infamous family’s is looking for a new home.

A dog once owned by Saddam Hussein’s son needs a home in the UK.

An ex-soldier claims the Great Dane he saved from being stoned to death in Iraq was evil Uday’s.

Security consultant Willem van der Waal paid £1000 to stop the dog being killed near a former presidential palace in Amadya.

He bribed officials to get Rocky into Turkey then on a flight to the UK.

Willem said: “I knew Rocky wouldn’t survive if he stayed in Iraq so I decided to do a deal with the owner.

“The man then said that he had belonged to Uday, who was well known for keeping Great Danes and other animals.

“I just had to get Rocky back home to the UK.”

Rocky has spent six months in quarantine as he did not have the right rabies jabs. Willem said: “I am going back to Iraq. Rocky needs someone to look after him.”

Rapist, torturer and murderer Uday was shot dead with his brother, Qusay, by the Americans in July 2003.

My heart goes out to Tifanny’s family. Christine and YiPpY, as well as Sharon and Lily barked in to tell us all about the Angel Tiffany stroll to honor Dogster Tifanny and her passing to the Bridge.

Christine/YiPpY wrote:
Joy,
I’ve started a stroll in honor of a dear Dogster friend Tifanny . Beautiful and Sweet. She loved the beach, butt-flies (butterflies) and her mom and dad, and was loved by all those who knew her. She was diagnosed withLymphoma last November, and after a brave fight, went to The Bridge yesterday.

She was loved by so many of the Dogster Family, and although she was sick, we are all in shock that Little T is now an angel.

I started a stroll in Tifanny’s honor.
D+ thread
Regular thread

I was hoping you could include this in the Blog for those who don’t visit the Forums much.

Tag your photos for Tifanny “Angel Tifanny

Tifanny, you will be missed.

Sharon and Lily also barked in to let the Dogster community know about Tifanny’s passing.

Sharon and Lily wrote:
Hi Joy,

Today, I was hoping you would highlight a very special Shih Tzu Angel of ours. Last night a dear friend of mine, and many other Dogster members, Tifanny, went to the Bridge.

For the past 8 months,Tifanny has been fighting the good fight againstLymphoma, and winning! For a while she was even in remission, which we had all hoped would last. Unfortunately, just this week she was re-diagnosed and told she needed to start Chemotherapy right away. So yesterday that’s just what she did. Her parent’s were informed Tifanny would need to stay overnight at the Veterinarians for IV fluids, and observation. At 6:14 PM, Tifanny went into cardiac arrest and passed away before her mom and dad were able to get back in to see her one last time.

Many of us are so saddened and in shock. I know all her friends would like to send their deepest sympathy to Tifanny’s parents, Sherry and Bill. We are hoping many members will show their support for Tif and her family at this time by joining the current stroll set up in her honor. The tag words are:
Angel Tifanny

We will always cherish the sweet memories you gave us precious Flower Bandit Tifanny. Now you are a true angel. May you fly like the butterflies you and your mama so dearly loved.

Another fine Dogster takes the stage at Dog Each Day!

Katie wrote:
Not sure this is the right way to alert, but Dogster Pooch, Murray is July 29th’s subject at www.dogeachday.com.

Here’s what Katie has to say about Murray on Dog Each Day.

When we adopted Murray he wasn’t much to look at. His coat lacked sheen, he had dried slobber all over him, eye goobers caked in the corners of his eyes, he was scrawny, skiddish, and heartworm positive.

In fact, when my husband and I got him home, we worried we had made a mistake in adopting him. We couldn’t take him back though, who else would’ve taken him in?

So my family kept him, and became very attached. Even my other dog, Bonsai, a snotty alpha dog with a bad disposition grew to love him.

Now, 6 months later Murray is a full-fledged member of our pack. A good, consistant diet and regular brushing has filled him out and made his coat shine. He’s confident, happy, and best of all healthy and heartworm negative. The slobber and eye goobers are still there. But now, they’re endearing.

This particular shot of Murray was taken after his first trip to the groomers. I took him for a bath and brush the day after he was declared heartworm free to celebrate. Upon getting home, the first thing he did with his beautiful self was to roll in the grass and dirt. But at least he did it with a big ol’ grin (I know they say dogs don’t smile, but can you really look at the picture and tell me otherwise?). - Cheers, Katie

And from the artist, Larry Merrill:

Thanks, Katie. Murray definitely has great smile!

Absolutely! Great smile, great dog! Congratulations Murray and Katie!