Welcome back for Day 4 of the Jim Willis interview! Jim is the author of best-seller “Pieces of My Heart” and he has spent a good deal of time in Europe and today he shares some of his perspective on the American and European animal protection systems.

If you have missed any of Jim’s interview, here is a link back to Day 1.

Joy: You lived in Europe – what are some of the differences between there and the USA?

Jim: Well, for instance with livestock and poultry – more attention to how the animals are housed, more humane killing practices, and rigorous requirements for transporting, including not allowing transports above or below certain temperatures.

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Tresa at the Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV) barked over this announcement. They’re looking for the new face of a watchdog mascot. Does your furbaby have what it takes?

Hi,
I work at OLCV and we are having a contest to find the best face to represent our watchdog work. For over thirty years, we have worked as the independent political voice for Oregon’s environment.

I would like to know if you would post our contest on your blog. It is a free contest that we originally opened to our members at the beginning of January. But then we thought why not take it do ALL dog lovers? I have included the text from our own blog below.

Please let me know if you can help us reach out to the dog lovers out there.

Thanks

Here’s the blog post:

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Corgi Bear was stolen from his home and his furmom is desperate for news of him. If you think you may know where Bear is, please contact Grace at the Expressions of Grace site.

Thank you soooo very much for allowing me to post to the blog! We feel the more people are made aware maybe the chances of getting him back will improve.

Started on 12/13/06 when I came home from our museum in town and let Bear out to relieve himself. It was at 2:30 pm and we are in Lakeside California. I happened to have noticed a truck and horse trailer pulling out of my driveway that day but had not missed Bear. Well about 30 minutes went by and he was no where to be had. Our house sits back quite a distance from the road and I am sure he headed towards the driveway. Bear would not have wondered off as he is 8 years old now and had never gone one step past our tree line. He was picked up! The story of our search is one that is unbelievable!!!

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Thanks to the Associated Press for this article.

Vick Associate Gets Probation
By LARRY O’DELL – 2 days ago

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A man who sold a female pit bull to Michael Vick’s dogfighting operation and attended some of the fights avoided prison time Friday because he cooperated with investigators and did not physically harm any of the dogs.

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Maybe some of these soldiers will remember how Boe helped them in Iraq and adopt dogs when they come home.

I noticed the CNN report mentioned that soldiers in Iraq are being drawn to the local dogs. How about letting some of these dogs live on base? That would help them AND the soldiers.

Follow this link to watch the CNN video.

What fun!

Thanks to Leeann B., furmom to Dahlila Rose, for barking in this opportunity from Hallmark! Your dog can be on a Hallmark birthday card!

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Thanks for joining us for the next installment of the Jim Willis interview. If you haven’t read Jim’s work AND you’re an animal person I can only tell you you’re in for a treat. Okay, a lot of his writing will make you cry but it’s the good kind of crying that makes you want to DO something positive. His “Pieces of My Heart” has inspired animal defenders all over the world.

My apologies to all for the day’s break in the interview. My computer decided to die yesterday. I’m not back up to full speed again but I wanted you to know why Jim’s interesting interview was missing from the blog yesterday.

Joy: Are you a vegetarian?

Jim: I wish I was personally, but as a consumer who has to feed rescued carnivores, I will always contribute to the meat trade. I make a homemade diet for my dogs that contains human-quality meat. I was vegetarian during my first marriage, but when that ended, I fell back on convenience and my old ways. Still, I eat little meat and prefer fish and salads. I welcome the growing move to vegetarianism and that the younger generation is more conscious of the health benefits than my generation.

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Thanks to Tom P. for barking in this picture. I wish I could give credit for it but it came in without a photographer credit. If you know who shot this picture, please bark it in!

Here’s some good news for some dogs who haven’t known much good in their lives, until now.

Thanks to PR Web for this announcement.

America Meets Michael Vick’s Dogs on a Special Video Report on DogTime.com

Michael Vick’s seized dogs have been hidden from the public eye until today when the gag order on the landmark case was lifted. Raised in bleak conditions, many of the dogs had never been indoors or around people or children. Now these dogs are learning to live in a home. Meet four of these rescued pit bulls in a special video report on Dogtime.com.

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Thanks for joining us today as Jim Willis, the author of best-selling Pieces of My Heart , talks about how society looks at animals and animal “people.” Willis has been active in the animal rescue movement for decades both here and in Europe.

Joy: You seem more tolerant today of a lack of knowledge about animals in people.

Jim: I hope I am. I consider it critically important for us who know animals to pass on that knowledge, to educate children, and to encourage adults, especially legislators, to do better by them. I shudder when some extreme members of the movement for animals behave in a manner that causes the public to regard all animal-people as “crazy.” It’s also true that you “catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar” and I think we animal-people owe it to the animals – who, of course, can never speak for themselves – to convey the message in a reasonable and intelligent way.

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