World’s Ugliest Dog Contest

Gus captured the hearts and votes of judges tonight at the 20th Annual World’s Ugliest Dog Contest held at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma. Gus was rescued from a bad home in FL and is now suffering from skin cancer, Gus’ story was compelling, but he won based on his looks. A Chinese-Crested, he has no hair, only three legs (one amputated because of the skin tumor) and is missing an eye lost to a tomcat in a cat fight. Despite his tough background, Gus is loved by mother and daughter owners Jeanenne and Janey Teed, who brought him all the way from Florida to enter into the contest.

A total of twelve entrants came from Florida to New Jersey to Arizona to Petaluma. The contest has four levels of competition. Winners are chosen from both the Pedigree class and the Mutt class. Those winners then compete against each other to become the 2008 Ugly Dog winner. Gus won the pedigree class and went up against Reggie who had just won the Mutt Class. Winning that competition gave Gus the 2008 title, but then he had to meet the Ring of Champions, which included winners from past years’ contests. That’s where Gus met former champions Elwood (the 2007 winner), Archie (the 2006 winner) and Rascal (the 2002 winner). Gus takes home two trophies and $1,600 in prize money.

In the past few years, winners have been dogs that have been abandoned or neglected before being adopted by people who love dogs and usually have several dogs whom they have rescued. Gus was adopted by Jeanenne and her 16-year-old daughter Janey through word of mouth after they discovered he was being kept in a crate in the garage of someone’s home.

Said Jeanenne, “I’m just in shock. We came so far and are so happy that we can put the winnings towards Gus’ radiation treatment. We’re just thrilled.”

We certainly hope the treatments Gus receives work because we think he’s just beautiful.

Pet Survival Story

You’ve all heard about the recent rash of tornadoes that have ripped through many areas of the country. Did you stop to think about the pets that were in the tornado paths? Me neither, but check these pets and their stories out!

After the tornado - Greensburg, KS

The  story begins with the rescuers finding this poor little guy they named  Ralphie. Someone  had already taken him under their wing but weren’t equipped to adopt;

Ralphie,  scared and starved, joined his rescuers…

I  wouldn’t think anything could live thru this… but  we were wrong.

The little lady below also survived that wreckage.

Here  she is just placed in the car - scared, but  safe.

and  then…they are no longer alone!

Instant  friends, they comforted each other while in the car.

Add  two more beagles found after that… the  more, the merrier!

Oh  boy, a new traveler to add to the mix…   (note:  the cat coming over the seat needing shelter…) now just how is this  going to work???   - and remember they are all strange to one another

I hope this gang of survivors get homes the homes that they’re deserving of!

Anti-depressants for Pets

“I ain’t nothing but a hound dog and I keep crying all the time.”

I came across an article in an Australian newspaper about pets being prescribed anti-depressants.

PETS at risk of self-harm are increasingly being prescribed anti-depressants because they cannot discuss problems in their lives with others, a leading veterinarian says.

Go figure. I thought when I saw a commercial for a new drug for “restless leg syndrome” (for humans) that the last straw had been broke nand we’d see sanity return to our planet. Depressed pets!? What about a treat? Or perhaps a walk around the block? Anything but a prescription!

This has got to be just another way for vets and pet psych’s to make more money off of increasingly naive pet owners.

If you know of any situations where a pet would need a psych drug please send in a comment because I’d love to hear about it. IN the meantime just stop abusing your pet and be sure to not abandon them all day long while you’re at work. Get ‘em a play mate or radio.

Click here if you’d like more information on pet psychology.

Virginia Puppy Mill Shut Down

Over 1,100 dogs were rescued from a Southwestern Virginia “puppy mill” after a 5 month investigation by the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) led to it’s closure. According to the reports Virginia has been lax with it’s regulations of the dog breeding industry and that has led to a lot large scale dog breeding operations (i.e. puppy mills) allowing deplorable conditions to exist at their businesses.

Many of the rescued pups are finding new homes thanks to the  help from a lot of animal lovers. Gerti, for example, was lucky enough to be adopted by Barbara in Montgomery County MD where she’s certain to be as happy as her new “mom”.

We don’t have the ability to solve this problem completely, but the more pet lovers know, the better in the long run.
The short video below contains more information on this story and the problem.