My Shelter Babies!!!

Violet and Koga, my 1st fosters...

Buddy! He went to his new home in Monterey!

Blossom, the fat bulldog mix! She is currently with me, and has lost 20# so far!!!

Here is Sadie as a puppy!

Sadie! this is a picture of her at her new home!

Simon! renamed "Titus"

Honey Girl!

Teddybear! renamed "Brown Bear"

Boston was adopted!! hoo-ray!

I will really miss this boy, but this is the best thing that could happen! I will post more photos of Boston and my other rescue pups in the future.

Boston: Jekell and Hyde in dog form

Two months ago, I took in another foster dog from the Lake County shelter in California. Up until him, I limited the age of my fosters to 4 months, but this yellow lab was so sweet looking on the shelter website.

He loves everyone in my family, even my dog (lab/husky). That is great! Right? Well, he HATES everyone else. Today, I hired a wonderful police dog trainer to see if he could help with training this dog, and Boston tried to eat the trainer! The trainer tried hard to get Boston to be relaxed, to no avail. All Boston wanted to do was bite anyone that was not me.

So, the recommendation from the trainer was to euthanize Boston, since he is a very dangerous dog. Something I was not told by the shelter!!! So much for their "temperament test".

The dog loves me so much, and killing him would break my heart. The trainer brought me a prong collar (which is better than a choke, I am told-safer for the dog's throat when used properly) and a leather muzzle. He also ordered a basket muzzle for me to use, so I can take Boston out to the park and not worry about him biting someone.

THIS SUCKS!!! I would have liked to have found him a home, but now he just wants to bite people. What the hell could the former owners have done to turn a 10 month old labrador into a serious red zone liability?

I'll keep you posted on my decision. I have a lot to think about.

"Designer Breed" dogs. You paid HOW MUCH for a mutt??

This designer dog thing is out of control. I looked on Kijiji and found "doodle" mixes selling for more than the purebred varieties! If you want a poodle, get a poodle. If you want a lab, get a lab. If you want a mix, fine, just don't call it a breed!

My dog is 1/2 lab 1/2 husky. Does that mean I can call it an F1 Lasky or Huskador and sell it for $800? No, because this is what is called a "mutt".

I love it when the back yard breeders of these things claim that both parents of their mutt litter are "prebred and registered". That's great. It means nothing to the buyer of the puppy, which is unregisterable, because it is a MUTT. A registered dog is valuable, because you can show it and breed it and sell the pups to members of the AKC or UKC to better the breed. The designer dog is not showable, and the only reason to breed it is to make a butt-load of money from stupid saps who are willing to buy high priced mutts.

"Very adorable baby Maltipoos are ready for new homes. They are from a 4lbs maltese dad and a 6lbs poodle mom. Very friendly and playfull little buddle of joys. $450"

You can get a full maltese or full mini poodle for only $50 more.

Labradoodle/Goldendoodle Puppies!
Price: US $1,300.00

$1300!!! You can get a pure lab for less than $500. This is just a total scam, and people are falling for it. Just because you put "doodle" or "poo" on the end does not make the animal valuable. These "breeders" are making thousands off suckers every year. This rackett is even more profitable than those Nigerian scams!

Maybe every low income family should start a "doodle" farm, then there wouldn't be any poverty anymore...

Critters can't get a break

What is up with people ditching their pets at the pound?! Even FISH get dumped at shelters. WTF?

At the Merced Co shelter in CA, a dog was killed just because the vet there did not like chows. WTF?

At any given shelter, you can find frogs, birds, fish, mice, rats, hamsters, rabbits(lots of rabbits), myriad of reptiles, guinea pigs, sometimes goats and horses-it's like a friggin' pet store!

I believe if big retailers were really serious about how much they love pets (Petco-where animals come first; Petsmart-where pets are family) they would stop adding to the problem with all their sick and diseased pets people buy on impulse. Sure, customers pay big money for the pet, but when their kid gets tired of it, off to the pound it goes.

PETSMART-EVIL CORPORATION WANTS TO EAT YOUR SOUL!
the parakeet incident:
I worked at Petsmart in Campbell, CA. My first day , I found a hurt parakeet in the "isolation room". Half of it's foot was mangled and gangrenous! I freaked out. The lead pet care associate said the bird had been like that for over a week, and received the injury after someone closed the foot in the cage door. The bird was not taken to the vet. WTF?! The next day, I took the bird to Adobe Animal Hospital in Downtown Los Altos, where my idol Dr Kurt Nakamura performed emergency surgery. Because the leg bone had been exposed for so long, half the leg had to be AMPUTATED! The little guy is now in a foster home with Mickaboo Cockatiel Rescue and adapting well to life with HALF A LEG, thanks to Petsmart idiots.
The freezer incident:
Ah, yes. The freezer incident. Wanna puke? Just look into the Banfield freezer where Petsmart dumps the bodies of all the critters they kill. I was sent to the in-store vet Banfield to "dispose" of a guinea pig carcass. The guinea pig, lovely white and black female, had died of pneumonia. This death took 2 weeks. Petsmart did not want to pay the $300 vet bill, ('cause it's just a stupid critter, y'know?) so management just stuffed it in the "isolation room" and let it choke to death on it's own lung fluid. W-T-F?!
But I digress...Back to the freezer. It was one of those freezers that open from the top (to make it easy to fit a whole human body in it, I guess). I went to the back room of the Banfield and told the vet I had a dead animal. He pointed to the large white box in the corner. Upon the box were the lunches of the staff, which they removed, while laughing and making comments on the dead guinea pig. I opened the freezer and almost vomited-it was absolutely PACKED with carcasses of every pet you could imagine-hamsters, rats, guinea pigs, turtles, water dragons-the list goes on! It was disgusting and HIGHLY DISTURBING! If pictures of this got out, Petsmart would freak. It looked like Critter Judgement Day! F Petsmart. I am now permanently scarred.
(movie idea: Terminator 4: Rise of the Petsmart Cyborg Critter Killers, the love story of a CEO and his pocketbook)

PETCO-FRATERNAL TWIN OF THE DEVIL (aka Petsmart)
hamstergeddon:
Exactly the same as Petsmart, but with a different name. I worked there for 6 years. It was my first job. Know what a hamster looks like on the inside? I know. Two hamsters were thrown together by an employee during the night shift. These hamsters did not like each other, and I'm sure the employee and his pals liked what they saw. I came in the next day to find both hamsters dead. One was torn open and all it's insides were now outside. I told management, but the employee was never punished-they thought it was pretty funny, too, I guess. Oh, and F Petco, as well.

Many independent retailers are filthy critter-killers, too. You know who you are.

And, people, please remember, while you are buying that guinea pig or hamster, five other critters are dying in a back room.

So what am I saying here? Critters just can't get a break, and I am sick of it.

coming up next:

"Backyard Breeders vs AKC Breeders-should a doodle-anything even exist?"

all ideas, hate mail, comments, and kudos welcome!

why Craigslist flaggers ruin everything!

Have you posted on CL only to find your post FLAGGED like 3 seconds later? I've had it with the self righteous "Craigslist Gestapo" team flagging any post for no reason!

The following posts were flagged off today:

"Cocker spaniel pup for adoption (Merced Co)
check out this cutie. Merced Co shelter is a great place to get your new pet. This sweet pup would really like a loving home. There are other great dogs, too!
Merced Co euthanizes for space, so you are saving a life when you adopt!
contact the Merced Co shelter right away!"

What the hell is wrong about that post?!

"found! 2 young PITBULL pups! please adopt!
I found 2 young pitbulls. I can't keep them! please, if you can take 1 or both, let me know.
They are very sweet. I will have them fixed at a local humane society for $20 each, and vaccinated. Asking $20 each to cover fixing!
I don't want them to go to a shelter, but I live in an apartment and I can't keep dogs here!"

or this person trying to find homes for dogs they found? Unbelievable. Even when you follow the rules, you get flagged. I wrote the following post to help people write posts in accordance with the rules. 5 min later, it got flagged, too!

"Are you being FLAGGED seconds after posting? (Help)
Being flagged and don't know why/frustrated? Follow these guidelines and it will help you.

No selling: if you have purposely bred your dog and are selling the pups, please respect the rules and do not post your ad here. You will always get flagged.

No breeding: please do not offer your dogs for stud service. This is also against the rules here.

Re-home with small fee: if you are "rehoming" your pet, never say "adoption fee applied". Always state what the fee is upfront. Never say "to recoup our expenses". This will most often get you flagged. Never, never charge more than $200. $50 to $100 is perfect, any more, and it may be construed as selling.

Do not say the following things: perfect for christmas, ready for a new home, do not flag my post. These statements will almost always result in a flag.

Do not threaten to do "retaliatory flagging". The other posters have nothing to do with the flaggers. By flagging others, you are becoming that which you despise.

If you rescued a pregnant mom, state that in the post. It would be best if you could team up with a rescue organization to legitimize the pups as "rescues". This will benefit you, as most rescues will help with the monetary burden. They will also spay/neuter the pups and get them their shots, all without you spending a dime.

Never make angry posts. That only incites the flagging. Also, never claim that you will be sending the pups to shelters because of the flagging. That makes you look ignorant. Remember, there are other ways to find homes for puppies.

Finally, Craigslist is about people coming together in a free public forum to share ideas, stories, and find help. It is not about hate, lies, ect. Just like on a school playground, if we all follow the rules, then everyone wins."

It's like a free for all melee out there! So much hate for no good reason. Here is a post I found today (flagged moments after I copied it) which explains a lot:

"posts flagged? read this
There is a group on the the Internet who has nominated themselves as the Craigslist pet forum police. Make no mistake, they are judge and jury. If you don’t follow THEIR rules your post will be targeted. How do they do this? They have their own forum of about 15 people - give or take a few. These people police the Craigslist pet forums in every state. That is all they do all day long. Once they decide by THEIR own set of rules that your ad is not worthy they post a link to your ad in their forum. Why. Because it takes X number of flags to have your ad removed. Once your ad is listed in their forum, everyone goes to the ad and flags it for removal. This ensures a speedy removal of your listing. Try to complain. They target and flag your complaint.

Want to see for yourself? Follow this link but remember to copy this document first.

sfbay.craigslist.org/forums/?forumID=4915

I urge you to visit their forum and see for yourself. Most of the time you can see where your ad was targeted.

So, what can you do. Copy this message and post it in your area as much as possible. Let others know. It amazes me how many people don't know this is going on. Sign the petition that calls for better clarification of TOU so that this nonsense flagging is put to an end.

www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?petsoncl&1201

Go here to file a complaint:

sfbay.craigslist.org/cgi-bin/emailForm.cgi

Next. Watch how fast this message is gone. They don't want YOU to know.

HELP SPREAD THE WORD"

Very interesting, huh? Stay tuned for our next article:

"Critters Just Can't Get A Break!"

All hate mail, death threats, and kudos are welcomed!