Valentines Day? Meh. I’ve never been very big on the holiday. Through most of high school, I was boyfriend-less, and thus predictably unimpressed with February 14th. The husband and I have celebrated it on and off over the years, but mostly in a half-assed kind of way: veg*n chocolates here, a dinner in there. One problem I’ve always had with V-Day is the idea of forced, scheduled romanticism. Why should the Mr. and I only go on dates or surprise one another with gifts on February 14th, eh? And why do so on a day in which the prices are all jacked up and the theaters and restaurants, obscenely crowded?

Additionally, in the few years since my budding feminism has blossomed into a thorny, black, man-hating rose, I’ve actively resisted engaging in a commercialized, wasteful and largely heteronormative holiday. Diamonds? Roses? Tacky Bandit Bears? Bargained sex? IBTP.

So, in keeping with my previous re- evaluation and -imagining of the wintry holidays, I’ve been thinking about celebrating Valentines Day in a different way. While I try to pamper my furkids – i.e., my dogs – on a daily basis, I thought it might be fun to celebrate them this Saturday. After all, there is no doggeh equivalent of “Mother’s Day” or “Grandparent’s Day” – so why not transform a lackluster holiday into it?

There are many ways you can toss Valentines Day to the dogs (or cats, rats, gerbils, pigs…whatever species your kiddos belong to). Dogs Deserve Better, for example, holds an annual Valentines Day card drive for chained dogs. During “Have a Heart for Chained Dogs Week,” Valentines – complete with informational brochures, coupons for dog food, etc. – are delivered to the “owners” of chained dogs, with the ultimate goal of freeing these animals and bringing them back into the home. You can donate money to fund the effort, or volunteer by submitting the addresses of homes that have chained dogs, creating or delivering Valentines, and gathering donations of coupons and such. If your heart belongs to a species other than canine, you can donate your time or money to help a local or species-specific organization on or around the 14th.

As for your own furkids, here are four ways you can pamper them this Saturday. Since I’ve got five dogs, these are all canine-specific, but you can adjust accordingly.

1. Take your dog for a walk or hike. Set some time aside for a leisurely stroll, walk, run or hike – or some combination thereof – and let your dog lead the way. Allow her to walk you, wherever she chooses to go (within reason, of course). If she wants to spend five minutes sniffing and marking that tree at the corner of the street, let her. It’s her day, remember? Just enjoy her company, the beautiful weather, the sights and sounds.

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Ever since Shadow passed away, my parents have been kinda-sorta looking for a new companion for Copper. Last night, mom emailed me a link to this listing on Petfinder:

Buddy is a wonderful boy with lots of energy. He is house trained and has manners. He was given up because an elder couple could not handle his high energy. He is a small cream lab with the cutest ears that flop foreword. He is very smart and and eager to please. He would be best placed with a family with a fenced in yard. Once he has run around the yard for 20 minutes he comes in the house and lays about. He likes playing tag and pull the stuffed bear. He is inquisitive and friendly. Buddy has just completed obedience training and is wonderful and perfect. He gets 10 paws for personality 10 paws for training and 10 paws for placement. Boy in picture free with dog.

“Remind you of anyone?” mom asked.

Indeed.

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It’s been a long week, especially for our cat Ozzy. He went to the vet on Monday with a blockage in his urinary tract, and returned home yesterday, with a gaping hole where his penis used to be. Well, not gaping so much as sewn almost completely shut. Quite frankly, I’m not sure how he manages to squeeze anything through it.

To add insult to injury, his entire backside is shaved, from his belly on down to his ass. He looks as though he just finished filming some kitty fetish porn.

On second thought, my week doesn’t seem so shitty after all. Relatively speaking. The little bugger had me worried, yo!

(And no, I’m not posting a photo of his bald tush. Shane won’t let me.)

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Tagged: cat feline ozzy my furbabies

I’d wanted to feature Ralphie and Rennie on this year’s holiday card, but they weren’t exactly cooperative during the photo shoot; Rennie wouldn’t sit still, while Ralphie, laying listlessly under the tree, resembled a piece of roadkill dressed in pirate gear.

Luckily, Peedee saved the day! While we were taking pictures of Booty and the Beast, we had the office door closed so Peedee, Kaylee and Jayne couldn’t distract our would-be cover dogs. But as soon we finished up with Ralphie and O-Ren, I opened the door and in ran Peedee, who promptly plopped himself down right in front of the tree. First shot, and bam! Perfect. There was our FSMas card:

Because I had so much fun making Peedee’s card – and I didn’t want to leave any of the dogs out – I created a few similar cards from the “outtakes.”

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While working on my FSMas cards this week, it occurred to me that this is the first year I’ve made “generic” cards – that is, photos with generic, non-personalized season’s greetings on the photo itself. Mostly, this departure is due to technical reasons (not enough horizontal white space on which to include text); however, a unexpected side effect is that this year’s cards – all four – are suitable for Pastafarians of all surnames, not just the Garbato-Brady’s.

I’m not yet ready to unveil 2008′s cards – what would I post on FSMas day, then? – but today I did go back and rework my 2005 and 2007 FSMas cards, removing all the personal info and replacing it with non-specific FSMas holiday messages. Feel free to download and use these for your own (*cough* non-commercial *cough*) saucy CriFSMas purposes, especially proselytizing to and converting your non-believing friends and family members. (Click on each card to supersize it via Flickr.)

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Shadow came into our lives in the spring of ’97.

It was June 2nd – late spring, early summer. I was just finishing up my freshman year of college. Busy with school, busy with work, busy with friends. Busy, busy, busy.

Rochester springs are rainy, and the spring of 1997 was no exception. The last days of May saw a week-long rainstorm. Consequently, we spent little time outside that week. When the rain finally let up, my mom went out behind the garage – to do some yardwork, or maybe some spring cleaning. There, under our tree house on stilts, she found a shivering, emaciated little dog. The pup didn’t appear to have any identification – no collar or such – but she clearly wasn’t feral, either. She seemed scared of us, yet she didn’t bolt. My mother brought the skeletal dog a bowl of food and water. Gradually, the rest of the family arrived home from school and work, and we took turns trying to coax the little scrapper out from her cramped hiding place.

By now, it was apparent that the dog was injured. Her skin was raw and marked with gravel, and she didn’t seem able to stand. After what felt like forever, my father was able to get a good enough grip on her. He hoisted her up and into the back of his car, and off to the vet they went.

The veterinarian’s assessment, delivered the next day, was grim: the dog’s right rear leg was “shattered,” and she also had some minor cuts and bruises. Most likely she had been hit by a car: the point of impact, her broken, battered rear leg. Scraped skin and embedded gravel suggested a hard, skidding landing on pavement. She was in rough shape – and at the point of starvation, to boot.

Due to the severity of her injuries – and, even more so, the potential cost of repairing and rehabilitating her damaged leg – the vet recommended we euthanize her. “It’s too much trouble,” he said. “Too much money to spend on some stray.”

Luckily, my parents didn’t agree. I remember receiving a call from them that day at work: Well, Kelly, what do you think we should do? Even though they solicited our advice, I suspect that they’d already made their decision, and just needed an extra nudge from us kids. I think they wanted some reassurance that they weren’t crazy for spending a few grand to patch up a dog they didn’t even know. We were a solidly middle-class family, but two grand isn’t exactly peanuts for six people living on one income.

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Happy Halloween, peoples. Shane and will be spending the day watching horror movies, good and bad (think Black Sheep and Poultrygeist), and chowing down on all manner of vegan junk food. (I’ll post the food porn in all its sugary goodness tomorrow, in my final VeganMoFo post.)

I spent a few hours last week harassing the dogs with Halloween costumes and such (any excuse to dress up the furkids, right?); and, since I wouldn’t want their suffering to be for naught, here are the requisite festive holiday photos.

Last year, I dressed everyone up as pirates and pumpkins. Not wanting to reuse the old costumes (oh no, that would be embarrassing, right?), I mixed it up a little this year.

I only had one new Halloween outfit – a witch’s hat with black and orange pigtails – so everyone took a spin in the witch’s costume:

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…I gave my true love 53 birthday biscuits!

(Crossposted from easyVegan.info, of course.)

As you can most likely infer from the post title, today is the Ralphster’s birthday. My little man, my first-born and -adopted, turns a gray old 11 today. He’s like the Wilford Brimley of the doggeh world, minus the dia-beddies.

I have plenty of Ralphie pix after the jump, of course, but first a recipe for Peanut Butter ‘Nilla Biscuits from Yummy for Dogs. If you like what you see, check out the website and/or order a copy of webmistress Veronica Noechel’s Yummy for Dogs: A Cook Book for Canines. Hey, it’s on my wishlist. I mean, Ralphie’s wishlist. Yeah, Ralphie. (Hint, hint, wink, wink!)

Peanut Butter ‘Nilla Biscuits

These smell incredible!

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup oil
3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup oats

* In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, and oats.

* Stir in oil, peanut butter, vanilla, and water.

* Knead till smooth, adding more flour or water as needed.

* Roll out on a lightly floured surface.

* Cut with cookie cutters.

* Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

I stuck to the directions, but added some extra flour and rolled oats, as the dough was initially a little oily. I think I also used more like 5 tablespoons of peanut butter, since my “tablespoons” were heaped to overflowing. The dogs love the pb, though!

I have this cute little bone-shaped cookie cutter that the doggies’ grandmother bought for them/me, so I used that to cut the dough. I rolled the leftover scraps into a faux long rawhide bone with the cute little tied ends (for the birthday boy, natch!), as you can see in the photo. All in all, the recipe produced 53 cookies (40 long bones, 12 short bones and one “rawhide”), which fit on two sheets, no problem.

The dogs loved the treats, but don’t place too much trust in their critique; four out of the five of them eat their own poo! (And the fifth eats the cat’s poo – Rennie, I’m looking at you.) I did try the dough before rolling it into cookies, and it was on a little the bland side (for humans), but edible; and yet, definitely yummy for dogs!

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I’m not sure whether you remember us, but two years ago this September 30th, my husband and I adopted two dogs from Friends of the Friendless. Gracie and Penelope were found abandoned with a third dog, Paige, in a home that was about to be sold. While you were able to place Paige with a new family, Gracie and Penelope were still with you six months later, when we came to visit after seeing them on Petfinder. (I included their adoption listings to jog your memory. Last I checked, they were still available on Petfinder, in the “happy tales” section!)

Since their two-year anniversary is fast approaching, we thought you might like to know what your girls are up to!

Back then, we already had three dogs – Ralphie the dachshund and Peedee and O-Ren the rat terriers – and lived south of the city, in a rental home in Stilwell. We’ve since bought our own place up north of the city, in Plattsburg, with concrete floors (impermeable to dog pee!) and a huge fenced backyard for the dogs. The dogs are all doing well together; while they’ve formed their own little cliques, they all seem to enjoy one another’s company.

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The five little terrier-mix dogs had been left behind on Galveston Island by their owner. Alone and frightened they watched as the storm surge began to rush into their home. As the water continued its relentless rise, they jumped to the top of a table and that’s where Houston SPCA rescue teams found them trembling and whimpering in fear. The high water mark was over their heads and our rescue teams knew in their hearts that these little dogs spent most of the night swimming for their lives. But they had a strong will to live and thanks to the Houston SPCA, they also have a second chance at life.

Houston SPCA rescue teams are in a race against time to safe innocent storm victims like these who were left behind on the Island to fend for themselves. Thousands of dogs, cats, horses, puppies and kittens, birds and other pets have found a safe haven at the Houston SPCA.

Sigh.

I have five dogs.

Four are what you might call “terrier mixes.”

The looong dog, standing on the leftmost corner of the table, kind of reminds me of Ralphie, our dachshund.

In fact, the whole group kind of resembles my pack. A bit scragglier, a bit scrappier, but…I can see it. Five little runts, just like my guys and girls. Five sweet, innocent, loyal, unconditionally loving little mutts. Five friends for life. Five reasons for living.

I can barely stand leaving them alone for a few hours: while I go to dinner, to the movies, or – dog forbid – out for the day.

Hell, I feel bad when I have to crate Kaylee in the bedroom while I take a shower in the next room.

So, how does one look at those sweet little faces…and leave them, alone, knowing full well that a hurricane is fast approaching? How?

And that’s not even to mention the creature who – presumably – was “living” in the cage next to the table.

I feel like I should clarify here that, yes, sometimes elderly, disabled, and impoverished animal guardians face obstacles in evacuating with their companions. Maybe that was the case here; maybe it wasn’t. After Katrina, the importance of preparing disaster response plans for both human and non-human animals alike became readily apparent. While the evacuation plans didn’t go off without a hitch in the face of Gustav and Ike, there were plans – not to mention plenty of forewarning.

This didn’t need to happen.

Our animal friends lost everything in the storm but hope.

Please check out the Disaster Relief section of this website to see what you can do to help the victims of Hurricane Gustav and Ike. I started accumulating disaster relief alerts and resources in the days after Katrina – and I continue to update and maintain the page(s) as a tribute to the thousands of animals that needlessly perished in Hurricane Katrina, as well as the many natural and man-made disasters since.

(Photo and excerpts from Houston SPCA’s “updates from the [Hurricane Ike] frontline”; post title lifted from this Kinship Circle alert.)

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts hurricane ike hurricane ike natural disaster disaster relief texas galveston pet companion animal dog canine my furbabies galveston island houston spca hspca flickr photos animal rescue