Thursday, March 25, 2010
N.S veterinarians ban tail docking
N.S veterinarians ban tail docking
By CBC News
CBC News
Veterinarians in Nova Scotia will no longer cut the tails and ears of dogs for cosmetic reasons, prompting an outcry from breeders.
Veterinarians in Nova Scotia will no longer cut the tails and ears of dogs for cosmetic reasons, prompting an outcry from some breeders.
The Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association is forbidding its members from doing surgeries that alter an animal's appearance solely for cosmetic purposes.
Veterinarians say docking a Doberman pinscher's tail, for example, is unnecessary and cruel.
"In my opinion, Dobermans and Great Danes look great with their ears down and their long tails, so there's no reason to mutilate them by causing them to meet an arbitrary breed characteristic that has been around for so long that we can't remember why it's been around in the first place," said Dr. Frank Woodbury, a veterinarian in Halifax.
Mary Spinelli, a Doberman breeder in Dartmouth, disputes any suggestion that ear cropping and tail docking is cruel, and therefore can't see any need for the new rules.
"There was no impetus from anybody in the dog community to say, 'Please, consider this procedure,'" she said.
"These procedures have been performed for the better part of 100 years. They're not new, they're not revolutionary and, by and large, they're not cruel. They're done in proper conditions."
Spinelli said a Doberman's tail is removed when the animal is about two days old, while the ears are cropped at eight weeks.
She finds it hypocritical that the veterinary association is still allowing the declawing of cats.
"They have no qualms whatsoever about declawing cats, which is a far more invasive procedure done when the cat is significantly older," she said.
The new rules go into effect on April 1, though they won't be enforced until October. Similar bans on cosmetic surgeries are already in place in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Spinelli, a registered breeder with the Canadian Kennel Club, won't crop the tails of her dogs herself. She said the procedure should only be done under safe and clean conditions, like with veterinarians.
Another Doberman owner, Lendra Barker, fears that some owners will do whatever it takes to get their dogs to conform to a certain look.
"The people who own these dogs want them performed and without a vet to be permitted to perform these procedures, where is it going to go? Some people that aren't reputable may end up doing it themselves without the benefit of anesthesia or sanitary conditions," said Barker, a past-president of the Doberman Pinscher Club of Canada.
Non-veterinarians who attempt the surgeries on their own could be charged under Nova Scotia's Animal Protection Act.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Online pet shop owner faces animal cruelty charges
By CBC News
A P.E.I. man who operated an online pet store has been charged with causing unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to animals.
Bud Wheatley faces seven charges, five under the Criminal Code and two under the provincial Companion Animal Protection Act. Wheatley, who up until about three years ago owned Snookums pet store in Charlottetown, ran PuppiesAcrossCanada.com. He took orders online for puppies and kittens and either transported the animals himself to buyers in the Maritimes or sent them by plane.
His website said he bought the animals from breeders and that a veterinarian inspected them for health problems. The charges stem from a four-month investigation in 2009. RCMP raided Wheatley's home in Covehead, on the North Shore, in October 2009. The provincial Department of Agriculture seized about 80 cats and dogs at the time and took them to the Humane Society. Wheatley was served with a summons to answer to the charges of animal cruelty this week.
He declined an interview on Friday, saying his lawyers have told him not to talk. Wheatley was in the news about three years ago after several people who bought puppies at Snookums claimed the animals died from the parvovirus within a week of coming home from the store. At the time, Wheatley blamed the pet owners, saying he only sold healthy puppies. When business was good, he said he sold 3,000 puppies a year. No charges were laid at that time, but Wheatley closed the store. He had been in business for about 15 years.
Wheatley is scheduled to be in court March 8 to answer to the charges against him.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Vets now required to report animal abuse
Sat. Jan 23 - 4:49 AM
Veterinarians are now required to report possible animal abuse, neglect and cruelty under changes to the provincial Animal Protection Act that came into effect this week.
The new laws mean that vets no longer have to fear court reprisals from owners for telling the SPCA that animals they are treating appear to be abused, says Nova Scotia SPCA executive director Kristin Williams.
It is similar to the law that requires doctors to report suspected abuse of children.
"That is a much-needed, much-improved part of the legislation," said Ms. Williams.
She said divulging information about the condition of pets was considered "personal information pertaining to the owner," and therefore private.
"There was certainly a risk associated with reporting abuse" before the changes, she said.
Another change in the new act gives responsibility for farm animals to the Agriculture Department. Livestock had previously fallen under the auspices of the SPCA.
"They are a ministry within the government that has dedicated resources that are paid through tax dollars to facilitate these investigations," Ms. Williams said. "They have access to training and veterinarian services that are specific to large animals, and other specialties in terms of skills."
The change moves responsibility — and the big price tag — for investigating allegations involving large farm operations away from the SPCA and its relatively small budget.
"In the past, we’ve had to incur tremendous costs related to farm animal incidents," Ms. Williams said.
The change means the animal protection organization can concentrate on companion animals like dogs and cats, she said.
The SPCA has three investigators in the province who handle more than 1,500 complaints a year.
Ms. Williams said the changes, including one that increases fines for those convicted under the act, will allow Nova Scotia "to be much more responsive to the need and welfare of animals across the province, and allow the SPCA to play a much more active role on behalf of animals."
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
If you ever love an animal...

If you ever love an animal, there are three days in your life you will always remember . . .
The first is a day, blessed with happiness, when you bring home your young new friend. You may have spent weeks deciding on a breed. You may have asked numerous opinions of many vets, or done long research in finding a breeder. Or, perhaps in a fleeting moment, you may have just chosen that silly looking mutt in a shelter simply because something in its eyes reached your heart. But when you bring that chosen pet home, and watch it explore, and claim its special place in your hall or front room and when you feel it brush against you for the first time it instills a feeling of pure love you will carry with you through the many years to come.
The second day will occur eight or nine or ten years later. It will be a day like any other. Routine and unexceptional; but, for a surprising instant, you will look at your longtime friend and see age where you once saw youth. You will see slow deliberate steps where you once saw energy. And you will see sleep when you once saw activity. So you will begin to adjust your friend's diet and you may add a pill or two to her food. And you may feel a growing fear deep within yourself, which bodes of a coming emptiness. And you will feel this uneasy feeling, on and off, until the third day finally arrives.
And on this day if your friend and whatever higher being you believe in have not decided for you, then you will be faced with making a decision of your own on behalf of your lifelong friend, and with the guidance of your own deepest Spirit. But whichever way your friend eventually leaves you; you will feel as alone as a single star in the dark night.
If you are wise, you will let the tears flow as freely and as often as they must. And if you are typical, you will find that not many in your circle of family or friends will be able to understand your grief, or comfort you.
But if you are true to the love of the pet you cherished through the many joy-filled years, you may find that a soul a bit smaller in size than your own seems to walk with you, at times, during the lonely days to come.
And at moments when you least expect anything out of the ordinary to happen, you may feel something brush against your leg very, very lightly.
And looking down at the place where your dear, perhaps dearest, friend used to lie you will remember those three significant days. The memory will most likely to be painful, and leave an ache in your heart.
As time passes the ache will come and go as if it has a life of its own. You will both reject it and embrace it, and it may confuse you. If you reject it, it will depress you. If you embrace it, it will deepen you. Either way, it will still be an ache.
But there will be, I assure you, a fourth day when along with the memory of your pet and piercing through the heaviness in your heart there will come a realization that belongs only to you. It will be as unique and strong as our relationship with each animal we have loved, and lost. This realization takes the form of a Living Love like the heavenly scent of a rose that remains after the petals have wilted, this Love will remain and grow and be there for us to remember. It is a love we have earned. It is the legacy our pets leave us when they go. And it is a gift we may keep with us as long as we live. It is a Love which is ours alone. And until we ourselves leave, perhaps to join our Beloved Pets it is a Love we will always possess.
~Martin Scot Kosins
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Sacchi
October 24th, 2009 - A big day in the d'Entremont household. Today we welcomed our newest pack member, Sacchi. This is it! Honest! 6 is enough! LOLHere are some pictures of our lovely lady. She is a former puppymill breeder from Arkansas. She was rescued and brought to Canada. Her foster mom contacted a fellow rescue worker in PEI who contacted me. As soon as I saw her picture I knew she was part of our family. She is a bit timid but loves waking up in the morning and getting belly rubs. We call her the tiny dancer because she spins around and hops when it's meal time.


Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Animals seized from online pet store
CBC News
The website PuppiesAcrossCanada.com. (CBC)The P.E.I. Department of Agriculture has seized animals from an online business that sells puppies and kittens.
Officials said the animals were removed from kennels belonging to Bud Wheatley, who owns PuppiesAcrossCanada.com.
The department said it took the animals under the province's Companion Animal Protection Act but would not say how many were taken or why.
The pets have been taken to the P.E.I. Humane Society in Charlottetown. Their condition is not known.
Wheatley previously ran a pet store called Snookums in Charlottetown. The store was closed after some of its customers alleged the company had sold them sick pets.
When contacted by CBC News, Wheatley said he was too upset to comment about the seizure.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Pip Squeak

We are once again foster failures and have a little girl in our family. Every pack needs a little girl. Pip Squeak (aka Brandy) is a little biter girl. She's 100% better than she was when she first came here but rather than risk anything happening to her we adopted her. She sleeps with mama and loves to play ball. She is a little princess and knows it! LOL
Wrinkles and Ben

We finally got a decent picture of Ben, Casper and Tawto's oldest brother. We believe he is around 12 years old now. He was blind when we adopted him. We took him to the Veterinary College in PEI to have his cataracts removed. Now he hates having his pictures taken. I think it's the flash that hurts his eyes.
We got Wrinkles when he was pup. He's 9 years old now and the best bruder a doggie could have. He still loves to play. He is Tawto's chew toy.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Brandy

Although the boys really don't pay much attention, this is their little foster sister, Brandy.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Puppy Broker Jailed
Puppy seller jailed 21 days for assault
By BRIAN MEDEL Yarmouth Bureau
Thu. Apr 9 - 6:47 PM
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DIGBY — Gail Benoit, the woman accused of selling sick and dying puppies, was sent to jail Thursday for 21 days.
The jail term was for resisting arrest. She received a suspended sentence on another charge of assaulting an SPCA special constable.
During the fall of 2007, a search warrant was executed and 10 puppies were seized from the home near Digby that Ms. Benoit shares with her husband Dana Bailey.
Ms. Benoit was convicted on Jan. 29 of animal cruelty and assaulting a peace officer. She was fined $1,500 for the animal cruelty conviction.
Mr. Bailey was convicted of animal cruelty on Jan. 29, and was also fined $1,500 on Thursday.
After learning from Judge Jean-Louis Batiot that she was headed for jail, Ms. Benoit glanced quickly to her right then fell, rather slowly, to the floor.
Some in the audience laughed out load while others smiled as they watched two sheriff’s deputies try to assist the stricken woman.
The court recessed and as Judge Batiot left the bench, Mr. Bailey began to shout profanities and threatened the court because his wife sometimes chokes, he said.
“If my wife chokes in that jail you fellas are going to be held responsible,” he hollered, at one point addressing his remarks to “Mr. Batiot.”
“How could you do that. This is not fair,” he yelled at the bench.
Mr. Bailey was tossed from the courtroom and hustled downstairs by a group of police officers and sheriff’s deputies.
Mr. Bailey was pushed out through the front door of the Digby courthouse and told to move along.
The couple, who during their 2008 trial called themselves puppy brokers, faced charges of animal cruelty stemming from the seizure of 10 pups from their home near Digby in October of 2007.
Some people had complained to the provincial SPCA about puppies they had purchased from Ms. Benoit. Some of the young dogs died soon afterward.
Crown Attorney Rosalind Michie said Thursday that Ms. Benoit and Mr. Bailey have sold as many as 30,000 dogs in the past 13 years, sometimes selling 200 in a month.
Ms. Michie also told the court that this is Ms. Benoit’s third conviction since 1994 for assaulting a peace officer.
“The Crown takes that very seriously,” she told Judge Batiot.
The convicted puppy brokers have flatly refused to take responsibility for their actions, she said.
“All along, nothing has ever been their fault .... There is no expression of any remorse,” she said.
Defence lawyer Michael Power said the level of neglect was rather low.
The charges deal with 10 dogs, although there’s evidence that hundreds of dogs have passed through his clients' care, the majority without complaint, he said.
Mr. Bailey, who turns 47 next week, is disabled, according to his lawyer, and receives $869 a month from the Workers Compensation Board.
Ms. Benoit is 39 and, “she too is disabled,” said Mr. Power. He said she gets $830 a month.
They also operate a puppy brokerage, he said.
“They are not bad people. They are businesspeople,” Mr. Power said, adding that their puppy brokerage has been affected by negative publicity.
“The business is basically in limbo now."
He also told the court how his clients sometimes speak their minds too freely in public.
“They blurt things out,” he said.
“I’ve admonished them ... I’ve told them to quiet down those emotions. But they do become emotional,” he said.
The couple must also pay $2,478 in restitution for care and treatment of the sick puppies.
And Ms. Benoit will be on probation for 18 months.
“I would have liked to have seen a prohibition of (owning) animals,” Ms. Michie, the Crown attorney, said after court.
But under the Animal Cruelty Prevention Act, owning an abused or neglected animal is required for prohibition. It was found during trial that the pups were possessed for the purposes of selling, she said.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Chihuahua Approved Recipes
Posted by Frank Jackson, fjack01@emory.edu.
Get one of those hollow, white bones from the pet store. They're bleached white bone and have nothing in the center where the marrow and other yucky stuff would normally be. The one I had was about 2 inches in length with a diameter of about 2 inches. I'm not sure what the commercial name of these things are so I hope you know what I'm talking about.
Take some flour, (not the self-rising kind, the un-self-rising kind), about a spoonful of dried garlic granules, and some water and mixed it into a thick paste. Then stuff the bone with this paste. Bake at 100 degrees for about 3 hours or 50 degrees for six hours or 25 degrees for 12 hours depending on how much time you have.
I let it cool and gave it to Kelly. She worked on it like it was the best thing she'd ever eaten for two hours. Finally when she went out for her last pee of the night I had to hide it from her. She spent fifteen minutes looking for it. The good thing about it is that it really kept her occupied and it's a healthy treat - no sugar, chemicals, etc. You could mix yogurt into the flour instead of water and you could add kelp and other healthy things.
Tuna Bisquits
Posted by Jeffere King, wrking@flash.net. "I found a recipe in a doggie treat cookbook that you might try. Ginger, Katie, and Poo love these!"
* 1 can (8 oz) tuna in oil
* 2 cups cornmeal
* 2 cups flour
* 3/4 cup water
* 2/3 cup veg. oil
* 1/2 tsp. salt
Mix, roll out, cut out with dog bone cutter, bake at 350 for 25-30 min, cool serve, store in airtight container in frige. YUM!
Chi-liver Cake
From Rick Halsey, rhalsey@FREENET.NPIEC.ON.CA
* 1 pound of chicken livers
* 1/4 cup salad oil
* 1/2 cup water
* 3 or more cloves of garlic
* 2+ cups of flour
* optional goodies: bacon bits, grated cheese
Place liver, oil, water, garlic and the optional goodies in a blender or food processor, and liquify them. Pour them into a bowl, add flour until you have a stiff but sticky batter. Pour into greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for at least 1 hour. After 1 hour cut a small slice and if any pink is showing, return it to the oven for about 15 minutes more. Must be well done.
Be warned that once a dog tries this cake, they have been known to stand in front of the oven drooling while it is baking.
Biscuits / Cookies
From the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah.
* 1 cup uncooked oatmeal
* 1 1/2 cups hot water
* 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
* 1 1/2 cups cornmeal--or other meal if your dog is allergic to corn
* 3 cups whole wheat flour--or other flour if your dog is allergic to whole wheat
1. preheat oven to 325. In large bowl, pour hot water over oatmeal and applesauce and let stand for 5 minutes.
2. stir in cornmeal. Add flour one cup at a time to make a very stiff dough.
3. roll doug out to 1/2 inch thickness and cut out with bone shaped cookie cutter. Bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet for 50 minutes. Cool until hard.
Throw dog biscuits at piglet@panix.com.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Fun Quotes
When it comes to Chihuahuas, why keep only one? -- Marli
It seems that Chi owners are so in love with their
little babies front ends that they will do anything to
conquer the problems with their back ends . -- Susan
After god made one chihuahua, maybe he had to make
another one to clean the first one's ears. -- Brad
Coach Potatoes

Yesterday, after I dragged the bedding out of the dryer, the boys decided to claim a dryer sheet. Such lazy little bugs aren't they?
We found this great site. Written by a Chihuahua owner:
GUSH MODE ON: If you already own a Chihuahua, then I'll be preaching to the converted when I say that they are one of the most loyal, sweet-tempered, and gentle of the toy breeds. The Chihuahua, with its apple-dome skull and large luminous eyes, can wear a remarkably human expression at times; she or he will want to be with you most, if not all, of the time. A warning to casual dog owners: Don't buy a Chihuahua if you don't have the emotional real estate in your heart or the time for the complete love and attention of this furry little person. GUSH MODE OFF.
To read the whole article go to The Chihuahua FAQ
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Here in this house
Here in this house, There will be an effort to communicate with me on my level. I will be talked to and, even if I don't understand, I can enjoy the warmth of the words. I will be given a name so that I may know who I am among many. My name will be used in joy and I will love the sound of it!
Here in this house, I will never be a substitute for anything I am not. I will never be used to improve people's images of themselves. I will be loved because I am who I am, not someone's idea of who I should be. I will never suffer for someone's anger, impatience or stupidity. I will be taught all the things I need to know to be loved by all. If I do not learn my lessons well, they will look to my teacher for blame.
Here in this house, I can trust arms that hold, hands that touch. Knowing that, no matter what they do, they do it for the good of me. If I am ill, I will be doctored. If scared, I will be calmed. If sad, I will be cheered. No matter what I look like, I will be considered beautiful and known to be of value. I will never be cast out because I am too old, too ill, too unruly, or not cute enough. My life is a responsibility, not an afterthought. I will learn that humans can almost, sometimes, be as kind and as fair as dogs.
Here in this house, I will belong. I will be home.

