21 thoughts on “Open Thread

    1. This is the conversation I imagine:

      Dachshund: You are not petting me enough.
      Human: I am a beloved celebrity whose time is –
      Dachshund: – DO NOT START WITH ME CLARK GABLE!

    1. It might be helpful if they listed her weight. It would give people a more solid idea of her size and some renters have lease agreements specifying the maximum allowed weight of their pets.

  1. The Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle will finally close down its elephant exhibit.

    http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2025060387_elephantsgonexml.html

    However, the zoo’s plan is to send them to a better zoo:

    “Deborah Jensen, CEO of the zoo, said Chai, 35, and Bamboo, 47, would be sent together to a zoo that has a stable elephant collection that is free of disease and has an active conservation program that will highlight the threat to elephants in the wild.”

    The same day the Times ran its news story, the paper’s editorial board called for the city — which has substantial leverage over the zoo — to insist that the elephants go to a sanctuary, not another zoo, and noted, “Make no mistake: This is now an election issue for City Council races.”

    http://seattletimes.com/html/editorials/2025060000_woodlandparkzoomovingelephantschaibambooedit20xml.html

    “The best home for the elephants [said the editorial board] is a sanctuary in a warm climate, such as the 2,300-acre Performing Animal Welfare Society in San Andreas, Calif.

    “Chai and Bamboo have spent their entire lives entertaining zoo-goers.

    “The show is over.

    “They deserve to live out the rest of their days in peace.”

    1. Absolutely! I hope that those who have the decision making power send these grand old animals to the sanctuary. That’s the very least they can do for them.

    1. Very good news, but there’s a bit at the end of the article that bothers me. Speaking of the cost of animal services – for which Merced (a city with a pop. of about 80,000, many of them poor) budgeted $200,000 last year – the chief of police brings up the Irresponsible Public and comments:

      “Could the city of Merced use that money elsewhere?” Andrade continued. “Absolutely. That could get you two more officers, roads or a recreation program.”

      What this is, it looks to me, is a ranking of priorities, and as I read it Chief Andrade is implying that the money would be better spent on any of these other needs or wants than on providing needed services for Merced’s animals. And that’s on top of the fallacious underlying assumption that If Only the Irresponsible Public Would X (pick from today’s menu selections) there would somehow magically be no need for animal services.

    1. I read the article re: Stockton and ALDF. I don’t have inside info re: ALDF or any group but I do get emails from ALDF for donations. (not a lot) I have noticed over many years that ALDF seems to not do much in the way of No Kill shelter reform (at least from when I review their cases at their site)

      When they ask for donations I reply I would like to contribute to No Kill shelter reform – they never respond (maybe they don’t read the reply)

  2. Pets are family, even in candy decorations -http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=D1D40D6C-0B07-9262-EC98A1CAF5C03D64&killnav=1

  3. With regard to Stockton- when I read about this type of con job it just solidifies my belief that animal rescue is one big sham- at least as practiced by the endowds.
    They just use the poor tear jerking stories of the animals as their widgets in their business models instead of another product. Most of those running this train haven actually been in the trenches in decades if at all.

  4. Today I got emails from PETA and ALDF seeking donations. I don’t know how I got on PETA’s list….I agree with BC regarding the endowds…so much corruption. And local governments are culprits in preventing shelter reform.

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