A Very Sad State of Affairs in the Pet Industry

I’ve been told I should not ‘name names’ as it is preventing me from getting jobs….but since I am near  retirement…well…if you are in the metro Chicago area and are looking to board your  dog, contact me, first. There are some good kennels, run by dog lovers who’ve bothered to learn about animal behavior (dog behavior, specifically), and train dogs.  Unfortunately, many   dog kennels are  owned or managed by people  who have had management experienced, have owned a pet dog, and know NOTHING about dog behavior or what causes stress or injury. They don’t care to learn, either.

I have a friend, a past co-worker, who  took a job at a facility  on the north side  of Chicago. in fact, the owners, two men who  own a pet dog, and got tired of what they were doing (and had the capital), offered me a grooming job right before I went on vacation…to start upon my return.  While I was gone, they fired a groomer who was about to leave on her own, and immediately hired another ‘groomer’…because they couldn’t wait for me.  Why not? Well, obviously, neither guy  knew how to brush or bathe a dog, so they needed someone’s labor to make money.

I was  a bit disappointed, but not too disappointed.  They really needed more equipment, and I knew they knew nothing about dogs. This always frightens me because they also hire people to work for them who know nothing about dogs.  Yes, that’s right.  These guys, the owners, don’t want to actually  be in the room with the dogs themselves, all day. No, they want to own a ‘dog business’.

So it happened they hired my friend, who does act with integrity, and  she  found that they allowed another employee to put an electronic shock collar  on a dog (maybe more than 1).  Now, if  a person has a pack of dogs, and introduces a new dog to the pack, and  there is a fight, the new dog is not allowed to enter the pack.    That is, people with integrity know this. The people who want to make money  who won’t refuse a dog, apparently shock it.

Not all day care facilities do this.  Many use a water spray bottle (or pistol) to spray a dog  looking funny at another dog.  But face it:  the odds of a fight breaking out when you have more than 3 ‘unrelated’ (meaning living in the same household) dogs together is high.  Of course,an intact dog increases the odds, but  neutering is not a panacea.

So, my friend quit, and it looks like I dodged a bullet.  However, since, again, the  people I work for   just  three days a week don’t have enough work  for me to make a living, I have to keep looking for more work.  What I am finding is a lot of businesses  owned by people who want to own a pet business….and don’t want direct contact with dogs. they don’t want

This is a Maltese I groomed in a puppy trim. They do not grow like this .naturally. they need haircuts.

to be in a room all day with dogs.
They have never trained a dog and proudly let everyone know how spoiled their own dogs are.  They do not invest in  equipment, and want you to overcome the laws of physics, and they also  don’t want you to form a relationship with THEIR clients.

You shouldn’t choose a pet car business just because the location is convenient, but I guess anyone who thinks their dog gets exercise  just because they pay for ‘dog daycare’ is kidding themselves.  Most dogs go home tired from stress, not from  actual exercise.

I have an acquaintance who is trying to change this:  she offers  training of kennel personnel, and seminars, but this will not solve the problem of people in the pet industry  making money  off pets, but  not caring enough to work directly with them.

The Addiction Epidemic

When I was in high school in the late 1960s, we got health education in ….physical education class. Why was  health not taught as part of a science curriculum?  Good question!  In any case,when it came to drugs, we were shown the very popular film, Reefer Madness ,and told marijuana led to  using other drugs.  I guess back in the last century, the science of addiction wasn’t considered so important because….the policy makers  believed their own propaganda:  that only minorities sought, used, and became addicted to drugs.  Back then, alcohol and tobacco weren’t considered drugs.  I think the  conventional wisdom was that if white men partook in something, it was not a problem and should not be labeled a problem.  There were alcoholics…but  their drug was legal.

I am not sure how thinking changed.  It’s being reported now that most people who become addicted to heroin start on prescription pain killers, but NOBODY is  talking about  more oversight  of pharmaceutical manufacturers or even physicians who  over prescribe  these legal medications.  However, now that virtually every family in America is touched by drug addiction in some way—whether it be in the family, or at the workplace, suddenly, there is a call to  address the issue again.  Is it because more white kids are becoming addicts?

As I’ve written before, my own brother, a licensed pharmacist, became a drug addict.  He knew how people became drug addicts, as he had friends who were/are addicts.  Several are in recovery.  Yet, he CHOSE THE  ADDICT LIFESTYLE.

If you think people don’t CHOOSE to become addicts, guess again. Sure, kids get drugs from other kids, skip school, have no  passion for anything but video games. That’s a good start towards addiction.  You see your parents come home, turn on the TV,  start drinking beer.  No hobbies, no interests. That must be the way adults live their lives.  I  still see young kids smoking tobacco.  I can’t imagine why you would start a disgusting, expensive habit, when there  is enough information available  about how it wrecks your health, and it really doesn’t make your life better.  You don’t look mature when you smoke cigarettes, you look stupid….and it’s a legal addiction.

With my brother, it was clearly  other mental issues (Asperger’s), and being treated like the smartest guy in the room by my father.  My brother had an R.Ph. and  DVM degrees. Clearly, he knew more about science than anyone else  we knew.

Problem was, he could not relate to people at all.  He  would not take responsibility for not showing up to work on time, for alienating bosses and clients…and my father kept  rescuing him. This is true of a lot of addicts:  parents and ‘loved ones’—-enablers—-continuing to support the addict’s lifestyle.

So—what’s to be done?  Do we need more ‘treatment’ programs?  Possibly—but the ones  we currently have  available have a horrible success rate.  First thing—you need to want to not just get clean, but radically change your life.  Three months, six months ain’t going to do it. Maybe  two years—in either a foreign country, or where you have to learn an entirely different language to get along. This would require concentration, of course. The program would also need to  insist on at least six hours of physical labor every day.  You’d be so tired, drugs—getting high—would be the last think on your mind.  Face it….some people would rather  sleep  on the street than  even make an effort to respect the people around them.  You relapse once,the next ‘treatment program’ is five years..and keep restricting freedom and spending money until the idiot gets it—we are not going to let you  disrupt all the lives around you.  & Why should our tax dollars help you when there is  not enough money for our public schools and more teachers?  Lots of addicts believe that switching to another,   maintenance drug would be the way to go.  Maybe so, but you still will have to find a purpose for your life—more than hanging around and relaxing.

Make drugs legal. Right now, with drugs being illegal, they are not taxed, and violence is so much part of the culture.  By legalizing drugs and taxing them, we pay for treatment, possibly even maintenance drugs,  and get  those in the informal sector out of the business.  Let them shoot each other over a girl , or a parking space.  Too many economic resources are dedicated to  prisons, lawyers, and psychologists, and they don’t have much  of a success rate , but the do make money,  so cut them out.

Start fining  friends and family who enable the addicted to continue to be addicted. My own father pays my brother’s phone bill. This gives my brother just enough money to keep getting stoned.  He has no incentive at all to stay straight, and  he disrespects not just my father, but everyone.  My father should have to pay a stupid tax.   Although he denies it, he feels my brother is worth keeping alive, in spite of disrespecting  his 3 female siblings.  This helps nobody.

I have traveled in Africa.  While there are alcoholics and  addicts, not nearly on the scale that there are in the developed world. when you have to walk miles to get drinking water, and grow your own food….when you have to put so much energy into just surviving, you don’t have time for self-indulgence.  This how we know this lifestyle works in stopping addiction.  You either work…or you die.

 

Vacations for Animal Lovers

Pariah dog sleeping at Ephasus in turkey

My passion is  working with animals.  From  before I could read, I knew volume #7 of the Encyclopedia Britannica had the dog pictures.  I used to love  pulling it out and looking at the dog pictures.  Growing up, I lived in a very middle class suburban (Skokie) neighborhood, where, if people had dogs, they were behind fences.  If I saw someone walking a dog, I went crazy. Part of this obsession was because my parents wouldn’t let us have a dog until we were  mature enough to take care of one.  My father  owned his own business,and my mother  had four kids  under 7 years old. Looking back, I  totally understand the logic.  What happened, however, was that my sister and I  took every dog book we could find out of the library. We finally got  our first dogs when I was  nine-years-old.  We  taught that dog all sorts of things.  I took every opportunity I could find to work with dogs. I learned to groom dogs.  I have also titled my pet dogs in performance.  When you work with dogs, you learn your limits.  At one time, I wanted to own a kennel and have a bunch of my own dogs.  When I started working in kennels, I learned that it is  hard to give quality time to more than a few dogs. So many dogs need homes, and many without homes need advocates. What could I do?  If I fostered a dog, I would be cutting into the quality time I spend with my own dogs. and it would change the dynamic in our household.  So, I looked for opportunities where I could help others who  care for pets needing help.

Reception at Lilongwe SPCA. in Malawi

There are many ways to help when you  can’t foster or adopt another pet.  Most shelter and rescues need help with accounting, marketing, and fund-raising, as well as recruiting  other volunteers.  Here in Chicago, I volunteer as a court advocate for  http://www.safehumanechicago.org  This means, when someone is charged with an animal related crime (neglect, cruelty, or dog fighting are the common ones), I go to court to make sure the judge knows that the community has an interest in this case.  Mostly, it is just being there.  We let the  prosecuting attorney know  we are there, and they make sure the judge knows we are there if the  courtroom is crowded. The police making the arrest also know that we are there.  This makes everyone take animal crime more seriously. Another thing I do is support pet rescues, especially pet rescues in  developing countries.  Now, due to the internet, where you can google ‘animal shelter/country, you can get linked up with  animal lovers in  most places.  In many places, you can even volunteer. I volunteered , via Cross Cultural Solutions, to work with a community based group in New Delhi, India, and some people told me about Frendicoes.  Friendicoes mostly does trap/neuter/release, and has a small shelter.  Virtually all the animals they have are pariah dogs and cats:  that is, they are true street  animals, and really not suited to be pets. Several years ago, I visited Turkey. Via networking, I was able to get in touch with  the people who run the Forest Sanctuary, outside Istanbul.  They had about 100 dogs at the time we visited.  Western Turkey is becoming very urbanized, but the Turks, for the most part, never  kept dogs in their homes.  Also, like impulsive people all over, many  buy dogs and tire of them.  Those involved in rescue are very pragmatic.  They do trap/neuter/release (and one reason for the  protest over loss of park land in Istanbul several years ago was not just  over loss of open space to a shopping mall…but loss of habitat for the street dogs and cats), but also care for  dogs at the Forest Sanctuary outside of the city. They work with a Dutch rescue, and ship many dogs suitable for homes to Holland. I’ve also  visited  ‘shelters’ in Hoi An, Viet Nam (http://www.vnanimalwelfare.org/category/slider/) , and both Lilongwe and Blantyre, in Malawi.  They all welcome volunteers.  Soi Dogs, in Thailand not only needs volunteers, but  people who can accompany a dog (as a courier)  from Thailand to the USA.  The Sighthound Underground and Galgos del Sol also need couriers, and you can volunteer to work in the Galgo kennel in Spain. There are also  animal shelters in more ‘vacation oriented’ places.  http://www.animal-kind.org  can put you in touch with  many shelters needing assistance.  So can Norah Livingstone: http://www.animalexperienceinternational.com/aboutus.html.  World Vets:  http://worldvets.org/volunteer/upcoming-projects/  has volunteer opportunities in  Central America and southern Asia.  If you are more the type who  just wants to observe, or maintain habitat, Earthwatch http://earthwatch.org/has programs, many involving habitat conservation or observation of animal behavior, overseen by scientists. Meeting  other animal lovers and sharing information is a great way to spend vacation time.

Bernie Sanders has to get into Specifics Fast

I have always admired and respected Bernie Sanders—an American who is not afraid to say he is a socialist.  Face it, Capitalism doesn’t work  unless the Keynesians tinker with it constantly, and we are now at the tipping point, where  not enough Americans are educated enough to not have more children than they can realistically support, nor get the jobs to support them.  Our educational system is concerned with statistics, not  actually teaching kids to think, and we keep teaching an American history that is a big lie….but whatever.  Land rents (property taxes) and energy costs are way too high, and we keep sending our tax  dollars to  poorly thought out, designed, and monitored development projects, as well as military foreign aid. Since WWII, we’ve stuck our noses  where  they don’t belong, ‘fighting communism’, and have made every situation worse…and we are no safer, no better off economically, However, a very few rich people have benefited. The media  is a strong booster for this system, and we are not skeptical enough.

I live in a relatively well-educated, open-minded community, and most of my friends and neighbors really believe that  nobody likes Clinton or Trump.  Well, I know a bunch of people  think of an old Jewish guy as a joke. And—because  he is rich (and got that way ripping people off), they believe  Trump would be a good president because he is not a professional politician, and he says what  scared, poor white people want to hear.

Well, there are a lot of them. The only way around this is for Bernie Sanders to  start talking specifics. What budgets would he ask the House Appropriations Committee to cut, and which  would he give to?   Who does he think will support him? We have to know this, or the rest of the election year will just be a bunch of empty words.

We have over spent on the military—with not much to show for it.  Military foreign aid—which is now being used against us, foreign embassies (which do  little to  help actual American citizens), law enforcement and the department of justice, the war on drugs, perks for congressmen, Homeland Security…we all see waste all around us.  We see  congressmen earmark money for special interests.

Politics is the art of compromise. I am somewhat disappointed that Obama didn’t get it all done.  However, considering  we’ve had a Republican Congress, we got more than we would have  had either McCain or Romney won.  I am really not a fan of Hillary Clinton.  I would have had more respect for her had she left Bill.  Thing is, if Bernie doesn’t  get the nomination, we will lose ground if we don’t vote for her.  We have a chance to keep making  progress here. Neither Trump nor any  of the Republicans car about any of us.  They just care about money.  Capitalism can’t survive any regression and like it or not, we have to play in this system.