A Path With Paws

Please support this bill to help end overpopulation and the killing of cats and dogs in our shelters every year.

See Save Washington Pets for more information.

Do we have to kill nearly 50 percent of the animals that go into Washington’s shelters, year after year?

Homelessness is the single leading cause of death for healthy cats and dogs in the United States. About five million animals are killed in our country’s shelters each year.

In Washington State, a survey of shelters revealed that over 60,000 cats and dogs were reported euthanized in Washington shelters in 2005. The number of animals actually euthanized is higher, since only one third of the survey recipients responded. Between 2001 and 2005, large shelters that consistently responded to the survey reported euthanizing between 45 and 48 percent of the animals brought to them each year. The euthanasia rate has remained at these levels for the last several years.

It’s not just a matter of being humane. It costs a lot of money to handle homeless animals in shelters and through animal control agencies and rescue organizations. Washington State taxpayers spend millions of dollars each year to handle these animals.

The Sensible Solution

Spay/Neuter. The most effective and humane way to reduce the number of animals dying in shelters is a targeted, statewide spay/neuter program.

Senate Bill 5329/House Bill 1406 Will:

• reduce the killing of homeless cats and dogs through an effective, targeted statewide spay/neuter network
• reduce the burden on shelters, rescue organizations, and other public and non-profit animal welfare organizations that are overwhelmed with cats and dogs needing care and good homes and thereby reduce the costs to Washington taxpayers;
• reduce injuries and death, costs, and liability resulting from dog attacks, through financial support for spay/neuter surgeries; and
• save lives and humanely reduce the population of free-roaming, homeless, and feral cats through spay/neuter surgeries.

How This Will Be Accomplished

Using a network of private, public, and non-profit clinics and services around the state, spay/neuter surgeries will be performed on the categories of animals most significantly contributing to the overpopulation crisis: cats and dogs belonging to low-income residents of Washington, and free-roaming or feral cats.

There are an estimated 1.66 million to 1.86 million unaltered cats and dogs in Washington State. The goal of the bill is to help fund 70,000 or more spay/neuter surgeries per year under this program. The majority of surgeries would be performed on cats and dogs belonging to low-income residents of Washington. Low-income pet owners are the least likely to be able to afford spay/neuter surgery costs for their pets, and are most likely to own pets that have unplanned litters of kittens or puppies.

The estimated cost of this program is $11.56 million per year. The program would be funded by a fee on pet foods distributed in Washington state. The fee would not be applied at the retail level. The direct cost impact of the fee on a 5.5- ounce can of pet food would be less than one cent. The direct impact of the fee on a one-pound bag of pet food would be less than three cents.

The Benefits

Similar programs have been established in other states, including Connecticut, Delaware, Ilinois, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Vermont. The New Hampshire program was started in 1994 and in its first few years a 34-percent decrease in shelter admissions and a 75-percent decrease in euthanasia were reported. New Hampshire has also reported a savings from animal impoundment costs due to its program. As these states have shown, there is a better way to address the pet overpopulation crisis. An aggressive spay/neuter program is the more humane and effective solution.

Ending euthanasia of healthy dogs and cats is the primary goal of the bill. However, there are other key benefits to establishing a statewide spay/neuter program.

Reduced animal care and control, and shelter costs. Controlling the cat and dog population will help save taxpayers’ dollars by reducing the number of animals handled by local animal care and control agencies. One Washington shelter reported the average cost to handle an animal is $93. Stray animal pickup and delivery to the shelter costs an additional $150 to $200. For every animal that is not handled by animal control or shelters, the savings can be significant.

Reduced dog bites, suffering, and costs. Nearly two percent of the US population, or 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs each year. In 2003, the Insurance Information Institute reported that dog bites accounted for a quarter of all homeowner’s liability claims, totaling $321.6 million. In 2007, the claims total had risen to $356 million. Research has shown that unaltered dogs are much more likely to cause human injury from bites than altered dogs. A study using data collected in Multnomah County, Oregon, showed that unaltered female dogs were about ten times as likely to be reported for bite injuries than spayed female dogs, while unaltered male dogs were about seven times as likely to be reported for bite injuries than neutered male dogs. (Overall, male dogs were more likely to cause bite injuries than female dogs.) Although several factors are related to dog bite incidents, the status of dogs as either intact or spayed/neutered is significant. By increasing the spaying and neutering of dogs by making surgery accessible and affordable, we can expect a reduced number of dog bites and injuries, less pain and suffering, lost time, legal costs, and liability.

We Need Your Help!

What can you do?

• Contact your legislator! To find your legislator see District Finder. This bill is in committee right now and two of the legislators in that committee are Brian Blake 360-786-7870 and Brian Hatfield 360-786-7636.

• Check out Save Washington’s Pets website to help them promote this bill.

And check out Simon’s website!

With the holidays coming up I wanted to add a few more of my all time favorite books!

Animal Dreams

My favorite book, Animal Dreams, is the story of Codi Noline who returns to her home town after a string of failures and finds what it truly means to belong. Through an environmental catastrophe, caring for her dying father, and falling in love Codi is able to see that success is not always about degrees and money but more about how you look at life.

Animals dream about the things they do in the daytime, just like people do. If you want sweet dreams, you’ve got to live a sweet life.

I highly recommend this book! Did I mention it has one of the sweetest old dogs in literature?

The Color of Distance

A close second to Animal Dreams, The Color of Distance is about a young scientist, Juna, who is left on a distant planet by mistake. She is saved by a race of beings with incredible healing powers, the Tendu. This is an amazing book about healing, love, and how differences between us, no matter what species we are, can be bridged.

My favorite parts of this book are the rich healing experiences that Juna learns and shares not just for the creatures in this world but also for their planet and the balance that is held between all living things.

While not directly about dogs or cats, this book very much touched my heart as someone who lives with companion animals.

Although out of print you can still easily find this book used.

Carl’s Christmas
Who couldn’t love Carl’s Christmas? From the Good Dog Carl books comes the tale of Carl’s Christmas night of babysitting. Who wouldn’t trust their baby with a Rottweiler like Carl? Although without words, the illustrations of this book tell this colorful tale well.

Also see Holiday Books for Cat Lovers

This is a repost from last year but important enough to go back on the front page. Please take care.

Christmas lilies are extremely beautiful but also deadly to cats. Every year cats die from nibbling on lilies and once they become sick it is too late. Just a couple bites of lily will destroy the kidneys of a cat and send them into renal failure. Usually they die within 24 to 72 hours. Please do not bring lilies into your home if you have cats even if you think they will not eat them. It is heartbreaking to have to tell a cat’s person that there is nothing you can do. If your cat does eat a lily call your veterinary clinic or emergency hospital immediately and get instructions to induce vomiting.

I’m attempting to get the forums on this site up and running again. Many times I get questions from people that don’t fit into any article or sometimes someone just wants to share a story.

The forums are available for all of this!

Hopefully if we can get them going again you will get more then just my answer to your questions! And until they get more traffic I will do my best to answer all questions.

From Rose DeDan -

I became interested in Tellington TTouch, a long time ago, but that interest kind of got sidelined while focusing on my shamanic training.

Recently I read some very impressive stories by a long-time animal communicator that fanned that interest back into action, especially since I have wanted some additional assistance for Puma, my wonderful dog companion, as he enters his senior years. And lo, and behold, Shannon Finch’s name crossed my path. So, Wild Reiki and Shamanic Healing is now hosting a TTouch class in Seattle for the very first time! (And I believe there will be a live demo with said dog, and perhaps one of my cats who is shy of being handled – I may borrow a video camera for that!)

• Do you have a shy or aggressive dog?
• A cat who is getting along in years?
• A bird who squawks incessently?
• Are you interested in enhancing the bond with your animals?

Then this hands-on workshop is for you.

For more information on TTouch see What is TTouch?

When: Saturday, December 5, 2009, 9:30am-12:30pm
Where: Wild Reiki and Shamanic Healing Office, Alki (directions sent at time of registration)

You’ll learn how to improve your animal’s health and wellbeing with several TTouch techniques
that release the tension, fear and anxiety that lead to behavior problems.

You’ll learn how to ease the ailments associated with aging as well as first aid measures that can
save your animal’s life.

And while TTouch can assist the healing of injuries and illness, and help change undesirable behaviors, it also builds a deeper rapport between humans and animals, so your critter doesn’t have to have a problem in order to benefit from this class.

Please do not bring your animal to the workshop, we’ll be practicing on willing stuffies (stuffed animals) this time around!

Registration: Fee $95/person. Class size is limited to a small number of participants. Call Rose De Dan at 206-933-7877 or email her at wildkingdomreiki (at) earthlink (dot) net for more information or to register.

TEACHER BIO
Shannon Finch is owner of The AnimalKind Company in Stanwood, focusing on positive training for all species. She is a certified Tellington Touch practitioner for both companion animals and horses. She has worked with of animals of many species, from dogs, cats, and horses, to birds, reptiles, rabbits and pocket pets, and even farm critters such as cows, goats, and chickens.

Shannon has taught TTouch all over the west, including Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and the Hawaii Humane Society, has given presentations for numerous local animal welfare groups, including PAWS, the Alternative Humane Society of Bellingham, Hooterville, (now Homeward Bound), Canines for Citizens’ Independence, Pasado’s Safe Haven, Purrfect Pals, Skagit Humane Society, and the Monroe Pet Expo. She’s also taught animal behavior and TTouch classes for Everett Community College. She is currently working on her thesis for a Master’s Degree in Humane Education.

With the holidays approaching, I wanted to share some of my favorite cats books. I have to admit I am drawn to the many cat mystery books out there.

Catwings
Some of my favorite books ever, the catwings series, are write for children but also can melt the heart of an adult. Ursula LeGuin is one of my favorite authors but I have to admit that some of her best books are those that she has written for young adults or children.

In the Catwing books she introduces us to a family of four kittens who are born in the slums but happen to have wings and not just ordinary wings but fuzzy wings! These four books take us through their adventures as they try to find a place of their own in a world where they can be truly accepted and loved for who they are. Ursula’s words are beautifully written and the illustrations in these books make you want to reach out and cuddle these special kitties!

“Yet even though LeGuin’s stories are not sentimentalized, neither do they shock or brutalize in their truthfulness. Rather, as she makes danger and loss and injury and fear and all the passages of life seem natural and unavoidable, LeGuin also lets us see that life can still be well-lived, and individuals can still act rightly and lovingly and bravely, and can bear with dignity whatever losses come. Not a bad set of truths for children to learn in a couple of gentle, well-told tales.” – Orson Scott Card

These books are a purrfect gift for cat lovers of all ages!

The Joe Grey Mysteries
I love Joe Grey! Who wouldn’t love a talking cat who solves mysteries and occasionally also orders cavier from the deli, charging it on his person’s credit card. Joe Grey is an ordinary tom cat who one day discovers that he not only can talk but can also think like humans. This comes as quite a shock to him and even more of a shock to his bachelor owner Clyde. So what is a smart talking talking tomcat to do? Why turn to crime solving!

With the help of his friend Dulcie, another cat who discovers she can also talk, he turns to solving murders in the village he lives in. Like most long running murder mystery series there is the small problem of why so many people die in such a small town. Unlike many murder mysteries this series is very well written by Shirley Rousseau Murphy and quite entertaining to read. I have fallen in love with these books and with Joe Grey.

Shirley is able to keep the books fresh and witty by introducing new characters and problems and weaving ancient cat legend and folklore in throughout the stories.

While these books can be read in any order, it is the most fun to read them in order starting with Cat on the Edge.

This series is by far the best in the number of growing animal crime solving books!

The Catswold Portal

A wonderful fantasy people about a race of beings, The Catswold, who can change between people and cats, The Catswold Portal was an early novel written by Shirley Rousseau Murphy who later wrote Joe Grey. I read this book after reading many of the Joe Grey books and really enjoy how it tied into the legend of the Joe Grey series. A exciting tale of adventure and of the forces of good and evil. Did I mention that all the women of the Catswold race have calico hair?

Well worth reading on its own or while working through the Joe Grey books!

The Mrs Murphy Series

A cat mystery series co-written by a cat?

I worked my way through this series awhile back and really enjoyed it. The cats and dog in this series also talk but not to the humans. This is yet another series of animals solving murders but unlike Joe Grey Mrs. Murphy, Tucker, and Pewter have more difficultly because of the language barrier. Mrs Murphy and Pewter are smart talking cats who live with their person Harry and Tea Tucker the corgi in a small town in Virginia. Together the three of them help Harry solve murders in the small town and protect Harry who tends to get into trouble.

Written by Rita Mae Brown and filled with interesting charactors such as Simon the possum and Harry’s ex-husband the local veterinarian, this is also a well written and delightful series of books.

Simon’s cat

Worth mentioning again, Simon’s cat, is absolutely delightful! By far my favorite cartoon cat and now with his first book. There are no words in this book but the drawings will make you laugh. This guy really knows cats! If you have ever been owned by a cat before this book is a must have.

Coming soon – some of my favorite dog books and other wonderful animal books

If you have a favorite animal book – please send it to me or leave it in the comments!

Once again I am reaching out beyond animals to address an issue dear to my heart. Referendum 71 is very important for many of my clients and many friends and it is important to me. This is a referendum about equality and about protecting those we love and brings up to the vote if it is right to discrimination against someone because of who they are.

The wording of this referendum is also confusing. A yes vote does nothing more than keeping a law that has already made it’s way through the state legislature. A no vote hurts families and says it is alright to legislate discrimination.

Many people are affected by this referendum both gay and straight.

How would you feel if the person you loved the most was hospitalized and you could not see them or be involved in their care? How would you feel if your partner was sick yet you could not take time away from work to care for them? How would you feel to welcome your newborn child but know that in the first month of their life you had no say over their care and they could be taken away from you at any moment if you partner became ill or died because your partner gave birth to them and you had to wait to legally adopt them?

How does this referendum affect our seniors?

Often seniors who are widowed or divorced will suffer serious economic hardship if they re-marry. Under Social Security, there is a ‘marriage penalty’ where seniors’ benefits are put in peril if they re-marry. For example, women who spent their working years as homemakers or in traditionally lower wage jobs often have to rely on a former spouse’s work history to receive Social Security benefits because benefits are generally based on 30 years of paid work experience. But if a senior re-marries after a divorce, she will no longer be able to rely on her former spouse’s work history to receive Social Security benefits. Once stripped of her Social Security benefits, she would face poverty and be forced to work well into her senior years to provide for her basic needs. Many seniors would also have to pay additional taxes on their Social Security benefits if they re-marry. Some elders end up sacrificing hard-earned health care, military or pension benefits if they re-marry. The domestic partnership law allows unmarried senior couples to have the legal protections they need, take care of each other, be able to provide insurance or take family or medical leave if a partner is gravely ill, and make critical decisions for one another in times of crisis, without losing benefits that for many may be their only source of income. They should not have to live in poverty in order to be together with the person they love.

Protect All Families

There are over 12,000 people in Washington state registered in domestic partnerships. These families live in every county, in all parts of the state. The domestic partnership law ensures that all of these families have the same protections and responsibilities as their neighbors, regardless of where they live.

Gay and lesbian families need domestic partnership laws to provide essential protections for their families. Committed couples who want to take care of each other should be allowed to visit each other in the hospital, take family and medical leave when a loved one is seriously ill, and have insurance coverage. By voting to Approve Referendum 71, you will vote to ensure that all families are provided the same protections under the law.

Families with children need the protections provided by domestic partnership laws, especially when a parent dies. By voting to Approve Referendum 71, you will vote to ensure that all children are provided the same protections under the law.

Seniors need the protections provided by domestic partnership laws. For seniors, domestic partnerships mean that their hard-earned social security, military or pension benefits are not put at risk. By voting to Approve Referendum 71, you will vote to ensure that all seniors are provided the same protections under the law.

Police officers and firefighters who risk their lives to protect our communities need domestic partnership laws if they are hurt or killed in the line of duty, so that their families are taken care of by their pension or workers’ compensation. By voting to Approve Referendum 71, you will vote to ensure that all of our communities’ first responders’ families are provided the same protections under the law.

This referendum is supported by a large and diverse religious community, see Faith leaders’ statement of support for Washington families and domestic partnership law and by a diverse group of northwest organizations.

Please help give everyone the right to protect their families and be with their loved ones in times of crisis. Vote yes on referendum 71!

Update November 6, 2009 Referendum 71 has passed!!!

If you have ever been owned by a cat before, you have to check out Simon’s cat. This little guy makes me laugh and Simon Tofield who writes these videos has an amazing knowledge of cat behavior and sounds. Below is one of Simon’s videos.

Here is a link to the other Simon’s cat videos. And Simon’s Cat, the book also comes out in a few days.

Death is difficult…….

for those who are left behind. It is amazing to me how the passing of one small creature can make the world seem so empty.

This is a time of year I love. The way the light filters through the trees. The magnificent beauty of the colors and the crunch of the leaves under my feet. Fall is a time of transition and change. A reminder that nothing stays the same, and although quantum physics can’t explain it, that time moves in only one direction. To me fall also means losing many of the older animals I work with. Each life gone, a small hole in my universe.

I have an amazing job. How else to describe getting to work with these beautiful, kind and fuzzy beings. I am invited into people’s families and into their animal’s circle of care, to comfort and help. Many of these animals I work with for years. Seeing them age, seeing their people grow and change, seeing children grow up around them. It warms my heart to be part of this. And then seeing them die from this life.

In animals we get the opportunity to see all of life. When we first meet our animals they are like our young children and by the time they leave us, like our grandparents. This is a hard, we are not used to our children aging before us, and most of the animals I care for are like children. My clients carry few photos of people but they can pull out their phone or wallet and show you all their animals in a second.

I so appreciate the amazing being I have known and gotten to work with and while each passing is very sad I know that my life has been made fuller by being touched by all of them. The gentle noses, the wagging tails, the kind eyes and the gentle purrs. None are forgotten.

Sometimes I think I must have more guardian angels than the average person, however I think mine are mostly fuzzy. Thank you for touching my life.