Athena Adds Insult to Injury

As if there hasn’t been enough devastation and heartache in the east, a winter storm is moving in to areas already hit by Sandy. That old saying “You’re given only as much as you can handle” is bunk.

I know there are probably more people in need right now than there is help for them. Even so, I’m going to make a plug for the voiceless at risk: the animals.

A number of animal welfare organizations have been on the ground rescuing pets and wild animals from the debris. As residents continue getting evacuated, many face the wrenching inevitability of parting with their animal companions—dogs, cats, rabbits, lizards, horses. Some of the rescue organizations are taking in these cherished pets—offering housing, food, and care—for however long it takes for the families to return to a normal living environment (see video below).

Let’s do what we can to help these fine organizations help the animals and their people. Here are a few of the groups that have mobile teams in the area. The links provided take you to a secure donation page.

ASPCA
Make a donation.
Also, read about Hazel and her new friends.

Best Friends Animal Society
Make a donation.
Read how Best Friends is helping local shelters.

The Humane Society of the United States
Make a donation.
As is typical in these rescue efforts, natural disasters reveal animals who have been living for some time in neglectful or abusive situations, and those left to brave severe weather in the backyard. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) followed up on a tip about a house from which an elderly couple had been removed and taken to a hospital and where it was believed their animals remained. HSUS found a scared, malnourished elderly dog short-tied to a fence outside. And inside? Cats living in filth and disorder—the same filth and disorder the elderly couple had presumably contended with prior to Sandy’s arrival. Without the weather emergency, I wonder how long it would have taken for these folks and their animals to get help.

DIY Rescue and Foster
If you’re in the area, check out the Hurricane Sandy Lost & Found Pets page on Facebook set up to reunite pets with their people. Look for the pets posted. They’re probably scared and hiding, or scared and difficult to approach. Some local shelters are asking for folks to foster animals in need until the owners’ living situations have stabilized.

[AP photo by Craig Ruttle.]

A Message for Dog-Loving Worrywarts

All my reading lately has made me keenly aware of how many treacheries can befall a pet. In retrospect, I realize how very fortunate I was with my menagerie. But will I remain fortunate in the future?

All the What Ifs of pet guardianship sometimes freak me out and I know I’m not alone in this. The What Ifs are exactly the reason some folks are leery of adopting a new pet. What If…she develops allergies? he has hip dysplasia? she contracts cancer? he’s thunderphobic? This list could go on for days. Each possibility is a serious matter, but may never materialize. You can make yourself crazy with this game, or you can read Bulu: African Wonder Dog.

Bulu is a Fox Terrier mix raised in the African jungle. He dodges danger of every kind every day. Our What Ifs pale beside Bulu’s concerns, if only in quantity (which can be reached by taking the number of all the critters in the jungle and adding to it all the diseases of the jungle plus natural disasters, the follies of humans, and the thorns and toxins of plants). Catastrophe hovers everywhere. Keeping a dog safe in suburbia is nothing like keeping her safe in a jungle.

So relax. Don’t fret so much about the What Ifs. And DON’T allow the What Ifs to prohibit you from adopting a pet in need of a home.

On the other hand, if you and your pooch are relocating to Zambia, home to Bulu (and lions and crocodiles and tsetse flies), BE VERY AFRAID.

[Bottom pic is of Bulu and two baby warthogs, the first of many orphans Bulu fostered.]

Hug A Hamster Today

I don’t often pay attention to the “lesser holidays.” The sheer number of oddball celebrations and observances overwhelms me. Some come around annually, others come and go according to the whims of their originators and sponsors. For instance, you probably know that March is Women’s History Month, but did you realize that it’s also National Umbrella Month and National Adopt a Rescued Guinea Pig Month?

Periodically I stumble across a special date worth sharing. (Alas, I apparently missed January’s Squirrel Appreciation Day. My apologies to Stubby.) Today is Love Your Pet Day.

Of course, I don’t believe we need a set-aside day for this, nor should loving our pets be relegated to only one day out of the entire year. However, the book I just finished, An Unspoken Art: Profiles of Veterinary Life, contains a story about a devoted (affluent) pet guardian who spent around $50,000 in 1990s American currency on two years’ worth of vet care for her beloved cat. Just when you think the woman might have gone over the edge, she says this:

“A relationship with an animal is like having a terminal child, because you know from the beginning that their life span is short. The reality of it is that you better enjoy every damn day you’ve got with them because your time together is so fleeting.”
—Pauline Wilson

Isn’t that the truth? If you have a pet, give him or her a little extra affection today.

[Art by Jo Chambers and Andy Warhol.]

Sounds of Silence Always Appreciated

This is Mozart, our pooch’s friend and the closest thing to music she would tolerate.

We had no theme song for the pooch as we did for the cat. Oh, we tried to get something going to the tune of “How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?” But the poor canine got nervous at the sound of music, canned or live. All of which I was reminded of when I found this passage in a journal the other day. If I remember correctly, the pooch and I were sitting on the beach together.

My pooch just gave me her “Knock it off!” look. I took the hint and stopped humming. She turned away from me and loudly “Hrrrmphed,” which in this context meant “Sheesh! You’d think she’d know better by now! What’s a dog got to do to get a little obedience out of people?”

It Takes Heart to Be a Leader

Nearly anyone can become a manager, but to be a true leader you must have compassion.

I was reminded of this last evening when I ran into a “dog acquaintance.” He immediately asked where our pooch was and we told him our tragic news.

He’s a teacher in a private elementary school and just that day his principal had commented to him, “Can you believe it? [A teacher] called in this morning to ask for the day off because her pet died.”

My friend said, Yes, he could believe it because he’d do the same. “If my dog dies, you won’t want me at work that day.”

This is the kind of scenario we brought up in the newsletters I used to oversee. We counseled readers on the soft skills of leadership—that is, the skills required to deal with and coexist with people in a workplace setting. An astonishing number of people in supervisory positions need to be reminded or taught that sensitivity is a critical element to earning trust and loyalty from employees.

The principal is a key example. Not only does he reveal his lack of compassion to another employee, he also reveals his lack of knowledge about the marketplace. Pets are a $45.5 billion industry and growing. Pets affect how people shop for cars, homes, landscaping, and jobs. A little awareness of how serious this bond is could go a long way with his staff.

The principal doesn’t even need to be an animal lover to show his compassion to the teacher. Surely he can draw on his own experience of loss to understand this employee’s emotional state. But if that’s not the case, then his responsibility as a leader is to first see the situation from the perspective of the employee before taking action. The principal had no excuse for discussing the issue with other employees, but that’s a separate matter deserving of its own post.

Bereavement policies are tricky ones to draw up. They’re a positive benefit for employers to offer, but they will no doubt fall short of many employees’ needs. These policies usually cover only immediate family members. Yet the loss of a best friend or animal companion may have a far greater impact on some employees than the loss of a sibling or parent. Without a policy to cover these circumstances, a manager’s response is not only personal but also—from the employee’s viewpoint—embodies the organization’s stand on the subject.

Funny, isn’t it? What some folks read newsletters to learn, my pooch had innately in spades.

[Art by Jim Dine.]