My politics

I am certainly not a politician and I have never been very involved politically. I also rarely take part in political discussions nor share my party line with friends and co-workers.  Unfortunately that's changed and I just have to share my views this year.  Not that anyone is going to read it or care what I have to say.  I've been more and more disheartened at the quality of political candidates in the past several elections and had pretty much come to the conclusion of picking the lesser of two evils.  This year is a big evil and I can't not speak up.

I am just appalled at the republican nomination of Sarah Palin. I am disturbed that she was chosen as a "token" on the ticket to try and grab the defecting hillary supporters as if all she needed was a set of boobs to guarantee success. If she had been a man, she never would have received the nomination and I resent that fact.  A woman is just as qualified as a man and her credentials should be just as good to qualify her for the exact same position.  Palin is an evangelical, anti choice, pro-gun, right wing conservative who wants creationism taught in schools.  I am a woman and she is not my candidate for the following reasons:

• Because she required the women in her own town to pay for their own rape kit after being traumatized
• She does not support a women's right to choose even in the case of rape or incest
• She cut funding in Alaska for teen moms and sex education and promotes abstinence only (doesn't work does it?)
• She believes the world was created 6000 years ago
• She believes humans and dinosaurs co-existed
• She has no foreign policy experience
• She is currently being investigated by the Alaska Legislature for alleged abuse of office
• She is consistently anti environment
• She opposed banning ariel bear and wolf hunting and enacted a $150 bounty on each freshly killed wolf (paid for by state funds) 
• She opposed a bill to increase salmon stream protection from mining operations and it was defeated
• She believes we should destroy our natural resources for economic gain such as drilling in the wildlife preserves of Alaska
• She doesn't believe in global warming
• She sued the Interior Department over its decision to list the polar bear as a threatened species 
• http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/377955_palinenvir07.html (here's a nice article)
• She does not support gay rights or gay marriage, "Pray Away the Gay"
• She only has TWO years of experience in running a state with a tiny population and her only experience previous to that was the mayor of a microscopic town
• Prior to that she was a SPORTS REPORTER!

While I think Obama lacks some experience and I am not sure his answers are clear on issues I hold dear.  His voting record certainly leaves much to be desired and I am not overly enamored by him, however....I will be voting for him in November.  I'm glad the republicans made the leap to put a woman on the ticket, remembering that the democrats have done it before with Geraldine Ferraro.  She's the first woman VP candidate, not Palin.  I think a better choice could have been made and am very disappointed in the small minds. 

Broken Hearted

I put my foster dog Kiki (formerly "Lucky Dog") down on Saturday and it was one of the hardest euthanasia's I've had to do. I was really starting to bond with her and she was a vibrant loving dog. It seems that her confidence was growing faster than her fears were dissapating and that left little options for her rehabilitation and placement. Until this past weekend I had decided I was just going to keep her and give her the best home that I could for as long as I could. She was a loving little dog and had finally started to adjust to the indoors and loved being inside as long as the room did not contain a TV. She was never able to get over her fear of the moving shadows.

I hate her breeder, the person who robbed her of a normal life. The one who simply "forgot" about her and left her where she would get no socialization of any kind and no stimulation outside of her small chain link pen. No stimulation from other animals and no stimulation or interaction with people. She did not know anything that we take for granted as normal for a dog to know. Lack of stimulation during that most impressionable time in puppy hood. It's no wonder she broke down.

I feel like I failed that little dog. I think of her looking up at me with those sparkly dark eyes and a thump of her tail thanking me for bringing her home and it hurts to have done what I did. I wish there had been another way and I can't help feeling like a complete and utter failure for her. She wanted to live, she didn't want to die, the little sparkle in her eye told me so in those moments when she felt safe and could relax. I don't think she was born this way, I think she was made this way by the harsh conditions she had to live in devoid of any stimulation - suffering through the freezing winter, sweltering in a hot summer. She is a product of what was done to her. Rest in Peace Kiki, please forgive me. I won't forget you. I wish the person who intentionally brought you into this world could be held accountable. You weren't an accident, you were intentionally brought into this world and intentionally forgotten about, intentionally unwanted and intentionally discarded. Hopefully one day.

Interesting

Interesting article on how much we do to destroy our environment

http://www.slate.com/id/2193693/?y=1

 

I for one won't be buying this now that I know the beads are plastic.  There is far too much plastic in our environment from litter and waste.  We don't need to intentionally put it there by washing it down the drain.

June 2008

Summer has finally arrived, hot and ambitious!  I love the warm weather and am super glad I don't have to wear shoes except for work.  This month has started off with a flurry of rescue activity.  After Hemi's adoption, we took back a female named Star that was placed as a puppy.  Sadly we didn't choose well enough for her home and her adoptive parents chose not to keep her in their family when they moved to an apartment.  Luckily she went into Hemi's recently vacated foster home and they thankfully weren't able to rehome her on craigslist as they tried.  We'll find her a suitable home.  She is just as lovely now as she was then.

 

Brody was pulled and evaluated but sadly had severe crate anxiety and couldn't be housed safely in a crate. He returned to the SPCA for crate training and hopes that he could be acclimated in a familiar setting and brought back into rescue.  Our foray to visit Brody did land us a fabulous little female named Kayla who is not only tiny but just about perfect. She is darling and sweet and luckily got a great foster home though a little begging.

 

Our little Spice girls were the victim of a greedy greedy backyard breeder who was not only ignorant but irresponsible.  She bought a pair of pits for "breedin" and let them run loose.  Whem mama dog was stuck by a car and denied vet care....she died and her puppies were fed real pasturized cows milk instead of puppy formula and three died.  The remaining two were saved but are so tiny.  They only weigh 3 lbs.  They will survive now and thrive.

 

Lastly, Lucky Dog - Lucky dog, lucky dog, lucky dog.  What to say about you.  You are so frustrating but it is not your fault. It is your drunk worthless owner who kept you in a "pen" for your whole life.  You haven't seen anything except chainlink and the back of a barn. It's no wonder you dont' know what is up and what is down. Hopefully we can get you straightened out but at this point I am not so sure.  Every day is a struggle to get you to adjust to your surroundings and you are far more comfortable outside than you are inside and you just don't get the concept of crate training.  Lets give it a little more time.

Good ol eastern nc

I am glad I no longer live in NC. I still miss the place but don't miss the ignorant and cruel.

http://www.witntv.com/news/headlines/19888284.html

 

More more more

June 4th was a historical day for Virginia animals as the governor signed the new animal fighting omnibus into law.  I was really excited to be there and even more excited that I actually had a hand in helping draft that law.  It felt really good to be at the table with all of the other "animal" people in VA who were dedicated to the cause.  It means there ARE people who care about doing the right thing and have a moral compass when it comes to treatment of animals.  I hear way too many people say "it's just a dog"

 

Now, cockfighting is a felony, attending a dog fight is a felony and involving a minor is a felony.

Here is the HSUS article on the bill

http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publications/press_releases/virginia_senate_passes_animal_fighting_bill_030308.html

 

It was signed into law on June 4 and will go into effect on July 1.  Go commonwealth!  It was great to be a part of this effort.  A feel good moment when the pen crossed the paper.

ramblings

Sure haven't been blogging much lately....wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I know I have been busy trying to get my volunteer activities in line, working and just enjoying myself this spring. Our rescue is still plugging along and we finally adopted out Hemi after almost 18 months in foster care. He was such a special boy. We are very glad he finally got the right home.

Seems like sometimes I define myself by my volunteer activities and how active I am in rescue. I may need to revisit this and look at myself and what I like to do. Why is it that I always have to be doing something productive or something that I think makes a difference? Some days I feel like I am far too hard on myself and I need to just relax and spend a few days doing nothing. Just nothing productive so I can recharge my batteries.

Please stop American Horse Slaughter

Spay/neuter your pit bulls - stop breeding!

 

Vegan Baklava

Found a great recipe on the internet the other night for Vegan Baklava and it turned out wonderful. I cooked it for the time but allowed it to stay in the oven while I finished up the nectar.  Hindsight says I probably should have taken it out and left it a little less cooked.  That will be next time : ).  It is pretty yummy and no-one knew it was "vegan" unless I told them.

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=12942.0

I made the traditional.

ugly shoes

Couldn't resist the sale of Ugly Shoes!  Actually I was looking for work shoes and came across these beauties.  They were so ugly, I said to myself that I just had to try them on. Man!  What comfortable shoes!  They are rubber, water proof and super comfy. So, I bought them for a fraction of their original price. Which I can not imagine anyone paying, however on the way out, I saw the exact same shoes in light blue and brown for spring at full price....wow.

 

Worn them once already to walk the dog in the rain.

Dog treat recipe of the month

Go Bananas Training Treats

3 cups oatmeal
1 1/4 cups flour
2 eggs  (to make it vegan, use EnerG egg replacer, Flax seed & water or skip the eggs)
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup honey (skip if you want vegan)
1/2 cup milk (soy or rice milk)
2 mashed bananas

Blend liquid ingredients, eggs and mashed bananas, making sure to mix well. Add flour and oatmeal. Mixture will be similar to cake mix. Spread into a well-greased pizza pan and bake at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes. Cut into tiny squares or strips using a pizza cutter. Keep refrigerated; store unused in freezer.

mushroom minestrone soup

Cooked in a Crock pot

 

1 baking potato (washed and chopped)

2 carrots (quartered and chopped)

1 piece of celery (split and chopped, greens included)

1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)

1 can pinto beans (rinsed and drained)

1 can corn (fresh cut, drained)

1 can of diced tomatoes

3 cloves garlic (chopped or pressed)

1/2 large sweet onion chopped

1 whole small container of the small brown mushrooms (washed and sliced)

vegetable boulion (cubes or paste from a jar - I used both)

ground pepper corns (to taste)

basil (only a little)

parsley (only a little)

cooked pasta added when the soup is finished.

 

2 cups of water to start and 1 boulion cube with the carrots and potato and slowly add other ingredients. Add water and more boulion as needed. I think I ended up using three boulion cubes in the entire batch of soup and some of the paste boulion.  If the soup doesn't taste rich enough, add a little more boulion.  Use a pepper grinder for the peppercorns to taste. I let it cook all day and it was ready that evening for dinner.  Still tastes good as left overs.

 

2007 in rescue

2007 was a tough year to be a pit bull. Not that any other year isn't tough enough.  Did you know that the average pit bull doesn't not make it to its second birthday?  I say average because I hate to use the word "typical". Unfortunately, many "pit bulls" don't get the luxury of living in a home with caring owners that provide regular vet care.  Many pit bulls are purchased on a whim (like many purebreds) but are quickly discarded as their owners find life with a pit can be difficult and they can be discriminated against. It's hard to find housing that allows the breed, homeowner's insurance companies discriminate against the breed and municipalities are trying to ban the breed altogether. There are so few dogs on these adoption pages because people just don't want to adopt pit bulls nor do they want to foster pit bulls.

Even in this year of Michael Vick, when people started realizing that the dogs are the victims, it's still hard.   It's not the dog but the  monster on the other end of the leash that's the problem. Maybe people are starting to get that picture. Sure there are bad dogs, there are bad dogs in every breed but these bad dogs are a product of abuse or bad breeding in the self fulfilling prophecy that comes with hatred and discrimination.  The more people persecute the breed, the more undesirable people will be drawn to the breed and the more un desirable candidates within the breed will be bred for even more undesirable outcomes.

In the right hands, responsibly owned and responsibly bred (though I take issue with breeding while the breed is in crisis) and responsibly rescued this breed compares to no other in its loving nature and loyalty to family.  The American Pit Bull Terrier and its close cousins (The American Staffordshire Terrier and Staffordshire Bull Terrier) are the ultimate family dog.  They want nothing more than to be in close companionship with their families and thrive on love and affection.

Here's hoping for a better 2008 for the "pit bulls"