by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

Elwood!

Friday’s stormy weather could not keep at least 60 die hard Pack Ethic supporters and fans away from the ‘Whine & Apawtiser’s’ fundraising event at held at Baiting Hollow Vineyard & Horse Farm.  The event drew in people as far away as New Hampshire and even Elwood and his mom Karen Quigley traveled 7 hours (traffic!) from Philadelphia to be part of the festivities. Who is Elwood you ask? Only one of the World’s Ugliest Dog’s – no really he is the 2007 winner of the world wide contest.  It just goes to show people are not just passionate about animal rescue but know an amazing group when they see it.

Eric Bellows and Keri Whitfield are the life and breathe of the pack of dogs they live with, reform if needed, train and adopt out of Pack Ethic.  As their website says, “Two people – One Home – Twenty Four hours of care…Pack Ethic Rescue is a dream – realized.” Whine and Apawtisers was a fundraising event to help them continue what they do to save lives – and they are not your typical rescue group, as the pack lives with them and are not kenneled.

There were ton’s of raffle baskets, and art auction done by Pack Ethic dogs and ones that have been adopted.  There was also a generous donations of beautiful photos raffle off, taken by a Kyle Hubbs, a Junior pack leader and excellent photographer at just 14 years old.

A alumni of Pack Ethic, Remi a female pit bull was there with her owners.  Eric told me that when Remi she arrived at Pack Ethic as a mere pup she was so terrified of everything she wouldn’t even move.  You can see now from her picture that she is very well adjusted and so, so sweet!  Owned by a lovely couple right here on Long Island now, and living the life of love.

Remi!

I had a great conversation with Eric and it always so nice to talk to a fellow dog enthusiast, trainer, and animal lover who gets it. On hand to greet the many visitors was Vesper, an old dog who suffered a lifetime of abuse until Pack Ethic took him in.  Vesper was on the move at the event practically the entire night, and he definitely knew who his people were with a happy wag and kiss to their faces, very sweet to see. Read his full story here.

Eric and Vesper

If you have never seen a video of the awesome work that Eric does with his pack, you have to check out his Youtube channel.  It will not only put you in awe of the pack and of the day in and day out hard work Eric puts in.

If you couldn’t make the event, and want to make a donation, click here, any amount will help. Pack Ethic Rescue is a registered 501c3 tax exempt charitable organization and donations are tax deductible.

More photo’s of the event here:

by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

On Monday, April 9th, after a busy morning of client meetings and errands, I was driving to my office on Sunrise Highway near Islip heading East and I saw a lot of smoke in the distance.  I said to myself, “Wow, something is seriously on fire!”   And within the hour I learned that there was a big and growing brush fire in Manorville, NY.  Didn’t think that much of it at first other than it reminded me of the Pine Barrens fire in the 90’s.  A few minutes after learning of the fire, I saw a post on Facebook by a Long Island Equine Disaster Preparedness, (which was originally created during hurricane Irene by a horse owner on LI), that there were over 200 horses needed to be evacuated and the call for help was very urgent.  Being someone who has been riding horses my entire life, I was immediately sick to my stomach at the thought of spooked horses near a fire.

Horses being lead out of Fire zone. Photo Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas

So I re-posted the original post on both my personal and business Facebook pages to see if any of my horsey set connections could help.  I also called a few of the phone #’s  on that were posted to see if I could get updates and spoke with Christine Distefano from Amaryllis Horse Equine Rescue to get any updates.  The response from both dog/cat and horse people was amazing of everyone wanting to help and people that were already on their way to help.

On the ground reports of it being chaos and people having to walk in and walk horses out were coming in from a few different places.  But an army of people were there to help with horse trailers and had places to bring the horses – posts were coming in from all over LI of people offering up stalls and stables.  It is a wonderful and amazing thing that all the horses and their owners made it out safely.  We also had a group of Long Island Pet Professional members from all over LI ready to help as reports that Kent Animal Shelter may have to evacuate their 110 animals were being posted, but thankfully they ended up not having to evacuate.  (Big thanks to everyone who offered help!)

But the question remains in my mind, are you ready in case of an emergency with your pet?  Whether it is a dog, cat, horse, bird, or reptile, do you have a plan of action, back up plan?  Unfortunately in disasters like this is when we realize just how important a plan is.  Just something as simple as having your dog’s or cat’s ID tags up to date, extra set of collars and leashes readily available, and of course pet medical records and proof of vaccinations – seriously you can scan onto your Smart Phone or ipad these days.  But I would suggest having a hard set of copies in your car glove compartment.

Other important things you should consider when having an evacuation plan are to have a contact near your home – that if you can’t get there in time they can.

• Contact information for your pet’s veterinarian
• Recent Photo of your pet
• Water, food and containers
• Leash/muzzle/harness
• Any Medications for your pet and/or list of them
• Pet carrier or cage
• Kitty Litter & container for cats
• Also put your veterinarian phone # into your phone
• Sign or decal on your windows alerting firemen how many pets and what type may be in your home
• First Aid Kit for pets in your car at all times – in case your pet gets injured and you can’t get him or her to the vet right away

Remember too, that your pet may act differently during an emergency, so make sure their collar and/or harness is on correctly so the don’t slip out of the collar and run away.  Have a family meeting to discuss a plan of action for any emergency and be sure to include all pets in that plan so everyone knows what to do, where to meet during emergency etc.  Suffolk County residents please know that emergency shelters are often pet friendly – they work with animal organizations to ensure you leave your home With your pet and will help keep your pet safe.  More information on this can be found here.

Thank you to all our volunteer firefighters, police and rescue for doing what you do! Crossing fingers and paws that this fire will be out in a day or so.  A big thanks to Fetch Doggies, SuperPaws, Sit, Stay and Play (sitstayplaydogs@yahoo.com),  Iguana Party,  East End Boarding Kennel, Pre-K-Nine Training (PreKnineTraining@aol.com), Pet Peeves Dog Training, ArtCasso for contacting me to offer help if anyone needed it, I was just one of many messengers getting the word out.  And if I forgot anyone thank you too.

Horse being lead to safety. Newsday Photo Credit: Photo Credit: John Roca

by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

I have written about this before, people on Long Island assuming that you can only get a Pit Bull or Pit Bull mix at local shelters, and oh how that is NOT the case.  I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this from a misinformed person, “There are only pit bulls or pit mixes at the shelters,” and for whatever bizarre reason the person saying it always lowers their voice when saying this. Now don’t get me wrong as an owner of my own rescue Pit Bull Max, and proud one at that – I would encourage potential adopters to give a pit or pit mix a chance first – because you will be amazed at what fun loving, super smart, goofy, super loyal and fabulous dogs they truly are.  Anyone who owns a Pit Bull, (American Pit Bull Terrier/American Staffordshire Terrier), or Pit mix will surely agree with me.  But I do understand people have other breeds as their favorites or are looking for something different – I totally get it.  So why skip over your local municipal shelters because of something you heard or assume about the dogs there (and yes cats too!)?

Recently, Last Hope Inc. Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation posted pictures on their Facebook page of 3 different purebred Weimaraners ALL pulled from local Town Municipal Shelters.  They called it, and how adorably so, ‘Weim Whitman Sampler of Shelter Rescues:’ Last Hope’s puppy ‘Maggie’ comes from Hempstead Shelter, ‘Mac’ (formerly ‘Casper’) is from Babylon Shelter; ‘Mandy’ hails from Brookhaven Shelter.

Photo Credit: Last Hope

The thing is – this is not an uncommon occurrence at our local shelters.  I stopped by the Town of Islip shelter last Saturday and asked the Shelter Supervisor Joanne Daly if they had any Dobermans, she said, “not now, but we did just have a female recently that a Dobie rescue group came and pulled.” And if you check out Shelter Link’s page the Town of Islip’s all volunteer group, you are bound to see a purebred or adorable mixed breed that is waiting for his or her forever home.

Little Shelter in Northport, has a beautiful male Doberman there waiting for a home and many other breeds too like: a Mini Pin; Maltese; Chow Mix; Husky Mix; a Shepherd Mix and more.

The North Fork Animal Welfare League has a Rottweiler, Husky, Jack Russell, Beagle, Daschund and many more.

I can almost guarantee that every pet rescue group on Long Island that takes in all breeds and mixed breeds have a purebred dog or mixed bred that you will want.  And if you have your heart on a specific breed there are many breed rescue groups to choose from too.  So please don’t be dismayed by what you heard someone else say – and assume that is exactly how it is at your local animal shelter. Go to the shelters yourself and go often because the sad truth is that dogs come into the shelters daily.

Click here for a list of many of the shelters and breed rescue groups here on Long Island.

And if you want to learn more on dog ownership and training the next Free class is held on April 11 – you must RSVP for the class – find out all details here.

Fluffy: Photo Credit: Shelter Link

by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

Just the other day our friends at Newsday did a nice article about the most popular breed of dog on Long Island, according to the American Kennel Club (AKC).  But I think the article was not quite accurate.  Many people who have dogs, who are AKC registry worthy, meaning they were from an official AKC dog breeder and they have ‘papers’ for the dog – doesn’t mean they actually registered their dog with the AKC.  For example, I had a beautiful Doberman who was from a fantastic Long Island Doberman breeder and I had her AKC papers (which I still have) but I never registered her because I had her spayed and never bred her.  I am sure that is the case with many pure bred dog owners here on LI.

There are also a lot of dogs adopted through rescue groups that may or may not be a pure breed dog – that are also not registered through the AKC – so they were also not accounted for in the article either.  Newsday listed, according to the AKC most registered dog breeds, the top 10 on Long Island:

1. Labrador Retriever; 2. Golden Retriever; 3. German Shepherd; 4. Bulldog; 5. Rottweiler; 6. Poodle; 7. Boxer; 8. Yorkie; 9. Shih Tzu; and the 10. Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

And while I suspect there are a ton of Labrador Retrievers,  Goldens and Bulldogs on LI – what about other really popular dog breeds like the American Pit Bull Terrier, (or for you dog fancy people, The American Staffordshire Terrier), I am pretty sure there are a lot of lucky pit bulls owned in loving homes, like my own Max on LI.  Other breeds I seem to see everywhere I go are Chihuahua’s, Shelties, Jack Russell Terriers (Parson Russell’s if you will), and Doxie’s – their not on the list either. Hmmm

So if you have a dog that is not registered in with the AKC, is a mixed breed or you have adopted – we want to know about him or her too!  Please take our 1 question survey here and tell us what kind of dog you have!  Let’s see if we can get a more accurate account of the diverse dog breeds on LI.

by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

Earlier today an excited crowd of onlookers, dogs and press were at Mutts & Butts in Merrick, NY for the HALO pet food delivery truck there to deliver holiday cheer to two very deserving local animal rescue organizations.

The HALO and Freekibble.com Holiday Kibble Drop kicked off in Cincinnati this week and made its Long Island stop, after stopping at the ASPCA in NYC in the morning.  The program in which Ellen DeGeneres, Co-owner of HALO and 15-year‐old Mimi Ausland are spreading much needed free pet food, 400,000 meals to be exact, to shelter pets across the U.S.  Two local organizations Bobbi & The Strays and Shelter Partners were on hand to pick up their donation of healthy, nutritious Halo pet food. Bobbi of Bobbi and the Strays said, “I think I am going to cry, I am so touched by this donation from HALO and FreeKibble.com.”  Shelter Partners is a group of rescues and shelters that share and redistribute supplies and services between a number of their groups.

HALO and Freekibble are embarking on their first ever Freekibble.com ‘Koast‐to‐Koast Kibble Drop,’ where shelters and rescues up and down the east and west coasts will receive the donations of all natural Halo Spot’s Stew for the holidays.  There were at least 4 to 5 large palettes unloaded at the Long Island location, now that’s a lot of kibble.  Such a great thing to see, and knowing so many homeless pets will benefit from this, it’s very inspiring.

News 12 interviewing Bobbi of Bobbi & the Strays

Casey watching all the action!