Blessing of Animals

The 11th anniversary of the service for St. Francis blessing of the animals will take place Sunday 5th October at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Ontario. St. Paul's is at 472 Richmond St. near Victoria Park and right downtown. It starts at 2pm. For more information www.stpaulscathedral.on.ca

Cat Show London Ontario

Pawsitive Paws Cat Club presents OktoPurrFest on October 19 at the Carling Heights Optimists Community Center at 650 Elizabeth St., London, Ontario.
This is an all breed judged cat show. All proceeds from the show will be donated to pet rescue organizations. The show runs from 9 to 5. All welcome.
I will have a booth at the show and look forward to seeing you there.
http://www.catshow.ca/

Shih-poo Terrorizes London Posties

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2008/07/17/6180961-sun.html
Thu, July 17, 2008 By KATHERINA DEHAAS


How much trouble can a five-kilogram pooch cause? A lot, if you live on Whitton Avenue in northwest London.
Mail delivery to 28 homes on the street has been suspended since July 3 and residents have to fetch their mail from the green, group mailbox around the corner.
Canada Post said the decision to suspend delivery was the result of three incidents involving a small dog owned by Paul Hubert, a city councilor for Ward 8.
Hubert's dog Chloe is a shitzu-poodle mix known as a shih-poo and about the size of a large cat.
However, neighbors' frustration seems aimed at Canada Post more than Hubert's dog.
"Canada Post can't deliver here but the Pennysaver arrives faithfully every week, delivered by a little kid," said Clem Wolterbeek of 947 Whitton Ave.
Dogs are a major concern for postal employees. Across Canada, the number of incidents involving dogs is around 500 a year, Creech said.
In 2007, there were five dog incidents in London. In one case, a letter carrier was bitten on the arm and off the job for 14 days
Well here I go an a rant. Might some training of the posties be in order. Why for heavens sake does it take three weeks for an envelope to go from London to Saskatoon? You get 14 days off for a dog bite? Of course I do not know the severity of the bite but I wonder if not holding a union job was one of my big mistakes in life.

Bambi Invades London

Well they are at it again.What to do about the deer in London.

http://www.lfpress.com/newsstand/News/Columnists/Brady_Bill/

Lots of luck with a solution that everyone will be happy with.

London on the Wild Side

This story by Joe Belanger appeared In the London Free press today:

Wild turkeys are running wild in London.
Just ask any of the dozens of morning commuters who saw them running around Fanshawe Park Road West or Clarke Road near Trafalgar.
There was even a report on the radio of a wild turkey near a Tim Hortons drive-thru, but there were no confirmed reports of whether the large native bird placed an order.
“Yes, we’ve been hearing reports,” confirmed London police Const. Amy Phillipo.
“There was a report Wednesday of a wild turkey running down the middle of the road at William Street and Bathurst Street and another report of one hit by a car and killed at the corner of Commissioners Road East and Hamilton Road.”
In recent years, there have been several reports of wild turkeys visiting London neighborhoods, especially in the spring during mating season.
The bird, native to Ontario until it was wiped out by hunting and loss of habitat in the early 1900s, was reintroduced to the province in the early 1980s when Ontario exchanged some moose for the wild birds prized by sports hunters.
Today, it’s estimated there are more than 80,000 wild turkeys in the province, including a large population in Southwestern Ontario.
Great now they can go with the raccoons, skunks, and foxes that are already here. Who said you have to live in the country to see wildlife?

Bark in The Park June 1, 2008

The 2008 Pledge Forms and posters for the London Humane Society’s Bark In The Park are now available!!
Bark in the park is a major fundraiser for the humane society in London. Last year close to 500 people and their dogs went on the 5 k walk through lovely Greenway Park. Weather permitting ,this year’s event should be bigger than ever.

Be Kind to Animals Week

May 4-10th, 2008 is be kind to animals week in London, Ontario. Here are 10 ways to be kind to animals outlined by the London Humane Society--
1. Speak out for animals
2. Never tolerate animal cruelty
3. Adopt a shelter pet
4. Spay or neuter your pets
5. Keep pets’ vaccinations current
6. Identify your pets with tags
7. Donate to your local animal shelter
8. Appreciate wildlife
9. Leave room for habitats
10. Teach your friends about the importance of being kind to animals

POPULAR BREEDS 2008

From USA TODAY
By Sharon L. Peters, Special for USA TODAY
Labrador retrievers still reign supreme, but the snub-nosed, squatty-body bulldog has sauntered into the top 10 for the first time in decades.
The 2007 popularity rankings released this morning by the American Kennel Club show teeny dogs like Yorkshire terriers and big ones like German shepherds sandwiched between labs (No. 1 for 17 straight years) and bulldogs (which climbed from No. 26 in 1997 to No. 12 in 2006 before inching into the No. 10 spot last year.)
Knocked out of the Top 10 in 2007: miniature schnauzer.
The appearance on the top 10 for the first time since 1935 of the bulldog, which AKC breed specifications describe as a 50-pounder with a "dignified" demeanor and a "loose-jointed" and "shuffling" gait, is no surprise to bulldog lovers. AKC's Lisa Peterson described the dog as "docile and adaptive" and an "all-around family pet who does well with children."
The AKC assigned rankings to 157 breeds from the 812,452 dogs it registered last year, according to spokeswoman Daisy Okas. Some 114,113 labs and 22,160 bulldogs were registered.
The AKC numbers represent only a tiny percentage of the nation's estimated 75 million household dogs and a fraction of the nation's purebreds, since many owners opt not to register their dogs or they register them with other registries that have cropped up in recent years.
But the AKC has been charting breed-popularity numbers since 1915 and is regarded as an accurate bellwether of trend lines of each breed,
The AKC's analysis also shows that dogs under 20 pounds have gained in popularity in the last decade. Breeds that have shown the most dramatic jumps: Havanese, Cavalier King Charles spaniel, French bulldog (about half the size of the bulldog and quite different in looks) and the Brussels griffon.
The bulldog, with its escalating popularity and distinctive face, particularly when in puppyhood, has been the object of internet scams, prompting the AKC and the Better Business Bureau to issue a warning last year. In many cases photos of "free" or "inexpensive" bulldogs were posted, and interested parties wired money to cover transport costs, but never received a puppy. The party supposedly owning the dog could never be traced or found.
Similar scams have been used for other breeds.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-01-16-favorite-dogs_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

Family Allowances to Pet Owners

From Reuters News Agency,Friday Jan.4
TOKYO (Reuters) - Hoping to send the message that pets are life-long partners not disposable accessories, a Japanese maker of medicines for animals has begun giving employees who own dogs or cats a monthly "family allowance" for their pets.
The number of pets in Japan has grown with greater affluence and a falling birth rate and there are now more pet cats and dogs than children under age 15, but about 310,000 cats and dogs are put down annually, said Tokyo-based Kyoritsu Seiyaku Corp.
"Everyone has the right to own a pet, but they also have the obligation to raise the pet for its whole life," the company said, explaining why it had decided to offer employees who own dogs and cats a "family allowance" of 1,000 yen ($9) per month.
"In the future, it is our dream that this system will spread not just in the pet business but to other Japanese firms," the company said in a statement.


Kyoritsu Seiyaku does not yet allow its employees to take paid leave to grieve when their pets pass away, as does one Japanese pet food maker, but may do so eventually.


"For now, we have introduced only the allowances, but we want to consider the condolence holiday system in future," a company spokeswoman said.


(Reporting by Linda Sieg)