Pets on my Mind

No animals were harmed during the Super Bowl on Sunday

 During the big game Sunday, Americans were treated to more than a dozen commercials featuring animals ranging from household pets like dogs, to lemurs.  And while these ads placed many an animal in outrageous and comical situations, most advertisers made sure safety representatives from the American Humane’s Film & TV Unit were on hand to ensure that no animals were ever in danger.

The number of spots monitored by American Humane represented what is believed to be the most ever for Super Bowl-bound commercials. In every ad American Humane monitored, the advertiser succeeded in earning the “No Animals Were Harmed” credit.

Here's a copy of the bill: It says it's a crime to own a pit bull. While it may not say a ban, it says it's a crime to own one. Symantics, but it seems like a ban to me: I just read on the Tennessee General assembly that the bill has been withdrawn. Animal lovers need to keep a watch to make sure it doesn't manifest in some other form. Here is the original form:

I cannot believe people are buying sugar gliders as pets. It's like the pot-bellied pig craze. Please tell me why people would spend $400 on an impulse to buy a living creature that shouldn't be living in a cage in the first place. what do you think?

I cannot believe people are buying sugar gliders as pets. It's like the pot-bellied pig craze. Please tell me why people would spend $400 on an impulse to buy a living creature that shouldn't be living in a cage in the first place. what do you think?

Please go to this website and sign this petition to save this dog. It's ridiculous that anyone would equate a dog's attack on a chihuahua as somehow making it vicious to humans. My dogs kill squirrels and birds and have killed a rat or two....Some of them were bigger than this chihuahua. The dog probably thought it was prey. http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?Lucy

So,

Why are all the cat lovers quiet? Don't mind the new ordinance that lets your neighbor call and report you if your cat poops in their yard? I'm curious. City Council passes an ordinance that can impact your cats and there was hardly a sound.

Tell me what you're thinking. I really want to know. What are some other issues happening with cats. It's always so hard to write about cats because owners are so quiet. I am never short of dog topics but I always struggle to find topics about cats.

So The Shops at Saddlecreek opened its stores to let dogs in. What do you think? Has Memphis reached the point where we can let animals in or do you think we have a lot of work to do with people teaching their animals to behave.

Maybe other stores should start with only dogs that weigh less than 20 pounds and go from there. I know it's biased against bigger dogs. All my dogs are big. And people with bigger dogs already suffer unfairly with these ridiculous renter rules about dogs that weigh 25 pounds or less. But maybe in this case, it would be good to start small.

I must have gotten 2 dozen email forwards about this cage full of black puppies. According to snopes.com there were some puppies listed a few months ago on Craigslist but they've all been adopted. There are no black puppies in a cage needing immediate help.

However, there are plenty of other animals including puppies, cats and kittens being euthanized because they are homeless. Please go to the Memphis Animal shelter at 3456 Tchulahoma or visit petfinder.com to find yourself a new friend.

This is Buddy playing with his kitty. Last summer, he was a starving pit bull on death row at the Memphis Animal Shelter. The staff saw something in his demeanor and let him go to a pit bull rescue group. I was his foster mom for about a month until my friend Nina took him in. She was just going to fatten him up for me. But it was clear in the first week that she was never going to let him go. He has the sweetest disposition. He loves other dogs and especially loves people. He is smart and has become the best pet. He loves his kitty. He lets her climb all over him and she sleeps against his tummy. He doesn't move when she's sleeping.

This is what he looked like on the day he left the shelter, skin and bones. Nina has fattened him up. He's living in North Carolina now and is coming to see me this weekend.