Animal Radio's Katrina Covertage is brought to you by Bissell, a proud sponsor of Petfinder.com. Go to Petfinder.com to get the latest information on how you can help the animals affected by Hurricane Katrina.

RECOVERY, REUNITING & REBUILDING
Animal Radio host Hal Abrams had a chance to talk with ASPCA President Ed Sayres about Phase Two of the hurricane cleanup. You can hear the entire interview at AnimalRadio.com

Hal: Hi Ed, tell the listeners where you are.

Ed: I'm on a cell phone at the New Orleans Airport on my way back. I just spent the day with Laura Maloney, the Director of the Louisiana ASPCA, just looking at the new temporary Algiers site for animal control. I got to visit the former Louisiana SPCA, which was completely destroyed, and just talking with Laura about what our next steps are in rebuilding down here.

Hal: That's great. The temporary site, Algiers, how long will animals be housed there?

Ed: Well, it's a large warehouse. They can house probably 300 or 400 animals there, and they're going to be there for quite a while, a year or more. We purchased about $350,000 worth of kenneling units, and they're being installed in a few weeks. Right now, they are in temporary kennels, but really clean and well housed, and it's a spacious area, and they're going to have to work out of there for quite a while.

Judy Francis: How many animals are there?

Ed: There are about 200 there now, dogs and cats. Because, they are basically resuming animal control services as well as doing the last amount of recovery. Their assessment is that 90-95% of the recovery phase is done, but any animals recovered by their agents are coming into that facility.

Judy: So there are still animals out there that are roaming loose or perhaps still in homes?

Ed: Well probably still strays. There was, unlike other American cities, New Orleans really did have a stray dog, kind of packing problem that is unusual today in this country. And some of them didn't survive the storm, but some of them did. So it's a combination of strays and maybe still some homed animals that are getting rescued out of homes.

Hal: I understand that there are about 4,000 pets that need to be reunited. What amount of this number that we've received are homeless animals, or animals that probably were stray or feral to being with?

Ed: Well, you probably could say half stray and half owned. I mean, realize that Laura and the Louisiana ASPCA got the shelter animals evacuated before Katrina hit. So all the population that was in the SPCA pre-Katrina, were all sent basically around the country, Texas, California, Michigan, before the storm hit, and so this new population was a combination of owned and stray. So yes, about 4,000 animals out in probably about 100 or more agencies in the country, and we're providing enough funding for the agencies to incur the cost of their care but also incentives the agencies to do any kind of reuniting that's possible or hold them as long as possible so that people can have a greater chance to get them reunited.

Hal: There's been about 13 million dollars raised from all kinds of caring people. How is that disbursed and where will that go?

Ed: We have disbursed about 2 and 1/2 million to date, in terms of grants to agencies, separate from what we've done with supplies and equipment. We felt it was an important function for us, because we have a large donor base and we had a lot of response that we would be probably one of the primary granting organizations. These organizations, when all is said and done, are going to need financial resources today, a year from now, two years from now.

Hal: They need to rebuild.

Ed: They need to rebuild. So, we look at this recovery, reuniting and rebuilding as kind of our mantra. And right now we are into the reuniting phase, but there's going to be a rebuilding phase that's going to be pretty costly. So we have committed about 2 and 1/2 million to capital projects, about 2 and 1/2 million has already been distributed in grants to agencies impacted as well as agencies that have taken animals from the Katrina area, and beginning to look at formulas for distributing the rest of the funds. The ASPCA does not have a disaster department per se. We have 40 veterinarians, 50 vet-techs, law enforcement people, adoption people, shelter managers, so we wound up having a lot of the skill steps that they needed personnel wise, but our board was very emphatic about, you know these funds were raised for Katrina and Rita and not for a disaster department or a disaster fund for future disasters. 100% is going to go out to these areas. So we're going to work with these agencies to figure out what is the best way to rebuild them.

Judy: After this big disaster, are you going to install a new disaster program and department?

Ed: I don't think we'll do that. We have the shelter network and the hands-on skill sets in our day-to-day operations, and with the point that we discussed with the board, and kind of the core ethics with the board, was that if something like this happens again, the public will respond. We'll have the dollars to deal with it, but the main thing is our normal day-to-day operations. We have a high competency and the skills needed for both the recovery piece and the rescue piece, as well as you know, what you saw at the Lamar-Dixon and the other sites is that they're basically large shelters and we probably have 10 executive directors of the Humane Society on our national outreach staff. So, we have the kind of people that can mange those situations and did very well with it.

Hal: Many people said that the animal organizations looked more coordinated than FEMA. Would you say that there would be anything you would do differently?

Ed: What I found, and we'll probably talk about it in the assessment phase when we have our industry conferences, is the communication command centerpiece. You know we had just the coordination of who's getting which animal when, how to coordinate the six primary groups United Animal Nations, HSUS, Best Friends, AHA, ourselves, how do we really get a data base going quickly, get a single chain of command, I mean those pieces took a while to coordinate, mostly because the capacity, just like no one had ever dealt with this on the human side, no one had ever dealt with something of this scale on the animal side. We had the sheltering piece good, we had the animal care stuff, but the communication and just the scope of managing the chain of command and communication was a huge challenge.

Judy: People also rely on cell phones nowadays, which I understand there wasn't great coverage down there. So, you have to come up with an alternate?

Ed: Yeah, the first 48 hours if you didn't have a true satellite phone, communication was very, very difficult.

Hal: We're talking with Ed Sayres of the ASPCA in New York, really an organization who has fore fronted rescue attempts and very great reunion stories, many of which you've heard on Animal Radio. Ed, you have, when you go to a shelter, you particularly Ed Sayres, you have a way of changing things, bringing things above the bar. You did that in San Francisco. You did that in New York. My question is, are you helping with the rebuilding in what was something that was a little bit below the bar, part of our country where it was a little bit below the bar, is there going to be upgrading as you rebuild?

Ed: Well, that's really my concept. I mean, a lot of the time I spent with Laura Maloney today was about that. That this is a tragedy beyond all comprehension, but at the same time we've been given an opportunity to bring Louisiana and the services of the SPCA up to a more modern level. And so how can we direct our funding so that we have visible accessible spay/neuter programs, and more outreach and adoption and more education? I mean, can we really take a sample of the best practices that we see around the country and inject them into this new model as it's going to be rebuilt. She was very receptive to this, and I think our board will be. So yes, there is an opportunity here to really tackle some of the educational issues and literally increase the saved rate of the animals they are handling, but also tackle some of the tough issues down here. There is a big dog fighting culture down here and things like that, if we had more resources, we could prevent some of that.

Hal: Before we let you go, many of our Animal Radio listeners know you as a great storyteller. Are there any reunion stories, any heartwarming stories coming out of this that you've heard?

Ed: Well, there are a couple. As you know, I was on Delta Society Board for many years, and there were two or three reuniting stories with guide dogs and service dogs that I can't give you the details at this very moment, but when you imagine the regular companion animal relationship of being separated from your animal, but when you truly rely on that animal to provide you with mobility, and again, not being allowed to take your animal with you and not being able to negotiate that, the anxiety of that separation, and then when we did some of those reuniting moments with two or three of them, it was just tears all around with everyone. You just can't imagine the emotions that people feel over this, and with all that's happened to them, whether its children with their pets, or a family or a single person with their pet, just the emotion of having lost everything, and then this one constant unconditional love relationship gets put back in your arms, it was just amazing. So hundreds, and hopefully going to be thousands, of those stories are going to come your way.

Hear this entire interview on Animal Radio's full-time channel.

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Animal Minute with Britt Savage

PAWS, PRAYER & PRAISE
Before church, a dirty blonde with a pink ribbon in her hair shared a few wet kisses with a broad-bodied brute outside the sanctuary. No one paid them any mind. The others were too busy sniffing each other's bottoms and wolfing down snacks just a few seconds before worship. Visitors behave this way every second Sunday of the month at Old Donation Episcopal Church on North Witchduck Road. They're not sacrilegious. They're dogs. And one cat. Their owners brought them to Paws, Prayers and Praise, a service where pet lovers can express their love for God and their four-legged companions. The services have been fun and comforting to pet owners, said Jones, who started them in May last year. Hear more about this great service, and how you can start one at your church this week on Animal Radio.

Visit Old Donation Episcopal Church

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Veterinary Minute with Dr. Jim Humphries

Vaccines
Dr. Jim Humphries, Veterinary News Network
Vaccines are good or bad, depending on who you ask. Many board-certified vets will tell you that only certain shots are really necessary, others can lead to problems. There's lots of controversy surrounding the facts. Some even believe that a vaccine might cause cancerous growths. This week, Dr. Humphries uncovers the truths behind the nonsense. Ultimately, you should consult your vet. There may be certain illnesses that are prevalent in your region and not in others. You and your vet can put together a schedule of vaccines that are truly appropriate for your pet.

Hear the Veterinary Minute on Animal Radio's Full-time animal channel.

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LOST CAT FOUND ACROSS THE POND
APPLETON, Wis. (AP) - Emily the cat is a long way from home in Appleton, Wisconsin. The pet cat has been found in France, after apparently being shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. Lesley McElhiney last saw her cat a month a ago. She figures Emily went prowling around a paper warehouse near home and got locked inside of cargo container. Workers at a French plant found Emily, and traced her back to Wisconsin, thanks to vaccination tags. Emily's vet says probably there were plenty of mice to eat during the voyage in the cargo ship. Now, McElhiney has figure out how to get Emily home from France. She says her cat is getting to be an
expensive little thing.

LESSONS FROM DOGS DON'T BITE WHEN A GROWL WILL DO
by Matt Weinstein and Luke Barber

Whenever I hear someone complaining, "My boss is working me like a dog," I simply ask the question, "Oh, really? Have you ever taken a moment to notice how your dog actually does spend her day? Today would be your lucky day if you were working like your dog!" Dogs don't make a distinction between work and play. Everything is fun to them, and every situation is a new one, full of infinite possibilities for joy and connection. We humans surely would be more successful in our jobs if we approached our work with the enthusiasm, dedication, sensitivity, and ­ in general ­ the wonderful attitude towards life of a good working dog.
--from Lesson 39, Dogs Turn Work Into Play

Dogs demonstrate that we don't have to wait for a special day, the annual company retreat, or the occasional retirement party in order to celebrate. Dogs are ready every moment of their lives ­ in an instant ­ to throw a celebration. For a dog, no event in life is too small to celebrate. My dogs, for example, eat the same meal at approximately the same time every night. The way my dogs celebrate this impending meal would make one think that it was the greatest feast day of the year!
-- from Lesson 17, Dogs Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate

Our dog's capacity for listening is one of the most appealing things about them. They way our dogs cock their heads to the side and stare at us with deep concentration as they hang on our every word is enough to make them friends for life. One of the reasons that we appreciate the quality of deep listening in our dogs is that we don't get enough of it from other people. We all know that being listened to is one of the greatest gifts we can receive, but one that doesn't happen very often.
--- from Lesson 9, Dogs Listen Deeply (Even If They Don't Understand)

My dogs are happy to match their moods to mine. Whenever I get an exciting phone call, the dogs gets excited, too. As my voice gets louder and more enthusiastic, the dog's can't sit still. They run around in circles and start barking their own excitement. They don't have to understand the subject matter. If I'm excited, they're excited. Buddhist teachers have a word for this quality ­ "Mudita," which means, "Joy in the joy of others."
-- from Lesson 11, Dogs Are Good Company

Dogs don't choose their friends, associates, or lovers on the basis of breed, color, or culture.
-- from Lesson 57, Dogs Don't Care About Breed

When dogs don't like someone, they have the good sense to stay away from him or her. On the other hand, when they need people to share their love, they find them. Seek out the good and take care to avoid the bad is the way a dog lives out his day. Not a bad way, I say, to approach life.
-- from Lesson 37, Dogs Are a Good Judge of Character

Show me a dog, and I'll show you a picture of happiness. Think about it. Have you ever heard anyone say of a dog, "Well, he's very successful and lives in a beautiful house, but he's not very happy"? One reason most dogs are much happier than most people is that dogs aren't affected by external circumstances the way we are.
-- from Lesson 1, Dogs Are Happy

Excerpts from Dogs Don't Bite When a Growl Will Do by Matt Weinstein and Luke Barber, Perigee Books. Used by permission. Hear Matt Weinstein this weekend on Animal Radio.

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DOG CONDOM CREATOR SADDENED OVER PRODUCT RECALL
Wireless Flash [NEW YORK] The creator of a meat-scented condom had high hopes for his invention, until the pooch product was recalled. Phillip Laxis, product developer for dogcondoms.com admits, "I'm not going to lie to you. It's a disappointment," but says the extensive test market studies that resulted in 102 unwanted pooch pregnancies and 15 near-choking incidents justified the recall.

Surprisingly, Laxis thinks it's the fault of the owner, who he envisioned would place the condom on the dog before intercourse and supervise the act.

In his words, "People were not anticipating the dogs' needs. Create a doggy date situation where no one gets hurt."

While Laxis admits parental pooch supervision might not create the ideal romantic situation, he asks, "Do you see the romance in genital mutilation?"

The self-professed dog lover says he's not giving up on safe sex for schnauzers, and is now working on a female dog condom using "some sort of harness mechanism."

Editors Note:
While we may feel uncomfortable when the dog watches us, doesn't mean he/she doesn't feel the same way. This could be one of the best arguments for Spaying and Neutering. Please get your pets fixed to avoid adding to the millions of unwanted animals in our already overcrowded humane system.

Top Ten Ways You Know Martha Stewart Has Been At Your Stable
Listen up horse lovers. It seems as if now that Ms. Stewart has been freed, she's showing up everywhere. You can't turn on the TV without seeing this media mogul. Has she been stalking your stables?

Top 10 ways you know that Martha has been at your horse stable:

10. There's a potpourri pomander hanging from each halter.
9. The horse's hooves have been cut with pinking shears.
8. The horse treats are all stored in McCoy crocks.
7. The manure fork has been decorated with raffia.
6. That telltale lemon slice in each new silver water bucket.
5. You find carrot and apple treats stamped out with copper cookie cutters and decorated with royal icing using a #2 rosette tip.
4.Mane and tail hare has been collected and put into wire baskets for nesting materials for the birds.
3. A seasonally appropriate grapevine wreath adorns the front of each stall.
2. Your horse goes out naked and comes in wearing a thyme colored virgin wool hand knitted blanket with matching leg wraps.
1. The manure pile has been sculpted into swans.

WHAT YOU HAD TO SAY  YOURVOICE@AnimalRadio.com

MELISSA of Houston PA wrote:
I need financial help for spaying and neutering my animals. Please help.

Editors Note: There are several organizations that can assist you in low-cost spay and neuter. Our first suggestion is to visit the SPAY/USA website (http://www.spayusa.org). SPAY/USA, a program of The Pet Savers Foundation, is a nationwide network and referral service for affordable spay/neuter services. These great folks can point you in the right direction. Thank you for fixing your pets. It means so much to so many!

PRODUCT REVIEW

(rated 4 paws) PEANUT BUTTER SOFTIES - Blue Dog Bakery We have tried many different dog treats here in the studio, the last being the Peanut Butter Softies by Blue Dog Bakery. Not only were they a big hit with the dogs, everyone in the studio loved them as well! Yes, even the "humans" here in the studio tried them and loved them! Blue dog Bakery makes all of their dog treats with human grade natural ingredients, so you can be sure (you and) your dog is getting nothing but the best! Send product for review on-air and in this newsletter to: Animal Radio Network® Product Reviews, 233 East 330 North, Kanab, Utah 84741

Animal Radio with Hal Abrams & Judy Francis Check Schedule for Airtimes

DOG DANCING, AMERICA'S WEIRDEST PET HOBBY by Emily Yoffee

My beagle, Sasha, and I were going to try the sport of "canine freestyle." (You could call it "dog dancing" but just not in front of anyone who does it.) The materials from the Canine Freestyle Federation suggested that when our performance came together, Sasha and I would flow to the music in a pairing of such joy that we would experience the kind of transcendent unity that used to be described in the final chapter of marriage manuals.

Things looked unpromising from the start. The thorough instructor, Mary Sullivan, called me the night before the first class to assess Sasha's level of preparedness. I suggested it might be best if Sasha just audited, since it's not clear she knows what her name is. I was also worried about us as a dancing team. You could say I have two left feet, but Sasha actually does.

Mary assured me there would be dogs and owners at all levels of ability, and she was excited by the challenge of a beagle doing canine freestyle, since beagles are a notoriously difficult breed. She asked if Sasha had had any training.

"She can sit," I replied.

"Does she focus on your face?" asked Mary.

"No," I said, although I wanted to add that she would if I had a frankfurter sticking out of my nose. But Mary seemed confident, and she told me to bring a bag of treats to class.

I discovered the world of canine freestyle one night while watching an episode of the cartoon King of the Hill, in which Hank Hill and his beloved bloodhound, Ladybird, entered the vicious world of competitive dog dancing. I was admiring the show's brilliance at inventing the dog-dancing concept when it suddenly dawned on me: They were not making this up. I went to my computer and searched for "dog dancing" and discovered there are international competitions and even warring leagues.

Not only that, one of the earliest, and still continuing, venues for freestyle instruction was the Capital Dog Training Club in Silver Spring, Md., about 20 minutes from my home. Freestyle, which began in the early 1990s, has not caught on with dog owners like "agility" and "fly ball." Watching a video of freestyle highlights, I understood why. I had imagined I could just pick up Sasha's front paws and we would box-step to victory. In freestyle the dogs aren't doing four-legged versions of human dances, but a complicated choreography of twists and side steps and pirouettes-think of it as Balanchine for bichons. I was strangely moved by the menacing sexuality of a Doberman dancing to "Goldfinger."

The Canine Freestyle Federation, which was founded in 1995, has an almost ascetic aesthetic. The emphasis is on showing the dog's skill with a variety of required and optional moves. The handler, who is dressed conservatively, is not supposed to dance along to the music or even touch the dog during competition (thus ending my fantasies of dancing cheek to snout with Sasha).

This is in contrast to the World Canine Freestyle Organization, which has a more Las Vegas approach to the sport and even uses the term "dog dancing." Under WCFO rules, both canine and human can be covered in sequins and engage in flamboyant displays of jumping and rolling. The Canine Freestyle Federation regards the WCFO much as the National Collegiate Wrestling Association views the World Wrestling Entertainment.

About eight of us-seven women-and our dogs had signed up for Mary Sullivan's beginner class, but within minutes it was clear that only Sasha and I were true novices. I was immediately intimidated by the showmanship of Edgar Allan Poo, an 8-year-old miniature poodle, and Joell Silverman, his 75-year-old owner. I watched, while Sasha whined and pulled at her leash, as Edgar and Joell, to a polka tune, worked on a routine full of twirls and passes and changes of direction. Edgar concentrated on Joell's face with the same intensity that North Koreans are supposed to have when they gaze upon their Dear Leader.

When I talked to Joell I found out I wasn't the only reporter to have been taken with Edgar's charms. The poodle had already been profiled on the front page of the Wall Street Journal for his prowess in his previous sport, fly ball.

Then another woman got up with her black-and-white whippet to run through a program that showed off the dog's lithe and elegant form. I was more mesmerized by what went on when owner and dog weren't performing. The whippet sat in her owner's lap as the owner dispensed treats directly from her mouth into the dog's.

Mary wanted an idea of what Sasha and I could do, so she called us up in front of class. I felt like a mother who had bullied her child into a gifted and talented program, only to have to confront the truth that what her kid really needed was special ed. I suggested we just continue watching, but Mary and the other humans insisted we get up. I hadn't exactly lied when I said Sasha knew "sit," it's just that she doesn't sit in response to my saying it.

Mary asked me just to walk along with Sasha beside me. At first Sasha resisted, then she decided to pull me. Mary had me reposition Sasha on my side and get her to obey by feeding her a stream of treats.

Sasha responded erratically and Mary asked to see my treats-a bag of her regular dry food. Mary explained that for training purposes I needed something better. Sasha wasn't going to participate in a canine version of A Chorus Line by being bribed with kibble. Mary suggested I bake a pan of "tuna fish brownies." Then Mary stood in front of Sasha, held a chunk of hot dog near her face, and started peeling off bits of it, giving her the command "watch" as she moved backward. Sasha followed brilliantly-obviously I was on to something with the idea of a frankfurter up the nose. Mary was impressed with Sasha's level of food motivation and said that would really help with training.

"Soon you can put food in your mouth and feed her from your mouth like the rest of us," Mary explained. "Then she'll maintain eye contact on your face."

I felt like I was in some dystopian fantasy. I came to do a little cha-cha with my pooch, and the next thing I know I'm regurgitating tuna fish brownies into her mouth. I vowed to resist-both out of prudery and self-preservation. I imagined as soon as Sasha realized my mouth was a source of fish brownies, she would go into a frenzy and chew my lips off.

For my homework Mary told me to work on getting Sasha's attention: I should always have treats with me, and every time Sasha looked at my face, I should feed her one. I took to carrying a bag of cheese in my pocket-thankfully I'm alone most of the day-and tossing chunks to Sasha when she walked next to me or made eye contact.

Over a month, as the lessons progressed, despite her improved attention, Sasha and I fell ever further behind. One problem was that we never made it though an entire two-and-a-half-hour class. After 45 minutes Sasha would be glassy-eyed and near collapse-like the first competitor eliminated in a dance marathon. There was also so much to learn. While we were in a corner of the studio practicing walking back and forth, the other dogs were doing amazing moves called serpentines, scallops, spirals, and thunders. I tried to draw diagrams, but they involved the owner and the dog moving around each other in some pattern I found impossible to follow. Mary taught everyone a "tugger-a type of pivot named after the dog that first did it. I thought having a move named after your dog would be a great honor. What would a "sasha" be? Perhaps eating the judges' shoes.
Once you got the moves down, there was the whole matter of choreographing them into a seamless routine and selecting music. We were strongly discouraged from choosing marches or waltzes. Marches had such strong beats that the human was helpless to resist marching along-distracting from the dog. As for waltzes, Mary explained, "When you have four feet it's hard to move to a melody with three beats."

During one class, we were supposed to work on staying within the cones that delineated the competition floor. A substitute instructor had us each get up, stand in the upper left corner, cross to the middle of the floor on the diagonal, and cross back to the lower left corner. To Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass everyone did their triangular move. Then it was my turn. I explained that Sasha and I didn't really participate, but the class erupted with encouragement. I had to do it, everyone insisted-what was I there for? As Sasha and I got to the corner I felt as if I was in that recurring dream where you show up for your final exam and realize you've neglected ever to attend class.

Herb's trumpet sounded and I tried to get Sasha to follow my cheese cubes and get to the middle of the room. A stream of advice poured forth: "Loosen the leash," "No!" "Turn the other way!" "Use your voice!" "Loosen the leash!" I realized my classmates were right-what was I there for?

Sasha is an adorable, sweet pet who is wonderful with children. All she wants out of life is to eat until she explodes, to sniff repulsive things, and to poop on newly cleaned rugs. She is no Edgar Allan Poo because I am no Joell. Sure, I could make fun of Sasha for her inability to simply walk in two diagonal lines, but whose fault was that? It turned out dog dancing had brought us closer as I realized how well-matched we were. I was as lazy and uninterested in turning her into a champion as she was in becoming one.

Emily Yoffe is the author of What the Dog Did: Tales From a Formerly Reluctant Dog Owner. She'a also a columnist for SLATE http://www.slate.com. You can reach her at emilyyoffe@hotmail.com or www.whatthedogdid.com. You can also hear her this weekend on Animal Radio.

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AVOID CONFLICTS WITH "WILD NEIGHBORS" THIS WINTER by Dr. John Hadidian, Dir. of Urban Wildlife for the HSUS

As the temperatures turn colder, homeowners-and many wild animals-are preparing to weather the long winter months. By taking a little extra care in winterizing your home, you'll not only save money on your heating and cooling bills, but you'll also keep your wild neighbors from becoming seasonal house guests. Here are ten tips for preventing wild animals from moving in.

1. Inspect! Inventory holes or cracks larger than one inch around could allow animals to enter.
2. Check for loose siding or holes at the roof line. Hire someone if you are unsure about inspecting it yourself.
3. Inside, use a bright light to inspect areas you don't use often: attic, basement, crawl ways, and closets. Then shut off the lights and look for places where you can see daylight.
4. Look behind appliances and anywhere pipes enter the building for potential entry points.
5. To make sure no animals are inside before you seal entries, plug holes loosely with insulation, paper or cloth, and wait a few days.
6. If the plug has been disturbed, contact a wildlife rehabilitator or visit The HSUS Urban Wildlife Program pages for humane methods to encourage animals to leave.
7. If there's no sign of wildlife, caulk small holes, staple hardware cloth over larger ones, or make a permanent repair. Fill holes around pipes with copper wire mesh and use expanding foam on cracks and along leaky windows and doors.
8. Inspect your chimney to ensure it's not home to birds or other animals-then install a cap.
9.Secure trash containers with bungee cords, ropes or weights. Cover or secure compost piles.
10. Trim branches away from your house to limit access for climbing wildlife, and clean up any debris around your home's foundation.

Hear Dr. John Hadidian this weekend on Animal Radio's full-time channel

COULD THE AVIAN FLU BECOME THE WORST DISASTER IN U.S. HISTORY...OR IS IT JUST A LOT OF HYPE. by Dr. Gil Smolin

If a virulent strain of avian influenza ever struck the U.S. poultry industry, this country probably would fare better than many other nations due to careful biosecurity procedures in force.

But if the virus develops an ability to pass from one human to another, the United States would have far less protection as the world possibly faces one of the worst flu pandemics in history.

For now, the United States, like the rest of the Western world, can only watch and prepare. Since January 2004, the known human cases of avian flu have all struck in Southeast Asia -- out of 120 patients requiring treatment, about half have died. All of these infections were contracted from chickens, with the exception of a few cases in Vietnam where the source is unclear.

A natural reservoir for the avian flu virus is migratory waterfowl, and infected birds have been found in Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Russia, raising concern in the U.S. as the disease moves west. Although waterfowl do not appear to be playing a big role in poultry and human transmissions right now, they are being closely monitored.

But in Asian poultry farms that use modern biosecurity practices, like those in the United States that prevent infectious diseases from spreading through flocks, the disease has not spread. U.S. biosecurity regulations serve to minimize contact between poultry and outside materials that could bring disease. For example, measures can require poultry farm workers to take showers upon entering a production facility and when they move between birdhouses on the farm, and restricts them from owning pet birds at home and from hunting ducks and other waterfowl.

Pharmaceutical antiviral medications, like oseltamivir (Tamiflu), can also control the disease in humans by affecting the flu virus' ability to multiply in the patient, minimizing its effects and allowing the body's natural defenses to get rid of the infection. Government policy leaders are Dr. Gil Smolin, an infectious disease expert and professor at the University of California. Gil Smolin, whose specialty is infectious diseases, has been a professor at the University of California for more than three decades. He has lectured widely on infectious diseases and written textbooks on the topic. In addition, he has spent a lot of time in Asia professionally and is familiar with health care in Asian countries. His latest book, "Reign of the Rat" (Ad Lib Books, 2005), is a fact-based thriller about a resistant germ arising in Asia that causes a deadly worldwide pandemic. The Avian flu situation mirrors the scenario in the novel.

http://www.GilSmolin.com

Animal People's Merritt Clifton joins Animal Radio this weekend to uncover the real truth behind the Avian Flu. He feels it poses little threat to those in the US...at least as of now. Hear it as it happens on Animal Radio. Check your local schedule for airtimes and dates.

Voice of the Animal with Rae Ann Kumelos

Requiem for a Pet by Dr. Dennis Patrick Slattery, Ph.D.
When I left her that morning early in January she was fine: well-fed and looking forward to another sunny warm day in Southern California hunting field mice across the street along the creek's high grass and later sun bathing on top of the blue tarp that covers our pop-up camper sitting in the driveway.

That is where I heard her moaning in a very strange tone when I arrived home that afternoon. BJ, our cat of 10 years and named by our son, Steve, she had outlasted four other cats both in San Antonio where we got her, and now here. But today she was lying alongside the camper and moaning. Not normal behavior. Her moans sounded just this side of a growl, and it had an urgency about it. She was, I knew, calling for help.

As soon as I looked at her, I saw that her body was not aligned as it should be. I knew from her posture we were in trouble. Her back legs, lying side by side with no life in them, seemed strangely detached from the rest of her. I thought for an instant that the back part of her was dead, while the front part, with front paws stretched out and supporting her, and her head, were all that remained alive. She could not get up. Clearly she had been hit.

An outdoor cat by day, BJ slept in the garage at night on an old red-checkered flannel sleeping bag draped across the back of my Ford pick-up truck. Or if I had just arrived home, she loved to climb on to the hood to enjoy the engine's heat until it cooled. These were her comfort zones each night. Ever since we had moved to California 5 years ago, we'd performed this nightly bedding ritual. Picked from a litter of 5 by my wife when we lived in San Antonio, she was advertised, along with her 4 siblings, on a piece of cardboard nailed quickly to a telephone pole with one bent nail on a Saturday morning, right up there with 2 garage sales signs; scrawled in two words with a magic marker were: "Kittens Free" and a telephone number. We chose the black one with yellow eyes and a funny habit which she maintained until her last days, of rocking back and forth on her front paws right in your face as if teasing us lying in bed to get up and dance. That sold her to us.

Ten years later and 1600 miles farther west, this same cat now lay gasping against the wheel of the camper. I saw that she was terribly broken and in great pain. A call to the local vet and I had her in the truck heading into Goleta. When I picked her up to lay her on the towel that I had put over the seat, she moaned louder but did not fight me. Her eyes looked other worldly, as if she were already leaving this climate and galaxy. Blood and bits of stool clung to her thick long coat, now very dirty. When I put her down in the seat, she curled into a ball and stared fixedly at her back end. She never moved for the entire journey.

The vet, a kindly man, finished giving two dogs their shots and then came out to the truck with me. Not prone to allowing strangers touching her, BJ did not resist when he took her up and carried her, like a small rug, into the office and placed her on an aluminum examining table, one that reminded me more of a site for autopsies than for examining live things. I also decided not to resist. He felt her backside as blood began to smear the clean aluminum finish. Soon, parts of bloody stools, hair and grime began to coat it. The right rear leg seemed to his touch, to be broken and detached. "Yes," he said, "she's been hit by a car or something." He checked her mouth and told me by the condition of the gums being so white that she was in extreme shock.

I could not decide what to do so I told him I would talk to my wife and get back to him. He offered to give her a sedative and make up a small cage for her. I patted BJ on the head; she looked bewildered and very different, staring at her back quarters. Her yellow eyes I no longer recognized.

We called the vet after an hour and he said she was fading now. He advised putting her down. We agreed and decided not to go back. I couldn't and Sandy wouldn't, not wanting to see BJ in this condition. I called the next morning and the vet informed me that he had gone back to her cage after we spoke and put her down. He said we made the right decision and that she should not suffer more.

Like any person, BJ had likes and dislikes, a fact any pet owner or people working with animals knows. She liked her hard cat food mixed with the mush in the can: tuna, thank you. She liked to sleep on a heating pad we kept on "low" and under the quilt of our bed. She could leap on the bed and land directly on that pad 9 times out of 10. She liked to be scratched on the left side of her face and behind the right ear. She liked to be up, off the ground, for surveillance and safety purposes. She had two cat acquaintances in the neighborhood. One she liked and let her eat from the bowl of cat food; the other she despised and would leap from the camper on to his matted grey back if he came too close. What she did not like? Being left alone when we took a trip of 2 or 3 days. She saw the suitcases come out and she freaked, hiding everywhere to forestall our departure. When we came home the sign of her anger would be measured in the amount of hair we found on the carpet and couch.

Pets are powerful presences in our lives. I wept when I called my wife to say BJ had been put down by the vet. That surprised me. Animals, especially pets of long standing, really complete part of us. Perhaps they give some expression to our own animal nature. They are an other-world presence that is much a part of us. Pets accommodate themselves so beautifully to us and I think we become a little like them over time. Witness the great success of the film, Best in Show.

The house is much emptier now with her passing. Funny, though. As I rise from my chair I hear her crying in the garage to be let in. Time to eat. I better prepare her bowl, just in case. Mix it up good; she is very fussy. "Here BJ; C'mon girl."

Hear Voice of the Animal on Animal Radio every week. Visit Voice of the Animal at: http://www.voiceoftheanimal.org

Talk With Your Animals -hosted by Joy Turner Check Schedule for Airtimes

Animal Radio welcomes Joy Turner to the network. Joy has her own show in Seattle on KKNW. While I was skeptical at what she does, communicating with animals...here and gone, I find what she has to say as pertinent and quite entertaining. While communicating with your animal is absolutely possible, Joy does it over the phone. This is an experience. Whether you're a believer...or not, you'll love her style! Joy's show will air Monday through Friday on Animal Radio's Full-time animal channel. Check the broadcast schedule to find times in your city. Ms. Turner will also answer a call every week on the original Animal Radio program on 90+ stations from KOST in Los Angeles to WXBA Long Island. She will also keep in touch with you right here in this space. Look for her debut in the newsletter next month. -Hal Abrams Executive Producer

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