DOES YOUR DOG STAY HOME ALONE?
How To Make It Easier on You... And Your Animal Companion

These days it’s much more common for pets to stay home alone for long periods of time than it used to be. One reason is the higher number of two-income households, with both partners holding full-time jobs, along with extended school hours and daycare for children. The number of single households has also increased considerably in the last decades. Consequently, the dog is often home alone during the week. Over the weekends, there are chores, errands and social life... So even if someone is home, the dog might not get a whole lot of attention or exercise. Being left...   MORE

Healing With The
Help Of Animals

After the shooting at the Pulse nightclub,
a local Lutheran church which has an outreach program with the LGBT community joined forces with other churches and organizations around the country to invite 12 comfort dogs to come to Orlando. These wonderful dogs were brought to work with injured victims and their relatives, the family members and friends of those who lost their lives, and the emergency workers in attendance. They helped provide temporary calm and...

Why Cats Are Often Misunderstood

As I mentioned on The story of how I became a cat person: Hershey, I used to know next to nothing about cats. I had a lot to learn when Hershey came to live in my house. And I’m still learning. Just the other day I learned that when Hershey stares at me, then blinks and looks away, she’s not being snotty, and she isn’t upset with me, either. That simply means she likes me and feels comfortable enough around me that she can look away. It’s actually a compliment. After all, when animals in the wild stare directly at each...

A Drop Of Shampoo
In The Eye... And
Animal Testing

So I was getting ready to wash my hair the other day, and when I popped open the shampoo bottle, a drop jumped and fell in my right eye. This was an undiluted drop, not just soapy water. I felt excruciating pain; my eye immediately started stinging sharply, watering profusely, reddening violently. I had that gritty feeling you get when you have an eye abrasion, and my eyelid got very swollen. I flushed it with water (it hurt A LOT); then I flushed it with two types of eye...