Strollerderby : pets

Family Forced to Give Away Pet Chickens

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:00:00 GMT

A South Florida family is prepared to take their battle for pet poultry all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. The Kohns, an Orthodox Jewish family of twelve, live in the upscale, suburban neighborhood of Hollywood, Florida with their seven pet chickens.

The chickens live in the Kohns' backyard, with a playhouse for shelter. Although the chickens are considered beloved household pets, they also serve the practical purpose of keeping the backyard healthy without the use of what the organically-minded Kohn family considers "polluting" landscape companies.

But the Kohns' neighhbors have not taken so kindly to the chickens. "You just can't have chickens in a residential neighborhood," according to one neighbor. The city agrees. A magistrate recently ruled that the chickens must be shipped out of town by the end of the summer.

"I'm not taking away my children's pets," the father, Steve Kohn, told a local news station. He added that one of his children wakes up at seven every morning to feed the chickens, which they love like any household pets.

"Nobody's been mauled to death by a chicken," the father pointed out. "Hens are not louder than a barking, howling dog." He also pointed out that trailer parkers in his district are allowed to have chickens, so why not a private backyard?

I have to agree that the resistance to chickens in a residential neighborhood does seem to have more to do with and old-fashioned sense of propriety than with any logical concerns. The chickens are clean and quiet, and kept in a fenced backyard. I'd much rather have hens for neighbors than a yapping dog.

What do you think? Should the family be allowed to keep their unusual pets?

Photo: Southlands Farm Cottages

3 Most Common Mistakes: Pets and New Babies

editors — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:09:00 GMT

Today on Babble:

3 Most Common Mistakes: Pets and New Babies

By Babble Editors

How to introduce your new baby to your older, fuzzier one

Read it here.

Wonder Pets! is Back With Eartha Kitt

JeanneSager — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:08:00 GMT

Still bummed that Jack's Big Music Show strummed its last dulcimer with no hopes of Dr. String bringing it back?

Sorry, can't help you there. But I still have good news!

The Wonder Pets! will save another day! Nickelodeon has approved a third season for Linny, Tuck and Ming Ming, set to kick off next month.

Beginning May 18 with an appearance by the late, great Earth Kitt as a cool cat signing smooth jazz, the first week of new shows will include a tribute to every animal teamwork has worked to save in the past. It's a special commemoration of the milestone "hundredth rescue," set to air Friday, May 22 at 10:30 a.m.

There's a reason this show has won a Daytime Emmy, folks. The hamster, turtle and little duck are the kind of team we want to cuddle . . . and then fill up with pieces of celery. Polite. Sweet. And cute enough our kids might one day convince us to get the real thing.

Try walking through a playground signing "the phone, the phone is ringing" and find a parent who doesn't chime in. They save us from some seriously bad TV.

Obama Girls Meet the Easter Waterhound

JeanneSager — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 18:14:00 GMT

Charlie Brown had the Easter Beagle. Sasha and Malia Obama have the Easter Waterhound.

The president's daughters met their new puppy this weekend, just in time to ring in the Easter holiday by hiding their chocolate from him!

The dog will come home to the White House on Tuesday, but he's already got a name - Bo, the same as the girls' cousins' cat, and in honor of Michelle Obama's dad, whose nickname was Diddley.

Michelle had promised the dog would come home in April earlier this year when she released the news that they'd settled on a Portuguese waterdog, a pup that won't stir up Malia's allergies to pet dander.

It's not technically an Easter present - after all, Dad made the announcement that a pet was promised back in November - but the timing means the girls will probably always remember this Easter. It's a holiday that is often associated with getting kids bunnies and chicks (something most animal welfare officials advise against, because the kids soon tire of their new friends and all the work they entail). Have you ever considered Easter a pet-giving holiday?

Image: NY Daily News

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10 Ways to Avoid a New Family Pet

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:29:00 GMT

My wife wants nothing more than a cat. She grew up with them and always envisioned a life full of them -- until she met me, Mr. Allergic. I can tell it's the one thing she secretly hates about me.

No really, I mean it. There's only one thing.

Sometimes she goes behind my back, whispering to our daughter things like, "You know, we could have a cat ... but you have to convince daddy first."

It's a scary glimpse of the evil teamwork I just know they'll use in years to come, but right now, our daughter is not yet 3 -- it's so easy to say "no" or something simpler, like "You know, she's not your real mother."

But how about later, when she really learns how to beg? I don't have the general distate for the animals that Creative-Type Dad has -- I'll admit they are cute; I just can't go anywhere near them without dying immediately -- but I'm still keeping his handy list of 10 excuses to avoid a family pet, or, in this case, a cat:

Big Bird use to have a little brother, but cats ate him.
Cats eat Fairies.
Cats are prone to alcoholism.
If you get a cat, you can’t have a unicorn.

I think these are going to work. Check out the rest of the list -- it's hilarious. And let me know, does your family have pet wars?

The World’s Most Adorable Funeral

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Death is never easy—but it can be mind-bogglingly adorable when the elegy is given by a three-year-old and the elegized is Lucky the Fish.

Having lost her goldfish Marlond just a week earlier, this little girl is well-versed in the harsh realities of death. “We always have to flush fish,” she says solemnly. But don’t worry—her elegy hits some redemptive notes as well. After all, the girl has “more than a few words” to say about her old friend Lucky.

Photo: Goodbyemailbox.com

Four Creepiest Animals Turned Adorable Kids Characters

JeanneSager — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:05:00 GMT

Just the thought of the scene when the rats converge in the kitchen in Disney's Ratatouille gives me the willies. They're (shudder) rats. Uggggh.

Becoming a parent, I quickly learned, was setting myself up for dozens of movies/tv shows featuring the world's creepiest animals thrown onto a screen in the attempts to make kids think they're just as cute and cuddly as your average puppy.

Who are they trying to kid? Rats, spiders and cuddly tigers? Oh my.

Remy in Ratatouille: He can read! He can cook! Gotcha - but he's still a rat. And rats don't belong indoors, not to mention in a restaurant kitchen mixing up French delicacies. Since this comes from the folks at Disney, I can't help but ask, did they take a look in their archives? I hold the rat scene from Lady and the Tramp wholly responsible for my residual rodent revulsion.

Charlotte in Charlotte's Web: Another reader, with a talent for writing, Charlotte is the true hero of the movie and E. B. White's book that bear her name. She's still a spider! With big buggy eyes and larger-than-life chompers. And did anyone catch the tail end of the Dakota Fanning version, with the egg sack full of thousands of little spiders just waiting to scuttle off and settle in the corners? See Also: Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends.

Alvin, Simon and Theadore in Alvin and the Chipmunks: I will always remember the day a contractor left a door open at my parents house and a chipmunk snuck in. Total. . . and complete . . . pandemonium. Followed by plenty of cleaning up of little pellets of poop in my bedroom. Ewww. Another member of the rodent family, chipmunks carry disease and are best-known for storing their food in their cheeks so long they come close to bursting, followed closely by their "chirpy" chipmunk calls. Ever said, "say it, don't spray it," when your kid spoke with a full mouth? Try telling that to a chipmunk . . . or to the three singing sweethearts who hanker for hula hoops? That Dave lets these little guys live in his house and eat of his cereal bowls is giving me flashbacks. . . to poop cleaning.

Oswald: With the disarming voice of a Savage brother, how could anyone dislike the bright blue resident of Big City who tips his bowler to everyone he meets? Maybe the fact that octupi have been known to kill sharks, detach one of their eight legs to escape predators and shoot bright clouds of ink at anyone who gets in their way? Fish may be friends, not food, but the octupus is not the friendliest member of the ocean community.

Images: Disney, Flixster, Amazon, Parent Previews

Boy Finds Spider Monkey in Backyard - Video

Brett Singer — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:00:00 GMT

Living in Manhattan, we don't get a lot of wild animals. Then again, I doubt most "country" dwellers expect to see an overweight spider monkey in their backyard.

Yes. A spider monkey. In East Ridge, Tennessee.

Here's a video report:

According to local station News Channel 9, the monkey's name is Clyde, and the owners "say they bought him from a flea market" 25 years ago. In addition to being overweight -- Clyde has a fondness for Lil' Debbie cakes and Italian food -- "they say he's getting old, and has cataracts."

In other words, Clyde is somebody's pet. Pet spider monkey.

How much would you freak if you saw Clyde in your backyard? How about if you were four years old?

Source: newschannel9.com
Image: necn.com

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The New Pregnancy Test: Your Dog

JeanneSager — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:34:00 GMT

So you missed the sore boobs and the growing tummy? Maybe forgot about that missing period?

If nothing else, your dog getting awfully chummy all of a sudden might clue you in - you're pregnant.

There's been no scientific proof that dogs can sniff out a pregnancy - just a ton of circumstantial evidence. Take Peter Huoppi, who just wrote a column over at The Day about his pooch Remy's transformation to "Velcro dog," attached very suddenly to his wife, Jen. Three weeks after Remy couldn't keep the paws off of her, Jen found out she was pregnant. Or the series of mothers talking about this subject last month at Cafe Mom - they've got pups with pregnancy-sensing powers, or so they say.

Besides the heightened sense of smell that could be picking up on hormonal changes, dogs can pick up on emotional changes. Most animal trainers say the dogs will sense a pregnancy and the protective side kicks into overdrive.

So if your dog has taken to sticking his snout anywhere YOU are, maybe it's time to pick up one of those little pee-on-the-stick jobs and see if he's trying to tell you something.

Image: This Normal Life

Woman Trades Two Kids For Bird

Brett Singer — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Be ready to get annoyed. Or at least shake your head.

OK. Ready? Heeere we go.

Two people, Paul and Brandy Romero, wanted to sell their cockatoo for $1500. So they placed an ad in the local paper.

Donna Greenwell called and said, hi. I'd like to buy the bird. But wait -- there's more! Greenwell told the Romeros that she was taking care of three children that weren't hers, and she offered to sell the couple two of them for $2000.

I'll just quote the next part:

"The parties allegedly negotiated a trade involving the two kids, the bird and $175."

Some tipped off the appropriate authorities, the kids were placed in foster care, and the adults involved were arrested. The charge is "aggravated kidnapping," according to CNN.

So what the hell, right? Here's a twist I didn't see coming. "The children were well taken care of when they were with the Romeros, who badly wanted children."

I know this is going to sound insane. But if someone can find a couple to take care of children whose parents are unable to care for them, as it sounds like these kids were, is there a way to make that happen? Should there be? I know, adoption, foster care. But I don't think I can choose the parents in a situation like that.

Lots of questions, of course. How did the three kids come to be living with Donna Greenwell, a truck driver who is not related to them? In case you were curious, the third child was "placed" with another Louisana family, although no one seems to know if there was "bartering" involved with that one. No word on any birds either.

I know it's morbid, but I have to admit that I would love to hear that phone call. "Hi, I'm calling about your bird for sale? Mm-hm, mm-hm. Well, while I've got you on the line, would you be interested in these two kids I'm taking care of?"

All kidding aside, it's a terrible situation and I hope everyone ends up OK. Sometimes you have to laugh to stay sane.

Source: CNN

Image: sxc.hu

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Obamas Pick a Breed and a Homecoming for First Dog

JeanneSager — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 20:58:00 GMT

The president may jokingly refer to himself as a mutt, but it will be a purebred bounding into the White House on four paws come April.

Michelle Obama has let word get out that the family is looking for a Portuguese water dog - preferrably a rescue (a request the First Family has made several times over) - one of the few hypo-allergenic breeds of dogs that will be acceptable in light of ten-year-old Malia's allergies.

When's it coming home?

April Fool's Day, according to Sasha. Sometime in April, says the First Lady. The family still has to find that dog, and they're still working out names. Apparently "Frank" and "Moose" have both been bandied about.

All of our family pets pre-date my daughter, so she didn't get to help with the naming process, but I know in most families the names are a communal decision.

Did you pick before your pet came home, or did you wait to see what he or she looked like so you could gauge the name to the looks or personality? Were your kids involved in the naming process?

Image: Getty, via Daily News

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Would You Let the Kid Eat Dog Food?

JeanneSager — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:32:00 GMT

Inspired by National Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day (yup, it's real), I have got to ask - what kind of parent lets their kid eat dog food?

Don't think people do this? Guess again. I know parents who think it's absolutely hilarious. Others think it's a little weird, but eh, so is drinking bath water, or eating dirt.

Turns out it's not all that funny or just plain weird. According to the experts over at Kids Health, it's also dangerous. They list a series of pretty serious reasons to put your kid in the doghouse for chewing on dog chow:

It's not nutritious - meaning they're filling up on something not exactly good for them.
The dog bowl isn't sanitary (OK, true, but neither is bath water!)
Small dry pieces of dog food pose a choking hazard (and what of chopped up, wet pieces?)
Dogs can be territorial about their food - they might bite your tot for sticking his or her snout in the doggie dish.

Now who's in the doghouse?

Image: DailyHaha

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Update: Python Parents Charged with Abuse after 3-Year Old Attacked

Shannon LC Cate — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 20:30:00 GMT

Parents whose 300 lb python escaped its cage and attacked their 3-year old have been charged with felony child abuse and their children have been removed from their home.

As it happens, the python had a broken cage which was never repaired properly (would trust duct tape to protect your kids from a python?) and the family owns five other snakes, ranging from 3 to 11 feet long which are also improperly kept and caged.

There is some local controversy about the response of authorities to the case. Although it is pretty clear that these parents were remiss (to say the least) in protecting their children from dangerous animals, (the python flipped the boy upside down and completely coiled around him until only his feet were showing, the report says) the question is whether the charges they face are proportionate to how other animal attacks are handled in the jurisdiction. Apparently two children were mauled to death by pit bulls last year and no charges were made against anyone as a result.

The boy attacked by the snake was squeezed unconscious by the animal and his mother rescued him by attacking the creature with a knife, leading to its eventual death. (The snake was euthanized by a veterinarian.) The boy was hospitalized over night but has fully recovered. His grandmother who is fostering the children feels charges against her daughter are unfair vis a vis the pit bull attacks last year.

What do you say, is this just a case of snake-ism? Or should they throw the book at these parents--and pit bull owners too?

Doggie 101: How to Hug a Baby

JeanneSager — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 16:21:00 GMT

If you're one of those parents who starts hyperventilating at the mere thought of a dog around your precious bubbala, a warning: don't read this post.

Because this is full-on doggie/kiddie loving at its best!

The folks over at D for Dog, offer up a Doggie 101 class aptly titled "How to Hug a Baby." They walk your canoodling canine through the obvious - 1. First, spy a baby - to the proper "hug, smile and lean" for the camera.

My daughter's past the baby stage, and these days the hugging is more "pre-schooler wraps arms around the neck of dog and nearly cuts off her breathing." We always step in with a quick "gentle, be gentle!" But I think the kids who've been rolling around on the floor with the dog from day one are usually a little more adept at figuring out the dividing line between loving the dog and LOVING the dog.

You have to watch your dog cuddling with the baby, but a big part of the relationship is built on knowing how your dog is around other people. Do they have to be more gentle with a baby than with us? Sure, but you'd be surprised how acutely aware dogs are of the difference. My seventy-pound lap dog might galumph right over me, but she knew from the get-go that she had to turn on her mother radar with our daughter.

So get on over to D for Dog. The pictures alone are worth a look, but if you're a dog lover the tutorial is definitely a bonus laugh.

Image: D for Dog

Three-Year Old Attacked by 300 lb Snake

Shannon LC Cate — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:02:00 GMT

A small child wandered into his mother's bedroom while she was in the bathroom and was attacked by the snake that was being "kept" there. The snake, a 300 lb, 18 foot Tiger Python bit the boy in the armpit and grabbed him and began to coil around him in order to suffocate and eat him. His mother attacked the snake, stabbing it 17 times before the police and animal control officers arrived to capture the snake and rescue the child.

The child was fine in the end, but the snake was so badly injured that it had to be put down.

By now I can hear you yelling at your computer screens, "What the heck was a boa constrictor doing in the bedroom of the mother of a three-year old?" I was yelling it too, believe me. And I haven't found an answer.

Pet store owner, Jim Tracy advised reporters that the snake had been mishandled by its keeper and was the victim of her negligence. I agree with that. I pity the snake as well as the child. But I also think that some animals are not meant to be kept as pets (and shouldn't be sold, therefore, in pet stores). There are animals who have lived with humans for millennia (dogs, horses, cats and cattle) and are meant to coexist with them symbiotically. But there are animals people have no business dragging into their Vegas bedrooms and pythons are one of those animals.

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Political Animals: White House Pets

editors — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:35:00 GMT

If you go on Google and search the words, “President Obama’s dog,” you will turn up 23,900,000 results. It’s hardly surprising since the Obamas' pet quest was an issue of national concern even before the votes were counted. Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Why are we spending so much time talking about the Obamas' puppy? Shouldn’t we be focusing on the economy or the two wars that we’re currently involved in or really anything else?’

The answer is probably yes. However, our country has always been mildly obsessed with the White House pets and the Obamas' dog is no exception. Having pets in the White House is a tradition that goes all the way back to our third President, Thomas Jefferson, who kept a pair of grizzly bears on the White House grounds. Abraham Lincoln’s son Tad used to race his two pet goats through the hallowed halls and Taft kept his own dairy cow, named Pauline Wayne (?), within view of the Oval Office.

If you’ve been an avid follower of the Obama puppy search or if you have kids who are into animals, you should check out Animal Planet's new DVD, White House Pets. It is the source of all of the fun facts above and also a really cute look at the different animals (over 400) that have called the White House home. It’s a great way to celebrate the new presidency with your kids. The narration is upbeat, the stories are interesting, and the pictures are adorable. So adorable in fact that you may find yourself thinking, “Oh that Nixon; what he did wasn't so bad,” and “Who cares if Bush’s approval rating was at an all time low? His little Scottie was crazy cute.” No wonder Presidents like to keep a puppy on hand.

- Lindsay Armstrong

(Image take from www.shoppingdiscovery.com)

Would You Keep the Death of a Pet from Your Child?

KeriF — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:34:00 GMT

Last year for Hanukkah, my then 6-year-old niece received two parakeets from her nanny, Marina. Who, incidentally, had neglected to mention the live animal gift to my sister. After some behind the scenes negotiating, it was agreed that the birds would live in the nanny's apartment and my niece, Erika, could visit Blueberry and Lemon whenever she liked.

This worked out fine for 6 months or so, until the birds, in rapid succession, died.

Marina couldn't bring herself to tell Erika. She told Erika the birds were at the vet and would be home soon. This went on for well over a week. Marina wanted to secretly replace the birds with doppelgangers. My sister got increasingly frustrated, and finally told Marina if she didn't tell Erika my sister would tell her herself. Which is what ended up happening. Erika was distraught.

I don't blame Marina for being so hesitant to break Erika's heart. No one wants to deliberately make a child cry, which is what you're basically doing when you tell him or her that a pet has died.

But it's a lesson that has to be learned. Hopefully, the closest most kids will come to death is through a pet rather than a relative.

My kids are still a bit young for this; at 3 and 4 they've experienced plenty of death through the waters of their fish tank. But rather than cry, they argue over who gets to flush the little guy down the toilet.

Christy Oglesby writes of the death of her son's beloved guinea pig on CNN. Her concern wasn't with how much grief her son would feel, it was with when he would feel that grief: during three important tests at school. She was able to keep the pet's death a secret through some very careful manipulation (unexplained power outage in the boy's room, unexpected tv-watching at night), and when she did tell her third-grade son two days after the fact, he thanked her for holding off on the news.

I've written before of how much I hate lying to my kids, but I'm not sure where this fits in. Isn't omission of fact just as much of a lie as omission of truth? Our kids need to learn of life and death, but when? Erika still cries over the untimely death of Marina's dog, Chavi, last summer, while my 4-year-old son Declan simply speaks of it matter-of-factly. Neither of them batted an eye when their great-great-Uncle Bob died around the same time.

Perhaps it's just what's familiar to the kids, who and what they see every day that hold the closest place in their hearts.

Have you had to break the news of a pet or loved one to your kids? How did you handle it? How did they?

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Kid to Obamas: Take My Puppy

JeanneSager — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:15:00 GMT

Now that the Obamas have narrowed their dog search to two breeds, there's a fourth grader in Pennsylvania who's crossing his fingers that he's got the answer to all their four-legged questions.

Zack Shiley's dogs produced a litter born on November 26, but only one survived. That's the puppy - a labradoodle - that Shiley wants President Barack Obama to bring home to the White House for daughters Sasha and Malia.

The fourth grader at the Wharton Elementary School in Farmington, Pa., sent word to D.C. this week via his County Commissioners, Vincent Vicites and Vincent Zapotsky. The Vincents attended the inauguration without the six-week-old Vegas, the love pup of eleven-year-old Hillary, a chocolate Labrador and her much younger stud (sire?) one-year-old Bullet, a black labradoodle.

Instead they took with them a letter directly to Malia - who Shiley figures has the final say on the matter (she's the member of the Obama family with an allergy - prompting consideration of a labradoodle).

"We want her to have a good home, and what could be better than the White House... A dream come true," Shiley wrote. "I almost forgot, the puppy is free."

According to his hometown newspaper, The Herald Standard, everyone admits it's a long shot, but Shiley's mom put her stamp of approval on her son's letter and offer to the new president. Considering the pup earned the name Vegas because Mom was on a trip to Las Vegas when the family dogs mated, perhaps there's a little more than selflessness at work there? Don't worry Ms. Shiley - we get you! Whatever your motivation (getting the puppy out of the house so you can go back to two dogs instead of three!), you raised a son with a big heart - and one adorable ball of fur for a friend.

Image: The Herald Standard

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Dog-Powered Scooter? Bicycle? Tricycle?

Shannon LC Cate — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Ever want to ride your bike and walk your dog at the same time? What if your dog could help you make it up that steep hill? What if your dog could help pull the bike trailer with junior?

This company has the solution for you! Just hook up your dog to the harness and go. You get to steer. You get to decide when to help the dog by peddling and when to let the dog (or, up to 4 dogs) pull you while you rest. It looks a little whacky, but a little fun. I' not a dog-owner, but if I was, I admit, I'd give this one a consideration.

Dog owners, what do you think? Bikers, how about you?

Mystery Solved: Dog Swallowed Fifteen Pacifiers

JeanneSager — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:30:00 GMT

In case you ever wondered, no there really is nothing your baby won't share with the dog. Strained peas, Cheerios, dirty diapers . . . and apparently pacifiers too.

A Missouri mom caught her English bulldog licking a pacifier on the floor one day, and she thought to do nothing more than chide the dog. Jennifer Zwart turned away . . . then turned back to realize the pacifier was gone - inside the dog's mouth.

"I took Lulu to the veterinarian and expected that an X-ray would reveal the pacifier. The X-ray was unclear, so the veterinarians decided to perform surgery. Midway through the surgery, they started a 'binky count,' as they pulled out pacifier after pacifier. They had never seen anything like it. Over the course of six months, Lulu had swallowed 15 pacifiers, a bottle cap and piece of a basketball," Zwart says.

Now her story has been entered into the running for the Veterinary Pet Insurance Hambone of the Year Award, a new prize for claims that come into their office that are above and beyond your average splayed hip. It gets its name from a dog who accidentally got locked in a refrigerator and proceeded to eat an entire ham, right down to the bone, while waiting for his rescuers.

I asked a week ago why parents seem to get uptight when they see another person's kid with a pacifier in the mouth, but I'd never stopped to ponder what I'd think of a dog sucking on a soothie!

I've always blamed the missing kid socks on the dryer gnome, but maybe I should rethink that theory. . .

Image: Flickr, OmniNate

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Lost Dog Makes it Home For Christmas

JeanneSager — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 19:05:00 GMT

If you think a nineteen-hour holiday drive would be tough on a family's three-year-old, how about the family dog?

Nine hours into the trip home from the Freeman family Thanksgiving, Australian shepherd mix Bentley slipped his collar in a hotel parking lot and took off. The Freemans were ten hours from home, and couldn't find their pooch. But three-year-old son Jonathan wasn't worried. Turns out - he didn't need to be.

Bentley was picked up and taken to the Wichita Humane Society in Kansas, who scanned his microchip and called the Freemans in Texas on Sunday. Jonathan was right - his pup made it home for Christmas.

It's one of those awwwwww stories that fills even the grinchiest with holiday cheer. It's also made me start thinking more seriously about taking my menagerie to the vet to be microchipped. All rescues, my pets never came through a store or breeder who chipped them as kittens/pups. Nor did they come from shelters - which have slowly started to invest in the microchip technology (funding his short at most shelters, so it's still hit and miss).

It will mean an expense on my part, but watching my own three-year-old "share" her Christmas cookies with the dog and plop her new crown on the cat's head, I realize I'm not the only one around here who needs the four-legged part of the family around. So I guess we'll be making the investment soon - as much for the kid's sake as the animals'.

Image/Source: The Dallas Morning News

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Horrifyingly Cute Animals

Cole Gamble — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:32:00 GMT

Prepare to be frightened and swooned by this gallery of scary/adorable animals.

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Talking Pets, the New Child Safety Gadget?

JeanneSager — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:13:00 GMT

My husband's fascination with talking animals was never enough to convince me we needed one (the first time I saw Salem the cat on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, I crossed myself like a good Catholic girl and started muttering the Lord's prayer). Then I heard about the parrot that saved a choking toddler in Denver last week. Maybe it's time to reconsider?

Babysitter Meagan Howard was using the bathroom when she heard Willie, her Quaker parrot, shrieking, "Mama, baby. Mama, baby." Howard rushed out of the bathroom to find her two-year-old charge, Hannah, turning blue. The girl had been eating a Pop Tart for breakfast, which Howard quickly dislodged from her throat with the Heimlich maneuver.

I know some of you will jump on the babysitter for walking out of the room, but it's easy in hindsight to say we should have our eyes on our kids every minute of the day. It's not that easy. Hence the reason I cried the day my daughter learned the crawl. She no longer stayed in one spot when I had to run for the phone. I actually feel a little safer leaving her alone in the room with the dog these days - my mutt has taken on the Nana role from Peter Pan, and she takes it very seriously. If my daughter trips, the dog runs over to soak her face in "kisses." If she tries making it for the front door, the dog barks her head off.

We probably don't have room for a parrot, what with the kid, the dog and four cats (oh, and the husband - can't forget him). But an extra set of eyes can't hurt.

Image: CBS4

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Shannon LC Cate — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:31:00 GMT

Last spring, Max the Maltese wandered away from his Florida home through a gap in the broken fence. When Max didn't turn up his family thought they'd lost him forever.

Last week, Max was identified by computer chip at a Chicago animal control shelter. Because his family couldn't fly out to pick him up, a Maltese rescue worker from Wisconsin has arranged to pick him up at the state line and send him home on a flight from Milwaukee. His family is deservedly jubilant, having never thought they'd see him again.

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Pit bulls and kids: Scared or Perfectly Comfortable?

JeanneSager — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:34:00 GMT

For the first time since a law was enacted putting the responsibility for a dog's attack on its owner, a Texas couple has been convicted in the death of a 7-year-old child. They were sentenced to seven years, one for each year of life taken from their 7-year-old neighbor by their vicious pack of pit bulls.

I know what you're thinking. She's gunning for those dogs. But where my heart aches for parents who've lost their child, I can't blame that all on a dog. And I wouldn't blame it all on a breed.

Tanner Joshua Monk was walking to playing with other neighborhood kids the last time his parents saw him on May 18. He was headed in the direction of Crystal Smith and Jack Watson's house. His body was later found in a ditch, surrounded by the couple's four pit bulls, 100 yards from his home and 70 yards from Smith and Watson's property line. The dogs were outside of their property and a clear danger - so more power to the court that convicted the couple for not keeping them locked up.

BUT, and this is a big but, I'm not ready to join the forces out there who are ready to ban pit bulls to protect our kids. That makes as much sense as banning cars because accidents are the leading cause of death in American children, and automobiles account for the largest number of these accidents (according to the National Institutes of Health).

Not every pit bull is a hulking beast with bloodthirsty jaws and no heart, a lesson I learned after warily watching as my friend began dating and then bought a house with a pit bull owner. Their move put the dog in the same house as her now 4-year-old son, who invites my daughter over for frequent playdates. Buster is certainly strong. His body is a lean block of muscle so strong that when he's leaning on me - as he loves to do, it's one of his ways of showing affection - he could easily drop me to the floor. That he maintains the control not to let me fall was one of the first signs that I could let down my guard when Buster is around my daughter.

He is your classic case of nurture versus nature, a dog whose owner has worked hard to train him to obey. My friend's boyfriend has lavished him with the kind of love that has brought out in a breed known for its mean streak a desire to cuddle up on the couch with anyone who's willing. He's no more of a danger to my daughter than our own dog, an exuberant hound and boxer mix who's more than earned a sign on our door that reads "warning, an attack licking may occur." Her presence in our home is also part of the reason I have stopped worrying about Buster. From the get go, we've taught our daughter how to act around animals, not to grab their tails or touch them while they're eating. Out in public, we warn her not to approach an animal without first asking its owner if she can put out a hand.

Maybe being a dog owner has made me biased, but I've never owned a pit bull. I wonder, how do other dog owners feel about their kids around pit bulls?

Image: The Sula Foundation, a rescued pit bull puppy

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