Another Stolen Chicago Area Frenchie

This was just posted via comments:

My little baby was stolen out of my house today – she is 4 months old, a black brindle with a white snipe, her name is Delilah Blue and I am desperate to get her back.

Robber has no eyebrows, pierce earlobes, told me he had 4 puppies,when I went to drop my dog off at my house to go see his puppies, he asked if he could use the bathroom, and somehow unlocked my sliding glass door. When we went to “his house” a few blocks from my house, he went inside a courtyard, called me from a cellphone a few minutes later, and then I rushed home to find my puppy missing, nothing else was taken, and the sliding glass door was open.

Robber has no eyebrows, tattoos on both sides of his neck and a tattoo on his arm that says “Alexii” if anyone knows who this guy is, please reply to my e-mail, I am offering $500 for any information leading to his arrest.

PLEASE HELP ME! I am at 21st & Western area.

Contact Beth Gottlieb
bethgottlieb@msn.com

If you are in the Chicago area, and can help, please contact Beth. Please forward this to any other Chicago area lists you know of. Re tweets might also be helpful.

Let’s hope she’s home again soon.

Why People Watch Westminster

Why People Really Watch Westminster Dog Show Graph Jam

Judging at Westminster – Stocky Bodied White Women in Suits

Hey, it’s really the handlers being judged most of the time, so why not just announce* it that way?

* on that note, what the hell was up with the actual announcing this year? Is turning your mike off between comments really that difficult to figure out? I loved the part where, during best in show judging, he kept muttering that he “couldn’t see” (I assume because they turn the lights way down for it). I kept thinking “someone needs to get him one of those portable wallet lights“. It was like listening to your grandpa trying to give a speech.

Distemper Outbreak in Toronto’s Wildlife

Raccoon nests like this one inside homes can spread Canine Distemper

Raccoon nests inside homes can spread Canine Distemper

An outbreak of distemper has killed off hundreds of Toronto’s raccoons and skunks – and has put dogs at risk.

From the Toronto Star

If you see a raccoon lying on a sidewalk in the middle of the day, call Toronto Animal Services – and keep your dog on a tight leash.

The animal is likely sick and dying, and could infect your pet with a lethal strain of distemper, an epidemic that has killed hundreds of raccoons and skunks in the GTA since May.

“It’s not transferable to humans but there is definitely a high risk to unvaccinated cats and dogs,” said Eletta Purdy, manager of Toronto Animal Services. “It’s not rabies but it kills quickly.”

Distemper is a highly contagious, highly lethal virus. The same virus affects dogs, skunks, ferrets, weasels, raccoons and possibly opossums.

It’s hugely irresponsible to not use the readily available, virtually risk free distemper vaccination to protect your pets from distemper. Prior to the invention of the canine distemper vaccine in the 1960’s, distemper ravaged thousands of kennels world wide, wiping out entire lines. A trip to the dog show could result in the death of all of a breeder’s puppies, and sometimes their older dogs, as well.

Advocates of no vaccinations often argue that it is only puppies with weak immune systems who develop viruses like distemper. They point to raw feeding and homeopathic remedies as a method to prevent and cure distemper. Raccoons and skunks are hardly surviving on a diet of take out food, and yet they still are highly susceptible to distemper.

The other argument made by no vaccine advocates is that their puppies only end up contracting distemper when  they come into contact with other puppies which have received the distemper vaccine, and are ‘shedding’ the virus. Ignoring the fact that modern distemper vaccines are made from killed forms of the virus, it’s an incontrovertible fact that any puppy not living in a bubble stands a good chance of encountering a raccoon, a fox or a skunk, even in the most urban environment. Your dog doesn’t even have to have a face to face run in with a wild animal to become infected with distemper – it can be spread via feces of infected animals just as easily (and who among us hasn’t seen our dogs snuffling up something gross and unknown on our daily walks?).

Please, get your dogs and puppies vaccinated. It’s such a simple preventative, for such a horrible disease.

Friday Zen – Nash the Slash

Nash the Slash

What’s not to love about a world class musician who plays the Electric Madolin, along with the violin, the guitar, and almost any other musical instrumental you can name – and who does so while wrapped in bandages and wearing a top hat and sunglasses. That’s Canada’s own Nash the Slash, the punk/alt God of Violin music.

From Wikipedia –

Nash’s music is a complex blend of new wave, new age and punk rock, using electric mandolins, violins, drums machines and an arsenal of effects and sonic devices. He has written, played and produced most of the material on his solo albums by himself, although he has also worked with producers Daniel Lanois and Bill Nelson.

Nash has been creating his unique concept of sound and vision for over thirty years. His persona was born of silent film. The name comes from a killer butler encountered by Laurel and Hardy in their first film Do Detectives Think? (1927), for which he has composed a soundtrack score.

I was so thrilled to find video footage of Nash live on stage at the Opera House in Toronto, Halloween 1989. I was actually there for this show, and it was amazing (well, from what I can remember, at least – ah, youth).

A little bit of Madolin fueled flash back zen, for your listening enjoyment.