She's Right! Some People Don't Deserve Pets

A friend of mine at work tipped me off to a story on the Indianapolis Star's Web site about two girls who were charged with animal cruelty after an animal rights group tipped off Indiana authorities about a video on myspace.com showing the girls kicking a cat wrapped in plastic.

What makes two girls -- juveniles, so their names aren't disclosed -- wrap a cat in plastic? What makes two girls shove, drop and kick the cat? What makes two girls videotape the entire episode? What makes two girls upload the video to a popular Web site? What makes two girls think they won't get caught?

Stump, the cat in question, has been taken from the home by animal-control officers, according to the story, and he is in good condition. The girls, on the other hand, if the charges are true, need help. Now.

Contest Alert! Seeking the Best Pet Name

A friend of mine from my days at the Arkansas Gazette had five cats, and a big heart. She also gave those cats great names. I was partial to the one she gave her big, black cat -- the king of the house, and truth be told, her favorite. He was Atticus Elvis Digby Parsons III, an homage to her Southern roots.

Anyway, let's see what kind of great pet names we have out there. You enter, and I'll pick the winner. You can enter by posting here or e-mailing me directly at pets@delawareonline.com (put Pet Name Contest in the subject line). Deadline is May 8. Winner gets a $20 gift certificate to Concord Pet, so probably better if you're from the Delaware area.

Old Friend Has Pet Blog, Too

Just found an old friend of mine through the site we use to post our blogs. Mark Robison and I worked together years ago at The Arkansas Gazette. Turns out he has a pet blog, too, called Mostly Dogs through the Reno Gazette-Journal, where he works as systems editor. He also writes a pet-advice column in that paper on the second Sunday of each month.

Mark's current post is on a local vet's most interesting cases. She even posts surgical photos -- don't worry, you'll have to click some to find them. And Mark via the vet makes the case for why we all need to spay/neuter pets we don't expect to breed.

Maybe we can get an East Coast-almost West Coast blog vibe going.

Name This Photo

How about a title for this great photo of Chinese Shar-Pei puppies at the International Spring Dog Show in Havana, Cuba?

1. Rip Van Wrinkles!

Martinis for Mutts and Recipes Too

Got to talk with some great pet lovers last night at Faithful Friends' Martinis for Mutts fundraiser at Home Grown Cafe in Newark.

Met some nice folks with a Corgi named Lord Nelson -- Nelson for short -- who sounds as if he rules the roost. And a woman who's allergic to cats and still has seven at home! That's love. And another woman who's had a chiropractor come to her home to adjust her black Lab. She says it's worked wonders, and dogs don't have to be adjusted as often as people. Who knew?

For those who missed the drinks, this was Home Grown's special drink menu:

* Greyhound: Ruby red grapefruit Charbay vodka and grapefruit juice with a salt rim
* French Poodle: Grand Marnier, Cahmbord, peach schnapps and pineapple juice
* Bull Dog: Makers Mark Manhattan
* Chocolate Lab: Dutch chocolate Van Gogh and Godiva (a chocolate lover's dream)

The next Martinis for Mutts (and cats too) cocktail party will be Tuesday, July 25 at Harry's Seafood Grill on Wilmington's riverfront. Mark your calendar.

Celebrating Your Favorite Dog's Birthday

Have I got the place for you.

Whiskazz and Pawzz (love the name) in the Hockessin Corner Shopping Center offers birthday cakes for your partying pooch. The cakes are made of whole wheat flour, whole rolled oats, fresh ground peanuts, eggs, honey canola oil and cinammon. (Wishing I were a dog again -- an irascible pug this time.)

Anyway, the cakes are $9.95 each and very festive looking. Look for an item and photo of one in the June 9 issue of Delaware Pets.

Whiskazz and Pawzz has other great items in its bakery section and throughout the store, especially lovely jewelry and artwork. Make sure you say hi to Cappi, the store's canine consultant and resident beagle. (He was snoozing away when I was there.) Info: 235-2002.

Kind of Makes You Go Hmmmm ...

See the ad in today's News Journal on page A5? All it said was:

"You think dogs will not be in heaven?

I tell you, they will be there long before any of us."

-- Robert Louis Stevenson

Not sure what it means, other than dogs are wonderful creatures. Suspect it's part of an ad campaign. We'll probably find out more tomorrow.

Other theories? Any other good dog/cat quotes out there you want to share?

Blue Hen for a Good Cause

Talk about your good causes ... Creations Fine Woodworking Gallery (451 Hockessin Corner, Hockessin) will donate a portion of the profits from the sale of all Black Cat Enterprises copper sculptures, including this cool Fighting Blue Hen, to the Delaware Humane Association.

Virginia artists Dawn Mickel and John Gardini of Black Cat Enterprises created the Blue Hen sculpture and dozens more of all sorts of creatures from copper. A blowtorch provides the color, and it is then fixed with polyurethane. Result: low maintenance.

The Blue Hen sculpture (7 inches high by 8 inches wide by 4 inches deep) is $70. Mounted on a cherry base it's $90. And mounted on the base with personalized engraved plaque it's $98.

Check out the Blue Hen and other Black Cat sculptures at www.creationsgallery.com

Martinis for Mutts (and Cats Too!)

The good people at Faithful Friends are throwing one of their fun quarterly fund-raising parties next week.

Martinis for Mutts and Cats Too! is Thursday evening at Home Grown Cafe, 126 E. Main St. , in Newark. (Complimentary appetizers from 6-8 p.m., and Home Grown has yummy offerings!) Suggested donation is $20, with all proceeds benefiting Faithful Friends, a no-kill shelter in Wilmington that promotes the rescue and adoption of homeless pets and raises the awareness of affordable spay/neuter program. Info: www.faithfulfriends.us or 427-8514.

OK, enough of the serious stuff. It's for a good cause.

Bring some serious cash with you, too. Faithful Friends will have two raffle baskets: One a wine basket with a Home Grown gift certificate (approx value $100) and the other a pet basket with pet goodies and a gift certificate for dog daycare service at the Doggie Playhouse (approx value $200).

But don't bring your pets. Those darned state laws don't allow pets to mix with the food in a restaurant. Faithful Friends executive director Jane Pierantozzi (pictured, above) says people bring their pet pictures and their pet stories to share instead.

I'm hoping to attend and would love to chat with others who love pets. We'll lift our Appletinis to all of the wonderful creatures.

Nice Guys at Critter Beach

I stopped in at Critter Beach (33A Baltimore Ave, Rehoboth, 226-2690) during a visit to Rehoboth. What a cute shop and the guys who run it couldn't be nicer. Check out some of the little things I bought in the next issue of Delaware Pets, hitting your favorite pet place on or after June 9.

One teaser: Great treats for your favorite pooches, and they smelled so good it made me wish I were a dog. (I'd be a collie -- friendly, nurturing, loyal.) You've got to pick up the Poochie Paw ($2), a yogurt/beef jerkey sucker on a rawhide stick.

Get a preview of Critter Beach at its Web site, www.critterbeach.com

Oliver!

I think I met my first puggle in person.

On a stop in Trolley Square on Saturday I hopped out of my friend's minivan to pet a cute puppy. The owner of Oliver says he's part pug and part beagle, and will grow to be about 15 pounds. (Puggle pictured is a generic one just to give you an idea of the breed.)

Oliver can be found occasionally in his owner's cute gift store, Pistachio, which recently moved from Newark to the Trolley Square Shopping Center.

Learn more about puggles at http://www.puggle.org or http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/puggle.htm

Make Your Dog Famous

Sure, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Mary Lou Retton all have been featured on the cover of the Wheaties box, but where were their pets?

Milk-Bone wants to make you and your pet famous, and it's searching the country for the most picture-perfect pairs to put on its four sizes of dog biscuit boxes. Owners can enter pictures with their dogs either online (www.milk-bone.com/famous) or via regular mail (to Milk-Bone "Make You and Your Dog Famous" Contest, Box 5617, Blair, NE 68009-5617).

Mailed entries must be received by June 21, but there are tons of rules. Go to www.milk-bone.com/famous to read up before you enter.

If you think of it, e-mail a picture of you with your pooch to pets@delawareonline.com. We'll post a bunch of them on the Web site. Good luck to all.

Candy Gets a Home

Candy, the 10-year-old spaniel mix featured in the Sunday Life section, has found a new home.

In case you didn't see Sunday's photo and story, Candy was placed back at the Delaware Humane Association, where she had been as a puppy, after her longtime owner entered an assisted-living home.

"She's a sweetheart who loves everybody," Luke Balaguer, animal care manager at the humane association told reporter Christopher Yasiejko. "There's not a person that she doesn't want to be around. Except for her age, she's a perfect dog."

Somebody fell for that perfectness.

If you're looking for a pet that needs lots of love, call the humane association at 571-0111, stop by 701 A St. in Wilmington, or visit http://www.dehumane.org/.

'Marley & Me': Laughs, Tears (lots) and Scooby-Doo

I finished reading "Marley & Me" on vacation last week, and if you're a pet lover, you have to read this book.

John Grogan, a Philadelphia Inquirer columnist, chronicles his life and that of his family with what would become a 97-pound adult Labrador retriever without brakes and an almost childlike attitude toward life, loyalty and love.

Grogan paints wonderful scenes from South Florida's fast-forward east coast to a quiet farm in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. From the puppy who got tossed out of obedience class, to the dog who protected Grogan and a neighbor when it was literally a matter of life and death.

Some scenes are laugh-out-loud funny -- an outside dining experience and a toboggan incident in particular -- and invoke images of Scooby-Doo and Shaggy. Hey, Grogan even has a beard on the book jacket.

When the end comes -- as I knew it would -- the tears are real and many because Marley has become a member of the Grogan family. The loss is great and the poignancy with which Grogan conveys it is so sincere. It will stir within you not only the memories of pets who are gone, but of human loved ones lost as well.

At first, I brushed away the tears with my hand, but they kept coming -- and with more frequency. I was afraid the flight attendant would think my husband and I were in the midst of some kind of a horrible fight.

I finally found a tissue, closed the book for a bit and composed myself. My husband looked over and patted my hand. All I could say was, "It's Marley."