The Power of Behavioral Rehabilitation in Under-Budgeted and Under-Staffed Shelters

In the intricate web of animal welfare, the journey towards finding loving homes for shelter animals often encounters roadblocks in the form of behavioral challenges. These challenges, ranging from fear and anxiety to undesirable behaviors, can significantly hinder an animal’s chances of adoption and long-term success in a home environment. However, within the constraints of under-budgeted and under-staffed shelters, lies an opportunity for innovation, resourcefulness, and unwavering dedication to the well-being of every animal in our care. Let us embark on a transformative exploration of behavioral rehabilitation, uncovering the strategies and principles that empower shelters to nurture the minds and transform the lives of shelter animals. Continue reading “The Power of Behavioral Rehabilitation in Under-Budgeted and Under-Staffed Shelters”

Cultivating Compassionate Communities: Harnessing the Power of Community Engagement and Education in Animal Welfare

Creating Compassionate Communities

As a fervent advocate for animal welfare, I have witnessed firsthand the profound impact that community engagement and education can have in transforming the lives of animals and the communities they inhabit. By empowering individuals with knowledge, instilling a sense of responsibility, and fostering empathy towards animals, we can effectively address the root causes of pet overpopulation and relinquishment rates. Let us embark on a journey into the many ways community engagement and education can serve as catalysts for positive change in the realm of animal welfare. Continue reading “Cultivating Compassionate Communities: Harnessing the Power of Community Engagement and Education in Animal Welfare”

10 Fascinating Facts Most People Don’t Know About Dogs

As someone deeply immersed in the world of animal welfare, I’ve encountered countless dogs, each with their own unique personalities and quirks. Despite their prevalence in our lives, there are still aspects of dogs that often go unnoticed or misunderstood by many. Here are ten intriguing insights into our furry companions that might surprise you: Continue reading “10 Fascinating Facts Most People Don’t Know About Dogs”

The Pawsitive Health Benefits Associated with Pet Ownership

Introduction

There’s a reason why dogs are known as “man’s best friend” and cats as our “feline companions.” Beyond the joy and companionship they bring, owning a pet offers numerous health benefits that can enhance our overall well-being. From reducing stress and boosting mental health to promoting physical fitness and providing a sense of purpose, the advantages of pet ownership are far-reaching. Continue reading “The Pawsitive Health Benefits Associated with Pet Ownership”

How dogs identify friend and foe by Ed Boks

According to a study reported in the journal Current Biology, dogs pick up emotional cues from other dogs by watching the direction of their wagging tail.

In a series of lab experiments, dogs became anxious when they saw an image of a dog wagging its tail to its left side. But when they saw a dog wagging its tail to its right side, they remained relaxed.   Continue reading “How dogs identify friend and foe by Ed Boks”

Pets provide health, emotional benefits for owners by Ed Boks

Ed Boks and health benefits of pets
Pet ownership comes with many proven physical, mental and emotional health benefits

Pet ownership comes with many proven physical, mental and emotional health benefits – from enhancing social skills to decreasing the risk of heart attack.

Consider a University of Wisconsin-Madison study which found that a pet in the home can lower a child’s likelihood of developing allergies by as much as 33 percent. This research, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, shows that when children are exposed at an early age to animals they tend to develop stronger lifelong immunities. Continue reading “Pets provide health, emotional benefits for owners by Ed Boks”

Benefits to exercising with your four-legged best friend by Ed Boks

Research shows dogs are the perfect workout companion

Are you having trouble sticking to your new year’s resolution to exercise more?  Maybe you need a good physical trainer to help meet your fitness goals.  Have you considered your best friend?   Research shows that dogs are actually nature’s perfect personal trainers.  Dogs are naturally loyal, hardworking, energetic and enthusiastic…basically the perfect work-out partner. And, unlike human workout partners who may skip an exercise session because of appointments, extra chores or bad weather, dogs never give you an excuse to skip exercising.

Many people don’t realize that taking your dog out for a walk at least two times a day can create significant benefits for both themselves and their four-footed friend. According to a number of recent studies conducted by the Centers for Disease Control, the American College of Sports Medicine, the American Geriatrics Society and others: Continue reading “Benefits to exercising with your four-legged best friend by Ed Boks”

Mad Dogs by Ted Kerasote (NY Times op-ed)

This week, Judge Peter Kelly of the New York State Supreme Court may incarcerate 1.4 million New Yorkers. Their crime? Being dogs.

The Juniper Park Civic Association in Queens is taking the city to court over its 1959 leash law, which requires dogs in public places to be restrained by a leash of no more than six feet. In recent years, the law hasn’t been fully enforced. Instead, city park administrators have accommodated the recreational needs of dogs and their owners by instituting “courtesy hours”, usually between 9 PM and 9 AM, during which dogs, under the voice command of humans, can be off-leash in designated areas of the parks. The crown jewel of the courtesy-hour system is Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, where one can see dozens of dogs frolicking on weekday mornings and several hundred on the weekend.

But with 1.4 million dogs in the city, someone in some park at some time will be bitten, just as someone will be struck by a softball, hit by a cyclist or run over by a car. The association has argued that the public must be protected from these occasional bites by restraining dogs at all times. Their reasoning is hardly unique. Across America, more and more urban and suburban communities have instituted leash laws, not only to protect the public against dog bites, but also to protect against lawsuits.

The upshot is that dogs lead ever more incarcerated lives at the end of a very short lead, and dog owners don’t get to play with them in the way dogs and people have interacted for thousands of years. This loss might be viewed as one of the tradeoffs that comes with living in an urbanized world — if, that is, leash laws actually worked as intended.

But after nearly 50 years of watching them in operation, we can say that they’ve brought about the opposite of what we’ve hoped: dogs that are constantly leashed aren’t as well socialized as dogs that get to meet other dogs off-leash; they display more behavioral problems; and they’re often more aggressive. These are the very sorts of dogs that, spending their lives away from their own kind — often in a city apartment or suburban yard — bark their heads off at passers-by, make the mailman’s life hell and act aggressively toward other dogs and people.

Yet, proponents of strong leash laws have a point: 4.7 million dog bites were reported by the Centers for Disease Control in 1994. However, the CDC and its Canadian counterpart also note that the majority of these dog bites — 75% in the U.S. and 65% in Canada – didn’t happen to pedestrians who encountered an off-leash dog in a public place. Rather, most dog bites occurred within the home to a family member who knew the dog. In fact, only 1.1% of all dog bites surveyed in Canada occurred in public parks or sports and recreation areas. Data on emergency room visits in the U.S. also puts the danger of dog bites into perspective. Only 1.3% of all people admitted to emergency rooms in the U.S. are treated for dog bites. The chances of being bitten by a dog are about the same as being poisoned.

The chances of being bitten by an urban dog are even lower. Their caretakers, being city people and not so wedded to automobiles, walk, and when they walk they take their dogs with them. If they have access to parks that allow off-leash recreation, their dogs run and play with other dogs, burning off pent-up energy. In addition, both person and dog get what many of us want nearly every day: access to some green space, safety from cars, exercise and conversation with our own kind.

New York’s dog owners and their dogs deserve these basics, and not simply because the dog owners pay taxes that support the parks. The benefits of off-leash recreation have spread far beyond dogs and their owners. Parks that were once hangouts for criminals have been reclaimed for the non-dog-owning public, in part, by the presence of so many law-abiding citizens walking their dogs at all hours and in bad weather.

Sending the city’s dogs back to leash jail won’t make the parks any safer. The leash law and off-leash courtesy hours have worked synergistically to control dogs on crowded streets while allowing them and their owners to enjoy a small portion of the city’s green space. Both should be kept.

Ted Kerasote is the author of the forthcoming “Merle’s Door: How Dogs Might Live if They Were Free.”

For a listing of LA’s Dog Parks click here: http://www.laanimalservices.com/offleashdogparks.htm