Friday, October 5, 2012

Back in the saddle


How bad have I been at this blogging thing? This is why I never start a blog. Or a journal. Or a postcard.

But great news to report: just like my husband predicted, Cam's new fosters fell  in love with him and have adopted him. Hooray for our buddy! I am over the moon for them all.

In the meantime, we've put our house on the market, so any fostering attempts are stalled for now.

But I had a win this week. While sharing an adorable video of a beagle puppy finding his "aroo", shared by Beagle Freedom Project with some of my co-workers, I got the opportunity to talk to them about the reality of dogs being used in animal testing, how they can make a difference by not supporting companies that still practice animal testing, and shared with them lists to ethical companies and companies to avoid, as well as links to Beagle Freedom Project and PETA. It was eye-opening for them. I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to share through invitation rather than petitioning on my soapbox.

Spread the word. Change the world. Even just one dog at a time.


Saturday, September 1, 2012

Cruelty Free Friday - companies who test

A list of companies whom you may have thought didn't perform animal testing is below. I've highlighted some of the ones you are likely to have at home and have been buying for years. I think you'll be as stunned as I was the first time I read this list.


Alcon Labs
Allergan, Inc.
American Beauty
Answer
Aramis
Arm & Hammer
ArmorAll
Arrid
Aveda
Avon
Axe
Aziza
Bain de Soleil
Ban Roll-on
Banana Boat
Bausch & Lomb
Benckiser
BenGay
Biotherm
Block Drug Co. Inc.
Bobbi Brown
Bounty
Boyle-Midway
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
Bumble and Bumble
Cacherel
Cargill
Carpet Fresh
Carter-Wallace
Chesebrough-Ponds
Church & Dwight
Clarion
Clairol
Clear Choice
Clinique
Clorox
Commerce Drug Co.
Consumer Value Stores
Coppertone
Coty
Cover Girl
Crest
Daisy Fuentes
Dana Perfumes
Darphin
Dawn
Del Laboratories
Desitin
Dial Corporation
Diversey
Donna Karan
Dove
Dow Brands
Drackett Products Co.
Drano
EcoLab
Eli Lilly & Co.
El Sanofi Inc.
Elizabeth Arden
Erno Laszlo
Estee Lauder
Faberge
Fantastik
Fendi
Final Net
Finesse
First Response
Flame Glow
Flirt!
Garnier
Giorgio Armani
Givaudan-Roure
Glade
Glass Plus
Good Skin
Grassroots
Helena Rubinstein
Helene Curtis Industries
Herbal Essences
Huggies
ISO
Ivory
Jhirmack
Jo Malone
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson Products Co.
Jovan
Kaboom
Keri
Kimberly-Clark Corp
Kiton
Kiwi Brands
Kleenex
La Mer
Lab Series
Lady's Choice
Lancaster
Lancome
Lava
Lever Brothers
Lipton
Listerine
L'Oreal USA
Lubriderm
Lux
Lysol
MAC Cosmetics
Mars (candy company)
Mary Kay
Matrix Essentials
Max Factor
Maybelline
Mead
Michael Kors
Missoni
Mop & Glo
Nair
Naturelle
Neutrogena
Neutron Industries, Inc.
Ojon
Olean
Orange Glo
Origins
Oscar de la Renta
OxiClean
Pantene
Parfums International
Pearl Drops
Pennex
Pfizer, Inc.
Pine-Sol
Plax
Playtex Corporation
Pledge
Polident
Ponds
Post-It
Prescriptives
Prestige Brands
Prince Matchabelli
Proctor & Gamble Co.
Quintessence
Raid
Ralph Lauren Fragrances
Reckitt Benckiser

PS, here's another crappy thing. Tom's of Maine and Burt's Bees--two companies I was using as alternatives to companies who use animal testing--I have just learned are owned by Colgate and Clorox, companies who do perform animal testing. They are listed as cruelty-free on sites like thevegetariansite.com, peta.org and leapingbunny.org because they are cruelty-free. But they fund companies who are not! Please don't support them. And please write PETA, Leaping Bunny and The Vegetarian Site--and others like them--thanking them for their work but urging them to be more thorough with their list. We cannot make change if we are stuck in ignorance.

Another transition for Cam

Sometimes when you want to do a good deed, you end up learning a humbling life lesson instead. As sweet and friendly as Cam is, we had to admit to ourselves that he was not a good fit at our house--or we were not a good fit for him. We have a little too much going on right now to be fosters to a high energy lab. After three days of zero sleep, we were both starting to show it at work and when work is getting threatened, that is a bad thing indeed.

This would be the first time I'd had to back out of a foster. It was supposed to get easier with each dog, as we learned better how to be fosters, as we all grew more used to the disruption to our routine. To be faced with the reality that I can be overwhelmed by having an extra one in my home--in my life--is hard to take.

I worked with the rescue to find Cam a new foster. I was relieved, but also felt like I'd failed him. I knew that getting him to a calm and appropriate foster situation would be better than being in one that is not. By admitting we were overwhelmed and getting him to a stable home I have to think we did the right thing. My head knows this. My heart disapproves.

I had to remind myself that for the several days he was with us, we showered him with love and affection, gave him toys to play with and healthy food to eat, took him to the vet and got him current on his shots as well as had him neutered. We took good care of him and never took our own frazzledness out on him. I suppose we acted as sort of a stop-over before Cam went to his actual foster, Lance.

As we drove to meet Lance, Cam blissfully poked his nose out the window of our car and let the breeze blow his floppy ears. He grinned contentedly. He really is a good car rider.

When we pulled up to the parking lot of Albertson's, the midway point where we would be making the exchange, I eagerly craned my neck to get my first look at the new foster. "That's him," my husband said when we saw the green Expedition. I waved at the man behind the window and he returned my wave with a smile. Oh, good. I liked him already.

He stepped out of his SUV and I saw that he hadn't even changed from work--he was still in slacks and a polo shirt. On his right forearm was a calligraphy tattoo. I didn't look long enough to make it out ("Stare,"my writing teacher had said. Mom said it wasn't polite to stare. Conundrum.) I liked the juxtaposition of this clean-cut guy and his big tattoo. Juxtapositions can mean balance. A sense of responsibility as well as a sense of fun. The thing I liked the most was the huge smiled that spread over Lance's face when my husband led Cam out of the backseat of our car. Love at first glance. And when Lance mentioned that his wife worked from and--best of all--that they had had labs before, I knew we had made the best decision for Cam by giving him to a new foster. All Most of my anxiety melted away.

That last look back at a foster dog is always the hardest. I'm so happy they are where they need to be, but sad to say goodbye to an animal I have loved and cared for--no matter how briefly. It helped that Lance watched us as we drove off, and waved from the front seat of his Expedition.

I didn't cry as I had anticipated. Not until the next day, when I broke down in frustration over the state of my flowerbed (I'm not a good gardener) and found hot tears flooding my eyes. They weren't for the overgrown wildflowers and choking poppies; they were for that big, yellow, handsome boy.

I am not a failure, I remind myself. A failure would have allowed her pride to steer the situation, and as a result made a foster situation that was tense, anxious, and fertile ground for issues at work, trouble in my marriage, unhappiness for our dogs and unbearable stress for a dog who just came out of an unstable, stressful situation. If I had done that, I would have failed us all. Sometimes, conceding defeat is the most graceful, most compassionate action you can take.

On the way home from the meeting with Lance, my husband said, "You know they're going to adopt Cam, right?" I glanced over at him. His eyes were on the road, the wind was blowing in from all the windows we'd had down for Cam. "I could tell by the way he smiled when he saw Cam. I bet within two weeks, they'll have adopted him."

I hope he's right. I'll keep you posted.

"Camelot"

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Cam, day three

Today hasn't been easy. To our surprise, Cam was not neutered when we got him and the first two days he peed in several areas of our house, despite our attempts to keep a close eye on him. Two curtains, our bed, a pillow, my husband's work bag and our dog, Estes.

Poor Estes, this isn't the first time she's been peed on.

Today I took him in to be neutered and he handled it like a champ. The hard part will be keeping him calm for two weeks so he can heal--he's basically a puppy in a big, gangly 65 lb body.

Honestly, we weren't prepared for this experience. We were under the impression that he'd be neutered when we got him. Besides that, our house is brand new, and we are considering selling it--so the peeing really is an issue. But hopefully he won't feel the urge to mark his "territory" now that he's had the surgery. Fingers crossed!

I wish I could say fostering is always easy. It isn't. Our girls are thrown off by the change in their routines. We're thrown off by it too and doing our best to provide a loving, stable home to all. The first few nights are always rough as everyone tries to figure out sleeping arrangements and the foster learns what is appropriate.



But he continues to be a loving boy, and despite each one of us in this house being utterly exhausted at the moment, we're forging on.



Sunday, August 26, 2012

Cam(pbell)

A big, sweet yellow boy with beautiful eyes and a glorious smile arrived today from Nebraska. We met the transport at the Children's Hospital parking lot and brought him home. After a meeting with our Westies on neutral turf (the park by our house) we all went inside to get settled.

First order of business is always a bath. Some dogs are dirtier than others, depending upon where they've come from, but all get a bath right away.

The girls waiting anxiously at the door during Cam's bath.

After that, there was food, water, and the receiving of some fun toys.


Nothing beats a delicious bone.


And then there was a lot of chasing around our back yard...



...followed by some nice time spent simply relaxing.

In the cool grass chewing a super fun toy.

A busy day in a new place but he's handling it like a champ.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Cruelty Free Friday


Since learning that beagles are used in laboratory testing, I have made a commitment to reading labels thoroughly and only buying products that are cruelty free. 

Beagles are the most popular breed for lab use because of their friendly, docile, trusting, forgiving, people-pleasing personalities. The research industry says they adapt well to living in a cage, and are inexpensive to feed. Research beagles are usually obtained directly from commercial breeders who specifically breed dogs to sell to scientific institutions.

I hope you'll join me in taking action as a consumer. Let's show these companies that we don't agree with their methods, and we will not support them.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Coming soon...

He comes on Sunday. The wait always makes me feel both giddy and anxious.

I don't know much about him except that he's young--probably around 1 or 2 years. He was found abandoned in a house in Nebraska, along with one to two other males and a female with ten puppies.

I don't know what the rest of the story is--how they came to be abandoned. That's the thing: sometimes you get the whole back story, sometimes it's just bits and pieces.


I love dogs, so getting to be around more dogs makes me happy, but there is always that unknown of a new dog, too. Will he and my dogs get along ok? Will he be nervous or relaxed, chew my furniture and shoes or not be interested, be house broken...or not? Will he be comfortable going into a crate if need be?

I don't even know if he has a name.



But we'll know in a few days...