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editor
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 Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 4:17 pm Post subject: |
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Yahoo News
Trying to clear up superbug infections?
Check the family cat
By Helen Branswell
Medical Reporter
The Canadian Press
March 12/08
| Quote: | If your household is plagued by infections of drug-resistant Staph bacteria, give a thought to the family cat, a newly published report suggests. Felix the feline may catch more than the odd mouse. German doctors have reported finding a cat infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus - better known as MRSA - in this week's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers from a number of countries, including Canada, have reported finding MRSA in pets or animals that people can come in contact with - cats, dogs, rabbits, horses, even parrots and other exotic birds. But most of these reports have appeared in specialty journals for veterinarians and microbiologists - perhaps not standard reading for the average family doctor trying to puzzle out why a patient keeps getting infected with the unpleasant superbug.
The German doctors, from the Bavarian Food and Health Safety Authority, recounted the case of a woman who had multiple and recurrent skin abscesses that didn't respond to initial antibiotic treatment.
Investigation showed the infections were caused by MRSA and that her husband and their two children carried the drug-resistant bacteria on their skin or in their nostrils - although in their cases no infections had occurred. After using bacterial nasal ointment and antiseptic washes, the husband and children no longer carried the bacteria, but the woman remained MRSA positive, leading investigators to look at the family's three cats. One was carrying MRSA bacteria in its throat. The doctors reported that after the cat was treated with the antibiotics ciprofloxacin and rifampin, the problem disappeared - though the family wouldn't allow follow-up testing of the cat, so they couldn't say for sure it no longer carried the bacteria.
Dr. Scott Weese, an expert in the diseases people and animals can give to each other, applauded the basic message of the report. "When you investigate the household, you investigate the whole household," said Weese, a veterinarian and researcher at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, Ont., who has written several scientific articles on this topic. "People are definitely infecting their pets and pets are infecting their owners. Most pets that contract MRSA probably got it from a person to start with.... but pets can then send it back." |
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| Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 10:27 am Post subject: |
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The Tyee.ca
Earnest Indie
No Dogs Allowed
In a tight rental market, pets can lock you out.
Is that fair?
By Susan Hollis
April 29/08
| Quote: | ... After being turned down by one landlord of a restored heritage one bedroom I was sure I had in the bag, I asked why? I was willing to pay a huge damage deposit, my dog is well-behaved, quiet and rarely left alone. I'm clean, don't smoke, and as a homeowner myself in Nelson, I make an excellent tenant. So why the hell wouldn't anyone take a chance on Igor and me?
"My first dog tenant was a setter of some type. His owner, a very nice young man who worked long hours, took good care of him and would take him out regularly for exercise and evacuation. Unfortunately, because of the long hours he was sometimes forced to work, the dog would be unable to contain himself and would urinate by the front door. This required ripping out the oak entry foyer floor and replacing it," he replied. "A couple of doors had to be replaced because of the claw marks. One yard had to be dug, levelled and reseeded. All in all, not too bad. The biggest thing is having the government tell me that, if I accepted a dog with a tenant, I was partially responsible for the consequences."
Indeed, when an owner (landlord) accepts a tenant with a pet, they take partial responsibility for any damages that ensue if the deposit doesn't cover the repairs. The Tenancy Act says that a landlord must not require or accept a security deposit or a pet damage deposit that is greater than the equivalent of 1/2 of one month's rent, which in the case of extreme damages won't go the distance, even though pet owners often pay double the amount paid by non-pet renters..
... According to Anderson (Kris Anderson of Vancouver-based Tenant Resource & Advocacy Centre, ..." When the RTA was amended in 2004, it clarified a landlord's right to deny pets from the outset, removing the gray area and making it more difficult for pet owners to find rentals.
... buildings that do accept pets know that and take advantage of that situation. They let their buildings get run down and don't take proper care because they know their tenants have no choice." (emphasis added) |
Auditor General Sheila Fraser was to deliver a report May 6/08 assessing inter alia Health Canada's record in tracking potential epi/pandemics, likely including those that are passed from animals to humans. We'll investigate her findings and report them here. Please check back soon for updates. In the meantime, any thoughts on the rights of pet-slave keepers to inflict these perils on the public?
| Quote: | Cbc.ca/news
MUCH Better Online than On Air
AG report to look at airline safety,
Afghan mission, user fees
May 6/08
| Quote: | Auditor General Sheila Fraser will focus on Canada's mission in Afghanistan, air safety, user fees and care for First Nations children as she releases her latest report on federal government spendingFraser's audit, which will be tabled Tuesday afternoon in the House of Commons, examines eight different areas. ...
The auditor general also looked at the Public Health Agency of Canada, created in 2004 as a response to the SARS crisis to monitor infectious diseases, and whether there have been improvements since surveillance of infectious diseases was the responsibility of Health Canada. |
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A word on treatment for dog bites:
| Quote: | The physician's first priority is to protect the victim from infection. Proper wound management is required to reduce the risk of developing wound infection, sepsis, osteomyelitis, tenosynovitis, and septic arthritis. The wound is cleaned carefully. After cleaning, it is irrigated with normal saline under pressure using a 19-gauge needle and large syringe. A 20-gauge angiographic catheter often is attached and introduced into puncture wounds to facilitate irrigation. Victims frequently state that this is the most painful part of treatment.
It is important to find out when and if the victim had a tetanus shot. Such a shot may be administered if required or the date of the last shot cannot be determined. The dog may be known to be rabid. If so, the victim is treated preventatively for rabies. (Blackman JR. Animal bites. In: Rakel RE, Pedersen D, editor. Saunders Manual of Medical Practice. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 1996; Wiley JF 2nd. Mammalian bites. Review of evaluation and management. Clin Pediatr Phila 1990; 29:283-7.)
Cultures and Gram stain are useless on a fresh wound, but they should be obtained for obviously infected wounds and victims who are already febrile or immunocompromised. [Kelleher AT, Gordon SM. Management of bite wounds and infection in primary care. Cleve Clin J Med 1997;64:137-41.]
Because dogs can develop a tremendous force when biting, x-ray studies might be necessary to determine underlying bone and joint injury. Fractured bones must be set. Nerve injuries must be repaired.
Dog bites to the neck and face require special considerations. Most occur in children younger than 10 years, and severe brain injury and death are most common in this age group. Most deaths occur from hemorrhage from the great vessels of the neck.
The nose, mouth, and parotid region is a primary target area for dog bites. [Morgan JP 3rd, Haug RH, Murphy MT. Management of facial dog bite injuries. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 1995;53:435-41.] Carotid artery injury with delayed cerebral infarction has been reported. [Meuli M, Glarner H. Delayed cerebral infarction after dog bites: case report. J Trauma 1994;37:848-9.] After a detailed exploration looking for damaged tissue (salivary duct, facial nerve, blood vessels), many wounds may be closed primarily. [Morgan JP 3rd, Haug RH, Murphy MT. Management of facial dog bite injuries. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 1995;53:435-41.]
Depending on the type of bite, the wounds may be closed. If the damage is not extensive, the wounds may be closed with tape or sutures. High-risk wounds should not be sutured but should receive antibiotic treatment. Low-risk wounds may be sutured and do not require antibiotic treatment unless infected. High-risk wounds include all human and cat bites; hand and foot wounds; wounds surgically debrided; puncture wounds; wounds involving joints, ligaments, tendons, and bones; bites with treatment delay exceeding 12 hours; and bites in immunocompromised patients. Low-risk wounds include bites involving the extremities, face, and body. (Blackman JR, "Man's Best Friend?", J Am Board Fam Pract 11(2):167-169, 1998.)
Heavily damaged tissue may have to be debrided -- cut away. Sometimes it can be reattached by grafting; other times it is replaced with skin from another area of the victim's body. More than one type of surgery may be required:
Plastic/reconstructive surgery
Orthopedic surgery (emphasis added) (From the excellent Dog Bite Law site we visited May 6/08) |
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editor
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| Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 12:04 pm Post subject: |
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Here's the e-mail a visitor sent in response to CBC Early Edition's weekly Unleashed 'news' segments:
| Quote: | From: Ellen Busby
To: http://www.cbc.ca/earlyedition/contact.html
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 12:01 PM
Subject: Missive to Early Edition
It's OFFENSIVE! how much public money and air time CBC Early Edition staffers waste promoting their friends and bsuiness acquaintances in the dubious industry devoted to the maintenance of canine pet-slaves. I have just two words for these ad salesmen masquerading as journalists - zoonosis (illnesses transferred to humans from animals) and grafting (as in skin, a painful process often employed in conjunction with plastic surgery to treat dog bites). More, including photos of small children injured by dog bites and the varying sucess of their surgeries, at http://bccondos.ca/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1315#1315
If you're going to continue with this nonsense, at LEAST do some actual research on the truly newsworthy aspects of pet ownership - the public health menace, how authorities are tracking it AND how horrible post-bite surgeries are for victims.
Frankly, you make a mockery of everything CBC news staff USED to be. You reap the benefits of their rich legacy then PISS on it with this kind of garbage! PU!
Here's hoping the programming and staff changes these days at CBC are similarly visited at the dreadful booster Early Edition!
Ellen Busby |
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| Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 3:05 pm Post subject: |
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Reason for Hope
A Spiritual Journey
Hardcover
By Jane Goodall with
Phillip Berman
| Quote: | We need only list some of those who have spoken out for kindness and compassion toward animals to realize how many of the truly great have been among their ranks. Albert Eienstein begged us to widen the "circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." Albert Schweitzer insisted, "We need a boundless ethic that includes animals too.l" Mahatma Gandhi believed, "You can learn a lot about the people of a country by the way they treat the animals." ...
One of my favorite stories concerns a London taxi driver who, early one morning, took me to Heathrow Airport. I was tired, I had two weeks of lectures ahead of me, and I planned to doze in the car. But somehow the driver knew that I worked with chimpanzees and launched into a vindictive tirade against everyone who "wasted" money on animals. Especially his sister. He went on and on about his sister. She worked for a local animal protection group. There was so much human suffering, so many abused children. It made him sick to have a sister who cared about animals. There were far too many TV programs about animals. He always turned them off.
I was not in the mood for all that. I was just about to lean back in my seat and close my eyes when I realized that this was exactly the kind of irritating, blinkered person that so desperately needed to be made aware. He represented thousands who the same way. ...
So I sat uncomfortably sidways on the jump seat and talked to him all the way to Heathrow through the little open window behind him. I started off with stories about the chimps ... how some of them loved to paint. And how they felt emotions, and cared for each other, and even rescued each other. I recounted stories about dogs and other animals who had saved the lives of their owners. I suggested that we had a responsibility toward animals in captivity because we had deprived them of any ability to fend for themselves. ...
When I got back to the UK after my tour one of the letters waiting for me was from the cab driver's sister.
"My brother gave me your donation," she wrote. "That was so very kind of you. But the most amazing thing is, something happened to my brother. What on earth did you do to him? He's so nice to me suddenly and he's asking me all these questions about the animals. He's really interested in my work. He's changed. What did you do to him?" (From Chapter 14, The Road to Damscus, pgs. 2224- 226) |
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| Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 12:09 pm Post subject: |
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B.C. Business
Jernalizzzem - B.C. 'BILLY-style
A Dog's Life
Local businesses have found the next big consumer: she's
got four legs, a tail, a floppy tongue and a taste for luxury.
By Jessica Werb
April, 2008
| Quote: | | Caution: Forget the table of contents on this one. You can learn much more about the quality of what's inside from the surfeit of carefully researched letters each month from readers outraged by the publication's shameless infomercials - the few that AREN'T slugged 'Promotional Features'. |
| Quote: | Coco Martin Del Campo may be one of the most spoiled three-year-olds you’ll ever meet. The little brunette spends her days dressed in designer duds carefully picked out every morning by her doting mother, who takes her shopping for new outfits two or three times a month. She gets as many treats as her heart desires, has her nails done every couple of weeks and sleeps curled up in bed with her parents every night.
... Judging by the explosion in the last couple of years of high-end boutiques, spas and services for the canine companion, the local business sector has taken notice. While the value of the Canadian pet industry is difficult to pinpoint, an indication of its potential size can be gleaned from American Pet Products Manufacturers Association Inc., which estimates $40.8 million was spent in the U.S. pet industry last year. The most recent numbers available from Statistics Canada on household spending indicate that the median pet expense per household in B.C. increased from $425 per year in 1997 to $560 per year in 2005 – well above the national 2005 median of $460. (emphasis added)
Where five years ago your typical Vancouver mutt would make do with dried kibble and Milk-Bones, regular walks to the park and a weekly brushing, today’s pooches arguably live better than some of their owners. They can feast on wheat-free peanut-butter truffles made by Vancouver’s K9 Biscuit Company and birthday cakes from Kitsilano’s Three Dog Bakery, sit at a booth and get served a restaurant-style meal at Doggy Style Deli on Denman Street, and boost their heart rates on indoor treadmills before indulging in personalized reiki treatments at Oak Street’s Mestisos Pet Spa – all the while sporting the latest must-have fashions of the day from shops such as Kerrisdale’s Fetch or Yaletown’s Barking Babies. (-- p. 87, 88) |
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| Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 6:51 pm Post subject: |
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The New York Times Magazine
Magazine Subscription
The Green Issue
Pets
By Jeff Stryker
April 20/08
| Quote: | | Americans spend more than $40 billion a year on their pets, more than the gross domestic product of all but 70 countries. An increasing share of this business is being devoted to helping companion animals tread more lightly on the planet. ... (Jasmin) Chua, who lives with her two cats in Jersey City, champions alternative sources like recycled newspapers or wood waste products in favor of clay cat litter (a byproduct of strip mining). ... substitute odds and ends found around the house for expensive plastic, petroleum-based playthings. ... "Microchipping your pet could be a green act," Chua says, noting all the gas guzzled and fliers printed when searching for a lost pet. ... Harry Barker, sells dog beds and toys made from hemp and biodegradable poop bags made from soy and corn. ... beds are stuffed with fibers made from 100 percent postconsumer-recycled polyethylene teraphthalate, which itself is made from water bottles and other discarded plastic items. ... (-- p. 63) |
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| Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 1:04 pm Post subject: |
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COUNTRY LIFE
Magazine Subscription
NEWS in Brief
Feb. 21/08
| Quote: | Badgers and TB:
A new independent report from the Royal Society gives to the necessity for a badger cull. It concludes that about 75% of bovine TB outbreaks are caused by contact with infected badgers. This contradicts the Badger Trust. (-- p. 49) |
Yes, and then May 7/08:
| Quote: | Action on badgers:
A petition signed by 420 vets has been sent to the Government demanding action on culling badgers. Vet John Gallagher says: 'The spread of TB from badgers to humans in inevitable. If a cat feeds outside, an infected badger could lick the bowl, spreading TB to the cat and then children who cuddle it.' He says TB has spread to deer, pigs, sheep and alpacas. (-- p. 87) |
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editor
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| Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 10:08 am Post subject: |
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COUNTRY LIFE
Magazine Subscription
Let sleeping dogs lie
May 1/08
| Quote: | | Dog owners are warned by a Government vet not to let pets sleep in the bedroom for frear of transmitting disease. Dr Fred Landeg says: 'Many new diseases are passable from animals to man, such Sars and hendra virus from bats.' Defra says 10% of Britain's 6.5 million dogs may carry MRSA. However, most owners seem unconcerned; 62% of dogs sleep in the bedroom or kitchen, according to Liverpool University. Beverley Cuddy of Dogs Today says: 'It's scaremongering. You can catch more from the person next to you in bed. With climate change, we shouls use dogs for warmth.' The Kennel Club's Caroline Kisko agrees: 'If the dog is clean and healthy, there's nothing wrong with snuggling up.' But Dogs Trust vet Chris Laurence says: 'Dogs shouldn't be allowed to share everything. Basic hygiene makes sense.' (emphasis added) (-- p. 67) |
But get this, from the same issue:
| Quote: | Labradors as assistance dogs
Disney is making a film about him, and he can use a cashpoint, but Endal was once an assistance-dog reject. Owner Allen Parton tells his tale.
'I was in the Royal Navy, when, in 1991, I sailed to the Gulf War and was involved in an incident that left me in hospital for five years. When I woke up, I couldn't recall being married, I couldn't read, write, walk or talk, and I attempted suicide twice.
'My wife had become a "puppy parent" for a charity called Canine Partners, and, one day, when I was in its waiting room, I was spotted by an 11-month-old labrador called Endal, who had joint problems and who had failed assistance-dog selection. He went across the room to a toy supermarket, took a tin off the shelf, put it in my lap and, to cut a long story short, I was disappearing under a pile of toys when, for the first time in five, I smiled. That night, I took Endal back home to Hampshire.
'Visiting Crufts one year, we were struck by a hit-and-run driver. I was left unconscious, but Endal pulled me into the recovery position and covered me with a blanket, before going to get help. For this, he became the first holder of the Animal George Cross.
'He's also learned to operate a cashpoint, mastered chip and pin, and is still the only dog in the UK that can put a letter in a letterbox. He was also the first dog to fly in the cabin of an aircraft.
'Endal is 12 now, and Disney is making a film about him. I know that, one day, I'll put my hand down and he won't be there, but he's left a great legacy behind - we're now looking to EJ (Endal Junior). I'm very proud of my boy. For more information, visit www.endal.co.uk or www.caninepartners.co.uk.
Labradors as guide dogs
Between 1931 and 1938, the only variations from German shepherd bitches that the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (GDBA) used were four German shepherd males, two golden retriever bitches and three crosses. Now, about 80% of guide dogs are labradors.
Neil Ewart of the GDBA (and a former trainer) says: 'The labrador has few complexities of temperament than the other guide-dog breeds.'
Indeed, German shepherds become frustrated with clumsy owners, can easily become stressed, and have a long, striding gait, which does not suit many people.
For a blind owner, the labrador's short coat make it easy to look after; its size means that its height and stride, plus the width of its harness, are suitable for most people; and the reputation of the breed means that it can carry out its duties without fuss - something Andrew Lane, 28, can testify to. ... (-- pgs. 82-83) |
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| Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 9:12 am Post subject: |
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From Losing Streak:
The Door
Poems
Hardcover
By Margaret Atwood
| Quote: | MOURNING FOR CATS
We get too sentimental
over dead animals.
We turn maudlin.
But only those with fur,
only those who look like us,
at least a little.
Those with big eyes,
eyes that face front.
Those with smallish noses
or modest beaks.
No one laments a spider.
Nor a crab.
Hookworms rate no wailing.
Fish neither.
Baby seals make the grade,
and dogs, and sometimes owls.
Cats almost always.
Do we think they are like dead children?
Do we think they are a part of us,
the animal soul
stashed somewhere near the heart,
fuzzy and trusting,
and vital and on the prowl,
and brutal most of the time,
and also stupid?
(Why almost always cats? Why do dead cats
call up such ludicrous tears?
Why such deep mourning?
Because we can no longer
see in the dark without them?
Because we're cold
without their fur? Because we've lost
our hidden second skin,
the one we'd change into
when we wanted to have fun,
when we wanted to kill things
without a second thought,
when we wanted to shed the dull thick weight
of being human?)
(-- pgs. 11-12) |
Link to this entry
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 3:27 pm Post subject: |
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From The Will to Win:
Good Poems
Hardcover
Selected and Introduced by Garrison Keillor
| Quote: | Dog's Death
John Updike
She must have been kicked unseen or brushed by a car.
Too young to know much, she was beginning to learn
To use the newspapers spread on the kitchen floor
And to win, wetting there, the words, "Good dog! Good dog!"
We thought her shy malaise was a shot reaction.
The autopsy disclosed a rupture in her liver.
As we teased her with play, blood was filling her skin
And her heart was learning to lie down forever.
Monday morning, as the children were noisily fed
And sent to school, she crawled beneath the youngest's bed.
We found her twisted limp but still alive.
In the car to the vet's, on my lap, she tried
To bite my hand and died. I stroked her warm fur
And my wife called in a voice imperious with tears.
Though surrounded by love that would have upheld her,
Nevertheless she sank and, stiffening, disappeared.
Back home, we found that in the night her frame,
Drawing near to dissolution, had endured the shame
Of diarrhoea and had dragged across the floor
To a newspaper carelessly left there. Good dog.
(From Part 10, Beasts, p. 247) |
| Quote: | 3 doz. poems
Audio CD
Selected and narrated beautifully by Keillor
Years of radio have perfected the clarion Keillor delivery! A joy! |
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editor
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| Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 11:03 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | 'If you are wondering what happened to us all, you might consult the poems of Irving Layton.' -- Leonard Cohen (From the front page of Globe Review in the Globe and Mail Jan. 5/06) |
Selected Poems
Paperback
By Irving Layton
Preface by Wynne Francis
| Quote: | On Being Bitten by a Dog
A doctor for mere lucre
performed an unnecessary operation
making my nose nearly
as crooked as himself
Another for a similar reason
almost blinded me
A poet famous
for his lyrics of love
and renunciation
toils at the seduction of my wife
And the humans who would like to kill me
are legion
Only once have I been bitten by a dog.
(--p. 54) |
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| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 10:17 am Post subject: |
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COUNTRY LIFE
Magazine Subscription
My week: Jonathan Self
All hail the Lord of the Wrings
June 11/08
| Quote: | Sally, a former model who married a farmer, is the sort of person who can spend an hour in a muddy field tagging calves wearing her best frock and come out looking spotless. She can despatch a chicken a prepare it for the pot with such speed, efficiency and grace that I always felt it would be pointless to try and emulate her. This week, however, Sally decided that her days as our family butcher were over. With the injunction that I should 'stop being a pathetic worm', she set about instructing me in the far-from-gentle art of chicken neck-wringing.
It's one thing to watch someone else scoop a bird out of the henhouse, hold it firmly by its feet, grab it by the neck just below the head, pull and twist until there's a snapping sound, and quite another to do it oneself. Also, and this is something I had never focused on before, it's rather unnerving when the chicken continues to flap its wings after it's dead. If it actually is dead. My first three attempts were dismal failures, and Sally had to finish them off for me. It wasn't until chicken number four that I came close to becoming, in Jack's words, 'Lord of the Wrings.' My scalding and plucking were more satisfactory, but the less said about my evisceration techniques, the better. (-- p. 71)[ |
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| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 11:45 am Post subject: |
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The New York Times Magazine
Lives
Father Knows Pets
A parent who doesn't so much take responsibility
as bring it into the house.
By Ben Greenman
June 15/08
| Quote: | ... Cheddar, as the cat came to be called, liked to show her appreciation her new home by urinating on it. She hit the couch in the guest room, once in a puddle the sahpe of Australia, once in the shape of Greenland. She hit the clothes that were folded in the laundry room. One morning, I grabbed an upside-down hat and put it on without looking. I should have looked.
So, an unwanted urinator in the house: what to do? ...
... my wife went back to the Internet, which has all the answers, and the answer in this case was a place 100 miles west of Jacksonville called the Caboodle Ranch, a 30-acre sanctuary for unwanted and incontinent cats. It sounded like a dream: Cheddar would frolic in the meadow, climb trees, maybe even wave at the Webcams that the ranch planned to install. We didn't have to take her to Miami; all we had to do was put her on a plane to Jacksonville. ... (-- p. 82) |
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editor
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| Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 11:25 am Post subject: |
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cbc.ca
Public Media Source Showing Signs of YEARS of Excessive Cutbacks
Burnaby apartment's plan to trap cats draws concerns
A spike in the number of roaming felines has raised the hackles of some Burnaby residents who have threatened to take the matter into their own hands.
Aug. 14/08
| Quote: | The strata council of the Beresford apartment complex recently purchased a cat trap to deal with what some residents consider nuisance felines. But the manager of cruelty investigations for the B.C. SPCA, Marcie Moriarty, spoke to the strata about their plan, and thinks it is a bad idea.
"I am concerned that this trap may not be monitored properly," Moriarty said. Moriarty points out that on a hot summer day, it would be cruel and life-threatening to leave cat in a trap for any length of time.
The strata council's president, Craig Wilson, told CBC News on Thursday the council bought a cat trap, but said they don't plan to use it.
Despite that assurance, at least one resident of the Burnaby apartment complex remains opposed to the idea. Donna Bracun doesn't have any cats of her own, but doesn't like the idea of her strata council setting up a cat trap in the building's common area, then shipping the animals to the SPCA. "I don't agree with trapping any animal whatsoever because you're not trapping an animal out of concern or love for it, and the only people that I think should be doing it are the people that are educated and qualified to do so," said Bracun. She said trapping cats isn't the right way to send a message to their owners. "That's basically what they're being used for, is a punishment, and that's their way of imposing a punishment on people that have the right to let their cat go outside," Bracun said.
But Moriarty said it's not the first time she has heard of people taking measures to deal with nuisance cats. "It's not unheard of [but] I've never heard of it from a strata corporation or management company," said Moriarty. |
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editor
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| Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 1:47 pm Post subject: |
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Full Moon
Hardcover
By P.G. Wodehouse
| Quote: | 'Pigs," said Lord Emsworth, raising his voice a little and enunciating the word more distinctly.
Plimsoll explained that what he had been intending to convey was that his name was Plimsoll.
'Oh, is it?' said Lord Emsworth, and paused awhile in thought. He had a vague recollection that someone had once told him to do something - what, he could not at the moment recall - about someone of that name. 'Well, as I was about to say, I am just going down to the sty to listen to my pig.'
'Oh, yes?'
'Her name is Plimsoll.'
'Is that so?' said Tipton, surprised at this coincidence.
'I mean Empress of Blandings. She has won the silver medal in the Fat Pigs class at the Shropshire Agricultural Show twice -- '
'Gee!'
'-- in successive years.'
'Gosh!'
'A thing no pig has ever done before.
'Well, I'll be darned.'
'Yes, it was an astounding feat. She is very fat.'
'She must be fat.'
'She is. Extraordinarily fat.'
'Yessir, I'll bet she's fat,' said Tipton, groaning in spirit. No lover, who has come out to walk in the moonlight and dream of the girl he adores, likes to find himself sidetracked on to the subject of pigs, however obese. 'Well, I mustn't keep you. You want to see your pig.'
'I thought you would,' said Lord Emsworth. 'We go down this path.' (-- pgs 82-83) |
Link to this entry
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Last edited by editor on Sun Aug 17, 2008 2:26 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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