feature
Pet Life featured post, a Pet Life Media favorite.
Anti-Zoo Extremists Go To Washington?
On July 26th, anti-zoo extremists based at the Animal Welfare Institute announced new and extreme legislation that targets the marine mammal community. The bill titled the “Strengthening Welfare in Marine Settings (SWIMS) Act would phase out the keeping of cetaceans in human care for any purpose. The animals targeted in the bill include killer whales (orcas), beluga whales, pilot whales, and false killer whales by forbidding facilities from ever raising them under their care. This includes breeding them, transporting them to other facilities, and housing them for public display. While it allowed existing facilities to continue caring for the animals who live under their care, it would force them to phase out their animal programs.
By Jenna Deedy4 years ago in Petlife
Moola
Country living it's what I love. I raised my family in Arroyo Seco, and now I'm enjoying life out here in Elkhorn along the coast of the Monterey Bay. I'm tucked right in the middle of ten minutes from the beach and ten minutes from our local shopping center. Life couldn't be any better than that. Unless you have to walk that country Blvd at 7 am in pink rubber boots while carrying a bucket of grain to fetch two cows who are out on the road, two cows from a herd, you told your neighbor, "yes, I can feed them for two days while you are out of town."
By Paula Cushman4 years ago in Petlife
Argo: In Memorain to a Rescued Pilot Whale
Argo, a 22-year-old short-finned pilot whale at SeaWorld San Diego, passed away on July 3rd. According to animal care staff at SeaWorld, Argo experienced health issues a year ago. Despite efforts by the veterinary team and zoological specialists who diagnosed and treated him, Argo could not recover from his condition.
By Jenna Deedy4 years ago in Petlife
Miami SeaQuarium Accident: Trainer Speaks Out
On April 9th, 2022, Ally Barry, a marine mammal trainer at Miami Seaquarium, was involved in an accident involving a dolphin under her care. During a show at the Flipper Lagoon habitat, Ms. Barry was rammed by Sundance, the dolphin she was working with, displayed an act of aggression. He did so by ramming her three times. While something has sparked Sundance to become aggressive, the media, as usual, is having a field day.
By Jenna Deedy4 years ago in Petlife
The Importance of Loose Leash Walking
Dogs that pull on their leashes are often tricky and frustrating to walk. This can lead to problems such as the dog being walked too quickly and the owner becoming stressed and frustrated. One common issue dog owners face is walking a dog that pulls on its leash. This can be difficult and frustrating, not to mention dangerous if the dog gets too far ahead or runs after something. You can do different things to help train your dog to walk nicely on a leash.
By Matthew Angelo4 years ago in Petlife
"Catfish" as a Pet
I have an algae eater fish that looks like a catfish. She is huge as you can probably see. She sharp pins or spikes in her fins as her defense. I know this because she had accidentally flipped herself out of the aquarium before one day. Luckily she was soon put back in the tank with no harm done. She was fine.
By Regina Mauldin4 years ago in Petlife
An Open Letter to Scott Ross
To Scott Ross, My name is Jenna Costa Deedy and I am a SeaWorld-Busch Gardens Adventure Camp Alumni from 2006 until 2010. As a camper at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and at the SeaWorld Parks in Orlando and San Antonio, I got to learn about and work with a variety of animals from terrestrial birds and mammals such as parrots, giraffes, gorillas, and rhinos to several species of marine animals such as sharks, stingrays, dolphins, penguins, and orcas. In addition, I was lucky enough to work alongside various zoo and aquarium professionals who served as my mentors through college.
By Jenna Deedy4 years ago in Petlife
Maple My Cereal Box Prize
Maple My Cereal Box Dog She poked her nose out of a cereal box and I fell in love A two ton yellow garbage truck showed up for collection in the parking lot of our elementary school. I was assigned to be the coordinator to collect cereal boxes for the first post consumer waste in Cincinnati. It was an experiment and I had to get the job done. People from far and wide came with their prized empty cereal boxes, and the volunteers and I corralled them toward the back of the truck. Pretty soon after three hours of collection, pounds of the pre post-consumer material filled the mammoth lemon color vehicle. Don't ask how I fell out of the truck.
By Zel Harrison4 years ago in Petlife
A KENNEL
CRUSTY ARTISAN BREAD, FRESH FRUIT, BOILED EGGS AND AMARETTO SPIKED COFFEE set before me by my own hand in lieu of a plan to be drawn however slowly throughout the morn. I needed to draft a business outline. The farm took a sudden veer in this alternate direction. It must become a kennel. "It is not enough to designate as farm in any manner which the board can find fit. What you can do is have a kennel... or something along that line. Maybe you should plan a hobby farm...worms or something." The mocking tone of the county zoning officer echoed in back of my mind as I rushed through numbers pressed onto newsprint and catalogs. I traced out a basic format on copy paper listing purpose and starting a list of itemized means. We had a truck and were expecting a trailer to be delivered to our purchase point some hundred and fifty miles south. Kennel cages and kennel fencing would cost a pretty penny but if we got a few before heading out to the land we could make it work. There was no building on the land handed down through family and sold to me as the only interested party, but I had a house plan that included room for a detached kennel and kennel run. The best thing about it all was the openness of the area. There was a bird aviary off in the distance, about a thousand feet out from our spot. There was also a small wooded area littered with evergreen... Northern Pine of a tree farm. The closest neighbor. an older couple with a brick house situated on the corner of the main roadway, was one thousand feet in the opposite direction. The older couple were acquainted with my grandparents and were actually anticipating our arrival as new neighbors. I made note of the perfect fit of such business to the area.
By CarmenJimersonCross4 years ago in Petlife
IMATA: Homecoming
After the COVID-19 Pandemic caused a two-year hiatus, IMATA (International Marine Animal Trainers' Association) will start off the new year by returning to in-person conferences at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The week-long conference will run from February 27th through March 5th. This organization is dedicated to advancing the care of marine animals in zoological facilities by fostering communication between zoo and aquarium professionals who serve marine animal science through training, public display, research, husbandry, conservation, and education.
By Jenna Deedy4 years ago in Petlife
