New proposed Mandatory Microchipping and Spay/Neuter ordinance in Southern California

Los Angeles already passed this as law, much to my great disappointment. Now it seems Riverside County is trying, again, to pass this ordinance. I am overwhelmingly AGAINST this legislation. I believe we pet owners should have the right to choose when we spay/neuter our pets and not have the government mandate it and FINE us if we are not in accordance. In addition, I believe we reserve the right to choose microchipping if we see fit. There are many studies detailing the health problems in both male and female dogs arising from early spay/neuter. Just to list a few articles on the topic: 

Long-Term Health risks associated with Spay / Neuter in Dogs

Early Spay-Neuter Considerations for the Canine Athlete

To Spay or Neuter? What your Vet may not tell you

Spaying and Castration (Neutering) Dogs and Cats A Stark Warning

To learn more about the proposed ordinance and what it really means to you as a pet owner I've listed a few more links below. Among them are sites, such as the AKC, that offer actions that you can do to oppose and fight against this ordinance passing. I would appreciate your support in fighting to keep our right to choose what is best for our pets!

Riverside County Department of Animal Services

American Kennel Club - AKC news

No Pit Bull Bans

AKC SB 250

Find what District you belong to and write to your representative expressing your view on this issue today! Each representative's site includes either a map of his district or a list of cities included in his district. I live in Corona, 2nd District. 

District 1

District 2

District 3

District 4

District 5

Kinda bummed I can't update my side bar...

For example, the Workout log - from my cell, nada, ain't happenin'. 2.96 miles today and it didn't feel like that much. I find that if I eat pasta for lunch I have much better stamina in the afternoon/evening for jogging.

Now I lay me down to sleep...

I will wake way too soon but I hope I don't feel the affects of nil sleep to harshly. This sucks but I cannot get two things in my life to happen opposite of each other enough so they don't interfere with my sleep! Good night, I hope.

Work out log 3/18/09 - 2.58 Miles*

2.58 miles

24.37 min

9.33 min/mi average pace (with a best pace of 7.34 min/mi)

88 degrees

1.7 % average grade

And a large dog that I discovered does NOT do well jogging in 88 degree weather. Would have done better if I didn't have her with me. Poor girl.

Shelter puppies, disease and heartbreak.

I'm sure many people have already heard the terrible news of Oprahs heartbreak in losing one of her shelter adopted puppies to parvo virus. I applaud her efforts to draw attention to the pet overpopulation problem in this country by setting an example for her viewers in adopting from a shelter. But, with the sad death of her puppy there may be mixed reactions by the public at large. You can find some great reading on this topic in Dolittlers veterinarian blog. She raises the question, will the public now shy away from adopting from shelters for fear that their pet will fall ill with a deadly virus or disease? I sure hope not but I've seen worse reactions from the public on various issues and I wouldn't be surprised if it does happen. Either way, people need to take responsibility for the decisions they make. If you decide to adopt from a shelter then yes you are doing a great thing by helping these over crowded, understaffed facilities and the general "people are idiots and don't know what they are getting themselves into most of the time and so their pet gets dumped at the shelter" problem. But, you also have to realize that you don't really know what you are getting and if you make this decision you should be prepared to deal with the possible consequences. If you cannot financially keep your end of the bargain you should not be adopting from a shelter in the first place. It would be much better for someone in this position to go to a rescue or a breeder. Although, these routes are not a guarantee for a completely healthy and problem free pet, it does offer better odds because you will have had a rescue evaluate the pet before adoption and if you choose the breeder route a reputable breeder will have documentation of family/genetic lineage and access to some of the family your pet is coming from. I think dealing with a reputable and responsible breeder offers a person the most informed pet acquisition process. I have rescued from shelter before. This dog has recently been diagnosed with an incurable degenerative neurological disease. Am I going to take her back to the shelter because I didn't expect this? HELL NO. When I adopted this dog from the shelter I made a promise to this animal, and in my mind to the shelter, that I will take care of her no matter what and I take that obligation very seriously. Pets are not inanimate objects that can be tossed away when a person loses interest or finds them too burdensome. 

Bottom line: be informed, take responsibility and show some integrity. 

Too much on my plate but I can't help it!

It's a disease I think. I am not a T.V. watcher - never really have been. I CAN watch but mostly if I'm interested in T.V. it is for one or two shows only. However, I am addicted to the World Wide Web! I just recently joined Twitter and I have to admit I don't really understand the point of it yet. I have a Facebook account (along with a long list of other things: YouTube, Meetup.com, Dogster, many yahoogroups and lets not leave out my beloved Blogger) and there you can post what you are doing at any given moment too, but that goes along with a huge network of people with profiles and photos, videos, links, and all kinds of other gadgets. If I understand Twitter right, it's like the Facebook "what are you doing right now?" except that just it - nothing else. As if I need something else to take up my time and attention?

I'm drawing nearer to the end of my schooling. It is that time to buckle down and hit the books hardcore in preparation for taking the National licensing exam for ARRT. It is said that I need to devote and average of one hour per day until I take my exam sometime after May 14th. There is a lot of procrastination in me... and I'm easily distracted. I'm debating on wether I need to take a hiatus from my beloved WWW.

~sigh~

The way I see it, I'm still going to need to take "breaks"... but I may just be enabling myself. ;-)

Yawn!

I really don't want to be here right now. This place is so drudgy and stale. I'm dead tired from a long day and I want nothing more than to fall into my soft, comfy, dog hair laden bed. I need to recoup and rejuvinate so I can muster the energy to run with the pups tomorrow. This entire week has been too busy and I was only able to take them running once. I feel like sloth not only because of that but also because I just consumed the entire gift baggie of chocoalte I received today from Julie. Julie, a former classmate who had to quit the program because she came down with cancer in her neck, still tries to be the little sweetie she always has been. She always put together little goodie bags for every holiday. I miss her bubbly personality in class. I hope she can beat this thing.

I need to get home and sleep!