Best Friends in Deed

The annual Best Friends animal adoption event on June 4, 2006 in Manchester Park brought together wonderful animals and devoted rescuers for a wonderful cause. LA Animal Services was able to bring hundreds of animals from the shelter and so many walked, were carried or hopped out of the park to new loving homes. Best Friends opened the event to many rescue groups as well so every group in the City of LA was allowed to show their precious pooches and pussycats to potential pet guardians. What a success it was in the cat area for me as a first time LAAS volunteer. I had so much fun showing off the kitties and finding the right matches. Some are shown here. Best news, every cat left to either a home or a rescue group - yeah for the kitties!

My interview with Ed Boks, General Manager of LA Animal Services, and Heidi Hubner, Director of Volunteer Services is informative and explains how YOU can make a difference and help at a Mobile Pet Adoptions to get animals out of the shelters and into the loving arms of families across the Southland. Over 90+ volunteers helped out...even Starbucks' employees left their java and made it a day for the animals. Check out some great photos of the day's festivities. I made friends and learned many things about cats...which I didn't know even being the mom of a crazy brood of three knuckleheads. You never learn everything about animals and this is a great opportunity to learn and comfort these sentient beings that are just coming out of a stressful situation, such as living on the streets and being put in a shelter. You are needed to help them shine and show well so potential adopters will see their best side. And as we all know, shelter animals make the BEST pets...I know, I have had many.

Make a difference - VOLUNTEER at LA Animal Services or any number of rescue groups across the nation.

Learn more about Critter Crusades and our shows to highlight the world of animal rescue!

Spay and Neuter!

Homeopathic Kitties

Well, the kitties had quite the excursion going to see Dr. John - John O as I call him - the genious doctor of homeopathy and naturopathy. They started the day on the picnic benches in cages under the lemon trees filled with birds. Then, to their surprise...and mine...they were then taken to his new "examining room". Actually it was his converted garage/laboratory. All white, nice tables, examining table with of course a window overlooking a beautiful bougenvilla (sp?) bush. It was truly quite a change from the sterile and scary vets' office scenarios. The cats all roamed around sniffing everything in sight and then would sit with John as he would gently touch, gaze, inspect and even hug them one by one.

What if all of us could have such caring treatment ...to health....not illness? What a change we would have. Lots of laughter, instruction on the healing process and diagnosis of 'personality' versus disease. It is such a fascinating process and I highly recommend this to the basic shots and blood tests. So much diagnostic work can be done now and the chances of preventing disease are very high when an animals state of being is balanced. We should ALL be doing this for ourselves.

John helped my dear Astro live to 15 and I am so grateful. He always called him "the Captain" as he would run around his yard and the construction site as it was for over 1.5 years. H did a complete remake of a little shanty into a huge two storied home and then lab/exam facility. All this in his retirement years. After working on 75,000 race horses and then thousands of animals he is getting weary...but happy newly married and enjoying the good life he deserves for sharing his knowledge and love to all our animals. I am so blessed to have him on my 'medical' team. I dare say the kitties won't mind another visit!

Check out new shows on my site Critter Crusades

A New Year for the Animals

Happy New Year! Will it be for the animals of Los Angeles in the shelter systems? There is such hope with a new General Manager in place who expresses ideas that could be taken from the mouth of a rescue organization. But can it be achieved in the bureaucratic system of LA with union workers and apathy amongst council and city officials? Now is the time to see if LA can become the example for all cities to follow for a No Kill system of animal shelters.

Everyone has to be involved, everyone has to be patient, everyone has to keep helping the animals as though it will not happen as everything takes time. New policies and procedures need to be implemented, laws followed, new proposals developed the money to make it all happen.

We need to stay positive and hopeful for a new beginning to make sure that LA lives up to its name ... the City of Angels...for the animals.

Blessings,

Missy and the cats