Fashion Friday : Pet Fashion Show

I live in NYC, Manhattan Upper East Side no less, so I see a lot of dogs wearing clothing and accessories of all types, including booties, raincoats, sweaters, sunglasses, barrettes...the list goes on. Some of it is form-meets-function, like the vests that double as harnesses, booties to protect paws from hot pavement, and sweaters or raincoats for extreme weather, but a lot of it is strictly for fun.

But fun for the dogs? I don't know.  I guess these Manhattan dogs are used to it, because I never see one walking like this down the sidewalk:



I however, have 3 cats. They do not take kindly when I try to accessorize their naturally fabulous state.

Pirate Meatball lasted for approximately 2.5 seconds before she decided she no longer wanted
to participate in such ridiculous Halloween shenanigans. She is a good sport.

NYC goes so far with their pet-fashion obsession that there is even a yearly Pet Fashion Show! I don't see many (any) cats in there...gee I wonder why!

The New York Post reported on the 2013 Pet Fashion Show. Hard-hitting news. Check it out.



So, what do you think about playing dress up with our pets?  Leave your thoughts in the comment section!

*~*~*~*~*~*

96 Elephants : Poaching and the Illegal Ivory Trade

Recently, an elephant named Satao, thought to be the largest-tusked elephant living in Africa, was killed by poachers.  Known as the last "great tusker", Satao was shot with a poacher's poison arrow. His death was long and painful.

When his body was found, his magnificent tusks had been cut off, his face horribly mutilated in the process.

Look how phenomenal he was.
"Great tuskers" are bulls with tusks so large they can rest them on the ground.  They are extremely rare.

96 elephants are killed every day in Africa...that's 35,000 a year.

It would be easy to point fingers and demonize other countries' faults, political loopholes, and cruelty. The unfortunate truth is that we need to take a long, hard look the mirror for the solution because...

The USA is the SECOND LARGEST importer of illegal ivory in the world. 

It's our fault.

I am a volunteer with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) as a guide at the Central Park Zoo in NYC.  WCS is partnering with the 96 Elephants Campaign to spread awareness about the illegal ivory trade and elephant poaching.  They need 1 million signatures.

If Satao's story or these facts upset you, then please sign your name here.

Ian Somerhalder, Elephant Hero

This Monday (June 25, 2014) actor and animal activist Ian Somerhalder testified on behalf of the elephants at the Natural Resources Hearing on the domestic ivory ban. Check out his passionate testimony:



As part of the testimony, Somerhalder said, “There’s really only one word that can describe the situation of elephants in the wild today; they are in crisis. The characteristics that make elephants so iconic around the world – their beauty, majesty, and power – are precisely what make them so desirable to poachers.”

Thank you Ian, you are a hero for elephants.

New York State Historic Ban

Just this past week New York State passed a historic ban on the sale of elephant ivory and rhino horn.  According to this WCS press release, the legislation amends the state’s environmental law to ban elephant ivory sales with only a few exceptions for antiques with small amounts of ivory, certain instruments made before 1975, and transfers for educational and scientific purposes or through the distribution of estates.

Protect the Tuskers

In the 1960's, Kenya's first president ordered armed guards to protect a "great tusker" named Ahmed. Ahmed was protected by two armed guards later in his life, and died of natural causes at age 55. Now Kenyans are calling for around-the-clock protection for the few remaining tuskers.

Help their petition reach 20,000 names by signing your name.

A portrait of the famous Kenyan elephant Ahmed, in 1972.

Thank you, on behalf of elephants everywhere, for your help.

Follow 96 Elephants on Facebook

Follow 96 Elephants on Twitter

Read more about me and my volunteer work in my About Me Page!

*~*~*~*~*~*

Calling all Photographers! Shelter pets need your help

One of the most important things you can do to help your local shelter and rescue animals is to photograph them.  Yes, shelters absolutely need volunteers that are willing to clean cages, walk dogs, socialize cats, and so much more, but if you have an eye for photography and can work your way around a camera, then your skills are in HIGH demand across the country!

Check out these Before And After photos to see what a difference a good photo can make:

You can't even really see him in the top photo! 

Great example of the difference appropriate lighting and a better angle can do!

Such a sad intake photo, the one on the bottom shows what a charmer this dog is!

See what I mean?! Powerful stuff. It really is the difference between life and death, particularly at high-intake kill shelters.

You don't even have to be a professional to help homeless pets.  Here are some shots my boyfriend and I took of 2 kittens (Bobby and Joey) that we were fostering last year with NYC animal rescue Zani's Furry Friends.  They were adopted together shortly after we published the photos! 

You can see they're not fancy like the ones above, but they're still 1,000% more flattering than their intake photos from the NYC ACC.  I don't have those photos to show you unfortunately, sorry (but they were not good).

Joey lounging on a suitcase. I love his "come hither" eyes in this one.

Bobby at a Zani's Furry Friends adoption event at Petco.
"I'm so cute and such a good boy! Adopt me please!"

Joey hanging out at a Petco adoption event.
Joey and Bobby were adopted together at one of these events!

We took photos of all the cats at the adoption event that day, and they came out beautifully. Again, we are not professional photographers, but do have a nice camera and a pretty good eye.  Zani's was so appreciative, our photos were featured in their newsletter and really helped their cats get noticed.

All this reward for just a couple of hours of work.  We did it, so could you!!

Here's an idea: See if there's an adoption event in your area, show up with your camera, chat with a volunteer about your plan to help, and start shooting! Get an email address for the rescue or shelter, and email them your photos.  I promise you that good photos will NOT go to waste.

Good photos that capture the gleam in the animal's eye and love in their heart are gold for these animals and their rescuers, and can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, Petfinder, or the rescue's own site to help them find homes.


Tips, Tricks, and Related Links:

How to Take Great Photos of Shelter Pets Step-by-Step

The Power of a Good Photo for Shelter Dogs

This Photographer Is Giving Her All To Save Shelter Dogs

PAWSITIVE SHELTER PHOTOGRAPHY -- Saving Good Pets Through Better Photography

*~*~*~*~*~*

Teach Me Tuesday: Drinking from a Water Bottle

I am working to introduce my own 3 cats to kennels and water bottles, to prepare them for a long flight next month. We are moving to Singapore!! I will definitely share everything I've learned about the whole process in the very near future (preparations, paperwork, shippers, quarantine, kennels, best airlines, etc).

But anyway, back to the topic at hand. Teaching cats to drink from a water bottle. None of them ever had seen one before much less drank from one, so it was interesting. 

I found this video online, was very helpful:





I dip the end of the bottle in wet food and they lick it off.  Best to do it when they're already hungry.  Fancy Feast gravy lovers really works for us, since that's their special treat food, and it has a lot of liquid gravy in there. I found if I tried it with wet food they didn't really love, they decided after just a couple licks that it just wasn't the effort, and it lost their interest.

Now that their kennels are all assembled I feed them all meals there. I put the bowls all the way in the back for now, so they get used to crawling all the way in. After a couple weeks I'll start feeding them in the door hanging bowls, and after that I'll try closing the door for feeding time. Slow and steady wins the race, especially when teaching cats.

Here's a photo of dinnertime last night, with my 3 cats:

Oliver, Meatball, and Pretzel getting dinner in the kennels.

That's all for now! More coming soon. Let me know if you have any questions!

*~*~*~*~*~*