In March of 2022 my husband and I volunteered to provide foster care for a two-year-old female Great Pyrenees dog for the Great Pyrenees Association of Southern California Rescue. She had been found on the streets as a stray by a wonderful woman who witnessed her being struck at by a person with a broom, so this kind rescuer bribed the dog into her car with some lunch meat and the dog made her way to safety at our Downey Animal Care Center. She was emaciated, filthy, and had ear infections and diarrhea. Our Downey medical team treated her ear infections and tested her for parvovirus, giardia, and other diarrhea causes. She was vaccinated and dewormed. Great Pyrenees Rescue adopted her and provided ten more days of care at their veterinarian, but needed a foster family to take her in. We knew this girl needed help, so we stepped up. We took her immediately to the groomers for a good bath (she was so dirty we couldn’t tell what colors she was!) and named her Freya.

One of my favorite sites on social media is the site called WeRateDogs. WeRateDogs asks pet owners to send photos of their dogs, then posts selected photos with humorous comments. Dogs are rated on a scale of one to ten, but always get an above-ten rating. The posts are always enjoyable and heartwarming. WeRateDogs has over 20 million followers across all platforms including Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok.

Several years ago, I was walking our three dogs at the time – Isabella, a Great Pyrenees, Rebecca, a Golden Retriever, and Lucy, a Bernese Mountain Dog. In the middle of our walk, Isabella began having difficulty breathing. Her gums turned blue, she began vomiting, and collapsed. I was several blocks from home and couldn’t leave them unattended while I ran home for my van. I called my friend, who drove over immediately. We live about 15 minutes from an animal emergency hospital, and as we were driving there another friend called ahead to alert them to have a gurney ready to rush Isabella into treatment. The registered veterinary technicians were curbside when we pulled up, and Isabella went immediately into the emergency room. Her temperature was already 105 degrees.

Being an animal lover from my earliest memories, one of my favorite childhood movies was Dr. Doolittle. As you probably know, Dr. Doolittle was a veterinarian who had the magical gift of being able to talk to animals. Oh, how I wished I was able to do so as well!

Walking your dog can be one of life's simple pleasures, offering exercise, bonding time, and a breath of fresh air for both you and your furry companion. However, safety should always be a top priority to ensure a positive and enjoyable experience for both you, your pet, and other people and animals in the community. At DACC, we see many instances of dog attacks and injuries when pet owners are walking their dogs. Many of these could have been avoided if the right precautions had been taken. In this blog, we'll explore essential tips for safely walking your dog.

Last month I wrote about the benefits of pets in the workplace. Improved employee morale and engagement, work-life balance, recruitment and retention, and stress reduction in the workplace are just some of the many benefits to having pets at work. However, to make this experience positive for everyone there are some best practices to consider. In this blog we'll explore the top tips for bringing pets to work.

The Covid pandemic rewrote the social contract between employer and employee, creating new opportunities for work scheduling and locations. Employees discovered the benefits of working from home, achieving a better work-life balance by avoiding long commutes and other stressors associated with working outside of the home. One of those stressors includes leaving pets behind all day when they go to work.

Working in the animal welfare field can be an emotionally challenging career choice. Dealing with life and death situations, witnessing animal abuse and neglect, and struggling with limited resources when there is so much need has caused many in this field to leave and pursue other types of work.

A big part of getting people to comply with the law depends on how well they can understand what they are expected to do. When I joined DACC, many parts of the Los Angeles County ordinance for animals – called Title 10 – hadn’t been updated for several decades. It was full of arcane legal gobbledygook that would give an aspirin a headache. How could we expect animal owners to follow the law, and officers to enforce it, if it was so difficult to decipher?

Since the days of Noah some people have been particularly drawn to owning exotic animals. While Noah was ordered to amass his collection to save animals from a flood, these days people obtain unusual pets for different reasons. Some are attracted to the animals’ appearances, others to the novelty and attention they receive for having them as pets.