Scraps & Treats
Knitting for a good cause
Grab your knitting needles and get to work! Petropolis Pet Center’s Knit ‘N Purl for Pets is sponsoring “Puttin’ On The Dog” Sweater Contest. Anyone can participate—all you have to do is create your most unique and unusual handknit or crocheted sweaters and submit them for judging before Labor Day (Sept. 4). The winner will receive $100. All the sweaters entered into the contest will be sold to raise money for the Petropolis Pets In Need Fund, which supplies medical care for the animals that are abandoned at Petropolis, as well as local animal rescue organizations. To date, Petropolis has donated more than $30,000 in services to rescue groups and the Knit N’ Purl volunteers have donated hundreds of knitted and crocheted pet mats to local shelters. Completed sweaters can be dropped off at Petropolis or mailed to: Harriet Cuddy, Petropolis Pet Center, 16830 Chesterfield, Airport Rd, Chesterfield, MO 63005. For more information call (636) 537-2322 x28 or email HarrietC@Petropolis.com.
Million Dog Wall Project
Move over Great Wall of China, you’ve got competition. Angered by the number of unwanted dogs put to death each year in her native Ireland, artist Mary O’Connor has decided to take matters into her own hands. She’s created the Million Dog Wall Project to take a stance against pet overpopulation. O’Connor is asking people all over the world to upload a digital pic of their dog and email it to her website for the cost of $1 (or whatever is affordable). Once she hits the million dog mark, she plans to use the donations to print out a giant photograph of the pooches and display it in all capital cities around the world to show how important pets are to their people. Remaining funds will be used to build a new shelter in Dublin. Hundreds have participated so far. For more information visit www.MaryPOconnor.com/dogwall.html or email Dogs@marypoconnor.com.
Good news for animal rights
Recent legislation across the U.S. has animal advocates smiling. Lawmakers in Maine made history in March when they enacted a first-in-the-nation law that allows judges to include pets in protection orders for spouses and partners leaving abusive relationships. Growing evidence of the link between domestic violence and animal abuse fueled the decision. In Santa Clara County California, an ordinance passed that calls for adding the word “guardian” to any reference to people with pets in county documents (the term is now pet “owner/guardian”). In making such a change, Santa Clara County joins other U.S. cities including Boulder, Berkeley, West Hollywood, and the state of Rhode Island. County supervisors are hoping the wording change will be part of an overall education program ultimately reducing
the number of stray and abandoned animals in the county. And finally, in Chicago, the City Council passed an ordinance that prohibits the sale of foie gras, a culinary “delicacy” made by the inhumane factory farming practice of force-feeding ducks or geese to create a diseased, fattened liver. According to HSUS, Chicago joins California and more than a dozen countries—including the United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland—in taking legislative action on the issue of foie gras and cruel force-feeding practices.
