Tails in the News

Novi hosts world’s largest pet expo

The world’s largest pet expo is headed to Novi, Michigan, Nov. 16-18. America’s Family Pet Expo will feature more than 1,000 animals in shows and competitions, animal experts, pet adoptions, and thousands of products for sale. Organizers are expecting upwards of 40,000 people to attend the three-day event.

The expo isn’t just for fans of canines and felines. Llamas (and mini-llamas), reptiles, and birds are just a few of the types of animals who will be on hand. In addition there will be an adoption pavilion and many local rescue organizations will have booths. Because of the large number of animals at the expo, attendees are not allowed to bring their own pets.
In addition to the exhibitors, the expo will also offer entertainment. Joe Krathwolk, “The Birdman of Las Vegas,” will appear with his avian menagerie and dog trainer Renee Jones will also be on hand to demonstrate various training techniques.

Admission is $10 per person. The expo is held at the Rock Financial Showplace, 46100 Grand River Ave, Novi and is managed by World Wide Pet Industry Association, Inc., a national nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting responsible pet care. For more information call (800) 999-7295 or visit PetExpoNovi.com.

Shelter head pens book about experiences

Follow along with the trials and triumphs of running an animal shelter in Friends of Michigan Animals Rescue’s (FMAR) new book, Pet Pals. Written  by Marcy LaFramboise, the book chronicles the initial conception of what would become FMAR and follows the group as it evolves into a functioning nonprofit rescue organization. Pet Pals features more than a history of FMAR; it also offers up inspirational tales of rescued pets and pet care and grooming tips. A portion of each sale will be donated back to the rescue. LaFramboise will be doing two book signings this month; one on Nov. 10 at the Startingline Diner in Belleville and one on Nov. 11 at the Monroe County Library.  For more information visit FMAR1.org.

Send a card, help a pet

Be good to your friends and family and homeless animals at the same time by sending out special holiday cards from the Michigan Humane Society. The MHS cards are a fundraiser for the organization and benefit its programs and services. Each pack costs $10 and includes 15 cards with envelopes that are the perfect holiday greeting for the pet lovers in your life. The cards can be purchased in one of three ways; online, at MichiganHumane.org; over the phone at (866) MHUMANE; or by stopping by one of the MHS’s three Centers for Animal Care which are located in Detroit, Rochester Hills, and Westland.

Legislative Alert!

A bill introduced by Rep. Coleman Young (D-Dist. 4) in September, would prohibit research facilities from obtaining animals to use for testing from animal control or animal shelters if passed by the Michigan legislature. After introduction it was referred to the House Regulatory Reform Committee.
    

Spotlight on the Oakland Pet Fund

The Oakland Pet Fund (OPF) has a clear and distinct objective; to make Oakland County—a 900 square mile area with 1.2 million people—no-kill by 2010. The fund, headed up by Chairperson Deborah Schutt, is all-volunteer and is working with 11 shelters and 27 rescue organizations to make progress toward meeting that goal.

Schutt, along with other active pet-lovers in Oakland County, initially approached shelters about starting the fund, but was told that the help wasn’t needed. “We felt that the paradigm needed to shift in how shelters and rescues approach homeless pets in Southeast Michigan,” she says. “Some rescues say they are no-kill and so do some shelters, but they close their doors when they are full which only shifts the problem to someone else—it does not solve it.”

When Schutt found out that Oakland County was getting a new head of Animal Control, she again proposed the idea, and he signed on. A meeting with all the county organizations and rescue groups resulted in the formation of the OPF.

Perhaps the most noticeable project of the fund is the free spay-neuter cat clinic for low-income Oakland County families that was established with the Oakland Pet Adoption Center. Families that can show proof of income can bring in their cats to be spayed/neutered for free; in 2007, more than 800 cats were treated. Schutt says the success of the OPF in the future is dependent on raising more money to fund additional spay/neuter clinics. “Three percent of the population is responsible for 80 percent of the unwanted pet births,” she explains. “We are targeting that three percent.”
The OPF also provides training DVDs to people who adopt an animal from one of their partner shelters, produces a local access cable show about pets, and has a program that partners senior citizens with cats that need fostering. Though they don’t have hard numbers yet to show progress, Schutt is confident that Oakland County is moving in the right direction.
“Bottom line is we want to meet the goal by 2010 because if we don’t, adoptable and treatable animals will be needlessly euthanized,” Schutt says. “However if we don’t reach it in 2010, maybe it will be 2011 or 2012—we will be a more humane county and we will have made a difference because we started to do things differently—we stopped the insanity of euthanasia as a response to homeless pet overpopulation.” And once they meet their goal of making Oakland County no-kill, they don’t plan on stopping. Schutt says the organization wants to tackle Wayne and Macomb County’s homeless pet population next. For more information visit OaklandPetFund.org.