Tails in the News

County pet shelter opens new facility

Recently celebrating the grand opening of its new and larger facility, Maricopa County Animal Care and Control (MCACC) hosted an adoption drive to promote the adoption of older and heavier pets, who are typically the most difficult to adopt out. Adoption fees were waived, and the public was welcomed to view the new building, located at 2500 S. 27th Ave., only one mile from the former facility.

With approximately 500 animals at the new location, MCACC Director Rodrigo Silva says the goal is to better serve the Phoenix metropolitan community. 

At a cost of $17 million and encompassing 54,000 square feet, MCACC can now isolate and care for sick animals without having to euthanize them.

For more information, call (602) 506-PETS.

2008 Charitable Trust recipients include

animal organizations

The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust recently awarded more than $2 million to 20 Arizona nonprofits, including five animal organizations: Whispering Hope Ranch Foundation, Animal Defense League of Arizona, Healing Hearts Animal Sanctuary Inc., Nature Conservancy in Arizona, and the Peregrine Fund.  

As a business leader, journalist, humanitarian, and lover of all creatures, Ms. Pulliam’s assets were placed into an irrevocable charitable trust to support the causes she loved in her home states of Arizona and Indiana. The grant making began in 1998 and has thus far awarded $72 million to Arizona charities. The trust will be in existence for the next 50 years.

Green pet store opens with “Noble” mission

A new pet store has recently opened in Phoenix, and it’s taking the green movement with it.

Noble Beast, located at 1005 E. Camelback Road, and its owners, Alison Chandler and her longtime friend Marsha Mardock, are focused on offering organic, holistic, and eco-friendly products.

“Four years ago I was diagnosed with cancer,” says Chandler, “and started looking at alternative ways to boost my health, such as organic eating.”        
At the same time, her family got a puppy who had been fed only a raw diet. Weak from illness, Chandler went in search of natural dog food that would be easier than raw, and although she found a substitute, she was forced to drive to north Scottsdale to Fetch Doggie to keep stocked. “That’s when I began thinking Phoenix needed a similar store, and since I had been a stay-at-home mom for years and wanted to get back into the workforce, I decided this was an opportunity.” Launching the store alone, Chandler admits, was a struggle. However, partnering with her best friend was the perfect solution.

Noble Beast offers some of the best products available. “We are still searching for an organic cat food,” Chandler says. “I don’t know why there seems to a problem finding one, but we will.”

Azmira holistic animal-care products are one of Chandler’s favorite lines and are made by Lisa Newman, a holistic vet in Tucson. “She makes wonderful homeopathic remedies for pets to help everything from valley fever to cancer and diabetes. And she makes vitamin supplements and a line of pet food.”

With many customers searching for alternative food and medicine, Noble Beast has carved its niche in the heart of Phoenix.

Cactus Cats helps with seasonal cat crunch

With larger adoption/rescue organizations such as the Arizona Humane Society now dealing with a seasonal “cat crunch” that forces them to turn away surrendered cats due to too little space, smaller organizations such as Cactus Cats Rescue have helped find permanent homes for strays as well as an overflow population of cats who might otherwise be euthanized.

Cactus Cats Rescue, a volunteer 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in operation for approximately two years, was formed by a group of animal-loving friends from other organizations who now foster out of their homes.

“We don’t have a permanent facility of our own,” says Edward Gately, one of the founders, “but we do have adoptions every Saturday at Petco at I-10 and Ray Road and permanent adoption space at the Petsmart at Alma School and Warner in Chandler. Mainly, we take cats from the street or ones from animal rescues [who] are going to be put down.”

For an $80 adoption fee, guardians can take home a healthy feline companion who has been tested, is current on shots, and, if old enough, spayed or neutered.  

For more information, visit CactusCatsRescue.org.

Robo-canine companions deter loneliness

A recent study found that a living dog and a robotic dog are equally effective at relieving loneliness and providing companionship for nursing home residents. Dr. William Banks, a professor of geriatric medicine at St. Louis University, performed the study using his own trained therapy dog, Sparky, as the control. The robotic dog, Aibo, was manufactured by Sony and discontinued in 2006.

Thirty-eight residents from three nursing homes participated in the study. All were asked a series of questions to determine their level of loneliness and then separated into three groups. The first group was a control group that did not interact with either dog. The second group spent 30 minutes a week with Aibo, the robotic dog, and the third group spent the same amount of time each week with Sparky, the real dog. After seven weeks, no statistical difference was found in levels of loneliness between those seniors who spent time with the robot and with the real dog (although both groups were found to be less lonely than the control group).

Banks says he was very surprised by the outcome of his research. After evaluating the results, the professor predicts a future in which the elderly could remain independent longer. —Jaime A. Hubbell