| E-Cards Have Gone to the Dogs; Cats Fight Back!
Trend spotting is easy. Sales figures go up sharply when something new catches on, whether it's rap music, hybrid cars, or the newest i-phone. Remember when most homes didn't even have a computer? It's no surprise that since busy people everywhere are choosing to communicate at the speed of light in every way, e-cards have forged their way into our culture. But dog-loving e-cards? And what about the cat lovers? They need to send greetings, too!
www.SloppyKissCards.com debuted in June of 2006 and the site has already caught on in a big way. For just $9.95 USD, members can send customized greetings with any of more than 50 different breeds of dogs featured on the card. The combinations are unlimited.
Sloppy Kiss Cards is the brainchild of Nicole Stocker, a former Microsoft employee.
Rusty's long trip home
SIX months on the road and he's finally made it home. Rusty, the four-year-old bull terrier-cross, was given up for dead after disappearing from his Canberra home half a year ago. But to everyone's surprise, he has "done a Lassie" and turned up alive and well – just north of Adelaide, 1200km away. Somehow Rusty travelled across state borders to Two Wells, 40km north of Adelaide, before being picked up as a "stray dog" last weekend by the RSPCA after a call from the public. So how did the four-year-old bull terrier-cross cover the huge distance – by plane, train or an automobile? "Well one thing is for sure, he didn't walk," Rusty's owner Shane Gowen, 21, said yesterday as he celebrated the return of his "best friend" after paying $400 for the dog to be flown to Canberra from Adelaide on Friday night.
Offices will go to the dogs when pooch-friendly day hits
Sure, every day can't be the weekend, your dog seems to say. But couldn't I come along and just curl up under your desk? Well, at some companies, he could. And here's your chance to convince your workplace to join the party, at least for one day: June 22 is the ninth annual Take Your Dog to Work Day, as declared by the trade group Pet Sitters International. Your boss may scoff at the idea - the kind of thing they do at those big California tech companies with their wacky, Frisbee-throwing corporate cultures. And it's true that firms like Amazon and Google are well known for their pet-friendly policies. .
Century of puppy love
CENTENARIAN Irene Maland is a great great grandmother who has been a Guide Dogs SA and NT supporter for as long as she can remember. And counts dogs among her all-time favourite companions. So she was understandably delighted to have the organisation's mascot labrador, Bella, as guest of honour at her 100th birthday yesterday, saying: "I have had a soft spot for guide dogs and all dogs. "Dogs are faithful and they never turn on you." Mrs Maland, who celebrated the milestone at her Camden Park home, told family and friends to forget presents this year and instead make a donation to her number-one cause. She attributes her longevity to clean living, including a diet of seven vegetables a day and freshly-squeezed orange juice.
Rescue groups encourage dog-lovers to adopt pooches - wisely
Good news from the Salt Lake County Animal Shelter is that funds have been granted to redo the heating under the kennel floors. The bad news: The work will not be completed until December. "The repairs will be done in three phases, causing us to close off 30 kennels at a time while the floors are torn up," spokeswoman Temma Martin says. While the kennel loss is temporary, it can be the difference of life or death for animals. "The best thing people can do to help in the next months is to reduce the number of animals coming into the shelter," Martin said, adding that spaying and neutering is the first choice. "Besides cutting the number of litters born, spayed and neutered pets are less likely to wander away from home," Martin says. Current identification tags are vital, and microchip identification is advised.
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