90 - 60 - 45 or Walk Your Freakin’ Dog Yourself!

90 - Percentage of people who consider their pet dog or cat to be a family member.

60 - Percentage of pets that are overweight.

45 - Percent of owners of overweight pets who say their pet is in “ideal” shape.

Source: Health, Nov. 2006.

You mean there are people who don’t think that their pets aren’t part of the family?

Of course, now I’m wondering when the t.v. shows for helping your pets lose weight are going to start on Animal Planet. I mean, you can already buy doggy treadmills — People, just walk your dogs! Get outside! It’s good for you too! This is just plain ridiculous and absurd! Talk about your lazy human syndrome! Walk your dog outside. If you don’t have time or can’t make the effort, you don’t deserve the dog.

Tags: interesting trivia, pets, dog treadmill

Pets In The Workplace

Over the weekend, I saw a segment on Today Weekend Edition which must have been filler leftover from their show on “Take Your Dog To Work Week” back in June. However, I was attracted to the story because it focused on workplaces that are pet-friendly all year round, not just one day a year.

According to this national poll of working Americans 18 years of age and over, nearly one in five U.S. companies allows pets at work. And, a majority of those polled believe there are benefits to having pets at work such as relieving stress, improving relationships with coworkers, making for a happier workforce and creating a happier work environment.

According to the survey:

• 55 million Americans believe having pets in the workplace leads to a more creative environment
• 53 million believe having pets in the workplace decreases absenteeism
• 50 million believe having pets in the workplace helps co-workers get along better
• 38 million believe having pets in the workplace creates a more productive work environment
• 32 million believe having pets in the workplace decreases smoking in the workplace
• 37 million believe having pets in the workplace helps improve the relationship between managers and their employees
• And, 46 million people who bring their pets to the workplace work longer hours! [APPMA]

More

Tags: pets in the workplace

Feeling Old Yet?

Beloit College has released its latest “Mindset List,” to help academics understand what freshmen know — and what they don’t have a clue about. This list has been prepared each August since 1998 and past lists are available online. [“What Your Freshmen Don’t Know” (Inside Higher Ed)]

Here is this year’s list, for the Class of 2010. I’ve bolded the ones that really made me feel old. Which ones make you feel old?

1. The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union.
2. They have known only two presidents.
3. For most of their lives, major U.S. airlines have been bankrupt.
4. Manuel Noriega has always been in jail in the U.S.
5. They have grown up getting lost in “big boxes”.
6. There has always been only one Germany.
7. They have never heard anyone actually “ring it up” on a cash register.
8. They are wireless, yet always connected.
9. A stained blue dress is as famous to their generation as a third-rate burglary was to their parents’.
10. Thanks to pervasive head phones in the back seat, parents have always been able to speak freely in the front.
11. A coffee has always taken longer to make than a milkshake.
12. Smoking has never been permitted on U.S. airlines.
13. Faux fur has always been a necessary element of style.
14. The Moral Majority has never needed an organization.
15. They have never had to distinguish between the St. Louis Cardinals baseball and football teams.
16. DNA fingerprinting has always been admissible evidence in court.
17. They grew up pushing their own miniature shopping carts in the supermarket.
18. They grew up with and have outgrown faxing as a means of communication.
19. “Google” has always been a verb.
20. Text messaging is their e-mail.
21. Milli Vanilli has never had anything to say.
22. Mr. Rogers, not Walter Cronkite, has always been the most trusted man in America.
23. Bar codes have always been on everything, from library cards and snail mail to retail items.
24. Madden has always been a game, not a Super Bowl-winning coach.
25. Phantom of the Opera has always been on Broadway.
26. “Boogers” candy has always been a favorite for grossing out parents.
27. There has never been a “skyhook” in the NBA.
28. Carbon copies are oddities found in their grandparents’ attics.
29. Computerized player pianos have always been tinkling in the lobby.
30. Non-denominational mega-churches have always been the fastest growing. religious organizations in the U.S.
31. They grew up in minivans.
32. Reality shows have always been on television.
33. They have no idea why we needed to ask “…can we all get along?”
34. They have always known that “In the criminal justice system the people have been represented by two separate yet equally important groups.”
35. Young women’s fashions have never been concerned with where the waist is.
36. They have rarely mailed anything using a stamp.
37. Brides have always worn white for a first, second, or third wedding.
38. Being techno-savvy has always been inversely proportional to age.
39. “So” as in “Sooooo New York,” has always been a drawn-out adjective modifying a proper noun, which in turn modifies something else.
40. Affluent troubled teens in Southern California have always been the subjects of television series.
41. They have always been able to watch wars and revolutions live on television.
42. Ken Burns has always been producing very long documentaries on PBS.
43. They are not aware that “flock of seagulls hair” has nothing to do with birds flying into it.
44. Retin-A has always made America look less wrinkled.
45. Green tea has always been marketed for health purposes.
46. Public school officials have always had the right to censor school newspapers.
47. Small white holiday lights have always been in style.
48. Most of them have never had the chance to eat bad airline food.
49. They have always been searching for “Waldo”.
50. The really rich have regularly expressed exuberance with outlandish birthday parties.
51. Michael Moore has always been showing up uninvited.
52. They never played the game of state license plates in the car.
53. They have always preferred going out in groups as opposed to dating.
54. There have always been live organ donors.
55. They have always had access to their own credit cards.
56. They have never put their money in a “Savings & Loan.”
57. Sara Lee has always made underwear.
58. Bad behavior has always been getting captured on amateur videos.
59. Disneyland has always been in Europe and Asia.
60. They never saw Bernard Shaw on CNN.
61. Beach volleyball has always been a recognized sport.
62. Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti have always been luxury cars of choice.
63. Television stations have never concluded the broadcast day with the national anthem.
64. LoJack transmitters have always been finding lost cars.
65. Diane Sawyer has always been live in Prime Time.
66. Dolphin-free canned tuna has always been on sale.
67. Disposable contact lenses have always been available.
68. “Outing” has always been a threat.
69. Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss has always been the perfect graduation gift.
70. They have always “dissed” what they don’t like.
71. The U.S. has always been studying global warming to confirm its existence.
72. Richard M. Daley has always been the mayor of Chicago.
73. They grew up with virtual pets to feed, water, and play games with, lest they die.
74. Ringo Starr has always been clean and sober.
75. Professional athletes have always competed in the Olympics.

Hat tip: Dr. Steven Taylor @ Poliblog

Tags: Freshmen, Soviet Union, U.S. airlines, bankrupt, Manuel Noriega, Germany, DNA, Milli Vanilli, Google, Mr. Rogers, Walter Cronkite, bar codes, Phantom of the Opera, Law & Order, Retin-A, green tea, Waldo, Savings & Loan, Michael Moore, Disney, CNN, Bernard Shaw, Diane Sawyer, Dr. Suess, Richard M. Daley, global warming, virtual pets, Ringo Starr

No Pet Left Behind

Remember after Hurricane Katrina when the rescue teams were trying to get people to leave their homes where their was no electricity or water and it was actually dangerous for people to stay due to toxins in the air and flooding water and decaying wildlife?  One of the problems that rescue teams had was that people refused to abandon their pets, something many people across the nation completely understood, because for many of us a pet is another family member, for some of us like me pets are our children.  No one would have expected those people to abandon their children if they were human beings, but animals are not considered worthy of the same help.

Senators Ted Stevens (R-AK), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ, Lincoln Chafee (R-RI, and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and House Representatives Tom Lantos (D-CA), Christopher Shays (R-CT), Barney Frank (D-MA), Don Young (R-AK) and James Oberstar (D-MN) have sponsored bills (S. 2548 & H.R. 3858) in their respective Houses of Congress to make sure that what happened during Hurricane Katrina never happens again.

The PETS Act requires local and state emergency preparedness authorities to include in their evacuation plans how they will accommodate household pets and service animals in case of a disaster. Local and state authorities must submit these plans in order to qualify for grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Furthermore, the Senate version of the PETS Act (S. 2548):

• Grants FEMA the authority to assist in developing these plans.
• Authorizes financial help to states to create emergency shelters for people with their animals.
• Requires the provision of essential assistance for individuals with household pets and service animals, and the animals themselves, following a major disaster.

In addition to the trauma experienced by evacuees who are forced to abandon their animal companions and the subsequent suffering the animals endure, there are serious health and safety risks to disaster areas that are exacerbated by the abandoning of pets. Many of these problems can be mitigated or eliminated simply through the proper planning and response. [“Pets Evacuation and Transportaion Standards Act” (The Humane Society)]

The good news is that the U.S. House of Representatives voted 349-24 to pass it’s version of PETS on May 22nd.  If you want to see who those naughty 24 Republicans were who voted against it, click here and be sure to write them a letter and tell them what you think about their vote too.

So, now that just leaves the Senate.  Want to know what you can do to help let your Senators know you want PETS passed?  Stop by this Take Action website and it has phone numbers and email links to everyone and everywhere with tips on what to say.  I encourage you to do it all.

Tags: PETS, S 2528, HR 3858