NAVTA has been around for 28 years. From their web site: “The mission of NAVTA is to represent and promote the profession of veterinary technology. NAVTA provides direction, education, support and coordination for its members, and works with other allied professional organizations for the competent care and humane treatment of animals.”
Jen, Kim, and Em at our recent PAWS rehab
Something I never considered is the wide variety of specialties that a Vet Tech can have expertise in. Things like:
Dentistry
Anesthetics
Internal Medicine
Emergency and Critical Care
Behavior
I work with three really fabulous Veterinary Technicians on a regular basis. I want to give a big shout of thanks to Emily, Jen, and Kim for all the help they give me each day!
I also want to give a big shout of thanks to the Veterinary Technicians at Bigger Road Veterinary Clinic, where I take Bailey. They’re competent, empathetic, and I’m always confident that Bailey is getting the very best care when she is in their hands.
Behind the Paw Bloggers Summit at our Poe Avenue HQ
Last week, I played hostess to eight really wonderful (and talented) people who came to visit us as participants in our first Behind the Paw Blogger Summit.
The photo shoot was a while back, so I’ve been wanting to talk about this for weeks! We announced today that Hilary Swank is our celebrity Ambassador for the 2009 Iams Home 4 the Holidays!
From the press release:
“After 10 years of successfully helping millions of orphaned pets find homes, Iams Home 4 the Holidays (IH4TH) today announced that two-time Academy Award-winning actress Hilary Swank will serve as the drive’s 2009 ambassador. Swank will share her personal experience with adoption and rescue in an effort to help educate others about how they can make a positive impact on the lives of homeless pets. Along with founding partner Helen Woodward Animal Center and nearly 3,500 participating animal organizations from around the world, the program has set a goal to help 1.5 million pets find homes Oct. 1, 2009 through Jan. 4, 2010.”
Some of my teammates were at the photo shoot, which happened at the The Helen Woodward Animal Center, and they tell me that Ms. Swank walks the talk–she is passionate about getting pets adopted!
Ms. Swank shares her life with 2 rescued dogs: Karoo is the smaller dog who she rescued from the town of Karoo in South Africa while filming a few years ago. She adopted Rumi last fall through an Iams Home 4 the Holidays participating shelter in Los Angeles.
I’m not sure I’ve mentioned lately how much I admire Bad Rap Rescue (Bad Rap = Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pitbulls). A heart-felt post was made today regarding Michael Vick to the Bad Rap Blog. Two blogs that make for good reading: vick dog blog (wonderful photos!!!), and the Bad Rap Blog (which is a constant source of inspiring stories!).
It doesn’t feel like 2 years have gone by since this story was first told–it feels like it happened last week. But maybe that’s because I spend a lot of time talking to people who care about dogs. I’m still not sure how I feel about Mr. Vick returning to football, but I think the Best Friends’ statement comes closest to how I feel about the whole thing: “Wouldn’t it have been better if, before he was given the privilege of returning to the NFL, he had spent at least one year working for the good of animals?”
You’re reading a pet blog, so I’m assuming you’re into pets and you probably already know about Petfinder.com. You may have even found a four-legged friend to adopt from Petfinder. But have you taken the time to get to REALLY KNOW this site?
In addition to an excellent “Search for a Pet” tool, there are some really good training articles on the site, as well as some pet health articles.
There’s a Fun pagewhere you’ll find ecards, games and videos. There’s also a Petfinder Bog!
And so many available widgets! I had a really hard time choosing one for the Fire Hydrant!
Lastly, because this is Adopt-a-Less-Adoptable-Pet Day, here are links to a couple of Happy Tails about Cow and Cooper a dog and a cat who had special needs and were adopted by special people. Enjoy!
Big thanks to Cooper and Otis who pointed this out to me last week–even before I heard about it at work!
I gotta love a company that features stuff for dogs!! And it makes them doubly cuddly because they’re supporting the fight against canine cancer.
Orvis is having a photo contest which includes an opportunity for consumers to contribute to The Morris Animal Foundationto help find a cure for canine cancer. Orvis and Eukanuba will match $$ contributions made through the photo contest site, so your contribution counts twice! As you may know, Bailey is a cancer survivor–so we feel very supportive of any contest that helps generate money to fight canine cancer.
You can enter your dog in the contest up until 11:59 PM ET on January 24, 2010. Voting ends on February 7, 2010 at 11:59 PM ET. HEY COOP AND OTIS! You guys are way cute–you should enter the contest!
[This link takes you to the press release. And if you wanna know everything about fly fishing, check out the Orvis YouTube channel!]
I mentioned on Monday that I had attended the BlogHer Conference. I know that there are some pet bloggers out there who follow me, so this week I wanted to recommend the BlogHer site because there is so much useful information there for folks who blog–regardless of your sex.
There’s lots to see, but to get your feet wet, from the blue horizontal tool bar at the top of the home page, check out the All Topics drop down menu for blog posts that you might find interesting. Among the ones I find interesting are Pets (an under-represented subtopic of Life) and Tech & Internet. One of my favorite posts under T&I is Tai Chi for Trolls.
Information on the Chicago conference which took place last week continues to be updated. Take a look at the agenda for the BlogHer conference–especially the training tracks. Granted, there is some stuff there that focuses on mommy bloggers, but each session has something that a pet blogger could learn from. Also, check out the Geek Labs. (The agenda lists live links that take you to a description of what that topic is about.)
All of the sessions for the BlogHer conference were captured as live blog posts. Included with each entry is the blog address for the folks who presented each particular session–so this is a really good way to find blogs you might be interested in reading on a regular basis (yes, I know they’re not pet blogs, but people who don’t blog about their pets can also be interesting).
I’m continuing to come down off my estrogen high achieved in Chicago. And I’ve been talking some more with Romeo the Cat and Scratchings & Sniffings. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a blogger conference that focused on pet bloggers? Where pet bloggers could exchange ideas and learn ways to make their blogs better?
Last year, we (Iams) partnered with shelters and rescues around the world and found homes for more than 1.2 million orphaned pets! This year (our 11th), runs from October 1, 2009, through January 4, 2010, and our goal is 1.5 million adoptions!!
Participation in Iams Home 4 the Holidays if absolutely FREE! No hidden cost. No shipping or processing fees.
Registered participants receive:
A DVD copy of the “How-To Guidelines” including
materials that can be used to contact local news media,
proven successful ideas for pet adoption events,
fill-in-the-blank news releases and governmental proclamations,
and other materials to increase success.
Your own IH4TH online web pages to use in promoting pet adoptions and to keep track of successes.
Your local radio and television stations will be able to download IH4TH Public Service Announcements recorded by the official IH4TH celebrity spokesperson (I know who she is, but I can’t tell you yet, but it’s really someone wonderful!!)
Iams “Starter Kits” that can be used as an added incentive for potential adopters which includes food.
For a long time, Ron Burns has been one of my favorite artists. I discovered him on a poster for a shelter—I don’t even remember which one it was so long ago. He does dog and cat portraits that are incredible.
I recently ran across him on Twitter.
I like his work because his color choices are totally electric, and his subject matter is nearly always four-legged. And he does a lot of wonderful charitable work for animals.
And now, he’s just finished illustrating a new book called Rufus Rhymes! It’s a lovely book of lullabies featuring his dog, Rufus, and definitely worth checking out!
Look at that happy pooch! Gotta love those colors!
