A friend recently sent me the following lovely poem by poet extraordinaire Mary Oliver. Because it was about a dog, I automatically compared that animal’s experiences with those of my puppy, Ollie. Once I did that, I could not resist the temptation to portray Ollie’s alternate reality poetically, too. Below are both poems, the exquisite original and the parody. Luke, by Mary Oliver from Red Birds I had a dog who loved flowers Briskly she went through the fields. yet paused for the honeysuckle or the rose, her dark head and her wet nose touching the face of
Read more →Last day to sign up for the New England Federation of Humane Societies’ panel discussion on behavior assessments at the University of New Hampshire is Tuesday, October 23rd. I looking forward being part of the panel and exploring the many facets of this complex subject. For a registration form or if you have any questions, contact Stephanie Frommer at stephanief@humanecommunity.org or call 603-352-9011 extension 123,
Read more →Given that this is the season of hope and joy, and especially miracles, a good friend’s dog is in the process of having puppies as I write this. I was at her place yesterday and experienced that feeling of awe like no other as I laid my hands on that dog’s abdomen and felt the lives within. We both readily agreed that there was do word to describe it but “miracle”. And when my friend, a vet tech, called while ago to tell me the first pup had been born, she used the same word. As I pondered this
Read more →Here’s a link to an interesting story about Maine’s new domestic violence law that covers both people and animals. It’s long been known that abusers will target animals belonging to others as a way of indirectly abusing those people, too. It’s also long been known that people will stay in abusive relationships if they can’t take their animals with them. Although this often elicits images of family pets, as the woman interviewed in this article makes clear, it also can affect farm animals. Read article here
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