June 22, 2007, Notes in passing, By Mauri Formigoni

There is a certain amount of violence that occurs naturally between animals, though we do not like to admit it. Much depends on the attitude of the victim and the dominant animals in the milieu. Male lions will mate with a female in heat, yet kill any cubs fathered by another.

Sex, territory, and resource management are reasons for violence. My canaries are fragile animals who can easily die from fear and a resulting heart attack. This week they killed a male canary who was newest and appeared weak. I have a major singer who fathered two young males, and when the opportunity arrived to adopt an unsexed black and white young canary, I agreed. He turned out to be a young male, leaving two sexually mature males, three immature males, and one female. A dangerous mix and my responsibility. So the passion act occurred and I must either separate them into smaller cages or balance the existing population by introducing new females. Clearly not the focus of this column, just observations about the animal population.

We have a young female Black Lab mix named Velvet, who came in a year ago. She was very young and very sick, appearing unable to survive shelter life. So she was fostered by Shari, a kind volunteer, at her home for several months and grew healthy and beautiful. When Shari had to leave Mexico, Velvet had several other volunteer friends and did well for some time. Lately she has suffered from anonymous bites on her legs. We do not know the origin, but we do know that Velvet holds herself to be a victim, a sure cause for attack. Velvet loves people but struggles with other dogs because she wants an owner and other dogs pose a threat. She deserves to be considered as your new pet because she gives unconditional love to her owner and is ready to make you her best friend.

Sharing experiences

Previously I mentioned the International Seminar for Animal Care Expo presented by the Humane Society of the United States in Dallas in May. As there were many seminars from which to choose—Caring for Animals, Helping People Help Animals, Field Service, Marketing and Fund Raising, Working with the Community and Adoptions—Cathy Eignus of Amigos de Animales, Kathi Hamblet of Sociedad Protectora de Animales and I attended separate events to get a broader perspective and to collect information on a wide range of topics. We all took notes and came home buzzing with enthusiasm and wish to share our experiences with any of you who are interested. We will present our findings in a shady new area in the SPA, recently cleared and roofed and available for private meetings. Please join us on Sunday, June 24th at 1pm at Los Pinos 7 just across from the bus station (Centro de Autobuses) for a brief discussion by the three of us. This will give us a chance to share our books, videos, notes and experiences and to discuss way
s to use this information in our current work on sterilization, vaccinations and their effectiveness span, and trends in adoption. We are interested in hearing you ideas as well and hope this will encourage you to attend next year’s meeting in Orlando, FL.

Although I discussed Cappuccino last week, we did not get his picture printed. So here is a picture of the “Wounded Warrior” himself in all his glory. We have lots of studly cats for your viewing pleasure. Please come and visit.

Need a fur fix?

Also our volunteer helpers have been absent as it is the low season. Many are away and we still need visiting animal lovers appearing to play, walk or bathe puppies, kittens, cats or dogs. We rely on you and need your help. Please call me at 154-5930 or come by the shelter Monday–Friday 11–2pm to see if you would like to spend time here. If you are suffering from a fur deficit, we have the remedy!