The Petcast

Steve Friess on KNPR on 8/22/11 discussing the mass layoffs at the R-J on 8/18/11.

What is the only Nevada lake to empty into the sea? Know it? E-mail TheStripPodcast [at] aol.com or call 702-997-3300 by June 29.  If we draw your correct answer, you pick from the prize list at TheStripPodcast.Com.Twitter: @TheStripPodcastBlog: VegasHappensHere.ComVoicemail: 702-997-3300Open & Banter: Start to 24ishKen Ehrlich Part I: 24-58ishTrivia/Poll/Letters: 59-59ishKen Ehrlich Part II: 1:00-1:25ishTSTToTW: 1:25-endThis week on The Strip: It was by far the most hyped – and to our minds the best – new show to hit the Vegas Strip this year. Celine Dion has returned to the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in a self-titled production that is radically different and vastly better than “…A New Day,” her groundbreaking first run in the vaunted showroom. Legendary TV producer Ken Ehrlich directed “Celine,” so we spoke to him at length about the intriguing decisions he, the singer and her husband made. Why didn’t they include the closing-number special effects when they opened in March? Was it weird to rehearse Celine’s duet with herself? What’s the story behind that French song that makes her cry every night? Why wasn’t the songstress at the United Center when Ehrlich produced two star-studded final-week shows for Oprah Winfrey last month? In Banter: Anniversaries! Wynn Politics! TV Show Tapings! Maloofs! Monorail Bashing! and more.

Every day when I walk Black, Jack and Aces, this bird comes out of the tree next door and swoops down to frighten my dogs. Birdy Bin Laden never actually pecks the dogs, but he does follow us for about a block on our walks. I have no idea why. They have nothing to do with American foreign policy regarding Israel. Heck, they're (I think legal) Mexicans. They're innocent. Visit the podcasts TheStripPodcast.Com or ThePetcast.com or read the blog VegasHappensHere.Com.

Web: ThePetcast.ComEmail: [email protected]: 702-997-3300After all these years of considering it, Steve adds a new member of his family. Hear the exciting story of how he and Miles came to rescue this 8-pound Chihuahua they've named Aces. The original Petcaster, Emily, joins Steve for this discussion, which includes some questions and answers and plenty of discussion of how Black and Jack, the original Smith-Friesses, are faring.Plus, Emily suggested we get Aces a Puppia harness and Steve reminds listeners to buy "Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat" by Hal Herzog in advance of the next interview with Herzog coming in January.

Web: ThePetcast.ComEmail: [email protected]: 702-997-3300No. 282: The Author of 2010’s Most Fascinating Book On PetsThe way we navigate our relationships with our pets and other animals has fascinated researchers for centuries. Why is one species a member of our family and another our dinner? Western Carolina University psychology professor Hal Herzog sought to answer these age-old questions in an absolutely brilliant and extremely readable new book, “Some we Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It’s So Hard To Think Straight About Animals.”Plus, Steve’s life partner Miles makes his Petcast debut as the guest host and we get new insight into Steve’s pet home life. Also, should Michael Vick get a puppy and is it news that Barack Obama picks up after Bo?

Web: ThePetcast.ComEmail: [email protected]: 702-997-3300Very often, being pet-friendly doesn’t mean being eco-friendly. But that doesn’t have to be the case. Four years ago, Barbara Savidge and Gina Quiroga formed Olive Green Goods For Modern Dogs, a company devoted to creating natural and organic products for use by animals. They’ve got 10 products so far including cookies, blankets and poop bags made from natural materials. Barbara Savidge is on the line to talk about the company and various ways people can save the earth and be good to their pets.Plus, guest host Cindi Moon Reed discusses at length her amazing long-form cover piece for Vegas Seven magazine about Bobby Berosini, who became synonymous fairly or not with animal abuse in entertainment. The case also powered the national reputation of a relatively new animal-rights group called PETA.

Email: [email protected]: 702-997-3300Site: ThePetcast.Com

A few weeks ago, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported that Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control was reopening its late-night dropoff for unwanted or lost pets. It had been closed for two months because of a disease outbreak, but we were trying to understand how the whole late-night dropoff thing worked to begin with. Joining us today to explain and discuss her line of work is Dianne Sauve, director of Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control.

Plus, thanks to Vegas Seven editor and writer Cindi Moon Reed for co-hosting.  Cindi talks about her experiences doing Doga, or dog Yoga, and the Petcasters chat about a case of an old woman whose dog was returned thanks to a micro chip.

See iTunes or ThePetcast.Com for the re-issue of show No. 72, about doga!

Reissue from 4/2007

Yoga instructor Brenda Bryan of Bellevue, Washington, explains her doggie yoga class, created for the Seattle Humane Society to encourage people to do stuff with their animals. Plus, Emily tells all about her and Archie's eventful recent three-day dog agility trial competition. Later, Emily explains how she and Archie once one a -- get this! -- dog dancing contest!Email: [email protected]: 702-997-3300Site: ThePetcast.Com

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[See links to stories discussed on this show via ThePetcast.Com]

Earlier this month, Missouri voters narrowly approved Prop B, a measure that puts some significant new restrictions on dog breeders in a state that has long been a puppy mill capital of the United States. It wasn’t a landslide, but it did make it through and that’s largely because of years of work by attorney Barbara Schmitz, the Missouri director of the Humane Society of the United States. She served as campaign director for Prop B, but she also helped convince voters to bar cockfighting 12 years ago.  The cause even made it onto The Daily Show.

Plus, the Petcasters mull the American who stole 299 stuffed birds from a London museum, a Reno, Nev., case of animal hoarding and a claim that bird-feeding is the second most popular hobby in America.

Web: www.thepetcast.comE-mail: [email protected]: 702-997-3300Mary O’Connor-Shaver, a businesswoman from Lima, Ohio, has made it her mission to end the wholesale auctioning of dogs bred in puppy mills in her state. She joins Steve and guest host Amy Turner to discuss her efforts to get this matter more public attention and before the voters of the Buckeye State.The Petcasters discuss a new study explaining why it is that cats drink more neatly than dogs, Las Vegas Weekly piece about casino mogul Steve Wynn’s new vegan zealotry and Shanghai’s new one-dog policy.(See links to these stories via ThePetcast.Com)