Before you send a money order to Tasmania for that adorable yorkie you found on Craigslist, you may want to hear from today's guest, California attorney John Hoffman. In his distinguished legal career, Hoffman has done pro bono work for dog organizations, and as a result, has become an activist working to combat the problem of unscrupulous puppy importers. He and a Boston attorney, Charlotte Creeley, built a website called TheWrongPuppy.Org, where they advise the public on this trend.

Also, Steve discusses the pet-related story he worked on while in Switzerland.

Call 206-203-1010, e-mail [email protected], website is thepetcast.com.

No. 140: A Vet Student’s Life

 

The Petcasters are joined by Loren Noblitt, a second-year veterinary student at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. We speak to a lot of animal experts on this program, but we’ve never really looked into the process of veterinary education, so we wanted Loren to join us and tell us what it’s like. Loren earned a MS in veterinary pathobiology in 2003 and began veterinary school in August 2006.

Plus, guest host Amy chimes in on whether she’d have a pet funeral.

 

Call us @ 206-210-1010. Or email [email protected]. 

As a counterpoint to our episode No. 36 entitled "Do Animals Think?", we are joined by  Eugene Linden, a widely published author and journalist whose Parade Magazine last year on new evidence about animal intelligence that caught our attention. Linden's career began in 1972 when he covered the Vietnam War, and his work, which has appeared in the Smithsonian, Time and the Atlantic, tends to focus on nature and the environment, and it was a piece in . Linden has written more than a half-dozen books including such titles as “The Octopus and the Orangutan: New Tales of Animal Intrigue, Intelligence, and Ingenuity” and “The Parrot's Lament and Other True Tales of Animal Intrigue, Intelligence, and Ingenuity."

Plus,  a bizarre Swiss catnapping case and the top 10 items surgically removed from pets. Call and tell us about yours at 206-210-1010. Or email [email protected]. 

Amy (bulldogs), Lin (parrots) and Malya (springer spaniel) join us to discuss life with their pets. Amy, guest host, describes how she found her newest dog, Lola, via YouTube!

Call and tell us about yours at 206-210-1010. Or email [email protected].

Hearing is believing this time out as Emily describes what disgusting, stretchy item Archie swallowed. Plus, on the OTHER end of the spectrum, the Petcasters go over the results of the 2008 Westminister Kennel Club Show and ponder the light-snack packets for pets.

Website: ThePetcast.com

E-mail [email protected]

Phone: 206-203-1010 

We all know the importance of blood banks for patients recovering from surgery, accidents or treatment for cancer and other diseases and disorders. What you may not know is that animal blood banks regularly save the lives of companion animals facing the same kinds of health challenges. Joining the Petcasters is a surgical technician at a veterinary clinic in Fowlerville, Mich., where her English bull mastiff, Lurch, is an on-call emergency blood donor. His generous spirit earned Lurch an award earlier this week from the American Red Cross. Also, Steve takes the dogs to the vet.

Website: www.thepetcast.com Email: [email protected] Phone number: 206-203-1010

Pets give us unconditional love, which is one of the reasons why saying goodbye can be so painful. For pet owners in Phoenix, Arizona, there’s a new company offering help with that final fairwell. Joining us today is Skip Knopke, founder of Fairwinds Pet Memorial Services. He has more than 35 years in the death care industry, and is a certified cemetery executive. 

Call us at 206-203-1010, email [email protected] or visit the site at thepetcast.com

National Humane Education Society educator Maria Keith joins the Petcasters to explain the 60-year-old group, which advocates on behalf of animals, through information services, rescue and relief assistance and adoption services. Plus, Emily has yet another health scare for Archie, this time related to his eyesight, and Emily also reveals some of the tricks of the competitive-dog trade. Do they juice up?

Lynn Brezina, a certified dog trainer in the Chicago area, joins Emily and guest-host John to answer a question from listener Malya, who asked whether the idea of 'springer rage' is real or fictional. Brezina is also an officer with the Great Lakes English Springer Spaniel Breeders Association. Plus, the Petcasters mull the amazing tale of the cat in the suitcase!

Nicole Lucht and and Phil Poburka, a pair of Las Vegas-area pigeon enthusiasts, join Emily and guest-host John in the studio to show off some pretty pet, uh, pigeons. Yes, they can be your friends! Plus, Emily explains her alternate, canine-related Super Bowl plans. John catches us up on his three cats and how they would interact with the addition of a puppy.