It survived two world wars and the Great Depression. But it couldn’t survive the onslaught of online ordering, big-box stores like Chapters and the expansion of books into grocery stores and drugstores.

The Book Room in Halifax, a literary landmark - billed as the oldest bookstore in Canada - is shutting its doors at the end of March, after 169 years.

The Book Room on Barrington Street in Halifax, Nova Scotia, opened for business in 1839 and survived two World Wars and the Great Depression, store president Charles Burchell said in a release.

But the retail store couldn’t outlast big box bookstores, Burchell said, nor the ease of ordering books online, competition from book selling pharmacies and grocery stores or the pressure to lower prices to reflect a stronger Canadian dollar.

The final nail in the coffin was the dual pricing of books, with higher selling prices in Canada than in the United States.

Publishers couldn’t react quickly enough to the change, Burchell said, pointing out that books take about three years before they reach the market. It’s the only retail industry he knows of where the selling price is already set, he added.

“The only way you can make any profit is to control that margin in-between and that has to pay for everything.”

Burchell said The Book Room will begin “an orderly shutdown of its retail store and dispose of its inventory” over the next few weeks. The company’s wholesale operation will continue.

“I am extremely disappointed to make this announcement as The Book Room has been an institution in Nova Scotia,” he said. “The bookstore has survived two World Wars, the Great Depression and economic ups and downs over its 169 year history.”

Burchell said that during his 42 years with the bookstore, he invited “hundreds and hundreds of local authors, authors from across Canada and around the world to come and meet their reading fans.”

Before the advent of the computer, Burchell said the store received letters from “all over the world” requesting special books be sent to them.

“To fulfill their request was such a gratifying feeling for me as well as my staff,” he said in the release.

Canada’s oldest bookstore, The Book Room was first established in 1839 as The Wesleyan Book Room and by Christmas of that year had produced a catalogue of books and started filling “Special Orders.”

In 1876 the store was located at 125 Granville Street and in 1925 became The Ryerson Press Book Room.

Following closure in the Spring of 1949, due to a devastating fire, the store re-opened that November in Halifax’s Chronicle Building, remaining on Granville Street. The new owners dropped “Ryerson Press” from the store’s name, keeping The Book Room and continuing its bookselling tradition in Halifax.

In May of 1996 The Book Room moved to its present location at 1546 Barrington Street and continued to offer Halifax, Canada and the rest of the world an amazing selection of books.

“It’s a very dark day in the book industry,” bookseller Heidi Hallett said, “We are really, really sad to see them close.”

“It’s definitely a sign of the times, with people shopping online and big-box stores and all that, but it’s just so incredibly sad because we need independent bookstores.”

I realize that I have a recurring interest in notions of “belonging”.

The Arrival is a migrant story told as a series of wordless images that might seem to come from a long forgotten time.

A man leaves his wife and child in an impoverished town, seeking better prospects in an unknown country on the other side of a vast ocean.

He eventually finds himself in a bewildering city of foreign customs, peculiar animals, curious floating objects and indecipherable languages. With nothing more than a suitcase and a handful of currency, the immigrant must find a place to live, food to eat and some kind of gainful employment.

He is helped along the way by sympathetic strangers, each carrying their own unspoken history: stories of struggle and survival in a world of incomprehensible violence, upheaval and hope.

According to Shaun Tan, the Australian author and illustrator of the book which was four years in the making: “One of my main sources for visual reference was New York in the early 1900s, a great hub of mass-migration for Europeans.”

“A lot of my ‘inspirational images’ blu-tacked to the walls of my studio were old photographs of immigrant processing at Ellis Island, visual notes that provided underlying concepts, mood and atmosphere behind many scenes that appear in the book. Other images I collected depicted street scenes in European, Asian and Middle-Eastern cities, old-fashioned vehicles, random plants and animals, shopfront signs and posters, apartment interiors, photos of people working, eating, talking and playing, all of them chosen as much for their ordinariness as their possible strangeness.”

“Elements in my drawings evolved gradually from these fairly simple origins. A colossal sculpture in the middle of a city harbour, the first strange sight that greets arriving migrants, suggests some sisterhood with the Statue of Liberty. A scene of a immigrants travelling in a cloud of white balloons was inspired by pictures of migrants boarding trains as well as the night-time spawning of coral polyps, two ideas associated by common underlying themes – dispersal and regeneration.”

‘‘Everything is really fundamentally mysterious. In learning to recognize meaning and familiarize ourselves with our everyday world — to make sense of it all, and manage our lives — we tend to overlook this basic fact. Things become familiar, obvious, self-evident. For me, the practice of drawing and writing is an opportunity to consider what is otherwise, to look at certain objects, qualities, and situations at length and interrogate them to the point where you can appreciate their fundamental strangeness, or uniqueness.”

Shaun Tan is an award-winning artist and writer who lives near Perth, Australia.

Mostly self-taught, Tan was 16 when his SF illustrations first appeared in Australian magazine Aurealis in 1990.

He has received numerous awards for his picture books. He is the illustrator and author of The Red Tree and The Lost Thing; and in 2006, his graphic novel The Arrival won the “Book of the Year” prize as part of the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards.

Shaun Tan’s website

Illustrations from “Arrival” at New York Magazine

Shaun Tan illustrations at Papertigers

Interview excerpts in Locus Magazine

Mari to Koinu no Monogatari

This 2007 Japanese movie is based on the story of a real family that was caught in the 2004 Niigata earthquake. The basic plot involves a family consisting of a father, grandfather, and a son and daughter; the mother died some years before. They live in a rural town. On their way home one day, the kids stumble upon an abandoned shiba inu puppy, and the little girl falls in love with her. At first, they avoid taking care of her and keep her far from home because their father is afraid of dogs.

Eventually, things work out and the dog is accepted into their home. Some time later, the pup, Mari, has grown into an adult and has three puppies of her own.

The the quake hits; the son is safe at school, the father survives the quake in town, but the daughter and grandfather are trapped under their collapsed home. Mari eventually runs off and finds some Jietai (Self-Defense Force, or Japanese military) rescue workers, who rescue the girl and her grandfather, but the dogs have to stay behind in the abandoned village.

Mari and Her Puppies

Three puppies were born on the day of an earthquake.

On the fateful morning of October 23, 2004, a dog named Mari gave birth to three puppies in Yamakoshi Village, Niigata Prefecture, Japan.

That evening, a severe earthquake struck Niigata and devastated the village, causing almost all of its homes to collapse, including the one where Mari lived.

During the quake the newborn puppies were jolted away from their mother, and since their eyes were still closed, they could not find their way back to her side. Also, because she was bound by a leash, Mari could not reach her babies. She tried repeatedly to pull free from the leash, but to no avail. Then, several tremors occurred and Mari tried even harder to break free until her neck began to bleed. Suddenly, another strong aftershock struck, Mari struggled with all her might, and the collar suddenly came loose. Next she quickly picked up her puppies, moved them to a safe place, and without taking a rest ran toward the ruins that were once her house.

Three qualities define a true shiba inu: Kan’i, Ryosei and Soboku.

Kan’i is translated as “spirited boldness” and means “well-balanced, courageous and self-confident”.

Ryosei (”good nature”) refers to the loyal and obedient character of the shiba and to her strong senses which make her an ideal home guardian.

Soboku refers to the natural beauty of the soul, meaning that a shiba is unaffected,cheerful and spontaneous.

Courageous rescue of the grandfather

The grandfather of Mari’s family was home alone that day.

He lived on the second floor, but suffered from a neurological disorder that made it impossible for him to stand on his feet or climb the stairs unassisted.

After the earthquake, the old man was immobilized as he had been trapped beneath a wardrobe. Aftershocks and the total darkness resulting from a power outage pushed him into desperately thinking that death might be around the corner.

Just then, Mari appeared in his room on the second floor and looked at him with encouraging eyes. The grandfather had been slipping into unconsciousness, but when he saw Mari he regained awareness although he was still immobilized. Mari then licked him to give him encouragement and went downstairs several times to check on her pups before quickly returning to the man’s room. She ran back and forth many times even though her paws had been injured by the sharp-edged glass and pieces of porcelain that lay all over the floor. Each trip gave her new wounds, but Mari managed to kindle new hope in the grandfather’s heart, and looking at Mari he thought “I must live on. I cannot give up.”

Finally, he pushed at the wardrobe with all his strength, it gave way and he managed to free himself. Then with Mari’s encouragement, the grandfather spent two hours climbing down the stairs - a feat he had previously been unable to accomplish without help. Upon reaching the ground floor, he was happy to find that the three puppies were safe and sound.

A sad parting and further ordeals

After the October 23, 2004 earthquake Yamakoshi Village was in a state of total destruction and isolation as all local roads had been cut off. And with a continuous series of aftershocks increasing the danger of landslides, on October 25 all the villagers were evacuated by helicopter to a nearby accommodation center.

Under these circumstances, the grandfather was forced to leave Mari behind, for in times of disaster saving human lives is the main concern. He left all of his pet food for his beloved dog, prayed that she and her pups would be safe and took off her collar. Then, with no other options, as he boarded the helicopter to leave behind the one who had saved his life, he said with guilt and sadness, “I’m very sorry, Mari,” and felt heart-broken as Mari howled in deep sorrow.

As time passed and her supply of rations ran out, Mari had to search for food in her abandoned village, suffering many ordeals as she tried to protect her little puppies. All the while the grandfather thought of her constantly, and with anxiety over the continuing tremors fell ill and had to be hospitalized.

Then two weeks after the evacuation, the villagers were allowed to return to Yamakoshi to see their homes. Among the returnees was the man’s son, who immediately began to search for Mari. Upon finding her, he noticed that she was much thinner, and she hesitated for an instant after hearing her name but then dashed toward him. He held her close in his arms for a long time.

Mari had not had enough food for herself, but she fed her babies milk and took care of them as well as she could. In contrast to their skinny mother, the three puppies looked chubby and healthy as they slept sweetly on the porch. The son was delighted to see the little pups growing up in good health.

Before Yamakoshi Village was reconstructed, the villagers remained in temporary housing in a neighboring city. Being in charge of advertising affairs for the village committee, the son was a busy man so he placed Mari and her puppies in the care of another family. When the grandfather was still in the hospital, Mari’s caretaker took her to visit him.Thus, after undergoing countless trials, Mari and the old man were finally reunited. Mari was very happy to see the man, who was recuperating and said with quivering lips and tears filling his eyes, “Thank you for saving my life.”

Then in April 2005 the grandfather was discharged from the hospital and began living with his son and Mari in an apartment. By that time Mari’s three puppies had been adopted by other families and were growing up healthily in their new homes. Today, the grandfather and his family are still living in the apartment but look forward to returning soon to Yamakoshi Village.

Fireworks for Mari

Mari’s touching story, which illustrates the mutual trust and love between humans and animals that helps them through ordeals, has frequently been reported in the news media and has also been adapted as an illustrated storybook - Mari of Yamakoshi Village and Her Three Pups. The book has received a huge response in Japan and serves as a great inspiration for disaster victims. The company that published the volume is contributing part of its sales revenues to the reconstruction and relief funds for areas affected by the October 2004 earthquake, and distributes the book free of charge to children in Yamakoshi Village and its thirteen neighboring cities.

On August 2, 2005, the villagers held a fireworks celebration in their city of refuge just as they do in their home town each year, and this year event was entitled “Fireworks for Mari.” While participating in the festivity they wished that Yamakoshi Village could be recovered as quickly as possible. Amid the dazzling light and smoke of the fireworks, Mari’s radiant smile seemed to fill the night sky, bringing hope and encouragement to the spectators.

Story source: Sentient Animals
Mari Movie (in Japanese)

Fair fa’ your honest, pebbled face,
Great chieftain o’ the dog food race!
Aboon a’ treats ye tak your place.
In nourishing sustenance ye dinna fail.
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang’s my tail.

My groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your heaped up nuggets like a golden hill,
You warm my belly against the chill
In time o’ need.
While thro’ your pores aromas fill
My nose and heid.

I bend my heid an’ tak a bite
And chomp ye up wi’ ready slight
Chewing your crumbly entrails bright,
My nose thrust deep to trench a ditch;
O ye are such a glorious sight
Crunchie-munchin’ rich!

Then, paw for paw, they stretch an’ strive;
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
Till a’ their weel-swall’d kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
Then auld guid doggie, maist like to rive,
“Bethankit!” hums.

Is there that owre his mishmash stew,
Or withered bone he canna chew,
Or tasteless mush wad mak him spew
Wi’ perfect sconner,
Looks down wi’ sneering, scornfu’ view
On sic a dinner?

Bedevilled mutt! See him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither’d rash,
His spindle shank a guid whip-lash
His sma’ paw a nit;
Thro’ bluidy flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the doggie, kibble fed,
The trenbling earth resounds his tread,
His waggly tail waves like a blade,
He’ll mak it whissle;
An’ mane, an fur, an’ ears will sned
Like taps o’ thrissle.

Ye Pow’rs, wha mak canines your care,
And dish them out their bill o’ fare,
The doggie world wants nae skinking ware,
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish a gratefu’ prayer,
Gie us oor kibble!

Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) (also known as Rabbie Burns, Scotland’s favourite son, the Ploughman Poet, the Bard of Ayrshire and in Scotland as simply The Bard) was a poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland.

A pioneer of the Romantic movement, he became an important source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism. A cultural icon in Scotland and among Scots who have relocated to other parts of the world (the Scottish Diaspora), celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries.

His themes included republicanism (he lived during the French Revolutionary period) and Radicalism which he expressed covertly in Scots Wha Hae, Scottish patriotism, anticlericalism, class inequalities, gender roles, commentary on the Scottish Kirk of his time, Scottish cultural identity, poverty, sexuality, and the beneficial aspects of popular socialising (carousing, Scotch whisky, folk songs, and so forth).

Burns and his works were a source of inspiration to the pioneers of liberalism, socialism and the campaign for Scottish self-government, and he is still widely respected by political activists today, ironically even by conservatives and establishment figures because after his death Burns became drawn into the very fabric of Scotland’s national identity.

Read Robert Burns’ “Address to a Haggis” and its English translation. Haggis recipe, history and cultural significance included.

Read “The Complete Works of Robert Burns” at Project Gutenberg

What started as a serious alert has now expanded into a growing crisis for Toronto Public Health officials. The story first came to public attention on January 23.

An adorable eight week-old border collie puppy mix, similar to the puppy romping in the photo, had died from rabies at the Toronto Humane Society on January 14th. He was one of about a dozen canines sold at Dr. Flea’s, a popular weekend bargain market at Highway 27 and Albion Road.

The city put out a plea to anyone who may have been there that day and had any contact with the animals to immediately call them and their doctors.

“This is very serious,” states Dr. Rosana Pellizzari, with Toronto Public Health. “Rabies should be treated as a fatal illness.”

Officials believe that hundreds, and possible thousands of people may now have come into contact with rabid dogs at Dr. Flea’s market in north Toronto on Jan. 3.

No one is sure how many people actually passed by booth 1513 called “Pets R Us” or had been to the vendor’s home location, “Feed Me More Pets”, in Chesley, Ontario near Walkerton. “Pets R Us” owner, Omar Tannous, has been selling animals at the flea market for the past 18 months.

The mother of the border collie cross pups was a family pet at a local farm, but was not vaccinated against rabies. After delivering the pups, she killed a skunk that was likely rabid. The pups probably got the rabies from their mother’s saliva. The mother died, as did some of the pups. The family, unaware of the rabies, sold three of the puppies to the “Feed Me More Pets” dog broker.

Licensed and responsible breeders don’t sell dogs at flea markets.

And once the dogs were taken home by their new owners, others who weren’t even at either location were added to the list of potential victims.

The infected puppy was being held with 10 to 12 other dogs in the booth. They had all been sold and health officials believe they have all been infected with rabies. At least three different breeds are involved.

The infected puppy and one other dog in the group have died, both within days of being purchased. So far, six of the dogs have been located, including the two that died. They are being held in quarantine for the next six months.

Nathan Kales, a vendor at the flea market, went through his first round of vaccines, along with his wife and 5-year old son.Kales’ family likely came in contact with a rabid puppy on Jan. 12, when he took home a golden retriever from “Pets R Us”.

“The thing was half dead when I got him home,” Kales said. “It was drooling, it was coughing, it was wheezing. I never saw a dog that sick before.”

Kales said the dog licked his son’s leg and had minor contact with his pet cat and Doberman pinscher. He placed the sick puppy in a pen in the basement.

The next day, he took the dog back to the vendor, explained how sick it was, and left it with him.

“He later told me someone else bought it. I said, `You’re kidding me,’” said Kales, whose cat and dog are now quarantined in his home.

Concerns arose after a sick dog bit a worker at the Toronto Humane Society about one week ago.

The infected eight-week-old puppy that prompted the alarm had been bought by Yanitza Arredondo of Brampton for her son. The puppy had been surrendered to the THS once the owners realized the puppy they bought at the flea market was violently ill. Complaining that the veterinary costs would be too high, they dumped the puppy with THS. The border collie cross died later that night, and test results showed it had rabies.

The rare but deadly disease is most often spread by an infected animal biting someone. But it can also be contracted through contact with saliva, so a simple lick on the hand could be enough.

Rabies can lie dormant in an infected animal for up to six months. However, people can become infected by their pets even before the animal begins to show symptoms of the illness.

Humans cannot pass rabies to other humans. If treated early enough, the vaccine is “extremely effective” against rabies. However, rabies is fatal if left untreated.

The worker who was bitten by the dog has received rabies shots and is doing fine, but health officials say others may still be at risk.

As for the vendor in question, he’s no longer allowed to sell dogs at the market, so he’ll be free to get his rabies shots and go elsewhere unless his operation is shut down altogether. Allen Koffman, who runs Dr. Flea’s, notes that the market doesn’t bear the blame for the problem; it’s just the “venue”. Yanitza and her family, concerned about the rounds of rabies vaccine they’ll have to endure, probably don’t see the part they play in encouraging puppy millers to profit and thrive. Once she gets over this “big mess”, Yanitza might just head out to a pet shop to get another puppy. No worries; they’re disposable.

Tre Smith, of the Toronto Humane Society, cautions anyone who considers buying an animal at venues such as flea markets to realize that they are not getting any bargains or guarantees.

“Licensed and responsible breeders don’t sell dogs at flea markets for 200 dollars”, said Smith.

New questions are being raised about how the man selling the dogs was allowed to do so without anyone checking on their health. “Right now the only law that we can actually apply to it … is the O.S.P.C.A. Act, which tells us that the animals are to have adequate shelter, adequate food, adequate water. That’s a really vague kind of definition,” says Toronto Humane Society spokesman Lee Oliver. “And beyond that there’s nothing. There’s no rules saying that the breeding animals are to have a health check.”

He hopes people considering adopting a dog will take a lesson from this emergency, and only deal with agencies they’re sure about.

Mix up puppy millers, flea markets and clueless consumers and, even without rabies, you’re asking for trouble. And if you think pet stores are much better with their networks of “reputable breeders”, think again. Maybe Yanitza and the others who visited booth 1513 will do just that.

The Toronto Humane Society on responsible pet ownership

Do we really know what we’re feeding our pets? In the spring of 2007, pet owners across North America were devastated when upwards of 50,000 of their beloved pet dogs and cats fell seriously ill after eating tainted pet food. Many of the animals died. Menu Foods of Toronto, the manufacturer, initiated the biggest recall of pet food in North American history.

That’s the opening teaser for the Canadian Broadcasting Company special which aired this evening on Doc Zone, entitled Pet Food: A Dog’s Breakfast.

The documentary would be preaching to the choir for some of us, but enlightening to many who perhaps weren’t aware of the extent of the recall or the scandalous lack of regulation in the industry. It is also heartening to those who lost pets or who are still nursing sick ones, to be assured that the ripples of the largest pet food tsunami in history have not disappeared.

Interspersed among the vintage television images of dogs and cats happily gorging on kibble, accompanied by slogans like “So complete - all you add is love” are solemn interviews with pet owners. And there are a few experts like Elizabeth Hodgkins (a California DVM who used to work in the pet food industry), Meg Smart (University of Saskatchewan) and Rebecca Remillard (MSPCA Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston), who say that the industry cannot be trusted.

When the news of poisoned pet food exploded in March, 2007, veterinarians realized that they had been seeing these symptoms for some time. Despite some FDA figures itemizing the casualties at 16, a number that was annoyingly persistent, the estimates of sickened and dead animals are now in the tens of thousands. Menu Foods, which co-packs for hundreds of brands, made one third of all wet dog and cat food in North America at the time.

According to Hodgkins, there is a systemic problem in the pet food industry: lack of regulation, likened to the fox guarding the hen-house. Testifying at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in 2007, she stated that this was not an aberration, and it could happen again quite soon. Manufacturers, she said, are not doing adequate testing, they are cutting corners, using lower quality ingredients, and they are failing to be truthful about their actions.

There are something like 90 class action suits, but no agreement on payment for emotional damages. Pets are still “property”, after all. But Lucianna Brasil, a Vancouver class-action lawyer, thinks that the case can be made for emotional damage compensation because pet food marketers have been advertising pets as “more like family members”. And there’s a new demographic that will push for change. Nearly 2/3 of pet owners are childless and a good 60% buy Christmas presents for their pets.

Cut to: Jovanna, a young Toronto woman who lost one cat to kidney failure as a result of the recalled food. She and her boyfriend struggle to keep up with the mounting vet bills for her other cat. They’ve gone into debt and he is working a second job. But they wouldn’t do anything differently. She would like Menu Foods to cover those vet bills.

Hodgkins says that the industry promotes pet food as if it is human food; the marketers know that clever packaging is a big part of the buying decision. But the succulent cuts of meats and fresh veggies aren’t what they seem to be. She spent some time in the kitchen showing us the difference.

The ingredients are almost entirely salvaged from human food production including diseased parts. The fish in cat food is the relatively non-nutritious parts like fins and heads. Poultry by-products means things like heads and feet. Hodgkins cuts these up, whirls them in a blender, cooks them for a long time, throws in some vitamins and pops the mess into a can.

The industry, she says, insists that pets live longer, healthier lives as a result of their products. And most vets agree.

Nutritionist Rebecca Remillard says that, in many cases, pet food marketing is highly misleading. For example, Purina claimed an increase in median life span of two years, in a study of dogs fed only Puppy Chow and Dog Chow.There was no scientific evidence supporting their claim, she says.

Cut to: the famous PETA video of the IAMS beagles with the chunks cut out of their thighs.

Remillard says these studies are largely unnecessary.

With the changing demographics, pet food marketers are pushing more expensive foods. But Hodgkins says they shouldn’t make unsubstantiated claims; for example, that “premium” implies higher quality.

Meg Smart doesn’t think that premium foods are worth the extra money. The information on premium and non-premium food labels is so similar that her class of veterinary students could not pick the premium foods based on the labelling. Moreover, a lab examinations of premium and non-premium foods showed no significant difference in nutrients.

(Throughout all this, Hodgkins’ photogenic little Jack Russell is looking gloomier and gloomier.)

So, how well-qualified are veterinarians on what to feed? Smart says they get limited training at school, and it’s largely from the pet food companies themselves.

According to Hodgkins, the order of ingredients on a label (thought to be an indicator of quality) can be deceptive. Ingredient splitting is one way to fool the consumer. A food may be mostly corn, but the components are split out into corn meal, corn gluten, corn grits and so on into smaller percentages of the total, so that the minuscule amount of meat can appear in first place on the label.

Hodgkins points out that there is more grain than meat in most dried foods. That’s particularly bad for cats who are obligate carnivores. Besides, grain-based dry food requires a lot of processing which ruins the nutrients. At the end of the process, manufacturers spray rendered fat on the kibble for palatability.

She likens a kibble diet to feeding your kids the same convenience food all their lives.

Cut to: a pet store where a man purchases pet food based on what his dog chooses. He puts three types of kibble on the floor and the dog gets to pick. So it’s based on palatability, not nutrition.

Hodgkins herself home cooks, and feeds raw to her pets. But the mantra of the Veterinary News Network (VNN), echoed in some veterinary offices, is that home cooking is not complete and balanced, and it can be downright dangerous because of bacterial contamination.

Meg Smart also spends some time in kitchen, brewing up a concoction of work boots, crankcase oil, wood shavings and vitamins. She sends it off to a lab where it passes the minimum industry nutritional standards. The beleaguered industry, meanwhile, says that it’s strictly regulated by the FDA but in fact the rules are written by the industry, and they’re not enforced. Hodgkins wants to see changes such as clear and honest labelling as a start.

Mike Floyd, founder of defendourpets.org, got involved after his dog developed kidney problems at the time Menu Foods was announcing its recalled brands. He is also after a change in the labelling rules, as well as certifiication on foreign imports. Congress passed a law requiring identification of foreign ingredients in May, 2007.

Cut to: Jovanna in Toronto, who says that she and her boyfriend will just keep on keeping on with the treatments. They could never let their animals down.

Cut to: a couple in the US who lost their black lab to the recall. They don’t care about getting a dime from the industry. They just want to see the laws change to protect pets.

Nice work, CBC and Yap Films!

CBC Doc Zone

Yap Films

More on Meg Smart’s views at the Saskatoon Star Phoenix

More on the pet food recall on Red Star Cafe here.

What can you do?

Buy a copy of the DVD and share it

Yap Films is now distributing the DVD. The price is $44.95 Canadian plus applicable taxes and shipping. The DVD can be ordered by emailing dadams (at) yapfilms.com (replace (at) with the email symbol). 

Help get “Pet Food - A Dog’s Breakfast” aired in the U.S.

Write to Anderson Cooper at CNN and let him know that it’s important for people to see this documentary.

Anderson Cooper’s suggestion box

Here’s a sample letter:

Dear Anderson Cooper,

During the height of the pet food crisis last year you ran the first in-depth piece on this problem.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, working with Toronto film-maker, Yap Films (http://www.yapfilms.com) recently aired a riveting one-hour documentary: “Pet Food - A Dog’s Breakfast” that captured the attention of Canadian audiences. There is one segment that shows “Old Boots Pet Food”, a concoction of work-boots, crankcase oil and wood chips that would meet the Canadian pet food nutrition standard!

Here is the background from the CBC’s Doc Zone page:

http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/dogsbreakfast.html

Many people in the U.S. have said that they would like to see this documentary. Airing this film on CNN would reinforce your earlier message about the pet food crisis, inform those who are not aware of the issues, and send a clear message to the pet food industry that consumers expect better.

Your interest in this ongoing and unresolved issue is appreciated by all of us who are concerned about our pets.

Yesterday, the Toronto Board of Health voted to boost the Animal Services budget up to $2 million, adding $833,100 to last year’s budget and creating 26 full-time equivalent positions.

The expenditure is expected to be made up with revenues, but citizens who came to speak to the board were skeptical that it would, given that last year the dog and cat licensing project had a $330,000 shortfall.

“I object to the spending of $800,000 for what is a public relations campaign,” said one concerned citizen.

According to Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David McKeown, department research indicates that the city will have to do more than awareness.

“This report points out that we have 80 per cent awareness – most people know we’re requiring pets to be licensed, but we know there’s a portion of the population that won’t be licensed even if they know that they’re supposed to be unless there’s a significant threat of enforcement,” he said.

The program would allocate nine of the new hires to enforcement for non-compliance with the requirement under Municipal Code 349. Those who don’t purchase a license for their pet can face a fine of $240 or higher, and up to $5,000 if the case goes to court. The program will also include door-to-door enforcement (WTF?), and new processing costs.

This blogger would like to know how Toronto Animal Services is going to use the extra $833K to reduce their inflated kill rate and improve service so that animals can be returned or rehomed.

We expect that animal shelters exist to shelter animals who need a safe haven and a new home. There will always be animals in need of sheltering. Animal control policies need to ensure programs are in place so that no more animals need shelter and assistance than the community can handle, to keep the community active and engaged, to keep the animals moving out, not just in — but out alive, not in a body bag.

Of course, costs increase for everything in this perennially cash-strapped city. But dog licenses used to be free for spayed/neutered and microchipped pets. In 2001, fees went up. More staff were hired on. And now more staff are now being added along with the whopping dollar increase. Before our city councillors rubber-stamp this at the end of the month, can we please see some evidence of how the education-and-door-to-door strategy (we have ways of finding your pit bull…) will improve the lot of animals in our fair city?

Over at Bestfriends.org, Bill Bruce of City of Calgary Animal Services talked about ways to build a “shelter without walls”. He talked about the 4 pillars of responsible pet ownership, preventing aggression in dogs, humane education and how to make licensing work as a key to no-kill.

A shelter without walls; what does that mean?

In Calgary, it means a community of responsible pet owners where every person is taking responsibility for their companion animal. For context, the City of Calgary has an urban population of just over one million people and a dog population of approximately 105,000. We predict our cat population to be between 105,000 and 120,000.

What does it mean to be a responsible pet owner?

1. License and permanently identify your companion animal. Licensing and identification is the key to return to owner of lost animals. In Calgary, we are returning over 88% of dogs to their owner in 24 hours or less. Many do not even come to the shelter and driven straight home by the officer. Returning lost animals home quickly reduces the need for conventional shelters.

2. Spay or neuter your companion animal. We know that unplanned breeding is a major contributor to pet over population that fills shelters each year. Effective spay and neuter programs will reduce those populations of animals and reduce the need for conventional sheltering.

3. Provide the necessary food, medical care, grooming, training and exercise for your companion animal. The actions ensure the health (mental and physical) of an animal and if followed by every animal owner would reduce the need for shelters to house animals in distress.

4. Do not allow your companion animal to become a threat or a nuisance in the community. Many animals end up in shelters because of problems of aggression or roaming at large. Ensuring that your companion animal does not create problems in your community will reduce those animals that are seized in the interest of public safety and end up in shelters. Fulfilling this simple requirement would eliminate the trend of breed specific legislation so many municipalities are enacting to attempt to solve their animal issues.

If all citizens follow these four simple principles, according to Bill Bruce, sheltering can be reduced to the role of temporary housing while Animal Services locates the responsible owner and arranges safe return and emergency sheltering in times of disaster or to aid injured animals.

The City of Calgary has built its entire program on a foundation of Responsible Pet Ownership as opposed to the traditional animal control regulation. Responsible Pet Ownership is supported through education, support program and, when necessary, enforcement. All enforcement is targeted at behavior with a goal to modify the behavior to be in line with the 4 pillars.

Utilizing this approach, the City of Calgary does not support any breed specific legislation or restriction on the number of animals a person owns. The entire system is governed on the 4 pillars of responsible pet ownership.

Following this path, Calgary has successfully reduced the rate on aggressive incidents, (199 bites last year – with very few serious) reduced the rate of animal euthanasia (237 dogs last year), increased the number of animals that go home (88%) and reduced the number of dogs impounded (4800 last year). They have also started work on a spay and neuter clinic to be opened mid 2008 with a capacity to do 10,000 free spay and neuters per year for people who are not financially able to have it done. The entire program is financed on revenues, primarily licensing, with no tax based support. The new spay and neuter program is being funded through the new cat license program.

The goal of these programs is to create a city that does not have unwanted animals being held in shelters, a no kill, city, a city without aggressive animal incidents and a city of responsible pet owners caring for and being responsible for their companion animal.

Read Toronto Sun columnist Sue-Ann Levy on the TAS budget

More on this, including Q&A at Windsor Humane.

The owner of Rambo, a 10-month-old cross-bred pit bull puppy, has been given a bitter choice: sign the dog over to the City of Mississauga to be killed or face a long legal battle she cannot afford.

“Rambo is harmless. He wouldn’t hurt anybody,” said his owner, Gabriela Nowakowska, 20, of Mississauga.

Nowakowska bought the puppy at a flea market last year and wasn’t aware of Ontario’s draconian breed ban on pit bulls or perhaps even that the puppy was a pit bull cross. Under the ill-considered breed ban, enacted in 2005 by the McGuinty government, pit bulls or “substantially similar” dogs are banned in Ontario. Although there is a grandfathering provision for existing dogs, the unfortunately-named Rambo is too young to be legal.

As a flea market purchase from a backyard breeder, Rambo hardly qualifies as a purebred Pit Bull (whatever that means), although he may be “substantially similar” with his square jaw and whip tail. Where does that comparison end…? Even Rambo’s veterinarian, Dr. Cetera, has stated that his lineage is questionable.

Rambo, who is thought to be 10 months old, was caught running free on Christmas Day by animal control officers in the pristine suburb of Mississauga. He had escaped via an open back yard gate from Nowakowksa’s home.

Animal control manager Dulio Rose outlined two choices to Nowakowska: sign Rambo over to the City to be put down or go to court on the unlikely chance that she can convince a judge that Rambo is not subject to legislation passed two years ago by Queen’s Park that essentially made it illegal to own new pit bulls. After all, what choice do municipalities, particularly those that observe The Letter of the Law have, given the provincial legislation? Well, other municipalities have managed to show leniency in cases like this. Surely Mississauga can think out of the box and do the same?

“I really do want to fight it,” Nowakowska said. “I don’t want Rambo to die.” But she’s worried about funding an expensive legal action.

Mississauga politicians are asking City staff to explore options that would allow Rambo, a pit bull cross-breed puppy scheduled for euthanasia, to be shipped out of Ontario to a reputable rescue organization.

In separate interviews yesterday, Ward 9 City councillor Pat Saito and Ward 6 councillor Carolyn Parrish strongly criticized the provincial legislation aimed at eliminating new pit bulls from being owned in Ontario and said they’re working with Animal Control staff to see if there are alternatives to killing the young dog.

“We’re going to see if we can get the dog neutered and approve a 24-hour exemption for him to be shipped out of the province,” Parrish said.

It wouldn’t be the first time a dog has been sprung out of an Ontario Dachau. Bandit, a “substantially similar” pup, was sent to Washington state where he is now a K-9 law dog!

Parrish, who owns a bulldog named Lady Charlotte, says this about Rambo: “I’m told he’s really a sweet dog and everyone at animal control plays with him. He’s just a darling.”

“It is perverse to pass a law that bans animals based on the fact they look like a pit bul”, said Parrish. “There has got to be a humane set of rules put in place when the law is an ass,” she added.

“Mr. (Michael) Bryant (who guided the legislation through Queen’s Park) should have to put on gloves and come out here and use the hypodermic,” to put the dog down, Parrish, a former MP, said. (Michael Bryant failed to identify a pit bull from photos of 24 “substantially similar” dogs, choosing a Presa Canario.)

Saito called the pit bull law, “terrible legislation that is poorly written and poorly worded.”

Bans based on breeds do not work, she said. “It should be based on temperament and the threat of the individual dog.”

Nowakowska said she has almost raised the $500 she needs to meet with Toronto lawyer Anik Morrow to fight to have Rambo returned. The lawyer has indicated that Rambo could be “bailed out” until the trial, although that would seem to fly in the face of the legislation, which requires municipalities to seize and hold prohibited dogs.

Nowakowksa said her preferred option is to have Rambo back as a pet. If the courts rule that he is a pit bull and subject to the legislation, only then would she consider having him given to a rescue operation, she said.

She acknowledged that holding the dog in a cage for several months pending a trial would be hard on him.

City Hall and The News have been flooded with e-mails about the issue since it came to public attention. Several animal welfare groups opposed to the pit bull law see the case as a classic example of the flaws of Bill 132 and are renewing their battle against the legislation.

An out-of-province placement would be a deserved reprieve for Rambo, and Mississauga councillors Pat Saito and Carolyn Parrish have been lobbying for that. Although, ideally, Rambo would be returned to Gabriela who seems to have a very big heart.

Here’s the opportunity:

This case challenges the ill-conceived breed-specific legislation brought in by Michael Bryant and the McGuinty government. It’s time to open that up again and repeal this nasty piece of legislation that doesn’t solve any problems whatsoever, and just creates heartbreaking cases like this one. Kudos to councillors Parrish and Saito for raising hell.

Michael Bryant and those who supported Bill 132 have the blood of over 2,000 dogs on their hands since 2005. How many humans have pit bulls or “substantially similar” dogs killed in Ontario since, oh, the beginning of recorded Canadian history? Perhaps a bill could be passed to protect other sentient beings from those who voted for this draconian bill.

Surely the creative minds on Mississauga City Council can figure out some wording with the Animal Services folks, so that this puppy can just be a puppy in a loving home?

Mississauga News

See the MPPs’ voting record on this bill here.

See what other bloggers have to say about this case:

Random Access (check the blog for further Rambo-lings)

Caveat

Find the Pit Bull Quiz at Social Mange

Check out Banned Aid, the website for a coalition which is opposing Bill 132.

Contact Mississauga municipal government to help spring Rambo for good. They really ought to be paying attention to Councillors Parrish and Saito. The mayor appears to be looking for some help over at Random Access (all this ruckus is costing money!): Rambo and Ronin

If you e-mail, change the (at) to the @ symbol. The (at) is to fool bots looking for e-mail addresses.

Here are the addresses for the City Councillors and the Mayor of Mississauga:

Her Worship Mayor Hazel McCallion: mayor(at)mississauga.ca
Office of the Mayor
City of Mississauga, 300 City Centre Drive, Mississauga, Ontario L5B 3C1
Fax: (905) 896-5879

Councillor Carmen Corbasson: carmen.corbasson(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Patricia Mullin: pat.mullin(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Maja Prentice maja.prentice(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Frank Dale: frank.dale(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Eve Adams: eve.adams(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Carolyn Parrish: carolyn.parrish(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Nando Iannicca: nando.iannicca(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Katie Mahoney: katie.mahoney(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Pat Saito: pat.saito(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor Sue McFadden: sue.mcfadden(at)mississauga.ca

Councillor George Carlson: george.carlson(at)mississauga.ca

City of Mississauga, 300 City Centre Drive, Mississauga, Ontario L5B 3C1
Fax: 905-615-4081

Janice Baker, City Manager - city.manager(at)mississauga.ca
Fax 905-615-3376

In some far part of the universe, ten thousand years from this noon, we may all confront creatures more vital than ourselves, more intelligent than ourselves, who will read in our eyes, one hopes, a similar signal. What we want at that moment is recognition. Acceptance. A welcoming into some universal sill. And once in, we would also hope, there is no killing club behind the door.

Susan Saladino, a painter and sculptor, is an artist whose career has taken a major shift in the last decade. No longer creating art for art’s sake, she has combined her passion for art and love for animals, employing her skill to express a concern for their welfare.

Her work is sure to offend certain Christians, as it is informed by readings from Jeffrey Masson (”When Elephants Weep”) and Matthew Scully (”Dominion”). More importantly, it is inspired by a profound love and respect for all living creatures.

An overview of the artist’s diverse work reveals a dedication to this singular theme. The viewer is asked to examine our existence with non-human animals. As a vehicle of both compassion and protest, her work does not confront us with brutal realities, but rather welcomes the viewer in with familiar images from history, though purposefully reconstructed.

“Susan’s ambitious canvases of The Madonna cradling domesticated animals explains them as expressions of compassion, and if one accepts Mary as the embodiment of that virtue, they are altogether convincing.” (from a New York Times review)

In the artist’s words,

“From the time of creation to the time of Christ, the Bible testifies to God’s love and concern for animal life. The scriptures tell a story of the human failure to fulfill the role that God assigned - the role of compassionate care giver for non human creatures.”

“Modern technology has moved us into an age where we have successful and superior alternatives to products and procedures that involve cruelty. Despite these alternatives, laboratories still subject the most sensitive and intelligent animals to brutal atrocities….. Despite the availability of natural plant hormones proven to be safer and equally as effective, some women still choose traditional animal estrogen; even with the understanding that by doing so thousands of adult and infant horses will be tortured and killed…..Synthetic fabrics are readily available as a compassionate alternative, but people still choose to strip the skin off living animals…..Even the circus, a place for innocent entertainment, has a bizarre backdrop of exploitation and cruelty…..For their entire lives, farm animals are contained in severely confined cages or metal crates unable to even turn around, never seeing the sun or breathing fresh air; only the toxic stench of their own excrement. Industrialized farming of today is an exploitation of the innocent. The heartbreaking reality of factory farming is the antithesis of what is projected in countless children’s storybooks and toys where we see happy faced farm animals frolicking in sun filled green pastures, well cared for and loved by farmer Brown. Anthropomorphizing animals illustrates to children the similarities between animals and humans with an underlying message encouraging love. The other message given to children is that it is acceptable to exploit and kill those very same creatures.”

“The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature who cannot.”

“The absence of anger in the face of injustice is a crime far worse than any words or actions that might offend the public, and by doing so, wake those who sleepwalk through life.”

Susan Saladino

Images: Madonna and Moon Bear, Madonna and Chimpanzee, Madonna and Puppy Mill

She adored the Passage des Panoramas.

It was a passion surviving from her youth, a passion for the gaudiness of fancy goods, fake jewels, gilt zinc and cardboard with the appearance of leather. When she passed that way she could not tear herself from the window-displays.

She felt the same now as during the period when she was a down-at-heel street urchin and used to forget herself in front of the confectionery in a chocolate-maker’s, while listening to a barrel-organ playing in a neighboring shop.

She was taken especially by the pressing attraction of cheap knick-knacks, requisites in walnut-shells, necessaries in small containers, rag-picker’s baskets for tooth-picks, Vendome columns and obelisks containing thermometers.

Emile Zola,
Nana: A Realistic Novel, 1880

Image: Charles Dodgson,
Alice Liddell as The Beggar Maid,
Late 1850s