Service Dogs: Think Before You Pet

Every day Traverse City Books-A-Million employee, Beka Wilkinson clocks into work with her service dog, Zola. Zola helps make Beka’s day manageable, that is when respected properly. Years ago Beka was diagnosed with a brain injury that resulted in severe anxiety and occasional breakdowns. Until she met Zola.

“I get very shaky and she’ll alert to that and then she does deep pressure therapy,” says Beka.

Click here for the rest of the story.

DNA Saves Michigan Dog From Death Penalty

Jeb, a much-loved service dog for an elderly man, was locked up in animal control when the judge’s verdict came in: He would be put to death for killing a neighbor’s dog. Jeb’s owners, Penny and Kenneth Job of St. Clair, Michigan, couldn’t believe that their sweet Jeb, the same gentle dog who helps Ken get up when he falls down, who lives peacefully with three other dogs, seven cats and a coopful of chickens, could ever harm another living being. Click here for the rest of the story.

Help Michigan’s Animal Shelters with the Animal Welfare Fund

from Attorneys for Animals

You can help animals and animal shelters when filing your Michigan taxes this year. It’s easy: go to line 22 of MI 1040; get Form 4642; choose Option 4.

What is the Animal Welfare Fund?

The AWF is a pool of money funded by voluntary contributions of Michigan’s taxpayers that provides grants to shelters to:

· Increase the number of Michigan dogs and cats who are sterilized before adoption

· Fund anti-cruelty and proper care programs for the public

· Provide anti-cruelty training for staff of, and equipment for, animal shelters

Honey the Golden Retriever Gets a Second Chance in Children’s Book

The children’s book “Honey’s Second Chance” by Brandy Herr is a well-illustrated and moving story about a Golden Retriever named Honey who spent a large number of her early years tied up to a tree. Over time, Honey got more and more depressed and would sleep a lot. One day, she was taken to an animal shelter and they decided to call a rescue group to come and get her so that she could recover and find a new home. Honey’s collar had dug more and more into her skin as she grew bigger and the rescue group Second Chance Farm got rid of the collar, nursed her back to health and got her ready to find a new home.

Family Offering $2000 for the Safe Return of their Dog After Exhaustive Search

It’s every dog owner’s worse nightmare – one of their family dogs runs away and they are still heartbroken and without their pet weeks later. Amy Dutton and her family have been looking for their 8-year-old Golden Retriever, Nick, since January 11th when he ran off with his 10-year-old Chocolate Lab dog brother, Remi. The dogs ran off about 5 pm on Wednesday, January 11th, when they were let out to go to the bathroom, in the Fife Lake area, on East County Line Road – an area that divides Grand Traverse County and Wexford County – the southeast part of Grand Traverse County.

Remi was found three days later in Manton by two hunters. Dutton said he would have had to cross the Manistee  River to get to where he was found. Unfortunately, Nick is still missing and the Duttons have offered a $2000 reward for Nick’s safe return, no questions asked. He was wearing a reflective lime green collar with his family’s address and phone number on it. There were two sightings of the dogs early on but by the time Dutton learned about them, they had moved on.