Girl paid a visit to the L J Hooker real estate office in Hamilton some time ago, and was happy to be photographed among the bears and plants.

K9 Perspective

The magazine your dog would want you to read

Editorial (October - November 2005):

FIRST I must apologise for missing the August - September issue. I broke my wrist (one of those silly and totally avoidable household accidents) and have had a few ongoing problems with it - four weeks after the event it was decided that I should have metal plates inserted to keep the bones in place, as they had moved each time the plaster cast was x-rayed. So that has now been done and I am looking forward to getting the stitches out and gaining some measure of mobility again (I had not realised that one's left hand served such a useful purpose in everyday life).

Recent events of significance for the canine species have of course been the devastating hurricanes in the USA and the initial ruling that pets must be left behind. That rule was probably the cause of human as well as animal deaths as many people would not leave their adoptive family members to fend for themselves. I was very saddened by television pictures of a little white bichon taken from its owner on the bus, and just left on the side of the road. I could never have left it myself, unless of course I had children to look after. As I am writing this, the second hurricane is at its peak and people are headed out of its path in droves, but this time family pets are included even on the buses, so the rescue is likely to be more readily accepted. Only after the next week or two will the full extent of damage and injury be established. I would urge anyone wishing to assist, to think of the plight of the homeless or injured and starving animals and send some funds to organisations dedicated to helping them.

I was hit by another television programme recently - a family with two children out of four who were slowly dying of a somewhat rare genetic disorder was confronted by an animal rights defender who condemned veterinary research into the disease at Massey University by breeding dogs with the disease and conducting experiments and vivisection on them in the name of a future cure or prevention.

The most memorable part of this article was the conviction by the parents that such experimentation was not moral and served no purpose that could not be achieved through more acceptable channels of research. The animal rights representative held the same opinion, and personally I am aware of a range of options that are available, that make experiments on animals obsolete and far from accurate. What disturbed me was that the Massey representative admitted to using thousands of animals in the course of experiments each year. To me that means that this university is not using modern methods and any results it gets would be rather suspect. Would you use a product that had "worked okay on a cow, or dog, or rat?"

For the sake of parents everywhere who have children with terminal or debilitating genetic afflictions I do hope that there is research going on in all parts of the world using acceptable and up-to-the-minute forms of research that do not require the death and suffering of hundreds or thousands of helpless animals.

I will leave you on a happier note today - I have heard that the Pet Expos that used to be held in three or four centres around New Zealand a few years ago, have made a reappearance in Christchurch as the first show in a very welcome comeback. I will be looking forward to the shows next year, or there may be another one this year - I will find out and let you know! - Elezabeth