One Forty

If you have been thinking about or wanting professional photography with you and your pets, Tim and Grace from Red Bird Photography have put together a very special, limited time offer that may be purrfect for you and your furry companions!

With over 10 years of study and experience between them, Tim and Grace from Red Bird Photography are experienced and amazing at what they do; they capture the best moments and devotion of you and your pets and showcase them in beautiful print packages of your choice.  Located in the Blue Mountains, only an hour away from Sydney CBD, they provide photography sessions for those located in Sydney and in the Blue Mountains.

Red Bird Photography actively support the RSPCA. When they’re not in a photography session with their customers, they are often found donating their time to the NSW RSPCA taking gorgeous photos of the many shelter animals across the state who are awaiting adoption into furever homes. Tim and Grace will also be present at the 2012 RSPCA Million Paws Walk in Katoomba this Sunday, May 20 showing their support, taking photos throughout the event and displaying some of their wonderful products and services, so make sure you get your tails down there to see them on the day and say hello!

Red Bird Photography
Website: http://www.redbirdphotography.com.au
Phone: 0406 775 271
Email: info@redbirdphotography.com.au

Follow Red Bird Photography on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/redbirdphoto

Some of you may or may not be aware that I give my time working for the RSPCA and also promoting animal welfare and responsible pet ownership as part of my own personal mission and passion to help unfortunate animals find loving homes and have a second chance at a safe and happy life.

This year, Petbarn stores nation-wide will be partnering with the RSPCA to create “RSPCA Giving Trees.” Until December 24^th, in exchange for a small donation of $3, $5 or $10 in store, you can place a decoration on their RSPCA Giving Tree, with all funds raised going directly to the RSPCA to help provide much needed support over the Christmas period. The decorations will include space for you to write a message and sign with your name (or your pet’s name).

“It’s great to see how excited people of all ages are when it comes to hanging their decoration on the Giving Tree,” says Petbarn Campaign & PR Manager Gail McWhinnie. “There’s a real sense that they are doing something for an important cause – and now is the time of year when the RSPCA could do with that support.”

Each year, during the summer and Christmas period, the RSPCA receive hundreds of abandoned animals a day that require shelter, feeding, medical attention and fostering before they are ready for adoption. Petbarn began their RSPCA Giving Tree promotion two years ago, with this being the third year that they have supported the RSPCA and their mission. Last year, Petbarn successfully raised over $40,000 in Giving Tree donations – these donations go a long way toward helping all RSPCA animals have a second chance at life. This year, Petbarn are hoping to do even better!

So, if I could ask you all to do one thing for me this Christmas, it would be to either make a donation directly with the RSPCA or visit your local Petbarn store and make a donation at their RSPCA Giving Tree. Petbarn will be running their promotion until December 24^th, with all funds they raise being presented to the RSPCA in the New Year.

Find your local Petbarn store: http://www.petbarn.com.au/locations.php
Donate directly to the RSPCA: http://rspcaguardianangel.com.au/

Please help spread the word and share this post with your work colleagues, friends and family.

With the beginning of spring means warmer weather is on the way which also means dog and cat breeding season will soon commence across the country. This increase in animal breeding means a potential inundation of unwanted litters will arrive on the door steps of animal shelters such as the Animal Welfare League NSW (AWL), the Royal Society and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), council pounds and many others.

In an effort to combat this and in effort to help reduce euthanasia of unwanted cats and dogs, AWL is holding an adoption drive called ”Save a Life in September” with the aim to re-home 200 puppies, dogs, kittens and cats in 30 days!

All animals in the care of AWL that are available for adoption are tested for their temperament so the team can carefully match the animal with the lifestyle of the most suitable owner. This is something that organisations such as the RSPCA also provide as part of their adoption process. In addition, all puppies, dogs, kittens and cats are vet checked, desexed, microchipped (including lifetime registration), vaccinated, wormed and are on flea prevention treatments. Most importantly, they match pets with owners who are dedicated and willing to provide the necessary and required lifetime care and who will provide a safe and loving furever home.

If you can bring a pet into your life and make it a part of your family, you can view available pets for adoption at www.awlnsw.com.au or visit one of the two AWL Sydney shelters. Please phone (02) 8899 3333 for all adoption enquiries.

Owning a pet is a big responsibility and is something that should not be done on impulse. So if Sydney-siders cannot bring an abandoned dog or cat into their life, they can support Save a Life in September by making a donation online or by calling (02) 8899 3333 during business hours.

Ingleside shelter:
11 Cicada Glen Road

Kemps Creek shelter:
1605 Elizabeth Drive

Recently, a young girl was killed by an attack from a pit bull dog that had escaped from its owners yard and ran inside her home. This has sparked a major debate on the viciousness of the pit bull breed. Many are suggesting that simply because the dog is a pit bull, this means they are vicious and will attack. This debate isn’t new and has been talked about, off and on, for quite some time. In fact, American Pit Bulls are illegal to own in Australia – this is how bad our finger pointing has become; that the dog is the problem and not the handler, ever.

Watch: Dr. Ian Dunbar talks about dog attacks.

I am so relieved to find that someone out there, other than me, understands that dogs aren’t “bad” just “because of their breed.” Humans are often the problem whenever behavioral issues in dogs arise and we are always so quickly to lay blame elsewhere instead of stopping and assessing the entire situation and making the changes we really should be making. All dogs have the ability to be aggressive and attack, even the tiny dogs that we so often dismiss because it looks so cute, small and cuddly that we act as though it wouldn’t hurt a fly. It is dog owners who need to learn responsibility as well as appropriate and effective leadership of their dog(s) and it is also the wider community who needs to take a moment to learn about dog psychology and behaviors.

Too often dogs are put down or surrendered to pounds and rescue shelters because we don’t make the effort to provide the leadership, balance and stability the dog requires. We see the dog as “the problem” and take the easy way out. If your child acts out, you don’t begin looking for places to put them up for adoption or have them killed (or, as we say for dogs, “destroyed” – as though it’s an object), which I think begins to touch on part of the problem with many dog owners; they see their dog not as a living creature or companion, but rather as an object that should only be around when it’s convenient for them. They invest only in a one-sided relationship, where they ask the dog to give them all the love and fun they want, when they want it, but provide nothing in return.

At the end of the day, the less misconceptions we have about dogs and their breeds and the more public awareness and appropriate education is provided to everyone, the better man and his best friend will be. This is something Cesar Millan often spends a lot of time educating people and dog owners everywhere about. His pit bulls (particularly ‘Daddy’ and ‘Junior’) are perfect examples of how effective calm-assertive leadership will ALWAYS mean a calm and balanced dog, no matter what breed they are or what tendencies they have displayed in the past.