Is a Life-long Commitment On Your Gift List? Gifts of Pets From/To Others
“Hello, I was given a dog for Christmas and cannot get a leash on her. She is ruining my apartment because I can’t get her outside. Can you help me?”...
Sand Wash Basin Wild Horses: Displaced Priorities by the BLM?
By Amy Hefestay | CAP Board Member Photo A: Two young stallions in the Sand Wash Basin herd, July 2021 I have been fascinated with horses for most of my...
The Captive Wildlife Crisis: Part Two
Part Two By Pat Craig, Guest Blogger Founder and Executive Director of The Wild Animal Sanctuary, Keensburg, Colorado Note from Sunny: I present this guest blog to assist in...
The Captive Wildlife Crisis: Part One
Part One By Pat Craig, Guest Blogger Founder and Executive Director of The Wild Animal Sanctuary, Keensburg, Colorado Note from Sunny: I present this guest blog to assist in...
Not All Working Dogs Have Job Titles
Jessie was scheduled for euthanasia as a "behavior problem"--a separation anxiety nutcase, a house destroyer, a crazy bag of bones abandoned. He came to me for behavioral rehab. His intelligence,...
Some Dogs
Some dogs don’t move you to poetry. Some dogs quietly, slowly, meld themselves into literature’s prose; not flowery, not romantic, not shiny. Jessie was a dog who grew slowly into...
Puppy Mills: Part One – Good-bye, Rosie the Riveter & Hello, Farmer John
The late 1940s turned the financial difficulties of the Great Depression and WWII around. The economic boom years of the 1950s brought the United States interstate highway system, widespread corporate...
Puppy Mills: Part Two – Taken From Mom: Now What?
There are four usual ways puppy mill proprietors divest themselves of puppies they have bred. They are: selling directly to pet stores, advertising on the internet, selling to a broker,...
Puppy Mills: Part Three – Will Economics Always Overcome Ideals?
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” – Mahatma Gandhi Why is it so difficult to ban...
What is an Animal Attorney? Part One
Part One: Animal Rights Law Careers working with animals have expanded in the 30 years since I became involved. In the old days we fostered dogs in our backyards...
What is an Animal Attorney? Part Two
Part Two: Animal Welfare Law In our previous segment, we discussed Animal Rights Law. It is one of two animal law specialties: Animal Welfare and Animal Rights. In this...
Why Foster Homeless Pets?
Those of us who work with animals on a daily basis see the confusion, fear, loneliness, and pain of homelessness. Injured, sick, elderly, and emotionally jarred animals struggle to make...
Join Me in the Pikes Peak Library Author Spotlight!
Join me and the Pikes Peak Library District in a virtual presentation of my children's books, The Pups & Purrs Humane Education Series! We'll discuss each book and how it...
Teaching Children to Think Independently & Humanely
How do we as parents, teach our children to respect authority and yet think independently enough to decipher and reject illegal, immoral, or dangerous demands from those more powerful than...
Humane Education Through Storytelling: The Pups & Purrs Children’s Book Series–Part Three
In our final segment, let’s tie up the two previous segments featured in this blog post, their importance, and how books can bring us the tools to reach out to...
Humane Education Through Storytelling: The Pups & Purrs Children’s Book Series–Part 2
In this segment of “Humane Education through Storytelling” we will examine the roll of parents, educators, counselors, and humane educators in reaching and turning potential young animal abusers into caring,...
Humane Education Through Storytelling: How to Use the Pups & Purrs Children’s Series–Part 1
“Coming-of-age” books try to address emotional and social challenges that all children face. Children are buffeted in overwhelming directions during their formative years. There are so many options and expectations...
Listen to Sunny read The Dog At The Gate
Enjoy Sunny reading of The Dog at the Gate, my award-winning book for children 8-12.
Decision Making in Times of Terror
This morning I was awakened by the annoying screech of an alarm on my phone, which sat inches from my disheveled head. I jerked awake, annoyed. One of my cats...
