Out to Pasture
Oregon Horse Rescue strives to give unwanted horses a forever home
Humans, if we’re very lucky, get to retire in some comfort. Horses — some of humankind’s closest companions for thousands of years — have to … Continue reading
Pets Archive
Chimps Inc.
An Oregon chimpanzee sanctuary cares for rescued chimps
On a stifling summer day in Oregon’s high desert, I drive past several ranches with cattle, horses, goats and a few llamas or alpacas. I … Continue reading
Fleeced
The perils and joys of owning an alpaca
I own a tiny grey alpaca named Shimmer. I bought her for $250 two winters ago and she hasn’t stopped costing me money since. I’m building a small fiber business, selling Oregon yarn and hand knits online. I’m about wool. One year into my ambitious little alpaca fiber program, I thought Shimmer would be 1) pregnant by now 2) friendlier to me and 3) well … friendlier to me. Continue reading
Dine with Your Dog
Eating out doesn’t always mean leaving your pet behind
We live in a very pet-friendly area with many restaurants that allow customers to dine with their dogs … or cats. When I first got my dog a little more than a year ago, she was an 8-week-old rescue puppy with a boxer face and blue heeler paws, and I never wanted to leave her home alone. So she went everywhere with me. Continue reading
Horses That Heal
RideAble’s equestrian therapy program for special needs changes lives
Seventeen-year-old Courtney Scott stands by the arena at a well-maintained stable in Goshen, a few miles southeast of Eugene. She’s on crutches, her left leg in a cast due to stress fractures from dancing, but her eyes sparkle as she waits for her horse to be brought out for her to ride. The crutches make her weekly ride a little more challenging, but Scott doesn’t care. Continue reading
Fix Your Chi
Little dogs are showing up at shelters
Chihuahuas weigh an average of 4 to 6 pounds — that’s about the size of a large bunny. The puppies tip the scale at only a few ounces, and yet, Chihuahuas are all canine, descendants of Canis lupus, just like huskies, malamutes and Irish wolfhounds. The diminutive stature of Chihuahuas makes it easy to forget that they’re real dogs, not pocket pets or fashion accessories. Continue reading
Kitty Couture
Eugene cat vamps it up in costume
“Here kitty, kitty. Come put on this rosary and sit next to this golden chalice like you’re taking communion.” So it goes for BooBoo, a 17-pound Eugene tabby whose dress-up antics have earned him five million views on the website Pretty 52 and his own greeting card Etsy shop (79 sales and counting!). Continue reading
Who Gets the Pet?
Plan ahead to keep pets out of custody disputes
Pets are kind of like practice kids for some of us or, for people like me, they are straight up in lieu of bearing children — just please don’t call them fur-babies; that’s gross. But just like real children, pets sometimes get caught in the fray of a break-up. When my ex-fiancé and I split, I kept Smudge, the dachshund mix I owned before we got together, and he kept Lily, the pit-Dalmatian puppy we got as a couple. I was possibly more heartbroken over losing the dog than I was over canceling the wedding. Continue reading
Portland’s Pussycat Paradise
An afternoon at Portland’s Purringtons Cat Lounge, the Northwest’s first cat cafe
Cats are winning. As I write this, my cat, Elsie, slinks around my legs, looking up at me, knowingly. Cats have always known they were winners; it just took society, with a helpful boop from the internet, some time to catch up. Dogs, however, in all their earnest, loyal, slopping glory, have long ruled the hearts of the majority, from “man’s best friend” to Old Yeller. For millennia, dogs have stood by as our companions, our families, our heroes. Continue reading
Bird Brains
The wild world of pigeon breeding
With cooped birds all around me, I wasn’t prepared when pigeon enthusiast Rod Workman quickly encouraged his two doves to jump from his hands to my shoulder and arm. But there they sat, one with a single wing stretched out lazily, soaking up the sun as it perched on my shoulder. Continue reading