Animals & Pets: Blog of New Orleans, Gambit

Y@ Speak: A very gay Easter

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 11:42:00 -0500

I told you it was the Gay Easter Parade! Awesome!…
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Tony the Tiger's case returns in state appeals court

Alex Woodward — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:45:00 -0600

Attorneys representing Michael Sandlin, who owns Tony, a 550-pound Bengal tiger residing at Sandlin's Tiger Truck Stop, argued before a three-judge 1st Circuit Court of Appeal panel yesterday to keep Tony where he is, despite arguments from the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF).

Sandlin's attorney Jennifer Treadway Morris argued that state District Judge Mike Caldwell was not allowed to deny the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) from issuing Sandlin a new permit to keep Tony in 2011.…

Pre-teen helps animals for Lent

Kandace Graves — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 10:35:00 -0600

While many Christians will make a pledge today to give up an indulgence — chocolate, alcohol, meat, entertainment — for Lent leading up to Easter, 12-year-old Ethan Carroll is giving up his time instead to collect necessities for Louisiana’s largest not-for-profit no-kill animal shelter.

It’s the fourth year for Ethan Carroll’s Lent Project.…

Y@ Speak: Arty Gras

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 11:55:00 -0600

Duke living the dream at Barkus! #nola #barkus #mardigras2013 twitter.com/aaron_wa/statu…
— Aaron M. Roy (@aaron_wa) January 27, 2013

Carnival got going this weekend with some bigger krewes rolling Uptown.…

Review: The Acro-Cats, with unwitting guest reviewer Champ Superstar

Kevin Allman — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 12:18:45 -0600

In the absence of theater writer Dalt Wonk, I was going to review the return of The Amazing Acro-Cats "Meowy Christmas" Show last night at the Shadowbox Theatre, but the sight of a groundhog in a Santa hat pushing a bowling ball left me temporarily mute.

Besides cats and the Santa groundhog, there were rats, an elderly dog in a tutu and a cymbal-playing chicken named Gregory Peck.

Champ Superstar's Twitter stream during the show said it better than I ever could.…

Pints for the pets, part II

Ian McNulty — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 17:25:00 -0600

Companionable, attentive and incapable of repeating any foolishness you might spout as the evening ticks on, a dog can make an ideal drinking buddy. Alas, we can’t always bring our dogs out with us for a night on the town.…

Pints for the pets

Ian McNulty — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 08:16:00 -0500

LA/SPCA #Isaac update: closed until power returns

Alex Woodward — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 17:00:00 -0500

In anticipation of Hurricane Isaac, the Louisiana SPCA (which serves as the city's animal shelter and animal control) moved 87 cats and 56 dogs to shelters in Texas, and 35 dogs (and one cat) were transported to St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in New Jersey.

The SPCA of Texas posted a photo gallery of Isaac-affected animals arriving at its shelter, and the national SPCA has kept a blog with updates about Gulf Coast pets (the Texas shelters reported dozens of adoptions following the arrival of the LA/SPCA animals).…

Y@ Speak: Zoo Orleans

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:39:00 -0500

Getting ready for the ostrich and camel races. twitter.com/WWNO/status/23…
— WWNO 89.9 FM (@WWNO) August 18, 2012

"Lions, tigers, bears/ I'm an animal."…
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Public Transit Tuesdays: Leonidas

Megan Braden-Perry — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 23:59:00 -0500

The second accompanied installment of Public Transit Tuesdays brings us from City Park to Audubon Zoo on the Leonidas bus, passing through Hollygrove, Pigeon Town and Gert Town, proving to be a fine continuation of my Uptown education which began years ago when I was a student at Lusher Extension. This bus adventure opens with difficult questions: How do you pronounce "Leonidas" anyway?…

Public Transit Tuesdays: Tchoupitoulas

Megan Braden-Perry — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 22:19:08 -0500

Since the Tchoupitoulas bus comes only once an hour—with the exception of coming once every half hour in the early morning, late afternoon and early evening—this bus adventure was more of a walking tour. A very exhausting walking tour.…

Sit. Eat. Good Cause.

Ian McNulty — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 09:00:00 -0500

A new citywide, charitable dining event coming up June 14is really for the dogs…and the cats, and the hamsters and the other animals in need.

It’s called Pause for Dinner, and the event is a benefit for the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (LA/SPCA), the private nonprofit that cares for so many abandoned and abused animals around our community.…

Giant albino mutant spiders destroy New Orleans in Arachnoquake

Kevin Allman — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 00:38:00 -0500

We told you about it last December, but now it's almost here: Arachnoquake, the TV movie in which GIANT ALBINO MUTANT SPIDERS destroy New Orleans, will air on SyFy June 23 at 8 pm.

This fine use of Hollywood South tax credits stars Tracey Gold (Growing Pains) and Edward Furlong (Terminator 2), and Entertainment Weekly has the first trailer, which is well worth your time if you want to see St. Louis Cathedral blow up and the CBD on fire due to GIANT ALBINO MUTANT SPIDERS.…

New Orleans trying to decide where to build new dog parks

Kevin Allman — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:33:57 -0500

Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration is surveying citizens and holding meetings about the development of dog parks in New Orleans. More than 1,400 residents have responded to an online survey aimed at determining the needs of dog owners (you're welcome to do so; the survey closes Friday).…

Despite court order, Tony the tiger still at truck stop

Alex Woodward — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:55:01 -0500

Yesterday, the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) filed another lawsuit in the now years-long appeal to force the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, La., to remove Tony, an 11-year-old Siberian-Bengal tiger.

Despite last year's ruling to prevent Tony's owner Michael Sandlin from confining the big cat, Sandlin, the suit charges, still houses Tony at the truck stop.…

Animal and pet events this weekend

Kevin Allman — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 08:00:00 -0500

If the Final Four isn't your thing — and your only problem with our Pet Issue was that it was too short — there are a couple of events this weekend you need to know about:

• The Louisiana SPCA is holding a Mega Match-a-Thon at its Algiers facility on Sunday, April 1. Eleven other animal welfare groups and breed rescues from various parishes are coming together for the event, which will offer music, food, a raffle and a ton of adoptable pets looking for homes.…

Villalobos pitbull rescue center opens tomorrow

Alex Woodward — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:00:00 -0500

Founded by Tia Maria Torres, Villalobos Rescue Center is the star of the Animal Planet reality series Pit Bulls and Parolees, which follows Torres and the crew at the center. After being forced to move from its California facility, it opened another, this one in New Orleans.…

Report: Louisiana dolphins "severely ill"

Alex Woodward — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:20:00 -0500

In Barataria Bay, scientists and researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association have been studying bottlenose dolphins in the wake of the BP oil disaster.

The NOAA performed physicals on 32 dolphins in 2011, and today, the early results are dramatic: many are "underweight, anemic, have low blood sugar and/or some symptoms of liver and lung disease," and "nearly half also have abnormally low levels of the hormones that help with stress response, metabolism and immune function."…

Meanwhile, the New Orleans Saints love homeless pets

Alex Woodward — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:45:00 -0500

As the New Orleans Saints organization squares its feet following one of the biggest blows to its entire world, some team members, in likely one of their first public appearances following Bountygate 2012, are publicly announcing... their love to animals.

And not just Gumbo, everyone's favorite juiced up St. Bernard.…

Local cat achieves global Internet fame

Kevin Allman — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 10:37:00 -0600

If you've ever been to Molly's at the Market in the French Quarter, you've probably seen Mr. Wu, the bar cat who's always ready to greet any thirsty patron (except, perhaps, the health inspector). Local Internet man-about-town The Cajun Boy captured a great photo of Mr. Wu enjoying a drink before Krewe du Vieux, and now the image of Mr. Wu on a barstool has gone big time on I Can Haz Cheezburger, the website repository of thousands of "kitteh" pictures with misspelled captions:

Cue squeals of girlish delight around the globe, but note: No, the cat doesn't hang out at a bar called "Cajun Boy."

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Sens. David Vitter and Mary Landrieu honored by Humane Society

Kevin Allman — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:29:34 -0600

It seems Louisiana's senators can agree on one thing besides oil and gas: animal welfare. The Humane Society of the United States has named Sen. David Vitter as one of its two 2011 "Humane Legislators of the Year" for his work on animal-related legislation:

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., was named the Humane Senator of the Year for his leadership on securing needed funding to strengthen USDA enforcement of key animal welfare laws, as well as on bills to require licensing and inspections of puppy mills selling directly to the public via the Internet or other means (the PUPS Act, S. 707) and to prohibit interstate and foreign commerce in nonhuman primates for the pet trade (the Captive Primate Safety Act, S. 1324).…
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Win a ride with the Budweiser Clydesdales at Mardi Gras

Kandace Graves — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:33:11 -0600

Do it for the horses (and the police officers who ride them). Listen to music, eat food from popular restaurants and enter a raffle to ride with the Budweiser Clydesdales in a Carnival parade.…

On pit bulls and writing about your best friends

Alex Woodward — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:40:00 -0600

In college, I figured I could manage two and a half jobs. My senior year, on top of classes and keeping deliriously long hours at the school paper and freelancing, I quit a restaurant job and answered a Craigslist ad for a graveyard shift at a soon-to-open clinic for special needs dogs.…

Metairie dog park opens Saturday

Kandace Graves — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:54:00 -0600

Lafreniere Bark, a new five-acre dog park, opens Saturday, Jan. 7, on the north side of Lafreniere Park (3000 Downs Blvd., Metairie) with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and event from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Everyone is welcome to attend the free event, and pet owners are encouraged to dress their dogs in Saints or LSU gear (You can choose another team if you dare.) and enter them in a pet sports costume contest.…

Animal Rescue hosts Twelfth Night fundraiser

Alex Woodward — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:45:09 -0600

Animal Rescue New Orleans (ARNO) hosts its annual fundraiser tomorrow (Friday, Jan. 6) to benefit the shelter, which has found homes for more than ~~5,500~~ 6,800 animals since 2005 (and 8,800 including its Katrina rescues), and is one of the only shelters nationally that accepts feral pets.

The Harahan-based, volunteer-run shelter also offers adoption programs, a medical triage, foster care, humane trapping, spaying and neutering, a hospice program, offsite adoption and awareness events, and a pet retention program serving up to 60 indigent families each year — if families must relinquish their pets because of financial hardship, the program helps keep them together.…