It is puppy season and that means cuteness overload of wagging tails, puppy breathe, wiggling, smiling, kissing bundles of fur. Puppies just make people’s hearts smile. Puppies are hard to resist. Puppies are in great demand at the shelter. But an untrained, under-socialized adult dog lacking basic manners is not.

This first week of May I invite you to join in a 102 year old tradition (started by the American Humane Association in 1915) - Be Kind to Animals Week. In this annual celebration, humans (well at least the sort of humans who I value…) commemorate the role animal’s play in our lives, promote ways to continue to treat us humanely, and encourage others to do the same.

My name is Marley, a seven year old Cocker Spaniel that recently arrived here at the Second Chance Shelter. I was rescued from a puppy mill where I have lived my entire life in fear. So even though being rescued was the best thing that ever happened to me – it was very scary. But the “Fear Free” way I was handled at Second Chance really worked wonders and I want to share their approach with all pet parents.

Is your cat fat? Is your furry feline sporting something extra on the midriff? Are you in denial and pretending it is just extra fur to keep her warm? Well you are not alone as there is a 55 percent chance that your cat is too chubby (according to Sheltering Magazine that is the percent of adult pet cats that are overweight, with half that number being classified as obese, scoring 8 or higher on a 9-point body condition scoring chart).