The term "disabled" can mean many things. There are lots of ways in which a creature can be disabled. In terms of this story, the "disability" was that of leatherback sea turtles being unable to live and reproduce in peace, due to fishing, pollution and -- mainly -- to being hunted for their meat, flippers and eggs -- the latter believed by some to have aphrodisiac qualities.On a personal note, I
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Social Media Saves a Disabled Dog!
Okay, I admit it: I've caught the Twitter bug. I've been spending a LOT of time on this web-based, mini-blogging app that I once disdained as silly and useless. But at that time, it pretty much WAS silly and useless - just a place for friends to catch up on each other's lives in 140 characters or less.But when I'm not wearing my author or publisher hat, I'm a marketing consultant, and about two
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A Memorial Day Tribute: Senior Pets
Today is a national holiday in America, when we remember the men and women of our armed forces who have fallen in battle or who were lost while playing supportive roles for those on the battlefield. I want to say thank you to all the people who gave their children and brothers and sisters and moms and dads and other relatives to us—their larger American family—to do what needed to be done,
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Dear Deja: A Sad Farewell
A sweet memory: Deja at the beachAs I get ready to have a multi-day, out-of-office experience (read: a working vacation), I find I must sign off on a sad note today.Four years ago, my sister and I took off for some bonding time alone, away from our families, to grieve the loss of our mom. We visited a beautiful, wonderful private retreat now called Villa La Bella. It's an American-owned bed &
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A Saturday Smile - Pets, Creativity and Healing
Disability can come in many forms -- not just physical -- for animals and humans. Sometimes psychic trauma leaves greater disability than any physical malfunction can cause. It's much more difficult to tell if an animal is emotionally damaged than it is with people, since people can verbalize what they're feeling. But if you pay attention, you can certainly tell when a critter has been
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A Friday Fave - Gracie
Today we're taking a break from special needs topics and simply recognizing one example of why any pet can make our lives more enjoyable and inspiring. Here's to good ol' Gracie.
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Woo-Hoo! Another of our authors makes a splash!
Our own Cheryl Caruolo is making headlines in her Boston-area hometown blog, Wicked Local! She talks about her piece, Battle for Life: Krieg, that appears in our Almost Perfect anthology.Little Krieg, the runt of his litter, didn't standmuch of a chance when he was born. This affecting piece about how a runt-of-the-litter German shepherd managed to beat the odds to live a fulfilling, inspiring
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Come. Sit. Stay!
What an original and excellent idea! Artist Kimberly Kelly Santini is an artist, specializing in pet portraiture. She has been painting daily dogs (and cats and horses and guinea pigs and bunnies) since 2006. Proceeds from the sale of these paintings support Kim and often animal-related causes, as well. Anyone who knows what it takes to create ANY kind of work of art—much less skillfully
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Ruby Runs Again in San Francisco
...well, at least in the pages of its paper, the San Francisco Chronicle!Our own Vicki Tiernan, who wrote about her wonder dog, Ruby, in Almost Perfect, was interviewed on Chronicle writer Eileen Mitchell's Pet Tales blog in mid-March. It happened amid a flurry of PR work going on here at the Word Forge Books/Enspirio House offices, and I neglected to get the story posted here.So—hoping that
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Roberta Makes Headlines for Greek Animals!
Roberta Beach Jacobson, one of the illustrious contributors to our Almost Perfect anthology, has made the front page of the Greece & Cyprus area of the Best Friends Network website with her story, "The Sea Dog of Karpathos Island."Opi and friendIt's a heartwarming, true story of Roberta and her husband, Alf, adopting a scruffy little one-eyed dog. Roberta and Alf are cofounders of Animal Welfare
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Keeping Pets From Becoming Disabled
Fellow author Christina Selter is a pet safety expert and founder of Bark Buckle UP, a pet restraint manufacturer and advocate for pet travel safety. With its slogan "Be Smart, Ride Safe™," Bark Buckle UP tours the US and Canada, educating people about and promoting awareness of pet safety while traveling with pets.National safety statistics conclude the number of pets traveling in vehicles is at
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Philadelphia Examiner Review!
Well, our pal Megan Drake has read Almost Perfect and decided that she likes it! We're tickled pink, and send her our thanks for letting the world know!I had the great good fortune to meet Megan in person last night at the little bash we threw to celebrate Be Kind To Animals Week at the nearby office park that also serves as our warehouse. We had a packed room for the video presentation and a
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A Nearby Friend
Shout out to a new supporter and friend: Welcome Megan Drake, the Philadelphia Dog Advocate Examiner. Megan blogs about all things dog at the Philly Examiner's site. She heard about us via our KYW1060am podcast last week and is very excited about Almost Perfect! In fact, she's so excited about it, she couldn't even wait to get her review copy before giving our little book a thumbs up for a
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Oh, Hooray! We're Official!
BeanieI learned this morning via Franny's Cats Blog that the Animal Miracle Network had succeeded in getting May 3 recognized as National Disabled Pets Day! This is such a wonderful thing. It helps all of us who know the importance of raising awareness of the plight of special needs animals everywhere. And it'll be a great reason to celebrate Almost Perfect again next year, so thanks, AMN!Visit
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