The Bay Area Pet Expo at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds is Saturday and Sunday, March 11 &12.
Admission to this indoor event is free (Parking $8.00) and non-aggressive, well-behaved pets are welcome — all pets must be on a fixed lead or in a carrier with proof of appropriate vaccinations.
You will be required to sign a pet waiver at the entrance or you may fill your pet waiver form out in advance, waiver here (pdf).

The Expo features pet-friendly exhibitors, pet care tips, grooming, pet behavior & training, along with free nail trims, discounted vaccinations.
Don’t have a pet? Pets are available for adoption.

Santa Clara County Fairgrounds
344 Tully Rd
San Jose, 95111

Admission: Free
Parking is $8

Saturday, March 11 — 10:00am to 5:00pm
Sunday, March 12 — 11:00am to 4:00pm

Approximately 5 or so months ago, a brand spanking-new Humane Society opened up, and wow, it’s amazing. Individuals can sponsor the cost of a little room for a pet, until it gets adopted. The entire facility is huge, with lots of socialization rooms, a fenced in big yard, outdoor little yards for the pet rooms, etc. It was a tear-jerking walk through – the cutest animals ever are there, I swear.

It’s off Montague down in Milpitas (I haven’t visited the one here, so can’t compare). I was down there adopting a cat a friend had fostered. The staff is nice, and I sense mostly volunteer. Great response to a social issue- if you’ve ever visited Cat Beach in Foster City, you know what I mean. Hundreds of cats are abandoned there by former owners.

I asked one of the workers there if they had seen an increase in abandoned/donated pets, and she said they had, in the past few years, as more owners are moving out of their homes and into rentals, or moving away altogether.

Also, check out great article on San Jose Metblogs re: the opening (Thanks Gary!).

Due to the economic downturn, many people are no longer able to keep their pets – either because they lost their job or have to move and can’t take their companion with them. For some, it comes down to choosing between feeding their family or their pet.

If you can’t find a way to keep your pet, or can’t find someone to adopt it, San Francisco Animal Care and Control (SFACC) will take it in without judgement and work to find it a home.

SFACC works with local rescues to find a home for your pet so the more information you can provide about your pet, the more likely that it will find a good and suitable home. Lastly, please don’t abandon your pet on the streets of San Francisco hoping someone will pick it up, it’s dangerous to your pet and the residents of the city.

On the flip side, if you are looking for a new pet to join your family, consider visiting SFACC. They are facing a 25% cut in budget and need all of the support they can get through donations and volunteering.

Here are some of the great dogs that are down at SFACC right now and need homes!

Just when you’d all but forgotten the story of the blood thirsty Presa Canarios that haunted the halls of a certain Pac Heights apartment tower, it seems the tawdry tale truly refuses to die.

This week, Marjorie Knoller, was back in court and sentenced, yet again. Knoller was the strange little woman whose giant dogs attacked and killed her neighbor, a college lacrosse instructor named Diane Whipple, back in 2001. The trial stirred up plenty of sordid details, including the pet owners’ “adoption” of an adult white supremacist convict they represented as attorneys, whose dogs they were apparently raising on his behalf.

The case was always controversial, and since a judge threw out the original jury’s second-degree murder conviction in 2002, an odd and continuing legal tug of war has existed between competing benches. In 2007, The California Supreme Court had ruled Knoller’s eventual 4 year sentence for a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter was inadequate. She would need to return to jail.

Knoller, who completed a four year stint (living in Florida and apparently estranged from her former husband who was paroled in 2003) has been brought back to California for re-sentencing that occured this morning. Little Marjorie is now expected to finish a “15 Years to Life” sentence, with eligibility for parole in 10 years when she’ll be 63 years old. The judge reportedly admonished Knoller and fined her as well, including almost $7000 in prison earnings…

Knoller’s attorney, Dennis Riordan, said they plan to file an appeal.

Bow Wow Yipee Yo Yippe Yay!

I washed my dog this morning, clipped his nails and got out the door to go see the vet for his regular check-up. Because I did not have any cash on me, I walked a little further to get coffee, to a place that takes cards.

I go in this place frequently enough. Though the “law” says dogs cannot go into food establishments, both of my closest coffee shops allow them. When I bring the pup in there, I carry him in my hoodie, just to be respectful of others.

Today, I go in and order a mocha and bagel to go. I have my dog on my shoulder.

I’m waiting for my food, when I get the feeling that someone is staring at me. I look around and my eyes land on one of the most foul specimens of human waste I’ve ever seen. Literally, this man is the human version of “Jabba the Hut”. He is a desending pile of tires of fat, rings of flesh telescoping towards the ground. He is shaped like a fleshy soft-serve, ice cream cone. His skin is yellow from jaundice and his eyes are bright red in the lids and whites, showing “Pink Eye” at the very least.

This foul man-pile yells at me from his stench-seat, “The dog goes outside”. I reply, “Are you the owner? I’m not leaving him outside.” I go back to waiting… “It’s the law” says flesh-sore-man, “Are you above the law? I’ll call the Board of Health.”

I grab my stuff to go and say to him loudly, so the whole cafe gets the message, “When you call the Board of Health, tell them you have a full-blown case of the infection known as “Pink Eye”, and that everything you have touched, including that stainless steel spoon someone else will later use, is infected.” I continue, “Tell them the money you gave the cashier, has now been handled by the same people handling the customer’s food. Tell them you have now exposed your infection to everyone in the cafe. Maybe you should think about THAT next time you worry about health codes…”

Do I need to take my 4th Anger Management class? YES.

Is it ridiculous that in San Francisco, an 8 pound, freshly-bathed dog is a health hazard, when in EVERY corner of this city, the average San Franciscan comes upon human fecal matter on every train, door handle, cafe, bathroom they use because this city is swarming with filthy, homeless crackheads?

YES, more than I need Anger Management, YES.

I pick my dog’s crap up, no matter where it lands. EVERY DAY when I walk to work, I dodge SEVERAL piles of human waste. The people who made those piles can go into any establishment they like. But I can’t bring my 8 pound, clean dog on my shoulder to get a coffee to go without having some ridiculous law spouted at me from Jabba the Jaundiced?

The LAW must GO!

My wee one and I attended the monthly gathering of the “San Francisco Chihuahua Meetup” on Sunday, June 1st. The meeting takes place regularly on the first Sunday of the month, at Stern Grove. (A change in day is tentative for the next two months while the Stern Grove Festival runs on Sundays)

This was my first visit to the function and I made an entertaining error in parking and location. I have only been to Stern Grove once and did not realize the size of the place!

I parked my Zipcar at the front entrance, grabbed paws and started the descent into the park. At once, I realized, cars can indeed drive down into Stern Grove. Oops! Oh well, I thought, it’s a nice day for a walk. As the long hill wound down, I started thinking, “I may have to extend the car reservation!”

We walked through a little girl’s party, passed a large, old-fashioned house where a graduation party was happening… and then we entered the concert arena. By this time, I’m feeling a little “Alice in Wonderland.”

Two women were in the concert area with their small dogs. We stopped and talked to them, and they pointed us further down the path to where the rest of the small dogs were having their party.

Out of the concert area, I chuckled to myself EVEN MORE as I was greeted by an even LARGER parking lot I didn’t know about, closer to the event I just walked a mile to get to… oh well, nice day for a walk.

We were finally there! And there were just dozens of chihuahuas everywhere, as well as dogs big, medium and small. Winks and I met Bobby, a fluffy mop dog, and a woman who was nice enough to drive us back to the car I had parked miles away. Winks sniffed some butts, got a new shirt and we got the car back to it’s spot in the Castro with 2 minutes to spare!

It was a good day!

Calling all tiny dogs!

Tomorrow, Sunday, June 1st, at Stern Grove in San Francisco, from 12pm to 2pm, you will be able to sniff butts your own size a plenty!

A group of chihuahua-lovers on Meetup.com are holding a gathering of chihuahua’s, mixes and their cousins for all to enjoy.

A new post tomorrow will contain pictures of my own tiny companion enjoying the festivities.

Here are some helpful links:

San Francisco Chihuahua Meetup on Craigslist

Directions to Stern Grove

There is a reason I carry a camera in my bag every day. I have three digital cameras, constantly charging, of various sizes, on the ready to capture news, odd sightings or anything in my path.

Many questions from folks have been launched at me while wandering into BART on a daily basis… “Do you want to take a FREE personally test?”, “Do you have some change?”, “Do you know where I can get some pot?”…

Yesterday, I heard, “Would you like to buy a rat for $5.00?”

(Insert trusty camera here)

This is Mia, and she sells rats in BART for $5.00.

(I used to have rats for pets and it broke my little heart
when they only lived to their meager lifespan of 2 years)

Anyone who lives in the city knows it can be difficult to find a pet-friendly apartment. My landlord ok’d my dog, since he is “smaller than a cat”. Personally, as a lover of animals, I think landlords should be more lenient. However, a neighbor of mine is probably a good example of “pushing it to the limits”.

It’s hard to take a picture in the sunlight, but on a nice day with the shades are open, you can see a few of my neighbor’s feathered friends. (A few of the flock pictured below) I’ve counted up to about 21 medium-sized, tropical birds with free reign of the front room.

I can’t see too far into the apartment because it’s on the second floor; but in my mind, the rest of the room is decorated with hanging vines and leaves. Maybe a jungle sound effects CD is playing in the background? The windows are definitely decorated… with something else.

Speaking of birds… more pics after the jump

The SF SPCA issued a condemnation today of an exhibit that’s been featured this month at the SF Art Institute, claiming that it is “barbaric and depraved”. Entitled “Don’t Trust Me”, the exhibition (originally slated to run through May 31 — but now canceled after outcry) was on display at 800 Chestnut St. and was featuring six short videos that are looped footage of animals getting hammered (and nope, we don’t mean getting drunk in North Beach ).

The critters, including an ox, a sheep, a horse, a pig, a goat, and a small deer are shown being beaten with a sledgehammer by the “artist”.

The invited presenting “artist”, born in Algeria, but based out of Paris, is Adel Abdessemed, who according to his own hype:

is open and generous, sensitive albeit controversial. For materials, he relies on bodily or embodied experiences (human and animal), ordinary household objects, industrial products, and even buildings. His work consists of the stark contrasts between beauty and violence, impulsiveness and rationality, romanticism and radicality, life and death.

Whatever ya wanna say about the guy, he’s from France and his money is worth more than yours these days, so there.

I actually wanna thank SFAI’s Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs and animal hammering fan Hou Hanru for bringing this unique artistic endeavor to my attention, where I once might have had to travel to a Chino slaughterhouse to see similar art. Hou’s SFAI website bio says of his curatorial and department chairing expertise :

“Hou is one of the first curators and thinkers to examine postmodern issues of nomadic identity, hybridity, globalized mobility, what he calls “in-betweeness,”

Way to go Hou !!! You impressive idea thinker you !!! Keep it up and I bet our board of supes will be fighting over which street to name after you !!!