Kasey’s Cure

Yes, it is true our latest rescue dog Jezzaine understands commands in French.

It all started shortly after her arrival to the States. She was airlifted out of Beirut, Lebanon in December and came to live with us shortly thereafter. I had the worst time training her — basic commands like “sit”, “stay” and “come” went unanswered with no hint that she understood or heard what I was saying.

We thought that she may be deaf — or had a serious case of selective hearing — and could not hear us. She was in a war zone and easily could have lost her hearing.

Then just today, my friend Irish arrived. I introduced them and because she is from Lebanon — a country that speaks both French and Arabic — he told her to sit in French (”assis”) and she did!

It is crazy that we did not think of this ourselves. Why on earth would she understand any command in English — she was raised in Lebanon by a French speaking family — no English.

So, retraining begins tomorrow with “sit” — “assis”, “stay” — “reste”, and “come” — “ici”. I still plan on training her in English as well. This way she will be bilingual.

Merci, Irish for pointing out the obvious.

My good friend and former boss — Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) has introduced legislation in the US House of Representatives that will protect American consumers’ right to know exactly what they are buying when they purchase clothes containing animal fur.

Specifically, HR 891 — The Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act will:

- Prohibit the sale of any apparel containing fur from raccoon dogs, members of the dog family native to China killed in large numbers for their fur. The definition of “dog” in current U.S. law, which already bans the sale of cat and dog fur, will be expanded to include raccoon dogs.

- Require that all apparel containing any quantity of fur is accurately labeled, regardless of the fur’s monetary value.

Current law requires that fur garments be labeled with the name of the species used, the manufacturer and country of origin. However, there is a big loophole in the labeling law—products containing small quantities or values of fur can be made and sold without accurate labels.

The Federal Trade Commission defines an item as having “a small value or quantity of fur” if the fur on that item is worth no more than $150. This unreasonably high figure allows products such as coats, sweaters, vests and accessories with fur trim to be sold without truthful labeling. Consumers may unknowingly purchase these products, believing the fur to be faux since it is not labeled.

In order to make informed purchases, consumers must know what they are buying. The Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act would protect this right, and also ban completely the sale of fur from raccoon dogs.

Contact your representative now and urge him or her to support and cosponsor H.R. 891.

Kasey’s Cure had a table this year at the 8th Annual St. Michaels Dog Walk at the Inn at Perry Cabin to raise money for the Talbot County Humane Society.

The walk is organized each year to bring awareness for the need to reduce pet over population through aggressive spay/neuter programs. Their goal is to offer spay/neuter services to any Talbot County resident who needs their help.

We counted about 95 dogs this year of all shapes and sizes that made the trip down Talbot Street in St. Michaels — it was quite a parade.

Special thanks to Suzette Stitely, Executive Director of the Talbot County Humane Society and Randi The Losen, Event Coordinator who were kind enough to allow us to have a booth at the walk to increase public awareness for Kasey’s Cure.

Thanks to Patty Quimby also of the Talbot County Humane Society who stopped by to show her support. We hope you reached your goal of $25,000. Let us know….

Thanks also to David, Linda, Shannon and Tyler who helped man our booth on Saturday. As always, I could not do it with out you.

Puppy milling is a multi-million dollar business which breeds and trades dogs like inanimate objects. Typically dogs used for breeding live in small cages; female dogs give birth to litter after litter until their organs are falling out.

These dogs have little or no exercise, veterinary care or human attention and affection. Dogs that can no longer be used for breeding or sold in pet stores are killed, dumped at the local animal shelter or sold to be used as subjects for medical testing and research.

The puppies sold in stores are often inbred and may not be in good health. It is a deplorable business.

I encourage you to use this site to share with us your experiences with puppy mills and help us educate the public on the real harm done when they buy dogs instead of adopting them from shelters.