A Company—and a Charity—With Style

I keep hearing about Found My Animal leashes from friends, and I can’t believe I don’t have one yet. The leashes are seriously cool-looking (they’re made from handmade rope from New England), and Found My Animal donates 25 percent of all of their proceeds to animal rescue!

According to the company’s site, profits go to “the Louis Animal Foundation, a unique non-profit group dedicated to spaying/neutering and providing homes for animals who have not yet 'found' their people. Our founder rescued Walter, one of her adopted pups, through the foundation and was inspired to donate a large portion of our profits to such an important organization.”

You can buy them on the company’s site. Or, if you’re in New York City, you can buy them at Animal Haven Soho, Castor & Pollux (one of my favorite boutiques!), Earnest Sewn, and Doggy Style.

Thank you for sending, Nina!

Rabies in Central Park!

Central Park Paws sent out an email today reminding New Yorkers to avoid wild animals and ensure that all pets are up to date on rabies vaccines. According to the Department of Health, “last week, a second raccoon infected with rabies was found in Manhattan. This is the first infected raccoon that has been found in Central Park (the other was found in Inwood Park).”

Sure, he looks cute, but…(Credit: Judd Patterson)

If you don’t want your dog to become the next Cujo (sorry, was looking for a little bit of levity here), be sure to keep an eye on him or her during off-leash hours in Central Park.

To read the DOH press release, click here.

Thank you for sending, Jen and Jack!

New Animal Planet Show Worth Watching

Next Month, Animal Planet will air a new show, Pit Bulls and Parolees. The reality program is based on the Villalobos Rescue Center, the largest pit bull rescue in the United States, where both rescued pit bulls and ex-cons get a second chance. Animal Planet is calling the show “a chance at redemption, rehabilitation, and rebirth for both man and man’s best friend.” (I don’t know about you guys, but I’m thinking this is bound to be amazing.)

Killian, an older blind pit bull, peers from his kennel at Villalobos Rescue Center. Richard Vogel/AP

The show follows Villalobos founder, Tia Maria Torres, and six parolees, 225 pit bulls, 204 volunteers, two French bulldogs, 19 cats, and Torres’ husband and four kids. Each episode will feature one dog, one rescue, one adoption, and of course, all the drama surrounding the facility.

Pit Bulls and Parolees—which will focus on the interaction of the dogs and the men—came about because Torres was trying to figure out a way to help cover the facility’s $20,000 in monthly bills and her fast-growing $25,000 vet tab. (She initially opened a brothel to pay the bills, but it burned down. No joke.)

The parolees work for food, shelter, gas, cigarettes, and the dogs. "We call them the baddest good guys in town,” Torres told the Associated Press. “They are polite, thankful. They are two-legged versions of the dogs we take in.”

Below is a news clips from My Fox LA:

What do you guys think of this idea for a show?

Women Rank the Family Pet Higher Than Sex

According to USA Today, a new book that surveyed thousands of women found that women rank having a family pet as the thing that makes them most happy. For the book, Women Want More, authors surveyed 12,000 women in 40 countries, and…

• 42 percent of women surveyed said pets are the number one thing that makes them extremely happy
• Comparatively, 27 percent ranked sex at the top
• Food and shopping were third and fourth, respectively

Image via Nature's Corner MagazineI’m not even sure how to comment on this. I mean, I don’t judge, but I was sort of shocked that “shopping” ranked towards the top of this list as one thing in life that makes women EXTREMELY happy. But then, my own list would probably be fairly bizarre. Yes, of course Riley’s up there (she is, after all, perfection), but I’d probably throw some other things on there…like egg and cheese sandwiches, 30 Rock, tubing, Baskin Robbins peanut butter and chocolate ice cream, Jake Ryan…

What about you guys? Do you agree with the survey?

(For more information on the survey (conducted by BCG), click here.)

Riley is on Vacation...

Hi all...We're on vacation this week, so apologies for the lack of posts. I'll update as often as possible. Hope you're all enjoying the summer!