Mountain Views News          Saturday, July 5, 2014

10

JUST FOR BEST FRIENDS

Mountain Views-News Saturday, July 5, 2014 


LOOKING FOR A BEST FRIEND?

ARE WE LOVING OUR 
PETS TO DEATH?

Gazoo is too!! He is a friendly, happy-go-lucky 
Corgi-Chihuahua mix boy……at least that is our 
best guess for his breed. He has a sturdy body, but 
his legs are on the shorter side, like a Corgi. He 
has a short smooth coat - more like a Chihuahua. 
It would take a DNA test to really pin down his 
exact ancestry. He weighs about 15 pounds and 
is estimated to be 4 years old.

 Gazoo is an active, energetic boy who loves 
to go on walks and play with people and other 
dogs. He is very smart and can catch a treat that 
is thrown to him, so he’d probably take well to 
Frisbee play. He is very charming with people 
and joyful when he is out of his kennel. Just 
watching him will put a smile on your face. He 
loves to roll on the grass and once he knows you, 
he might just jump into your lap and give you a 
kiss. He has a lot of energy and would do best 
with daily walks and a yard to run in.

 Gazoo would prefer to be the only dog in the 
home as he would like to have all your attention. 
If you want a happy, playful hiking companion, 
Gazoo could be the one for you. Please come and 
meet him.

 He currently resides at the San Gabriel Valley 
Humane Society located at 851 E. Grand Avenue 
in San Gabriel with his roommate. We are 
located off San Gabriel Blvd., north of Mission 
and south of Las Tunas.

 To arrange a ‘Meet and Greet’ with Gazoo, please 
stop by 
any 
time 
from 
10:00am to 4:30pm Tuesday thru Sunday.

 His adoption fee is $120 which includes a 
microchip, neuter surgery, first vaccinations 
and a free wellness check-up at a participating 
veterinarian. Feel free to call us at (626) 286-
1159 for more information on Gazoo.

 

See our website at www.sgvhumane.org for 
information and photos of all our available pets.

Happy Tails

by Chris Leclerc


I 
love my dogs so much and it makes me very happy 
when I know they are happy. I make sure they 
get lots of loving attention, I take them for daily 
walks, I play with them and I drive them to the vet 
for annual check-ups and other visits when I think 
they need it. It gives me much pleasure to spend 
time with them.

 I realize my dogs are not children, and I do try to 
keep it all in perspective, but I have to admit I am 
very attached to those two cuddly canine critters. 
They give me so much in terms of entertainment, 
fur therapy and relentless love. I just want to give 
back to them at least as much as they give to me. 
I also believe it is my responsibility to be a good 
steward of God’s creatures, particularly those 
that I chose to adopt into my home and family. In 
doing that, I made a promise to God that I would 
take care of them for the rest of their lives.

 There is nothing wrong with wanting to please 
our pets, however I do find myself wondering if it 
is possible to kill them with kindness by allowing 
them to have more than they actually need. For 
example, we have a cookie jar that sits atop our 
kitchen counter. The outside of the jar is decorated 
with a fancy dog bone design. The handle on the 
lid is even in the shape of a dog bone. That’s where 
we keep all the canine cookies and other tasty 
treats for Tater and Molly to enjoy, now and then. 
The only problem is, the times we tend to hand out 
the goodies is more often NOW than THEN! In 
other words, I think they are probably getting way 
too many treats! 

 Pet obesity in America is on the rise and has 
been for several years. Did you know that there is 
actually an organization focused specifically on 
researching the blight of pet obesity in America? 
The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention 
conducts an annual survey to analyze the 
percentage of pets that are considered technically 
obese in America, and the most recent study 
showed that 54% of dogs and cats in our society 
are indeed overweight. How embarrassing is that, 
with so many people literally starving in other 
parts of the world?

 I’m sure most pet owners are not intentionally 
trying to fatten up their furry friends, and I totally 
understand how tempting it is to hand out the 
goodies to our darling dogs and kitties when the 
notion arises, but let’s face it folks, food is not the 
only way to show our love to them. It’s time we 
start to reign it in when it comes to feeding our 
pets as a way to show how much we love them. In 
fact, it seems we are on the verge of loving them 
nearly to death!

 Animals are a lot like humans when it comes to 
how obesity effects their health. The difference is, 
we humans are the ones in charge of what goes on 
the plate, or in the bowl. Our pets have to rely on 
us to do the right thing by making healthy choices 
for their daily diet and regulating their rations. 
Remember the old adage, “You are what you eat”?, 
well that is one flip-phrase that rings true, as much 
as might wish it didn’t.

 I first realized how 
important it is to be 
careful in selecting the 
quality and quantity 
of food I feed my pets, 
while reading an article 
in the waiting room 
at my vet’s office. The 
article compared the 
affect of certain foods 
on animals versus 
human beings. It listed 
“people food” items such as cookies, cheese, hot 
dogs, etc. that we might have a tendency to share 
with our pets while sitting at the table, or as 
leftover scraps after a meal. It showed the caloric 
equivalent for a dog eating those particular items 
compared to the human. The biological results 
were mind-boggling and potentially devastating 
to the health of a dog.

 For example, a chocolate chip cookie falls to 
the floor only to be gobbled up within seconds 
by your beloved beastly buddy, right? Well, if you 
had eaten that cookie it would have rendered a 
reasonable amount of calories that could be easily 
burned by a basically healthy person. However, 
the caloric value and physical affect of a single 
cookie consumed by a canine becomes the relative 
equivalent of eating an entire hamburger.

 The article also showed the compared caloric 
value of a one ounce chunk of cheddar cheese, 
which to the human is not a big deal, but to a dog 
it becomes equivalent to the caloric value of 1 ½ 
hamburgers! For a cat, a single potato chip is equal 
to half a hamburger, and one cup of whole milk 
equals three entire burgers for your favorite furry 
feline. When we think about it this way, we begin 
to realize how important it is to limit the types 
and amounts of foods we feed your pets. Their 
little bodies are simply not designed to process the 
amount of food we are accustomed to consuming. 
And it wouldn’t hurt us to back off a bit on the 
binging as well!

 The “Treat Translator” article I read was meant to 
encourage we modern day animal lovers to resist 
feeding our pets “people food“, which is most 
definitely a valuable message, but we also need to 
be careful about how much pet food we give them 
on a daily basis. Some animals are pretty good 
about not eating more than they need while others 
will eat every bit you put out for them. It is up to us 
to control their daily caloric intake.

 In addition to diet, exercise also plays a very 
important role in keeping your pet happy and 
healthy. It goes without saying that physical 
activity is essential, and dogs are not much 
different from us when it comes to maintaining 
our cardio-vascular systems and burning access 
calories. Another reason why it is important for 
a dog to get regular walks, is so they can sniff 
around outdoors. The olfactory system (aka: nose) 
of a dog is a key stimulator for keeping their bowel 
movements regular, so by allowing them to sniff 
about the neighborhood you are helping them 
“take care of business“. There are other factors 
involved with keeping your dog’s digestive system 
in good health, but a daily walk is definitely a 
major factor in the process.

 We all like to think we are good pet owners, and 
for the most part I am pretty sure that we are, but 
let’s not forget that food should not be the most 
important way we show our love and affection to 
our furry four-legged friends. We need to focus 
more on giving them lots of verbal encouragement, 
grooming therapy, loving and snuggling, exercise 
and play time and a lot less treats, if we want them 
to live long, happy and healthy lives.

HEALTHY LIFESTYLES


SPICE UP YOUR LIFE FOR 
GOOD HEALTH

Throughout time, humans have used plants or herbs for everything 
imaginable. We have used herbs as food, weapons, baskets, clothes, 
shelter and very importantly medicine. Hippocrates, the father of 
medicine said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” 
He was encouraging us to eat a wide variety of plants and especially 
herbs. One step towards great health is to use a wide variety of herbs 
and seasoning in your everyday life. 

All edible herbs are beneficial for good digestion. They also provide 
nutrients as well as vitamins and minerals and should be part of any 
balanced diet. Some herbs help us to better utilize the nutrients we get 
from other foods while other herbs are simply nutrient or vitamin dense 
like seaweeds or alfalfa sprouts. The choices of herbs vary from the spicy 
cayenne or black pepper to the sweat herbs such as basil or the not-to-be 
without garlic! If you ever suffer from indigestion, two exceptional digestive herbs are caraway and 
ginger. Both ginger and caraway are stimulant herbs that can improve digestion as well as sooth 
indigestion. 

Cinnamon is a spice that has ancient origins and is popular in cooking but it can also be used 
as a general digestive aid. Cinnamon is known to provide various medicinal benefits that include 
supporting sugar and fat metabolism. 
It can also help to fight bad breath and 
may play a role in staving off common 
colds. 

It is no secret that healthy digestion 
or a “healthy gut” is a key proponent 
of longevity and vitality. Finding 
creative ways to use more herbs in 
your diet can increase your intake of 
vitamins and minerals, improve your 
immunity and aid in digestion. 

Dr. Tina is a traditional 
naturopath and nutritionist 
at Vibrant Living 
Wellness Center


THE JOY OF YOGA

FREEDOM ONCE AGAIN


PET OF THE WEEK: ZEKE

I have been thinking so much about freedom lately - what with our 
wonderful holiday and all. We are such a fortunate people to be free. 
But I continue to come back to what freedom really is. Are you free?
We all think that freedom is being able to do what we want, say what 
we want, eat what we want, drink, think, feel, behave. And then 
what do we have really? Excess. Excess weight, extreme behaviors, 
drinking problems, emotional turmoil and the ability to be a slug and not take care of ourselves. 
Hmm, then comes illness or the inability to run or even touch our toes. 
True freedom is the ability to adapt. Adapt to our surroundings and the needs of our bodies; the 
ability to adapt to a situation and thrive. To make the right choices and breathe into adversity - 
THAT is freedom.
Freedom is not the constraint of our beliefs, or slavery to our ever-chattering minds, or the 
pressures of the lives we have created. That is suffocation.
How do we then explore our freedoms? Get on the mat, of course. Learning about how we can 
transform ourselves, learning about the possibilities, getting to know our egos, our fears, our 
edges, getting stronger and feeling the empowerment, learning to fly (ardha chandrasana), these 
are freedoms. It’s not about a diet it›s about making the food choices that will allow our bodies 
to do paschimotanasana (forward fold) or hike up the Mount Wilson Trail. It’s about staying in 
balance so that we have a better chance of surviving by not getting sick. The best freedom of all is 
for our minds to be calm, for us to learn to love ourselves and for us to be happy. 
So once again, I advocate getting on your mat every day. Create a discipline for yourself that will 
allow you to be free!

Namasté, René 

Animal ID #A4726957


Looking for a silly, outgoing, and all-around awesome 
puppy? Zeke is your boy! Zeke (A4726957) is a friendly 
6-month-old brown-and-white male German Shepherd 
and Australian Shepherd mix puppy who was found in 
Baldwin Park and brought to the Baldwin Park Animal 
Care Center on June 27th. Weighing 33 lbs, Zeke is a 
happy and playful boy with a unique, true-blue mutt 
look to him. Social with other dogs, he has small-sized 
kennel mates and seems eager to play with the larger 
dogs he encounters while out for walks at the shelter. 
He also shows signs of being housebroken and seems to 
know basic commands, so we predict that any additional 
training (such as leash-walking skills) will be a real “treat.” 
Zeke is a real well-rounded winner of a dog, and he will 
make an excellent indoor pet for any active individual or 
family who will bring him along on all of life’s adventures. Adopt Zeke today, he is such a love! To 
watch a video of Zeke, please visit the following link: http://youtu.be/Ro3Df1WNAng 

 To meet Zeke in person, please see him at the Baldwin Park Shelter, located at 4275 N. Elton, 
Baldwin Park, CA 91706 (Phone: 626-430-2378 or 626-962-3577). He is currently available now. 
For any inquiries about Zeke, please reference his animal ID number: A4726957. The shelter is 
open seven days a week, 12 pm-7 pm Monday-Thursday and 10am-5pm Friday-Sunday. This is 
a high-intake shelter with a great need for adoptions. For more information about Zeke or the 
adoption process, contact United Hope for Animals Volunteer Adoption Coordinator Samantha at 
Samantha@hope4animals.org. To learn more about United Hope for Animals’ partnership with the 
Baldwin Park Shelter through its Shelter Support Program, as well as the many dogs of all breeds, 
ages, and sizes available for adoption in local shelters, visit http://www.unitedhope4animals.org/
about-us/shelter-support-program/. 


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com