"Adopt a Shelter Pet" Stamps to Raise Awareness

Starting on April 30, 2010, the US Postal Service will be selling stamps to raise awareness of the need to adopt Shelter Pets. 

The USPS website states that the goal is for "more Americans to know about the millions of shelter pets that need good homes. Nearly half of the animals that enter animal shelters are euthanized. Many of these cats and dogs would have made a wonderful pet...if only given the chance."

They say:  "You can make a difference. Adopt a pet, volunteer at a shelter, or just get the word out by buying these stamps."

There are 10 different stamps.  All of these pets had been homeless.  At the time the pictures were taken, all but one had been adopted!  Featured on the stamps are:
Teddy Jack Russell Terrier
Willow Maltese Cat
Trevor Yellow Lab
Bianca Calico
Buddy Golden Retriever
Peaches Gray White and Tan Cat
Bindi Sue Aussie Shepherd
Frankie Black White and Tan Cat
Jake Boston Terrier
Lucas Orange Tabby

The USPS website offers a variety of products including stamps, mugs, artwork and notecards featuring these pets.

Ellen DeGeneres (Animal Advocate and co-owner of Halo Pet Food) is the spokeperson for this campaign.  Halo will be donating meals to feed 1 Million shelter pets.  You can visit stampstotherescue.com to see an update of how many meals Halo has donated to feed homeless pets.

I have my stamps! Do you have yours?

Carole

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Mother's Day Gift Idea!

Mother's Day is a little more than 2 weeks away! Cloud K9 ® has a great gift idea for Mom...especially for Dog Moms!

Let Mom keep a picture of her favorite kids and furkids in one of our locket necklaces.

Our locket necklaces are made from vintage molds and are available in over 35 different breeds of Dogs, plus a Paw Print, Rabbit, Cat, or Horse (with horseshoe).

A great gift idea that is sure to be treasured for years to come!

Carole
Cloud K9

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!
Please take care of the Earth!
It's the only one we have!

Save the Fishies ~ Part 2

We placed the liner in the pond.  I was suprised that the liner was far, far heavier than it looked!  Then we filled the pond with water (over 2,000 gallons)! YIKES!

As you can see, my friend reshaped the pond from its original "figure 8" shape to a "kidney bean" shape.

Then, the water needed to sit for 24 hours to adjust the temperature.  Water coming out of the hose is cold at this time of year.  Plus, chemicals (to remove chlorine, etc.) needed to be added to the water so it would be safe for the fish.

After 24 hours, the fish were ready to be transitioned to the pond.  First, they were put in a plastic bag with their original pond water (that they were living in during the time in the smaller container) and floated in the pond to adjust them to the new temperature.  Then, some new water from the pond needed to be put into the bag to adjust them to the new water.  I think each of these steps was for about 15 or 30 minutes for each step.  Note: Please consult an expert for the exact specifications of adjusting fish to a new location since these types of transitions can be fatal for fish.

Then, the fish were ready to be put into the pond!  Everything went well!  There were about 20 fish in all and ALL of them survived the move!

I can truly say the fish look so happy in the pond.  Maybe they are happy to be out of the small container and in the pond again.  Maybe they can tell they have more room to swim with the new shape of the pool.  Who knows!?!  But they were definitely swimming and playing joyfully!

Yes! Mission Accomplished! The fish are safe!

Carole
[Text and photos copyrighted. All rights reserved.]

Save the Fishies ~ Part 1

My friend built a small pond in his backyard over 10 years ago.  The pond is really cool with the fish swimming in it! 

The pond liner has been leaking since last Fall...so the obvious was coming.  Eventually the pond liner would need to be replaced...which means draining the pond and temporarily relocating the fish!

Lately, the water level in the pond was getting much lower, so I volunteered to help with the project to save the fishies (Koi and goldfish).  The fish spend the winter in the pond, since it is deep enough for the fish to survive the cold Midwest winters by hunkering down in the bottom of the pond.  It was important that we completed the project before the temperatures get too hot.

Replacing the pond liner is a major project!  The fish needed to be caught with a net and relocated into another container (which has the original pond water and also an air pump to aerate the water).  The water content and water temperature need to be very similar to that in the pond so they don't die.

Then, over 2,000 gallons of water needed to be drained from the pond!!!  YIKES! 

The sediment had to be removed (yes! I was in the bottom of the pond dredging out the sediment) and then we removed the liner.  The pond has several different levels to allow for different types of water plants (which lives at different depths in the pond).  This is what is looked like after the liner was removed:

This is Part 1! Stay tuned for Part 2!

Please Note:  Fish need special conditions to survive while a pond is being fixed.  Please consult an expert if you are relocating fish for this type of project.

Carole
[Text and photos copyrighted.  All rights reserved.]