Batmobile, adoptable pets join forces this weekend in Sacramento

What do wine, the Batmobile, DIY lessons and pets all have in common? They are all part of the action at the California State Fine Living Expo, running from tomorrow through Sunday at the Sacramento Convention Center.

Attendees can learn how to make the perfect garden and outdoor kitchen, how to redo their bathroom or even take a class in painting with faux-finishes. If do-it-yourself projects are not in your summer plans, the Fine Living Expo is the best place to find the experts who can do it for you. Check out antique travel trailers and two fully operational replica Batmobiles, then enjoy fine wine, art, vendors and sensational live music.

And since no home or life is complete without a loving companion animal or two, three local shelters will be bringing adoptable cats and dogs to the Expo. Visit the Outdoor Living area to meet pets from the City of Sacramento’s Front Street Shelter, the nonprofit group Animal Outreach of the Motherlode and the City of Folsom Animal Shelter.

“I’m a dog person” says Fine Living producer Sherry Larsen, who was happy to welcome adoptable pets to the Expo. Larsen has spent 30 years rescuing and showing Brittany Spaniels, and is the current secretary of the Central California Brittany Club.

In addition to meeting adoptable animals, the Expo is a great opportunity to learn more about pet health and the services offered by local animal shelters and programs.  Given the large number of homeless and stray animals in the Sacramento region, pet reproduction is a hot topic for shelters.

Kim Smyth, Canine Foster and Rescue Coordinator for the Front Street Shelter, says that “Bob Barker had it right; we can help save the world by spaying and neutering pets!”.

The Fine Living Expo has plenty to offer the whole family, and don’t be surprised if you end up adopting and taking home the furry love of your life.

• California State Fine Living Expo
• Sacramento Convention Center
• 1400 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
• Fri 4/27 – noon to 7 p.m./Sat 4/28 – 10 a.m. to 7 p.m./Sun 4/29 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Admission – adults $7/ages 17 and under free/Friday only seniors 62+ only $3.
• Click here for $2 off coupon

Use your mouse from April 5-16 to help local animal rescue win $100k

When I win the lottery I’m going to buy a big place and rescue a ton of animals.” If that sentiment has ever crossed your lips or mind, you are going to love this news. From today through April 16, you can help win $100,000 for animal rescue with just a click of the mouse a day.

Fifty animal rescue groups and shelters were accepted for the 2012 ASPCA and Rachael Ray $100,000 Challenge; only ten spots were available for each designated region of the United States. One sole Sacramento-area organization made the cut; the 501c3 nonprofit Animal Outreach of the Motherlode.

Animal Outreach provides low-cost spay/neuter, vaccination and adoption services for cats and dogs. They are based in Diamond Springs, but work with animals from all over Sacramento and Northern California.

The ASPCA and Rachael Ray Challenge is performance-based, although votes from public are part of the initial round of the competition. Groups that get enough votes to make it through the qualifying round will participate in the actual contest from August 1 through October 31, 2012.  Different monetary awards will be won based on criteria including how many animal lives are saved as compared to the same August-October period last year.

In 2011 Animal Outreach provided low-cost spay/neuter or vaccine services to more than 10,000 cats and dogs, as well as finding wonderful new homes for more than 2,500 needy pets.

Kathy Anderson, AO’s Community Outreach and Operations Manager, said that from January 1, 2012 until today they “have already provided low-cost spay/neuter or vaccination services to more than 2,000 animals”.

And today and the following 11 days are when AO needs the public’s help to qualify for in the first round. Every day between now and April 16, people can click here to vote for Animal Outreach.

Votes can come from any confirmed email address and do not have to come from residents of the region; anyone in the world can participate.

• Check out the short, funny video about the vote by clicking on the link to the left.

“Winning this grant will help us spay and neuter more animals at no or low-cost to everyone; we do not have income restrictions”, said Anderson.

The nonprofit is having several off-site adoptions and other events that will also encourage people to vote; a full list of events can be found on the Animal Outreach website by clicking here.

Animal Outreach is part of the $100k Challenge’s Western Division, which includes Alaska, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, Washington and Wyoming.

• 2012 ASPCA and Rachael Ray $100,000 Challenge
• Vote for Animal Outreach of the Motherlode by clicking here.
• Each email address can vote once a day from Thur April 5 – Mon April 16, 2012
• Visit AO’s website and Facebook page
• Please share this information with others around the country and the world in person and on email, Facebook, Twitter and other social media and communication sites

• Animal Outreach Low Cost Spay/Neuter Vaccination Clinic & Adoption Center
• 6101 Enterprise Dr.
• Diamond Springs, CA 95619
• (530) 642-2287

TV, Facebook bring stolen dog home

When their beloved Pit Bull was stolen several weeks ago, his panicked owners were afraid that the happy, non-aggressive Griffin would be used as “bait” for fighting dogs. However, television reports and extensive social media efforts resulted in the dog being rescued safe and sound on Friday night.

On January 9 Gene Cuesta had stopped at the Safeway store on Alhambra Avenue and tied Griffin securely a few feet from the entrance; when he returned 5 minutes later the dog was gone. Cuesta and his wife Carissa immediately began a relentless search to find him, but had no success.

A Safeway surveillance video released later showed a man and woman untying the dog, pushing him into their car and speeding away.

When Rachele Salvarvidas, owner of Pawsitive Attention Pet Services and longtime Chako Pit Bull Rescue volunteer, learned that Griffin had been stolen, she knew there was a “one in a million chance he would ever be found”.  But she met with the Cuestas and was impressed by their devotion and love for Griffin; she then began an extensive search campaign that ultimately paid off.

Using Facebook, craigslist, Twitter and email, Salvarvidas rallied volunteers from the public, Chako and other area rescue groups. They forwarded the posts and Tweets to everyone they knew, canvassed neighborhoods, posted flyers and tried unsuccessfully to get the television media interested.

Finally Gina Knepp, acting manager of the City of Sacramento Animal Shelter, was notified and she was able to get television coverage on the situation from Fox 40. Gwendolyn Cusseaux saw the Fox news report when it aired Thursday night; she emailed the station on Friday morning to say that the stray dog she had found the previous week might just be Griffin.

Cusseaux stated that she had found a friendly Pit Bull matching Griffin’s description in front a convenience store off Gerber Road, some 10-15 miles away from the store where he was stolen. The owner of the convenience store verified that the dog had been hanging around for several days before Cusseaux rescued him.

She took the dog home and began posting flyers herself, knowing that a dog as friendly and outgoing had to belong to someone. When she saw photos of Griffin on Fox 40 she knew she had finally found the owners. The dog was picked up and transported to the City Animal Shelter until the Cuestas could be notified.

At the time Griffin was stolen, the family was in the midst of packing to move to South Dakota in three weeks. Gene Cuesta says they were terrified that they would have to leave California before their “goofy little boy” could be located. Then a death in the family forced the Cuestas to leave for South Dakota sooner than planned. When Griffin was found on Friday they were contacted; the couple was thrilled. They are currently working out how to get Griffin to his new home in South Dakota.

The Cuestas initial worry that Griffin might be used as “bait” was no idle concern; submissive canines are often used to hone the violent tendencies of fighting dogs. Essentially bait dogs are the living version of the punching bag a human fighter might train on.

Rachele Salvarvidas says that large, neutered dogs are less likely to be used as bait dogs; she believes that the good-looking dog was probably snatched by people wishing to breed him. Once they saw that he had been fixed, they likely dumped him off on the side of the road.

“Being neutered probably saved his life” says Salvarvidas.

After spending an hour with Griffin at the shelter yesterday, she understood why the Cuestas love him so much. She joked that so many people helped to get Griffin home that “he belongs to all of us now”, not just to the Cuestas.

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