I had not seen my old friend Donanne in Los Angeles for many years, so I was very happy to be headed there in the first week of June with the Dog Film Festival. With a grant from the Petco Foundation, I’m touring the country to share these films, which celebrate the remarkable bond between dogs and their people and the animal welfare groups that bring them together. In LA, as a film festival sponsor, in partnership with Freekibble.com and GreaterGood.org, Halo Pets made a 10,000 bowl donation to The Lange Foundation and the Downtown Dog Rescue, both my beneficiaries and I was really happy to be able to give them both a sizable donation from the proceeds of the Pooch Party and screenings.
Donanne came with her adorable rescued Beagles – Billy Bean and Miss Ivy – to the Afternoon Tea Pooch Party, which was thrown by VCA West Los Angeles Animal Hospital. She came back the following day and stayed for both the film programs at the Crest Westwood theater, and had the super-cool experience I want to give everyone: to share our love for our dogs with a theater full of like-minded people (and in the case of the dog-friendly Crest, with their dogs, too!).
Who would have imagined that so soon afterward Donanne would be writing me to share her dismay about the horrible mass murders in Orlando. This repulsive act of hatred has provoked a national time of reflection, grief and mourning – for the lovely innocent people struck down in a nightclub, and for the whole topic of intolerance.
Donanne asked for my help for the pets of the people in this tragic situation who lost their lives, or who were hospitalized. She has a friend in Orlando who wrote about the plight of the pets, who are often forgotten in a time of such sadness for the people and their extended families. But we all know those pets were certainly their family members, too. Donanne has a compassionate friend in Orlando who wrote a wonderful piece about this dilemma and gave a great shout out to the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando, which has extended all their support for the pets left behind, whether temporarily or forever. If you’d like to show your concern and support, this is a tangible way of doing so.
Let’s keep all of the victims and their loved-ones in our hearts and prayers. And do our personal best to confront bigotry and intolerance wherever we encounter it.
Tracie began her fascination with dogs and cats by turning her eye as a former investigative reporter on every aspect of living with them, resulting in her encyclopedic resources THE DOG BIBLE: Everything Your Dog Wants You to Know and then the THE CAT BIBLE: Everything Your Cat Expects You to Know. Before long, Tracie was established as a leading pet wellness advocate as her all-encompassing books covered everything from medical issues to behavior, nutrition and environmental enrichment.
Tracie began her career as a radio personality with a live show – DOG TALK® (and Kitties, Too!) – on the local NPR station in the Hamptons, Peconic Public Broadcasting (WPPB) from Southampton, New York (the show is now also carried on the NPR station Robinhood Radio in Connecticut and the Berkshires). DOG TALK® won a Gracie® Award (the radio equivalent of an Oscar) in 2010 as the “Best entertainment and information program on local public radio” and continues weekly after more than 450 continuous shows and 9 years on the air. Tracie’s live weekly call-in show CAT CHAT® was on SiriusXM satellite radio for seven years until the Martha Stewart channel was canceled in 2013.
Tracie lives in Vermont where the Radio Pet Lady Network studio is based, on 13 acres well-used by her all-girl pack – two lovely, lively Weimaraners, Maisie and Wanda, and a Collie-mix, Jazzy.