“The largest global survey of women,” conducted recently by the Boston Consulting Group, revealed that women around the world are “over-worked, over-extended, and over-stressed.”

According to the survey results, the values most important to women are love, health, honesty and emotional well-being, in that order. So perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising to see that among “the things that make women extremely happy” – pets are #1 by far.

• Pets (42 percent)
• Sex (27 percent)
• Food (19 percent)

We won’t ask where “Men” placed, but we know that Shopping got 5% of the vote.

A tip of the hat to Woof Report for letting us know!

Ben Stein shared some thoughts with his audience about how to get through tough economic times. He suggests forging the same sort of relationship that got him through his toughest times. How? “Get a dog.”

Some of the shelters featured on the Halo Cares page are terrific places to start your search.

Dr. Donna Spector, Halo’s veterinarian, recently shared some tips on how we can all learn to live the good life from our pets– relax, enjoy the sun, and eat with gusto, among other things.

In early February, a puppy named Amber of a Houston-area family died after eating the common houseplant Sago palm plant, reports the ASPCA.

Amber’s story is all too common.

Since 2003, the ASPCA has seen an increase by more than 200 percent of sago palm and cycad poisonings, and 50 to 75 percent of those ingestions resulted in fatalities. According to Dr. Sharon Gwaltney-Brant, veterinary toxicologist and vice president of the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, all parts of the plant are toxic, not just the seeds or nuts, and common signs of ingestion include vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, depression, seizures and liver failure.

Here is the link to the ASPCA article: http://www.aspca.org/news/tri-state/03-20-09.html#1

Forbes just published an article, “Doting On Animals In Hard Times – Why pet owners don’t feed their beloved creatures generic brands.”

The author, Rutgers sociologist Lionel Tiger, wonders, “Why are these human beings–evidently fretfully concerned about their own welfare and resources–wasting time and money on other animals … Why do they shop the aisles of pet foods with discernment and commitment …?”

He wonders how we can possibly spend so much “resources, time and energy…on a completely wasteful economic category: pets.”

I’m guessing you have the same reaction I do.

Check out Halo’s News page to see what he has to say about Halo, and for a link to the whole story.