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pets

    ANIMAL CLINIC

    Disaster Planning for Your Pets

    Don’t wait for the next tornado warning to start preparing

    By

    After watching two people and their big dog being rescued by boat in New Jersey on CNN the other day, it seemed like a good time to write about disaster preparedness for our animals.

    Since farm animals are more complicated to plan for, we will stick with the more common animals like dogs and cats. Just as we need to be able to take care of ourselves, we need to know what to do for our pets as well. And while I can never remember exactly what Murphy’s law says, I am hopeful that, if we are fully prepared, it won’t apply to us.

    The first step is to make sure each pet is wearing a tag or collar with its name, your name, phone number, and critical medical information. Believe it or not, a 2010 study showed that 73 percent of cats will actually wear a collar for at least 6 months. Getting humans to put collars on their cats is an important feline welfare subject. Fewer than 2 percent of lost cats are returned to their owners, and most unidentified cats that enter shelters are euthanized. Increasing the number of identifiable animals is critical to getting cats home. Make sure the microchip, if the cat has one, has the most up-to-date information. If it is not microchipped, talk to your vet about placing one at your next visit.

    A clearly labeled go bag and go carrier should be ready at all times, and the whole family should be able to find it. For both species, have three to seven days of wet food or dry food ready (rotate supplies every two months to avoid spoilage), a 14-day supply of medications, and seven days’ worth of water. These should also be rotated.

    A small first-aid kit and a booklet on pet care are very valuable. Have recent photos of your pets in case you are separated. Make sure you have a paper record of pets’ recent vaccinations and, if possible, a thumb drive or paper copies with pertinent medical records. For dogs, you should have a labeled extra leash as well as plastic poop bags. Cats should have a sturdy, unbroken carrier, a small amount of litter, small bags to dispose of used litter, and a small pan (aluminum roasting pans work well, but don’t think of re-using them for cooking.)

    The final but critical element of disaster preparedness is deciding where to go with your pet and supplies. It is your responsibility to find out if your town or city emergency shelter will accept animals and what the protocols are. See if nearby hotels will take pets, if an out-of-town friend will take them, or if animal shelters will temporarily take them.

    This can be one of the most challenging aspects of disaster planning, but it is essential, so use the time you have now and the motivation from the news all around us to plan. The next time we get a midnight tornado warning, we will have one less thing to worry about.

    Sadie Hutchings, D.V.M., practices at the Herring Cove Animal Hospital in Provincetown.

    ANIMAL CLINIC

    As Humans Venture Out, Pets Are Left With Separation Anxiety

    Routines that include alone time will build your pet’s independence

    By

    Very slowly, our routines are becoming different from what they’ve been throughout this past year. We’re vaccinated, the summer season is approaching, and many of us are anticipating venturing out — possibly even for longer than an hour at a time.

    For some animals, this will be a whole new concept. For the majority, I hope, pet guardians have made a conscious effort to crate-train their four-legged friends and enable them to be home alone for stretches of time.

    But from what I’m seeing, with many people finding a way to work from home, and with our children at home, many pandemic puppies have spent a bit too much time with their humans.

    If you find yourself in the category of knowing your dog’s preferences for sun exposure on Wednesday afternoons versus Friday afternoons, and you’ve preemptively arranged its new bed to accommodate those preferences, you may be one of the ones who have provided a little too much togetherness this year. In that case, I highly recommend starting to plan now for your transition back to being able to leave your house, whether for the emerging pleasure of social life or for a long day at work.

    For pandemic pets, the idea that owners have lives outside the house will be a whole new, anxiety-producing concept. (Photo Eva Blanco)

    Your pet’s underlying personality is going to contribute a lot to its response to this kind of change in routine. But we owe it to our pets not to shock them by suddenly disrupting their lives again.

    Animals need routines, and now is the time to get them into one that matches your future work schedule. Start by feeding, walking, and scheduling heavy play time that will reflect your new work life, even if that will be part home and part office time. If you will be needing help with dog walking, start trying to find that help now.

    Meanwhile, your goal is to encourage and teach independence. Start a “leaving the house” routine that includes leaving a food puzzle or enrichment toy. Feed them their entire meal in these, giving them plenty of mental stimulation.

    If your dog is crate-trained, but you’ve had the crate folded up in the basement all this time, consider breaking it out again. For dogs that are comfortable in them, crates offer a safe place to be. Some dogs will happily run back into them. If yours isn’t so eager, make it a positive place by throwing prized treats inside. Re-orient your dog to crate time by shutting the door for several hours — breakfast in a food puzzle is a good way to start making that work.

    If you haven’t already trained your dog to a crate, consider starting in on that well before your away-time routine needs to shift. It’s an effort that will take some time.

    For some animals, separation training is easier. It will be enough to start shutting the door to the room you are working in for a few hours — so, as dreamy as your dog is, you don’t just stare at each other all day.

    For truly independent animals (you may know the cat I am talking about), your being at home and invading their personal time was the initial stressor. “Distance makes the heart feel stronger” is many a cat’s motto. But even these animals need routine, and if you’ve been at home, it is important to let them slowly adjust to you leaving the house again.

    Consider getting a mouse toy to stuff with treats for your cat — batting it around will keep your cat occupied. Cats are generally most interactive at dusk and dawn, so that’s when they’ll be most receptive to play and interaction, as many cat owners will tiredly affirm.

    Monitor for signs of stress when you practice leaving your house. Consider an inexpensive webcam to watch your pet when you leave. Yawning and lip-licking or air-licking is one of the first signs of stress you’ll observe. A dog that is by itself and barking is a stressed dog, just hoping someone will bark back. If steady and gradual practice with separation doesn’t seem to be working, you — or your pet — may need professional help.

    Remember, it’s mostly a good thing dogs and cats still cannot use opposable thumbs, but this also means they haven’t developed the same mental health resources that we have. It is our job to help them.

    Sadie Hutchings, D.V.M., practices at the Herring Cove Animal Hospital in Provincetown.

    TRUE CRIME

    Pit Bull v. Provincetown Will Go to Court

    Dog owner demands a jury trial over poop on the pier

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — In his 20 weeks of state-standardized training at the Plymouth Police Academy, Sgt. Kevan Spoor, now a 14-year veteran of the Provincetown P.D., broke down doors. He shot dummies. He was yelled at; he yelled. He practiced arrests, investigations. He grappled hand to hand.

    Small-town policing, on the other hand, can be less exhilarating. But last spring, Spoor walked onto MacMillan Pier and into a case that had all the makings of a great whodunit: dueling witnesses; glitching cameras; an alibi that was rough at best. Also, a tag team of officers searching for the truth and accusations of corruption within the ranks of law enforcement.

    The mystery at the heart of it: did the poop on the pier belong to “Archie” the pit bull (whose name was scooped from a Facebook post but not confirmed by his owners)?

    Spoor and Animal Control Officer RuthAnne Cowing said yes. But Matthew Shaffer, 42, of Dennis, Archie’s human, disagreed. In Orleans District Court on Feb. 26, he appealed the  citation he received for violating town bylaw 13-2-7-3 (“no owner shall permit a dog to defecate upon public sidewalks … without immediately and permanently removing the excrement therefrom”) — and demanded a jury trial to clear his dog’s name.

    Judge Charles Welch set the trial for Sept. 14. That date could well change. Massachusetts courts spent the summer and first months of fall severely limiting in-person hearings; jury trials, by definition, did not meet Covid regulations. Courthouses across the state have begun reopening to the public and to potential jurors, but only a pressing sliver of cases in high courts qualify under new orders. Clerks at the Orleans District Court confirmed that district-level proof of canine innocence does not meet any impending criteria.

    But Archie and Shaffer will, eventually, go to trial. And when they do, their jurors will become privy to a saga that began just after 1:30 p.m. on April 16, 2020, when Officer Cowing was called to the scene of the crime.

    According to her police report, Cowing was walking on Bradford Street when Ronnie Walker, an employee with the Provincetown Dept. of Public Works, told her that he had just witnessed two people allow their brown pit bull “to defecate on the sidewalk in front of the buoy bench, not picking up.”

    Cowing made a beeline for the pier, where she conducted a thorough analysis. Her conclusion? That the mess was “freshly laid.” That, and the fact that only one dog, the brown pit bull, was in the immediate area assured Cowing she had the correct human culprits.

    Cowing approached Shaffer and his companion, Laraine Harvey, who maintained their innocence from the start. The dog, they said, could simply not have done the deed. He had just defecated by the Chamber of Commerce, where Cowing could find ample evidence in a nearby trashcan. Cowing was framing them, Shaffer said. Harvey told Cowing that “she was a ‘blue blood’ and that she knew what this was really about.”

    Cowing called for backup.

    So arrived Sgt. Spoor on scene. Harvey and Shaffer greeted him with the charge that they’d been framed. “They were demanding that they be provided everyone’s name immediately,” he wrote, “and were furious of the accusation that their dog would have defecated.”

    Spoor set out on a search for evidence. Video feeds at the harbormaster’s office seemed promising but, he wrote, “The cameras in the immediate area were not working.” One functioning camera showed Shaffer and Harvey walking, then Shaffer and Harvey arguing with Walker. But the footage was inconclusive as far as the dog’s doings.

    Spoor issued Shaffer a citation anyway — as Shaffer and Harvey “continued to tell me how I was making a big mistake and they were going to sue the town and police department.”

    Shaffer paid his $100 first-offense fine. Then, on May 26, he submitted a formal request for an in-court hearing. Neither he nor Harvey responded to requests for comment.

    AT THE VET

    During Crisis, Fewer Options for Animal Care

    No hugs for the humans

    By

    People with pets that need veterinary care will find limited services and new protocols in place at Outer Cape clinics during the Covid-19 crisis.

    Most of what’s new will feel familiar by now — there’s curbside service to minimize up-close interaction between pet owners and clinic staff. Most vets are trying to diagnose at a distance, practicing telemedicine. But for urgent cases, when a visit is needed, owners should expect to hand off their animals to gloved and masked technicians who will meet them at their cars. Later, diagnosis and treatments are discussed with the vet by phone.

    Lower Cape Veterinary Services, which operates four clinics — Herring Cove in Provincetown, Duck Creek in Wellfleet, Stony Hill in Chatham, and Eastham Veterinary Hospital — is referring all calls and visits to its Eastham location. They are offering appointments for emergencies only, but they are taking questions over the phone. They are not giving shots to new puppies and kittens at this time.

    Dr. Sadie Hutchings at Herring Cove Animal Hospital said that, although her clinic has shifted its support staff to Eastham, there will still be someone at Herring Cove taking calls on weekday mornings, and she will be available for telemedicine.

    “We want people to reach out to us and communicate with us to see how we can help them,” she said, “but our availability is drastically reduced.”

    Veterinarian Sadie Hutchings
    Veterinarian Sadie Hutchings of Provincetown holds a canine patient at her clinic last week. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    Ark Angel Animal Hospital in Wellfleet will remain open just until the end of April. Dr. Daniella J. Schutzengel said that she is retiring and closing down her clinic at the end of the month, unrelated to Covid-19. She has been a veterinarian for 35 years. Between now and then, she said, she is taking emergency appointments and previously scheduled routine visits.

    Hutchings said the reason for reduced hours and emergency-only appointments in her network is not solely about reducing contact between humans. Veterinary clinics everywhere, she explained, are trying to limit the use of drugs and supplies like masks, gloves, and disinfectants that are already in short supply or will be increasingly hard to find because they are needed by doctors who are treating humans.

    One of the most emotionally difficult aspects of animal care during the pandemic, Hutchings said, has been performing euthanasia procedures. In these circumstances, people are being allowed to stay with their animals. “It’s hard not hugging people now, though,” she said.

    If pet owners on the Outer Cape have emergencies during this time, Hutchings said, the closest animal urgent care clinic is Cape Cod Veterinary Specialists Buzzards Bay. Pet owners here may be used to going to the CCVS Dennis location for emergencies, but this location has shifted to telemedicine due to the pandemic. The Buzzards Bay location is still open around the clock.

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