pure turkey liver munchies made N.A.S.H.A. go primal

April 16, 2015 Kristen Carr

Thanks to chewy.com for providing me with a sample of Primal Freeze-Dried Turkey Liver Munchies to review. I only share information I feel is relevant to my readers. All opinions and ideas are my own.

I have a confession to make. I get a little bit nervous when I'm asked to do a review of dog treats. Our N.A.S.H.A. is ultra-picky, and though I have a pretty good idea of her preferences, you just never know. I always provide my honest opinion, but I'm a positive person, so it's never fun to proclaim our distaste when I know how selective she is. When I receive treats, I always try them out on her, first, but thank goodness I have a back-up team of pet sitting clients who are always ready and willing to pick up the slack. Unfortunately for them, that won't be necessary this time, because we just found N.A.S.H.A. a new favorite treat, Primal Freeze Dried Turkey Liver Munchies from Primal Pet Foods. A special thanks (and lots of wet kisses from N.A.S.H.A.) to chewy.com for sending them our way!

Before I even tell you how awesome these treats are, you must know that both dogs and cats can enjoy them! So if you live in a mixed-pet home, these would be an ideal choice for your family.

Let's check out why these freeze-dried turkey liver treats are so great:

• made in the U.S.A. from turkey raised without antibiotics or added hormones

• one ingredient: turkey liver (single-source protein)

• high in protein

• no preservatives

• no added salt or sugar

• gluten-free

• grain-free

• Did I mention that they are well-suited for both dogs and cats? Just wanted to make sure you caught that–so cool!

N.A.S.H.A. was interested in what I was doing as soon as she heard the package crinkle. I let her check out the package, but since she hasn't learned to read, yet, she wasn't as impressed as I'd hoped. I thought the handy peek-through window on the back of the package was pretty great. I like to see the actual treats rather than a glamorized picture, so the ability to peek at them in a store setting is valuable to me. N.A.S.H.A. couldn't have cared less about the visual, but once I ripped open the top of the package, all bets were off.

A handy peek-through window reveals the actual treats. I love that!

This is N.A.S.H.A.'s "my-face-is-tweaked-with-interest and I-wish-mom-would-open-the-bag-wider-so-I-can-fit-my-entire-head-inside" face.

I really liked that these natural treats were of varying shapes and sizes, so if you have both dogs and cats, or both large and small dogs, you could purchase one bag of treats and have sizes appropriate for all of the pets in the household. Or, if you wanted to treat your little dog, big-time, you could just hand over one of the big ones (or two) like I did. Yeah...I'm a softie. If your dog or cat prefers a petite treat, the larger pieces can easily be broken up. But where's the fun in that? Just sayin'.

The bag contains treats of varying sizes, so these are great for dogs and cats, large and small. (Penny is pictured for size comparison only and is not a cereal-box prize. Do not feed pennies to your pets.) — The bag contains treats of varying sizes, so these are great for dogs and cats, large and small. (Penny is pictured for size comparison only and is not a cereal-box prize. Do not feed pennies to your pets.)

Though N.A.S.H.A. has a very discerning palette (read: she's the pickiest dog I've ever met), when she likes something, she shows full committed devotion. I should have known by the look in her eyes that I might lose a finger. Thankfully, she's no "Jaws."

As you can see, these treats went beyond the expectations of an extremely finicky pooch, so if your pooch is picky (and especially if he's not), I think these treats are a sure bet. As for me? Well, I didn't actually taste them, myself, but I feel great about providing N.A.S.H.A. with such a healthy snack. One ingredient, totally natural, and no-added-anything-nasty? Sold!

I'm so happy to have had the opportunity for N.A.S.H.A. to try these treats. I'm certain that they will be a permanent addition to our reward rotation. In fact, I may have to put a child-lock on the treat cabinet!

Chewy.com has a huge variety of top-quality products for your pets, including the entire Primal Products Food Line, so you can find these Primal Freeze Dried Turkey Liver Munchies and so much more! Chewy.com has great prices, too.

Have you tried Primal Pet Food's Primal Freeze Dried Treats or any other products from the awesome Chewy.com? We'd love to hear about your favorites!

Shop Primal Freeze Dried Turkey Liver Munchies at chewy.com.

art studio holds "paint a pet" fundraiser for the humane society

April 15, 2015 Kristen Carr

I enjoyed an evening with some of my best gal pals last week for "Moms' Night Out" hosted by our local MOMS Club. We all brought some food and wine to share and met up at Be...An Artist, a local art studio recently opened by artist Sandra Marshall. I was excited to do something different...slap some paint onto a canvas, but it was even more fun than I expected. While we were there, Sandra mentioned that the studio would be hosting a "Paint a Pet" fundraiser for the Arizona Humane Society, and my ears perked up.

Our MOMS Club had an awesome time at Be...An Artist. photos courtesy of Sandra Marshall, Be...An Artist. — Our MOMS Club had an awesome time at Be...An Artist. *photos courtesy of Sandra Marshall, Be...An Artist.*

So a few days later, I found myself back in the studio with Sandra and her fabulous team. When the Arizona Human Society's Waggin' Wheels Mobile Adoption Wagon pulled up, the small crowd watched in excitement. For, inside were not only furry models for the budding artists, but adoptable models, at that. Once the wagon was parked in front of the studio, the side rolled up to reveal a wall of adorable critters in see-through kennels. The onlookers released a collective "Awwwww..." The back of the wagon said "NEW FAMILY MEMBERS ON BORD," which totally melted my heart.

The crowd gathered outside the Waggin' Wheels Wagon.

The hopeful pups check out the crowd, hoping to become the newest addition to a great family.

Inside, Sandra and her team had set up canvases for potential adopters as well as for birthday party-goers. What a great occasion for an animal-loving tween to have a party! Sandra started the art lesson by teaching everyone how to draw the animal they wanted to paint. Step-by-step, she showed them how to form the shapes the would somehow come together into a masterpiece. What I love about Sandra is her attitude. Though she is an accomplished artist, she instructed both "spirited" moms and young animal lovers on how to create a painting to be proud of. Throughout the process, she occasionally asks "are you happy with it?" If you say you're not, she'll ask what you're not happy with and help you find a solution. Remarkable patience.

Sandra helps the artists every step of the way.

Back outside at the wagon, I spoke to Megan Merrimac, Mobile Adoptions Coordinator for the Arizona Humane Society. I asked her about the Waggin' Wheels program. She explained that since the program's inception in July of 2014, they have had over 250 adoptions out of the wagon. They bring 6-8 dogs and a couple of cats each time they take the wagon out, which is three or four times a week. Sometimes they attend events, and sometimes they just hit the road. I asked Megan if the pets had to meet any special requirements in order to board the Waggin' Wheels Wagon. She said that she always make sure the animals are good with kids. That seems understandable, as the wagon was attracting small humans like bees to honey.

At Be...An Artist that day, AZHS adopted out four animals. Pretty awesome! And Sandra donated a portion of the proceeds to the cause. We love that!

Be...An Artist has a wide variety of sessions and events geared toward children, teens, and adults. They even offer summer camps and classes for people with special needs. It's a great place to have a birthday party, as I was lucky to witness first-hand. I think my art-loving daughter, Campbell, would absolutely love to have her next birthday party there.

The party-goers were pleased with their masterpieces. photo courtesy of Sandra Marshall, Be...An Artist. — The party-goers were pleased with their masterpieces. *photo courtesy of Sandra Marshall, Be...An Artist.*

Have you been to Be...An Artist, yet? Or if you're not in the Phoenix area, is there anything like this where you live?

View the Be...An Artist calendar of events.

Connect with Be...An Artist on Facebook.

View the Arizona Humane Society's Waggin' Wheels Mobile Adoption Vehicle calendar.

Connect with AZHS on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and Google+.

understanding ear-tipping in feral cats

April 11, 2015 Kristen Carr

Cutting off a portion of a cat's ear? To many, this may sound cruel and unusual. But it's a thing–a good thing, in fact. Ear-tipping or ear-notching helps protect the feral cat population.

what is a feral cat?

A feral cat is an outdoor cat that has not been socialized to people. For this reason, feral cats are often skittish around humans and are not adoptable. They live and thrive in all types of communities, from the big city to open farms and live full, healthy lives with the same life span as pet cats. Along with pet cats, they are protected under state anti-cruelty laws.

If found young enough, feral kittens have a chance to be socialized and become adoptable, but rarely does an adult feral cat appreciate close interactions with humans.

The main problem with feral cats is population control. The population can only be controlled through spaying and neutering.

how are feral cats spayed and neutered?

Thanks to nonprofit groups such as Alley Cat Allies, we have a chance to keep the feral cat population at a manageable level through Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs. How does this work? It's a three-step process;

1. the feral cat is humanely trapped

2. the feral cat is spayed/neutered and ear-tipped

3. the feral cat is returned to it's community

When feral cats are spayed and neutered, not only does it control the population, but it also eliminates the mating behaviors that bother humans in the community. The cats are better-accepted and can live in peace and harmony.

what is ear-tipping, and why is it necessary?

Ear-tipping is a process by which the tip of one (usually the left) of the feral cat's ear is removed. It is done under general anesthesia at the same time that the cat is spayed/neutered. It heals very quickly, causing minimal pain and recovery.

Feral cats who have been ear-tipped are easily identifiable, even from a distance.photo credits: animalvogue.com, alleycat.org, startpets.net, chatofwakulla.org — Feral cats who have been ear-tipped are easily identifiable, even from a distance.
*photo credits: animalvogue.com, alleycat.org, startpets.net, chatofwakulla.org*

Ear-tipping is effective in helping to identify a spayed or neutered and vaccinated feral cat. One can easily see at a distance that the cat has already been "taken care of," thus eliminating the inevitable further trappings and surgeries. Since cats show no outward sign of being spayed or neutered, it's important for identification purposes. If we can immediately recognize the the cat has already been spayed/neutered, they will not be traumatized by repeated trappings. This also helps preserve the resources of groups that help feral cats. Alley Cat Allies says, "feral cats may interact with a variety of caregivers, veterinarians, and animal control personnel in their lives, and so immediate visual identification is necessary to prevent an unnecessary second trapping and surgery."

other options just don't cut it

Other ways to identify feral cats have been explored, but deemed ineffective. These methods include:

• collars: As the cat grows or gains weight, a collar may become too tight, subjecting the cat to wounds or slow strangulation. There is also the chance that the collar may become caught on something, causing injury or death. Or, the collar may just fall of, so the spayed/neutered cat can no longer be identified as such.

• ear tags: Aside from simply being bothersome to the cat, ear tags may become infected, tear the cats ear, or fall off.

• microchipping: Though microchipping may provide us with information about a feral cat, if done alone, it does not allow for visual identification, so the cat may be trapped repeatedly.

• tattooing: A tattoo is often not visible until a cat has been trapped and anesthetized.

This is what ear-notching looks like.photo source: santisookdogsandcats.org — This is what ear-notching looks like.
*photo source: santisookdogsandcats.org*

Alley Cat Allies is a group highly-recognized for helping the feral cat population. They practice ear-tipping of the left ear, but some feral cats may have their right ear tipped or may have an ear notch. Ear-notching–in contrast to ear-tipping–is when a small triangular piece is clipped from the cat's ear. This is usually done at the tip of the ear, but may sometimes be seen in the side of the ear, instead. Ear-notching is not as widely accepted because it may be more easily-confused with an accidental battle-wound.

So next time you see a cat with it's ear tipped or notched, wave from afar and know that someone has cared enough to help protect him.

Do you have a feral cat presence in your area? Have you noticed ear-tipping?

factory vs. farm with Chipotle #chipotlecultivate

April 8, 2015 Kristen Carr

Factory vs. Farm with Chipotle. We believe in being sustainably raised!

I recently wrote about Chipotle's Cultivate Festival, which is coming to our city on April 18th. The free festival is all about bringing together food, ideas, and music. Chipotle promises to provide us with an education on some hot topics concerning our food, not the least of which is this factory vs. farm debate. We hear about factory-raised meats and we hear about farm-raised meats. We may or may not listen to the political, ethical, and health debates that surround the topic of factory vs. farm. Sometimes it's easier to plug our ears, shut our eyes, and sing "la la la la la..." We may think we know the difference between factory- and farm-raised meats, but do we? What does factory vs. farm really mean?

Chipotle's main tagline is "food with integrity." A huge part of this concept is the fact that, unlike many quick-serve and fast-casual restaurants, Chipotle uses "responsibly raised" meats, meaning that the process is respectful to the animals and to the environment. Chipotle offers their customers pork, beef, and chicken (among some equally-stellar vegetarian options) as well as dairy. Let's take a look at what factory vs. farm means with regard to these three meats and dairy.

pork

Factory raised pigs are confined to small pens and do not have the ability to move freely. They have very limited opportunity to express their natural behaviors. Because these conditions are so unhealthy for them, they are given large amounts of antibiotics to keep them from getting sick. Chipotle states that "according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, American pork producers use over ten million pounds of antibiotics per year to keep their confinement-raised pigs from getting sick. That's more than three times the estimated amount used to treat all human illness." Whoa!

By contrast, Chipotle sources it's pork responsibly. The pigs are raised outside or in large pens with ample roaming room. They are antibiotic-free, and fed an entirely vegetarian diet. Since 2001, Chipotle has sourced 100% of its pork from producers who follow these guidelines. Chipotle talks about going "back to the start," which is what they have done with their pork supply–obtaining it the way it was done before gigantic factory farms changed the entire industry. Check out their powerful video, Back to the Start:

You may have seen this sign at Chipotle recently. Good for them for refusing to lower standards!

I must have watched it a hundred times, and, still, it makes me cry every time.

But how do they know for sure that the pork they are getting is responsibly raised? They check. You may have noticed that Chipotle has recently been out of carnitas in many areas of the country. Chipotle checked, and when they discovered that their main pork supplier was not up to standards, they pulled carnitas from their stores until they can find one that meets their standards. Talk about responsible! Click here to read my post about why Chipotle is out of carnitas.

beef

Factory-raised beef suffers conditions similar to factory-raised pork. The cattle are crammed into small pens with little, if any, opportunity to move and are pumped full of antibiotics to keep them from getting sick from the abysmal conditions. They are not allowed to exhibit any of their natural behaviors.

Since 1999, Chipotle has purchased naturally raised beef. They admit that it has been an uphill battle to find suppliers to meet their standards. Typically these places are the mom-and-pop types, usually too small to handle the demands of an international chain. As time goes on, more and more suppliers are meeting Chipotle's high standards, but it has taken a lot of work. The good news? As the demand for naturally raised beef goes up, the supply goes up. Can you imagine how great it would be if all restaurants would make the same demands? Today, Chipotle sources 100% of their beef from ranches that meet or exceed their standards of being naturally raised. And if there is a shortage (which there occasionally is), they let their customers know.

chicken

Factory-raised chicken is an equally, if not more frightening, food source. Though by law, all chicken produced in the United States may not be raised with added growth hormones, factory-raised chickens are still given high levels of antibiotics. In order to get around the pesky growth-hormone ban, large suppliers have been using additives in their feed. One of these additives is arsenic, which makes the chickens grow faster. Do you want arsenic in your chicken?

Instead, Chipotle sources their chicken from suppliers who do not use antibiotics or feed additives. They say "we think arsenic sounds like poison."

Me, too!

When they do, on occasion, experience a supply shortage of naturally raised chicken, Chipotle notifies their customers.

dairy

You've heard about rBGH, right? A ton of dairy products now boast that they are "rBGH-free." But do we know what rBGH is? rBGH is short for "Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone," and you'll find its widespread usage in conventionally-raised dairy cows. rBGH is used to increase milk production. It's all about quantity, not quality. And it's not natural.

Of the dairy ingredients that are offered at Chipotle, none have been sourced from cows treated with rBGH. Their cheese, for example, comes from pasture-raised cows that have daily access to the great outdoors. The cows are fed an all-vegetarian, plant-based diet.

All of this is a lot to take in, but Chipotle hopes to illustrate and simplify this information in their Factory vs. Farm Exhibit at the Cultivate Festival. They hope that by educating restaurant-goers, people will demand food with integrity, and Chipotle won't be on it's own in this noble quest for higher standards for animals, the environment, and human health. Chipotle has an awesome Food With Integrity section on their web site that goes into even greater detail. There's even a FWI Facts page that showcases easy-to-Tweet and share facts about the industry. Here are a few FWI Facts they share:

Sustainable Farming: This method of farming uses techniques such as crop rotation, soil conservation, natural fertilization and polyculture planting. In livestock production, they use pasture-based systems, feed animals what their bodies are designed to digest, and treat their animals humanely. Sustainable farms produce foods that are tastier and more nutritions than foods produced on factory farms, while also preserving the long-term health of our environment.

The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) does state that organic meat must come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. But organic meat or dairy products can often be produced on large factory farms where the animals can spend their entire life in confinement. Many people see organic food as natural, and in many ways this is true. But we've found that in some cases organic methods do not go far enough. That's why we are careful in selecting the farms we work with and deciding when working with an organic producer is appropriate for our needs.

Pigs raised naturally are more expensive than factory-farm raised pigs. In 1999, Steve Ells, or founder, chairman and co-CEO, started buying naturally raised pork and with that, kicked off our Food with Integrity philosophy.

There is so much to know, and so much to learn about Food with Integrity. I look forward to learning more about Factory vs. Farm at the Cultivate Festival and hope you'll join me!

What do you think is the most alarming thing about factory-raised meats?

join us to help the aspca® fight dog fighting and enter our #GetTough #giveaway

April 3, 2015 Kristen Carr

Did you know that April is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month? There are all sorts of ways we humans exhibit animal cruelty, but one of the worst is dog fighting. What makes me most mad about dog fighting is the fact that it's simply for "fun." Animals are tortured repeatedly–both psychologically and physically–for the entertainment and monetary folly of twisted individuals. Please join me in helping the ASPCA® with their #GetTough Movement in time for National Dog Fighting Awareness Day (NDFAD) on April 8th, 2015 and enter our #GetTough Giveaway.

By joining us to help the ASPCA #GetTough on Dog Fighting, you support them as they work to eradicate dog fighting by assisting in raids and rescues alongside law enforcement agencies and by advocating for stronger laws and sentencing for those involved in dog fighting.

The ASPCA has made it simple for us to help:

1. Get the toolkit. Fill out a simple form on the ASPCA web site to get your FREE #GetTough toolkit, which includes a #GetTough micro-poster and images to post on social media. There is also a printable poster, so you can take a selfie with your pooch to help spread the word.

2. Take action. Right there on that very same page, you can click to sign the ASPCA's petition to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), asking it to prosecute dog fighters with greater frequency in 2015 and beyond.

3. Learn more. The ASPCA's Fight Cruelty section has a wealth of information about their work to end dog fighting. You can read about recent dog fighting raids and rescues as well as learn about breed-specific legislation.

But before you go, enter our #GetTough Giveaway for your chance to win: