Ultimate Dog Tease

Y'all can stop sending me this now.

Fourth Cativersary

Four years ago today I brought Shelley home from the East Harlem ASPCA. She was 18 months old, very undersized, timid, and FIV+. Today she's a chubby little lap snuggler and every visitor's instant pal, despite the stern look she's giving us above. As I like to do on this date, I encourage you to visit your local shelter and consider adopting an adult cat. At this writing there are 64 adult cats up for adoption at the East Harlem shelter. I'm partial to tough guy Felix.

PETA: Buy A Dog And You Kill A Shelter Dog (And Will Drag It Around Forever)

According to PETA, if you purchase your dog, you are effectively killing the shelter dog you didn't adopt. And you'll drag that dead unadopted dog behind you forever. In spirit, one presumes they mean. I've never bought a pet in my life and my FIV+ cat was adopted as an adult from the East Harlem ASPCA. But I've never begrudged pure breed aficionados who patronize responsible sources.

Feds Denounce Pet Insurance Story

In reference to the post several below this one, the Office Of Personnel Management has issued this statement:

"Stories claiming that the federal government offers pet insurance to federal employees, and juxtaposing that benefit with the fact that the federal government cannot under current law provide health insurance benefits to federal employees' domestic partners are grossly inaccurate. While Aetna is a participating carrier in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), the pet insurance product offered by Aetna is not a federal benefit, nor has it been listed as a benefit in any OPM prepared or reviewed materials. Aetna, on its own initiative, offers a variety of discount products to its members, including gym memberships, weight loss programs, eyewear, vitamins, etc. Pet insurance is one of these products.

"Aetna has apologized for using the reference to FEHBP in its communication on this discount program. OPM regrets that Aetna's error is being cited by some as evidence that same-sex domestic partner health insurance benefits for federal employees are not a priority by OPM and the Administration. Nothing could be further from the truth.

"The Obama Administration believes in granting equal rights and benefits to gay and lesbian federal employees as demonstrated by the President's strong support of the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, which will provide full benefits to same-sex partners of federal workers. The Director of OPM has testified in both the Senate and the House in favor of its passage."

(Via - Steve Rothaus @ Miami Herald)

Urban Legend Confirmed: Alligator Found In New York City Sewer

OK, so it was only 18 inches long. But still!

At least one alligator really does live in New York City's sewers. Cops apprehended an 18-inch gator that crawled out of an overflowing Astoria storm drain and hunkered down beneath a parked car this afternoon, delighting onlookers and giving fresh meat to the urban myth that the carnivorous critters are living below the Big Apple. The scaly spectacle began just after 3 p.m., when a passersby spotted the reptile on Newtown Avenue near 29th Street and yelled "Crocodile!" "That's the craziest thing I've ever seen," marvelled Elizabeth Ferguson, 25, who has lived on the block for three years. "He was really small, but mean looking."

RELATED: Gothamist recaps the start of the legend in this 2009 post.

SF Considers Ban On Selling Pets

Last night San Francisco held a meeting to consider what would be the nation's first blanket ban on the selling of any animals as pets.

That includes dogs, cats, hamsters, mice, rats, chinchillas, guinea pigs, birds, snakes, lizards and nearly every other critter, or, as the commission calls them, companion animals. "People buy small animals all the time as an impulse buy, don't know what they're getting into, and the animals end up at the shelter and often are euthanized," said commission Chairwoman Sally Stephens. "That's what we'd like to stop." San Francisco residents who want a pet would have to go to another city, adopt one from a shelter or rescue group, or find one through the classifieds. The Board of Supervisors would have final say on the matter. But not before pet store owners unleash a cacophony of howling, squeaking and squawking. "It's terrible. A pet store that can't sell pets? It's ridiculous," said John Chan, manager of Pet Central on Broadway, which has been in business 30 years. "We'd have to close."

I have a feeling that PETA has their paws in this somehow.