The Dog (and Cat, Horse, Bird, Rabbit, etc.) Days of Summer

The first official day of summer is a week away (June 21), but summer weather is something we have been feeling a lot of over the past couple of weeks.  While we get a small break in temperatures early this week, it appears the heat will be back in full force by the weekend…and we still have a whole summer ahead of us.

As we keep ourselves and our loved ones as cool as we can this summer, don’t forget that our pets need just as much attention…especially if they’re spending any time outdoors.  Do what you would do for yourself or others in your family: try to keep them from over-exerting themselves, ensure that they have plenty of fresh water and a nice, shady spot to “park” in, get them into some air-conditioning when possible, and NEVER leave them in a parked car.

Every Monday on our noon show, we have our “Pet of the Week” segment where animals from local shelters are featured.  For you animal lovers who either have a “full house” already or perhaps would like to help but can’t necessarily afford an adoption fee right now, all of these organizations will be more than happy to accept donations of any size…even just a couple of bucks can help to care for these animals until they find a home.

To that end, the Spartanburg Humane Society is running their 2012 Calendar cover contest, and they need people to vote for their favorite photo!  It does require a donation to vote: it’s $1 per vote, and you need to cast a minimum of 5 votes.

In the interest of full disclosure, my wife has entered one of our pets in the contest…and I certainly wouldn’t mind if you found your way to the picture of Otto the cat with his stuffed friends and cast a few votes his way.  Although as I type this, he’s over 500 votes down, so now’s the time for the big push!

And if you’re not a cat person or you just don’t dig Otto, I’ll try not to be offended.  Seriously, there are some great photos of some great animals whose owners would be happy to see their vote totals bumped up.  Just be sure to check out all seven pages of photos…there’s more than just the nine that pop up immediately!

Click here to look at the pictures and vote…voting ends on June 26^th.  Technically, I think you can still enter a picture into the contest, but you’re already running quite a bit behind in the voting process.