After leaving a job as a newspaper reporter, I started pet sitting in 2004, figuring it would bring in a little money while I looked for a "real" job. I'm still looking, and still pet sitting. Below are several articles I've written in the meantime. Two are about my own pets, one is about how to respond to animal cruelty and one is a column from the year I spent in Beijing working at an English-language newspaper.
If you're interested in China, you're welcome to check out my blog, http://datelinebeijing.wordpress.com.
PEARL’S STORY
The cute black dog in the picture doesn’t live with me anymore.
A year after adopting Pearl from the Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago, I took her back. “I can’t handle her,” I told them. Read more...
BROWNIE'S STORY
Americans are skeptical of arranged matches. We want to look at someone and feel instant attraction. In the absence of that first, inexplicable tug on the heartstrings, we can’t imagine the kind of love that leads to lifelong commitment.
Most people choose their dogs the same way, gambling that the one with the most compelling looks will also be the perfect match. That’s how I did it – until this time. Read more...
WITNESSING CRUELTY
Nothing ruins a beautiful day by the lake like seeing someone beat a dog.
The man I saw on Miller Beach in Gary, Ind. hit, kicked and choked the dog he was walking. He held the dog by a leash in one hand and in the other wielded a stick he used to beat and choke the animal. Read more...
Keona was rescued from dog fighters.
This column was published in Beijing under a headline that's a good example of Chinglish:
A HOT DOG BREEDS NEW FEAR
Something awful is happening to Tibetan mastiffs in China.
They’ve become the latest must-have accessory of the very rich, who are willing to pay absurd prices for these dogs solely because they are status symbols. Expos featuring Tibetan mastiffs, like the one on March 19 in Changping, are helping feed the frenzy.
At Your Service Pet Valet
PAMPERING PETS AND THEIR PEOPLE!
219-938-7213
