Protect Creatures Great and Small

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(February 12, 2022) Dogs are celebrating in Illinois this month. Well, cats, too. In just a few days, a new law will go into effect that benefits both. We’ll get to that in a moment. In a way, today’s first hour is about how to protect creatures great and small. But we start with a way to keep your pets safe at home. Specifically, on your lawn.

Hounds & Grounds

Ryan Anderson is Community Manager for the IPM Institute of North America. He also leads IPM Institute’s Midwest Grows Green (MGG) sustainable landscaping initiative. In fact, he has been on our show a number of times. BTW, MGG wants nothing less than to make all greenspaces organic by 2030. Ryan stops by today to talk about a February event called Hounds & Grounds on February 20.

It’s a two-tiered event, sponsored by MGG, Hawk City K9 and The Pet Fund. Bring your dog to participate in a dog agility course experience led by Stacey Hawk of Hawk City K9. Meanwhile, Ryan will teach about the threat posed by lawn chemicals. He reports that nearly half of dogs over the age of 10 will develop cancer. Unfortunately, we are hurting our pets by using unnecessary lawn chemicals. Anderson writes,

Multiple peer-reviewed studies have measured higher canine malignant lymphoma risk in dogs exposed to lawns treated with 2,4-D, the active ingredient in Scott’s Turfbuilder Weed and Feed and many other lawn herbicides.  

Karen Leslie, Executive Director at The Pet Fund, agrees.

Cancer rates continue to rise, and cancer is increasingly diagnosed at earlier ages in both dogs and cats. Using pesticide-free lawn care methods can help reduce the incidence of cancer in pets by minimizing the exposure to carcinogenic chemicals.

In short, to protect creatures, skip the lawn chemicals. You don’t need them. And if you have a dog, you might want to attend Hounds & Ground, from 10am to 5pm, February 20 at to Canine Therapy Corps at 3918 West Fullerton Avenue in Chicago. Register here.

Protect creatures beyond dogs and cats

Meanwhile, there are many other animals that end up as pets. Some of them shouldn’t. Jodie Wiederkehr from Chicago Alliance for Animals (CAA) knows a bit about that. She’s another veteran of our show. She fights ferociously to protect creatures. For example, she was one of the prime movers behind the end of horse-drawn carriages in Chicago.

Following that success, CAA is focusing on stores that sell animals, whether they’re dogs or cat or something else. Many people don’t understand that exotic animals they purchase have been captured from the wild. Worse, many of these animals suffer from inhumane treatment before or during transport. Additionally, naive consumers buy animals that shouldn’t be pets. Wiederkehr points to rabbits in particular, that are often given to children as pets around Easter. But they require a lot of maintenance. And they’re often dumped at animal shelters, like the Red Door in Chicago.

A tortoise named Spur

CAA is currently focusing on a business in Lincolnwood, Illinois called The Animal Store. A chief concern is huge 40-year old sulcata tortoise named Spur. CAA believes that the tortoise does not have proper care. They even raised that issue at a recent Lincolnwood Village Board of Trustees meeting. And they plan to show up at another meeting on February 15. They want to see the animal moved to a tortoise sanctuary.

CAA says that one way to protect creatures is to not sell them. Illinois moved in that direction last year when it passed the Humane Pet Store Bill (HB 1711) into law. It was signed by Governor Pritzker in August. The bill restricts the retail sale of dogs and cats to animal control and shelters only. Recently, a state representative introduced a bill that would essentially gut the new law. Animal rights activists say that is unlikely to happen. So, as of now, cats and dogs can’t be purchased unless they are rescue animals. We’ll see how businesses try to get around that.

Jodie Wiederkehr joins us today to discuss the ways we can protect creatures great and small.