Welcome to Paws & Claws Newsletter. Every month we will bring up to date information on what is happening in the pet and animal world. Your news, thoughts, ideas and suggestions are always welcome.

Our aim is to bring you the most informative and educational articles while promoting responsible pet ownership and care for our wildlife. To date, we have donated over $130,000 of advertising and article space in Paws & Claws Journal to non-profit animal organisations. We donate a further 10% of our profits to the Animal Welfare League of Qld and the RSPCA Qld so please support our advertisers.

Quote of the month:
"Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend;
you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left."
- Aldo Leopold, ecologist, forester, and environmentalist

Animal lovers from around the coast gathered together at this year's Gold Coast City Council's Pet & Animal Expo at the Varsity Lakes sporting ground. With so many stalls on display showcasing a wide variety of animal products, services, clubs, and the best of what the industry has to offer, pet owners and their four-legged friends were spoilt for choice! Many animal welfare organisations like the AWL, RSPCA, Greyhound Adoption Group, Friends of the Hounds and Bat Rescue Inc joined in the fun in promoting responsible animal care and providing important information to the expo's visitors. The weekend consisted of educative and informative demonstrations and presentations from a range of animal conservation organisations; cat and dog clubs and some great tips from Australia’s renowned television veterinarian, Dr Harry!

Paws & Claws was a proud sponsor of this great event and we kept the crowds entertained by introducing the Paws & Claws Crawl Pet Quiz Competition! That’s right – we had the crowds crawling around the expo to find selected animal flags where they had to answer all questions correctly and collect all the stamps. We are happy to report that most knew their pets very well! (Check out the competition winners section below.)

All participants went in the draw to win these great prizes:
Gator Sports Scooters!
Gold Coast Dog Obedience Club $100 vouchers (Sunday only)
Natural parrot toys from the Parrot Rescue Centre!
Goodie bags for dogs and cats
Animal Communication Reading by Leah from Animal Instincts.
(www.animalinstincts.com.au)

500 lucky people that visited our stall on Sunday also received a free bag of dog kibble
courtesy of Planet Hemp Products.

See you all there next year!

That's right - dogs that can and do dance - with their human partner! The Coolangatta Pet Motel - Home of Camp Tailwaggers, "5 Paw" self contained cabins for holidays with your dog and the biggest dog centre in Australia celebrated its first year with a Heelwork To Music (HTM) competition on Friday, 19th of October. All contestants were assessed by international Judges, Mary and Dave Ray from England, and campsite owner, Anne Bulke. One by one they took the stage, dressed up ready to shine with all the 'bling' and 'glitter' that is traditional of this amazing sport. It was fascinating to watch, who would have thought - dogs dancing! The Golden Retrievers, German Shepherd, Border Collies, Labradors and even the tiny Toy Poodle - were all having the time of their life - with all the twists, spins, tricks and jumps, their tails were wagging non-stop, and the calibre of the training that is evident in their performance is truly incredible. HTM is a huge dog sport in the USA, UK and Europe and it has just hit the Coast - so if you think you and your pooch has what it takes, workshops are being held at Camp Tailwaggers by Maree Field “Australia’s Doggie Dancing Queen". Visit www.coolangattapetmotel.com for further details.

HTM and dancing dogs on youtube.com - check it out!

The Animal Welfare League of Qld will be holding an Open Day for the public on Sunday October 28th 2007 at its Coombabah Sanctuary. The event, which will be a fun-filled family day, aims to welcome the public to the sanctuary to meet staff, the animals, to see how AWL functions. AWL also hopes to educate the wider community about the plight of unwanted companion animals and subsequent euthanising of 200,000 animals annually.

With responsible pet ownership and support from the community, AWL feels they WILL reach their goal of zero euthanasia of healthy and treatable companion animals. The Open Day will feature live entertainment from the Zoo Keepers, food and drink, games and fun for the kids, an exciting animal petting farm and plenty of fabulous prizes.

The Open Day will run from 10am to 4pm and will feature activities, presentations and fun for the whole family.

For more information contact the Sanctuary on (07) 5509 9000.

Even though the weather is warming up, the Animal Welfare League of Qld is absolutely DESPERATE for the public to donate blankets, towels and other bedding to help keep their dogs warm, dry and comfortable. Dogs, especially older ones, really feel the pinch of the cool night air and blankets really help to improve their level of comfort while at the Sanctuary.

The bedding/towels are also used in the AWL’s private vet clinic for animals undergoing procedures where hygiene is paramount and items can only be used a single time. Although the community has already donated bedding, blankets and even coats for the dogs, the longevity of this bedding is minimal, meaning that supplies have completely run out.

The AWL is calling out urgently to the community to donate blankets, towels and other bedding to assist the Sanctuary. Items can be dropped off at the Sanctuary on Shelter Road at Coombabah. For more information contact the Sanctuary on (07) 5509 9000.

A new national exotic bird record keeping scheme will allow better tracking of exotic birds to help fight illegal trade and introduction of foreign diseases which threaten Australia’s native species, the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Malcolm Turnbull announced on Thursday, 11th of October 07.

“Under the new scheme, birdkeepers will be encouraged to keep standardised records on the origin of their birds and for their movement within Australia,” Mr Turnbull said.

“The scheme has been developed in consultation with aviculturalists through the Exotic Birdkeepers Advisory Group to ensure that it will be simple and practical for birdkeepers to implement.”

“Increasing legitimacy for exotic birds will also provide more certainty for birdkeepers about the origin of their birds – this will likely increase the value of legally held exotic birds and that will benefit the birdkeeping sector.”

The Australian Government is committed to curbing the illegal trade of exotic birds and has invested $100,000 to ensure the successful implementation of the scheme. More...

A group of Brisbane lawyers have formed an organisation to campaign for animal justice. Calling themselves BLEATS (Brisbane Lawyers Educating and Advocating for Tougher Sentences) their major aim is to focus attention on the apparent unwillingness or seeming inability of Magistrates to wield their powers under the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001.

BLEATS has set up a website www.bleats.com.au targeting the legal community. Apart from providing more information on the topic, the website calls for anyone interested to contact the RSPCA in relation to providing assistance for the cause.

BLEATS is also spreading awareness by targeting legal publications and the legal industry in general.

The Support Tougher Sentences for Animal Cruelty petition to Australian Judiciary was written by BLEATS and is hosted free of charge at GoPetition. Sign here.