Archive for the ‘reptiles’ Category

With so many pet stories around the web each week it’s hard to keep up. Table Scraps is our weekly roundup of memorable pet news around the internet.

• A smart hound knows sometimes it’s best to go out on top.  (Reuters)
• There is a mofo snake on this mofo plane.  (Catster)
• If dogs are 30,000 years old in dog years that makes them… (USA Today)
• They were awesome but could the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fight back against climate change?  Turtle Power!  (Phys)
• So much celebs!  So much animal charities!  (USA Today)

Image: vtbrak

My number one irrational fear when I’m away is that my home will burn down and no one will save my cat. I’m not sure when this started, but now I can’t take a vacation without it crossing my mind at least once. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s quiet here, even through the hum of activity. Sun and fresh air stream in. People walk in and out, greeting each other, bending down to pat heads and smile at the little ones. A sign reads: “Adoption Hours are Monday to Friday, 11am – 6pm.”

Welcome to your local animal shelter.

To the casual observer, an animal shelter may not seem like much of a design challenge: a structure that safely houses stray and unwanted animals for subsequent adoption or, if necessary, euthanasia. But start to consider the details of the building. It must hold different types of animals, in differently sized pens, for variable lengths of time. It should be accessible to the public and welcoming to volunteers while maintaining strict health and safety standards. It has limited staff and resources but must relentlessly promote adoption. Day-to-day operations require basic medical capabilities, laundry facilities, storage, and quarantine areas. It must not be too big (causing unnecessary maintenance and staffing demands) or too small (causing overcrowding and/or excessive distress to the animals).

“Because of their unique services, animal shelters must have the disease-prevention components of a hospital, the functional capabilities of a police station, and the user-friendly appeal of a library, ” said Geoffrey L. Handy with The Humane Society of the United States. This quote was repeated to me by Rick Bacon, President of Bacon Group Architecture, a firm that has designed shelters across the US. Most importantly, a successful shelter design should make what is fundamentally a stressful situation as manageable as possible.

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Just a lizard playing video games.
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