Pop Art Pet Unleashed

Archive for July, 2006

A couple of unwitting spokes-puppies have been put in the middle of a peculiar political debate taking place in the media in Colorado Springs.

 First, there’s Norman a brown and white spaniel puppy with large floppy ears, whose face is gracing buses and billboards and television commercials. Norman is like any other spaniel puppy – except that he moos. You see, Norman was born different. He is the face of borndifferent.com, which explains that just as 15% of the population is born left-handed, 3% of the population, according to researchers, is born gay.

Norman’s canine opponent is Sherman, a dog of unidentified breed who is featured, in a less extensive, rival advertisement campaign. Sherman barks. He, you understand, was born a dog. He would never moo. Furthermore, in the unlikely event he felt tempted to, Sherman would take active steps to “cure” himself of such unnatural impulses.

Norman and Sherman are pawns in the latest skirmish in the culture wars that continue to divide the US. Specifically, Norman the mooing spaniel is the creation of gay rights activists who support measures such as the right for gay couples to marry and receive the same protections as straight couples. The $900,000 Born Different campaign, funded by the Denver-based Gill Foundation, makes the argument that gay people are born gay and that to discriminate against them would be no different than discriminating against any other minority group.

“This is Norman. He’s just like every other dog except for one thing,” says the voiceover in the advert playing on the Born Different website, as Norman moos with cow-like confidence. “Norman never chose to be different. He was just born this way. Norman is not the only one in the Springs who is different.”

By contrast, Sherman is the creation of Focus On The Family, a conservative Christian organization based in Colorado Springs that strongly opposes gay marriage. FOTF is headed by James Dobson who is one of the most influential evangelists in the country, and wields considerable political power. He also counsels women not to work outside the home until their children have grown up and he warns that people should think long and hard before marrying a person of a different race.

“This is Sherman. He’s a dog,” says the ad on the FOTF website titled, No-Moo-Lies, as it shows the silhouette of what might be a basset hound on a page that looks remarkably like the Born Different website. “He barks. Why? Because that’s what dogs do.” It continues: “If he could talk he’d tell you to keep your eyes and ears open between now and November to make sure you hear the truth about what marriage should mean in Colorado. Sure, making a dog sound like a cow is cute, but messing with marriage, the building block of all societies, is not. Indeed, it would be a dog-gone shame.”

While we at Pop Art Pet found this to be interesting (and a little unsettling), the only commentary we have to add is, live and let live people! And for the love of dog, don’t drag unbiased animals into your silly human politics!

We’ve had lots of colorful clients over the years, but recently one of them enlisted us in quite an elaborate ruse to create a portrait as a gift for her friend. Nancy ordered a portrait of her friend, Lynne’s cat, Karma Martin – but the only pictures she had to submit were tiny like this one.

She remembered she had taken a picture of Karma recently that was still on the film in her camera and she had high hopes that it would be a great picture for the portrait. However, time was of the essence with Lynne’s birthday approaching at the end of July. Nancy knew that Lynne would have good pictures, since Lynne herself is a web designer who even has a website for the lovely Karma Martin! But Nancy couldn’t figure out a way to ask Lynne for pictures without giving away the surprise – so we offered some subversive assistance.

We suggested that Nancy tell Lynne she heard about a cat photo contest and that the winners would be included in a 2007 calendar, and wouldn’t Karma be a great candidate – she loved the idea! We even went so far as to set up an email account for submissions to our fraudulent photo contest and Lynne fell for it! We got the following email from her the same day:
“I heard about your contest through a friend of a friend. Here are some low-res pics of my cat, Karma, who is a Maine Coon Mix I found at a shelter in NJ. She’s a beauty for sure. These pics don’t do her justice, but you can get a sense of what she looks like. If you like them, I can take hi-res photo for you. http://www.riddlelake.com/karma.html”

So we replied, “Hello Lynne, Karma is gorgeous and looks like quite a character! We would love it if you emailed a couple high res digital images to us, similar to “beautyshot.jpg” where Karma is trying to hypnotize humans. We’re looking for head shots mostly, we need well-focused images with good lighting of course. They can be emailed as .jpg files, the bigger the better (minimum 1 MB) so please set your camera on the highest quality setting. We look forward to receiving your pictures soon – Friday is the deadline for submission! Then we will contact you by the end of July if we will be including Karma in our 2007 Calendar.”
[We thought the "deadline" gave it a nice authentic touch!]

Of course these messages were getting forwarded to Nancy who thought it was just hysterical, and was quite proud of herself for having fooled her friend. Our master plan went awry, however, when Lynne ran into difficulty getting Karma to cooperate, cat’s make lousy models. So we decided that because it was a holiday weekend we could offer a phony extension to our fake contest…
“Hi Lynne, Because a few of our contest “judges” will be taking a long weekend, we will actually not be making our final selections for the calendar until after the holiday. So I thought I would check in with you and see if you thought you could get some high res, close-ups of Karma this weekend? If so, please send them! I just personally think she’s a great candidate for the calendar (so darn cute)!” 
[We figured a little flattery might do the trick!]

In the meantime, Nancy got her film developed and said she had a priceless picture of Karma so she express mailed it to us, just in case. And it’s a good thing because while Lynne did manage to email us some digital pictures of Karma that weekend which were all very charming, they were also all pretty blurry & a little dark, like this one.

I didn’t have the heart to tell her the pictures weren’t ideal. Especially since she told me that she had to stop taking pictures before she turned into a “stage mom,” which was priceless. Nancy, on the other hand, hit pay dirt! We were able to scan in the photo she sent and get to work. And while we felt a little guilty about fooling Lynne, Nancy was having a great time with it and got to work herself, making a cat calendar using scotch tape and pictures of Karma! Just kidding, actually Nancy is a talented, senior graphic designer so she designed a lovely calendar that Lynne will be able to use all year, with pictures of Karma and a Buddhist feel to keep up the “karma” theme. She even included the emails that were exchanged during our little deception.    

She just knew that Lynne was going to love hearing about the lengths we had all gone to for her and Karma.

We certainly hope she’s right about that, because soon the cat will be out of the bag! As long as Lynne loves it, then I’m sure she’ll forgive us for being so sneaky and we won’t have any ”bad karma” (pun intended).

P.S. I almost forgot to mention the funniest part of the Karma situation for us, was that the colors Nancy requested for Karma’s portrait were red, gold, and green (just like that popular little song from the 80’s.. Culture Club.. something about a chameleon) =) !

Did you know that in the mahogany paneled lobby of the PetSmart PetHotel, your discriminating dog or cat can be dropped off and have their every need catered to in a five-star environment? You just have to pay about $23 dollars for each night they stay, or $20 dollars for the day only, while you are at work.

The doggie hotel is nothing like the kennels you’re familiar with; in this inn there is lactose-free ice cream, indoor recreation, and for an extra $10 a night your pampered pup can stay in a roomier “suite” with a television set showing animal related programming all day. This can help them relax and adjust because they are used to hearing TV at home.

For potty breaks there is a 215 square foot “relief room” complete with a plastic tree, but for security reasons, there is no outdoor walking. And if dogs don’t play well with others, they get a time out in a cage for 15 minutes. Employees say after two time outs, they get the message!

Most sites have room for about 180 dogs and 25 cats. Cats stay in plexiglass cages known as “kitty cottages” for around $14 dollars a night, which includes 15 minutes of TLC, otherwise known as petting.

PetSmart Inc. launched the pet hotel concept three years ago; they have 32 hotels and plan to have over 200 in just a few years. Market experts are not surprised at their success since Americans spend nearly 40 billion dollars a year on their dogs and cats (30 percent more than five years ago). That figure is close to what Americans spend on toys for children (48 billion dollars) and more than twice the 17 billion spent on cosmetics every year!

There has been a lot of interest in our previous post about a custody battle between hurricane Katrina evacuees and those who adopted the pets they left behind, so we thought an update was in order.

The case between the Couture family who left their dogs, Master Tank and Nila, behind when they fled the rising waters in Louisiana, and Pam Bondi who fostered, then later adopted Master Tank, has entered a holding pattern. The parties will be going to trial in November to determine who deserves custody of the former family pet. Ms Bondi claims Tank, who had heartworms when she took him in, had been clearly neglected even prior to Hurricane Katrina and is therefore better off with her. The Couture’s admit that Tank did have heartworms before the hurricane (the majority of pets who were rescued contracted heartworms in the storm’s aftermath), but claim that he already had heartworms when they adopted him at 10 months old and that he got monthly heartworm medicine. The Coutures have also been accused of abandoning the dogs to die in the flood. Not so, they say. Mrs. Couture and the two grandchildren evacuated before Katrina hit, but Mr. Couture stayed specifically to care for the dogs and the house. When the levees broke and the water rose, however, Mr. Couture had to be rescued by boat and was told he couldn’t bring the dogs. He left them in the house with food and water, expecting to be back soon. However, it was two weeks before anyone could re-enter the neighborhood and by then the dogs had been taken to an emergency animal shelter, and later transfered to the Pinellas Humane Society and adopted out.

While this case is far from over many, many more are underway. Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah had 20 potential legal situations while trying to match up owners and foster groups. They managed to resolve about half of them with cooperation of all parties, but currently have five situations that are proceeding to court. There have also been refusals to return pets whose ownership was clearly documented and confirmed by judgments, by the fosters who firmly believe the pets weren’t being cared for correctly.

Cases like these are being closely watched by animal rights activists and animal law experts, who say judges could carve new precedent if they consider a pet’s best interests when deciding who gets custody rather than just considering pets to be “property”. This would obviously be a big step forward for animal rights.

We at Pop Art Pet will continue to keep you informed.

By now we’ve all heard about the famous painted cows of Chicago, credited with bringing art to the herds of people on the street ..

Well once again, Art has gone to the dogs (fortunately for us, or we would be out of a job)! Currently right here in Colorado, Aspen to be exact, celebrities have unleashed their artistic talents on life-size Labrador Retriever sculptures.

Goldie Hawn, Johnny Depp, Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon are just a few of the stars who picked up a brush to showcase their painterly talents. The completed collection of colorful canines they’re calling “Best In Show” are now on display throughout Aspen, Snowmass Village, and Basalt and will later be auctioned off with all proceeds to benefit educational programs in Aspen.

This blue beauty was painted by Anjelica Huston.

Mariah Carey’s contribtion, featuring butterflies (of course)

You can click here to view a complete list of celebrities who participated and see photos of their submitted painted Labrador Retrievers.

Boy attacked by pet crocodile:
Earlier this week a 12-year-old boy survived an attack by a crocodile that was being kept as a pet on the Philippine island of Mindanao. The seven-foot reptile bit little Ramon Palmares on the arm after the boy poked it and threw pebbles, said officials in Cotabato City. It is of course illegal to keep wildlife as pets according to Philippine law and an international convention on endangered species, so the crocodile and his friend, a pet python living in the same house, were confiscated by authorities and their owner will be charged with violating the wildlife law and endangering children. He will likely also be sued by the injured boy’s parents. The way we see it, it’s just too bad that the crocodile can’t sue his guardian for illegal imprisonment, and the boy for assault! At the very least he should be able to plead self-defense!

Human run over by dog:
A police dog named Ranger in Ogden, Utah was left in a pickup truck with the engine running so that he would have air conditioning while his handler responded to a domestic disturbance call,  and apparently knocked the vehicle into gear and ran a woman down. Mary F. Stone, 41, was hospitalized with a fractured pelvis and tailbone.

The police man said Ranger must have hit the shift on the steering column, putting the automatic transmission into gear. As the truck slowly rolled forward, police officers yelled to Stone, but she couldn’t get out of the way in time. A front and rear tire ran over her. “She had tire marks on her clothes,” her husband said. Then the truck then went through the Stones’ yard and struck a vehicle in the driveway. Afterward police were trying to determine if there might have been some malfunction that would have allowed the gear shift to be moved easily.

The way we see it, that’s some kind of malfunction.. you usually have to pull back pretty hard on a standard gear shift then push it down, and in many models you have to put a foot (not a paw) on the brake. We suspect foul play! But just in case something like this happens to you, you may want to get your dog a drivers license.

And for those long drives be sure he takes along some bacon flavored, bottled water to quench his thirst. A man in Australia, Andrew Larkey, is behind the brilliant idea to distribute “Aqua Dog,” in beef, chicken, and bacon flavors. He said the idea was obvious since clearly the fastest growing markets in supermarkets and stores everywhere were bottled water for humans and high-value pet treats. Selling for nearly 3 dollars (2.20 US dollars) per bottle, the canine drink is more expensive than mineral water for humans. But in a nation of dog lovers, it is flying off the shelves. He will probably be a very rich man soon!

It’s easy to look at much of our custom Pop Art & Comic Style artwork, and see the imagination, talent, and the hours of labor that went into it.

Our Traditional Style artwork is typically much more subtle.  But did you know that these more painterly portraits require no less (and sometimes even more) work behind the scenes?     

For example, to work with Freckles, a Border Collie mix, and her feline friend, Holly, our artist really had to work some magic. Especially since, even though they really are pals, they had no interest in posing together for a suitable picture. This meant we had to start with multiple photos to put all their best features together. Then of course we still had to address all the usual issues that we do with photos, like red eyes, and having tails or ears inconveniently cropped out. We started with one picture of Freckles on the stairs that would work, then we had to combine elements from four separate pictures of Holly!

We put together a little animation of the steps involved to demonstrate:

Frequently rather than adding elements to client photos, we have to do subtraction instead. Like Hans, a very handsome Keeshound, whose mom captured him in motion and wanted to retain that fluid look.    

The only problem was the background was a little busy and distracting.

 So our artist removed the unappealing items in the background, like Hans’ leash, his friend’s tail from in front of him, the sidewalk, and even two entire cabins!

The end result, however, looks totally natural, you can’t even tell it’s been altered.

This combination of technical skills and creativity is often required of our artists in order to accommodate our clients requests, which we always strive to do. So if you have been considering a Pop Art Pet portrait of your pet or pets, but have concerns about the composition of your photos, don’t underestimate the ability of our artists.

We’re sure you’ll be impressed!

Sure your dog is well-behaved, she can sit and stay and even show off in front of your friends and give you a high five. But is she environmentally conscious? If not, why not?

Below are instructions & tips on how to teach your dog to deposit paper recyclables into the recycling bin.

Sit – Stay – Okay
First things first, if your dog does not know how to Sit & Stay you’ll need to teach him or her that first. The following should work.
• Stand over the dog and say “Sit!” while pointing to the ground with one hand and pushing their back down gently with the other hand. Immediately reward with praise & petting – no treats yet.
• If your dog starts to move, say “Stay!” and gently push them back to the same spot & sitting position.
• Then say “Okay!” and reward your dog with some praise and gentle playing.
• Repeat these steps until your dog learns to “Sit!” down and “Stay” until it’s “Okay” to move.
• Keep these training sessions short and gradually give the orders from farther and farther away.

Hold – Drop
Once you and your dog have mastered Sit & Okay, pick a toy that your dog likes to hold in his or her mouth.
• Make your dog sit and give them the toy and say “Hold!”
• If your dog drops the toy, say “No!” and give it back while saying “Hold!”
• Then say “Drop!” and immediately offer a treat in exchange for the toy. When your dog drops the toy, reward them with the treat and lots of praise.
• Repeat the “Sit,” “Hold,” “Drop,” reward bit until your dog totally gets it.

Go – Drop
• Place a low recycling bin in the corner.
• Make your dog “Sit” by the bin and give them something to “Hold.”
• Say “Go Drop!,” while pointing to the bin. Then lift your dog into a standing position and encourage them to drop the item into the bin by offering a treat in exchange. Reward them with lavish praise & petting when they get it right!
• Repeat trying different objects to drop into the recycling bin and giving the “Go Drop” command farther and farther away from the bin. 

Tips:
• If your dog is not successful three out of four times, the session is probably too hard and you just need to go back one step.
• During training, say only the commands and praise, and always speak in a clear voice.
• Make sure there are as few distractions as possible.

If you are patient and make learning fun instead of making it “obedience” oriented, your dog will soon be recycling for you and making the world a better place!

Summer is in the air, and what’s better in the Summertime than driving your convertible to the lake for a picnic? This big bear cub agrees!

He looks like he’s in his natural habitat in this vintage red Buick convertible in a Lake Tahoe neighborhood, in Stateline, Nevada. The bear drew a crowd of spectators as it munched on barbecue-chicken-and-jalapeño pizza in the back seat of the 1964 Buick Skylark. It also apparently washed it down with a swig of a Jack Daniel’s mixer, an Absolut vodka and tonic, and a beer taken from a cooler – I hope they didn’t let him drive home after that! Now that’s a great way to spend a Summer day! The bruin was not even fazed by the car’s horn that blew nonstop as the cub pressed the seat into the steering wheel.

What’s better than a picnic? A day at the beach! Especially for these newly hatched Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles.

Things are looking up for these little guys who were formerly on the extinction watch list. Habitat protection and financial support from Mexican and U.S. wildlife agencies, as well as the fishing and shrimping industry, have resulted in a bumper crop of the still endangered sea turtles. Last year, almost 631,000 hatchings were released compared to 48,000 recorded in 1978. Yay!

Here are more amazing animals enjoying the Summer season!

(yes, that parrot is playing soccer and those elephants are at a drive in)

Two dogs that survived Hurricane Katrina are at the center of a custody battle between their old owners in New Orleans and their new ones in Florida.

Master Tank and Nila were owned by Steven and Dorreen Couture who had to evacuate their Louisiana home, leaving the dogs at a local animal shelter. Their house was destroyed and the Coutures were unable to return until five weeks later, when they learned their dogs had been put up for adoption. It wasn’t until months later that they found out Master Tank and Nila had been sent to The Pinellas Humane Society along with 288 other animal refugees. 
 
The Coutures said when they learned in January that the dogs were in Pinellas County, they tried for months to get help. They finally got a response in March when Dr. Kenny Mitchell, Pinellas County’s director of veterinary services, got a copy of a Humane Society spreadsheet listing their dogs. They had been adopted by residents of Florida. The documents also noted that Steven Couture was their owner of record.

The Coutures came to Florida last week trying to get their dogs back, but the new owners say the dogs were adopted legally and are refusing to give them up. Tampa prosecutor Pam Bondi adopted Master Tank, a St. Bernard she renamed Noah. She said she saved the dog’s life. “I legally fostered and adopted a dying dog who had a serious medical condition that long predated the hurricane,” Bondi said. “Had he been properly cared for, I would have been driving him back to New Orleans myself.” The Coutures lost their home in the August hurricane. They say the dogs lived outside but dispute that they were neglected. They say they were treating Master Tank for heartworms. Dunedin resident Rhonda Rineker, who is listed as having adopted Nila, declined to comment.

Steven Couture said he took the dogs to a shelter before the family evacuated with the promise he could get them back. This is why the Coutures blame the Pinellas Humane Society. The family contends that the agency never sent them a letter before the dogs were adopted, a county requirement. The attorney for the Humane Society said, “Our job was to take care of the animals,we did our best to find owners. We don’t have any custody over them. They were adopted out. We believe we acted appropriately at all times and we are comfortable with the things we did.” As a result of the Coutures’ dilemma, Pinellas County adopted an ordinance on June 20 that would make all adoptions conditional for up to 120 days after the date of the state of emergency declaration. It will give people who may be in a situation like the Coutures more time to recover their animals.

Steven Couture said at a news conference he might consider legal action to contest the adoptions. He said his two grandchildren have lost their parents and their home in the past several years. “The only thing they have is these dogs and us, they want the dogs back. It should have never happened.”

Please don’t let this discourage you from adopting – but there are likely many other stories like this since the tragedy of Katrina devastated the pet population in Louisiana as it did. We at Pop Art Pet were so moved that we felt we had to do something. That’s when we learned about Pasado’s Safe Haven. They were unlikely heroes, since they are a relatively small shelter and located in Washington, pretty far-removed from the Gulf Coast. Still, they were one of the first groups to arrive and begin pet rescue efforts. 

And they stayed, and brought in more people, and more resources and rescued 1200 animals! We were so impressed with their action we set out to do what we could to help.

We pledged to donate 100% of profits from Traditional Style portrait sales, initially for one week in September. But as days passed and the stories and images from New Orleans actually became more disturbing of pets left behind, we knew that was not enough. We sent care packages to volunteers and extended our promotion for an additional five weeks. And thanks to the support of our wonderful and caring customers who purchased portraits during that time to help us, help Pasado, help those animals, we were able to donate nearly $2,500! And not to pat ourselves on the back, but for a tiny little company we felt very good about that!

Since then we have continued to support Pasado’s Safe Haven, a wonderful organization.     We donated artwork and custom portraits to their “Dog Bowl” this year, and met and immortalized Carmen, a happy Black Lab adopted by some very generous Pasado supporters!  

Our ability to raise funds to help animal charities, big and small, local and national, is one of the most rewarding things about this business and one of our top priorities. So we want to thank all our clients past and present for allowing us to do so. In fact, maybe we’ll make July “Client appreciation month!” Stay tuned for details…

In the meantime, please visit Pasado’s Safe Haven’s site and learn more about them. And here are some of our other favorite animal shelters we love to support and hope you will too:

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

Max Fund

Dumb Friends League