|
 This
is one of the all time favorite publications of LDN. Staff enjoy
writing and reading the stories that are part of the magazine and
hope that you will too.
Among the stories this year is a piece by Derek Hurley that is
written with a little bit of a tongue in cheek attitude, but is also
research based, and personal experience based about animal behavior.
It is a great article, and we hope you enjoy it.
Of course, not all animals are pets. In our magazine this year you
will hear about two animals in our community that have specific jobs
to do, and they do them very well. A Tail of Two Dogs will introduce
you to Lincoln Police Department K-9 Officer Ace and his handler
Office Ryan Sullivan. The second of the two dogs is Maverick, a
trained comfort and therapy dog, who is also the official mascot for
the local Marine Corps League. Maverick’s owners and handlers are
Gene and Marsha Hickey.
The dogs are very different in their attitudes and their jobs. If we
gave each one a mantra, Ace’s would be “To serve and protect,” while
Maverick’s would be “I’m a lover not a fighter.”
In this world, there are basically two kinds of people, those who
love animals and those who do not. And there are some fence sitters
who say they can “take them or leave them.” We think the “take them
or leave them’ group could be those who have just not met the
pet-love-of-their-life yet, but that day will come, we hope.
For those who are leaning toward getting a pet, we encourage
adoption from the local shelters. These are pets who desperately
need your love and attention and will make great companions for days
to come, if you just give them a chance.
But, making the decision to adopt a pet is not to be
taken lightly. It is a responsibility that you will take on and
sometimes you will wonder if you made the right decision, but it the
end, if you love your pet and your pet loves you back, it will be
well worth the effort.
To help you on the fencers, LDN turned to some experts in our
community and asked them to give us an overview of what a person
considering adoption should do ahead of bringing home that new fur
baby, and what will be entailed in caring for the animal once it
joins your family.
LDN extends a very special thank you to Dr. Bill
Armbruster of Green Prairie Animal Hospital and his wife Kay
Armbruster of Cha-Dai Pet Motel. The two collaborated to give us an
excellent look into preparing for pet ownership.
Next we turned to the Humane Society of Logan County and asked for
help in understanding the adoption process at the HSLC. LDN reporter
Angela Reiners has put together a great piece that will illustrate
how careful the HSLC is in placing pets with parents, and give you a
heads up to what you need to do and know before you take that first
step.
[to top of second column] |
While she was there, Reiners also asked for an update
on the effort the HSLC is putting into expanding the shelter. The
HSLC is hoping the community will get behind the planned expansion
with financial support. After reading the article, if you feel
inclined to help out, you will find information on how to make a
donation to the HSLC building fund.
The Animal Stories Pet Contest was a huge success this year, with
more than 170 photos entered in five categories. Two staff members
at LDN disqualified themselves from the judging because they had
been the ones to receive and record all the photos and in many ways,
they were glad that they did, because the judging was difficult. In
each category the animals were amazing, and it would have been nice
to give each one of the entries a prize. Though there were only five
winners of the $50 gift cards courtesy of Farm and Home Supply,
every photo submitted will be included in a massive picture page
section of the 2023 Animal Stories Online Magazine.
And, finally, we pay tribute to those beloved pets who have passed
and now wait for us at the foot of the Rainbow Bridge. We encouraged
our readers to remember their pets with a photo and a comment if
they wished. For some it was a hard thing to do. One reader who
submitted said that by the time she was done with her tribute, she
had shed a few tears. That’s to be expected we think, because our
pets are family, they are our children, our companions, sometimes
our best listeners when we’re troubled, and our greatest comfort
when we are in physical or emotional pain.
We hope you enjoy the magazine this year, and we look forward to
coming back next year with another great contest and more stories
about the animals we love.
Happy reading!
Nila Smith
|
