Wishing You a Safe & Happy Halloween!

Here are some tips from the ASPCA to make sure you and your pet have a safe and fun Halloween:
NO SCAREDY CATS THIS HALLOWEEN: TOP 10 SAFETY TIPS FOR PET PARENTS Attention, companion animal caretakers! The ASPCA would like to call your attention to these common-sense cautions that’ll help keep your pets safe and stress-free this time of year.

1. No tricks, no treats: That bowlful of candy is for trick-or-treaters, not for Scruffy and Fluffy. Chocolate in all forms can be very dangerous for dogs and cats, and tin foil and cellophane candy wrappers can be hazardous if swallowed. If you suspect your pet has ingested a potentially dangerous substance, please call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.

2. Popular Halloween plants such as pumpkins and decorative corn are considered to be relatively nontoxic, yet they can produce gastrointestinal upset should pets ingest them. Intestinal blockage could even occur if large pieces are ingested.

3. Keep wires and cords from electric lights and other decorations out of reach of your pets. If chewed, your pet could experience damage to his mouth from shards of glass or plastic, or receive a possibly life-threatening electrical shock.

4. A carved pumpkin certainly is festive, but do exercise extreme caution if you choose to add a candle. Pets can easily knock a lit pumpkin over and cause a fire. Curious kittens especially run the risk of getting burned or singed by candle flames.

5. Dress-up can be a big mess-up for some pets. Please don't put your dog or cat in a costume UNLESS you know he or she loves it (yup, a few pets are real hams!). For pets who prefer their “birthday suits,” however, wearing a costume can cause undue stress.

6. If you do dress up your pet, make sure the costume isn't annoying or unsafe. It should not constrict the animal's movement or hearing, or impede his ability to breathe or bark. Keep a look out for small, dangling, or easily chewed-off pieces on the costume that your pet could choke on.

7. Take a closer look at your pet’s costume and make sure it does not obstruct her vision in any way. Even the sweetest animals can get snappy when they can't see.

8. All but the most social dogs and cats should be kept in a separate room during peak trick-or-treat visiting hours. Too many strangers can be scary and stressful for pets.

9. When opening the door for trick-or-treaters, take care that your cat or dog doesn't dart outside.

10. IDs, please! Always make sure your dog or cat has proper identification. If for any reason your pet escapes and become lost, a collar and tags and/or a microchip increase the chances that he or she will be returned to you.

Thanks and Happy Halloween from all of us at Art Helping Animals!

Working Dog- the Nanny

Working Dogs Have Always Inspired Me-
There have been a few books about Dogs that have worked in the capacity of nurse-maid or nanny. Peter Pan was one of them, and Carl another which inspired a series of books. This painting depicts a Saint Bernard caring for two newborn kittens and will be offered at auction tomorrow to benefit the Brooke Fund.
Please Help Homeless Pets!

Portrait of Brooke

Serendipity Brooke
oil on 9"x12" stretched linen
copyright V. Bridges Hoyt 2006

This auction ends Thursday, October 26. Check it out!

20% of sale will be donated to TBAR, True Blue Animal Rescue in central Texas. Balance of proceeds will be paid directly to Brooke's vet, Critter Fixer Pet Hospital, for heartworm treatment.

Brooke is a seven year old Border Collie who was plagued with sarcoptic mange and secondary bacterial infections, flea allergies, hookworms and heartworms when rescued. She has since recovered from the mange and bacterial infections. She now smells sweet as a rose. She no longer scratches. Her hair is growing in nicely. She has been treated for hookworms. All that remains is the heartworm eradication. She is a sweet girl and very smart, obedient and willing to please. She can catch a ball in mid air, but after playing for a while she is winded and very tired because of the heartworms. She deserves a clean bill of health and a chance at life. Please bid up on this auction to help Brooke recover completely. Thank you.

Available through eBay, this listing ends October 26.

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet..............

I'll bet most of us remember this trick or treat song. "Trick or Treat, Smell my feet, Give us someting good to eat." I painted this little nocturnal skunk, because of the "smell my feet part", the pumpkin for the "trick or treat" and a 20% donation to Sarvey Wildlife Care Center for the "give us something good to eat". Wildlife and other animal rescues, such as Sarvey, depend on donations to give these special critters nutritionally balanced diets. So let's hand out the treats and make donation to your favorite animal rescue.
- Robin J. Andreae

I am a proud member of Art Helping Animals. You may search for our artwork on eBay by simply entering AHAA in the search bar. - Thank You!

Happy and Pet Safe Halloween

Its almost the spookiest time of year "Halloween". There will be Trick or Treaters out having fun-coming to your door-playing pranks and playing all over your neighborhood.

This time of year can be very scary for your pets too. Tons of new noises, candy, pumpkins, children and costumes to frighten and cause them stress. Costumes and loud noises can even scare the most friendliest of pets.

Please take the time to secure your pet and make sure they have no access to candy, pumpkins and decorations they could swallow. Certain pets, mainly black cats, are at risk of becoming part of the darker side of Halloween activities-please make sure you keep them indoors. Please have a safe and happy Halloween with your pets.

Briard for Old Dog Haven

The 9X11 inch original Briard Watercolor painting is a benefit auction for Old Dog Haven. It is available on ebay.



I stopped at my vet's office yesterday to pick up some meds for my Welsh. I saw three older dogs being boarded. They were exceptionally well behaved. The three older dogs were a blue heeler mix, a Westie mix and a lab mix. The rest of the dogs were barking and demanding attention. These three were the only ones who were subdued. I asked about them and I was told that they were being boarded because their owner just died. My vet is wonderful at placing and caring for dogs like these, but many older dogs have no where to go. This is a reminder to update your wills. Make sure that any dogs in your care are mentioned. I am the legal godmother of several dogs. If something happens to the owner I am in the will as the person who the dogs will go to. Luckily there are places like Old Dog Haven, where older dogs get a second chance at a forever home.

Brooke: Before and After

After three weeks of paramite dips and antibiotics, Brooke is looking better although facing even bigger challenges to come. When the current treatments are completed, she will face heartworm eradication which is dangerous in itself. Depending on the severity of her infestation and the rate at which the adult heartworms die, a clot of worms could find its way into her lungs causing death during treatment. However, to ignore treatment is sure and painful death. Heartworm treatment must be performed by a qualified veterinarian who keeps quality of care in mind. Border collies are herding dogs, and the herding breeds react to some of the heartworm medications adversely. I will talk more about heartworms later, but now I want to post some before and after photos to show Brooke's progress to date.

September 24: Brooke's eyes BEFORE treatment

October 9: Brooke's eyes AFTER treatment
(treatment still in process)

September 24: back BEFORE treatment

October 12: back AFTER treatment
(treatment still in process)

The white specs you see (above) are dried flakes of the old skin that is sloughing off as new healthy skin grows.

Looking and smelling much better now.

Brooke continues to take antibiotics for the secondary bacterial infections that were caused from ignoring the skin condition. When this stage of treatment is completed, she will begin treatment to kill the heartworms.

The Fellowship of the Brush...

.... and pen, pastels, pencils and charcoal, etc.!


The Fellowship of Artists here at ART HELPING ANIMALS is a diverse group of creative souls all with one focus...to help contribute to homeless animals in need.


In the last 8 months we have helped raise over $10,000.00 from the sale of our work and through the generosity of art & animal lovers, together.


How wonderful to be able to use ART as a means to help these innocent animals and help to buy time to rehab and rehome some of these abandoned beauties.


The time is coming when people who love animals AND art are gearing up to purchase gifts for the holidays.
When you think of the animal lovers on your list, please start thinking of ART HELPING ANIMALS and give gifts that will make a REAL difference in the lives of these homeless ones.


Take a moment to view the site, http://www.arthelpinganimals.com read the Success Stories in our Newsletters...but also look at those faces of the ones waiting for a home! They are the reason we artists have joined together to try to help give them a voice.

And it is their voices, raised up through our art hat humbles us, and makes us eager to do more for them.

THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE HELPED... AND TO ALL WHO WILL FIND THEIR WAY TO OUR WORK FOR HOMELESS ANIMALS IN NEED!


The above Image oil painting "Gina... Waiting for a Home" copyrighted to Carol Chretien 2006.

Tell it Like it Is

Brooke, a Border Collie, has come into my life through a contact with True Blue Animal Rescue in central Texas.

I have a soft spot for Border Collies. I was first told Brooke's owners were moving to a new house with an unfenced back yard and they couldn't take Brooke with them. I was told she had a food allergy to protein and had scratched off a few patches of her hair. I agreed to drive to the owner's home to see if I wanted this dog and solicited a friend to go along with me.

Upon arrival at Brooke's house, I found she had been spayed, but she was obviously burdened with more than a few patches of hair loss. I was then told that because of their financial hardships, the owners had neglected her medical care. She was due a rabies vaccination, the last one being given by the dog catcher who picked up Brooke after she escaped her yard in 2004. She had not been tested for heartworms in four or five years nor had she been given any heartworm preventative. The stench of her was almost unbearable.

It was more than I expected, more than was revealed. Still, I could not leave this once beautiful dog behind. She had greeted me cheerfully when I entered the house, stayed by my side, and did not hesitate to leave with me. Brooke, my friend Betty and I rode home with the air conditioner on full blast and all the windows down to blow out Brooke's foul odor.

After seven years, Brooke's owners loved her enough to let her go ... with all her health problems that include sarcoptic mange, flea allergies, hook worms, and those dreaded heartworms. Brooke was treated for hook worms. After weekly paramite dips and being put on a strong antiobiotic, she is recovering from the mange and secondary bacterial infections, but the heartworm treatment is a greater challenge.

PREVENTION IS SO MUCH EASIER AND LESS EXPENSIVE than the cure. Please take care of your pets! If you can't or won't provide effective medical care, then leave pet ownership to someone else who will.

Eagle in Morning's First Light

Eagle in Morning's First Light - Acrylics on Canvas - 2.5" x 3.5"

by Robin J. Andreae

Here's my latest ACEO. It is charity auction with a 20% donation to Cascades Raptor Center. The center is now currently housing two resident Bald Eagles. Both had unfortunate accidents with man made objects, a power line and cell phone tower guy wire. These types of accidents are fairly common occurrences for birds of prey. It's good to know that there are centers such as Cascades Raptor Center there to help.

Every Little Bit Helps

Today I was walking and saw large sunflowers that had been left to seed for the birds. I smiled and thought "there is another one of us who is working to help the animals". It's amazing how all these little things add up to something that can make a difference. Art Helping Animals artists are continually selling art for the animals. One painting at a time, we are making a difference. This week I have two little drawings for charity, both are terriers, both are available on ebay.

Elmo

Included in our recent holiday newsletter, is an article about poor little Elmo. He is a young squirrel who was injured when his nest was felled during a tree trimming. As result of his accident, he is now missing three of his toes on his hind foot. Elmo is now recovering under the care of one of our very own artists who just happens to be a vetrinarian, Andy Mathis. Also, please check the AHA website , as we artists will be particpating in a group auction with our own iterpretations of Elmo.

Wire Fox Terriers and Dog Needs

Wire Fox Terriers are a wonderful breed of dog. Here is my latest painting of a Wire Fox that will be listed on ebay.

The Wire Fox in my painting has a forever home where he is a full family member. His family takes excellent care of him. I wish all dogs were as lucky as he is.

All dogs, have some basic needs. A "need" is something that dogs have to have in order to survive and thrive. Water, food and shelter are basic needs. All dogs need fresh water, food and a place to get out of the sun in the summer and the cold in the winter. After these basic survival needs are met, they need a pack. Dogs are pack animals. They need interaction from their packs. Humans become part of their dog's pack. Many people don't understand how harmful it is to ignore and isolate a dog. Make sure that you and your family take time for your dog. He needs your leadership and your attention so that he knows he is an accepted member of your pack.

Thankfully, there are a number of individuals and animal charities that help the homeless and discarded animals. A special "hats off" to Vernita for helping Brooke!!!! Please see arthelpinganimals.com for more information about the charities who support these needy animals.