Leaving Pets in unattended vehicles is wrong...

Leaving Your Pet in an unattended vehicles is Wrong...

Hi Everyone!

Last year I wrote a blog on leaving your pets unattended in vehicles. I had seen so many pets in vehicles. Vehicles that were running and vehicles not running. I was hoping by writing about this issue it might bring attention to a problem I see quite often.

Unfortunately, it did not. I'm not sure what I can say to encourage you NOT to leave your pet unattended in a vehicle, but I'm going to attempt AGAIN to get the message across.

Let's be clear-it does not matter whether it's 30 degrees or 90 degrees, it is still extremely dangerous to leave your pets in unattended vehicles. I am going to list some facts on this topic. Please take the time to read and process these.

(1) Leaving an animal unattended in a confined vehicle is illegal in 14 states. Illinois is one of them.

(2) Your first offense will give you a hefty fine and a Class C Misdemeanor. Your second offense will bring you a bigger fine and a Class B Misdemeanor. 

(3) If you leave an animal in a confined vehicle, even with the windows cracked it will only take LESS than 15 minutes for an animal to suffer heatstroke.

(4) When it is as low as 60 degrees outside the temperature on the inside of a vehicle can reach 90 degrees in less than 15 minutes...in the shade! In the sun it can reach 160 degrees in the same time period. Your animal will then be dead.

Those are cold, hard facts. The other "side" of this issue is the simple fact that it is wrong to leave a pet in a confined vehicle. It is heartless and inhumane. No excuse is a valid excuse. I have heard them all...

It's only a minute...The dog wanted to come with me...I needed some company...I cracked the windows...I didn't want to leave him home alone...It's only a LITTLE hot... 

All of those excuses are wrong. Then I see the people who leave their vehicles running with their pets in them!!!!! WOW. Anything could happen. And believe me I have seen it. The pet could accidentally shift the car into another gear....(One scenario I have actually seen!). It is so dangerous for the animal not to mention someone could steal your vehicle!!!!

Reading this will not make a difference unless action is taken by people who see vehicles with animals in them unattended. We all need to step up on this issue. If you see a vehicle with an unattended animal in it-DO SOMETHING. Taking the time to actually find the owner or call the police could make the difference between life and death for an innocent animal. Pets should not have to suffer because of the stupidity of their owners. 

The next time you see an unattended animal in a vehicle think before you walk away... maybe the animal will be alright...but then again you might be the last person the animal sees. What would YOU do?

Thanks for reading! 

As always be healthy, eat well and stay happy!!

What about Kindness?

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Hi Everyone!

I hope everybody is getting to enjoy this great weather we're having. Spring is a wonderful time of year, and it's especially nice this year because our Winter was so mild!!!

I wanted to talk about something today that has been on my mind for a very long time. I usually try to stay away from my "other" life, my professional, "What-I-Do-To-Make-A-Living" life. However, I am seeing a disturbing trend and it relates to not only my blog life, and personal life but my professional life as well. This trend I am speaking of is what I call the "Lack of Kindness" trend. I will give you a bit of information on MY background and how I have seen this happening.

My first job is being a wife and mother. I have been married for 22 years (yes, to the Master Gardener) and I have one daughter (Hana D.). Due to the Master Gardener's choice of industry, we have lived in many different places. Originally from Syracuse(NY) we moved to Orlando(FL), Harrisburg(PA),Portsmouth(NH), Atlanta(GA) and finally Darien(IL). We have pretty much settled in this area, but it has not been without it's challenges. The lack of family being an enormous challenge. More on those challenges later.

My second job is being a Music Teacher. I teach privately (voice/keyboard) out of my home. I teach a Glee Club and Musical Theatre workshop at the Darien Park District and I teach Choir, Voice, Music Mania and soon Music Enrichment to the Eagles Program all for SEASPAR. (And occassionally, I teach a Toddler Tap Dancing class for the Park District.)

My third job is working a few hours a week at Panera Bread on Rte. 83.

I have plenty of contact with a LOT of different kinds of people. And as a whole, I have to say the fantastic, wonderful, thoughtful people I run into on a daily basis outnumber the ones I just shake my head at and wonder how they can behave the way they do. Most of the parents of the kids I work with are great. I cannot say enough about the parents/care-givers/aides that I work with in my SEASPAR classes. I have a 17 year old young man who is an aide for my Music Mania class. Do you know why he is an aide for special needs programs? Because he WANTS to. There are no special needs people in his family. No one else in his family does this. He just WANTS to. And you know what else I found out? Every one of my aides for SEASPAR do it because they WANT to. THAT in my opinion is just amazing.

I have a voice student who takes voice from me and instead of paying me, he helps me with my SEASPAR Choir on Thursdays. I could not ask for better people to help me out than Gio and Laura.

At Panera, I have a set of managers that have been so accommodating, try hard to run the place in a professional, yet interesting manner. And they succeed most of the time.

All this "wonderfulness" and yet I seem to see so much lack of general kindness. I had an issue at one of my workplaces. I had to ask a gentleman handling another group of kids to please follow the rules set forth by the facility. Not only did he talk down to me and try to intimidate me, but he made a passing comment that was rude and very unkind to my students. Was that necessary? Did that make him feel better, knowing he insulted and hurt some very special kids feelings?

This past week alone I have been driving and seen drivers being SO unkind. Let someone in, in front of you? I expect a "courtesy wave". Why can't we give a little wave to people in traffic when someone does you a favor? Does it REALLY take that much effort?

Someone cut me off the other day. SHE was in the wrong and you know what she did? Held her phone with her shoulder, unrolled her window, stuck her arm out and gave me the finger!!! AND SHE HAD CHILDREN IN HER SUV!!!!!

Cashiers being rude to teenagers. Service people, in general, being rude to teenagers. I have seen it so many times it makes my blood boil. As a whole, I find "kids" under 18 some of the most thoughtful, kind and conscientious people in Darien. So, why are some adults so unkind? What kind of example are we setting for our children (and others) by being unkind? I see it in customer service, in traffic. I see it in the comments section of the blogs I read. Your opinion may differ from the person writing the blog, but is it necessary to personally insult and resort to name-calling? There is never a time when being unkind is necessary. Never.

The challenges I have faced since moving here have been tough. With no family, it's hard to be come personally involved with people. I meet a whole lot of people through my teaching. Again, most of them fantastic. But I come from a very small town west of Syracuse (Solvay). We all knew each other. My grandparents owned a farm in the next town over. They were well known there too. Everybody knew everybody. Not everybody liked each other. Not everybody got along. (LOTS of "family" feuds!).

But there was never any lack of kindness.

There is an enormous amount of things to do here. Lots of activities. We are just a hop, skip and a jump from the city. So, it's not the worst place in the world to live. I just wish everybody was just a little bit more kind to each other.

Maybe you disagree with me. Maybe you think I'm "slamming" Darien. Maybe you think I am way off base. Maybe you think Darien really is a "nice place to live". I am not disagreeing, I'm just saying it would be a FANTASTIC place to live if we could take steps to be more kind to each other- strangers, acquaintances, friends and family alike.

Will you be more kind today?

Thanks for reading. As usual, be well, eat healthy and stay happy!!!