Protecting the Bond: How RedRover Supports Pets and People in Times of Crisis

Pet owners shouldn’t have to face hardship alone. In this episode of Ask the Vet, Dr. Ann Hohenhaus welcomes Katie Campbell, President and CEO of RedRover, to discuss the resources available for pet owners facing difficult circumstances.

Topics include:

• What RedRover is and how the nonprofit works to strengthen the human-animal bond
• Resources available through RedRover, including disaster relief, financial assistance, and education
• How RedRover supports pet owners who are survivors of domestic violence
• An overview of the Purple Leash Project, including its impact and future
• Guidance for pet owners who may be facing hardship

Also on this month's show:

• Trending animal story about Dippy, the first axolotl ever found in the wild in the UK
• Animal news, including the story of Molly, a beloved dog who was successfully rescued and reunited with her owner after a life-threatening accident in New Zealand
• Pet Health Listener Q&A: Addressing inappropriate urination in a rescued Pomeranian; when to schedule an appointment with a dental specialist; and what limping after a nap may mean for dogs

Do you have a pet health question for Dr. Hohenhaus? Email AskTheVet@amcny.org or click the button below to have your question answered on Ask the Vet.

Transcript

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We want to remind our listeners that this program is for informational and educational purposes only, and not intended substitute for professional veterinary medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The Animal Medical Center does not recommend or endorse any products or services advertised for series XM. Welcome to Ask the Vet with Doctor Ann Hohenhaus. This is the place to talk about your pets and get advice for the top veterinarian from the Animal Medical Center in NYC here from the leading authorities on animals and ask your questions. Now here's your host, Doctor Ann Hohenhaus. Hello everyone, and welcome to Ask the Vet. It's the podcast for people who love their pets and want the latest in pet health and animal news. I'm your host doctor, Ann Hohenhaus. I'm a senior veterinarian and director of pet health information at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center in New York City. And that's where we record this show right here at the Animal Medical Center. And today it's a beautiful day, beautiful spring day in New York City. Today is also extra special because we'll be discussing some of the resources available for animals and pet owners who may be experiencing hardship. I'll be joined by Katie Campbell, president and CEO of Red Rover, a national nonprofit welfare organization dedicated to helping animals out of crisis and strengthening the human animal bond through emergency sheltering, disaster relief services, financial assistance and education programs. I'm really looking forward to our conversation. The Schwarzman Animal Medical Center is the only level one veterinary trauma center in New York City, and we have 115 years of being the very best place for your pet. Keep in mind that if you're seeking advice on maintaining your pet's health, I'm here to help. Just send me your questions to ask the vet at AMC, and and I'll answer your questions on next month. Show if you don't have a pen and pencil ready right now, grab them during the upcoming break and I'll be sure to give that email address another time. And to now it's time for our Trending animal of the month. It's time for the internet's most talked about animals. Our trending animal takes us to South Wales in the United Kingdom, where an axolotl was discovered in the shallow waters below a bridge affectionately named dippy, a reference to the bridge's name, the dipping bridge. The nine inch salamander is now the first axolotl to ever be found in the wild in the United Kingdom. This critically endangered species is typically only found in Lake Sochi Milko in Mexico, but has become a popular pet online. With so many inexperienced pet owners jumping on the trend. Rescue centers and animal shelters have seen a considerable uptake in surrendered axolotls. Since an axolotl is not an everyday creature for most of us, I want to explain what they are. Some listeners may recognize axolotl as a Pokemon character. The primary Pokemon based on the axolotl is Hooper, and its Palladian form a water ground type induced in generation two. Known for its blue skin, external gills, and blank smile, it closely mirrors the neoteny salamander, who's often referred in Japanese as a hooper looper. It evolves into quagmire. I have an axolotl sticker on my phone case from my poky, my unloving great niece and my son when he was little is the one who introduced me to axolotls. Okay, so back to dippy. Dippy, however, is not a Pokemon character and was abandoned under a bridge and left to fend for herself. With her survival in the wild being highly unlikely, she was lucky to be found by a young girl passing by. Although injured, likely by other predators, dippy is now receiving the care she needs at an axolotl. Dragon rescue, a small animal rescue center in England. She suffered wounds to her tail and stomach, but is expected to recover as her appetite returns and her wounds heal. Her new caretaker is hopeful for her future, but this story is an important reminder that no pet should ever be released into the wild. No matter your best intentions, pets are not equipped to survive on their own in unfamiliar environments and may pose a risk to the local environment and vice versa. And now, let's shift our focus a little bit to some of the resources available for pet owners navigating difficult situations. Joining me today is Katie Campbell, and she's served as the president and CEO of Red Rover since 2016. Katie has more than 18 years of experience in the not for profit world, often working closely with domestic violence survivors and other individuals at risk. As a recognized expert in the field, she has delivered many presentations on the link between domestic violence and animal abuse and the importance of sheltering pets in housing programs. As a firm believer in community engagement, her work brings together her biggest passions working with people and supporting the welfare of animals. Katie, welcome to Ask the Vet today and thank you so much for joining me. Well, thank you so much for having me. I feel like this is a really tough act to follow after the story of dippy. I mean, what a wonderful story. I also learned something very new about Pokemon characters. I did not grow up and have not had much experience with Pokemon characters. So yeah, I feel like wonderful story and I learned something new. Well, terrific. I think I might have seen an axolotl only in a zoo, I don't think, you know, in an aquarium environment. I don't think I've ever seen a real one. But their gills really are outside their body. They're very cool. Yeah, I've seen images, and now I'm going to have to go Google it again after we're done. But yeah. What what a wonderful story and what a wonderful way, I think to start our conversation today. So I always like to start my first question, finding out what kind of animals my guest shares their life with. What's in your house? It's it's funny that you asked that about three months ago. We were a family of two dogs, so two husky mixes. And just recently we became a family of four dogs. Oh my gosh, I know, I know. So we welcomed in. They came one at a time, but we welcomed in two siblings we rescued from Texas. They are not husky mixes. We've gone in a completely different direction. They are what we affectionately referred to as Super Mutts. There are 17 different breeds and their their largest breed percentage is. So, you know, we've got a very wonderful, unique household right now. Hopefully they will not make their their awareness known. They will not be joining us today. Well, their awareness is known because if our listeners could see Katie and her background, there are three very nice paintings of huskies right behind her. Very colorful and very handsome huskies. Yes, yes. Thank you, thank you. So I know we have a real list of questions, but I realized in reading that introduction I was like, what is Red Rover like? Why is Red Rover called Red Rover? Because all I can think of is red Rover. Red Rover send Johnny right over. And it was a game that you played at recess during in elementary school. I am thinking that has nothing to do with your organization. It does not. And that is also what I thought of when I heard Red Rover for the first time, and remember playing it as a kid. I don't know that they play it anymore because, you know, looking back is kind of a dangerous game, I think. Oh, it's terrible, right? So Red Rover, we we go back to 1987. That's, that's when we started and we actually started under a different name, United Animal Nations. And then in 2011 we went under a rebranding. And that is when we became Red Rover. The Red really is an ode to our volunteer t shirts. And I know we'll talk more about our volunteer stuff in a little bit, so I'll just say for now, it was an ode to the red t shirts that our volunteers would wear, and to the fact that we kind of rove all over the country and do work across the country. And so they, they came up with with Red Rover. And, you know, it's memorable. And it definitely makes folks kind of pause and ask the question, just as you did know. Well, the other the other thing, Red Rover is just kind of rolls off your tongue nicely. You know, that alliteration is is really good. So I think it's a great name. So talk a little about your background is in cytology and criminal justice. So is this where you thought you were going to be in the animal welfare and human animal bond area, or did you just happen into it? It's a wonderful question. Short answer. No, I could have never seen myself in this space. I am a lifelong animal lover. My mom was the president of our local humane society in North Carolina, so always had animals in my life, loved them from from the very beginning. And I love our veterinarians. I think you all are wonderful people. I love the folks who work in the animal sheltering space and the animal rescue space. It was never for me. You know the I say, I'm not a super fan of blood, and I also just didn't want to bring in all the animals into my home. And so growing up, I never thought that there would be a space for me in this animal well-being field. So then fast forward, I studied sociology and criminal justice, and then I found myself working in human services. So I was working with a lot of families, a lot of families with young children who were at risk of or experiencing things like domestic violence and homelessness. And I never put those two things together. So I never put together the facts that somebody experiencing domestic violence or homelessness may be reluctant to go into shelter or to seek service if they couldn't take their pet with them. And so when I found out about Red Rover ten years ago, it was my amazing light bulb moment where that light bulb went off of just that power of the human animal bond. I knew it personally, but I didn't knew. I didn't know, you know, what effects it would have when we didn't acknowledge that pets are part of the family. And so that really is, I think, what brought me to Red Rover ten years ago, just the excitement of finding this organization that really sits at the intersection of human and animal well-being. And I'm just super excited to still be here ten years later. I think lots of us didn't really understand shelters and people and pets. I remember during one of the big hurricanes in the South. Well, I guess they kind of always occur in the South that that might be not a very clever statement, but one of the big hurricanes in the United States. And people chose to stay in their flooded homes because the shelters would not allow their pets. And that was I can completely see where those people are coming from. I just it was on a very big scale, I think. And that, I think, is what surprised everyone. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So Red Rover has a whole bunch of programs and lots of resources with some of your work in natural disasters like hurricanes, but also in cruelty cases. So can you tell a little tell us a little bit more about those responder programs. Yeah, absolutely. So our Red Rover Responders program is that volunteer based program. So we have a little over 4800 volunteers throughout the US and Canada. And primarily those those volunteers are at the ready to go and respond when those natural disasters hit, or when there's a cruelty situation that comes up in an organization, ask for help to come in and actually just provide that daily care for animals. You know, we're doing the dog walking, we're doing the feeding, we're doing the cleaning up. It's very much those daily care activities that our volunteers are ready to go and step into and help provide the care for those animals. We actually just completed our 300th deployment in December of last year, and we did that in partnership with the Humane World for animals. And, you know, just a wonderful milestone for us to have completed 300 deployments. I think we've already completed three more this year. And so certainly off to to a busy start for the year. But we've been at some of the the biggest natural disasters and cruelty responses. You know, that many of your listeners might know of, including Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, you know, including nine over 11, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Superstorm Sandy, North Carolina wildfires. And so, you know, we've been we've been busy over the years, since 1987. So I was just sitting here thinking, you know, AMC's founder was a very foresighted woman named Ellen, Prince Speyer. And she and her group got their start at the time as the Women's League for animals because they were worried about the conditions for working horses in New York City, which those horses worked hard because if any of you tried to ride a bike in New York City, it always seems to be uphill no matter where you're going. And they were worried that these horses would be well fed and well watered and so provided those resources. So kind of an early version of what what Red Rover is doing today. So I think I don't know that she was she and the Women's League for animals were involved with domestic violence. Although I could see her saying, oh, that would be something really important to support. Red Rover helps these domestic violence survivors find safety with their pets through a program called Safe Escape and Safe Housing Grants, and the people and the Purple Leash products. So I like Purple's My Favorite Color. So can you talk about that particular project and why? Purple? Yeah, absolutely. So we started with our, I believe, our first safe escape grant was back in 2007. We really started, you know, formerly with our Safe Escape and our Safe Housing Grant in 2012. And so essentially, what we're doing through our Safe Escape grants is helping one family at a time. So we help cover the cost of boarding for a pet while domestic violence survivor is in shelter. So again, that that one family at a time model, you know, if anybody has ever boarded a pet recently, you know that it's it can get a little expensive to board a pet, especially for 30, 45, 60 days. So we created the Safe Housing Grants program to give larger sums of money to, at this point, domestic violence shelters, animal shelters, and even homeless shelters to help them create their own pet housing program. And so maybe that is keeping pet parents and pets at the same human services shelter. Or maybe it's housing them somewhere off site, at a boarding facility in foster or at an animal rescue, but really giving them the tools that they need to to, you know, get those resources to those survivors when they need them. So we've been doing that since 2012, and I started in 2016, and I did a lot of my initial work in this space. And, you know, I'll be very honest, it was very hard for me to get human services organizations on board with this, rightfully so, because it's hard work. And so we realized that there's so much more that we could do besides just give grant money. And so our safe escape and safe housing is really grown into providing training, providing one on one coaching and all the tools and the pieces necessary behind the scenes to help organizations create this, this kind of pet housing programing. And it's been super, super successful since 2012. I believe we've provided more than $8.5 million across those two, those two grant programs. And a big part of that success has certainly been the Purple Leash project with Purina. You asked why purple? Purple is the color of domestic violence awareness. And so yeah, so in October, you'll especially hear a lot and you'll see a lot of purple related to Domestic Violence Awareness Month. And so that is part of the reason behind purple. And we started out with this motto of walk, heal together. And so that is where Purple Leash Project came from. And Purina through PLP absolutely gives us the grant funding that were then able, some of the grant funding that we're able to send back out for safe housing grants. But I, I think the real power behind the Purple Leash project is the awareness that is raised. And because Purina is able to get us on the TV, you know, they're able to get us on Spotify and then ads, even on pet food bags, you know, during the month of October with that messaging. And so it raises awareness for survivors, you know, and being a survivor and going into that grocery store and seeing that that bag that says, hey, I see you as a survivor, you know, it's okay to love your pet and to be worried about your pet. And here are some resources. And so it's been wonderful on on the donor awareness side, but also on the survivor awareness side, it's and it's just a wonderful project. We love the Purple Leash project. So it's the motto. What was it? Set? Stay healed together. Walk heel together. Walk heel together. So is heel h e l or h e l. Yeah, you caught on to it h e a l very good. Very I someone was really clever and there was probably, like a lot of meetings to come up with such a clever cover tie. But that's a really, really good motto for that group. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So what what are you going to do now? You've got all these social service organizations who are willing to have pets or willing to help pets if they can't have pets in there, what what comes next then in the Purple Leash project? Yeah. You know, we've made tremendous success, I think, so far. When we started Purple Leash Project in 2019, we had about 10% of US domestic violence shelters that were pet friendly. That number is a little above 20% right now, so we're still full force moving forward. You know, we think that there's still much more that we can do in this space of keeping people experiencing domestic violence and homelessness with their pet. So there's it's not stopping. It is still moving forward. We're still providing the grant funding, still doing all of the training, all of that. In fact, I will be in Minnesota two weeks, I think, to provide a training there. We've got a couple more lined up as well. And so the short answer is nothing's changing. We we are still still full force ahead on this. So nothing's changing. To hit 100% is what I'm hearing. Absolutely. Yeah, 100%. Wouldn't that be amazing? It would be. So what's the big barrier? Yeah. You know, there are a lot of real legitimate barriers, you know, from staff being afraid of animals to other non parent folks in shelter, being afraid of animals, you know, concerns over allergies and fleas and you know, even just animals not getting along with each other. Liability and insurance. We know insurance honestly right now can be a big barrier to folks. So really a lot of a lot of legitimate barriers. And then what we're able to do through the training and coaching program is just give organizations that space, like, okay, give us all the reasons why you think you can't do it, and then let's work with you towards that. Yes. You know, let's get your collaborative partners in place. Let's get your policies and procedures in place. You know, let's actually help you physically design your space. You know, what does flow of traffic at your shelter look like so that we can make sure we're not we're not pet parents, and we're also not traumatizing non pet parents who are in those spaces because, you know, these spaces need to be, you know, not traumatizing anybody when they're coming into them. So lots of lots of legitimate barriers. But I usually feel almost 100% confident that we can we can work through all of them. So how does your background in criminal justice then contribute to your successes in this arena? Yeah, it's a good question. You know, I loved learning about criminal justice and my and my background in it. It's been far too many years now since I did study that. I would actually I attribute much more of my the success in this from my sociology background and very much that idea of we all have our individual experiences that that culminate, you know, in how we live our lives and how we intersect with the different systems that we have, you know, as part of our country. And so, you know, I think that's just a really, really foundational understanding that goes into any of this work. And just like curiosity, I feel like that's one of my favorite things about sociology is just being curious about somebody else's experience. And so that's what we take into, honestly, any of our work at Red Rover is this idea of, let's be curious, you know, let's ask questions. Let's not go into, you know, a community and say, hey, you need to do X, Y, and Z. It's more like, hey, what do you need? How can we help? This is where we're seeing successes. And that is very much coming from my sociology background. Yeah. So then if someone comes to a shelter with their pet. Okay, so now they're in a safe place, but obviously they can't stay there forever. So how do you do you support people to get out of that situation as well? We don't directly what I can say, the support that we can provide in that arena is really through our Safe Housing Grants program. So that's the larger sum of money, up to $60,000 that an organization can apply for. And as part of that budget, they can use some of those funds to help with, like a pet deposit fund. And so then when that family is ready to transition out of the emergency shelter or the transitional shelter, there is a possibility that the organization can use some of that funding for the pet deposit fund, because we know that that's an important part of finding that long term housing, especially if we're thinking about, you know, affordable rental housing. So we don't help directly. But there is kind of that work around VRC housing grants that, you know, that having a pet, there's there's a cost that you think about. It needs food, it needs collar, leash, toys, a bed. Although I don't know, most pets seem to sleep in their owners bed. But but there are those things that the pet needs and but I think what people don't realize is there are some hidden costs of having a pet, and the housing deposit would be one. You know that if you're bringing a pet, you have to pay more money in the deposit. And then the other the other things is that oftentimes the rent will be higher on a monthly basis for a pet. And there are just other little things like that. I mean, if you have insurance, there might be a greater cost of insurance because of a pet. So for a family that is having a crisis situation, I think all of those things matter. And and so that's that is something that's so important to support so that the pets can stay with their family and not need to be rehomed. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And you know, I am no expert in terms of, you know, pet inclusive housing and pet inclusive, you know, affordable rental housing. But it is very much an important subject right now. I was actually just in DC earlier this week for the Human Animal Bond Research Institutes Spring Policy Forum. They'll be releasing a paper on it soon, but it was all about pet inclusive housing and what's happening at the policy level. And so I would encourage folks, you know, find out what is happening at your local and state levels around, you know, pet inclusive housing. You know, there's there's a lot of moves to sort of limit those pet deposit funds. There's, you know, movement to, you know, sort of limit how much that pet fee or that pet rental fee can be because, you know, some folks are it's just getting really unaffordable. You know, the the cost of that is really rising. And so I would just encourage all of your listeners, stay tuned on that front and just be in the know about what is happening at the legislative, the policy level around pet inclusive housing. Interesting for for listeners out there. Some of you might know, the research group that Katie talked about is h a b r I. And and so I think if I was going to search it on a Google toolbar, I would type in a I rather than its whole name, which is really long for me to type. But there are very good organization. So what what do you say to survivors who may benefit from Red Rovers domestic violence assistance services, particularly the Safe Escape Grants? But then they find themselves reluctant to admit there's an issue and and get them out out of that situation. Yeah. So you know for survivors, we we certainly say, you know, if you are going to and shelter if you're going to a domestic violence organization that doesn't have a pet housing program, please know that the Safe Escape Grant program exists. And so folks can learn about that by going to Red Rover or. The advocate at that organization actually submits the application for the survivor. We don't talk directly to survivors out of confidentiality and safety. And so there there is absolutely that resource for folks. There's also a couple of wonderful resources for survivors to know what programs might be in their area. One of them is domestic shelters. It's a directory of domestic violence organizations in the US and Canada. And folks can actually filter for housing programs in there, I believe, at city, state, zip code or province. And so plug in that information. You're going to get a list of domestic violence organizations in that area. And then you can filter for pet housing programs. The other great resource is the Animal Welfare Institute's Safe Havens for pets program. And I believe you just go to Safe Havens for pets or and that's going to be a directory of pet housing programs. And so that could be on site where pets and people stay together. Or it could be some of those off site like the boarding, the the rescue or the foster type programs as well. And they're actually going to be able to find resources for domestic violence and homelessness. And so those are two of the the really great resources that we usually point folks to in terms of like, hey, how can I find out what resources are available in my area? And then if survivors again find themselves going to a shelter or organization that does not have a pet housing program, look into that safe escape grant program at Red Rover. So I want to be sure that the very first website you gave it, I was trying to figure out, is it BB or VD or so the last two letters in that are D is in dog and V is in Victor, right. Yep yep. Or domestic violence. So it's Red Rover. Short for domestic violence okay. Because those those are two letters that just don't always come through correctly on the radio. So that thank you for clarifying that. So if we have a listener out there who thinks they might need assistance, where do they apply. Yeah. Yeah. And so that's that's that website again Red Rover. That'll be the best place for them to learn about the boarding grant. And again just remember your advocate can can fill that out for you. You know I think one of the greatest pieces of advice that I would give to a survivor when they're going to a domestic violence organization or even to, you know, a homeless shelter, ask what supportive services they might have for pets. You know, they may not get asked if they have pets as part of their family. And so don't be shy about asking what resources are are available for your pet family members. They may have some programing for you. They may not until that's where I think those other two directories come into play. The domestic shelters and the Safe Havens for pets project. And the other piece of advice I would I would share with folks is, you know, a lot of times local animal shelters or animal rescues aren't able to help if it's not on their website. Right? So it may not be something that they advertise, but it's always worth giving them a call and saying, hey, this is my situation. I don't want to give up my pet, you know? Do you have any resources available for me? So those are kind of the three biggest pieces of information that I give to folks. I can't believe that even if your advocate doesn't ask you about do you have pets and do we need to worry about them? I also can't believe that you will be the first person who will ask an advocate about pets. So many Americans have pets, so I think that that is not going to be a surprising question to them. Even if they don't, you know, they don't have a place where you and your pet can go. Someone has asked them that question before. So we just have, don't know, maybe 45 seconds left. What have I not asked you about that you think our listeners should know about your organization? Oh, and one other thing is, in case they want to donate, how could they support your work? Yeah, yeah. Two, two wonderful pieces there. One, I would say come volunteer with us. We have so many different opportunities to volunteer with us, from the natural disasters to the cruelty to our community programs, work, which I know we didn't talk a whole lot about today, but we invite you to to come volunteer with us. If you're interested in volunteering, go to Red Rover. You'll see the online training there. It's free is go at your own pace. Takes about four hours. So definitely call out. Please come and volunteer with us. And then absolutely. You know, we couldn't do this work without the generous support of of our donors. And so all the information on how to donate, it's going to be on the website Red Rover. And, you know, really we invite you to create impact with us. You know, send in that donation, reach out to us, you know, ask us questions about it. You know, ask what are my dollars doing? And we're happy to share that that piece with you. Storytelling is such an important part of our work, because we want you to know what impact you're creating as a donor. Well, that's a really great ending to a wonderful conversation. I've been talking with Katie Campbell from Red Rover, and I want to thank her for joining me today at and for all the life changing and life saving work that she and her team do at Red Rover. Thank you so much. I know that keeping your pet healthy is very important to you. And with that said, I hope you'll reach out to me. If you have questions about your pets health, I'll respond to your questions on next month's activate podcast. Just give me a shout out at Ask the Vet at amcny.org. Now we have a short break coming up, but please stay tuned because there are lots of interesting animal stories when we return. We're back with Ann Hohenhaus on Ask the Vet. Hello everyone and welcome back to Ask the Vet. It's time for the animal news. It's time for animal headlines, the biggest animal news from across the world. In a surprisingly calm turn of events, a naked mole rat colony at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego has undergone a regime change. Naked mole rats native to East Africa live underground in colonies of about 70 individuals, in which a healthy individual can live up to about 30 years. They have a youth social structure in which only one female mole rat, the queen, reproduces while the rest of the population spends their lives working for the colony. Given their typical lifespan, a queen may reign for many years. However, it's not uncommon for there to be advances for the throne, with many naked mole rats willing to fight to the death over their allegiances. Such is the case in another colony at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., where caretakers compare the dynamics to those of a civil war. Knowing this made the situation in San Diego all the more shocking when the Queen terror not only stepped down, but continued to support and protect the new Queen. Arwen, who is one of her daughters, now dubbed the Queen grandmother. Tara, who's even seven years old, appears to have a long retirement ahead of her. Our understanding of this species is constantly changing, as decades of observation have shown us that there's never a one size fits all approach to animal behavior. Now we're going down under because our next story takes us to New Zealand, where a hiker fell down a 180ft waterfall. Jessica was hiking alongside her dog Molly when the incident occurred. Rescuers were able to reach Jessica but couldn't find Molly. Ultimately, they had to leave without the dog in order to save the woman's life. After hearing this tragic news, Matt Newton, the owner operator of Precision Helicopters, if New Zealand immediately sprang into action, determined to find Molly and reunite her with her owner. The first few attempts of finding Molly proved unsuccessful, but his determination never wavered. His family launched a fundraiser to cover more gear and flying time, and the donations poured in enough to cover three hours in the air and thermal imaging equipment to identify where Molly was. This final attempt proved successful, and Molly was found in surprisingly good shape near the location where Jessica had been rescued. It's uncertain if Molly fell alongside Jessica, or if Molly weighed her way down the terrain to wait at the spot where her owner had landed. Whatever the case, we hope that this newly renovated duo's future is full of many more adventures, but none so serious as this one. And our final story comes from the United Kingdom, about a farmer who is going to breed uglier cows. Alex Burch, from Derbyshire, England, has had enough of visitors and tourists alike visiting the fields to force interactions with his cows. He has Highland cattle, which are widely known for their adorable shaggy appearance and now almost have a cult following online. People have taken to the fields in hope of capturing content, or probably worse, interacting with the cows, often without considering the animal's wishes, well-being or comfort. And I would say also not considering their own safety because cows are really big. The other issue is that the owner risks legal action of any of the cows were to injure a visitor, no matter how reasonable the animal's reaction may be. Given the situation with a lack for better options. Alex's decided to cross his shaggy cows with less photogenic breeds, hoping to dissuade any potential visitors from visiting his cows. This story is a good reminder of the importance of respecting an animal space, no matter how cute or friendly the animal may appear. And now it's time for questions from our listeners. Our first question comes from Maggie K. Maggie's question is I rescued a five year old female Pomeranian in January before I adopted her. She was a breeder dog. She's wonderful in every way and has mostly adjusted to peeing outside on walks. If she goes indoors, it's usually on the one we we pad, however, about once or twice a week. She urinates on the carpet in the same area. As I remove one rug. She moves on to the next one. So now I've wrote them all up, leaving only the pad. I keep her on a consistent schedule and walk her around 7 a.m., but she often peeves before I wake up. How can I help her reliably use only the pad or go outside? I'd really like to bring my rugs back. So I think the first thing that Maggie needs to do is check with her veterinarian, who will probably want to look at a urine sample and make sure that there's not an illness that is keeping the dog, or actually causing the dog to urinate in an appropriate place. There could also be some sort of illness that's keeping the dog from making it through the night and having an accident, so I think that would be step one. Step two assuming that the dog is healthy, walk her. And when you come up from that lost walk in the evening, take up the water bowl that often will keep a dog from drinking overnight and then they won't have the urge to go. Although certainly there are some medical conditions that we wouldn't want to do that, which is why the first step is see your veterinarian to make sure that your dog is healthy. Then think about other things. Is she too far from the we we pad when she needs to go and she can't make it there? Does any person or other animal in the household block her access? So she tries to go, but they're in her way, and she's a little intimidated because she was a breeding dog. She might not be very good at interacting with other animals or I mean, she's little, so is she on the bed and she can't quite get off the bed fast enough to make it all the way to the pad before she goes on the rug? So think about those kinds of things. And then another thing to consider would be to create train her. Most dogs will not urinate where they sleep, and so if she sleeps in a crate overnight, that may keep her from having these accidents. And then finally, if none of these things work, I would hunt for a board certified veterinary behaviorist who is a veterinarian with expert training in managing behavior problems of dogs and inappropriate urination is a very common thing that those kind of veterinarians deal with. So best of luck to you, Maggie with your cute I am sure she is absolutely adorable five year old Pomeranian. Our next question comes from Miriam. You. She asks my nine year old shepherd mix is experiencing oral issues to start, her protein levels are high, but what is concerning are the following symptoms excessive drooling, abnormal chewing and the tip of her tongue looks very red. If you can, please give me an idea of what she may be experiencing. And if seeing a dental specialist is the right way to go. So Miriam doesn't tell us if the protein issue is too much protein in the blood or too much protein in the urine, both can be problems, but I certainly can think of some conditions of the mouth where either one of those high protein levels could be associated with inflammation that's ongoing in the mouth. So I think that her idea of starting with seeing a dental specialist is a really good idea. And if the mouth is really, really red in addition to the tongue, maybe that dental specialist will recommend a biopsy to identify the cause of the oral abnormalities that she's seeing. And then the last thing is that if the dental specialist recommends dental X-rays, AMC dentist would say that's a really good thing to do, because maybe some of this weird chewing and drooling is because she's got a painful tooth or a tooth with a root abscess, and those can be detected on dental X-rays. So I think dentist is a really good idea for the nine year old shepherd mix. Good luck to you. And if you're close to AMC, we have wonderful dentists. Our last question comes from Richard S, and Richard wants to know. I sometimes see dogs limp for a short while after waking up from a nap, but they go back to walking normally later. Is this normal or could they have some type of injury? So I think this is more likely to be a trick kneecap, which is in veterinary terms called allocating patella. It's a kneecap that pops in and out of place, a very common for a dog to get up, and that patella is not where it belongs. And then the dog takes a couple of steps in a pops back in, and now they're not lame anymore. So I think a saving patella would be a really common thing that would cause what Richard is observing. And then, of course, because he's noticing it when the dog wakes up. Maybe the dog did what I did the other night, and that was I slept funny. And then my leg is tingly or just needs a minute to get adjusted into a new position. So I suspect that the dog may have a problem, but I bet it's it's kneecap rather than an injury. And we're going to take a short break now, and when we come back, we'll have important information from AMC's used an institute for animal health education. We're back with Ann Hohenhaus on Ask the Vet. Welcome back to the third segment of today's Ask the Vet podcast. Warmer weather means more time outdoors and a higher risk of encountering yuck ticks. Your dog's fur is Paradise for these parasites, which may carry dangerous diseases that also infect humans. Your veterinarian can recommend a preventative product to use year round as a first line of defense against ticks and tick borne diseases, but it's still important to check your dog and yourself for ticks. If your dog has a tick, you may feel a lump that's as small as a pinhead or as large as a pea, depending on how long it's been feeding on your dog. To safely remove a tick from your dog, get a fine tip, tweezers, and grab the tick as close to their dog skin as you can. Get it without pinching the skin, and then pull the tick straight upwards with the tweezers in an even steady motion in order to extract it from your dog skin. Don't twist the tweezers or squeeze the tick, because then it'll break into pieces and it'll really be gross. The other thing that you can do is there are tick pulling devices. They're just like a little plastic, kind of looks like a comb, except that has like a slit in it. And I think those work really, really well. And so if you and your dog are big hikers, you could just throw it in the backpack. And when you're taking a break, use that to pull off any offensive ticks. After you pull the tick off your dog, then you could put it in rubbing alcohol and seal it in a bag or some other container. Then take a photo of both sides of the tick. Because sometimes we need to see the underside and the top side of the tick in order to tell you what kind of tick it is, and then be sure and clean your dog skin with soap and water so that you're keeping that from getting an infection. And as usual, we've got a wonderful talk coming up from AMC's Use Dan Institute. This is one, I think, of our most popular speakers. It's doctor La'Toya Latney, and she's one of our exotic pet specialists. So on Thursday, May 21st, at 6 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, she's going to give a webinar entitled Reptiles as Pets What to Know Before and After You Bring One Home. The webinar is for anyone who has a reptile or is thinking about getting a reptile, and it will cover how to choose the right species for your family, what aspects of reptiles new owners aren't always prepared for, and the basics of reptile care. And these basics include how to set up a good habitat, what kind of light your reptile needs because you may not know it, but your reptile needs a very special light. What nutritional needs these creatures have things to do to give them an enriched environment. And when your reptiles should go to the veterinarian. This is, as usual, a free and online event hosted on zoom. And so you need to register because if you don't know you want to go, then we can't send you the link so you can attend. And that registration is at www.amcy.org/. Events. I want to take a minute to really thank Katie Campbell for joining me today to discuss all the important resources available at her Red Rover organization. Don't forget, if you want to know more about your pet's health or have a question that I can answer, just email me at Ask the Vet at amcny.org and I'll answer your question on next month's Ask the Vet program. The asset Podcast is available on the serious XM app across all major platforms and also on AMC's website. And all of this is thanks to AMC's longstanding partnership with Sirius XM. Joe and Forget to follow AMC on social media. On Facebook, it's the Animal Medical Center and on X, formerly known as Twitter and Instagram, it's at amcny. It'd be really great if you would take a moment to like and subscribe to the podcast so that you never miss an episode, and while you're there, maybe even give us a review, or suggest a guest or something you'd like to have on the show. And looking forward to all of you joining me again next month, when I'll be joined by my colleague, Doctor Carly Fox, senior veterinarian in AMC's Emergency and Critical Care Service. And we're going to discuss summer safety and other concerns that come with this lovely spring season that we're having and will include travel, heat and humidity, parasites, beach and outdoor hazards, and how to keep your pets safe during warm weather activities. Thanks so much for listening, everyone, and have a wonderful month and we'll see you in June.