Black Dog Democrats

I'm building a new political coalition -- the Black Dog Democrats.

Our first policy initiative: universal health care for humans . . . and universal vet care for pets.

Animals are suffering and dying for lack of affordable vet care. A single well-pet trip to the vet can easily set you back $300, what with the poking, prodding, rabies shots, kennel cough meds, heartworm pills and that noxious stuff for ticks and fleas.

I recently attended the funeral of my old friend Elvis, a cockatiel who died prematurely at the tender age of 14, simply because he couldn't justify the $1,500 vet bill for cancer surgery (with a very iffy prognosis of success). Sadly, he passed away quietly at home and had to settle for a simple, do-it-yourself funeral at the foot of a NYC street tree . . . but the outrageous expense of burials is topic for a future post.

So the Black Dog Dems are organizing!

To date, we've galvanized many members in my immediate neighborhood alone (although it helps that I live in downtown Manhattan, were liberals are plentiful and all the dogs wear black).

Of course -- pets of every species, colors, stripes and spots are welcome to join us.

Stay tuned. I will keep you posted as our cause progresses!

If Dogs Had Wings . . .

. . . we wouldn't need our own airline. But we don't, and we do! Have our own airlines now.

Thanks to Pet Airways, no more fleabag flight accommodations for canines!

1st Dog Reports on 1st 100 Days

News hounds around the world have been howling for an update from the White House. Today, we got the news we've been begging for -- a report from 1st Dog Bo on his 1st 100 days in office.

Bo reports:

"As we head into the second hundred days of my administration, I feel more pride and pleasure than ever at the prospect of serving the American people and finding ways to make this nation, and this planet, a better place for our children and our children’s children. I am speaking metaphorically here, of course, as I am neutered."

Read it all in The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/opinion/17greenman.html?_r=1&th&emc=th