My top 5 animals in TV shows I watched as a kid list

1. Max - the bionic dog

Max is the first of 3 German Shepards on this list but was easily the most kick-ass. He was, in my opinion, the true star of the show 'The Bionic Woman'. My plush dog was named 'Max' after him in spite of actually being a Lady (from Lady and the Tramp) stuffed dog. In my eyes that toy was an awesome bionic Alsatian. For those of you who didn't watch the show here are a few facts about Max:

Max had a bionic jaw and bionic legs. He was able to stop the biggest cars and trucks with his mouth. Max was deathly afraid of fire. This fear came about when he was a puppy in a pet store and the store caught on fire. With the help of Jaime, Max overcame his fear. In short, he rocked.

2. Mr Ed

Mr Ed made it to second place for a couple of reasons. Firstly, he was a horse and I didn't want dogs to completely dominate the list. Secondly, he had a great dignity and authority on the show. Whilst many animal characters on TV shows, especially comedies, are cute and/or ridiculous, Ed was easily the smartest character on the show. The humour didn't come from laughing at an animal being a clown (or being forced into Disney-esque cute situations) but from his witty observations and relationship with Wilbur. It was not a series where the laughs came at the expense of animals but more often, in fact, the human characters were the silly ones. Also I remember being really fascinated by learning that MR Ed was fed peanut butter to make him look like he was talking. For some reason, as a child, it thought it was really cool that they fed a horse peanut butter.

3. The Littlest Hobo

Such a nice show. It had the animals heroically rescuing or helping people with their problems element that had been successful in Lassie and Flipper but without the annoying kid characters who feature in every episode of those shows. I had always thought that the dog was part wolf like the character White Fang, but according to the website where I grabbed this picture, he was in fact a German Shepard called London. A reference to the author Jack London? That would lend my White Fang part wolf theory more credence but I suspect not.

4. Scooby do

OK, cartoon characters are kind of cheating but Scooby is so awesome that he could not be on the list. He is cowardly, he says 'Yoicks', he loves food, will do anything for Scooby snacks and can deal with any dangerous situation by dressing up in a ridiculous costume. Yep, he is pretty much my hero.

5. Sniff

Again technically cheating as he was a puppet but Sniff the police dog who used to appear on What Now still deserves his place as the third German Shepard on the list. Alas, no pictures can be found of Sniff but he was very cute. He gave us a reason to watch 'What now' when the D&D and Spiderwoman cartoon were no longer on it. I think he was even around longer than Frank Flash. Sniff and his constable side-kick (what was his name?) are no longer on 'What now' to pass on their wisdom to youngsters so they have to gunge(?)* young NZ celebrity wannabes to get the kids watching.

* Is that the name of it when they cover people in that green gloppy stuff?

10 random things you may not know about my cat

Continuing on an Animal Week theme, today's post shall be about the most lovable of Household Tyrants - my cat, Austen (usually known as Austie).

Random facts
1. Austen was so named because while she was being driven home in the car on the day I got her she chewed and clawed the cover of the book on the car seat 'Pride and Prejudice'.

2. Austen was in fact an impulse purchase from a Pet Store in Petone. I was doing volunteer work at the SPCA and had recently become attached to a gorgeous orphan kitten. He was black and fluffy and I had already named him Koko. I had spent many a morning handfeeding young Koko and was nagging Mum to let me get another cat (we had several at the time). Unfortunately, Koko died the evening before I was finally going to take him home. I was pretty upset but not really looking for a rebound kitten. We were in this Pet Shop buying flea stuff for the dog when this lone kitty started some loud attention seeking meowing. I went over and stroked her through the bars and she purred enthusiastically and licked my fingers. When ever I went to leave she made incredibly loud wailing meows but would stop when I returned to fussing her. Needless to say, when I did finally leave the shop it was carrying a cat carrier complete with cute but stroppy feline. She is the only pet I've had where I feel the decision for the purchase was made by the pet not the 'owner'.*

3. Before having Austie, I wasn't really a fan of Tortiseshell cats. I preferred tabby or black & white cats. However, she has persuaded me to now believe that Torties are in fact the highest state of evolution in the household cat. Afterall they have a enough shades of fur to shed that cat hair will inevitably show up on any colour garment.

4. Austen used to be an efficient and ruthless hunter. She caught most critters: rats, mice, birds etc. She used to bring live mice into the bathroom, let them go in the bath tub and chase them round and round the tub. Few animals survived and the ones I 'rescued' often died of shock or some heinous internal injury I couldn't see.

5. When we lived in Japan, Austen stayed with my parents and I was scared that she wouldn't remember me or like us when we returned. It was a great relief that she obviously knew us and held no grudges when we did return - purring, snuggly cats are the _best_ thing ever when you have gone 14 months without a furry pet or any kind.

6. Matt and Austen bonded very quickly when we first started going out. It think it was safe to say that they liked each other immediately. Although many of Austie's bad habits I blame on Matt's influence. He encouraged her to 'wrestle'. Whilst previously Austen only used her claws and biting to express discontentment at humans or to gain attention, the two of them made a kind of game of it.

7. Austen lost half her tail in mysterious circumstances a few years ago. We still don't really know how it happened but Austen came in one day with her tail completely ripped to the bone to about halfway down. It was pretty gross - just blood and bone for the top 3 or 4 inches. The muscles and everything were missing so the vet had to amputate the top half of her tail. She know has a stubby half tail and it doesn't bother her too much. It was really sad because her tail was very cute and expressive. She used to be able to puff out the fur and stick her tail up to look big. She loved to tickle her tail under under dog's noses as she walked by** but I am just glad that the accident wasn't worse and it hasn't really affected her quality of life.

8. Austen has several different meows I that have come to understand. There is the greeting meow 'Rrwooaw?' - this is the meow she makes when you arrive home from work and walk in the door or if you wake her up by stroking her when she is napping. The 'watch out I'm about to jump' meow is a bit short and more urgent sounding. 'neow'? She makes this when she jumps up on your lap or onto the keyboard of the computer when you're typing. She tends to make it whilst jumping so it doesn't really prepare you in time. The aggressive 'grrrooeeow' is the noise she makes at other cats who dare to sneak about on her property. She doesn't meow for food however.

9. One of Austen's favourite games is making the bed. You can attempt to sneakily do it when she is not around but she always shows up. She loves to pounce around on the bed whilst you are making it. Having sheets dropped on her or pouncing at pillows and duvets as they move is her idea of a great workout. It can make it dangerous for the human folk - I have received several nasty scratches to my hands whilst trying to change the sheets. She also likes to bat dice around although she does this less now she is a more mature cat. When she was a kitten she would often hang around during roleplaying and should a die fall on the ground she would bat it around. D10s were her favourite.

10. Austie's favourite food is Purina One biscuits in the Chicken and Rice flavour. Favourite is a bit misleading because it is the only thing she eats. Other brands of cat biscuits are ignored. She used to also like the ocassional feed of jellymeat (although she would lurk around for it and then only eat a mouthful or two before leaving the rest to go stinky) but now doesn't even want that. She has a self-feeder which makes life easier for both of us I suppose. She does like to get a human to bend down and shake out her biscuits a bit but likes the fact that she can help herself whenever she wants. She doesn't hang about people for other types of food like most of the other cats I've had. Sometimes she might hang around in the kitchen if you're chopping chicken but half the time she won't eat any little offerings you give her. She totally turns her nose up at any human food you offer her.

* Owner seems a misnomer for the relationship I have with Austie. More like sucker who has to pay for food and other necessities.

** Which is one of the possibilities of how she lost the top half of her tail.

World Animal Week

World Animal Week starts tomorrow. This is the first year of my short teaching career that it has fallen in the holidays. This means I don't get to interesting Animal Rights lessons as part of World Animal Week*. I am always fascinated by different attitudes towards animals - particularly those shown in by young teens in a Social Studies class.

Animals are a part of everyone's lives. The majority of people have grown up with some sort of pet and have had a special bond with an animal at some point in their lives. The relationships teenagers have with pets is often really touching. At a time when adolescence can make relationships with your parents strained and friendships with peers change substanially from the simpler friendships of childhood, your pet can often provide a constant and unjudgemental love. Cats and dogs do not care who your friends are, what clothes you wear or if you put on weight. I remember when I was upset or depressed as a teen, it was frequently snuggling the cat that cheered me up. When you get students to write about their pets or animals, they often use really tender language. They talk about their pets as being 'their best friends' and usually with some superlatives like the smartest/most awesome/best animal ever. Even aggressive students or kids who like to appear tough will say they love their cat or dog.

If you show a powerpoint with pictures of bear farms or battery chicken, it gets a louder expression of sympathy than those of landmine victims. If you just went by emotional reactions of sympathy for victims, you would believe that people cared more about animals than people. However, there is still a great deal of cruelty and neglect towards animals in this country. Battry farms continue, SPCA's are swamped with animals that are mistreated or abandoned and there are frequent cases in the media of gross cruelty or neglect of farm or domestic animals.

A WSPA news item drew my attention to the ‘ANIMALS MATTER TO ME‘ petition calling for a United Nations Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare. It is seeking 'to recognise animals as sentient beings, capable of experiencing pain and suffering and to recognise that animal welfare is an issue of importance as part of the social development of nations worldwide'.

To read more go to: http://www.wspa.org.uk/news.asp?newsID=244

To sign the online petition go to: http://www.animalsmatter.org/

And because bears are cute and pictures of bear farms or dancing bears with chains through their nose make me too sad.











Aw, so cute!

* Although I guess I can just do it next week as holidays will be over soon.