Second Chance Fundraiser

Second Chance

If you love trivia and animals, then hot tail it along to Second Chance Animal Rescue’s 2013 Trivia Night and Charity Auction. On 4 May, the night will help support the work of SCAR and keep them rescuing and rehoming cats and dogs in need of a ‘second chance’. There will be lots of fun to be had on the night from exciting trivia rounds, great live and silent auction items to win, fun games to play and lots more. Second Chance Animal Rescue Inc. is a non-profit, pro-life community-based organisation operated by volunteers and foster carers. It operates as a [...] Read more »

Kitty Litter Alternative

Kitty litter alternative

For people with cats, concerned about kitty litter’s waste, disposal and smell, there’s now a solution that could suit you. The first litter in Australia to be made from natural, biodegradable and environmentally sustainable corn is now on the market. Rufus & Coco’s, Wee Kitty’s clumping corn litter forms scoopable clumps that can be easily discarded – either by flushing it away or adding to compost or garden mulch.  Non-toxic to humans and animals, it is also gentle on paws, ideal for sensitive noses as it is virtually dust free, and it will not swell up or cause blockages if [...] Read more »

Have your say

MrWigglyOnTheBeach150

Animal behaviourist Dr Joanne Righetti has a survey for pet owners about their life with their pets. This survey is for interest only and takes about 10 minutes to complete. Submissions are anonymous. Results may be used by Dr Jo in her work … If you’re interested in participating, click on this link Read more »

Lead on

R&C reflect lead & harness

It’s not often that we recommend products we’ve been sent – it’s not that they aren’t good, but besides book reviews, we don’t often do it. This product, however, we just want to share. Australian designed, this lead by Rufus & Coco is super-functional and good looking, but it also has two very important safety features that we love. Firstly, it’s reflective, so obviously it’s great for night-time safety. Secondly, it has karabiner-type clips on both ends which means that when you need to tie your dog up to pop into a shop or grab that essential morning coffee, you [...] Read more »

The new Adore Animals

cat in flowers

Although we’ve said goodbye to the Foundation, the good news is, we’ve decided to stick around, at least for awhile! Adore Animals, as a group of animal devotees, will keep providing information and education about animals, with the aim of inspiring positive solutions for the benefit of animals and fostering positive relationships between humans and animals. We’ve kept most of the articles and stories that we posted as the Foundation on the site, so there’s always lots of information and resources to refer to. Of course, we’ll also be regularly posting new information. We’ve also started a new category called Review which collates our [...] Read more »

The ethical elephant experience

ele - eyes & mouth

As we’ve discovered in previous articles, there are many and varied experiences that you can have with elephants in Asia. So, how do you find the ethical ones? Let me step back for a minute and explain the history of the Asian elephant, once highly revered and domesticated for work and warfare. Far from the estimated population of hundreds of thousands of elephants centuries ago, according to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, it’s estimated that between only 25,000 and 32,000 Asian elephants are now left in the wild. Since 1986, the Asian elephant has been listed as endangered by [...] Read more »

Elephant entertainment

elephant painting

Joyce Poole has a PhD in elephant behaviour from Cambridge University and is co-founder of Elephant Voices, an organisation aimed at securing a kinder future for elephants through research and the sharing of knowledge. Joyce has studied the social behaviour and communication of elephants for more than 30 years, dedicating herself to their conservation and welfare. At Elephant Voices Joyce writes: ‘As the role of elephants as beasts of burden declined, people sought to put them to other work instead. In recent years the use of elephants in tourism has become an industry in itself. Elephant-backed safaris, elephant polo, elephant [...] Read more »

Elephants on the streets

baby elephant trapped in manhole

Elephants are simply amazing creatures. One cannot help being awed in their presence. They are complex beings – intelligent, gentle and curious. In Asia, there are many places to get close to elephants, some ethical and others less so. Although you might expect it to be easy, sometimes it’s hard to know the difference. This is the first in a series of articles on what to look for if you want an up-close experience with an elephant – this one is dedicated to elephants on the streets. If you see an elephant begging on the streets, please don’t buy food [...] Read more »

Elephant Welfare

baby ele

Earlier this year, we were contacted by two animal activists regarding elephant welfare – after we’d published some stories on elephant sanctuaries in Asia. Adore Animals Foundation Managing Director Lisa Louden had visited one elephant sanctuary in Laos and another in Thailand, and wrote about her experiences there. She went as a full-paying tourist to experience these magnificent animals up-close. Both sanctuaries she visited claimed to be established from rescued elephants. In the majority of cases the elephants were bought from illegal loggers who overworked them or other abusive situations, and provided with a mahout (elephant carer). The money tourists [...] Read more »

Always, the animals

Lisa & baby orang

This article was originally published in Good Gabble in September 2010. We’ve just discovered an eduation program that does exactly what our Mangaging Director was speaking about here in relation to Dancing Bears. We have provided that link in this article … There were early, indicative signs Lisa Louden’s life would involve helping animals – the strays she brought home, the decision of vegetarianism at the age of 13 and the fact that she was always grinning like an idiot when she was around them (she still does). It’s of no surprise then, she founded an animal charity, what is [...] Read more »