I just want to warn the faint of heart before you click this link. It' is not visually graphic, but there are a lot of graphic situations described. What they are doing to these poor rabbits is horrible. http://www.hfa.org/about/rabbits.pdf

OTTAWA (Sun Media) - As Michelle Jameus laboriously plants one foot in front of the other, she thinks about the thousands of healthy cats and dogs whose lives she is trying to save by running across Canada.

The Ottawa woman has set aside her own comforts -- a warm place to sleep, rest and shelter -- to raise money and awareness about the overpopulation of cats and dogs and the "No Kill" strategy she believes is the best solution.

"I am not going to stop until I know at the end of the day our pets are still alive," vows Jameus, who stopped at the RA Centre yesterday.

Jameus began the longest marathon she has ever undertaken on April 15 in St. John's and is methodically making her way across the country until she reaches Vancouver on or about Oct. 10.

$1.5M GOAL

She has pushed her tent, food and sleeping equipment in a stroller and carries a flag bearing the Let Live Canada logo, a Windsor-based volunteer agency.

Now in the sixth province along her journey, Jameus' flag is turning black and blue from the many signatures she has collected.

She is also updating a blog, nokillcanada.blogspot.com.

Jameus is closing in on the $2,000 fundraising mark -- a long way off from her goal of $1.5 million.

When she reaches the finish line, Jameus will have run 7,358 km. She hopes her fund-raising total will reflect her efforts.

Let Live Canada representative Dorit Girash says the overpopulation of cats and dogs cannot be solved by building more shelters or using the "catch and kill" method.

Girash is an advocate for the "trap-neuter-return" concept, which she says has been proven to work in several U.S. communities by decreasing the population through low birth rates.

The Ottawa Humane Society neuters or spays cats and dogs put up for adoption and provides vouchers for pets that are too young for the procedure at the time of their adoption.

The shelter doesn't euthanize cats or dogs that are healthy and deemed suitable for adoption, says spokeswoman Tara Jackson.

I knew video games were on the rise but...

Finally, something that can't be blamed on the dingoes.

While Canadians are making more room for their beloved pets, Australians are, in huge numbers, turning their backs on their best friends.

And, according to a recent study of Aussie pet ownership, some of the blame may rest with technology -- the emergence of virtual, computer-tended animals.

In 2000, there were about four million dogs owned in Australia. Around the same time here, according to the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, there were an estimated 5.1 million dogs in house.

Today, while Canada has increased its number by more than a million, Australia now has only 2.75 million dogs.

Cats are also on the outs in Australia, while being welcomed here, and in most other Western countries.

The survey found more children are playing computer games -- even those which recreate digital versions of pets. Where the children of the 1950s pressed noses up against the glass of corner pet shops, Australian kids in 2007 are leaning closer to flat-screens to artificially feed Nintendogs or a Catz game series. Programmers even created an entire The Sims 2 expansion pack based on cyber-pets.

But Kersti Seksel of the Australian Veterinary Association believes a 30% reduction in real cats and dogs can be linked to a larger trend. It has, she argues, more to do with shrinking living space, in a country known for its unlimited outback.

"I don't think you could say the pet population decline is due to virtual pets," she wrote in an online interview with Sun Media. "It's more likely to be a result of changing lifestyles -- higher density living, people working longer hours, an aging population and high levels of neutering of owned pets."

But although other nations are experiencing the same pressures, only Australia seems to be taking it out on their critters, she concedes.

While cat ownership in the U.K. is not keeping up with the increase in its human population, in almost every Western nation, Seksel said, there's been a pet boom.

Which is why Australian vets don't find anything cute about being -- by the numbers -- in the dog house.

"Certainly not with amusement," she said of their reaction. "Possibly with some concern. Declining pet populations could potentially impact many Australians."

"Children with pets are reported to be more popular with their peers, have increased levels of empathy and self-esteem," she said. "Recent research suggests that children with pets are less susceptible to allergies. Pets help teach children about life and death and can instill a sense of responsibility."

But for a people who always seem to look for the upside in a Down Under world, things may not turn around any time soon for their cats and dogs.

Unless the often-ignored croc becomes the next must-have pet around the world.

Found this article and thought you guys might find it interesting

SANTIAGO, Chile - Help is on the way for hundreds of household pets left behind in the wake of a volcano eruption in southern Chile, an animal welfare group said Saturday.

The Coalition for Ethical Control of Urban Fauna, which has been critical of the government's attention to stranded animals, said the Emergency Bureau offered to carry food to pets in Chaiten, a town 10 kilometres from the volcano of the same name.

Contacted on Saturday, the bureau had no information.

An estimated 450 dogs and 350 cats were left when the town's residents were evacuated after the initial May 2 eruption, the volcano's first in thousands of years.

"They asked us to bring food for the pets, and police and soldiers would feed the animals," said Alejandra Cassino, a representative of the animal welfare group, at a small demonstration in Santiago.

The group is lobbying for access and enough time to retrieve the animals.

"There are some people among us thinking of a commando operation to reach the town," Cassino said.

Authorities have established an exclusion area of 50 kilometres around the volcano, forcibly evicting holdouts included farmers reluctant to abandon livestock.

The government is removing livestock by the hundreds and offering cash payments to owners for animals that do not survive.

Cassino said rescuing cats and dogs would take at least 48 hours, "because we would have to chase the pets, sedate many of them, separate them, put them in cages."

The group's international co-ordinator, Adriana de La Garza, said soldiers have been feeding the pets occasionally but she had no details.

Found a really cool article talking about famous political leaders and Monarchs, and the pets that kept them company. To check it out just follow the link. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/politicalpets/