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June Joys

June Joys
by
June 10, 2024
in Humane Education Column
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By: Judy Hamontre, AVHS Vice-chair

Our pets are joys any time of year, but that feeling seems even stronger in June, as summer in the mountains settles in. Smiling humans are out walking and biking with their tail-wagging dogs, dog parks are alive with canine energy, cats are intently watching birds, pondering how to get to one, and neighborhood cats are contentedly watching and roaming.

“June is bustin’ out all over” with happy pets and pet owners celebrating life to its fullest.

Perhaps that is one reason there are so many pet holidays in June. (Actually there are a lot every month.)

June 2-8 is Pet Appreciation Week, not to be confused with National Pet Week which was May 5-11. PAW was created by the American Veterinary Medical Association in 1981 to raise awareness about overall pet care, fostering and adoption.

AVMA hopes to remind pet owners how our pets enrich our lives with never-ending unconditional love and laughable silliness, and therefore deserve our care, attention and love, saying, “These devoted pets depend on their people, as we are their world.”

Almost everyday day in June is a special pet celebration of some type: Hug Your Cat Day (which many cats actually hate) and International or National Day for shelties, corgis, greyhounds, dachshunds, and Peruvian hairless dogs.

There is also Missing Mutts Awareness Day, National Pets in Film Day, Ugliest Dog Day, National Dog Party Day, and Cat World Domination Day (my friend’s cat loves this day as she rules her home).

Special on the list are Veterinary Appreciation Day, June 18 and World Pet Memorial Day, June 11.

Our veterinarians deserve our appreciation, as we pet owners rely on them for our furry friends’ good health and well-being.

World Pet Memorial Day offers a time for pet owners to remember their furry companions who have passed away but remain in our hearts and for friends to do something special for those who have recently lost a beloved pet.

The list goes on with special holidays and awareness days, weeks and months, including Take Your Pet To Work Week, June 17-21.

Take Your Dog To Work Day was created by Pet Sitters International (PSI) in 1999 and has now expanded to a whole week and includes cats.

This year, the week begins with Take Your Cat to Work Day on June 17 and ends with Take Your Dog to Work Day on June 21. According to PSI, both events have grown to an amazing high number of participants, receiving attention from newspapers, magazines and tv shows.

PSI’s hope is for non-pet owners to witness first-hand the special bond their co-workers have with their pets and be encouraged to adopt a new best friend of their own.

Pets in the workplace for a day can be a fun and heartwarming experience but has to be handled responsibly by employers and employees and most of all, be an experience the pets desire. Then it can be added to the list of June Joys for humans and their furry friends.

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