Closer to home, working without the big budget, small local groups are going about the actual work that the cause is all about, the hands-on, nuts and bolts, nitty-gritty stuff that goes unnoticed by everyone but the people doing it. They don’t take in millions or anything like that, and most just scrape by or get in debt trying to do what they do.

Since Critter Chatter deals primarily with pet and animal issues, the groups we most discuss are animal related, but the message applies to smaller local groups that work in all areas. You don’t have to look far to find a group that is active in a cause you are concerned with that is under-funded and/or understaffed and in some way in need of support. Any help you give these organizations, whether financially or by personal involvement, goes directly to help in the effort being undertaken.

We took a look at the financials of one of the large national animal welfare organizations to see how they were doing. Without mentioning any names let’s just say they are well known with lots of media attention. In the most recent year they took in over $130 million, with more than $100 million in direct donations. They have over $150 million in investments that produce income, and they spent over $26 million that year asking for more money. Granted, fund-raising is important and necessary, but imagine what even a fraction of that $26 million could have done if put to work at the local level.

Here in metro Atlanta and north Georgia there are hundreds of groups, mostly small and under-funded, that work hard to help animals in need. They all can use financial assistance and you can be sure that any donations made to these groups will go 100% toward the welfare of the animals. Most are also in need of physical help and welcome volunteers. If you have a few hours a week or month, or whatever time you can give, there is a rescue group out there that could sure use your help. And that goes for wherever you live in this country.

Here in Georgia, if you do not have a group in mind, a good place to look for one is at the Spot Society listing of rescue organizations . This is the most comprehensive list we know of, and while it is well organized by mission, it is also long.

Giving locally gives you a greater sense of purpose and accomplishment and a chance to see where your time, effort, and money are going and what they are doing than you can ever get by placing a check in an envelope and dropping it in the mail.

As I have said before, we get mail every week from people whose dogs have been afflicted with bloat or twisted stomach. Too many come after the dog has died, but letters like the following make us know the message is getting out there and we have to keep pushing it.
After re-reading the article I realized that it does not stress an important point. Bloating, or abdominal swelling, is not always present. The stomach can twist without the the visible swelling, which makes it more important to know the signs of a dog in distress. If a dog tries to vomit but cannot, salivates, seems to be in discomfort and can’t stay still, and whines or cries in pain, there is a problem. The dog should be seen by a vet right away. It may turn out to be nothing serious, but if the stomach has twisted, waiting may cost the dog its life.
The following e-mail is from someone whose prompt action saved her dog.

If you are someone who likes pets and wildlife and also likes to write we would love to hear from you.

Critter Chatter could use some fresh content from a variety of contributors with their own styles of writing. Our readers are all animal and nature lovers and are interested in articles on topics in this area. If you would like to contribute we want to talk to you.

One note of caution; it would be helpful if you were someone who is willing to work for low pay, which at the moment means no pay. Critter Chatter is a non-profit website, although not by choice. It just seems to have worked out that way.

Since we went from being a print publication to one on internet, our traffic to the site has never been high enough to justify charging for advertising. But we are working to change that situation, and are well on the way. Our traffic has increased steadily every month for the past year and we now have respectable numbers. New material from varied sources and increased promotion should push it higher to the point where we can feel comfortable selling advertising.

If you would like to become involved with Critter Chatter and help it grow, please contact us at
critterchatter@mindspring.com or call Dave at 404-250-4328. If you get voicemail, leave a message and I will get right back to you.

Hope to hear from some of you soon.

Dave Barwick

AM I worth it?

Every day, men and women in the miltary put their lives on the line to keep this country safe. Because of the situation in the Iraq and Afganistan, on most days one or more of those lives are lost. On this day, when we honor those who have given their lives to keep the rest of us safe, each of us needs to ask ourself a simple question; “What have I done to make this country, this world, a better place?”

Many, if not most of us, live our lives in relative comfort, taking for granted the lifestyle, safety and freedom that this country offers us. While not everyone has what it takes to fight this country’s battles, everyone has the ability to contribute in some way. The needs are seemingly endless, and the ways in which to help are just as great, and limited only by the imagination. Whether it involves joining an existing group to tackle a big problem or taking it upon ones self to deal with a smaller one, the efforts add up, and if everyone did a little the results would be great.

Plenty of Americans volunteer on a regular basis to help in ways they consider to be important. The new president is a supporter of public service to the nation and is calling for more volunteerism to help make this country a better place. Many young people are answering the call and looking for ways in which to contribute, and it would be great if we all did.

For over 200 years, members of the military services have gone overseas to fight our country’s enemies and keep the rest of us safe at home. We at home need to ask ouselves whether, with other Americans putting their lives on the line to keep us safe, have we done everything we can to make the country they are defending a better place for them to come home to.

Each of us should think about it and then ask ourselves -

“Am I worth dying for?”

I’m beginning to think that I’m not the kid I used to be. One sure indication of that is the realization that I don’t really like to sleep on the ground any more. Over the years I’ve slept on the ground in more places than most people have been. The year after I got out of the army was spent kicking around Europe in a VW Beetle I bought in Germany, along with a pup tent from the PX and a sleeping bag and air mattress that the army was nice enough to lose track of. I didn’t live in the tent, but I had a limited amount of money, and when it was gone I was going home, so I wanted to make it last. Camping was a good way to do that, especially at the beaches, where you could camp right by the water, and you could meet a lot more people in a campground than you ever could at a hotel. During the two summers I spent experiencing Europe I stayed at beaches on the Mediterranean from Greece to Gibraltar, and all the way to Denmark on the North Sea, staying in campgrounds by the beach for much of the time. I met and made friends with people from all over the continent and many of them invited me to visit and stay with them if I came to their city or town. I took a lot of them up on it. All in all, it was a great year. I got to see Europe in a way I never could as a tourist and got to know a lot of great people along the way, and stayed in touch with many of them for years.

When I came home I still had the travel bug, only now I wanted to see this country. In Europe the most impressive sites are the cities or other man-made structures. In America the most impressive sites are the natural wonders that nature has provided us with, and I wanted to see it all. Europe has the Alps, and they are really something to see. I still remember my first look at them; we were driving down from Munich, and we came around a bend and there was the Zugspitz, the highest peak in Germany. It was December and it was covered in snow; it was quite a sight. I think everyone remembers the first look at the Alps. But we have the Grand Tetons, a smaller version of the Alps, as well as Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon and so many more incredible natural wonders, and I wanted to see them all. And I wanted the photographs to remember them by. Many of those photos adorn my walls today.

Most people see these sites from a scenic overlook set up by the park service and never get more than a few feet from their car. To really experience these places you have to get into the back country to see the out of the way sites most people never see. That was where I wanted to be. To get there you need to put everything you need in a backpack and start walking. It is worth the effort to get to these places that few even know about.

I guess my favorite place to explore is the Grand Canyon. It is so big and varied and rich with the history of time that you cannot help but be awestruck every time you see it. The view changes constantly as you descend from the rim, with each turn of the trail revealing a new and more impressive view of the Canyon that you could never see from the top. All around you the canyon walls reveal hundreds of millions of years of the geological history of the planet.

On a moonless night the canyon walls block any light from the rim. You can lie on the ground in your bag in almost total darkness and look up through the clearest air at a sky filled with more stars than you have ever seen. Light from the sun coming from the far side of the planet reflects off the skin of satellites far out in space, allowing you to watch them as they travel across the sky.

I haven’t slept on the ground in years. I still keep a backpack equipped with everything I need for a short trip, but it hasn’t been used in awhile. These days, after a day of trekking around the mountains with my dog, I like to come back to a room or cabin with a soft bed, a hot shower, A/C in the summer and heat in the winter, and a TV, preferably with cable. But most of all, I’m hungry, and for me nothing tops off a day of enjoying the great outdoors like a pizza, fresh from the oven and delivered to my room. I have eaten a lot of different foods after a day in the woods, and to be honest they all taste good when you are hungry, but nothing tastes as good as a fresh hot pizza.

I’ll use that backpack again. There are still places I haven’t been that I want to see and experience; places where you can get away from the crowd and go where most people never go, where you can enjoy the quiet and solitude and relax and reflect. And when I return I know that the two things I want most will be a cold beer and a hot pizza.

I know, you don’t really. Some people hate them. That’s a little extreme. We really need to save that hate stuff for something important, or not use it at all. It would sure be a lot nicer world to live in if so many people didn’t hate the person or group they disagree with and would just choose to disagree. But ,of course, I’m off topic already.

Back to PETA. I have mixed feelings about them, much like everything else. They mean well and they do a lot of good, but they tend to get carried away at times. And they get hysterical over the strangest things. And they are at it again. Today they are calling the president an animal abuser because - hold on folks, this is a big one - he swatted a fly that was bothering him. No kidding, I saw it on TV, and it was a vicious attack.

In an attempt to limit house fly abuse in the White House, PETA is sending Obama a device he can use to capture the flies and release them outdoors. Really.

Now it doesn’t matter whether you voted for him or not, or whether you think he is doing a good job or not, he is the president of the United States and he better have a lot more important things to do than chase flies around the White House with a net so he can then set them free to bother someone else.

Like I said, ya gotta love ‘em.