The Janice & Barnie Show

It's the Janice & Barnie Show!

...with special friend Abu and his trusty sidekick Felicity

My sister, Janice, has returned to the land of her roots. But before her return, she and her family lived in Staten Island, New York. There they had a dog, Barnie, a Border Collie mix (probably with a bit of beagle in there) and two cats, Abu, a Domestic Medium Haired cat, and Felicity, a Bobtail cat. And in years past, their apartment was also a foster home for many young kittens. Janice explained to me that fostering is an activity that many people are capable of doing if they want to help out their local animal shelters and she encourages anyone who might be able and willing to care for young animals for a limited time period to contact their local shelter and inquire about more specific details regarding that shelter's policies and practices on fostering. In Janice's situation, she usually fostered litters which are either orphaned, or else were still with their mother, but were too young to be adopted away individually. Keeping these tiny baby animals in a household environment helps them to remain healthy, both physically and emotionally, until they reach the age where they can be safely and effectively spayed or neutered. This is usually the time that the animals are put up for adoption -- at around 8 weeks old. When Janice brought home each group of foster kittens, Felicity's mothering tendencies would kick in and she groomed the kitties as if they were her own.

Janice graduated from The Ohio State University in 1992 with a dual degree in Psychology and English Literature, and worked for the ASPCA in Manhattan from 1997 through 1999 as an animal behavior counselor. In October of 1998 she became the Coordinator for Shelter Behavior Programs and worked with two other animal behavior counselors. As a group, they all worked together with Dr. Amy Marder, a veterinarian and behavior expert.

Janice no longer works with the ASPCA and Barnie has since been put down, but the information below describes what she did while she was there. Janice now works with an adoption agency in Pittsburgh, but she still holds deep interest in animal behavior and obedience training.

Janice at the ASPCA

Janice was responsible for evaluating each dog that came into the ASPCA and would determine whether it would be accepted into the shelter. The ASPCA holds dogs and cats until they can be adopted -- unless their behavior and/or health deteriorates to the point where keeping them in a kennel becomes cruel. With that in mind, Janice evaluated the incoming dogs to determine how they would stand up to the rigors of being kept in a kennel day after day. The dogs were then re-evaluated, within a day or two after their acceptance into the shelter, to determine what type of home would be best suited for each particular dog.

Janice also developed and implemented behavior programs for both dogs and cats (to a lesser extent) with behavior problems. Through these programs the ASPCA attempts to modify the animal's behavior, which will make the cat or dog more adoptable.

While working with the ASPCA, she answered various e-mail and telephone "helpline" questions, on topics ranging from simple housebreaking questions to more complex concerns regarding aggressive or fearful behavior. If you have any pet questions of this nature that you would like to address to the ASPCA, you can send e-mail here. (Keep in mind that this mail will no longer go to Janice, since she is no longer working at the Society. If you want to say anything specifically to her, you can sign the Janice & Barnie Show guestbook). In addition, they also provide free counseling to people who have adopted an animal from the ASPCA and discover other behavior problems with their animals. These individuals can see Dr. Marder for appointments in which she explores the animal's behavior in depth. From this evaluation, Dr. Marder is able to implement a program involving behavior and/or environmental modifications, or even drug therapy if necessary.

Janice also taught basic obedience training to the shelter animals and provided classes for the general public in which owners could bring in their pets for the same type of obedience training. A new training area has recently been constructed at the ASPCA building.

In addition to these tasks, she also had a weekly TV spot on NY1, a 24 hour cable news channel in the New York City area. (She tells me that the channel is only available in the five boroughs which make up the city, so those of you outside of New York are out of luck). Her five minute segment would air on Saturday and Sunday and showcases a different "Pet of the Week" each week, in which Janice described the type of family and/or home which would be ideal for that specific animal. During the segment, she also answered an e-mail or letter which posed a specific behavior problem.

Janice and Barnie were also featured on the FOX News Channel. During that segment she discussed a few animal health issues, including methods of determining whether your dog might be too fat and when that might be detrimental to his or her health. She also covered some summertime safety issues for pets. Believe it or not, your animals can get sunburned. At that interview, Barnie graciously demonstrated to everyone the proper use of sunscreen on animals.

Janice was on CBS Up to the Minute (the national early morning news program) and offered tips on introducing new dogs into a home environment which already has an older dog. She also discussed methods of introducing your dog to a new baby in the house. She was also on the NBC Nightly News when they produced a segment on no-kill animal shelters. She demonstrated some of the kennel enrichment efforts designed to keep the animals happy and well balanced during their stay at the ASPCA.

Janice has always loved to write -- dating back to her childhood days. In addition to the responsibilities described above, she was also a regular contributor to Animaland, an ASPCA kids magazine which is published semi-monthly. In the September/October 1998 issue she authored the article "Dog School Cool!" about the socialization and obedience classes that many puppies attend. She has contributed regularly to this magazine, which is a great publication for children with exposure to pets or other animals. If you have young children and pets together in your house, you really should look into this magazine. You can find out more about Animaland by visiting the ASPCA Animaland web site. Janice was also regularly contacted by reporters and writers for various bits of information and/or details on a variety of animal topics. She has done numerous radio, television, and print interviews and was consulted in this way for a recent article featured in Dog Fancy magazine.

If you would like to know more about Janice's work while at the ASPCA and the things that she taught animals, or you want to find out more about what YOU can do with and for your animals, she recommends some of the following web sites:

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
Marin Humane Society: This shelter revolutionized the painful task of tracking down a lost or missing pet through the recent technology of painlessly implanting microchips into pets. Janice worked at the Marin Humane Society a few years ago when she and her husband lived in the San Francisco Bay area.
American Humane Association (AHA)
Humane Society of the US (HSUS)

You might also surf around the web to see if your local shelter has a presence on the Internet.

And, of course, you should support your local shelter any way that you can. Your shelter can always make good use of your donations, but remember that donations aren't always limited to money. Many items that you would otherwise discard, such as old towels or tennis ball toys, would also be helpful if donated to the shelter. Contact your local shelter for more specific needs or suggestions of other items that they might find useful.

Finally, Janice and I both urge you to have your pet spayed or neutered as soon as it is medically safe and recommended by your veterinarian. One unspayed female cat (and her resulting offspring) can produce over 40,000 kittens in the course of a few years. The cruelty that these animals would face is far worse than any perception of cruelty one might have regarding the procedure itself. In fact, spayed and neutered pets tend to have less behavior problems and live longer lives themselves as a result of the procedures.

Thanks for visiting the Janice & Barnie Show and come back again to see what new things are happening with Janice, her family and pets, and her work.

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The Janice & Barnie Show was last modified on Wednesday, January 30, 2008
These modifications included: minor editing.