I'll drink to this: 5th Annual Wag The Dog Fundraiser hosted by Water 2 Wine

Click here for Early Bird pricing. 

Step aside Grumpy Cat: George the standing cat of Austin making national news

from: nypost.com

This cat is really trying to fit in with the family.

Meet George, a standing cat who is the latest feline to delight the Internet.

The Munchin-Exotic Short Hair was welcomed into the Austin, Texas home of Andrew Park and his family, when he was six weeks old. George began standing on his hind legs “like a meercat” after only a couple of weeks.

“He has really short front legs — I think it’s a genetic mutation linked to the breed,” Park told Cater News. “So maybe it’s easier to stand up than it is to crawl up somewhere.”

Now George perches up when he meets new people or is just hanging around. Andrew and his family, which include his wife Koa, 3-year-old Andyn, 15-year-old Ryhan Patterson and two pugs, Apples and Banana, have no clue how George started the strange habit.

“When we think he really wants to look at something or know what’s going on, we also find him doing it,” said Andrew.

Andrew’s wife Koa, posted a few photos of George to Facebook, and after an overwhelming response, Andrew decided to take him to Reddit.

Many Reddit users have commented that George looks similar to actor Wilford Brimley. Andrew, who’s Reddit username is Egzo, responded back, “Oh man..I really can’t stop laughing, you are like the 4th person in a hour to call him Wilford Brimley. I can’t even look at him now.”

Other Reddit users have compared George to Garfield, while some have noted his cranky expression. But the family insists George is the friendliest cat they’ve ever known.

“When people come around they are just infatuated with him,” Andrew said.

And George’s star is on the rise. The couple recently made an Instagram account for him which has already amassed 6,000 followers.

“He brings us so much and happiness that we thought we should share that with other people.”

CotA track-happy dog finds home

Photograph: ©2015 by Scott Jones / PHOTO.GP – All Rights Reserved

from: Foxsports.com

A 1-year-old dog brought track activities to a halt during practice for the MotoGP Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas on Friday, April 10.

A little over a week later, the track-happy pup, named Moto by his rescuers at Austin Animal Center, has found a new home.

Moto ran out on track during the opening practice session at the Circuit of The Americas, located in Austin, Texas, bringing out a red-flag period while he was captured. Fortunately, despite the wet track conditions, all of the riders were able to avoid Moto.

Now, however, the Shiba Inu mix has been adopted from the center, according to Austin Animal Center’s Facebook page.

Wishing Moto all the best with his new family!

Styles 'walks the walk' for Hounds for Heroes

Mix 94.7's Jay Styles kicked off the Courage Walk Monday, April 13th. His goal: walk 100 miles over 5 days to help fund service dogs for veterans battling PTSD.

Austin Dog Alliance will celebrate today with a Happy Hour at 4:30 as Jay finishes mile 100. at Austin Dog Alliance. If you would like to support the Hounds for Heroes program, you can DONATE HERE.  

Bark and Park? Council clears the way for luxury pet hotel at Austin airport

from: keyetv.com

The Austin City Council approved a zoning change Thursday for more airport parking with an added touch: a pet hotel.  The council approved zoning changes from residential to commercial use at a lot off Cardinal Loop off Highway 71 right by the Austin Bergstrom International Airport. There used to be several homes in the lot, but the airport bought the land as part of a noise mitigation program. The airport said it had a lot of noise because most planes land from that direction.  

However, the area was still zoned as residential until Thursday. 

Now, Scott Airport Parking is planning on building a 2,000 covered space parking lot in what’s currently a grassy, overgrown area. In negotiations for the partnership the airport required Scott to have some sort of airport amenity. So the company chose a pet hotel, something the airport said was unique.  “I think we were mostly just surprised it hadn’t been done already,”Jessy Pascarelli with Taurus Training and Doggy Care said. 

Taurus, which has several locations throughout Austin, will be managing the pet hotel with a capacity of about 150 animals, both dogs and cats. There’s also room for future expansions with more parking and space for more animals.  “So that you can drop your dog off on the way to the airport, they’ll valet your car and then you can pick your dog and your car up at the same time,” Pascarelli said. “When you get home from a trip the first thing you want to do is see your dog so it makes total sense to have a place to keep your dog and your car at the airport.” 

Pascarelli said there will even be an executive option for pets with extra space. That way while you’re travelling first class, your pet can too.  However, a lot of the details are still being ironed out, but Pascarelli said they will do a lot of things similar to what they do at Taurus.  That includes giving dogs a yard to play in and socialize together. There will also be a little bit of training.  As a spokesperson, Pascarelli doesn’t know if she’ll be able to work at the location, but she’s excited to see it built. “It’s just a big grassy lot, I can’t wait until it has a pool in front of it, all these dogs playing it’s going to be so much fun,” Pascarelli said.  

The Pet hotel is set to be built by the summer of 2016. The prices for a stay are set to be about $40 a night and $35 for daycare.

'I just met you and I love you' is real

from latimes.com

When they look into the eyes of their human companions, dogs have perfected that "you are everything to me" gaze that makes the human brain flood with oxytocin, the hormone of love, nurture and parenthood, a new study finds. (Mikako Mikura)

By MELISSA HEALY
contact the reporter

The long, loving gazes; the ritualized, often high-pitched, expressions of affection; the heroic self-sacrifice one would readily endure for the other: What is it about the bond between human and dog that is not like the relationship between parent and child?

Now comes evidence that when our dogs gaze into our eyes with that "you are everything to me" look, our bodies -- and theirs as well -- are flooded with oxytocin, the hormone of love, nurture, mutual trust and, above all, bonding that forms between a parent and child. In a new study, Japanese researchers observed the interactions of 30 dog owners and their canine companions, and found that the more the owners and their dogs gazed into each others' eyes, the more concentrated was the burst of oxytocin both human and canine produced. And, they found the more we humans return a pet's gaze and the greater the resulting surge of oxytocin, the more emphatically we believe that ours is the best dog in the whole wide world (yes, she is ...).

Click here for more.

Austin cat cafe kickstarter campaign funded

from: austin360.com

Hannah Thornby

In January, American-Statesman restaurant critic Matthew 

Odam  wrote about the possibility of a cat cafe coming to Austin.

Since then, Austinite Rebecca Gray, the cat lover behind the idea, drive 

a pedicab during South by Southwest, sold T-shirts on the street and 

started a Kickstarter campaign to raise money.

As of this week, she has reached her Kickstarter’s base financial goals, 

making Austin cat lovers’ dreams that much more real.

Scheduled to open in late 2015, the Blue Cat Café will be a place for rescue 

cats to live, hang out with cafe visitors in need of a “kitty fix” and wait to 

be adopted.

Due to food safety regulations that prohibit food from being prepared in 

the same space as a cat living area, Gray said she is planning to partner 

with multiple food vendors and host food trucks on the Blue Cat 

Café’s patio.

Gray has already reached out to vegan burger truck Arlo’s, currently on 

Red River Street. She will continue to look for more vegan options 

because, according to the Kickstarter, the Blue Cat Café is “all about 

animal care and promotion of their well-being.”

“I hope the Blue Cat Café is something that makes Austin proud 

and that it is everything a cat cafe can be in Austin,” Gray said.

The idea of a cat cafe isn’t a new one; Gray points to Cat Town 

in Oakland, Calif., as being an inspiration.

The Kickstarter has reached its $60,000 goal but
will remain open to donations until Saturday.