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Marta Hepler Drahos

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September 6, 2010

Marta Hepler Drahos: Animals need more love

By Marta Hepler Drahos mdrahos@record-eagle.com

Traverse City — Northern Michigan has come a long way with regard to animal advocacy since I moved here nearly 30 years ago.

But there’s still much more to be done.

A Traverse City woman is helping to bridge the gap with a free online magazine called Pet Friends.

The website — www.petfriendsmagazine.com — was developed to bring together a “pet community” in northern Michigan with the hopes it can educate pet owners about responsible ownership and help find homes for homeless pets. It strongly supports adoption from local shelters and rescue groups.

But the website does much more than that. Updated every month, it’s a one-stop shop for the latest on animals and animal issues, from breaking news to feature profiles to events.  

Publisher Jennifer Isbell said the magazine will be upbeat and focus on how people can make a difference in their community without overlooking the bad stories and conditions.  

And there are plenty of them here in northern Michigan, from animals kept outdoors without shelter to those abused in ways too cruel to contemplate. (Remember the burned dog, the cow shot with a bow and arrow, the dog tossed into a dumpster?)

The magazine primarily serves Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Kalkaska and Crawford counties. But it also reports on stories farther away that are of interest to readers.

This month’s edition focuses on everything from pet-food recalls to pet legislation, including current bills to ban the gassing of homeless pets at Michigan shelters and the sale of the pets to dealers who in turn sell the animals to researchers.

There’s good news: The AuSable Valley animal shelter recently made a formal declaration of its no-kill status. And bad: The cash-strapped Homeward Bound Animal Shelter in Manistee County, also a no-kill facility, may have to close its doors by the end of September.

Recent profiles include Bay Area Pet Hospital, a new 24-hour veterinarian office, and Great Lakes Pet Memorial & Crematory, which recently added a private “farewell room” where pet owners can spend some quiet time alone with their companions.

Each issue comes with helpful tips, like a listing of foods that are dangerous to pets, what to keep in your dog or cat first-aid kits, and ways to engage your dog indoors (especially helpful for the long northern Michigan winters). There are fun reads too, like wacky pet names, how to create your own pet postage stamps and how to make cat toys.

A graphic designer who did work for several country-music artists before moving to Traverse City from Nashville, Isbell has been a pet owner since she was 5. She also has been involved in pet therapy and animal rescue.

If you love animals and want to do more for them, you owe it to yourself to check out her site.  

Reach Staff Writer Marta Hepler Drahos at mdrahos@record-eagle.com.

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