Yesterday's broadcast of Fresh Air (on NPR) was dedicated to the gradual shift that's occurred over the last half-century in how we relate to companion animals in the US.  Not terribly cerebral, but an interesting/entertaining listen if you've got the time.  Check it out here.

That said, Fresh Air did actually run a pretty intense, deeply personal interview with a veterinarian a few weeks back.  Gotta give credit where it's due, really.  Give it a listen here .

Some of us here around the office are fans of the independent news program Democracy Now -- arguably the most sane bit of broadcast journalism in the US, at the moment.  Recently, economist David Korten (whose book When Corporations Rule the World comes highly recommended, and predicted our current economic collapse before the term NAFTA had even been coined) made an appearance on the show that we felt compelled to share.  Why?  Well, because much of what he had to say reflected the thinking behind our little operation, here.  Give it a gander:

We're beside ourselves at being able to announce that Grant Gaudry has joined our little Love Boat.  If you live in the southern half of Capitol Hill, you're probably going to run into him sooner or later.  So, we decided put ten questions to him, in order for you to have something to talk about when you finally do make his acquaintance.

Where'd you come from?

I moved to the District 3 years ago for school from the rough and tumble streets of Philadelphia.  I've decided to stay for the dogs!!!

You've been in petcare for a hot minute, right?  What'd you do before?

Before working with animals I tried my hand at cooking (though not a hazard in the kitchen, I certainly don't make for a five star chef), retail (What can i sell you?  Books? Video rentals? Natural foods?) and feeble attempts at trying to sell pieces of art.

Why'd you quit the daycare place?

The idea of a dog daycare facility is way cuter than its application.  The "professionals" that you leave your pet with are hardly paid enough to catch up to the mounds of feces and urine that abound in the hidden back room, let alone keep larger dogs from playing too rough with little dogs or help scared and lonely dogs ease into their stay so they don't bark, howl and fight other animals.  To go along with that, their muzzle use is completely inappropriate.  I have seen dogs muzzled for as little as running around too much or barking too much.  A scared dog will not stop barking because you yell at it or because you force its mouth closed.  Daycare facilities are a cesspool of neglect and mistrust.

What on earth made you want to work at Brighter Days?

Walking dogs makes me smile.  Anarchy makes me smile.  Brighter Days = dogarchy!

You've been to one collective meeting so far.  Thoughts?

Collectives work well when everybody is nice.  So far?  Everyone seems RAD and pretty well organized.

Which of us would you most like to see in a steel-cage death match?

I would rather we find a more environmentally friendly cage to fight in.  Bamboo?  I don't know, maybe we can find a way to make reeds really strong and it can be a giant reed basket match.  But instead of fighting to the death, let's all just stand around in the basket and agree to work out our problems verbally.

How's the Hill treating you thus far?

I've never spent a lot of time on the Hill.  So far it's been pretty great.  Everybody smiles when I walk by with dogs

Any dogs you're particularly smitten with, yet?

All dogs are rad.  I'm smitten with the whole species!

Odds you'll succumb to the call of coffee, on your route?

Most unlikely.

When the revolution comes, where will you hide?

Should there be one day, where the world as a whole bands together to completely overhaul our way of life, I will be out, in the streets, smiling, and yelling.  Maybe singing.

To all of our clients, future clients, and potential clients:

First and foremost, we wish you all the happiest with whatever holiday (if any) that you chose to celebrate. We hope at the very least you are surrounded by friends and/or family (or at the very very least multitudes of darn good food!). 

However, second, we wanted to let you know that it's not to late to use our services to care for your furry loved ones during these holidays. So just give us a call or shoot us an email, and we'll get right back to you to see how we can help!

Thanks from the entire Brighterdays Collective! 

To Whom it May Concern,

We're not dumb.  Your company contacted us today, offering to score us all sorts of web-traffic and yadda yadda.  Much of our business comes by way of the "internets", which we suspect you know (hence the cold-call).  What we suspect you didn't know is that we've got extraordinarily decent, wholesome web-savvy folks working on our behalf.  Here's what they had to say about your offer: