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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 1998)
S uesday • March 3, 1998 The Battalion 4"* I WE ■ B WE WE (j| IE LI r C furrrrrfect Pet Planning et-lovers can find fuzzy friends at animal shelter By Leah Templeton Staff writer r hose sad, droopy eyes look up, that little head cocks to one side and pink tongue licks your :e. Now how could a per il actually say no to jopting a pet? Many students probably jve| a pet or two at home, it few have pets here at liool. A pet is an animal eat Will brighten the day if Is going badly or make it en better if it is going aat. The only problem not enough pets are ing adopted. m t Kathy Bice, ^■hrector of the Brazos Animal Shelter, 3et : .id that on any given day the animal shel- w r has 100 to 200 animals just waiting for good home. "Our long range goal is to reduce the pet ipulation; however, 85 percent of the popula- doesn’t think there is a pet overpopulation even: ibn# i oft ladlins, not!| que; 15-3il ) V problem,” Bice said. Bice also said the Brazos Animal Shelter goes through about half a dozen to a dozen pet adoptions a day, and there is a long-term re ward for adopting. “A pet is a friend that gives you un conditional love,” Bice said. “They t will stick with jj| you for a good fifteen years.” Adopting a ^ pet does not mean being limited to only a dog or cat, Bice said. There are a variety of animals waiting to be taken in. “We " don’t just have dogs and cats; we get rabbits, chickens, horses, ducks and even goats. It can get a little crowded. It’s important that people think of us first when getting a pet. A third of our dogs are purebred, and we have a purebred waiting list.” Bice said there are also many benefits to adopting rather than buying a pet. “Adoption costs $65 and that includes spay or neuter, worming, vaccinations and an adoption kit that has coupons to pet train ers and groomers,” Bice said. “The whole package is worth over $150.” To increase adoption, the shelter con ducts mobile exhibits that go everywhere from the mall to campus. Bice said the shel ter is always seeking corporate underwriters to hold the events. XI This Week's Theme: What’s your most embarrassing moment? << It was my first time on stack at Bonfire and 1 was hanging on a rope on the third stack... I lost my footing and everyone laughed.'’ — Joseph Wells Senior agricultural business major Over 1,000 pets that have wandered away from home end up at the shelter. However, if a pet is wearing its Brazos County licensing tag, which is required by law, there is a much better chance the pet will be returned. Bice said that the only way to stop animals from being put to sleep is “to get them spade or neutered, get them tagged and keep them as long as possible.” Hollye Crutcher, a sophomore biomedical science major, had a close call while trying to adopt her cat, Farrah. “I was supposed to get her from a friend of a friend, but come to find out her parents had taken the cat to the pound,” she said. “She had already been there two days and we had to be there by three that afternoon to adopt her or she’d be put to sleep. We made it at 2:50.” Crutcher said she has never been a cat lover, but Farrah has changed her mind, almost. “I’ve come to realize Farrah isn’t just a cat. I don’t know what she is, but I still hate cats,” she said. Crutcher also she believes that pets are good company. “I decided to get a pet because I was living by myself, and cats are easy to take care of,” she said. Shannon Ramsay, a veterinary technician and receptionist at Wellborn Road Veterinary Hospital, said pets can even improve stu dents’ studying techniques. “Students are more likely to stay home with their pets arid study than go out and party and leave the pet alone,” Ramsay said. “When your pet falls asleep on your feet, you just can’t leave them.” Ramsay also said pets adopted from the shelter get their first shots free at the veteri nary office, because the cost is included in the adoption fee. “It is always best to start your pets out healthy,” Ramsay said. The Brazos Animal Shelter handles over 2,000 adoptions every year, but that is nowhere close to the number of animals that are put to sleep or still out wandering around. So whether living alone and looking for a little companionship or just feeling big-hearted, adopt a pet and give them a good home. Titanic approaches top-record sales LOS ANGELES (AP) — Within the next two weeks, Titanic is set to be come the highest-grossing film of all time. With a total domestic gross of $427 million, Titanic is only $34 mil lion behind Star W/ars for the top spot on the all-time charts, not adjusted for inflation. Counting admissions and adjust ing The top 10 movies at North Amer ican theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by studio, gross, number of theater locations, receipts per loca- Go Surfing GBP With Your HTML iru ini PI m MBjri nnr.liar PliOIl® dOOKw Your Area-Wide Phone Book has it all and more. Now you can surf the new Area-Wide internet site and make those last minute travel arrangements in our Travel section or just cruise on over to our Classifieds section and pick out that new dream car you've been wanting. Investing? Get the latest in investment information in our Stock Market page. Or for making those plans for your free time, check out our Entertainment section and get the latest movie information or get ratings on your favorite restaurant. It's all here at AREA-WIDE.com. Your phone book with a byte. ruHKwnrff W'f AREA-WIDE.com Msc GREAT ISSUE* V: presents: (Euli JXftiHremgg Featuring: Ronald N. Loomis Cult Awareness Educator and Consultant Director of Education, American Family Foundation Tuesday, March 3 7:00 PM MSC 212 Ronald N. Loomis is an internationally recognized expert on cults and mind control who has been educating others on the phenomenon for over 20 years. He is a Past President of the American Colleges Unions International, and has over 35 years experience with student activities administration, as well as being recently named the Director of Education of the American Family Foundation. Mr. Loomis has been cited in the New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Congressional Quarterly. He has appeared on the Canadian Broadcasting Company, as well as the Today Show. His expertise was sought out during both the Waco standoff with the Branch Davidians as well as in the aftermath of the Heaven’s Gate suicides. Persons with disabilities call 845-1515 to inform us of your special needs we request notification three (3) working days prior to the event to enable us to assist you to the best of our abilities. Stacfanfs' pats cannot ouruiua tha co/faga (ifastgfa Helen Clancy copy chief H e looks out the window, waiting for headlights to break the darkness. Maybe a cat will walk by, or a neigh bor will take out his or her trash. The phone rings, but isn’t answered. Some unfamiliar voice rambles on the ma chine, and then the caller hangs up. It’s a common existence for many pets owned by col lege students. Prisoners of an apartment, these cats and dogs spend their days lan guishing in boredom. They are not abused, how ever. The owners are often af fectionate and nurturing — when they’re around. But their busy schedules and competing interests force these loyal companions into a life of neglect. Students ignore the gravi ty of pet adoption. Like par ents who have children to enrich the portrait on their Christmas cards, some stu dents own pets for their per sonal enjoyment. Pets are expensive, tem peramental, messy, vulnera ble and time-consuming. Al most like boyfriends. And similar to those fate ful college romances, pet owning doesn’t always stand the test of time. It’s unfair to assume that a pet can survive the transient lifestyle and have its sur roundings uprooted every few months. Many owners also do not realize the implications of college graduation. Job interviews in far away towns and post-graduate liv ing arrangements can com plicate the owner/pet rela tionship. Graduates will have no choice but to Q-drop their companions when a new landlord forbids pets. Many of the animals found in shelters were once pampered by a well-meaning college student. Usually named after a student’s favorite ale, little “Shiner” and furry “Pearl” would have grown into loy al, trustworthy pets. In stead, they were eschewed for corporate internships and allergic roommates. Students should seriously consider the permanence of owning a living creature. Serving as the sole provider and nurturer of a cat or dog requires more than filling a food dish and paying for vaccinations. Pets are playful and gre garious when they aren’t spurned by preoccupied owners. However, one can’t assume that all college stu dents are negligent. A distinct few transcend this stereotype by balancing work, academics and pet owning without a hitch. But for the rest of us mor tals, “Heineken” the iguana is a guilt-free alternative. Helen Clancy is a senior English major. tion, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. and Enter tainment Data: 1. Titanic, Paramount, $19.6 mil lion, 3,035 locations, $6,469 aver age, $427 million, 11 weeks. 2. The Wedding Singer, New Line, $8.7 million, 2,826 locations, $3,086 average, $48.8 million, three weeks. 3. Good Will Hunting, Miramax, $6.6 million, 2,203 locations, $3,013 average, $96.4 million, 13 weeks. 4. Dark City, New Line, $5.6 mil lion, 1,754 locations, $3,180 aver age, $5.6 million, one week. 5. As Good As It Gets, Sony, $4.1 million, 1,831 locations, $2,216 av erage, $112.9 million, 10 weeks. 6. Sphere, Warner Bros., $3.8 mil lion, 2,238 locations, $1,702 aver age, $32.5 million, three weeks. 7. Krippendorf’s Tribe, Disney, $3.3 million, 1,529 locations, $2,169 average, $3.3 million, one week. 8. The Borrowers, Polygram, $2.83 million, 1,606 locations, $1,763 average, $14.7 million, three weeks. 9. Senseless, Miramax, $2.78 mil lion, 1,850 locations, $1,506 aver age, $9.2 million, two weeks. 10. Caught Up, Live, $2.4 million, 713 locations, $3,398 average, $2.4 million, one week.