This week’s Mystery Photo
Where is this?
Can you tell us where this is located? Drop us a line at mail@sjindy.com.
Anne Moore writes: 105 S Swegles. It is the home I grew up in.
Anne Moore is the daughter of Jim and Betty Moore, long time residents of St. Johns. She now lives in Denver, CO.
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Robbie Moore writes: This would be 105 S. Swegles. I believe I grew up there with the Romigs, then Werbishes, as our south neighbors and the Spencers, then Andersons to our north. A truly great neighborhood.
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Maralyn Fink writes: This is the home of Frank Jilka, our Band Director in the 1950’s. Jean and I spent many hours steaming wallpaper off the walls, babysitting and just plain having fun. Another blast from the past!
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Suzie Jilka Albin writes: That house looks vaguely familiar. Is it 105 S. Swegles St.?
Suzie also posted some memories of the house on Facebook.
The house in March, 1960.
And again a year later.
A Look Back – Award Ceremony
by Barry Bauer
From left to right: William Patton, manager of the Capitol Savings and Loan Association branch in St. Johns, unidentified, Betty Minsky, local newspaper writer, and unidentified.
It’s unclear from this photo what the award was or who it was awarded to. This took place in 1968.
Benny and Jessie’s Pet Info – Catching Your Dog’s Noise and Storm Phobia Early
I have noticed lately that my dog stops and stares at certain loud sounds such as motorcycles. I know him well enough to know that if he is alerting to something, he is worried about it. His tail wags almost all of the time so when his tail stops wagging, I pay attention.
For dogs with severe Noise and Storm Phobia, treatment can involve multiple medications, lots of behavior modification, and environmental changes. Could fear of the sound of a motorcycle in an 8-month-old dog eventually morph into Storm Phobia? Sure it could.
Dogs who are storm phobic often are sensitive to noises. There are various levels of reactivity to storms.
Storm Phobia usually starts as a simple noise phobia. Then the dog associates the lightning, rain, darkening of the sky, and even the changes in the barometric pressure with the sound of thunder. This leads the dog to consequently become frightened of those things as well. This generally takes years to happen.
That is why dogs are most often presented for Storm Phobia in middle age. It just takes time for the disorder to progress to the point where owners are worried about it. Trembling and alert dogs are ignored, but dogs who hurt themselves jumping out of a second story window during a storm get help.
When dogs with noise sensitivity and noise fear are caught early and treated, often the disorder can be arrested in that early stage, never progressing to Storm Fear.
I suggest using classical counter conditioning to treat mild anxiety. This method is easy to execute. Whenever the dog reacts to any sound with anything less than an “I don’t care” attitude, I get very excited and hand him a treat. I repeat this process every 1-2 seconds until the dog no longer looks at the thing that is making the sound. Already, after doing this for a very short time, I can see that his emotional state will starting to change. When he hears a motorcycle, he looks for just a second and then looks back at me like, “Where is my cheese?”
The second way that I would treat this problem is to react differently during a storm. When there are storms, we turn the music up very loud and we immediately give our dog a food toy so that he will associate storms with good things. We usher him into the room where we have the music turned up so that he learns to be independent from us during this time.
Finally, we would protect him from situations in which there is no problem now, but which could be a problem later. For example, when we recently went out for fireworks, we left the dog in his crate, which he loves. We turned the music up very loudly and gave him a couple of toys stuffed with canned food. Even though he hadn’t had a reaction to fireworks yet, I wanted to make sure that he didn’t start.
Take a close look at your puppy. Are there times when he is stressed, even just a little? Now, in puppyhood, is the time to act; not when he has chewed through your walls on the 4th of July.
Maralyn’s Did You Know? –
Letters – National Child Abuse Prevention Month
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. We invite you to join CASA-The Voice for Clinton County’s Children in our commitment to help make sure all Clinton County children have a safe, permanent home.
Our CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) Volunteers make sure Clinton County children who are involved in court proceedings due to abuse or neglect are heard and assist to ensure their needs are met. CASA Advocates stay with their appointed children until their court case is closed and the children are in a safe, permanent home.
During National Child Abuse Prevention Month, we invite you to learn more CASA Advocacy in Clinton County by visiting our website ClintonCountyCASA.org or contacting our office 517-599-7145.
If you believe a child is being abused or neglected report your suspicions confidentially to Michigan’s Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 855-444-3911. Together we will advocate for children to have safe, permanent homes.
Sincerely,
Kelly L. Schafer, CASA Executive Director
Maralyn’s Pet Corner – OMG, That Reptile’s Got Salmonella!
Much has been made of the ability of our animal species to spread Salmonella willy nilly. As veterinarians, we’re trained to tell you, our pet-owning clients, lots about how your pets might potentially give you the crud. But how careful do you really need to be?
It’s undeniably true:;reptiles can carry about 200 different types of Salmonella, all of which can give you salmonellosis.
Here’s an excerpt from this month’s NAVC Clinician’s Brief on the subject:
Approximately 40,000 confirmed cases of human salmonellosis are reported annually in the U.S. and result in nearly 400 deaths. Pet reptiles are a known source of Salmonella species exposure to humans. Salmonella detection and elimination in reptiles, however, does not seem to be a viable solution for preventing salmonellosis in humans because identifying Salmonella species from infected reptiles is not precise … numerous efforts have been made to prevent Salmonella shedding in reptiles without success. Even when the best efforts are employed to eliminate Salmonella from [infected] reptiles, there remains a constant risk for environmental exposure.
Yes, while reptiles often carry Salmonella around in their guts, knowing whether they’re liable to infect you with it or not isn’t exactly easy. So you can’t know whether that turtle you bought at the pet store has it or not before taking it home to your kids. And if it does, there’s no way to be 100 percent safe from its ability to shed the bacteria in its feces.
That’s because Salmonella bacteria have a way of hiding so that they’re not always identifiable when you test any given animal.
But there is a silver lining, again thanks to the Clinician’s Brief:
The good news is that simply touching or holding a reptile will not result in spread of Salmonella. Exposure occurs when something that has become contaminated with fecal material while handling the reptile (eg, hands, fingers, food items) is placed in the mouth or ingested.
Which is why we veterinarians offer our clients these basic guidelines to prevent exposure:
– Washing hands after handling reptiles
– Not allowing reptiles to roam free in such areas as the kitchen and bathroom
– Not cleaning reptile equipment in the kitchen or bathroom
– Not eating, drinking or smoking while handling reptiles
Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends that kids under five years of age and immunocompromised individuals should completely avoid contact with reptiles … just in case.
But Dr. Doug Mader, veterinary specialist on the reptile front, has this to offer by way of commentary:
It should be noted that even though these numbers sound extreme, Salmonella species are ubiquitous and can be found not only in the common animals we encounter every day (eg, dogs, cats, mice, rats, birds, cockroaches, hermit crabs), but also in such foods as peanut butter, tomatoes, raw eggs and uncooked chicken. In fact, the odds of contracting salmonellosis are greater from exposure to these foods than from contact with reptiles.
And I do believe him. But are the odds in our favor because so few of us are willing to keep reptiles relative to eating soft-boiled eggs? Not sure about that one. I’ll keep you posted.