Tempus fugit. Time flies. Would you believe it? We have been producing this weekly Sunday Feature Column, non-stop, with only one lapsus during the lengthy period. Quite an achievement, methinks.
Of course this accomplishment was only made possible by the team of talented and precognitive visionary staff at the Sunday Times. First and foremost, my thanks must go to Dr. Bobby Ramroop who allowed this column to take up space on the Sunday Times publication, when in fact so many reportable and printworthy occurrences would have taken place during any one week here in Guyana— happenings that needed print coverage.
When I approached Ms. Tusika Martin, the Editor of Sunday Times, with the proposition of trying to focus on the care of the fellow travelers on this spaceship Earth, she immediately not only agreed to publish the PET CARE column— with only one proviso, namely that the feature article must not be on occasional component in her Sunday edition of her newspaper. That was a reflection of a serious futuristic vision. Such feature column had already been published in the past. There was the “The Vet and Your Pet” and “The Vet Advises” and “The Pet Corner”, which for whatever reason(s) were discontinued. I myself did not know that I could give the assurance of fulfilling such a pledge.
Well, the attempt was made; and five plus years later after having meandered through columns that ranged from the “choice of pet” an important consideration when on is choosing a companion animal and offering it a “forever home”, to all other aspects of animal care and management,
Critical other considerations cannot be taken lightly and had to be discussed. Just as important for the companion animal caregiver is the recognition of an ailing animal, as well as the undertakings to prevent the animal from becoming sick in the first place- and what can be done at home even before taking the animal to the veterinarian. For example, we spent a lot of time and used a lot of newsprint to confer about the possibility of poisons in the home affecting our pets (sometimes lethally).
I don’t know if the “PET CARE” column has increased the sales of the “Sunday Times” but if the questions I receive on the phone/ and from texts on the days following the Feature Article on Sunday, are any parameter to judge the popularity of the column, I think we have made a discernible impact. In fact, there are readers who compile the columns into a booklet form, so they can refer to the solutions given to pet problems. Only recently, one very serious pet owner requested my compilations on the “Incessant Barker”.
Finally, the success of the column was a team effort. Many thanks must go to the staff member(s) who searched and found the appropriate photos which accompanied the articles. Those staff members really made every column come to life. I thank them most sincerely.
In conclusion, allow me to admit that I concentrated mostly on our canine companions, although where relevant, I have mentioned the similarity of necessities pertaining to cats (for example, the need for vaccinations and routine veterinary interventions to reduce the infections related to parasites within and on the bodies of our pets).
Finally, because all the texts have been archived by the Sunday Times, it may be possible to compile them into a Guidance for Companion Animal Care, in the future.
Again, my gratitude to Ms. Tusika Martin and her team for making the “PET CORNER” possible every Sunday for the past five years. It has been a pleasure working with you all.
