Yesterday I walked on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco and I heard off in the distance what sounded like Sea Lions. Following the noise I ended on at Pier 39 and saw dozens of floating platforms – each of which contained between 3 and 10 sea lions.
Apparently after an earthquake in 1989 they started to appear, found the area to their liking and invited their friends to join them. They are now protected and are a huge tourist draw.
It rained off an on that day, and as we watched the sea lions it started to pour, so we watched them from under an overhang. The sea lions didn’t seem to even notice the precipitation – the older animals lay on their sides and backs as though sunning themselves, and the younger sea lions played – lunging at each other with their mouths open, wrestling and shoving each other into the ocean.
Showing posts with label San Francisco. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Francisco. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
San Francisco SPCA
I’m away from HAWS for the week, but definitely not away from animals. Each year I travel to a different city to attend the annual Association of Pet Dog Trainers Conference. This year it’s in San Francisco – a city I’ve never visited before.
A lot of shelter employees like to visit shelters in other areas out of curiosity to see what others in the sheltering world are doing. The San Francisco SPCA is fairly well known for having a state of the art, beautiful facility – with housing for the animals that is just as nice as the Marriot where I’m staying this week. I was interested to see if they actually lived up to all the hype.
I honestly have never seen such a gorgeous place for dogs and cats. The animals don’t stay in caging, but in rooms with glass windows and doors – honestly they were really more like suites. Most of the dogs and cats shared space with another of the same species, but they had so much space they really didn’t seem to mind. The dog rooms were about 8 by 8 feet, and the cat rooms only a little smaller. Most of the rooms were decorated with wall hangings, and had several beds. Some of the rooms even had TV!
Here’s a video of a cat watching a squirrel DVD.
A lot of shelter employees like to visit shelters in other areas out of curiosity to see what others in the sheltering world are doing. The San Francisco SPCA is fairly well known for having a state of the art, beautiful facility – with housing for the animals that is just as nice as the Marriot where I’m staying this week. I was interested to see if they actually lived up to all the hype.
I honestly have never seen such a gorgeous place for dogs and cats. The animals don’t stay in caging, but in rooms with glass windows and doors – honestly they were really more like suites. Most of the dogs and cats shared space with another of the same species, but they had so much space they really didn’t seem to mind. The dog rooms were about 8 by 8 feet, and the cat rooms only a little smaller. Most of the rooms were decorated with wall hangings, and had several beds. Some of the rooms even had TV!
Here’s a video of a cat watching a squirrel DVD.
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