How dare you kill the pet show

.....said many listeners over the past month or so. But I didn't. Wisconsin Public Radio did. They are the people who produced "Calling All Pets" but couldn't absorb the cost any longer.

Now for the good news (or bad, if you are one of those who expressed relief when "Calling All Pets" was euthanized).

We've had some discussions with local veterinarians, the great folks at the National Zoo, and others, and pending further discussions we may be reviving the slumbering beast.

I'm planning a number of pilot programs over the coming weeks (you won't hear them, we'll wait until we have secured funding, and an acceptable level of quality) before we launch. But there may be a way you can help: We'll need "pretend callers" to the pilot shows. So if you have an interesting pet story, preferably a behavioral issue or question, please shoot me an email (mmcdonald@wamu.org) with a phone number where our pilot producers can contact you. Remember, you won't be on the air (yet), its just to help us experiment with the new show. We'll only be able to choose a small number of listeners to help us, so please don't be too disappointed if we don't get back in touch.

Calling All Pets was at its best discussing the behavioral conflicts and confusions between the "people" and "animal" kingdoms, and that's one of the things we hope to replicate. We're also interested in exploring the wider environmental world as a whole and in local community "pet news".

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Mark

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10 Comments

Comment by b-j Altschul on May 30, 2009 at 9:58am: Dr. Kathryn Meyer, who answers online behavior questions for the Montgomery County Humane Society in Rockville, MD. Whoever you end up with, please keep the focus on *Positive* Training!

I really like the concept of animals, people, and the whole environmental world. There are some great books out there, too, that could start more discussion on this kind of holistic approach to how we relate to living beings!

Comment by Frank on May 14, 2009 at 12:15am: A LOSS on several levels.

I can't imagine what bothered those who didn't like Calling All Pets. Please, folks, tell us what the problem was. My wife and I don't have a pet - though we occasionally borrow a beloved "Granddog". However, we found the show endlessly fascinating. The wonderfully positive but also natural and unphony program hosts were not only superb. In these grim times, with unprecedented displays of human nature's worst sides abounding in the U.S., their presence was an emotional tonic. Patricia was marvelously knowledgeable and innovative; she also modelled to other university faculty who are now increasingly criticized for isolation in narrow disciplinary specialties, how one can be both expert and serve society.

Comment by fletzie on May 11, 2009 at 1:47pm: Just now coming to the Conversation and I used to listen every Saturday morning WITHOUT FAIL! Those of us with pets love it! And I always learned something new about animals of all sorts.

Comment by Therese Kaufman on February 25, 2009 at 6:58pm: Sam Jones in Traverse City Michigan. Patricia was great and really knew her stuff regarding pets. I was very sad to hear of the show ending and would love it if another similar show could begin.

Comment by Mark McDonald WAMU 88.5 on February 12, 2009 at 3:41pm: Certainly at least one. Maybe a rotation of different behaviorists given the width of theories in this field. Recommend anyone?

Comment by Ron K on February 12, 2009 at 2:43pm: Will you be obtaining the services of Patrica or a certified animal behaviorist?

Comment by John Antonelli on January 29, 2009 at 9:14am: Why did you hate CAP. It had that cute music and great advice for dealing with three year olds.

Comment by Ess Dee on January 29, 2009 at 9:04am: There's not much on NPR that I don't like, but when CAP came on, I turned the radio off. I'm very happy to hear that I there's only a couple of shows left on NPR that make me turn off the radio because the revulse me so.

Comment by John Antonelli on January 23, 2009 at 9:53pm: I agree, pets are children in DC

Comment by kate on January 22, 2009 at 6:42pm: You know, I wasn't a big fan of Calling All Pets - but I'm glad WAMU is considering a locally produced pet show!