Earth to Ron: Hire a pet-sitter

Surprise to no one given my non de blog, I love dogs. Got myself Sac County’s legal limit of them, all well-cared-for and not a nuisance to the neighbors. The aforementioned ’98 Plymouth Voyager I schlep around town in is because of them, because you just can’t fit that many dogs in your average sports car.

I’m sure it will also surprise no one that I don’t make as much money as the King’s Ron Artest does. And yet, surprisingly, no one has ever had to get on my case about feeding my dogs. Further, although I don’t travel nearly as much as an NBA star does, I am on the road from time to time. And guess what? There are these lovely people called pet-sitters who will come in and — get this — FEED AND CARE FOR MY PETS while I’m gone. There are also boarding kennels, too, such as the fabulously upscale Wag in West Sac, the cost of which should not give a professional athlete pause.

And yet, King Ron can’t pull it together for his best friends.

From The Bee:

Placer County animal services officers have seized a dog belonging to Sacramento Kings star Ron Artest on suspicion of failure to adequately feed the animal.

Animal Services officers issued a “pre-seizure” notice to Artest on Jan. 30, warning that they would take Socks, a black female Great Dane, into protective custody if the situation was not remedied, according to a county report obtained by The Bee.

On Monday, officers returned and seized Socks, citing a law that requires animal caretakers to “provide proper sustenance.” According to the post-seizure report, Artest can request a hearing within 10 days of the notice date.

Do you know how thin a dog would have to be for an agency to take her? Anyone watch Animals Cops? We’re not talking missing a couple bowls of chow here. Hey Ron … catch a clue. Feed your dogs, or hire someone to do it for you. Someone on your crew can get it all set up in about two phone calls, trust me on this.

15 thoughts on “Earth to Ron: Hire a pet-sitter”

  1. Artest said in his e-mail that when he left last week for a road trip, “my dog watcher was feeding both my dogs and my American bulldog dominated all the food.”

    When he got back, Artest said, “I realized Socks lost a lot of weight. So I immediately isolated Socks in a separate room in my garage to eat and gain some weight back.”

    The next day, he said, animal control officers took the dog.

    Hmmm, I wonder if something else is at play here.

    Association members are scheduled to vote on the new CC&Rs, including the animal care clause, on Sunday.

    Perhaps they’ll also forget to cross out those lines pertaining to certain races of people not being welcome…perhaps.

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  2. I have to say I smell a rat too.

    there’s some nice people here,” Frumkin said.
    …
    “These are really nice people that live out here,” Frumkin said.

    “We don’t like to see this type of thing go on.”

    That sounds reeeeally fishy. He’s talking code. However as my wife just pointed out to me the KCRA article is way more incriminating
    http://www.kcra.com/news/10948394/detail.html

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  3. As an aside, did anyone take a look at the link to Wag posted by FP? It’s adorable and hilarious but who in the world takes their dogs there? The rate for my two dogs is literally more per night than the last hotel I stayed in. And that doesn’t include the extra fee for a “business walk,” whatever that is. My dog is only in business for one thing on a walk so I’m pretty sure what that is.

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  4. Wow, Wag is expensive. I have 3 large dogs and to board them there would cost $114/day. The Animal Den, which provides the same level of service without the snazzy Ikea furniture, charges $56/day for my 3 beasts. My dogs like the staff there so much they don’t even seem to notice we were away.

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  5. You can’t spell Artest without rat…

    If you take the words out of context, you might have a weak case that someone was talking code. Reading what the Home Owners Association Fuhrer said in full, you understand that he is stating that residents reported the dogs’ conditions because they are good people:

    “Allan Frumkin, who heads the Sierra Ridge Estates Homeowners Association, also said residents have come to him with concerns about the welfare of dogs kept at Artest’s home.

    “That says two things: One, there’s some nice people here,” Frumkin said. “Two, those dogs weren’t being properly cared for.”

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  6. Yeah, Wag’s a riot.

    Some day I’ll tell you all about my dogs’ “personal trainer,” so you can laugh about that.

    But I get a great deal when I travel: My across the street neighbor is a groomer and pet-sitter, to a select clientele only. I wouldn’t make the cut if we weren’t neighbors!

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  7. i don’t think i’m taking it out of context. the context is the article i just read and i’m providing quotes from that article.

    also i take issue with the rest of his quote

    Allan Frumkin, who heads the Sierra Ridge Estates Homeowners Association, also said residents have come to him with concerns about the welfare of dogs kept at Artest’s home.

    “That says two things: One, there’s some nice people here,” Frumkin said. “Two, those dogs weren’t being properly cared for.”

    no it doesn’t. the results of the investigation will. my crazy neighbor saying that my roof is made of cheese doesn’t put a hunk of gouda on my house. the cheese inspectors coming out and tasting the shingles does. oh my gosh i need to take a nap right now.

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  10. Sure it does. Animal Control folks posted a notice on January 30:

    Animal Services officers issued a “pre-seizure” notice to Artest on Jan. 30, warning that they would take Socks, a black female Great Dane, into protective custody if the situation was not remedied, according to a county report obtained by The Bee.

    Considering that they returned on Monday to remove the dog suggests that the investigation found that

    “…those dogs weren’t being properly cared for.”

    The investigation might not have considered whether or not there are any nice people out there, so that might have to remain up in the air.

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  11. what you said is true, but what the homeowner’s assn guy said was that remarks from neighbors “says” that mistreatment was taking place and i think you’d agree that is not true. or i’d accuse all my neighbors of war crimes and have their houses knocked down.

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  12. I do not agree (tell your neighbors to start looking for war crimes defense attorney — I hear that Ramsey Clark is available). When the association guy says it “says two things”, those “two things” were referred to separately in the two preceding paragraphs:

    The president of the homeowners association for Artest’s gated neighborhood said Tuesday that animal services had been to the Artest residence prior to January.

    Allan Frumkin, who heads the Sierra Ridge Estates Homeowners Association, also said residents have come to him with concerns about the welfare of dogs kept at Artest’s home.

    “That says two things: One, there’s some nice people here,” Frumkin said. “Two, those dogs weren’t being properly cared for.”

    So, it appears that he’s basing his “nice people here” remark on the concerned residents coming forward and the “weren’t being properly cared for” statement on the fact that animals services intervened.

    With these new revelations I think that you will concede that the association guy said the neighbors’ remarks “says” that there are “nice people here”. He also states that animal services’ intervention “says” that the animals weren’t receiving proper care.

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  14. also, i blame the writing. a better way to make sure readers know the word “That” referred to two things would have been to make those two things part of one sentence. not two separate paragraphs. fishy!!!

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  15. The Bee is clearly setting up this association president as some sort of fall guy in a wider plan to lower Sierra Ridge’s real estate values.

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