Speaker’s Address   Commencement Address Ross University School of Medicine June 6, 2008               New York City   Steve Dale Pet Expert Giving a commencement talk is one thing I’ve never done. My mom—you know how moms are—said, “Well, if you’re going to do a commencement, I hope it’s for one of those prestigious East Coast schools.” Well, I certainly did get the East Coast, didn’t I? Not having ever given a commencement talk before I checked out the five most viewed on YouTube. Here they were: 5. Wearing a sailor cap, and saying he thought he was supposed to speak at the yacht club, comedian Will Ferrell spoke at Knox College.   4. At Stanford, former Apple guru (now Pixar head) Steve Jobs talked about how he’s not even a college grad, as well as how he overcame cancer. His talk was clearly inspiring.   3. At Wesleyan, presidential candidate Barack Obama spoke about how he overcame his early childhood—actually, he was filling in for Senator Edward Kennedy.    2. At Penn State, actress Jodie Foster quoted philosophy—from an Eminem song.   1. At Harvard, the “Ali G” show host, comic Sasha Baron Cohen, spoke in character. He said, “I would be nervous if I wasn’t totally mashed.”   Each of these speakers, from Ali G to Barrack Obama, encouraged students to find their dreams. You don’t need to do that. You’re luckier than most. You’ve discovered your calling. Now comes the question—what to do with it?   In addition, each of the speakers talked about themselves as role models. I don’t believe I am a role model, but I do believe that I can matter. You can make a difference, too. We all can. The truth is that I didn’t grow up with animals. But through my dad’s interest and inspiration…we loved to watch Mutual of Omaha’s “Wild Kingdom” together, remember that? Jim was always out there wresting the alligator while Marlin smiled into the camera. It’s like you guys who will be working with small animals. Like Jim, the technicians will be expressing the anal glands as you nonchalantly walk out of the room...   I always wanted to work in radio, and I started as a local deejay. I covered feature stories, working my way up from reporting on fires and local town hall meetings for local papers to writing about entertainment, eventually for the Chicago Tribune. For many years, if there was a story about a zoo or about pets on the feature side of the paper, I wrote it. And I learned. I began to write for dog and cat magazines like Dog World and Cat Fancy. By that time that I was regularly writing for the Tribune, and also covering show biz in Chicago for USA Today and People magazine. One day, upon my return from the Galapagos Islands, my 31st voicemail turned out to be from an editor at Tribune Media Services, asking if I was interested in writing a regular syndicated pet column. My answer wasn’t a knee-jerk ‘yes.’ I knew instinctively that that’s about all I’d do, so I decided to think about it.   Stuck in an elevator later on, I had plenty of time to think. How many of you have been stuck in an elevator? Sometimes passengers panic. In this case, one began to pant, another paced, and a third barked. You see, I was in the elevator with three dogs. The good news is that we were headed up—if you know what I mean.   One of those dogs turned out to be a magical dog for me. When we found her as a rescue, she shook so much outdoors that on two occasions Chicago’s finest asked me, “What’s your dog’s name?” I believe she looked so pitiful that it appeared that she had been stolen. She was afraid of everything—other dogs, people, buses, trucks, even fire hydrants. But she loved me and I adored her. I won’t say that it didn’t matter that when I closed my bathroom door to do my business, she proceeded to let loose on the other side of the door. That’s how bad her separation anxiety was. We got her what help we could, but this was before the age of veterinary behaviorists and the kinds of anti-anxiety medications we have today.   In fact, out of desperation my wife, Robin, tried this so Chaser could see, hear, and smell me even if I wasn’t really home—she blew up a picture of me, put an old t-shirt on it, and played my voice from the radio. It didn’t do any good. But we hung in there. And I can’t tell you the feeling of accomplishment we felt when Chaser received her Canine Good Citizen certificate. Unconditional and absolute was the way Chaser loved me. There’s nothing like it on the planet. And because she gave so much to me I thought that by writing for the newspaper, perhaps I could help others so they could share the same joy with their best friends.   I also thought about what Lucille Ball once told me: “Finding a niche is so important. I was lucky to find mine. If you’re lucky to find yours, jump at it. Then learn everything you possibly can, and I mean everything! When you do your job well, the money will come. But by then, you’ll also learn that all the money in the world doesn’t matter as much as the work.”    Of course, I took the gig and I’ve never looked back. And I never would have dreamed that—well, that I’d be here speaking with you today about my cat Ricky.   How many of you have had a cat that can play the piano? Well, I taught Ricky to do that. The idea was to demonstrate that cats can learn, and in fact, do just about anything a dog can do—except maybe better. Ricky not only had musical skills, he could jump through a hula hoop, sit on command, and even come when called (most of the time). At 6 years of age, Ricky died of feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). As many of you likely know, there is no cure and no good treatment, and most cats with HCM die of the disease. When Ricky died, a piece of my heart went away forever. Another piece of me became determined to do something about it. Through the Winn Feline Foundation, I began the “Ricky Fund” to raise money to investigate treatments or a cure. So far, in the Ragdoll and Maine Coon breeds we’ve discovered a gene that is responsible for HCM. And the result is that breeders are beginning to wean the disease out of these breeds—it’s a start.   You know, although we have more cats than dogs in America—around 20 percent more—cats are second-class citizens. They’re relinquished to shelters more often than dogs, they get abused more often than dogs, and cats see veterinarians far less often than dogs. And when they do go to the veterinarian, people are not willing to spend as much. Cats don’t get the respect they deserve. They’re the Rodney Dangerfield of pets. That’s why a group of us recently met at the CATalyst Summit. Our goal—industry, animal welfare, and veterinary professionals alike—is to elevate the status of cats.   Only two days after Hurricane Katrina I was reporting on the damage and spoke with the then director of the Louisiana SPCA. She told me that her shelter was underwater and destroyed. I asked her if she had an emergency fund for such an event. She thanked me for the laugh. Of course, that was a stupid question. What shelter has an emergency fund to construct a new building? So I said, “We’re going to start a fund for you in Chicago.” That’s just what we did. We held a benefit, called Mardi Growl, which was attending by many people and their dogs at a Chicago hotel. We raised several thousand dollars. It was only pocket change compared with the millions that were needed, but the publicity sparked similar benefits, as well as national public attention.   There’s lots more examples of my own civic involvement—but arguably our most special effort was adopting a puppy, one of a litter delivered in a basket to Animal Care and Control in Chicago—just a bunch of flea ridden, coughing, wormy puppies. We chose Ethel as a “Home for the Holidays” dog. The truth is—as Iams and shelters all around the world have discovered—the holidays are a fine time to adopt out. Can you believe they’ve successfully adopted out around 2 million pets?   If I’ve made a difference, and I hope I have, you certainly can too. You may know that, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 31 percent of households have a child less than 18 years of age; however, according to the American Pet Product Manufacturer’s Association, 63 percent of households have at least one pet.   Even with an onset of recession, pet spending was one of the few categories to increase after September 11th. Today, we spend $41 billion on our pets. And pet spending is the eighth largest retail category, exceeding hardware and overtaking jewelry. And the AVMA says that 98 percent of pet owners consider our friends with feathers or four legs as beloved companions that are equal to family members. Still, there’s plenty to worry about.   Let me explain. In 1817, this was the description of how to get a dog to lie down, which appeared in a veterinary journal: “Show him the whip, in order that he may perceive and acknowledge you as master of dominance.” Hopefully, we’re not whipping dogs today, but at least one prominent trainer recently began a movement which theorizes that we need to dominate dogs. I’m hoping that science may convince the public otherwise. And that’s where you come in.    Check out the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior’s position statement on dominance training. The American College of Veterinary Behaviorists explains that this is not how dogs learn best, and the American Humane Association and others have expressed serious doubts about this method, with some even calling it “inhumane.”   Also, reports of animal abuse may be on the rise. No one knows why. Is this another symptom of an increasingly violent society? Or maybe, because we care so passionately about pets, we’re more assertive about reporting abuse?   Of course, abuse is an understatement when speaking about dog fighting, which is now a felony everywhere. And since other crimes are almost always involved, it’s more than just a dog story. Sadly, dog fighting is pervasive from big towns to small, from California to St. Kitts. I say “hurray” for Michael Vick. He managed to bring public attention to this horror in no time. Perhaps now the public will finally understand that the dogs, which often happen to be pit bulls, are victims, too. Veterinarians know “bully breed” types aren’t inherently bad, and can continue to play a role in public communication. In fact, as a result of the seminal work conducted by the American Humane Society, we now know that a link exists between animal abuse and domestic violence.   Let me tell you about a real hero—maybe more than any of us will ever be. Her name is Sheila. A fire began in Sheila’s home. It began to spread fast, and the smoke was thick. Sheila’s first thought, of course, was of her three children, whom she could not find. Increasingly desperate in the thick black smoke, Sheila began to choke. She could barely see and was screaming for her kids. Finally, an answer came from outside the house. The kids were safe. But how was Sheila going to save herself? All this time, her dog, Nyla, was at her side. Nyla could have saved herself, but she didn’t. Sheila was barely hanging on now, and blinded by smoke. But Nyla literally grabbed her arm and somehow navigated Sheila to the door. Clearly, the dog saved her life.   Not long after the fire, Sheila decided to muster the courage to check herself into a woman’s shelter. But she couldn’t find a facility that would accept her dog. Can any of your blame Sheila for not wanting to break up her family? After all, Nyla had saved her life.   Knowing that women like Sheila might be hesitant to leave an abusive situation without a place for their pets, the American Humane Society launched the “Pets and Women’s Shelter Program,” or PAWS, in January. PAWS helps domestic violence shelters by allowing women to bring their pets with them, rather than housing them off site.   Certainly, major organizations such as the Winn Feline Foundation and American Humane Society, have mattered…How can you? And what’s the difference? I mean, why help pets when children are starving and our own country is at war? So, a dog has impacted anal glands? Can fixing impacted anal glands be heroic?   I’d answer—have you ever expressed anal glands?   Or maybe you can convince your client with a cat to visit a vet every six months. We know pet wellness, more frequent exams, and early intervention do matter. For example, catching kidney disease early can extend life. Or maybe you can discover a cancer while it’s still treatable.   How does that make a difference? Well, think about what our pets mean to us. Ask Sheila what Nyla means to her. Or think about those many— and we don’t even know exactly how many—who lost their lives in Katrina and other disasters because they were unwilling to evacuate without their pets.   Pets are good for us in ways we’re only just beginning to understand—altering neurotransmitters in our brains, lowering blood pressure, and more.   Through work originally funded and continued today by the American Humane Society, we know that people who are violent offenders, felons, and murderers may abuse animals first, and even kill them. In general, violence seems to beget violence.   I wonder if the reverse is true. I wonder if we are kind and gentler to animals—a role all of you can play—we will be kinder and more giving to one another. I’d like to think so. And if that is true—well, at least in some way, you are forwarding world peace by saving a cat or even expressing those anal glands. Think of what you do for the animals, and also for the entire family. And unintended consequence of helping our companion animals is helping people. That’s a ‘two-fer.” And that’s why you’re about to enter the greatest profession on the planet.   Congratulations.