We know they’re out there. We’ve seen glimpses of them on our screens. Heard their sounds. Tip of a tail here, jingle of a collar there. Sometimes they’ve even stepped directly into the spotlight. Dogs and cats, yes, but we're certain there are other creatures out there, too: birds, bunnies, fish, maybe even a lizard or two.
They are the pets of Dalhousie, and while this pandemic has been hard on many of us humans, we suspect many of our furried and non-furried friends appreciate the extra face time.
This week, we launch Pets of Dalhousie — a new, semi-regular web series where members of the Dal community can give those animal friends snoozing at their feet or keeping their lap warm during meetings the limelight they truly deserve. You can find the link to our first pet profile at the bottom of this story.
Research shows that pets can help reduce stress and anxiety, ease loneliness and isolation, and encourage people to stay active. They've also been known to prompt people to be more playful and silly, which is never a bad thing, right? (At least one of our writers with a new puppy right now might beg to differ on this point.)
So, if you are interested in having your pet featured (or if you are a pet currently reading this from the comfort of your owner's computer keyboard or over their shoulder), please submit a picture and some fun facts. Please keep it short and snappy. Think more baseball card with vital stats than essay on your pet's importance (even though we know they are very important!).
We'd love to know the following:
Name: (And what the significance of it is, if any)
Nickname:
Species/breed: (Feel free to be playful with this one, make stuff up if you want)
Age:
Fave food:
Special tricks:
Best quality:
Social media platform or handle, if available:
There's no schedule for the series; pets will simply be featured in our Today@Dal newsletter and occasionally here on Dal News as well as we receive submissions. Of course we want to hear about your pet — what are you waiting for?!
Read our first pet profile, live now on Today@Dal.
Forward along your image and information to our Today@Dal email address: today@dal.ca.