Greetings, everyone!

We'd like to welcome our new subscribers and offer a warm welcome back to our current readers. We hope everyone is safe and sound after the recent string of horrible weather-related events that have visited our state.

As you might well imagine, the tourism industry in Florida is a bit in shock right now. Many areas throughout the sunshine state have been seriously impacted by Tropical Storm Bonnie, Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Frances and/or Hurricane Ivan.

The focus of many business operators and FloridaPets.net users is on cleaning up, rebuilding and regrouping. We personally know folks who still don't have their power back after Hurricane Charley, which hit August 13. That makes our own three days after Hurricane Frances, when we found ourselves without electricity, water, phone or cable, look like a mere camping trip.

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If you've been a subscriber of the NewsPetter for long, you know we like to feature a pet-friendly vacation location and a pet-friendly activity in each issue. But a week after we interviewed the hotel folks for September's article, they suffered major damage from Hurricane Frances and won't be able to reopen until late November. The pet-friendly event we were going to feature has been postponed a few weeks due to flooding in that city, so...

We've decided to abbreviate this issue of the NewsPetter. The main purpose of this mailing will be to touch base with residents who might need a little break from the stressors of the past few weeks and/or to connect with the many new subscribers we've received during the past couple of months.

We'd also like to take this opportunity to celebrate the wonderful spirit of the people who live and do business in Florida. The sunshine state will soon return to all its glory and we know our visitors will come back soon too.

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The format of next month's issue will be back to normal. In this issue, we offer our Pet-Friendly Disaster Shelter Guide, which is a work in progress, information about Pet First Aid classes, and a reminder about our Message Board, the venue in which we communicate with each other in between issues of the NewsPetter. Until next month, thanks for "tailing" along with us and remember our motto: "They're part of the family, so take them along!"

Patricia Collier
Editor

We believe it makes for safer conditions and good community relations when people are allowed to have their pets with them during a disaster, i.e., wildfires, hurricanes, floods, etc. Helping communities develop more pet-friendly "safe houses" is on our project list for the upcoming year. You can help by letting us know about any pet-friendly shelters in your area.

You never know when you might literally save your pet's life by being able to perform rescue breathing, CPR, or basic first aid until you can get your dog or cat to a veterinarian.

The American Red Cross offers several pet first aid and CPR classes at various chapters around the state of Florida. Whether during a disaster, or just an average day around the house, a few simple skills could be the difference between life and death for one of your beloved companion animals.

This is a quick reminder that in between NewsPetter issues, we post messages for FloridaPets.net users on our Message Board. From updates about dog parks to calls for action on animal-related issues, you'll be able to keep in touch with everything that's new, without getting tons of email.

Email: webmistress@floridapets.net

Phone: 904-879-9352

Web: http://www.floridapets.net