Posted December 06, 2017in People & Pets
Real reindeer Jodi and John Philipp aren’t your average Santa and Mrs. Claus. You won’t find them at the local mall either. For 17 years, the couple has been touring their troupe across the Midwest and beyond, and that includes reindeer. “We try to spread some Christmas magic,” Jodi Philipp,
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Posted November 01, 2017in People & Pets
A police officer and his canine partner The K-9 unit of the Des Moines Police Department was first established in the 1980s. A small and specialized unit, the city of Des Moines has eight K-9s, with five dual-purpose patrol dogs, two single-purpose bomb dogs and one single-purpose narcotics dog. Officer Dao Meunsaveng and dog
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Posted October 04, 2017in People & Pets
Not a crazy cat lady Black cats are the source of several myths and legends. As the spookiest holiday of the year approaches, the stigma surrounding the darker variety of felines becomes even more nefarious. Cat and all-around animal lover Jessica Greenwell doesn’t subscribe to any of the black cat-related
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Posted September 06, 2017in People & Pets
A one-eyed dog named Howie “He owned it,” says Brooke Wagner of her one-eyed dog. “It didn’t seem to affect him much.” Howie, an 11-year-old shih tzu, lost its left eye in 2010. “He got into a fight with our chow mix,” says Wagner. Howie always picked on him, and
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Posted August 02, 2017in People & Pets
Backyard bee breeding Jason Foley’s Des Moines home and the 1.72-acre property it sits on is entirely devoted to his bee breeding business, Foley’s Russian Bees. Foley has been breeding bees for 10 years and was successful enough to leave his desk job of 13 years to grow his bee
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Posted July 05, 2017in People & Pets
Nine chickens and counting Backyard chickens may be a trend of urban hipsters, but for Des Moines resident Nicole James and her family, they are beloved backyard pets. The James family has kept chickens since 2013, and it hasn’t always been smooth sailing in the poultry department. “We started with
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Posted June 01, 2017in People & Pets
In-home wildlife rehabilitation Once in a while, one comes across a wild animal and has the urge to take it home. It could simply be because it’s cute, or maybe because it’s injured. For Beth Kuntz, it’s the latter. Kuntz, 24, is part of the Wildlife Rehabilitation Network of Central
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Posted May 03, 2017in People & Pets
Michelle Conkling’s Des Moines home contains many animals, but perhaps the most exotic of them all is a 10-year-old Congo African grey parrot named Kanoni. Conkling and her husband purchased the bird from a now defunct pet store when it was 2 and have had it ever since. The bird’s
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Posted April 05, 2017in People & Pets
A Drake alum and director of Drake’s annual Beautiful Bulldog Contest, Niki Smith already had a deep-seeded love for the breed. But in September of 2016, she finally became a bulldog owner. Seven-year-old Dexter is not an English Bulldog — the breed synonymous with the university — but rather is
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Posted March 01, 2017in People & Pets
Four cats and Ashley Sholes When Ashley Sholes gets home, she has four furry friends acting as a welcoming committee. “They greet me at the door,” she says. “They follow me around, and they definitely keep me entertained.” Sholes is an avid animal lover, but she insists she isn’t necessarily
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