It's Where I Am with Zandra Polard

Unknown Speaker 0:01
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Unknown Speaker 0:54
Good morning Las Vegas it's Sondra Paul lard. It's where I am. today. My guest is garena Thomas. Welcome to the show.

Unknown Speaker 1:05
Hi, thanks for having me, Sondra.

Unknown Speaker 1:07
So you know what? I think it's really cool that both of us have these really sexy voices. Right? You get to in one.

Unknown Speaker 1:18
I don't know. Try to compare with your voice man. The best voice ever.

Unknown Speaker 1:21
Oh my god, I love yours, too. So we're talking about the pet effect? Right? The relationship between pets and humans. So most people have pets. I don't. Can you believe that?

Unknown Speaker 1:36
We'll have to change that. Okay, we're gonna have to work on that girl. I

Unknown Speaker 1:39
haven't had a pet since I was a little girl. Really? Which is probably why I have so much anxiety. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 1:47
they definitely can help out with anxiety and stress. And just having that bond. We'll have to get you one. I have a five year old Husky that we just rescued that needs a home so you know really just get prepared. You

Unknown Speaker 2:00
will see my I've had a husky before. Oh, yeah. Now that I think back? Yeah, I had a husky and a Labrador. But I didn't take care of them. And the Husky pooped on my floor. Yes. So is that a sign of him like trying to dominate me?

Unknown Speaker 2:21
It's more of sign that he's not happy with you. And he's trying to let you know that he's not happy. Oh, he didn't like me. He did not like not having the attention. Probably. Okay. Yeah, that happens often, especially if you bring like a second dog into the home. Okay, then all of a sudden, a potty trained animal will actually come and start pooping or peeing. Sometimes I've heard of people calling me in their dog has started peeing on their bed after years of being housebroken just because they introduced another animal. And that is just, you know, he can't talk. So he's letting you know. Yeah, he's not happy with you. Well, that's

Unknown Speaker 2:53
really hard for me, because it's like, I don't want to clean up behind the

Unknown Speaker 2:57
I don't think anybody does. Okay. Yeah. But

Unknown Speaker 3:01
once you build that relationship with your animal, then he kind of like don't mind or what?

Unknown Speaker 3:07
I think that you always still mind. But it's just it's almost like children, you know, I mean, they are like your children. And even though your children don't always do what you want them to do, you still love them. You're not going to get rid of them. Just because they you know,

Unknown Speaker 3:22
don't listen to you exactly. Makes sense. Yeah. So what do you think is like how do you know? If you're a cat, or a dog person, or a bird or fish? You just try it out?

Unknown Speaker 3:36
You know, I think they choose you animals choose you. Okay, and they'll just come into your life. And they find you. Hmm, that's

Unknown Speaker 3:45
interesting. So what about the pet stores? I've heard something about pet stores no longer being places where you can buy your new pet or

Unknown Speaker 3:58
your new pet. Now, they there are some laws where they're not allowing I know that California just passed a law where you can't actually buy from a breeder. They can only get animals from the shelter. Okay. But there are pet stores that you can go and they're still here in Las Vegas. You can go and buy them new from breeders. I don't really recommend it. But just because there's so many animals that are at the Animal Foundation that are being euthanized every day. Sure. Like hundreds of them, because they don't have homes. So it's a big commitment.

Unknown Speaker 4:26
Right. And I think a lot of have noticed a lot of women are into the smaller pets, the small dogs in particular,

Unknown Speaker 4:36
you get the affection and the love, but they're a lot easier to take care of. Sure

Unknown Speaker 4:41
they don't have the big poop or the big wet spots, right?

Unknown Speaker 4:45
They don't have the Husky poop. Okay, so you can travel with your purse and carry him around with you.

Unknown Speaker 4:51
And it is becoming legal, more and more areas to have your pet with you. Yes. Because I get annoyed when I see a pet in the store. Like, I don't care if it's, well, I don't know, if it's a service dog. Maybe I'm okay. But just if it's not a service dog, I'm irritated. Because everyone does not like your pet.

Unknown Speaker 5:19
No, they don't. They don't just like with the children, not everyone likes you're not your children in particular, these are not your children. Your children are lovely. But no, especially nowadays, you can actually get that service certificate, get online for you know, 50 $100. And so everyone's got a service dog now, right? And it's frustrating it is, and someone who had a dog in the grocery store the other day, which is not really sanitary, to say the least

Unknown Speaker 5:49
seen. That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm talking about people, if you don't have the certificate, if the dog doesn't qualify, if you know, you're going to be okay. For 1520 minutes, while you're in the store. Please leave your dog at home or in the car. Absolutely.

Unknown Speaker 6:07
I wouldn't suggest in the car. Because so many times. You know, I've got the pet cremation business. And in the summertime, every week, we get a call sure from someone who left their dog in the car. It was only 75 degrees outside but in the car in the car, it's 100 120. And they ended up passing away in like 510 minutes. And they're telling me oh, it was just five minutes, and I thought it takes

Unknown Speaker 6:32
Wow. Well see, I was waiting to build up the love. And then the departure.

Unknown Speaker 6:38
Oh, yeah, we don't want to talk about that. We don't it's important now

Unknown Speaker 6:42
yes, we're gonna get into it because from the dirt we come to the dirt, we will return. Right. So Karina is in the pet? Cemetery business, the cremation. cremation. Okay. So let's talk a little bit about what you do. Do you? I'm sure you help out families who have to, you know, create their

Unknown Speaker 7:11
pet to they've lost their pet. They're going through a really hard time. So sure.

Unknown Speaker 7:14
But do you also deal with like roadside animals.

Unknown Speaker 7:21
If there's a pet, like a cat or dog that's on the roadside, we'll pick them up and we'll hold on to them and try to locate the owner. Now for me if a coyotes hit on this other road or maybe a raccoon or something like that, I kind of let mother nature take its course and let the scavengers kind of take care of it. Okay. For me, I feel like I mean, obviously, I could create it but I just feel like if they have that roadkill to eat, then that's a bunny or something that they're not going to be or maybe someone's you know, cat that's gotten loose that a coyote is not going to eat or you know, so we saw

Unknown Speaker 7:53
domesticated. Yeah, domesticated. Yeah. Okay, so, tell us more about the cremation business. How does it work? And do you also have like a therapist? For them to, to talk to him? Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 8:10
absolutely. Well, you know, I didn't plan on getting into the cremation business. I don't think any little kid is like, what I grew up by what, uh, you know, cremate animals. But I started out I've always had a passion for animals. And we started rescuing animals, my friends and I, what, almost 20 years ago, and we rescued animals we rescue, you know, native wildlife. The more we got into rescuing animals, it was our biggest expense was a veterinarian. So we decided we open up our own vet clinic, okay. And with that had this old decrepid cremation machine in the back. And after running this vet clinic for about a year or two, we just realized it was so expensive, and so much work. So we decided to shut it down. But what we found is the cremation was still making us money. And that actually afforded us to go and rescue more animals. Like we just rescued. I don't know almost 18 horses from Texas. These are like horses that were people's pets. And then they went and auction them off, but they actually get auctioned off to slaughter houses. Oh, and they'll end up being slaughtered for dog food. So we're able to rescue them. They're all 30 years old horses, but they can live out their life on the pasture. Oh, that's amazing. So yeah, so that's what we're doing. So we do we have the cremation business. It's great because it helps the people in their time of need. We know when your dog dies, it's midnight, you have no idea what to do and you're panicked, and you're obviously upset and every place is closed. That's when we come in, we're open, okay? And we have drivers with vans and they'll come out usually within an hour. We take care of the baby was just like with a little human, we treat them the same way. They even get a little toe tag and everything like that. But then we also offer information about resources for for emotional support. Wonderful. And there's a 24 hour hotline that people can call Oh, wow. But honestly just being there like when they're panicked, and we know what we're doing We just told them this is what's going to happen. And and then it just helps having somebody there.

Unknown Speaker 10:06
Well, so can you provide the hotline for? Do you know by heart? I

Unknown Speaker 10:12
don't know it by heart. Okay, and

Unknown Speaker 10:14
what is it called then?

Unknown Speaker 10:16
24 hour pet loss support.

Unknown Speaker 10:18
Okay, so Google, yes, 24 hour, pet loss support. Yes. And some, you'll be able to talk to someone 24 hours a day.

Unknown Speaker 10:27
There's also a page on our website, Vegas Pet cremation.com. And it has that phone number on it. And it also has information like animal control if you've lost your pet, in some doctors that offer euthanasia. So because unlike humans, you can actually go and help your baby if they're struggling in their final days, and go ahead and help them cross that rainbow bridge with a veterinarian.

Unknown Speaker 10:49
Oh, wow. Okay, so let's make sure you are giving our listeners your information, so that they can contact you. It's

Unknown Speaker 10:58
Vegas, pet cremation.com. Okay.

Unknown Speaker 11:01
And that's it. So, and on your on that website, you'll be able to find information again, as she talked about, with the therapy, emotional support, you were telling me something else your website offers, what is that

Unknown Speaker 11:18
there's a form you can actually submit. And you can fill it out. And we'll actually mail you a free name tag with the baby's name and your phone number on it. You

Unknown Speaker 11:29
keep saying baby, you mean the animal, the animal? Yeah. They're all babies to me. They're

Unknown Speaker 11:33
all babies to me. But yeah, the animals name and your phone number. Because so many times every day, there's hundreds of animals that get out of the fence, they get lost, and people are trying to find them. But if you just have a name tag, even the microchips are great, but you have to take the dog or the cat to the vet to have it scanned. But with a name tag, it would just save so many

Unknown Speaker 11:58
time. Exactly. Yeah. Because I'm not going to put the car and I mean, I'm not going to put the animal in my car. No. But if there's a name tag, I'll read it.

Unknown Speaker 12:11
And just give the people a call. Yeah. And it would just save so much time and get a lot of these animals back home really well. You can

Unknown Speaker 12:19
say babies, but I just wanted you to clarify. Yes. You know, someone might just tune in and and hear us talking about euthanizing babies,

Unknown Speaker 12:28
putting named dog tags on. Okay, so

Unknown Speaker 12:32
just a little clarification. So I think it's wonderful. The work that you are doing for the community of Las Vegas. I know you have a few locations.

Unknown Speaker 12:43
We do have a location in Los Angeles, Orange County in Las Vegas and St. Louis of all places.

Unknown Speaker 12:49
Oh, wow. That's three. Yeah, Geez, you're busy.

Unknown Speaker 12:54
We are busy.

Unknown Speaker 12:55
Are you looking to hire anyone. As a matter of fact, we're

Unknown Speaker 12:58
always looking to hire people that hey, you already animals, because it's a really You gotta love people and be able to support them. But our drivers that are there. They're our frontline. And they always are great support to the people, but also they take really good care of the babies, animals, even after they're deceased. We treat them just like

Unknown Speaker 13:19
there was so that, you know, this broadcast, not just in Las Vegas, but all over the country, as we are the number one smooth jazz station in the nation. So if you are in St. Louis, Orange County, or in Las Vegas, please know that you have a website you can go to and get that support for your animal, as you said to cross over the rainbow and be cremated when the time comes. And that website again is Vegas

Unknown Speaker 13:54
Pet cremation.com. All right. So

Unknown Speaker 13:57
call in when it is time or if you are preparing to bury your loved one.

Unknown Speaker 14:05
Hi, also you can reach out to us if you're looking maybe to think about getting a an animal a cat Zod Joe Mello. We actually work with a lot of the rescues and we help them place the animals that they've had for a second that are really looking

Unknown Speaker 14:20
to find homes. Are they already potty trained?

Unknown Speaker 14:24
Yes, most of them are. If they're not, they come with a warning. But usually they've been trained. Some of the best dog trainers in the country are working with these animals to make sure because they voted. They're already a couple of years old. Some of them some of them are puppies and kittens, but a lot of times they've had they have a history. And so we'll have them work with the trainers so that we know that you know

Unknown Speaker 14:47
they're doing therapy for animals now. Have you seen this?

Unknown Speaker 14:51
I have seen that the chiropractors and the chiropractors Yes, that's a pretty big business. She He's and but I haven't heard of like a therapist, do they talk to the animals? Because I'm not, you know, I

Unknown Speaker 15:07
saw it late night one night on television some show.

Unknown Speaker 15:11
But I think I have a dog that might need that therapy. Actually, the

Unknown Speaker 15:15
reason why I ask is because I'm wondering like, what else do you provide for the animals? So you give them a lot of emotional support? Because I would think a lot of them are kind of frightened. I Sure,

Unknown Speaker 15:29
absolutely. Absolutely. Just having a home and having stability and knowing their plays, we actually have some other dogs that are older that are just a little bit more mature. And when we bring a dog into that setting, the other dogs will actually tell them, how to act and a little bit more and how to behave. So just, if you ever seen that Cesar Milan show where he has a group, like a pack of like 20 dogs, and when he introduces it to them, they will actually go and communicate. So this is one of the things that we do to help. And

Unknown Speaker 16:01
so when you're bringing another animal into the home, is it important to make sure they smell the dog like on a cloth or something first,

Unknown Speaker 16:09
what we always do is bring the dogs to like Park to a neutral location to introduce them, because they're not territorial that way, just like if someone came into your home, and you're like, What is going on? Who is this, they would feel the same way. So it's really important that you bring them out into a neutral location, even if it's just in the street in front of your house so that it's not their home. And also make sure that both animals are on a leash, okay, or both of them aren't. I mean, I would prefer the leash. But if you have one animal that's on a leash or in a cage in a kennel, and the other one isn't. That creates a lot of annotators.

Unknown Speaker 16:42
Yeah, that makes sense. So what do you think about? Well, let's back up. I was wondering, do you are you connected with a certain vet veterinarian?

Unknown Speaker 16:57
You know, we haven't here in Las Vegas. We've got a couple of them in Los Angeles that we work with, but it made that connection out here in the Las Vegas. So we're looking if you're a veterinarian, you can reach out to us at Vegas Pet cremation.com. Okay. So

Unknown Speaker 17:13
I would think it's important to be connected with the veterinarian, with what you do. So please make sure to reach out to miss Karina Thomas. Like she said, if there are any vets out there listening. Now, what about these vet? Bills? Oh, man, these pets can be expensive.

Unknown Speaker 17:36
They certainly are. Jeez, they certainly are man.

Unknown Speaker 17:39
They have like ailments like we do.

Unknown Speaker 17:43
They do. And there's you know, treatment for cancers that can be in the 10s of 1000s of dollars for us. Yes. Because

Unknown Speaker 17:49
the mindset I think is different, you know, back in my day is like, you know, I think you just put them down even Right,

Unknown Speaker 17:55
right. But nowadays there, a lot of people aren't having children, so they just have pets instead. And so they're they're getting that treatment. And there is assistance. People don't realize this, we have a lot of people who you know, call, they want to euthanize their animal because they just can't afford their vet bills. But the Animal Foundation used to have a vet clinic that was free or low cost but even other vet clinics if you call them and no Tropicana Animal Hospital has a sliding scale based on your income that they will actually work with you. Okay. And there are some nonprofits. Again, you can go to Vegas Pet cremation.com And we list some of the nonprofits that will actually help you with your, with your your vet bills. Okay.

Unknown Speaker 18:37
And then just the maintenance Yes, of MCC. I'm not aware when I had pets. You know, my parents, or, you know, my ex husband took care of them. So he, I just looked at them, you

Unknown Speaker 18:55
just played with them. Somebody else took care of him. That's perfect. That's absolutely perfect. I wish I could say

Unknown Speaker 19:01
be a great pet owner with a small pet with a small you know, the men in my life tend to like a bigger dogs. Yes. And I don't want like the really small ones. Just like a medium, medium sized top. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 19:18
we'll hook you up with one Xandra we're gonna work on that. But

Unknown Speaker 19:21
I've also found out that I'm very allergic to so I'm allergic to the dander but I can do like what are those poodles called I can do a poodle or the I like to tall polo the

Unknown Speaker 19:35
tall the standard poodle is like I'm allergic to the dog hair because I just don't like dog hair on me and I don't like it on things. So that's really like an issue to say the least. Right? Do

Unknown Speaker 19:46
you have a lot of dogs?

Unknown Speaker 19:47
I don't actually I had a couple of rescues and I they just passed away in the last year. I've lost two dogs. Okay, I'm so sorry. And so I just have a little monster and and now I've got the Right now the Husky that we're trying to home, however, I think he may have found his home. I don't know.

Unknown Speaker 20:09
Not in my house.

Unknown Speaker 20:13
You know, during the pandemic, so many people were actually it was great for the shelters because people were home they had. Yeah. And they were adopting all of these animals from the shelters. And it was awesome. It was great. Unfortunately, now that people are going back to work, a lot of them are unfortunately, they're taking them back to the shelter. Oh, wow. And the poor animals just don't, they're lost. They don't understand what happened to their family. But now those shelters are just overrun, overpopulated, overcrowded. I mean, and and they're euthanizing a lot of them. Oh, you don't understand if you drop your animal off, because you can't take care of it anymore. You don't think that you can? If it doesn't know how to walk on a leash? A lot of shelters will euthanize that animal. Oh, wow. So I mean, there can be completely nothing wrong with your animal. But if it's not complete

Unknown Speaker 20:59
thing, because it's so cute and lovable, that it will be adopted right away. It may not

Unknown Speaker 21:06
know. Okay.

Unknown Speaker 21:10
That's some really great information because who knew that? Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 21:14
you know, in because Las Vegas is such a transient town, there tends to be so much more because people move here they get a pet and then they go back home and then they just drop their animal off at the shelter. So even if you can't keep a pet and you're moving out of Las Vegas, I would take it with me and bring it to a shelter outside of Las Vegas. Oh, okay. Because you know, pit bulls are you know, wanted in maybe in Arizona, there's a shortage of them or in New York or Ohio. But here there's just, you know, a half the shelters pit bulls. Oh, I won't say half I'm exaggerating

Unknown Speaker 21:49
a lot a large amount of them. Oh, wow. In chihuahuas, you know, do you remember the prices? Right?

Unknown Speaker 21:56
I do. I do. I'm aging myself. They exaggerate.

Unknown Speaker 22:01
You know what? I love that Bob Barker was so into, you know, spayed and neuter your pet. Yeah. And Drew Carey has continued that. Oh, I didn't know

Unknown Speaker 22:14
that he had, but I remember Bob Barker was big on that. And, okay, truth be known. I had a crush on Bob Barker.

Unknown Speaker 22:22
Oh, my God, who had a crush on Bob Barker. Okay. He was like, and I

Unknown Speaker 22:27
know, he was like an old man, but he had a little crush on him. And so of course, maybe that's what got me into my animal rescue.

Unknown Speaker 22:36
Yeah. Wow. I want to thank you so much for bringing so much useful information about pets. What to do when the time is near, or the time has come. So I appreciate you being on the show. I also appreciate all the information that you have on your website, which is Vegas Pet cremation.com. Yeah. And also, they are hiring in Las Vegas. And you can go to Vegas Pet cremation.com. All right. So it's where I am was entrepreneur, lard. Thank you for listening. Thank you, Karina, for being here. And we'll see you next week. Every Saturday 7:30am It's where I am.

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