Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Central Oregon Pets 2025

Itโ€™s not just humans who live the good life in Central Oregon! The pets of the region like to have a good time, too.

A quick glance at this page and you can clearly see that the staff of Central Oregon Pets (aka the Source Weekly and our wonderful contributors) are parents to a pet or few. Our furry and usually* four-legged friends mean the world to us, and we know that feeling extends to so many in our […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Confessions of a Cat Junkie

When describing the two rambunctious, one-year-old cats that we recently adopted, Iโ€™ll borrow the best of Faces album title: โ€œGood Boysโ€ฆ When Theyโ€™re Asleepโ€

The two brother cats, formerly known as โ€œFluffyโ€ and โ€œMousecatcher 2000,โ€ are now named Mack and Mo. We brought them home in early February. They had been residing in one of the exam rooms at our veterinarianโ€™s practice, relocated from a horse ranch in the Los Angeles area (before the fires). They were the last […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Best Practices for Handling Off-Leash Dogs in Central Oregon

How do you deal with encounters with off-leash dogs in areas where they arenโ€™t supposed to be?

As a dog parent, thereโ€™s no better feeling than watching your dog run free, doing dog things and living their best life. These small freedoms are incredibly important to our dogsโ€™ physical and mental well-being. Weโ€™re so privileged to live here in Central Oregon, where ample opportunities to give our dogs this freedom abound. However, […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

The Art of Fish Keeping

Local fish shop, Aquatopia, offers insight into starting and maintaining an aquarium

A fish may not be the most traditional pet, but it can be the ideal option for those wanting a low-maintenance animal while also looking to dip their toes into a new hobby. The act of fish keeping can be therapeutic, a creative outlet or just an aesthetically pleasing activity. โ€œItโ€™s one of those hobbies […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Parking Lot Birds

Enjoying the natural world doesnโ€™t have to require a lot of time or effort

If you want to set the burdens of the world aside for a few minutes by watching beautiful birds, you can hike up a mountain or drive to a remote lake or forest. Or, you can simply head to a parking lot. Take, for instance, the now-empty parking lot at the former Costco in Bend, […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Central Oregon Pets 2024

It’s not just the humans who live the good life in Central Oregon! The Pets of the region like to have a good time, too.

For the team at Central Oregon Pets (aka the Source Weekly), itโ€™s our favorite time of the year! Nearly every one of us is a parent to a pet or two, and we love sharing the loveโ€”and the storiesโ€”of local pets. Inside this edition of Central Oregon Pets, let your heart melt with Richard Sittsโ€™ […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

A Film About the Pets of the Campsโ€ฆ and CAMP

Companion Animal Medical Project featured in new documentary, premiering March 24

Central Oregonians may have gotten a glimpse or two of the encampments dotted around Central Oregon, from Dirt World between Bend and Redmond to China Hat south of town. But in a new documentary, viewers get an up-close-and-personal view of the places where people live on the literal margins โ€” with a focus on not […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Your Latest Lunch Date: Alpacas

Alpaca Picnics offers an engaging lunch date, a unique bonding activity, a romantic getaway or a serene escape from the hustle of nine-to-five daily life

Theyโ€™re very kind to the land,โ€ Amanda VandenBosch says about the camelid cousin to the llama, the alpaca. VandenBosch has dedicated her life to spreading knowledge and experience about the alpacaโ€™s sustainability, and yes, their unique healing powers. โ€œAlpacas are very calming,โ€ she explained. โ€œWe always say to people, especially when having picnics, โ€˜take a […]

Posted inSpecial Issues & Guides

Kitten Season is Nearly Here!

Volunteer foster homes are always in demand

The kittens are coming… This ominous fact rings true when kitten season rolls around, running from mid-spring to early fall. Or, as Lynne Ouchida, director of Community Partnerships for the Humane Society of Central Oregon, puts it, โ€œfrom Easter to Halloween.โ€ Thatโ€™s a lot of kittens and they all deserve loving homes. Thatโ€™s where volunteer […]

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