ABOUT TOTAL PET MAGAZINE ONLINE
June 2006: Our First Issue!
Total Pet Magazine printed its first issue in June 2006 because our publisher, Burton Patrick, wanted to set straight many of the rampant misconceptions about pets and pet care. That idea grew to encompass animals of all varieties, be they furry, feathered, slimy, flippered, clawed or finned. In addition to tips and advice concerning pet care, we wanted to endorse awareness and conservation for all animals because the creatures of the natural world deserved as much respect as the animals inside our homes. We subtitled that first issue “Topics for people who love Pets and Total Pet Care.”
Jenn'e the mixed-breed donkey
As Total Pet grew, we seemed to continually expand our topical scopes. Nothing, really, was forbidden. We tackled Michael Vick, debated the Bush Administration’s changes to the Endangered Species Act and met Jenn’e the lovable mixed-breed donkey from Murrysville, PA. Our only regret throughout our three-year run was that more people couldn’t read and enjoy the perspectives we were presenting about pets and the animals in your lives. Why is it that only the great folks of Western Pennsylvania should have the opportunity to read Total Pet Magazine? After our ninth issue, we decided to discontinue our print run in order to focus on creating a more interactive Total Pet experience that everyone could enjoy. Sure, you could say that… or you could say that financially sustaining a small run print magazine is nearly impossible these days! We didn’t want to quit writing and many of our readers didn’t want to quit reading. Well, there’s at least one person that still sends emails asking where she can get the new issues. (If you’re reading this, Marianne, you can read them all right here!)
Total Pet Magazine Online will improve upon our print format because not only will you be able to access all of our old issues and articles, but you will also get the benefits of the blog format. And I know what you’re thinking. A blog? Another darn blog? Well, to be honest, yes. At its most basic concept, Total Pet Magazine Online is a blog format, but
Javy, our office manager
we’re not just spouting whimsical information about what we had for breakfast, or perhaps more accurately what our office manager Javy had for breakfast. (Although we’re not above it.) We want this website to be a all-in-one pet portal for new and breaking pet information like food and product recalls, insightful editorials by Burton Patrick and the Total Pet staff and all the great, honest pet care information outside the sway from major manufacturers. If we recommend a product, that’s because we think it’s great and we’d not hesitate to use it for our own pets.
Our Final Print Issue. How could you not love that guy?
We hope you enjoy the always expanding content here at Total Pet Magazine. We also encourage you to register with the site so that you can respond and engage in pointed discussions about the information and opinions we post here. Our moderators and staff constantly monitor these pages and will respond to any questions or concerns you might have. Most of all we hope you learn something new each time you visit our site. Actually, we’ll guarantee that you’ll learn more than you ever wanted to know… or your money back! Which is easy, you know, because it’s free. If you want, feel free to put five dollars in a jar or something and then if you don’t learn more than you wanted to know, you can go get that five dollars and buy your pet something nice. If you don’t have a pet, feed a squirrel or some wild birds. Everybody wins.
ABOUT BURTON PATRICK (aka Uncle Burt)
Burton and Blue, our Hyacinth Macaw
Burton Patrick began his career as a fish hatchery biologist for the state of Michigan in 1967. He has a B.A. in Zoology from the University Illinois and has done graduate level work at three different universities in biology and fishery management. In 1970 he went on to build and manage trout farms and specialty livestock farms for the next 19 years. In 1989 he retired from farming and became the operations manager for the Detroit Zoological Society. Then in 1993 he opened the Pittsburgh pet supply chain (they who shall not be named!) that would become Burton’s Total Pet. Burton has also hosted a Saturday morning Pet Hour on KDKA and a pet care TV show called “Pets and their People” on PCNC.
