This week starts out with Hairball Awareness Day (April 30) and ends with the start of Be Kind to Animals Week (May 6 - 12). Just a couple of the many pet-related calendar dates that animal people find interesting. Did I mention that last week was Scoop the Poop Week?

I found a wonderful piece about hairball day and other animal calendar dates from patch.com blogger Kim Campbell Thornton out of Lake Forest, Ill.

For this week I’ll only add that our greater Tampa Bay area is having many healthy discussions regarding saving more animals, reducing euthanasia rates and working collaboratively.

I see it as all good dialogue that I hope will bring about more awareness of the need to adopt, to find ways to do more spay-neuter at a low cost and, best of all, to take the time to understand the issues.

The "hairball" our community has been caught up in – attacking articles from the press and groups attacking groups for not doing enough – needs a strong dose of Vaseline on the paws so we can move past it.