Pet blogging: Not a fluffy puppy story

I'm heading out for Austin not, like Gina, to visit a cattle ranch, but to lead a discussion on "Pet Blogging: Not a fluffy puppy story" at the South by Southwest Internet, Film, and Music Festival. (I'll also be covering the Internet and Music parts as part of my other life.) Joining me will be my friend and PetHobbyist.com colleague Therese Kopiwoda, who did such great work on the pet food recall at PetSitUSA.com and thepetfoodlist.com.

The talk will, of course, discuss last year's pet food recall, but it's mainly going to be on the diversity and depth of blogging about pets. There was a time when Gina and I weren't really sure that we could find enough hard-hitting subjects to blog about, but with all the international trade scandals, food safety issues, medicine and science stories, puppy mill rescues, pet sterilization laws, and the growing movement for shelter reform and no-kill, that certainly hasn't turned out to be the case.

I can't liveblog a panel I'm actually on, but I'll certainly write about it after the fact. I also believe a podcast will be available on the SXSW website, and if so, I'll link to that, too.

And if you're in Austin, come by! The discussion is on Sunday, March 9, from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM. More info here.