Rachel Feder is now asking everyone she can for help in finding her beloved service dog Bandit.

“She’s my service dog I need her ASAP she has a scar on belly from a surgery she had a few months ago and a jack skellington collar (nightmare before Christmas).” Feder also cautioned people to approach Bandit with care if spotted, “she’s a sweet dog but will run if she doesn’t know you…”

Bandit originally went missing on April 13th near Near Wallace Rd and Wallace Ln in South East Charlotte;

If you see Bandit, call animal control in Charlotte at (704) 336-7600.

Please help spread the word!

Charlotte’s first emergency petcare service has just announced a major expansion across our region.

Over the past year, Provisional Petcare has built a sizable member-base to help hundreds of pets-in-crisis by partnering with apartment management companies to provide their service to residents as an amenity.

“I was asked countless times why we didn’t cover single-family homes,” said Provisional PetCare founder Aynsley Brockway. “It made sense, homeowners don’t have property managers to help them in an emergency, so we built up our infrastructure and are now ready to help prevent the suffering of all of Charlotte’s companion pets.”

On the company’s website, they note that “nearly every year between 5 and 7 million companion animals are placed into shelters due to the death of their owners, and over half of these animals are killed due to insufficient pet planning coupled with overcapacity in existing shelters.”

They are now working to reduce that number by caring for pets when emergencies arise.

If members encounter a disaster, personal emergency, or a delayed flight, they can call an 800 number, and one of Provisional’s specialists will determine the nature of the emergency, and if their pet needs temporary care, or to be transported to your emergency caregiver.

“As a lifelong pet owner, it pains me to think about loving pets who are abandoned due to an owner’s emergency,” said Brockway. “All it takes is a simple plan and a compassionate group to carry out the pet owner’s wishes to better pet’s lives, and help overcrowded animal shelters.”

If you’d like to find out more, or sign up for a plan, check out their website at ProvisionalPetCare.com.

Starbucks just announced that it will be closing 8,000 across the country next month to re-train all of their employees about racism and racial bias.

The decision came several days after a Philadelphia Starbucks manager called the police after 2 black men sat down in a store without buying anything.

Here is one of the cell phone videos showing the arrest;

The company-wide training will be given to over 175,000 employees on May 29th.

“I’ve spent the last few days in Philadelphia with my leadership team listening to the community, learning what we did wrong and the steps we need to take to fix it,” Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said in a statement. “Closing our stores for racial bias training is just one step in a journey that requires dedication from every level of our company and partnerships in our local communities.”

The nationwide closing will include all 48 Charlotte area company-owned locations;

“We will learn from our mistakes and reaffirm our commitment to creating a safe and welcoming environment for every customer,” Howard Schultz, Starbuck’s founder and executive chairman commented in a statement.

Starbucks corporate has partnered with Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative; Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund; Heather McGhee of Demos; former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder; and Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League to create and implement the new program.

Once the company-owned stores have completed their training, Starbucks will be making it available to its partners.