Bob Bamberg thinks many people make the mistake of treating their pets emotionally, rather than scientifically.
Although tossing a dog a piece of steak or a crust of bread may appear to be an act of affection, he said, it’s actually, however unintentionally, bad news for Fido.
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“You can cut two to seven years off a dog’s life by feeding him table scraps,” said Bamberg, owner and operator of Attleboro’s Old Barn, a landmark establishment off South Main Street that deals in lawn, garden and pet supplies.
His indictment of table scraps as dog treats exemplifies his approach to animal care.
“Everything we do here is scientific,” he said. “In fact, animal nutrition is a science unto itself, something that’s being researched regularly by Ph.D.s.”
Bamberg said the scientific approach gives him an edge over his chief competition – the chain stores that lack the personal touch.
“We help people with problems,” he said. “The ‘box stores’ can’t do that.”
The Old Barn also offers something besides scientific counseling: a tremendously eclectic line of products that ranges from blended bird seed to salt licks and cow magnets to engraved ownership plates for saddles.
For the uninitiated (and that would include just about everybody), a cow magnet is a device that is literally fired down a cow’s throat pneumatically and into its “first stomach.” Once there, it collects any stray piece of metal the cow might have ingested, preventing it from moving farther down the digestive tract.
The salt licks are for deer, as are the “rocks” imported from Utah that contain 50 different minerals that also appeal to deer.
And then there are the rings for bulls’ noses.
“You won’t find them in Wal-Mart,” Bamberg observed.
At the wholesale level, the Old Barn stocks and sells 50 tons of livestock feed per month.
The store also sells its own store-label grass seed, along with a variety of other lawn and garden products. But because those products are seasonal, the Old Barn places an obvious emphasis on its line of pet foods and accessories for dogs, cats, cage birds, fish, reptiles and “pocket pets” such as rabbits, ferrets and hamsters. One section of the store is devoted to holistic foods, including a brand that was cited by the Genetic Research Institute of Washington, D.C., as the best pet food for 2005-06.
The Old Barn started life back in 1941 as Conlon and Donnelly, a feed and grain store. Guy Corte acquired the property in 1980, and held it until 1996, when he sold it to Cheryl Slosek. Bamberg, who had worked at the store from 1993 to 1998, purchased the business from Slosek in March 2003.
Bamberg clearly regards the Old Barn as a labor of love. Born in Stoneham, Mass., he came to Attleboro in 1969, fresh out of broadcasting school, to join the announcing staff at radio station WARA. He left the station in 1980 and went to work in cable TV franchising.
Along the way, he became a volunteer docent at the Capron Park zoo and expanded his involvement by joining the Old Barn staff before he and his wife, Susan Small, became joint proprietors slightly more than two years ago.
For Bamberg, business is not only good, but it’s fun. He welcomes about 100 customers a day, many of whom avail themselves of his insights into the life and times of wild creatures.
Among Bamberg’s caveats:
*Onions will kill a cat or dog in a slow and insidious way by compromising its immune system.
*Raisins and grapes can cause renal failure in dogs and cats.
*Rabbits must ingest timothy hay daily to help them get rid of hairballs
*Obesity is the biggest threat to the life of a rabbit
*Sixty-five percent of America’s dogs are obese.
These are the kinds of insights that play to Bamberg’s ultimate ambition, which, as he puts it, is to “maximize the quality of life” for your pets.
