When Joan Apel-Klarner arrived in China this fall, she wasn't planning to spend her days taking in the tourist sights.

She was there to look at cats.

For this 69-year-old Rockford native, her lifelong hobby of judging cat shows frequently rewards her with trips to foreign lands. This time, it was China for a show sponsored by the Cat Aficionado Association. But she also has checked out kitties in Japan, Hungary, Austria, Germany and Canada.

"It's exciting," she said. "Every Top 10 cat you pick out, you try to be honest. I try not to look when they bring their cats up, so even if I know the person, I won't let that influence me. It's nice to know you've done your best at the end of the day."

South Korea plans to kill cats and dogs to try to prevent the spread of bird flu after an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 virus at a chicken farm last week, officials said Monday.

Animal health experts, however, suggested it was "a bit of an extreme measure" when there was no scientific evidence to suggest that cats or dogs could pass the virus to humans.

Quarantine officials have already killed 125,000 chickens within a 1,650-foot radius of the outbreak site in Iksan, about 155 miles south of Seoul, the Agriculture Ministry said. Officials began slaughtering poultry on Sunday, a day after they confirmed that the outbreak was caused by the H5N1 strain.

They plan to slaughter a total of 236,000 poultry, as well as other animals, including pigs, and all dogs and cats in the area by Thursday, the ministry said. About 6 million eggs also will be destroyed, it said. The ministry did not say how many dogs, cats and other animals would be killed.

The NYPD has unleashed an elite team of dogs specially trained to patrol the subways.

Four German shepherds, the first of more than 27, were deployed two weeks ago after they were acclimated to the crowds, cramped spaces and screeching decibels of the system, said Lt. John Pappas, commander of the new transit K9 unit.

Plans for the new weapon in the war on terror were first disclosed by The Post last summer.

Officer David Machin, who completed training with his dog, Cyrus, said riders are often surprised to see the animals.

"Everyone thinks there must be a bomb on board," he said. "But that should change once people get used to us."

Besides their anti-terror role, the dogs are expected to help keep crime down.

A plan for a Europe-wide ban on all trade in cat and dog fur falsely labeled as synthetic and used in clothing, personal accessories and soft toys for children was announced by the European Commission.

Markos Kyprianou, the commission’s consumer protection commissioner, said Europeans were shocked by “images of cats and dogs being kept in cages and slaughtered in cruel and shocking conditions for their fur.” An investigation by the animal-rights group Humane Society International showed that dog and cat fur production had taken place in the Czech Republic and other Eastern European countries. China is said to be the main producer, with an estimated 5,400 cats and dogs killed there each day.

Actress Sandra Bullock is crazy about dogs, however, the only ones that fans will find in her home, are the legless kinds.

The actress and her 'Monster Garage' host hubby Jesse James were already the proud owners of a three-legged pooch.

And, they've gotten so much love from the dog that when the woman from whom they had adopted the dog called to tell the 'Miss Congeniality' star and James that there was another two-legged dog who needed a home, they immediately went to pick her up.

"We just got her a couple of months ago from the woman we got out three-legged dog from," Contactmusic quoted Bullock, as saying.

"We have a dog with just two legs, she walks on her hind legs. She was born with like a little flipper here and a little flipper here... She's like a little dinosaur, a velociraptor," she said.

It's early in the morning and Crispy is asleep on the bed.





Then he notices I'm photographing him.





He looks thrilled, doesn't he?

A black cat won't cross your path this Halloween, not if a northern Idaho animal shelter can help it. Like many shelters around the country, the Kootenai Humane Society in Coeur d'Alene is prohibiting black cat adoptions from now to Nov. 2, fearing the animals could be mistreated in Halloween pranks — or worse, sacrificed in some satanic ritual.

The shelter's executive director, Phil Morgan, said that while the risk may be remote, the policy will remain just in case.

"It's kind of an urban legend. But in the humane industry it's pretty typical that shelters don't do adoptions of black cats or white bunnies because of the whole satanic sacrificial thing," Morgan said. "If we prevent one animal from getting hurt, then it serves its purpose."

Some animal experts, however, say the practice does more to hurt animals than protect them.

"Black cats already suffer a stigma because of their color," said Gail Buchwald, vice president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter in New York City. "Why penalize them any more by limiting the times when they can be adopted?"

Idaho Humane Society spokeswoman Dee Fugit said that while the temporary adoption bans used to be more common, several years of working in Idaho has proven to her there's no need for such measures.

"If somebody comes in here and they're strange enough that we'd question why they're adopting a black cat on Halloween, then we're probably not going to adopt any animal to them," Fugit said from her Boise office. "It doesn't seem to be a justifiable reason for not adopting black cats. We are absolutely inundated with cats that need homes right now."

Black cats tend to be adopted less often than other felines, Buchwald said. A study published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science in 2002 comparing coat color in shelter animals found that black or dark brown cats were much less likely to be adopted than white, gray or mixed-color cats, Buchwald said.

"Behaviorally, there's no difference from the color of the cat. It's tied into this whole mythology about the animal — don't let it cross your path or some foreboding or foreshadowing of evil — and that's an outdated superstition," she said.

Sammy concurs!

Ex-Earth, Ex-Earth Colonies, Colony Chronicles, Colony: Universe

KOEHLER TOWNSHIP - Dogs have again proven themselves to be our best friend.

A homeowner was alerted to an early morning fire on Wednesday when her dogs awoke her, biting her hand until she got out of bed.

The owner of the home, Marcie Wright, managed to escape from the blaze at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, said Assistant Tuscarora Township Fire Chief Steve Sackett.

“The woman was asleep at the time,” Sackett said. “Her dogs woke her up by biting at her hand.”

The homeowner managed to get out, and neighbors were able to save all but one of the five dogs who were living in the house, Sackett explained.

And here's another one from KOIN TV (WA):

VANCOUVER, Wash. - A Vancouver woman is crediting her dogs from saving her life after a fire broke out in her home.

Lori Wangerim was asleep in bedroom when the fire started. Her home, on Northeast 90th Avenue, does not have a smoke detector. But her dogs alerted her to the blaze by barking and banging on the bedroom door.

Wangerim and her two dogs escaped without injury. The rest of her family wasn't home at the time.

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. - After a disabled woman's cat started a house fire, her specially trained dog came to the rescue, then died trying to help the cat still in the house. Jamie Hanson said the 13-year-old dog named Jesse brought the phone so she could call 911 and also brought her artificial leg.

"She got me outside and then she heard the cat upstairs and she went up there to get the cat and she wouldn't come back to me," Hanson, 49, said at a news conference Monday at Aurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center where she was being treated for her injuries.

[...]

Hanson, who lost a leg in a car accident three years ago, said she was on the couch watching television when the cat ran over the back of the couch.

"And he jumped onto a table that had a candle on it and tipped it over and lighted the artificial plants on fire," she said.

Hanson said she fell off the couch and was unable to get her artificial leg from the table, "so my dog got my leg for me and went and got the phone and brought the phone to me so I could call 911."

She said she tried to put the prosthetic leg on, but it was too hot, and the dog, a golden retriever-German shepherd mix, came to her aid again before going back inside for the cat.

Feral cats are those that might have been a stray at some point in their lives or those that have been born into the life of a feral colony. These cats want nothing to do with humans, and it's difficult, if not impossible, to tame them. These cats often will form a colony near a food source and continue to breed and expand in their numbers. Feral cats are not adoptable and are usually the first to be put to sleep in shelters. There are several ways you can be a part of National Feral Cat Day. You can support Trap-Neuter-Return in your community. This is the most humane way to handle feral cat colonies. With Trap-Neuter-Return, cats will be trapped, altered and returned to the area. Undesirable behavior will be averted, and no more kittens will be born. As the method is implemented, the feral cat numbers will gradually decline.

Become a feral colony caretaker. Provide food and clean water to the cats to prevent them from rummaging through trash cans and so they will have the nutrients they need to stay healthy and build a strong immune system to help fight off sickness and disease.

I'm not sure what the correct answer is but there are already too many uncared for cats in the world.

Bullseye,left, the familiar face of Target, poses with his wax figure Thursday, October 12, 2006 after he became the first animal to be immortalized in wax by Madame Tussauds New York.The iconic canines were on hand during an Adopt-A-Dog day held in conjunction with the American Kennel Club.

Ice cream maker Good Humor and pet food producer Pedigree have announced plans to produce ice cream sandwiches for dogs. Many dogs are lactose intolerant and cannot eat ice cream, the companies said.

Pedigree Ice Cream Sandwich Treats for Dogs will be dairy-based and have the same texture as ice cream, but contain only 1 percent lactose.

The treats also will have added protein and no sugar. The companies plan to sell packages of 24 frozen treats for $3.99.

Now, finally, they're for sale:

US biotech firm Allerca says it has managed to selectively breed them by reducing a certain type of protein that triggers allergic reactions.

The cats will not cause the red eyes, sneezing and even asthma that some cat allergy sufferers experience, except in the most acute cases.

Despite costing $3,950 (£2,104), there is already a waiting list to get one.

Allerca first started taking orders for genetically engineered hypoallergenic cats back in 2004.

It tested huge numbers of cats trying to find the tiny fraction which do not carry the glycoprotein Fel d1 - contained in its saliva, fur and skin - which produces allergies.

Those cats were then used to breed the hypoallergenic cats.

Now, is a cat worth four-grand to you? If you're allergic, maybe. You'd spend much more on a motercycle or boat and not receive nearly as much pleasure..., er, bad example, maybe you would. Still, if money is no object then sure, get yourself a couple of these cats and enjoy. In my opinion you'll certainly get your investment back in affection and love.