The latest fashion statement is a dog, one walking beside you. Of course, the Indy 500 is today but at Friday's Championship Auto Racing Auxiliary's fashion show, the latest accessory is a pooch. From IndyStar.com:
There were more dogs than children on the runway this year at the fashion show that benefits the Championship Auto Racing Auxiliary charities.
Drivers Tony Kanaan, Ed Carpenter and Roger Yasukawa all had leashed pooches with them on the runway. Yasukawa's even wore a black-and-white outfit.Everyone behaved. No barks. No drips.
Speaking of wildlife problems, my boss had to stop leaving out bird feeders because a bear kept visiting to snack from them, destroying them in the process. Do you have problems like this? What was your solution? Have bears ever threatened your cats or dogs?
Here's a weird one from England, via Yahoo:
Dog owners in a town in central England were urged to beware of killer swans after two of their canine friends were drowned by enraged birds.Mansfield district council reported that a male swan had fatally attacked a dog that had dived into a pond at a local park, with an animal rights activist describing the behavior as "highly unusual."
The council said the swan, a bird known by animal experts to be fiercely protective of their territory and family, had merely sought to protect its offspring.
Well, that wasn't the actual intent of a Sante Fe (New Mexico) ordinance being proposed, just that dogs should be restrained if riding in the back of a pick-up truck. But it was enough to generate complaints from citizens and now the rule is scrapped. From ABC13.com in Texas:
The city is rethinking a proposed rewrite of its animal control ordinance that would have required dogs to wear seat belts in cars.The city's public safety committee voted Monday to strike a section of the proposal that said any animal confined in or on a vehicle shall be restrained to prevent it from reaching outside the vehicle.
Santa Fe city councilors said they were flooded by complaints about the proposed "doggie seat belts" from residents as well as people in other cities...
...Michael Trujillo, vice chairman of the committee, said the section was deleted not only to eliminate the possibility of seat belts on dogs, but because some people want their dogs to be able to hang their heads out of car windows.
...is the name of this KOMO TV story:
She tried to help a wild cat hanging around outside her home. "I just grabbed him and put him in the cat carrier... I noticed that I had a few wounds on both of my hands and I thought 'Well, that's a small price to pay for trying to make this cat's life better.' "At first she felt OK. By 6 p.m., she had a bad headache and called her doctor for antibiotics.
By midnight her hands were bright red and the irritation was moving upward.
"I thought, 'Oh, it'll all be better by the morning,' " said Airdry.
But by 4 a.m., Airdry's husband rushed her to the hospital. "It occurred to me that I might die."
The bacteria infection from the cat bite was so severe doctors said she might lose her right hand.
Now, truth be told, two of my three cats came to me as strays and Rainbow did give me "Cat Scratch Disease" when she was a kitten. And I certainly don't want to discourage anyone from adopting lonely, lost animals. But caution is certainly the word of the day. Maybe gloves too.
At my real job, I sit in front of a computer for long hours at a time. I've had a couple days off yesterday and today and I'm enjoying NOT sitting in front of a computer. One of the most liberating things about not taking donations anymore is that I don't feel obligated to post if I don't want to.
So, I'm just taking a couple of days off to catch-up on reading. At the moment, I'm reading "The Floating Admiral" by a collective bunch of English mystery writers during the thirties. The writing varies from chapter to chapter but the list of writers is a "who's who" of British writers including my beloved Goddess, Agatha Christie, and also includes Gail Sayers, G.K. Chesterton, John Rhode, and many more. A wonderful "who-dunnit" written chapter by chapter (with no pre-planned outline) by these great writers.
And I have a new double-issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine to read. In short, I'm taking it easy for a few days. I'm just enjoying a couple relaxing moments. The weather is crappy outside and I just want to catch-up with my hand-held reading. I only get two TV stations and they (PBS and NBC) both suck. The only show I go out of my way to watch is Judge Judy. I think she's hot-shit! I love her. Anyway... I'll be back, maybe tonight or more likely, tomorrow.
So I'm having another sip of wine and going back to my mystery. See you soon...
No, really! It happened in a town called Liberal, Kansas. From the AP:
While their owner was away, two cats did play — with fire. Liberal Fire Department investigators said a pair of cats started a fire inside a small southwest Kansas home by jumping onto a stove. Apparently, one of the cats ignited a burner by stepping on a push button.Material on the stove caught fire, and flames spread to other areas of the kitchen and spread smoke throughout the house. Investigators said the homeowner was out of town, and the fire apparently burned unnoticed for some time.
The cats survived the fire and were being treated at an animal hospital until the owner could pick them up.
Anyway, it just goes to show that when making your homes "pet safe" you can't be too careful. I don't get too crazy over it myself except to eliminate the obvious dangers. Now I'm looking at my stove...
There have been videos made to keep cats and dogs entertained. Now there's one for parrots! From the AP:
No more bored birds. No more annoyed avians. A British company on Friday introduced "Pollyvision," an 80-minute DVD of wild parrots preening, feeding and flying through the rainforest. The World Parrot Trust hopes [it] will entertain caged parrots and budgies while their owners are out at work.The Trust, based in Hayle, southwest England, said it believes the work is the first to be aimed at an avian audience. It has been launched as part of celebrations for World Parrot Day on May 31.
Mickey's Musings has the latest edition up of Carnival of the Dogs.
Two seperate school boards in Missouri are preventing those who need dog assistants to school, either as a student or teacher. From the Kansas City Star:
Sue Thompson and Karen Meinke have never heard of each other, but they're both fighting in separate parts of Missouri to bring trained dogs with them into public schools to help them with their disabilities.Thompson, 46, has been in a two-year dispute about her dog with her employer. Though currently on leave, she works as a teacher's aide for the Special School District of St. Louis County, which provides special education services to students. The district told Thompson in 2002 that she could use a wheelchair and cane but could not bring her new support dog to work. Thompson's right leg, hip and spine were damaged in a 1997 accident, and her service dog, Droopy, helps her as she walks, providing balance, picking up items for her and giving an "extra bit of energy to the left," she said.
About 260 miles southwest of St. Louis County, Karen Meinke, a 14-year-old student at Pierce City Middle School, was told in April that her service dog, Zeus, could not attend school with her. She has trouble walking due to hip dysplasia, a condition that causes hip deterioration, and because she sometimes becomes dizzy from medication she takes for bipolar disorder, said her mother, Cathy Kelley of Wentworth.
"This isn't something where you wake up one morning and say, `Let's get a service dog,'" said Kelley. She explained people often wait years for a dog and must show evidence that one is needed before agencies will give the highly trained animals to new owners.
June is fast approaching and many of you will be away over the Memorial Day weekend. The June PetPourri is coming up and I've received few pictures from readers of their pets to be included. Start snapping pix of your pets NOW so they can be "immortalized" in the June mantage of furry (or feathered, or scaly) faces. Email them to me so I can start assembling the June PetPourri. Previous entrants are always welcome as long as it's a fresh photo. Do it for your loved ones!
Okay girls (or gay guys,) would you rather live alone with your cat, or with Justin Timberlake? From Yahoo Entertainment News:
Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz is a loner!The 'Vanilla Sky' beauty has recently revealed that she would love to be alone rather than have boyfriend Justin Timberlake around.
Though the couple have been seeing each other for more than a year now, yet Diaz admits that she would be just as happy without him.
"I am independent. I love living alone. I don't think I could live with anybody. I hang out with my cats. My fantasy is a month without any communication with anyone," the actress was quoted by The Sun, as saying.
Or at least one did over at Two Nervous Dogs. Heh!
Thanks to James at Hell in a Handbasket for the link to this NY Times story about large rats being used to sniff out landmines:
Just after sunup on one dewy morning, on a football field-sized patch of earth in the Mozambican countryside, Frank Weetjens and his squad of 16 giant pouched rats are proving it. Outfitted in tiny harnesses and hitched to 10-yard clotheslines, their footlong tails whipping to and fro, the rats lope up and down the lines, whiskers twitching, noses tasting the air.Wanjiro, a sleek 2-year-old female in a bright red harness, pauses halfway down the line, sniffs, turns back, then sniffs again. She gives the red clay a decisive scratch with both forepaws. Her trainer, Kassim Mgaza, snaps a metal clicker twice, and Wanjiro waddles to him for her reward — a mouthful of banana and an affectionate pet.
"What Pavlov did with his dogs is exactly what we're doing here — very basic conditioning," said Mr. Weetjens, a lanky, 42-year-old Belgian who works for an Antwerp mine-removal group named Apopo. "TNT means food. TNT means clicking sound, means food. That's how we communicate with them."
Wanjiro was rewarded for sniffing out a TNT-filled land mine, one of scores buried a few inches below ground in the training field where she works out five days a week. Like all the training mines, this one was defused. But if the Mozambican authorities approve, she and her companions will move at year's end from dummies to live minefields — the world's first certified, professional mine-detecting rats.
Indeed, in a test in November along a southern Mozambique railway that was heavily mined during this country's 17-year civil war, teams of three giant pouched rats found every one of 20 live mines in a previously unsurveyed 4,300-square-foot swatch of land.
Unfortunate news, and cruelty from Reuters:
Bonny, one of Kazakhstan's top police anti-drug dogs, was killed in a robbery at her handler's home, a local newspaper said on Thursday.Bonny was bludgeoned to death with dumbbells and a domestic iron after intruders robbed the apartment in the northern city of Petropavlovsk, the daily Liter reported.
It was unclear whether the burglars knew Bonny, an English cocker spaniel, was ranked among the top three police sniffer dogs in Kazakhstan.
As long as I'm posting about non-pet stuff... You're driving along and you see a box. You decide to examine it. It says "dangerous snakes" on it. Of course you would have to investigate...
Also from Fark comes the story of some very venomous snakes found by someone:
A curious pickup truck driver spotted a box in the grass marked "Live venomous reptile" east of downtown and stopped to take a look."When you see something like that, you want to look and see what it is," Paul Mitchell of Little Rock said of his Friday afternoon discovery. "I went over and kicked the box."
The electrician looked inside and found a cloth bag slithering into the form of a cobra ready to strike.
"I was like, 'Hot dog! That thing is big!'" Mitchell said.
Mitchell grabbed up the box, put it in the bed of his truck and took it to the Little Rock Zoo.
"I was just going to take it back to work and kill it, but I figure cobras aren't indigenous to Arkansas," Mitchell said. "I knew the zoo would have a snake handler."
Randal Berry, the zoo's reptile keeper, took the snakes in out of concern for public safety. He said the zoo doesn't usually take in animals.
Berry said the cobra was very aggressive as he pulled it from the sack, repeatedly rearing its hooded head. Also inside the box were a 14-inch-long twig snake; an East African bright green mamba that measured 6 feet long, and a 4-foot black mamba. All are highly venomous and there is no antivenin in Arkansas.
These [tasmanian devils] are the ugliest, nastiest animals around. Well, around Austrailia. There was one in captivity here in the US and he's died. Via Fark comes this story from ABC 13 TV in Ohio:
The last of the Tasmanian devils known to be living outside their native Australia died Tuesday at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, zoo officials said.Zookeepers learned last month that the 7½-year-old marsupial named Coolah had inoperable cancer.
Coolah was born in January 1997 at the Cincinnati Zoo and came to Fort Wayne through a loan agreement with the Toronto Zoo.
The Fort Wayne zoo, citing records maintained by the International Species Inventory System, said that Coolah was the last of the animals outside Australia since the death last August of a female Tasmanian devil at the San Diego Zoo.
Well, not for these two, anyway. From the Intelligencer Wheeling-Register (WV):
Elijah and Bolton are not your stereotypical show dogs who live in kennels and spend hours getting preened for the show.
"They are our pets first - they live with us," said Paula Knight, a Glen Dale resident who owns Bolton, a Whippet who enjoyed Sunday's dog show from his ring-side spot stretched out at Knight's feet.Elijah is a Smooth Brussels Griffon owned by Bertie Prettyman, who also lives in Glen Dale. She and Knight are nurses by profession, but most of their spare time is dedicated to their love of dogs. Both of the women travel throughout the United States to participate in and watch dog shows...
... The appeal of the dog show, Moore said, is that anyone can participate - from novices including children over the age of 10 to professional handlers as well as people like Knight and Prettyman, for whom owning and showing purebred dogs is an engrossing hobby.
"It's the only sport I know of that novices can compete against professionals on the same level," Moore said.
The full-time handlers and the weekend warriors have in common their love for dogs.
"We love dogs and we enjoy the camaraderie of being with dog people," Prettyman said.
So Mickey's Musings has photos of her new puppy. Couldn't you just smooch him forever? Good luck and health and life with him. They haven't picked out a name yet, so maybe you folks could help them out.
How could ANYONE not fall instantly in love with a puppy like that? I would have kisses in my mouth for that cutie-pie...
Update: They've named him D.J.
Why not, eh?
Some cats talk a lot. Others don't. I have three very different cats living with me. Rainbow usually just gives a "mew" to get my attention. Sammy is silent. Maybe once a week a tiny "squawk" comes from her -- oddly -- when she hears me sneeze. Crispy "yaks" day and night. He's got a vocabulary of about 100 sounds from demands for food to sirens of boredom to discussions of why I should be getting up to commentary on birds near the window...
How "chatty" are your cats?
Everyone knows by now that specially trained dogs have been helping the blind, or handicapped for years. Apparently the late Charles Shultz helped one such training center get started. From Yahoo/KPIX:
While there's no argument that Jeannie is an extraordinary animal, she wasn't born that way. She was tutored and trained at a facility that's become the final legacy of one of the Bay Area's most beloved figures.Canine Companions for Independence is a sprawling, state of the art facility that sits on twelve acres of land in Santa Rosa donated by late Peanuts cartoonist Charles Shultz. Here, handlers work with specially selected labs and goldens for hours a day -- although not every dog will make the cut.
"We train four different types of dogs here," said Ken Kirsh. "Hearing dogs, service dogs, skilled companion dogs, and facility dogs."
The work is serious business. In case of hearing dogs, the animals alert their disabled owners to everything from ringing telephones to doorbells to smoke alarms. Others will work with patients with severely disabled patients like eight-year-old Noah Habib of Mountain View who communicates with a special computer.
I'd say the folks who work with and train these dogs have that too. And so did Mr. Shultz, who made one such facility possible...
From the Record Online, here's a collection of anecdotes about how pets help you stay healthy. Here's a sample:
"There was a time I was so sick that I couldn't even get up from a kneeling position. I couldn't even walk up the hill after taking care of the horses in the barn. I was so exhausted," says Bisel, who is vice president of BBG&G, an advertising and public relations firm. "But I could run through the fields at about 25 mph, with the wind blowing through my hair, on top of my horse. It was definitely therapeutic. It helped my muscles, but the greatest thing it did was for my mind."The doctor couldn't believe it. He'd tell me, 'You be careful, but good for you,' " she says.
Although she has to be monitored regularly, she feels she's gotten her life back, and she credits her horses Leo, now deceased, and Mindy, a quarterhorse, with being her pillars of support.
A North Carolina publisher passed away last week. In his will, he took as good a care of his canine friends as he had in life. From WRAL TV:
When High Point Enterprise publisher Randall Terry Jr. died last week, he left a substantial amount of money to six of his closest companions -- his golden retrievers.Ajax, Athena, Achilles, Diana, Rumor and Venus were his family, says Terry's assistant Paula Welton.
The dogs and their owner shared the kind of bond only dog-lovers know, and Welton says the dogs gave Terry peace in his final moments. They came to visit him in the hospital, and they even came to his funeral.
Terry wanted to look out for their welfare, so he has designated $1 million to be set aside for their medical expenses and overall care.
When the dogs die, the rest of the money will go into the Terry Charitable Foundation. That's the same organization that gave $8 million to N.C. State College of Veterinary Medicine's new medical center -- a hospital that will bear Terry's name.
Here's one from the Mountain Democrat about a pair of dogs waking their owner during a fire in their home:
A woman lived to celebrate Mother's Day, thanks to the help of her two dogs.Leslie Ganz awoke Friday afternoon to find her two dogs, "Lou" and "Eddie," licking her face. She had just fallen asleep after taking an early Mother's Day call from her daughter, who is currently serving in Afghanistan, Ganz's father Tom Snyder said.
Ganz awoke to blaring fire alarms, which had failed to shake her from sleep. She had just enough time to escape her Oak Creek Court home before it began to fill with smoke, Cameron Park Fire Chief Matt Silva estimated.
"We're treating those dogs with honors," Snyder said.
I had to spend a chunk of time this morning deleting spam comments for drugs this morning. All I can do is ban the IP address but new ones appear almost every day. Do other MT users suffer this problem?
...It doesn't always follow that a lot is better. I'm constantly distressed by well-meaning people who wind up taking in far too many stray animals. It's not good for the animals or the people. It's not even healthy for either. From the Peterborough Today (UK):
A WOMAN who claims to spiritually heal abused animals is facing eviction from her council house – because she has too many pets.Janet McCall (38), who has a dog and two cats of her own, has been taking in animals for the last two years.
As well as her own pets, 20 cats now roam the one-bedroom bungalow, 40 Russian dwarf hamsters in cages have taken over the boiler room, and seven rabbits live in a shed in the garden.
Now Ms McCall has been told by Peterborough City Council that most of them must go, or she will be evicted from the bungalow in Brynmore, Bretton.
Housing chiefs have said she can keep just the dog, two cats, and four of the hamsters. She has until May 26 to re-home the others.But, defiant Ms McCall, said today that she would not split the animals up.
"They are happy, they are one family. The dogs love the cats and the cats love the bunnies. That's not supposed to happen, but it has.
I always feel sorry for people like this because they DO mean well. But I have a five room apartment and I wouldn't try to take in more than my three cats (okay, 4 if you count the disasterous attempt to bring in Kimo the cat.)
I don't know if rabbits and hamsters can be "neutered" but cats and dogs certainly can and certainly should be.
By the way... What is the difference between a guineau pig, a hamster, and a gerbal? I know that sounds like the start of an off-color joke but I really am curious. Are they the same thing or actually different species?
Hey, the Calgary Herald (Canada) has been running a series of in-depth articles about the relationship between people and their dogs. Here's the latest one. It's about training your dog. Here's a quote:
"There's not a dog out there that's not trainable," Martin insists.
"As long as you're patient enough and consistent enough."At 29, Martin's been training dogs for 12 years, the last six for
Pet Planet, the Calgary chain of pet supply stores. He is one of a
few certified dog trainers in the city and the only one to attend
the National K-9 School for Dog Trainers in Columbus, Ohio, where he
graduated at the top of his class."I enjoy working with people, but the biggest thing is being able
to work with dogs," he says in a soothing voice that gets the most
rambunctious puppies to settle down and shake-a-paw.
How many of you folks have had your dogs "professionally" trained? How many have done it on your own? Any tips? How do you keep dogs from jumping up on people they meet?
On the way to work everyday, (since I'm there at almost the same time everyday) a woman is always walking her dog and as a car approaches, she has the dog sit and remain still. Excellant training to keep the dog from entering the road or worse, chasing a car.
Boy, doesn't that sound pompous? I originally had somewhat different intentions for Tarazet but I'm happy with the direction it has taken. I mostly intend it as a place for pet owners to hang out and I try to scan the news for items of interest to them (you). I'm gratified that the average visitor count is now up to 147 each day. That's about 1/10th of what my other site, Alphecca, receives on a slow day but is very respectable for a blog less than two months old.
I do wish you folks would comment more but I'm sure that will come when I start writing more interesting posts... I do hope, though, that you will try to spread the word about Tarazet.
And while I'm at it, it's not too early to start sending in pics of your pets for the June PetPourri photo montage. Just email them to me at the address on the left sidebar.
As always, I thank all of you for stopping by!
In Russia, breeders have come up with a specially -- genetically engineered -- dog to aid in the fight against terrorism. From Pravda:
This dog, which vividly resembles an ordinary mongrel, is in fact the result of continuous process of selection. It is a new type of biological weapon that fights terrorism. These dogs, whose descendents were wild jackals and northern Husky, can scent even the tiniest particles of explosives.Some call them Jackal-Huskies or simply Huskjackal. The breed has not been officially named yet. It took Klim Sulimov 25 long years to come up with such breed. He has been selecting animals with the sharpest senses. In the end, he managed to interbreed "ice" and "flame": a subtropical jackal from Northern Caucasus and a Husky from the polar region.
According to Sulimov, these animals possess good search qualities, which domestic animals have already lost. Huskjackals have incredibly keen sense of smell; it is 50 times sharper than in other dogs.
I first mentioned this story about a month ago. A cat from a chinese factory wound up in a crate and travelled to America. Anyway, this story has a good ending, too. From WKMG in Florida:
A cat that survived a monthlong journey from China to Tampa in a cargo container received a much more luxurious ride to its new home Friday in a limousine.Ultra Pet Co. of South Carolina arranged the limousine ride and donated a year's supply of kitty litter to the cat and her adoptive family, said Hillsborough County spokeswoman Donna Olmstead.
Animal officials think the 8-month-old cat began her journey at a factory in China, where workers loaded boxed parrot cages into a 40-foot metal container March 4. The container came by boat to Los Angeles, then by rail to Tampa, arriving April 9 at a warehouse.
Here's one for you... From the St. Petersberg Times:
Veterinarian Jonathan Blake said Saint Leo University employees brought in a toy poodle Friday that was found in a dorm room.In addition to being underweight, at just 6 pounds, the little dog was sporting a pink hairdo, the result of some kind of dye or spray, Dr. Blake said.
University spokeswoman Jacqui Cash said the poodle's tale is a bit of a mystery, but by Friday afternoon, it had a happy ending...
...[the dog] ended up with pet lover Susan Reed, in the school's student services office, because her friends knew she has a soft heart for animals, Cash said. But when Reed couldn't take him in, she brought him to Blake at the San Antonio Animal Hospital.
That's when Blake decided he wanted to help find the affectionate little dog with the funky hair a new home.
Before word spread outside his office, Reed said someone back at Saint Leo decided they wanted to adopt the pink poodle.
There's a wonderful pictorial about the dogs who helped rescue personel in the aftermath of the attack on America from Dogs In the News. It's Quite moving.
Thanks to James Rummel for the hat-tip. He was inspired by a post by Persnickety linking to US War Dogs, about dogs aiding and protecting our troops in combat over the years.
Doggonnit, Jay Solo has gone too far! He's running a puppy prison...
Which is as good a way as any to let you know that the first Carnival of the Dogs is up -- a collection of links to blog posts about dogs -- over at Mickey's Musings.
It's unfortunate that we need laws such as this, but I'm glad it's happening. From the Times-Argus (VT):
The proposal was born in 2001 in response to the slashing of two Shetland ponies in Swanton. But a combination of politics and disagreements over how far-reaching the law should be prevented House and Senate leaders from striking a deal until now.It has long been a felony to kill a domestic animal by causing it undue pain and suffering. The current bill makes it a felony to torture, mutilate or cruelly beat an animal. Current law classifies such offenses misdemeanors.
David and Clare Beebe, owners of the two ponies, say they are happy legislators finally settled their differences and strengthened the law.
"I'm not sure it will stop people" from abusing animals, David Beebe said. "But the police will now be able to nail them for it rather than just give them a slap on the wrist and tell them to move on."
Forget the final episode of Friends, if I lived in Dallas I'd be watching this:
His TV show is called Petkeeping With Marc Morrone, but you can barely see Mr. Morrone behind all the preening, squawking, camera-hogging animals arrayed – sometimes one atop another – on the table in front of him.Harvey the Flemish giant rabbit, Dixie the dachshund and Murphy the mutt are the real stars of this show, along with more than 30 of their furry, feathered or scaly friends.
Mr. Morrone has loved animals since he was a toddler. When he was 18, he and a friend opened a pet store on Long Island in New York. It's called Parrots of the World, but it stocks all sorts of animals.
You can see some of the collection on his show, which is broadcast Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. on KDFW-TV (Channel 4). Mr. Morrone took a break from cleaning cages recently to talk with us.
Gastonia, North Carolina doesn't want dogs visible in store windows. From the News-Observer:
The City Council passed a measure Tuesday that bans keeping any dog downtown "in any area that is visible from a publicly maintained sidewalk." Violators are subject to a $25 fine.The ordinance comes about as the city tries to revitalize downtown. Merchants and property owners want to portray a positive image, which the big dogs in a shop window don't fit, said Councilman Jeff Horne.
Frankly, I love businesses that have dogs or cats wondering around. It lets me know the proprietors are friendly people. If the Gastonia overlords don't think store pets fit the image of their shopping district, well, I think people should boycott that downtown. What a stupid ordinance.
When folks divorce, what happens to the pets? From Fox 12 TV in Oregon:
When Jo Shoesmith and Martin Stephens got divorced, the most difficult decision they had to make was who gets custody of the "children" only their children all have four legs and beautiful fur coats!Pausing to consider what was best for their pets, they agreed to share custody."We both felt very strongly that they should spend time with both of us," said Jo.
Pet custody cases like Martin and Jo's are exploding in number --- but not all of them are as amicable.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund has filed briefs in several long and bitter divorces. Dozens of law schools including Harvard and Yale have classes on the subject.
Doctor Paul Waldau teaches one at Tufts University Veterinary School.
"The hottest topic isn't the best interest of the husband or the wife or the children," explained Dr. Waldau. "The hottest topic is actually the best interest of the dog or cat."...
..."Unfortunately, the legal system treats dogs and cats like, like it treats computers or tables or chairs," said Dr. Waldau.
In other words, pets are considered property although several states are now looking at legislation that would recognize their special place in the family.
To avoid an ugly battle some couples are even signing pre-nuptial animal agreements downloaded from internet websites.
Joshua at JawsBlog has pictures of his furry friend up. A Gold Crested American guniea pig. See! It's not all cats and dogs here...
Hey listen, folks, this blog is all for pet lovers. If you are a reader of newspapers and such, email me with any interesting stories you come across. And if you'd like to write something about your pet but you don't have a blog, compose it, maybe include a picture, and email that to me and I'll put it up in a post here at Tarazet.
If you ARE a blogger, please email me links to posts you've written that you'd like to share with everybody.
Lastly, I'll continue to scan the news to find information I think will be of interest to you. Unlike my other blog, I consider Tarazet to be a special place JUST for news and stuff about our beloved pets. Please feel free to comment, send me posts, and just be a part of it. Tarazet is a FRIENDLY place -- no politics (unless it concerns our pets) and no wars, strife, or all that other stuff that clogs up most blogs. This is your "safe space." And in case I haven't said it lately, thanks for stopping by!
How many of you have both cats and dogs? How do they get along? How were they introduced to each other? Do they actually play with each other?
I'd like to see more interaction here at Tarazet so please feel free to hit the "comment" button. Remember, you don't have to provide a URL and you can always put in a phony email-address.
I've had this problem with Rainbow when she was younger. Anyway, From NBC 5 in Dallas-Ft Worth:
A recently released study out of Cornell University showed that 40 percent of house cats in the United States are obese. The percentage, according to the report, continues to grow.The cats and their humans are to blame.
"(Cats) are constantly asking for attention, and sometimes that attention equates to, 'feed me!' " Dr. Nancy Bean, a veterinarian, said.
The results of overfeeding can be diabetes, arthritis and, all too often, death...
.. veterinarian told her that obesity in cats is more serious than most people think. Vets now are suggesting low-carbohydrate diets for cats just like dieticians recommend low-carb diets for humans.
"One of our clients just this week called it the 'Catkins' diet," Bean said.
Most veterinarians recommend low-carb, high-protein diets for felines. Cats, after all, are carnivores by nature.
I didn't even know that some dogs suffered from Diabetes but apparently about 1 in 200 does. From the AP:
Diabetic dogs are about to get their own insulin. Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration approved Vetsulin, a brand of insulin derived from pigs that is the first canine diabetic treatment to win government approval.Veterinarians have long prescribed human insulin for diabetic dogs. But the FDA said human insulin is less compatible with a dog's metabolic system.
About one in every 200 dogs will develop diabetes. The disease usually strikes dogs when they're 7 to 9 years old, and is more common in females. Symptoms include excessive thirst and urination, excessive appetite, and weight loss despite good appetite.
Among the risks of insulin use is hypoglycemia, or dangerously low blood sugar — which dog owners may face, too, if they accidentally inject themselves while giving pets their daily shots, FDA cautioned.
Vetsulin, made by Intervet Inc. and long sold under different names in 20 other countries, should begin selling here in late summer. It requires a veterinarian's prescription.
I hate reporting these stories but I feel it is necessary, if for no other reason than to alert everyone that there are evil people out there and everyone should keep their eyes open for such abuse and report it. From the Ashtabula, OH Star-Beacon:
Six dogs apparently denied food and water for days were rescued Tuesday morning from a Root Road home.The animals, ranging from two sizable Rottweilers to a tiny Pomeranian, were taken to an Austinburg veterinarian for treatment and an assessment of their condition, said Nancy Frazier, Humane Society Board chairwoman, who assisted at the scene.
Two other dogs were removed from 5729 Root Road on Saturday, and the remains of a dead Rottweiler were discovered in a doghouse, apparently a victim of starvation, officials said. In all, nine dogs were found on the premises, an investigation prompted by a tip from a concerned neighbor, Frazier said.
Charges are pending against a man and woman, both former Animal Protective League employees, Frazier said. Dottie Wheeler, the Humane Society’s officer, Ashtabula County sheriff’s deputies and Barry Northrup, the county’s dog warden, assisted at the scene.
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Off-leash areas for dogs will be constructed in four Allegheny County parks, possibly by summer, Parks Director Andrew Baechle said.The new areas will be built in North and South parks, at Hartwood and at White Oak Park...
... White Oak Park Manager Bonnie Martin said workers are getting ready to dig post holes to fence in a two-acre tract near the main entrance that will serve as an off-leash area. She said a water line will be installed so that dogs will have a water supply. The county will install a portable toilet by the site, but may eventually build permanent restrooms there.
"We have a lot of people who are anxiously waiting for it," she said of the area for dogs.
The blog Mickey's Musings is going to host a Carnival of the Dogs. So nudge your owners into writing a post about you to send in.
Hat Tip to Jay Solo.
I just discovered some wonderful desktop pictures (free! for noncommercial use) from a superb photographer, Michael Myers at his web site. Lots of beautiful shots including many of birds that frequent our backyards. Check it out and download them -- and remember to send him thanks.
Dogs and their handlers are getting a crash course in police work this week during a four-day seminar in Yankton.Mike Kirby, one of the instructors, says he teaches K-9 teams how to deal with problems that come up in the field.
"We are all police officers first, and the dog is another tool to help us," says Kirby, an officer with the Nebraska State Patrol. "I look at proper uses of the dogs and times when the dogs shouldn't be used."
Although the animals may seem to do most of the work, Kirby says the dog and officer relationship is a team effort.
"You can work with a dog all you want, but if the handler does not understand the concept, it is not going to do any good," says Kirby, who's been handling police dogs for 16 years. "We try to expose them to new ideas and concepts that they can review and take back to their agencies. They must then decide what fits their departmental needs and implement them."
Mog has her latest pictures of her cutie-pie kittens. I just want to hug them all and give them big "smooches."
Meanwhile, Two Nervous Dogs is griping about outdoor cat-poop. Well. WELL! Actually, I don't have an opinion about this since my cats are totally indoor cats. I deal with the cat-poop.
Tonecluster has a new friend. A lizard. You know, I had a lizard pet when I was a child. I caught all sorts of ants and things for him to eat but he died after a month or so. I'm a horrible person ever since...
Hey, I don't know where to look so... If you have a pet post, please email the link to me so I can broadcast it here.
It's fitting that our first PetPourri here at Tarazet should fall in May at the beginning of National Pet Week. Thanks to all who submitted photos of their pets. Click the image for a larger image.
I wanted the large photo to fit on a single 8 1/2 X 11 page (sideways) so using my trusty Photoshop (why would anyone use anything else? Oh, the price... My job gives it to me since I use it all day long) I cropped and then re-sized each image to 200 pix wide, then saved it optimized for the web. If any of you contributors would like the "un-optimized" version to print out just email me, but keep in mind the file is quite large.
As always, a reminder to aliens that all photos are (C) Copyright, with all rights reserved and assigned to the owner who submitted the photo.
Thanks again and see you soon!