Really! Rats are now being employed alongside dogs to help find land mines. From Reuters:
Reuters photo
A giant African rat has become man's second-best friend as it joins forces with the dog to sniff out land mines in Mozambique.The Belgian de-mining research group APOPO has eight of the rodents working alongside dogs and metal detectors on a minefield in Mozambique's coastal town of Vilanculos, some 405 miles northeast of the capital Maputo.
The Gambian giant pouched rats are helping to clear a stretch of fertile land that has lain fallow since a savage civil war ended in 1992.
Land mines are an insidious legacy of that conflict that maim and kill Mozambicans to this day, including rural children who were born long after the guns were silenced.
Once again, animals come to our aid.
Watch out for her dog! From Yahoo/AP:
One of Leona Helmsley's hotel employees is suing the real estate queen, claiming Helmsley's pet dog bit her.Zamfira Sfara, who works at the Park Lane Hotel near Central Park, says in court papers that she was working in Helmsley's apartment on the building's 46th floor on Nov. 26 when "Trouble" struck.
Sfara's court papers say she "was viciously attacked and bitten about her right hand" by the 6-year-old Maltese and suffered "severe and serious personal injuries."
The documents, filed Wednesday, also say the dog earlier had bitten others, "as defendants well knew."
The lawsuit, which names only Helmsley as a defendant, seeks unspecified damages.
If you're in the Nashville area next Monday you might want to get some inspiration. From the Nashville City Paper:
Morris Frank, father of the Seeing-Eye dog movement in the United States, will be remembered Monday at his alma mater, Montgomery Bell Academy, with a play about his life story.Two separate childhood accidents claimed Frank’s eyes, but he overcame blindness and opened the door for other visually-impaired Americans to live more a more independent life.
Frank found his ticket to freedom in a 1927 Saturday Evening Post article about shepherd dogs trained to help World War I veterans.
Reporter Dorothy Eustis gave him $10,000 to bring the technique to the United States.
Frank founded The Seeing Eye in Nashville two years later.
Actor Bill Mooney will present the play With a Dog’s Eyes: Capturing The Life of Morris Frank at 7 p.m. Monday.
Tickets are $15 for the play or $25 to include dinner at 6 p.m. All proceeds benefit The Seeing Eye, now located in Morristown, N.J.
Another kind soul, this time in Connecticut. From the Middletown Press:
CROMWELL -- When she first saw him, Cheryl Gagnon wouldn’t have given the black cat a chance -- or a reason -- to survive.
"When I picked him up, he was horrible," said Gagnon, Cromwell’s animal control officer. "He was really, really bad; he was very sick."He had an upper respiratory infection, he had an infection in his eyes, an infection in his paws, and he was just about all skin and bones."
In fact, Gagnon acknowledged, the cat was so frail and so sick that in other circumstances, it might have been the best thing to do to just put him down: to destroy him.
But the standard tests administered to loose, roaming cats for leukemia and feline AIDS came back negative. And besides, Gagnon said, "He was so friendly."
That was a month ago. Now, after intensive care at a local veterinary hospital, the cat has revived; he is healthy, he has a new name -- and, he’s looking for a good home.
[...]
Despite his skin-and-bones appearance and the myriad of health problems, "I couldn’t put him down," she said, "because he was so friendly."And somewhat confused, apparently.
Unlike most cats, for whom a little affection goes a long way, "He loves to have his belly scratched," Gagnon reported. "He just rolls over so you can scratch his belly. I think he thinks he’s a dog."
Now, the one-time stray "has a clean bill of health," Gagnon said, and a new name.
"I call him ‘RayRay.’ Why? Because I tend to name animals for the street or close to the street where they were found." And so, Ranney Road equals RayRay.
"He’s a male, and he’s very sociable, and very personable, and he needs a really good home now," she said.
Anyone who wishes to adopt RayRay can contact Gagnon at her office, 635-2256 x29.
I don't ever mean to minimalize the great works and charity that humans show for each other (such as the terrible Tsunami event a few weeks ago) but it takes someone, some special people to care for the dear animals who are trapped in our cold, mostly heartless world. But not entirely heartless since Gagnon obviously has a HUGE one.
From the description, anyone living in the Cromwell, CT area would gain a wonderful companion if they adopted RayRay.
I guess I won't give up on the human race yet...
I try to only report animal cruelty every so often because Tarazet is an up-beat blog. But unfortunately, here is the story of a creep who should die. From the BBC:
A dog was killed after being punched four times to the head by a 44-year-old man, a court has heard.Scooter, a Chinese crested lion dog, was found dead in a wardrobe by his owners after he was attacked by Michael Morris.
Llandudno magistrates bailed Morris for psychiatric reports after he admitted beating the dog to death.
The court heard on Wednesday that the dog had disturbed Morris while he was watching TV.
Defence solicitor Richard Williams said Morris had killed Scooter, a rare breed, at a house where he had been placed by social services in Llandudno.
Sorry for the downer-post but I'm sick to my stomach reading about such abuse. Morris is a turd who should be flushed down and away from decent human beings.
An Indiana creep-of-police (chief) has evicted a cat that has lived in the town police station for years. From WLKY (KY):
BROOKLYN, Ind. -- A cat named Cat has been evicted from the town's police department.Some people might be allergic to the cat and others might not want to have a cat around when they visit the police department, town Marshal Don Pearson said.
Pearson's predecessor, Terry Carlyle, said he brought Cat into the police department in the town about 15 miles southwest of Indianapolis when he took the marshal's job about five years ago.
Cat had the run of the police office, greeted people when they came in, kept mice out of the building and served as the department's mascot, he said.
Carlyle, who is now a deputy marshal, said he already has two large dogs at his house and he could not take Cat home.
Carlyle said taking Cat to the Morgan County Humane Society Animal Shelter in Martinsville for adoption was one of the hardest things he's ever done.
"It broke my heart," Carlyle said.
I was so drunk tired last night that I forgot to do a roundup of Friday Pet Blogging...
Victor has a "scene" that could easily be me and my friends. Yes, it's Friday Rat Blogging...
Jeff at Athenamama is Friday Dog Blogging and Cat Blogging.
And I'm way more than a day late reporting that Mickey has the Dog Carnival up.
And further and... Mog has her Friday Cat Blogging up.
You folks might not know this but while I only put up posts here 2-3 times a week, they are the most enjoyable ones I do. I calm down from the noise I create on my other blog.
Check out these posts because these fine pet lovers feel the same way. I come home after a hard day at work and my feline friends rush to greet me. So do your dogs, hamsters, and everyone else on four legs. Okay, two for the proud bird owners.
The affection I get from them suddenly makes everything "all right" again and I derive great pleasure from -- yes, really! -- cleaning the litter box, changing their water, and feeding them. And after they eat, they always stop by me as I sprawl on the couch to lick-their-chops or just brush against me to thank me. I get that NOWHERE ELSE in my life. Then, they lounge about on the rug by the couch and start cleaning themselves, or just watching TV with me.
There is a Karma that only your loving pets give you. It is a wonderfully relaxing thing and for the life of me, I just don't understand non-pet owners because to me they -- to use a phrase I actually hate, -- they "just don't get it" and probably never will.
I'll never have kids but I (and most of the folks I hang with) don't either. They prefer the company of pets.
Even when they hog the bed at night.
Give your pets a hug and kiss tonight.
And thanks for stopping by! I'll see you soon...
Forget the car wash, now you can also head over to a self-serve dog wash! From The Daily Item (PA):
ELYSBURG — Chloe wasn’t quite sure at first but she adapted well. She even yawned while her "hair" was being dried.This was her first time at the self-serve dog wash next to Dog Heaven at 52 N. Market St.
"People have been coming back three or four times. They love it," said Patrick Pugliese of their dog wash, which is open from 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. daily.
Pugliese demonstrated the new unit on their dog Chloe. The dog bathed before in Dog Heaven’s grooming area.
The dog wash is the first of its kind in the country to be purchased by a grooming business, said Pugliese’s wife Paula. Another self-serve dog wash has been installed at a Montgomery car wash.
Midwest Airlines is now giving frequent flyer miles to your cats and dogs! From AP/Yahoo:
Midwest Airlines is turning to dogs and cats in hopes of wooing more consumers. Midwest announced a new program Monday that gives pets a free round-trip ticket for every three domestic round-trip flights they take with their owners.
[...]
"While in the past their owners have been racking up miles on free trips, all the pets have been getting is a pat on the head," Midwest CEO Tim Hoeksema said Monday."We decided that it was high time to throw a bone to our frequent customers -- and their best friends."
The promotion follows a similar promotion announced last week by United Airlines, which is offering pet owners 1,200 bonus miles on up to two round-trip tickets when they fly with their pets before May 27.
Victor is doing it Publius & Co.
From the category of sadness comes this Contra Costa Times story:
ONE OF BERKELEY'S most beloved firefighters retired Monday. But instead of a gold watch, he got a Milk Bone.That's because he was a dog -- a friendly golden-colored German Shepherd named Dylan, who was the fire department's search-and-rescue dog for the past seven-and-a-half years. He and his owner, firefighter Darren Bobrowsky, were one of only 28 FEMA emergency response teams in the country. Whenever somebody needed rescuing, they were the first ones called.
On Sept. 11, 2001, Dylan and Darren flew on a military transport to New York to rescue survivors of the terrorist attacks.
[...]
Back at their home base, Station #5 in south Berkeley, Dylan was a regular member of the team. Every morning at roll call the firefighters went through a solemn ritual: They'd stand at attention while Dylan went from person to person, pausing at each one to let his head be petted, then moving on to the next one.Dylan was also a certified Animal Assisted Therapy Dog, which allowed him to go into hospitals and nursing homes and bring some warm-and-fuzzy love to the patients. His results were often astounding. Little kids with cancer would pet him and smile for the first time in months. Old people with Alzheimer's would pet him and start talking about the dogs they had when they were young.
Two years ago, Dylan and Darren were the grand marshals of the Solano Stroll parade.
But it all came to an end on Monday because Dylan was suffering from an excruciating spinal degenerative disease. Darren and his wife, Lori, tried everything they could think of, including acupuncture treatments. That helped for a little while, but in recent weeks Dylan was suffering so badly, Darren and Lori were forced to the awful conclusion that not only would Dylan have to retire, he would have to be euthanized.
As word got around the department that Monday would be Dylan's last shift, firefighters from all over the city dropped in to say good-bye to their old friend.
Women like men who like cats... From the SF Chronicle:
The survey showed that 85 percent of men, and 94 percent of women, don't think it's wimpy or needy for a man to love his cat. In addition, just as many single men as single women said they enjoy "lavishing care" on their cat.And yet there are still gender differences in how we view the often puzzling feline species. Given their choice of characterizing their cat as a good friend, a child, a baby or a partner, men chose good friend (aww), while women said they considered their cats either a child or a baby. And men chose a cat's "independent spirit" as the animal's most desirable trait, while women thought that trait was a cat's least desirable trait.
More than anything, the survey showed that unmarried laddies go as delightfully off the deep end over their pets as women have been teased for doing for centuries. Single male cat owners are more likely than their female counterparts to have made, or consider making, a sacrifice for their cat, including giving up a vacation and going into debt. Three-quarters of male respondents say their cats fulfill their cuddle requirements, and single men are also almost as likely as single women to consider choosing their cat over their partner.
It's long been said by women that cats are excellent guy-o-meters -- capable of spotting a bad one with a sniff. I always found the converse to be true: Men who were good to my cats -- and not in a manipulative, let's- impress-her-with-my-sensitivity kind of way -- were going to be good to me.
The evidence is clear: Own a pet, have a better sex life!
Unlike many folks, I actually like mice and rats and other rodents. They're smart and learn like the "dickens" (or some such word...). I have never chased or killed one in my home, and I've had several over the years. I can't speak for my cats... Anyway, from Reuters:
Rats can use the rhythm of human language to tell the difference between Dutch and Japanese, researchers in Spain reported Sunday.Their study suggests that animals, especially mammals, evolved some of the skills underlying the use and development of language long before language itself ever evolved, the researchers said.
It is the first time an animal other than a human or monkey has been shown to have this skill.
"These findings have remarkable parallels with data from human adults, human newborns, and cotton-top tamarins," the researchers wrote in their report, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, which is published by the American Psychological Association.
For their study neuroscientists Juan Toro and colleagues at Barcelona's Scientific Park tested 64 adult male rats.
They used Dutch and Japanese because these languages were used in earlier, similar tests, and because they are very different from one another in use of words, rhythm and structure.
The rats were trained to respond to either Dutch or Japanese using food as a reward.
Then they were separated into four groups -- one that heard each language spoken by a native, one that heard synthesized speech, one that heard sentences read in either language by different speakers and a fourth that heard the languages played backwards.
Rats rewarded for responding to Japanese did not respond to Dutch and rats trained to recognize Dutch did not respond the spoken Japanese.
I know this seems bizaare but that's how I feel. The big, bad gun-nut likes animals. No, I'm not ready to buy into the ridiculous extremism of PETA, but I do know that feeling beings are being subject to terrible experiments and they are suffering. I don't like it. So, go ahead and read me the riot act in the comments...
One of my favorite pet-news sources, Capital News 9 of Albany, NY (I've linked to them a LOT) will have a story tomorrow about the perfect dog breakfast:
Breakfast can be seen as the most important meal of the day for humans and it is also true for your dogs. Today, our K-9 Chef is going to show us how to prepare a great morning meal for your dog.Our K-9 Chef recommends that you buy your dog some foot mittens when you take them out in the winter. He also said that the book, "How to be Your Dog's Bestfriend" by the Monks of New Skete, is a really great read.
Ingredients
½ cup of honey
½ cup of flax seed oil
1 cup cracked wheat
1 cup oats large
1 cup bran flakes
1 cup wheat germ
½ cup roasted soy beans
And why not?! Brits love their "moggies" and have actually recorded the place they served in the Home Office. From the BBC:
BBC Photo
The true extent of the British love of furry animals and the Civil Service's obsession with keeping records became clear on Tuesday.Papers on the history of the official Home Office cat were among 50,000 files delivered to the National Archives.
A series of cats from a humble mouser in 1929 to a pedigree feline who could not be sacked for "diplomatic" reasons have been employed.
The files were handed over under the Freedom of Information Act.
The records start in 1929 with a request for a penny a day from petty cash to feed the office cat .
After the cat, now known as Peter, had to be put down at the age of 17 in 1946, he was replaced by Peter II.
But he was run over in Whitehall and also had to be put down.
Toilet trained
He was replaced two months later by another kitten called Peter, who shot to stardom after appearing on BBC's Tonight programme in 1958.
In March 1964, at the age of 16, Peter succumbed to a liver infection and had to be put down.
As a replacement, the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle Man, Sir Ronald Garvey, sent one of the island's pedigree Manx cats - famous for their lack of tails.
The female kitten was named Peta in honour of her male predecessors.
When staff complained she was not toilet trained and lazy and suggested she might be "put out to grass", a memo was issued ordering she must remain.
Her appointment had been so public that she had gained "diplomatic status" and letting her go could result in adverse publicity, a memo from 1969 said.
Hopefully there will come a book with pictures of these domesticated servants. Is there one out for the dogs of the White House?
The cruelty of some mutants towards animals continues to surprise me. From the Courier (Australia):
Courier Photo
AN UNWANTED dog taken to the Ballarat RSPCA animal shelter over Christmas was found floating in a dam with a rope, tied to a brick, around its neck.The dog is recovering from the horrific ordeal at the Gillies St shelter.
RSPCA Ballarat manager Rob Brown said the white foxy cross was brought in by a member of the public after he found it floating in a dam at St Arnaud.
Only the low depth of the water saved the stricken animal from drowning, he said.
Most single guys know that taking their pet dog for a walk in the park invariably works as a great conversation starter with women doing the same. Now there's an online service for them, too. From the Pioneer Press (MN):
Wendy Peikes was tired of dating guys who'd vanish when they'd met her housemates — three hairy, energetic dogs. So she took to her computer keyboard and found an online dating site where pet aversion is not tolerated.Now, she's one of many who've found happiness with dating services that won't tell you if you should expect your prospective mother-in-law for dinner every night but will let you know if a potential mate will cringe at sharing sofa space with a cat, dog or cockroach.
DateMyPet.com, launched in April by a Burlingame, Calif.-based former software developer, was the matchmaker for Peikes and two-dog owner Russ Till. It's one of a half-dozen dating Web sites already online or under construction catering to pet lovers.
This new breed of Internet dating is no Chihuahua. "There are 40 million single pet owners," said Dan Cohen, CEO of AnimalAttraction.com. "This is a big business."
Would you believe there is a new "reality show" on TV in England about pets getting plastic surgery? From New Kerala.com:
A new reality TV show titled 'Pet Plastic Surgery' will feature dogs having facelifts and a rabbit having a tummy tuck.The unusual reality programme will show the extent to which owners pamper their pets to make them feel good.
According to The Sun, one of the episodes features a male dog being fitted with false testicles to raise his self-esteem.
Do animals have a sixth sense to avoid large-scale catastrophies? From Yahoo:
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Wild animals seem to have escaped the Indian Ocean tsunami, adding weight to notions they possess a "sixth sense" for disasters, experts said Thursday.Sri Lankan wildlife officials have said the giant waves that killed over 24,000 people along the Indian Ocean island's coast seemingly missed wild beasts, with no dead animals found.
"No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit. I think animals can sense disaster. They have a sixth sense. They know when things are happening," H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director of Sri Lanka's Wildlife Department, said Wednesday.
The waves washed floodwaters up to 2 miles inland at Yala National Park in the ravaged southeast, Sri Lanka's biggest wildlife reserve and home to hundreds of wild elephants and several leopards. "There has been a lot of anecdotal evidence about dogs barking or birds migrating before volcanic eruptions or earthquakes. But it has not been proven," said Matthew van Lierop, an animal behavior specialist at Johannesburg Zoo.
I believe there was even a study showing that cockroaches can be used to detect earth tremors.
No doubt these abilities must have evolved, perhaps during periods when the Earth was far more active and perhaps dangerous?