Spanning the globe to judge cat shows:
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."
It's far better to just panic than to think reasonably. From Fox News:
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.
Hopefully they're better at spotting real criminals than the cops there are. From the NY Post:
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.
I don't agree with much that the EU does but I'm fully behind this:
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.
Well, it's good to see that someone in Hollywood has a heart:
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?
