This video is “an oldie but goodie,” as my cat-crazy friend Beth Adams Pitoniak said when someone shared it on her Facebook wall. And I saw it and and decided to share it, too! I was at Theater of the Sea once a very long time ago; I love dolphin shows. But this is even better than any tricks a dolphin can perform. Just goes to show that God’s creatures have a lot to teach us about getting along, despite our differences!... Read more
One of our local news station in Rochester, NY, 13WHAM news, did a two part story this week on the problem of backyard breeders and the astounding number of pit bulls ending up our local animal shelter. The two-part series was called “Disposable Dogs.” In the story, reporter Jane Flasch shared information about the growing problem of irresponsible backyard breeding, which resulted with more than 1,000 pit bull puppies (some just days old) and dogs euthanized last year at Rochester Animal... Read more
I told you this week about the story of Mitt Romney and “Crate Gate,” the 30-year-old story about a family trip where Seamus, the family dog, was forced to ride on the roof in a carrier. Several people have asked me if maybe it was time to forget about the story, given that it happened 30 years ago. I think that if there was a sense that Romney realized that making a dog ride for 12 hours strapped to the roof... Read more
On February 8, Colorado’s 9NEWS morning Kyle Dyer was bitten in the face by a dog while interviewing Max, an 85-pound Argentine Mastiff, Max’s owner Michael Robinson, and the firefighter who rescued the dog from a freezing reservoir after he had fallen through the ice. During the interview, Dyer sat down on the floor directly in front of Max, holding his face in her hands, looking at him and talking over his head to his owner and the firefighter. Then the dog lashed out... Read more
With the Republican primaries well underway and the 2012 election looming on the horizon, it’s not the economy or immigration or war that’s captured the attention of some voters. It’s dogs. Specifically, Mitt Romney’s dog and his questionable treatement of the family pet on a 12-hour trip to Canada in the 80s. A story at BusinessInsider.com sums up the story this way: “Back in 1983, Mitt Romney traveled 12 hours to Canada with his Irish Setter, Seamus, strapped to the roof... Read more
Here’s a story that will break your heart (or it should): more than 200 elephants have been slaughtered by poachers in Cameroon. The poachers are killing the elephants for their ivory tusks. According to International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and other sources, the killing spree began in mid-January when an armed gang of Sudanese poachers began to kill free-roaming elephants in the Bouba Ndjida National Park. The park is in northern Cameroon, near the border with Chad. IFAW’s Celine Sissler-Bienvenu said... Read more
Just a week ago we were talking about animal cruelty and puppy mills, and in an ironic twist the New York State Police today raided the Wyoming County SPCA following allegations that “hundred cats were living under inhumane living conditions and funds were being improper handled.” Police also raided an adoption center run by the Wyoming County SPCA in the Eastern Hills Mall in Clarence, NY. According to the BuffaloNews.com, Erie County SPCA spokeswoman Gina Browning, who is assisting with the... Read more
McDonald’s Corporation and Hormel both recently announced that they will phase out the use of sow gestation stalls in favor of more humane treatment of pigs that become our food. A gestation create is a 2 x 7 crate in which a pig lives its entire live, virtually immobalized and unable to even turn around. impregnated over and over and over. A recent undercover investigation by The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) offered an inside look Seaboard Foods and Prestage Farms; Seaboard... Read more
My dog Bandit often steps in when I’m overloaded with other work, so I thought I’d share part of his column on Valentine’s Day! You can read the entire piece on his blog, www.MyNameIsBandit.com: “It is time for Valentines Day, the day when people go around telling other people how much they love them or they try to get people to fall in love with them. It’s all hearts and hugs and kisses and love. “But it is all a big lie.... Read more
It’s a happy day for opponants of breed specific legislation: Ohio has changed the state’s law that specifically named pit bulls as dangerous dogs. According to VIN News, the 25-year-old law formerly defined a vicious dog as one that “belongs to a breed that is commonly known as a pit bull dog.” The story goes on to explain this about the new revised code: In addition to striking the words “pit bull” from state code, HB 14 creates a new classification called “nuisance”... Read more
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