Washington, DC - Urgent! Emergency Medical Fund Donations Are Needed for Seriously Injured Animals at The Washington Humane Society

The Washington Humane Society (WHS) has a number of seriously injured animals requiring advanced care. We are regularly depleting the resources available in our emergency medical fund.

Please consider making a donation to SOPHIE'S FUND now.

This fund enables the WHS to provide animals with urgent, specialized medical care. Sophie's Fund saves lives every day.



Louie
Louie is a nine-pound, eight-week-old puppy who was struck first by a truck, and then by a car on Saturday night. He was brought to WHS and immediately transported to our partners at Friendship Hospital for Animals to receive emergency care.  He sustained a large laceration to his chest, lost and fractured a number of teeth, had extensive bruising of his lungs, and suffered a broken jaw.  The hospital stabilized Louie, treated his chest trauma, began pain management, and closed his jaw with a medical tape muzzle. The protective muzzle must remain on for at least four weeks to allow his fractured bones to heal on their own. During this time, he will be hand-fed mashed puppy food through a syringe. Louie will be re-examined in a month to determine if surgical intervention is necessary. Louie is now in the home of a specialized WHS medical foster family where we are hopeful he will recover fully from his many injuries.

Can you help animals like Louie NOW?  Please donate to Sophie's Fund.


Zoey
An approximately two-year-old female cat, Zoey was surrendered to WHS because her owner could no longer care for her. Zoey arrived with severe infections and corneal ulcers in both eyes, was suffering ocular pain, and had lost her sight in both eyes. Upon examination, our medical team diagnosed Zoey with eyelid agenesis, an uncommon birth defect found mostly in cats. Her eyes were not protected by eyelids and were constantly subjected to dust and hair. Additionally, the defect prevented her eyes from being properly hydrated and they were likely irritated, aggravated, and inflamed her entire life. Our veterinarian team successfully removed her damaged eyes, and no long term complications are expected. Zoey had already learned to find her way around tactically and will now be pain free. She is currently recovering with a specialized WHS foster family and will be available for adoption soon.

Can you help animals like Zoey NOW? Please donate to Sophie's Fund.


Bamboo
Bamboo is a four-week-old puppy who was surrendered to WHS after an alleged accident in which a large speaker fell on her head. Her owner said her family could not afford veterinary care. It was clear from visual inspection upon her arrival at WHS that Bamboo’s head was damaged, and she was rushed to Friendship Hospital for Animals. Radiographs revealed that Bamboo had a sinus fracture, with air build-up in her skull. She was stabilized, put on a catheter, placed under close observation because of abnormal neurological symptoms, and monitored for seizures. While she has some weakness in her rear legs, possibly due to a spinal injury, she does feel them and has motor function, so we remain cautiously optimistic. Bamboo spent a few days at the hospital and is now being fostered by the WHS Medical Director who can closely observe her progress and determine her best regime for recovery.

Can you help animals like Bamboo NOW? Please donate to Sophie's Fund.

All of our injured animals deserve the love, care, and hope that Louie, Zoey, and Bamboo are receiving.

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Panda May Have Faked Pregnancy for More Buns, Bamboo

A giant panda slated to be the star of the first-ever live broadcast of the birth of panda cubs has lost the role -- after it was discovered the bear is not pregnant after all, Chinese state media reported.

Not only was it a phantom pregnancy, but zookeepers suspect the panda, Ai Hin, may have been faking it to improve her quality of life, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding told Xinhua on Monday.

Ai Hin, age 6, had shown signs of pregnancy, including a change in appetite, moving less and an increase in progestational hormone in July, according to Xinhua.

But after almost two months, she began acting normally again, zookeepers said.

Experts say pandas sometimes carry on the behaviors associated with early pregnancy after noticing that they get preferential treatment, the news agency reported.

"After showing prenatal signs, the 'mothers-to-be' are moved into single rooms with air conditioning and around-the-clock care," Wu Kongju, an expert at the Chengdu base, is quoted as saying.

"They also receive more buns, fruits and bamboo, so some clever pandas have used this to their advantage to improve their quality of life."

The birth of Ai Hin's supposed cub and its progress in its early days, from its first cries to acquiring its distinctive black-and-white fur, were due to be broadcast online to panda lovers in China and worldwide.

Giant pandas are notoriously reluctant to breed in captivity and pseudo-pregnancies are common.

The female is fertile for no more than three days a year, and the time span for a pregnancy is from 80 to 200 days, according to the Chengdu base. Scientists will closely monitor behavioral and physiological signs, but it's often a guessing game.

Even if a pregnancy proves genuine, baby pandas have very low survival rates. According to the Chengdu base, only a third to a half of pandas born in Chinese captivity manage to survive past infancy.

There was good news last month, though, when a panda gave birth to a healthy set of triplets in China's Chimelong Safari Park in the southern city of Guangzhou. The cubs are thought to be the only living panda triplets in the world.

Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland thinks its panda, Tian Tian, could be the next to produce a cub, based on the latest scientific tests, but there are no guarantees.

"It is very likely that we will not know 100% if Tian Tian is pregnant until she gives birth," Iain Valentine, Director of giant pandas for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said earlier this month.

As few as 1,600 giant pandas survive in the mountain forests of central China, according to the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo in Washington. More than 300 pandas live in zoos and breeding centers around the world, most of them in China.

This picture taken on July 17, 2014 shows giant panda Ai Hin sitting in its enclosure at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Centre in Chengdu, in southwest China's Sichuan's province. Hopes that tiny panda paws would be seen in the world's first live-broadcast cub delivery were dashed on August 26, 2014 when Chinese experts suggested the mother may have been focusing more on extra bun rations than giving birth. (Photo: STR AFP/Getty Images))

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National Dog Day Turns Into Military Canine Lovefest on Twitter

Veterans and U.S. service members shared pictures of the canines they encountered while deployed.

Perhaps you’ve heard that today is National Dog Day. According to the website devoted to the occasion, it was founded in 2004 to honor dogs for “their endearing patience, unquestioning loyalty, for their work protecting our streets, homes and families.”

The holiday sparked the hash tag #NationalDogDay, in which Twitter users posted photographs of their favorite dogs. And that quickly turned to veterans and U.S. service members sharing pictures of military working dogs and other canines they encountered while deployed.

Consider this first one, from Thomas Gibbons-Neff:
Click on image to enlarge.




The Pentagon’s official account also got in on the act:
Click on image to enlarge.




So did the Air Force and the Marines:

                     Click on images to enlarge.

     

Here are a few examples of dogs at work:
                                         
                                             Click on images to enlarge.

                 


And some examples of military service dogs getting love:

                                                 Click on images to enlarge.

                 

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An 88-year-old Hamden, Connecticut Woman Who Opened Her Sliding Door to Let in Her Cat Was Attacked by a Raccoon

An 88-year-old Hamden woman who opened her sliding door to let in her cat was attacked when the animal she was petting turned out to be a raccoon.

The woman had opened the door of her Brinsmade Road home at 11 p.m. Sunday after hearing a sound to let in her cat, but unbeknownst to her, a raccoon followed her cat inside, police said.

The raccoon attacked her while she petted it, thinking it was her cat, and it bit her elbow, hand, forearm, lip and chin, police said.

"She's a tough old bird," said the victim's son, Malcolm McKernan. "She fought it off and was able to call on the phone. That's pretty remarkable."

Police said the raccoon charged at two officers when they arrived on scene. They were able to get it outside, where the animal was euthanized.

Hamden's Animal Control Division took the raccoon to the Connecticut Public Health Laboratory to be tested for rabies.

The victim was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital, and she was treated and released.
She received a round of rabies shots just in case, and McKernan said they should receive the test results within the next day or so.

The victim spoke to NBC Connecticut at her home Monday and said she was doing well.