Studio City, CA - Former "CHiPs" star Erik Estrada is still protecting and serving, except now he's doing it for a pair of adorable dogs. The owner of Wylder's Holistic Pet Center & Rescue, says that Erik's teenage daughter stopped in this week and instantly fell in love with two terrier mixes. She quickly phoned dad, and talked him into paying for the adoptions. Erik loved the pups so much, he actually wanted to adopt three other dogs, but his wife talked him down to just the two dogs, who they named Nike and Shadow. While filling out the paperwork, Erik donated an additional $1,000 to the shelter.
Having photographed for National Geographic for the last 20 years, you learn never to promise someone that they will “make it” into the magazine. After seeing the story about exotic pets in the April issue, some of the folks represented in this post were happy not to be included in our coverage, feeling that the tone of the story would have cast them in an unflattering light. I spent the better part of 2013 photographing this world for the cover story that appears in the April edition of National Geographic magazine about Wild Pets. Exotic pet ownership is a very complicated and often controversial relationship that is often portrayed and understood in a narrow and simplistic way. The animals photographed were far from wild. Captive-bred for many generations, these animals can commonly be found in the homes and backyards of places like Indiana, Ohio, Florida, and Texas. I met committed and caring people who owned monkeys, chimpanzees, lions, tigers, cougar, venomous reptiles, bears, lemurs, kangaroos, bobcats, alligators, hedgehogs, and one with a capybara, a 130-pound rodent found commonly in Brazil. Surprisingly to me, very few of the people I met were advocates for owning an exotic pet, in fact, most said their best advice would be to tell people not to get an exotic pet. This wasn’t based in regret but issued as a cautionary note for potential owners about the extraordinary responsibility and commitment required to care for these animals. Each of these people came to be with these animals in different ways, and their relationships to these animals are just as different. Albert Killian, a gentle man fascinated by snakes, lives side by side with king cobras, Egyptian cobras and other extremely venomous snakes. His bedroom, where he keeps them, looks more like an exhibit in a zoo. He adores and respects an animal that doesn’t really give or receive affection. He has been bitten over 100 times. Conversely, for the last 33 years, Alison Pascoe Freedman was rarely more than an arms-length away from Amelia, her precocious and affectionate capuchin monkey. Amelia was a small animal and a large part of Alison’s life. The two went everywhere together as Alison often carried Amelia around in her pocket. I was really interested in the differences but also the similarities of these relationships. Were all monkey people like Alison? Was there such a thing as monkey person? I certainly knew that all monkeys were not Amelia. Enter Skunk Fest, the labor-of-love brainchild of Deborah Cipriani who lives with and cares for more than 50 skunks at her Ohio home. For the past 12 years it’s been a community event that connects skunk owners with each other and a curious public. To read more on this story, click here:Skunk Lovers Unite: A Look at Pets and Their People
Many photos of dogs go viral online, but one adoption agency hopes professional quality photos will make the pups even more appealing to potential adopters. Instead of snapping photos of dogs in their shelter pens, the Humane Society of Utah’s social-media coordinator Guinnevere Shuster decided to portray the animals in the popular photo booth format. “I was hoping that it would help change people’s options and perceptions of shelter dogs. Showing off the individual personalities of the dogs, instead of the sad ‘behind bars’ images that have become associated with shelter animals,” she told TIME. The agency says using social media has spurred a record-breaking number of adoptions, placing over 10,000 animals in homes in 2014. The group says the doggie photo booth campaign is set to break the record, just four months into 2015. The images are being shared on the Humane Society of Utah’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
The need to train a cat to eliminate in the right area arises in many situations, including when adopting a new cat, bringing an outdoor cat inside and getting a new kitten. Training a cat to eliminate in a litterbox sounds easy, and for many cat owners litterbox training is hassle free. But for those who face the challenge of their cats going in places such as carpeting and bedding, teaching them to use the proper area can seem like a monumental feat. Here are some quick tips for training your feline, from kitten to mature adult, to eliminate in the litterbox. 1. The first thing to do if you cat isn't using the litterbox is visit your veterinarian. There are numerous reasons cats may resist going to the litterbox, which are medically related. Your veterinarian can be a valuable resource in helping ensure that your cat eliminates in the right areas. 2. Keep the litterbox in an area separate from your cat's food and water, since cat's are naturally clean and unlikely to use the bathroom where they eat and drink. Ensure litterboxes are in easily accessible locations, such as rooms the cat freguents. The more out of the way litterboxes are such as in the basement, laundry room or garage, the less likely they will be used. Keep boxes on the ground for easy access, rather than high up and hidden. 3. Try different litterboxes. In general, most cats prefer uncovered boxes. The optimal size for a litterbox is at least as long as the cat from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail. Most cats prefer unscented, clumping litter as opposed to highly scented versions. 4. If your cat has an accident, use a pet-safe cleaner with enzyme-eating properties on the area to destroy the scent, which can prompt your cat to eliminate in the same place in the future. If your feline leaves only small amounts of urine, lower in volume than his normal elimination, or if he marks on vertical surfaces, the behavior may be linked to spraying. Spraying is different from inappropriate elimination outside the litterbox, and specific techniques, including reducing stress for the feline, need to be used to end the behavior. 5. Feline pheromones spritzed around your cat's living area can help calm your cat when you are adopting a new cat or during the transition from outdoors to indoors, further e encouraging proper litterbox use. Feliway is a synthetic pheromones that simulates the cheek pheromones in a cat that provide the feline with a sense of well-being and safety. The less stress a cat feels, the less likely he is to express stress through inappropriate elimination.
What a wild morning one New Jersey neighborhood had. Witnesses say the bear was running up and down the street around 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning. He was finally captured by animal control and by several cell phones. 13 year old Paige Delaney took a cell phone video from inside her home in Ridgewood New Jersey “It was kind of scary” she said. Ridgewood Police caught the bear in a front yard a few hours later. They tranquilized him with several darts. The bear was estimated to be 2 years old and 175 lbs. He didn't cause any damage but did cause quite a stir in a normally quiet neighborhood. The bear was not hurt and will be re-released.
This comes from dog rescuer Jennifer Quesenberry in Virginia: I know this is a long shot request, but these two girls really need our help. May and Princess — AGES: 8-9 Unknown with cats or kids. May and Princess are two female seniors who have been bred their entire lives. Their owner dumped them at a rural shelter in NC, saying “they weren’t in good shape.” The shelter has taken them to the vet, as they cannot walk and are dragging their legs. They suspect DM [degenerative myelopathy] and one may have hip dysplasia, but all blood work and x-rays looked good otherwise. They are both HW negative. We would like to keep these two in the same foster home. The shelter told us they lived with dogs in their previous home and do not pay attention to the shelter dogs. They are in a chain link kennel outside at this shelter, directly next to another GSD and seem to do well. They can be put to sleep at any time and are extremely urgent. I have been begging and pleading with everyone I know to pull these seniors, and am told they have NO commitment. With several people offering boarding we have decided that if money can be raised to have them boarded while we work out the details of where they go, then we will help them. Please help us save these girls. We need to commit TODAY to get them out. I set a high goal due to their current health and the unknown with taking them on. They will still need a foster, if you can help please email us at info@trainingrescues.org. We are 501c3 and your donation is tax-deductible. Thank you!
UPDATE: 04/11/15 I picked up May and Princess last night from a transport at 2:00am and dropped them off at my local emergency vet for boarding. Once we got there I realized just how pitiful their situation is. My heart stopped. Was this the right thing to do? Would they be better off with humane euthanasia? I went home and the four hours I slept were spent dreaming about them. This morning, I went to see them. They were completely different dogs! The shy withdrawn dogs were suddenly true GSDs – they just couldn’t walk! I had planned to bring them home with me for one night, but Princess wasn’t having it with my current dogs. She may have been defending herself or simply trying to play, but she was a feisty one. I went back into the vet and spent over an hour with them. I saw their true selves emerge. They can’t walk, but they can scoot and they loved every second of my attention. I went and bought new toys and after a brief moment of confusion and a few squeaks – they were all games! I spent over an hour tossing the toy back and forth, numerous ear rubs and just loving on them. It was difficult to leave, but I will be back in the morning.
These girls need a solution. The vet is not the place to be. Even though they were generous enough to donate their entire office to the girls, they need a real loving home. They have so much left in them. Please help us find that special home willing to give them the love they have deserved their whole lives. We have a vet appointment tomorrow. We hope there is something we can do, but our funds are really tight and we’re not sure what to expect. They both really need an MRI, but at this time we do not have enough money to order one. Training Rescue Dogs does TRANSPORTS! Contact here for details. If you would like to donate towards their boarding fees or medical care, please CLICK HERE. For updates, please follow our Facebook page. .
These are the amazing scenes when a woman opens up her front door to discover a baby owl standing on her porch. The young bird is not afraid of the woman and looks up towards her. The owl gently rocks from side to side during the minute-long video in an undetermined location in the United States. In the video clip, the two women are clearly captivated by the sight of the owl. One gushes: 'I just can't believe it. I thought it was a puppy dog, bug it's got claws.' She adds: 'I have never been this close to an owl before', to which her equally excited friend replies: 'Me neither'.
The sale of baby red-eared sliders in small plastic aquariums in Los Angeles' Chinatown and Fashion District continues unabated even though the sale of turtles with carapace lengths of four inches or less has been illegal for decades. According to Los Angeles Downtown News, the baby turtles can be found in many stores in the city's business districts with price tags ranging from $5 to $9 depending on the size of the housing in which the turtles are placed. California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman, Andrew Hughan told the paper that it is illegal for the stores to be selling the turtles and that the DFW conducts inspections sporadically in Chinatown and other business districts in the city and if they find stores that are not licensed to sell animals, or are selling turtles with carapace lengths of less than found inches, those animals will be confiscated. Store owners could also be fined up to $1,000 for illegally selling animals. The DFW, however, like most state departments in California, has had its budgets cut and doesn't have the resources to continuously police the business districts looking turtle vendors who violate the law. Before the FDA amended the 1975-era turtle ban law (enacted to reduce the spread of Salmonella) last month, turtles found for sale with carapace lengths of less than four inches were euthanized. The FDA said that alternatives to destruction should be pursued, including raising the animals until the carapace lengths exceed four inches, and donating the animals for scientific and educational purposes. The reality, Hughan said, is that other than a handful of surprise inspections a year, Fish and Wildlife lacks the resources to stay on top of the turtle vendors. However, should a violation be determined, Hughan said a fine of up to $1,000 can be imposed on the seller. Red-eared sliders are one of the most popular pet turtles in the reptile hobby. They grow to about 8-10 inches in length and are native to the Mississippi River drainages and can be found in most areas of the United States, including the state of Hawaii. They are also found in many countries in Asia and Europe. For more information on Red-Eared Slider Turtles, visit the websites below: Red-Eared Slider Care Sheet Turtles in Chinatown
