We love our pets. Two thirds of Americans live with an animal, and according to a 2011 Harris poll, 90 percent of pet owners think of their dogs and cats as members of the family. These relationships have benefits. For example, in a survey by the American Animal Hospital Association, 40 percent of married female dog owners reported they received more emotional support from their pet than from their husband or their kids. The pet products industry calls this “the humanization of pets.” One of my colleagues recently spent $12,000 on cancer treatments for her best friend Asha, a Labrador retriever. Newspaper editors tell me stories about animal abuse often generate more responses from upset readers than articles about violence directed toward humans. But do Americans really care more about pets than people? Take, for example, police shootings. The FBI claims that about 400 people a year are killed by police in “justifiable homicides.” The number of incidents in which cops shoot dogs is very hard to pin down. You sometimes hear the claim that a dog is shot by a police officer “every 98 minutes.” That’s would be about 5,000 dogs a year. But Merritt Clifton, editor of Animals 24-7 thinks, based on his analyses of media reports, that the number of dogs killed each year in “confrontational incidents” with cops is probably between 300 and 500 – about the same as human cop shootings. On July 8, 2014, Jeanetta Riley, pregnant and a mother of two, was killed by police officers outside a hospital in Sandpoint, Idaho. Riley reportedly had a history of drug addiction and alcoholism, and she was drunk, incoherent, and waving a filet knife at the three police officers who showed up at the hospital. A dashboard video camera mounted on one of the police cars shows that Riley was at least 10 feet from the cops when they opened fire. Why the police opted to shoot Riley rather than zap a 100-pound woman with one of the Tasers they were carrying is unclear. The officers were subsequently exonerated, no apology was given to Riley’s family, and the story never made national news until it was recently dredged up by a reporter from The Guardian. Fast forward 14 hours and travel 50 miles south to a café in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho where Craig Jones was eating lunch, having locked his dog Arfee in the cab of his van. Jones had rolled the windows part-way down so the dog would stay cool. Unfortunately, when the two-year old black Lab mix started barking, someone called the cops. Officer Dave Kelly caught the call. Kelly later claimed that when he approached the van, Arfee (who was initially described as a vicious pit bull) lunged at him, though the van’s window was mostly rolled up. Kelly put a bullet in Arfee’s chest. This time the media did respond. A headline in the New York Daily News proclaimed “Idaho Cop Shoots, Kills Adorable Black Lab Named Arfee After Mistaking Him For Aggressive Pit Bull.” A “Justice For Arfee” Facebook Page was soon created, and a shadowy organization called “Anonymous” posted several ominous videos on YouTube vaguely threatening Coeur d’Alene police officers with retribution. Two months later, when a police review board ruled that the shooting of the dog was unjustified, the citizens of Coeur d’Alene staged a “Justice for Alfee” rally, demanding that Officer Kelly be fired. The police department issued an official apology to Jones who was awarded $80,000 in damages for the loss of his pet. Testing the Pets Over People Hypothesis As The Guardian article indicates, the mismatch between the public outrage over the shootings of a dog and a pregnant mom a mere 14 hours and 50 miles apart is striking. But was this an aberration? In the wake of Ferguson and now South Carolina, police shootings of human beings have been big news. Do the tragic cases of Jeanetta Riley and Arfee support the view that our love of animals trumps our concern for people? Two sociologists at Northeastern University have tested the claim that people are more upset by news stories of animal abuse than they are about attacks directed toward humans. The researchers, Arnold Arluke, an authority on human-animal relationships, and Jack Levin, an expert on serial killers and mass murders, had college students read fake news accounts on a crime wave in Boston. For instance, one of the articles included the statement, “According to witnesses present, one particularly vicious assault involved a one-year-old puppy that was beaten with a baseball bat by an unknown assailant. Arriving on the scene a few minutes after the attack, a police officer found the victim with one broken leg, multiple lacerations, and unconscious. No arrests have been made in the case.” The subjects in the experiment did not know the articles were bogus. Nor did they know that there were actually four slightly different versions of the newspaper articles, each portraying a different victim: a puppy, an adult dog, a human infant, or a human adult. After they read one of the four news stories, each subject completed a scale which measured how much empathy and emotional distress they felt for the victim of the beating. Arluke and Levin reported the results of their study at the 2013 meeting of the American Sociological Association. As you might guess, the story in which the victim was a human adult elicited, by far, the lowest levels of emotional distress in the readers. The “winner” when it came to evoking empathy was not the puppy but the human infant. The puppy, however, came in a close second with the adult dog not far behind. Arluke and Levin concluded that species is important when it comes to generating sympathy with the downtrodden. But they argued that the critical difference in responses to the stories was based on our special concern for creatures that are innocent and defenseless. Save Your Dog or a Stranger? In another experiment, psychologists at Georgia Regents University also explored circumstances in which people value animals over human lives. In the study, 573 individuals were asked who they would save in a series of hypothetical scenarios in which a dog and a person were in the path of an out-of-control bus. The researchers found that decisions to save the person or the dog were affected by three factors. The first: who the person in danger was. The subjects were much more likely to save the dog over a foreign tourist than, say, their best friend or a sibling. The second factor was the dog. Forty percent of participants said they would save their personal pet at the expense of a foreign tourist. But only 14 percent claimed they would sacrifice the tourist when the animal in the scenario was described generically as “a dog.” Finally, as other studies have found, women care more about animals than men do. In the run-away-bus scenario, female subjects were nearly twice as likely as males to say they would save a dog over a person. Living With Moral Inconsistency The bottom line is that, at least in some circumstances, we do value animals over people. But the differences in public outrage over the deaths of Jeanetta Riley and Arfee illustrate a more general point. It is that our attitudes to other species are fraught with inconsistency. We share the earth with roughly 40,000 other kinds of vertebrate animals, but most of us only get bent out of shape over the treatment of a handful of species. You know the ones: the big-eye baby seals, circus elephants, chimpanzees, killer whales at Sea World, etc. And while we deeply love our pets, there is little hue and cry over the 24 horses that die on race tracks in the United States each week, let alone the horrific treatment of the nine billion broiler chickens American consume annually. Most people, it seems, live easily with what the environmental philosopher Chris Diehm calls “the paradox of the cats in our houses and cows on our plates.” Go figure. Source: Hal Herzog
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Allowing dogs at the office can be beneficial to a company's bottom line. Benefits of dogs in the workplace include increased morale and productivity, happier employees, lower absenteeism rates and even improved relationships among co-workers. A recent study out of Central Michigan University reveals that dogs in the workplace can lead to more trust between co-workers and that leads to more collaboration among team members. A 2006 survey from The American Pet Product Manufacturers Association (APPMA) reports that nearly one in five American companies allows pets in the workplace. The following 10 companies are just a few of the thousands of dog-friendly workplaces across the U.S. (Text: Melissa Hincha-Ownby)
Replacements, Ltd. Did you just break a plate from Grandma's beloved antique china set? If so, Replacements, Ltd. may be able to save the day. The company is the go-to place to find a missing piece of fine china, crystal or silver. One would think that china and dogs wouldn't be a good mix, but Replacements, Ltd. has been a dog-friendly workplace for years. A news release from 2003 touts the relaxed, blue-jeans atmosphere where more than 30 employees have brought their furry friends to work. The company has also been featured in articles about dogs in the workplace by both USA Today and CBS News.
Google Google is home to one of the most employee-friendly workplaces in the world. Employees can eat lunch at one of the company's free gourmet cafes, visit the onsite hair salon or laundry center, get a massage — and bring their dog to work. Google's dog policy provides employees with a basic set of guidelines including cleaning up after the dog makes and being mindful of allergic co-workers. The Google Code of Conduct specifically addresses cats at work, and the news is not good for feline fans: "Google's affection for our canine friends is an integral facet of our corporate culture. We like cats, but we're a dog company, so as a general rule we feel cats visiting our offices would be fairly stressed out."
P&G Pet Care Iams and Eukanuba are just two of the many brands under the Procter & Gamble label. Employees of P&G's Pet Care division in the Cincinnati area are welcome to bring their dogs to work every day, not just on Take Your Dog To Work Day. The company even has a V.P. of Canine Communications, Euka (pictured right). Euka, a cross between a Labrador retriever and a Bernese mountain dog, will be retiring next year after eight years of service. P&G Pet Care recently announced that Pawl Griffin (left), a Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen, is already in training to jump into the V.P. role.
Ben & Jerry's If you're an ice cream lover, Ben & Jerry's offer to employees of three free pints of ice cream, frozen yogurt or sorbet every day is a big perk. If you're also a dog lover, Ben & Jerry's could be the ideal place to work because you can bring your pooch to the office. Sean Greenwood, public relations spokesperson for the company, describes what interviewees may see when they visit the company, "If they sit in the lobby for a few minutes, they're more than likely to see a dog going outside. I'll say, 'Oh yeah, we're a dog-friendly place. It's part of the tour. This is the design department — Momo is there; Jack is in R&D, Allison's in retail, Scout is brand new ... ' They're just like your co-workers."
Autodesk Autodesk employees are offered a generous benefits package including a six-week paid sabbatical every four years, paid time off between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day, discounts on a variety of group insurance options and, of course, the option of bringing their dogs to work. About 5 percent of the company's nearly 7,000 employees take advantage of this benefit. According to Michael Oldenburg, Autodesk spokesman, "Having a pet also encourages employees to take breaks during the day that they may not take if they didn't have a pet."
Build-A-Bear Workshop Build-A-Bear Workshop has taken a love for stuffed animals to a new level — children of all ages can visit a Build-A-Bear Workshop and create a custom stuffed animal to cherish forever. The company's love of animals goes beyond the stuffed kind, however. Employees at the World Bearquarters (a.k.a. the world headquarters) can bring their dogs to work. The company even has a chief executive dog, Milford, who celebrates his birthday every year by throwing a grand party for the other company dogs. Build-A-Bear Workshop's dog-friendly workplace policy is just one reason the company has been named one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For three years in a row.
Klutz Klutz's product line includes fun crafts, drawing books, games, puzzles, chicken socks and more. The company, which was founded in 1977 in Palo Alto, Calif., had a rather casual approach to allowing dogs in the workplace. Klutz co-founder John Cassidy shared his story with Carrie Boyko of the All Things Dog Blog, who wrote: "When an employee with a well-behaved dog expressed interest in having his furry friend tag along to work, John felt there was no particular reason not to okay it." And with that, Klutz joined the growing list of dog-friendly employers.
Humane Society Believe it or not, the Humane Society headquarters facility in Gaithersburg, Md., didn't become a dog-friendly workplace until 2007. While one would have expected the Humane Society to be a leader in the dogs-at-work movement, the organization took its time to ensure that everything was done right. To bring their dog to work, employees must submit an application. Once the application is approved, vaccinated dogs are placed on a six-week probation. If everything goes well, the dog can become a permanent member of the workplace. The organization's careful planning has paid off; since its inception four years ago, no dogs have been removed from the program.
Amazon Internet retail giant Amazon is also a dog-friendly workplace. Visitors to the company's corporate headquarters in Seattle can expect to find between two and three dozen dogs on any given day. Any employee interested in bringing a pet to work must first register the animal as a workplace dog, ensure that the dog is up-to-date on vaccinations and once in the workplace, the dog must remain on a leash unless it is behind a baby gate or in an office with a closed door.
Clif Bar & Company Clif Bar operates its business based on five aspirations: sustaining our planet, sustaining our community, sustaining our people, sustaining our business and sustaining our brands. Part of the sustaining our people aspiration is allowing employees to bring their dogs to work. Clif Bar's furry friends are featured in the company's blog from time to time — including a story about Scrubby, who made off with someone's bagel during a company meeting. Clif Bar's dog-friendly workplace policy helped the company earn a spot on Outside magazine's Best Places to Work of 2010 list.
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Meet Smoke! This lovable guy went on a hike this weekend with one of our volunteers. He did great and loved being outside! He is patiently waiting for his forever home. We can't believe he hasn't been scooped up yet! Everyone who meets Smoke, loves him! He is gentle, loving, and calm; an all around great dog! To learn more about Smoke and submit an application please visit his Petfinder page. Smoke is such a sweet boy! He is a gentle giant and loves people of all ages. He also gets along really well with dogs, but not cats. Are you able to give this sweet, laid-back boy the home he deserves? Breed Estimate: Bluetick Hound Gender: Male Approximate weight: 70lbs Approximate age: 6 years of age Location: Homeward Trails Adoption Center Cratetrained: Yes Coat Type: Short Personality: Sweet and loving The adoption fee for this dog is $275. This fee INCLUDES spay/neuter. If the animal you are adopting is not already spayed/neutered, you will be required to sign a contract legally obligating you to have the animal altered. Please contact your HT rep to learn about exclusive low-cost spay/neuter options made available only to HT adopters! Be sure to ask us about getting a free 30-minute phone consult with a professional dog trainer within the first 30 days of adopting - just for HT adopters. Start your new dog out on the right foot with this valuable, expert advice and guidance FREE! Finally, we are proud to partner with the following veterinarians who offer a free first exam for your animal, exclusively for HT adopters: Caring Hands Animal Hospital, Palisades Veterinary Clinic, Sunshine Animal Hospital and Clarendon Animal Care You can save animals like this one by becoming a foster! Fosters are like way stations between high kill shelters and forever homes. We need fosters so that we can save dogs before they are euthanized at the shelters. If you are interested in becoming a foster, please check out our information about fostering by visiting http://www.homewardtrails.org/foster-a-pet/dog-and-cat-foster-program/ To learn more about Smoke, click here: PETFINDER
Homeward Trails Animal Rescue PO Box 100968 Arlington, Virginia 22210
Firefighters are known for tackling fires, responding to serious accidents, and even rescuing cats from trees. But across the UK they are being trained to cope with large animals that have got into difficulty. The BBC's Sian Lloyd visited the Animal Rescue team from Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service.
As we enter the height of the tax season, it's natural to think about getting some relief related to the countless dollars we spend each year on our pups. Getting a tax break on pet care has been proposed before, without success, but recently there has been new energy around getting a law passed. This time the relief would be specific to rescue pups. Deductions related to fostering is already allowed, but does not include expenses related to adoption. Since January, four bills have been drafted in New York State that would offer a tax credit to residents who adopt a pet. City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras says that the tax credit would encourage more people to adopt, bringing relief to the state's shelters. She estimates that 3 million animals in New York shelters are euthanized each year due to overcrowding. Click on links below: S4576-2015, sponsored by Sen. Phil Boyle, R-Nassau County, would offer $100 per dog or cat, with a maximum of 3 adopted pets covered per household S2894A-2015, sponsored by Sen. Kevin Parker, D-Brooklyn, would offer $100 per dog, cat, or other animal, with a maximum of 3 pets A5182-2015, sponsored by Assemblymember Alec Brook-Krasny, D-Brooklyn, would offer a single $350 credit for a dog or cat S3670-2015, sponsored by Sen. Patty Ritchie, R-Heuvelton, would offer $500 per household pet, with a maximum of 3 pets — which means a credit of up to $1,500 If one of these bills is approved and signed by the governor, it would make New York the first state in the nation to offer a tax credit like this. I certainly welcome anything that will get adoption numbers up, but I'm also sensitive to the fact that state budgets are already stretched thin. In 2012, a similar bill was defeated in Pennsylvania by a tiny margin--97-96, so it's clearly a divided issue. Are you for the adoption tax credit?
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Snakes are fascinating, and with regular handling can be quite tame. However, snakes are obviously not the right pets for everyone. They have unique requirements and should only be kept by those with the commitment to understand and meet their needs. If you are new to pet snakes, find out what you should consider before deciding on a pet snake, and what species are the best snakes for beginners. Choosing a Snake as a Pet - First Things First When choosing a snake, you are making a long term commitment - many can be expected to live longer than 20 years. You must be willing to feed prey animals to your snake (though frozen, pre-killed prey is the best choice), and you will probably have to devote some freezer space to frozen prey items (i.e. rodents). Snakes are very adept escape artists, so make sure you have an escape-proof tank, keeping in mind that snakes are persistent about finding and squeezing through any small gaps. Finally, as beautiful as they are, I strongly recommend against anyone keeping large constricting snakes or venomous snakes. About Choosing Your Snake Get a captive bred snake from a reputable breeder, if at all possible. Wild caught snakes tend to be more stressed and prone to parasites and disease, and more difficult to tame. For more about the advantages of captive bred reptiles, see Should I Get a Wild Caught or Captive Bred Reptile? You will also want to do a cursory exam of your snake to check for any signs of illness: see Choosing a Healthy Reptile for areas and signs to look at. It also doesn't hurt to ask for a feeding demonstration, to make sure your new snake is readily taking pre-killed prey and feeding well. Ball pythons are somewhat notorious for having feeding problems, so this is especially a good idea with ball pythons (though if you get a captive breed ball python it seems less likely that feeding problems will crop up). Recommended Beginner Snakes These are all reasonably sized, fairly easy to care for, and tend to be quite docile: Corn Snakes King and Milk Snakes Ball Pythons Snakes to Avoid Beginners should avoid large constricting snakes, venomous snakes, and snakes with more difficult care requirements, including such snakes as: Boa constrictors / red-tailed boas (not as large as some constricting snakes, but still a handful, especially for beginners) Burmese pythons Tree boas or pythons Water snakes Green snakes Snakes Not Recommended as Pets at All Snakes that are potentially very dangerous (to their owners or others around them) are best avoided as pets, including: Reticulated pythons Anacondas Any venomous snakes General Pet Snake Information for Beginners
Feeding Snakes: Pre-Killed vs Live Prey - feeding pre-killed prey is recommended, since a live rodent can inflict some serious wounds on a snake in self defence (bonus: it is more convenient to keep a supply of frozen prey in your freezer than raising or buying live animals for feeding).
How to Provide a Thermal Gradient - snakes need to be able to regulate their body temperature by moving between cooler and warmer areas. Providing a gradient and making sure the warm side of the tank is warm enough are essential to your snake's health and ability to digest its meals.
Signs a Snake is About to Shed- there are some fairly common signs in a snake about to shed that might seem a bit alarming to a new snake owner.
How to Find and Escaped Pet - just in case your new snake turns out to be an escape artist, this general information on finding lost pets might help you track down your pet (keep in mind, a snake will most likely head for a warm, enclosed space).
Constricting Snakes - some cautions about larger constricting snakes and handling guidelines, along with information specific to boas and pythons.
Whatever snake is chosen, new owners should be familiar with the proper care and feeding, the behavioral characteristics, and the commitment required to keep the snake.
It’s not much of a conundrum, really. The bottom line is that most of the time, dogs will lick their people as a sign of affection. “You are the sun and the moon,” their silky tongue would have you know. “And guess what? You taste good, too!” But much as barking can be, licking is also a multi-faceted tool that seems to play many roles in canine behavior and, consequently, tends towards many different interpretations. Here’s a list of the many ways in which we humans have come to understand this culturally alien mode of communication: Licking is a natural instinct in dogs. When a mother licks her pups and her pups lick each other during the course of grooming and other social interactions, we’re observing quintessential licking behavior in dogs. Indeed, this behavior is held up as one that may serve as the basis for all other licking decisions a dog makes. Licking can play a role in the solicitation of resources, as when pups lick their mothers as a precursor to feeding or when lower-ranking pack members lick their superiors in the hopes of an invitation to dine on communal prey. It’s just another sensory tool, say some researchers. Licking (and tasting) is like reaching out and touching something –– a sort of slobbery exploration. Canine attention-seeking behavior often incorporates the tongue. Dogs often lick you to get your attention or as a simple greeting. As in, “Hey, I’m here. I’m cute. Pet me.” Licking may be a way of playing. Many dogs who’s owners report as engaging in excessive licking behavior may be substituting their tongue for their teeth in the reserved dog’s version of a raucous play-fight. In many cases, licking is a learned behavior. Dogs learn that when they lick their owners they get more attention, so they come to incorporate licking into more and more of their daily behaviors. But what happens when extreme licking happens? Extreme licking tends to be defined not so much by the dog as it is by the human beholder of the behavior. As such, any unwanted display of lingual attention –– even just a couple of polite laps every so often –– could be construed as excessive. In these cases it’s considered more of a human problem than an animal problem. After all, dogs will lick. It’s in their nature. Nevertheless, dogs can be trained to turn the tap off, so to speak. Finding a veterinary behaviorist or certified dog trainer to aid in this process is strongly recommended. Of course there are those times when licking may take on abnormal tones. Dogs who suffer certain types of obsessive-compulsive behaviors may manifest these as excessive licking. Typically, however, dogs affected by these behavioral disorders will turn to objects, or more often, themselves, by way of displaying their outsized penchant for licking. All dog owners observing this behavior are encouraged to seek out the assistance of a veterinarian or veterinary behaviorist for assistance. Many of these patients can be treated successfully so that their life might include more than what they might find at the end of their tongue.
A zoo in the Netherlands posted a YouTube video that showed how a chimpanzee -- annoyed at the drone zipping by her -- used a tree branch to knock it to the ground. Once the intelligent apes discovered the spying plane ... they immediately armed themselves with long sticks.. In the video, a female chimp sitting on a tree limb lunges forward as the drone files by. Her first swing, a powerful downward stroke, misses. But she nails the copter with a backstroke. The drone spins out of control and comes crashing down. Then an ape, maybe the same one, runs over and inspects the GoPro camera underneath the drone. The zoo said the drone was destroyed.
