Monday, May 4, 2015
Fairfax County Police Department: Meet CJ, Our Newest K9 Recruit
It's Me or the Dog
But this was a nascent long-distance relationship, and she had just flown more than 5,000 miles from London to Los Angeles to see me, so she let it slide.
Since then, and even though she now adores Whisky (or claims to), she insists that “normal people” don’t share their beds with dogs. After she pointed out — while prying her expensive-looking jacket from beneath a snoring Whisky — that my canine companion seemed perfectly content to sleep almost anywhere, I began to question it myself.
Am I the unreasonable party? Who’s really deciding where Whisky sleeps, me or the dog? My girlfriend is British; I wondered if allowing one’s dog to share one’s duvet is a distinctly American custom, like Thanksgiving or the Super Bowl.
“Don’t get me wrong,” she said one afternoon. “It’s very attractive to me that you’re able to care for another living being. I love that. But it’s a step too far. It’s like having another person in the bed.”
The practice of sharing one’s bed with a dog, I discovered, is hardly modern. In “Cynegeticus,” a treatise on hunting, the ancient Greek historian Arrian of Nicomedia wrote, “There is nothing like a soft warm bed for greyhounds; but it is best for them to sleep with men — as they become thereby affectionately attached — pleased with the contact of the human body.”
To read more on this story, click here: It’s Me or the Dog
Do People Really Keep Insects at Pets? Would You Ever Keep One as a Pet?
Children are fascinated by insects, but many of us eventually grow out of wanting to catch a firefly and keep it in a jar. For the people who never lose that urge, though, it can lead in directions that might be surprising.
"Roaches actually make really good pets," says Scott Martin of Rockville, Maryland.
Used to skeptics, enthusiasts will explain that not all cockroaches are created equal.
Orin McMonigle is author of more than a dozen books on keeping pet insects, produces a magazine for hobbyists and even has a species of roach named after him. He doesn't like vermin scurrying about his kitchen any more than you do.
"I do not like pest cockroaches, I do not like mosquitoes, I do not like lice, I do not like German cockroaches. I just like the neat ones," says McMonigle, who in fact used to be a licensed pest control operator. "By knowing the difference, I'm able to appreciate the neat ones."
The most common pet roach is the hissing cockroach, 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.6 centimeters) long. Its name comes from the sound it makes when disturbed, although it may lose that habit when it gets used to being handled. Hissers make a good display not only due to their size, but also because they don't instinctively hide.
If one were to escape, McMonigle says, the only danger would be to the insect itself. Hissing cockroaches can't survive on their own in the typical home, where the temperature and humidity are unsuitable and they can't find food.
"If you let a thousand hissers loose in your house, they're not going to do anything," he says. "There's over 4,000 species of roaches, and only about 25 are classified as pests, and only five of those are any good at it."
A parallel might be to an escape by guinea pigs, he says: Just because they're related to mice doesn't mean they can take up residence in your walls and start breeding.
Hissers aren't the only roaches kept by hobbyists, and McMonigle says there are even species that only exist in captivity. One mutation with white eyes, originally discovered in a deep coal mine, has been bred since the 1940s. Another species that was found only around a cave that was destroyed by mining is extinct in the wild.
If you're still not convinced about roaches, McMonigle notes that their closest relative is an insect that many people love: the praying mantis.
Yen Saw of Katy, Texas, has been keeping mantises for nearly 10 years, since his son got interested in them. "But then he conveniently left the hard work to me and I got hooked," Saw says.
With insects, you can breed many generations in a limited space and over a short time. And unlike more conventional pets, they don't just get larger as they grow, but metamorphose through several different forms.
"I love the process of seeing them growing," says Saw.
Owners of some kinds of insects can also observe a natural behavior that might be too gruesome with other pets: predation. Insect keepers typically raise insects to feed their insects — in fact, Martin started out keeping spiders and raising roaches as food, before getting interested in the roaches for their own sake.
Mantises, despite their charm, are hunters, and have no mercy even on their own relatives. When asked how many mantises he has right now, Saw laughs and says, "The number keeps changing because praying mantises, as you know, they eat each other."
Since hundreds hatch at a time, this behavior helps keep the size of a collection manageable. It's also one of the insect's claims to fame: The female has a habit of eating the male's head after mating, although the frequency of that has been exaggerated, Saw says. He's watched mantises breed many times, and says, "The males are really careful trying not to lose their heads." And in captivity, the risk can be minimized simply by feeding the female first, so she's not hungry.
If you doubt how devoted a person can be to what others consider creepy and crawly, here's one last fact about Saw: When he started to develop allergy symptoms and his doctor diagnosed an allergy to roaches, he realized that also meant he was allergic to his pet mantises. "It was devastating for me," he said.
But that didn't stop him. Now, he says, "when I go into my insect room, I have to wear a mask and gloves. But I love my hobby so I'll do whatever I have to."
American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Responds to Washington Post Op-Ed Critical of Veterinarians
Peter Fenton’s article, “Vets are too expensive, and it’s putting pets at risk,” described every pet owner’s greatest fear, a life-threatening injury and the inability to pay for its care. We know that this situation is a reality for many pet owners. However, we object to any suggestion that veterinarians are primarily motivated by anything other than providing the best care possible to their patients. As with Mr. Fenton’s cat Orangey, sometimes veterinarians are forced to perform only the essential procedures needed to save an animal’s life. We’re glad that Orangey appears to have made a full recovery as a consequence of the care he received from his veterinarian.
To read more on this story, click here: American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Responds to Washington Post Op-Ed Critical of Veterinarians
Homemade Dog Ice Cream
And just like any concerned mother I want all of my children to have the very best of what I can provide for them. If you’re not new here, you may remember that this year I decided to start making our own dog treats after my neighbor’s dogs got incredibly sick and almost died from some tainted dog treats. To say it put me on super high alert was an understatement. I quickly became an ingredient reading fool when it came to anything on the market for our pets, and that included reading the dog ice cream label that they loved!
While I didn’t find anything particularly bad with the ready made ice cream, I did notice a lot of unnecessary ingredients in them. Mainly, just to pro-long the freezer shelf life. I figured if I’m going the extra mile to make them treats I might as well continue on with their nightly before bed treat too. Yep…spoiled.
To read more on this story, click here: Homemade Dog Ice Cream
In Honor of the Princess's Birth, the Australian Government Will Donate Aus$10,000 (US$7,826) to a Victorian State Wildlife Sanctuary to Support Research into the Mountain Pygmy-Possum
Fervent Royalist Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the blanket made from Tasmanian merino wool and stitched with the nation's floral emblem, the wattle, would be sent to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after their new baby arrived on Saturday.
The donation amount of Aus$10,000 (US$7,826) will be sent to a Victorian state wildlife sanctuary to support research of the Mountain Pygmy-possum.
"The Mountain Pygmy-possum is Australia's only hibernating marsupial. There are fewer than 2,000 left in the wild," Abbott said of the endangered animal which can fit into the palm of a human hand and weighs only 45 grams.
The animal-themed gift chimes with Australia's presents to older brother George on his birth in 2013, when the baby prince was given a crocodile which hatched on the day his conception was announced.
The princess, who is fourth in line to the British throne, was born in London on Saturday, triggering global interest including in Australia where her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II is head of state.
Dog Found Living Inside Tree Trunk Looking For 'Very Patient' Home
“She thinks the world’s out to get her,” Shirley Zindler, a Sonoma County animal control officer and the author of The Secret Life of Dog Catchers, told The Huffington Post.
Zindler said her department received a call a couple of weeks ago from a resident of a rural area in Sonoma County, California. The caller said that a small stray dog had been there for at least a week and appeared to be living inside a large tree. The tree was located near what Zindler described as “common dumping ground” -- place where people frequently drive to abandon their dogs.
Zindler said it took a few hours for her and other officers to coax the 7-pound, underweight dog -- which she described as looking like a “generic chihuahua” -- out of a knothole in the trunk. Another officer on the scene named the dog “Boo” after Boo Radley, the character in To Kill A Mockingbird who left gifts for children in a tree knothole.
Estimated to be less than a year old, Boo was pregnant, but none of her puppies survived.
Boo probably hasn’t had many positive interactions with humans, Zindler told HuffPost. As a result, she was very wary of people. Zindler said she is making progress, but “it’s very, very slow.”
To read more on this story, click here: Dog Found Living Inside Tree Trunk Looking For 'Very Patient' Home
Tiny, Eight-Week-Old Kitten Has Eyebrow Shaped Markings That Make Him Look Permanently Surprised
The eight-week-old kitten has gone viral since his owners appropriately named him 'Concerned Kitten'.
Owner, Andy Entwistle, 40, said, "When he was born there were just these two little black blotches on his forehead.
As he grew they got bigger and started to spread out. We started saying how confused he looked so I named him 'Concerned Kitten'."
The super-cute kitten from Bolton, Greater Manchester, was one of four born to mom, two-year-old, Luna, who is a 'a dalmatian cat' - white with black spots.
Andy and Caroline rehomed two of the kittens but they could not part with him or his sister, Amy, who has mobility issues.
Full-time mom Caroline said, "Because we've already got a couple of cats we hadn't really intended of keeping any from Luna's litter.
But when we saw his distinctive look we couldn't get rid of him looking like that."
"We love Grumpy Cat so we thought we'd give him a run for his money. 'We decided it was a great name for him. He can't be Confused Kitten all the time."
Andy, a program operator, and Caroline, who are parents to three-year-old Eden, four-year-old Arlen, six-year-old Caelen, and Carys, age 18, are quick to dismiss claims the eyebrows are drawn on.
"A lot of people have asked us if they're drawn on, but they're really not. It would be a bit cruel wouldn't it really." said, Caroline.
"But if anyone doesn't believe it, we're happy to try and rub them off. They're not going anywhere!" she added.
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