Those who love animals find it hard to imagine why anyone would ever inflict pain on our furry friends. A judge named Michael (Mike) Cicconetti from Ohio is the proud owner of a beautiful Bernese mountain dog and an overall animal enthusiast. He is committed to helping end animal abuse and neglect in his community and has set about to combat the problem in an unexpected way. He uses his sentencing power as a judge to choose sentences that he hopes will help the abusers understand why their behavior is so harmful. His ultimate goal is to get these people to stop treating their pets in such heartless ways. For example, one local woman got in trouble with the law for allowing her dog to live in a filthy environment. She ended up in Judge Mike's courtroom. So when it came time for him to hand down her sentence, he decided to allow her to have a brief glimpse into what the poor pooch's life had been like under her abuse and neglect. He sentenced the woman to have to spend eight straight hours sitting in a stench-filled dump. To read more on this story, click here:This Clever Judge Turns The Tables On Animal Abusers With A Dose Of Their Own Medicine
Every animal in the world deserves respect and love, but if we’re plain honest, a lot of us humans are sort of scared of spiders, if not terrified. However, we recently learned that these animals might just be very misunderstood and also, they have tiny adorable paws! They’re fairly unnoticed by most people since we hadn’t dare look that close. But when you zoom into pictures of spiders and their very complicated legs – which do more than just carry them around – you’ll notice their tiny little paws. Perhaps it’ll take us humans some time to still fully embrace the hidden adorableness of spiders, but here’s a look at their paws – hey, we gotta start somewhere! To see the photos, click here:Spiders Actually Have Tiny Paws, And It Might Change The Way You Look At Them (13 Photos)
You’ve seen headlines like “Puppy Love: Pet Owners Are Happier, Healthier” and "How Pets Save Us Billions Every Year In Health Care Costs!" And it is true that a lot of studies have reported that pet owners have better physical and mental health than people who do not live with companion animals. But as I have pointed out in previous posts, the results of this body of research have been mixed (here and here). Further, we do not know whether getting a pet causes better health, or whether the causal arrow points in the other direction. In other words, pet owners might be different to begin with. If so, non-pet-related differences such as socioeconomic status might be the real cause of better health for companion animal owners. For example, people who are married, white, female, and wealthy have lower death rates. If individuals with these characteristics are also more likely to live with pets, we could wrongly conclude that it is dog or cat ownership that makes them live longer. If we really want to understand the effects of companion animals on human health, we also need to know how pet owners and non-pet owners differ in terms of demographics. Investigators from the Rand Corporation and UCLA used a large data set to address this question. Recently published in the journal PLOS One, their research report offers important insights into the differences between pet owners and non-pet owners and the impact of pets on our health. To read more on this story, click here: Large Study Finds Pet Owners Are Different
'Y'all not going to die on my watch:' Kittens survive Hurricane Michael's fury, and are now adoptable originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com. Four kittens who survived Hurricane Michael's devastation and a roof collapse are now up for adoption at a local shelter, after being spotted cuddling among debris live on-air by ABC News' Rob Marciano. The kitties were found in a home with a collapsed ceiling in Panama City, Florida, and have become a symbol of resilience and hope for some in the wake of the ferocious storm. Marciano was assessing the damage to a home with a local resident who said that when the ceiling collapsed, "four kittens came down with it." "Four baby kittens," she added. "And my cousin took the kittens and said, 'Y'all not going to die on my watch.'" To read more on this story, click here:'Y'all Not Going to Die On My Watch:' Kittens Survive Hurricane Michael's Fury, And Are Now Adoptable
Before and after pictures show £1,500 (1,978.57) worth of damage caused by a naughty cockapoo after his owner popped out for a couple of hours. Bobbie was left home alone by his owner, Tara Jameson, at her mum's house, while she attended a friend's wedding rehearsal for around three hours. But on Tara's return to her family home in Teesside, Newcastle, she discovered that butter-wouldn't-melt Bobbie had chewed through the front door, and destroyed a parcel containing a TV box, waiting to be returned. Tara had left four-year-old Bobbie with a bed to snooze in, as well as a box of brand new toys to play with, but the pup had different ideas about what he'd get up to while his owner was away. The pooch had bitten a three foot square hole in the door, and the extensive damaged totalled £1,500 to repair. To read more on this story, click here:Dog Causes £1,500 Worth Of Damage To Front Door After Owner Pops Out
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A local Indian bank got a series of complaints about one of its ATMs. The cause of its sudden malfunction is quite unsettling. Just thinking about this story alone sends shivers down our spines. What you are about to read will definitely give you quite a shock. In the Tinkusia district, located in the Eastern state of Assam, India, an ATM was starting to act a bit askew. Countless people were soon left with empty pockets when the machine simply just wouldn't shoot out any more cash. After a series of complaints from the bummed out ATM users, the bank's officials decided it was time to figure out exactly what was going on. If you thought the ATM was robbed bone-dry, then guess again. Instead, it was a family of squeaky rats that had made their way inside the machine. The wily rats had proceeded to nibble through banknote after banknote, destroying a whopping amount of roughly 1.2 million rupees, nearly $18,000. The gobsmacked bank employees even found a rotting dead rat at the scene of the crime. You can see in the photos of what a few destructive rats can do over a short period of time. To read more on this story, click here: Rats Chewed Through About $18,000 Worth of Cash Inside An ATM
Police escorted a woman off a plane Tuesday after she brought an unexpected furry friend on a Frontier Airlines flight from Orlando to Cleveland – a squirrel. The woman informed Frontier Airlines she was taking an "emotional support animal" on the flight from Florida when she made her reservation, according to the Associated Press. However, she did not say the animal was a squirrel. The airline said they called Orlando police after they asked the woman to leave the plane with the animal and she refused. "Rodents, including squirrels, are not allowed on Frontier flights. The passenger was advised of the policy and was asked to deplane," said Jonathan Freed, director of corporate communications at Frontier Airlines. "When she refused to deplane, Orlando Police were called and everyone was deplaned so police could deal with the passenger. Police eventually escorted the passenger off the aircraft and returned her to the main terminal." To read more on this story, click here:Flight Delayed After Woman Brings 'Emotional Support Squirrel' On Plane
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It’s common knowledge that dogs will do anything and everything, from puppy dog eyes to literally running away, just to evade bath time. But there’s one dog who savors the moment, and treats bath time like a relaxing trip to the spa. In the video below, a golden retriever chills on its back, eyes closed, mind in complete state of zen as its owner gives it a good scrubbing.
