Esther, a Severely Abused Puppy, Was Rehabilitated Through the Prison-Trained K-9 Companion Program: An Emotional Goodbye

Castaways is a documentary series chronicling the successful rehabilitation program of inmates that train unwanted dogs for re-introduction or adoption. The series highlights the plight that both prisoners and unwanted dogs face, and how an unlikely union between the two brings out a change in character of both man and beast — each trying to save and serve the other. The results are life-changing for the prisoner, the dog, and the future pet owner.

In the video below, you’ll meet a dog named Esther who was severely abused in a puppy mill before being rehabilitated through the Prison-trained K-9 Companion Program. It’s simply incredible to watch as Jason, a prison inmate, forms his bond with Esther, and eventually must say an emotional goodbye after successfully training her and helping her emerge from her shell.

We’ve seen the impact made when these two groups of societal outcasts meet. It’s truly heartwarming — because, while many people shun both inmates and “undesirable” breeds like pit bulls and rottweilers, this program gives them an opportunity to look to each other for affection, friendship, and understanding and to foster each other’s growth. This type of program should be employed in more prisons across the country.

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Police in New Jersey Are Warning Parents to Keep Children and Small Pets Inside After a Series of Coyote Attacks and Sightings

Police in New Jersey are warning parents to keep their children and small pets inside after a series of coyote attacks and sightings and the discovery of two dens near a local school.

On Monday, a coyote was captured and later killed after officials in Norwood, N.J., say it attacked a police car.

"The coyote started to attack a police car," Norwood Police Chief Jeff Krapels told WABC-TV. "We called New Jersey Wildlife and they said that's not normal behavior for the coyote."

After a search of the area, police located the coyote behind a Norwood home. A wildlife officer shot and wounded the animal, police said, and it was later killed and taken to the state laboratory to be tested for rabies.

During their search, officials discovered two dens, including one that "has a tunnel towards the school."

School officials are keeping students inside as a precaution.

The discovery comes a day after a man was chased and bitten by a coyote while walking his dog in the same town.

"I was trying to get to the house fast because he wasn't going away," Stephen Sinisi told CBS New York. "As soon as I got to my door, I felt something on my back ankle."

Sinisi received four rabies shots.

On April 6, a man in nearby Saddle River was attacked by a coyote while working in his yard. That coyote, who attacked a dog the week before, tested positive for rabies and was euthanized.

Even before the latest attacks, there had been an uptick in coyote sightings in the tri-state area.

Via the New York Times:

This year alone, coyotes have turned up near a Consolidated Edison plant along the East River in the East Village; on a basketball court in Riverside Park; haunting Steven Spielberg’s sister’s yard in the Riverdale section of the Bronx; and marooned on the roof of a bar in Long Island City, Queens.

According to wildlife officials, "aggressive coyotes" are especially unusual, and attacks on humans are "extremely rare."

Nonetheless, the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife website includes guidelines that "can help reduce the likelihood of conflicts with coyotes":

• Never feed a coyote. Deliberately feeding coyotes puts pets and other residents in the neighborhood at risk.

• Feeding pet cats and/or feral (wild) cats outdoors can attract coyotes. The coyotes feed on the pet food and also prey upon the cats.

• Put garbage in tightly closed containers that cannot be tipped over.

• Remove sources of water, especially in dry climates.

• Bring pets in at night.

• Put away bird feeders at night to avoid attracting rodents and other coyote prey.

• Provide secure enclosures for rabbits, poultry, and other farm animals.

• Pick up fallen fruit and cover compost piles.

• Although extremely rare, coyotes have been known to attack humans. Parents should monitor their children, even in familiar surroundings, such as backyards.

• Install motion-sensitive lighting around the house.

• Clear brush and dense weeds from around dwellings — this reduces protective cover for coyotes and makes the area less attractive to rodents and rabbits. Coyotes, as well as other predators, are attracted to areas where rodents are concentrated, like woodpiles.

• If coyotes are present, make sure they know they're not welcome. Make loud noises, blast a canned air siren, throw rocks, or spray them with a garden hose.

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You Can Help Raise $850 For Animal Allies, a Volunteer No Kill Organization Dedicated to the Rescue of Homeless and Abandoned Animals, With Your Purchase of a 'I Rescued My Best Friend' T-Shirt

From the Author:

Only 30 days to order your, 'I Rescued My Best Friend' T-Shirt, for only $17 plus shipping. Your shirt will be sent to you within 2 weeks after this fundraiser ends - May 21, 2015. Only 50 shirts will be made…so order yours today!

As the author of this blog, I designed this shirt, so you won't be able to find it anywhere once it has ended. 


Please consider purchasing a t-shirt, not only will you be helping animals, but you can be proud letting everyone know that you have rescued an animal, and sending the message, 'adopt don't shop!'

To order your t-shirt, click here: I Rescued My Best Friend

Fairfax Station, VA - If you have ever rescued an animal from a shelter, rescue organization or took in a stray, then you know the warm feeling you get caring for them. As you look into their eyes, it's if they are saying, 'thank you'.

There is no love, like the love that you get from an animal that you have rescued! They will never, ever forget what you have done for them.

I have setup a fundraiser campaign for Animal Allies of Fairfax, Virginia. My goal is to raise $850 to help this wonderful organization by selling t-shirts, that I designed with the saying: I rescued my best friend!, on the front, and 'Visit your local animal shelter…and save a life! 'Adopt Don't Shop', on the back.

What a wonderful way to show the world that you have saved a life, while also getting the word out that animals should be adopted and not purchased!

About Animal Allies:

Animal Allies, a nonprofit, all-volunteer no kill organization dedicated to the rescue of homeless and abandoned animals. We are a registered 501(c)(3) organization incorporated in the State of VA. Founded in 1984, Animal Allies is devoted to curbing the irresponsible breeding of pets in an effort to end the overpopulation of homeless animals.

Animal Allies volunteers work to rescue lost, abandoned, or stray animals and find loving homes for them if possible. All animals in our system are vetted to check for disease and spayed and neutered to stop the cycle of unwanted animals.

Through a detailed process, we do our best to make sure each animal goes to a suitable home where they can enjoy love and shelter and the necessities for the rest of their lives, and provide their human companions with love in return. Our organization is funded solely through the generosity of the public and countless hours put in by our volunteers.

Note: My pictures are blurry from enlarging. Take a look at the actual shirt, by clicking on the link below:


Ready to order? Click here: 'I Rescued My Best Friend'

Animal Allies, Inc.
Fairfax Station, VA 22039
(703) 940-9183
Website: http://www.animalallies.com/

Women:

Front of shirt reads: I rescued my best friend!

Back of shirt read: Visit your local animal shelter...and save a life! 'Adopt Don't Shop'

Men:

Front of shirt reads: I rescued my best friend!

Back of shirt read: Visit your local animal shelter...and save a life! 'Adopt Don't Shop'

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Dogs That Make So-Called Puppy Eyes at Their Owners Get a Spike in the 'Love Hormone'

When people call their dogs their "fur babies," they may be onto something, at least on a chemical level.

Dogs that make so-called puppy eyes at their owners get a spike in the "love hormone" oxytocin — and their owners do too, according to a new study. This same positive feedback in oxytocin release occurs when a mom gazes at her newborn infant, studies have shown.

Because dogs don't otherwise use eye contact as a way to cement bonds with other dogs, the study researchers suggest that man's best friend may have gotten its prized place in human hearts by tapping into an ancient human bonding pathway.

"We humans use eye gaze for affiliative communications, and are very much sensitive to eye contact," study co-author Takefumi Kikusui, a professor of veterinary medicine at the Companion Animal Research Lab at Azabu University in Japan, said in an email. "Therefore, the dogs who can use eye gaze to the owner efficiently would have more benefits from humans."

Loving Feeling

Oxytocin, often called the "love hormone," performs various actions in humans, such as triggering the onset of labor, reducing stress and helping group members recognize individual members. But in all mammals, one of its key roles is to help a parent and infant bond.

For instance, when rodent pups are separated from their moms, they emit a series of ultrasonic noises that spur moms to release more oxytocin and to scoop up their pups and behave in a more nurturing way. This, in turn, leads to the release of more oxytocin and, as a result, more attachment behavior in pups.

In humans, both moms and babies get a spike in oxytocin during breast-feeding, and they will spend hours gazing at each other, each fueling the release of oxytocin in the other, various studies have suggested. For domesticated dogs and wolves, however, eye contact isn't normally a bonding behavior.

Rather, dominant dogs stare down canines lower in the group's hierarchy, and pups that are nervous will look away, said Evan MacLean, an evolutionary anthropologist at Duke University who was not involved in the new study.

Gazing Behavior

Kikusui and his colleagues wondered exactly what dogs are getting out of their affectionate gazing at humans. In the new study, which is detailed in the journal Science, the team measured the oxytocin levels of dogs and their owners before and after the pairs spent 30 minutes together.

After the owners spent quality time gazing into their dogs' eyes, petting and talking to the furballs, both the people and dogs showed increases in the levels of oxytocin in their urine. What's more, the more oxytocin rose in humans, the more it did in dogs as well.

In similar experiments with wolves, the researchers found no such interspecies-oxytocin loop — even though the wolves were interacting with people who had raised them from pups.

In a second experiment, the researchers spritzed an oxytocin nasal spray into dogs' nostrils and found that female dogs stared longer at their owners afterward, and that both the pups and the humans showed a rise in oxytocin as a result.

The findings suggest that the oxytocin feedback loop can cross species boundaries, at least between man and his best friend.

"This tells us something about our relationships with dogs," MacLean, who wrote a Perspectives article in the same issue of Science, told Live Science. "In many ways, they're similar to our relationships with people."

Partners in Evolutionary Change

The findings may help explain one of the most puzzling stories in human history: how a predatory, fearsome wolf transformed into man's best friend. Kikusui speculated that, at some point early in the domestication of dogs, a small group of naturally more friendly dogs may have gazed at their human counterparts for bonding. In doing so, the dogs unwittingly tapped into the natural human system designed for parent-child bonding.

Humans and dogs may have co-evolved this ability in order for love to flourish across species, Kikusui speculated. In follow-up research, they hope to identify the genes involved, in both humans and dogs.

MacLean, however, doesn't think humans necessarily needed to undergo genetic changes to get an oxytocin boost when they lock eyes with their canine companions.

"Originally, this kind of bonding mechanism was very important between mother and infant, and then we've probably already recycled those same mechanisms in our relationships with other individuals," MacLean said. Therefore, the human ability to bond via eye contact is already very flexible and easily repurposed, he added.

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Pain Relief Medications Pill And Creams Proves Toxic And Fatal To Cats

Veterinarians have long warned that pain medications like ibuprofen are toxic to pets. And it now looks like merely using a pain relief cream can put cats at risk.

That's what happened in two households, according to a report issued Friday by the Food and Drug Administration. Two cats in one household developed kidney failure and recovered with attention from a veterinarian. But in a second household, three cats died.

When the veterinarians performed necropsies on the three dead cats, they found toxic levels of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs. NSAIDs include ibuprofen, like Advil and Motrin, and naproxen, which is in Aleve.

Ibuprofen is the most common drug that pets eat, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, perhaps since many of the pills are candy-coated. In pets, the drugs can cause stomach or intestinal ulcers and kidney failure.

But these cats died by flurbiprofen, another NSAID. In the case of its most recent victims, the cat owner applied a lotion or cream containing flurbiprofen to treat muscle or arthritis pain. And it's highly unusual for a cat to show up at the vet's office; usually it's the dogs that get into trouble from exposure to NSAIDs.

"I can't even remember the last cat I've seen that got into ibuprofen or an NSAID," Erica Reineke, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine, tells Shots. "We've seen more cats that get into antidepressants."

Reineke says that she probably treats a pet for some sort of ingestion problem every day, but usually it's chocolate or chewing gum, or the owner's medication. As little as 50 milligrams of ibuprofen for every kilogram a cat weighs can cause problems; for dogs, it's 100 milligrams for every kilogram. Reineke says she's never seen flurbiprofen toxicity in her office and would have a hard time estimating how much would be toxic to a cat or dog.

This isn't an animal mistreatment issue — none of the cats died because owners were applying their medications to the cats. The owners reported using the product on their necks or feet, and somehow the animals were exposed. The third cat died after the owner had stopped using the medication.

The FDA recommends that pet owners store all medications away from pets and to discard anything used to apply the medication. If any furniture or carpeting becomes contaminated, clean it immediately.

And keep an eye on those pets – if they show signs of lethargy, vomiting or lack of appetite, go see a vet immediately.

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The Aloft Asheville Downtown Has Partnered with a Local Animal Shelter to Showcase One Dog at a Time

Asheville, North Carolina -  Wearing a yellow vest with the words "adopt me," a Chihuahua named Taco greets guests in the lobby of a boutique hotel.

The Aloft Asheville Downtown has partnered with a local animal shelter to showcase one dog at a time. Organizers hope that each dog will win the heart of a hotel guest and find a permanent home.

"When you go to a shelter and find multiple animals in the shelter, the six, eight or 10-year-old dog might be overlooked," said Kim Smith, president of Charlie's Angels Animal Rescue. "But if you come to the hotel and you walk up to the reception desk and you see a single dog, your eye is on that single dog."

Already pet-friendly, the hotel initially partnered with Charlie’s Angels back in August for a short-term community service project. But the program exceeded expectations.

Eight months later, the hotel is still featuring rescue dogs. The program is maintaining a 100 percent adoption rate for its canine guests and earning rave reviews from its human customers.

"It's one of the things that draws me to actually stay here,” said hotel guest Jen Stiles. “I think it's an honorable thing that the Aloft does with these pets.”

Stiles said she enjoys meeting the dogs during her stays and then hearing about where they end up.

"We certainly didn't intend it as a marketing opportunity," said David McCartney, the hotel's general manager. "But it has helped us win friends who have mutual interest in the care of dogs."

The hotel is now looking to expand the program to other properties in other cities.

“We’re all humans. Most of us really love dogs,” McCartney said. “Whether somebody’s traveling for a convention or a leisure traveler, I think they have an opportunity to fall in love with a dog no matter what setting they’re in or what their reason is for traveling to a hotel.”

A traveler from Charlotte, N.C., decided to adopt Taco, making him the 22nd dog to go home with a hotel guest. An additional two dogs have been adopted by hotel staff.

“There is a job hazard to go home with a dog,” McCartney said. “But it’s a pleasant one.”


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Camp Springs, Maryland - Coolridge Animal Hospital: We Are Seeking a Clergy to Bless Our 'Memorial Rainbow Bridge Rock Garden' for Pets Who Have Crossed Over at Our Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

We are raising funds for our 'Memorial Rainbow Bridge Rock Garden', to celebrate the lives of all our fur babies who have crossed over.

Once completed we will have a ribbon cutting ceremony, we are currently seeking a clergy who would be willing to come out, and bless our garden the day of the ribbon cutting, if anyone knows someone they could recommend, please contact us.

Please read our post concerning the Memorial Garden at: Coolridge Animal Hospital: We Are Building a Memorial Rainbow Bridge Rock Garden for All of Our Fur Babies Who Have Crossed Over - Come to Our Yard/Bake Sales for the Next Two Saturdays, April 25th and May 2nd

Contact:
Coolridge Animal Hospital
6801 Old Branch Ave
Camp Springs, Maryland
(301) 449-1610

Website: Coolridge Animal Hospital




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Coolridge Animal Hospital: We Are Building a Memorial Rainbow Bridge Rock Garden for All of Our Fur Babies Who Have Crossed Over - Come to Our Yard/Bake Sales for the Next Two Saturdays, April 25th and May 2nd

We are raising funds for our 'Memorial Rainbow Bridge Rock Garden', to celebrate the lives of all our fur babies who have crossed over.

For the next two Saturdays (April 25th and May 2nd)  we will be having a yard sale/bake sale. We will also have a raffle running the next 2 weeks for a years supply of Heartworm and Flea/tick prevention (this is a $200.00 value). 

The first picture below is the current garden in front of the exit doors. We plan to plant two willow trees ( pictured below), and provide our clients with a bench to sit, along with stones to decorate and fill our garden with the wonderful memories of their fur babies who have crossed.

Once completed we will have a ribbon cutting ceremony, we are currently trying to seek a clergy who would be willing to come out, and bless our garden the day of the ribbon cutting, if anyone knows someone they could recommend, please contact us.

WHAT: Yard Sale/Bake Sale

DATES: Saturday, April 25, 2015
               Saturday, May 2, 2015

TIME: 7:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

LOCATION:
Coolridge Animal Hospital
6801 Old Branch Ave
Camp Springs, Maryland
(301) 449-1610

Raffle Tickets:
Raffle has begun purchase your $1.00 ticket from now til April 30th, winner will receive 1 year ( 12 months) of Heartworm/flea/tick prevention, for your K-9 or Feline fur baby, this is a $200.00 value. 

All proceeds will ge going towards our Rainbow BridgeMemorial Garden.

Website: Coolridge Animal Hospital

As they say "One man's junk is another man's treasure!"

There is truly something for all at our yard sale!

                                       We will be planting these:

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