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Friday, April 24, 2015

A Bittersweet Story: Meet Lily, and Listen to the Letter Written by the Founder of National Mill Dog Rescue, Theresa Strader [Video]


In 2007, Theresa Strader, the founder of National Mill Dog Rescue, purchased Lily at an auction. Lily was the inspiration and the catalyst to what would become an organization and a documentary featuring what goes on in the deplorable world of puppy mills.

Theresa was sickened by what she saw and gave Lily a beautiful life after years stuck in a cage, breeding for profit. Lily’s well being never mattered nor did her health. She never got to play. She never got to be a dog. She was there for one purpose: to make money.

While hearing this letter may be gut-wrenching, I believe it’s necessary. Many of us do so much for animals but it’s easy for others to go through life not knowing much about the horrors of puppy mills. I believe sending them this video will change the way they view shopping for animals, forever.



Website: National Mill Dog Rescue





Please view this video. It is approximately an hour long…but worth the watch.
To view the video, click here: I Breathe: Lily's Legacy

You may be interested in reading: 

A Message From Theresa Strader
In Honor of Lily






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National Hairball Awareness Day - April 24, 2015


Hairball Awareness Day is a time to consider the grooming challenges of our purr-fectly aristocratic pets. Being beautiful and regal comes naturally to felines, but lots of personal grooming is required to maintain that exquisite superior look. Newborn kittens are groomed within inches of their lives by enthusiastic mother cats, and personal hygiene becomes an ingrained part of the cat’s daily routine ranking above everything except food. Ferocious grooming causes ingestion of fur, and sooner or later, in a most unbecoming way, the haughty, dignified feline will hack up a hairball.

Hairball Awareness Day is an invitation to be aware and to practice preventative measures to help kitty through this nasty process. Practice regular grooming with a pet brush to reduce the amount of ingested fur, and offer a vet-recommended diet for hairball prevention. Be aware that occasional hairballs are to be expected, but frequent hairballs could indicate a problem.



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Coyotes Remained on the Run Thursday in Both the Suburbs and City, Residents Remained on Edge as They Were Warned of Possible Danger


New York, New York – Coyotes remained on the run Thursday in both the suburbs and city, residents remained on edge as they were warned of possible danger.

As CBS2’s Matt Kozar reported, at least one coyote has been spotted more than once now by CBS2 cameras running around Riverside Drive.

CBS2 cameras captured the coyote at 4:45 a.m. at Riverside Drive and 96th Street, and then again around 5:38 a.m., CBS2’s Janelle Burrell reported. The second time, the coyote sprinted in front of Mobile 2 and scampered across the street toward Grant’s Tomb in Morningside Heights.

The animal kept going right into oncoming traffic.

Burrell spoke with two people who had encounters of their own with the coyote Thursday morning.

“I was walking my dog this morning, and about 10 feet away a coyote came out from the park right in front of us, and it ran past us very close and it just kept going further down Riverside Park,” one woman said.

“I was driving, going downtown on Riverside Drive, and he crossed right in front of me and I almost hit him. I had to stop,” another man said.

“I was walking and I was like, ‘Oh, there’s a dog,’ and (then) I’m like, ‘That’s not a dog,'” one witness told WCBS 880’s Paul Murnane.

On Wednesday evening, CBS2 captured exclusive video of a coyote as it pranced across Riverside Drive near West 79th Street around 11 p.m. It was not certain whether that coyote was the same one seen about 6 1/2 hours later.

Late Thursday afternoon, some young children were at soccer practice at the very same spot where a coyote had earlier led the NYPD on a chase.

Jody Miller was walking through the park with her pit bull, Cassius, in case of danger.

“Sometimes in the morning, people let their dogs off the leash, and this morning, I thought it would be stupid to leave the dog off the leash,” Miller said.

Police first spotted the coyote on Wednesday morning and were on the animal’s trail, but it managed to evade officers. The NYPD had officers spread out across the area with tranquilizer guns in hand after a sighting just after dawn.

It spurred a 40-block chase around Riverside Park from the mid-80s to Grant’s Tomb to West 122nd Street.

Morningside Heights resident Jim Burke walked his dogs right by where the last coyote was spotted Thursday.

“They’re more nocturnal, so they’re not going to be out during the day,” he said. “So I’m not too concerned at this point.”

The coyotes are exhibiting normal behavior and shying away from people, Burrell reported.

In Manhattan, most residents who live near where the animals have been spotted seem unfazed, actually more concerned about the coyote than themselves.

“I hope it doesn’t get hit,” Joseph said.

“I’m not worried. I think (if) there’s a dog on a leash, they’re not going to gobble them up. I think it’s OK,” said Yolanda Shashaty, of Morningside Heights.

John Nesti of Fischer Wildlife Control explained the coyotes’ movement and behavior to CBS2’s Meg Baker.

“The river acts as a natural corridor for the coyotes to move in,” he said. “(The Riverside Park coyote) is probably a year-and-a-half old coyote.”

Nesti believes the coyotes seen roaming city streets are not rabid, but looking for territory. It is the time of year when even young coyotes leave their dens.

“They can run the river and find all the food they need,” Nesti said.

The coyotes follow tracks – rivers, trains, and manmade trails. Nesti explained that is likely why they are showing up in the city.

Chris Nagy with the Gotham Coyote Project said his group has also been tracking dens in the Bronx.

For the few who are worried of being attacked, Nagy said the chances are very slim.

“The risk of being attacked by a coyote is somewhere in the realm of the risk of being attacked by a vending machine,” Nagy said.

Police say they are not sure if all of the recent sightings are of the same animal or if multiple coyotes have been roaming.

“It was kind of big,” Bronx grandmother Sylvia Ruiz described. “It was laying down there, moved its head around a little bit.”

Ruiz had an encounter with one of the animals inside her Co-Op City backyard. She snapped a picture of one relaxing underneath a bush and texted it to her daughter, a Co-Op City police officer.

“She said, ‘Oh, it’s a coyote!’ So they sent about four sergeants, and they all came in,” Ruiz said.

Experts say the best advice if you spot a coyote is to raise your arms above your head.

“Make some noise and scare the coyote off,” said Sarah Aucoin, director of urban park rangers for the city’s Parks Department.

Experts also say there is at least one advantage to having the coyotes in the city.

“They eat rats. They eat mice. They eat small mammals,” Aucoin said.

As Kozar reported, experts said further that it is a good thing coyotes are running away from humans – unlike what happened in Norwood, New Jersey. There, a rabid coyote bit a man, and another chewed through the tires on a police cruiser.

Multiple dens of coyotes have been found in Bergen County., and the trend continued Thursday morning.

Police Thursday moprning received a call about a coyote sighting on Cathy Court in Norwood, WCBS 880’s Peter Haskell reported.

Police Chief Jeff Krapels said his officers injured the animal.

“We followed a blood trail, probably about a half a mile, and we lost it,” he said. “So it’s sick and injured, and we’re just concerned that people may come across a blood puddle.”

Coyote sightings in Norwood are nothing new, but the police chief suspects the coyote population is growing.

“It’s a little bit nerve-racking with two young kids in the elementary school up here,” said Norwood resident Steve Whaley. “So we’re just keeping our eye out.”

There have also been coyote sightings in Summit.

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Doctors Are Warning the Public About a Tick-Born Illness That Poses a Much More Serious Health Risk Than Lyme Disease


Doctors are warning the public about a tick-born illness that poses a much more serious health risk than Lyme Disease.

Known as the Powassan virus, blacklegged ticks (as well as groundhog ticks) are increasingly carrying the potentially deadly disease.

The rare virus falls under the same family as the West Nile virus and has symptoms similar to those of Lyme disease. However the virus acts extremely rapidly – people can begin to feel symptoms in just a matter of minutes – and the symptoms are severe. The incurable disease attacks the central nervous system and can cause vomiting, fever, headache, weakness, confusion, seizures, swelling of the brain and memory loss.

Currently, there are only around 50 people affected in the U.S. each year (compared to the estimated 20,000 people who are affected by Lyme disease) and there have only been 16 human cases reported in Eastern Canada, since it was first detected in Ontario back in 1958. Ten percent of people contracting Powassan virus die.

There has been a noticeable spike in the virus in 2015, with the virus being detected in the upper mid-west, Northeast and Great Lakes area of the U.S.

Although contracting the virus is still extremely rare, because of the potential for fatalities, authorities are warning people to take extra precautions to prevent becoming infected.

Health experts are recommending people use tick repellent and wear long sleeves and pants when spending time in wooded or bushy areas.

They also advise to take your clothes off and shower when home after spending time in the woods or areas that have ticks. Clothes can also be put into the dryer for at least an hour on high heat to kill the ticks.

Pets should also be checked for ticks if they accompany you on walks in wooded areas or regularly go outside.

Please share this video to help spread the word to prevent tick-born illnesses.
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Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Awww! This Baby Horse is Adorable…and He Just Wants to Cuddle


Horses aren't exactly known for their cuddling abilities.

However, one baby horse at the Rapid Run Training Center is Morristown, Florida is exceptionally affectionate, acting more like a dog than a horse when Sunny Bayne approached it.

"This is the best day of my life," Bayne said as the filly laid on top of her.

Cuddling changes people.

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Heartwarming Story: 3-Year-Old Sapphyre Johnson, Born Without Fingers and Feet: Gets a Therapy Puppy Missing One Front Paw - They Are Inseparable


Sapphyre Johnson was born a healthy child in Greenville, South Carolina, except for missing some essential features, her feet, fingers and toes.

Since she was 3-months-old, Sapphyre, now 3, has been a patient at Shriner's Hospital for Children, where her mother, Ashley Johnson, said she's had multiple surgeries to be fitted for prosthetic feet. But for her last visit, Johnson told ABC News, Sapphyre got to leave the hospital with much more than new prosthetics.

"It was two weeks ago when were told that an owner had contacted the hospital about a puppy who was missing one front paw," said Johnson. "She wanted him to grow up with a child who had similar circumstances."

After showing Sapphyre a photo of the puppy, Johnson said her toddler fell in love.

"Sapphyre immediately noticed that he was missing a paw," she said. "She said, 'He has a foot like mine.'"

The dog's breeder, Karen Riddle, said that the 9-week-old White German Shepherd was born in a litter of nine puppies and was the only one missing a paw.

For that very reason, Riddle said she decided to name him Lt. Dan, after the character from the popular film "Forrest Gump" who lost both his legs.

"The movie is a heartwarming, loving story, so I said, 'You're just like Lt. Dan. It just suited his personality."

Because of Lt. Dan's calm demeanor, Riddle coordinated with Shriner's to hand him off to Sapphyre as a therapy dog. Sapphyre and Lt. Dan went home together Monday.

"It was awesome yesterday," Riddle said. "We said, 'Sapphyre show him your feet' and, oh boy, she threw off her prosthetics and her socks and said, 'Look!' Then Lt. Dan put his paw up at the exact same time."

Although they've only been pals for 24 hours, Johnson said Sapphyre and Lt. Dan make the perfect pair.

"He follows her every step she takes, everywhere she goes," said Johnson. "It's like they’ve known each other forever.

"We always want Sapphyre to know that being different is not bad," she added. "People, even pets, no one is exactly the same. That would be boring. I think it’s good for her to see that."






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Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Coolridge Animal Hospital: Our Raffle Has Begun - Purchase Your $1.00 Ticket Starting Today Until April 30th - Win One Year of Heartworm/Flea/Tick Prevention, for Your K-9 or Feline Fur Baby


Our Raffle has begun!  Purchase your $1.00 ticket starting today until 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 going towards our Rainbow Bridge Memorial Garden.

Haven't heard about our Rainbow Bridge Memorial Garden?

Please read: 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

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



Website: Coolridge Animal Hospital


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Norwood, New Jersey Police Say They Captured a Coyote Monday Night: Not Sure Whether it Was the Same Animal That Attacked a Resident on Sunday


Norwood, New Jersey -  Police say Monday night they may have been closing in on a coyote that bit a man in Bergen County, New Jersey over the weekend.

Norwood police said they captured a coyote Monday night, they were not sure whether it was the same animal that attacked Stephen Sinisi after 9 p.m. Sunday. Police said they believe the coyote captured Monday night was actually part of a different pack, but was described as “very aggressive.”

Norwood police said they also put traps near two coyote dens they discovered Monday night near a school.

Sinisi said he was walking his dog, Raleigh, near the woods on McClellan Street and D’Ercole Court when he saw what he thought was a stray dog approaching.

 “I was walking back and what looked like a dog approaching me,” Sinisi told CBS2’s Meg Baker.

“Then we got closer I was like, ‘No, this is not a stray dog,’” he told 1010 WINS’ Rebecca Granet.

Sinisi was attacked as he tried to get his dog back into the house.

“He saw a coyote stalking him, and he decided to return home,” police Chief Jeff Krapels said, WCBS 880’s Sean Adams reported. “As he was running home, the coyote caught up to him as he got to his front door and bit him on the leg.”

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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'

Please Share!

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Monday, April 20, 2015

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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