The Washington, DC community has lost a long time public servant and the animals of the nation’s capital have lost a champion. Ray Noll, Vice President of Field Services for the Humane Rescue Alliance, passed away Thursday at the age of 55.
“Ray Noll’s impact on our city and our organization is immeasurable,” said Humane Rescue Alliance President and CEO Lisa LaFontaine. “His death is unimaginable to us and is an incalculable loss to our organization. Ray was responsible for saving the lives of literally thousands of animals, personally and through our programs. He was a respected and beloved leader of HRA and his death is devastating to our team.”
Noll led the Animal Control and Humane Law Enforcement divisions for HRA, including animal control officers, animal control investigators, humane law enforcement officers, dispatchers, and wildlife specialists. Noll’s dedicated team served the 600,000 residents and 1.9 million annual visitors of Washington, DC, responding to more than 12,000 calls for assistance each year. Those calls included care for sick or injured wild animals, dogs running loose and cases of animal abuse and neglect.
Noll, who joined the Humane Rescue Alliance (then the Washington Humane Society) five years ago as the Director of Animal Control Field Services, brought unmatched qualifications to his position. Experience as an EMT, longtime humane law enforcement officer, and K-9 officer complemented his love of all animals, making him an ideal candidate to lead the Field Services division when he arrived.
Prior to joining HRA, Noll was the Chief of Special Police at the World Bank, continuing a career in law enforcement and emergency management that began 13 years ago.
A native of New Jersey, Noll is survived by his two children, Samantha and RJ, and his girlfriend Lori Mayer.
About the Humane Rescue Alliance: The Humane Rescue Alliance has protected and served the animals of the community for more than 145 years and serves more than 60,000 animals annually. The broad range of programs offered include: rescue and adoption, humane law enforcement, low-cost veterinary services, animal care and control, behavior and training, spay-neuter services, humane education, and many others. The organization is dedicated to ensuring the safety and welfare of all animals, bringing people and animals together, and working with all communities to support these relationships. HRA is based in Washington, DC, the only major urban area in the country that has all of its animal protection programs and services unified in one organization, making the Humane Rescue Alliance a model for the nation.
Wildlife photographer Wim van den Heever, 45, visited the Falkland Islands this Year to shoot pictures and scout the area for future tours. Wim’s breathtaking images show a small group of king penguins before they head out to sea at sunrise. Wim said: “The sunrise created beautiful vibrant colors and amazing reflections. I feel as though the pictures awaken a sense of awe for the beauty of these king penguins and the remote Falkland Islands.” “I was photographing this scene while lying flat in the surf early morning. After 15 minutes or so I was completely soaked from head to toe in icy seawater, losing feeling in my hands and feet. To read more on this story, click here:Breathtaking Shots of King Penguins Marching in Golden Sunrise
The reason lies within the eye. In the eye are light receptors called cones and rods. Cones help us distinguish different colors, while rods help us see in dim light. The number of cones and rods is different for dogs. Turns out, dogs have fewer cone receptors than humans, which means they can't see as many colors. Human cones can detect 3 colors: red, green, and blue. Dog cones can only detect 2 colors. No one is certain what those 2 colors are. Some experts think it could be blue and yellow. Alexandra Horowitz, author of "Being a Dog" told us that it's difficult to know exactly what colors a dog sees, but it's probably similar to what we see at dusk. Dog eyes have more rods than humans, which means they can see much better at night. Dogs also have a layer of eye tissue that humans lack called the tapetum lucidum, it reflects light into the retina. This boosts dogs' night vision even more and is why dogs' eyes shine in the dark. Turns out, dogs' eyes see much more than just black and white. Consider that the next time you stare into those cute puppy dog eyes.
Phoenix, Arizona - A man was hospitalized after surviving a rattlesnake bite to the face while trying to show off to friends at a party by attempting to cook the reptile on a barbecue grill. Victor Pratt, 48, was bitten Sept. 7. He was first treated at a hospital near his Coolidge, Ariz., home and then transferred to Banner-University Medical Center in Phoenix. Coolidge is nearly 60 miles southeast of Phoenix. While celebrating his child's birthday with friends, Pratt said he decided to show them how to catch and cook a rattlesnake after one of the reptiles showed up in his yard during the party. Pratt, who was interviewed Friday, grabbed the venomous snake and was showing it off to friends and family, posing for several photos. But he lost his grip on the snake's head, and it attacked him. After being bit twice, once on the chest and once on the face, Pratt said he knew immediately that something was wrong, having been bitten once before when he was 19. "I said, 'We gotta go now,' because I knew what was going to happen," Pratt said. He was taken immediately to a local hospital, which doctors said saved his life. He also has received doses of antivenom. "If an airway is not established in the first few minutes, in our experience less than 15 to 30 minutes, then those patients really don't have a chance to survive,'' said Dr. Steven Curry, Banner hospital's toxicology director. Curry said getting a tube inserted into the patient's airway is vital, especially in face bites. "If they can get their airway established, they're very lucky," Curry said. "That is, you're lucky to have been bitten and been able to make it to the hospital in just a few minutes in order to have those emergency procedures done that are needed to save your life." Pratt was sedated as the procedure was being done, and remained that way for five days, including when he was transferred to the Phoenix hospital. "I lost five days of memory," Pratt said. "I didn't know where I was for five days." This kind of memory loss is common, Curry said, because the drugs needed to keep a patient under prevent memories from forming. For their own safety, patients with face bites are kept heavily sedated, and have their hands wrapped in large, bulky bandages to prevent them from pulling out the endotracheal tube. "(If) that endotracheal tube would come out, because of severe neck swelling, it would be difficult or impossible to immediately put it back in or immediately perform ... an emergency tracheotomy," Curry said. "Because if that tube were to come out, then we would expect that they would be in very big trouble immediately, and perhaps might even die in four to five minutes." Curry said rattlesnake bites are divided into two categories: bites where the victim didn't know there was a snake or tried to get away, or those where the person recognized there was a snake present but did not immediately try to get away. Most bites, he said, are the latter kind. Rattlesnake venom is toxic and can cause swelling, paralysis and numbness at the site of the bite, damaging the tissue. It can cause a person's airwaves to swell to the point of blocking air, and cause internal bleeding. Curry said seeking medical care quickly is critical, noting that home treatments are a mistake. "First-aid measures such as tourniquets, ice, incisions or taking the time to apply suctions ... are dangerous and harmful," he said. "Or completely ineffective, as in the case of suction."
The common denominator across all snake-bite deaths in Arizona, he said, was the victim not receiving medical attention immediately. Often, this is because the victim is out hiking, or in an area far from civilization, Curry said. But in other cases, it's because they thought they could treat themselves. Banner Hospital treats, on average, 70 snake-bite victims a year, Curry said. While face bites such as Pratt's make up less than 1% of them, they are often the most serious. Pratt, however, said he was done dealing with the venomous reptiles. "Ain't gonna play with snakes no more," he said.
Eshyah Selig is a former real estate appraiser and devoted cat person with a plan. In roughly one month she'll unveil the Crescent City Cat Club, a nonprofit organization devoted to bringing New Orleans cat lovers and homeless kitties together for companionship, comfort, fun and possible adoption. Here's how it's supposed to work. Let's say you adore cats, but your house mate is allergic. Let's say you're on an extended business trip and miss your tabby back home. Let's say you can't commit to the long-term care of a pet. Let's say you just want more, and more, and more cuddly contact with our whiskery friends. "For a lot of cat people," Selig said, "their idea of heaven is hanging out with cats." Selig hopes such cat people will make their way to the Marigny neighborhood, where she's busily converting a shotgun double into a kitty visiting center. For $7, guests will be able to stand at the glass windows in the kitten room, where they can watch staff members bottle-feed newborns in need of mothering. To read more on this story, click here:Would You Pay $7 to Hang Out with House cats at the Crescent City Cat Club?
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Big Sur, California - In a remote, rugged valley overlooking the Pacific Ocean, researchers closely monitor an endangered icon: the California condor. The giant vultures flap their wings and circle the sky before perching on branches and observing their observers. Wildlife biologist Amy List uses a handheld antenna to track the birds, which wear radio transmitters and numbered tags. "If we don't know what they're doing, we don't know what's going wrong," said List, who works for the Ventana Wildlife Society, which manages the condor sanctuary in Big Sur. Three decades after being pushed to the brink of extinction, the California condor is making a comeback in the wild, but constant vigilance is needed to ensure the endangered bird doesn't reverse course. One of the world's largest birds with a wingspan up to 10 feet, the condor once patrolled the sky from Mexico to British Columbia. But its population plummeted in the 20th century due to lead poisoning, hunting and habitat destruction. In 1987, wildlife officials captured the last remaining 22 condors and took them to the San Diego and Los Angeles zoos to be protected and bred in captivity. Those efforts have led to a slow but steady recovery for a species that reproduces slowly compared with other birds. There are now roughly 450 condors, including about 270 in the wild in California, Arizona, Utah and northeastern Mexico. Plans also are underway to release some captive-bred condors in Redwood National Park in 2019 to establish a population near the California-Oregon border. Federal officials said in August that for the first time in nearly 40 years, condors were roosting in the Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge, expanding to their historical range in the southern Sierra Nevada. Another milestone was reached this summer: the first "third generation" condor was born in the wild in California since the 1980s. "We're seeing very encouraging results that the condors can become self-sustaining again," said Kelly Sorenson, who heads the conservation group. While condors still face threats from exposure to mercury and the pesticide DDT, biologists say the biggest danger is lead ammunition, which can poison the scavengers when they eat dead animals shot with lead bullets. California banned the use of lead ammunition near condor feeding grounds in 2008 and will be the first state to ban lead bullets in all hunting in 2019. "We're already starting to see fewer lead deaths. The condors are surviving longer. Their blood-lead levels are coming down," Sorenson said. Some gun owners complain that copper bullets are more expensive and less effective than lead and point to other possible sources of lead, such as paint and metal garbage. "Condors are getting lead poisoning. The question is, are they getting it from lead ammunition?" said Chuck Michel, president of the California Pistol and Rifle Association. Meanwhile, the San Diego Zoo celebrated the birth of its 200th condor this year. "While we were caring for the birds, trying to protect them and provide sanctuary, we were literally writing the book how you propagate a species, how you genetically manage it and prepare it for release back in the wild," Michael Mace, the zoo's birds curator. After up to a year at the zoo, chicks are taken to a release site such as the Big Sur sanctuary, where a flock has grown to about 90 condors that travel between Big Sur and Pinnacles National Park. They scavenge, breed and raise chicks on their own, under the close watch of List, the wildlife biologist, and her colleagues. "I hope that I'm out of a job soon because condors don't need to be managed in the future," she said. "I hope that they're self-sustaining and wild and free, and nobody needs to trap or tag or monitor them at all."
A mother-of-three has been left paralyzed after she climbed a tree to save her new kitten and fell on an exposed root. Rachel Maree, from Perth, is recovering in hospital after the horrific accident earlier this week and said she's been told she "may never use her legs again." "I'm pretty drugged up and in extreme pain," the 30-year-old wrote on Facebook. "[I have] a long recovery ahead and plenty of rehab.
An IHG Spokesperson contacted us once more to let us know that they are now requiring all their hotel brands in the areas affected by Harvey to allow pets free of charge. They made the following statement: “Many of IHG’s brands, including Hotel Indigo®, EVEN® Hotels, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites®, and many individual Holiday Inn Express® hotels, already are pet friendly. As IHG hotels continue to shelter individuals and families displaced by Hurricane Harvey, IHG has mandated that all its branded hotels in impacted and surrounding areas welcome pets free of charge during disasters. We have and continue to communicate this requirement to all hotels.” At a time when hundreds of thousands of families are without homes and struggling to survive in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, one Holiday Inn franchise isn’t budging on their “no-pets” policy, refusing to offer shelter to a family’s three dogs.
