A heart-tugging issue has surfaced as lawmakers prepare to dig into details of the Farm Bill, a catchall package of items relating to agriculture and food policy in the United States. Should recipients of food stamps be allowed to purchase food for their hungry pets with the finite federal support they receive through the program? Edward B. Johnston, Jr., a 59-year-old Mississippian who gets by with the help of food stamps, has initiated a petition on Care2 that has attracted more than 83,000 signatures thus far. It calls on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to allow food stamp beneficiaries to buy pet food for their animals if they deem that essential. The food stamp program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), allows recipients to only buy food meant for human consumption. To read more on this story, click here:Federal Food Stamp Program Should, in a SNAP, Allow Pet Food Purchases
Dolphins are highly intelligent marine mammals and are part of the family of toothed whales that includes orcas and pilot whales. Dolphins are well known for their intellect, their gregarious nature, and their acrobatic abilities. They are found worldwide, mostly in shallow seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating fish and squid. Dolphin coloration varies, but they are generally gray in color with darker backs than the rest of their bodies. The body of a dolphin is designed to help them move through the water quickly and without exerting huge amounts of energy. They rely on their pectoral fins and the fluke (tail) to help them navigate through the water. Even though dolphins have 100 teeth, they don’t use them for eating. They do use them to get the fish though and then they swallow them. They can consume up to 30 pounds fish per day. They usually work as a team in their pod to get the school of fish surrounded and balled up. From there, they can plow through the middle and eat plenty as they do so. Dolphins are found all over the world; generally in shallow seawater of the continental shelves. You can witness dolphins in the cold waters as well as the warm tropical waters. Of course, there are certain species of dolphins that show preference to a particular temperature and region. Lifespan: Most dolphins live long lives. The bottlenose dolphin can live over 40 years, and the orca can live to be 70 or 80! Parts of the Dolphin
Boscawen, N.H. (CBS/AP) -- A New Hampshire man has been charged with resisting arrest and biting a police dog. Police said the man unsuccessfully tried to hide under a pile of clothes to evade arrest over the weekend and then put the police dog in a chokehold and bit it on the head. State police were asked to help deal with a shooting on Sunday in Boscawen, a town of about 4,000 residents. They said two men in a home were wanted on outstanding warrants and both resisted arrest before one exchanged bites with the dog, whose name is Veda. Police haven't released the men's names. They say the man who bit the dog faces charges including resisting arrest, interfering with a police dog and assaulting an officer. To read more on this story, click here:Dog Bites Man, Man Bites Dog, Man Gets Arrested
The Yellow Dog Project is a movement created for dogs that need space. By tying a yellow ribbon or something similar to the dog's leash you are indicating that this dog needs space, for whatever reason (or perhaps the human walking the dog... either way). However, there has been much debate with this whole 'yellow ribbon please ignore us' movement. What do you think? Can you see the downsides? Are people taking it too far? Are we assuming the worst if a dog is wearing this ribbon on their leash? Shortly after I became aware of the Yellow Dog Project, I read many blog posts and articles touching base on the potential downsides to this movement. After swaying back and forth and weighing in the good and possible negative sides to the yellow ribbon, I have formed my opinion. The movement was intended to create awareness and provide a clear indicator that your dog needs a little more space. I think this is a great idea and positive way to make this statement. I've seen alternatives to the yellow ribbon, such as harnesses and leashes that have text printed on them saying things such as, "do not pet". I think the yellow ribbon leaves it wide open to the reason the dog may need space. My only hope would be that people would not jump to conclusions assuming that the dog wearing the ribbon must be aggressive. While we as dog owners do control the situation that we expose our dogs to, I do believe that there are many unknowns in any given scenario. And ultimately you should be the one looking out for a dog you are handling that needs a little extra space, but if others are aware as well it will work much better. Just imagine walking in a neighborhood and rather than having to "shoo" off an approaching stranger that clearly wants to see the dog, they see the ribbon and understand. Now, for creating a wide awareness... To read more on this story, click here:THE YELLOW RIBBON – GOOD IDEA OR NOT?!
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It’s not easy being different. Tianna and Gianna know that better than most people. The twin 10-year-old girls are legally blind, and Gianna suffers from autism. It’s hard for them to find someone who truly understands what they go through. Maybe that’s why this year they only had one Christmas wish. They wanted a disabled dog who would love them and understand them. To read more on this story, click here: Twin Special Needs Girls Adopt Disabled Pit Bull For Christmas
Holidays got you down? Well, you've got a friend in Merlin, the cranky Canadian Ragdoll cat whose angry face has surpassed the level of 'resting' - it's just permanent. Thanks to his furrowed brow, piercing blue eyes, and signature frown, Merlin has become a star on Instagram, and now has more than 45 thousand devoted fans who hang off his every scowl. If you're one of those people who constantly gets accused of 'looking mad,' or if you're actually just pissed off all the time, Merlin is the spirit animal you never knew you had. He doesn't even give a damn about Christmas, the most jolly time of year. Are you in love yet? To read more on this story, click here:Meet Merlin, The Ragdoll Cat Who Hates Everything
STATESVILLE, N.C. -- A pitbull that has garnered himself the nickname of "pig-bull" for his eerily similar appearance to that of a pig is in search of his forever home. "He's my special project," said pitbull advocate and volunteer Jennifer Bradford. "I met him and just fell in love with him, he's so sweet." "Pig-bull," also known as Casper, is up for adoption through Carolina Big Hearts Big Barks rescue. While he's known for his energetic nature and sweet heart, the two-year-old pitbull has had a hard time getting adopted due to his breed, size and special needs–Casper is deaf. "He was born deaf," Bradford said. "He knows his hand commands." To read more on this story, click here:'Pig-Bull' Steals Hearts With Pig-Like Appearance
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True story: I was working the other day and decided to light one of my beloved Bath and Body Works holiday candles that I’d just scored during their huge seasonal sale. For the first few minutes, I reveled in the awesome, spiced-apple scent while working on the day’s assignments. But after a few minutes, I started coughing uncontrollably and I felt so lightheaded. As I tried to think of what could be causing it, my eyes wandered to the candle and it hit me — this thing was making me sick. I put the candle out and after about 20 minutes, I felt totally fine. That’s when I knew I had to start researching side-effects of using scented candles. If you’re anything like my candle-loving self, you’re about to be so disappointed in what I found. While your favorite candles may smell good to you, their chemical makeup could be making you sick. According to MCS-America, most fragranced products contain anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 different chemicals. Even more alarming is the idea that despite the U.S. National Academy of Science have declared that fragrances should undergo neurotoxicity testing, most of the products on the market have not undergone testing to make sure that they’re safe for humans. To read more on this story, click here:Popular Christmas Decoration Has Babies And Pets Being Rushed To The Hospital
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SAN DIEGO — Approximately 25 race horses were killed when a wildfire engulfed about eight barns at a training center in northeast San Diego County, the California Horse Racing Board said. Other horses that were in surrounding pastures remained unaccounted for. Nearly 500 horses were stabled at the San Luis Rey Downs training center in Bonsall when the fire erupted amid strong Santa Ana winds Thursday, and workers risked their lives to free horses from stalls and herd them into safer areas, a board statement said. Horses worth hundreds of thousands of dollars who are usually carefully walked from place to place were simply set free and encouraged to run away as flames engulfed the center, which is just a few miles from where the fire broke out. To read more on this story, click here: 25 Racehorses Killed Trying to Escape California Wildfire
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A pair of canny inventors has launched the world's first running shoes designed specifically for horses. Animal lovers Louisa and Charly Forstner came up with the novel product after years of fitting steel shoes to their horses' hooves. The clip-on shoes, called Megasus Horserunners, are made from shock-absorbing plastic materials and claim to make life more comfortable for both horse and rider. Unlike steel shoes they move with the horse's hoof, and can be removed quickly to allow horses to strengthen their tendons and ligaments. A set of four shoes can be pre-ordered for £175 ($219) from horserunners.com and they can be shipped to the UK. To read more on this story, click here:The Running Shoes for HORSES: Clip-On Plastic Covers Could Make for Happier Hooves
Bearded dragons are pets that are more common than you’d think and are quite interesting little creatures. This bearded dragon named Frankie is no different. She happens to be obsessed with one kind of fruit and will do anything to get at it. If you think that bearded dragons are not that fast, you are most definitely wrong. They move like lightning, and Frankie went NUTS when she saw a piece of fruit on the ground. Little did she know that her owner was tricking her… Talk about a workout!! To read more and see the adorable video, click here:Bearded Dragon Addicted to Unexpected Object that Makes Him Go Crazy–I Couldn’t Stop Watching!
A heartwarming example of how Mother Nature can produce wonders happened in May. Emma, a mother horse delivered a miracle, defining all the odds. Her owner got a pleasant surprise when Emma laid down to deliver her foal. According to the UC Davis Center for Equine Health, “a number of factors can affect a mare’s ability to conceive, maintain a healthy pregnancy and produce a healthy foal, including proper nutrition, preventive medicine, a routine program of parasite control and exercise.” According to the Center for Equine Health, although it is common for a high number of twin embryos to abort spontaneously within the first six weeks of pregnancy, approximately 80 percent of twin conceptions that are present after 40 days of pregnancy are aborted by the eighth month of pregnancy. Horses usually give birth to one horse per conception. It is not uncommon for them to conceive twins, but it is definitely extremely rare for both embryos to survive. What usually happens in this situation is that one of the two embryos takes over the other one during some point of the pregnancy, leading to the second embryo dying early. In other cases, the veterinarian will have to perform an abortion to remove the second foal in order for one of them to grow normally and healthy. According to the Center for Equine Health, late abortions can lead to significant complications, such as infection, trauma, reduced fertility during the next breeding, illness, and inflammation of the laminae. Veterinary surgeon Nicolas Jarvis, who works at a UK horse sanctuary, said: “Although mares quite often conceive twins, it is rare that both embryos survive. If you have two foals, they are vying for space and the chances of them coming out alive and well are slim.” This basically means that usually, the foals fight inside the womb for the growing space, and one usually wins the fight. To put things more into perspective, the survival rate of twin horses is a very low 10,000 to 1. For humans, the percentage of live twin births per year is approximately 27 percent. This means that there are approximately 1 billion twins on this planet. It seems to be a lot, but considering that there are approximately 7.4 billion people in total, the number remains pretty low. Twins, in general, are an uncommon phenomenon. For horses, this number is even lower than for humans. Having foals that are twins is, therefore, an extremely rare occurrence, a wonder of nature as one can call it. So, when Emma gave birth to twins, and both of them survived, both vets and the internet became amazed. It is the first set of documented twin foals since 2009, the last ones being Colby and Leo, a set of twin foals born in the UK. It had been almost 10 years since Mother Nature produced such a miracle. The twin foals are called Grace and Will, and they are in very good health. Even better, they are both expected to live happy and long lives, making them miracles of nature. According to the Center of Equine Health, when two live foals are delivered, there is a very high risk of foaling problems for the mother, as well as a high chance at a loss of life for both foals during their first two weeks of life. The owner of Emma was (and is still) stunned by the event and didn’t even know that Emma was carrying twins this entire time.
Ft. Walton Beach, Florida - An opossum that apparently drank bourbon after breaking into a Florida liquor store sobered up at a wildlife rescue center and was released unharmed. Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge officials say the opossum was brought in by a Fort Walton Beach, Florida, police officer on Nov. 24. A liquor store employee found the animal next to a broken and empty bottle of bourbon. "A worker there found the opossum up on a shelf next to a cracked open bottle of liquor with nothing in it," said Michelle Pettis, a technician at the refuge. "She definitely wasn't fully acting normal." Pettis told the Northwest Florida Daily News the female opossum appeared disoriented, was excessively salivating and was pale. The staff pumped the marsupial full of fluids and cared for her as she sobered up. "We loaded her up with fluids to help flush out any alcohol toxins," Pettis said. "She was good a couple of days later." Pettis says the opossum did not appear to have a hangover. The store owner, Cash Moore, says he never had an opossum break in before. "She came in from the outside and was up in the rafters, and when she came through she knocked a bottle of liquor off the shelf," Moore said. "When she got down on the floor she drank the whole damn bottle." "But it just goes to show that even the animals are impressed with Cash's," he said. The animal was released on Thursday.
