Have you ever wondered why huskies, border collies, and some shepherd dogs have those piercing blue eyes? Consumer genetics, made popular by companies like 23andMe and Ancestry, may have provided an answer, according to a new study conducted by researchers from the canine DNA startup company Embark Veterinary, Inc. The study was published in the journal PLOS Genetics and it’s the first of its kind to use consumer genomics with non-humans as well as the largest canine genome-wide association study ever conducted. Consumer genetic testing has given people an unprecedented look at their DNA and genetic history. This is all made possible thanks to large databases of genomic data, and now this new study shows how consumer genomics can shed light on animal traits that have yet eluded scientists, like the blue eyes of the Siberian Husky. To read more on this story, click here:What Gives Huskies Their Piercing Blue Eye Color?
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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.
Chickens are more than something to eat. They are intelligent and social animals. The chatty bird has even won the hearts of many people who now keep them as a pet. Chickens are becoming a popular option for an emotional support or therapy animal. Social animals make great therapy animals. Their need to connect and desire to be around family helps people suffering from anxiety, depression and loneliness. While dogs, cats and horses have been the traditional therapy animals, chickens are pecking their way in. Chickens are entertaining and talkative animals. They have over 24 different types of vocalizations. Aside from their vocals, they have unique personalities. “The talker, the complainer, the bossy one and the placid and the dopey and the eagle eyed smarty pants,” states Psychology Today. There is a perfect chicken for everyone. On top of the entertainment they provide, chickens are a perfect choice for people who are allergic to dogs and cats. The feathered animal has been introduced to nursing homes and senior living communities with great success. Therapy chickens have helped people with mental illnesses, children with autism, and give the elderly a reason to live. Having an animal to care for gives them a reason to wake up every morning. Studies done on facilities that have used therapy chickens have shown, “chickens at nursing homes can reduce resident-to-resident altercations, reduce antipsychotic drug use and increase the number of visits residents receive from friends and family,” according to Sheboygan Press. Therapy animals spark conversation about the patient’s past pets and brings back memories. This helps patients that are suffering from memory loss. The therapy animal also initiates conversations between the residents. “They can make good therapy pets for people who live with a backyard because they cost much less than dogs. Care-taking is good for you, when it’s not overwhelming and a chicken can provide an “un-anxious example of how to live without worry,” reports Psychology Today. While some chickens like to be handled and cuddled, they still need their outdoor time. Chickens need time outside to search for worms and bugs. “Researchers at the University of Northumbria found that “poultry therapy” in nursing homes can reduce feelings of depression and loneliness in patients — and can be especially helpful in getting male patients to be more social.” Chickens are affordable and entertaining therapy pets that are changing the lives of many people. These intelligent feathered animals are finally being seem as something more than food.
Have you ever wondered about the eyes of an animal, and how they differ from ours? Not only in shape, size and color...but in vision. I am not an expert by no means on animals eyes, but decided to do some research and share with my readers. A couple of questions that I was interested in were, "why do animals have luminous eyes at night and why do some animals' eyes shine red at night and some yellow?" I found out: The eyes of many animals, but not humans, contain a reflective layer called the "tapetum lucidum". That helps the eye gather more light, which improves night vision. You just see what's reflected back at you; the rest of the light is absorbed by the creature's eye. But it's not a precision mirror, and it tends to give you less accurate vision during the day. Humans go in for precision (which is why we can read) at the expense of hunting or seeing predators at night. The tapetum lucidum is reflective, but it's not like a mirror. It's more like some bird feathers and butterfly wings, where it uses ridges or dots of clear material to achieve a colored effect. The distance between the ridges interacts with the frequency of light to give you different colors. The colors you're not seeing are the ones that the animal are what the animal actually sees. Another question I had was, What does the phrase "eye of the tiger mean?" I found out: In the wild, seeing the "eyes" of the tiger signifies death, because right before a tiger attacks, it turns its ears forward so that the spot on the back of each ear faces nearer its prey. The "eye spots" on the back of tigers' ears serve to confuse predators and reduce the risk of attack from behind. Hence, once someone sees these "eyes", the tiger is about to attack. Did you know:
Dogs and cats are color blind. They are said to be able to see only in pale shades of color.
Snakes have 2 sets of eyes. One pair for day and one pair for night.
Insects and bees use compound eyes made up of hundreds, even thousands of tiny lenses placed together in a honeycomb pattern.
Horses eyes point sideways to give them excellent peripheral vision.
Animal welfare workers removed 71 beagles from a cramped house in rural Pennsylvania, where officials say a woman had been breeding them without a license before she died last month. The Lehigh County Humane Society got a call late Saturday night from police who responded to noise complaints at a home outside Allentown, said Barbara Morgan, the Humane Society's police officer. The officers estimated about 25 dogs were inside the home. Four animal welfare workers and two trucks responded. "Six hours later, we've removed 71 beagles," Morgan said, adding she had never seen so many animals squeezed into such a small space. Many are sickly and underweight and all of the animals had fleas, she said. Several are showing symptoms of mange and others have vision issues and are possibly blind. They range in age from weeks old to senior-aged. To read more on this story, click here:Animal Welfare Workers Save 71 Beagles Crammed In Small Home
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St. Martin Parish, Louisiana - An enormous alligator tried to be the doormat of a home in Louisiana Saturday. St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office posted photos of the at least 6-foot gator splayed across the front stoop of a home. "So....you never know what may show up on your door step (sic)!" the sheriff's office wrote on Facebook. "Just another day in the life of a St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office Patrol Deputy." One of the photos posted by the sheriff's office appears to show the gator vacating its comfortable spot in the shade of the house, but its open mouth suggests it was not happy to be leaving. The sheriff's office provided one last bit of advice in its post: "Always look before you step!"
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The world's smallest puppy named after one of the world's biggest pop stars, Beyoncé, was so tiny at birth she could fit on a spoon. The female Dachshund mix dog weighed just one ounce when she was born. Animal rescuers in California say that she still remains so small that she can easily fit on an iPhone while she is the same size as a business card or credit card. Experts say she is now likely to set a new record for being the world's tiniest dog. She is not yet officially the title holder but a "fast-track" application has been submitted to the Guinness World Records. But a dog rescue centre in El Dorado Hills, California, has now been inundated with requests to adopt the little animal. Beyoncé was the runt of a litter of five that was born to an abandoned dachshund mix, named Casey. Their mother was too heavily pregnant to have a termination and was scheduled to be put down. But vets intervened and looked after the dog until she gave birth a fortnight ago. When Beyoncé was delivered, vets were convinced she was still born. She was the last one delivered and was born without a heartbeat. Dr Michael Russell, the Grace Foundation's vet, then attempted to give her heart compressions but she still wasn't breathing.
Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was then given by assistant Beth DeCaprio. She said: "It was actually a little funny, and gross, trying to get my mouth around hers, but after a couple of really small breaths she took a deep breath and started to really move around. "We cleaned out her little nasal passages, and I gave her a couple more breaths and then she started breathing on her own. She is just a remarkable little survivor. "Our hope is that Beyoncé and her miraculous story of survival helps spread awareness about the plight of rescue dogs." Beyoncé is still smaller than the rest of her siblings but she's grown to 124g and is said to be thriving. She is expected to weigh less than 1kg when fully grown.
