Animal Radio® Show #643 March 31, 2012         Iron Chef Cat Cora  No stranger to the Food Network™ - Iron Chef Cat Cora (the only female Iron Chef) is not only a pro in the kitchen, she's an outspoken animal advocate. She wants you to know that baby seals are still being clubbed over the head in Canada - and she wants to put a stop to it! Food that feeds the body and soul is her number one passion, but showing humanity to all creatures is something that she holds just as dear.  That is why Cat has teamed up with the HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) to help end the cruel Canadian commercial seal hunt.  The clubbing of baby seals was originally brought to Cat's attention by her friends.  It is hard to believe that baby seals are still being clubbed to death these days for their skins, fat, oil and meat of the east coast of Canada.  Cat knew she couldn't just sit back and do nothing. She needed to get involved.  She believes we have a responsibility to protect those species that can't protect themselves.  She knows that fisherman need to fish to feed their families, but she still believes that alternatives should be found. While this is going on, she has pledged to stop cooking with Canadian seafood at her restaurant until the hunt is ended.  She is also aware of over-fishing and makes sure that the food she cooks is cage-free.  Cat isn't the only chef who has joined this protest, Chef Mario Batali and hundreds of other chefs have joined her. To stop this hunt, join the boycott.  Keep the pressure on Canada’s fishing industry! Cat feels that progress has been made, but there is still more work to do to stop this.  Iron Chef Cat Cora is also a big believer in rescuing pets and currently lives with her rescued dog, a Chihuahua named Harlow, a lap dog that thinks she’s a fierce guard dog, in Santa Barbara, California. http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/seal_hunt     Saying Goodbye Reverend Gary Kowalski – Goodbye, Friend  Deciding when a close family pet should be euthanized isn't an easy task. Dealing with the death of your furry companion is inevitable and can be the hardest thing you've ever had to deal with. Gary Kowalski imparts great wisdom on the subject in his new book Goodbye Friend. For children, the loss of a pet is the most serious trauma that they will encounter in their young lives.   Gary mentions a college professor who regularly asks incoming freshman what were the most happiest and saddest time of their lives.  Typically, the loss of a pet was the saddest.  The professor also mentioned that most young men took it harder than the young women.  When a pet dies, a funeral is a great thing.  There needs to be a way to bring emotional closure to the loss and to begin to move from the process of mourning toward celebration and gratitude for the years you had together with our pets.   A funeral is a great way to help someone through this process.   Even just writing something out about your pet is very cathartic and healing in some way, to just put the words on paper and express the feeling of love, joy and sadness at a time like this. When you have to decide whether or not to euthanize an animal, it can be very difficult.  More often than not, people make the mistake of just holding on longer than they should.  They do this either out of a misplaced sense of responsibility for the animal's welfare or out of some desire that the animal will experience a so-called natural dying process.  However, nature can be pretty cruel sometimes.  If you have an animal that can no longer walk, it probably has lost a good deal of the quality of its life.  Animals enjoy the same things we do, such as a degree of independence and self-control.  This is part of what gives animal their dignity and their sense of self-hood.  It is hard to know when the time is right, but Gary believes that 10 minutes too early is better than 2 weeks too late.  This is a final gift we can give our animal, a pain free and kind death and let them know that we are there with them, loving them until the end. It can also be a good idea to let any other animals in the family be present when euthanasia is taking place. Some people immediately want to go out and get another animal right away after the loss of their pet.  However, your life is unbalanced and it is probably not a good time to make any big decisions in your life.  Don't go out the next week and get another pet.  Also, don't vow that you will never have another animal in your life.  Just let yourself absorb it.  There is not a to-do list when animal dies.  Death isn't a problem to be solved, so much as a reality and mystery to be accepted and embraced.  People need to give themselves a lot of time and a lot of space to let this sink in and let the greater forces of life and nature work in their healing way until they are ready to move forward again with the process of living. The loss of an animal companion can be a painful, wrenching experience. In Goodbye, Friend, Gary Kowalski takes you on a journey of healing, offering warmth and sound advice on how to cope with the death of your pet. Filled with heartwarming stories and practical guidance on such matters as taking care of yourself while mourning, creating rituals to honor your pet’s memory, and talking to children about death, Goodbye, Friend is a beautiful and comforting book for anyone grieving the loss of a beloved animal. The Reverend Gary Kowalski is a Unitarian Universalist minister and the author of seven books on nature, spirituality, science, and the environment. They include The Souls of Animals and Science and the Search for God. A graduate of the Harvard Divinity School, he has served congregations in Vermont, New Mexico, Washington, and Massachusetts. http://www.newworldlibrary.com     The Dogfather's Grooming Tip with Joey Villani Styles of Spring It's that time of year again to talk about the spring fashions and how they concern our pets.  There are new fashions as well as new colors, but also new styles and haircuts.  The pet industry is constantly changing, and unless you have Joey Villani to tell you, you have to pay attention.    We have a very stylish audience at Animal Radio, so listen up! First, lets discuss the new spring colors for accessorizing your pet.  For spring, we are looking at vibrant colors.  Right now, oranges and raspberries are in, all of the very vibrant berry colors.   Whether its leashes, collars, jackets or coats, you want to get them on your pet.  Joey says to check out Juicy Couture.  They have a line of fleece hoodies that come in all of the spring collars for your dog.  For your dog's haircut, things have changed.  Right now, the emphasis of jackets are for all of the areas where there is muscle on your dog, such as the flank (the back of the legs) and the chest areas.  The areas that aren't heavily muscled, like the hocks, the front legs and the elbows, the hair there is a little shaggier.  It's almost like a pair of bell-bottom jeans, where it starts tight and then flares out on the bottom.  This is what your pet should look like.  They will look tight but also a little bit messy and a little bit edgy.  Joey doesn't come up with this stuff.  Watch the dog shows, like Westminster and the World Dog Shows, and you can see for yourself how the styles change.  Your groomer should also be following these new trends.  This will lead you into the next year, and you are going to have the trendiest and hottest looking dog next to you, which make you look better too!     Animal Radio® News with Stacey Cohen  Spring Brings Poisonous Plants While you are enjoying the flowers and plants in your yard that are already blooming, many varieties can be poisonous to your dog. The problem with dogs and plants is that dogs are curious in nature, love to sniff, smell and taste everything, whether it’s good for them or not. Depending on the type of plant, the leaves, stems, bark, roots or fruit can be toxic. If ingested, symptoms range from rashes on the skin or mouth, irritation to the mucus membranes, a painful tongue or lips, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and cramps. More serious symptoms include tremors, heart and respiratory and/or kidney problems, convulsions and even death. Here is a partial list of common garden plants that can be deadly to your dog: Amaryllis; Autumn Crocus; Azaleas; Black Locust; Bleeding Heart; Bloodroot; Castor bean or castor oil plant; Chinaberry tree; Chrysanthemum; Daphne; Dumbcane; Elderberry; English Ivy; Flower bulbs; Foxglove; Golden Chain; Hemlock; Horse Chestnut; Iris; Jasmine; Larkspur; Laurels; Lily-of-the-Valley; Marijuana; Mistletoe; Monkshood; Oak trees; Oleander; Privet; Red Sage; Rhododendrons; Rhubarb; Sago Palm; Schefflera; Star of Bethlehem; Stinging Nettles; Thorn Apple or jimsonweed; Virginia creeper; Wild and cultivated cherries; Wisteria; and Yew.  If you suspect your dog has eaten a flower or plant in your yard and has possibly been poisoned, consult your veterinarian immediately. It's important for him/her to know specifically what plant/flower your dog ate. If you're unsure of the name, it's wise to bring the plant or flower to a nursery in order to identify it properly. Justin Bieber's Snake Finds New Home  Justin Bieber's pet snake, Johnson, has found a new home. The reptile, who became famous after the pop singer showed him off on the MTV VMA red carpet last year, was recently donated to the Rad Zoo in Owatonna, Minnesota. A rep from the zoo says they received the boa constrictor from the unnamed person who bought the snake when Justin put him up for auction online following the award ceremony. Johnson has only been at the facility for about a week, but the zookeepers reportedly have a plan to make sure he has a sign indicating his special connection to "The Biebs." Oldest Skeletal Animal Discovered  The oldest animal with a skeleton has been discovered, a creature shaped like a thimble that lived on the seafloor more than a half-billion years ago, researchers say. These findings shed light on the evolution of early life on Earth and could also help scientists recognize life elsewhere in the universe. Hundreds of fossils of the animal, named Corona Collina Acula, were discovered in ancient sandstone beds in south Australia, suggesting the area was once a shallow seafloor. The animal measured up to 0.6 inches (1.5 centimeters) high and nearly 0.9 inches (2.2 cm) wide; radiating from the top of its body were at least four needlelike "spicules," each up to 14.5 inches (37 cm) long, which the scientists suspect it used as a skeleton to support its body somewhat like the poles of a tent.  C. Acula likely was not capable of locomotion, and so probably fed as sponge does, filtering food from the water, the researchers say.  The creature is between 550 million and 560 million years old. This places it in the mysterious Ediacaran period, when life first became large enough to be seen with the naked eye. The animals from the Ediacaran are almost universally bizarre and very difficult to link with any modern animal groups. There's No Place Like Home!  There's no place like home, but Toto won't be able to call Kansas home as the Sunflower State's official state dog. A State House Committee has decided not to hear legislation that would have named the Cairn Terrier the state's official canine breed. The proposal was introduced based on the idea of schoolchildren, who in the past have helped name other official state animals including the bird and reptile. The most famous Cairn Terrier was named Toto and belonged to a girl named Dorothy, who visited the Wizard of Oz to return home to Kansas. TV Show Cancelled After Death Of Horses HBO has cancelled production of its series "Luck" after an injured horse had to be euthanized on the set a few weeks ago. It was the third horse death connected with the series. HBO issued a statement calling safety a "paramount concern." The network added, "While we maintained the highest safety standards possible, accidents unfortunately happen and it is impossible to guarantee they won't in the future. Accordingly, we have reached this difficult decision." Centered on the world of thoroughbred racing, "Luck" starred Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte. A horse died on the set in 2010 and another died last year.  This last horse death prompted calls from animal-rights groups who demanded HBO stop production on the show. The network said it would cancel the series. Animals Aren't The Only Ones Who Can Wear Hooves   From mile-high stilettos to heels covered in diamonds, designers are always going to extremes to make a more chic-looking shoe.  But German Artist Iris Schieferstein is using a much different approach when crafting hers: dead animals.  According to The Virtual Shoe Museum, the artist has been using raw material (aka the aforementioned dead animals) in her art pieces for years.  Not shockingly, the shoes have garnered the attention of celebs including Lady Gaga and, according to the Daily Mail, can cost close to $6,000. Daily Mail claims the process of creating the shoes includes stripping out any remaining meat and bones from the animal's feet, then the skin is sent to a tanner to be treated for preservation before she crafts them into stilettos. One of her more controversial pieces is a pair of sandals made with stuffed doves. "She joins the fragments together to new creatures and thus gives a new face to death," says the Virtual Shoe Museum, which houses information on her and other designer’s collections. NEWS UPDATE Brought To You By PetzLife.com.  Use the code "RADIO" to receive 20% off!         Listen to the entire Podcast of this show (#643)

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