Contaminated pet food is on the news today, after the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration announced nine states reported a Salmonella outbreak. The matter at hand has been challenging authorities since April, and all measures to contain it have failed so far. At the moment, 39 states have been included in the pet food recall 2012.

First reports of contaminated pet food first occurred in April, with Diamond Pet Foods initiating three voluntary recalls of dry dog food manufactured in its facility based in Gaston, S.C. Since then, Kirkland, Premium Edge, Wellness, Chicken Soup, Apex Pet Foods, Dog Lover's Soul, Canidae, Natural Balance and Diamond Naturals have been added to the list of the pet food recall 2012.

As of last month, Diamond Pet Foods has ordered the recall of dry dog food manufactured between December 9, 2011 and April 7, 2012. Initially there were only nine states on the list, but after 14 cases of people infected with Salmonella were reported, the company has expanded the number of states the recall takes place.

The company's statement reads: "We have taken corrective actions at our Gaston, S.C., facility and voluntarily expanded the recall out of concern for our customers and their pets".

Thus, the following states are now operating recalls of Diamond Pet Foods' dry dog food brands: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the persons that caught Salmonella might have been infected while feeding their pets. The Center for Veterinary Medicine with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that 14 people in nine states got sick with a rare strain of salmonella, called Salmonella Infantis.

The CDC has put together a little guide to help pet owners avoid contamination with Salmonella. It's mandatory to wash your hands every time you handle your pet's food and treats. Barton Behravesh, in charge with the CDC outbreak response team, said pet owners should handle the food and treats with the same attention they'd handle a baby bottle.

The problems keep piling up for former NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield. A Forsyth County (N.C.) Superior Court judge has ordered Mayfield to pay $1 million to a postal carrier who was attacked in 2011 by Mayfield's five dogs.

The carrier, Mary E. Bolton, charged Mayfield with negligence in permitting their dogs, pit bull/Labrador mixes, to roam freely on his property. According to court accounts, Bolton was delivering the mail on April 21, 2011, and had a package too large to fit into the mailbox. She drove onto the property (which had "No Trespassing" and "Beware of Dog" signs visible) but was attacked by the dogs.

Mayfield, who was home at the time, chased off the dogs, carried Bolton into his house, and called 911. Bolton was transported to a nearby hospital, and after several months off work, now suffers from nerve damage and post-traumatic stress disorder. Animal control authorities confiscated and later euthanized the dogs.

Bolton indicated that she lost an estimated $14,000 in income because of the injuries. Mayfield has said he offered to pay for her medical costs, but did not show up in court or file an answer to Bolton's charges. While Mayfield expressed regret over the incident, he also noted the reality of the situation, that his house is nearly a mile from the street and that he moved to the country expressly to allow his dogs to run free on his own property.

"I'm far enough off the road to not get messed with," he said. "My dogs never left that property, yet I've got a $1 million judgment against me."

In this instance, Mayfield was not charged with a crime. But it is one more in a series of tragic and traumatic events piling up against Mayfield. His home was auctioned off because he owed roughly $3 million on the property. Mayfield also still faces charges of drug possession, larceny and possession of stolen goods. He has also been involved in lawsuits with his stepmother, whom he accused of (but later recanted) being involved in the death of his father.

He has not raced in NASCAR since 2009, when he was suspended for testing positive for methamphetamines. At the time, he protested his innocence, but Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon expressed concern about sharing a track with him.

Mayfield did not file a response to Bolton's charges because he says he cannot afford attorneys on this matter as well as his criminal ones.

"If I had $1 million to give away," he said, "I wouldn't be in this situation."

A Florida teacher could lose her job because of an accusation that she punished students by having them wear a cone-shaped pet collar, used to keep animals from licking their wounds after surgery.

Pasco County Schools Superintendent Heather Fiorentino has recommended firing Laurie Bailey-Cutkomp, 47, for putting the cone on at least eight of her ninth-graders on two days in April, in some instances to punish or embarrass the students, The Tampa Tribune reports.

"I am stunned that you would put dog collars on students for any reason," Fiorentino wrote in a letter notifying Bailey-Cutkomp of the plan to fire her, the newspaper reports.

Zephyrhills High administrators learned of the allegations after seeing the students' photos on Facebook. Parents tipped off the school, the Tribune reports.

Bailey-Cutkomp, who is on unpaid suspension, told the administrators that she gave some students the option of wearing the cone or sitting at the tardy table when they arrived late for class, the newspaper reports.

Tanisha Medina, one of Bailey-Cutkomp's students, says the collar was just a joke and was not humiliating, the Tribune reports.

"I didn't feel humiliated," the student said. "I was laughing the whole time. The class enjoyed it."

If you had the cash, around $150,000, would you clone your pet? George Semel did. And he spent an hour explaining why and fielding calls on Animal Radio® (http://AnimalRadio.com/640PODCAST.mp3).

The entire episode was taped for TV and TLC's "I Cloned My Pet." Be sure to catch this on TV Monday May 21st at 10pm P/E. This is your opportunity to go behind the scenes with Animal Radio®.

George mentions that he has tissue that is cryo-preserved already from another dog since 2005, but he couldn't afford to clone that dog at that time. He says it was also in advance of the proper techniques to clone a dog. The tissue for this dog is still on hold.

The cloning techniques are far more advanced now, so George was able to clone Bob. The process allowed them to clone 10 million cells from Bob's tissue. The cloning was successful, and there are triplets of Bob still in Korea with their surrogate mother, where the cloning took place. George did get to see the puppies after they were born on December 28th, and states that the puppies all look genetically identical to Bob.

George tells us that he has been sworn to secrecy about the amount he paid for the cloning, but stated that, "It is an expensive proposition." There was never really a signed agreement for the cloning, and the Koreans surprised George with the triplets. They are now demanding a larger payment than was expected. George and his friend Alex are trying to raise the remainder of the money. They have created a song, The Clone Song, and are selling it for $.99 a download to offset the cost of the process.

George has not been able to test the DNA of these puppies to see if they are true clones of Bob, he is just taking the Koreans word for it. However, he will be able to check their DNA against the original Bob's DNA when he brings the puppies back to the United States.

When asked why George didn't adopt one of the many homeless dogs waiting for homes, he stated that, "I was saving a saved animal that didn't get to be fully saved." He states that he originally made a commitment to a saved animal.

When asked what dog cloning can lead to, with regard to female dogs that are kept in cages to be surrogates for these clones (much like puppy mills), George states that the technique is currently being used in people and this is no different. For example, he states, a woman will carry a baby for another woman who can't have children and be paid for her services. But the difference is that these female dogs didn't ask for this kind of life!

George hasn't made arrangements to pick up the puppies yet, but hopes to have them with him soon. He states, "I did it for the dog. I didn't really do it for myself… I did what I thought was the right thing for the puppy, meeting my obligation to him..."

George doesn't feel he is playing 'God," but feels that someone has to be adventurous enough to examine what the boundaries are and to push those boundaries. George hopes that one day humans will also be cloned, as he feels there is a place for that as well.

We received many calls during the interview. Some were for cloning, while others were against. What do you think? Would you clone your dog?

One little piggy is going to be able to continue crying "wee wee wee" all the way to its Houston home. A Texas judge has ruled that the pig is a pet, the San Antonio Express-News reports.

The battle over Wilbur the pig began when Alex Sardo gave his wife, Missy, the then-7-week-old Vietnamese pot-bellied pig. But when the couple's homeowners association found out, they wanted the piglet out. Cypresswood Community Improvement Association sent a letter to the Sardo family stating they had 30 days to get rid of it or face a lawsuit.

The family sued instead, insisting Wilbur was a pet. And a Harris County district judge agreed, but not entirely for the reasons you'd expect.

The HOA argued that under its guidelines, only "common" and "traditional" pets were allowed. But based on the evidence, the court ruled that Wilbur's breed wasn't meant for commercial purposes and was indeed a pet.

The court further stated that the issue wasn't just about what is and isn't a pet, but rather the amount of control HOAs can assert over residents.

Community covenants generally include noise and pet restrictions. Typically, many prohibit exotic animals from being kept and restrict excessive noise during usual bedtimes. Many municipalities also have similar laws.

Generally, violators can be cited with fines if they don't comply. And as the HOA's actions against the Sardo family shows, injunctive action is also possible.

Wilbur the pig gained national attention after the Sardo family set up a Facebook page detailing the piggy's saga. And following a Texas court's ruling that the pig is a pet, it looks like their efforts paid off.

April 9th in Norwalk, California, a civil complaint was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court (unlimited jurisdiction) against PetsMart for the death of a family’s beloved four-month-old English Bulldog, Rita.

According to the complaint, Plaintiffs brought their healthy and happy puppy to PetsMart for a grooming.

Shortly after dropping her off, they received a call that she was vomiting blood and that they should pick her up and take her to a veterinarian.

Plaintiffs rushed to PetsMart and brought Rita to a veterinarian where she sadly passed away 45 minutes after being treated and placed on oxygen.

According to the complaint, a necropsy of Rita’s body was performed wherein it was revealed that her likely cause of death was strangulation.

This occurred at PetsMart while she was being groomed.

Plaintiffs wanted their beloved Rita’s body back for a proper burial, and when they called to retrieve her body, they were told that PetsMart had called to order her body cremated.

Plaintiffs were horrified, as this was done against their wishes, beliefs and without their consent.

PetsMart has been under fire as well as sued in the past for similar incidents.

Given LA's stepped-up effort to save the lives of cats and dogs, it's nice to see one of the "no-kill" strategies in effect. The irresistible pup lounging in the KTLA video above was reunited with its owner after being apart for six years, thanks to her microchip.

When the dog, "Princess," escaped from her Pomona home six years ago, April Allen said she thought her dog was gone forever. "We put fliers out and everything, and nobody ever called us. We prayed a lot about it. We thought we would never see her again," Allen recounted.

But to her shock, six years later, Allen recently received call saying Princess had been found. "A wonderful lady, a Good Samaritan, found her and also we believe one of her puppies running the streets of Riverside," Allen said.

Allen says that as long people "do the right thing" and get lost dogs scanned to see if they have a microchip, the technology really works.

Allen and her family say they are thrilled to have their "baby back," as well as one of her puppies. The puppy's name is Bella, and they're both in good health. In fact, Allen believes Princess has lived with a family for part of the time she was gone.

"She was originally in Pomona… I don't think she made her way to Riverside on her own." Allen guessed. On whomever took care of Princess, Allen said, "They may be sad too, you know, whoever may have lost her. But you know they never tried to find who might have been her rightful owner."

Allen said she and Princess are now inseparable. "It's like she longed to find me," she said. "I'm just so happy. I can't believe it"

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A woman posed as a veterinarian at an animal clinic, treating dogs and cats for nearly two years, including some that apparently died in her care, police said.

Now, dozens of people suspect their pets may be victims too, with some saying the woman administered blood tests and ordered medication for their animals.

Investigators said Brandi Tomko, 35, was pretending to be a vet and taking cash for her work to support a drug habit. She has pleaded not guilty to charges of practicing without a license, injuring animals and animal cruelty, as well as drug charges.

A judge on Monday refused to lower her $100,000 bond despite objections from her attorney. "The allegations that they are saying happened ended about a year ago, and she didn't run away from it, she didn't leave town, she's been around the entire time," said attorney John Greven.

More charges are likely because investigators continue to receive tips, said Steven Null, an Akron police detective. Initially, police spoke with the owners of only a few animals, but "that's the tip of the iceberg," he said Monday.

Police suspect that Tomko treated dozens of animals from 2009 to 2011 after several veterinarians who had contracts with the C&D Animal Hospital quit because they weren't getting paid, leaving the clinic without any licensed vets, Null said.

"She threw on her white lab coat and pretended to be a vet," he said.

Kenny Reymann told The Akron Beacon Journal that he discovered that Tomko was not licensed to treat animals after his dog died. He said that a few days after one visit, Tomko called and said his dog needed to be hospitalized immediately. Reymann said she then charged almost $400 for treatment and that his dog died hours after he was released.

He also found out after his dog's death that a laboratory that was supposed to do blood tests never did so because the tests were not ordered.

Reymann said there was no way to determine there wasn't a licensed veterinarian at the clinic. "When you pull up to a sign that says 'animal hospital,' you expect it to be a hospital," he said.

The clinic closed almost a year ago.

Investigators say the conditions inside were unsanitary.

Diamond Pet Foods is voluntarily recalling Diamond Naturals Lamb Meal & Rice. This is being done as a precautionary measure, as the product has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. No illnesses have been reported and no other Diamond manufactured products are affected.

Individuals handling dry pet food can become infected with salmonella, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with surfaces exposed to this product. Healthy people infected with salmonella should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. Rarely, salmonella can result in more serious ailments including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation and urinary tract symptoms. Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.

Pets with salmonella infections may have decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, pets may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever and vomiting. Infected but otherwise healthy pets can be carriers and infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.

The product, Diamond Naturals Lamb Meal & Rice, was distributed to customers located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia, who may have further distributed the product to other states, through pet food channels.

Product Name Bag Size Production Code & “Best Before� Code
Diamond Naturals Lamb & Rice 6lb DLR0101D3XALW Best Before 04 Jan 2013
Diamond Naturals Lamb & Rice 20lb DLR0101C31XAG Best Before 03 Jan 2013
Diamond Naturals Lamb & Rice 40lb DLR0101C31XMF Best Before 03 Jan 2013
Diamond Naturals Lamb & Rice 40lb DLR0101C31XAG Best Before 03 Jan 2013
Diamond Naturals Lamb & Rice 40lb DLR0101D32XMS Best Before 04 Jan 2013

Consumers who have purchased the Diamond Naturals Lamb & Rice with the specific production and “Best Before� codes should discontinue feeding the product and discard it.

At Diamond Pet Foods, the safety of our products is our top priority. We apologize for any inconvenience this recall may have caused. For further information or to obtain a product refund please call us at 800-442-0402 or visit www.diamondpet.com disclaimer icon.

There are few cities in the United States that have as much access to medical marijuana as Boulder does. With the increased availability of medical marijuana in our area, our pets are encountering more exposure to marijuana and its active chemical ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Unfortunately, THC is toxic to our pets, and exposure to marijuana can result in a very sick animal.

How exposure occurs

The vast majority of pet exposure occurs in dogs (95 percent). Our canine companions are notorious for eating, well, just about everything. Ingestion of marijuana is the most common way pets are exposed to the toxic THC. Marijuana edibles including butter, cookies and brownies are very tempting to pets. We all can imagine the Labrador Retriever sneaking onto the counter to eat those chocolate pot brownies. Some animals will ingest the raw plant leaves, seeds and even joints without hesitation. Finally, pets can also be exposed to second-hand marijuana smoke.

What marijuana does

THC is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream. Signs of marijuana toxicity typically become apparent within minutes to a few hours. The most common symptoms of toxicity are neurologic abnormalities, including stumbling that potentially progresses to an inability to walk, depression, agitation, dribbling urine, twitching, seizures, pupil dilation and occasionally coma. Death is rare but can occur. About 30 percent of animals exposed to THC will develop gastrointestinal signs including drooling, vomiting and diarrhea. Because THC is lipid (fat) soluble, pets may exhibit mild to moderate symptoms for days as the chemical is slowly released from fat stores.

What to do

Seek medical attention immediately from your veterinarian. Depending on the timing of ingestion, your veterinarian will try to "decontaminate." He or she will likely give a medication to induce vomiting and administer activated charcoal to help limit further absorption of THC. Then, your pet may need hospitalization and supportive care including an intravenous catheter, IV fluids, heat support, heart rate and blood pressure monitoring. If symptoms are very severe, your pet may need more aggressive care to manage seizures and possibly breathing support. The good news is that with mild to moderate exposure and prompt medical care, most pets will recover from this toxic exposure.

Most importantly, be honest and up front with your veterinarian that your pet was exposed to marijuana. Our interest and goal is to help your pet achieve a healthy condition as quickly as possible. If we know right away what toxin we are battling, we will be able to provide appropriate and efficient medical treatment. Veterinarians are not obligated to report marijuana exposure, so there is no need for legal concerns regarding your use of marijuana.

Keeping pets safe

Foremost, please keep your medical marijuana, weed, bud, ganja, pot, brownies and joints safely contained and out of your pets' reach (i.e. closed cupboards, drawers, high closet shelves, etc.). Do not leave remnants in an open trash container nor in a compost bin that your pet may sneak into for a snack. When smoking, ideally keep your pet in a separate room away from the smoke. If this is not possible, smoke in a well-ventilated area to minimize your pets' exposure to second-hand smoke.

THC test

Yes. THC can be detected via blood or/and urine tests.

Do pets get high?

No. Marijuana exposure in pets causes neurologic toxicity, which is not the same as the "high" that people experience. The symptoms (staggering, agitation, stupor, etc.) that develop in pets do not appear enjoyable for them.

Med pot for pets?

Currently, marijuana is considered a toxin to pets, and there are no recommended uses. Marijuana is a complex substance, and the effects of THC on individual animals are extremely variable. Some animals become highly agitated from marijuana, while others exhibit signs of depression. There have been studies that show THC may have anti-seizure effects, while other studies indicate THC may provoke seizures. Some feel marijuana may reduce nausea, but roughly 1/3 of animals exposed to marijuana will develop signs of nausea and vomiting.

Furthermore, dosing in animals is challenging. The THC content varies in marijuana plants, complicating the ability to control a drug dose. Thus, at this time, there are no generally accepted medical or prescription uses for marijuana in pets.

Do you know what you're feeding your pet? Do you make the best nutritional and value-based decision when choosing your pet food? Do you choose your pet food based on what a well-intentioned salesperson told you, or was it because you liked the look of the label?

However you answered the above questions, I suspect it was a combination of all of the above with probably a lot of questionable assumptions. I would like to help you be an educated pet food shopper. I believe the best pet owner is the one that is well-informed about pet care. So with that in mind, today I would like to teach you how to read the product name of a pet food label. I know that this sounds extremely simplistic, but you may be surprised by what you're about to learn about advertising and word choices.

You might think if you buy "Beef" dog food for Fido, he's getting all beef, right? Well that is not necessarily the case. If the product name includes a meat, poultry or fish ingredient and no diminutive descriptors afterwards (like nugget or dinner), then the rules state that that ingredient name must represent 95 percent of the total weight of the product, excluding water, or 70 percent of the weight of the product if it does include water. So for example, if a label says "Beef Dog Food," 95 percent of the diet is beef. If it says "95 percent Beef and Chicken," the diet must be a combination of beef and chicken and together equal 95 percent of the weight of the product. It could be 76 percent beef and 19 percent chicken. In addition, the ingredient name label must be written in descending order of percentage of weight of product. So if a cat food product is named "Lobster and Salmon," there has to be a greater weight percentage of lobster than salmon, and the combination of lobster and salmon must equal 95 percent of the total weight of the product, excluding water. But just to make things a little more confusing, this name requirement only applies to animal or fish ingredients. Thus, the 95 percent rule does not apply to grains and vegetables. So, a diet labeled "Rice and Lamb" Dog Food would in fact be mislabeled if the product did not contain at least 95 percent lamb.

Are you following? Because there's more! If the product name has the word "Dinner" in it, then the label implies that at least 25 percent of the named ingredient is present in the diet but is not greater than 95 percent of the diet by weight excluding water. If the meal does include water, then the named ingredient must make up just 10 percent of the meal's weight. Other euphemisms for "Dinner" could be "Platter," "Entrée," "Nugget" or "Formula." So for example, a "Chicken Dinner" (or Chicken Entrée, or Chicken Nugget for that matter) would imply only 25 percent of this product is actually chicken - the rest could be something else entirely, like fish, beef or pork. So if your pet is finicky, has food allergies or dietary intolerances, it is important to read the entire ingredient label to see what other ingredients are present. If more than one ingredient is named in the dinner, like "Chicken and Turkey Dinner," the total of the two products must be at least 25 percent of the weight of the product, with the minimum of the second ingredient being greater than three percent of the weight of the diet. Unlike the 95 percent rule, this rule applies to all ingredients, whether it's animal origin or not. For instance a "Lamb and Rice Formula" implies that at least 25 percent of the diet has a combination of lamb and rice by weight with lamb being the dominant ingredient. Who knew there was so much math involved in pet care?

It's also important to note that the "with" or "three percent" rule includes ingredients that do not meet the "Dinner" requirements but that the production company would like to highlight in the diet. A great example would be "with Cheese" or "with Blueberries." This would imply that at least three percent of the diet by weight is cheese or blueberries. (Mmmm ... cheese and blueberries).

So for review, a cat food that is labeled "Chicken Cat Food" has at least 95 percent chicken by weight. But a "Chicken Dinner Food" has at least 25 percent chicken by weight. While a "Cat Food with Chicken" meal has only three percent chicken by weight.

Finally, under the "flavor" rule, a specific percentage of this ingredient is not specified but must contain a sufficient amount to be detected by the pet. How does one test for "detection?" With the use of dogs specifically trained to acknowledge specific flavors. For example, when the "dog taster" tastes chicken, he may bark or better yet, continue to eat the food. An interesting note is that the "flavor" does not have to originate from the actual product -- like real chicken -- but may be a combination of many ingredients to reflect the real taste. So a diet with chicken flavor may not actually contain any real chicken at all.

I hope this "Pet Label 101" class will help you navigate better through the pet food aisle the next time you go grocery shopping. Remember, choose your words properly!

Tommy Lee, of Motley Crue fame recently adopted a new puppy and in the process revealed his views on buying from pet stores.

"The [shelter] is scary. It is loaded with beautiful dogs and I would highly encourage people not to buy animals from a pet store. They're bred for all the wrong reasons, for mostly money and it's just kind of a bad scene. We ended up going [to the shelter] and I'm so glad we did," he said. (Source: Rolling Stone)

He was referencing an overall situation which is very bad for many animals. According to No Pet Store Puppies, most puppies sold in pet stores come from puppy mills – large-scale breeding operations that place profits over animal care. Conditions in puppy mills can be atrocious and even disease-spreading. Housing female dogs in small cages as breeders is a very cruel practice. Also too many of the puppies get sick in these confined spaces where they are treated like objects and often neglected.

Once sick, they may die or be abandoned which results in death. Some sick puppies actually make it to pet stores where unwitting customers buy them and then have to get treatment or they remain sick and die.Once the female dogs cease to breed prolifically they are shot, left to starve or abandoned.

To make matters worse there are millions of animals which could be adopted. In 2008, there were an estimated 3.7 million animals euthanized in the United States.

In Detroit alone, there are an estimated 20,000-50,000 stray dogs roaming the streets. Some of these dogs were abandoned by their owners who left the city or can't afford to feed them. In a single LA neighborhood there are nearly 12,000 stray cats. With so many animals available for adoption, why do people continue buying pets from pet stores?

LOS ANGELES – A specialty license-plate campaign by pet lovers to save animal lives needs saving.

As California has more dogs, cats and cars than any other state, it would seem pet lovers could rally enough support for a plan to end pet overpopulation and cut euthanasia. But with three months to go, they are struggling to get the support they need.

The Department of Consumer Affairs Veterinary Medical Board is the campaign's sponsor and the California Spay & Neuter License Plate Fund Inc. was set up to pre-sell 7,500 plates before June 2012.

That target must be hit for the plates to go into production or the program could collapse, with the money being refunded.

Volunteers, using donations for fliers and brochures, pre-sold 4,000 plates, said Judie Mancuso of Laguna Beach, president of the fund and member of the veterinary board.

In 2010, nearly 868,000 dogs and cats entered animal shelters in California. More than half were euthanized.

Spay and neuter is the best way to stop overpopulation and cut the euthanasia rate, Mancuso said. In these economic times, she said there is no better way to pay for surgeries than license plates because "it is not a tax and not a fee."

Can pet lovers sell 3,500 plates in three months when it took 21 months to sell 4,000?

Representatives from Petco Animal Supplies Inc. promised two weeks ago to put fliers in all their California stores, Mancuso said.

And Assembly Bill 610, by Assemblyman Jose Solorio, D-Anaheim, has been amended by the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee to extend the deadline another year. It still has to go back through some committees and faces floor votes, but Mancuso is optimistic if they need more time they will have it.

One of the biggest problems, Mancuso said, is that people don't see anything for their money for up to three years.

It takes up to 10 months after all the conditions are met to get the prison-made plates into production, Department of Motor Vehicles spokeswoman Jessica Gonzalez said.

If the campaign does fail, pets will be in good company. Girl Scouts, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and the San Francisco 49ers have been unable to sell enough plates.

But no state seems a better fit for a pet plate. There are nearly 32 million registered vehicles. There are more than 37.7 million people. With six of 10 Americans having pets, there could be at least 23 million pet owners in the state.

Actor, artist and animal activist Pierce Brosnan created and donated the artwork for the plate – using his own rescues Shilo and Angel Baby as models.

It costs $50 to reserve a sequentially numbered specialty plate. A new or transferred vanity plate is $98. Annual renewal fees are $40 for standard plates and $78 for vanity plates. These costs are in addition to regular DMV license fees.

Money will be refunded if the campaign collapses. But if it succeeds, Mancuso said history shows them they can expect sales to double or triple in the year after the plates become available and people see them on the road.

California has 10 specialty plates, benefiting among others firefighters and veterans' organizations.

The plates have been a boon for the causes they support. The most popular (kids) has brought in $41 million since 1994.

In 2001, the state increased the number of pre-paid applications required from 5,000 to 7,500, Gonzalez said, because it costs almost $400,000, including $270,000 for programming, to put a plate into production. Fees from the initial 7,500 applications cover those costs, she said.

In 2002, a Senate bill supporting a "choose life" plate was rejected. An anti-abortion group filed a lawsuit and in 2003, a federal judge ordered the state to stop allowing specialty plates until it fixed the selection process, which he said gave the Legislature too much authority to suppress a point of view.

Requiring a sponsor answered the court's concerns and became part of the law in 2006.

But there still hasn't been a new plate in California since 2002.

(Los Angeles CA., April 2, 2012) Rising star Kristin Chenoweth will guest host America's most-listened-to pet talk, Animal Radio®, on Saturday April 7th, noon eastern on XM Satellite Radio channel 166 as well as 101 AM/FM affiliates.

Kristin's role as Carlene Cockburn on ABC's new hit series GCB is 16 years in the making according to the animal loving star. Once number 46 on the list of the 100 most attractive women, Kristin says it's taken a long time to find fame.

The very charismatic actress formed a non-profit pet welfare organization named after her dog, "Maddie." The dog has been a mainstay in her life through jobs, boyfriends and fame. Kristin says "Maddie is very feisty, just like her mama!" She takes the pup everywhere, sneaking her into restaurants, hotels, and even the television set.

Kristin will be joined on Animal Radio® by former ABC's The Bachelor Prince Lorenzo Borghese as part of the syndicated program's Season of Stars, which has included Betty White, Davy Jones, Carrie Ann Inaba, Frankie Avalon, Margaret Cho, Elayne Boosler and Billy Dean.

Catch this special national broadcast April 7th 2012, noon eastern on XM Satellite Radio channel 166 and 101 incredible AM-FM stations across the nation including Animal Radio's newest affiliate KFWB Los Angeles. Visit http://AnimalRadio.com to find a local affiliate.

Mary Kaufman of Lonoke, Ark., still sleeps near her beloved Yorkshire terrier Brittney, even though the dog is long dead.

After Brittney died last year at age 14, Kaufman, 64, bypassed the pet cemetery and backyard burial to have the little dog stuffed and freeze-dried. Kaufman said being able to still look at and touch the deceased pet made her feel like Brittney, her loyal companion, was still with her.

"Brittney represents a lot to me," Kaufman said. "I lost a husband and I lost a son and I had Brittney during that time. When we lose a family member, we don't just forget about them and just move on. They're still a part of our lives. That doesn't mean I have to let go of the past."

Pets are a huge industry in the United States. The American Pet Products Association estimates that Americans will spend almost $53 billion on their pets this year. The association's 2011-12 National Pet Owners Survey says roughly 62 percent of U.S. households own a pet, which equates to 72.9 million homes.

Preserving beloved pets after death through stuffing and freeze-drying has gradually become another option for owners.

Daniel Ross, 35, a professional taxidermist who preserved Brittney, is the owner of Xtreme Taxidermy, a burgeoning business he runs out of a shed in the front yard of his home in, of all places, Romance, Ark.

"If you raise something for 15, 20 years, it's not just simply a pet anymore. It's part of the family," Ross said. "Some people think it's weird ... but I can tell you that for all the customers that I've had, and I've seen the joy and happiness, the peace that it brings back to their life to have their beloved cat or dog or whatever back, it's worth it."

In his office, Ross has freeze dryers packed with pets from across the country. It costs about $500 to $700 to have an average-sized dog stuffed with cotton and freeze dried. The process takes months, and people don't just send their cats and dogs. Ross has received a prized rooster and a hairless rat, among other odd requests.

Ross said one Texas woman paid a few hundred dollars to have him pose her deceased spider monkey with an empty can of her late husband's favorite beer glued to its hand. She then wanted her husband's ashes poured into the empty can.

Such unique requests garnered Ross and his business their own reality TV series on Animal Planet called "American Stuffers," with each episode ending with a pet owner reuniting with his dearly departed. But Ross said he didn't get into the pet preservation business to make money.

"I'm a professional. I'm not some backwoods taxidermist," he said. "It's an odd way to make a living, and trust me ... I never would've thought that I'd be working on somebody's beloved pet and being on TV, or anything like that."

Kaufman also appeared on an episode of "American Stuffers," which showed the great lengths she took to make preserving Brittney possible, including keeping the dog in her freezer for "a couple of weeks." Kaufman added that she doesn't care if people think she is "crazy" and said she plans to have Brittney buried with her when her time comes.

"A lot of people do choose to bury their animals, or have them cremated. If that is what they choose, I think that is fine, but I don't think that anybody should criticize anybody for what you do with your pet," she said.

Most pet fish spend their lives circling inside a glass bowl. The lucky ones can stretch their fins in a fish tank. Then there are the elite guppies which inhabit the $7 million aquarium installed in a palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. At 600,000 gallons, it's the largest private aquarium in the world, according to Matt Roy, founder of Living Color Enterprises, a custom residential installation company that has built aquatic environments for the likes of Walt Disney World, Sea World and Boston's Museum of Science.

"We deal with multi-millionaires and billionaires who have sometimes wanted a dream aquarium all their lives, and now they are ready," says Living Color's Roy. "What we put in their home is the aquarium equivalent of a Ferrari."

But it's not just extravagant royals clamoring for over-the-top pet amenities. Americans spent more than $50 billion annually on animal companions in 2011 according to a recent study by the American Pet Products Association. It comes as no surprise then that devoted pet owners have taken to decking out real estate with dog swimming pools, shark tanks, grooming rooms and kitty playgrounds.

"In San Francisco there are more dogs than children," says architect John Hood of Hood Thomas Associates, who works on high-end custom residential designs throughout California. Hood most recently built a hidden dog door for a client willing to pay a hefty price for the design. "We built this cabinet that opened electronically, remote controlled. You wouldn't see anything and suddenly the dog was there," says Hood. Another client, a bird enthusiast, commissioned an aviary adjacent to his home. The mesh structure stood 10 ft. high and 25 ft. long. "We did it so he could open his windows right into it, from his bedroom, living room and dining room," Hood added.

When John Marcus of Los Angeles built his fantasy aquarium in 2005, it was believed to be the nation's largest residential aquarium at 10,000 gallons – equivalent to 1,000 typical home tanks. The size of a two-car garage, it cost more than $100,000 to build, plus another $50,000 in fish. Add to that Marcus spends $2,000 per month on maintenance, which includes suiting up in a wetsuit to clean it.

Back on dry land, in Brooklyn, New York, Bill Hilgendorf and Maria Christina Rueda keep their cats entertained with a "Kittyloft" home playground. Founders of an interior design company, the duo put their creative talents to work building a shelf-like track and obstacle course for their feline friends. The structure includes cat-friendly steps which run up and down and along walls, wrapping around the living room space and kitchen, all leading to a rest area of pillows atop kitchen cabinets. When not in use, the bright yellow contraption doubles as a geometric art installation.

(By Eryn Brown) If your office seems like it's going to the dogs, try bringing your dogs to the office.

Researchers reported Friday that bringing Rover to work seems to reduce stress on the job.

"Pet presence potentially can be a low-cost wellness intervention," said Randolph Barker, a professor of management at Virginia Commonwealth University's business school in Richmond, Va., who led the study in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management.

Barker and his team conducted their study at Replacements Ltd., which sells china, stoneware, crystal and other dinnerware. The company's 550 or so employees bring about 20 to 30 dogs with them to the Greensboro, N.C., office each day.

Replacements has allowed pets in the office for more than 15 years. Pooches lie quietly at their owners' feet — in the call center, at reception, in the corporate offices and even in a repair area where workers handle fragile crystal and china. Even the company's chief executive has been known to bring his miniature dachshunds to work.

The VCU researchers divided 76 employees into three groups: those who brought their dogs to work, those who owned dogs but left them home and those who didn't have pets. For one week, the scientists measured levels of the stress hormone cortisol in samples of the workers' saliva and used surveys to gauge their stress levels four times during a workday.

There was no significant difference in cortisol levels among the study participants. But by the end of the day, the average stress level scores fell about 11% among people who had brought their dogs to work, while they rose as much as 70% for members of the other groups.

The researchers also observed "unique dog-related communication" in the workplace, Barker said. During the day, people who hadn't brought pets walked over to colleagues who had and asked whether they could take the four-legged visitors for walks.

"People who typically are not as verbal were more engaged," he said.

Barker's wife, Sandra, a researcher in VCU's psychiatry department who also directs the university's Center for Human-Animal Interaction, was a coauthor on the study.

Meredith Wells-Lepley, a research associate at the Institute for Workplace Innovation at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, said the new study helps quantify the stress-reducing value of bringing pets to the office.

Her own work showed that cats also had a stress-relieving effect — and that, for the most part, people responded positively to all breeds of either animal.

"Short-haired black cats were the exception," she said.

Barker emphasized that the findings were only preliminary and that he'd like to start a larger study that might examine pets' influence on worker productivity.

He also hopes to investigate whether spending time in the office affects stress levels in dogs.

If you have ever seen your sleeping pet's feet move, you may have assumed that they were dreaming — and you would be right about that. While many pets do not show outward signs of dreaming, experts assure us that all mammals dream. No one really knows the purpose dreams serve, but experts seem to agree that dreaming is essential for our well-being.

The brains of our dog and cat companions are structurally very similar to our own. During sleep, their brain wave patterns demonstrate the same stages of electrical activity observed in humans.

The first phase of sleep is called light slow wave sleep. During this stage, we are not fully relaxed and can be easily roused. Next comes deep slow wave sleep, when we become progressively more relaxed and harder to rouse. Finally, we reach the rapid eye movement or REM stage of sleep, during which our brain waves become extremely active again while the body becomes completely relaxed. Waking is most difficult during this stage of sleep. Humans awakened from REM sleep report that they have been dreaming.

Cat and dog sleep patterns follow these same stages, though most sleep more than we do — 10 or more hours a day with up to 20 percent of that sleep being REM sleep. Some people say that they observe eye movement in their sleeping pets, a sure sign that they are in REM sleep and their brain is busy dreaming.

During what we call a catnap, the cat is in light slow wave sleep. Their mind is resting, but their bodies are not fully relaxed. They are able to keep their limbs tucked and they are not dreaming.

Dogs, cats and rabbits have different sleep habits than people; they tend to be crepuscular, meaning that they are naturally most active at dawn and dusk. We humans are diurnal, most active during the day. Dogs often adjust their own sleep habits to match ours.

The subject matter of dreams seems like it would be harder to ascertain, but researchers have assessed this too by comparing brain waves from dreams with waking experiences. The results show that animals often have dreams associated with the activities of their day, just as people do.

While it is easy to focus on the differences between animals and people, in so many ways we share much in common, including our dreams.

(By Danielle Skinner) Local animal hospitals are seeing an outbreak of distemper among dogs in Waco. Distemper is a viral disease that is contagious and often incurable.

Several people who have adopted animals from the Humane Society say their pets have that sickness. Pet parents may not know for weeks that their puppy has the distemper virus.

"There's not a test kit that is in house in the clinics that we can test and go, oh yes your puppy has distemper so you have to go by clinical symptoms,"said Texas Animal Medical Center vet Luann Ervin.

Veterinarians at the Texas animal medical center have seen as many as 50 cases of pet's with symptoms like coughing, sneezing, runny eyes and noses, vomiting, diarrhea, and seizures.

"We use IV fluids, injections, medications they can take by mouth orally, just to build up their systems usually only about five to ten percent of them will make it through distemper"

Program Director Gina Ford says the disease isn't just a problem for the Humane Society alone.

"What you can actually see at the humane society is a reflection of what is out in the community. So we bring in all animals, bringing in all animals brings in all diseases," said Ford.

In an effort to stop the spread of distemper the Waco humane society upon intake will bring all animals through a garage like this.

Not only will they temporarily quarantine the animals the receive, but starting April 2nd they will vaccinate them right away.

If a pet owner believes their furry guy has the disease to seek medical attention immediately for their pet, and thoroughly clean their home with bleach.

Investigators seized more than 100 animals Tuesday while serving warrants at Puppy Star in the 6100 block of Balboa Avenue, Pet Place in the 6500 block of El Cajon Boulevard and Naedeen's Puppies in the 1000 block of South Coast Highway, said Kelli Herwehe, a spokeswoman for the San Diego Humane Society.

A home in El Cajon also was searched as part of the operation, she said. Authorities declined to disclose who owns the shops and the residence.

Among the confiscated animals were nearly 60 puppies, a number of rabbits, a 35-pound turtle and a 7-foot python.

"These animals have been transported (and) received full veterinary exams, and several have received medical treatment and surgery," said Randall Lawrence, law enforcement director for the San Diego Humane Society. "All of the animals are now being housed ... as potential evidence for the pending investigation."

None of the impounded pets were available for immediate adoption, as the investigation could be ongoing for months, Herwehe said.

Charges that potentially could result from the investigation include animal cruelty and neglect, as well as violations of state health-and-safety codes, according to Lawrence

"Any possible charges that may be pressed against the owner of these pet stores will be determined based on the evidence we collect from the public, along with the condition of the animals," he said.

A grassroots group that calls itself the San Diego Animal Defense Team has been protesting the stores since last August and filed complaints with the county, calling the businesses "puppy mills."

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today announced three Salmonella outbreaks linked to pet turtles that have sickened 66 people in 16 states so far.

Trace-back investigations found that turtles with shells less than 4 inches long or their environments are the cause of the outbreaks. Two of the outbreaks appear to involve red-eared slider turtles.

The CDC repeated its frequent warning that turtles should not be purchased or given as gifts. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned the sale and distribution of small turtles since 1975, due to the known risk of Salmonella infections, especially in young children.

In the three outbreaks, 55% of the infections occurred in children age 10 or younger. Eleven patients have been hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported.

The Salmonella strains in the outbreaks are three rare ones: Salmonella Sandiego, Salmonella Pomona, and Salmonella Poona. The CDC said the first two have similar geographic distributions, in the Northeast and the Southwest. Meanwhile, the Salmonella Poona outbreak is affecting patients in Midwest and Southwestern states.

The CDC's PulseNet system has helped in identifying cases that may be part of the outbreak.

Affected states and case numbers are: Arizona (2), California (8), Georgia (1), Indiana (1), Kentucky (1), Massachusetts (3), Maryland (6), Michigan (1), North Carolina (1), New Jersey (6), New Mexico (3), New York (21), Pennsylvania (7), Texas (3), Virginia (1), and Vermont (1).

In the Salmonella Sandiego outbreak, illnesses began Sep 1, 2011, and so far 45 people from 10 states have been sickened. Epidemiologic investigations found that 19 of 25 people interviewed had contact with turtles. In February, a sample from turtle tank water in the home of a Pennsylvania patient yielded the outbreak strain.

The CDC said the Salmonella Pomona outbreak has so far sickened 9 people in 8 states, with the first illness reported in December 2011. Of 8 people who were interviewed, 5 had contact with turtles before they got sick. In January, public health officials found the outbreak strain in a sample of turtle tank water from the California home of two of the patients.

Meanwhile, the Salmonella Poona outbreak has sickened 12 patients in 7 states, with illnesses that began in October 2011. Nine of 10 sick patients who were questioned said they had contact with turtles before they became ill.

In February the CDC reported on a Salmonella outbreak linked to small pet turtles that sickened 132 people in 18 states between Aug 2010 and Sep 2011. The outbreak involved S enterica serotype "Paratyphi B var. L (+) tartrate +."

It said the turtles may have been illegally obtained, and the CDC wrote that, despite the 30-year ban, the outbreak suggests that bans and public education efforts haven't been successful. The agency added that new measures to curb the sale of the turtles and resulting infections should be explored.

A husband and wife with five children kept 69 animals, including 56 large dogs, as family pets in their four-bedroom semi-detached home, a court has heard.

When the RSPCA raided the house where James and Nicola Hood lived with their young family they were "swamped by a sea of dogs" in the living room and "too many to count" in the back garden.

In addition to 56 dogs, including huskies, German shepherds, rottweilers and Staffordshire bull terriers, they also found three cats living in the bathroom, six birds including love birds in various dirty cages, and four chinchillas.

They also found one of the couple's children, just nine months old, in a bed whose sheets were soiled with bird droppings, the court heard.

Mr Hood, 40 and his 31-year-old wife admitted nine animal cruelty charges at Taunton Magistrates' Court on Friday relating to animals kept at their home in Queen's Road, Minehead, Somerset.

Magistrates were told that the majority were animals in danger of being put down by owners who could not cope with them, but that they themselves had become overwhelmed by the number of animals in their home.

Prosecutor Neil Scott said RSPCA officers visited the house on October 17 last year and were immediately hit by a "strong smell of ammonia" as they entered the "dirty" house and opened a door into the living room.

"She (the lead inspector) described at that point her and her colleague being swamped by a sea of dogs that came running towards them," he said.

After getting reinforcements, they went back into the house and found animals living in all parts of the house, with the living rooms given over to "numerous piles of furniture" with dog leads attached to them. Husky puppies were found in cages.

Many of the animals were suffering from complaints affecting their eyes, teeth, ears and skin, he said, some of them for up to a year.

Many pet owners leave their home radios playing all day for the listening pleasure of their dogs and cats. Station choices vary. "We have a very human tendency to project onto our pets and assume that they will like what we like," said Charles Snowdon, an authority on the musical preferences of animals. "People assume that if they like Mozart, their dog will like Mozart. If they like rock music, they say their dog prefers rock."

Against the conventional wisdom that music is a uniquely human phenomenon, ongoing research shows that animals actually do have the capacity for music. But rather than liking classical or rock, Snowdon, an animal psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has discovered that animals march to the beat of a different drum altogether. They enjoy what he calls "species-specific music": tunes specially designed using the pitches, tones and tempos that are familiar to their particular species.

With no pun intended, music is all about scale: Humans like music that falls within our acoustic and vocal range, uses tones we understand, and progresses at a tempo similar to that of our heartbeats. A tune pitched too high or low sounds grating or ungraspable, and music too fast or slow is unrecognizable as such.

To animals, human music falls into that grating, unrecognizable category. With vocal ranges and heart rates very different from ours, they simply aren't wired to enjoy songs that are tailored for our ears. Studies show that animals generally respond to human music with a total lack of interest. With this general rule in mind, Snowdon has worked with cellist and composer David Teie to compose music that is tailored to suit them.

Back in 2009, the researchers composed two songs for tamarins — monkeys with vocalizations three octaves higher than our own and heart rates twice as fast. The songs sound shrill and unpleasant to us, but they seem to be music to the monkeys' ears. The song modeled on excited monkey tones and a fast tempo made the tamarins visibly agitated and active. By contrast, they calmed down and became unusually social in response to a "tamarin ballad," which incorporated happy monkey tones and a slower tempo.

Snowdon and Teie have moved on to composing music for cats, and studying how they respond to it.

"We have some work-in-progress where we've transposed music and put it in the frequency range for cat vocalizations, and have used their resting heart rate, which is faster than ours," he told Life's Little Mysteries. "We find that cats prefer to listen to the music composed in their frequency range and tempo rather than human music."

On the basis of their results, Teie has started selling cat songs online (at $1.99 per song) through a company called "Music for Cats."

Dogs are tougher nuts to crack, mostly because breeds vary widely in size, vocal range and heart rate. However, large dogs such as Labradors or mastiffs have vocal ranges that are quite similar to those of adult male humans. "So, it is possible that they might be responsive to music in our frequency range. My prediction is that a big dog might be more responsive to human music than a smaller dog such as a Chihuahua," Snowdon said.

Indeed, some dogs do appear to respond emotionally to human music. Research led by Deborah Wells, a psychologist at Queen's University Belfast, shows that dogs can discern between human music of different genres. "Our own research has shown that dogs certainly behave differently in response to different types of music, e.g., showing behaviors more suggestive of relaxation in response to classical music and behaviors more suggestive of agitation in response to heavy metal music," Wells wrote in an email.

Considering the great demand for new ways to please our pets, more progress is likely to be made in the field of animal music. But no matter how well composers perfect their dog, cat and monkey songs, the animals will probably never appreciate their species-specific music quite as much as humans appreciate ours. According to Snowdon, they lack an important musical ability that we possess: relative pitch.

"We can recognize that a sequence of notes is the same whether it's in the key of F or A flat," he said. "I have found that animals have very good absolute pitch, but they don't have relative pitch. They can learn to recognize a sequence of notes, but if you transpose the notes to a different key, so that the sequence uses the same relative notes but the key is different, they can't recognize the relationships between the notes anymore."

So how did the story of Mitt Romney's dog go from being an asterisk in this campaign to one of the hottest stories in American political journalism?

The tale of Seamus, the Irish setter, is hardly new. On June 27, 2007, The Boston Globe reported that in 1983 the Romney family strapped the dog in a crate on the roof of the family station wagon and drove 12 hours from Boston to a lake house in Ontario. Somewhere along the way, poor Seamus soiled the crate and the car's back window. As The Globe reported it, Romney stopped at a gas station, hosed down Seamus and the car, put the dog back into the wind-protected kennel and drove on. It was a small, but telling, anecdote in a multipart profile of the candidate.

Back then, the story did cause some stir. Three days later, Globe reporter Michael Levenson wrote that "Time.com's swampland blog has been flooded with more than 300 comments from readers complaining of animal cruelty."

But the event, which just this week was dubbed "Crate Gate" by Patch.com, has been one more blip in the blogosphere of politics in the four plus years since. It's true, New York Times columnist Gail Collins made what she acknowledged was "a kind of game" of mentioning Seamus every time she wrote a column about the former Massachusetts governor. Still, her columns are often humorous, and her zings seemed largely light-hearted needling in a year of truly loony Republican politics.

No longer. Suddenly all hell is breaking loose around Seamus' seemingly tortured journey. But why?

Surely, the New Yorker's March 12 cover, titled "State by State," helped a bit. It shows a smiling Romney driving down the road in a red car with Rick Santorum in a doghouse strapped to the roof.

Perhaps even more telling is that Santorum campaign is starting to feed the flames itself. As the Huffington Post's Arthur Delaney blogged Sunday, Santorum's top advisor twice last week reminded voters that "Romney once drove to Canada with the family dog, Seamus, in a crate fastened to the roof of the car." And Santorum himself, he noted, on Sunday suggested on ABC's This Week that this dog story could be a matter of character.

Clearly the public is tuning in. Delaney's post cornered 5,214 comments in its first seven hours and Patch.com threw up a poll, asking readers: "Does It Matter That Romney Put His Dog on the Car's Roof?"

Over at Political Wire, under a headline "Seamus story dogs Romney," blogmaster Taegan Goddard linked to a Wall Street Journal article that noted the story had dominated political headlines this month.

Wrote the Journal, "Seamus the Irish Setter's ride on the Romney's station wagon roof is the story that wouldn't die, even though the dog itself did decades ago."

It's remarkable that the story could smolder for years before bursting into flames. But it also makes sense.

For one thing, we Americans love our dogs. I've had three golden retrievers myself and never once strapped any of them to to the roof. It would, in fact, never have entered my mind. But whether Romney's actions were an example of his "emotion-free crisis management," as that initial Globe story suggested, or something far crueler sort of demands the answer to a few questions. Did Seamus have a nice soft bed in the crate? Did he have his favorite chew toy? And did the screen Romney fashioned to mute the winds whipping over the roof work?

Still, the idea of cleaning up Seamus after his accident and sticking him back on the roof seems, at best, a little cold-hearted. And that's why Romney will never leave this story behind. It plays to his perceived weaknesses in his character. It resonates with voters leery of a candidate who already seems a bit too cool, a bit too calculating. He's shifted his positions on any number of issues to suit the Republican Right. He paid 13.9 percent in taxes on an income of $21.7 million in 2010, a rate "lower than that of a person earning $50,000," The Huffington Post reported. He told one Detroit gathering that his wife Ann drives "two Cadillacs." And he referred to nearly $375,000 in speaker's fees as "not very much."

In the end, Mitt Romney comes across as too distant, too rich and too out-of-touch. This is the reason why a 29-year-old story about a dog with a wonderful St. Patrick's Day name has him on the ropes. Even if he really does love those grits (and I doubt he does), you've got wonder whether he ever loved his dogs -- and what that might say about his ability to connect with the American people should he become their president.

Senate 33-0, approved an amendment that would allow the inclusion of pets in temporary restraining orders. The measure would allow the court to temporarily award the possession of an animal to the victim and to prohibit the accused abuser from abusing, threatening or taking the pet.

Supporters pointed to cases in which animals are abused or even killed by the abuser in order to threaten the victim. They pointed to a study that showed half of battered women delay leaving a violent situation because they fear for their pets.

One in three women surveyed in a recent groundbreaking New Zealand study reported delaying leaving violent relationships because they feared their pets and other animals would be killed or tortured. Of these, one quarter said their children had witnessed violence against animals.

'Pets as Pawns' was commissioned by the Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in partnership with Women's Refuge. It underlines the strong link between animal cruelty and domestic and family violence in New Zealand. The research also showed that 50% of women interviewed had witnessed animal cruelty as part of their experience of domestic violence.

"This research shows the urgent need for RNZSPCA and Women's Refuge to work together to find solutions to make families safer by enabling them to leave violent situations with their animals," says RNZSPCA National Chief Executive Robyn Kippenberger.

"In the past we have had an informal arrangement between some of our regional SPCA's and Women's Refuges, and the feedback we were getting from these collaborations led us to commission this research. The research has confirmed the need for Women's Refuge and the SPCA to work closely together to protect the women and animals who are suffering as a result of domestic violence."

"Our two organisations have agreed that we will develop a Memorandum of Understanding to ensure communication and cooperation at a local level," she said.

The study also found that SPCA staff and police needed to better understand the link between animal cruelty and domestic violence. Likewise, Refuge workers needed more support when women with animals needed to leave violent relationships. The study also suggests a funding programme should be developed to support animals in temporary accommodation, veterinary expenses and transport to this accommodation.

The research was funded by Lotteries Community Sector Research Fund and took place in 2011. The research included direct interviews with 30 refuge clients who had witnessed or were forced to take part in animal cruelty as part of family violence. SPCA stakeholders were also spoken with.

The latter part of the research involved surveying 203 Women's Refuge clients. Of these 203 women, 111 (55%) stated that animal cruelty was part of their experience of family violence as, at some point, either a family member or their partner had threatened to kill one of their pets, animals and/or farm animals. One third of the respondents also reported actual injury of death of the animal.

As a result, deciding when and how to leave a relationship that included cruelty to animals became more complex. Twenty-eight percent of women reported they would have left their abusive relationship earlier if they had not had a pet or animal. The length of time they stayed ranged from one week to 22 years with an average of two years.

The research also uncovered information about how children witnessed animal cruelty. Of the 159 research participants with children, a quarter reported that their children had witnessed someone in their family injure or kill a pet or animal. The research is available from the websites of the RNZSPCA and Women's Refuge.

"Disturbingly, many of the women reported that partners who had warnings or convictions around physical violence, would deliberately threaten or hurt pets as a way of controlling their family and make it easier to avoid reconviction," says Heather Henare, Chief Executive of Women's Refuge.

"In this way, pets and other animals become part of an arsenal of tricks abusers use to instil fear and control over their family. Some men will threaten to kill family pets if the women leaves, and in some cases women and children have witnessed extreme torture of pets or animals as part of the horror of domestic violence."

"The SPCA is already delivering presentations to intermediate school children throughout New Zealand teaching empathy and empowerment around kindness to animals and each other. But this research reveals that this is not enough to protect women who are attached to their pets from the perpetrators of domestic violence and we need to do more," says Ms Kippenberger.

Points for Women with a pet who is thinking of leaving a violent relationship

1. Violence towards animals is not acceptable, Even if you have pets, don't put off getting help!

2. Please call 0800 REFUGE to be connected to an advocate who will help you with a confidential safety plan for yourself, your children and your pets

3. To find a local refuge advocate you can also look under "W" in the White Pages for the number of your nearest women's refuge

Springtime brings flowers and warmth. But along with all the benefits of the season come the dreaded symptoms of allergies. Eyes water, noses run and a layer of yellow pollen seems to coat everything in sight.

And it turns out even pets are affected.

Vets and pet owners have noticed their furry friends scratching and sneezing earlier than usual this year, corresponding to the unusually warm weather.

"I've noticed a lot of changes," said Martha Grossman, the owner of Lily, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel. "She's had her flea medication and everything but she's just scratching a lot more lately."

"Dodger rolls around in the grass a lot," said Diana Battaglia of her Boston terrier. "A lot more than usual."

According to veterinary dermatologist Dr. Heather Peikes, pets fall victim to the same allergies as people.

"They even have the same symptoms," Peikes said. "Runny eyes, running noses, itchy skin, ear infections."

And while allergies affect both people and animals every year, Andy Mussoline, a spokesman for Accuweather, says it's happening much earlier this year.

"The Eastern two-thirds of the country are experiencing an especially high pollen count," Mussoline said. "This is due to a combination of factors. Typically during normal springs, we have cold fronts moving through and changes in the wind. The fresh air pushes the allergens out. But now there aren't many cold fronts moving through, which creates stagnant air. At the same time, the very warm weather has created a high pollen count earlier than usual."

For some pets, as for many people, allergies are more than just a nuisance.

"He itches his legs and behind his ears all the time," said Chris Kobus of his three-year-old Boston terrier, Wilbur. "Many nights he cant sleep because he's up all night itching. I'm taking him to the vet tomorrow. I feel so bad."

Dr. Peikes says the treatment for pet allergies is also similar to the treatment for humans.

"There's allergy testing, allergy shots, air purifiers and even antihistamines that can help pets with allergies," she said.

But Peikes says always consult with a vet before taking any action. Some treatments may be safe for humans, but not for your pet.

PARIS—France's antitrust authority fined Nestlé SA, Mars Inc. and Colgate-Palmolive Co. €35.3 million ($46.7 million) for pressuring their distributors to keep prices high for pet food, the latest in a string of rulings to crack down on alleged price fixing across large swaths of the French economy.

Though a spokesman for the regulator said the companies didn't operate a cartel, France's Autorité de la Concurrence detailed what it called "vertical agreements" between the three companies and their respective wholesalers that "limited competition on the markets for dry food for dogs and cats" between 2004 and 2008.

(By DAVID GOODHUE) When Janet and Larry Porath and their visiting family returned to their Key Largo home from a late lunch out, they heard a splash as they relaxed in the waterfront backyard.

It was the sound of their pet dog, Roxie being pulled into the canal by a 10-foot crocodile looking for a meal.

According to the witnesses, the croc sprang at least four feet out of the water to snatch the 65-pound mixed breed head-first off the seawall.

Neighbors across the canal spotted the crocodile swimming a few feet from the Poraths' house. Roxie was in its mouth.

Crocodiles typically take a while to consume a meal, especially when it's a large mammal like Roxie. They drown their prey before going about their business of consuming it, said state biologist Lindsey Hord.

Deputies with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office arrived almost immediately after being called by the Poraths. The deputies called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Officer Jason Rafter responded.

A neighbor drove Rafter in his skiff in the canal, and the men tried to force the crocodile to release Roxie.

The crocodile tried to hide under the water, but Roxie's body was too buoyant. Rafter kept slapping the water with a stick to startle the reptile, but it swam into the mangroves. As Rafter and the neighbor gave chase in the small boat and got closer to the croc, it finally let go of Roxie and swam away.

It took several attempts for Rafter to retrieve the dog's body from the mangrove thicket. The Poraths are grateful to Rafter for his efforts.

They had Roxie cremated Friday morning.

"We wanted to give her a proper burial," Janet Porath said.

Fish and Wildlife officers returned to the canal to remove the crocodile but couldn't find it.

Hord said it’s rare for an American crocodile to attack a pet. Alligators are considered more aggressive.

Fish and Wildlife spokesman Bobbie Dube said that's why the attack on Roxie is so troubling.

"I don't recall any croc taking a dog," Dube said.

Monroe County has the largest concentration of saltwater crocodiles in the United States. They are considered a threatened species by the federal government, but successful conservation efforts mean their populations around developed areas will continue to grow.

"These animals are going to be there. They were here before us, and it's their future," said Hord the biologist. "They are reestablishing themselves in their historical range."

For this reason, Dube urges fishermen not to discard fish carcasses in the water after returning to the dock.

"The crocs are always out for a free meal."

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/23/2710281/keys-crocodile-swoops-pet-dog.html#storylink=cpy

For 35 pet travelers, 2011 was the year they met their maker.

More than half of the deceased, 19 pets, flew Delta airlines. All of the deaths happened in the cargo holds of the planes, government documents show.

The pets ranged from dogs and cats to a chinchilla. The chinchilla boarded a Delta flight at New York's JFK Airport last June for the second leg of its journey to Moscow, Russia. It appeared fine to the Delta crew at JFK, according to a Live Animal Incident Report. Still, the chinchilla arrived in Moscow deceased. The airline was forced to ship the pet, without its owner, back to New York, because Russian authorities refused to allow the dead animal into the country.

Other airlines also noted pet deaths last year; five animals died on American Airlines, three on Continental and two perished on United. The pet injury and death figures are drawn from the January-December 2011 Airline Reports to USDOT of Incidents Involving the Loss, Injury or Death of Animals During Air Transportation.

Some of the Animal Incident Reports indicate the pets injured themselves during flights, desperate to break free of their crates. Rides in cargo holds can be grueling, with extreme temperature swings.

The lost and deceased pet tallies are included in the U.S. DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report. The 2011 figures are lower than in 2010, when 39 animals died. Delta again recorded the most pet deaths, with 16; Continental had six. Far fewer pets perished in 2009 – about 23 total. Nine animals died on American Airlines that year. There are no official figures for how many pets travel in cargo per year.

Delta's record for pet deaths this January was no better than its record in January of 2011 – it again recorded one pet death for the month. American Airlines also recorded one death for January. Monthly 2012 reports can be found here.

The most recent death involved T Bone, a 1-year-old Yorkshire Terrier traveling from Frankfurt, Germany to Nashville via Atlanta on January 13, 2012. In the Incident Report, Delta notes that there were no indications of a problem with the cargo hold being too hot or too cold. Yet the necropsy indicated the tiny Terrier died from hypoxia, "perhaps associated with seizures, hypoglycemia, or hyperthermia."

Other Delta victims include Phoebe, an 11-year-old short hair cat, who was traveling with her companion kitty Newman, from Pittsburgh to Phoenix through Atlanta. The flight was just ten minutes behind schedule, and the airline reported temperatures in the 60s. But when the flight landed in Atlanta, the ramp crew noticed Phoebe was unresponsive, lying in the back of her crate. She had passed away. Newman had to do the final leg of the journey without his buddy. A necropsy revealed that Phoebe died of chronic heart failure.

Some of the incidents over the years involved older pets, or dogs that are susceptible to breathing problems, like Bull Dogs. But others involved younger, less at-risk animals. Like Katie, a 6-year-old yellow Labrador Retriever whose last trip was from Pensacola to Atlanta last July. Her final destination was supposed to be Baltimore. Katie's plane was delayed several hours on the ground in Atlanta. By the time the plane returned to the gate, ground handlers opened the cargo bin door and found Katie non-responsive inside her kennel. Katie's necropsy report is still pending according to the report, even though her death happened almost 8 months ago.

After Katie's death, Delta took action. The airline stated in the report that it will try to ensure the crew is notified if there's a pet in the cargo section of the plane when flights are delayed. "As a result of the animal's death, our Load Center will pull another Load Manifest in order to determine if an animal exists on a delayed aircraft," stated the Delta report.

The Airline Incident Reports are required since passage of a federal law, the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act.

Calls and emails to Delta Airlines for comment were not returned.

Airlines can make substantial ancillary revenue in part from pet transportation fees. According to recent figures, Delta earned the most revenue of any reporting airline from ancillary sources like pet transport fees, in the third quarter of 2011.

This week, the California State Assembly Budget Subcommittee voted unanimously to reject the governor's plan to repeal the Hayden law's reimbursable state mandates (some small, non-reimbursable provisions remain intact). The following statement is from Christi Metropole, executive director of Stray Cat Alliance, who was in Sacramento for the meeting.

"Animal advocates should be happy - for the moment - that Hayden remains untouched.

"But this issue continues until at least April 11 when it faces the State Senate budget subcommittee, so we will continue too. We're not taking no for an answer.

"The temporary victory is also a bit hollow. As much as we wanted Hayden to stay 'suspended' and not be 'repealed,' it's still just that - suspended. Shelters do not have to legally follow the laws of Hayden at this time.

"We still face life-and-death questions of how to help California's shelter animals. We are still killing the vast majority of cats who come into our shelters, and we just can't accept that any more. We must implement humane, cost-effective spay/neuter programs for free-roaming community cats. California's shelters must look to communities that are having huge successes with live save rates (animals leaving the shelter alive) and create an environment for the rest to follow. Sacramento's leaders can help move the ball forward in our efforts to make sure every cat and dog in California has a right to be safe, healthy and valued."

EDMONTON - Sick pets may soon feel the pain of a national shortage of some drug types that has already affected some of their owners.

Veterinarians across the country say that production cuts from a factory in Quebec are beginning to affect everyday treatment of the animals that come in for care.

"Within the next two weeks, a lot of these drugs won't be available any more," said Jean Gauvin of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association.

"Absolutely," said Martin Schiebel, a veterinarian with a small-animal practice in Edmonton.

"The biggest impact that we've had so far is the staff trying to find a work-around for some of the medication. In lots of cases there are alternatives that we can use and it's just a question of getting those into our normal way of doing things."

Many of the drugs prescribed for animals, especially those used for pain control, are exactly the same as those used in humans, said Duane Landals, registrar of the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association.

"They're human-quality drugs, but they're used in veterinary practices," he said. "They're manufactured by the same plant."

Most of the drugs in short veterinary supply are painkillers. Others include drugs to control seizures or nausea, or to ease the impact of an anaesthetic on a frightened dog or cat.

Concerns about the supply of drugs began earlier this month, when the Sandoz Canada plant in Quebec cut production of more than 100 medications and then suffered a fire at the same facility. The plant makes 90 per cent of injectable medications used in Canada, among them anaesthetics, painkillers, cancer drugs and antibiotics.

Hospitals across the country have been checking their supplies. The federal government has promised to speed up the application process for replacement drugs.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association has told its members that eight medications are going to be in short supply.

"Veterinarians will need to look for ways to mitigate the impact of shortages of key veterinary products," said the association's email. "This includes using alternative anaesthetic protocols or alternate drug selections based on availability."

Alternatives for most — although not all — of the drugs are available. But they require bringing staff up to speed on protocols that haven't been used in a long time, Schiebel said.

Vets may also be able to import some of the drugs from U.S. or other alternative suppliers. Some drugs can be compounded to order from raw ingredients.

It's an issue that comes up daily, said Schiebel. Most of the impact will fall on the owners, who may have to pay a little more for drugs, he said.

"I don't think we're going to have a life-threatening impact on any of our patients."

The impact is likely to be felt more in small-animal practices that deal with pets than in those clinics that deal with large farm animals, said Sandra Stephens, registrar of the Saskatchewan Veterinary Medical Association.

"When you're doing a food animal practice we don't tend to use those types of drugs because we're not doing those types of procedures," she said.

Vets and pets may have to get used to it, said Gauvin.

"I don't think that the veterinary side of the supply will be taken care of before mid-2013.

"We understand that the human side has to be served first. But we really believe that animal welfare is in jeopardy when a lot of these important drugs are not available."

WASHINGTON, DC – Thousands of people all across the country have joined a new campaign on Change.org calling on United Airlines to remove the "dangerous dog breed restrictions" from its pet policy, urging the airline to judge pets on behavior instead of appearance.

Jessie Huart launched the petition on Change.org after her 10-year-old pit bull was denied air travel on Continental Airlines, now owned by United Airlines, due to his breed.

"Dangerous dog policies that focus solely on a dog's breed are not only unfair to responsible dog owners, but have also proven to be ineffective," said Huart. "Breed alone should not be used to determine a dog's temperament. A more effective policy would focus on the behavior of the individual dog and dog owner."

While many carriers restrict certain breeds out of concern for the dogs' health, United is the only U.S.-based airline that labels breeds as "dangerous" in its pet policy. Organizations including the American Kennel Club and the Humane Society of the United States say that judging a dog based on appearance, rather than behavior, is ineffective in predicting or addressing aggression.

"What Jessie has accomplished is remarkable," said Change.org Senior Campaigner Stephanie Feldstein. "When she was told she'd have to leave her dog behind because of his breed, she took action. Change.org is about empowering anyone, anywhere to demand action on issues they care about, and it's been incredible to watch this campaign take off."

1. Pets are becoming medically underserved

Data shows the pet population in the U.S. is climbing, but visits to veterinarians are declining. On an annual basis in 2007, dogs saw a veterinarian 2.6 times per year and cats only 1.7 times, indicating cats are affected more than dogs. This number has continued to decline in the aftermath of the Great Recession of 2008. Taking your cat or dog to the veterinarian allows early detection and intervention before medical problems like obesity cause serious disease.

2. Obesity in pets, like in humans, is skyrocketing

Veterinarians know pets are getting fatter, but research has shown pet owners are not likely to recognize obesity in their pets, perhaps because they themselves are overweight. In dogs, obesity is linked to an increased body mass index (BMI) in their owners. If you love your pet and want it to live a long, healthy life, keep its weight down. Obese pets have a shorter lifespan and increased risk of cancer, heart disease, respiratory problems, bladder disease, and, like humans, diabetes.

3. Diabetes is increasing in both cats and dogs

Banfield State of Pet Health reports a 32% increase in diabetes in dogs and 16% increase in cats, comparing 2006 to 2010. This is likely tied to the obesity epidemic in pets. Diabetes can be treated in dogs and cats, but it involves someone in the family injecting insulin once or twice daily under the skin and monitoring response to treatment. Preventing diabetes by maintaining an ideal body weight is simply easier for everyone.

4. Cancer: a major illness in both cats and dogs

According to the Morris Animal Foundation, 1 in 4 dogs dies from cancer and cancer is the leading cause of death in dogs over 2 years of age.

In dogs, breed is strongly associated with specific types of cancer. Golden retrievers commonly develop lymphoma, German shepherds a splenic tumor called hemangiosarcoma, and Pugs a skin tumor known as a mast cell tumor. Cats get cancer too, most commonly lymphoma. Annual examinations and blood tests by your family veterinarian will help to detect tumors while they are still easily treatable.

5. Dental disease is on the rise

Reluctant is the descriptor for many pet owners when it comes to dental procedures in their pets. I understand their concern for the required general anesthesia, but I am concerned their reluctance is compromising their pet's health. Periodontal disease is very prevalent in cats and in one study, all cats had evidence of periodontal disease. Over 10% were severely affected and nearly all had bone loss in the jaw as determined by dental x-rays.

Having periodontal disease may cause collateral damage in other parts of your pet's body. In dogs, periodontal disease was associated with increases in markers of systemic inflammation and indicators of failing kidney function, and was also associated with endocarditis and heart muscle problems.

SINGAPORE : The newly-passed "Lemon Law" will apply to the sale of pets when it takes effect on September 1.

Under the law, consumers can return a defective product to the retailer within six months, and ask for repairs, a replacement or a refund.

However, the law does not define what constitutes a defect, only that it should conform to the sale contract. The law therefore provides flexibility for both retailer and consumer to work out a mutually-acceptable agreement.

The Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) said it will advocate for buyers who can establish that the pet was sick at the time of purchase, for instance.

Its vice president, Lim Biow Chuan, said that each case will have to be considered carefully.

Mr Lim said: "I think animals are more complicated because they are living things. Part of the issue would be that what happens to the animal once it leaves the pet shop.

"So if for example if a pet owner does not take care and the pet falls ill, or develops some disease or contracts some viruses, then whose fault is it? So that is a very factual dispute."

A case that cannot be resolved between the buyer and seller can go to court, starting at the Small Claims Tribunal, and even to the High Court.

Consumers can be confident that the lemon law would apply if they purchase pets from established retailers. The law applies to all commercial transactions, including home breeders who put up pets for sale on the Internet, for instance. But consumers should pay attention to receipts and health certificates.

Animal welfare groups like the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) see the law as a modest step towards improving the pet retail sector.

Its executive director, Corinne Fong, said: "Breeders have to raise the bar on how they do breeding. If they are conscientious, good commercial breeders, they will take pains to ensure the animals that they have are in good condition before they are sold to pet stores.

"The unscrupulous ones and the ones that really do not pay attention to breeding facilities will probably have no pet store to sell to if their pets are not in good condition."

However, there remain concerns about potential consumer abuses.

What happens to a "returned" pet?

Ms Fong said: "In all honesty? I think the pets are put down...But what happens is there are some conscientious pet breeders who may put the word out to animal welfare groups. And these well- intentioned animal welfare people will come in and take the sick pet off their hands. It isn't the best solution."

SPCA's suggestion is a retailers' fund, or a sanctuary to care for these so-called "lemons" for the rest of their lives.

Cosmetics for pets have become a lucrative business in the city. Toothbrush for cats, body spray and wigs for dogs, special toothpaste for strong teeth, nappies for pups and small beds for kitties… the list goes on. Besides, shampoo, conditioners and dog soaps, already in the market for a decade now, are also witnessing steady growth, reveal pet shop-owners.

"After Delhi, Chennai is one of the leading markets for pedigree dogs and pet products. Tamil Nadu region, which also covers Chennai, Coimbatore and Puducherry, is home for a wide range of imported dogs," says Mr R. Raghuraman, a dog-breeder in Anna Nagar. Most of the dog-breeders in the state buy cosmetic and health products to ensure that they maintain a healthy bloodline stock of adults to ensure quality pups but now even pet-owners have started buying these cosmetics," he explains.

"Till the late '90s only pet-owners owning imported dogs could afford conditioners and shampoos, but now the trend has changed. Most of the pups are currently raised with a balanced diet and supplement food cans bought from local pet shops," says Mr K. Jagan, who manages a pet store near madras veterinary college.

"It is not only cats and dogs which are pampered, even the ornamental fish industry is getting a makeover. Imported tanks replace traditional fish tanks made of plain glass and tar," says Dr Manikandavelu, associate professor (fisheries), Tamil Nadu veterinary animal sciences university.

"Earlier, air motors used to be the only sophistication for ornamental fishes, but, at present, imported bulbs to keep the fish free from stress, tonics to fight parasite infections, water heaters and thermometers to maintain water temperature are becoming common in fish tanks," he adds.

"With Kolathur in Chennai emerging as the hub of ornamental and marine fishes, the metropolis will soon be competing with cities in Singapore and Malaysia which rear costly, imported fishes," says Mr Jayakumar, who has retail outlets selling ornamental fishes.

Author Judith Summers pushes her aged King Charles spaniel George around in a buggy, while another dog owner crawled across a frozen river last month to save the family pet after it plunged through the ice.

Company director Malcolm Jarvis, 48, admitted his actions were silly but said he could not just sit back and watch Bentley, a four-year-old Jack Russell, drown.

Even Malcolm's wife Rachel seemed to think his behaviour was understandable.
Judith Summers and her geriatric dog, George. Her nursing of this ageing pet, who has given 14 years of love and service, seems somehow appropriate

Judith Summers and her geriatric dog, George. Her nursing of this ageing pet, who has given 14 years of love and service, seems somehow appropriate

And then there were the dramatic images last month of Australian Nicole Graham risking her own safety by attempting to save her horse Astro from quicksand.

Few people could fail to be moved by the anguish etched on Nicole's face and her relief when the animal was saved.

These may seem examples of 'crazy pet people' but dig deeper and you'll see that 59-year-old Judith's dog brought comfort to a grieving household when her husband died in 1998.

Her nursing of this ageing pet, who has given 14 years of love and service, seems somehow appropriate.

Helping a family overcome bereavement is just one way in which animals may benefit us. There are plenty of others.

A lonely child is given a kitten and suddenly he has a friend.

A woman going through a divorce finds solace from walking her dog in a park.

A stressed-out businessman discovers that an aquarium full of fish is a calming antidote to his chaotic world.

There are many claims that pets make us healthier and likely to live longer.

Some sound far-fetched but there are a growing number of studies into how pets affect our health.

One last year showed that people with pets tend to have greater self-esteem, are more physically fit, less lonely, less fearful and more extrovert than non-owners.

As a psychotherapist, I understand the impact a pet can have on poor self-esteem. I see many people with this problem: they don't feel that they matter.

Having a pet who loves you unconditionally and who depends on you is a great way to feel better about yourself.

If you have a pet who needs exercising, there's a good chance you'll be fitter than someone who hasn't the same reason for getting out. You also have a companion who doesn't criticise you.

Another claim is that pets are good stress-busters and the relationship you have with them can increase quantities of the bonding-hormone oxytocin in the bloodstream, while also decreasing stress hormones such as cortisol.

Being emotionally close to another being, even an animal, is one of life's richest experiences.

Writer Alice Peterson, who has rheumatoid arthritis (RA), credits her Lucas terrier Darcy with improving her social life and lifting her spirits.

'Making friends with other dog-walkers has been a big bonus,' she says.

'RA can be a very isolating condition.'

Animals can have a huge impact on our lives even if they're not our own pets. Horses often have a calming effect on those who are troubled.

Autistic children can improve their powers of communication through riding horses and being encouraged to care for them.

In Scotland, the charity HorseBack UK has shown that equine contact helps reduce the stress of wounded soldiers.

One of the main charities which has harnessed the abilities of animals to bring support to humans is Pets As Therapy.

It has 108 cats and 4,500 dogs and these animals and their owners go into hospices, hospitals, care homes and day-care centres.

Retired dietician Jill Leslie and her dog Watson visit a dementia unit regularly.

She says when she arrives, the residents usually look sad but once they gaze at the dog, they smile and sometimes begin to talk – even if normally they have little conversation.

'The presence of Watson lights up their day,' says Jill.

'When someone who has withdrawn from others starts to open up it's a heart-leaping moment.'

I had a patient who was prone to severe depression but whenever it struck, she focused her attention on Smiley, the family dog.

'Even when I was at my most numb with sadness,' she said once, 'stroking my pet and feeling his tail wag gave me a connection to life, and helped me to keep going.'

I believe the treatment I gave to her was a real help but I think Smiley helped even more.

While showbiz is filled with slithering snakes, Justin Bieber clearly isn't afraid—he kept one as a pet!

Biebs memorably brought his baby albino boa constrictor Johnson to last year's MTV Video Music Awards and then auctioned him off for charity last fall.

The cheekily named creature has since found new digs, but Johnson's winning bidder has some pretty biting things to say about the pop star and his decision to give the little guy away…

MORE: Justin Bieber Now "Legal," Cracks Cougar Jokes and Plays Punk'd Prank on Taylor Swift!

"I found it really disgusting that celebrities like Bieber would stoop to a level of using living creatures as a fashion accessory and then so easily discard it," Michael Kronick tells E! News exclusively.

Kronick, owner of Startifacts.com, won Johnson at the charity auction—which raised funds for Pencils of Promise—but then donated him to the Reptile & Amphibian Discovery Zoo in Owatonna, Minn. The snake arrived last week and is already on display.

"I am a huge pet and animal lover and was amazed that Mr. Bieber would actually auction off his own personal pet," he continues.

Kronick bid on the pet snake so he could donate it to a zoo. "I wanted to make sure the snake would be well taken care of for the rest of his life," he explains. "I'm very pleased where Johnson now resides."

And so is the zoo, which plans to give the snake the star treatment.

Lead zookeeper Barry Benjamin tells E! News, "Soon he will have a plaque letting people know that he was Justin Bieber's pet snake."

Johnson is currently being handled by zoo employees to make sure he gets used to all the new attention from strangers.

"We plan on customers having a photo opportunity with Johnson," Benjamin says. He thinks the snake will be a hit with kids, who are the zoo's main customers.

And will the pet's name be changed to make it, um, more kid-friendly?

"We actually find the name entertaining," Benjamin says with a laugh. "I mean, it is a male. I'm hoping the kids are too young to understand the joke."

Well, at least that's one happy ending to a Bieber animal story. Don't get us started on beavers—those lead to nasty Bieber lawsuits!

Read more: http://www.eonline.com/news/justin_biebers_auctioned-off_pet_snake/299649#ixzz1ofOUfi00

LOS ANGELES — Americans spent $50.96 billion on their pets in 2011. That's an all-time high and the first time in history more than $50 billion has gone to the dogs, cats, canaries, guppies and the like, the American Pet Products Association said in a report issued Thursday.

Food and vet costs accounted for about 65 percent of the spending. But it was a service category — one that includes grooming, boarding, pet hotels, pet-sitting and day care — that grew more than any other, surging 7.9 percent from $3.51 billion in 2010 to $3.79 billion in 2011.

APPA President Bob Vetere said 2012 should be another banner year for services, predicting it would grow 8.4 percent to an estimated $4.11 billion in 2012.

Owners are taking care of their pets, said Dr. Jessica Vogelsang, a San Diego veterinarian and author of pawcurious.com. "They are planning ahead. When they go on vacation, they want to make sure their pets are well cared for," she said.

Spending in 2011 was up 5.3 percent from 2010, when it totaled $48.35 billion, Vetere said. He estimated 2012 sales would total $53 billion.

In 2011, people spent $19.85 billion on food, $13.41 billion on vet care, $11.77 billion on supplies and over-the-counter medicines, $3.79 billion on other services and $2.14 billion on animal purchases.

In 2010, they spent $18.76 billion on food, $13.01 billion on vet care, $10.94 billion on supplies and over-the-counter medicines, $3.51 billion on other services and $2.13 billion on live animal purchases.

Food sales did slow down, Vetere said, even though the 5.8 percent growth exceeded projections of 4.1 percent growth.

APPA numbers indicate that animal sales and adoptions are flattening out and the number of people who switched over to high-end food products is topping out.

Pet ownership is becoming less of an impulse decision, Vogelsang said. "I am seeing a lot of people saying, 'This isn't the time for us.' People are more interested in pets than ever before, but they are taking their time, once they make the commitment, to do it right."

"I don't think this is a bad thing. I am proud of the owners," she said.

Pet insurance is another area that is expected to grow briskly, Vetere said. Included in the veterinary care category, insurance was estimated to be $450 million in 2011 and expected to grow to more than $500 million in 2012.

"Insurance makes such a difference in the health of an animal," Vogelsang said. "I can't tell you how many times I have had a pet come in and the only reason (the owners) were able to afford catastrophic care is because they had insurance. It's literally a life-saver, and I'm really glad people are embracing the concept," the veterinarian said.

The pet industry is also a major attraction for entrepreneurs and investors looking for creative and innovative products, Vetere said.

Vogelsang believes the trend is toward "very specific items geared to the specific needs of pets. We are seeing a lot of puzzle feeders for dogs — not just toys, but ones that are geared toward the mental needs of the animal. Then there are bionic toys for destructive chewers, a lot of very niche items," she said.

LAS VEGAS — A county commissioner insists she's not trying to push panhandlers off the Las Vegas Strip with a measure that she says would prevent pets from having to endure sizzling summer sidewalks in Sin City's neon corridor.

The Clark County commission is set Tuesday to consider Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani's revised ordinance letting pet owners legally walk or carry their animals from 5 a.m. to noon on walkways and pedestrian bridges linking Las Vegas' glittering resorts.

Giunchigliani told the Las Vegas Review-Journal (http://bit.ly/wjHW0B ) she sought a compromise after her similar measure in January — which noted that animals tend to "promote loitering and unsanitary conditions" — drew howls of protest from animal lovers.

"The business folks came up with a good alternative that allows them to have their clients in pet-friendly hotels but protects cruelty issues with animals not being out in the hottest or coldest parts of the day," Giunchigliani said.

The bustling corridors funneling tourists between casinos are popular places for panhandlers who sometimes bring animals along as they seek a sympathetic handout from passers-by.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with what we're doing unless it's aggressive panhandling," Dave Simpson told the Review-Journal in January as he sat on a footbridge near The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas with his pregnant girlfriend, their black-and-white beagle and a sign reading, "I'm ugly. She's stupid. The dog's hungry."

Critics including the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada called Giunchigliani's original proposal unconstitutional. ACLU attorney Allen Lichtenstein noted that panhandling is protected speech, and it wasn't illegal for people to have an animal with them.

Giunchigliani, a Democrat and a homeless advocate, said then and now that she wasn't aiming to curb panhandling but was responding to tourist complaints to the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society about animal cruelty.

The revised law would give pet owners seven morning hours to treat their pets to a stroll on the Strip, as long as the animal is on a leash of 3 feet or less. Snakes over 2 feet long would be banned altogether.

Exempt would be animals under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, working animals used by law enforcement on the job, and animals whose owners have a parade permit, special use permit, business license or other written government permission.

Violations would be a misdemeanor, with fines ranging from $100 for a first offense to $500 for multiple offenses. Plans call for police volunteers to hand out literature explaining the new ordinance, if it passes.

Commission Chairwoman Susan Brager called the Strip an important venue that needs rules, and Commissioner Steve Sisolak told the Review-Journal he thought the ordinance might have to be revised after passage to address unintended consequences.

(BY YUKI KOIKE The Yomiuri Shimbun) FUKUSHIMA, Japan – More than 300 dogs and cats rescued from around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant were still being kept at animal shelters and other facilities in Fukushima Prefecture as of Feb. 24, according to a prefectural government-led group taking care of the animals.

About 600 dogs and cats have since been collected by their owners or placed with new owners, but 305 remain at the facilities. Many are still there because their owners are living in temporary housing units and other evacuation facilities.

The group is struggling with the high cost of caring for the animals and health problems resulting from their long-term stay in the shelters.

One 350-square-meter shelter was created in Fukushima by repairing a former factory and a warehouse. About 110 dogs are kept there.

"Some of the dogs are sick because they've been here so long. Some have stomach pains from stress," said Tadashi Toyoda, a veterinarian in charge of checking the pets' health.

Toyoda was concerned about the dogs being in cages, saying, "It's also best for dogs to be in homes."

After the nuclear crisis began, the prefectural government set up animal rescue headquarters in cooperation with the prefectural veterinarians association, a volunteer group for animal protection and the city governments of Koriyama and Iwaki.

The animal shelters were established in Fukushima and Miharu in the prefecture.

The owners of 70 percent of the 305 dogs and cats remaining have been found, but they cannot take their pets home for various reasons.

Masayuki Ishimoda, a 37-year-old landscape gardener, left his pet dog Konta at home in Okuma, where the power plant is located.

When Ishimoda made a temporary home visit in July, he found Konta alive and left the dog at one of the group's facilities. Currently, Ishimoda lives in an apartment in Iwaki.

"When I see Konta at the shelter, he approaches me and wags his tail. I can't give him up after seeing that," Ishimoda said.

According to the prefectural government, many owners living in apartments or temporary housing units say they want to reclaim their pets after they return home.

Some temporary housing units allow residents to have pets. But many owners seem hesitant, worried the animals might bother other residents.

One dog has been in a shelter since late April.

The prefectural government has spent about 100 million yen so far to maintain two animal shelters for about 230 pets and to pay for medicines at animal hospitals that are caring for pets at the prefecture's request.

These costs were covered by donations, but the prefecture will likely have to spend about 5 million yen a month to continue the animal protection project.

A prefectural official in charge of food and environmental health said, "There's a limit as to how long an administrative body can take care of pets. We'll eventually close these facilities but we don't know when."

"What we can do is continue talking with pets' owners (about their pets' future)," the official added.

(By Steve Patterson) Slater, MO (KSDK) - Our pets. When they're with us, we often think of them as our companions, our best friends, even family.

When they die, it is often a painful loss. Now, that emotional connection between owner and pet has many animal lovers turning to a growing trend, but not without controversy.

"She was the best dog for me," said Kansas City Resident Timothy Drottz. "I love her."

Drottz is talking about his four-pound miniature Chihuahua Maggie Moo. For nearly two decades, Maggie and Tim were inseparable.

"I'm taking a dog that I had for 15 years of my life," Drottz said. "She was the best thing I ever had in my life or ever will have."

In late March of 2010, Maggie suffered a heart attack and collapsed. She died later that night in the hospital, leaving her owner in grief.

"I just grabbed her, went outside and she died in my arms," he said.

Tim thought of ways to say goodbye.

"The thought her being cremated, I couldn't do it," he said. "So I said well let's get her freeze-dried."

Tim remembered seeing a story nearly 10 years ago about a taxidermy shop, specializing in freeze-dry technology used to preserve animals and wildlife.

The story was on Anthony Eddy's Wildlife Studio in Slater, Missouri.

"Pet preservation has become a big part of our business," said owner Anthony Eddy. "People say they just can't stand to bury it or have it cremated. Once they find out that there are other ways to deal with a love one. This is an alternative and they choose it."

Pet preservation is the use of specialized form taxidermy to preserve an animal's body to keep at home.

The pets are posed, frozen forever in time. Pet owners are willing to spend thousands of dollars have a lifelike representation of their animal in their homes.

"This is why it's so popular with pet owners," Eddy said. "It's the real muscle, the real skeleton, the brain is all still with the pet. We don't have to disturb this at all."

Anthony Eddy's is the only place in Missouri that specializes in pet preservation and one of just a handful of operations across the country with the level of tech required.

"There are probably just a few people in the United States, probably about four or five," Eddy said. "We've had people from 48 states. We've also had some people come down from Canada and calls as far away as Japan and Europe."

And business is booming. Over the past few years, the shop has gone from doing about 50 pets per year to more than 150. The shop now has more than a dozen freeze dry machines, purchased during the operation's many expansions.

"Yes, our volume is increasing. With more publicity and the knowledge that this is our there, we get more calls and therefore, we get more clients," Eddy said.

The service comes at a premium. A smaller house cat can start at about $850, with larger dogs that can scale all the way to $4,000.

It's also not a slow process. Depending on the size of the animal, it can take anywhere from 6 months to a year to complete.

"The amazing thing is, even in the recession, the orders for pets have continued to grow and have even increased," he said.

But not everyone appreciates the work.

"Oh yes, there's a certain percentage of the public that thinks this is sick," Eddy said.

Eddy says the shop gets many letters calling the practice as bizarre and unnatural.

"The tradition has always been, either with pets or with humans, that we cremate them or we bury them," he said. "Each to their own. It's just like anything else. Certain people like it and there are certain people that don't like it."

Drottz says it was his best option and he's proud to have had it done.

"Having a pet that you freeze-dried, I don't think it's weird at all," he said. "I love my dog. That's why I did it. I'm glad I did it."

(SUE MANNING) LOS ANGELES -- They still fight like cats and dogs in divorce court. But more and more they are fighting about cats and dogs.

Custody cases involving pets are on the rise across the country.

In a 2006 survey by the 1,600-member American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, a quarter of respondents said pet custody cases had increased noticeably since 2001. The academy is due for another survey, but there is no doubt such cases have grown steadily since then, said Ken Altshuler of Portland, Maine, a divorce attorney and AAML president.

If there is a child involved in a divorce, many judges will keep the pet with the child, attorneys said.

"But what do you do when the pet is the child?" Altshuler asked.

Breakups in same-sex marriages, civil unions and domestic partnerships are among reasons pet custody fights have become more common, attorneys said.

Pet custody cases have grown as much as 15 percent in his office over the last five years, said attorney David Pisarra of Santa Monica.

He is his own best example. He shares custody of 8-year-old Dudley, a longhaired standard black-and-tan dachshund, with his ex, who has remarried and introduced a step-dog to Dudley.

Pet consultant Steven May hired Pisarra six years ago to handle his divorce. Besides a daughter, May and his ex worked out custody of three dogs, two cats and Tequila the parrot.

Pisarra and May became good friends and often take their dogs for walks in Santa Monica. They also teamed up last year to write a book about co-parenting a pet with an ex titled "What About Wally?"

Pets are considered property in every state in the country. For years, they have been divvied up like furniture during divorce proceedings. But times are changing.

"Judges are viewing them more akin to children than dining room sets. They are recognizing that people have an emotional attachment to their animals," Altshuler said.

"There is a shifting consciousness," Pisarra said. "Pets are being given greater consideration under the law."

More people have pets than ever before and they consider them part of the family rather than possessions, said Silvana Raso, a family law attorney with the Englewood Cliffs, N.J., law firm of Schepisi & McLaughlin.

"People are not embarrassed to fight for custody of a pet today. In the past they might have shied away from it because society didn't really accept a pet as anything other than an accessory to your life," she said.

When Pisarra and Jay Redd (who wrote an introduction in the book) split up, they agreed to share Dudley.

"There is no law that recognizes visitation with an animal," Raso said, so couples have to work it out themselves.

Reaching a pet custody agreement without a lot of help from attorneys and judges will save money, Raso said. Divorces can cost $1,000 and be resolved quickly or cost millions and take years.

Pet decisions are often more agonizing to make than those about mortgages, credit card debt or student loans, Raso said. But if they can be resolved, the rest usually goes smoother.

After their 2006 breakup, Pisarra and Redd worked out shared custody, long-distance visitation and a new family (including a beagle) in Dudley's life, Pisarra said. Today, they live in the same city, so visitation no longer includes flight time.

The two have a plan for everyday, vacation and holiday schedules, travel arrangements, doggie daycare, boarding, food, treats, grooming, vet care, moving and end-of-life decisions. They split costs and sometimes, with things like toys, leashes and dog bowls, they buy two of each so Dudley has one at each home.

May and his wife Nina (who also wrote an introduction for the book) separated six years ago after 16 years of marriage. "Everything was fresh and raw. It was not easy."

It's taken time, but he and his ex live about two miles apart in West Los Angeles now and sharing custody of their daughter and pets is easy, he said. To make it work, "you learn the true meaning of concession," May said.

The three dogs the couple had then have died, but Winnie, his 3-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel, is very much like a family pet, said May, a consultant to veterinary and other pet-related companies.

Most of the time, custody battles grow out of love. But there are cases rooted in spite or retaliation.

Pisarra represented a man whose estranged wife had the family's two German shepherds euthanized. "They were his running dogs. It was really cruel and he had no recourse," he said.

In years past, pets could not be protected in domestic violence restraining orders in any state. But because abusers can use pets to threaten victims, maybe even kill the animals, the laws have changed in states like Maine, New York, California and Illinois. Other states are looking into changes. And there will be changes in other laws too, Altshuler predicted.

He believes there will one day be statutes for pets, much like there are for children, giving judges guidelines to rule by.

(Animal Radio® Newsroom March 1, 2012) An interview recorded before Monkees' Davey Jones untimely death will air on the nationally syndicated Animal Radio® show.

Davey Jones had been scheduled to guest as part of the Season of Stars on Animal Radio®. So far, the celebrity lineup has included Betty White, Elayne Boosler, Margaret Cho and Billy Dean. Jones' interview had been pre-recorded as part of this event.

"When we heard about Davey's death, we deliberated whether or not to run the interview as scheduled," says Animal Radio® host Hal Abrams, "Overall consensus was that he would have wanted that way. We will tribute him!"

In the interview, the very vivacious Davey Jones talks about his horses and jokes about his visits to the other Monkees in their nursing homes.

Catch this special national broadcast March 17th 2012, noon eastern on XM Satellite Radio channel 166 and 100 incredible AM-FM stations across the nation. Visit http://AnimalRadio.com to find a local affiliate.

An uneven cut wasn't the only issue Sheri Test noticed after she picked her toy poodle up from a Modesto pet spa.

The shampoo and shear left 2-year-old Sophie with an open wound on her backside. "Ointment" later applied to the raw skin by the shop owner turned out to be glue adhesive that had to be removed by the veterinarian.

Test was shocked to later learn that the groomer didn't have to undergo training or become licensed to primp her pet.

"They should have to come up with qualifications and go through certain criteria for them to be able to touch a living thing," said Test, who has sued the groomer in small claims court.

State Sen. Juan Vargas, a Democrat, has proposed just that. If adopted, California would become the first state in the nation to require vocational licenses for pet groomers.

In addition to requiring that groomers pass a state-issued exam and pay a license fee of up to $350, the legislation calls for statewide standards governing everything from lighting to record-keeping. Violating the law would be a crime punishable by fines of up to $2,000 and a year in jail.

Supporters say the proposed regulations would hold groomers accountable and protect pets.

"It's going to weed out the people who are injuring and killing our pets because they've never had any training that had standards that they are going to be tested on," said Jacque Mercier, an animal advocate and dog rescuer who helped draft the bill language.

"The reality is that it's not a good idea in pet grooming to learn on the job only when you're dropping pets, when you are killing pets, when you are breaking their little limbs, when you're shaving off their nipples," he said. "That's not the way you do it."

But some groomers are growling about the proposal.

"To have the state of California be the tail that wags the dog is a mistake," said Pamela Demarest, the owner of Sacramento's Launderdog & More! grooming service and pet shop.

Demarest said she worries that even well-intentioned rules will result in a situation where groomers "regulate ourselves out of business." She said a state-run test can't replicate hands-on experience gained by cleaning kennels, bathing dogs and performing other "gruntwork" around a shop.

"You can't regulate experience," she said. "If you're trying to regulate the problems, you potentially mislead the consumers into believing the regulations or licensing is an equivalent of skills or experience."

Vargas said he's open to amending the bill to set certification or training requirements instead of a licensing exam. But he believes groomers should face the same sort of professional standards as lawyers, doctors, dentists and hair stylists.

"The reality is that it's not a good idea in pet grooming to learn on the job only when you're dropping pets, when you are killing pets, when you are breaking their little limbs, when you're shaving off their nipples," he said. "That's not the way you do it."

A lack of statewide statistics makes it difficult to estimate how common it is for pets to be injured at the groomer.

The state Department of Consumer Affairs does not keep keep track of complaints.

Mercier, the animal advocate, pegs the number of California pets injured at the groomer at 1,200 a year, based on a survey she conducted of local animal control services and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals chapters.

Groomers say serious injures are rare. Stephen Mart, a Washington state-based management consultant for pet groomers who runs PetGroomer.com, said the percentage of pets that need medical attention because of an injury suffered at the groomer is "one fraction of one percent."

Some military families living overseas are outraged by a new United Airlines policy that will require pets that can't fly in the cabin to travel as cargo — potentially costing their owners hundreds of dollars more.

As of March 3, United, which is merging with Continental, is adopting Continental's pet transport program known as "PetSafe."

That means Fido can no longer be checked as luggage, which generally costs $250 when pets fly from the U.S. to most foreign destinations. Now, some military families say they've been told it could cost up to $1,400 to fly pets home as cargo, and they've launched online petitions to get the policy change reversed.

"Everyone is talking about it and stressing out over the impending changes," says Jessica Simmons, a Marine pilot's wife based in Okinawa, Japan, in an e-mail.

Simmons says she was able to check the family's cocker spaniel, Zeke, for $130 when they moved to Japan in 2008. She's now told it will cost "a minimum of $1,400" to send him home as cargo. "I am fearful that those who cannot afford these new prices will leave their pets behind," she says. "If I'd known it wasn't going to cost the same … to get Zeke back to Texas, I would have left him with family."

United says the cost of shipping pets as cargo isn't significantly greater than for checking them. For instance, the cargo rate for an animal that weighs between 10 and 50 pounds coming to the U.S. from Micronesia would be $309. A smaller animal would cost $259, United spokeswoman Mary Ryan says.

The significant costs are for animals coming from Japan, where a law requires an extra fee be paid to a third-party handler, Ryan says. "There's some confusion," she says. "That's not a United-Continental cost. That's a government-mandated cost. Our pricing remains competitive."

Most big U.S. airlines will ferry pets, but their policies vary.

US Airways allows some pets in the cabin, but they can't be sent via cargo. Starting March 1, they can't be checked like bags. American allows some dogs and cats in the cabin on some flights, as well as their checking and shipping. Southwest will carry dogs and cats only in the passenger cabin.

United says it's making the switch to PetSafe because of the program's many resources for handling those in its care. The program has been lauded by pet-transport professionals.

"They're fantastic with their animals," says Gay O'Brien, former president of the International Pet and Animal Transportation Association. "We're all so pleased that United is picking that up."

Romance, AR -(WMC-TV) – A Mid-South family has made a business out of pet preservation, turning our four-legged best friends into our best friends forever.

In a modest workshop in Romance, AR, the walls of Xtreme Taxidermy are lined with wild stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes.

But when we stopped by, taxidermist Daniel Ross wasn't fawning over a fawn.

He was putting the finishing touches on a freeze dried family pet.

"I've got to do a little epoxy work around the eyes and paint the nose and just groom them," he said.

Ross helps heal the broken hearts of grieving pet owners through pet preservation.

"It's a totally different method than traditional taxidermy," said Ross.

After extracting the animals' organs and eyes, Ross uses wires to place the animals in lifelike positions and then places them into a special freeze dryer to draw out all the moisture.

"The key is drying it really slow so you don't have shrinkage problems," he said.

For instance, a 62 pound dog named "Chevy" took five months to dry out.

"The customers can still pet them and look at them, whatever they want to do," he said.

Ross has freezers full of works in progress including a cat, a bird and even a pet turtle.

"As a matter of fact, we can actually make them look better a lot of times than they did when they died," he said.

Ross' business is already booming and he's about to get busier.

After his unusual pet service caught the attention of the Animal Planet Network, he wound up starring in his own reality show called "American Stuffers."

"I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be a taxidermist or be in a reality TV show," he said. "That's crazy."

"We've done tarantulas, scorpions, hedgehogs, rabbits," he said. "We even do a chicken on our show."

"American Stuffers" combines the comic relief of Ross' staff and family with the emotional stories of customers who yearn for their dead pets to live on.

They're people like Mary Coffman's, whose beloved Yorkie "Brittney" was part of her family for more than 14 years.

Today, a preserved "Brittney" rests comfortably in her favorite basinet.

"I know she's not here, but her little spirit is still with me and some day when I'm gone she'll be buried with me," Coffman said.

Some clients drive more than a thousand miles to the tiny town of Romance, population 1,732 at last check because Xtreme Taxidermy is one of the few pet preservationists in the country and Ross is passionate about his work.

"There's definitely artwork to it," he said. "It's not something that just anybody could do."

He's also equally compassionate about his customers.

"They always feel better when they get their pet back," he said.

Though he admits, some find his work a bit extreme.

"I can understand where somebody would think that it's odd or different but, for me, it's about helping these customers overcome this grieving process," he said.

Xtreme Taxidermy charges by the pound. Small dogs start around $500.

It's a slow-news Presidents Day, and a good time to reflect on those other White House occupants -- pets.

President Harry Truman may or may not have said, "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog," but the phrase reflects a sentiment shared by all chief executives.

Although dogs have generally been the preferred best friends, U.S. presidents have also owned pets that included mules, foxhounds, grizzly bears, mockingbirds, parrots, pet goats, turkeys, guinea pigs, real pigs, roosters and -- of course -- cats.

In the old days, presidents received gifts of exotic pets from foreign leaders; nowadays, they tend to harbor cats and dogs.

The father of our country is also, according to legend, the father of the American Foxhound. George Washington bred his own hounds; knowing this, the Marquis de Lafayette -- American ally during the Revolutionary War, and Washington's close friend -- sent Washington several hounds. ... Washington also bred mules, sometimes using donkey stock sent to him by King Charles III of Spain.

Thomas Jefferson received a pair of grizzly bears from the delightfully named Captain Zebulon Pike (Pike, having strayed into Spanish territory by accident on an expedition, bought the bears from a local while being escorted back to U.S. soil). Jefferson didn't keep the bears for long, though, sending them to his artist and naturalist friend Charles Willson Peale -- but until transport could be arranged, the cubs lived in a cage on the lawn of the president's house. Jefferson also owned more conventional pets like Briard dogs, and a mockingbird named Dick.

Andrew Jackson taught his pet parrot, Pol, to swear. Pol outlived Jackson, and in fact had to be removed from Jackson's funeral service because it wouldn't stop cursing. Jackson also kept fighting roosters, which may have seen service at the reception for Jackson's first inauguration; this party apparently devolved into a donnybrook rather rapidly, with Jackson departing via a window shortly after arriving.

Abraham Lincoln had a passel of pets living with him at the White House -- pet goats Nanny and Nanko, favorites of his son Tad, who slept with them in his bed and harnessed them to chairs; a dog, Jip; kittens given to Lincoln by Secretary of State William Seward; and a turkey named Jack for whom Tad obtained a presidential pardon from Christmas dinner in 1863.

Theodore Roosevelt could have opened a zoo; he probably had more pets than Cabinet members, including a Bull Terrier, a Manchester Terrier, a Peke, a Cheseapeake Bay Retriever, and a Saint Bernard -- and that's just the dogs. The White House animal brood also included a fleet of guinea pigs with awesome names like Dr. Johnson, Fighting Bob Evans, and Admiral Dewey; a macaw named Eli Yale; a one-legged rooster; Emily Spinach the garter snake; Maude the pig; Bill the lizard; Josiah the badger; and various cats, mutts, rabbits, owls, ponies, and even a hyena.

You spend as much time in the White House as FDR did, you're going to acquire a fair number of pets -- but Roosevelt didn't have an outlandish number. He seemed to favor Scotties like Fala and Meggie, but he also had bigger dogs like Majora (German Shepherd), Tiny (Old English Sheepdog), President (Great Dane), and Blaze (Bull Mastiff). Fala, his constant companion in Roosevelt's later years, was named for one of Roosevelt's own Scottish ancestors, "Murray the Outlaw of Falahill." Fala went everywhere with his president -- including ships, trains, and planes -- and his need to be walked during long trips often tipped civilians to the president's presence, which led the Secret Service to code-name Fala "the Informer."

The kids running around John F. Kennedy's White House may have built a larger collection of pets than some presidents, including ponies (Macaroni, Tex, and Leprechaun), parakeets (Bluebelle and Marybelle), hamsters, cats, dogs, and a rabbit named Zsa Zsa. Kennedy's most controversial pet, though, is probably Pushinka, a mutt given to Caroline Kennedy by Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. Pushinka, an offspring of Soviet space dog Strelka, got along well enough with Caroline's other dog, Charlie (a Welsh Terrier), to "collaborate" on four puppies together. (Kennedy called them "the pupniks.")

Ronald Reagan's Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Rex, made an early appearance lighting the national Christmas tree in 1985. Rex was a gift from conservative thinker Bill Buckley, who owned Rex's mother, and brother Fred. Rex, named for chief White House usher Rex Scouten, had a doghouse that made news for its lavishness. The previous canine occupant, a Bouvier Des Flandres named Lucky, had gotten too big and rambunctious for the White House, so the Reagans sent her to their Rancho del Cielo estate. The Reagans also had a Golden named Victory, a Siberian Husky named Taca, and a Belgian Sheepdog named Fuzzy, among other dogs.

George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush's Springer Spaniel, Millie, was possibly the most popular occupant of the first President Bush's White House. She had puppies while she lived in the White House -- including Ranger, whom the Bushes kept -- and she "wrote" a book that described a day in White House life, which included morning briefings ... and breaks to chase squirrels. Her dog bed is a part of the Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas.

Bill Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, brought her cat, Socks, with her to the White House when the Clintons moved in in 1993, and he assumed office as First Cat. In 1997, he was joined by a chocolate Lab named Buddy (not that Socks was happy about it, mind you), whom the president named after his late great-uncle. Buddy and Socks had plenty of room to avoid each other in the White House, but when the Clintons moved to New York, separate quarters weren't practical and Socks was left with secretary Betty Currie.

Buddy's untimely demise came on a road outside the Clintons' home in Chappaqua, N.Y., when he was struck by a car.

The more recent George Bush favors dogs as well; his Springer Spaniel Spotty Fletcher, named after baseball player Scott Fletcher, was Millie's puppy. The Bushes also kept Scottish Terriers Barney and Miss Beazley Weazley (Miss B was a 2005 birthday gift from the president to Laura Bush). Other pets included Willie, who lived to the ripe old age of 19, and Ofelia, a cow who bunks at Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch.

And of course you all know Bo Obama, the Portuguese Water Dog and current First Dog.

(Animal Radio® Newsroom February 24, 2011) A long list of pet loving celebrities have confirmed that they will guest host on the nationally syndicated Animal Radio® show.

Next weekend (March 3rd) Country Music Star Billy Dean continues the "Season of Stars," that so far, has included Ed Asner, Betty White, Margaret Cho and Jenna Fischer.

Comedian Elayne Boosler, Ed Begley Jr., Eddie Money, Monkee Davey Jones, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Park Overall and Gary Burghoff all have been scheduled through May to guest host and talk about their connections with their pets.

"It's amazing how many celebs have a close relationship with their pets," says Animal Radio® host Hal Abrams "I guess they're the only ones that give them unconditional love."

Next week, award-winning musician Billy Dean shares his love for all creatures great and small. Many of his lyrics are about his own relationship with his dogs.

Catch this special national broadcast March 3rd 2012, noon eastern on XM Satellite Radio channel 166 and 100 incredible AM-FM stations across the nation. Visit http://AnimalRadio.com to find a local affiliate.

IT IS the tale of the pig - the plight of Piggy-Sue.

The 100-kilo sow from The Leap who thinks she's a dog.

Owner Ellen Watson had advertised her pet porker in the Daily Mercury for the past week or so.

But late yesterday after a change of heart by her husband, Andrew, and talk of a story in the paper, the pig's bacon was saved.

"I'm not selling her," an overjoyed Mrs Watson said.

"I won't give her up. I love her."

Mrs Watson said Piggy-Sue was too special to her.

"Andrew has finally agreed, well he hasn't said anything."

Not her first pig, Mrs Watson had once another but sadly things went sour.

"That one got a bit aggressive so he ended up in the freezer.

"But I can't eat him, I couldn't."

It's not just Ellen Watson who has formed a close bond with Piggy-Sue.

Taz, a three-legged Australian cattle dog is also best mates with the pig.

"They are very close; they are best friends," Mrs Watson said.

"They lay down beside me for a rest.

"Taz lays down alongside her and licks her ears and eyes."

Mrs Watson said the dog and the pig often walked to the mailbox with her.

"Some days the cat comes with us as well," she said.

Thriving on a diet of scraps, pig pellets and lots of water, Piggy-Sue is a healthy, happy porker.

She loves an afternoon hose down and "runs around the yard all happy" when the hose comes out.

If that's not enough, Piggy-Sue doesn't mind the occasional trot down to The Leap hotel.

"She's been down to the pub with us," Mrs Watson said.

"On Melbourne Cup day she came along with Taz, her best friend."

Mrs Watson said there was an old bloke at the bar who thought he hadn't had that much to drink.

"But when a three-legged dog and a pig walked into the bar he thought he was hallucinating," she said.

Psychiatric medications such as Prozac are being prescribed more often to man's best friend to help treat a variety of conditions and behaviors usually found in humans.

In the United States where people have left fortunes to their pets, spend extravagantly on their grooming, even buy them plane tickets, pet meds are flying off pharmacy shelves, from Anipryl, for sharper memory, to Zoloft to ward off anxiety.

Just like some owners, dogs, cats and other pets can also suffer from anxiety, depression and compulsive disorders. Last year, Americans spent nearly $7 billion dollars on pills for their pets and the sales growth is dramatic, up 35 percent in just four years, according to David Lummis, a senior pet market analyst for Packaged Facts.

Dr. Nicholas Dodman, a pioneer in treating mental health of animals, is a veterinary version of a psychiatrist and a leading advocate of mind-altering drugs. He founded the Animal Behavior Center at Tufts University near in North Grafton, Mass., where he has treated almost everything, including dogs who chase shadows or spin in dizzying circles, with the help of prescription medication.

"There's absolutely no doubt that psychiatric medicines that work on people also work on pets. I mean we've shown it over and over again, ad nauseum," he said.

Horses led the way to prescribing medicine for domestic animals. About 30 years ago, Dodman said he and a colleague discovered they could treat compulsive behaviors with medicine known to change human brain chemistry. Dodman called it his "eureka moment."

"I went, 'now I've found that thing that I want to hold on to and I want to do for the rest of my life,'" he said. "You can control animals' behavior."

And Dodman has seen a parade of troubled animals since opening his center. Owner Erin Reilly brought her dog Frisbee, a mixed breed, to the center because he compulsively chases his hind legs 10 to 12 times a day.

"We actually feel bad for him," said Reilly's husband Leigh Chinitz. "When we see him do it, it just looks like it can't be either good for him or very comfortable."

Dodman prescribed Frisbee Prozac and a medication often used for Alzheimer's patients. And Frisbee wasn't alone. Another dog, a German shepherd named Summer who suffers from anxiety, was prescribed three psychiatric medications.

"We've got a mood stabilizer and anti-anxiety medicine working together hopefully to make Summer calmer," Dodman explained.

A Springer spaniel named Dakota was brought to the center because he used to only attack men in his family, and suddenly started attacking women. Dodman suggested a new leash, a low-protein diet and Prozac.

"You'd be better off having Prozac in the background because it decreases aggression," he said.

Not all pets leave the veterinarian's office with a prescription. One problem pet was a cat named Doogie that relieved itself all over the house, and Dodman recommended the owners switch to unscented litter, which seemed to do the trick.

"I only use medicines if I think it will help," he said. "Some people will say, 'but I really wanted medicine,' and I say, 'your animal, your pet doesn't need it.'"

However, animal trainer Cesar Milan, better known as the "dog whisperer" on National Geographic's hit show, said he is skeptical of using psychiatric medicines on pets.

"Unfortunately, everybody is looking for the quick fix, for the 'I want to see dramatic change in my dog,'" he said. "Often it's the human that's obsessive and it's the dog that's just imitating the behavior."

In most cases, Milan claimed, exercise, proper diet and tough love -- showing your pet who's boss -- can cure psychological problems in pets.

"Rules, boundaries, limitations, understanding what their position in the family is, what is expected of them," he said. "My clients are Harvard graduates but they can't walk a Chihuahua."

But for two years the Chinitz-Reilly family who took in Frisbee, the spinning mutt, at 7 months old, said they have tried everything from professional training, discipline, long walks to wear him out and even yoga to calm the dog down.

"I'll take a breath in and inhale slowly the same way I would do in a yoga pose, and it really seems to almost transmit physically into his body and he calms down at the same time," said Erin Reilly.

But his zen state doesn't last and it's not long before Frisbee becomes "possessed" again. Milan admitted that in extreme cases, like Frisbee's, medicine can be a last resort.

Considering the other option pet owners consider is to give up their animals, Dodman insists that psychiatric medication can help save pets' lives. The Humane Society of the United States said more than four million American dogs and cats are put down each year.

"I think the goal of a veterinarian is to do the best thing for the animal," Dodman said. "I mean, whatever will help it to feel better and, truthfully, spare its life. So many are relinquished because of behavior problems."

Dodman's research with animals could also one day improve human health. His studies have already led to promising results for obsessive-compulsive disorder, Turret's syndrome and autism in people.

"We're very similar," he said. "I like to say we're all mammals in this together."

(By Susanne Craig) An airline just for pets was an act of genius, Martha Hamilton figured. No cold cargo holds for Phoebe, her 10-year-old miniature schnauzer. Attendants would check on her regularly during the flight. There would even be a pet lounge for the emotional goodbye at the airport.

But Hamilton and Phoebe just finished a three-day cross-country journey — in a car.

The once-loved Pet Airways, created by a California real estate developer, has run into trouble, stranding cats and dogs and leaving their unhappy owners holding the leash.

"It's outrageous," Hamilton said after Pet Airways canceled three reservations. "Thanks to Pet Airways, I had to fly from New York to L.A., rent a car and drive all the way back."

Pet Airways — once the great transportation hope for animal owners — is suffering a fate similar to that of its counterparts that cater to human travelers.

Dog and cat owners are angry about canceled flights. Travel sites are abuzz with complaints, including customers who claim they have not received refunds for paid-for flights. And the company is burning through cash at a rapid rate.

The co-founder of Pet Airways, Alysa Binder, acknowledged in an email exchange that the airline, which does not own an airplane, has had some problems since November, when it decided to contract a plane from a new company.

"After several flights, it was apparent that the company and plane could not perform as represented, and that there was a definite safety issue, especially in cold weather," said Binder. Pet Airways, she indicated, has since switched back to its previous contractor, but needed to cancel "some flights during the holidays and into the new year" because that plane was committed elsewhere.

"We are a very new company that is pioneering, just as FedEx pioneered the overnight packaging business," Binder said. "We have ups and downs, but we are keeping our eyes on the long-term goal of providing a safe and comfortable transportation option for the pets."

The carrier — which based on its recent schedule typically offers two eastbound routes a month and two westbound ones — did not have any flights between Dec. 16 and Jan. 16, according to a regulatory filing, and it is unclear if it has had any flights since then. A New York Times reporter looking into the airline had reservations canceled twice, once in January and another last week.

Binder declined to comment on the last time Pet Airways operated a flight. The airline continues to take reservations.

But its financial picture also looks shaky. At the end of the year, the company had roughly $30,000 in cash on hand, and its "net monthly cash burn" is $25,000 to $55,000 a month. In the filing the company said it did "not currently have sufficient cash on hand to meet our financing needs."

"We have experienced a history of losses and have yet to begin generating positive cash flows from operations and, as a result, our auditors have raised substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern," the company wrote in the February regulatory filing.

(By SUE MANNING) LOS ANGELES—Pet advocates are fighting like cats and dogs to stop a deficit-slashing proposal from Gov. Jerry Brown that aims to save $23 million by ending reimbursements to animal shelters for the cost of keeping strays alive.

Brown wants to repeal parts of Hayden's Law that require the state to pay for such expenses as food, vet care and kitty litter and requires shelters to hold lost and stray animals for six days instead of three.

Pet advocates say the change will pitch the state back to the dark ages when a wandering dog caught Friday could be dead Monday.

"Animals should not have to die to clean up California's mess," former state Sen. Tom Hayden, who sponsored the bill, said in a video posted on YouTube.

Proposed budget cuts always bring out the fight in people who want to protect their pet causes. But when it comes to actual pets, the battle has become so personal for opponents of Brown's plan that they're even targeting the first pooch. A public Facebook page called Sutter's Friends, named after the governor's dog, offers information on how to help.

The animal shelter cuts are part of Brown's proposed $92.5 billion budget that would eliminate 50 mandates or reimbursable amendments that have been suspended for the last two years or more, said H.D. Palmer, deputy director of California's Department of Finance. The savings would put a $728.8 million dent in a $9.2 billion deficit.

Over the years, 377 cities, counties, towns
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or animal control districts have been reimbursed $86 million and the state still owes $76 million, state officials said. Los Angeles has sought the most: more than $10 million; Contra Costa County was No. 2 with claims over $6 million.

Thousands of pet owners and animal welfare groups across the country have lined up to fight the repeal, saying it would lead to countless deaths—not just canine and felines.

The law also requires shelters to hold rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, pot-bellied pigs, birds, lizards, snakes, tortoises and turtles for three days. Without the mandate, they could be killed immediately.

"It would also degrade shelter operations, as well as morale and ultimately the character of shelter workers, by altering the mandated focus of animal control agencies from lifesaving back to the failed catch-and-kill orientation of the bad old days," said Best Friends Animal Society co-founder Francis Battista.

All of the shelters covered by the law are kill shelters, operated by cities or counties that have to accept every animal. No-kill shelters and rescues keep animals until they are placed, but don't have to accept animals if they are full.

Of the 867,529 dogs and cats that entered city or county shelters in 2010, 455,045 were euthanized, 97,035 were claimed by owners, 157,266 were adopted and 58,939 were transferred to other shelters, according to the California Department of Public Health. Those numbers do not include animals that died of other causes, were stolen or escaped.

The state's legislative analyst said a 2008 review found that holding animals longer did not improve their chances for adoption, it just increased the number of animals people had to choose from.

But Los Angeles County supervisors disputed that finding. In a Feb. 6 letter to Brown, supervisors said more than 1,100 lost pets were returned to their owners after the third day last year.

Under Hayden's Law, most shelters put lost or stray pets up for adoption after the third day, so if they had been euthanized after three days, those 1,100 pets wouldn't have been reunited with their families.

Animal advocacy groups, including the Humane Society of the United States, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Best Friends are circulating petitions to block the budget cut.

Among their claims is that euthanasia costs more because each animal has to be lethally injected with a controlled substance by a qualified veterinarian or vet technician and the carcass has to be disposed.

Some pet supporters have suggested the state should continue what it's currently doing and what it's done three other times in the last 14 years: suspend the law, so the state doesn't have to make reimbursements and shelters don't have to follow the law.

During the suspensions, some shelters have cut down hold times, but most, including the state's largest shelter system—the city of Los Angeles—have continued to offer longer holding periods "because it is the humane thing to do," said UCLA law professor Taimie Bryant, who wrote Hayden's Law.

"If you repeal these laws, when the economy improves, the animals won't share in the improvements," Bryant said. "Suspension is temporary, repeal is permanent."

HONOLULU (CN) - A woman who took her dog to Petco for grooming claims in court that the store cut off part of its ear and tried to "glue, or sew" it back on, without telling her.

Two women sued Petco Animal Supplies Stores in state court. The second woman claims Petco cut off part of her pet's tail.

Gladys Kapuwai says she took her dog, Dodo, to Petco in July 2011.
"In the process of grooming or styling Kapuwai's pet, defendant negligently injured the pet and cut off the portion of the pet's ear," the complaint states.

"In an effort to conceal and to cover up defendant's negligence, defendant attempted to reattach, glue, or sew said ear back on, concealed the matter, and failed to disclose said matter to Kapuwai."

Estelle Green says she took her pet, Hope, to Petco in 2011.
Green claims: "As a result of the negligence of Petco, Estelle Green's pet suffered numerous injuries, including cut eye lashes, whiskers and bleeding toes, the tip of Hope's tail was cut off and bleeding, and the pet was returned in a filthy condition."

The 4-page complaint contained few other details. The plaintiffs' attorney, Michael Jay Green, told Courthouse News in an interview that his clients noticed their pets' injuries immediately but Petco "refused to do anything for them."

Green said that when Kapuwai's dog's ear fell off, she was afraid it was because of an infection. It wasn't until she picked up the piece of the ear and took it and her dog to "a hospital" that it was put under a microscope and determined to have been attached with a SuperGlue-type glue.

"The part of the ear that fell off died, so it couldn't be reattached," Green said.
Green said that the court filing made the local news, and a third woman has called him with similar allegations about the same Petco outlet.

Green said he has reason to believe it involves the same worker.

The third women, who said she is not interested in suing Petco, claims she took her dog there to be groomed shortly after the store opened. She says she told the staff to "avoid doing anything around the dog's testicles, because it was on medication for an infection and the dog had a rash in its testicular area because of the infection. When she got her dog back, the staff had shaved the heck out of its testicles, and they were bleeding."

Kapuwai and Green seek punitive damages for negligence, breach of duty and unfair and deceptive practices.

(By Kelly Yamanouchi) More pets died on Delta Air Lines than on any other carrier last year, according to data released by the federal government.

Out of 35 pets that died on airlines last year, 19 died on Delta flights. That's up from 16 the previous year.

Delta said it carries more pets than many other airlines, in part because of its broad route network. The number of pets that are injured or die on the airline is less than 0.2 percent of pets carried, Delta said.

Many carriers such as AirTran and Southwest don't carry pets as checked baggage in the cargo hold. Some pets also are transported in the cabin as carry-ons, but the deaths were all in the hold.

"The loss of any pet is unacceptable to us," Delta spokesman Anthony Black said. "We are working to improve the processes and procedures to ensure that every pet arrives safely at its destination."

One of Delta's latest changes came in December, when it stopped accepting snub-nosed dogs or cats as checked items. Delta already had banned American, English and French bulldogs from flying. That came after a sharp increase in the number of animals that ran into trouble on Delta flights, particularly bulldogs, which are susceptible to respiratory problems.

In most cases, pet deaths are not caused by mishandling but because the pets run into health issues in the cargo hold environment, Delta said. The Humane Society of the United States recommends not transporting pets by air "unless absolutely necessary" because of the risks.

A study by the National Institutes of Health revealed that having a pet can help to diminish feelings of loneliness, particularly for women living alone, and compensate for the absence of human companionship. However, owning a pet doesn't have to disallow meeting a human mate. In the British study cited above, 5 percent of dog owners have been on a date with someone they met walking their dog, with 1.5 percent still dating that person. I am in the U.S. and am amongst those who have been on a date with someone I met while walking my dog (while not being in the 1.5 percent still dating that person.) I have been known to fall in love with a Golden Retriever in a heartbeat, and it may have been possible that I confused who my attraction was for when I looked up at the other end of the leash.

Online dating continues to grow in popularity, and dating sites for pet owners is no exception. DateMyPet.com and PetPeopleMeet.com are two examples. On the latter, I read a success story from a woman who met her match when she fell in love with a man who also rescues dogs. Yet, once in a human relationship, people often state they crave the kind of unconditional love they receive from their pets. Can Pets Improve your Relationship?, an article by Dr. Suzanne Phillips, Psy.D., ABPP, states that all the qualities we often want in our mate appear similar to those we experience with our pets. Her reports show that a person in a relationship often wants to be spoken to with the same affection shown to their pet.

Even though I've been single for over 15 years, I'm finding dating in middle age quite a bit different than in my younger years. While most people my age have a lot of baggage, I'm coming to realize that it's not how much baggage someone has that affects a new relationship, it's how the baggage is carried. Does it weigh them down and keep them in the past? Or is it light enough that they are able to be present in their lives?

I'm not a relationship expert, I'm a canine music expert and a concert pianist. But, I was sharing my above thoughts with my wonderful women's group, dear friends that have known me for years. One asked what my baggage was, and I said, "my dogs." Another disagreed, "Your dogs aren't your baggage, they are part of your package. They would only be baggage to a man who didn't accept them as part of you. But, the right man would freely welcome them and consider them to be a huge benefit to your relationship together." It was an interesting perspective and after careful thought, I agreed.

My dogs are a huge priority in my life. Gone are the days when I would date someone allergic to dogs, or a man who treats dogs as animals that need to be subservient to his demands. My heart seems to only open up to men who really cherish the human animal bond. It's a deal breaker when a man tells me that I should be comfortable treating my dogs one way, when I feel another. And, I'm not crazy about being teased because it's hard for me to leave them when I go out of town. Don't get me wrong, I take trips without Sanchez and Gina and leave them in very good care, but it's still always hard for me to say good-bye, even if it's only for a weekend.

The "buy local" food slogan so popular with environmentalists may catch on with people shopping for pet food.

"Avoid the newest products on the shelves and buy made-in-the-USA pet food," veterinarian Brian Forsgren said Tuesday at a news conference called by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown to publicize the death of a Westlake dog that died after eating chicken jerky made in China.

The Food and Drug Administration has received several hundred complaints since 2007 from pet owners whose dogs suffered serious or fatal kidney damage after eating chicken treats. But the agency's scientists, although they've previously found pet food products that contained harmful contaminants from China, have not been able to identify a toxin and link the jerky treats to the illnesses.

Meanwhile, Forsgren, Brown and the Westlake dog owner urge pet owners to avoid products made overseas. But is it possible to buy totally made-in-the-U.S.A pet food?

Chicken breasts "are not produced domestically in sufficient quantity to meet demand," said Kurt Gallagher, director of communications for the Pet Food Institute, which represents 98 percent of U.S. pet food companies. "In China, consumers prefer to eat dark meat chicken and other cuts, so white meat chicken breasts are available for making quality dog treats."

And other pet food ingredients are only available from foreign sources, including certain vitamins, amino acids, minerals and micronutrients, he said.
sherrod brown.jpgPD fileU.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown

"Interestingly, the only significant supply of vitamin C worldwide, which is also taken as a daily supplement by people around the globe, is China," Gallagher said in an email.

"It would be difficult to purchase a pet food that is made from 100 percent U.S. ingredients."

Senator Brown and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich have called on the FDA to recall the jerky treats; step up its search for toxins in them and other pet food; hold U.S. companies accountable for the quality of their overseas ingredients; and improve communications with the public about potential threats.

"Would a consumer who goes to the store to purchase dog treats have any way of knowing that a particular product is under review other than scouring the FDA's website?" Brown wrote in a letter to the agency.

While the senator awaits a response (which you'll read about in Animals in the News), veterinarians and pet owners can learn more at the American Veterinary Medical Association's user-friendly site; avma.org/petfoodsafety/recalls.

"Today Show" contributor Scott Stump recently reported on a New Yorker named Elena Zakharova who filed a civil suit in a New York court against an Upper East Side pet store. The store, Raising Rover, sold Zakharova a puppy that developed numerous medical complications. The suit seeks to hold the store liable for the dog's pain and suffering, and medical bills, as if the dog were a person rather than an inanimate product.

New York law considers pets "property,' but the complaint wants to change that definition. The goal is to help shut down puppy mills that often mass-produce animals sold in boutique pet stores like Raising Rover, where "Umka" was purchased.

"Umka is a living soul,' the suit reads. " She feels love and pain.'

Ownership of Raising Rover has changed since Zakharova purchased Umka.

"I know nothing about the sale. The prior owner has the records. We are careful about where we get our puppies," Raising Rover's new owner Ben Logan told the New York Daily News. Logan declined to provide information about the prior owner.

Zakharova is seeking compensation for surgeries and medical treatment for Umka totaling about $8,000. She also wants a full return of the dog's sale price plus interest since the date of purchase in February 2011. Zakharova intends to donate any award to an animal charity, Lask said.

New York state has a "Puppy Lemon Law' that allows buyers to return sick animals to a pet store within 14 days for a full refund. The law is meant to slow puppy mills' mass production of dogs with inherent medical problems. However, Umka's medical issues did not become apparent for months after Zakharova purchased the dog.

"The Puppy Lemon Law doesn't cut it,' Lask said.

If the definition of a pet is changed from property to a sentient being, it could substantially change the amount of damages awarded when an owner buys a defective dog born in a puppy mill. That could have a chilling effect on pet stores buying animals from puppy mills fearing large payouts from lawsuits.

"It's going to put a number on my dog's broken hips that you created because you're negligent, you're greedy, and you're mass-producing puppies,' Lask said. "Right now, even if you return it, they just kill it, which is so inhumane.'

Lask is an animal lover who owns a Chihuahua named Lincoln who was found to have a hole in his skull months after her purchase. That discovery led her to investigate the practices of puppy mills. She waited six years to find a case to help correct the larger issue.

"It's much bigger than this case,' she said. "I am looking to shut down the puppy mill world.'

The main issue will be proving to a judge that pets are living souls who experience feelings of pain and emotion. "Human beings have treated other humans as property in history before recognizing it was wrong," said Lask, "so it's not too much of a stretch to ask the courts to change the definition."

"It's already a felony to abuse an animal. If animals have criminal rights, why not put rights on a damaged leg or a heart condition? If we're not equating (an animal) to a human being, and we're not equating it to a table, there has to be something in the middle.'

The suit brings to light the practices of puppy mills and their damaging effects on animals and their human owners. A 2011 investigation by The Humane Society of the United States revealed that Raising Rover, where Umka was purchased, was one of 11 upscale pet stores that purchased animals from Midwestern puppy mills with horrendous conditions.

The moral of the story is buyer beware! Experts agree consumers should opt to adopt from shelters like the Yavapai Humane Society to avoid the trauma that comes from paying exorbitant fees for pet store animals with hidden defects.

KENT, Ohio -- Families have been known to skirt cemetery rules in trying to reunite Fido or Patches with their owners, slipping a tiny tub of ashes into a casket or sprinkling their remains at a grave site when no one's looking.

But come spring, animal lovers won't have to be surreptitious anymore at Standing Rock Cemetery.

The public cemetery, operated by trustees on behalf of Kent and Franklin Township, Ohio, will allow burial of animal remains in a newly designated section of the cemetery. People may also be buried with the ashes of their pet in the area bordering the pet section.

"I don't think people loved their pets less 50 years ago, but they take it a little more serious these days," trustee John Sapp said. "With our society moving in that direction, we thought it would be quite popular."

It is rare to find a traditional cemetery that welcomes man's best friend. Of 10 randomly chosen cemeteries surveyed on the topic, none accepted pets.

"Although we have heard of cases where the ashes of a pet are put into a casket when a person is laid to rest, if we know beforehand, we can't allow it," said Tedi Kallis, manager of Crown Hill Cemetery in Twinsburg, Ohio. "If we knew it, we would have to have the pet removed. The caskets are sealed at the funeral home, and we don't ask what is in there."

Standing Rock has heard similar tales. Grounds crews have also reported finding empty containers that indicated someone had scattered pet ashes over a grave.

Some folks aren't content burying their pets in a backyard because if they move, the site becomes inaccessible, Sapp said.

"There was some demand for (a burial site) and quite frankly, we were looking at revenue," he said. "We're a business and we have to pay employees and buy equipment."

The concept is not without controversy.

Kent resident Carol Alumeyri, who has four generations of family at the cemetery as well as her own prepaid spot, wants the cemetery to remain exclusively for humans.

"To me, it's sacred ground. I think it's disrespectful to the people who are buried there," she said.

Alumeyri said she's fielded a lot of mean comments from people after voicing her opposition at recent trustees meeting, but she feels strongly about the sanctity of one's final resting place.

"It's fine to have pets and people love them and I understand, but there is a proper place to bury them and it's not there," she said. "I go to the cemetery every week. Standing Rock is a beautiful cemetery and they do a wonderful job of taking care of it. I just don't want to be buried in the same place" as animals.

Alumeyri said she is seeking advice from an attorney as to whether trustees acted properly in adopting the rule without a public hearing and paying for the pet section granite marker with public funds.

"We were never given a voice. Voters were never allowed to consider the matter," she said.

But barring legal action, the cemetery will be open to pets beginning this spring.

"We never expected there to be any controversy over this," Sapp said.

Sapp emphasized that the pet section is in the back of the cemetery and separate from the area where humans are buried, adding that the land there "wasn't too good for human burial."

The rest of the cemetery is big enough to support human burials for up to 150 years at the current rate, he said.

Jean Chrest, the cemetery's clerk-treasurer, said no one has called to inquire about a pet burial yet.

Missy Jordan of Hummel Pet Services confirmed that more people are getting dead pets cremated. The Copley Township, Ohio, business started in 2007 and has grown every year, to "well over 4,000 pets per year," she said.

"A lot of people say they will have their pet's cremated remains buried with them," Jordan said, but few inquire about separate burial service.

For those who want a lasting memorial, there are at least three pet cemeteries in the area: Butterbridge Farms Pet Cemetery in Stark County's Lawrence Township; Paws Awhile Pet Memorial Park in Richfield Township, and Woodside Pet Cemetery in Bethlehem Township near Navarre.

At Standing Rock, a pet gravesite can include up to two cremated remains and costs $250 for residents and $450 for others. Full-size lots for humans who want to be buried with their pet's remains are $450 for residents and $650 for others.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/02/2620748/cemetery-opens-plots-for-pets.html#storylink=cpy

We thought Courtney Love could never shock us again, but then we read this: According to newly revealed court documents, (via the Daily Mail) Frances Bean Cobain accused her rock-star mother of killing two of the family pets.

Cobain claimed her mother's hoarding caused the death of two family pets. Her beloved cat died after becoming entangled in piles of Etsy fabrics, paperwork and mounds of trash, while her dog passed away after eating some of Love's prescription pills.

The testimony was supplied in 2009, when the then-19-year-old Cobain filed a restraining order against Love in an L.A. superior court. The mother and daughter had gotten into a physical fight, which caused Cobain to leave the family home.

"She has taken drugs for as long as I can remember ... She basically exists now on ... Xanax, Adderall, Sonata and Abilify, sugar and cigarettes," Cobain said in a court hearing.

"She rarely eats ... She often falls asleep in her bed while she is smoking, and I am constantly worried that she will start a fire (which she has done at least three times) that will threaten our lives."

A judge found Love unfit to be legal guardian of her own daughter and ordered the Hole singer to stay clear of Cobain, her paternal grandmother Wendy O'Connor and aunt Kimberly Cobain. Love was also banned from interacting with Frances Bean's dog, Uncle Fester.

This has been another edition of "Courtney Love Goes to Court."

Those Valentine's Day chocolates may be a tasty treat for you, and even contain healthy antioxidants -- but they're toxic to your pet's red blood cells and may even cause neurological damage.

"With dogs ... one of the most common things I hear is that 'I turned my back and he jumped on the table and got the chocolate,'" says Dr. Sean Byrd, a veterinarian at Skyview Animal Clinic in Cape Girardeau. "I treated three or four sets of dogs over the holiday season where the owners came home to an empty chocolate container. We lost a pup six months ago due to chocolate."

Lesser-known foods to avoid include grapes and raisins, which are toxic to pets' kidneys, and garlic and onions, which can cause blood disorders. Dr. Ann Seabaugh, a veterinarian at LaCroix Pet Hospital in Cape Girardeau, knows some pet owners like to toss grapes and raisins to their pets -- but they need to break the habit before their pets start to like grapes and raisins so much that they get into large quantities of them.

Pets tend to be lactose intolerant, so they need to avoid milk products, adds Byrd. Fatty meats can stimulate pancreatitis, and animals need to stay away from bones, period, says Seabaugh.

"They can cause fecal impactions, intestinal blockages and potential intestinal perforation from the points of the bones. It's overall GI havoc," she says. Ingesting bones might even require X-rays and surgery for your pet. "That's no fun for anybody," says Seabaugh.

New research proves that xylitol, a sweetener used in sugar-free chewing gym and children's cough syrups, is extremely toxic to animals, say Byrd and Seabaugh.

"Just once piece of gum is enough to do damage in a small dog," says Seabaugh. "A dog's body, for some reason, recognizes it as sugar and secretes insulin that creates a dangerous dip in blood sugar." It's possible that xylitol causes kidney disease as well, says Byrd.

"Keep these foods out of the pet's reach and keep trash cans behind closed cabinet doors," says Seabaugh. Trash cans with a flip-top lid usually aren't enough to keep pets out of the trash. "Teach your kids from when they're little on up, that their food is their food, not the animals' food," she adds. "Around holiday time, advise friends and family not to feed pets from the table."

If your pet does eat one of these problem foods, you need to call your veterinarian right away, say Byrd and Seabaugh.

"The No. 1 thing is getting them to vomit. There are things we can do and, if we're too far away, that the owners can do to get them to vomit and get it out of their system as soon as possible," says Byrd. Pets can also be given a medicine to keep the food from absorbing as well into their system.

"In other instances, we might need to see the animal to take X-rays of any bones that are causing problems," says Seabaugh. Whatever your pet has gotten into, it's important to address the issue immediately before much damage is done, agree Byrd and Seabaugh.

How old is the world's oldest dog? When Pusuke, the Japanese record-holder, died in December, aged 26, it made global headlines from Vanity Fair to the Hindustan Times. It also created a vacancy.

Tracking down Pusuke's successor has proved tough. Animal ages are not always well documented. There was excitement about a Yorkshire terrier from Leeds called Bonnie, rumoured to be 28. But, in a sadly not uncommon event among the elderly of the pet world, she didn't last long enough for her owners to get the paperwork in. Another applicant – Pip, a 24-year-old British crossbreed – was deemed short on documentation due to her rescue-home origins. Only now, after more than two months with no reigning champion, is Guinness World Records on the verge of declaring a new oldest dog: Lady, a fragile Jack Russell in Lincolnshire, is a well-documented 23.
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The age of our pets is a new obsession. Since 2001, almost 1,000 people have applied to Guinness, claiming the titles of oldest dog, cat or rabbit for their pets. Craig Glenday, the book's editor, believes these records provide the already lucky animals with the chance to "live eternally".

But while Guinness makes a bestseller out of the exceptions, longevity among our pets may be becoming more of a rule. "During the 20th century, human life expectancy increased 30 per cent, [due to] clean food, water, hygiene. The same thing has happened, no doubt, to pets," says Professor Steven Austad, an expert in ageing at the University of Texas.

The evidence can be found queuing up in vets' waiting rooms. "The feeling is that pet animals are living longer," says Dan Brockman, a professor at the Royal Veterinary College. "We certainly see more old cats in particular, and old dogs. The three cornerstones are the genetic coding, better understanding of nutritional needs and the care [the animals] receive."
Beano, the Amazon parrot

The British spent around £2bn last year on pet food, just shy of the revenues of the 20 Premiership football clubs. Vets' bills and other extras account for at least as much again. In the US, overall spending on pets hit $50bn for the first time in 2011, estimates the American Pet Products Association.

This change in how we treat pets began with the Victorians. Queen Victoria had her dogs depicted in portraits, and rushed back from her own coronation ceremony to give Dash, her beloved King Charles spaniel, a bath. Charles Dickens was so taken by his pet ravens that he wrote them into Barnaby Rudge. By the mid-19th century, Britain's first veterinary schools, founded for racehorses, were treating pets. The world's first dog biscuits went on sale in London in the 1860s.

But, in recent decades, attitudes have shifted further as owners try to keep their pets alive even longer. "There was an idea that you could put a dog to sleep and get a new model," says Mike Davies, a vet at the Oakham Veterinary Hospital in Rutland. Today, ancient pets are probably vets' most reliable customers.

"Gone are the days of James Herriot, when all you did was give a couple of injections," says Gerard McLauchlan, a vet at Glasgow university. "We used to be decades behind [human medicine], whereas that's no longer the case." In some areas, such as the repair of tendons using stem cells, veterinary science is actually ahead.

The fate of our pets is tied to our own. As our lives became more comfortable, so did theirs. When we got fatter, so did they. And now, the stiff joints and stumbling memories of longer lifespans belong to both of us. The five pets featured here are all old-age pensioners. They may not qualify for Guinness World Records – or perhaps even still be with us by the time these pages come out. But they are the faces of the new geriatric generation.

.......................................................................
Pip, a terrier-whippet cross-breed

Pip, terrier-whippet cross, age 24

Pip

Terrier-whippet cross

Age 24

There are plenty of photos of Pip on the walls of the Essex Dog Training Centre, but these days none bears a true likeness. Aged 24, her face is whiter and her waist thinner. This is the frail elegance of old age. Or as Roy Dyer – the centre's jovial founder – puts it: "She's always been an ugly bugger, hasn't she?"

When Dyer found Pip at a rescue home 23 years ago, he was keen to pass her on to someone else. But his daughter Tiffany intervened and she's been with them ever since.

As befits any centenarian (Pip is 168 in apocryphal dog years), her hearing and sight are fading, and she can no longer perceive the hand signals used by dog trainers. (Studies have found that dogs' failing mental powers can leave them, like ageing humans, feeling frustrated.)

Pip can occasionally be seen staring vacantly at their ceiling – "perhaps a little bit of dementia", suggests Dyer, and Tiffany now has to click her fingers to gain her attention. But her essence is still intact, despite the fact that she is now twice a terrier's average lifespan. "[When she dies], I will be absolutely heartbroken," says Tiffany, cradling the dog. "She's a special one. She was there for a lot of major things in my life. I couldn't have done any more for her. It's how I want to be treated in old age."

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Rocky, a rhinoceros iguana

Rocky, rhinoceros iguana, age 22

Rocky

Rhinoceros iguana

Age 22

At 22, Rocky is the same age as some of the oldest pet iguanas on record. He has outlived not only his long-term mate but also his previous owner, a reptile enthusiast killed by one of his cobras. But age has yet to change his appearance – his Nixonian jowls and wrinkled, canvassy skin are common to all rhinoceros iguanas. "I vaguely remember taking him to the vet … once. But they're bullet-proof," says Colin Bourne, a driving instructor, who was given his first lizard as a child.

In the wild, iguanas are thought to be able to live into their forties. But efforts to turn them into pets initially foundered. The lizards were captured in the Caribbean, shipped over with minimal care, and then not provided with the correct light and (vegetarian) diet. Most died within a few years.

"I made a lot of mistakes. We all did," says Bourne. He is determined not to repeat them. His garden contains perhaps the most sophisticated shed in south London: insulated walls, 10 spotlights, six UV strip lights and five heaters. The thermostat is set to 30C; last year's household electricity bills totalled £1,700.

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Tyler, a tabby cat

Tyler, tabby cat, age 23

Tyler

Tabby cat

Age 23

Tyler shows his age when he drinks. His eyes can no longer see the surface of the water and so, before lowering his head towards the bowl, he extends a paw and pats down gently – testing the level.

The cat's sense of smell is fading, too, so his owner, Stephen Fleet, makes sure his food is heated and the brands changed. "It's the only way to keep him interested. It's a different smell." He crushes in tablets for Tyler's overactive thyroid, a condition that once left the cat manic and thin. "The vet said there's no reason he can't keep going."

As Fleet talks, Tyler lazily installs himself on the sofa. But for the fleck of grey on his lower lip, he could pass for a two-year-old (even if he is already nine years past the average cat life expectancy). He's still capable of seeing off neighbouring rivals. "He behaves – you try to avoid anthropomorphising, but it's the only thing I can say – like a pensioner defending his allotment," says Fleet, who got Tyler from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.

The two have lived together for 19 years. "He's probably the friendliest cat I've ever come across. He's never scratched in anger," says Fleet. "He has seen me through three long-term relationships. If you like, he is my longest serious relationship."

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Shelley, a dwarf-cross rabbit

Shelley, dwarf-cross rabbit, age 15

Shelley

Dwarf-cross rabbit

Age 15

The greatest misconception about rabbits is that they are cuddly. The most that can be said is that, in their old age, they put up less of a fight. "She's always been a bit stroppy, a bit aloof. As she's got older, she'll sit for a stroke," says Jo Brooks about Shelley, a grey rabbit she rescued 13 years ago.

Brooks found Shelley, already fully-grown and estimated to be around two, abandoned by the roadside. Most rabbits expire before reaching double figures, but many owners tire of dirty hutches long before that. Over 30,000 rabbits a year are handed into rescues, estimates Rabbit Rehome, a website that helps find new homes for them.

Shelley receives a bowl of warm oats each evening to keep her weight up. "A lot is down to care: the correct diet, a lot of space, companionship and vaccinations," says Brooks, whose home is sprinkled with rabbit ornaments. "I don't know how she was treated before. But it's almost like she's trusting me at last. After all these years, she finally thinks I'm OK."

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Beano, an Amazon parrot

Beano, Amazon parrot, age 44

Beano

Amazon parrot

Age 44

If parrots' vocabularies were any guide to their age, Beano would be a toddler. Yet although his lexicon may extend to just three words, his life has stretched into its fifth decade. "He's a bit like a child that never grows up," says his owner Lindsey Carlos Clarke. His feathers are no less exuberant, and his occasional visits to the vet involve little more than a beak trim.

Carlos Clarke's former husband Bob bought the bird from a dingy pet shop circa 1970. Blue-fronted Amazons in captivity have a life expectancy of 37. In the wild, Beano would almost certainly have succumbed to a passing predator by now. Even in Chelsea and Fulham, his longevity has been one lucky escape after another. A visiting pet toucan tried to break his neck. A trip on a remote-controlled car cost him a claw.

But today he is still gaily squawking with disobedience from behind a bowl of walnuts. Carlos Clarke is used to it: "I do sometimes wonder, why have we got this delinquent?"

(CNN) -- Kim Stevens has a problem that affects tens of millions of Americans. If left untreated, it could lead to the death of someone she loves, someone who's part of the family.

Stevens' dog Dodger, a black and gray mixed breed, is obese. According to a new study, he's emblematic of a growing problem.

The majority of adult dogs and cats in U.S. homes are overweight or obese, and the problem has gotten worse over the past year, according to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. Fifty-three percent of adult dogs and 55% of cats were classified as overweight or obese by their veterinarians.

"I didn't notice the weight creeping on -- it was like all of a sudden he was just this fat dog," Stevens said as she and Dodger visited Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park.
Photos: Overweight pets Photos: Overweight pets

"His weight is about 82 pounds right now, and he should be 62 pounds." That means he needs to lose about a quarter of his weight -- equivalent to a 200-pound person needing to lose 50 pounds.

The reason is pretty simple: "Too much food and not enough exercise," Stevens said.

The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention report shows not only that more pets are overweight, but also that those with the problem "are getting fatter," said Ernie Ward, the group's founder.

The annual study, to be released next week and given in advance to CNN, found that 25% of cats and just more than 21% of dogs are obese. Both those figures are up slightly from 2010.
About 41 million dogs are overweight.
About 41 million dogs are overweight.

About 41 million dogs and 47 million cats are overweight or obese, the study found.

A long list of health dangers comes with the excess weight. "It's not a matter of if, it's when" serious complications will strike, said Ward.

These can include high blood pressure, "crippling arthritis," diabetes and some cancers. "Their life is shortened by two or 2½ years," said Ward, a veterinarian in North Carolina.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine, which cites the association's annual study, said the diseases seen among obese pets "are eerily similar to those reported for people."

A central part of the problem, the pet obesity group found, is the growing "fat pet gap:" More and more owners are unaware their pets are overweight. The study found that 22% of dog owners and 15% of cat owners characterized their pets as normal weight when the animals were actually overweight or obese.

"In simplest terms, we've made fat pets the new normal," said Ward.

In many cases, the problem correlates to the obesity epidemic among people, he said.

"This is the sentinel for childhood obesity. When I see dogs who are overweight, I see a child that's at risk for excess weight, because nobody's exercising. The kid's playing video games all day, the dog sits around all day," and "everybody's eating poorly."

Stevens said she needs to shed some weight, too.

"We'll do it together," she said.

The fact that obesity has struck her dog is particularly telling. Stevens does some work as a dog trainer. "To have a dog this heavy when you know better ... is embarrassing," she said.
About a third of U.S. households own a cat.
About a third of U.S. households own a cat.

But she has a lot of company. Thirty-nine percent of U.S. households own at least one dog, and 33% of households own at least one cat, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

The pet obesity survey was conducted at 41 veterinary clinics across the country and included evaluations of a sampling of more than 600 animals. "Over the five years studied, these results have proven to be consistent and increasing at a gradual pace," the association said.

While the obvious advice -- eat less, exercise more -- is the right starting point, there's more that pet owners should understand, Ward said.

Pet foods these days are "more calorically dense" than they used to be, yet owners are feeding their pets more, he said.

If you're concerned your pet may be obese, it's important to work with a veterinarian, and not try to tackle the problem on your own, said Ward. "Diet is not about starvation or deprivation. It's about gradual weight loss."

In many cases, carefully measuring food and committing to exercise can do the trick. But more severe cases need more extensive work.

That's what helped Jane Whitehead's dog, Raleigh.

In February 2006, he weighed a whopping 187 pounds.

"I swear, we didn't overfeed him!" Whitehead said of Raleigh who, like Dodger, is a rescue dog.

"We would try giving him smaller and smaller portions of his regular food and he kept gaining and kept gaining."

A series of tests found nothing wrong with him, but "at a certain point when he had become so obese, he couldn't exercise at all. We would try to walk him a little bit and he would just stop," said Whitehead, CFO of a business in Duluth, Georgia.

A veterinarian switched him to "super low-calorie food" and put Raleigh on an underwater treadmill, which he loved.

"He lost enough that he could exercise on his own and go for walks with us." The energetic Raleigh she loved was back.

Within three years, Raleigh had cut his weight in half.

There are few truly lost causes, Ward said. And that's something critical for owners to know.

iReport: A real-life Garfield
Daisy has lost nearly 30 pounds through a rigid diet.
Daisy has lost nearly 30 pounds through a rigid diet.

Beth Spiess of San Marcos, Texas, said her sheltie, Daisy, became so obese from over-feeding that she couldn't walk, and her previous owners wanted to put her to sleep. The vet refused and gave the dog to a shelter, where Spiess adopted her. Daisy has lost 30 pounds.

"It's hard to believe she is the same dog," Spiess told CNN in an iReport, though Daisy still needs pills to help with arthritis caused by the obesity.

Cat owners can face more of an uphill climb in trying to get their pets to exercise, Ward said.

Stacie Schafer of Brunswick, Ohio, said people often remark that her cat, Sophie -- now nicknamed Meatloaf -- "is the fattest cat I have ever seen." Schafer has tried to get Sophie to run around like the other two cats in the home, but Sophie just isn't that interested.

"Cats don't jog," Ward said. "Cats by nature are anaerobic creatures. That means they use sugar as their primary energy source. ... They sprint, they pounce, they leap."

Schafer has tried diet cat food and portion control as well, with little results.

Ward recommends families facing trouble work with veterinarians to find ways to bring down the weight.

In the end, living a life in which you prioritize healthy eating and exercise for all members of the family, including domesticated furry friends, is the key, he said. That means no more treats -- "calorie grenades" -- every time your dog does a trick. "They want reward, praise, affection. We take the easy way out, reach into the cookie jar."

It also means snacking on single-ingredient treats like celery, broccoli and asparagus.

And it means moving to stay healthy and stay alive.

"Unless we really get a grip on this very quickly," said Ward, "We're going to see an entire generation of pets that don't live as long as the pets I had when I was a child."

Are pet owners, activists and business owners increasingly at odds over how we acquire our pets? Like the 'Mommy Wars' that have spurred headlines for years, it could all be part of a big culture clash.

The options are seemingly endless: breeders, rescues, animal shelters and the Internet. In recent years, discussions over how we obtain our animals have morphed, at times, to online controversies, pet store protests and increased regulations on the pet store industry.

"I think nurturing in general is getting a lot more divisive," said Greg Ealick, a philosophy instructor at UMBC. "The increasing hostility we see in pet rearing is an echo of the increasing hostility in child rearing."

That more divisive culture of nurturing has also manifested itself in the ‘Mommy Wars,' where it's debated whether breastfeeding is best, whether it's ok in public, and how to tend the young in general, he said.

"At least part of what's going on--we're thinking about pets, but we're thinking about pets as metaphors for children," he said.

Much of the public scrutiny in recent years has been centered around pet stores, some of which are accused of acquiring puppies from puppy mills or disreputable breeders.

In Columbia, an online debate has flared over the new business, Charm City Puppies, which sells luxury dog items, as well as puppies.

Animal advocates online said that reputable breeders don't sell puppies to pet stores and instead prefer to screen potential buyers to ensure puppies go to good homes.

Charm City Puppies owners have not commented, but national pet industry groups say that in realityquality pet stores and breeders are the norm.

Puppy store protests don't just occur online.

This week, police were called to a pet store protest outside a store in Orland Park, a suburb of Chicago, that sold puppies, according to the Southtown Star.

Police arrived after "words were exchanged" between a woman and a protester, the Star reported.

Kristel Masengale, a sale's associate at Today's Pet in Elkridge, said she has been in the pet store industry for 10 years—and it has changed dramatically with more regulations and laws regarding store operations.

"As long as the business is doing things right—the animals are well taken care of, the breeder are licensed and trusted, typically they'll do ok," she said.

There is no question it's become more difficult for the pet industry, said Michael Maddox, vice president of governmental affairs and the general counsel for the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council, which represents the pet industry.

"We think pet stores and breeders should be subject to high standards of care," he said. "Unfortunately, you have certain elements who really are anti-pet. They don't like the idea of people buying pets at all. They'll picket stores, seek legislation banning the sale of pets. .. We think it's a very good thing for people to own pets."

Maddox pointed to legislation two years ago in Maryland (that stalled in committee) that would have banned the sale of puppies in retail pet stores.

This year, legislation has been introduced in the Maryland House of Delegates and the Senate that would require pet stores to reveal the origins of the puppies they sell and reimburse customers for vet costs if the puppy they buy becomes unexpectedly ill.

Advocates for animals said pet owners have become more aware of their choices, but aren't necessarily becoming more divisive about what is right and wrong.

Aileen Gabby, executive director of the Maryland SPCA, said pet owners today are less judgmental—but they have more pride in their choices.

"It's not shaking your finger, ‘You should do this,' it's, ‘Hey, I did this. I got a shelter pet, and he's great. You should do that, too,'" she said.

FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - Dogs and cats that were abandoned in the Fukushima exclusion zone after last year's nuclear crisis have had to survive high radiation and a lack of food, and they are now struggling with the region's freezing winter weather.

"If left alone, tens of them will die everyday. Unlike well-fed animals that can keep themselves warm with their own body fat, starving ones will just shrivel up and die," said Yasunori Hoso, who runs a shelter for about 350 dogs and cats rescued from the 20-km evacuation zone around the crippled nuclear plant.

The government let animal welfare groups enter the evacuation zone temporarily in December to rescue surviving pets before the severe winter weather set in, but Hoso said there were still many more dogs and cats left in the area.

"If we cannot go in to take them out, I hope the government will at least let us go there and leave food for them," he said.

A 9.0-magnitude earthquake and massive tsunami on March 11 triggered the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years and forced residents around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to flee, with many of them having to leave behind their pets.

More than 150,000 people from Fukushima prefecture still cannot return to their homes, with nearly half of them from the exclusion zone.

While Japan focuses on containing the nuclear accident and protecting people from radiation, Hoso, representative director of United Kennel Club Japan, has been trying to save as many dogs and cats from the no-go zone as possible, or keep pets for those who are living in shelters where pets are not allowed.

Toru Akama, an engineer working at the Fukushima nuclear plant, asked Hoso to look after his 14 dogs when an entry ban was imposed on his town.

"I was really happy for my dogs. They are part of my family. There was no way I could abandon them," Akama said.

Hoso said he aims to carry on until the last dog in his shelter is returned to its owner or finds a new home.

"When dogs are returned, many owners are really grateful and a limited few are not so grateful. But when it comes to dogs, all of them, without exception, become really ecstatic when they get reunited with their owners," Hoso said.

"That is what keeps me going, what makes me determined that I have to push ahead until the last one goes back to its owner."

Presidential candidates have been trying to find efficient, effective ways to incorporate the realm of social media into their campaigns ever since Barack Obama parlayed it into a four-year (at least) stay at the White House. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, perhaps known as much for his unconventional habits as he is for his unconventional "wisdom, is really starting to stretch the limits of this whole social media-as-campaign thing.

While he and Mitt Romney (and those other two guys) shell their embarrassing political ads en español in order to cajole Latino voters to cast in with them during today's Florida primary, Gingrich has been quietly courting the vote of another demographic: pets. As in your pets.

Pets With Newt 2012 sounds like a prank site but – I swear – it's legit and actually paid for by Gingrich's official campaign. As you can imagine, the website offers his supporters an opportunity to enlist their pets – who I presume have no prior qualifications aside from territorial pissings and the occasional corpophagia – into Gingrich's cause. All you need to do in order to commit your small, furry companion to the amusing-if-it-wasn't-true campaign of Gingrich is submit a few pieces of info.

The site's harmless enough and, honestly, if it were anybody else other than Gingrich I'd probably pass over it. But it's Newt Gingrich. And it's attached to his 2012 presidential campaign which, in case you've been smartly living under a rock when it comes to modern American politics, has been an epic farce.

You can also see a list of Newt and (third wife) Callista's favorite zoos. That's worth taking a look at if only for the opportunity to glimpse the slideshow of Newt mingling with captured animals of prey. I guess his handlers thought it'd be too risky to go find one of those Burmese pythons that have been decimating the Florida ecosystem as a good PR shot for today's primary.

Finally: I think I get a high-five for making it all the way to this point without making any jokes about how "Pets with Newt" is not really the best name for a site that endorses a known two-time (that we know of) philanderer.

You've heard of people stuffing animals they kill to keep as trophies. But now there is a growing trend in America to keep beloved pets.

People are no longer stuffing their animals, instead they are freeze-drying them. Many people absolutely love their pets. When they die, it's often hard to say goodbye. Now many people are opting not to.

"The reason I like freeze-drying, especially small animals, is that the actual animal is inside," explained Andy Peters of Peters Taxidermy. "The skeleton, meat everything and you get all that natural detail left in the face."

For Andy Peters, taxidermy is a passion. About five years ago, his passion for stuffing animals morphed into one for freeze drying them.

"This is the freeze drying tube," Peters demonstrated.

Freeze-drying an animal sounds like exactly what it is. You put an animal into a freezer, and with a special machine the moisture is slowly pulled from the body.

"Basically in laymen's terms, you're mummifying them," Peters stated.

The process can take a long time; three months for a 30 pound dog, and it's not cheap. A regular-sized house cat will cost between $300 and $400, while a big dog will set you back $1200 and $1500.

But if it's done right, Peters says your pet, whether it be a dog, cat, reptile or bird, will last a lifetime.

"I don't think people like to say goodbye to their pets," Peters believes. "I think they get that attached to them. I know some people who planned on getting buried with their freeze-dried animal."

The freeze-drying process is not a new technology. Peters says it's more than 50 years old.

He said the process only recently got popular because of television shows like Stuffers, which highlights people who keep their pets after they die.

SACRAMENTO - Governor Jerry Brown is planning to strip the $23 million dollars given annually to California animal shelters to compensate them for holding stray or lost pets for a minimum of six days prior to euthanization.

The original law, SB1785, or "The Hayden Law", was passed in 1998 by State Senator Tom Hayden in an effort to make California shelters more accountable and provide owners of lost pets more time to recover their beloved animals.

The Hayden Law mandates that shelters hold animals four to six days before they can be killed; post lost-and-found lists for owners to locate pets; and if choosing to only hold an animal for four days, to stay open some evenings and weekends to provide owners an opportunity to pick up lost pets after business hours.

Upon word of Brown's plans to repeal the law, animal activists quickly forged a petition to keep the Hayden Law intact. According to the San Francisco Examiner, the petition gathered more than 5,200 signatures in a week.

Hayden himself has reached out to Brown, pleading with the Governor to think of his own dog (featured in much of Brown's promotional collateral) before taking an action that would likely result in death for many animals who could have possibly been rescued or reunited with their owners.

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, California Dept. of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer defended the Governor's actions, citing a 2008 report by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. The report claimed the six-day holding period does not save lives or contribute to increased adoptions, thereby costing the state an unnecessary $23 million per year.

Palmer's opponents claim the contrary, insisting their findings show longer holding periods equate less kills, more adoptions and reunite more lost pets with their families.

If the Hayden Law were repealed, shelters would be allowed to euthanize animals after a 72-hour holding period, whether or not those animals had been made available to the public for adoption.

(CBS) Soap opera actor Nick Santino killed himself last week after putting his pet dog to sleep, according to the New York Post.

The paper reports that the actor put down his beloved 5-year-old pit bull, Rocco, on Tuesday - his 47th birthday - and was found dead the next day of an apparent pill overdose.

Santino, who appeared in roles on "Guiding Light" and "All My Children," reportedly left behind a suicide note in which he said he "betrayed [his] best friend."

"Rocco trusted me and I failed him," he wrote, according to the Post. "He didn't deserve this."

The actor reportedly put Rocco to sleep following pressure from his apartment building's condo board, which had begun enforcing strict rules about owning dogs - breeds like pit bulls were reportedly banned, and dogs could not ride in the main elevator or be left alone in apartments for more than nine hours.

Although the ban didn't apply to pit bulls already in the building, the Post reports that Santino, who adopted Rocco from a shelter several years ago, received complaints and had been "harassed" by the building's management.

Santino reportedly called a former girlfriend at 2 a.m. on Wednesday and was found dead in his apartment, on New York's Upper West Side, later that day.

On Monday, the actor's sister told the Post that Santino would be buried with the ashes of his beloved pet.

(Los Angeles CA., January 27, 2012) Actress and animal advocate Betty White is a guest host next weekend on the nationally syndicated Animal Radio® show.

The 90-year old Emmy winning actress claims that she's more active with the animals than acting. Her involvement includes sitting on the board of the Los Angeles Zoo and the Morris Animal Foundation.

It's clear that Betty loves all animals, but when asked if she is more of a dog or cat person, Betty states "I love anything with a leg on each corner" says Animal Radio® host Hal Abrams.

Betty says that her parents loved animals and they would often bring creatures home and ask her if they could keep them. She suggests we enjoy everyday with our animals. "Their roads are shorter than ours."

Catch this special national broadcast February 4th 2012, noon eastern on XM Satellite Radio channel 166 and 100 incredible AM-FM stations across the nation. Visit http://AnimalRadio.com to find a local affiliate.

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- A dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's. A pet's saliva can miraculously cure human cuts and scrapes. These are common beliefs held by pet owners, according to a new study commissioned by The GREENIES® Brand, makers of the #1 vet-recommended pet specialty dental chews and treats. But veterinary dental experts urge pet owners not to believe so quickly, as many of these beliefs aren't necessarily true.

Among the most commonly held beliefs, the study found that almost half of pet owners believe that dogs' mouths are cleaner than a human's and that any type of chewing is good for a dog's teeth. It also found that about 40 percent think it is normal for their pets to have stinky breath. About one-third of pet owners believe that a dog's saliva can help cure human wounds(2).

"There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding a pet's oral health," said veterinary dental expert Dr. Jan Bellows, incoming president of the American Veterinary Dental College. "Dogs' mouths are certainly not cleaner than a human's. Dogs often carry a variety of germs and bacteria in their mouths that stem from buildup of plaque and tartar that can potentially make humans sick through contact with saliva. Many pet owners also believe that any type of chewing is good for their dogs, but tooth fractures are a common occurrence in pets because teeth can only withstand a certain amount of pressure from hard objects before they break. Pets chewing on inflexible items like bones, ice cubes or nylon toys are often in danger of tooth breakage. And while smelly breath in pets is common, pet owners who believe this is normal may be missing the signs of poor oral health or potential dental disease."

A healthy mouth is essential to the overall wellbeing of pets, but misguided information about pet oral health can affect more than just our pets' mouths. For proper pet oral health, veterinarians advise daily brushing or giving Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) approved dental treats, and at least annual oral exams by a veterinarian with professional cleanings as recommended.

"Pet owners who are knowledgeable about their furry companions' oral health will avoid the pitfalls of commonly-held myths and enable the best care for everyone's wellbeing," said Dr. Bellows.

(Salem News - Dr. Marty Becker) - When you pick up a prescription from your veterinarian, do you know that it's likely a "people med" your pet is getting? It's true! Aside from flea- and tick-control products and some non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, most of the medications your pets receive are crossovers from human medicine.

And when I say "most," I mean "almost all." Some 80 to 90 percent of the drugs used in veterinary medicine come from human medicine. This so-called "off-label" use of human drugs allows veterinarians to treat medical conditions (and species) that aren't always priorities for drug companies when it comes to developing and selling medications.

Some of the medications may be used for different health conditions in animals than in people. For years I'd get raised eyebrows when talking about dogs prescribed Viagra (in dogs, it can be used to treat a heart condition) or Botox (used to treat problems caused by deep skin folds in some dogs). More routinely (and less surprisingly) prescribed are "human" antibiotics, anti-anxiety medications and many other drugs that pretty much treat the same issues in both people and pets.

The practice of veterinary medicine is challenging, that's for sure. We have to work with multiple species, none of whom can say, "It hurts here, Doc!" And we have to know more about pharmacology than our physician counterparts. After all, in human medicine, all drugs are FDA-approved, meaning that they have undergone significant scrutiny for safety and efficacy — but only in one species: ours. The guidelines for use are fairly clear.

But when a veterinarian believes a particular human medication can help an animal, she'll prescribe based on information that's often not quite as regulated with regard to its use in animals. This has been the case for decades, of course, but the practice has only really been legal since 1994, when Congress passed the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act (AMDUCA) regulating the conditions under which "off-label" use is acceptable.

Even before the legislation was in place, however, there was a working system for prescribing human drugs to pets. Veterinarians relied on peer-reviewed studies, clinical trials and published formularies that included suggestions for safe uses and dosages of human medications given to companion animals.

Today, with the legal issues cleared up, veterinarians and their patients have more options and better access to medications. Veterinarians have always been glad to provide in-house pharmaceutical services, and general pharmacists, too, have usually been willing to fill prescriptions written by vets. But recently, online retailers and specialty pharmacists have recognized that pets are an expansion market. These developments open the door to even more changes, including discussions on generic meds and walking out of your veterinarian's practice with a prescription instead of a pill bottle.

Chances are you won't be taking a prescription for Viagra or Botox with you the next time you go to the veterinarian's office, but you should still talk with the doctor about your pet's treatment options. A good veterinarian will discuss what medications your pet will need, tell you what screening tests may be required for safety beforehand, what side effects to look for after you get home and answer all your questions before you go. Your veterinarian should also encourage you to call with questions or concerns.

Good communication, after all, is as important a part of good medicine as, well, medicine.

On the verge of another season of winter hibernating bat surveys, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists and partners estimate that at least 5.7 million to 6.7 million bats have now died from white-nose syndrome. Biologists expect the disease to continue to spread.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is decimating bat populations across eastern North America, with mortality rates reaching up to 100 percent at many sites. First documented in New York in 2006, the disease has spread quickly into 16 states and four Canadian provinces. Bats with WNS exhibit unusual behavior during cold winter months, including flying outside during the day and clustering near the entrances of caves and mines where they hibernate. Bats have been found sick and dying in unprecedented numbers near these hibernacula.

"This startling new information illustrates the severity of the threat that white-nose syndrome poses for bats, as well as the scope of the problem facing our nation. Bats provide tremendous value to the U.S. economy as natural pest control for American farms and forests every year, while playing an essential role in helping to control insects that can spread disease to people," said Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. "We are working closely with our partners to understand the spread of this deadly disease and minimize its impacts to affected bat species."

Estimating the total number of bat deaths has been a difficult challenge for biologists. Although consistent population counts for federally listed endangered bats, like the Indiana bat, have been a priority for state and federal biologists, establishing population counts of once "common" bat species, like little brown bats, was historically not the primary focus of seasonal bat population counts.

"White-nose syndrome has spread quickly through bat populations in eastern North America, and has caused significant mortality in many colonies," said National WNS Coordinator, Dr. Jeremy Coleman, "Many bats were lost before we were able to establish pre-white-nose syndrome population estimates."

More than 140 partners, including tribal, state and federal biologists and bat researchers convened in Carlisle, Pennsylvania for the 2012 Northeast Bat Working Group (NEBWG) meeting last week to discuss challenges facing bat research, management and conservation. Coordinating with wildlife officials in Canada, the group discussed population-level impacts to hibernating bats and developed the estimate of bats lost to WNS.

In addition to the lack of population data for many bat species, there has also been a lack of consistency in how bat population data was reported among agencies. As part of the May 2011 national WNS response plan, which was developed by the Service in partnership with a team of federal, state, tribal, and NGO scientists, agencies are addressing this by establishing methods for consistent data collection.

The National Plan for Assisting States, Federal Agencies and Tribes in Managing White-Nose Syndrome in Bats provides a framework for the coordination and management of the national WNS investigation response, and the Service leads an extensive network of partners in implementing the plan.

The Service serves as the primary resource for up-to-date information and recommendations for all partners, such as important decontamination protocols for cave researchers and visitors and a cave access advisory that requests a voluntary moratorium on activities in caves in affected states to minimize the potential spread of WNS.

In addition to developing science-based protocols and guidance for land management agencies and other partners to minimize the spread of WNS, the Service has funded numerous research projects to support and assess management recommendations and improve our basic understanding of the dynamics of the disease.

He bought just two of the furry critters. A year and a half later there were more than 90 of them, living in fishbowls and Tupperware containers, and causing him to starve himself to feed them.

A man from Lawrence, Mass., recently surrendered 94 hamsters to a local animal shelter that he had collected over a period of 18 months as they rapidly reproduced.

Much as with other animal hoarders, like the Florida couple who amassed 700 cats, the man had held onto his pets out of concern for their health, "where a sort of benign approach to dealing with [fast-breeding pets] resulted in a catastrophic number of animals," said Mike Keiley, director of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' care and adoption center, the shelter that accepted the hamsters.

Until he surrendered the hairy rodents, the man reportedly had managed to provide them with good care. Aside from a few minor abrasions -- the result of crowded living conditions, Keiley said -- all of the hamsters were found to be in good health during triage by the MSPCA. In fact, the man, who is on welfare, was so committed to caring for his hamsters that he began to go hungry, spending what little money he had on their food instead of his, Keiley said. He explained that the man's commitment to his hamsters' health distinguishes him from most pet hoarders -- who usually allow their pets' health to deteriorate -- and calls into question whether or not he actually deserves the designation.

The man sacrificed much of his apartment for them, too, storing the animals in an increasingly makeshift array of shelters including aquariums, fish bowls, buckets, Tupperware and a 10-gallon litter box. After realizing his situation was not sustainable, Keiley said, the man contacted the MSPCA, whose staff was stunned to hear the man say he wanted to surrender about 80 of the rodents.

Keiley says he and his staff are "glad that he came in and voluntarily addressed the issue." He also applauds the man's willingness to give up every last one of the pets, explaining that holding onto even a few can present a serious risk of relapsing into hoarding behavior.

Curbing Pet Hoarding Is No Easy Task

The man's situation sheds light on the legal difficulties of pet hoarding. Sometimes town governments determine the maximum number of pets a resident may own, while other times they don't, said MSPCA director of advocacy Kara Holmquist. And even if town leaders set such statutes, they typically only apply to dogs, and "it's often hard to come up with an absolute number over which a person is a responsible pet owner." Different owners are capable of owning different amounts of pets, she said.

What's more, the people who amass pets are often "loners," Keiley added. The problem can go unnoticed even if a person's lease prohibits, or stipulates limits, on pets, he said. To further complicate the issue, tenants are frequently reluctant to report their neighbors if they suspect a problem.

MONTREAL - Lily, a happy-go-lucky Labrador-Schnauzer, was walking down a misty street in Outremont Tuesday night when she started yelping, dropped to the ground in convulsions, and died.

Her owner, Kelly Downs, began to scream herself. "Lily! What's wrong? What is happening? Somebody help!"

It wasn't until Jeffrey Baker came out of his house to console her that she began to understand what had happened. Baker had been walking his dog past the same lamppost 20 minutes earlier and his dog had suffered a seizure.

Lily had been electrocuted.

Neither Downs, nor Baker, nor the city of Outremont had ever seen anything like it. But upon inspection it turned out that a defective wire inside the lamppost had created an electrified zone just outside it, possibly unnoticeable to humans, but deadly to dogs.

In fact, stray or contact voltage, as the phenomenon is known, is not uncommon at all, especially in cities plagued by aging infrastructure.

The most well-known fatality from stray voltage occurred in 2004, when New York resident Jodie Lane and her two dogs were electrocuted by voltage from a decaying service box under the street. The two dogs survived, with burns to their paws, but Lane, a Columbia graduate, did not.

Since then, however, there have been hundreds of cases reported across the United States, said Blair Sorrel, who has been tracking the incidents since 2002.

"Electrocutions are fairly rare, fortunately, but shocks are not," said Sorrel, who runs the website Streetzaps.com. "They tend to be underdocumented but fairly common - usually interpreted as "something happened to the dog."

Street electrocutions happen when stray voltage from improperly insulated or ungrounded wires or electrical equipment is conducted to street level, typically through metal grates, street signs, fire hydrants or bus shelters. Dogs are especially susceptible because their four paws are bare. The salt and snow on Montreal's sidewalks also work as conductors of electrical current.

But Sorrel, who suggests "indoor restroom" and de-icing products to mitigate the danger, said while the risk is higher in the winter, there are incidents all year round. "Equipment deteriorates all year round," she said, adding a national 30-year survey found the most incidents recorded in Florida, peaking in June.

There have been cases in Canada too, notably in Toronto. Two dogs were electrocuted on the same street corner near High Park in 2009, when they stepped on an electrified grate. The source was found to be a faulty cable underground. That prompted Toronto Hydro to launch a $14.4 million project to find locations where electricity was escaping and posing a danger to the public.

Here in Montreal, one other incident was reported to the press, in February 2009. A woman's three-year-old beagle was electrocuted while walking along an icy sidewalk. Hydro-Quebec spokesperson Jean-Philippe Rousseau at the time dismissed the possibility of electrocution as a cause, telling the Globe and Mail the utility had too many fail-safe layers of concrete, insulation and ground-lines.

Contacted Friday about this latest incident, Rousseau again suggested an autopsy should have been done on the dog.

"In Montreal this is the first time I'm hearing about this . . . did he eat something on the ground? A dog sniffs everywhere."

At any rate, lampposts are the city's responsibility, he said, not Hydro-Quebec's.

A veterinarian in East Tennessee has created a Facebook page to reunite lost pets with their owners.

Andrew Proffitt says he started "Lost and Found Pets of the Tri-Cities" about six months ago. He told the Kingsport
Times-News that the idea came after getting calls from people who found animals and didn't know what to do with them and calls from pet owners who had lost their animals.
Connection needed

"There was a real need there for a connection to connect the dots between pet and owner," he said. "You have someone call in to our office, and they say they have found a pet and they do not know what to do other than take it to a shelter. I have nothing against shelters, but these are someone's pets, and they are lost.

"You have the other side of it when someone calls and they are distraught about losing their dog or cat. It is a helpless feeling, but I decided to make something happen to make those situations come to a good conclusion."

Even though the site is only a few months old, Proffitt said it is already expanding. He says he met with the Kingsport and Sullivan County animal shelters this month and they plan to pool resources so that lost pets can be found more easily.

"This is a centralized way to kind of cut down on the amount of time a person can spend exhausting energy and power in what can be an upsetting situation. This is part of the veterinary business that goes unseen — the amount of people who go for weeks and months searching for that pet that they love," Proffitt said.

The site had gained almost 700 "likes" by mid-January.

(Animal Radio® Newsroom January 12, 2011) Iconic pop star and teenage heart-throb Frankie Avalon is a guest host next weekend on the nationally syndicated Animal Radio® show.

Avalon says at one point in his life he had 20 dogs and cats and even a goat. While none were muses for his music, he says his pets are a big part of his life.

Asked about his secret to longevity in the music business, Avalon says "I keep doing it because they keep asking me. When they stop asking – it's over."

"Frankie is perhaps the most genuinely friendly artist I've ever met. It's truly a pleasure to have him on the show," says Animal Radio® host Hal Abrams.

Catch this special national broadcast January 21st, noon est on XM Satellite Radio channel 166 and 100 incredible AM-FM stations across the nation. It will also be rebroadcast January 22nd at 5pm est. See http://AnimalRadio.com to find a local affiliate.

A French bulldog has replaced Kim Kardashian for the 2012 Skecher's Super Bowl commercial.

The ad will feature a French bulldog racing a pack of greyhounds at the Tucson Greyhound Park.

Grey2K USA, an animal rights group has petitioned to have the ad removed because it claims the greyhounds were mistreated at the park and that it showcases dog racing.

Skechers president Leonard Armato has defended the commercial as "a metaphor for a remarkable, underdog achievement."

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Newt Gingrich has acknowledged that Mitt Romney's "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me" comment was taken out of context by many of Romney's critics. That didn't stop Gingrich's campaign from including it in the Romney blooper reel entitled "For the Dogs," posted online Wednesday.

But it's a dog story that might turn the heads of voters who make up the dog-lover constituency.

To the playful tune of plucking strings, the video asks viewers to make up their minds on "the most important question this election: Who can defeat Barack Obama in the debates this fall?" What follows is a montage of comments Romney has given that have raised eyebrows, justifiably or not – among them, the now-infamous story of Seamus, the family dog, that Romney once tied to the roof of the car during a 12-hour road trip to Canada. In the story, first reported by the Boston Globe, Romney hosed down the Irish setter and kennel at a service station after the dog began dripping brown liquid down the side of the car.

"I have a yellow lab named Winston. I would no sooner put him in a kennel on the roof of my car than I would one of my children. Question: What were you thinking?" says Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace in the video clip.

"This is a completely air-tight kennel and mounted on the top of our car," Romney replied, "He climbed up there regularly, enjoyed himself. He was in a kennel at home, a great deal of time as well. We loved the dog. It was where he was comfortable and we had five kids inside the car. My guess is he liked it a lot better in his kennel than he would have liked it inside."

Newt Gingrich doesn't own any pets, but in late December the campaign launched the website Pets with Newt, which allows supporters to upload photos of their pets. At the time of the launch, Gingrich said it was a fun and positive way to reach out to voters. That, of course, was during the time Gingrich was still running a "positive campaign."

As to whether Seamus had anything to do with poking at Romney -- "I will neither confirm nor deny that that's why Pets with Newt was launched," said spokesman R.C. Hammond.

TULSA, Okla. — An Oklahoma woman who owns a partially paralyzed kangaroo as a therapy pet may be on the move yet again, a day after leaving town over a spat with city officials about keeping the animal.

Christie Carr and Irwin the kangaroo moved from Broken Arrow to McAlester late Wednesday after she said city workers were threatening to take the animal or fine her for violating a city ordinance. The city denied any threats were made.

On Thursday, Carr said she was planning another move after McAlester's assistant police chief said he was exploring whether it was legal for Carr to keep Irwin within city limits.

Carr said she planned to relocate to Foyil, a rural town in northeastern Oklahoma, and temporarily stay at a friend's house.

The death of a cat named Jimmy has pet advocates in Woodbury demanding changes in how the city deals with pets who have no one to look after them after their owners die.

They plan to speak out at Wednesday's City Council meeting because, they say, the city and the Animal Humane Society are not following state law.

"Jimmy would still be alive if Minnesota state statutes were followed," said Woodbury resident Debbie Long, who is organizing the rally. "We need these statutes enforced to protect animals to be sure they are taken care of."

The outcry stems from a December case in which the Humane Society euthanized a diabetic gray tabby cat whose owner had died. Her will stated that the cat should have gone to a no-kill shelter in Hastings.

Woodbury police took the cat to the Humane Society on Dec. 7. Police identified the deceased woman's estranged daughter as the rightful owner, and the society called her four days later. Ray Aboyan, the society's CEO, says the daughter gave the society permission to euthanize the cat, which the society could not place because of its condition.

Meanwhile, the executive director of Hastings' Animal Ark Shelter learned of the cat owner's death and called police to find out where Jimmy was. Mike Fry said he was concerned because the cat needed insulin. He also was its new guardian, according to the woman's will.

Fry contacted the Humane Society on Dec. 14 to learn that Jimmy had been killed.

State law requires shelters to hold stray animals for five days or until the owner comes forward, or 10 days if animals are victims of abuse, neglect or cruelty. Here, semantics come into play.

Aboyan said the Humane Society viewed Jimmy as a stray and held him for the required five days. Fry disagreed, saying Jimmy was a victim of neglect, which "can sometimes be unintentional," such as in the case of an owner's death, and thus should have been held 10 days. That would have been long enough for Fry, who was authorized by the woman's will to make decisions about Jimmy.

"Woodbury residents are upset because [the woman's] wishes were not carried out and the law was not followed," Fry said.

Aboyan said the Humane Society didn't know that Animal Ark was the cat's rightful owner. If it had known, "we would not have killed the cat," he said. "This is an unfortunate outcome. We were acting with the information we had. We followed the law."

Do puppies have souls? That's what an unusual lawsuit is asking a New York judge to decide.

In her civil suit, dog owner Elena Zakharova contends that pets — considered "property" under state law — are much more than that: living creatures that feel love and pain.

Zakharova says the upper East Side pet store that sold her a pooch with bum knees and trick hips should be liable for the pup's pain and suffering, as if it were a person.

She also wants compensation for her astronomical vet bills: $4,000 so far, with another $4,000 on the horizon — a total of about $1,000 a pound for the fuzzy year-old Brussels Griffon she named Umka.

"Pets must be recognized as living souls, not inanimate property," said Zakharova's lawyer, Susan Chana Lask.

"Umka feels love and pain like any human being whose pain and suffering would be recognized in a court."

Amid the proliferation of shady puppy mills that churn out "purebred" dogs with congenital heart and joint problems, New York State has a "Puppy Lemon Law" that lets buyers return a sick animal in 14 days.

But Lask says it took months for Umka's problems to surface. The 2-month-old puppy, Zakharova bought last February for $1,650, didn't start limping and whimpering until July. Despite extensive and painful surgery, the dog will never walk or run properly.

"Umka suffers a disorder causing her pain, her legs hurt, she cries when she is in pain, she drags herself with her front paws, she cannot run like other puppies," the suit reads.

"She should not have been sired by dogs with genetic disorders," it says.

If the judge won't recognize Umka's suffering, Lask said she will argue the dog should be subject to the Uniform Commercial Code that gives a buyer four years to return a "defective product."

The store Umka came from, Raising Rover in Carnegie Hill, says it is under new management.

"I know nothing about the sale. The prior owner has all the records. We are very careful about where we get our puppies," said owner Ben Logan, declining to provide any information about the prior owner.

The Humane Society said Raising Rover is one of 11 swanky "pet boutiques" revealed by a 2011 undercover investigation to be buying animals from Midwestern puppy mills with horrific records of animal cruelty.

Lask said the ultimate goal of the lawsuit is to increase the penalties on pet stores so they stop selling animals from unhealthy breeders.

(SUE MANNING) Seven in 10 pet owners say they believe animal shelters should be allowed to euthanize animals only when they are too sick to be treated or too aggressive to be adopted.

Only a quarter of the people who took part in a recent AP-Petside.com poll said animal shelters should sometimes be allowed to put animals down as a population control measure.

Gisela Aguila, 51, of Miramar, Fla., believes shelter animals should only be euthanized when there is no chance they'll be adopted — for example, if they are extremely ill or aggressive. "I don't think shelters should be euthanizing animals to control the population," she said.

She'd like to see an end to shelters destroying animals when they run out of room, saying, "We are way too civilized of a society to allow this."

But Leslie Surprenant, 53, of Saugerties, N.Y., believes shelters should be allowed to control populations. She says no-kill shelters that only accept animals with good prospects for adoption or that turn away animals once the shelter reaches capacity do not solve the problem.

"That doesn't truly mean no-kill shelters. It means there are more animals out on the streets being hit by cars and starving and living in Dumpsters," said Surprenant, who has two dogs and a cat. "It does not mean the general population is lower; it just means that they've opted not to kill."

Surprenant believes spaying and neutering is the way to go. In fact, higher rates of spaying and neutering in recent decades have cut the number of abandoned puppies and kittens, which in turn has cut euthanasia rates. Before 1970, about 20 million animals were euthanized each year in this country. In 2011, fewer than 4 million abandoned animals were euthanized.

Younger pet owners are most likely to favor no-kill policies, with 79 percent of those under 30 saying shelters should only euthanize animals that are untreatable or too aggressive, compared with 67 percent of those age 50 or over saying that.

The poll results are encouraging to leaders of the nation's no-kill movement, who'd like to see the U.S. become a "no-kill nation" with homes for every adoptable pet, and euthanasia reserved only for extremely ill or aggressive animals.

Any plan will take teamwork between shelters with government contracts that must accept every animal and the no-kill shelters that often only take animals they can help, said Ed Sayres, president and CEO of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Rich Avanzino, president of Alameda-based Maddie's Fund, pioneered no-kill in San Francisco in the early '90s through a pact between the open-admission city shelter and the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"We are just a breath away from doing what is right for the animals," Avanzino said.

He believes the country can achieve no-kill status by 2015, partly due to corporate giving to animal causes, which totaled about $30 million in 2010 and is expected to reach $70 million by 2015. That money can help with spaying, neutering and outreach, he said.

Public attitudes are also changing, with more people saying it's unacceptable for pets to languish or die in an animal shelter, Avanzino said.

Avanzino pioneered the no-kill concept in San Francisco. Sayres succeeded him and nurtured it, then went to New York and implemented it there in a much bigger way. The model is the same, but instead of two partner agencies like in San Francisco, New York has 155, Sayres said.

About 44,000 animals enter New York City shelters each year. Since Sayres has been there, the euthanasia rate has dropped from 74 percent to 27 percent.

The ASPCA has also teamed up with 11 communities from Tampa, Fla., to Spokane, Wash., in no-kill efforts, Sayres said.

He believes he will see a no-kill nation, at least for dogs, in his lifetime. Cats may take a little longer because of the large feral population, he said.

The euthanasia issue attracted some attention this week when it was reported that a stray cat being held at a West Valley City, Utah, animal shelter survived two trips to the shelter's gas chamber. The shelter has stopped trying to kill the cat, named Andrea, and she has been adopted. Shelter officials are investigating why the gassing failed.

Best Friends Animal Society operates the country's largest no-kill sanctuary for abandoned and abused animals. The Kanab, Utah, preserve is home to 1,700 dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, horses and wildlife undergoing rehabilitation, said Best Friends director Gregory Castle.

More than 800 grass-roots rescue organizations belong to Best Friends' No More Homeless Pets Network and are working to make their communities no-kill, Castle said. Attendance at an annual conference for network members has grown from 250 in 2001 to 1,300 last year.

The sanctuary's newest venture is a groundbreaking effort involving what Castle believes is the largest public-private partnership ever forged in the no-kill movement.

Best Friends is going to operate a shelter for the Department of Animal Services in Los Angeles as an adoption and spay and neuter center, he said. All animals will come from six open-admission Los Angeles city shelters.

The coalition's initial goal is 3,000 adoptions and 6,000 sterilization procedures, Castle said.

Differences in the varying no-kill campaigns are mostly a matter of nuance, Castle said, and how you define sick and aggressive.

Nathan Winograd, director of the Oakland-based No Kill Advocacy Center, believes 95 percent of all animals entering shelters can be adopted or treated. And even though the other 5 percent might be hopelessly injured, ill or vicious, he said they should not all be doomed.

Some, if not most of them, can be cared for in hospice centers or sanctuaries, he said. As for pit bulls and other dogs with aggressive reputations, he said shelters need to do a better job of trying to find them homes.

The AP-Petside.com Poll was conducted Oct. 13-17, 2011, by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,118 pet owners. Results among pet owners have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

Owning an exotic or nonnative pet at first can be fun and exciting, but as the animal grows, it can become expensive and dangerous.

Unable to care for their pets, some owners illegally release them into the wild, creating competition for food and habitats with native species said Tony Pernas, of the National Park Service.

"[Pet owners] think they're doing the right thing, but they're not," said Pernas, who estimates there are more than 180 nonnative species in South Florida.

Those owners have another option now: They can give up in their pets with no penalty at the inaugural Pet Amnesty Day in Palm Beach County. The event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Jan. 14 at the West Palm Beach Garden Club in Dreher Park behind the Palm Beach Zoo, 1301 Summit Blvd., West Palm Beach. They will accept pets from anyone and anywhere in South Florida.
Check out these bizarre and unusual destinations around the world.

Local agencies announced the program at a news conference on Thursday. They have been working together to combat the growing problem of nonnative species in South Florida for years. And the price can be steep.

Lisa Jameson, an invasive species biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said over $5 million a year has been spent to battle nonnative plants and animals just in Palm Beach County.

"This is becoming our No.1 problem here in Florida and one of the ways we're trying to resolve this issue is by letting pet owners turn in their pets instead of letting them loose," Jameson said.

If caught owning or releasing an exotic, nonnative animal, the owner can be fined or face jail time said Jameson.

Surrendered animals will be checked by a veterinarian, fitted with a microchip and made available for adoption to people approved by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Owners who bring in their animals may be allowed to later adopt them if they're approved. The pet adoptions will take place after 2 p.m.

Wildlife officials are looking for reptiles, amphibians, mammals, birds, fish and invertebrates; domestic animals such as cats and dogs will not be accepted.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission has held this event throughout the state since 2006, but this is the first one in Palm Beach County.

Owners surrendered 60 nonnative animals at the Pet Amnesty Day last year at Zoo Miami, said Jenny Ketterlin Eckles, a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Among the animals surrendered at past events: boa constrictors, ball pythons, iguanas, parrots, walking catfish and even a monkey.

"It's amazing to me how many exotic pets people have. There's a need for this type of amnesty day because it sets up an avenue in which these animals can be turned over no questions asked," said Zoo Miami Communications Director Ron Magill.

Another Pet Amnesty Day will be held sometime in the spring at Miami Zoo, said Ketterlin Eckles.

For more information about Pet Amnesty Day, call 561-735-6025. To become eligible to adopt an exotic or nonnative pet, visit myfwc.com/nonnatives.

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 5, 2012 - Describe the ideal weight-loss buddy, and you will likely hear words like "non-judgmental," "supportive" and "faithful." Thanks to a new relationship forged by Purina and Jenny Craig, that description may also include "four-legged."

Just in time to make New Year's resolutions a reality, weight-loss experts from Nestle Purina's Project: Pet Slim Down and Jenny Craig are joining forces to provide owners of overweight pets a first-of-its-kind program to help both the pets and their owners to lose weight.

"The obesity epidemic is not limited to people. While approximately two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, more than half of U.S. pets are also battling the bulge," says Lisa Talamini, Vice President of Research and Program Innovation, Jenny Craig.

Recognizing the potential for pets and their owners to get fit together--and have fun doing it--weight loss experts from Purina and Jenny created a unique weight-management program in 2012 that helps both pets and their owners get started. Nestle Purina and Jenny are divisions of Nestle, the world's leading nutrition, health and wellness company.

Relationship transforms resolutions to realityThe month of January is the month for New Year's resolutions, and is a popular time to kick off weight loss programs. Starting in January 2012, pet owners can go online to ProjectPetSlimDown.com/NewYears to register for the program and obtain exclusive offers to help them get started.

Special discounts will be available through Purina and Jenny Craig for those who enroll in Project: Pet Slim Down.

"One of the greatest challenges with weight management is making the right decisions about eating and exercise," says Purina veterinarian Grace Long, DVM. "Owners of overweight pets need specific advice, not just a vague 'your pet needs to lose weight.' They need to know what to feed, how much and how often.

"They also need specific recommendations for exercise, based on the owner's lifestyle and the health status of the pet," says Long. Finally, she notes, owners need to be held accountable. That means regular weigh-ins and consultations with a veterinary professional are vital.

The program runs from January 1 through March 31, 2012.

Pet owners can get tips for exercising with their pet at ProjectPetSlimDown.com/NewYears.

About JennyJenny Craig, based in Carlsbad, CA, is one of the world's largest weight management companies, with more than 700 company-owned and franchiised Centres in the United States, France, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Puerto Rico.

About Project: Pet Slim DownProject: Pet Slim Down is a free program from Purina that teams owners of overweight dogs and cats with veterinary professionals who work with them to create an individualized feeding and exercise program to help pets reach a healthy weight. Elements of the program include:

Feeding software that enables veterinary professionals to calculate feeding recommendations for 1 to 2 percent weekly weight loss

Client education

Regular pet weigh-ins

Product coupons to help get patients started.

Rebates to help keep clients engaged.

What is it with this year's presidential campaign and dogs? Politics usually generates more dumb sports metaphors than dog news, but one of many curious aspects of this race is the unusual persistence of canine motifs, which have been popping up with bizarre regularity.

This week Stephen Colbert got into the act by telling viewers of The Colbert Report how he's planning to fill "the giant, ego-shaped hole" that Donald Trump left in the GOP primary when he cancelled the Trump debate nobody was planning to attend.

After announcing that his own debate will be held on Nat Geo Wild with an animal theme, Colbert said, "My co-host—the Dog Whisperer! Ron Paul talks baloney—boom! Flip him on his back, rub his belly—calm, submissive! Done!"

As we await this invaluable contribution to American politics, primary season is about to begin, and voters will have to make their choices in the polling booth. The evidence to date suggests that assessing the way a candidate treats his dog—not to mention other canines of his acquaintance—might be an edifying way to evaluate his character and fitness for office. Fortunately for all of us, this campaign has offered a wealth of material.

Topping anyone's list of riveting dog stories has to be the never-gets-old tale of the dear departed Seamus. The fact that Mitt Romney drove his wife and kids on a 12-hour journey to Canada with their freaked-out Irish setter strapped to the roof of the family station wagon (okay, the dog was in a carrier crate, but still…) has to rank among the all-time Great Family Stories in the annals of American politics. Talk about revealing a candidate's character—could it get any better than this?

And yet this incomparable gem might have been lost to history were it not for the heroic efforts of New York Times Op-Ed columnist Gail Collins, who has made a point of mentioning Romney's unusual strategy every single time she writes about him (which is, not surprisingly, often).

"How could anyone not want to mention it?" says Collins. "I just love that story, because it came from one of his sons, who thought of it as a story about Romney's leadership qualities. It's very Mitt Romney in every way, and it's very much about control. The guy is rich, but he chose to get them all to Canada for the summer by packing five boys in the car with his wife and putting the dog on the roof. A rich person could have found an easier way to do this."

Although Collins has performed a vital public service in keeping this story alive for the American electorate to ponder, the news was originally reported by The Boston Globe, in which the anecdote about Seamus was evidently intended to demonstrate his owner's "emotion-free crisis management." (It also demonstrated the limits of an Irish setter's gastro-intestinal fortitude, since Seamus responded to the stress of hurtling along at high speed, trapped in a box, by succumbing to explosive diarrhea that streamed from the car roof down onto its windows, eliciting howls of "Gross!" from the Romney boys).

But during a campaign in which even the Mitt-Bot's hair seems uptight, this event also illuminates other important issues. "The point, for the son, was that they designated a certain number of rest stops, and Mitt had those stops identified," Collins explains. "When the dog got diarrhea, Mitt got out and hosed down the dog, but nobody else was allowed to get out of the car, because it wasn't one of the designated rest stops."

Mitt apparently didn't resort to boxing his sons in a crate to confine them until the next designated stop, so he's probably good to go with the child welfare authorities; but People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was very unhappy about Seamus's ordeal, which the group's president described as "torture."

"If you wouldn't strap your child to the roof of your car, you have no business doing that to the family dog," said Ingrid Newkirk.

For his part, Romney claimed that PETA had targeted him because he once went quail hunting, and because he approved a rodeo as part of the Salt Lake City Olympics celebration. "And they're not happy that my dog likes fresh air," he said, apparently with a straight face.

(A couple of historical notes: while Seamus is, sadly, deceased, he was, while alive, known to the Romney family as "Mr. Personality," although it's hard to imagine why they gave that nickname to the dog instead of reserving it for the master of the house. Before Seamus passed away, he also made a habit of running away from the Romneys' Boston home. Again, it's difficult to understand why an ungrateful dog would ever want to leave such a photogenic all-American clan—imagine what Lassie's reaction would have been to such an act of familial disloyalty! The Romneys eventually dealt with Seamus's apostasy, and nervous stomach, by fobbing him off on Mitt's sister, Jane, who lived in California and was said to have space for the dog to roam freely, unfettered by straps, crates or station wagons. Unfortunately for campaign enthusiasts, history has not recorded Seamus's reaction at being forcibly reassigned to a different home on the other side of the continent.)

In any case, Mitt isn't the only Republican candidate to have had his personality illuminated by canine-related judgment calls. Herman Cain "suspended" his campaign in the nick of time—only hours before Ginger White, the woman who claims they had a 13-year affair, revealed exclusively to The Daily Beast that the Herminator told his financially-strapped friend to get rid of her Yorkshire terrier, Barry White, as a cost-saving measure.

Granted, Cain had been giving Ginger money for many years (something he himself admitted, although he denied that there was a sexual component to the transaction while conceding that he never told his wife about this unconventional household expense.)

But really—telling Ginger to give away the family dog in order to economize? Yorkshire terriers eat about two kibble bits a week, but only if you persuade them with loving blandishments delivered in baby talk. We are not talking about a major expense here.

Sparing himself the inevitable public uproar about his callous disregard for the emotional welfare of Barry White, not to mention that of Ginger's children (who were delivered from such heartbreak when their mother lied to Herman and pretended that she'd given the dog to a relative), Cain did everyone a favor by withdrawing from the GOP race.

Other candidates have also had dog issues. Rick Santorum—who owns a German shepherd named Schatzie—won PETA's praise for pushing legislation aimed at shutting down puppy mills, the mass dog-breeding facilities that often operate under sub-standard conditions. "He's a man with a heart," a PETA spokesperson said approvingly. (Take that, Mitt!) Unaccountably, however, Santorum's status as dog defender has thus far failed to help him in the polls.

Then there's the inspirational but puzzling story of Rick Perry and the coyote. According to Perry, he went out for a jog and ended up shooting a coyote that "laser-locked" its gaze on his daughter's Labrador Retriever. Doubters subsequently raised questions about this story, ranging from "Who jogs with a gun?" (Perry claimed he was packing because he's afraid of snakes) to the nature of the alleged weapon, a Ruger .380 —a lightweight compact pistol that gun enthusiasts describe as a "pea-shooter" fit only for metrosexuals, not macho cowboys from Texas.

Such a sissified pistol is "the firearm equivalent of a ‘sequined purse,'" explained Carol Flake Chapman, who has not only jogged with Perry in a running group but also competed with him in shotgun tournaments. As published in The Daily Beast, Chapman's thorough investigation of the coyote story failed to resolve lingering questions about the veracity of its gun-toting hero, although it did leave readers with intriguing visions of the GOP's John Wayne defending a puzzled black Lab by brandishing a sequined purse.

As 2011 draws to a close, commentators keep adding to the year's bumper crop of doggie items. Speculating about a GOP ticket pairing Romney with Chris Christie, analysts frequently describe the combative New Jersey Governor as playing the role of Romney's "attack dog." And pundits can always be relied upon for edifying breed comparisons. On Morning Joe, Mike Barnicle observed that with Republican voters favoring Newt Gingrich over Romney, this means "they prefer the pit bull to the collie."

But what about Newt Gingrich? He apparently does not have a dog, although his representatives have been known to manipulate that regrettable omission to score political points. Back in the 1990s, during Gingrich's tempestuous term as Speaker of the House, he was battered by ethics complaints. Ridiculing the accusations, Gingrich's spokesman counter-attacked by singling out House Minority Whip David Bonior for particular scorn.

"If Newt had a dog, Bonior would accuse him of kicking it. Well, Newt doesn't have a dog and Bonior doesn't have a case," the spokesman proclaimed.

Gingrich's accusers were nonetheless undeterred, and he was disciplined by the House of Representatives for ethics violations and sanctioned $300,000.

Although Gingrich stubbornly maintains his dogless status—always a mistake when running for office, given the image enhancement potential when adorable puppies are used with strategic finesse—one can still wonder about how he behaves around other canines. Does he have a good rep among his neighbors' pets? Was he nice to dogs when he was growing up, or was he the kind of kid who pulled their tails and tied their ears together?

Inquiring minds want to know; America takes its dogs very seriously (and lets 42 percent of them sleep in their owners' beds.) This is a country whose citizens spend $41 billion annually on their pets—more than the gross domestic product of all but 64 countries in the world.

And given Newt's conduct with at least two ex-wives and one half-sibling, his loyalties are suspect, to say the least. After all, his own half-sister recently criticized his position on gay rights and announced that she won't support him in 2012. "He is definitely on the wrong side of history when it comes to those issues," said Candace Gingrich-Jones, a gay rights activist who said she'll vote for Barack Obama instead.

Perhaps Gingrich-Jones can enlighten us about Newt's history with dogs—or maybe one of his ex-wives could recall some choice tidbits. While we're waiting for updates, however, there's always the White House mascot to contemplate.

As Obama struggles with a gridlocked Washington establishment amid widespread charges that he is unable to get things done, one hopes he's finding consolation in the company of the family pet. Bo is a neutered black male Portuguese water dog, and he—like his owner—has had to accept significant constraints on his freedom. As Bo could have told the president, were he so inclined: it's a dog's life, particularly in the White House.

Since the festive Yuletide season is once again upon us—that wonderful time of year when families gather together and reminisce fondly about good times gone by—this also seems like an appropriate moment to revive the thoughtful holiday idea that Gail Collins came up with last year. As a suitable Christmas gift—full of happy family memories!—for Mitt and his dear ones, Collins suggested "a tasteful Mitt Romney Christmas ornament" depicting Seamus bound to the station wagon roof.

With Christmas approaching fast, pet stores are chockablock with such must-have items as Cavalier King Charles Spaniel tree-topping angels. Surely the nation's dog-lovers (or at least the ones not facing foreclosure or standing on unemployment lines) can shell out a few extra dollars for Irish setter ornaments to commemorate the valiant contributions to American family life of the late, lamented Seamus.

Christmas Eve is a week from Saturday, and one can only hope that Mitt Romney will be visited by the ghosts of dogs past, present and future. No doubt Seamus, in non-corporeal form if not in the flesh, could come up with a few choice holiday greetings for his former master as the clock winds down on our very own American political Year of the Dog.

Back in April, New York's Division of Cemeteries issued an edict to pet cemeteries, prohibiting the burying of pet owner's ashes alongside the remains of their beloved pets.

The order from the state office came after an Associated Press story about the growing number of Americans who have decided to share a final resting place with their pets, and who, because pet remains aren't often welcome in human cemeteries, have opted to spend eternity in a doggie graveyard.

Apparently, this was news to the cemetery division — even though it has been going on, most everywhere, for a long time. A good 700 humans — in cremated form — had been interred at New York's 115-year-old Hartsdale Pet Cemetery before the state told it to stop.

That order came in February, and in April it was extended statewide.

Last week, the state Division of Cemeteries issued new regulations, once again permitting animal lovers, in cremated form, to rest in peace with their pets in pet cemeteries.

The new regulations, CBS News reported, do impose some conditions: Pet cemeteries may not advertise that they accept human ashes; nor may they charge a fee for doing so.

A spokesman for the department that oversees the cemetery division said the prohibition was put in place because cremated remains in pet cemeteries don't have the same protections as those in human cemeteries — namely the assurance that the cemetery will be maintained.

Like anyone's ashes — dog or human — are going to care about that.

The ruling had kept the ashes of at least one human from being buried. Taylor York, a law professor at Keuka College said the state order meant the ashes of her uncle, Thomas Ryan, who died in April, couldn't be buried alongside his deceased dogs.

York sent the cemeteries division a legal memo detailing why the state was wrong in banning burials of cremated human remains in pet cemeteries.

As the cemetery division saw it, law mandates that any cemetery providing burial space for humans be operated as a not-for-profit corporation. By promoting the human-interment service and charging a fee to open a grave and add ashes, Hartsdale was violating laws governing not-for-profit corporations.

But Hartsdale isn't a non-profit corporation.

"The law is clear," York said. "There's no authority for this board to just arbitrarily impose nonprofit corporation law on a privately incorporated for-profit business."

All the boring legal stuff aside, there really was, and is, no good reason to get bent out of shape about ashes, of whatever species. We throw them in the ocean, we cast them in the wind, we can even use them to make trees grow.

And there's no good reason for a state government to bury us, or our simple last wishes, in red tape.

"My uncle wants to be buried beside … what he considered to be his children and I'm not letting anyone stand in the way," York said before the new ruling was issued. "His love for those dogs was just as real and just as strong as any parent's for any child."

LOS ANGELES — Tony La Russa would like his dog to spend more time in his lap. Bob Barker would like his rabbit to spend more time in its litter box. And Lea Michele would like her cat to spend less time in her cotton ball jar.

The Associated Press asked several celebrity pet owners about New Year’s resolutions for their animals — and resolutions their pets might have for them.

La Russa, the reigning World Series champion manager, would like it if his 12-year-old Chihuahua Twiggy would jump into his lap every time he sat down. "I’d like that affectionate reassurance every time, not just sometimes," he said.

And on behalf of Twiggy, La Russa would resolve to "be the person that Twiggy wants me to be and deserves for me to be."

Jazz singer Roberta Flack would resolve "not to have to beg Yogi, my shiba inu dog, to eat his breakfast or dinner so his food bowl would not be looking at us all day long! He likes to be begged to eat — coerced — given one bite from the bowl by hand."

And for her: "That I talk less and quietly. I have a seal point Siamese, Mimi-La, who likes to put her front paw on my face as if to say, ‘Shhhhh.’"

Flack didn’t include resolutions for eight dogs, 12 cats, a llama, six horses, three donkeys, several Chinese chickens, a road runner, three flamingos and several geese she cares for after adopting them from petting zoos and other places.

"CSI: Miami" actress Eva La Rue would ask that "our bulldog Frank be less of a ham. He is so funny. He always needs to be right in the middle of the room where all the action is taking place. He constantly needs attention.

"If Frank made a New Year’s resolution for me it would be that I would devote 100 percent of my time to him only. If my shnoodle, Bingo, made a resolution, it would be that he would get just some of the attention that Frank demands from us! LOL!"

It seemed fitting to ask some of the actors in the movie "New Year’s Eve" for their resolutions.

Seven dogs — Oscar, Romeo, Stella, Piper, Weaser, Flora and Tamber — would like actress Katherine Heigl "to feed them consistently on time in the morning."

She wishes Oscar the hound would "not be so aggressive toward strangers. That would be good because I really don’t want to get sued."

Academy Award winner Hilary Swank said of her two dogs: "They are so great. ... I wish they could do every interview with me and just sit right here and here. That would be my New Year’s resolutions for my dogs — that they’re always with me."

Josh Duhamel would like his rescue dog Meatloaf "to really work on his coordination and work on getting a little more exercise because he’s struggling right now. But he’s still happy and he’s not in pain. But it’s really hard to get him to do anything. He’s super lazy. He’s like maybe the most unathletic animal you’ve ever seen."

"Glee's Lea Michele says her cat Sheila needs a resolution.

"I wish that Sheila would stop going into my bathroom, taking out all my cotton balls out of the jars and spreading them all over. So her New Year’s resolution would be to get over the cotton ball obsession."

Dog whisperer Cesar Millan would like his pit bull Junior to continue as "an ambassador for powerful breeds, reinforcing the message that it’s not the breed, it’s the human behind the animal." And Junior to Millan? "Accept yourself," he said.

"We have cats, lots of cats. They are pretty well behaved but one — Ted. I would resolve that Ted might start to work on getting along well with others," said Joe Bonsall of country music’s Oak Ridge Boys.

"All of my cats might wish that I stayed out on the road more so they would not have to share (my wife) Mary as much. Seriously! I am sometimes a blight on their existence," he added.

Fellow group member Duane Allen said sports and music would top his list.

"I taught my dogs how to play basketball — everything except shooting. So that would be on the list. l taught one how to sing. I am now trying to teach my Lab (Lana) how to talk. She thinks I am Elvis."

And if Lana had her way, "it would be to tell me to not talk," Allen said.

Country singer Buddy Jewell wants his Akita Jack to "eat more pork chop bones!" And Jack, in turn, wants Jewell to "Grill more pork chops!"

Bluegrass singer Janie Fricke said her favorite pet is Rico, an 18-year-old African grey parrot who plays like a baby. Her wish for him? "I hope he lives to be 80, as the book says."

And if he were to make a resolution? "He hopes we keep feeding him his fave snack — peanuts."

Retired game show host Bob Barker’s has an 8-year-old rabbit. Mr. Rabbit already follows Barker around the house "helping me in every way he can." If Barker could ask for more, it would be "to use his box every time, not just when it’s convenient."

And Mr. Rabbit’s resolution for Barker? What else? "To continue urging folks to have their pets spayed and neutered — including rabbits."

WASHINGTON — Michelle Obama would come back as Bo. Not just any dog, but Bo the dog.

In a television interview, the first lady was asked what person or thing she would want to come back as when she dies. She named her family’s Portuguese water dog.

"He’s got a great life," she told ABC News’ Barbara Walters.

President Barack Obama took a pass on the question, one in a series the first couple faced for an upcoming holiday TV special.

Asked when he tells lies, the president said only in personal interactions with family members, such as when commenting on how someone looks in a particular dress.

As for his biggest pet peeve about his wife, the president said he had none. She said of him: "My list is too long."

(Animal Radio® Newsroom December 07, 2011) The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) has voluntarily retrieved a single production lot of dry dog food due to aflatoxin levels that were detected above the acceptable limit. This product has already been retrieved from store shelves. No illnesses have been reported in association with this production lot to date, and no other Iams pet food products are involved.

Product affected by this announcement:

Iams ProActive Health Smart Puppy dry dog food with Use By or Expiration Dates of February 5 or February 6, 2013

7.0 lb bag
12784177I6
1901402305

8.0 lb bag
12794177D2
12794177D3
1901410208

17.5 lb bag
12794177K1
12794177K2
1901401848

The affected product lot was distributed to a limited number of retailers located in the eastern United States (AL, CT, DE, FL, GA, LA, MD, ME, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, PA, SC, VA).  These retailers have already removed this product from store shelves.  No other dry dog food, dry cat food, dog or cat canned food, biscuits/treats or supplements are affected by this announcement. 

While no health effects related to this product have been reported, P&G retrieved this product as a precautionary measure.  Consumers who purchased the product listed should stop using the product and discard it and contact Iams at the number below for a replacement voucher.

Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring by-product from the growth of Aspergillus flavus and can be harmful to pets if consumed in significant quantities.  Pets which have consumed this product and exhibit symptoms of illness including sluggishness or lethargy combined with a reluctance to eat, vomiting, yellowish tint to the eyes or gums, or diarrhea should be seen by a veterinarian.

For further information or a product replacement or refund contact P&G toll-free at 866-908-1569

(Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM EST) or www.iams.com.

GIA announces the release of a comprehensive global report on Pet Foods market. The global market for Pet Foods is projected to reach US$95.7 billion by the year 2017, with macro regional economic conditions, pet population, and most importantly, consumer attitude driving the market. Due to changing lifestyles and increase in 'alone or single-person family' and decreasing birthrate, pets are being considered as family members and companions rather than just animals. Factors such as attitudinal change towards pets combined with growing urbanization, and increase in disposable incomes have contributed significantly to the increase in number of households owning pets, which in turn, drives the demand for pet foods.

The pet food industry witnessed a significant increase in size in the last few years, with the market structure evolving as per the current requirements of the dynamic industry. In addition, pet foods represent one of the fastest growing sectors in the food industry. The industry has been growing on account of increased market segmentation and producer innovation. Numerous factors such as increased popularity of organic pet food, and greater interest in nutrition and health of pets are driving the pet foods market. Private label cat and dog food brands are increasingly being used in developing markets. There is also a growing preference for adoption of smaller pets in some parts of the world, as they are considered economical and require relatively less maintenance vis-à-vis larger dogs and cats. The rise in popularity of small pets has resulted in a considerable growth in the small animal food market.

The humanization trend in mature markets is stimulating demand for value-added products, such as functional pet foods and nutraceuticals. Research & Development is also anticipated to drive the market with innovative products incorporating advanced formulations. Other market propelling factors include brand value enhancement in major developed markets as well as improved delivery and supply services, aimed at consolidation of multiple grocery retailers. Against this backdrop, future for pet foods appears robust, with demand for healthy and premium-end foods for pets providing the needed impetus.

As stated by the new market research report on Pet Foods, Europe continues to remain the largest regional market. The European market is primarily driven by mounting focus on health-oriented products, especially those meant for different ages and types of pets and pet treats. Asia-Pacific represents the fastest growing regional market displaying a CAGR of about 9.0% over the analysis period. In developing markets including Vietnam, India, and China, product pricing, value for money and cost factor represents prime criteria for the purchase and demand of pet foods. In the relatively affluent and developed markets such as Singapore, South Korea, and Japan, growth drivers include innovation, shorter product lifecycles, healthier products, and convenience. In Japan, the pet food market is witnessing change in terms of food supplements as pet food makers renew focus towards development of new products to meet the needs of increasing older pet population.

Dog Food continues to be the largest and the fastest growing segment. The present market for dog food also comprises health stage specific food; prescription food; breed specific food as well as holistic and natural food. Cat food is particularly formulated for consumption and usage by cats, looking into their specific nutritional and health requirements. Cats are obligate carnivores and majority of the commercially prepared cat food comprises supplementary nutrients such as amino acid derivative taurine.

Retail grocery chains dominate the distribution and marketing space. Smaller specialists and pet superstores also hold a moderate share, with the remainder accounted for by independent grocers. Principal trends affecting the distribution of cat and dog foods include emergence of the new veterinarian/clinic distribution format, waning role of pet shops, and rise of hypermarkets and supermarkets. Due to an uncertain global economy, there is a considerable emphasis on purchase decision in terms of selection of retail store for buying pet food. The year 2010 experienced a decline in number of new product introductions as retailers concentrated more on value products and private labels. However, with economy showing signs of revival post recession, leading companies are gearing up with new product launches.

Primarily, two types of player categories essentially drive the cat and dog food categories in the pet food industry. One comprises of specialty firms producing pet food exclusively meant for addressing health related or other specialty pet food requirements. The other market structure is made up of players focusing on large -scale food manufacturing. Major players profiled in the report include C&D Foods Ltd., Del Monte Foods, Hartz Mountain Corporation, Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc., Mars, Inc., Nestle Purina PetCare Company, Nutro Products, Inc., and The Iams Company.

The research report titled "Pet Foods: A Global Strategic Business Report" announced by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., provides a comprehensive review of trends, issues, strategic industry activities, and profiles of major companies worldwide. The report provides market estimates and projections (US$ Million) for product segments Cat Food, Dog Food, and Other Pet Food (other pets include birds, fishes and other small animals) across geographic markets such as the US, Canada, Japan, Europe (France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Russia and Rest of Europe), Asia Pacific, Latin America (Brazil and Rest of Latin America), and Rest of World.

Jozef Demcak is a snake charmer, a rainmaker, a magician.

He can make drops fall from a cloud he produces from thin air. He can make a shimmering ball of water float. He can transform his wife, Bibiana, into a python.

"Then I turn her back into a woman," he says. "Nobody else can do that."

What Demcak can't do any longer is make a living.

Demcak's travelling road show, featuring the beautiful Bibiana, his beloved six pythons and his blackthroated monitor lizard, has been on hiatus since 2009, when the B.C. Wildlife Act introduced a ban on the exhibition of exotic pets.

Since the ban was introduced, Demcak, 70, says "I am now ruined financially."

Forced to move out of a home he could no longer afford, Demcak, his wife and pets are now living in a ragtag trailer behind Cinema Zoo in Surrey.

"Magic is a special culture," he explains. "We live with our animals, we have special communication with them."

He hopes, today, in B.C. Supreme Court, to make that culture better understood so he can resume his work teaching the public about the magic - and science - of nature and some of its most misunderstood inhabitants: snakes.

Demcak is presenting a legal challenge to the Controlled Alien Species Regulation, which, he says, was brought in without proper legislation and is too restrictive.

CAS limits the ownership, breeding, exhibition and sale of species alien to B.C., including alligators, big cats, hippos, giraffes and certain birds.

Demcak believes the law is unfair. "I could open the door to my snake enclosure and they wouldn't notice for hours," he says.

"They're slow. They're big. They're not interested in going anywhere."

Demcak keeps Burmese pythons. Cleopatra, Big Foot, Marco, Pepe, Apollo and Jean Pierre each consume about five kilos of chicken a week. "Backs and legs," says Demcak.

Demcak, who left Prague in 1968 and became a science teacher in Canada, began keeping snakes and using them to educate his students more than 20 years ago.

He is passionate about animals that he feels are misunderstood. For the last 20 years, he has made a living from his travelling road show, and offered free education in schools to promote understanding about reptiles and their habitat. "I explain to children what these animals are for in nature, that these animals should not be kept as pets, that they grow very big."

Demcak says he feels all animals have value, even unpopular ones. He doesn't sell or breed them, and says they are so well-fed they would never hurt another creature.

Gary Oliver, proprietor of Cinema Zoo, offered Demcak and his reptiles a place to stay after they lost their longtime rental when Demcak could no longer support himself.

Oliver, who provides animals for film and television production and education, lost 62 CAS animals, including alligators and venomous snakes, in a raid last year. He said he was given 30 days to get rid of his exotic animals or they would be put down. Oliver was able to find a home for his reptiles in Alberta.

"I was very angry," says Oliver, who says he never had any complaints or legal issues because of his animals.

Oliver often testifies as an expert witness in the U.S. on court cases related to death and injuries caused by exotic animals.

He knows too well what can happen when the wrong people are keeping exotic animals in the wrong circumstances, but he says the law is not well-conceived.

"I understand that these animals should not be kept as pets in people's homes," he says.

"They need to have a proper registry and certification for certain people that are qualified to handle them."

Oliver believes the tragic death of Tanya Dumstrey-Soos, a friend of his, who was mauled by a Siberian tiger kept by her boyfriend in 100 Mile House in 2007, prompted the blanket regulations that killed Demcak's magic show, and much of his own business.

In the Dumstrey-Soos case, Oliver says the caging wasn't adequate and the man keeping the animals wasn't qualified: "If SPCA and Fish and Wildlife had been up there in the first place and seen the situation, that never would have happened."

Putting a straight ban on exotic animals has only encouraged the development of a black market in the trade and keeping of alien breeds, something that could prove more dangerous to the public in the long run, says Oliver.

It also limits the exposure B.C. kids could have through the educational presentations in schools that he and Demcak used to present.

"Magic is science, and nature is magic," says Demcak, who will be representing himself in court.

This week, he hopes to perform another act of alchemy and convince the B.C. Supreme Court to amend or change the regulations that have taken the magic out of his life, consigned his reptiles to a closed, dark room and left him penniless.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Snake+charmer+feels+sting+exotic+animal/5776845/story.html#ixzz1f8X7KZFZ

TORONTO - Mattie purrs and shuts her eyes for a nap as she feels human fingers nuzzle the top of her head.

The roughly 10-year-old brown and grey tabby is surprisingly calm around people after she was found in an abandoned shed in the Hwy. 401-Islington area along with a 15 other cats in May. She was pregnant at the time and the Etobicoke Humane Society staff brought her and her kittens into the shelter.

"She had seven molars extractions," said Kathy Phillips, the foster co-ordinator of the EHS, as she held Mattie in her arms. "They were bad infections which affected her temperament and her ability to eat. She had surgery last week. She's also had upper respiratory problems."

Cat hoarding is a growing problem not only in the GTA, but throughout Canada.

Animal hoarding involves keeping higher than usual numbers of animals as domestic pets without being able to properly take care of them. Often, the person involved or "the hoarder" will deny their inability to take care of these cats.

In this country alone, there are hundreds of reported cases each year.

"Ontario tends to be a little higher in these statistics because in other provinces, it's easier to access veterinarians," Phillips said. "There are regulations in what they can charge to spay and neuter and makes it easier for a normal person who has a pet to care for it properly."

And for those who cannot care – many of those cats scurry into the open arms of a hoarder.

Roughly 200 to 300 cats end up at the EHS annually because of hoarding. Seth, Buddy and Regis – three black male cats – were also found in the abandoned shed where Mattie was found.

"(Hoarding) breeds health issues and without getting them resolved, they pass them onto other cats, kittens and litters," Phillips continued. "People believe they're doing good by providing shelter and food and to a certain extent, they are. One of the worst cases was where cats had access through a dog door and were kept in an environment that was very dirty and diseased."

Television shows such as Hoarders and Consumed are bringing the issue of overconsumption to the forefront, but when animal hoarding is going on next door, that's when it hits home.

Case in point: Diane Way, who was charged with animal cruelty after more than 100 cats were found in her Manor Rd. home in April.

Neighbours at the time said Way, a former lawyer and teacher at George Brown College, was a "terrific" woman who had some emotional problems. Way started out with four cats years ago and she couldn't bear "to get rid of" the kittens when the adults gave birth.

It was only when a pollster canvassing the area for the federal election called police, was it revealed that inside the urine-soaked and faeces-stained North Toronto home how big a hoarding problem this was.

According to Toronto Animal Services, a dwelling unit "no person shall keep in any dwelling unit more than six of any combination of dogs, cats, ferrets and rabbits."

If they go over that, they can be charged $240. The department received 131 complaints in 2010 and 13 complaints so far this year.

Councillor Josh Matlow continues to push for a more cohesive way for city departments to deal with hoarding. Right now, a bylaw officer cannot bust down doors if a home is believed to be a place of hoarding. An Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals investigator can, but if only there's proof of animal mistreatment.

An "interdivisional team" comprised of staff from animal services, public health, municipal licensing and standards, police and fire began meeting three months ago. Changes to the Criminal Code provincially might also help the individual departments deal with hoarding because right now there isn't one authority to handle the hoarding. It could mean allowing by-law officers to access warrants or police to enter homes based on bylaw infractions.

"There's a real systemic problem with hoarding in North America," Matlow said. "Toronto should take the lead. We should create a model that works. There needs to be a clear action plan – so if one department is contacted, there's an immediate trigger to include other agencies, so nobody ever passes the buck."

Dr. Douglas Saunders, a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Toronto, said cat hoarding tends to happen because for those with mental illness, looking after animals can have a very positive effect.

"One of the things people do when they have difficulty relating to other people – because animals are so accepting and so forgiving – is they begin to develop relationships with animals," he said. "Often, if people have been abused in early childhood or very abusive relationships that likely makes them have personality disorders."

There's a "must save the world" attitude congruent to hoarding, according to Saunders.

"If you have 13 cats, what's one more?" he said. "After a while, if you just take on one or two each time, there's this notion that, incrementally, you can still look after them. Very quickly though, in terms of resources and ability to care for them, you no longer can. And that's where they lose touch with reality."

Humane Society of Canada chairman Michael O'Sullivan refuses to let his heart bleed for hoarders.

"I have zero sympathy for the people involved and I have tremendous sympathy for the animals and the charities that are left to clean up their selfish mess," he said.

"The courts are often sympathetic to people like this and my experience is they tend to re-offend so even if you have an order prohibiting them from having animals, you continually have to watch them to make sure it doesn't happen again."

O'Sullivan has been helping animals for 40 years in Canada and other countries. He estimates a single person who hoards 60 animals cost taxpayers easily up to $100,000 just as part of the investigation, finding homes for the animals, having them treated and going through the court system.

"That $100,000 could be used to spay and neuter a lot of animals," he said.

One of the most horrendous cases he's seen was in Essex County a few years ago where 600 animals were seized from a farm.

"The lady had animals in crammed wire cages, the animals in the barn were in really rough shape. There was a roomful of 300 guinea pigs," he said. "I met two of her older daughters and I could tell something was wrong. I had a call from a child worker who told me the woman had been keeping (her daughters) in cramped wire cages."

The Toronto Feral Cat Project, which works in a coalition with other groups and the city to control the feral cat population through trap, neuter and return programs, said hoarding, too, affects them.

"A big part of the feral cat problem is irresponsible pet ownership and abandonment of cats, which also impacts the hoarding," said the group's director, Roxanne St. Germain. "In a hoarding situation gone wrong, the animal is better off on the streets."

And there is a fine line between a rescue worker and a hoarder, she said.

"There are a lot of hoarders who have the ability to reason a bit and try to disguise their behaviour by disguising it as a sanctuary or rescue organization," she said. "A true rescue group has catches in place to prevent that type of behaviour. I don't think hoarding is about hurting animals – it just ends up that way."

Back at the Etobicoke Humane Society, Karen Heaslip, who handles adoptions at the shelter, said cats who have been saved from hoarding situations are often more difficult to adopt.

"Your next door neighbour could be a hoarder," she said. "It's heartbreaking. We still have some from our hoarding case from last year because they're nervous and don't trust people."

A solution to reduce the hoarding is implementing mandatory spaying and neutering, O'Sullivan said, as well as keeping cats indoors at all times. Backyard breeders should also have to pay a $10,000 licensing fee.

"It all comes down to an issue of numbers and responsibility," he said. "It's very tough on the animals and it's all because of the irresponsible actions of one person – the hoarder."

The owner of an elderly Golden Retriever that a police officer fatally shot sent a notice of claim to the city of St. Petersburg Monday that he intends to file a lawsuit seeking damages for the loss of his pet.

Pet owner Roy L. Glass, who is an attorney, said in the certified letter that his claim is over the "senseless shooting and killing of our 12-year-old Golden Retriever by Officer Misty Swanson…"

On Oct. 3, police responded to an animal complaint in the Old Northeast neighborhood. Boomer had pushed through a broken gate and wandered one street away from the Glass home. He was lying on a neighbor's front porch when officers arrived after midnight. Swanson said the dog lunged at her. She shot and killed Boomer.

Police Chief Chuck Harmon ruled last week that the shooting was justified but also changed police policy on responding to animal complaints. Officers will no longer respond to calls unless the animal poses an immediate danger to humans. Officers also will get catch poles to use.

Glass said by phone Monday that it was not enough. "I felt that we had no other choice after the police chief announced that the shooting was justified," said Glass.

He questioned Officer Swanson's statements to an internal police review board that Boomer tried to attack her, whch prompted the fatal shooting.

"That just would be completely out of character for him," Glass said. The elderly dog had arthritis and a thyroid condition.

"They could have just let Boomer go and he would have walked home," Glass said. "He had a collar and tag on."

In the letter sent Monday, Glass urged the city to contact him to reach a "mutually satisfied settlement," which he will donate to animal protection groups and for law enforcement officers to be trained in handling dogs.

Glass said in the certified letter that he will file a lawsuit if he does not get a satisfactory response.

Glass said in a phone interview that he believes that Florida law is not entirely clear on whether a person can get damages in excess of replacement value of a pet that is injured, maimed or killed.

Glass said that he and his family have suffered emotionally by the shooting death of Boomer, who shared their home in the Old Northeast neighborhood.

Glass said he is not seeking a specific amount of money at this time. He said he does hope to keep the issue alive. Glass plans to seek a law change in the Florida Legislature enabling pet owners to be compensated for non economic damages.

The law change would recognize the grief for pet owners when their animals are unjustifiably hurt or killed.

Meanwhile, a Facebook campaign has sprung up to call attention to police shootings of pets nationwide. The pages is named for Boomer, and includes YouTube videos, media coverage and a petition drive calling for more humane treatment of pets by police.

"The St. Petersburg Police Department has in my view a problem that they continue to perpetuate," Glass said. "They cover for their police officers. I will be looking at how many shootings were found to be 'justified' or 'unjusitifed' over the years.

"Until they get over this problem, there will continue to be unjustified shootings of pets and human beings that are ruled justified, when it is just a whitewash."

By SUE MANNING, Associated Press – LOS ANGELES (AP) — Vet visits cost pet owners an average of $505 dollars last year, according to a new AP-Petside.com poll, with those whose pets faced serious illness spending more than $1,000 on average.

Eight in 10 pet owners took their animal companion to a veterinarian in the past 12 months. And cost was an obstacle for a third of those who did not visit the vet.

But most pet owners trust that vets are not suggesting unnecessary treatments, and the bulk of pet owners faced costs below the average. Sixty percent of those who did take a pet to the vet spent $300 or less on their animal's care, the average expenditure was boosted higher by the one in eight (13 percent) who spent $1,000 or more.

About one in six pet owners say their pet faced a serious illness during the year, and those pet owners spent an average of $1,092 on vet care. One percent say they took their pets to the vet and spent no money.

Thomas Klamm, 76, of Boone, Iowa, says he and his wife Beverly spent $3,000 on their two Chihuahuas, sisters Kati and Keli, and he would have spent more if necessary, even though his annual income is under $50,000.

The biggest bills resulted from a spinal condition Kati had, but Klamm says he has a lot of confidence in the vets and senior students at Iowa State University's Veterinary Teaching Hospital in nearby Ames, where the little dogs have been going since they were pups.

According to the poll, most pet owners have faith in the treatment vets recommend. Overall, 52 percent say vets do not often recommend excessive treatment, 26 percent say that happens moderately often, 17 percent extremely or very often.

Those whose pets had been seriously ill in the past year were no more likely than others to say that vets suggest treatments that go beyond what is reasonable and necessary.

Among those who did not take their pets to the vet last year, 52 percent say they only take their pets to the vet "when they're really sick" and a third say they can't afford it at all.

Luis Calderon, 56, of El Monte, Calif., couldn't afford to take Buddy, his 3-year-old German shepherd, to the vet last year. Buddy was given to Calderon when the dog was 6 months old. "We have become best friends," he says.

Calderon, a self-employed handyman, has a wife and two kids and says work is scarce. If Buddy needed a vet, Calderon says he would have to go through public services or use credit. "We would have to get him help."

How much would be too much? It would depend on what was wrong and what the vet said, Calderon says. "At that point I would have to consider whether to keep him or let him go, put him to sleep," he says.

He hates the idea of putting limits on Buddy's health. "But we have to survive. At this point, my mortgage is No. 1. This month is really close to the edge," Calderon adds.

Fifty-eight percent of those who did not take their pets to a vet in the past year said they "have a type of pet that doesn't need much veterinary care." Among them, 52 percent have dogs, 52 percent cats, 10 percent fish, and 5 percent birds.

Not surprisingly, higher-income pet owners (household incomes over $50,000) were more apt to take their pets to the vet than those with incomes below $50,000 — 90 percent versus 74 percent. Forty percent of those with household incomes below $50,000 who didn't take their pets to the vet say they can't really afford to do so.

Art Jones, 62, of Alameda, Calif., says two of his family's cats died in the last year. He estimates he spent $600 on vet bills — half of that to euthanize one of the cats. The other cat died at home.

"But we are not so wealthy we can spend thousands on a house pet. That's unfortunate, but that's the truth," Jones says.

He says he has family friends whose dog is getting cancer treatment and the cost is nearing $10,000. "To me, that's insane," Jones says.

Over the past few years, Jim Salsman, 51, of Las Vegas, paid for several $500 trips to the vet for his neighbors' cat, Mau, after the declawed feline got in fights with other animals. Last year, the neighbors left and gave the cat to Salsman. He ended up paying another $400 in vet bills, but says he didn't mind because his neighbors were in foreclosure and struggling, and the cat became an important member of the family.

"He means everything to us," Salsman said.

According to the poll, dog owners were a bit more likely to take their pets to the vet than cat owners — 85 percent of dog owners compared with 79 percent of cat owners. But dog owners spent a bit less — an average of $537 — than cat owners, who spent an average of $558.

The AP-Petside.com Poll was conducted Oct. 13-17, 2011, by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,118 pet owners. Results among pet owners have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

Experts say that people who engage in domestic abuse against a spouse or children often will use the family pet to control the rest of the family through fear.

Brenda Heredia, executive director of the Family Crisis Center in Harlingen, has seen cases in which people fleeing domestic violence are preoccupied with the safety of their pets because emergency shelters don't allow in animals.

"People don't think that's all that important," Heredia said. "They think, 'Food, clothes,' all that kind of stuff."

However, the welfare of the family pet is crucial, because an abusive relative often uses the animal as leverage.

"They always threaten beforehand," she said. "Most of the time it's only threats, I will tell you that. But that's because they know how psychologically effective it is."

Catherine Faver, a professor in the Department of Social Work at the University of Texas–Pan American in Edinburg, has conducted extensive studies on the link between domestic violence and animal abuse.

"It was some years ago that people discovered, realized, that intimate partner violence and child maltreatment often coexisted in the same family," Faver said. "Often, there's definitely more than one perpetrator and more than one victim. And so a father may abuse a child, and the child may in turn abuse the pet. But not all children who are abused turn around and abuse their pets. Some try to protect the pets."

The connection between domestic and animal abuse is pervasive across the country, and it is no different in the Rio Grande Valley. Between 2003 and 2005, Faver spoke to 151 pet owners in the Brownsville and Harlingen areas who were victims of domestic violence. Some, but not all, of the women in the study were at local crisis centers.

The study found that:

>> 36 percent of the women reported that their partners had threatened, harmed or killed their pets.

>> 35 percent said they worried about the safety of their pets while they were in their abusive relationship.

>> And 20.5 percent said concern for the safety of their pets in some way affected their decision to seek shelter.

Some of the women in Faver's study between 2003 and 2005 were at the Family Crisis Center in Harlingen. In the course of that two-year period, Heredia said, she realized the predicament in which pet owners find themselves when they are fleeing an abusive situation.

"I thought, 'Well, wait a minute,'" she recalled. "'If I'd been abused and I needed shelter, and I were told that you can't bring your cat with you because we don't take pets, I would sleep in my car, or go home, or sleep in a park because I wouldn't leave my cat.'

"And that's when we started saying, 'OK, if the family has a pet, we'll find a foster parent for it.' We got a group together where we find foster parents for the pet while they're in our shelter."

Heredia recalled one incident in which a woman and her young daughters came to the shelter with a pet dachshund.

"Of course, just coming to the shelter and not being at home, that was hard on them, but they were so worried about their dog," she said. "And so it was great that we found a foster person, and when the little girls got out, they got their animal back."

Heredia recalls one horrific incident about four or five years ago in which a family pet was being hideously tortured in a domestic incident. She was called for jury duty in Cameron County and she really wanted to be chosen for the case: A man had been abusing his children, and he showed them what he would do to them if they told anyone. He put their puppy on a barbecue grill that had a live fire going, closed the lid and roasted the animal alive, right in front of the children.

"I wanted to be on that jury, but when they found out that I'm the ED of Family Crisis Center, they said, 'Oh, no, you can't be on there,'" she said.

Recent state legislation now addresses the problem of pets caught in the violent wrangling of domestic abuse. The website www.capital.state.tx.us says a new law went into effect Sept. 1 that extends protective orders to include family pets.

In other words, it is now illegal for a defendant in a domestic violence dispute to remove pets owned by a person protected by an order, or "by a member of the family or household of a person protected by an order." It is illegal harm them, threaten them, or interfere with their care, custody, or control.

Alex Komechak has loved animals her entire life, but it wasn't until she moved from the Midwest to Arizona at 19 that she was able to begin living her dream of raising camels and other animals. Shortly after arriving in Arizona, Komechak purchased some land and, that same day, purchased her first newborn Dromedary (or Arabian) camel, who she named Baby. "It didn't take too long after meeting him for me to know what I wanted to do: Raise, breed and train camels with a long term goal of having a farm open to the public with an education center where students can come and learn more about animals and be inspired by nature like I was as a child," Komechak told

Komechack, who is currently in school to be an elementary school teacher and has rehabilitated all kinds of wildlife, now has nine animals: two Dromedary camels, Baby and Nessie (who appears in the video); five rescue dogs (a German Shepherd, an Australian Shepherd mix, two Borzoi, and a young Doberman Pinscher, a Von der Decken's Hornbill, and a Robovorski's hamster. But, of course, it's the camels that get — and require — the most attention.

"They're very demanding and there's not one day that you can slack off or ignore them," Komechak said, although it's certainly easier now than when Baby and Nessie were calves and required proper bottle feeding every two hours, around the clock. "This is something I'm going to be doing every day for the rest of my life and it's a huge commitment. If I'm going somewhere or planning to do something I have to think, ‘But whose going to take care of my camels?' It might be easy to find someone to come to your house to watch your dogs, but it's not so easy with camels."

The joy these Dromedaries bring to Komechak make all the work worthwhile, though. "I feel very honored to be able to share my life with these wonderful animals. Nessie and Baby are both very sweet and very clever. Baby lays down on the ground, which is called cushing, just by saying the word to him. And Nessie knows to stand by me and wait until I say, ‘Go!' before we run. They're both trained like this with many different vocal commands."

Nessie's been racing — and beating — Komechak from the very beginning. "She beat me right away!" she says. "I think it was only a few days after I got her, when we started running together in the fields behind my house. Even though she only weighed about a hundred pounds and was a skinny little hump-less thing, she was very fast. In school I ran in track for years, but even at two weeks old Nessie was beating me. They're actually really fast, despite their awkward appearance. Camels can easily run 25 mph and a trained fit racing camel can reach 40 mph."

When not running or eating, Baby and Nessie both love to play — in fact, this winter, Komechak plans to teach them to fetch. "Baby loves to carry around orange plastic traffic cones and stick them up in tree branches. Nessie likes kicking and going after balls."

Keep an eye on her Camels and Friends YouTube channel for more videos.

Want to learn more about Komechak and the animals? She regularly posts pictures, videos and news on her blog, Camels and Friends.

(Los Angeles CA November 29, 2011) Once a fixture on prime-time TV, former Price Is Right host, Bob Barker is returning for his ninth time to guest on the nationally syndicated Animal Radio® program.

Since retiring, Barker has been entrenched in animal welfare, rescuing several elephants from zoos, and significantly funding the agenda. His latest project supports legislation that aims to restrict use of exotic animals in Circus acts and other traveling shows.

"Bob always cuddles up with us and shares the most intimate details of his life…especially when it comes to animals," says Animal Radio® host Hal Abrams.

Barker explains his living situation. He has one remaining rabbit and a maid named Mercedes. "She built a room for the bunny, but I just let him have the run of the second floor. He chews up everything."

Catch this special national broadcast this weekend (December 3rd) as Animal Radio® kicks off its 'Starry Holiday' - Celebrities and their Pets - noon est on XM Satellite Radio channel 166 and 100 incredible AM-FM stations across the nation. See http://AnimalRadio.com to find a local affiliate.

(By Susan Payton) Laura Bennett, CEO of Embrace Pet Insurance, knows more about pet food, pet accessories and pet healthcare than the average person. While her business is pet health insurance, she tries to care about other niches in the same industry as a way to be successful with her business: "Know more than your small segment," she suggests.

We interviewed Laura to find out what makes her niche market, pet insurance, tick, as well as to get her advice as a seasoned entrepreneur.

Laura, what is pet insurance and how does it work for the consumer?

First off, let's specify that it's pet health insurance. It doesn't cover death benefits for your pet. Primarily, pet health insurance covers dogs and cats, though there are policies for other types of animals. Pet owners pay for their services at the veterinarian's office, then submit the claim to the pet insurance company for reimbursement.

What type of growth are you seeing in this industry?

In America, 65 percent of households have dogs or cats, yet only 1 percent of those pets have pet insurance. Across the ocean, 25 percent of cats and dogs carry pet health insurance in the U.K.

British people don't mind insurance very much. In the U.K., when pet health insurance came out 35 years ago, it delivered upon its promise, creating a positive experience, which is now backed by lots of advertising. In the U.S., early on, pet insurance didn't pay what people expected it to, and the relationship with insurance in general is a bit rocky here. But it is slowly turning around.

Are there any new pet insurance industry trends that you see taking place?

Right now, we're not seeing ads for dog or cat pet insurance, and most pet owners only hear about it through their vets. But with some big companies, like the ASPCA, coming on board to offer white-labeled pet insurance, the awareness level may increase. More non-pet insurance brands are becoming interested in offering it.

Has the economic climate affected pet insurance trends or pet insurance industry growth at all?

In the U.S., we've seen 15 to 20 percent growth over the past few years (it was better before the economic downturn), and people who still have disposable income are still spending on pets. Pet parents are buying pet insurance right now. These are people without children who dote on their pets, as opposed to pet owners, who may not be willing to spend more on the animal members of the household.

What type of veterinary services does pet insurance cover?

Pet insurance policies cover unexpected accidents and illnesses, as well as vet visits, diagnostic tests, cancer treatment, hip replacement and surgery. Some pet insurance policies cover dental and wellness visits as well. The only thing no brand of pet insurance covers is pre-existing conditions.

What type of increased interest have you seen in veterinary pet insurance? Is this becoming mainstream for consumers?

Right now there are just 11 companies offering pet health insurance in the U.S. It's a very niche market. Pet owners are learning about it through their vets, but as big brands start to offer it, the exposure will be much greater.

You've been a pioneer in this industry. What advice do you have to other entrepreneurs or small business owners about being an early player in an industry?

I like being early to the market, but not the earliest. Not being the first to market has its advantages, as it gives you the chance to watch those who came before you and learn from their mistakes. Don't just copy what they did; learn from the problems and fix them.

Our business stands apart because we talk to people as if they are human beings, and we care about them. It sounds simple, but it doesn't always happen.

Any advice for those wanting to get into the booming pet industry in general? Any particularly hot industry segments, or tips for how to be successful?

Know the wider industry you work in, whether that's the pet industry or any other. Care about other niches in the same industry. I don't have to care about pet food and pet accessories, but I do, because it's part of my industry. And networking, both in your industry and outside, is key for success.

There's not a lot of sophistication online in the pet industry, so there's room for improvement there. The pet industry is still considered "fluffy," pun intended. Stand out. Do it differently. Get a great pitch.

(Sue Manning) Just over half of American pet owners will buy gifts for their pets this holiday season, and they'll spend an average of $46 on their animals, with toys and treats topping the list, according to a new AP-Petside.com poll.

Sixty-eight percent of pets getting gifts can look forward to a toy, 45 percent to food or another treat, 8 percent new bedding, 6 percent clothing, 3 percent a leash, collar or harness and 3 percent new grooming products, the poll showed. (Some pets will get more than one gift.)

"Christmas is about the pets," said Gayla McCarthy, 58, of Kekaha, Hawaii, whose Australian shepherd, Echo, will find a toy under the tree. McCarthy even got a shirt for her husband as a gift to him from the dog, and she'll be giving collapsible bowls that she ordered online to all their friends' dogs.

Although the average budget for pet gifts among those surveyed was $46, 72 percent of those polled said they'd spend $30 or less. Those who bought gifts for their pets last year said they spent $41 on average.

Overall, 51 percent of those polled this year said they would buy holiday gifts for their pets, a figure that's been relatively stable in the last few AP-Petside.com polls. It was 53 percent last year, 52 percent in 2009 and 43 percent in 2008.

Income does matter. Those making $50,000 or more say they plan to spend an average $57 on their pets. Those making under $50,000 say it will be $29.

Major pet retailers have been taking part in the Black Friday and Cyber Monday frenzy for a few years. Petco Animal Supplies Inc. plans a 72-hour "Black Friday Weekend Blowout," said Greg Seremetis, vice president of marketing.

Products for both pets and pet owners will be available, he said. "Including pets in holiday gift-giving has been a growing trend in the last few years. More and more pets are being treated as family members and being included in holiday traditions, including having a gift waiting for them under the tree," he said.

PetSmart Inc. plans to open stores at 7 a.m. on Black Friday, then continue with a "Countdown to Christmas" sale, said spokeswoman Stephanie Foster.

Online retailer Foster & Smith Inc. plans a live, streaming, four-hour (11 a.m. - 3 p.m. EST) webcast full of sales and giveaways on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, spokesman Gordon Magee said. "As far as we know, with the exception of QVC …, no other retailer has done a live broadcast like this on Black Friday and Cyber Monday," Magee said. "We are going to give it a go."

Younger pet owners are more apt to say they'll buy their pet a holiday gift, including 56 percent of pet owners under age 50. Among those ages 50-64, it's 47 percent, and among seniors, 39 percent, the poll showed.

Lauren Beard, 22, of Felton, Pa., and her family lavished their dog Groovy with gifts last year — including treats and bones — because it was the chocolate lab's first Christmas. "We still love her but it's a little less exciting this year," Beard said. So she reduced her budget of $70 last year to $50, and hopes to get some things on sale. She'll also buy a gift for Groovy's best friend and neighbor, a golden retriever named Tessie, Beard said.

Ronda Singleton and her husband live in Elk, Wash., and raise and show standard poodles. But they don't plan to get gifts for their dogs or for each other. "If we need something, we go get it," she explained, adding that the dogs get treats all the time. She and her husband like to celebrate holidays with traditional dinners and church services.

Thomas Koch, 69, in Raleigh, N.C., has something special to celebrate this year — adoption of his adult son should be finalized, he said.

The two will spend the holidays with their dog, Jessie, a Sheltie-chow mix, and two cats, Tanz and Callie.

Last year, Jessie got toys and the cats got play mice and a large bag of catnip. "They liked it so much we just threw it on the carpet and let them roll in it," Koch said.

He covered the goodies last year for a mere $8, but is setting aside $10 this year just in case prices have gone up.

George Smith, 43, a father of three in Adams County, Colo., says pets are "part of the family, just like our kids." But they keep the holiday gifts for Miley, a golden retriever, and Zippity, a cat, low-key: no fancy wrapping or stockings, just $10 worth of toys and treats.

Steve Gottula's budget was $100 last year and he figures it will run about the same this year for his two dogs and seven cats. Odie, a dachshund, and Sky, a Dalmatian, will get special bones, and the cats will get catnip and mouse balls.

Gottula, 48, his wife Leigh (she's the one who brings home the strays) and five kids (ages 6 to 16) live with the nine pets in Spring, Texas.

His daughters have made stockings for the pets — with their initials — and they are always part of holiday celebrations, Gottula said.

"The cats like to play with the paper and ribbon and get lost in the boxes and wrappings," he said.

What do his pets mean to him? "They are entertaining, they are companions. They have little senses of humor. They all have personalities. If you give love to them they give it back — it's unconditional," he said.

The AP-Petside.com Poll was conducted Oct. 13-17 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,118 pet owners. Results among all pet owners have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

Amherst County, VA - Do you think your pet should be a movie star? An animal expert in Amherst County could tell you for sure.

Miriam Fields-Babineau has been professionally training animals for decades, and she's been involved in the animal actor business for decades too.

"I've provided not just dogs but cats, elephants, snakes, rodents, birds, turtles for Verizon once," said Fields-Babineau.

Fields-Babineau got into the animal acting business in the early 1980s when her own cat got "discovered" and landed an advertising job. She got the bug and hasn't looked back.

"I guess people recognize the movies mostly... 'War of the Worlds,' 'The Replacements,' 'Enemy of the State.' I did some TV shows I did 'Commander in Chief,' I did the 'District.'"

She's also done countless commercials including one that's just coming out for Cato Fashions. Cheryl Brown's two maltipoos doubled as the star, next to the clothing model of course.

The producers went to Miriam looking for a dog who could do three specific things: Sit and stay, jump off a chair on command and put their paw over their nose.

Brown wasn't sure if her dogs could do that one.

"I said we could do two out of three," said Brown.

But Miriam figured both Sugar and Sunshine could handle the task, so she and Cheryl spent three weeks training the "touch nose" trick. Brown had to agree to specific grooming for her dogs, too. When they hit the set, they did the touch nose trick over and over and over.

"We must have done at least 20 takes of that," Brown recalls.

"On the set it's exhausting and very stressful, there's stress all around, " said Fields-Babineau.

So what does it take to be an animal actor?

"The first thing I need to see is his basic obedience because it's very important they have to know basic things. They have to know to walk with you, sit, stay, down, stay, come," she said.

I gave my dog Cadbury a screen test. Of course I think he's a star, but would Fields-Babineau?

After a couple of tests of making him move, sit and stay, this was her assessment of Cadbury:

"His face is light enough that they can see his expression which is good, so he has the coloring for it and has the temperament for it, but he doesn't have the training for it yet. He needs a lot of distraction training and a lot of hard work to become an animal actor," she said.

Okay, so Cadbury's not ready, but that's an important point. Even if your pet does have what it takes, Brown says you might get some bragging rights, but not much else.

"Well it was a lot of work, I will say that. It's a commitment and at this point the animal owner and the animal doesn't receive a huge amount of compensation for the position, so you have to do it because you love it," said Brown.

Fields-Babineau says you can make as little as $50, but some agencies say you might make a couple of hundred for a day's work. If you happen to have a trained elephant or grizzly bear, you can make into the thousands.

In Fields-Babineau's case, producers know her and call her with specifics, then she provides and trains the animal and is the handler on set.

First it was spurious claims for whiplash and other injuries, then it was "crash for cash". Now a new type of fraud is affecting the insurance industry - pet scams.

Dishonest claims on animal policies almost quadrupled last year, making it the fasting growing area of insurance crime.

Figures from the Association of British Insurers show there was £1,929,900 worth of pet insurance fraud detected last year – up from just £420,000 in 2009.

However, the true scale, is thought to be far higher and pushing up the average £220 premium. A total of 2.3 million cats and dogs were insured last year and virtually every type of animal can be covered.

The Association of British Insurers is arranging a shared database of information about insured animals to detect fraud.

Insurers believe frauds include owners getting rid of the animal - by selling it or even killing it - then claiming a payout for early death. The animal may never have existed in the first place.

Other owners have injured their pets in "faked accidents" to cover up pre-existing injuries or conditions that were not covered by their policy.

Another scam involves staging the disappearance of an animal, because some policies pay out if a pet is lost or stolen.

Other tactics detected include claims for expensive vet treatments that have either not actually been given, or are unnecessary or are more expensive than they need to be. Experts suspect that some vets are involved.

In some cases, claims are made for uninsured pets on the policies of other insured animals.

One unnamed major insurer has revealed that between 2008 and last year, the number of animal-related claims where deception was suspected or proven increased by 440 per cent.

One reason the pet policies are proving susceptible to fraud is because veterinary records for animals can be difficult to trace.

Carys Clarke, a solicitor who works as an insurance fraud investigator for law firm Berrymans Lace Mawer, said: "I am aware of cases were owners have maimed their animals in order to make claims on their policies."

John Ellenger, pet product manager for More Than, said: "The increase in detected pet insurance fraud is quite significant. Pet insurance fraud is costing companies more and will have an impact on other people's premiums in the future."

TOLEDO, Ohio-- A debt-ridden man distraught over marital problems and deep in debt told one of his farmhands the night before he released a menagerie of African lions, Bengal tigers and other exotic animals that he had a plan and said to the caretaker: "You will know when it happens."

Terry Thompson threw open the animals' cages late in the afternoon on Oct. 18 and then committed suicide on his farm near Zanesville in eastern Ohio.

According to reports released Friday, sheriff's deputies who arrived at Thompson's private compound had no choice but to shoot the animals crouching between abandoned vehicles and tigers still coming out of their cages. When it was over, 48 animals were dead.

Nearly all the cages were unlocked and holes had been cut in the metal fencing. A tiger and a black bear were in the same enclosure, but the door was unlocked and open. "As I backed the team up, the tiger came out the door and charged right at us," said deputy Jay Lawhorne.

Deputies shot the tiger, and the bear, after it ran at other officers. Another deputy said he shot a charging black bear that dropped within 7 feet of him.

The reports released by the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office reveal how deputies suddenly found themselves in the middle of a desperate hunt. They also offer clues to Thompson's motive.

The 62-year-old told a farmhand that he was upset about his marital problems and that he had a plan, according to a deputy who talked with the caretaker.

Thompson then told the caretaker: "You will know it when it happens."

He and his wife had devoted their lives to the animals. He bought his first exotic animal, a lion cub named Simba, at an auction for his wife's birthday about 14 years ago.

Just days before he set the animals free, he told a deputy that he was having a tough time taking care of the animals after spending a year in prison on a gun conviction. He also was deep in debt to the Internal Revenue Service.

The accounts from deputies at the scene show just how close the animals came to attacking some of them. Authorities have defended their decision to shoot and kill the animals, saying they were trying to protect the public.

Deputies said they saw Thompson's body but couldn't get near him to determine whether he was alive because a white tiger "appeared to be eating the body," a report said. Authorities have said that it appeared one of the big cats dragged his body and that there was a bite mark on his head.

Other animals near his body started moving toward a pickup truck where, in the back, four sheriff's deputies armed with rifles began firing.

With only an hour of daylight left and no tranquilizers on hand, they were in the middle of a desperate hunt and decided that the only option was take down the animals, Lawhorne said.

Their main concern appeared to be making sure none of the animals got near or outside the fences that separated the farm from several neighboring houses and Interstate 70, according to the reports.

Two deputies shot a pair of lions running near a fence along an interstate highway. One lion got up and charged a deputy before he killed it. "One of the African lions that we had shot got up and started running towards us," a deputy said. "At this point, we opened fire on it again, eventually killing it."

One deputy said he shot a lion after it busted through a fence and race toward a road. At the same time, he saw other deputies firing at several other lions running through the front yards of neighboring houses.

He then came across a mountain lion that was hissing and showing its teeth.

Once night came, firefighters used thermal-imaging cameras to spot a grizzly bear bounding across a field. Deputies decided to shoot it.

Several of the cages and surrounding fencing had been cut, making it impossible for authorities to secure the animals, the reports said.

One lion came within three feet of an auxiliary deputy who was trying to close the cage doors but didn't see a hole had been cut in the cage, Lawhorne said.

Today marks the American Cancer Society's 36th year that the Great American Smokeout takes place — meaning people nationwide are making the attempt to forgo their daily habit for a day or for life in an effort to live healthier lives.

But kicking cigarettes won't just affect humans, it can promote a healthier environment for pets, too.

Obviously, pets breathe the same air that we do, and are exposed to environmental toxins that their human counterparts are. What you might not know, is that they are vulnerable to the effects of secondhand smoke, just as humans of any age are.

Some pets, cats in particular, are at double the risk of getting cancer if they live in households with people that smoke. One specific type of cancer, malignant lymphoma, seems to be directly connected.

Feline malignant lymphoma is the most common type of cancer found in cats.

Since as early as 2002, clinicians have been talking about this correlation, when a study done by researchers from Tufts University and University of Massachusetts released their findings, which were unexpected.

Lymphoma typically affects the nasal cavity and intestines of felines.

Dr. Antony S. Moore, DVM is one of the researchers involved in the study.

"We were interested in lymphoma because it's the most common cancer in cats and not very treatable," he says.

"At the same time, we wanted to figure out why we were seeing more feline lymphoma when leukemia virus was becoming less prevalent. We looked at flea control products, diet and other variables, and smoking came out very strongly."

Further findings also indicate that cats exposed to secondhand smoke for five years or more are at triple the risk of developing malignant lymphoma.

Another equally deadly type of cancer, squamous cell carcinoma — which affects the mouth — is also connected to exposure to secondhand smoke.

Justin Bieber has attracted a lot of attention with his choice of pet: a baby boa constrictor named Johnson. The pop star and Johnson are set to go their separate ways, however, as the snake's being auctioned off for charity, reports the New York Daily News.

The teen singer is selling his baby boa – who came to our attention at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards – to raise money for Justin's non-profit of choice, Pencils of Promise.

You'd better have deep pockets if you're interested in owning Bieber's snake. According to online auction site Charity Buzz, bidding is already up to $5,750.

The auction site does have a warning on snake ownership for any flaky bidders: "Before making any decision about keeping one please ensure you have the money, space, knowledge, time, resources and enthusiasm required to properly care for the species you intend to keep, for the duration of its life."

Johnson the snake will head home with the highest bidder – who will be screened for proper pet ownership – after the auction closes November 29.

Seventeen-year-old Bieber is one charitable little dude. Not only is he selling his very own pet snake for a good cause, the singer recently announced the launch of his "Believe" charity drive. Part of the proceeds from the singer's Christmas album, "Under the Mistletoe," will go to organizations including the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Johnson's cause, Pencils of Promise.

Is your puppy worth more than treasured family photos?

How about an heirloom wedding veil?

A bank of trees on the land where you plan to build your retirement home?

And what's a canine lover to do when the animal shelter puts your dog down after you made it clear you'd return for him?

Those are the kinds of questions that judges on the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth had to wrestle with in the case of Medlen v. Strickland.

If you think the answers are obvious, maybe you aren't thinking hard enough.

Avery was a mutt.

Kathryn and Jeremy Medlen got him from a homeless man who was giving away puppies. Avery slept on the couch, curled up with the kids by the TV, was a member of the family.

But on June 2, 2009, 8-year-old Avery got out of the back yard and was picked up by Fort Worth animal control. According to the court record, Jeremy Medlen didn't have the $95 for fees when he went to the animal shelter for Avery, but the plan was to get him on June 10. Despite a "hold for owner" tag on Avery's cage, he was euthanized on June 7.

What are you supposed to do when you're wronged like that?

The Medlens sued - though not for the money, their lawyer says.

And before you go, "That's preposterous!" consider the context of Texas law.

In 1891, the Texas Supreme Court ruled in a case called Heiligmann v. Rose that dog owners could collect damages from a man who poisoned three of their pets. A jury could base compensation on market value, if the animals had any, or "some special or pecuniary value to the owner" that "may be" determined by considering the dogs' usefulness and services.

Fast-forward to the Medlens' lawsuit, which a Tarrant County judge dismissed because they were suing for Avery's sentimental value, not services such as herding skills or breeding potential.

A three-judge appeals panel ruled Nov. 3 that a jury should be able to consider how much sentimental value the Medlens attached to their pet.

It wasn't some puppy-hugging, PETA-loving activism from an all-Republican court.

Texas law recognizes, at the very least, that dogs are personal property. And the Texas Supreme Court has said loss of personal property is worth something.

In 1963, the court said a drive-in theater operator in Pecos could collect damages for heirlooms - including her grandmother's wedding veil and her grandfather's pistol - after faulty wiring in the neon sign set her family apartment beneath the theater on fire. (City of Tyler v. Likes)

In 1984, the high court let a Freestone County man seek damages for the "intrinsic value" of "a number of large trees, some as much as four feet in diameter" that a neighbor had bulldozed on the wrong side of the property line while building a fence for a new exotic-animal ranch. (Porras v. Craig)

And in 1997, the court said a Tyler woman could get compensation from the city after drainage culverts overflowed during heavy rains, sending a neighbor's landscaping cascading through her window and destroying family letters, photos and keepsakes. (Brown v. Frontier Theatres)

So, should Texas law protect a photo of the family dog and not the animal itself?

"Because of the special position pets hold in their family, we see no reason why existing law should not be interpreted to allow recovery in the loss of a pet at least to the same extent as any other personal property," Justice Lee Gabriel wrote in the Medlen case.

"Dogs are unconditionally devoted to their owners. Today, we interpret timeworn Supreme Court law in light of subsequent Supreme Court law to acknowledge that the special value of 'man's best friend' should be protected."

Now, I recognize there's a slippery slope here. If dogs, then surely cats. What about domestic spiders and snakes? The multilingual parrot asphyxiated by the fumigator? (See CSI for a variation on this.)

Frivolous suits - or legitimate property rights?

The good judgment of juries and judges still would have to determine sentimental value. Things like pain and suffering or mental anguish still would be excluded.

The Medlens' lawyer, Randy Turner, pointed out that the law already accounts for pets in some ways: Texas lets judges include pets in protective orders, and the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act signed by President George W. Bush in 2006 requires states seeking federal disaster aid to include plans for accommodating families with pets during major emergencies.

Forced to choose, I can't imagine saving even my dearest keepsakes before Wizard and Pepper, the irreplaceable gooberheads we took into our home and our hearts almost nine years ago.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/11/3259987/pets-are-worth-at-least-as-much.html#ixzz1e6CG3v8t

(Animal Radio® Newsroom November 4, 2011) PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) attracts the attention of comedian Stephen Colbert with their latest lawsuit. The animal rights group announced that they're suing SeaWorld, asking a federal court to declare that five Orcas are being held as slaves in violation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

The host of Comedy Central's "Colbert Report" isn't buying PETA's claims. PETA General Counsel Jeff Kerr says this is the first time any group has sought to extend the protection of the 13th Amendment to animals.

PETA maintains that SeaWorld's Orcas are denied freedom and kept in small concrete tanks so they can perform tricks for the passing amusement of humans.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said a limited amount of pet food, treats and supplements will be tested during the next year for salmonella.

Officials at the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine said although cases of pet food contaminated with salmonella are rare, they are concerned about animal feed and pet food serving as vehicles for transmitting pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant bacteria to humans and other animals -- particularly salmonella being transmitted to humans through pet foods, pet treats, and supplements for pets fed in homes.

The testing will:

-- Determine the prevalence of salmonella in samples collected from a limited number of pet foods, pet treats, and supplements for pets.

-- Determine the serotype, genetic fingerprint and antimicrobial susceptibilities of each salmonella found in samples collected from pet foods, pet treats and supplements for pets under this assignment.

-- Ensure that salmonella-contaminated pet foods, pet treats and supplements for pets are removed from interstate commerce.

-- Collect investigational samples for research purposes and for providing surveillance information on microbes other than salmonella in pet foods, pet treats and supplements for pets.

Certain vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly and individuals with compromised immune systems, are particularly susceptible to salmonella infection from such animal feeds or pet food and consumers are advised to wash hands after handling pet food, FDA officials said.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/11/03/FDA-to-test-pet-food-for-Salmonella/UPI-95331320365575/#ixzz1cmoD93Vj

SAN DIEGO — Two weeks after he was purchased for $1,000 from a Los Angeles pet store and abandoned by his owner, a puppy named Parker is in foster care and will soon be up for adoption from the county’s Animal Services shelter in San Diego.

The pooch, a beagle/Boston terrier mix known as a "Boggle," was left on the doorstep of a woman who delivered the dog to San Diego County Animal Services in Carlsbad. Parker, named after Parker Brothers, the company that makes the game Boggle, had suffered a broken leg after falling from a sofa, and his original owner could not afford to pay veterinarian bills.

According to a news release from county Animal Services, shelters have seen a recent increase in pet owners resorting to abandonment or relinquishment of animals they can no longer afford to care for. Many of the animals, like Parker, are purchased at high prices, and expensive veterinarian bills add to the financial burden of some families, Animal Services said.

Parker's leg is healing after surgery. The operation was funded by the Spirit Fund, an all-donation fund set up by Animal Services to help pets get ready for adoption. Applications to adopt Parker and other animals in county shelters can be found at sddac.com. For more information, call (619) 767-2675.

The case includes nine per-instance willful citations for failing to require respirator use by six workers exposed to dust above the permissible exposure limit and failing to adequately protect three dust collection units which collect dusts such as starch, potato base, cellulose fiber, and pea protein.

OSHA announced an enforcement action with a total of $758,450 in proposed fines against All-Feed Processing & Packaging Inc. for 23 alleged safety and health violations at its pet food production and packaging facility in Galva, Ill., on Nov. 2. The citation alleges the site willfully violated air contaminant, respiratory protection, and hearing conservation standards, and some alleged fire and explosion protection violations were cited under the general duty clause, where concentrations of combustible dust existed, according to the agency's news release.

"Even after a powerful dust explosion and fire at this facility in 2009, along with a number of citations previously issued for similar conditions, All-Feed Processing & Packaging fails to comply with safety and health requirements," said OSHA Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels. "By showing a blatant disregard for worker safety and health, this employer continues to expose workers to deadly hazards."

The case includes nine per-instance willful citations for failing to require respirator use by six workers exposed to dust above the permissible exposure limit and failing to adequately protect three dust collection units which collect dusts such as starch, potato base, cellulose fiber, and pea protein.

Four additional single-instance willful citations were issued for requiring employees to work in areas where they were exposed to total dust in excess of permissible limits and failing to implement adequate engineering controls for the employees; the citation says the site allowed the use of liquid propane-powered industrial trucks in atmospheres where combustible dust could be ignited.
Click here to find out more!

These 13 willful violations totaled $700,700 of the fines, OSHA said.

Before the inspection that resulted in the citation began in May, All-Feed Processing & Packaging had been inspected by OSHA 10 times since 2000, resulting in 17 alleged willful, 44 serious, five repeat, and 10 other-than-serious violations. OSHA's release said the company has been placed in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which includes mandatory OSHA follow-up inspections and inspections of other sites operated by the same employer.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — More than 20 cases of the life-threatening bacterial infection leptospirosis have been reported in Detroit-area dogs in the past three weeks, according to Michigan State University's Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health.

Experts at the MSU center, a service unit of the College of Veterinary Medicine, diagnosed the specific strain of the disease, which can cause fatal damage to dogs and can be transmitted to humans.

In most cases, the dogs were not vaccinated against leptospirosis, or they had an uncertain vaccination history. Because this particular type of leptospirosis is associated with contact with rats, stray dogs are typically thought to be at highest risk.

"What is particularly unusual about this outbreak is that the dogs affected are not stray animals, but people's pets," said Carole Bolin, director of the Diagnostic Center. "Unfortunately, we expect to see more cases, and this is a very dangerous type of leptospirosis. Many veterinarians have never seen this type in dogs because it was markedly reduced by vaccination."

Bolin and her team performed diagnostic testing and identified the particular strain of infection as icterohaemorrhagiae, which can cause severe disease in humans and animals. It is commonly carried by rats but also can be transmitted dog-to-dog or dog-to-human. Bolin is aware of nine dogs that died or were euthanized as a result of the disease, but there may be others.

"The Diagnostic Center became involved because of our experience, expertise and our desire to help the public," Bolin said. "Our diagnosis helped identify this relatively rare strain, and the samples we tested will provide teaching tools for our students and residents so they will recognize this disease in the future."

Leptospirosis spreads by infected wild and domestic animals. The bacteria (leptospira) that infects these animals can reside in their kidneys, and the host animal may or may not appear ill. They contaminate their environment with living leptospira when they urinate. Pets can become infected by sniffing this urine or by contacting standing water that becomes contaminated by rain and water runoff.

The bacteria spread rapidly through an animal's blood stream, usually causing fever, depression and vomiting. The bacteria also attack the liver and kidneys, which can lead to organ failure.

"This is a very serious, rapidly progressing type of leptospirosis in dogs," Bolin said. "Dogs can appear normal one day and be severely ill the next day. People can become infected, so this also is a threat to animal owners, caretakers and veterinarians."

In the 1980s, Bolin's mentor Alex Thiermann conducted studies on the high leptospirosis prevalence in the rat and dog population in Detroit. Leptospirosis caused by icterohaemorrhagiae was identified as a cause of human cases and as a common infection in rats and stray dogs. The prevalence of leptospirosis dropped significantly after the conditions predisposing to large rat populations were corrected.

Also, a leptospirosis vaccine was routinely administered to dogs, greatly diminishing the number of cases. As cases of disease in dogs decreased and because of the vaccine's potential for adverse reactions, vaccine use diminished and it no is longer given to all dogs. However, Bolin said this outbreak demonstrates that leptospirosis remains a significant risk for dogs.

"There is something we can do now to prevent this disease and that is to vaccinate," she said. "Dog owners need to contact their veterinarian to get more information regarding vaccination."

MSU's Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health has become one of the country's premier veterinary diagnostic laboratories, handling more than 220,000 cases involving approximately 1.5 million tests annually.

(Animal Radio® Newsroom October 25, 2011) The truth about cats and dogs: They can cost an arm and a leg in the long run.

Dogs can cost between $310 and $7,100 to maintain every year and between $4,070 and $101,070 to maintain over a lifetime, says Kiplinger's Personal Finance. That's more than kibbles and bits.

Cats are cheaper on average: between $490 and $940 per year and between $7,760 and $15,260 per lifetime.

The annual costs take into account many factors, including food, toys, monthly veterinarian visits, and other essential supplies.

However, fish remain a cost-effective alternative to the more high-maintenance pets. Fish cost an average of just $230 in their first year, $20 annually, and $270-$910 for a lifetime.

If you plan on owning a cat or dog, be sure that you have the money to pay for the expenses. Love for a pet is essential, but ultimately it's money that pays the bills. If the cost for a dog or cat is too high, there are always other fish in the sea.

(Reuters) - A pet cat missing for two months after escaping its carrier at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport has been discovered alive in a customs room, American Airlines said on Wednesday.

The cat, named Jack, was due to fly with its owner, Karen Pascoe, in August to San Francisco where she was starting a new job, the airline said. But it disappeared from its travel container before the flight took off.

It was discovered on Tuesday, the airline said.

Since being missing, the cat developed fatty liver disease, a treatable condition that can develop when a cat is not getting enough food.

Pascoe, who flew to San Francisco without Jack but with a second cat named Barry who arrived safely, was contacted by the airline when Jack was identified by a microchip implanted between his shoulder blades.

During the two months that Jack was missing, a Facebook page was created on its behalf that attracted more than 16,000 subscribers. The page featured reports of possible Jack sightings that proved to be dead ends.

Bonnie Folz, a dog trainer and pet-lover who lives near the airport, volunteered to oversee search efforts, despite having never met Pascoe or Jack.

She said she saw the cat at the office of a local veterinarian on Tuesday night.

"He looks tired but he looks beautiful," she said. "He's got beautiful bright eyes."

Folz, who has helped other people try to locate lost pets, criticized the airline's handling of the pet container, saying she suspected baggage handlers had stacked Jack's crate precariously and failed to secure its door with a zip tie.

Ed Martelle, a spokesman for American Airlines, said he could not comment on how Jack managed to escape. He said the airline would fly Jack to California to be reunited with his owner once he is healthy.

But Folz said she talked to Pascoe, who plans to pick up Jack herself.

Jack has lost so much weight that he likely comes in below the 15-pound limit and would be allowed to fly this time with his owner in the passenger cabin, Folz said.

Scores of people were forced to give up their dogs last year because their landlords banned pets, an animal charity says.

The number of people handing in pets to the Dogs Trust as a result of housing problems has risen by 56% in the past five years and last year 276 people handed their dogs to 17 rehoming centres.

The charity warned that as high property prices force more people into rented accommodation, many pet owners will be forced to abandon their animals or even have them put down.

One in three people surveyed could not find a suitable property to live in with their pet and the research found pet owners who were successful in finding a tenancy tended to take longer to find a home.

Almost half (47%) of those who looked for a property said their lettings agency did not help them to find a pet-friendly home.

The survey found that 59% of pet owners would be willing to pay a higher deposit to rent with their pets and 75% would be happy to pay for their carpets and soft furnishings to be professionally cleaned when they moved out.

Clare Kivlehan, who runs the charity's Lets with Pets scheme, said: "We're campaigning for lettings agents and landlords to take a 'pets considered' approach rather than rejecting all pets.

"We'd like people to be able to search easily on property websites for suitable options rather than having to make individual enquiries and we're keen to hear from any agencies interested in becoming campaign supporters."

It might seem silly or insignificant to some, but for millions of animal lovers like Jon Katz, the death of a pet can be devastating. In his new book, Going Home: Finding Peace When Pets Die, Katz explores the complex feelings of grief that can arise upon an animal's death. From his farm in upstate New York, Katz talked to TIME about dealing with guilt, the importance of mourning and the struggle to move on.

You've written numerous books about animals and their connection to humans over the years. Why write about them dying?

I was speaking at a veterinary conference, and a bunch of vets came up to me and said that they were seeing a dramatic rise in grieving, were overwhelmed by it, and didn't know how to deal with it. I looked around, and there were many books about animals dying, but they almost all had to do with the afterlife—about seeing a dog or cat in heaven. There was almost nothing about dealing with grief right now.

Having the farm and a life with animals, I've experienced a great deal of loss. I realized that it's a very powerful thing, but no one in the culture takes it seriously. There's this idea that if you grieve for a pet, you're indulgent or silly.

You've witnessed the deaths of all kinds of animals during your time at Bedlam Farm. But you write that your decision to put down your dog Orson affected you most profoundly.

Orson inspired me to come to the farm in the first place. This was the dog that began my writing about dogs, animals and rural life. I felt a great debt to him. He was also a great personality, and he really changed me. But I felt foolish in feeling grief for him. I kept thinking, "It's just a dog." But after writing more about animals, I realized that the loss of a pet can be devastating. In [Orson's case], I didn't really deal with it or acknowledge it. I didn't allow myself a good cry or talk about it much. I think I paid for that. Part of the book's message is that it's okay to grieve animals.

You make the point that not everyone is an animal lover. So, if you're grieving, how do you address that with people who might not understand?

I don't know that you can really. I think all you can say is, "It's very painful for me. It's a big loss for me." I don't honestly think that you can expect non-animal people to grasp it. When someone suffers a loss like this they need to get to those who understand—animal lovers. What I say to people [who are grieving]—and I think it's the only thing that is helpful— is that I'm sorry and I know how you feel. It's very simple.

Losing a pet is also very complicated because this is the only time in our lives when we're sometimes called upon to kill something we love. That's what happened with Orson. I had to euthanize him because he bit three people. We feel very guilty about these decisions. We're not prepared for it, we haven't thought through the emotional, moral or psychological elements of it. The truth is you'll never know for sure if you made the right decision. I can't tell you even today if I'm sure that it was the right decision [with Orson]. It was just the best decision I could make at the time. You can't look to other people to tell you if you're right or wrong.

I think it's definitely comforting for people to know that they're not alone in feeling grief over an animal. How does this sense of camaraderie help the healing process?

The biggest help it provides is it lets people know that it's okay to feel bad. Animals have come to mean so much in our lives. We live in a fragmented and disconnected culture. Politics are ugly, religion is struggling, technology is stressful, and the economy is unfortunate. What's one thing that we have in our lives that we can depend on? A dog or a cat loving us unconditionally, every day, very faithfully. Of course we're going to grieve them when they go. The other side of that is, in my mind, I don't want to make grieving a way of life. There are about 12 million dogs in need of homes. When I'm ready, I like to mark the loss and move on. And the most healing thing I know of is to adopt another animal.

But is it healthy to try to replace an animal that's passed with a new one?

I think it's healthy and helpful when you are ready. I don't think it's healthy to go out the next morning and get an animal, because it makes them feel disposable. But I do think the real healing begins when you get another. When an animal dies, it gives you the chance to love another animal. That's an insightful and profound way to look at it. Unlike most situations with loss, you can move forward.

Something you said in the book really hit home with me. You write that, for many, the death of a pet is almost harder than that of a relative or friend because there are no complicated emotions, just pure love.

Look, we have families. Kids leave us and go off on their own lives. Family members tell us what they think of us. Animals can't do that. They really are blank canvases, and we can project anything we want onto them. So the relationship is very pure and simple. This level of grieving [for animals] has probably come about because our society is not doing a great job of connecting with one another. People seem angrier and more frustrated, and animals seem more loving and important.

But you also caution not to project human emotions onto animals, because in the end, they are animals.

That was a very important part of the book for me, to encourage people to remember that animals are not feeling what we are feeling. They don't feel guilt or regret. They don't resent things. That's what I love about them. I love the fact that they do not carry our baggage around with them.

Death is also a great part of an animal's life. Some of the animal communicators I talked to said the number one question people ask after their animals have died is, "Are they mad at me?" Animals don't think like that. They're very accepting of life. I think of animals more as spirits that come and go. They enter our lives at a particular time and they leave at a particular time. The whole glorious history of animals with people is about joy and connection. It's about loving this creature and letting this creature love you.

Hear Jon Katz on Animal Radio®

A leading animal charity has called for a toughening of the laws regarding the keeping of exotic or dangerous pets following the horrific incident last week when almost 50 animals were shot dead after being released by their crazed owner.

Sheriff's deputies in Ohio had little choice but to hunt down and kill the animals - including 18 rare Bengal tigers and 17 lions- after their owner, Vietnam vet Terry Thompson, threw open the cages at his Muskingum County Animal Farm.

While Mr Thompson died of a self-inflicted gunshot he also had a bite wound to the head that appeared to have come from a large cat, such as a Bengal tiger.
Slaughtered: Authorities in Ohio had little choice but to shoot almost all of the 50 animals, including lions, tigers and bears, after they were set free from a private zoo

Slaughtered: Authorities in Ohio had little choice but to shoot almost all of the 50 animals, including lions, tigers and bears, after they were set free from a private zoo

He had been convicted of animal cruelty in 2005, and his vast collection of dangerous animals had been the subject of numerous complaints from neighbours near the town of Zanesville.

The ones that got away: Sad survivors of exotic animal bloodbath after 'time bomb' private zoo owner opened the cages and shot himself

However despite these obvious calls for alarm he had been allowed to keep his collection of exotic animals.
Concerns: Vietnam vet Terry Thompson was allowed to keep a 'Noah's Ark' of exotic animals despite convictions for animal cruelty and warnings from neighbours

Concerns: Vietnam vet Terry Thompson was allowed to keep a 'Noah's Ark' of exotic animals despite convictions for animal cruelty and warnings from neighbours

Mr Thompson, who was described as a 'gun-crazed animal lover, had reportedly separated from his wife.

In addition to his lions and tigers, Mr Thompson also kept three leopards, six black bears, three mountain lions, three grizzly bears, two wolves, two monkeys and a baboon

Ohio has some of the nation's weakest restrictions on exotic pets and among the highest number of injuries and deaths caused by them.

According to Born Free, at least nine people have been injured in exotic pet incidents in the state since 2005 and one person killed.

Will Travers, CEO of The Born Free Foundation, said: 'The authorities have a lot of questions to answer as this terrible situation was, in my view, wholly preventable.'

In the last 20 years Born Free has documented hundreds of incidents involving exotic animals many of them fatal. Now they are calling for a toughening of the laws

Mr Travers added: 'Responsible legislation is necessary to protect the animals from the public and the public from the animals.

It should also establish whether an individual is a fit and proper person to operate such an enterprise, whether high animal welfare standards can be met and whether appropriate security and public safety measures are in place.

'It seems that none of the above were properly addressed and the authorities simply ignored the situation.'

Following the the incident Ohio Governor John Kasich signed an executive order to stop unlicensed exotic animal auctions, in a bid to reduce the number of exotic animals being kept as pets.

The Humane Society of United States urged Ohio officials to issue an emergency rule to crack down on exotic animal ownership after yesterday's incident.

The organisation said that if the previous emergency order issued by then-Governor Ted Strickland had not expired, then Thompson 'would almost certainly have had his animals removed by May 1, 2011.'

Ohio has some of the nation's weakest restrictions on exotic pets and among the highest number of injuries and deaths caused by them.

In the UK exotic pets become popular during the 1960s and 1970s fueled in part by celebrity owners.

But in 1976 the law was changed meaning strict licenses were required to keep exotic animals.

Faced with the prospect of seeing their beloved pets put down some owners responded by releasing them into the wild.

There are thousands of reported sightings of exotic animals living wild in the UK every year and many believe these to be former pets or their offspring.

Although it is virtually impossible for private individuals in the UK to own big cats, primates or other dangerous large animals such as bears, the popularity of keeping snakes and reptiles continues to rise.

In America laws differ from state to state so while the keeping of exotic pets is completely banned in of Iowa and Massachusetts, there is almost no regulation at all in others such as Ohio.

Florida has the highest number of reported incidents involving exotic animals followed by Ohio.

While they may not seem initially threatening monkeys and other primates are considered particularly dangerous as they can be vicious and have a tendency to bite and scratch.

Exotic animals are also of concern as they can spread diseases including Salmonella and herpes.

Obesity in pets can be the reason for their inactive behavior and frequent illness. A research conducted by the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals, an animal health and welfare charity, cited that about 12 million pets in Wales are fed with foods as cakes, cheese, crisps, biscuits, etc. which tend to increase the levels of obesity in them. The PDSA said that as overeating and eating unhealthy food has its consequences for human, similarly it affects the health of the pets.

The weight of pets should be in accordance with their age, so as to avoid the occurrence of some deadly disease in them. In the survey 885 pet owners were included; all of them were required to answer few questions regarding the food they feed their pets with. The results stated that dogs were on the top of the list, 89% of pet owners approved that they fed their dogs with food not meant for them as cake, biscuits, etc., the second position was conquered by the cat community with 42% of cats being fed with food resulting in increased levels of fat and on the last position are the rabbits with 21%.

An obesity specialist from University of Liverpool Veterinary School, Dr. Alex German, said that the findings of the survey are astonishing and shall be considered seriously by all the people who love their pets and want them to lead a healthy life. He said that feeding the pets with junk food sometimes is understood but repeating the same on regular basis is an issue of concern regarding their health.

The Animal Health and Welfare Charity has stepped forward to deal with the problem by making the pet owners aware about the necessity of healthy food for pets and by commencing various programs which will help overweight pets in losing weight.

Yesterday, the lawmakers in New York's Albany County voted unanimously to approve a new piece of legislation that would effectively ban New York animal abusers from being able to own a pet again, this according to Global Animal.

According to the report, the new law, which applies to misdemeanor and felony convictions for animal cruelty and associated crimes, will force animal abusers to enter into an abuse registry similar to the registry set up already for sexual offenders.

It is only the third county in New York and the nation to set up an animal abuse registry.

The way the law will function is that it will force adoption agencies and other organizations selling animals to check the abuse registry to ensure that the buyer is not a previous offender. In theory, the law is supposed to help prevent animals from falling into the hands of potentially cruel owners.

Animal abusers who are convicted for a first time will be required to register for a 10-year-period, a time which they cannot own any animal. If they are convicted a subsequent time, they will be in the abuse registry for life.

Randy Crooks, who manages a Russell Feed & Supply store in north Fort Worth, has sold items for animals for decades. So, he knows his stuff.

That's why you won't get top-of-the-line flea and tick medications at his store unless you ask for it. These days, it's kept under the counter.

"The people that are going to buy it, they come up and buy it. The people that were looking to do other things with it, check the price and leave," said Crooks.

A 3-month supply of brands like Advantage and Frontline costs about $50. When they were on the shelves, they disappeared.

"Once or twice a week, we'd find an empty box. They'd just remove the contents, because they're very light, and set the box back on the shelf," said Crooks.

Still, many pet stores still have the medications right out on the shelf. Those stores are getting hit hard. One Petsmart in southwest Fort Worth keeps the medications in protective plastic cases. Warnings are posted on the shelves so customers know cameras are watching. Still, thieves hit the store seven times in the past two months.

The managers would not talk to us on camera, referencing company policy. According to police reports, seven boxes of medication were stolen in at least two of the thefts. Altogether, it could be thousands of dollars of medication stolen.

The Petsmart thefts are part of an open investigation. Fort Worth police would not comment on the case.

Police say, often, the stolen pet medications end up for sale online. We found nearly a dozen posts for flea/tick medication on Craigslist, so we tried to contact the posters.

We heard back first from a woman named Kristi. Her post offered Sentry flea medication, but she says she's only selling one box. That's not a sign of stolen medication. Thieves will generally be selling multiple boxes.

Other posts looked more suspicious, offering multiple types. Some were selling for as cheap as $20.

One poster explained he had to put some of his dogs to sleep. The post offered flea medication for any size of dog. He was even offering medications for cats.

We only got one other response, from a man named Vincent. He wouldn't talk on the phone, explaining his phone speaker is broken. We tried to ask, through email, where he got the medication. He didn't respond.

Police say the only way to know you aren't buying stolen goods is to buy from someone with a retail license.

It's almost the spookiest night of the year so the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals recommends taking some common sense precautions this Halloween to keep you and your pet saying "trick or treat" all the way to Nov. 1.

-No tricks, no treats. That bowl of candy is for trick-or-treaters, not for Scruffy and Fluffy. Chocolate in all forms - especially dark or baking chocolate - can be very dangerous for dogs and cats. Candies containing the artificial sweetener xylitol can also cause problems. If you do suspect your pet has ingested something toxic, call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.
-Hide the fake food. Popular Halloween plants such as pumpkins and decorative corn are considered to be relatively nontoxic, but they can produce stomach upset in pets who nibble on them.
-Safety first. Wires and cords from electric lights and other decorations should be kept out of reach of your pets. If chewed, your pet might suffer cuts or burns, or receive a possibly life-threatening electrical shock.
-Jack-o-Lantern candle care. A carved pumpkin certainly is festive, but do exercise caution if you choose to add a candle. Pets can easily knock a lit pumpkin over and cause a fire. Curious kittens especially run the risk of getting burned or singed by candle flames.
-Dress-up can be a big mess-up for some pets. Please don't put your dog or cat in a costume unless you know he or she loves it (yup, a few pets are real hams!). For pets who prefer their “birthday suits,� however, wearing a costume may cause undue stress. If you do dress up your pet, make sure the costume isn't annoying or unsafe. It should not constrict the animal's movement or hearing, or impede his ability to breathe, bark or meow. Also, be sure to try on costumes before the big night. If your pet seems distressed, allergic or shows abnormal behavior, consider letting him go au naturale or donning a festive bandana. Take a closer look at your pet's costume and make sure it does not have small, dangling or easily chewed-off pieces that he could choke on. Also, ill-fitting outfits can get twisted on external objects or your pet, leading to injury.
-Avoid anxios pets. All but the most social dogs and cats should be kept in a separate room away from the front door during peak trick-or-treating hours. Too many strangers can be scary and stressful for pets.
-Keep an eye on pets at all times. When opening the door for trick-or-treaters, take care that your cat or dog doesn't dart outside.
-IDs, please! Always make sure your dog or cat has proper identification. If for any reason your pet escapes and becomes lost, a collar and tags and/or a microchip can be a lifesaver, increasing the chances that he or she will be returned to you.

This dog only wants to be judged based on the content of its character, not the color of its fur.

According to pet shelter workers, ebony-colored cats and dogs suffer from the "Black Dog Syndrome": they are often the last to be adopted and the first to be euthanized.

There are no statistics to prove the trend, but there's plenty of anecdotal evidence and many possible explanations, rooting from a simple logistical problem: Black animals are hard to photograph well, and are therefore hard to advertise. To combat the problem, shelters will change lighting, use light-colored blankets, and even dress the animals up to try to get better photos for websites, ads and fliers.

Photographer Seth Casteel of Little Friends Photo in Los Angeles just launched a free, nationwide, nonprofit program called Second Chance Photos. The site, secondchancephotos.org, has tips for volunteers to take good photos of shelter pets. One suggestion?

"With black dogs, do your best to showcase their unique and positive personality. You can take the dog on a short run before the photo shoot so that he or she will pant, which looks like a smile."

If photographers follow these steps, black-colored pets will hasten the adoption process, which tends to be a bit longer than for lighter-furred animals.

"Overwhelmingly, we hear from the shelter and rescue groups that black dogs, especially the big black dogs, and black cats take longer to get adopted," said Kim Saunders, vice president of shelter outreach for Petfinder.com, an online pet adoption database.

Apparently, the misperceptions are fueled by the entertainment industry, as well.

"If you think of any movie with a mean, devil dog, it's always a black dog, and if you see a witch in a movie, they always have a black cat," says Mike Arms, president of the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. The latter example, of course, ignores the entrenched superstition about black cats that easily prepares them for typecasting.

Some shelters hold special adoption events for black pets, with incentives like lower adoption fees and two-for-one adoption days. They also make sure the animals are taken out of their cages to meet potential owners as a way of encouraging their adoption.

Even if better photography and movie stereotypes take time to change the pattern, once animal rights agency has a time-honored insight.

On its website, the Oahu Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals talks about Black Dog Syndrome and asks potential pet parents: "Don't judge a pup by its color."

(CBS/KCNC) LONE TREE, Colo. - A puppy pilfered from a pet store - a pug, no less - has been returned to its proper owner, and the perpetrator has been arrested, say Denver area police.

Surveillance video recorded the suspect playing with the $1,200 pug in the store in Lone Tree, Colo. Monday afternoon, reported CBS affiliate KCNC.

The woman spent some time with the dog, then left and returned to Just Pets a few hours later.

"(She) really liked her, said she was in love with her; was going to think about her and come back," store owner Lisa Stone said, according to KCNC.

Stone said the woman said she wanted to buy the dog but needed a few more minutes. Meanwhile, another customer came in to look at kittens. When Stone went to the back of the store the pug-napper dashed out the front door.

"I didn't see anybody anywhere; nobody running, no car, no nothing -- gone," Stone said.

According to the American Kennel Club, pet theft is a growing problem nationwide. Approximately 224 pets have been reported stolen in the first 7 months of this year compared with just 150 in the same period of time last year.

TAMPA — Last November, Bruce C. Ungerer received notice from Hillsborough County that it was nearly time to renew the annual registrations for his two dogs and five cats.

Trouble is, Ungerer owns two dogs, Poco and Taz, but no cats.

An investigator for the county has turned up multiple instances in which pet owners say nonexisting animals have been registered in their names. Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill said he will ask the Sheriff's Office today to look into whether there were any criminal violations.

The pet owners in question each have three things in common, heightening concern:

• All are low-income.

• Each qualified for a voucher program that enabled them to have their pets neutered, obtain a license and get a rabies shot for their animals at next to no cost. They got the vouchers by proving they receive public assistance and paying $10 per animal. They took those vouchers to a veterinarian, who was reimbursed for each sterilization by the county.

• Almost all of the pet owners used the same veterinary clinic, the Animal Coalition of Tampa at 1719 W Lemon St., whose operators are vocal voucher advocates.

The investigative report, shared with county commissioners this week, documents seven curious and possibly fictitious pet registrations, all but two of them originating from ACT.

The pet owners say they received registration renewal notices close to a year after getting their animals sterilized at the clinic that included multiple cats that they don't own. Others say they were asked by clinic employees to write in additional pet names on an application.

The program allowed residents to get subsidized sterilizations for up to eight animals.

The upshot, the investigation concludes, is that ACT and other veterinary clinics may be getting reimbursed by the county for sterilizations of nonexisting animals or strays. The investigation couldn't determine that for sure.

"That's part of the problem: There's not evidence one way or the other," Merrill said. "That's why the report recommends that it be turned over to the Sheriff's Office."

Frank Hamilton, president of the board that runs ACT, said he had not seen the report. But he said if employees encouraged customers to submit fake pet names, they would be fired.

The report by the county indicates a supervisor in Animal Services reported that within the past year several people voiced similar complaints after getting pets neutered at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay.

The supervisor, operations director Dennis McCullough, said he suspected the Humane Society was using reimbursements to pay for a program through which it traps, neuters then releases feral cats.

McCullough told the investigator that when he raised that concern with the Humane Society's executive director, voucher reimbursement requests fell.

Attempts Thursday evening to reach Humane Society director Sherry Silk were not successful.

Hamilton said his clinic does not engage in such a practice.

"To the best of my knowledge, I would say, no, we haven't done that," Hamilton said. "That's not our policy."

The county has had the voucher program in place since 2002 in an attempt to cut down on animal euthanizations. Some 20 veterinarians are registered to provide the service.

Since 2002, the county has spent $2.1 million on reimbursements. Just more than half went to ACT and the Humane Society.

Until recently, pet owners could apply directly to participating veterinarians for vouchers. Now, as a result of the investigation, pet owners must apply directly to the county.

"That will avoid the problem that existed," said Dick Bailey, interim Animal Services director.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed a bill that would have required cats and dogs released from California animal shelters to be implanted with microchips for identification.

Brown's office announced his veto of SB702 Friday. The bill was sponsored by Democratic Senator Ted Lieu of Torrance.

In his veto message, Brown said that under current law, local agencies and shelters can—and should—require animals to be implanted with microchips before being released and there is no need for state law to mandate the procedure.

Supporters say the bill would have reduced the $300 million-a-year taxpayer cost for euthanizing stray animals and greatly increase the chances of reuniting lost pets with their owners.

Opponents say the microchips can cause medical problems and that the issue should be decided locally.

Animal activists, including one man dressed in a head-to-toe dog costume, cheered Tuesday night when Irvine City Council members banned the retail sale of cats and dogs.

The ordinance, which passed by a 4-1 vote with Councilman Jeffrey Lalloway dissenting, also bans rodeos and circuses featuring exotic animals, the Daily Pilot reported.

"It's just a win for animals all around," said Irvine resident Wendy Fears, a member of a small local group that helped organize support for the ban. "I'm just real proud of Irvine for standing up against animal abuse."

While Lalloway expressed disgust for those capable of animal cruelty, he worried that the proposed ordinance may move pet sales to the Internet and "import a pet problem rather than stop it."

"Today, tonight, we are here to deal with a problem that simply does not exist," Lalloway said. "We do not have any mass-breeding facilities here in Irvine. We have one pet store, Russo's, which will not be selling dogs and cats after next year."

In August, the Irvine Co., which owns the Irvine Spectrum where Russo's Pet Experience operates, announced that it would not renew the store's lease when it expires in October 2012.

The city also does not host circuses featuring wild animals or hold rodeos, Lalloway said.

While existing animal welfare laws should be enforced, new legislation in the city should "focus on putting people back to work, not on a problem that does not exist," he said.

More than 50 public speakers presented arguments to the council citing inhumane conditions found in so-called puppy mills and buyers' lack of knowledge about them and the associated health risks.

"The reason that we need to make these laws is that the public is duped," Fears said. "Every pet store will tell you that they get their dogs from responsible breeders, but the truth is that responsible breeders would never sell to a pet store."

However, Fears, who volunteers with multiple animal rights groups, said activists would now start looking toward other cities to adopt similar ordinances.

"This is just the first step in a process," Fears said. "People are starting to be become aware of how horrible a puppy mill is."

October is Adopt a Pet Shelter Month, and as far as I am concerned, we should be celebrating this every month of the year. According to the Humane Society site, animal shelters care for up to 8 million dogs and cats every year and euthanize around 4 million animals. Today there are more than 135 million dogs and cats in our homes. Back in the 1970s, when there were just 67 million pets, over 12 million dogs and cats were euthanized a year; so in a sense our society has come a long way in caring for our animals.

All of our local shelters do their best in trying to get these defenseless animals a home. As was reported in the Bandera Bulletin this week, "Saturday turned out to be another great day for adoptions in Old Town Helotes where 9 dogs and puppies found new homes." Publications like Philadelphia's PhillyBurbs.com continually promote local animals available for adoption. They even suggest that if you can't adopt one yourself, be a good citizen and "support local shelters by putting together care packages which could include baked goods for the volunteers, blankets and toys for the pets, and pet food items for the shelters' supplies."

And don't forget the Red Star Animal Emergency Relief effort that was reported on recently in The Huffington Post. This part of the American Humane Association helps animals in disaster events like the Minot, N.D. flood this summer and the Joplin, Mo. tornado last spring.

There are plenty of Americans who don't have pets and don't understand how important a companion these pets can become. Pets are also teachers helping humans of all ages learn about loyalty, responsibility, empathy, sharing and unconditional love. Kindness to animals can rub off and teach us to be kinder to our fellow man and woman. If you are elderly, a pet can offer you hope, because being responsible for another life can add new meaning to your life.

Every American should give thought during this special month for pets on how they can help their local shelter. My company, DollarDays is giving away $5,000 in supplies to shelters on our Facebook page. If you have a favorite shelter, make sure you nominate them to win. If you don't have a favorite shelter, support them all by donating to one of the national organizations helping animals.

During these tough economic times, it is quite difficult to help the humans who need us, let alone the animals that need us. So if you can't support this cause financially, volunteer at your local shelter. These animals need a friend as much as you do, even though pets offer us much more in return than we give them. They can help us learn more about love and friendship than we can teach them. Just a few hours with a pet can improve our emotional health. These animals may be the best therapist you have ever met.