Elegant Dog Breed Jewelry
I know he may “only be a bird,” but starting at quite a young age, Alex the African Grey made a huge impact on my life. Parrots are a passion for me second only to dogs and I’m absolutely crushed that the amazing spirit that brought light of “higher intelligence” in non-human (and non-mammalian!) species is now gone.
RIP, Alex.
I found this article on Yahoo’s homepage today; it was in the featured area right at the top. It excites me when even a mediocre article that mentions puppymillers is within reach of MILLIONS of online readers. Go Yahoo!
Wouldn’t it be nice to be Helmsley’s millionaire maltese?
Well, here we go again. The bill for manditory spay and neuters in California - being pushed by Price Is Right’s Bob Barker - is moving on to the Senate. This kind of law making always frustrates me because commercial breeders ALWAYS have a loophole and small breeders - you know, the ones who SHOULD be breeding - have to stop. Just because “show dogs” don’t have to be fixed means nothing. Usually there are stipulations that state the dog must be entered in one show a year. What about dogs that are retired from the show ring but are in a breeding program? Shall those dogs now have to enter in a show, just to maintain show status? And who says that the ugly dog being bred by some backyard breeder won’t start entering? Is this going to totally mess up our majors?
Okay, that was a weird diatribe.
I found this video today on Yahoo’s featured section. Since it’s Memorial Day weekend, I thought it would be appropriate to share.
Here’s the video - Hero the dog
The story tells of an American soldier killed in Iraq recently… and the puppy he had adopted shortly before his death. The dog, aptly named Hero, has now made it to America from Iraq and is living with the soldier’s parents and girlfriend.
That dog is going to be one spoiled puppy!
I just caught wind that Michael Vick, a quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, was just found to be allegedly involved with dog fighting. Dozens of dogs, as well as fighting paraphernalia, were found in his home during a drug raid.
This, in and of itself, is infuriating to me. Someone with a high profile that countless people look up to (including children) involved with such a brutal activity really fires me up. I’m sure anyone reading this feels the same as me. It is a senseless, bloody “sport” and it saddens me that people can find it enjoyable to watch one animal kill or maim another.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Yesterday evening, Clinton Portis made a disturbing PUBLIC statement. According to the Humane Society’s website, the Washington Redskins running back stated, “I think people should mind their business…I don’t know if he was fighting dogs or not, but it’s his property, his dog; if that’s what he wants to do, do it.”
It makes me so sad that our country is still filled with such backwards thinking. That so many people (obviously some that are paid millions of dollars to be “heros” for so many others) think of animals as property. To do what we wish with them.
I hope (if Vick was proven to be involved in pit fighting) that the book is thrown at him as hard as possible and he’s made an example of. I’m sick and tired of watching law enforcement not take animal cruelty seriously.
The concept of asymmetrical behavior is not a new one… especially in humans. Happiness is showed more on the right side of our face because it is controlled by the left brain. Anger, the left side of the face (controlled by the right brain).
But, according to the New York Times here, there has been a new study published in the March 20th issue of Current Biology that implies that dogs experience asymmetric behavior as well.
The theory goes a little like this: the right side of the brain controls fear and danger, etc, while the left side controls happiness. Because each side of the brain controls the opposite side of the body, the right side of the body will express the left brain and the left side of the body will express the right brain.
The study showed that dogs who saw a photo of a loved one, wagged with a bias to the right, while a bias to the left occurred when they saw an aggressive, unfamiliar dog.
Cool, eh? I’ve noticed my dogs wagging asymmetrically for a long time now, but never put two and two together. Now I have an answer!
H.R. 137 was unanimously passed by the Senate today!
The bill, known as the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, will create harsher FEDERAL penalties for people involved in the staged fighting of animals – pit bull fighting and cock fighting. If President Bush signs it, it will authorize felony-level jail time!
Yippee!
Recently, on his first time out, Gandalf the rescue dog successfully rescued Michael Auberry, the boy scout that was lost in North Carolina mountains four days prior. Here’s a video highlighting Gandalf.
I love seeing coverage of the amazing things trained dogs are capable of – from service dogs to cancer sniffing dogs to search and rescue dogs. It is especially nice to see video aimed at mainstream public that does a little more “explaining” of what these dogs are capable of. In this video, they take the time to explain the cone of scent.
My mom lives in Virginia Beach, so sometimes she shares with me news that is going on in her “neck of the woods.”
This article, found in her local newspaper warmed my heart. It’s about fostering dogs. As a foster parent, it warms my heart to see our labor of love brought to the attention of non-crazy-dog-people.