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Zoo Accepts Exotic Pets from Owners with No Other Choices

exotic pets

Has your exotic pet outgrown your home? One Florida zoo has a solution Florida is a haven for exotic pet owners. Maybe it’s the warm weather? Regardless, many Floridians are the proud owners of exotic animals such as Burmese pythons, parrots, and monkeys. The problem is, many of these Floridians (and exotic pet owners across the globe) fail to take into consideration the challenges that come with being an exotic pet owner. Most exotic pets have special diets; many (if not most) have a strong inclination to be in the wild, thus they become agitated and aggressive when we attempt to domesticate them. Some exotic animals simply outgrow our homes. So, what happens when you can’t care for your exotic pet any longer? Well, if you’re from Florida, all too often you just let the animal out in the wild, assuming it can fend for itself. Yes, it can fend for itself ... ...

Fire Chief Uses a Corpse to Train a Cadaver Dog, Without Permission

cadaver dog

Would you want your loved one’s remains to be used to train cadaver dogs? This story takes the term “organ donor” to an entirely new (and offensive) level. Roger Dunn was 32 when he died in a car crash earlier this month in Cambria, New York. That sudden tragedy is enough to shake any parents to their core, however, what came next was likely beyond anything the Dunns were able to handle. Niagara County Coroner Russell Jackman gave some of Roger Dunn’s tissue to a volunteer fire chief who was training a dog to sniff out human remains. Sure, training a dog to do that is a great service to society, but is it okay for the remains of a loved one to be used for this training without permission? The law doesn’t think so. Both men later resigned and pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, which came with a $1,000 fine each, and 100 hours ...

How Can You Turn Your Dog Into a Water Dog?

water dogs

It’s one of the biggest fears any dog owner has: their dog will be afraid of water, or will refuse to dip his paws into any lake, pool, or puddle. Most of us have been there. Before we got our dogs, we’d go to the beach, see a happy couple tossing a ball into the ocean, their dog happily running after it, bringing it back, and waiting for more. That’ll be me someday, you said to yourself. And then reality set it: you got your dog, you went to the beach, you brought your ball, you gave it a toss, and your dog didn’t move a muscle. No, scratch that. He did crane his neck toward you, cocked his head, and basically said, “You’re kidding, right?” This isn’t happening, you say to yourself. This can’t be true. Is my dog afraid of water? Are my dreams crashing down around me like the waves ...

Should Pit Bulls be Sterilized to End the Breed?

pit bulls

The Riverside County Department of Animal Services (in California) has put forth a proposal to require all full and mix-breed pit bulls to be sterilized as a way to minimize the potential harm these dogs can cause to Riverside residents. According to The Press Enterprise newspaper, the proposal would “mandate the sterilization of all Pit Bull type dogs. Reducing the fertility of  this segment of the dog population is the only effective way to mitigate these negative impacts on the County and its residents.” According to the proposal, pit bulls and pit bull mixes negatively impact the safety of the pets and people of Riverside, although no specific incidents are cited in the proposal. Furthermore, the proposed ordinance states that pit bulls make up 20% of all impounded dogs, yet have “very low redemption or adoption rates.” In other words, these dogs are taking up valuable real estate that could be used ...

Salmonella Poisoning In Pet Food

pet food recall

More pet food recalls. BARF World and Bravo! announced last week that they are recalling some pet food due to Salmonella outbreaks in the manufacturing plants. In both cases no reports of sick pets were known. BARF World is recalling the following two products: BARF Lamb Patties with best use by dates of 07/27/13 BARF Combo Patties with best use by dates of 07/27/13 BARF World states that their manufacturing facility had a positive test for salmonella in a non-food item. The pet food was not tested. This is a recall for precautionary measures. There have been no reports of salmonella poisoning in pets. BARF products are part of the raw food movement. They claim the raw diet is “the only diet that will maximize health and longevity” for pets. Bravo! also announced a recall due to Salmonella claiming “This recall is being issued out of an abundance of caution, as while these products ...

Increased Palm Fruit Oil Demand Killing Orangutans

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orangutans

He was burned alive for doing what any living species does every day: fight to survive. The image of a burned orangutan has become the face of a movement to stop the deforestation of rainforests that are home to one of the most endangered species on the planet - the orangutan. Every day, roughly three football fields-worth of rain forest is destroyed on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, islands that house the endangered Bornean orangutan (roughly 54,000 remain), and the critically endangered Sumatran orangutan (roughly 6,600 remain). Some estimates suggest that up to 50 orangutans a week succumb to the loss of their land, and the destruction seems likely to increase. Over the past two decades, half of Indonesia’s rainforest has been destroyed, according to Rainforest Action Network (RAN), and the Indonesian government plans to convert an area of land (the size of Missouri) into palm plantations within the next ten years. These palm ...

Coyotes: Can They Be Taught to Live in Harmony?

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coyotes

Coyote sightings in residential areas have steadily increased over the past decade. Just this past winter an area deemed a success at co-existing with coyotes saw seven threating encounters between pedestrians and these animals. The rise in population in urban areas is due to the availability of food and shelter. Coyotes will eat pet food, garbage, bird feeders, fallen fruit from trees, and even compost piles. With the close existence of humans and coyotes, attacks on pets make the news regularly. Two states are taking different approaches on how to control and reduce the number of attacks. In Orange Country the answer may become a plan to euthanize some of the coyote population. Huntington Beach, CA saw 26 pet deaths in 2012. In November, Mayor of Huntington Beach Devin Dwyer, proposed to thin out the population. He was met with extreme resistance from residents and the Humane Society of the ...

Meet A True Survivor, Tiny Beyonce

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tiny beyonce

When Beyonce, the dog not the singer, was born, no one thought she would make it. Weighing less than an ounce, she was not breathing and was so small that she fit on an iPhone. Her mother, Casey, was a dachshund mix that had been found as a stray. Pregnant and too far along for an abortion, the shelter that had her scheduled her for euthanization. The Grace Foundation of Northern California, a last chance rescue group, volunteered to care for her until her litter was born. When the time came for Casey to have her litter, they brought her in to the vet. Beyonce was the last of five puppies born and she was not breathing. Significantly smaller than her normal sized siblings, they had expected a still born puppy based on her size in the pre-whelping x-ray. Although incredibly small, she otherwise looked normal. The vet, Dr. Michael Russell, ...

Pet Theft: Don’t Let It Happen to You

pet theft

Pet theft is on the rise. Stolen dogs for sale on Craigslist have made the headlines more than once recently. Puppy thieves were spotted on stores surveillance cameras in Colorado stealing puppies out of the store. Another story in Florida: a pit-bull was stolen right out of an owner’s backyard and later was found up for sale on Craigslist. When the danger of dog theft is more apparent than ever, how will you keep your pet safe? Get a microchip for your pets. Microchips are used for pet recovery and identification purposes. It is a small implant the size of a grain of rice. The microchip is placed underneath the skin, between the shoulder blades, using a sterile applicator, much like a medicinal injection. A special scanning device is used to identify them. Your pet’s unique code is entered into a database so when they are found, your pet ...

Is Killing an Invasive Species Wrong?

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invasive species

When does killing stop being terrible and start being sensible? It’s a question many ask when it comes to controlling the population of invasive species. And while there are those out there who can accept that there is a time and a place for killing a species, others don’t see it quite the same way. The death of Guam’s brown tree snakes Samuel L. Jackson would drop quite a number of F-bombs if he ever moved to Guam. Guam, which is only 209 square miles, is home to around 2 million brown tree snakes. These snakes are not native to Guam. They came to the island likely as accidental stowaways on plans and ships. Seeing that they aren’t native to the island, these brown tree snakes had to find a way to adapt and survive ... and they sure did. In three short decades they wiped out 10 of the 12 bird species ...