Animal Attacks | Page 31

If you have read this blog enough you know that I keep hitting a few points over and over again. One of those is that wild animals should not be fed (read habituated) to humans. Case in point, here is a story from Alaska about a moose that had to be destroyed because of habituation to humans.

Military pets are abandoned or relinquished and it is a big problem. I wrote about this on my media only blog last year. Take a look at this article, perhaps the solution is to only have those families foster pets. It is tragic and has been a growing problem.

Released last year, a game called Animal Hospital: Pet Vet 3d is getting some good reviews. If you have an animal lover maybe this is a good gift! You can buy it via the link below:

Before I go off on a rant today…here are couple of books that are sure to make you smile:

This video is sure to make you smile as well, notice the toys and cage…a good pet parent except for the play area located above the cage. From a behavioral perspective most birds shouldn’t be too high above human shoulders.

Bindi Irwin Small Rant
Bindi and Terri Iwin are in the news again. They will be speaking to the National Press Club this month during a tour in the United States. This editorial makes a good point about Bindi Irwin but I have to wonder how Terri Irwin feels about people spouting their opinion over how to raise her child and what might be best.

Now, don’t get me wrong…I agree with the editorial and looking at the track record of past child celebrities am concerned…but whose business is it? How many people give their opinion to parents whose children are running amuck in restaurants or screaming their lungs out in a tantrum in public?

Pet Owner & Breeder Responsibility BIG Rant
My rant today started after I read this article from TIME on “Cracking Down on Pet Owners” in Alberqueque. Which was immediately followed by an email from a Canadian veterinarian discussing how his professional neighbor was “dumping” his dog for chewing and high activity…an adolescent high energy breed…but I digress…

I wish that people would take personal responsibility again, there seems to be a trend of me, me, me and to hell with everyone else…including abandoning commitments to animals when the going gets tough.

What pushed me over the edge was the comment by the AKC spokesperson referenced in the article that she “considers the Albuquerque ordinance draconian, but acknowledges it is part of a nationwide trend.” Draconian means cruel or severe…give me a break.

The AKC is a club that specializes in advancing pure bred dogs. It is a money making operation from the breeding, selling, and showing of live animals. The problem is not usually with quality homes and dedicated breeders but a lack of enforcement for the tons of other people who still think the purebred label is a badge of quality or a license to breed when they know nothing about genetics, do nothing to provide quality rearing, and fail miserably to dedicate themselves to molding young animals by providing a good environment or to place those animals they breed in qualified homes.

Ordinances may spring up all over as the article indicates, but the problem is funding and staffing for enforcement of such laws. The problem is that people do not properly parent, train, or manage their animals, nor do they commit to having that animal for a life time. The problem is that people still fail to spay or neuter their pets, breed them because they want to make a buck, sell them without a business license, don’t rear the offspring in good conditions, don’t feed them a proper diet…and more.

America has become consumer driven…just toss stuff aside when no longer needed, no longer in fashion, or no longer working out. Pets are a casualty…

Okay, okay…*deep breath*…I’ll stop but please do comment on this issue below.

Fat Pet Rant
In the “things that make you go hmmm…” category is this article on a newly approved weight management drug just approved by the FDA.

*Sigh*

Puhleese! I think this is really over the top and here is my example of why…I see similar stuff on a daily basis:

One of my former clients had an overweight dog, the dog was put on a diet by the veterinarian but the critter didn’t get any additional exercise AND worked her owner to get tidbits anyway. How did this work?

The routine:
-Go out and go potty…come in get a treat. (3-5 times a day…plus going out after the extra “requests” the dog made.
-Take meds…get a treat. (Twice a day)
-Sit for leashing up before and after a walk…get a treat each time.
-Treats when mom got home.
-Treats when dad got home.
-Treats for being cute…

The result was that the dog developed diabetes and the owner still would not change the treat schedule despite the slow demise to her canine’s health.

Zoo Tiger Attack Rant
My final rant today comes from a follow up comment made by a zoo official at the San Francisco Zoo related to the tiger attack who was quoted as stating that the tiger might have been playing with her…since when does devoring your zoo keeper’s arm translate into play?

You might want to take a look at this eyewitness report on the SF Zoo tiger attack, too.