Headlines of the Day

Caring for Pets Left Behind by the Rapture
For a fee, this service will place your dog or cat in the home of a caring atheist on Judgment Day

This guy is a fracking genius. The article is so full of win that I can't even begin to analyze it. Go read.

Poll: Pet Owners Would Go Mouth-to-Muzzle

I find to hard to believe that anyone would find this unusual, I'm surprised it's so low.

(AP) Most pet owners would leap into action for an injured pet, even if it meant risking dog breath by going mouth-to-snout.

Fifty-eight percent of pet owners — 63 percent of dog owners and 53 percent of cat owners — would be at least somewhat likely to perform CPR on their pet in the event of a medical emergency, according to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll.

(snip)

And the survey revealed frequent reporting of dangerous practices that can lead to accidents and injuries. For example, a quarter of pet owners, including 30 percent of dog owners and 22 percent of cat owners, give their pets bones from table scraps, at least sometimes.

Sixty-two percent of dog owners and a third of cat owners let their pets ride in their cars unrestrained, rather than placing them in a special pet carrier. And 11 percent of pet owners sometimes leave their pets unattended in a car or truck.

Still, most pet owners said they would go the extra mile to rescue their pets. Women were more likely to say they would perform CPR on their pets than men, 65 percent to 50 percent, the poll showed.

Banfield pet hospitals ban tail docking, ear cropping on dogs

This is fantastic news!! My parents had dobies who were always docked, and I absolutely hated it.

Banfield, The Pet Hospital, the nation's largest network of animal hospitals, has announced it will no longer do tail docking, ear cropping or devocalization on dogs.
Headquartered in Portland, Ore., Banfield is the nation's largest general veterinary practice, with more than 730 hospitals and 2,000 veterinarians nationwide.

(snip)

"After thoughtful consideration and reviewing medical research, we have determined it is in the best interest of the pets we treat, as well as the overall practice, to discontinue performing these unnecessary cosmetic procedures," says Karen Faunt, vice president for medical quality advancement. "It is our hope that this new medical protocol will help reduce, and eventually eliminate, these cosmetic procedures altogether."

The hospitals will continue to carry out the surgeries on pets for which it is medically necessary, she says.

Pabst becomes World's Ugliest Dog

Because I've got nothing else and I thought he was cute. Figures he'd be named after the worst beer ever.

PETALUMA, Calif. – A prominent under-bite, scrunched face and floppy ears are the hallmarks of a winner.

The winner of the World's Ugliest Dog contest, that is.

Pabst, a boxer-mix rescued from a shelter by Miles Egstad of Citrus Heights, Calif., won the annual contest on Friday at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Northern California.

It was an upset victory for Pabst, who beat former champion Rascal, a pedigree Chinese Crested.

Pabst's owner took home $1,600 in prize money, pet supplies and a modeling contract with House of Dog.

Pets banned in public in Riyadh

By GottaLaff

What would we do if this happened here? Forget about FISA, race, Britney, and Iraq, we'd have a revolution:

Religious police in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital, banned the sale of dogs and cats as pets and prohibited walking them in public.

An official of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice said the ban was because of "the rising phenomenon of men using cats and dogs to make passes at women and pester families," as well as "violate proper behavior in public."

Previous bans in Mecca and Jidda have been ignored and failed to stop pet sales. The commission official said pets would be confiscated if found outside with their owners.

Doggone it, I have a real bone to pick with the "religious police". Someone needs to nip this in the bud. This certainly gives one, ahem, paws. I, for one, would never roll over. I'd hound them to death until they overturned the ban. Those dirty dogs, "curs" them all.

A Utah Puppy For The Obama White House?

By Paddy


Okay, fine, this is just an awww post, but I'm a sucker for these.

There's a new campaign to get a Utahn in the White House — one whose qualifications include a wet nose, a wagging tail and a willingness to become a loyal member of a Democratic administration.
Dozens of dogs, including six from Utah, have been nominated on a new Web site created to convince Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama that he should adopt a shelter dog for his family rather than purchase a purebred.

Utah's canine candidates include Jeep, a red heeler mix described as "extremely liberal with her kisses" and Angel, a yellow lab said to be "already imagining herself playing fetch in the Rose Garden."

They appear on obamafamilydog.com, the Utah-based Best Friends Animal Society Web site that includes a petition already signed by more than 27,000 people nationwide urging Obama to rescue a homeless dog.

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