Oh, the things dogs put up with. Not only are they subjected to sometimes-functional, sometimes-silly attire, but sometimes, just sometimes, humans even force them to participate in that most frivolous of events -- the fashion show.
One such doggie fashion show took place Wednesday in Taipei, Taiwan, where a company launching a collection of canine couture had dogs, alongside human models, parade in everything from beachwear to formal evening clothes. Metro U.K. quoted one dog owner who said of her pet: "I want my dog to dress up like me, just like mother and daughter in the same style dress." (Hmmm, really? We love our dogs to bits, but that doesn't mean we want to look like them.)
Above, a French bulldog peers out from behind a stage curtain before taking the runway. After the jump, more photos of dogs modeling bikinis, sportswear -- even a designer Chihuahua-sized backpack. (Canine fashionistas, don't get too excited -- these outfits were created for the Chinese, Japanese and Australian markets and won't be available for sale in the United States.)
Nine survivors of shark attacks are in Washington today to lobby the Senate -- on behalf of sharks. The group, which was organized by a shark attack victim who works for the nonprofit Pew Environment Group, is asking for new restrictions to be placed on fishing for sharks.
The bill they are lending their support to is called the Shark Conservation Act of 2009. It's already passed a House vote and, if enacted, would strengthen a ban on a practice called "finning," in which a shark's fins are cut off onboard a fishing vessel and the shark is thrown back overboard, in U.S. waters. Finning itself is already illegal under U.S. law, but "enforcement is complex and there is room for cheating," according to the Humane Society of the United States. "This legislation closes a loophole that currently permits a vessel to transport fins obtained illegally as long as the sharks were not finned aboard that vessel."
According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, over 30%of shark and ray species that live in the open ocean are threatened, some as a result of fishing for their meat (shark fin soup, in particular, is a big offender), others as a side effect of marlin or tuna fishing (the sharks are sometimes caught in fishermen's nets accidentally). And scientists fear that, if the sharks -- an apex predator -- continue to decline, entire ecosystems could suffer.
"We'll finally be heard," Al Brenneka, who lost an arm in a 1976 shark attack, told the Washington Post. "Who should speak up for the sharks better than the people that the sharks have spoken to themselves?" Brenneka and the eight other survivors arrived from California, New York, Rhode Island, Florida and Alabama to tell their stories. Another member of the group, Chuck Anderson (pictured), told the Post that, although sharks are "vicious and they're mean," he bears no ill will toward them, adding that he has no "right to be angry at the shark."
-- Lindsay Barnett Photo: Anderson after the 2000 shark attack in which he lost his right arm. Credit: Mike Kittrell / Associated Press
PETA cofounder and president Ingrid Newkirk says she hopes her latest book will inspire readers to make compassionate choices to help animals rather than simply painting a bleak portrait of their suffering.
"I don’t want people to just be depressed when you tell them how animals suffer in the various food and clothing and entertainment industries," Newkirk told Pasadena Now. "I wanted to point people in the right direction so they can feel good about being kind to animals and can actively participate in being kind."
Newkirk's organization is certainly controversial (witness its protest of the Westminster Kennel Club dog show earlier this year, which featured demonstrators dressed as KKK members passing out leaflets that read in part, "Like the Klan, dog breeders who subscribe to the AKC standards are all about the sanctity of 'pure bloodlines.' ") But, according to one reviewer on Amazon, her book takes an approach more friendly than adversarial, offering "concise, straightforward information about how animals suffer in the entertainment, clothing, food, experimentation, and 'pet' industries; compelling stories; fascinating facts about animals; simple steps to take to stop cruelty; and frequently asked questions."
In support of the book, "The PETA Practical Guide To Animal Rights," Newkirk will be making an appearance at Vroman's Bookstore
in Pasadena on Friday at 7 p.m. to sign copies and discuss the topics covered in the book.
Vroman's is located at 695 E. Colorado Blvd.. (More information at Vroman's website.)
California legislative leaders have announced that a final state budget deal is probably imminent and that they've reached agreement with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on most points of contention in closing California's budget deficit.
Still, they have declined to give details on the negotiations that lasted late into Tuesday night, and the governor's spokesman was quick to point out that there "are still some very difficult decisions to make," our colleague Evan Halper reports.
California animal lovers may recall that the state's government-run animal shelters were among the programs on the chopping block as state lawmakers tried to close the $26.3-billion budget gap. A budget-cutting proposal from Schwarzenegger calls for the suspension of a mandate specified in a late-1990s piece of legislation called the Hayden bill -- a mandate that required shelters to increase the minimum number of days they held stray dogs and cats from three to, in most cases, six.
If approved by lawmakers, the suspension of the six-day mandate would mean that shelters could euthanize stray pets after housing them for only three days. (A report from the California's Legislative Analyst's Office lists the budgeted cost to pay for the additional three hold days at $24.6 million for the 2009-10 fiscal year.)
The idea behind Pet Airways is simple: Most pets, particularly large ones, traveling on airplanes are required to travel in airplane cargo holds. It's cramped, stuffy, and scary -- and, in thankfully rare but nonetheless notable cases, pets have died as a result. Enter Pet Airways, the brainchild of husband-and-wife business owners Alysa Binder and Dan Wiesel, who told the Associated Press they "wanted to do something better" for traveling pets after a stressful experience shipping their Jack Russell terrier, Zoe, in cargo.
Their idea was to repurpose small turboprop airplanes called Beech 1900s, removing the seats (there are typically 19) and placing pet carriers there instead (each plane fits about 50). Fresh air would circulate through the plane, and the "pawsengers" (their cutesy term, not ours) would have regular visits from attendants and bathroom breaks during layovers. Naturally, employees would be animal lovers. (Some are even former veterinary technicians, according to the Baltimore Sun.)
It took four years to get the new airline up and running, but the response from pet owners thus far has been extremely positive. (Flights between the five "inaugural" cities served -- L.A., Denver, Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C. -- are booked solid for the next two months, and the company's website frequently features an "over capacity" message and encouragement to check out the company's Twitter and Facebook pages instead.)
Submitter EricnEnzo shares this great photo of a dog who seems just as enthralled with a book as his young owner does. (Plus, he makes a good pillow.) And, according to some teachers, reading in the presence of a dog actually helps children to improve their reading skills and comprehension.
As a result, "reading dog" programs are sprouting up all over the U.S. and internationally as well. The Telegraph recently profiled one such program, which has been instituted at St. Michael's Primary School in Dorset, England. At St. Michael's, 7- and 8-year-old students take turns reading to dogs for a 45-minute period.
"The scheme works because the dogs are non-judgmental; they won't laugh at stammers or get impatient ... The children who benefit most are those with low self-esteem and often it is not their reading skills that are poor, but their confidence," Julie Lankshear of Caring Canines, a charity that provides the willing dog listeners for the program, told the Telegraph. "Reading to the dogs gives them confidence and enables them to communicate."
For more great photos of the bond between kids and dogs (or to submit your own), check out the Best Babysitters album at The Times' photo-sharing site, Your Scene.
There was a time when being the runt of the litter was considered a bad thing. (Wilbur, the pig co-star of the title spider character in "Charlotte's Web," was almost killed for being a runt, as any children's literature fan will remember.) But nowadays, tiny dogs are fashionable -- as evidenced by the hotly contested Guinness World Records for smallest dog by height and smallest dog by length.
Scooter, above, is a 6-month-old Maltese whose owner, Cheryl McKnight of New Zealand, believes will one day hold the title of smallest dog by height. Scooter is just over 3 inches tall, measured from his feet to the top of his shoulder blade. Although he's still a puppy, McKnight says he hasn't grown at all since he was 2 months old, and she believes he won't grow any taller -- certainly no taller than the current recordholder, an American Chihuahua.
McKnight's sister breeds Maltese and gave Scooter to her as a gift. The tiny animal eats from an egg cup and apparently has his share of challenges as a result of his stature. "I can't take him for a walk or put a leash on him," McKnight told the New Zealand Herald.
Another diminutive puppy vying for smallest-dog status is Tom Thumb, a Jack Russell terrier-Chihuahua mix puppy from Scotland. Tom Thumb is even younger than Scooter, but his owners, Susan and Archie Thomson, are convinced he'll still be shorter than the current record-holder for smallest dog by length when he's an adult. At three weeks old, Tom Thumb measured less than 4 inches from nose tip to tail tip; Archie Thomson, a hobby breeder of Chihuahuas, told the Daily Mail he doubted the pup would grow "much bigger than an inch or two more." The current record-holder, another American Chihuahua named Heaven Sent Brandy, is fully grown and measures 6 inches long.
The issue of feral cats is a hot-button one in Beverly Hills, where a resident, 65-year-old Katherine Varjian, could face jail time as a result of caring for a colony of the homeless animals. Varjian has routinely fed a group of 20 to 30 cats in an alley in her Beverly Hills neighborhood for the past 12 years, often taking adults to be spayed or neutered and helping to place kittens in adoptive homes.
For many animal lovers, Varjian's work is commendable. But to the neighbors who signed a petition asking the Beverly Hills City Council to put a stop to her feral-cat activities, it's unhygienic at best and dangerous at worst. They say cat food attracts pests, from big (coyotes, which they argue put neighborhood pets at risk) to small (cockroaches).
Varjian has been cited twice this year for feeding the cats, an offense that could bring a penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. At the heart of the issue is a municipal code that was mistakenly removed when Beverly Hills adopted some animal control ordinances from the City of Los Angeles. The deleted code prohibited the feeding of feral cats and dogs on public property, according to the Beverly Hills Courier:
In an effort to streamline practices when handling animal control, the City retained the City of Los Angeles' Animal Services Department for certain animal care and control services, consequently adopting their ordinances.
"As part of the adoption of the Los Angeles animal control regulations, provisions of the Beverly Hills Municipal Code that were designed to prevent the feeding of animals ... in such a manner that attracts coyotes and other predatory animals or otherwise endangers the health, safety and welfare of the general public, were inadvertently deleted," said Cheryl Burnett, city spokesperson.
In effect, Varjian was being charged under a nonexistent code; her attorney has requested that the charges against her be dropped for this reason, the Courier reported.
Today is the International Day of Action for Dogs and Cats in South Korea, an event organized by the group In Defense of Animals to protest the use of pet animals for food.
In Seoul, members of the group Coexistence for Animal Rights on Earth wore dog costumes and climbed into cages in a downtown plaza to draw attention to the issue. "Dogs and cats are not livestock, but they are our partners. They are
not food, but they are our friends," one protester told New Tang Dynasty Television. "We should abolish the bad habits of
eating dogs or cats." Other demonstrations were planned at South Korean consulates and embassies around the world.
While only a tiny percentage of people in South Korea eat dogs, reports suggest that about 6,000 restaurants in the country engage in the practice of serving them, according to Slate magazine. And although the practice is illegal under South Korean law, an underground industry continues to flourish.
The group International Aid for Korean Animals attempts to explain what it considers an essential paradox in the consumption of dog meat. "The importance placed on a respect for animals and the environment in Korea has ancient roots and remains powerful in contemporary society," reads a statement on the group's website.
At a zoo in China's Hubei province, extreme heat means that keepers need to take extra measures to keep the animals cool. A giant panda named Xi Wang was given blocks of ice to help regulate her temperature. (Similar measures were taken at the London Zoo earlier this month, when a heat wave struck and keepers made special fruit "popsicles" for the resident gorillas, chimpanzees and other apes.)
See another photo of Xi Wang enjoying the ice after the jump!
If your cat knows just what to do to convince you it's feeding time, a new study will help explain the scientific reason why. For the study, to be published in Tuesday's edition of the journal Current Biology, researchers identified and examined a particular type of vocalization they termed "solicitation purring."
Solicitation purring "is producing the low fundamental frequency and its harmonics by muscular activation ... but also voicing a cry, probably with the inner edges of the vocal folds, which is then superimposed on the sound's frequency spectrum," the study's lead author, Karen McComb of the University of Sussex, told Discovery News.
The resulting purr is not just any purr but also contains the hint of a more high-pitched cry that, the researchers suspect, reminds cat owners on some level of a crying human baby. Most important, the researchers found, solicitation purring was effective in conveying urgency to human listeners.
The researchers learned that cats produce the solicitation purr only when they're with a human they know well. "Remember, these cats have years to train up their owners," McComb told U.S. News & World Report. "They learn to dramatically exaggerate this cry embedded within the purr because it proves effective in getting their owner to respond." So in order to conduct further testing, it was necessary to have cat owners record their pets' vocalizations.
In the last week, the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team in Lochaber, Scotland, has been dispatched twice to investigate a noise that concerned citizens described as sounding like an emergency whistle. But, the BBC reports, despite searching for six hours on the first occasion and two hours on the second, would-be rescuers turned up nothing. A rescue helicopter was even dispatched with no results.
But, the rescue team leader said, a strange whistling noise -- maybe a bird -- was heard on the second rescue attempt. The team consulted wildlife experts, who offered a startling explanation for the noise.
Its source, the wildlife experts suggested, was a deer. A species called the sika deer is known for its haunting call, which, you guessed it, sounds something like an emergency whistle. The species is native to Asia, but was introduced to British parks in the 19th century. Since then, some sika deer have left the parks and wandered into the countryside, taking their bizarre calls with them.
Whether it's the animal-rights movement, zoos and aquariums or plain old dogs and cats that suit your fancy, animal-loving Angelenos have a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks. (Are we missing an event? Let us know by leaving a comment.)
This Week:
Thursday, July 16 to Monday, July 20, a group of organizations including Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM), In Defense of Animals (IDA) and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society host the 2009 Animal Rights conference. A wide variety of speakers, workshops and exhibits are on the bill, and the fare is, naturally, vegan. For more information, check out ARConference.org.
Saturday, July 18, spcaLA hosts a low-cost vaccination and microchip clinic from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at its Specialty Spay Neuter Center at 5026 W. Jefferson Blvd. The clinic will offer rabies vaccinations for both cats and dogs ($5); DHPP vaccinations for dogs ($15); bordatella vaccinations for dogs ($10); FVRCP and leukemia vaccinations for cats ($15 each); and microchipping for cats and dogs ($25). More information at spcaLA.com.
Saturday, July 18, the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn. holds an informational meeting for potential High School Student Volunteers from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.at the zoo's Witherbee Auditorium. Students entering grades nine, 10 or 11 in the fall are eligible to participate in this program, which includes a 10-week training course. High School Student Volunteers must commit to 60 hours of volunteer work per year for two years. Applicants are required to attend the July 18 meeting, which includes a presentation, group activities and interviews. Reservations are not required for the meeting, but interested students should contact the zoo's Docent Chair at (323) 644-4702 or e-mail docents@lazoo.org.
It seems to be happily ever after for Z and Vielpunkt, two male Humboldt penguins at Germany's Bremerhaven Zoo who are raising their first chick together. (They're hardly the first penguin couple do do this; other examples of same-sex penguin parenting have been documented in New York's Central Park Zoo and a Chinese zoo, among other places.)
But it looks like it's splitsville for another same-sex penguin couple at the San Francisco Zoo -- thanks, apparently, to the amorous advances of a female penguin named Linda. The former couple, Harry and Pepper, began nesting together in 2003 and, like Z and Vielpunkt, even incubated an egg together. But, earlier this year, things went south for the pair of Magellanic penguins.
According to the San Francisco Examiner, Linda has something of a scarlet reputation at the zoo's Penguin Island exhibit. She left one longtime male partner to nest with an older penguin named Fig within a few hours of the death of Fig's previous partner. "That was the fastest we'd ever seen penguins move on. To be completely anthropomorphizing, Linda seems conniving," keeper Anthony Brown told the Examiner.
Fig himself died over the winter; Linda was seen with Harry shortly thereafter. Reportedly, Pepper didn't take this well, and zoo staff removed him from the penguin colony for a time to prevent further love-triangle infighting. Pepper has since been reinstated in the colony, and it's unclear what will happen next in this love triangle; keepers say that the molting season, which is coming up, often creates upheaval in penguin relationships.
At the Wangcheng Zoo in the Chinese province of Henan, four tiger cubs represent new hope for an entire species. The cubs -- three born in late April and one in early May -- are members of the rarest tiger subspecies, the South China tiger.
South China tigers were once labeled "pests" by Mao Tse-tung, who recommended they be killed. Since the time of Mao's reign in China, their numbers have plummeted. Until 2007, when one of the tigers was seen in the wild for the first time since the 1960s, many scientists believed the species to be essentially extinct, surviving only in captivity. Even in captivity, there are reportedly fewer than 100 South China tigers in existence, almost all in a small number of zoos in China.
South China tigers are physically smaller than the more familiar Bengal and Siberian tigers, with more widely spaced stripes. More photos after the jump!
The Humane Society of Missouri says more than 400 dogs were seized last week as part of what's being called the largest coordinated raid on dogfighting rings in American history. Rescuers say dogs from Missouri, Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa and Mississippi were taken from owners who subjected them to unspeakable cruelty. Dogs that didn't fight well enough, they say, were shot, their bodies sometimes burned in barrels or thrown into rivers. Federal and state authorities, in addition to animal rescue groups, participated in the raid.
Many of those arrested in the raids appeared to live seemingly normal lives apart from their alleged ties to the shady world of dogfighting. One man arrested in Texas is a Little League coach; two men arrested in Missouri were a registered nurse and a teacher in a state-run school for the disabled, the Associated Press reported.
"The Humane Society of Missouri provided initial information that led to the investigation. During the course of the investigation they also cared for animals involved when possible, and they are presently designated to provide continuing care for the seized dogs," said Michael Reap, acting U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Missouri.
The Humane Society of Missouri says it is housing most of the seized dogs -- mostly pit bulls -- in a temporary facility to keep them separate from other rescued animals. According to the group, animal behaviorists will evaluate each dog and make recommendations to the U.S. District Court on their chances for rehabilitation.
But yo, dogs -- just as Heidi was recovering from the excitement of being part of a showbiz cattle -- or is it canine? -- call, the shepherd got offered a real part: playing the "mean dog" in the first webisode of a new web series called "Sir Glen of Glenwood" for Performing Arts Studio West (PASW) of Inglewood, which offers career training and management for actors with developmental disabilities.
Heidi was already a friend of the studio. She was the first dog -- in fact, so far, the only dog -- to participate in a studio improv class, thus putting the PAWS in PASW (sorry). I'm told that one of the younger actors, Christy Chew, fondly refers to Heidi as the dog "with the substantial tail."
Studio founder/director John Paizis -- pictured (left) with Heidi and Chardell Brown, director of photography for "Sir Glen" -- told me that Heidi's job would be to bark at actor Glen Poehlman, who stars as the knight in shining armor, then chase him through an alley and a park. A speaking part! We immediately started rehearsing.
We also deeply enjoy dogs who let enthusiasm cloud their judgement about what items make good playthings. In short: This video, which Faildogs captions "Problem Solving Not Toby’s Strong Suit," simply delights us.
From skunks to birds to jellyfish, the Web is full of animal news today. A few of the stories that got our attention:
The most pressing issue at Seal Beach's Leisure World retirement community -- at least to hear some residents tell it -- is the scourge of adorable rabbits they say are taking over. Pro- and anti-rabbit factions from the upscale gated community met at a recent City Council meeting, arguing over how, and whether, to control the little rodents' population. Some advocate hiring an outside company to "thin out" the population using pellet guns. The suggestion horrifies others. "I can't think of a more tranquil sight than a sweet rabbit on the front lawn," said Marsha Gerber, whose mother lives at Leisure World. L.A. Times
Little is known about the movements of the barrel jellyfish that live off the coast of South Wales. To learn more, researchers have instituted a project called EcoJel to track them as they swim. They attached electronic tags to the jellyfish using cable ties; the tags are designed to fall off and float when the creature dies. "I cannot think of any other species which is so universally recognizable yet we know so little about," said Dr. Victoria Hobson of Swansea University, a member of the study. "We don't even know how long they live for but we hope this study will provide some answers." Telegraph
The blue-and-white parakeet rescued by a scuba diver half a mile out to sea in the waters off Devon, England, has been reunited with his owner. The bird, called Captain, apparently escaped his enclosure with several other birds when his owner, parakeet enthusiast Mike Peel, forgot to lock it. He'd resigned himself to never seeing the birds again when he saw Captain's picture in the newspaper. Peel breeds and shows parakeets and is the chairman of a group called the Torbay Budgerigar and Foreign Birds Society. He keeps about 140 birds and says Captain isn't a show-quality parakeet, but he plans to use him for breeding. And adventuring, Peel says, seems to have agreed with Captain. "I've never seen a bird look so healthy, it's done him the world of good." We don't know which is bigger news to us: The fact that the parakeet was found alive so far out to sea, or the fact that there are parakeet shows. Plymouth Herald
A man and woman were arrested in Florida for stealing a baby skunk from a Sarasota pet store. The man, who has been charged with grand theft in the incident, was arrested when he tried to return the skunk to the store, sheriff's deputies said. The woman, who was arrested at another location, has been charged with accessory to grand theft. Associated Press
-- Lindsay Barnett
Photo: - Wild cottontail rabbits at Seal Beach Leisure World. Credit: Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times
The Running of the Bulls at Pamplona's annual San Fermin festival is a time-honored, if not exactly honorable, tradition. Human fatalities at the festival are rare, but bull fatalities are all but a sure thing (the bulls used in the mad dash through the streets wind up facing matadors in bullfighting rings later the same day).
Today's news that a young Spanish man was gored to death by a bull during the run may draw a bit more attention than is usually given the event. The man, identified as Daniel Jimeno Romero, was gored in the neck and lung by a 1,130-pound bull named Capuchino. From the Associated Press:
This run, the fourth of eight held at San Fermin, was by far the most perilous of this year's festival. The previous three runs were comparatively placid affairs, with no serious injuries.
The six bulls covering the half-mile course with six accompanying steers tend to mind their own business and keep running as long as they stay in a pack. A bull that gets separated is more likely to get frightened and aggressive, and that is what happened today.
Capuchino apparently became separated from the other bulls when he fell early in the run, losing time while the others continued running. Once he righted himself and began running again, he reportedly began charging haphazardly back and forth while human runners tried their best to put wooden barriers between themselves and the bull. (Romero tripped and was gored while trying to scramble under such a barrier.)
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Overheard on Unleashed:
"...quite simply, BSL has failed to reduce bites/attacks/deaths everywhere it has been enacted. It's knee-jerk, feel good legislation that does not one thing to increase public safety."
