Checking up on dog food ingredients

With, what, a possible 4,000 deaths of American pets caused by pet food contaminated by ingredients from China, you'd think the pet food companies would be a little more aware of consumers' sensitivities.

I picked up a can of dog food at the grocery store a couple of days ago and read every letter of the fine print, looking for where the ingredients came from. Then I picked up another brand and did the same thing. And a third, and a fourth. A fifth. I even looked at the top and bottom of each can, in case it had been stamped there with an expiration date.

Nothing.

Here's what I did find, and it did absolutely nothing to reassure me. There on the label were the words:  "Printed in the USA."

So, if I'm worried about the origin of what I'm giving my dog, I guess I can safely feed him the label. 

--Patt Morrison

The political education of Judie Mancuso

Laguna Beach animal welfare advocate Judie Mancuso spent a year and a half trying to get the state Legislature to pass a law requiring that pets be sterilized.  A week ago, the bill, AB 1634 -- alternately reviled and cheered -- was finally rejected in the state Senate.

On the tortured road to its death, the bill was amended almost a dozen times, watered down and even name-changed. Breeders and opposition groups howled in protest and said legislators were taking away their rights to handle their animals as they saw fit.

But in the end, says Mancuso, the bill's defeat came down to friction and squabbles in the Legislature and -- the final blow -- what she called a surprise vote a week ago in the Senate, where it was trounced 27 to 5.

"The bill could have said the sky is blue and the ocean is deep, and they would have voted against it," said Mancuso, 45, as she and her husband packed up her Sacramento apartment, the command center for the citizen coalition she spearheaded to convince the public and lawmakers that this was the right thing to do.

Mancuso, whose voice sounds as though it belongs to a plucky girl cartoon character, had created the original proposal along with Los Angeles city staffers and L.A. Animal Services general manager Ed Boks. Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) became the bill's author and legislative torchbearer. The goal was to stem the euthanasia of hundreds of thousands of animals in the state's shelters annually by mandating people alter their pets. Fewer animals being born meant fewer strays and owner-surrendered pets being housed in the shelters, Mancuso and company contended. "You're just trying to prevent animals coming in the front door," said Mancuso, pictured here smooching a pooch in the Central Valley SPCA shelter in Fresno.       

Pets (and people) prepare to flee Hurricane Gustav

As Hurricane Gustav moves closer to the Gulf Coast states, many in its path are determined to help pets and livestock avoid the fate that befell tens of thousands of animals that died in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

The Times-Picayune of New Orleans reports on efforts to ensure the safety of Louisiana's pets:

State Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain said pet shelters for animal owners with "critical transportation needs" are ready for service during the Hurricane Gustav evacuation....

Strain stressed that the pet shelters are not "stop and drop" facilities. "Pet ownership is a personal responsibility," he said. "Once you get your pet to a shelter you will be expected to provide care for your dogs and cats during your evacuation."

The Louisiana SPCA is evacuating animals, as seen in the photograph above, and working with other states' shelters, including the SPCA of Texas. In the meantime, university students are traveling to Shreveport, La., to attend to evacuated pets. The University of Louisiana news service reports:

On Friday, the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security issued a request to the state, asking for volunteers to work at a pet evacuation shelter, located on the Shreveport Fairgrounds. Volunteers will work 10- to 12-hour shifts today and possibly in the future. The request is in anticipation of Hurricane Gustav, which is expected to reach Louisiana early next week.

Sea turtles explore new, urban frontier

One might expect a sea turtle to live at sea. But Times staff writer Louis Sahagun has the story of a "breakaway" colony that seems to prefer the San Gabriel River.

Green sea turtles usually have tropical haunts -- teeming coral reefs or white sandy beaches where they lay eggs -- but these chunky titans live more than a mile upstream in one of Southern California's most ecologically degraded rivers.

Little is known about the colony of at least six urban sea turtles. But a joint study by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Aquarium of the Pacific aims to determine, among other things, what they're doing in there.

"Right now, it's a small group of what might be considered oddball turtles," said Peter Dutton, a senior researcher with the fisheries service. "But we have a lot to learn about them. Are they part of a more complex sea-turtle migration dynamic than we ever imagined, or just lost wanderers?"

Scientists also want to know how the federally endangered animals are adapting to the unique challenges they face in the 100-yard-wide river channel at the Los Angeles County-Orange County line, next to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's Haynes Generating Station. Those challenges include speedboats, water skiers, baited hooks, urban runoff, tons of garbage and harassment.

Photo: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

Dogs and pigs run for office, too

Our kids aren't allowed to use Wikipedia for research papers, but that didn't stop us, during this political convention season, from typing in the phrase "non human candidates" and "Wikipedia" into an Internet search engine.... There's quite a history, which L.A. Unleashed feels obliged to share with its readers. Here's a partial list from Wikipedia:

Molly the Dog, a dachshund from Oklahoma, named as a candidate in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

Pigasus the Immortal, a boar hog that the Yippies nominated as a candidate in the 1968 U.S. presidential  election.

Cacareco, a rhinoceros at the Sao Paulo zoo, was a candidate for the 1958 city council elections with the intention of protesting against political corruption. Electoral officials, of course, did not accept Cacareco's candidacy, but he eventually won 100,000 votes, more than any other party in that same election (which was also marked by rampant absenteeism). Today, the term "Voto Cacareco" (Cacareco vote) is commonly used to describe protest votes in Brazil.

Alas, Little Lou, the Chihuahua pictured above, is not a candidate for political office, but he certainly could play one on TV. Lou was photographed in Ventura's Pushem-Pullem Parade, in which ordinary people -- and pets -- proceed down Main Street.

--Alice Short

Photo: Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times

'Grizzly Man Diaries' airs tonight

Animal Planet airs its "The Grizzly Man Diaries" tonight at 9 and 9:30 p.m. The Times' Mary McNamara takes a look at a man who broke the bounds for society:

It isn't often you can say that a show on Animal Planet follows a great literary tradition, but "The Grizzly Man Diaries," which follows the adventures of Timothy Treadwell, echoes voices as disparate as Thoreau, Yeats and even Sam Gribley of "My Side of the Mountain." The desire to forsake the drudgery and pressures of civilization for the noble simplicity of the natural world has always tempted and tormented certain people.

But unlike Yeats, who never did arise and go to Innisfree, Treadwell did actually break the bounds of society and for 13 summers lived virtually alone among the grizzlies in Alaska's Katmai National Park -- that is, until he and his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, were killed in 2003 by a grizzly attack.

An update on sea lion deaths

A few months ago, we linked to the reports of the deaths of six sea lions at Bonneville Dam in the Pacific Northwest. Now there's an update, published in the Seattle Times.

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- The deaths of six sea lions at Bonneville Dam remains a whodunit.

On May 4, six carcasses were discovered in a pair of side-by-side floating traps below the dam. State employees had been using the traps to capture and relocate sea lions feasting on endangered salmon at a man-made bottleneck.

Federal and state authorities initially speculated that the animals had been shot....

But officials backed away from that assertion a week later after revealing that investigators found no fresh bullet wounds. They eventually told the public that the animals probably died of heat stroke while trapped in the cages.

The federal investigation remains open almost four months later, to the irritation of some fishermen who believe they were falsely maligned.

"Given how quick officials were to blame the sport fishing community, it's just incorrigible they're this slow to find and deal with the accountability for this issue," said Liz Hamilton, executive director of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association in Portland. "It's sort of like that retraction that gets printed on Page 32, and the original story is on Page One."...

Plenty of questions remain unanswered.

The animals reportedly died of heat stroke, but it's not uncommon for sea lions to be out of the water for longer periods of times -- and temperatures were mild the night of May 3-4.

It's also unclear how the sea lions became trapped in the cages in the first place.

Scientists move shark from Malibu to Monterey for exhibit

From our friend at the L.A. Now blog comes this news about sharks. But don't worry, it's not an attack:

For the fourth time in four years, a young great white shark is going on display in the Monterey Bay Aquarium, part of an ongoing research project that attracts millions of visitors even as it draws sharp criticism of the aquarium. Captured off the coast of Malibu on Aug. 16, the  new shark is a young female,  4 feet long and 55 pounds. Researchers moved her on Wednesday, and she now swims in the aquarium's Outer Bay exhibit.

The aquarium's trawler and floating shark pen have been fixtures in Paradise Cove in Malibu for each of the last four summers. This year, researchers tagged and released five great white sharks. Four others were brought to the pen, three of which were subsequently released. The fourth, now in the exhibit, is expected to stay in Monterey for several months. Upon release, her movements will be tracked until her GPS unit loses power or falls off.

Controversy has dogged the shark project since its inception, with animal rights activists saying keeping such a nomadic creature in captivity is cruel. In 2005, the white shark on display attacked and killed two soupfin sharks in the exhibit. Another shark, who damaged its snout on the exhibit's walls, earned the aquarium some bad press.

But scientists for the aquarium say the project's benefits far outweigh its risks. With shark populations in decline worldwide, and with the great white being demonized in films and television shows, information gathered about the sharks' movements and behavior is the creatures' best defense.

Information on how to see the shark is here. And as always, comments are open. Be opinionated, but be nice.

— Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Randy Wilder / Monterey Bay Aquarium

San Diego officer pleads no contest in police dog's death

A veteran San Diego police officer pleaded no contest today to a misdemeanor charge of animal neglect.

Officer Paul Hubka, a 22-year veteran of the department, was ordered to pay a $411 fine and $4,941 in restitution for the death of his police dog.

The dog, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois, died of heat stroke after being left in the back of Hubka’s police car on a day when temperatures exceeded 100 degrees. Hubka was also ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and will serve three years’ probation.

It's the latest in a two-month long court battle in the case.

As criminal charges were pending, San Diego City Atty. Michael Aguirre refused to approve a $50,000 payment to Hubka, as part of Hubka's share in a settlement of a lawsuit filed by three officers alleging that they deserve extra pay for their duties as canine officers.

Aguirre then filed a civil complaint in Superior Court seeking damages from Officer Paul Hubka, whose police dog died of heat stroke while left in Hubka's squad car.Aguirre wants Hubka to pay the cost of acquiring and training a replacement for his dog. He said the cost exceeds $25,000.

After the death of the dog, named Forrest, Hubka was transferred out of the canine patrol, where he had served most of his career.

He said that leaving the dog in the back of his car was a mistake. He had returned home after an overnight shift and had left the dog in the car.

With 45 dogs for patrol and weapons and drug duties, the San Diego Police Department boasts the largest K-9 unit of any department in the country.

-- Tony Perry

Another baby giraffe makes its debut

Zookeeper Frauke Rauls feeds a 3-week-old female Rothschild giraffe Wednesday during the giraffe's first public appearance at the zoo in Hanover, Germany.

It's been quite a year for baby giraffes -- or at least quite a year for photographers taking pictures of these leggy newborns. In February a photographer captured the debut of another giraffe born in Hanover. Baby giraffes also took bows, if that's the right phrase, at the Living Desert Zoo in Palm Desert and, just this week, at the San Diego Zoo. Click away for a gallery of giraffes.

Photo: Holger Hollemann / EPA