Pet Monologues

A few posts ago PM presented incredible polar bear photos. The images by themselves are remarkable. But the polar bear is more than the largest predator on this planet. They have become a global warming symbol. It’s an easy analogy. The bears live on ice. The ices is melting. Easy picture here. Here is another polar bear story, and another global warming hot-spot.

The bears may have more problems…

Today Salon.com. comes to the forefront highlighting yet another polar bear worry. Part of their story is in this post with a link to the full story…

If your idea of a good time is paying $25,000 to journey to the frozen north in Canada to shoot a polar bear—making you one of the more than 50 American “sportsmen” who do so every year—you’re not happy about the lawsuits and recriminations over whether the Bush administration should grant new protections to polar bears. After all, those darn regulations could interfere with your bringing home a furry white rug for your living room floor.

In the reams of press about the increasing deaths of polar bears, the role of trophy hunters and the Inuit who help them is often missing. In the Canadian territories where the polar bear lives, the government sets quotas for the number of bears that can be hunted each year. The Canadian Inuit, who are paid by hunters to help them stalk the bears, and American hunting associations have become vocal adversaries to environmentalists and Congress members who in recent months have battled the Department of Interior, with its Bush-Cheney oil connections, to safeguard the polar bear.

Today, there are between 20,000 and 25,000 polar bears worldwide, according to the World Conservation Union Species Survival Commission’s Polar Bear Specialist Group, which lists the species as “vulnerable.” Between 700 and 900 polar bears are shot every year, the majority of those taken in Canada, according to Andrew Derocher, a biologist at the University of Alberta, who chairs the Polar Bear Specialist Group. Of the approximately 600 polar bears shot in Canada, about 15 percent of those are killed by sports hunters, many of them American, who pay between $20,000 to $35,000 for the chance to do so. Read the rest of this entry »

The HSUS offers reward in Indianapolis horse shooting.

The Humane Society of the United States is offering a reward up to $2,500 for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for the shooting death of ­a 29-year-old quarter horse, who was found dead in the back yard of an Indianapolis woman’s home. Read the rest of this entry »

An article in Salon “What I wouldn’t do for my cat” inspired the following letters (editor’s pick) regarding medical treatment for your sick pet.

My cat = my new carpeting

Last year, my husband got a nice bonus from work. The same week our cat, Leo, ate a penny (yes, ate a penny, in front of our two kids). Turns out that is a very awful thing for a cat to do. He ended up with pancreatitis, mouth infections, ulcers, was in an emergency vet hospital for a week on IV’s, all sorts of treatments. And, he pulled through. My kids love that cat–but the treatment? Took the bonus–ALL of it–over $5,000. I joked that the cat ate my new carpeting, which is what I had intended to spend the $5,000.

Yes, we love him and I am glad to have him, but I still think we were crazy to spend that much money on a cat. Read the rest of this entry »

vine snake - Ahaetulla nasuta

inland taipan - careful! most venomous snake in the world

can anyone identify this snake?

Snakes, like other reptiles, have a skin covered in scales. Snakes are entirely covered with scales or scutes of various shapes and sizes. Scales protect the body of the snake, aid it in locomotion, allow moisture to be retained within, alter the surface characteristics such as roughness to aid in camouflage, and in some cases even aid in prey capture (such as Acrochordus). The simple or complex colouration patterns (which help in camouflage and anti-predator display) are a property of the underlyingskin, but the folded nature of scaled skin allows bright skin to be concealed between scales then revealed in order to startle predators.

Scales have been modified over time to serve other functions such as ‘eyelash’ fringes, and protective covers for the eyes[2] with the most distinctive modification being the rattle of the North American rattlesnakes. Read the rest of this entry »

New year’s resolution? Get your butt in shape. Animal inspired—of course.

Dog scooter. Produced in Bend, Oregon

Healthy body. Healthy mind. Fitness for man or beast. PM sees a lot of these Kanga boots lately and I need something that takes the strain off of these old bones. Check them out at kangoojumps.com

A Bend, Oregon manufacturer—possibly extreme terrain cyclists capital of the world—sent us info about their new product—for big, hearty animals only! Watching joggers run their companions on hot days or pulling the master who is on rollerblades raises a red flag. Play close attention to your animal, they would run themselves to death for you. dogpoweredscooter.com Read the rest of this entry »

This is off topic. A dose of year-end wisdom.

This may save your life.
Refresh yourself
of these things to do
in an emergency situation…

This is for you,
and for you to share
with your wife,
your children,
everyone you know.

1 Tip from Tae Kwon Do:
The elbow
is the strongest point
on your body.
If you are close enough to use it, do!

2 From a tourist guide
in New Orleans.
If a robber asks
for your wallet and/or purse,
DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM .
Toss it away from you….
chances are
that he is more interested
in your wallet and/or purse
than you,
and he will go
for the wallet/purse.
RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION! Read the rest of this entry »

PM is not going to opine on this one. Vick waives rights to an appeal in his attempt at a plea. Judge nails him for 23 months for complete funding, selecting dogs for execution, possibly partaking in executions. Experts say he could serve 18 months with good behavior. That would mean his release is May 2009. Justice be served.

My grandmother is ill and cannot care for her aging Yorkshire terrier.

Editor’s note: This is a letter to Cary Tennis, advice columnist, Salon Magazine

Dear Cary,

I am stressed and wrestling with an ethical dilemma: Would it be right to put down the 11-year-old dog of my grandmother, who has middle-onset Alzheimer’s disease?

It’s the eve of Thanksgiving and my grandparents are both here, with this dog, a tiny, whiny Yorkshire terrier who has learned to beg constantly. It’s not her fault; my grandmother forgets that she has just fed her, hears her whine (oh the sound of that whine!) and gives her another largish helping of steak or chicken or cookies, or whatever anyone happens to be eating at the time. As a result, the dog is overweight, out of shape (she will not walk more than five feet before stopping and dragging her feet), largely incontinent (I just wiped up hot dog pee 10 minutes ago), and the most annoying creature on the planet. I mean, I don’t have kids yet (I’m 24), but if this were my kid I would send it straight to boarding school.

Unfortunately, though, this dog is the center of my grandmother’s small and dimming world, along with my grandfather, who is in fine mental condition but has some cardiac problems — I think she likes to feel that the dog needs her and isn’t judging her for mental lapses (not that the rest of the family is, I think we’re doing a good job of stimulating and caring for her). My mom asked her once whether she would be more upset if she (her daughter) died or if the dog died, and she indicated that the death of the dog would make her more upset. Read the rest of this entry »

Concept: With few wolves scattered in the front gallery, all ninety-nine wolves run, gallop, and jump toward the far end of the exhibition hall, where a wall stands. The bravery of the wolves is met head on by the unyielding wall. As the leading wolves go down, many more follow with force and determination. As those in the front fall and pile up, those behind take up their positions.

Project No. 196 - Installation
2006: Berlin, Germany
Title: Head On
Date: August 26—October 15, 2006
Exhibition: Cai Guo-Qiang: Head On
Institution: Deutsche Guggenheim
Curators: Friedhelm Hutte and Ariane Grigoteit
Materials: 99 life-sized replicas of wolves and glass

Seen at kiwipulse.com
Source:Deutsche Guggenheim

Is this a “punish the deed” episode two? PM has in less than a year been exposed to a lot of animal stories finds these “death row” stories a bit too commonplace.

This quilt was recently auctioned on ebay. The image on the quilt looks a bit like Duke the pitbull currently on death row.

The accused animals in these stories both have pretty good cases. Is it enough to save them? Is this a case of a bad animal, a neglectful owner, or an act of self defense? Are the rights of animals different than the owners/victims?

Here is the latest story.

Congo is a 2 1/2-year old German shepherd from Princeton Township, N.J., who was sentenced to death for mauling gardener Giovanni Rivera, 42, on June 5. The dog’s owners maintain that he was simply defending his family from a perceived threat. Read the rest of this entry »