Inside This Issue:
- Bad Dog Stories in the News
- Saying Goodbye to a Beloved Cephalopod
- Lessons in Patience and Deep Breathing with a Giraffe
- News Bites: Pet Store Bans, Clever Conservation, and More!
Bad Dog Stories in the News
Pack of dogs: coming to a city near you?
When it comes to dogs, there have been a lot of sad and infuriating stories about irresponsible ownership, neglect, and attacks over the last month.
First, in Merced County, California, a pack of 12 dogs were released by their owner to run wild in the streets. The videos of the pack running around are actually pretty cute until you learn the dogs were quite aggressive, and that their favorite activity was slaughtering cats. It gets worse when you think about the threat the pack of dogs posed to, say, small children walking to school (the dogs apparently liked hanging out at a nearby elementary school). Luckily, the county’s animal control officers stepped in after receiving videos of the dogs, and were quickly able to capture 10 of them (no word on the final two). As you can imagine, due to the nature of the dogs and how they were unleashed upon the public, they will not be released back to their (former) owner.
On a related note, if you want to see the consequences of allowing stray dogs to roam, check out the carnage left by a pack of dogs that snuck into a Texas High School’s FFA barn. Several dead and severely injured goats and sheep – all show animals that the kids had put their hearts and souls into.
Next up, we have a tragic case of a 5-year-old Husky/pit bull mix with “no law enforcement reported instances of aggression” killing a family’s newborn child. This will spawn numerous Internet pile-ons about how so many of these cases could have – and should have – been avoided, though sadly, pointing out this truth won’t bring anybody back from the dead. Needless to say, small children and dogs can, and often do, coexist, but supervision is an absolutely essential part of the mix.
Finally, an Ohio mother whose daughter was disfigured in a dog attack is enraged at the judge who gave the dogs’ owner the “wrist slap” treatment. The two dogs that were involved in the attack were put down, but the owner of the vicious dogs, Stephanie Ayers, is being allowed to keep one of her remaining four dogs, while rehoming the other three. Ayers also had to pay a small fine and will likely be jailed for four days. According to the mother of the victim, rehoming these dogs should not be an option. She also insists that it is not a matter of if but of when someone else is attacked by these dogs – and when that happens, she says it will be the judge’s fault. In response to this dog attack, Ohio lawmakers are considering a “vicious dog” bill that would be named after the victim.
Source: Pack of aggressive dogs captured in Central Valley responsible for killing cats: officials
Source: 7-day-old boy killed by family dog, authorities say
Source: Mother of Reynoldsburg dog attack victim blasts judge after dog owner sentenced
Saying Goodbye to a Beloved Cephalopod
Ghost, the giant Pacific octopus. Photo from Aquarium of the Pacific on Facebook.
At the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, a giant Pacific octopus named Ghost is spending her last days focused on her clutch of unfertilized eggs, most likely completely unaware of the fact that she is an Instagram superstar. Knowing her time is limited, staff and visitors are rallying around her, and it seems like every aquarium visitor on social media has their own Ghost story to share. Encountering this cephalopod has been so moving to some fans, they wear her image on a sweater – or even in the form of a tattoo. This outpouring of affection highlights how deeply she has touched people’s lives.
Ghost is proof that not all creatures that capture our hearts are of the fluffy and four-legged variety – Octopuses, in their unique way, can be just as enchanting. They’re also quite brilliant – Ghost learned to crawl into a basket for weigh-ins and always seemed to enjoy interacting with her caregivers, sometimes turning down food just to get more attention. Staff went the extra mile, building elaborate puzzles and mazes to keep her mind engaged, and she mastered them with ease.
Her current phase, called senescence, is a natural part of life for all living things; biological aging is the gradual deterioration of functional characteristics in living organisms. During this time, her eggs, which will never hatch, are her reason for being. In the wild, these animals are solitary and only come together briefly to mate, which means Ghost’s devotion is poignantly instinctual.
For many, seeing Ghost at the aquarium wasn’t just a chance to glimpse an elusive ocean dweller. She inspired visitors to care about marine biology and conservation, and for some, like a local student who credits Ghost with sparking his interest in the field, the connection was life-changing. Her story is a reminder that the most charismatic animals aren’t always the ones we expect and that all lives, no matter how extraordinary, are finite.
Source: Fans bid farewell to beloved California octopus Ghost as she cares for eggs in final stage of life
Lessons in Patience and Deep Breathing with a Giraffe
Reticulated Giraffe
A 16-year-old giraffe named Mahiri at Banham Zoo in Norfolk, England, is breathing more easily these days thanks to a custom inhaler designed to treat her persistent nasal congestion. For years, Mahiri was given oral steroid treatments to manage her symptoms, but long-term use of oral steroids isn’t ideal, so her caretakers searched for a better solution.
Zookeepers at Banham Zoo, together with experts from the Zoological Society of East Anglia, created an inhaler system that delivers medicine directly while Mahiri eats. Unlike oral medications, this approach targets her airways more precisely, helping keep them open and reducing the buildup that made it hard for her to breathe.
While this all sounds great, getting Mahiri to actually use the inhaler was no small feat. Giraffes, like many prey animals, are naturally nervous and quick to startle, which makes new experiences highly suspect and stressful for them. Over three years, keepers built up Mahiri’s trust, working patiently to help her feel comfortable with the inhaler and mask. Their gentle, gradual approach paid off, and Mahiri now willingly participates in her daily respiratory care without sedation. This took three years. THREE YEARS. Now that is some serious love and dedication. It might be worth remembering Mahiri and her caretakers next time you get frustrated over how long it takes a dog to learn “sit” or “stay!”
The success of this program hasn’t just improved Mahiri’s quality of life and reduced her reliance on steroids, it’s also deepened the bond between her and her caretakers. The trust they’ve established is especially impressive given the general skittishness of giraffes. Banham Zoo’s innovative work marks the first use of an inhaler like this with a giraffe in the UK, and could provide valuable insights for giraffes in human care worldwide.
Source: Ever Seen A Giraffe Use An Inhaler? Now You Can, And It’s Incredibly Wholesome
News Bites: Pet Store Bans, Clever Conservation, and More!
Probable descendent of someone's pet.
A city’s absence of puppy or kitten-selling retail pet stores has never been a hindrance to animal rights fundraising groups and their anti-pet store campaigns. Case in point: last week in Denver, a bill moved forward that would ban the retail sale of puppies, kittens, and rabbits from pet stores, despite the fact that there aren’t any pet stores in the city that sell puppies, kittens, or rabbits. Humane World for Animals (formerly HSUS) was unbothered by the fact that Denver required no legislative fix – they just label this bill a “proactive” solution for things that might happen. This gives them a feather in their cap to fundraise off of, allows them to tell the next municipality they come to “Look – everybody’s doing it. You should, too!” and also normalizes the concept of these bans, so they can come back later and eliminate the sale of all non-”rescued” animals.
Each year, Minnesota conservationists pull thousands upon thousands of invasive goldfish out of Lake Cornelia, dumping and burying them in a nearby field. But now, with the help of the Minnesota Zoo, these pesky fish are serving as more than fertilizer: they’re adding a little bit of variety into the diets of the zoo’s resident piscivores. These goldfish are in the lake due to people dumping pets they can no longer keep or no longer want. At the time a fish is released into the water, it may feel like the simplest and kindest option. And if we’re talking about one individual fish, maybe it is – but when you compound this several times over and the fish start breeding, you’ve got an ecological nightmare on your hands – which is what the lake is dealing with now. Good on the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District, City of Edina, and Minnesota Zoo for working together to add creative, useful solutions to their problems!
Last week, the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter was exposed to a gust of burning methamphetamines when an incinerator that was being “borrowed” by the FBI blew a bunch of meth smoke into the building. Fourteen employees were sickened, with a few requiring treatment in a hyperbaric chamber. The animals all seemed fine after the incident and have been receiving care elsewhere. While the state-owned incinerator is intended for animal remains, the FBI and local police apparently have a long history of using it to dispose of narcotics. The employees and DEQ are understandably displeased, however. Two of the employees have hired attorneys in response to their exposure to the meth smoke, while the DEQ says they were not informed of the burning – which is required when the incinerator is used for anything other than its primary purpose.
UK researchers have received funding from Humanimal Trust to study an aggressive oral cancer in canines – a disease that is usually fatal within a year – in the hopes of finding treatments that benefit all species. Part of the appeal of studying this disease (if anything can be "appealing" about cancer) is the fact that it behaves in pretty much the exact same way, regardless of what species it is affecting. This means that new treatment options are likely to benefit humans and dogs alike. Along with the financial support from Humanimal, this project relies on the logistics and groundwork provided by dog clubs and breeders, and the mental acuity and toil of researchers. We don’t want to count our chickens before they hatch, but this is one of those instances – perhaps rare instances – where it’s hard to look at the forces working together without feeling a sense of optimism.
Also in the News...
★ Rabid animals reported in 3 SC counties, health officials say (More Rabies in South Carolina)
★ Appleton declares 5 dogs as dangerous animals, forcing owners to make difficult choices (Addendum on Dangerous Dogs)
★ West Hollywood to become first in L.A. County to ban pet sales (Pet Store Bans You're Probably Already Aware Of)
★ Federal charges: Man made videos of animals being tortured and killed, posted them on pay-per-view YouTube channel (Heinous Abuse; Gross)
★ Owner of exotic animals seized by MCSO gets animals back (Exotics; Medium-Profile Court Cases)
★ Morocco Faces Backlash for Criminalising Care of Stray Animals Ahead of World Cup (Culture & Capital; 2030 World Cup)
★ 4 Endangered Animals Fighting For Survival In Kansas (State Lists: Endangered Edition; Great Cave Salamander Photo)
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