Pets

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. By Flora Lisica, The Conversation Did watching 101 Dalmatians instill you with a burning desire to fill your home with…

Jon Hochschartner writes at Counterpunch: Socialists, like everyone else, absorb our culture’s contradictory messages regarding the value of animals. We learn that certain species, such as dogs and cats, should be cherished…

Religious devotion as horrifying insanity. Washington’s KOIN reports: A father with children in the house who was preparing for “the Rapture” blew up his family’s Labrador Retriever because the devil was inside…

Cannabis can have tremendous benefits for sick creatures, but veterinarian Dr. Andrew Springer Browne, who has treated numerous pets that got a hold of their owners’ pot brownies, warns that animals should…

Pet website Dogster.com writes that veterinarians are awakening to the miraculous abilities of cannabis to heal sick animals: Christine L.’s Rottweiler, Sampson, had a rare form of blood cancer. After giving Sampson…

It seems that new models of play are constantly emerging. Perhaps adaptable for babies as well, iPet Companion allows the user to remotely interact with and amuse household animals by manipulating toys…

I can’t see how cats would be happy about this development … Writes Deborah Netburn in the LA Times:

We’ve seen a lot of strange things on the Internet, but this dead cat turned into a remote-control flying helicopter may be the strangest yet. The cat helicopter was conceived by Dutch artist Bart Jansen, and debuted for the public at the KunstRai ArtFair in Amsterdam that ended Sunday. Jansen calls his creation the Orvillecopter and describes it as “half-cat, half-machine.” The Orvillecopter is exactly what it looks like: A taxidermied cat with a plastic propeller attached to each paw. No animals were harmed for this project. The cat, who was conveniently named Orville, belonged to Jansen and died after he was hit by a car.

Add one more expensive and unnecessary expenditure to the many made by obsessive dog owners: an MRI scan to reveal their innermost thoughts. Via LiveScience:

Fido’s expressive face, including those longing puppy-dog eyes, may lead owners to wonder what exactly is going on in that doggy’s head. Scientists decided to find out, using brain scans to explore the minds of our canine friends.

The researchers, who detailed their findings May 2 in the open-access journal PLoS ONE, were interested in understanding the human-dog relationship from the four-legged perspective.

“When we saw those first [brain] images, it was unlike anything else,”…

We all know one or two people who love their pets more than their family and friends. Now they can preserve their pets forever, reports Live Science:

Mike McCullough never intended to start freeze-drying beloved pets for grieving owners. But more than a decade ago, a friend of a friend asked the Fort Loudon, Penn., taxidermist to save his beloved dog from the grave or cremation by preserving the animal instead. McCullough agreed.

Then he talked to a Wall Street Journal reporter about the process. It made the front page. Requests from bereaved owners started rolling in. Today, McCullough’s taxidermy shop, Mac’s Taxidermy, is one of a handful of places around the country that will preserve not only hunting trophies, but also the hunting dog.

“It’s a whole different game for us,” McCullough told LiveScience. “You have to be a counselor, you know what I mean? It’s tough.”…

Is a microscopic, mind-altering parasite spread by cats responsible for car accidents, hoarding behaviors, and schizophrenia? Respected scientists are now saying that “crazy cat lady” disease is real and millions of people…

Kudos to San Francisco for its decision to crack down on an industry based on animal misery. The San Francisco Chronicle reports: San Francisco’s ever-active Animal Control and Welfare Commission has renewed…

Kenny is a white tiger ‘selectively’ inbred while in captivity in the United States. As zoo’s and exotic pet stores have increased the demand for white tigers, breeders have attempted to recreate the ideal white tiger — large snout, blue eyes, white fur — through relying on a limited pool of captive white tigers.

The result? An astoundingly high rate of deformities and health issues. For example, Kenny is mentally retarded and has significant physical limitations.

It feels like just yesterday that the first generation of cloned animals captured the headlines — now they are passing comfortably into old age (without any bizarre mutations, eyeballs spontaneously falling out,…

Alasdair Wilkins writing at io9.com: A burial site recently uncovered in Jordan is the oldest ever discovered in the Middle East, at least 1,500 years older than any other cemetery previously discovered….

SPRUCE GROVE, ALTA.— A buffalo arriving at a bar in a convertible may seem like a figment of the imagination, but it actually happened.

Bailey Jr. is a 1,600-pound male bison that last Saturday arrived at a Spruce Grove bar, about 30 kilometres west of Edmonton, in a convertible for a pint of ale, while a British camera crew from Animal Planet captured the barley lover chugging down a root beer and a bottle of beer.

Not to worry, he had designated drivers with him — owners, Jim and Linda Sautner.

The film crew from London, England’s Oxford Scientific Films is part of a team that produces Fatal Attraction for Animal Planet. The documentary series looks at the psychological profile of people who have close relationships with big, dangerous and exotic animals.