Toxic Treats. Spend 35 Days at Shelter. 21 Reasons Dog Is Best. What Should We Feed Our New Kitten? Transporting Your Cat. Pet Rats. Wiley Post. John Dillinger.

 

For “Mammal Monday”:

Urge the FDA to Ban Dog Treats Imports Until They are Safe to Consume!

“Losing a pet is like losing a family member. When our pet is suffering, we suffer too. These situations are real-life for thousands of dog owners whose dogs consumed certain jerky treats made in China. Thousands of dogs have fallen ill or died from these contaminated chicken jerky treats.

In response the FDA sent investigators to the plants in China where the treats are manufactured; but due to China's stringent laws and other barriers, the FDA can't find the source of the toxin. There can be no mandated recall.

Many have requested the companies involved voluntarily recall the products in question, but as we often see in these cases, profit trumps protection.

China's obfuscation and companies' unwillingness to recall dangerous products have left us no choice but to ban all imports of dog treats from China. Call on the FDA to ban all dog treat imports from China until the proper steps are taken to address this problem.”

Tell the FDA to block all imports of dog treats from China until the companies find the source of the toxins or enact a recall at: http://theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/clickToGive/ars/petition/JerkyTreats#ms2EB2rR1hsuk82W.99

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Animal Activist to Spend 35 Days Living Like a Shelter Dog

“In an effort to better communicate the conditions that shelter dogs face, animal activist Sean LeVegan will live inside a kennel at England’s Manchester Dogs’ Home for 35 days.

“People thought I was crazy when I came up with the idea,” the 35-year-old told the UK Mirror. “It’s going to be really tough.”

LeVegan will follow the exact same routine as the shelter dogs. For the first four days, he’ll eat nothing – mimicking the behavior of stressed out pups when they first arrived. He’ll only have one hour per day to relieve himself and will stay locked up from 5pm until 8am when staff at the shelter return.

According to MSN, Sean will share his digs with another dog, sleep on a blanket on the floor and has already been microchipped.”  More at: http://www.ecorazzi.com/2013/07/16/animal-activist-to-spend-35-days-living-like-a-shelter-dog/

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21 Reasons A Dog Is The Best Investment You Will Ever Make (PHOTOS)

More at:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/16/dog-best-investment_n_3575025.html

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Adoption: What Should We Feed Our New Kitten?

“First, I tell them that whatever they do, never feed their kitten dry food. They can see the shiny coats of my foster kittens and their robust body condition. They want the best for their new kittens, but they're all victims of pet food marketing and never question those terrible prescription diets. I fell for it too, years ago, until I started to see my cats chronically ill, struggling with diabetes and obesity. Just like my adopters, I needed guidance. Once I saw the results of a diet change, I was determined to be the harbinger of good feeding habits to everyone I know.”  Complete article at: http://feline-nutrition.org/features/adoption-what-should-we-feed-our-new-kitten

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Transporting Your Cat

“Tips for transporting your cat to the vet that will help reduce stress (your pet’s AND yours) and make clinic visits more pleasant.”

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15 Surprising Facts About Pet Rats

“Such as: Rubbing a rat's belly like you would a dog's isn't recommended until the rat trusts you and is very comfortable with you. And if you stroke your rat's face, make sure to rub in the direction the whiskers grow (stroke back toward the ears) — pulling them forward is very uncomfortable for the rat.

Rats tend to be more interactive and sociable, more intelligent, quieter and cleaner than other types of pocket pets.

They make wonderful small companions for responsible kids because they are smart, resilient, and have wonderful personalities.”

More at: http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/07/19/pet-rat-facts.aspx

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On This Day:

Wiley Post flies solo around the world, Jul 22, 1933:

“American aviator Wiley Post returns to Floyd Bennett Field in New York, having flown solo around the world in 7 days, 18 hours, and 49 minutes. He was the first aviator to accomplish the feat.

Post, instantly recognizable by the patch he wore over one eye, began the journey on July 15, flying nonstop to Berlin. After a brief rest, he flew on to the Soviet Union, where he made several stops before returning to North America, with stops in Alaska, Canada, and finally a triumphant landing at his starting point in New York.

Two years earlier, Post had won fame when he successfully flew around the northern part of the earth with aviator Harold Gatty. For his solo around-the-world flight in 1933, he flew a slightly greater distance--15,596 miles--in less time. For both flights, he used the Winnie Mae, a Lockheed Vega monoplane that was equipped with a Sperry automatic pilot and a direction radio for Post's solo journey.

In August 1935, he was attempting to fly across the North Pole to the USSR with American humorist Will Rogers when both men were killed in a crash near Point Barrow, Alaska.”

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Dillinger joins the Navy in an attempt to avoid prosecution, Jul 22, 1923:

“John Herbert Dillinger joins the Navy in order to avoid charges of auto theft in Indiana, marking the beginning of America's most notorious criminal's downfall. Years later, Dillinger's reputation was forged in a single 12-month period, during which he robbed more banks than Jesse James did in 15 years and became the most wanted fugitive in the nation.

Dillinger didn't last in the Navy very long. Within months he had gone AWOL several times–the last time in December 1923. Making his way back to Indiana, he was arrested for armed robbery the following summer. Dillinger pled guilty, thinking that he would receive a light sentence, but instead got 10 to 20 years. His first words to the warden at the prison were, "I won't cause you any trouble except to escape." A man of his word, Dillinger had attempted to escape three times by the end of the year.

Between escape attempts, Dillinger became friendly with some of the more professional thieves in the prison. After he was finally paroled in May 1933, Dillinger hooked up with his new friends and began robbing banks throughout the Midwest. He also began planning to break his friends out of prison. In September, he smuggled guns in to Harry Pierpont, who led a 10-man break from the Michigan City prison.

In 1933, Dillinger's assistance turned out to be fortuitous because as his friends were breaking out, Dillinger himself was captured and arrested for bank robbery in Dayton, Ohio, and then imprisoned in Lima, Ohio. Pierpont and the others returned the favor and broke Dillinger out in October, killing a sheriff in the process. The gang was now in full force. A week later, they raided a police arsenal in Peru, Indiana. The arrogant bandits pretended to be tourists who wanted to see what weapons the police were going to use to capture the Dillinger gang.

Given the remarkable string of armed robberies and acts of violence in such a short period of time, police departments throughout the Midwest set up special units to capture Dillinger. Ironically, his eventual arrest was the result of pure luck. While hiding out in Tucson, Arizona, Dillinger was caught in a fire that broke out in his hotel. Firefighters became suspicious when they were offered a large sum of money to save two heavy suitcases. When they found a small arsenal of guns inside, those involved, including Dillinger, were taken into custody.

Dillinger was extradited to Indiana and held in what was believed to be an escape-proof jail, with extra guards posted to protect against outside attacks. But on March 3, 1934, Dillinger used a fake pistol that he had carved out of wood and painted black to escape. For the next several months, Dillinger and his gang went on a bank-robbing spree with the FBI one step behind at all times. J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI, reportedly put out an order that agents should shoot Dillinger on sight. An immigrant named Anna Sage offered to set the outlaw up if deportation proceedings against her for operating a brothel were dropped. On July 22, 1934, detective Martin Zarkovich shot a man identified by the FBI as Dillinger as he was leaving the Biograph Theater in Chicago, Illinois.

Some historians believe that the man killed that day was not Dillinger, and that Dillinger may have engineered the setup to drop out of sight. If so, he was successful–no further record of Dillinger exists.”

--------- Then on the same date:

Dillinger gunned down, Jul 22, 1934:

“Outside Chicago's Biograph Theatre, notorious criminal John Dillinger--America's "Public Enemy No. 1"--is killed in a hail of bullets fired by federal agents. In a fiery bank-robbing career that lasted just over a year, Dillinger and his associates robbed 11 banks for more than $300,000, broke jail and narrowly escaped capture multiple times, and killed seven police officers and three federal agents.”

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Yesterday:

After I fed the 7 animals here, all in their separate dishes, Ray painted the top boards on the lattice walkway fence, while I went around doing odd jobs.  One gate had to be rasped so it would close properly.  When Jay had replaced the lower panels on the screen porch, the excess tar paper was hanging out, so I cut that off.  One of Mindi’s dogs had been travel sick in her carrier, so I washed that. Ray and I figured out what kind of latches will work best on the new gates. Then all the hardware is going to be painted ‘hammered black’ to contrast with the white paint.  That will stop the hardware from rusting.

I stay with the 5 boarders while they are doing their thing in the back yard, so I raked up some of the pine needles knocked down by the recent rains.  Mindi’s dogs kept me fairly busy in the afternoon.  I brushed them all, cut their nails, and groomed the faces of the poodles. They weren’t here for grooming, just boarding, but I wanted to make them feel, and look, better.  They just don’t look healthy, but Mindi feeds them grocery store pet food, and it shows.  Then everyone was fed again.

Much to my chagrin, I still can’t get my foster cat, Nala,  to eat wet food.  I even offered her some of Misty’s organic chicken, but she won’t touch it.  Dry cay food is so bad for cats, I have to do something.

One more thing outta here - Mindi bought a printer/fax from me when she picked up her dogs before 9.00pm yesterday.