To whom it may concern

An open letter to the person who lets their dog foul the sidewalk in front of my house and doesn't pick it up:

I hope you ruin a good pair of shoes because of someone else's stupidity.

Sincerely,

Michael Woyton

New paws keep cat on the move

Oscar is a lucky kitty.

He lost his two hind legs in an accident with a combine harvester, but a veterinarian took him to a neuro-orthopedic surgeon.

The surgeon made peg legs for Oscar and watch the video to see how well he gets around.

Not counting the surgery, the cost was $3,000.

Here's an Associated Press article by Maria Cheng via yahoo.com.

The artificial paws were designed to be fused to bone and skin.

The veterinarians then inserted the peg-like implants by drilling them into Oscar's ankle bones in his rear legs. The metal implants are attached to the bone where Oscar lost his paws and were coated with a substance that helps bone cells grow directly over them. The cat's own skin then grew over the end of the peg to form a natural seal to prevent infections.

After rehab training, Oscar was on all four feet in less than four months.

Pretty amazing.

Lucky dogs

A Miami Beach woman left her mansion and $3 million to her three dogs.

Here's the video from WTVG-TV in Toledo, Ohio.

Gail Posner died in March at the age of 67. She left most of her money to her mansion staff, but left $3 million and the mansion to her dogs.

Her only son, Bret Carr, got $1 million and is suing. He claims the staff scammed his mother into changing her will.

Drink up

On a recent visit to the Walkway Over the Hudson, it was nice to see watering stations set up for pets. For dogs, I'm assuming. Unless people take their iguanas for walk these days.

Sleeping pretty

Dogged pursuit of legislation?

From a dog's point of view, every day could be "Take Your Congressman to Work Day."

Here's a photo gallery of the pooches of Capitol Hill and the Congressmen and Congresswomen who love them.

I love the idea of squeaky toys scattered around the office.

Natural Balance recalls dry dog food

Natural Balance Pet Foods Inc. has recalled some of its dog food because it potentially is contaminated with Salmonella.

The Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Chicken Dry Dog Food with the "Best By" date of June 17, 2011 in the 5-pound and 28-pound bags have been recalled.

No illnesses have yet been associated with the recall, said Food Safety News.

Read the whole article here.

The recalled product was manufactured on Dec. 17. The recall was issued after a sample came back positive for Salmonella in a routine test conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Salmonella in dry pet food can infect both humans and animals.

For humans, symptoms of Salmonella include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and fever.

More serious ailments including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation, and urinary tract problems. Anyone exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.

Pets with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain.

Infected but otherwise healthy pets can be carriers and infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.

The recall was not issued for New York.

Recalled products were only distributed in pet specialty stores in the states of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

People who purchased the product are urged to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.

NOTE: This is Dick van Patten's dog food company.

Get walking and take your dog, too

A recent article from WebMC Health News said walking your dog can help keep you fit and may also ward off high blood pressure and cholesterol.

Read the article here.

"Dog owners who don't walk their dog are missing a great opportunity to get physical activity and stay healthy," says researcher Cindy Lentino, MS, an exercise scientist at George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.

"If you walk your dog just 30 minutes a day, you can meet national recommendations for physical activity," she tells WebMD.

The study was presented at a meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in Baltimore.

It involved 916 healthy people averaging age 40, three-fourths of whom were women.

Compared with participants who regularly walked their four-legged pals, dog owners who didn't walk their pets:

• Were 58% more likely to be overweight or underweight.
• Were substantially less likely to meet the ACSM/American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines for physical activity, which call for moderately intense cardio exercise at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week. That means working hard enough to raise your heart rate and break a sweat, yet still being able to carry on a conversation.
• Spent about 30 more minutes sitting around every day, on average.
• Were more than twice as likely to have high blood pressure.

When matched against people who didn't own a dog, the dog walkers:

• Were 11% less likely to use tobacco products.
• Had about one-third the risk of diabetes.
• Were about 15% less likely to have high blood pressure and about 30% less likely to have high cholesterol.
• Were about 35% less likely to have symptoms of depression.

Give a dog a rabbit, he eats for one meal ...

That dog don't hunt.

It helps to say that with a southern accent.

Did you ever want to teach your hunting-breed dog to, well, hunt?

There's a place in Carlisle, Pa., that will do just that. Here's the story from Robbie Brown with the New York Times.

We were at the Fun Field Trial here, a hunting training program held in the spring for dogs that have never hunted but whose breeds were created to do so. Part doggie boot camp, part nature-versus-nurture science experiment and part outdoorsman’s Westminster Dog Show, the trial was founded last year by two local basset hound clubs to test the hunting instincts of ordinary house dogs.

It's for bassets, beagles, dachshunds and petit basset griffon vendeens, dogs bred centuries ago to help hunters get fast prey.

Some say domesticated pooches have lost the ability to hunt.

Alexandra Horowitz, a Barnard College dog behavior expert, said dogs may not go to their natural ways if they are allowed to hunt.

“People think if we put dogs in the right environment, they’ll just go back to their wild ways,” she said. “It really just depends on the breed and the individual dog.”

Change the letters around, pets becomes pest

Some say they are pets, but others call them pests.

East Anchorage, Alaska, residents have a rabbit problem.

Read the story by Rosemary Shinohara in the Anchorage Daily News here.

Some of the residents near Cheney Lake are at war with rabbits. Rabbits that shear off broccoli plants in their gardens. Rabbits that devour lilies in the flower beds. Rabbits that destroy perennials bought for $7 apiece.

Retired schoolteacher Collin Smith has posted a lime green sign in her driveway on Sherwood Avenue: "Rabbits have ruined my flower beds, eaten plants and flowers! Now what?" with a double underline on the "what."

Some say maybe 100 or more rabbits are on the loose in East Anchorage devouring gardens and some flowers.

"This was cabbage and broccoli," [Amber] Reichardt said, pointing to a space where plants had been eaten away from raised beds in the backyard. "I replanted all of it. Two hours later they ate it again."

She and her husband have since tried to rabbit-proof their yard with chicken wire under the gate and a barricade where the fence meets the house. As of Friday, the line of defense was holding. "It's been 13 days, a little bit shy of two weeks. We're doing well."

Not everyone hates the rabbits.

Paul Rotkis, who lives on Yorkshire Lane, across the creek from Otter Street and rabbit central, says he's only seen a few different ones around Yorkshire. "They're not a nuisance," he said. "Almost everybody likes them on Yorkshire."

He said he's been feeding two black ones for more than a year.

Iams cat food recall

Procter & Gamble Company is voluntarily recalling specific lots of its Iams canned cat food in North America as a precautionary measure. Tests indicated the product may contain insufficient levels of thiamine (Vitamin B1), which is essential for cats.

Here's a link to the Iams announcement.

The affected product is all varieties of the 3-ounce and 5.5-ounce cans of Iams ProActive Health canned Cat and Kitten food with the date on the bottom of the can 9/2001 to 6/2012.

P&G said the product should be discarded. For refunds or more information, call 1-877-340-8826 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET.

Was it a howl-along?

The Sydney Opera House on Saturday was the scene for a concert by performance artist Laurie Anderson.

So far nothing unusual about that, except for the fact that Anderson debuted her "Music for Dogs" composition ... for dogs.

Here's the Associated Press story via Yahoo.com.

Hundreds of dogs and their owners bounced around as Anderson entertained them with 20 minutes of thumping beats, whale calls, whistles and a few high-pitched electronic sounds imperceptible to human ears.

"Let's hear it from the medium dogs!" Anderson called out from the stage, as a few dogs yipped in return. "You can do better than that — come on mediums! Whoo! WHOOOOOO!"

Anderson said the idea for the concert developed out of a chat with cellist Yo-Yo Ma while they were backstage at a graduation.

Wait until the baby gets a little older ...

Get ready for a cuteness overload.

Here's a video of a dog playing with a baby.

You might want to turn down the volume because the video contains a lot of loud baby laughter.

Can't go to class ... have to walk my dog

College can be tough on students. For many, it's the first time you've been away from family for extended periods. Then there are the classes, new friends, new challenges.

How about throwing a dog into the mix?

Would that help or hinder?

A recent New York Times article by Jacques Steinberg talks about Stephens College in Columbia, Mo.

That institution welcomes students and their pet pooches. So much so that they've renovated a dormitory — called Pet Central — with a kennel on the first floor staffed by work-study students.

With these efforts, Stephens is hoping to smooth the transition of some students who may be so anxious about leaving home or adjusting to college life that a stuffed animal will not be of sufficient comfort. They want the real thing.

Stephens joins a growing number of colleges putting out a welcome mat for pets. They include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the State University of New York at Canton, which allow cats in some dorm rooms; and Eckerd College in South Florida and Washington & Jefferson College in Pennsylvania, which set aside rooms for students with dogs or cats and others who love animals so much they just want to live near them.

Dianne Lynch, the president of Stephens, predicted more colleges will embrace the concept.

“Colleges will begin to recognize that this is important to students,” she said, adding that in an increasingly competitive recruiting market for top students, becoming known as pet-friendly is another way for a college to differentiate itself.

Stephens, the article said, began allowing dogs and cats in specific dorms in 2003.

Some, though, think there is a down side to allowing pets in college dorms.

The article quotes Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz, a psychiatrist, who worries that allowing a student to have a pet might slow the transition from child to adult and could mask serious problems such as depression.

And here is Maureen O'Connor's take on the article from Gawker.

Ugliest dog dead at 17

I'm a few days late on this but am going to post it anyway.

How often do you get to write the world's ugliest pedigree dog died?

Here's the story from the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Miss Ellie, the Chiness Crested hairless died at the age of 17 in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

Miss Ellie was rescued when she was 7 years old and brought to live with her owner, Dawn Goehring, and 13 other rescue dogs. In her final days, Miss Ellie was continually working on raising awareness and money for rescue animals. She was entered in the 2010 World's Ugliest Dog contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, Calif., and had planned to travel to California next month to compete one more time for the Ugliest Dog title before her retirement.

Even in death, Miss Ellie continues to raise money for the Sevier County Humane Society. See the Comedy Barn Canines Facebook page for more information.

New use for a dog's nose

Research is indicating that dogs may be able to detect chemicals released into urine by prostate tumors.

Read the article by WebMD.com writer Charlene Laino here.

The concept isn't new. Other researchers have reported varying degrees of success using dogs to detect cancers of the skin, lung, and bladder, says researcher Pierre Bigot, MD, of Tenon Hospital in Paris.

The theory is that many tumors release chemicals with distinct odors that can be picked up by dogs, whose sense of smell is much more sensitive than that of humans, he tells WebMD.

Researchers used a Belgian Malinois, a breed used in drug and bomb detection. The dog was trained to identify urine from a patient with confirmed prostate cancer and then taught to tell samples that were from healthy men.

Out of 66 tests, the dog was correct 63 times. Other dogs are now being tested.

The goal is not to have dogs sniffing around hospital testing labs, but to determine what chemicals the dogs are identifying and then develop a more accurate electronic detection system, something the article calls an "electronic nose."

He thought he was a kitten?

From Charlotte, N.C., television station WCNC, via the Huffington Post, comes the tale of a puppy stuck in a car engine.

See the video here.

If pigs could ... swim?

The Bahamas has swimming pigs?

See a video here.