Entries by Cindy Steinle

From Science Daily:

Decimated by illegal hunting for both food and the pet trade along with habitat loss, many turtle species will go extinct in the next decade unless drastic conservation measures are taken, according to the report, which was released at a regional workshop hosted by Wildlife Reserves Singapore and WCS. Seventeen of the 25 species are found in Asia, three are from South America, three from Africa, one from Australia, and one from Central America and Mexico

....

"Turtles are being unsustainably hunted throughout Asia," said co-author Brian D. Horne of the Wildlife Conservation Society. "Every tortoise and turtle species in Asia is being impacted in some manner by the international trade in turtles and turtle products. In just one market in Dhaka, Bangladesh we saw close to 100,000 turtles being butchered for consumption during a religious holiday, and we know of at least three other such markets within the city."
Liz Bennett, Vice President of WCS Species Program, said: "Turtles are wonderfully adapted to defend themselves against predators by hiding in their shells, but this defense mechanism doesn't work against organized, large-scale human hunting efforts. The fact is that turtles are being vacuumed up from every nook and cranny in Asia and beyond."

While pet trade is often blamed, as this article shows, there are far more factors more damaging to native reptile populations.

It's a holiday made for the dogs. Wednesday, February 23, is International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day, and let me tell you, each "cookie" mine get, they do appreciate!

Here is an easy recipe from the Pit Bull Rescue Central blog today:

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour (you can use another type of flour if your dog is sensitive to wheat)
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup peanut butter, chunky or smooth
1 1/4 cups hot water
Additional flour for rolling

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350° F
Mix dry ingredients together.
Mix in the peanut butter and hot water. You may need to add more flour if the dough is too sticky.
Knead the dough well.
Roll out the dough into 1/4" thickness and cut into shapes with dog cookie cutters.
Bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet for 40 minutes. Turn off the oven and let them cool overnight.
After cooling, the cookies get very hard, just the way dogs like them!

They are good at room temp for a week, but can be refrigerated or frozen for longer storage.

Of course, you can go the easy route like me and stop at your local doggie bakery.

So, do you have a great recipe? We'd love to see it!

And check out a dog celebrating this holiday under the jump!

Continue reading "Is your dog ready for International Dog Cookie Day?"

Oprah Winfrey won a bet of questionable taste with talk show host Piers Morgan by getting convicted dogfighter Michael Vick to agree to appear on her show. From the Huffington Post:

Oprah has won her bet with Piers Morgan about who would book Michael Vick on their show first.

The two made the bet when Oprah was a guest on Morgan's show back in January. The bet was for 200 British pounds, or around $300.

On Monday, it was announced that Vick would indeed appear on Thursday's episode of Oprah's show.

Still, it's not clear if either Oprah or Morgan will get the money. Last week, Oprah tweeted to Morgan, "I'm pulling out of the bet. I don't know why I let you talk me into it. I don't gamble. Still love you."

I'm willing to wait and see what happens during the interview before forming an opinion about it, but I can't help but remember the last time Oprah had a Vick-related segment scheduled -- this one not about the "comeback kid" football player, but about his victims.

The Oprah crew had shot some footage of ex-Vick dog Jonny Justice, now a happy pet in the San Francisco Bay Area, and were preparing to fly Andrew and his ex-Vick dog, Hector, to Chicago for the show. At the last moment, the Vick dogs segment was canceled. From the Bad Rap blog in September, 2010:

We were disappointed in a "it figures" way. Canceling guests in the final hour is apparently commonplace with the Oprah Show, although we speculate that bailing on this particular story had something to do with the subject matter. It's common knowledge that Oprah is leery of pit bulls, so the topic of dogs once destined to fight now employed as cuddle buddies might've been too big of a stretch for someone who may not have noticed how normal the dogs have been acting since they came home.

Producers told us that there were "big debates" going on between staff about this story, one of them being whether or not to show sensationalistic fight footage in connection with the warm/fuzzy parts of the story. No wonder they were confused.

I'm worried about the upcoming segment, but can't deny I have a secret hope they'll use the Jonny footage on this show. The audience needs to see it. And the rescuer in my heart wants Vick to see it, too.

Follow up: 2/17/2011 - Michael Vick has cancelled on the Oprah show siting "Personal Reasons". Catch the full story at the Huffington post here.

When Krakatoa the Komodo dragon passed away this summer, my heart fell. I had the priveledge to get up close and personal to the amazing boy on a visit to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. But questions still remained as to what would kill such a young, seemingly healthy animal.

Now, the St. Augustine Record reports:

Dr. Darryl Heard said Krakatoa was a young lizard when he died, which could have put him at risk for viral infections, as young animals have yet to develop immunity against the diseases. Heard is the primary veterinarian for the St. Augustine Alligator Farm and the zoological medicine service chief at the Department of Small Animal Clinical Science at the University of Florida.

Krakatoa had minor changes in his spinal cord, which could have been on-going damage from a viral disease, Heard said.

Other signs of neurological damage included some spinal cord lesions and also a weakness in the lizard's legs, leading Krakatoa to position his legs awkwardly, Heard said.

Steps are being taken to prevent illness in Tambora, the 3-year-old female originally planned to mate with Krakatoa.

Brueggen said the results from Krakatoa's necropsy are frustrating, mostly because it doesn't allow the doctors or specialist to focus on how to prevent a certain disease or virus from affecting Tambora.

Heard and Brueggen both said Tambora will be vaccinated for equine encephalitis and West Nile virus to prevent either disease from causing the lizard harm.

Krakatoa tested negative for both viruses, but both the doctor and Brueggen said it was a preventive measure.

For the full article, click here.

Another professional sports player is less than impressed with the accolades being heaped on Michael Vick for his performance this past year.

White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle will not be sending any thank you notes to the Eagles for hiring Vick, nor making a call of congratulations to Vick on his comeback year.

Buehrle, who runs his own Sox for Strays program, is saving his love for the dogs.

From CBS Sports:

So Buehrle isn't ready to forgive Vick's dog fighting history, and made that clear in comments to MLB.com.

"Even if you are not a dog lover, how can you sit there and make two dogs fight and one is going to die?" he said. "How could you do that if you are somewhat sane?

"He had a great year and a great comeback, but there were times where we watched the game and I know it's bad to say, but there were times where we hope he gets hurt. Everything you've done to these dogs, something bad needs to happen to these guys."

Go White Sox!

Is a dog really a man's best friend? A lot of "cat guys" are using this week to say, "Hell, no!"

From Huffington Post:

The bond between a cat and a man is often overlooked in favor of the dog-man pairing, but not this week. Cat Guy Week from February 7-13 honors all men who go against the grain when it comes to their choice of house pet: "...you might think these men to be on the softer side, but truth is they are anything but. They are some of the most manliest, most rugged, most testosterone-filled individuals on the planet. This week we celebrate Cat Guys and hope to add to their ranks." Much Love Animal Rescue and LA Animal Services are offering discounted cat adoptions for $50 in honor of all Cat Guys.

Cat guy action alert: They're looking for photos for their slideshow!

The New York Times digs deeper into the phenomenon of the "cat guy":

In fact, Mr. Scalzi thinks that dogs are for the weaker of spirit, since the dog is, in effect, "your wingman."

"If you're feeling insecure about your space in the world, you get a dog because he will always back you up,” he said. “He’s the insecure man's best friend."

A man with a cat, on the other hand, "is secure with himself," he said. "He's sharing his space with a predator."

Many women agree that guys with cats are extra special.

[....]

The Cats Protection study found that single male cat owners were more likely than their female counterparts to have made, or consider making, a sacrifice for their cat — including giving up a holiday or going into debt for their cat if necessary.

Single men were also almost as likely as single women to break a friendship rather than lose their cat, and would consider choosing their cat over their partner.

Having been raised by a cat guy, this all comes as no shock to me.

Let's make every week "Cat Guy Week"!

The outrage sparked yesterday by a viral video posted by a man identifying himself as Richard Hunter sent shockwaves to the City of Dallas. Mayor Tom Leppert is now stating Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway didn't have the power to give away the keys to the city

From FoxPhilly:

This weekend, a top Dallas official gave the Philadelphia Eagles' Michael Vick the key to his city. On Monday, the city's mayor demanded the key back from Vick.

....

"The action taken was not sanctioned by my office and was not an official ceremonial honor on behalf of the City of Dallas," he said in a statement. "Official Keys to the City are presented by the Mayor, or an elected official designated by the Mayor, and reserved, on a limited basis, for an elected official of international status. Clearly, this was not the case in this situation and done without my knowledge or approval."

A local radio reporter, who adopted one of Vick's dogs, filmed the event and posted the video on You Tube.

Leppert said he wants to make sure an incident like that doesn't happen again.

"Given these circumstances I have requested the City Manager propose guidelines to prevent this situation in the future."

Of course,the video taken at the key ceremony also let us dog owners judge really how far Vick's rehabilitation has come. It let us see his reaction to hard hitting honest questions about his dogs.

A reporter who said he had adopted one of Michael Vick's pit bulls confronted Vick about his dogs at a media event in Dallas last week.

Dallas Councilmember and Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway awarded Vick the "key to the city" at a ceremony on Feb. 5. A man, who identified himself as Richard Hunter of 1190 AM radio, said he had adopted one of Vick's former fighting dogs and wanted to ask him a couple of questions about the dogs.

Richard Hunter is the name of the man who owns Mel, one of Vick's former dogs.

Vick refused to answer, just looked at Hunter and walked away while one of his security team says, "We don't care about the dog."

Caraway confirmed he gave Vick the key to the city:

"I gave it to him, sure I did," Caraway said. "The wayward children that were there needed to have hope."
He said he believes "a great majority" of the people of Dallas would supported his decision, despite Vick's conviction for running a vicious dog-fighting ring.
"In the eyes of many people, he's a hero," said Caraway, adding that he doesn't condone animal cruelty.

Guess we have different definitions of "hero."

View the video of the encounter under the jump, or here.

Continue reading "Reporter asks Vick about his dogs -- on camera"

Chicago radio personality Steve Dale posted last week, questioning the Humane Society of the United States' support of Michael Vick. A representative of HSUS showed up to respond, and the comments were as good as the post itself.

Steve has been a longtime supporter of American Pit Bull Terriers, and has been one of their biggest and most vocal defenders in the Chicagoland area. As with all of us in the pibble community, we get our hackles up when folks refer to Vick as a hero. In Steve's post, he questioned President Obama and HSUS on their support of Vick's so-called redemption:

I understand that Vick did time for his crime. And I even credit him for managing a comeback under public scrutiny. I credit Vick for his community service, attempting to steer young people in targeted communities away from dogfighting. Then again, these community appearances (made in conjunction with the Humane Society of the United States) are mandated by the court and are all carefully orchestrated events. Hopefully, they do some good.

This elicited a response from "AnneHSUS":

HSUS operates anti-dogfighting campaigns in Atlanta, Chicago and Philadelphia, and we work with men who were involved in dogfighting and who have put it aside and turned into anti-dogfighting advocates. This is the program that Michael Vick is now involved with.

Dale got it wrong by saying that Vick’s speaking engagements are court-ordered. They are voluntary.

Dogfighting in urban communities – generally known as “street fighting” – has been rising across the nation. Putting Vick on the speaking circuit to reach young African American men with a cautionary tale about his own terrible decisions on dogfighting has the potential to help us turn around this problem. That’s the reason we are working with Vick.

Regarding the question of Vick getting a dog for his daughters, what our president and CEO said in entirety was that now is not the time for Vick to have a dog. That decision will and should be made after his probation is up. All of our work at The HSUS is predicated on the fact that we are all capable of change, of showing more compassion, of doing the right thing. If we didn’t believe people could change, there would be no point to any of our work.

Steve offers an amazing response, as do the rest of the commentators. Definitely worth checking out!

When President Obama praised Michael Vick last week, I suggested a a call be made to the Vicktims. While that hasn't happened yet, perhaps it is because President Obama has not yet read "The Lost Dogs."

Donna Reynolds however has a great solution to that problem, inspired by Christie Keith's review of the book on SFGate.com this morning: Let's get "The Lost Dogs" to the White House.

According to Donna's blog post over at Bad Rap today:

1) More book sales would help keep 'The Lost Dogs' high on the top seller lists. Good. 2) The White House would of course have to figure out what to do with your gift. According to the Brookings Institution, "Presidents and their First Ladies receive thousands of gifts each year, from large to small, from domestic to gifts from heads of state. Any gift not from a foreign official must be logged by the White House Gift Unit and managed by one of several domestic agencies."

This could help get the book into underfunded libraries or the numerous literacy programs around the country. This could also help show to people why we "dog people" are so upset each time we hear the name Michael Vick, and why each pound of praise of his "redemption" makes our brains explode.

Granted, the $15 could go directly to rescues, but the press reaction to hundreds or thousands of books could also go a lot further to helping bring the pain of dog fighting to light. It also shows that these dogs are not what their reputation is. Sometimes education is just as important as fundraising. Christie has some great instructions on her blog post at Pet Connection. Following her instructions will not only get the books to the White House, but also get donations to the folks at Bad Rap.

Go do it!