A Europe wide ban on the trade in dog & cat fur comes into force on 01 January. One of Britain's national daily newspapers, the Daily Express, reports (thumbnail) on the ban. Australia, and the USA in 2000, introduced similar legislation, and HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) offers their perspective on the EU ban. The task now will be to enforce the new law.

Fur is said to be gaining popularity in the fashion world, with China the major supplier of low cost finished trimming and garments. Checks on goods in stores in the USA have revealed that some suppliers simply relabeled their fur as synthetic, evading the import ban. Legislation is usually a prerequisite for change, but without adequate enforcement it is ineffective.

A ban on horse slaughter in the USA shifted the pattern of the trade — when there were no domestic slaughter facilities remaining, the animals were shipped to Mexico or Canada for slaughter. The trade did not cease; business adapted to the new conditions and life, or death in this case, continued.

The domestic ban was sought on the basis that the slaughter facilities were sub standard (which raises the question, 'What were the governmental agencies responsible for inspection and enforcement doing the while?') and now a ban on export is being sought on the grounds that foreign slaughter facilities are even worse — legislation chasing its own tail.

The real answer is to change the pattern of demand. We hope that banning dog & cat fur is not shifting cruelty and exploitation to members of another species. We wonder if all this is really about ending animal cruelty, or if it is more about overwrought human sensibilities over a few selected species.

Just before Christmas 2008, Voodoo the Manx cat fell from the balcony of a penthouse in Runaway Bay, on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Sheree Washington, Voodoo's human, chronicled the incident (thumbnail) for the media, and appears in a short video. Paris Hilton visits the area today, and the GoldCoast web site muses that she might be a modern day Mother Teresa.

With that kind of journalism at large, is anyone in the Australian media actually surprised that sentient beings hurl themselves off high buildings?

Jasmine, a rescued greyhound, now lives at the Nuneaton Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary (NWWS) in the West Midlands, England. There is nothing fake about the picture (thumbnail) because she has played mother to fifty animals brought into the sanctuary.

Somewhat to our surprise, the illustrative and decorative image thumbnails on the NWWS web site are clickable. Our two favorites are: [1] Jasmine with Roxy the fox; and [2] a fox cub with a badger cub — it seems that the lion shall indeed lie down with the lamb; or at least be misquoted as doing so.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the lion will lie down with the lamb. Misquoting scripture seems to be so prevalent that we came across a web page that attempted to rank the frequency of misquoting. You will not be surprised to learn that top of the list was Paul's first letter to Timothy 6:10: For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (King James Bible)

As close as it gets with lions & lambs is (using the New American Standard Bible as an authoritative translation of the original texts): Isaiah 65:25: "The wolf and the lamb shall graze together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain", says the LORD. Again in Isaiah 11:6: And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the kid, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them.

The nearest recorded circumstances to Isaiah's prophecy (this side of the Second Coming) was in Africa. Kamunyuk, the name means Blessed One in Samburu, was a young Kenyan lioness who adopted a series of oryx calves.

Saba Douglas-Hamilton made a film about the rare events, and her web site has information and a gallery (thumbnail) of stills. Animal Planet has a site dedicated to the film, entitled Heart of a Lioness, and in the video section there are movie clips and a trailer for the program.

Roxie is an Israeli herding dog who helps children with their reading skills. Read (thumbnail) about the work Roxie does as a member of the TDI (Therapy Dogs International) service. If children reading to dogs is a new concept for you, then the Tail Waggin' Tutors web page and the accompanying video should get you up to speed. Now, read that back to me. Slowly & clearly.

Most cultures and locations can offer some sort of beast, either a fantasy or something less bizarre but equally esoteric. We lived in a place that offered a vampire, and another that reported 200 big cat sightings in 2002. A recent newspaper report (thumbnail) tantalizes with possible recorded evidence — then dashes those hopes by reporting that the camera was not recording. Sigh.

Nobody knows when the last wolf was killed in Britain, although 1743 by a hunter named MacQueen is often cited. Britain was largely tamed in the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is still possible to get yourself killed through misadventure, but highly unlikely that anyone will experience a major incident with a wild animal. It is high time that changed.

If you have walked beside the lake, actually a reservoir but only just, or through the timber plantations of Ennerdale, you might smile at the notion. However, there were ancient smelting operations in the valley, and higher up there is what is generally described as a fox trap, but perhaps it was also a wolf trap. There are still the remains of the ancient oak forests, and now there are suggestions (thumbnail) that the area might be rewilded. We look forward to the first bear encounter, and wish both parties a safe retreat.

Stuart Brown gave a talk entitled Animals at Play, which was accompanied by a slideshow featuring images recorded by Norbert Rosing in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. The pictures seem to show a polar bear playing with some sled dogs. The play interpretation generated enough scepticism that web truth watchdog Snopes has an entry, including a cautionary note on interpretation.

While it may be that describing the depicted behavior as 'play' is mild anthropomorphizing, the behavior is certainly closer to 'recreational' than the savage killing behavior that polar bears use to acquire food in their harsh environment. Perhaps a video from the now defunct First Science TV service may sway the argument towards the less behaviorist side of the debate.

Rose Woodward thought her companion dog Tikaani had lost her pups. The good news (thumbnail) was that eight of the Alaskan Malamutes puppies survived — heavens above, that's a whole dog sled team (video)! For a group picture of the pack we have to refer you to The Sun, not a destination we would normally choose — so don't you be going to look at those Page Three girls.

It was WC Fields who advised, "Never work with children or animals." Clearly that sentence, along with "It's raining cats and dogs" we are told, (thumbnail) doesn't translate very well into German. For one TV news reporter in the USA, a simple warning, "Whatever you do, don't turn your back on them", would probably have sufficed. Who said cows don't have opinions?

Drugs obtained by using animals is an established practice: for example, Premarin (PREgnant MARes' urINe) has been available since 1942. A new twist (thumbnail) is that for the first time the US Food & Drug Administration will evaluate a drug from a genetically modified animal. Goat fanciers will enjoy an unrelated report and video of a more traditional activity.

If you must dress up your pet, be sure you know what your doing. In the UK, the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Protection of Animals) has compared the practice to leaving dogs in cars during hot weather and warned that if people consistently allow their dogs to get too hot when wearing clothing they could face prosecution (thumbnail). Really, it is that serious.

Feel free to be a fashion victim yourself, but don't let your dog become one — for your dog it may be more than an embarrassment; it may be more than extreme discomfort; it may be a health threat. You have been advised.

During the summer of 2008, sixteen bottlenose dolphins established residence in New Jersey in the the rivers Shrewsbury and Navesink. Those dolphin numbers have dwindled through the autumn and winter, with some deaths recorded, and media reports of claims that the remaining dolphins need help. Representations have been made by a NJ Senator and a NJ Representative.

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is responsible for management of the dolphins, and is taking a 'hands off' stance (thumbnail report and image). NOAA has established a series of seminars to provide comprehensive information and to address concerns over their management of the dolphins. The latest seminar will be held tonight.

The Grand Rapids Press [thumbnail] [2] on the Michigan Live web site does a fair to middling job of reporting the case of abuse involving Chance, a labrador who was tortured by a local man. Although the role of local organization Wishbone Pet Rescue is mentioned, typical for 'old media' reporting, no link is provided [sigh]. We used a readily available tool to obtain the link [grin].

Chance's full story is available from the Wishbone blog and a dedicated web page. As BAM rescue dog Candoo begins his struggle back to a good life, it's heartening to learn of other animals who have made a recovery from the neglect or abuse inflicted upon them by humans. Perhaps some day pets will be seen less as an act of acquisition and an object of ownership, and more as an opportunity for behaviors contributing to leading a virtuous life.

It takes a special kind of person to write a letter of complaint that would get a cat banned from a small town post office. Such a person lives in Notasulga, Alabama, also the home of Sammy the cat. Has nobody warned this wretched person that cats have special powers, which they have no compunction about about using in full against their enemies?

Now, right now, would be a good time for this person to write a humble letter of apology, and recant while there is still time. The address is: Sammy the Cat, PO Box 173, Notasulga, AL 36866. A small gift such as a catnip mouse, available at many pet supply stores, would not go amiss.

Local residents are enraged (thumbnail) and at any time they may assemble at midnight, with burning rush torches and pitchforks, outside the suspect's house. It's a small town, and we all know that in small towns everybody knows everybody else's business, including the cat.

Michou, a miniature poodle, was left unattended over Christmas and New Year (thumbnail) in a vehicle at the Burlington, Vermont, airport. The dog was discovered after nineteen days. We researched: we read that linked report from the local newspaper web site (they even assembled a gallery of Michou pictures) and we watched the video report from the local TV station, WPTZ.

We are still bemused. If you are like us, you will go crazy if you try and come up with a reasonable explanation for this story: there are just too many loose ends, improbable circumstantial requirements, and missing pieces of information. Perhaps Michou holds the missing clue that would make everything drop into place; perhaps Pascal Bellon, Michou's former carer (we use the word in its loosest sense), would be able to explain. We refuse to speculate, but glad that ultimately it was not a tragedy of errors.

Minnesota (the name means 'somewhat clouded water' in the Dakota language) claims to be The Land of 10,000 Lakes, and in fact there are 11,842 lakes over 10 acres in extent. Almost sixty percent of Minnesota's residents live in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area, which is known as the Twin Cities. Joe Mansheim and his buddy Frank (thumbnail) are two such residents.

The pair deliver construction materials thereabouts: Joe does the driving; Frank is the duck riding shotgun. Watch the video report if you think this is just a tall story. Before you rush off to get yourself a duck as a companion animal, heed the warning: ducks cannot be house or cab trained.

Extending care and compassion towards wandering dogs is a worthy undertaking at any time: for active service military personnel in a war zone (thumbnail) to attempt that task requires a commitment of a vastly greater magnitude. Pen Farthing, a Royal Marines sergeant, did just that in a place named Now Zad, Afghanistan. He has written One Dog At A Time about his experiences.

For more information about efforts to help Afghanistan's wandering dogs, visit the Nowzad Dogs web site, or the Afghan Stray Animal League web site, which has further details about Jena, one of the dogs helped by Pen Farthing.

Attentive regular readers may remember Gwen Bamberg and Ratchet [1] [2] [3] whose story we featured in the latter part of 2008. Now in early 2009 we can report the dénoument: (thumbnail) the homecoming of Gwen from Iraq to be reunited with Ratchet! Gwen will study massage therapy, and wants to train Ratchet to be a therapy dog. We wish them a bright future.

Teri Webster, a professional journalist writing for the Examiner.com and bylined as its Pet Examiner, lists four attacks by Rottweiler dogs during January of this year. Three children died, two children were mauled, and a man was bitten multiple times in the attacks. The headline, perhaps not written by Webster but by a web site editor, is 'A rash of Rottweiler attacks'. Sigh.

While the article lacks journalistic balance, it is not misleading in its core observation: dogs pose a danger, particularly Rottweilers, and particularly to children. Heavy trucks pose a danger, particularly white ones, and particularly to motorcyclists. Determining a national transport policy on such a skewed observation would be foolhardy, and the Pet Examiner wisely avoids anything but listing the selective incident data.

Webster does append advice for potential victims of a dog attack, but sadly the link is broken. Sigh. The intended destination (thumbnail) is a CBS item featuring Dr. Debbye Turner Bell, 'When the Dog Bites', with better balanced reporting: "There is really no such thing as a 'bad breed'." Chihuahuas are listed with the 'Potentially aggressive breeds', and Rottweilers are listed with the 'Typically gentle breeds that have 'bad boy' reputations'.

The advice sourced by Webster appears in its original more expansive and more useful form. Another Turner report, and a video interview with Marcus Porter, offers an attack victim's perspective. We thought the headline, 'Preventing Dog Bites', showed commendable restraint compared to breed specific sensationalism elsewhere, even though the dogs involved were said by the victim's father to be a Rottweiler and a pit bull.

The man in the picture is Dr. Matthew Wheaton of the Alicia Pet Care Center, Mission Viejo, California. The dog is Azure (thumbnail) thanking Wheaton for the $5,000 of medical treatment he donated after she was repeatedly stabbed during a domestic dispute. There is a delightful video report that you may enjoy, and a detailed image gallery with alleged perpetrator, which you may not.

Dr. Wheatton was the founder of The Pet Rescue Center, and as recently as November 2008 the OC Register was reporting on him undertaking another mission of mercy to save Gideon, an horrendously traffic injured stray white German Shepherd. Shouldn't they have Nobel Prizes for people like Matthew Wheaton rather than some of those shady politicians they seem to pick?

Making preparations (thumbnail) before traveling with animals is just one of the subjects covered by an AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) series. If your vehicle was involved in a traffic accident while you were visiting Salt Lake City, and your accompanying dog or cat was injured, where would you go for emergency medical help? What about directions; or phoning ahead?

Perhaps you might wish you had followed the suggestion that you consult the VECCS (Veterinary Emergency & Critical Care Society) database before you departed, and noted a couple of the entries for your destination. The entries we checked had links to Google maps, which might save vital minutes in the aftermath of an accident. Having a phone number might be the difference between getting the help your pet needs, or a quest that ends in failure.

The AVMA series starts with First aid tips for pet owners, but time spent browsing around and following links will bring up advice relevant to many common emergencies. Fortune smiles on those who are prepared.

There is an email doing the rounds (thumbnail) and when we first saw the picture and read the story it tells we laughed. Then we reflected, and decided that exhibiting a dead coyote for laughs disrespects other species. Stop us when the following series becomes uncomfortable: a coyote; a feral dog; an unknown dog; your companion dog; a human adult; a human child.

Yes, we understand that we have just aligned ourselves with tree huggers, cat ladies, and people who think the wind is sacred. On the other hand, people are judged by the company they keep, and if the alternative is to be aligned with blood sport enthusiasts… well, you get the picture. Please don't take this personally, rusty2rusty (the person who submitted the email), or take offense, it's more of a debating point than an accusation.

We searched for the source of the forwarded email we received, and found a copy at ForwardOn, a service that allows you to read other people's email without the guilt associated with looking over their shoulders. To get you started, here is a pre-configured search — wonderful! They are all here, each and every last cutesy animal email you ever received.

If a picture (thumbnail) of a tiny Chihuahua prepped for facial surgery does not soften your stone cold heart then we may well be wasting our time with this newsmag. Emma was born with a cleft palate, and you may read her story in a news release through PRWeb. There are more pictures [2] [3] [4] and a dedicated Dogster page; a video of part of the operation; and a MySpace page.

…and yet in another way, it seems silent screamingly obvious to use sign language (thumbnail) to command a deaf dog — dogs don't talk to each other with words, why should we see deafness as a problem for the dog? On the Telegraph blog Peter Wedderburn discusses animal deafness. Some of our visitors may remember Marlee; blue eyes, and a mostly white coat.

When we think of Florida, what comes to mind is retired folks, and theme parks. We thought that before we visited, and even after we visited. However, a local TV station has not one, but two reports of workers being attacked by wild animals. One man was bitten by a rabid bobcat (thumbnail) while putting up a fence, the second by an alligator while he was collecting litter.

The location of the bobcat attack was reported as "…near the intersection of Kanner Highway and Warfield Blvd in Indiantown", which does not sound like a far flung, wild, back country location to us. The second man was attacked by an 8-10 foot alligator in a park, and some reports said he was dragged into the water, but managed to escape. We wish both men a speedy recovery from their injuries, and the potentially devastating after effects.

Now here is the detail that astounded us — Raymundo Valasco continued working following the alligator attack! After a woman talked to him about his condition he was flown out by helicopter, and is in serious condition.

Clearly Florida is not for sissies like us, although we had already added it to our 'do not call again' list. The heat and humidity, you understand.

The child in the thumbnail is eleven years old Michel 'Michelito' Lagravere. He is not posturing in the way that a child in the USA might dress up as the acclaimed ethnic cleanser of First Nations peoples, Kit Carson: Michelito is the real deal. According to Mexico's National Association of Matadors, Michelito set the international record at his age for calves killed in a two-hour fight.

Guinness World Records (GWR) has said it will not recognise the claim. "We do not accept records based on the killing or harming of animals", says its web site. So, seemingly there are some islands of sanity left in the world.

Some of our visitors might protest that by showing a picture of Michelito in a dramatic stance, presumably actively engaged in his sordid career, we are in some way promoting this vile business. Look again: surely that image would make any self respecting pre teen think twice about emulating Michelito's depravity. So young. So ugly. So enslaved by the traditions of his family.

We chose not to show a widely available picture of Michelito in the act of dispatching a bull, an image we found vile and disturbing. Many media editors, specifically in countries where bullfighting is illegal, saw fit to use that picture. Does exposure to such images reduce or increase the sense of outrage in a non partisan audience?