Michael Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels — “A heartless enthusiast of barbaric pit bull fights”
November 25, 2008
The US Department of Agriculture released their report this week adding new details to the practices at Michael Vicks’ Bad Newz Kennels in Smithfield, Virginia. Vicks, along with several others, has already pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges for running a dog-fighting ring and is expected to plead guilty to state charges, getting a three year suspended sentence. Vicks will be out of Leavenworth in July 2009.
The report shows that after failing an FBI polygraph test in October 2007 the former Atlanta Falcon quarterback recanted his denial and admitted taking part in the hanging of dogs from a nylon cord nailed to a tree and drowning others in a five gallon bucket of water.
Twice Vick put family pets into the fighting ring with pit bulls because he “thought it was funny to watch the pit bulls. . . injure or kill the other dogs.” Vick also admitted watching his friends hang, shoot and electrocute pit bulls.
For the full report go to the Smoking Gun’s site, here.
To learn the details of how Vick went from being the highest paid player in NFL history in 2004, signing a $130 million contract, to bankruptcy while in prison, check out ESPN’s Harper’s Index-style run down on the numbers here.
One bright spot is the $928,073 he was required to give to rehabilitate the 47 pit bulls that survived their time in the Bad Newz Kennels.
Petland stores linked to puppy mills — Must Read!
November 23, 2008
Michael Markarian led a press conference this morning, (Nov. 21) packed with television cameras at The Humane Society of the United States’ headquarters in Washington, D.C., to announce the results of a new eight-month investigation into puppy mill cruelty. The HSUS investigated more than 20 Petland stores and found that these stores, part of the nation’s largest puppy-selling retail chain, are selling dogs from abusive puppy mills in Missouri and across the Midwest, while assuring consumers that they only buy puppies from good breeders with the highest standards of care. Some Petland stores even buy puppies from brokers and middlemen, and may not even know who the breeder is until after the puppy arrives in the store.
Read the rest of this article and see the video here.
Communicate with your pets telepathically?
November 20, 2008
I’ve posted about Dr. Fox previously and here’s one of his newspaper columns from this past week where he encourages readers to submit their stories of communicating telepathically with their pets. Click on the article thumbnail for a readable version.
Telepathy is a term coined by Frederick W.H. Myers in 1882 in an article for the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research. Literally the word means “distance feeling.”
Personally, I don’t think that Dr. Fox or the letter writers in this column are guilty of incompetence or fraud. I accept that they truly believe in the accuracy of their impressions. The real question is, is that belief enough for anyone else to accept that their perception is accurate? Their are many possible explanations that do not require telepathy to be real, in order to account for this perception. It could be simply that these pet owners (and Dr. Fox) are engaging in self-deception or wishful thinking.
There’s another category of possible error that should be mentioned: subjective validation. This is, almost definition, the problem with animal telepathy. We only have the person who believes in the telepathic communication reporting that it is taking place.
In 1994 a British dog owner, Pam Smart claimed that her dog Jaytee, a terrier, was able to psychically sense when she was coming home, according to reports of his behavior by her parents. Jaytee achieved world-wide fame when he was featured on the World of the Paranormal TV show and Channel 4’s Absolutely Animals.
Four years later the results of a scientific study were released and stated that “Jaytee’s love affair with sitting by the porch has more to do with passing cats, playing children and cars whizzing by.” Their conclusion was that “In all four experiments Jaytee failed to detect accurately when Pam Smart set off to return home.” Here’s a BBC article on the case, Psychic Dog Phenomenon brought back down to Earth.
Or Would You Rather Be A Dog? A Sci-Fi short-short from 1952
November 2, 2008
Here’s a two-page sci-fi short short story called “The Terrible Planet” written by Allan Anders. It appeared in the November, 1952 issue, No. 6 of “Fantastic Worlds — Amazing Planet and Space Adventures” a title published by the modestly named Standard Comics. [ A postal regulation required comic books to have at least two pages of text to qualify for a discounted magazine mailing rate. ]
In this tale the Men of Earth Finally Find a Way to Conquer the Menace of Saturn! (Thank God!)
What if the Solar Council offered to temporarily transplant your brain into a robotic body called a Rover. The Rover was nine feet long and six feet high and looked like a giant metal greyhound. This body needed no food and it would function for 60,000 years before it began to deteriorate.
What if you didn’t want to give it back?
Clicking twice on the images below will open a larger, much more readable image in your browser.
Dogs can read emotions: Tell me something I don’t already know
October 30, 2008
Dogs are the only animals that can read emotion in faces much like humans, cementing their position as man’s best friend, claim scientists. Research findings suggest that, like an understanding best friend, they can see at a glance if we are happy, sad, pleased or angry.
This comes from a report in Britain’s Telegraph. for the full article go here.
World’s First Dog lived 31,700 years ago, according to new study
October 29, 2008
From MSNBC.com:
An international team of scientists has just identified what they believe is the world’s first known dog, which was a large and toothy canine that lived 31,700 years ago and subsisted on a diet of horse, musk ox and reindeer, according to a new study.
The discovery could push back the date for the earliest dog by 17,700 years, since the second oldest known dog, found in Russia, dates to 14,000 years ago.
Remains for the older prehistoric dog, which were excavated at Goyet Cave in Belgium, suggest to the researchers that the Aurignacian people of Europe from the Upper Paleolithic period first domesticated dogs. Fine jewelry and tools, often decorated with depictions of big game animals, characterize this culture.
If Paleolithic dogs still existed as a breed today, they would surely win best in show for strength and biting ability.
“In shape, the Paleolithic dogs most resemble the Siberian husky, but in size, however, they were somewhat larger, probably comparable to large shepherd dogs,” added Germonpré, a paleontologist at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.
For the rest of the article, go here.
Melamine-tainted Milk Kills 1,500 dogs in China
October 22, 2008
You may remember that melamine was part of the massive Menu Foods recall story from 2007. It was used then, as it is now, to make a product falsely test higher for protein. Manufacturers use it because it’s significantly cheaper than adding a real source of nitrogen protein. This allows their products to pass inspection, be certified by the Chinese Health Ministry’s inspectors and reach the consumer market.
Four infants have died in this latest scandal, along with the 1,500 dogs, raising concerns about the safety of the entire Chinese food supply chain. Additionally, tens of thousands of Chinese children have developed kidney stones from dairy products contaminated by melamine. The Associated Press has the entire story here.
A further sad note in this story is that these ‘raccoon’ dogs were being bred and raised for their fur, just like minks. Though I have strong reservations about PETA this is one issue we can agree on, fur is murder. Given that no one owns a fur coat out of necessity, eliminating this long-standing fashion statement would mean that one less animal breed would be needlessly exploited.
Disclaimer: I’m wearing leather shoes and a leather belt. It is hard for me to accept absolutes in this particular debate.
Pet Owners: Live Longer & Healthier?
October 22, 2008
How Stuff Works weighs in on the subject of the health benefits of pet ownership, here. We’ve written about this topic before and there are dissenting opinions of precisely how much of a benefit there may be.
When looking at this I think it is wise to always remember these words of Bertrand Russell from 1959:
“When you are studying any matter never let yourself be diverted either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficial social effects if it were believed. Look only and solely at what are the facts.”
Shelters full, Donations and Adoptions Down
October 20, 2008
The New York Times has run an article, (here) about a topic we’ve talked about before: how the financial crisis is affecting pet owners and shelters. As we know, the news is not good. Owners who can no longer afford to keep their pets, shelter adoption rates dropping, shelter workers stressed to the max.
For those who can keep their dogs or cats, Betsy Saul, founder of Petfinder.com offers this hopeful note: “They comfort us; they don’t care if your 401(k) lost money today. They’re one of the few people in the family who are not going to be stressed out about what you did with your money.”
Foie Gras Dog Biscuits – More Proof Americans are Insane
October 8, 2008
“Some people wish for their pets to take as much pleasure in food as they themselves do. For these guests we offer a selection of Bouchon Bakery pet treats. These biscuits, enriched with foie gras, chicken stock and diced bacon, are decadent and delicious.”
It’s so easy to ridicule this given the current economic melt down, you can just make up your own snarky comment. Could I just add that DOGS are not PEOPLE? Does everyone get that? Do I need to repeat it?
