Mila's Mum

Calling Dr Jack, medical care dog stolen at Palm Cove Kate Higgins From: The Courier-Mail August 29, 2011 8:53AM Police are searching for medical care dog Dr Jack who was stolen from his home at Palm Cove. Dr Jack, a seven-year-old Pomeranian who is a care dog for his elderly female owner, was stolen from his front yard in Palm Cove last week. Police say a man was seen leaning over a fence toward Dr Jack at the unit on Harpa and Olivia Streets about 8am on Wednesday. (17 August) The dog was reported missing shortly afterwards. Dr Jack is apricot in colour and has a shorter coat than appears in his photo. He is a care dog for his seriously ill female owner, who has limited mobility. Anyone with information that could help police bring Dr Jack home should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via crimestoppers.com.au. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/calling-dr-jack-medical-care-dog-stolen-at-palm-cove/story-e6freoof-1226124210666

http://www.care2.com/causes/the-love-of-a-good-dog-service-dogs-for-ptsd.html Those of us who love our pets and for whom that four-legged roommate is a member of the family know that sitting with that friend after a bad day at work can be incredibly soothing. After all, if you’ve been yelled at, fought your way through traffic or been shoehorned into a subway car, with your back aching and your feet screaming, coming home to that wagging tail and bright eyes or that purring little cat makes it all a little less stressful. If you have ever seen a child hugging their dog and telling her their heartaches, then you also understand the deep comfort that just stroking a dog or scratching a cat under the chin can give. During deployment, many of us rely on our pets and those of us who don’t have children at home rely on them for companionship. Now imagine you have the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress (PTS), the anxiety, the stress, the inability to sleep. [PTS and PTSD are the same, but the people in the community are now calling it PTS as they dislike being told they are "disordered."] I spoke with a veteran who told me that the only way he could sleep was if his dog was on the bed with him, that the only time he feels safe is when his dog is with him. According to American Women Veterans: Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs, Inc. has recently partnered with the federal government to provide highly trained service dogs to the Veteran’s Administration (VA) for a multi-year scientific study examining the impacts that service dogs have on veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They aren’t alone either. A program at Walter Reed – Paws for Purple Hearts – trained dogs for wounded warriors in wheelchairs. The trainers were service-members diagnosed with PTS, according to a story in the Washington Post. The Paws for Purple Hearts program, which began two years ago, has drawn the interest of a cluster of scientists who think that the human-dog relationship may have measurable clinical impact on the health and well-being of patients, including veterans with PTSD. The Dog Bless You charity provides therapy dogs to veterans with post traumatic stress. Their Facebook page recently held a promotion; for every 5,000 “likes,” they donated a service dog to a PTS-afflicted veteran. According to their web page, 18 dogs were donated from this promotion. Veterans Moving Forward brings dogs in as therapy animals to Walter Reed and Bethesda Medical Centers, to give some comfort and accompany a veteran to an appointment, and psychologists claim that some veterans are more comfortable discussing their symptoms with a dog sitting next to them. There are approximately 300,000 service-members coming back with PTS, and some have other injuries as well. Since service dogs have been helping the disabled to be independent, this is a logical step. The Guardian Angels study, which is being conducted by the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital of Tampa, Florida, is designed to quantify exactly what it is that veterans with PTS can gain from having a service dog. 200 veterans who are being treated for PTS are going to become partners with service dogs who have been trained especially for them. The results of this study, if successful, could mean that other veterans may receive a service dog. Veterans who are in treatment for PTS and who want information should call Carol at Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs at 352-425-1981. Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/the-love-of-a-good-dog-service-dogs-for-ptsd.html#ixzz1TaOUePiy

http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/west/terrier-cross-spends-his-days-cheering-up-hospital-patients/story-fn8m0u4y-1226078558583 THERE'S something special about Chase. Just ask the hundreds of Wesley Hospital patients who have stayed at the nearby Chasely Apartments with the two-year-old "moodle", or Maltese-poodle cross. Manager Maria Wyeth said snow-white canine had something of a "sixth-sense", an uncanny knack of brightening the days of sick guests. About 90 per cent of guests are patients at the adjacent hospital. "It's amazing he knows guests not to touch, he knows who is sick, he knows not to jump up on them," she said. "You see their faces after a long day in the hospital, the first thing they do is they look around for him and their faces just light up. "He makes a connection with them too, we get a lot of repeat guests and it's like he knows when they're coming, he runs around all excited, then, 10 minutes later, they pull into the driveway." Mrs Wyeth said the joy of Chase's presence stays with guests, who sometimes travel from interstate. "It think it's the homely feeling of having Chase around that people appreciate," she said. "He is totally spoilt and at Christmas time people send him toys, parcels and hampers - he gets more than we do, that's for sure."

LINK A HEARTLESS crime lleft a disabled therapy dog -- a 12-year-old Belgian Sheepdog named Lucky -- without his wheelchair, myFOXboston.com reports. The dog, who lost the use of his hind legs after being run over by a car, had his wheels -- which, with a frame, support the paralyzed limbs -- stolen from him on Sunday. Lucky -- a therapy dog trained to comfort people in facilities such as hospitals, retirements homes and schools -- was left alone in the yard of his West Roxbury home for a short time after a walk and a game of ball with his owner David Feeley, when the shocking theft occurred. "I went in through the back door and came out the front. And by that time, it was gone," Feeley said. Fortunately Monday, an organization called Handicap Pets donated a new wheelchair to Lucky.

Today's edition of That's Life magazine features a 2 page article on this gorgeous pair - great article except it incorrectly states that the photo of the little foxi in the treats cupboard was taken by staff and posted on their website. The photo was in fact taken by one of the volunteers, as were the other photos - and they went on the urgent rescue thread for Blacktown Pound How's this for team work Again, great work Judy and all those who donated funds to help these two get back together again

There is a serious campaign by the Dogs Homes of Tasmania to lobby Tasmania’s government to make changes to animal cruelty penalties as a result of a recent slap on the wrist fine meted out to a man who starved his dog to death. Please sign this petition if you have not done so already, and please forward to your networks. http://www.gopetition.com/petition/44115.html Wags the Border Collie was starved to death by his negligent owner. The offender received a fine of $432.00. Duffy the horse was found emaciated, dying and beyond help. Duffy’s negligent owner was given a 28 day jail term - suspended. This offence carries a maximum sentence of 18 months in jail or a $24,000 fine. Magistrates could enforce tougher penalties for animal cruelty offences but choose not to. This petition calls on the Government to act on specifying tougher penalties for those convicted of animal neglect and cruelty offences.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/sunday-...f-1226032565085 EXCUSES, excuses. It's time magistrates dismissed the feeble explanations for deliberate acts of animal cruelty and got tough on torturers. You can't tell me that a father and son dragging a pony behind their car was an accident, as the court heard last month. Or that Andrew Cook, 33, and his son Zachary, 17, believed that tethering the pony to the sedan and making it gallop behind the speeding vehicle was an acceptable way to transport the animal. I don't buy the Dumb and Dumber defence, and neither should anyone else. In recent weeks, we've had a children's pet cat drowned in a wheelie bin by an elderly neighbour who was sleep deprived and an ibis fatally stomped on by a law student because it startled him while he was eating lunch in a park. The imbecile who took a video of himself driving down the emergency lane of a busy highway with his pet parrot clinging to the windscreen wiper is clearly no Rhodes scholar, but when he comes before the judiciary, as indeed he must, for tormenting this bird, he should be disciplined properly. Cruelty against animals is no minor misdemeanour. The RSPCA knows it, the police service knows it, and the State Government knows it last month it announced a new serious animal cruelty offence, increasing the maximum jail sentence from the current two years to seven. Premier Anna Bligh might win public admiration (read votes) by responding to justified community outrage, but tougher jail sentences won't fix the problem. It's not because, as experience has shown, magistrates will refuse to impose the full seven years (they've never given the two years we have now). And it's not because police, who will effectively take over from the RSPCA in apprehending these social menaces, already have their hands full or, as the RSCPA has suggested, are more concerned with collecting unpaid traffic fines than curbing animal cruelty. The fundamental reason that more jail time won't work is that prison is no place for rehabilitation. As with bullies on our roads, which I wrote about last week, tossing them in jail only fills their damaged brains with other ideas on how to be anti-social. Perpetrators of animal cruelty certainly don't need any prompting to take the next step and mete out their aggression on humans. A litany of research shows that people who hurt animals exhibit the same psychopathic personality disorders as serial rapists and murderers. Martin Bryant, who killed 35 people in the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, tortured animals as a child. He also claimed he'd had sex with a horse, according to a former girlfriend. Remember Jeffrey Dahmer, the American serial killer who raped, tortured and dismembered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991? As a boy, he dissected dead animals at home and once put a dog's head on a stake. As an adult, he put human heads in the fridge. The RSPCA's affiliate in the US has a website specifically for children. ASPCA Kids explains why people hurt animals this way: "These people have serious, psychological problems that will probably not go away on their own. They often need the help of licensed professionals, such as a psychologist. "We are not 100 per cent sure why people become like this most are probably born with their problems, but others can get their problems from brain damage, poisonous environments, or by being treated badly themselves." Hard to think of a more poisonous environment than prison, except maybe a family circle defined by aggression, cruelty and fear. Children who abuse animals have often seen it done by a parent (typically their father) or have been physically abused themselves. The bullied becomes the bully. In the case of the pony, its abusers were ordered to pay vet bills of $7642. The father, a role model of positive parenting if ever there was one, was sentenced to three months' jail wholly suspended for three years, while the son received two years' probation. No convictions were recorded. They walked free, a little poorer but not noticeably wiser. Where's the mandatory counselling? Where's the enforced stint in a psychiatric institution to teach these people how to act humanely? This is how our government and our justice system can effect positive change and build a safer society for all by addressing the root of the problem, which is psychological. Animal cruelty is no accident. As parents, we might bear this in mind if we see our kids pulling tails off lizards or playing backyard cricket using cane toads as cricket balls.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/japan-ea...nd-alive-at-sea (see video in link) Three weeks after being swept out to sea by Japan's devastating tsunami, a dog was found alive on a floating island of debris. Crew on a Japan Coastguard helicopter circling the wreckage of a house floating on the ocean got a surprise when they saw the dog scramble out from beneath the rubble. The house had been washed away not far from the Kesennuma coast in northern Japan, following the magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami on March 11 that left more than 28,000 people dead or missing and damaged six nuclear reactors. As the helicopter moved in closer, the frightened dog retreated below the rubble, forcing rescuers to descend winch down toward the floating debris. The dog was eventually rescued by a coast guard boat when the helicopter reportedly ran out of fuel. Japanese broadcaster NTV said there were hopes that the dog would be able to lead the coastguard to its owner. A massive search and recovery operation is underway to find 18,000 people still missing and now presumed dead.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/...-is-a-dogs-life Like many primary school pupils Cooper Carter did not want to get out of bed this morning. Unlike most pupils, Cooper is a dog. The 14-month-old bichon shih tzu, who is eight in human years, became an Oceanview Heights pupil three weeks ago, after the room 6 (Year 7-8) class approached the board to change the no dogs at school policy with the help of their teacher and Cooper's owner, Janice Carter. "At the end of last year as part of a treat the class got to have Cooper at school. I noticed at the end of the day the children were calmer and working together well to look after him and those that didn't normally talk much had really come out of their shells." The class was doing a debate and got to choose a topic and opted for "Should Cooper be the school dog?" "No one wanted to be on the opposing side, so they had to be nominated and ended up pointing out he could not be because the school policy did not allow dogs," Mrs Cooper said. "After more discussion we decided to go through all the right channels to allow him to be here and the principal went to the board on the class's behalf." Cooper was given the go-ahead so Mrs Carter and a parent made him a uniform and he was off to school. "He is a late sleeper and does not like getting up early and stretches and yawns. When he sees me go to leave, though, he sits by the door expectantly and my daughter puts him in his uniform." Each week the nominated king and queen of the class look after Cooper during the breaks. The class has signed the Cooper Carter Charter which includes a rule that if Cooper does his business in the school play area the pupils put a cone over it until it is cleaned up. "He is always on his lead but it is a huge responsibility to look after Cooper." Quintin Miller, 12, said Cooper was an asset to the school. "He is not only a mascot, but he is also an inspiration to room 6 and Oceanview Heights." Matt Ritchie, 12, liked to look after Cooper. "You have to give him lots of food and lots of people want to look after him." Cooper confirmed he was happy with being at school but sometimes got tired out by the curriculum and needed to go to his basket for a nap. - The Timaru Herald

They are in no danger whatsoever - they will stay with the rescue until rehomed - together !

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/4789162/...ll-of-the-wild/ An Auckland vet is taking on the giants of the pet food industry with a range of uncooked foods designed to replicate the natural diet of cats and dogs. Dr Lyn Thomson's company, Raw Essentials, has just opened its second shop, selling its range of uncooked cat and dog foods, mainly made from rabbit, hare, possum, chicken, sheep and fish. The theory is that, in the wild, cats and dogs eat all of their prey – the offal, bones and skin, as well as the meat – and their digestive systems have developed to process that mix of ingredients in their food. However, many of the processed pet foods sold in supermarkets contain high levels of grain and vegetable-based products, as well as additives such as flavour enhancers and preservatives, which cats and dogs would not normally eat in the wild, and which they may find difficult to digest, Thomson said. "Dogs and cats, our pet carnivores, need to rip and tear at their food," she said. That is the animal equivalent of humans brushing and flossing their teeth. "Raw, real food provides all the nutrients our pets need, is easy for them to digest, keeps teeth healthy and improves mental wellbeing," she said. Thomson developed her own range of raw pet foods because so many of her veterinary clients questioned the nutritional value of processed pet foods. She would give them fact sheets, which listed a mix of raw ingredients to feed their pets, with instructions on how to prepare them. But most people found the preparation of raw food time consuming and some of the ingredients, such as green tripe, were hard to find. Green tripe is unwashed tripe and is not normally sold by butchers, but it's an important ingredient in pet food, Thomson said. That's because cats and dogs would normally prey on animals that are vegetarians, such as birds and rabbits, and the partially digested plant matter in those animals' gut would supply the cats and dogs with the plant nutrients they needed. Because it was pre-digested by their prey, their own digestive systems could handle it more easily, Thomson said. Including green tripe in the food was the best way of providing pre-digested nutrients, she said. She had the idea of packaging up a balanced mix of raw foods for her clients but, like them, also had difficulty sourcing the ingredients until she approached the staff at Auckland Zoo and asked them where they got the food for their carnivores from. She then started sourcing ingredients from the same South Island abattoir. Initially, it was her veterinary customers who were buying the packs, but their popularity grew by word of mouth and sales increased, and a specialist Raw Essentials shop was opened in the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn. A second, bigger shop, was opened at Glenfield on the North Shore just before Christmas and Thomson is also supplying the packs to a handful of vet clinics and pet outlets. Thomson said feeding pets Raw Essentials food cost about the same as feeding them a top-end pet food from a supermarket, about $1.50 to $1.80 a day for a cat, and $3 a day for a large dog. Although Raw Essentials is tiny compared to the multinational companies that dominate the pet food trade, Thomson believes her company will continue to expand because the market is so large and she is operating in a growing niche. According to market research organisation The Nielsen Company, supermarkets in this country sold $327 million of pet food in the year to February. So, even if Raw Essentials eventually captures only 1% of that market, it would be turning over nearly $3.3m a year. - Sunday Star Times

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchur...wi-saves-master Lost and alone on the streets of Christchurch as masonry fell around him during the terrifying earthquake, blind office worker Blair McConnell was led to safety by his faithful dog Kiwi. Now the loyal labrador-retriever cross is being hailed a hero for navigating McConnell to safety amid the carnage and rubble along the banks of the city's Avon River. Despite falling concrete and the screams of panic around him, the eight-year-old, curly coat, guide dog stayed on task until a passing motorist stopped and gave the shaken pair a ride home. Almost completely blind, McConnell, with Kiwi at his side, would travel each day to work at Telecom's Old Exchange Building in Hereford St. The sales rep would normally have been out at lunch on Colombo St at 12.51pm when the earthquake struck on February 22, but was dealing with a customer on the phone. "I dived under the desk. Kiwi was already under it," he said. "I grabbed his harness and he was quite keen to get out. "We had got out of the building and into the middle of Hereford St with hundreds of others when the second big aftershock hit. There was lots of screaming and hysterical people." His faithful companion Kiwi went to work and it took nearly three hours for the dog, who is nearing retirement, to get a terrified and disoriented McConnell home. "Kiwi was fine. Some of that has got to do with the bond, they will do exactly what is required," McConnell said. "Some dogs feed off the emotion of the handler and the emotions of people around them but, fortunately, Kiwi puts what he needs to do above that." Despite Kiwi's heroic efforts, McConnell isn't building his best mate up too much. "I'm not saying he is the best guide dog ever because there are other guide dogs that would have done the same thing, but this is a strength of his," he said. Kiwi's bravery is already the stuff of urban legend. The story goes that the dog guided his master on foot across town to his home, which has left McConnell feeling "a bit of a fraud", knowing he got a ride, but: "I'm quite sure he would have walked me home that day if he had needed to." Sunday Star Times

http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainmen...6-1225999746408 FORGET sniffer dogs, crack teams of mice are being trained to detect bombers and drugs couriers at airports. The sniffer rodents are then hidden in airport scanners, ready to raise the alarm. The detector has been built by Israeli researchers who say it is more accurate than using dogs, pat downs and x-ray machines. It looks like a metal detector or full-body scanner, but one side of it houses three concealed cartridges, each containing eight specially trained mice. The animals work four-hour shifts, milling around in an allocated cartridge while sniffing air pumped in from outside. When they pick up traces of explosives or drugs, they flee to a side chamber, triggering an alarm, New Scientist reports. To avoid false positives, more than one mouse must run away. Inventor Eran Lumbroso, whose company BioExplorers is looking for a larger firm to help with the final stages of development, said: "It is as if they are smelling a cat and escaping. We detect the escape." To set the pattern of shifts, air is pumped to a different cartridge every four hours. This gives the rodents eight hours to sleep and play before they are required to "clock on" again. The mice take around ten days to learn their first smell. Subsequent odours take just a few days each. Unlike sniffer dogs, mice do not require constant interaction with their trainers or to be plied with treats to keep them motivated. The concept may appeal to those who fear that the full-body scanners introduced at many airports are exposing them to harmful radiation and invading privacy. Security expert Bruce Schneier told New Scientist: "Animals" noses are always a good solution, and the mice don"t see you naked." The device was field tested last year on 1,000 shoppers in a Tel Aviv mall when the mice successfully picked out the 22 people with mock explosives in their pockets. The scanners - which are likely to be cheaper than equipment already in use - could be on the market within months. It is unclear, however, how the mice would react if a cat was loose in the airport.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbein...ct-colon-cancer Dogs can detect colon cancer by sniffing people's breath or stools, scientists say. The findings were published in the medical journal Gut, the New Zealand Science Media Centre reports. Japanese scientists discovered a labrador retriever could detect a chemical produced by cancer cells just by smelling people's breath - even in the early stages of the disease. When smelling breath samples the dog's success rate was about 95 percent and that figure climbed to 98 percent when smelling stool samples. The study's findings did not come as a surprise to Otago University's Randall Allardyce, a senior lecturer specialising in colon cancer, who said scientists were already aware of the potential for animals to detect genetic changes in other animals. However, the latest research pointed towards a future bowel cancer screening test that could be more sensitive and specific, Dr Allardyce told NZPA. Australian professor Graeme Young, a gastroenterologist and specialist in colon cancer, said the research raised the possibility of developing a breath test to diagnose other cancers as well. "Dogs have an incredibly acute sense of smell and can be trained to detect these chemicals in the breath of cancer patients with a remarkable degree of accuracy," he said. However, he questioned whether the molecules were specific to colon cancer or to a range of cancers. "It may be, for example, that different groups of cancer with different genetic makeups give off different chemicals." A range of tests would be needed to confirm the reliability of such a screening technique, he said. Another bowel cancer expert, Trevor Lockett, said it was a "fascinating" study as most non-invasive tests for bowel cancer detected the later stage of the disease far more efficiently. "But detection of early stage cancers is the real holy grail in bowel cancer diagnosis because surgery can cure up to 90 percent of patients who present with early stage disease," he said. Cure rates decreased dramatically as a cancer became more advanced, Dr Lockett said. "Importantly this study tells us that there is a bowel cancer scent, that at least dogs can detect, that is not associated with other more benign bowel diseases." However, he said there might be some similarities between the scents from different cancers which could confuse diagnosis. "But one thing is for sure. The dogs will continue to play an important part in the future research also as scientists seek to validate any diagnostic chemical signatures that they find." Ad Feedback The Ministry of Health says bowel cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the second highest cause of cancer death in New Zealand. - NZPA

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/lifestyle/the-...6-1225992097372 A 13-YEAR-OLD Norwegian boy saw off a pack of wolves with a blast of heavy metal music from his cell phone, music website Zvuki.ru reported today. Walter Acre was walking home from school in the central municipality of Rakkestad when he found himself encircled by the four snarling beasts. But just as they prepared to sink their teeth into the petrified youngster, he pulled out his mobile phone and cranked out a song by US metal legends, Megadeth. Walter had previously been told not to run away from wolves but to face them and attempt to scare them away. And sure enough, the tactic worked as the thrash guitar music sent the animals scattering in confusion, Zvuki.ru said. The Russian music website said that Walter made it home safely, using one final blast of music to see off a stray wolf that was prowling close to his front porch.

I was trying to bring a little cheer to a section that is full of depressing news items

And this one - emphasis is mine http://news.csu.edu.au/director/latestnews...emplate=release Disaster emergency management research by a Charles Sturt University (CSU) postgraduate student in New Zealand has found that 99 per cent of pet owners identified pets as part of their family, and that in an emergency, 56 per cent of owners would refuse to evacuate without their pets. Mr Steve Glassey, a distance education student in the Master of Emergency Management course at the CSU Australian Graduate School of Policing in Australia says his report, Recommendations to enhance companion animal emergency management in New Zealand, which was presented at the 9th Annual Emergency Management Conference in Wellington on Monday 22 February, contains 60 recommendations that are relevant to pet owners and local and national government departments and agencies everywhere. “It is a serious concern that nearly 60 per cent of respondents said they would refuse to evacuate during an emergency unless they could take their pet, and, if forced to abandon their pet, they would return later to rescue them regardless of directions from the emergency services,” Mr Glassey said. “My research shows that pets are part of the family, and it is not okay to leave them behind when evacuating. It’s important, therefore, to change current emergency management arrangements that do not provide for adequate protection of pets during disasters.” Mr Glassey’s research drew on the experience of residents of New Orleans in the United States (US) when, as the city was pounded by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the evacuation of the city created the largest animal rescue operation in US history. While over 15,000 pets were rescued, 80 to 90 per cent of pets were left behind, and most of these died. “In view of this disaster, specific US legislation was passed the following year to require state and local emergency management agencies to ensure pets and service animals were included in disaster and evacuation plans. In contrast, no such requirements exist in New Zealand or Australia. “We have a great opportunity to take the lessons of Hurricane Katrina and put systems in place to protect pets before a disaster strikes. Without doubt, this research indicates that protecting pets results in protecting people,” Mr Glassey said. Mr Glassey says a national working group has been established in New Zealand to develop guidelines for managing pets during disasters, and further funding and resources are needed to bring them up to international best practice. And here's the report http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/docs/G...M%20in%20NZ.pdf

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/calls-incl...n-plans-3375389 Including pets in Civil Defence emergency planning could make for safer and faster evacuations of people, according to a new report. The report being released on Monday shows more than half of pet owners would refuse to evacuate without their pets. Carolyn Press-Mckenzie takes pet owning very seriously. "Our animals mean everything to us. They're just valued important family members," she says. As well as her four dogs and five cats she runs an animal shelter filled with all sorts of creatures, and in an emergency, there is no way she would leave home without them. "To us it would be like leaving a family member behind. It just isn't an option," she says. But that is exactly what she would have to do if evacuated by Civil Defence . Bob Kerridge from the SPCA says much more serious planning with Civil Defence needs to be done to include animals. The SPCA says when planning for an emergency pet owners should have a lead for every dog a carry case for every cat, enough pet food and a way to identify their animal. Fifty-thousand animals had to be left behind when people abandoned their homes after hurricane Katrina in the United States and although a massive rescue operation was later attempted, many died. That caused an outcry and a law was passed to ensure pets were included in evacuation plans. An emergency specialist says New Zealand needs to do the same. Emergency Management Consultant Steve Glassey says about 60% of pet owners are likely to fail to evacuate unless they can take their pets. "With most households owning pets, that's a lot of people that are not evacuating," Glassey says. Press-Mckenzie says it is important that it is understood that animals are important to people and they are part of their emotional well being. The government is expecting a report on animal emergency management but will not change the law. Some Civil Defence areas are including pets in their plans but it's largely up to individual owners to make sure their loved ones are safe.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/818813...rs-dog-breeders A new dog breeder identification system to be introduced next year should help to stamp out dodgy puppy farmers, the RSPCA says. Queensland Local Government Minister Desley Boyle on Thursday announced that in 2011 breeders must be registered and their ID numbers displayed anywhere puppies are sold. Breeder's ID numbers must be included in the advertising of puppies for sale and breeding bitches will be microchipped and their details included in the registration and microchipping of every puppy sold. RSPCA spokesman Michael Beattie told AAP the new government regulations will impact on unscrupulous breeders and make internet dog sellers more accountable. "It's definitely a step in the right direction," Mr Beattie said. "It should also clamp down on the internet side of the business. "We have to educate the public not to buy an animal unless they see the breeder's number. "You won't be able to sell puppies at the market or through the newspaper unless you have a breeder's number actually listed there." Ms Boyle said a number of animal welfare groups had been consulted on the new regulations including the RSPCA, the Animal Welfare League and Dogs Queensland. She said the dog breeder ID regulations were developed to give consumers a pro-welfare choice when buying a dog. Registration fees, fines and penalties have yet to be determined. "There are unscrupulous puppy farmers out there who keep animals cooped-up in cramped conditions where they are constantly pregnant or lactating just to keep up with buyer demand," Ms Boyle said in a statement. "These are ruthless operators who typically put cash ahead of care and buyers are none the wiser. Puppy farms are not registered breeders." Mr Beattie praised the government for listening to the concerns of dog breeders and says the rules will make it tough for puppy farmers to continue. "By government standards they have moved reasonably quickly. It basically took a year to come to fruition," Mr Beattie said. "It's not going to solve the problem overnight, there's big money in breeding dogs, but it will very definitely help and basically make it unprofitable for them (puppy farmers) to keep going." The new regulations are due to be introduced by mid-2011.

No one pays it forward better than a rescued pet. Proof? When USA TODAY Pet Talk columnist Sharon L. Peters asked Pet Smart Charities to contact the hundreds of rescue groups on its e-mail list and send her examples of animals that, once adopted, turned into family or neighborhood heroes, more than 200 responded. Here are three of the amazing tales: Digger points the way to a rescue He was just a puppy, barely 10 months old. But Digger knew something was terribly wrong. And he did what he had to do to make sure the right things happened to save a life. It was a bitterly cold and snowy wee-hours morning in Lexington, Ky., early this year. Digger (named for the obvious reason), a hound mix who was adopted from local rescuers The Haven for Dogs the previous summer by teacher Teresa Oney, began whining, insistent on going outside. That was unheard-of behavior for him. Oney finally decided Digger must have had an upset stomach, so she got up and let him into the backyard. But oddly, Digger positioned himself on the deck and did nothing but stare intently at the back fence. He wouldn't enter the house when he was called, and when Oney walked out to coax him in, he moved away, keeping eyes trained on that one spot, utterly silent. As the woman turned to go inside to warm up, she heard it: a weak "Help me" coming from the other side of her fence. Oney called 911, then dashed around the block, where she and police discovered that her elderly neighbor had become confused, wandered into the darkness in her nightgown, slipped in the snow and couldn't get up. Digger, the dog whose known history started in a Walmart parking lot where he was passed as a tiny puppy from someone who didn't want him to someone who ushered him into his new life, had awakened from a dead sleep and developed a complex strategy. "Ordinarily he'd bark and bark if something grabs his attention," Oney says. "It was because he was so still and made no noise (once outside) that I was able to hear her. He seemed to understand he needed to be quiet." Digger was inducted in October into the Kentucky Veterinary Medical Association Hall of Fame. And next month he'll be honored by the county police as a 2010 hero. Peaches' licking proves lifesaving Maybe it was fate. Some might think so. Jeremy Noss, a salesman from Holt, Mich., went to an adoption event in 2008 seeking a youngish male dog. He found himself drawn to an adorable female puppy and spent some time with her, but he concluded he'd hold out for the slightly older male he'd intended to adopt. Off he went to his car. He stuck the key in the ignition. But he couldn't erase the image of the boxer/shepherd mix, a refugee from a high-kill shelter in Tennessee who was taken in by the Capital Area Humane Society in Lansing. Back inside he went. And Peaches became his. "From the get-go, she was special," Noss says. She was house-trained in two days and breezed through Canine Good Citizenship training. One day in 2009, Noss returned home from a chiropractic appointment feeling unwell, and he lay down. Peaches, not yet 1, alert and worried, settled in beside him. Next thing Noss knew, Peaches was licking him and licking him; pushing her away didn't deter her. She was so relentless Noss finally arose and realized he could barely walk or talk, and one side of his face drooped. He was having a stroke, caused, he later learned, by a dissected vertebral artery. After months of physical therapy, Noss, 32, is "back to nearly normal." He figures he owes Peaches his life. "She knew something was wrong before I did. I don't know if I would still be here if it wasn't for her waking me up." Inky the cat signals for help Lying at the bottom of the basement steps, bloodied from head lacerations, unable to move one arm, neck completely numb, Glen Kruger was in deep trouble. The pull-down trapdoor and stairs to the attic, located at the head of the cellar stairs, had disengaged and slammed him downward as he'd come up from tending to the woodstove at midnight. His wife was asleep at the far end of the house, behind a closed door, and his shouts went unheard. The only witness, his only hope, really, was a cat called Inky, an abuse case adopted years earlier from the nearby SPCA in Wellsville, N.Y. "Inky stood at the top of the stairs, eyes huge, staring," Kruger recalls. The 5-degree air was blasting in from the attic opening; he was going into shock. "Go get Brenda," he yelled at the cat, not especially hopeful. Inky raced off, hurled himself at the bedroom door repeatedly and yowled like a jaguar until the woman awoke, followed the cat and discovered her severely injured husband. Kruger was rushed to the ER, then to a spine center. He had a fractured neck, dislocated shoulder and broken arm. That was in 2009. The mechanic has been unable to work since the accident, and he's 4 inches shorter than before, but he's alive and "getting around pretty well," thanks to a cat. And here are some more stories http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/pets/dogs...nterstitialskip

I stayed here a couple of years ago while visiting Rocky - it was a great place and my girl was allowed in the cabin http://www.takeabreak.com.au/Rockhampton/C...rk-Farmstay.htm

A stall has been set up at the Pet Cafe, 735 Sandgate Road, Clayfield - heaps of goodies available for sale

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensl...f-1225962014217 MEET the pooch who has gone from doggy death row to the front seat of a flash sports car to enjoy the high life on the Gold Coast glitter strip. Kelpie-border collie cross Kelly was going nowhere fast before the Carlton family from Sorrento checked the internet pages for Coombabah's Animal Welfare League shelter. Brett Carlton recalled the family had just lost their 12-year-old kelpie Madeline and were thinking about buying a puppy from the pound when they saw four-year-old Kelly needed a home. "She was in bad shape. She had been in solitary for 10 days, kept in isolation due to intestinal worms," Mr Carlton said. "When we first met her she was highly strung, but you could see she had a beautiful nature. "And I think she realised she had kicked a goal (coming here)." Kelly's day at her new waterfront home begins with a poached egg for breakfast, followed by a walk to a nearby coffee shop where she shares a muffin with her master. On warm days she enjoys a regular dip in the backyard pool and in the cooler months wears a Drizabone jacket during boat trips down the canal. She has her own backseat buddy chair in the family BMW, but nothing compares with her favourite transport – up front in the open-top of Mr Carlton's '76 Corvette. She loves it so much she now wears the moniker Corvette Kelly on her collar. Kelly is also treated to regular sessions at a grooming salon. "We take her there once a month to be clipped and they keep her for five hours," Mr Carlton said. Lunch and dinner are a gourmet affair for Kelly – premium mince steak, steamed vegetables and brown rice. Posh Pets owner Lyn Chessher was amazed to learn of the dog's transformation when the family visited her Marina Mirage store last week. "She got a personalised collar which was done in diamontes. It's a rags-to-riches story," Ms Chessher said. Animal Welfare League of Queensland public relations manager Gabrielle Wheaton urged other families to help the shelter. "We had 30 new arrivals yesterday," she said. "There are 170 animals waiting for a place. It's a never-ending battle." Link HERE to picture gallery

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4366742/Sa...og-called-Blade Blade – the police dog who beat cancer, a pitchfork attack and more than 1000 criminals – has died in his owner's arms. Since 2007 Blade has been retired, living as a family pet with his handler, Senior Constable Matt Fage from the Wellington police dog section. Mr Fage said 12-year-old Blade died in his arms early on Tuesday morning. The death, from old age, was "devastating". "He was a super-loved working partner. He gave 100 per cent at everything and just kept on going." Blade caught more than 1000 criminals, found a dozen missing people and survived being stabbed with a pitchfork and hit with a machete in his seven-year career. Mr Fage said Blade almost certainly saved three lives. In 2003 he and another officer were cornered by a man with a pitchfork but Blade took the blow, surviving because he got hit in his harness. He got a bravery award. A couple of years later he tracked down a fleeing offender in the Hutt River. If the man had not been found he would probably have drowned, Mr Fage said. He also helped disarm a man in Porirua holding a knife to a six-year-old's throat, earning a bravery award for the second time. Mr Fage said Blade would be remembered as a "proud dog". Since retiring in 2007, he had been treated successfully for cancer. He got along with Mr Fage's new police dog – Xoset, or "X". "Every day [blade] still would go out by the dog van – every morning wanting to go. He made as good a family pet as a police dog." Blade continued to provide a public service after he retired, visiting children at Wellington Hospital. "He was just so tolerant."