Mig and Pig

Puppy Mill Pooches Find Happiness in Their New Homes

2010-02-05T18:53:00.000-08:00

Added to the old site on: Oct 26, 2007

September 14, 2007;
Pooches and their parents reunite on the one-year anniversary of a puppy mill raid. Bright-eyed, clean and groomed, dozens of pampered dogs gathered with their proud parents one chilly afternoon. At first glance it looks like the group might be members a Maltese club or participants in a dog show. But this gathering is actually a reunion—the one-year anniversary of the dogs' rescue from a cramped and squalid puppy mill in Tennessee.

Learning to be Loved
It's hard to believe that these well-groomed dogs (and one cat!) with their designer collars and bows have not always lived pampered lives. But when Winnie was rescued, she did not know how to walk in a straight line because she had spent her entire life in a cage, where she could only hobble in circles. Pogo had to be taught how to use the stairs, because he had never lived in a home before. And Stewie had to learn how to stand on solid surfaces because his paws had never rested on anything but the bottom of a bare wire cage.

Special Caretakers
"We knew our babies had unique needs due to the special circumstances into which they were born," says Emilie Bottiggi, who adopted three of the rescued dogs. "We were seeing behaviors we had not seen before with our non-puppy mill dogs." The adopters created an email group to stay in touch and share their successes. A year to the day after their "babies" were rescued, they gathered to celebrate the anniversary of their pets' freedom. It was the first and largest of several reunions that have taken place since the day of the raid.

Remembering the Rescue
It all began in January 2004, when more than 230 animals were removed from a puppy mill in Franklin, Tenn. The animals were mostly Maltese dogs, but there were also a few Yorkshire Terriers, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, West Highland Terriers, and 14 Ragdoll cats living in the terrible conditions. Like most such operations, the puppy mill owner advertised in dog fanciers' publications and on the Internet, posing as a small, responsible breeder. She had been operating for many years, and at one time she enjoyed a good reputation. But when authorities entered her home after receiving a tip about animal neglect, they found that behind the pretty photos on the owner's website lurked a completely different reality.

Ugly Reality
Inside the house, dirty and matted dogs cowered in small wire cages—three or four dogs to a cage. Their cages were lined up row after row and stacked on top of one another. Many of the dogs were ill, and some of them died shortly after the rescue. The dogs had lived in these cramped dirty cages all their lives. Like most puppy mills, the breeder hid the cruel reality of her business behind closed doors. Her puppies were cleaned up and made presentable before being sold via classified ads and the Internet. But their mothers and fathers never had the chance to escape the brutal conditions into which they'd been born.

Buyer Beware
Even after her conviction for animal cruelty in 2005, the puppy mill owner violated the terms of her probation by continuing to breed and sell dogs. Healthcare workers who had been in her home to care for a relative testified that she was still selling puppies over the Internet. "This is just one example of why you should never buy a puppy over the Internet," says HSUS Director of Outreach, Stephanie Shain. "You should not buy a pet without personally visiting the home where he or she was born and raised."

For more guidelines on how to purchase a dog without supporting puppy mills, visit www.puppybuyersguide.org. An even better option is to adopt a rescued pet and transform a life. The happy faces at the reunion alone can attest to the joy adoption can bring to both rescued and rescuers alike. To learn more about adoption, visit www.proud2adopt.org.

Story ripped from the HSUS website, here.

Seagull becomes crisp shoplifter

2010-02-05T18:52:00.000-08:00

First posted on the old site: Sept. 28, 2007

Story from July 20, 2007: A seagull has turned shoplifter by wandering into a shop and helping itself to crisps. The bird walks into the RS McColl newsagents in Aberdeen when the door is open and makes off with cheese Doritos.

The seagull, nicknamed Sam, has now become so popular that locals have started paying for his crisps. Shop assistant Sriaram Nagarajan said: "Everyone is amazed by the seagull. For some reason he only takes that one particular kind of crisps." The bird first swooped in Aberdeen's Castlegate earlier this month and made off with the 55p crisps, and is now a regular. Once outside, the crisps are ripped open and the seagull is joined by other birds.

Mr Nagarajan said: "He's got it down to a fine art. He waits until there are no customers around and I'm standing behind the till, then he raids the place. "At first I didn't believe a seagull was capable of stealing crisps. But I saw it with my own eyes and I was surprised. He's very good at it. "He's becoming a bit of a celebrity. Seagulls are usually not that popular but Sam is a star because he's so funny." A spokesman for RSPB Scotland said: "I've never heard of anything like this before. "Perhaps it tried some crisps in a shiny packet in the street, and was just opportunistic one day at the shop when it saw what was inside. "As everyone knows, gulls can be very quick and fearless, and clearly this one is no exception." He added: "We'd discourage people from feeding gulls though, as gulls in towns generate lots of complaints every year, and the availability of food is the only reason they live in urban settings."

Ripped from The BBC. This is actually way older, but it was so cute I had to add it

Why Didn't the Wild Polar Bear eat the Husky? or The Dog and the Polar Bear

2010-02-05T18:51:00.000-08:00

First posted on the old site: Sept. 21, 2007

On a late October day on the Canadian tundra next to a gray, cold, but unfrozen Hudson Bay near tiny Churchill, Manitoba, a pack of large Husky dogs, the pride of hunter-trapper Brian LaDoon were comfortably lounging on a fresh bed of snow, each tethered by a long chain. Norbert Rosing, a naturalist and photographer was setting up his equipment to capture the scene.

A wild polar bear is approaching the Husky who is signaling an invitation to play.

Here comes a wild polar bear cut off from his normal seal diet by the water-not-yet-ice... he comes upon a husky tethered in the snow... it looks like lunch for the bear

...it is not hostility being exchanged between these two... note that the polar bear's eyes are soft, the Husky's ears are back, his hair flat and his mouth is open without showing fangs - just a few moments before, as the bear came into view, the Husky was in a crouched (play) bow with a wagging tail...

something besides attack is on their minds... two carnivores facing each other and, instead of a bear's predatory attack to feed his hunger, something magical happens...

They begin an incredible ballet. Despite the huge asymmetry of power.. a system of nature is orchestrating this dance. They are both existing in a particular state of being...

...thier teethm and the bear's claws that otherwise would be killing tools become instruments of play conducted by the play signals they have exchanged. An unexpected amazing sense of trust has been created.

Look closely at this: The throat of the husky is open to the bite of the polar bear, the bear's eyes are half closed, he is in a different state of being. The signals of play that the husky sent to the bear have produced mutual bliss... they have overcome the bears predatory urges... all produced by the unmistakable language of play.

Their play continued for about twenty minutes, until both lay side by side panting happily. The bear returned nightly for two weeks, until the ice froze, and the bear left to hunt seals.

The capacity for play signals to cross species lines occurs widely in nature and, amazingly, overcomes asymmetries in power and skill.

Ripped from The National Institute for Play. This is actually way older, but it was so cute I had to add it.

It's Dove At First Sight

2010-02-05T18:49:00.000-08:00

First posted on the old site: Sept. 12, 2007

Sept. 12, 2007: It's a tale straight out of Disney – an abandoned baby monkey, close to death, is revived by the love of a bird.

The 12-week-old macaque was rescued on Neilingding Island, in Goangdong Province, China, after being abandoned by his mother. Taken to an animal hospital, he was weaned back to physical health but still showed little appetite for life. It was not until a fellow patient, a white pigeon, took him under her wing and showed him love and affection that he perked up. Now the two are inseparable, say staff.

They are not the first odd couple. In March, we told how a tiger cub in China was being raised by a sow along with her piglets because his mother didn't know how to feed him. And in 2005 Mi-Lu the baby deer became best friends with lurcher Geoffrey at the Knowsley Animal Park, in Merseyside, after being rejected by her mother.

Surfer Rescues Dog Swept Off Pier

2010-02-05T18:47:00.000-08:00

First posted on the old site: Sept. 12, 2007.

Sept. 12, 2007 - A surfer rode a wave on his stomach to rescue a struggling dog that had been swept off a pier and into Lake Michigan by a wave.

Don and Joan Dobbin
Surfer Matt Smolenski, right, and Joe Riopelle help save a dog who was swept off a pier into Lake Michigan in Grand Haven, Mich., on Tuesday. "He (Smolenski) put the dog up on his surfboard, and the dog rode the surfboard in to shore," said one bystander who witnessed the rescue. Matt Smolenski, 25, said he grabbed the pooch's collar just as the exhausted, black-and-brown mixed breed stopped dog-paddling on Tuesday.

"He put the dog up on his surfboard, and the dog rode the surfboard in to shore," said Royce Rodgers, an off-duty Muskegon Heights police officer who witnessed the rescue. As the dog crouched on the board, Smolenski held on from the water, fighting large waves and a strong current all the way to shore.

"I've watched the dog about a million times," said Smolenski, of Grand Haven. "He barks at the waves and then jumps back when they wash up on the pier."

Rodgers, who had started walking his own dog on the pier but turned back around after seeing the size of the waves, said the other dog wasn't on a leash when the wave swept it over the side. The same wave knocked the animal's owner off his feet, Rodgers said.

"The dog was trying to swim, but the waves were very large. It was struggling," Rodgers said. "The owner was screaming for the dog."

Rodgers said the owner thanked Smolenski and gave him a high five. He then "left so fast, I couldn't get his name," he said.