| Pet obesity raising concern
LOGAN - Over recent months, adult and childhood obesity has been a major concern for many people across the nation, and now there is another form of health problem, and it includes our favorite four-legged friends.
Obesity in pets is a growing concern for pet-owners across the country, who sometimes don't even realize their cat or dog is growing larger every day. In fact, a recent study conducted by Pfizer Animal Health said that many owners don't realize their pets are overweight or at risk of health problems. According to the study, 47 percent of American dogs are overweight or obese, yet only 17 percent of dog owners would classify their dogs as being such.
As the No. 1 nutritional disorder in dogs, an estimated 25 to 44 percent of dogs in the United States are overweight or obese.
What a dog of a date
A few weeks ago, my dog, a rather anxious and delicate sort, was instantly drawn to a deeply unsavoury-looking shepherd cross with an open wound, tied up outside a dive bar. Toothless men and skinheads mingled on the sidewalk. Charmed as I was by her infatuation, I pulled her away. It wasn't my kind of place. How did I know? I just did. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Blink, describes this phenomenon - of making snap decisions based on things our conscious minds barely register - as "thin slicing." Dogs are the masters of the thin slice. Dog trainer Dale Stavroff of Roberts Creek, B.C., author of Let the Dog Decide, speaks of "mini-gestures" that pass between dogs so fast, an unpracticed human can only detect them with the aid of slow motion film. By the time the dogs are at what we consider to be an appropriate greeting distance, they've determined everything they need to know.
Health Alert: Pet diseases
NATIONAL - More than half of all US households own a pet. And while pets provide companionship and comfort, they can also pass along up to 200 diseases to humans. Eleven-week-old Maggie is a Cocker Spaniel puppy and the newest member of the Moreau family. Seven-year-old Merit just can't get enough of her. But Merit's mother has her concerns. Megan Moreau says, "Having a child around and having her and the dog in her face, and playing with it after the dog's been outside, I did consider that." Puppies are precious, but diseases they can carry, like rabies and ringworm, can be dangerous. So a visit to the vet should be the first order of business for new pet owners. Bonnie Beaver, D.V.M., says, "One of the things the veterinarians will check for would be for intestinal parasites.
Dog from California found in Arizona
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., June 10 (UPI) — A basset hound named Fred was to be reunited with his owner after making his way from southern California to northern Arizona during the past six months. Fred was found in the parking lot of the Second Chance Center for Animals in Flagstaff, Ariz., and was scanned for a microchip, which lead to the discovery that he was from Riverside, Calif., the Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff reported Sunday. The Riverside County Animal Control eventually was able to contact Fred's owner Friday. She said the basset hound had disappeared when she moved to Riverside in December. It is unclear how Fred wound up at Second Chance, but he will be returned home by Dr. Paul Fink, who works at Second Chance and has offered to fly the pouch home to his owner.
SOCIAL STOOP
June 10, 2007 -- IT'S funny how dogs make friends out of strangers - like my late neighbor Mitch Pressler. A fixture on East 90th Street for decades, he'd sit on his building's stoop, surveying the block. Passersby stopped to hang with him, especially those on four legs: Savory the miniature pinscher, Paco the pug, Paddy the Lhasa apso, Lincoln the beagle, Lola the bulldog and my pack of pit bulls and mutts all gravitated to Mitch because he loved dogs. Mitch regularly followed this column, too. "Very good article," he'd call out to me from his stoopside perch. Certain stories really got him talking, notably the one about how senior citizens struggle to keep pets in rent-stabilized apartments. He added his voice to the outcry when City Council Speaker Christine Quinn failed to support Intro 13, the Pets in Housing Bill.
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