pet health.
Talk about a diamond in the ruff! A hungry golden retriever made headlines when he swallowed a three-carat diamond worth $20,000, reports WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C. The expensive meal was eaten at Robert Bernard Jewelry Store in Rockville, Md., where Sollie goes to work everyday with his owner, George Kaufmann, who co-owns the store with his business partner, Robert Rosin. When a visiting diamond dealer was showing the men some loose diamonds, one of the glittering gemstones dropped to the ground, according to WTTG-TV. What occurred next was stunning. "Saw Sollie go for the diamond -- gobbled it up," Rosin told WJLA. "Tried to get it, couldn't get it -- gone!" "Stones have dropped ...
A lurcher. sheyne, Flickr A 23-year-old British man was charged with reckless driving and lost his license after police witnessed the man, Paul Railton, driving his car and walking his dog, a lurcher, alongside the vehicle as he held the dog's leash out of the driver's side window. Railton pled guilty to "not being in proper control of a vehicle," reports the (U.K.) Guardian. He was fined the equivalent of about $100 and -- due to prior penalty points accumulated on his license -- was banned from driving for six months. The matter was initially brought to the police's attention by a concerned cyclist, who was riding down a country road and spotted what appeared to be a dog being dragged ...
Many of us look back on the early- to mid-20th century as a time when life was simple, intentions were pure, and America was a shining beacon to which the rest of the world looked for guidance and inspiration. That is until you see this ad from the June 1936 issue of Popular Mechanics featuring the Dog Sack, a handy-dandy device used to strap your dog to the side of your car so it can ride "safely and comfortably" on the running board. Then you realize that some of the inspiration America was selling involved truly insane ideas. Those poor dogs! Here is hoping that no one actually bought this thing. ...
Zevotron, Flickr You never want to imagine your dog or cat needing a blood transfusion – but there is one group of people working to make sure your pet is covered. They're the folks at animal blood banks scattered throughout the country, a group that likens itself to the Red Cross -- but for pets. "We do everything the same way," explains W. Jean Dodds, D.V.M., president of Hemopet, the only national non-profit animal blood bank. Blood is taken, typed and stored for shipment to veterinarians across the country. At local clinics this blood supply is put into animals who've lost blood from injuries or is pumped into dogs during surgery. It is also used to treat a host of diseases from ...
An unusual threat is making dogs in South Florida suffer paralysis that can last up to a week and in extreme cases, can end in death. The surprising cause? Dead iguanas. The recent frigid temperatures killed these reptiles, leaving behind remains that are being eaten by curious dogs -- who then proceed to get sick from botulism in the dead animals. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel's news program, The Morning Show, reports on the illnesses. ...
put that down, Flickr Did you know that 34.2 percent of people who give up their pets have had them for over two years? Clearly, these folks didn't give up their furry family member at the first sign of inconvenience--which, lets be honest, happens the first day you bring a pet home. But due to changes in housing, the potentially high costs of pet-owning, behavior problems, and a host of other reasons, many animal adoptions don't quite take. That's why this March, Petfinder.com is introducing their new FurKeeps program. (Though you can go online now and preview some of the features.) Prospective pet parents can go the section "Starting Your Adoption Right" which features an adoption ...