Dogged Blog

$10 million for animal health

One of my favorite animal organizations, and one I've frequently donated money to, is the Morris Animal Foundation. They do research into diseases affecting all kinds of animals, both wild and domestic. My particular interest has been their efforts to fight canine cancer.



MAF has just published its 2008 listing of over a hundred studies they'll be funding, and invited individuals and companies to help sponsor some of the research. I know that my dogs' insurance company, Pets Best, recently donated $1 million to MAF, as did Pfizer Animal Health.  And you can rest assured that your donation will go to fund animal research and nothing else; MAF states that 100 percent of their annual donations are used to "fund research to protect, treat and cure the world’s animals."

MAF has committed to funding more than $4.6 million in traditional animal health studies for 2008 alone and ongoing support of $10 million for these studies as they continue over the next three years. The complete list of health studies can be viewed at www.MorrisAnimalFoundation.org, or request a printed health study sponsorship booklet by calling (800) 243-2345.



MAF’s 2008 selection of studies is being conducted at nearly 50 of the world’s most elite veterinary colleges, zoological institutions and scientific research centers. In addition to key facts on MAF, the sponsorship booklet details 43 canine health studies, including many crucial health and welfare issues such as behavior, cancer, heart disease, influenza, and epilepsy. Likewise, 17 feline health research studies cover asthma, cancer, kidney diseases and obesity. The selection of 11 equine studies includes research on foal diseases, laminitis, pain management and osteoarthritis. The directory also covers five health studies related to gastrointestinal disorders, nutrition, pain management and reproduction in llamas and alpacas.



The directory also details some 36 wildlife health studies covering mountain gorillas, elephants, wild cats, foxes, wolves, fish, birds, marine life, and much more. MAF is the world’s largest private source of funding for wildlife health research.

The full release is here. And if you have an animal lover on your holiday shopping list, I can't think of a better gift than a donation in their name, or in the memory of a lost pet.

Seattle just says yes to pet goats

Seattle has decided that miniature goats are pets just like cats and dogs... exactly like, in fact. They are going to allow them within city limits, and license them, too. From the Seattle Times:

Jennie Grant, a Madrona resident and outlaw goat owner, asked (Councilmember Richard) Conlin's office to consider changing the old law after a neighbor alerted the city to Grant's goats and complained about potential public-health risks. Grant is president of the Goat Justice League, which she says has 100 members.



Her goats, Brownie and Snowflake, "are happy, they have each other, they have enough space to do the things goats like to do," Grant said at a public hearing. "Every day they harvest blackberry bushes. Every day Snowflake gives a half gallon of delicious milk. I make cheese and I bring it to the neighbors."



After researching the health risks and finding they were low, Conlin said, he proposed the new law because the goats can provide local milk and serve as "another link to the reality of where food comes from."



Animal lovers, advocates of urban sustainability and children testified in favor of legalizing the goats at the hearing Thursday. One person criticized the change, saying goats can escape any enclosure and they prefer to eat roses.



Grant sees a pastoral future for Seattle populated with minianimals. "We would be a really charming city if we were a place people could keep minifarms with chickens, goats, a vegetable garden and fruit trees," she said.



At her home, Snowflake and Brownie seemed oblivious to the legal reprieve. In fact, they seemed much more interested in a reporter's notebook that was just out of their reach.



Grant also handed out tips on raising minigoats: Build a 5-foot fence and a rain shelter, keep at least two goats, do not tether them and do not keep them indoors. Seattle Tilth plans to provide classes on goat-keeping, she said.

More here. And at Pet Connection we hope it's a trend that catches on!

Virginia charges Vick with killing, torturing, and fighting dogs

As has been rumored for days now, the state of Virginia has filed charges against suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick for torturing and killing dogs at his Virginia property, and running a dogfighting ring. From CNN:

A Virginia grand jury has indicted suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and three co-defendants on state charges of running a dogfighting ring at Vick's Virginia home, prosecutors said Tuesday.



Suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick faces sentencing on federal charges in December.



The Surry County grand jury brought two charges against Vick: one count of unlawfully torturing and killing dogs and one of promoting dogfights. Each is a felony charge that could result in a five-year prison term.



Vick, 27, faces a possible prison term of 12 to 18 months after his August guilty plea to a federal conspiracy charge of bankrolling a dogfighting operation from his home outside Newport News, Virginia. He faces sentencing on December 10 in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Virginia.



Vick's lawyers said they will "aggressively" work to make sure "that he is not held accountable for the same conduct twice."



"We are disappointed that these charges were filed in Surry County, since it is the same conduct covered by the federal indictment for which Mr. Vick has already accepted full responsibility and pleaded guilty to in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Virginia," his lead attorney, Billy Martin, said in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon.

Full story here.

Does PETA treat women like meat?

It's been bugging me for years, but Elana Centor over on BlogHer yesterday said it better than I ever have. How the heck does an organization with the word "ethical" in its name manage to exploit, demean, and insult women in so very many ways in its ads, all with near-impunity?



Centor talks about several PETA ads that use pictures of naked, scantily-clad, and highly sexualized women to draw attention to the group's message, including their current ad with a naked Alicia Silverstone:

This is not about about whether someone should or should not chose a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle. This is not about fur or faux fur. This is about a blatant marketing strategy and the exploitation of women to achieve their desired results.



PeTA has gotten away with demeaning women for 30 years. It's time for women to leave PeTA and support another like-minded organization. If that were to happen then perhaps PeTA can focus on what their mission is ---being ethical.

Centor quotes Elaine Vigneault as saying:

The main argument for these types of ads is: Naked bodies get noticed. Sex is probably the easiest way to market something. Stick a pretty female face on almost any product and it sells better. Show a nude body and get attention.

In response to a comment from BlogHer founder Elisa Camahort, she quotes an article from Working for Change:

PETA's treatment of women is more than a one-time error in judgment, and it's more than a trend. It's a clearly calculated campaign to stand out in a saturated media environment by appealing to the most prurient possible tastes. Consider:



# A television ad in which a woman is being beaten to death with a bat in a subway, with a man ripping off her fur coat, and the inscription: "What if you were killed for your coat?" The ad was pulled by PETA as "too violent in the wake of September 11," but it remained on PETA's web site.



# Another ad, this one print, with a blonde woman in an Uncle Sam outfit -- unbuttoned with cleavage showing -- and the inscription "I want YOU to go vegetarian." The woman, it turns out, is Playboy's Kimberly Hefner. The ad was distributed as a cutout poster in "Stars and Stripes," the newspaper of the nation's armed forces, distributed around the world to soldiers as they bomb away. PETA has praised the military's operations in Afghanistan, because its propagandistic food drops were, more or less inadvertently, vegan.



# Another ad, with another young, blonde woman in a come-hither centerfold pose and the bizarre inscription "Pleather Yourself."



# Another ad, featuring yet another young blonde woman, this time naked, in a classroom setting, only partly turned to the blackboard (underdeveloped cleavage showing) on which she is repeatedly writing "I'd rather go naked than wear fur." The model, it turns out, is Dominique Swain, star of Lolita, and a PETA press release touts her as "the youngest star ever to pose au natural for PETA's anti-fur campaign."

Lots of thoughtful discussion and responses here.

Big mouth dog expert, heal thyself ' s dog

So, of course, if someone else has a serious health issue with their dogs, I'm full of helpful advice. I have tons of information at my fingertips, and know where to find the stuff that I don't.



But when it's our own dogs who are sick, sometimes it's not so easy.



My dog Rebel has had a lot of health challenges in his life, starting at around the age of 7 when he was diagnosed with cystinuria, a genetic kidney defect that's emerging as a serious problem in his breed, Scottish Deerhounds. I've had one previous dog with this condition, and actually own the Canine Cystinuria website and email list. It's an extremely rare disease, and it's unlikely you'll ever need this information, but if you do... it's all there.



Then a few months ago, Rebel started putting on weight, even though I hadn't reduced his exercise or increased his food. I cut back on his portions -- and I use a food scale, so it wasn't just guesswork -- and started taking him for a few more free-running sessions, but the only result was he started begging obsessively for food, and even eating food off the ground, something he'd never done before. I mean, dogs don't usually pick up new habits at the age of 8, do they?



So I dragged him off to the vet, who ran a battery of tests, the upshot of which was, he has Cushings. Over the years I've sent a lot of owners to Heidi Schmeck's monumental Canine Cushings resource site and email list, and I've belonged to it myself for years. I felt really knowledgeable and totally able to discuss his condition, and absolutely pissed off and miserable that I had to.



Then there's the bladder infection problem -- both Cushings and cystinuria leave dogs prone to chronic urinary tract infections, which means Rebel has had his share and the UTIs of about ten other dogs in his life. And naturally, I've written about this, you know... once or twice.



Over the 26 years I've been involved with Scottish Deerhounds, I've known perhaps a hundred dogs to have impacted anal glands. It appears to be a fairly common problem in our breed, mostly in males. But never once has a dog of mine suffered with it.



Until last week, when Rebel did. Of course. So now we're coping with that and believe me when I tell you... eeuuwww. The only thing I can say is that I won't be referring you to any websites about this condition.



No, what I apparently need now is a website for people whose dogs are cursed. Got one to recommend?

Another day, another marketing campaign masquerading as health information

So, today I went to the vet with one of my dogs, and while I was waiting, I looked at the pamphlets in the little rack in the otherwise barren exam room. I picked up one that I'd never seen before.

It was from Fort Dodge, and it was a pamphlet about something called Canine Enteritis Complex. And I'm all, what the heck? I do tend to keep up on canine health issues, dear readers, and I had no clue what this dread new disease was.

That would be because it's not a disease and it's not new. "Many disease agents," it said, frighteningly, "can cause Canine Enteritis Complex, a potentially deadly inflammation of the small intestine. Some common enteritis-causing pathogens in dogs are parvovirus, coronavirus, and giardia lamblia, a microscopic protozoan that can severely damage the lining of the small intestine."

It goes on to tell us that "These pathogens are highly contagious and can be spread between dogs." What's more, "A published study"... will wonders never cease? A published study!... "showed a dual infection with parvo and corona was fatal in 90 percent of cases." And hey, they had a footnote, which I'll get to in a minute.

They also added that "Pre-existing Giardia infection can make disease from parvovirus more severe," and guess what? Another footnote!

So, after the obligatory advice to ask your veterinarian (or, as I'm sure Fort Dodge thinks of them, their marketing partners) "about a vaccination program that includes protection against enteritis-causing pathogens such as parvovirus, coronavirus, and Giardia," we get to the footnotes.

Now, you'd think for something I've never heard of before, this newly discovered trifecta of canine intestinal doom, we'd have some pretty cutting edge science. They must surely cite some new studies, hot off the presses, for me to not have seen them before. Right?

Wrong. Because those footnotes cite one study that is 19 years old, and another that is 25 years old.

No, dear dog lovers, the diseases are old, the citations are old, even the vaccines being promoted are old. The only thing new is the marketing campaign.

So, what is this campaign trying to get you to do? First, they want you to answer a few questions to determine if your dog is at risk -- although the cover of the brochure has already told you he is. "At risk" , they say,  would be any dog who drinks from puddles, is around other dogs, or is less than six months of age. So, "Don't take chances. Make sure your dog is protected from Canine Enteritis Complex by vaccinating routinely against parvo, corona, and Giardia."

Well, should you? Before asking if you should vaccinate your dog with this combination of antigens, ask about each one on its own -- starting with canine coronavirus. 

Except in very young puppies -- puppies too young to be vaccinated --  coronavirus does not cause clinical disease in dogs. Researchers cannot induce disease with it in the laboratory. Many, perhaps most, dogs have coronavirus in their intestine all their lives. (Schultz, "Emerging Issues: Vaccination Strategies for Canine Viral Enteritis," 1995.)

Texas A&M University's "Vaccine Protocols and Schedule" tells us, "(T)here are no studies that show that use of the vaccine reduces morbidity or mortality." (Mansfield 1996.) That means it neither makes vaccinated dogs get sick less frequently, nor get less seriously ill, nor die less frequently. I would guess that's why this one is so often called a "vaccine in search of a disease."

Perhaps the presence of coronavirus does make parvo more deadly, but -- and you can call me crazy -- if this virus doesn't cause illness on its own, but only if the dog also gets parvo, it seems that the proper response to that threat is to prevent parvo.

The problem, of course, is the second vaccine being promoted here, the one for parvo. That pesky vaccine is just too good. Apparently once a dog is immune to parvo, he's immune for years and years, probably his whole life. So, hey... it's tough out here for a drug company, in this post-annual vaccination age!

Fortunately, the third piece of this marketing puzzle, giardiasis,  is a vaccine for a protozoal disease, and, like all vaccines for protozoal diseases, this one totally sucks! That means you have to give it over and over and over, like, every single year!

In fact, the giardia vaccine sucks so bad at preventing giardiasis that it's not even licensed or labeled to prevent giardiasis! It's only supposed to be used as part of a total treatment plan.

The manufacturer doesn't even state that it cures or prevents giardiasis, simply that it decreases the shedding of cysts. One study showed "there was no significant difference between the (vaccinated and unvaccinated) groups. Vaccination was, therefore, not an effective treatment for asymptomatic canine Giardia infections in this setting."

Of course, that study was not absolutely dripping with cobwebs of antiquity like the ones Fort Dodge used, being only from 2004. ("Impact of Giardia vaccination on asymptomatic Giardia infections in dogs at a research facility," Canadian Veterinary Journal, Nov 2004.)

The 2006 AAHA Vaccination Guidelines list the giardia vaccine in the "not recommended" category.

If canine coronavirus is a vaccine in search of a disease, I would have to say that Canine Enteritis Complex is a disease in search of a marketing campaign. And it's found one. So if you do decide to ask your vet about it, as Fort Dodge advises, these are the questions I suggest you ask:

What evidence do you have that this vaccine protocol will actually protect my dog from any disease?

What is the benefit of this combination over vaccinating for parvo by itself? If my dog is immune to parvo already, is there any benefit in re-vaccinating him for parvo, or giving any of these vaccines at all?

Why isn't the giardia vaccine licensed to prevent giardia?

Why doesn't the AAHA recommend the giardia vaccine?

Why does not one single vet school in the United States recommend the canine coronavirus vaccine?

Advertising campaigns and marketing brochures from a company trying to sell you something are not good places to get medical advice. Not if you're a pet owner, and not if you're a veternarian either. Because given the facts, you have to ask yourself: Was this protocol designed to treat and prevent canine disease, or treat and prevent a diminished bottom line for the vaccine manufacturer?

I don't need to ask my veterinarian to know the answer to that.

The ditch to riches story of a puppy named Fresno

Via the Dog Writers Association of America email list, the story you'll find when you look up "heartwarming" in the dictionary:

Fresno is a 4.5 month old puppy who was shot in the shoulder and left in a ditch to die in Fresno, California. After four days of people driving by the ditch thinking the pup was already dead, someone noticed that he moved his head. In one of the pics from his rescue we can see by his contorted position that this poor puppy held himself up with one front leg so that he did not drown in the ditch.



Carly Banks and Jana Huey came to the rescue of Fresno (Our heroes!). They pulled him from the ditch and arranged to have a vet examine and x-ray him. The vet determined that Fresno had a fractured femur (rear leg) and at least three fractures to his pelvis/hip. The estimate for his surgeries was $6000. The women posted an ad on Craigs List trying to find help for Fresno and someone from German Shepherd Rescue saw their ad and posted it on a national GSD group list. From there, Paula Lynch from Oregon GSD rescue in Forest Grove saw the post and called to ask if we (Indigo Rescue) could help.

After the folks at Indigo Rescue got involved, they got help from their "fantabulous vet, Dr. Mark," and had Fresno shipped via Alaska Air for surgery. Eric Taylor, a reporter from KOIN-TV, convinced Alaska to waive the cost of Fresno's flight. Fresno had his expensive and complicated surgery, paid for by dog lovers contacted via Craig's List, various German Shepherd rescue groups, and the good folks at IMOM.org, who raised around $3000 for his veterinary bills. Media exposure generated $1500 in donations, and one group of dog lovers held a car wash in the town of Fresno and raised another $700.



Indigo Rescue reports that Dr. Mark told them, "Fresno will need some rehabilitation for the contracture happening in his muscles and he'll definitely have arthritis in his hip, but he says there's no reason to believe he won't lead an excellent life."

In the end, many people have come together to help this one little pup who somehow ended up discarded in a ditch by a road. We'll never know exactly what happened to Fresno that resulted in his ending up in that dreaded position, but what we do know is that there are people who really care and it just took a few people taking a chance and being willing to go out of their way a little to save his life.

Full story here. And they have video, showing his recovery as of three days ago:

Wherein I write about dogs and watch TV for money

Okay, so I haven't posted in nine days. And no, I haven't come down with diphtheria, scarlet fever or bubonic plague although I do still have a lingering cough.

I had a big deadline Friday, and two more on Monday, and it ate my life, that's all!

Deadline one won't be out for a while, but deadline two came out Tuesday over on SFGate.com:

I've had just about every nightmarish pet moving experience imaginable, including having one cat disappear for several days after I moved. I've boarded my pets, kept them in the car, brought them to someone else's house, emptied a room and kept them there, and hired someone to sit with them while I moved.

And none of it works.

Oh, you can read, and in my case, write, articles giving advice on stress reduction and safety for pets during a move. But let me tell you, as the author of such articles, most of the advice doesn't really make all that much of a difference.

You can put them in a covered container with food and water. You can play soothing ambient music. Heck, you can sit there next to them holding their little paws all day, but the bottom line is this: They don't want to move. Not now, not later, not ever. Not to a bigger house, not to a better house, just not.

Check out the rest of the horrific truth helpful hints here.

Deadline three came out just like, ten minutes ago. This blog is so cutting edge, dude. It's my history of gay teenagers on TV and yes, I have been watching As the World Turns but I'm only doing it for the money. I swear it:

American daytime TV has never seen anything like the fan reaction to the Luke and Noah romance on As the World Turns. And yet, although such representations are few and far between, this isn’t the first time America has seen gay teenagers on its television screens. From HBO’s 1986 drama The Truth About Alex to Greek’s Calvin and Heath, gay teenagers have been coming out, growing up, and (sometimes) even falling in love on TV for a long time now. What’s so special about Noah and Luke, and just who are television’s other gay teenaged boys?

Longtime fans of As the World Turns have known Luke Snyder (Van Hansis) since he was born, but most gay men didn’t know him until he came out late last year. He came to the attention of even more gay men this June when Noah Mayer (Jake Silbermann) moved to Oakdale, and half the Queer Nation sat up and took notice, starting a tidal wave of “Nuke” obsession the likes of which the American soap opera has never seen before.

Of course it’s not just gay fans avidly following the Nuke storyline, but there's no missing the buzz generated by the large number of first-time viewers following the show and talking about the relationship online. Since Luke has been out for more than a year, and he’s not even the first gay teen character on a soap, what’s behind the frenzy?

Check it out here.

Don ' t push me, man

Oh goody. Yet another thing to add to the list of stuff that makes Christie go crazy.



Today's entry? Push polls.



There are several kinds of push polls, but the one in question is the kind where there are no choices that let someone give an honest and uninterpreted response to the question. It's where you're asked, "Do you like peanut butter?" and the two choices are "Yes, I like how it sticks to the roof of my mouth," and "No, it has aflatoxins in it."



And the person sitting there going, okay, "I like peanut butter but I hate how it sticks to the roof of my mouth," and the one going, "I hate peanut butter but what the heck are aflatoxins?" have to either not answer or give an answer they were pushed into.



And then the peanut butter company starts an ad campaign saying "98 percent of people like it when peanut butter sticks to the roof of their mouth, while only 2 percent are concerned about aflatoxins," and then the federal goverment eases up on aflatoxin prevention programs and the National Peanut Butter Advisory Board ramps back its aflatoxin public education program and it was all based on nothing.



And now you're all patting me gently on the arm and speaking in low, soothing tones and reminding me that that is a pet blog, Christie, please focus.



And that brings me to a poll over on the Dog Fancy website where we're asked our feelings about some undefined thing called "canine legislation," and the only three choices are that you love it because it protects dogs, hate it because it infringes the rights of owners, or accept that it infringes the rights of owners while still protecting dogs.



To all of which I'm sitting here screaming, "What the heck do you mean by 'canine legislation,' dudes?" Because without knowing if they're talking about "it's illegal to shoot your dog in a ditch" or "it's illegal to have an intact dog over the age of 8 weeks" or "it's illegal to keep your dog in the car in the sun with the windows closed," how can I possibly answer the question?



I now return you to your usual weekend activities, which I hope entail cuddling the kitties and walking the dogs, rather than taking Internet polls.

Calling all bird watchers

Do you feed birds in your backyard? If so, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch needs your help:

FeederWatchers count the birds at their feeders each week and send the information to the Lab of Ornithology. They've helped document unusual bird sightings, winter movements, and shifting ranges of some bird species over the past 20 years. To see the effects of global climate change, scientists say they need new and veteran participants alike to keep counting birds now and well into the future.

“Being a FeederWatcher is easy and fun, and at the same time it helps generate the world’s largest database on feeder-bird populations,” says project leader David Bonter. “Since we started in 1987, nearly 40,000 people have submitted observations, adding up to well over 1.5 million checklists.”

Some of the most dramatic changes revealed by data collected during two decades of Project FeederWatch may be related to changes in climate. “We’re seeing hummingbirds turning up much farther north than usual during the winter,” says Bonter. “Warblers and other insect-eaters are also lingering longer into the northern winter, possibly because of warmer temperatures. Bird count data gathered in the coming years will really help us focus on these trends and what might be causing them.”

The projects's 21st season begins in November and runs until April 2008. FeederWatch participants send weekly observations of feeder birds to the Lab of Ornithology, helping to document long-term shifts in bird population and distribution.

Interested participants can sign up on the Project FeederWatch web site at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw or call the Lab toll-free at (800) 843-2473. In return for the $15 fee ($12 for Lab members) participants receive the FeederWatcher's Handbook, a poster of the most common feeder birds, a calendar, complete instructions, and the FeederWatch "Winter Bird Highlights" publication.