Monday, January 30, 2012

Animal Rights Quote - Alice Walker

Animals can communicate quite well.  And they do.  And generally speaking, they are ignored.  ~Alice Walker



I often wonder how people can just turn a blind eye to suffering of others, be it human or non- humans.  It pains me to look at this picture and wonder if anyone stopped to see if this sweet dog was still alive?  Maybe pick him/her up and take him/her somewhere warm?  We'll never know.  It takes very little effort to be compassionate.  When you get the opportunity, do the right thing.

Leopard from exotic animal farm dies in Ohio zoo - By (Zanesville, Ohio) Times Recorder

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio – One of six animals that survived the Oct. 18 slaughter at a Zanesville, Ohio, exotic animal farm is dead, euthanized Sunday after a gate struck it in the neck.

The incident happened about 11 a.m. Sunday as a zookeeper was moving a male spotted leopard between enclosures for routine cleaning and feeding, said Tom Stalf, chief operating officer at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. The leopard, which was about 3 years old, walked from one enclosure to the next but darted back just as the door was being lowered.

A zoo veterinarian was able to restart the leopard's heart with chest compressions, but it was determined the animal had suffered irreversible spinal cord injury and was unable to breathe on its own. Dr. Tony Forshey, head of the Ohio Department of Agriculture's Division of Animal Health, responded to the emergency call and made the decision to euthanize the leopard.

X-rays from before and after the leopard's death indicated it had congenitally defective malformed vertebrae in the neck, which weakened its cervical spine and could have compounded the severity of the injury. The leopard also had old injuries that had not healed properly, including broken bones in its back and tail, Stalf said.

The leopard was one of six animals transported to Columbus Zoo after Terry Thompson released 56 wild animals from his farm before killing himself.

It was being housed in the zoo's quarantine area, which is built to hold anything from small animals to gorillas, Stalf said. So doors between the enclosures, which are lever-operated and slide up and down, are extremely heavy.

The leopard's body was taken to the state Animal Disease and Diagnostic Laboratory for an autopsy, but results likely will not be available for four to six weeks.

The five remaining Zanesville animals at the zoo — two leopards, two macaque monkeys and a grizzly bear — are still under quarantine here, awaiting testing by the Ohio Department of Agriculture.

The animals all are doing well, Stalf said, but a timeline for their testing still has not been set.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Heroic Dog Saves Two Young Girls From Venomous Snake In Australia


A heroic dog from Ipswich, Australia, is still recovering at a local veterinarian after saving his family's two young girls from a venomous snake that slithered into their backyard, the Queensland Times reports.
Michelle Lynch, 7, and Kaylee Lynch, 2, were headed to their backyard swingset, unaware that a brown snake -- one of the world's deadliest snakes whose venom can easily kill an adult human -- was sitting right below the swings.
That's when the family's 18-month-old Austrian cattle dog River sprang into action.
"They were going out to play on the swings and Michelle got two steps out the door and yelled out 'snake'," the girls' mother Catherine Lynch told the paper. "As soon as she yelled, [River] bolted out, grabbed the snake and killed it. I think it was probably Michelle's tone of voice, River picked up that something wasn't right and she didn't hesitate."
Only later did the family realize that River had been bitten by the snake after she began showing signs of paralysis. They grabbed the snake's body from the trash bin and rushed River to the local veterinary clinic, where she received life-saving treatment.
Days later, River is making a full recovery, though Catherine Lynch says her daughters are still traumatized by the incident.
"They're obviously upset about the dog,'' Lynch told the Herald Sun. "I think the youngest didn't really know what had happened, but she threw a tantrum when we got home because River wasn't with us.The eldest has been asking a lot of questions about what happened."

Despite Australia's reputation for having some of the deadliest snakes in the world, most hospitalizations from bites and stings result from run-ins with spiders and bees, according to a report from the Australian Institute of Welfare and Health.
In the period between 2002-2005, there were 11,602 cases of hospitalization from bites and stings, only 15 percent of which were attributed to venomous snakes.
According the Courier Mail, 2 to 3 Australians per year die from snakes bites, with brown snakes accounting for half of those deaths.

It's wonderful to see heroic stories of how non-human animals spring into action and save the day, not worrying about their own safety, but the safety of the ones they love!  I just wish more humans would learn a lesson and jump in when they are needed.

Original story here : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/19/family-pet-dog-girls-venomous-snake-attack_n_1216459.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D128789

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