Itchmo: News For Dogs & Cats

Who ever said that dogs and cats don’t get along?

A dalmatian named Bomber helped rescue two kittens stuck in a drainage pipe. He is the reason that they are safe and sound.

Residents in a Texas neighborhood heard incessant meowing, but they couldn’t figure out where the sound was coming from.

Bomber was out for a walk with his owner. He kept on sniffing a four-inch drainage pipe which caused his owner, Tim Huler, to know that something was going on inside the drainage pipe.

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There has been a heated controversy over a Texas rodeo act called The All-American High Diving Aqua Mules. These high-diving miniature mules, Dipsy Doodle, Smokey and Ingrid, step off a 24-foot-high platform into a six-foot-deep pool at Lightning Ranch in South Texas.

Animal activists call this animal cruelty because the mules are old, ranging from 16 to 22-years-old. They want the act to be shut down. Activists said that it isn’t natural for mules to jump off a platform into water, and they are worried about their safety.

After looking at evidence of the diving mules, an investigator for the Bandera County Sheriff’s Office found that the mules used in these high-diving acts were not treated cruelly.

Deputy Shane Merritt said there was no animal cruelty because the mules are not prodded to walk off of the platform into the pool. He also added that these mules have been doing this for years as part of a traveling road show.

Bill Rivers, the owner of the All American High-Diving Mules said the mules are willing to do it and like diving. He added: “If they didn’t … People need to stop and think. We need to give the animals a little bit of credit for being intelligent.”

Rivers’s father started the act in the 1950s when he saw horses diving off of Atlantic City’s Steel Pier. The mules used to perform in county fairs, but due to the controversy, now they only perform at the ranch.

Rivers said that none of the mules have ever been hurt during the act. He said people should see the act before judging it.

A grassroots effort by pet owners in Texas seeks modification of existing law to allow senior and sick pets to forego state-mandated rabies vaccinations.

A petition recently presented to the Texas Department of Health Services, Zoonosis Control Department asks the Department to give attending veterinarians discretion in assessing the risk of rabies exposure versus the risk of an adverse or potentially fatal reaction to a rabies vaccine.

Supporters of the proposed change in policy hope that companion animals will qualify for an exemption if they previously submitted to at least two rabies shots and suffered adverse reactions, or if they are prone to reactions, or are in the care of a licensed veterinarian for a chronic or acute illness. The exemption would not excuse pet owners from licensing their pets according to local ordinances, but it would allow them to protect the animal’s health and remain in compliance with state law.

The Texas Department of Public Health adopted a 3-year interval between rabies vaccinations for dogs and one year for cats in 2003, bringing state law into accord with recommendations to curb unnecessary vaccinations made by many veterinary medical schools and professional associations. However, the final decision about the interval for rabies booster shots has been left to each individual community.

Many Texas counties and cities still require annual rabies vaccinations, regardless of the condition of the animal. No provision has been made for companion animals with acute or chronic health issues being treated by a licensed veterinarian.

All rabies vaccines licensed by the USDA specify on their label, “For administration to healthy dogs and cats.”

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The American Dog Owners Association (ADOA), formed in 1970 to combat dogfighting, announced that it is calling for the NFL to suspend Michael Vick in response to his recent dogfighting conspiracy charges.

“The ADOA would like to see much stiffer penalties for the organizers and owners of the dogs used and bred for fighting,” stated Maureen Hauch, a spokesperson for the organization. “In addition, those who attend these fights are only charged with a misdemeanor, when a felony would be a more fitting charge for such an inhumane crime,” she added.

The organization would like to see Vick suspended from the NFL and ordered to make positive public service announcements about the American Pit Bull Terrier.

Sports memorabilia stores are also taking a stand against Vick.

Brian Gray, the owner of American Icons, has removed an autographed Vick photo that once hung on his wall of his Frisco, Texas sports memorabilia store.

Gray plans to destroy the photo valued at $500 and any other Vick-related apparel or items in his store. Throughout the month of August, customers can bring in their Vick memorabilia and join in the demolition festivities.

“We are not going to deal with this anymore,” Gray said. “We say forget Michael Vick. Just because he plays on a field, he is not a hero or role model. We don’t want to finance someone who is behaving in that manner. We specialize in heroes and he is not one of them. I just couldn’t find a way to justify selling the item.”

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Mandy Parker dropped off her dog at Park Cities Obedience School and Dog Daycare in Dallas, Texas before she went on vacation. When she came to pick her dog Sutton, she was completely floored at what had happened during her boarding time.

The first thing Parker noticed was that her dog had puncture wounds on her neck. She had three open wounds and her neck was burned from ear to ear.

At first, she thought that her dog had gotten attacked by another dog. But she then found out that the wounds were from an anti-bark collar that the kennel used on Sutton.

Parker said that she has never used a shock collar on her dog and would never allow anyone else to use one on Sutton.

Phillip Marr, the owner of the boarding facility, said that Sutton was a rambunctious dog and that she barked constantly. He did admit that the collar probably was on for too long. Marr also stated that bark collars are accepted in dog training, and that almost everyone uses them for excessive barkers.

Marr called Sutton’s injuries a horrible accident. He said that when Sutton was rolling around, there was too much pressure on the side of her neck, so the bark collar put marks on the side of her neck.

A veterinarian inspected Sutton’s injuries and said that the collar was probably on the dog for more than a day. She said that anti-bark collars should not be used and are inhumane.

Another veterinarian said that if the facility did not specifically state in their boarding release that they use anti-bark collars, then it is an inappropriate act.

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A man who said that he was rushing his sick cat to the veterinarian led police on a high-speed chase through Dallas and nearby suburbs that lasted for more than an hour yesterday afternoon.

The chase ended when the driver pulled over and the police tackled him.

The man appeared to have blood on his head as the police officers led him away.

He said that his cat was dying and he was rushing to get his pet to a veterinarian. When asked why he didn’t stop, the driver said he was hoping that pursuing officers would quit following him.

Animal control has taken custody of the cat.

Source: My Fox Dallas

Imagine enjoying a ride down a highway when the driver changes lanes, and you go flying out the back window.

In the Dallas area, this is what happened to a light brown shepherd mix dog that’s been given the nickname “Lucky.

A woman that saw the incident said the driver was going about 40 miles per hour and Lucky miraculously sustained only a few scrapes to his face and paw. When Lucky hit the pavement, the woman was close enough to scoop him up before he could get run over by a car.

Lucky’s rescuer was not able to get any information on the car that Lucky was in. Efforts are being made to find Lucky’s owner.

Hope that Lucky can get lucky twice.

Source: Fox 4 News

Thank goodness for Good Samaritans. Two off-duty security guards saw a young couple tie a calico cat to railroad tracks in San Antonio, TX. The couple drove off, and the two security guards pulled up to the tracks to see the cat’s hind legs tied down with a shoelace. They untied the cat, caught up to the couple’s car and got their license plate number. The couple got away when the man pulled out a gun and pointed it at the security guards.

More information about the case after the jump.

(Thanks Jennifer)

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On average, a dog can release up to three-quarter pounds of feces a day (that is a serious amount of poo). What to do with all that poo? The North Central Texas Council of Governments is starting the “Doo The Right Thing” awareness campaign in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. They are advising dog owners to always carry bags with them and to pick up waste as soon as it is deployed and to flush it down your toilet at your convenience. Don’t worry, soft waste can be thrown away in the trash. The campaign’s aim is to prevent pounds of dog waste from leaking or washing into untreated creeks, rivers and lakes.

We know you’ve seen plenty of dogs “doo-ing” their thing, so we’re gonna save you the pretty picture.

Vending machines — they provide us with the convenience of getting that bag of chips that you’ve been craving, that thirst quenching soft drink, and now a dog toy or a poopie bag just in case if you forgot one.

Hey Buddy! provides doggie vending machines and their first one was put in the Bark Park in Dallas in 2005, and now another one has been installed in another dog park in Dallas and over the summer, 10 more doggie vending machines will be placed in dog parks around the city. The doggie vending machines can provide owners with chew toys, balls, pick-up bags, leashes, and collars. I’m sure your dog would rather have you buy him a bag of chips from a human vending machine instead though.

What else does a dog that has everything need? A dog toilet. A 55-story luxury condo development (units are priced from $550,000 to $3.8 million) in Austin, TX is offering its residents a dog park with a self-cleaning doggie toilet (located on the 10th floor of the building). The toilet is flushed with the floor and has a mechanical scraping blade. “It’s got a cleansing flush system that has a chemical aroma that attracts the dog,” Scott Ziegler, the architect, said. “It’s a stainless-steel plate, 18 inches square, and that’s the surface that the dogs are attracted to when the dog does his business. Then you hit the fob, an electronic key, and a little scraper scrapes the dog’s residue into the sanitary system. And it cleanses it.” Just hope that toilet never gets clogged up.