Tag: dogs

There Is A Growing Plot Against Dogs

At the airport, the staff now offers comfort dogs, gorgeous Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds available for petting and holding. The idea is to comfort scared kids, delight passersby, and generally lift up the space. Yes, that’s exactly what dogs do.

What a wonderful idea. However, not everyone is happy about our love of dogs.

We’ve all become sensitive about threats on the horizon, small hints in science journals or from establishment media that target what we love. There was a time when we could treat these as an opportunity for debate and discussion. Events of the last five years suggest that parlor games are over. With so much trust lost, we are newly aware that these threats can turn out to be real and thus merit more attention.

The issue now concerns pets and dogs in particular. Are they coming for them?

In August 2020, Anthony Fauci co-authored an article in Cell that broadly called for “radical changes that may take decades to achieve: rebuilding the infrastructures of human existence.” Among the specifics, the article obliquely targets pet ownership, urging that we must reduce “unsafe exposure to animals.”

I wondered about that line at the time. The whole theory of the article is that humans are everywhere surrounded by icky things that can infect us. We’ve neglected these threats for many thousands of years by traveling around, moving here and there, domesticating animals, and living too closely together. This must change, they opine, because bad pathogens are ever more leaping from the outside world into humans.

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Climate Nutjobs Target Pet Dogs for Being ‘Environmental Villains’

Full disclosure before going any further: I love dogs. Have three myself. I fully subscribe to the “man’s best friend” moniker when it comes to canines.

(But no, I never celebrated Father’s Day until I had actual human children.)

In a soon-to-be-related note, I am not against preserving this planet, at all. This is the only earth that God gave us, and it would behoove us to be good stewards of it.

With that being said … When is enough going to be enough with these idiotic eco-zealots?

It’s one thing to want to be good stewards.

It’s another thing entirely to place every human being’s wants (let the people eat a freaking hamburger) and needs (like transportation and energy) last in comparison to the planet. That’s the antithesis of empathy and humanity, something the far left supposedly specializes in, especially compared to us conservative brethren.

What a farce. And it’s a farce that continues to self-parody itself more and more every day.

Look no further than this recent drivel from leftist rag Mother Jones: “Bad News for Man’s Best Friend: Dogs Are Environmental Villains.”

Since when did Fido become a James Bond villain? Citing recent “new research,” the outlet’s Donna Lu typed out — presumably with a straight face — that, “Dogs have ‘extensive and multifarious’ environmental impacts, disturbing wildlife, polluting waterways and contributing to carbon emissions.”

Apparently, the hall monitors in Australia reviewed various studies to determine that “the environmental impact of owned dogs is far greater, more insidious, and more concerning than is generally [recognized].”

The Australian argument almost devolves into leftist memes like (and these are real points made, though perhaps not with this level of dripping sarcasm): “Oh, won’t someone think of the Tasmanian penguins?!”, “But the bobcats will be LESS ACTIVE with dogs around!”, and “The entire multi-billion dollar pet food industry is equivalent to the 60th — 60th — most pollutant country!”

Thankfully, nobody died and made the likes of Greta Thunberg queen, so this utter nonsense was met with the derision it so scornfully deserved.

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Cannabis May Be ‘Viable Alternative’ Treatment For Dogs With Common Skin Disease, Case Study Shows

Cannabis appears to be a “viable alternative” treatment option for dogs suffering from a common skin disease—especially if they experience adverse side effects from conventional steroid therapies—according to a new case study.

Researchers at the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil published their findings in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science this month, detailing the efficacy of full-spectrum CBD oil on a dog with the autoimmune disease discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE).

The condition, which causes hair loss and redness that could progress to lesions, is typically treated with corticosteroids and other medications that can put a strain on a dog’s liver. That’s what was happening with the two-year-old canine at the center of the new case study.

A veterinarian prescribed a full-spectrum oil with a 2:1 THC:CBD ratio, which was administered orally—at first, one drop per day for three days and gradually increasing it “until the optimal dose for symptom control was identified.”

“Within a few weeks, the dog exhibited significant improvement in dermatological signs, accompanied by a concurrent improvement in liver function,” the study says. “Interestingly, the owner reported an improvement in the dog’s behavior shortly after discontinuing prednisolone and within the first day of receiving the cannabis oil.”

“Cannabis derivatives, beyond their pain-relieving prowess, are emerging as potential knights in shining armor against inflammation and immune system overwork in the veterinary world,” the discussion section says. “Unlike traditional drugs, these compounds dance with the body’s own endocannabinoid system (ECS), a master conductor of cellular harmony, homeostasis and diverse functions.”

They added that a key benefit of using cannabis over corticosteroids is that the latter is “limited” to short-term use. In contrast, cannabis products “lack significant side effects and are safe for long-term usage.”

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‘No money would ever tempt me to kill my XL Bully’: Furious dog owners blast government £200 ‘puppy scrappage scheme’ to euthanise their pets – as charities face an impossible task to rehome animals before December 31 deadline

Livid Bully XL owners are refusing to accept a £200 Government handout to euthanise their soon-to-be-banned pets, branding the plan ‘absolutely disgusting’.

The breed will be banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act by the end of the year, following a spate of recent fatal and horrific attacks. 

Owners can apply to have their pets exempt from the crackdown – which means they would have to pay £92.40 for a certificate and the dog would need to be microchipped and neutered, among other rules.

The second option would be to have their dogs put down, with the government offering £200 in compensation to these owners. 

But news of the measures this week triggered fury from Bully owners, who branded the move a ‘puppy scrappage scheme’. 

Fuming Bully XL owner Ashley Oxley from Brighton told MailOnline: ‘No money would ever tempt me into putting my girl down she’s fine the way she is and that’s how it’s staying can’t believe in this generation this kind of brutality is even allowed.’ 

Mother-of-three Dani Harland added: ‘This breaks my heart. I own an XL Bully and I would never ever even dream of putting her down. I find this absolutely disgusting that they [the government] are even offering to pay people money to have their dogs put to sleep.’

The outcry comes as animal charities today warned they face an impossible task of trying to rehome hundreds of Bully XLs stuck in rescue centres before the December 31 deadline, after which it will become illegal to rehome, breed, or sell the dogs.

Mel Kermode, operations manager of Freshfields Animal Rescue in Liverpool, said: ‘It is a desperate race against time to try and save these dogs. The clock is very much ticking,’ 

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American XL Bully dogs are officially banned following spate of attacks: Owning one without exemption certificate will be a criminal offence from February

American XL bully dogs are now officially banned – with offences established to outlaw the sale, breeding and giving away of the dogs and walking them off-lead.

The ban was promised by prime minister Rishi Sunak following a spate of high-profile attacks earlier this year including the savaging of an 11-year-old girl and the death of a man in Staffordshire at the hands of two of the dangerous dogs.

Defra says that under the new rules, which come into effect from December 31, it will be illegal to ‘breed, sell, advertise, exchange, gift, rehome, abandon or allow XL Bully dogs to stray’ in England and Wales.

From the same date, existing XL Bully owners must keep their dogs on a lead and muzzled in public; the government is advising people to start training their dogs to wear a muzzle and walk on a lead comfortably, if they aren’t already trained. 

And from February 1, owning an XL Bully will be outlawed altogether unless owners register their animal on the Index of Exempted Dogs. The government says it has ‘staggered’ the dates to give existing owners time to prepare for the laws to come in.

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Fauci Oversaw Dangerous, Torturous Experiments On Dogs

In addition to overseeing funding of gain of function coronavirus experiments in Wuhan, and then lying about it, it has now emerged that Dr Fauci was in charge of funding horrid experimental research on dogs, including purposefully infecting the animals with parasites known to be contagious to humans.

The report from the White Coat Waste Project draws on information gleaned from a FOIA request which revealed that $400,000 was pumped into National Institutes of Allergy & Infectious Disease experiments to infect beagles with parasites from biting flies.

The report outlines how the dogs “endured months of pain, and once researchers were done with them, they were killed.”

The NIAID task order states that “28 beagles were to be allowed to develop infections for three months before being euthanized for blood collection.”

The records obtained under the FOIA request show the dogs “vocalized pain” during the experiments.

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China’s Toxic Dog Food Threatens Our Four-Legged Friends

As a former commissioner on the congressionally chartered U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission, identifying toxic ingredients from China in American products has always been a grave concern for me. In its 2019 report to Congress, the commission noted China was the No. 1 global source of pharmaceutical ingredients, which includes dietary supplements for pet consumption.

As far back as 2007, we found rampant agricultural contamination by airborne pollutants as a result of China’s rapid growth, conflicting layers of oversight, oppressive control of state media, and China’s tacit refusal to enforce its own product safety laws.

The dog food safety problem is no small thing. It has never been more important, nor more human-centered.

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Defense to Outfit and Steer Military Dogs with Augmented Reality Goggles

U.S. military dogs might one day be equipped with augmented reality goggles that their human servicemember partners can remotely provide guiding commands through during dangerous rescue operations or explosive device hunts.

Seattle-based small business Command Sight produced a technological prototype that could enhance troops’ safety by enabling exactly that, and some say it could fundamentally transform how the U.S. military’s canines are deployed down the line. Having completed a phase I project developing the prototype via a Small Business Innovation Research, or SBIR, program steered by the Army Research Office, the company was selected for funding through phase II, to further refine the potential product. 

“The military working dog community is very excited about the potential of this technology,” ARO senior scientist Dr. Stephen Lee said in an announcement published Tuesday. “[It] really cuts new ground and opens up possibilities that we haven’t considered yet.”

When it comes to heeding instructions from the people that lead them, military working dogs generally follow hand signals, laser pointers, or walkie talkies and cameras strapped to their own bodies—all of which can lead to confusion for the animals or risk of unwanted exposure for humans. But the new prototype offers human handlers the ability to see from the dog’s point of view, and a means to give commands while staying completely out of sight. 

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