Dogs Used as Shark Bait on French Island

Dogs Used as Shark Bait on French Island
By Maryann Mott

As Far back as Oct. 19 2005 it was reported by Maryann Mott that live and dead dogs and cats were being used as shark bait by amateur fishers on the French-controlled island of Réunion, according toanimal-welfare organizations and local authorities.

At The time the small volcanic island off Africa's east coast was bursting with stray dogs—upward of 150,000, says Reha Hutin, president of the Paris-based Fondation 30 Millions d'Amis (the Thirty Million Friends Foundation).
Hutin sent a film crew to Réunion this summer to obtain proof that live animals were being used as shark bait. The goal was to expose the practice on the animal rights group's weekly television show.

It didn't take long for the film crew to find three separate cases, she said.

A videotape and photographs show the dogs with multiple hooks sunk deep into their paws and snouts.

"From then on everyone started to take the whole story seriously and realized it was true," Hutin said.

Photographic Evidence

PLEASE READ:
http://www.all-creatures.org/aip/nl-20100526-10.html

Caring for Your Dog: The Top Ten Essentials

Caring for Your Dog: The Top Ten Essentials

http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/dog_care/caring_for_your_dog_the_top_ten_essentials.html

Your dog gives you a lifetime of unconditional love, loyalty, and friendship. In return, she counts on you to provide her with food, water, safe shelter, regular veterinary care, exercise, companionship, and more. Take care of these ten essentials, and you'll be guaranteed to develop a rewarding relationship with your canine companion.

1. Outfit your dog with a collar and ID tag that includes your name, address, and telephone number. No matter how careful you are, there's a chance your companion may become lost—an ID tag greatly increases the chance that your pet will be returned home safely.

2. Follow local laws for licensing your dog and vaccinating him for rabies. Check with your local animal shelter or humane society for information regarding legal requirements, where to obtain tags, and where to have your pet vaccinated.

3. Follow this simple rule—off property, on leash. Even a dog with a valid license, rabies tag, and ID tag should not be allowed to roam outside of your home or fenced yard. It is best for you, your community, and your dog to keep your pet under control at all times.

Please read the full article: http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/dog_care/caring_for_your_dog_the_top_ten_essentials.html

Spring Can Be Dangerous For Dogs

Spring can be dangerous for dogs
Mar 07 2007

http://www.sookenewsmirror.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=32&cat=43&id=847293&more=

For many people, spring is the time for thoroughly cleaning the
house, preparing the garden and starting home renovation projects.
Michelle Sevigny, Founder of DOGSAFE Canine First Aid courses and
author of DOGSAFE: Everything Your Dog Wants You to Know in an
Emergency, has partnered with Robyn Andexser, owner of Best Paw
Forward Dog Training, to bring the one-day, DOGSAFE Canine First Aid
course to Nanaimo on March 18, 2007. Both are warning families to be
mindful of the spring season dangers for dogs and offer these spring
safety tips:

1. Keep cleaning products out of your dog’s reach and do not allow
your dog to walk on or lick surfaces that are still wet with cleaning
products. If your dog does come in contact with these surfaces, they
may experience skin irritation and some gastrointestinal problems.
Most cleaning products are safe to use around pets if they are used
as directed, including Swiffer Wet Jet and Febreeze, contrary to the
urban myth that these products caused liver and kidney damage. If you
suspect that your dog has ingested a quantity of a toxic cleaning
product, contact your veterinarian immediately for treatment
recommendations.

2. Do not dispose of old medicines in the garbage when cleaning out
the medicine chest to prevent your dog from finding and ingesting
them. Some human cold, allergy and sinus medications, especially
those containing pseudoephedrine, are extremely toxic to dogs. Pain
relievers, including acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil),
as well as various prescription drugs can be toxic to dogs. According
to Health Canada, it is best to return drugs to a pharmacy for proper
disposal.

3. Keep poisonous plants out of your home and yard to ensure your dog
does not ingest them. Common plants toxic to dogs include daffodils,
rhododendron, azaleas, tulip bulbs, oleander, yucca plants and some
vegetable garden plants such as tomato vines. Symptoms will vary
depending on the plant ingested and may include vomiting, diarrhea,
heart and nervous system problems, coma and even death.

4. Do not use slug and snail bait poisons around dogs that contain
metaldehyde which is sweet to attract slugs and also attracts dogs.
If ingested, the product will affect the dog’s nervous system
causing twitching and tremors.

dogs/cats contaminated with toxic synthetic chemicals, just like humans

by David Gutierrez
Source: Dogs and Cats Contaminated with Toxic Synthetic Chemicals, Just Like Humans

(NaturalNews) High levels of 48 different industrial chemicals were found in household pets in a study conducted by the Environmental Working Group (EWG).

The group tested 20 dogs and 37 cats from a Virginia veterinary clinic, and found high levels of chemicals from mercury to fire-retardants and stain-proof coatings. According to the group, pets are particularly at risk of exposure to toxic household chemicals because they are commonly on the ground or their feet. Infants and toddlers are at similar risk, EWG said.

"We need a better system of regulating toxic chemicals in this country," said Bill Walker, EWG's vice president of West Coast operations. "We need to test the chemicals before they are allowed on the market. Our animals are trying to tell us something here."

Oakland, Calif. veterinarian Gary Richter said that the incidence of diseases linked to these chemicals has been increasing in household pets.

"There's been an increase in cancer in dogs and cats and hyperthyroidism in cats," he said. "Household toxins are concerning."

Arlene Blum, a visiting chemist at the University of California-Berkeley, echoed Richter's call for more regulation.

"Right now, it's regulation by lawsuit," she said. "We need to test chemicals before they enter the environment. And companies have no incentive to do that."

Blum believes that her cat Midnight contracted hyperthyroidism from fire retardants used in her home, and that children are at similar risk.

Due to hyperthyroidism, Midnight lost 50 percent of his weight in only six months and his kidneys failed. Blum tested Midnight, her furniture and the dust in her home and found high levels of flame retardants in all three.

"In lab animals, fire retardant was shown to cause hyperthyroidism, and quite likely that is the cause of Midnight's problems - the fire retardant in the furniture," Blum said. "What goes into our furniture goes into our dust, cats and our children. These unnecessary toxic chemicals were banned in children's clothes, but not furniture."

Sources for this story include: origin.mercurynews.com.

Does your breath smell like cancer? 5 forms of early cancer detection

Does Your Breath Smell Like Cancer?
5 Incredible Forms of Early Cancer Detection
by www.SixWise.com

Detecting cancer in the early stages increases the survival rate of people diagnosed with cancer. Here are five unique, non-invasive ways of detecting cancer in its early stages:

1. Cancer-Smelling Dogs

You've heard of drug-sniffing dogs and bomb-sniffing dogs ... but cancer-sniffing dogs? A study published in the journal Integrative Cancer Therapies reported that trained dogs accurately detected lung and breast cancer 88 percent to 97 percent of the time. In a matter of only a few weeks, regular household dogs were trained to sniff out cancer using a basic food reward-based training program. Other studies have shown that dogs have also been able to detect ovarian cancer through odors detected in the breath of people inflicted with the disease.

Regular household dogs can be trained to sniff out cancer in just a few weeks!

"Cancer cells emit different metabolic waste products than normal cells," says Nicholas Broffman, executive director of the Pine Street Foundation, a cancer research organization in San Anselmo, California. These cellular waste products form specific combinations of biochemical markers (gases) that are emitted as odors on cancer patients' breath. Broffman continues, "The differences between these metabolic products are so great that they can be detected by a dog's keen sense of smell, even in the early stages of disease."

2. Lasers to Detect Cancer Breath

Dr. Patrick McCann, lead researcher at the University of Oklahoma, is confident that he has the technology to create a cancer-detecting device that will measure the gaseous biochemical markers emitted through the breath of people with cancer.

"A device that measures cancer specific gases in exhaled breath would change medical research, as we know it," claims McCann. McCann and his group of researchers specialize in innovative laser technology. This device would use lasers to read people's breath and scan it for specific biochemical markers that indicate the presence of cancer. This could be used for early cancer detection, including hard-to-detect cancers such as lung cancer.

The idea for this device came from the dogs -- the dogs who detect cancer by smelling it on people's breath. "... The dogs tell us there is something there," says McCann. Even though the technology is available for this device, it will still take about five to 10 years to get this product into the hands of doctors.

Researchers know that dogs detect gases given off by people with cancer, but they don't know what the specific make-up of the gases are. Ongoing studies are busy trying to determine that very thing in order to assist the creation of this device.

3. Fluorescent Probe Identifies Early Stages of Cancer

Dr. Matthew Bogyo, assistant professor of pathology and of microbiology and immunology at the Stanford School of Medicine and his colleagues have created a molecular probe that bonds to overactive enzymes present in cancer cells. The unusual thing about this probe is that after it is injected into the body, it lights up with fluorescence making it easy to detect cancer cells through non-invasive, non-radioactive fluorescent imaging. When cancer cells divide and multiply, a protein-eating enzyme or protease becomes overactive in the area. The molecular probe attaches to the protease. Once the protease becomes active a piece of the molecule called a "quencher" is broken off, activating the fluorescence -- much like when you crack a fluorescent light stick to make it light up.

Often times surgeons wind up removing healthy tissue in addition to cancerous tissue when removing a tumor because it is difficult to determine the exact area that is infected. Dr. Bogyo's probe will be able to show surgeons the exact amount of cancerous tissue/tumor that needs to be removed. Invasive, painful, and potentially harmful biopsies will be unnecessary. Using this method to test for breast cancer would mean no more dangerous x-rays from mammograms or unnecessary biopsies.

Another major benefit of this type of molecular probe is that it should be able to detect cancer long before tumors have a chance to spread. This probe can also detect other overactive-protease-related conditions such as strokes and Huntington's disease. This method has been undergoing tests over the last three years to ensure its safety and effectiveness. Researchers hope that this method of disease detection will be widely used within the next few years.

4. New Blood Test for Prostate Cancer

Be sure to read this past article for more tips on how to naturally prevent the most common forms of cancer.

New research has discovered a way to establish more effective treatment plans and hopefully prolong the lives of people with aggressive forms of prostate cancer. The prostate specific antigen (PSA) test is the most widely used test to detect prostate cancer. The downside of the PSA test is that it is not a good way to show the status of the disease -- high or low PSA levels do not necessarily coincide with how advanced the disease is.

Cancer cells break away from cancerous tumors and enter the bloodstream. Analysis of these cells -- Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) -- is very helpful in determining the strength of the cancer. A blood test can check CTC levels and help to determine how the disease is reacting to treatments, whether or not those treatments are working, and how to more effectively tailor the treatments to each patient.

5. Non-Harmful Alternative to the Mammogram

There is much controversy surrounding the mammogram's effectiveness and safety. The radiation created by the mammogram can cause cell mutation and the pressure from the machine can actually spread cancerous cells.

Thermography is a non-harmful (no radiation involved) and extremely effective alternative to the mammogram. Very early detection is possible through thermography -- years earlier than a breast self-exam (BSE) or a mammogram. This screening procedure uses thermal imaging to easily detect cancerous cells.

Mammogram interpretation is questionable. The journal Archives of Internal Medicine performed a study of 108 radiologists' interpretations and diagnoses of 79 previously interpreted mammograms. Results showed that cancer went undetected in 21% of the films. The radiologists misdiagnosed cancer in 10% of women who were actually cancer-free, and found 42% of benign lesions to be cancerous.

The thermal imaging process involves measuring the infrared heat emitted by your body. Cancer cells create a very simple network of blood vessels that are not under autonomic control. So when cold air is blown over a woman's breast during thermography, the cancerous area is very obvious to detect on the thermographic image.