Some language specialists have suggested that cows have regional accents, just like humans. To learn more (and to hear "moo" recordings) go to the BBC News website.
There's also a video about cows with Irish accents on AP's Animal Videos website.
What do you think? Do your cows "moo" with a York County accent?
Hurricane Katrina was Best Friends Animal Society's biggest rescue effort ever. Thousands of members, supporters and volunteers worked with Best Friends to rescue more than 4,000 stranded pets and move 2,000 more from other shelters to safety.
There’s a new video about the rescue, which you can view at www.bestfriends.org/video/choose.cfm. It runs about seven minutes and documents some of the amazing work that took place.
Yorkville Press has published a book about the early days of the Best Friends rescue effort. Photographer Troy Snow was part of the first rescue team to go into New Orleans, and his photos are an amazing record of how the whole effort unfolded. "Not Left Behind: Rescuing the Pets of New Orleans" is available at major booksellers or from Best Friends at www.bestfriends.org/NLB.cfm. Proceeds go toward the Best Friends Rescue Fund.
Order flowers through PetSmart Charities' Flower Club at http://petsmartcharities.flowerclub.com or call (800) 965-2448 and mention code DCOPET and 10 percent of each order will go toward helping pets through PetSmart Charities. For more information, visit www.petsmartcharities.org.
Why not wake up to a great cup of coffee and help animals at the same time? Pounds For Paws is a Javaco Fundraising initiative featuring coffees from the world's best arabica beans. Beans are roasted to order, ensuring the freshest product possible. Selection includes 100 percent Columbian, Columbian decaf, Breakfast Blend, Javaco Supreme, French Vanilla, and Irish Creme. Cost is $10 a pound, with 30 percent of all purchases going to a local animal shelter of your choice. Simply visit the Pounds for Paws website and click on "choose a location" to see a listing of participating shelters. Or, click here to have your purchase benefit Castaway Critters of Harrisburg, PA
Castaway Critters, www.castawaycritters.org, seeks donations of the following items:
If you are able to donate any of the items above, e-mail stray_cat_alliance@hotmail.com or drop them off at the Castaway Critters table at the Mechanicsburg Petsmart from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.
Looking for a location to hold a child’s birthday party, bridal shower, baby shower or service organization meeting?
The York County SPCA’s conference room, which seats 35 people, is available to rent for such occasions. There is also a kitchen with a refrigerator, microwave and stove. Rental cost is $35 for SPCA members and $50 for nonmembers.
To reserve the SPCA conference room for your next meeting or party, call 764-6109, ext. 130.
Shelter tours and speaking programs are also available upon request.
Do you have empty inkjet cartridges, empty laser jet cartridges or unused cell phones? Donate them to the York County SPCA, and the SPCA will receive up to $4 for each item.
Any inkjet or laser cartridge can be recycled. The cartridges and cell phones do not need to be in original boxes, and accessories are not needed for the cell phones.
Perhaps your employer would be willing to donate these items, as well.
The York County SPCA has satellite pet-adoption sites at the following pet-supply stores:
Prior to its summer recess Aug. 4, the U.S. Senate passed S.B. 2548. The House of Representatives passed its version of the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act in May. Since the versions differ slightly, the bills will need to go to a conference committee where the differences will be reconciled. The final legislation will then be sent to President Bush for his signature into law or veto.
The PETS Act would amend a federal law called the Stafford Act to require the director of FEMA, in approving standards for state and local disaster preparedness plans, to ensure the plans take into account the needs of individuals with household pets and service animals. The bill would also allow the director of FEMA to make financial contributions to state and local authorities for animal emergency preparedness purposes, including establishing shelters to accommodate people with pets and service animals.
Birds with free household access are at potential risk of exposure to toxicants. Experts at the ASPCA's Animal Poison Control Center offer the following poison prevention tips to keep your companion experts offer tips to keep companion birds safe from poisoning:
If you suspect your bird has gotten into a potentially poisonous substance, call your veterinarian, or call the APCC's emergency hotline at (888) 426-4435 for round-the-clock telephone assistance. For more bird safety tips, visit the ASPCA's Web site.
Have-A-Heart Guinea Pig Rescue of NJ is involved with a cruelty case in Pennsylvania involving 140 guinea pigs. The former owner said he was selling the guinea pigs for human consumption for 10 cents each.
The ASPCA has asked for the rescue's help in getting foster homes and medical care for the guinea pigs.
Have a Heart Guinea Pig Rescue is in desperate need of foster families for healthy guinea pigs so they can allow as much room as possible for the foster families that know how to care for the 101 sick, pregnant and mutilated piggies that made it out of there. E-mail gplover78@yahoo.com if you are in NJ or PA and can foster a healthy piggie.
If you decide that you can foster, Have a Heart will provide the following:
If you would like to adopt a guinea pig from Have a Heart Guinea Pig Rescue, go to www.petfinder.com/shelters/haveaheart.html to search for your new pet.
For details about the 140 guinea pigs seized in the cruelty case, go to www.mccuesmercantile.com/cavy_cruelty_pics.htm.
The Dog Tales DVD offers pet owners the ability to record personalized messages for their dogs. The DVDs are designed to entertain pampered pooches while their owners are away.
People can sing, read, even tell their dogs to stay off the couch in recorded messages. The recordings, called Dog-E-Talk, play at the beginning of The Dog Tales DVDs which play on an automatic loop.
Consumers are given an access code with their purchase and directed to call a toll-free number. Messages can be up to one minute long. The one-of-a-kind DVDs are then mailed with the personalized recordings embedded within the movie.
The Humane Society of America suggests leaving the television or radio playing when pets are left alone as part of a calming routine.
The Dog Tales DVDs tell the story of the dogs that live on Long Leash Lane. The first episode, "The Mailman," introduces the dogs and their distinct personalities. The DVDs are subtitled "in human" for those of us who don't speak bark.
The Dog Tales can be purchased online from www.thedogtales.com ($14.99 to $21.95). For more information, call (877) 710-9050 or email info@thedogtales.com.
This is an editorial that ran in the Aug. 5, 2006, edition of the York Daily Record.
That the York County SPCA desperately needed a larger shelter was amply demonstrated by recent news.
Within two weeks of opening the new, 17,000- square-foot shelter, the facility was full. "We actually thought we had plenty of space," said Tom Norris, president of the SPCA board of directors.
They didn't.
You could attribute the problem to a number of factors. Perhaps the SPCA under-estimated the need for its services — especially since the shelter is now easily accessible off I-83. Or you could blame our short-attention-span culture and its disposable nature. Or you could blame the sick people who abuse and abandon animals.
Rather than assess blame, it would be more productive to look at the issue and seek solutions. One measure of the health of a society is how it treats creatures that cannot care for themselves. How we care for animals — and how we perform as stewards of this community and planet — is an accurate indicator of the compassion of a community.
In this instance, we're in jeopardy of failing.
One solution would be expanding the new shelter, in Manchester Township, just off the Emigsville exit. That would be costly and complicated. And it's not exactly clear how that would provide a long-term solution to the problem of disposable pets. It's obvious from the recent news that the supply of unwanted and abused pets would quickly fill and exceed the number of kennels added in such an expansion.
Still, it is something to consider. These animals have to go somewhere, and inadequate shelter space would only mean that more and more animals would be harmed, or abandoned, or even killed.
Another solution — and one that caring people are loathe to even mention — is euthanizing more animals. Nobody wants to do that.
But there are some smaller,
common-sense things we all can do to ease pressure on the shelter and make this a better world for our furry friends.
During hot weather, even dogs left in the shade can quickly succumb to heatstroke and suffer brain damage as a result. On a 78°F day, the temperature inside a shaded car is 90°F, while the inside of a car parked in the sun can reach 160°F in minutes. If you see a dog showing any symptoms of heatstroke -- including restlessness, heavy panting, vomiting, lethargy and lack of appetite or coordination -- get him or her into the shade immediately. Lower a symptomatic dog's body temperature by providing water, applying a cold towel to the head and chest, or immersing the dog in tepid (not cold) water. Then call a veterinarian.
"Many people don't realize how quickly animals who are left in hot conditions can fall victim to the heat," saids PETA Casework Division Manager Martin Mersereau. "Every summer, our case files explode with tragedies that could have been prevented."
PETA makes the following suggestions:
Additional information can be found at HelpingAnimals.com.
