Abandoned Dog Left Bleeding After Home Neutering Job – Recovering

“Well this lady is a kinder women than me, I could never forgive somebody for doing this…what the hell did they use as anaesthetic, probably nothing. Thank goodness she came along or else this could have turned out so horribly for the poor dog! He has a beautiful face, somebody must recognise him, I would have thought the police would be interested in speaking to the person who tried DIY surgery; then just left him!”

A pit bull named Buddy was abandoned at an Oregon grocery store after a do-it-yourself neutering job went wrong. 

He was found leashed to a shopping cart with a bag of dog food in it and a sign that read “Anything helps.”

Springfield, Oregon resident Jan Durham discovered the badly bleeding dog and rushed him to an animal hospital.  She paid for his life-saving surgery out of her own pocket.

“He’s really good you know,” Durham said as she cradled Buddy’s head in her lap.  “He’s a great dog.  He’s so sweet.  He’s smart.  He knows how to sit and lay down.”

She says she feels no anger toward the person who left Buddy.

“I thought that they were just trying to do something on the cheap and trying to save money,” Durham said.  “And, I don’t know what their circumstances were.  At least they loved him enough to leave him in such a public place.”

Buddy’s botched neutering was serious enough to threaten his life.  

“They tried to slice the skin open in the scrotal sack to remove the testicle and apparently, when our client brought him in, things were hanging out,” said Q Street Animal Hospital manager Beth Mitchell.  “He was bloody and it was painful.”

Buddy is now recovering in Durham’s foster home.  She has another dog and unfortunately cannot keep him, but will hold on to him while he recuperates.  Luv-a-Bull, a local pit bull rescue organization, will be handling his adoption when he is ready.  Liesl Hardt, a spokeswoman for the organization, has said that Buddy is smart, sweet and good with kids.

News Link:-http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/2012/11/abandoned-dog-left-bleeding-after-home-neutering-job-recovering/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LifeWithDogs+%28Life+With+Dogs%29

Manitoba investigating after 1,300 piglets euthanized

 

A farmers group warns cases like one where close to 1,300 piglets had to be euthanized in Manitoba could become more common due to what it calls a crisis in the hog industry.

The Manitoba government said in a news release on Tuesday that the piglets were found in western Manitoba after a call was received Friday about inappropriate treatment.

It said its chief veterinarian’s office investigated and found the piglets “in severe distress” and that they were put down immediately “to avoid further pain and suffering.”

Doug Chorney, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, said he fears similar stories could emerge in the coming weeks because troubles in the pork industry mean weanlings are now essentially worthless.

Chorney said farmers face a crisis of low prices for pork, combined with high prices for feed that are being driven by severe drought in the U.S.

“I phoned my neighbour who’s been a lifetime hog producer and is a very astute business person,” said Chorney, who noted the neighbour’s farm has raised hogs for 75 years.

“He said, ‘We’re depopulating our barn and by November there will be no hogs left.”‘

Producers feeling pressured

The Manitoba government says it immediately launched an investigation when it found the piglets. The province isn’t naming the farm or the community it was in, adding no other information will be released due to its investigation.

Gary Stordy, a spokesman for the Canadian Pork Council, said that while he doesn’t know anything about the specifics of the Manitoba case, the conditions in the hog industry now are ripe for it.

Stordy explained that because the cost of feed has spiked so quickly, hog producers have been forced to sell animals because their credit is being pushed beyond their limits. That, in turn, drives down the prices for pork, and producers end up pressured from both directions.

Higher prices for ethanol, which is made from corn, are also a factor in high feed prices, according to the pork council.

It says a task group made up of producers and the federal government has been established to review the situation and identify measures to assist the hog sector.

Unlike in the U.S., an above-average harvest is forecast in Canada, and Chorney said hog producers are feeling like they’re being forgotten in all the talk of a bumper crop.

“The last thing farmers want to see is their livestock suffer, but it takes a real toll on the farmers to try to deal with this and sometimes people do things that they would never normally see themselves do,” Chorney said.

“I can’t emphasize enough the dire situation these farmers are in,” he continued. “The whole industry could be lost and it’s a big driver of our province.”

Stordy, meanwhile, said the pork council is encouraging farmers to seek help if they’re no longer able to support their herds.

“They should reach out to their local SPCA or their local provincial hog board to review what can be done,” Stordy said.

“Animal cruelty is an unfortunate situation and it’s not acceptable. We have to minimize it.”

News Link:-http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2012/08/28/mb-hogs-euthanized-cruelty-animal-vet.html

Shockwaves in Manitoba’s hog industry over investigation

People in Manitoba’s hog industry are shocked a farm in the western part of the province is under investigation for animal cruelty.

Dickson says there is never an excuse to treat animals inhumanely.

Keystone Agricultural Producers head Doug Chorney told CBC News many pork producers are selling off their hogs to reduce their overhead

Read the rest of thisNews Link:–http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2012/08/29/mb-hogs-euthanize-cruelty-farm-investigate.html

 

Chuckwagon race that killed three Calgary Stampede horses spurs fresh calls to ban event

“Please click the link below to watch the video, viewer discretion is advised! 

The deaths of three horses in a chuckwagon-racing accident at the Calgary Stampede has ignited renewed demands by animal-welfare advocates to ban the exciting but dangerous event.

“We think that all the changes that the Calgary Stampede has been publicizing over the past few months that were supposed to make this race safe obviously haven’t worked,” Peter Fricker, a spokesman for the Vancouver Humane Society, told the Globe and Mailon Friday.

Chad Harden races his wagon in the Rangeland Derby Chuckwagon event during the 100th anniversary of the Calgary

[ Related: Research aims to reduce horse deaths at chuckwagon races ]

Going into this year’s centennial edition of the “Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth,” some 50 horses have died since 1986 in chuckwagon racing, four in 2010 and two last year.

The GMC Rangeland Derby is the highlight of the Stampede’s daily rodeo events.

The fourth heat of Thursday night’s racing card was underway when the lead horse in Chad Harden’s wagon collapsed in the back stretch, CBC News reported. That caused a chain-reaction that brought down three other horses on the team and sent one of the team’s two outriders and his horse toppling over the wagon. The outrider was not hurt, nor was Harden despite being flung from his wagon seat, the Globe reported.

The outrider’s horse and the other lead horse on the wagon rig were badly injured and were euthanized.

“It’s just devastating for our whole family,” a sobbing Harden said after the crash, which he called “just one of those bad accidents.

“We try our best to make sure they’re all healthy. The outriding horse was 18 years old, and I’ve had him for 13 years. He’s part of our family.”

Veterinarians were to perform a necropsy on the horse that collapsed to try and determine why it went down.

[ Related: The Calgary Stampede at 100 ]

Animal researchers had equipped a number of chuckwagon horses with wireless electrocardiogram-monitoring gear to try and detect heart problems in horses before they run. The Vancouver Humane Society, which has led the fight to ban rodeo events such as chuckwagon racing and calf roping because they are seen as cruel, had been skeptical about the work to make the frenetic race safer.

Yet, Stampede spokesman Doug Fraser dismissed Fricker’s call for an end to chuckwagon racing. The Vancouver Humane Society is an “activist group with an activist agenda,” he told the Globe.

“We rely on the advice from heavy animal experts. We don’t rely on the advice from organizations like VHS.”

The Vancouver society’s Calgary counterpart said it’s against using animals for entertainment but concedes events like the chuckwagon races aren’t going away.

“We think that working with the Stampede is the best that we can do to help make these events as safe as possible,” Calgary Human Society’s Christy Thompson told the Globe.

But Fricker said the nature of the race makes it hard to improve safety. “Then it’s pretty darn obvious it should be stopped!”

Up to four teams, including two outriders each, start the race by careening around a figure-eight section before charging onto the main track. The crush of wagons and outriders often leads to pileups.

“There’s just not very much room,” said Fricker. “They’re making very tight turns and they’re going at high speed.”

Critics have also pointed to the selective breeding of chuckwagon horses, which are far removed from the cow ponies of yore. Fricker said research suggests some horses have legs too weak for their bodies. After four horses died in 2010, chuckwagon racing rules were changed, cutting the number of outriders to two from four and mandating pre-race vet checks and rest days between races. But Fricker told CBC News it’s clear they haven’t made the racing any safer.

“We think that there’s something more fundamentally wrong with the race, and we’re calling for a suspension of the chuckwagon races and a full and fundamental safety review to be conducted,” he said.

Video & News Link:–http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/chuckwagon-race-killed-three-calgary-stampede-horses-spurs-160319361.html

Black bear reportedly attacks Canadian man in backyard hot tub

“How stupid, to have a hot tub in a back garden/forest, surrounded with Black Bears is just asking for trouble, why wasn’t his back yard protected with a fence of some kind.  Humans are encroaching evermore on their territory; yet the poor bears pay the price when humans do irresponsible things!”

A black bear reportedly attacked a Canadian man who was soaking in his backyard hot tub on Sunday.

The 55-year-old Coquitlam man, who was not identified, was in the hot tub with his back to the forest when he was struck in the head by the animal, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reports.

The man then yelled at the bear, which was later shot and killed by police in Whistler, British Columbia.

When the man turned around to investigate, he found himself face-to-face with a male black bear, Staff Sgt. Steve LeClair told the website.

A necropsy will be completed to determine motivation for the attack. The man was treated for minor lacerations and was released.

Click here for more from CBC News.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/06/04/black-bear-reportedly-attacks-canadian-man-in-backyard-hot-tub/#ixzz1x6g8MDHN

Cavalia’s horses take the spotlight in new show Odysseo

Quebec theatre producer Normand Latourelle is back with Odysseo, the newest production of his equestrian and performing arts troupe Cavalia.

The latest large-scale circus extravaganza from the Cirque du Soleil veteran features 60 horses and 20 acrobats performing together under the largest touring tent in the world. It opens in Toronto on Tuesday after a successful run in Miami.

An Odysseo actor appears on horseback. ‘We take the time to train the horse,’ says Cavalia artistic director Normand Latourelle. ‘This is the most beautiful animal on earth.’ (Canadian Press)

Latourelle formed his company after leaving Cirque about a decade ago. “I was very attracted by the aesthetic of the horse,” he told CBC News.

“This is the most beautiful animal on earth.”

While many of today’s circus troupes have stopped incorporating animals — in part due to concerns over how they are treated — Latourelle is proud of his company’s work with its equine stars.

“We take the time to train the horse,” he said. “We don’t hit the horse with the whips. We do use some sticks to give commands for the horse to understand — go backward, go [forward] — but we don’t use spurs… The bits we have are soft bits.”

Cavalia’s care for its horses is noteworthy, as other entertainment productions have drawn criticism for its treatment of animals. A recent, prominent example is the high-profile HBO racetrack drama Luck, which was cancelled early in its run following the deaths of three horses featured on the show.

The dazzling spectacle of Odysseo is thanks to the sheer size of the 27,000 square foot stage, which gives the horses enough space to run, and not because the animals are forced to perform dangerous stunts, Latourelle says. “I said if ever we have to abuse the animal to do a show, I will stop.”

Equestrian journalists who have visited the show seemed impressed by the treatment of the horses. Still, the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) will send an officer to the show to ensure the horses are receiving the proper care.

News Link:-http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/05/15/odysseo-cavalia-horse-circus.html

White Orca named Iceberg

A one-of-a-kind white killer whale has been spotted by scientists – and they’ve named him ICEBERG.

It is believed to be the first known totally white member of the species and was seen swimming with a pod of 12 fellow orcas off the coast of Kamchatka, Russia.

The scientists were working for the Far East Russia Orca Project (FEROP), which is dedicated to researching and protecting orcas in the waters of Kamchatka and the Commander Islands.

 

FEROP co-director Erich Hoyd told CBC News: “In many ways, Iceberg is a symbol of all that is pure, wild and extraordinarily exciting about what is out there in the ocean waiting to be discovered.

“The challenge is to keep the ocean healthy so that such surprises are always possible.”

 

Published on 10 Apr 2012 by ShiftValues

ICEBERG — the one and only – ever seen all white adult ORCA bull in the wild. Iceberg has been found to live in a family unit, also called a pod, with 12 relatives based on research by the Far East Russia Orca Project (FEROP).