Scratching disease at its source...keep pets free from ticks, fleas  Ticks and fleas transmit diseases to humans too... Bummer. I always suspected that fleas and ticks were just as much a hazard to dog and cat owners. Common sense gets confirmation this week from the American Society for Tropical Medicine: 'Organisms "once only thought to infect animals now infect humans... Advances in molecular biology techniques and genomics in the past 10 to 15 years have led to the discovery of new organisms...that we honestly didn't know existed ten, five and even three years ago..."  Examples: Cat scratch disease can 'infect heart valves and the brain.' Some of these diseases kill... Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is the most lethal tick transmitted disease. Take precautions: you're just a warm meal as far as a flea or tick is concerned...  Keeping pets tick, flea free helps owners, too [Reuters]

Hacked... web based dog business goes through hell AZ A web based business, Ultimutt, suffered all the usual embarrassing moments when its two owners realized it had been thoroughly hacked... but that was just the beginning... at first, 'it sounded like something out of a bad espionage thriller ...' Business hacked [Forbes]

Nearly 100 dogs, puppies taken from Missouri breeder accused of neglect 'Nearly 100 dogs were rescued Tuesday from a breeding kennel so filthy that dogs had developed skin diseases, parasites and infected eyes and ears, authorities said.The animals were living on concrete floors covered with urine and feces...' Nearly 100 dogs, puppies taken from Missouri breeder accused of neglect (The lesson: people interested in buying dogs should be able to visit and inspect the kennels they came from...) 

Dogs understand... Crisis-Response Dogs Offer Comfort After Tragedy 'Crisis and trauma can cause isolation, damaging one's ability to communicate and start relationships.' ... 'Animal-assisted therapy teams with specialized training help to break that isolation and open up the lines of communication...' Crisis-Response Dogs Offer Comfort After Tragedy [National Geographic]

Deer, deer... everywhere... MD Some evenings, we take our dog out for car rides; he helps us count the deer that we see while we drive down the road; sometimes we see a lot of deer; sometimes just a few. One thing's for sure... we always see deer: just off the roadway, crossing the road, in the park, two blocks from our house (and occasionally walking right past our house). They're big too...  I've never seen so many deer and we're just outside of Washington, DC... Out of Control, Deer Send Ecosystem Into Chaos. Deer are the new varmints, marauding herbivores that are altering the ecology of forests. By Andrew C. Revkin. [New York Times: Science]

Texas dog star: she works hard for the money in a dog-eat-dog world TX Reveille, the official mascot of university life at the Texas A&M University, has her own credit card; dines occasionally on steak and other delicacies; and her bark is always taken for the command: 'class dismissed'; yet, it's still a dog's life, with almost every minute of her day dedicated to being a 'meet and greet mascot...'  Dog-eat-dog world [The Battalion]

Breeder was trying to develop superior dog breeds AK 'Two breeders who acquired dogs from an Alaska collie breeder now charged with animal abuse says the breeder has devoted years to developing genetically superior dogs and that she cares deeply about their health...' The breeder's cargo load was seized when a dead dog and starving dogs near death were discovered in her 'care.' Breeder was trying to develop superior dog breeds [KTVA] (What is it with some breeders? How is it that the worst kind of animal abuse is often at the hands of breeders... They end up collecting a zillion animals and then allow them to starve and suffer horendous conditions... is this a similar sickness to 'cat collectors' ? )

Anna Nicole Smith gives her 'Sugar Pie' Prozac UK 'Anna Nicole Smith says her dog Sugar Pie has to take Prozac because she suffers from depression...' Anna Nicole Smith gives depressed dog Prozac   [Ananova] (poor Sugar Pie... really has a dog's life...)

Authorities raid Jefferson County dog-breeding operation MO Jefferson County sheriff's deputies today raided a dog breeding operation that subjected dogs to horrific conditions ... 'Mice have overrun this facility. The dogs kind of live in a pea-soup mixture of food, manure and urine.... We felt it was time to take action...'  Authorities raid Jefferson County dog-breeding operation [St. Louis Post Dispatch]

Man accused of trying to sodomize landlady's dog NJ 'A man who allegedly tried to sodomize a dog and then told police about a "smart bomb" he had has been arrested on multiple charges... Authorities initially went to the home around 12:30 a.m. after the man's landlady, Dorothy Gallagher, said he had sexually assaulted her dog, a 2-year-old mixed beagle named Daisy. 'It doesn't get any sicker than that.' ' Man tries to sodomize landlady's dog [Newsday]

Dog-only bloodmobile saves lives PA 'A dog-only bloodmobile owned by the University of Pennsylvania is believed to be the only one of its kind in the country, officials at Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine say. The white bus travels to blood drives organized by breeders, dog clubs, veterinarians and others in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland to collect blood for its well-known veterinary hospital...' Because more owners opt for life-saving surgery for their dogs, the blood bank transfuses ten dogs per day with the donated blood... Blood drive going to the dogs [Newsday]

Breeding trouble: Average family dog does not fit into family lifestyle DE “Families pick out puppies because they are cute and cuddly, but sometimes the family finds out that the dog is too big to handle. Then the dog gets chained to a tree in the back yard. It’s a sad situation. The dog’s world becomes the length of the chain. He is basically in prison.” The path to harmony is short, if an owner really wants to keep a troubled dog: 'a trained dog is a happy dog.' Tom Harris, dog trainer, teaches families to fit their family dog into a happier lifestyle that includes training and communication. “If an individual is serious about training and does what I tell him consistently, the problem can be unraveled in a week...” Troubled dogs get help from trainer Tom Harris [Cape Gazette]

Dog thrown in pit rescued a year later ... Croatia If this rescued dog could talk, it would have a horrific tale to recount. Thought to have been thrown in a Croatian pet cemetery pit over a year ago, a german shephard mix survived by drinking rain water and eating dead animals tossed in the pit. 'The rescuer, who belongs to an animal protection group, abseiled into the pit to retrieve the animal, after it had been fed sedatives...' Abseil rescuer sweeps dog to safety