Vets ponder ethics of organ transplants in pets ZA If a dog cannot give its consent for an organ transplant, isn't it unethical to do such transplants? Even though the RSPCA has said such a veterinary transplant surgeon could be prosecuted under the Protection of Animals Act of 1911, the  Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has published ethical outlines for kidney transplants in cats. Vets are caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to serving animals and their owners. Sometimes what is in the best interest of the pet is not what the owner wants and demands. Surgical vets also have the added ethical responsibility to not inflict surgery on an animal for the money incentive... [Mail and Guardian]

If you think you know dogs and animal behavior, take the test ... to find out how accurately you understand dogs. [Dog Links]  New Zealand Dog Links offers more links: Lost Pets in Cyberspace, The Good Canine Citizen, Paw Prints of History and more...

 Boy killed playing with family Rottweilers NB 'A four-year-old boy was mauled to death while playing alone in his backyard with at least three Rottweilers late Saturday...'  Investigations into the circumstances of the attack are ongoing. [The Star] Related: New Brunswick boy killed by Rottweiller dogs  'The attack was so savage, paramedics who attempted to save the child were reportedly traumatized and in need of immediate counselling...'  [CTV Canada] Just three days ago, a child in the U.S. was mauled to death in eerily similar circumstances: Dogs kill four year-old-boy   A child should never be allowed to play unsupervised with a dog, period... Share this knowledge and you may just save a child's life... )

The dog you rescue may someday rescue you... TN 'On a hot August afternoon last year, golfer Robert Brown saved the life of a mangy, tick-infested, starving yellow dog. Last month, the dog saved his...'  [Go Memphis]

Related: Training dogs to save lives CA 'Whenever a natural or man-made disaster strikes and people are buried alive, it's dogs, not men, that do most of the searching...' [Mercury News], National Disaster Search Dog Foundation

Iditarod sled dog race photos AK Stephanie Kesler, an Anchorage blogger, documented yesterday's ceremonial start of the Iditarod sled dog race in Anchorage, Alaska. Check out the 'peace puppies' and the 'bones, not bombs' statements by attending dogs... [Slat Rat Chronicles] (The race restarts in earnest on Monday)

The Iditarod course was lengthened, angering animal rights activists who feel the sled dogs may suffer from the 70 mile extra miles they must traverse. Vets counter that they are taking extra precautions with the sled dogs, but the Humane Society is not mollified, saying the one or two dogs who die each year are still too many. At least 118 dogs have died since the beginning of the Iditarod tradition in 1973.

Related: Official Iditarod site,  2003 Iditarod takes off from Anchorage, Conditions poor but competitors spirited at annual dog race [USA Today],  Little snow as sled dogs get going [CNN], Minnesota's lone Iditarod racer ready to hit the trail [Star Tribune], A Different Path for the Iditarod [Washington Post], Iditarod's claim to shame: dead dogs [Star Tribune]