Home Dog News: weird, inspiring dog tales

'Paws' to enjoy current dog news. Weird, wonderful, and educational dog news for the post 9-11 world.

PicoSearch
  Help          Previous/Next



Friday, January 09, 2004

Is there mad cow in my pet's food?: meat byproducts may include brains and spinal cords... OR

'Cow brains and spinal cords -- tissues that can spread the infection -- are a routine part of the rendering mix from which pet food is formulated and show up in trace amounts in some U.S. pet foods, most often in dry supermarket varieties. The risk to pets appears small, but pet food manufacturers and federal regulators are scrambling this week to answer consumer questions about the diet of the average American pet...' [Oregonian]

Yesterday morning, when I walked the dogs in our neigborhood, a friend told me about a dog abandoned at the Humane Society's Montgomery County shelter in the week before Christmas.  Through no fault of its own, that sweet little beagle was almost certainly doomed to extinction... after three weeks, not one application had come through for it. I knew that dog personally... I called all my friends and five animal rescue agencies and I told my friends at the medical day care center, where my therapy dog volunteers each week, about it. It seemed hopeless...

Last night, that lucky beagle received an adoption application from a wonderful couple and may join a new family within 10 days. Thanks go to the Humane Society, for rehoming discarded dogs back into loving homes... and for keeping dogs more than just a few days, like so many shelters do. The Montgomery County, Maryland, Humane Society has one of the highest adoption rates in the country...