Hundreds of other producers may have similarly sold an unknown amount of contaminated poultry in recent months, they added, painting a picture of much broader consumption of contaminated feed and food than had previously been acknowledged in the widening pet food scandal.

This is causing growing concern about the overall food supply for both humans and pets. The main worry is the quality of ingredients imported from China.

With the new knowledge that the Chinese deliberately put melamine in pet food to boost protein levels, I would prefer not to eat anything that comes from China nor feed it to my pets. Perhaps we as consumers should start demanding to know exactly where the ingredients in our foods come from.

Millions Of Chickens Fed Tainted Pet Food
In China, melamine use not seen as risky

“At the moment he is resting on his blanket and sleeping,” Schuele said, adding that despite his lethargy Knut did eat his regular meal in the morning.

While I am not a fan of zoos, I do think the "animal rights activists" who say Newt should have been euthanized rather than be raised in a zoo are completely out of their minds. I don't believe those types of activists really care about the welfare of animals. They see things in a black and white way and don't look at each individual case.

I consider myself to be an "animal rights" person as well as a "human rights" person. All creatures should be treated fairly and humanely. We wouldn't put a perfectly healthy human being "to sleep" because it couldn't live in its natural habitat.

Do any of us live in our natural habitats, anyway? Knut may not have an ideal life for a polar bear, but he has a right to live and no person who truly cared about animals would think otherwise.

Get well soon, Knut!

Berlin's lovable polar bear Knut taken off public display because of teething pain

Wiens called it a "horrible coincidence" in Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper. He did not immediately return phone calls yesterday and Bornstein said Wiens didn't want to talk about his shares any more.

Doesn't want to talk about his shares anymore? That's too bad, because a lot of pet owners are going to want to talk to him about those shares and the timing of their sale. Good luck with that, Mr. Wiens.

Menu Foods CFO sold shares 3 weeks before recall

On message boards across the internet, people are reporting that their animals have died of mysterious kidney failure over the past few months. These animals were all eating foods on the recall list.

The sinister part of all this? Menu Foods knew the food was deadly as early as February but did nothing to recall the products.

Veterinarians are angry. On one veterinarian blog, they are venting their frustrations and anger that they weren't informed sooner of the problem. One vet says:

It’s bad enough that the brands outsourced their production. It’s bad enough that Menu Foods bought from known poor quality suppliers. It’s bad enough everyone in-the-know sat on their heels for a month. It’s bad enough they released the information on a Friday. Did they also have to display their disregard so flagrantly as to fail to provide proper support for the vets who recommend their foods and the people that feed them to the pets they care for? (doolittler.com)

It has been hard for me to sit down and write about this because I have been personally affected. I feed my cat Innova Evo dry food and that isn't on the list of recalled foods, but every now and then I feed him pouches of Nutro Natural Choice as a treat. I was under the impression, as were many others, that Nutro was of a higher quality than most other pet foods. Given that I gave this to him as an occasional treat, I knew it wasn't as healthy as Innova, but I had no idea Menu Foods was the supplier. If I had known, I never would have given it to my cat.

The pouches that my cat ate are included in the date range that is being recalled. He last ate a pouch about 7 days ago. He is not showing any symptoms of kidney problems, but some vets are recommending all animals who ate recalled foods be tested just in case. I'm going to call the vet tomorrow and see if he recommends testing, but I'm confident that he's okay. I'm so grateful that he wasn't affected by this disaster and my heart goes out to those who have lost their pets or whose pets are fighting for their lives right now.

Also upsetting are reports that Nutro and other companies are not responding to calls from customers whose animals are in kidney failure. A dog in California named Pebbles is suffering from kidney failure and her owner says Nutro hasn't returned his calls.

I am terrified to think about how many cats and dogs are going to end up affected by this. Nutro and the other companies really need to step up to the plate and start answering calls and acting like they care.

Fuji is a bottlenose dolphin who lost 75% of her flukes to a mystery disease in 2002.

The aquarium teamed with Japanese tire company Bridgestone (I had no idea Bridgestone was a Japanese company) to see if they could develop an artificial fin that would allow Fuji to lead a normal life.

They have now successfully created an artificial fin for Fuji, though they say they would like to improve it even further. From the Aquarium site:

So far we have developed several versions of the artificial fin. However, the newest version is not yet perfect. We still continue our research for better materials and way of attachment. We are still trying out new ideas. At the same time, the research for artificial fin might give us an insight into the function and mechanism of the natural dolphin tail flukes.

While it's terrible to see dolphins in captivity, it's great to see these advancements in research that will help both animals and humans in the future.

Here's a little bit more about Fuji: She is about 36 years old and has been in captivity since 1976. She has had three children while living at the aquarium. Ryu, her oldest son, died in 2005 of disease.

Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium

There is a video of Fuji at the following link:
Fintastic! Dolphin fitted with artificial tail

Herbs such as Echinacea, coltsfoot and licorice may be helpful. Echinacea is a natural immune booster ... Antibiotics upset the natural balance of bacteria in the intestines. After your dog has completed the antibiotic treatment, you should reestablish the natural intestinal micro flora by adding either plain yogurt or a digestive enzyme to his diet.

Natural Pets: Healing a dog's cough

Pet zealots? The inner thoughts of "pet people"?

These pet owners, most of them women the company calls "spoilers," make up one-third of cat-owning households.

This article makes it sound as if the people at Meow Mix/Del Monte think it's strange that people like to treat their pets well. Is feeding your pet healthy food "spoiling" him? How about your child? If he gets a healthy, nutritious meal instead of a Big Mac are you spoiling him?

It's pretty simple - we want our animal friends to be happy and healthy, just like any other member of our family. We don't treat them like walking garbage cans who will consume any food scraps we throw at them.

Pup-Peroni Ribs, slow-cooked meat wrapped around a chewy bone, were given out with Weber grills and at doggy parks when introduced last fall. Says Wolford: "If you ever feel depressed take a Pup-Peroni home and give it to your dog. You instantly feel great about yourself."

Is he saying the only reason to give your dog a treat is so you feel great about yourself?

Here's my favorite part:

... consumers "really become irrational" about what they will spend on their pets, he says gleefully. Now he just needs to get more "spoilers" to spend their money on Del Monte.

I, for one, am happy to be an irrational pet spoiler. Pets give us their companionship and love and ask for nothing in return except that we love them and take care of their health. The people at Del Monte can do all the focus groups they want but it's clear they will never understand that.

Animal House

They are going to investigate further and are investigating the possibility of making openings in the skin that covers his ears so that he can have full hearing.

Life's looking merrier for an earless terrier

Pet Stores Offer Tattooed Fish

Tags: fish, tattoo, tattoos, animal rights, animal cruelty

Neutering can help prevent prostate cancer

Tags: dogs, pets, animals, dog health, prostate cancer

The fact that the virus is beginning to move more freely from one species to another is cause for concern, especially when it involves domestic animals that have frequent human contact.

China on alert after cats are infected in Indonesia

The ethical question here is: what exactly is "inappropriate" animal behavior? Cats like to scratch - it's normal behavior. Is it okay to medicate an animal to change its normal behavior just because that behavior doesn't fit into your lifestyle?

Melissa Bain, chief of behavior service at the teaching hospital at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, says:

“What have we done to our animals? In the last 30 years, we've kept them inside, we've made multiple-cat households. A border collie, 20 years ago, was living on a ranch in Colorado, and now he's living in downtown San Francisco. So he can't do his typical behavior.”

Indeed, what have we done and what are we doing to our animals?

Animal anxiety Prozac Nation takes over the Animal Kingdom

The decision was made by owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson and Dr. Dean Richardson, the Chief of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center.

"Our goal from the beginning was to do what was right for the horse," said Dr. Richardson at a news conference Monday afternoon. "This morning, after discussing all the complications that existed with the Jacksons, I really didn't think it was appropriate to continue with his treatment because the probable outcome was so poor and he would have to go through an unmanageable amount of discomfort."

Barbaro became a symbol of courage and endurance and will be missed by many.

Owners: Euthanizing Barbaro Was 'Right Decision'

It's great to know firefighters will be better equipped to save our animal friends in the event of a fire.

Pet oxygen masks coming to the rescue in fires