24hr Airport Pet Kennel

dogplane.jpg

A 24 hour a day pet kennel will be opening adjacent to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport to serve travelers and their pets. It won’t matter when your flight leaves or gets in—you’ll be able to drop off or pick up your pet anytime. And best of all, it will be owned and operated by the Animal Humane Society (for Minneapolis/St. Paul).

It will be a full service facility with training, grooming, and massage available. There will also be a therapy pool, heated floors, and TVs for the cats. In addition, travelers boarding their pets at the facility will be able to park their car there and take a shuttle to the airport. The Animal Humane Society will benefit from boarding fees and parking fees and will be better able to serve animals in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

I like the idea of the Animal Humane Society running the business rather than some corporation who may be less concerned with the safety and comfort of the animals. I know a common complaint about kennels is there are too many dogs with too few people, which can lead to fights, medications not given, special diets not followed, little or no time out of a crate, and over-stressed dogs. I would feel much safer leaving our dog Saffron at a kennel run by our local Humane Society than some kennel that’s part of a chain.

Ticked Off Tick Remover

ticktool.jpgThe Ticked Off tick remover is a simple, but clever tool for getting ticks off your animals. There is a notch in the spoon-like part that you use to slide the tick out of the skin. The instructions are careful to note that you slide the tool. You don’t use it to lift or pry the tick out.

I’ve written about tick removal before. By sure to check out the video in the previous post on how to get the whole tick out with just one finger (wear gloves). And you can read up on twelve of the diseases ticks can transmit.

(Note to subscribers: There was a technical glitch after an upgrade and not everyone was getting email notices of new posts. The previous attempt to fix the problem didn’t work. Hopefully it’s fixed this time!  Sorry for any inconvenience.)

Operation Baghdad Pups

The SPCA International has launched Operation Baghdad Pups to bring home the dogs and cats befriended by US soldiers. It’s great to see these animals cared for after they’ve provided comfort and companionship to our soldiers in Iraq. I think the fact that soldiers keep rescuing these needy animals shows just how important they are to moral.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OfHdqNQgNwI

Operation Baghdad Pups has rescued Liberty who was found during a house raid, K-Pot who was found ensnarled in razor wire, and Charlie who was found as a puppy close to death. The program is now working to rescue 13 more animals rescued by US servicemen.

50th Anniversary Of Laika The Dog’s Orbit Of Earth

laika-copy.jpgNovember 3rd marks 50 years since the U.S.S.R. launched Sputnik 2 carrying Laika the dog into space. She was the first living creature to orbit the earth.

For years, it was believed Laika died after days in orbit, supposedly from a lethal injection. But, after the fall of the Soviet Union the world learned that although scientists had planned to euthanize her by injection, she actually died after just a few hours in orbit from overheating and stress. Either way, I think it was a hauntingly cruel fate. Sputnik 2 continued to orbit the Earth for about five months until it reentered Earth’s atmosphere and burned up on April 14, 1958.

Read more about Laika, watch this archival newsreel footage of little Laika (click on the first image of Laika to start the video), check out the original 1957 New York Times article on Sputnik 2 & Laika, visit her online memorial, and take a look at the new graphic novel, Laika, by Nick Abadzis.

I’m glad to know she at least returned to Earth.

Update: Laika has been honored with a monument.