Learning from Mother Nature
By Lara Joseph Sadly, behavior issues are skyrocketing in the realm of exotic animal care. Most of what I see is due to ongoing, stressful conditions and, often, the signs of stress are not recognized in the companion animal community or facility staff, who are not always educated appropriately. A lot of the behaviors I see are due to frustration, lack of choice, and the result of an animal not being able to control their own consequences. Read article
Saying Goodbye
By Alicia Obando According to Tzivian et al. (2015), the loss of a pet may be “very stressful to the owner, whether these deaths were caused by euthanasia, accident, or by the progress of illness. The longer one has a pet, the greater the attachment can become, and this strong attachment may provoke a distress reaction upon a pet’s death. Many people grieve for their pets in much the same way as they do for the deaths of their friends. Families are known to experience a range of emotions in… Continued
Dealing with Dog Bite Liability
By David Pearsall As most pet professionals are aware, a general liability policy will protect you against bodily injury or property damage to others caused by your negligence (or your staff’s negligence while working for your business). Typically, a $1,000,000 liability limit is recommended. Please be aware that under most general liability policies, defense cost is outside of this limit, and the insurance company will defend you if a lawsuit is brought against you/your business. There is also a medical payments limit (typically $5,000 – $10,000) which is used to… Continued
June 18, 2019: New Study Examines Evolution of “Puppy Dog Eyes”
A new study has found that facial musculature between domestic dogs and gray wolves differs only around the eye. The study reports that exaggerated eyebrow facial movements in dogs cause their eyes to “appear larger, giving the face a more paedomorphic, infant-like appearance, and also resembles a movement that humans produce when they are sad.” This potentially elicits a “caregiving response from humans, giving individuals that inherit the trait a selection advantage with humans.” The researchers conclude that “the data suggest that selection—perhaps mainly unconscious—during social interactions can create selection pressures… Continued
June 5, 2019: NY Legislature Votes to Ban Declawing in Cats
New York lawmakers have passed a bill sponsored by Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan) to ban cat declawing, meaning New York State is set to become the first to outlaw the procedure. The State “joins several cities in banning declawing, including Los Angeles and Denver; several other states, including California, New Jersey and Massachusetts, are also considering bans, according to the Humane Society of United States, which hailed the New York bill.” Read article
May 31, 2019: Manitoba Vets Vote to Ban Declawing
Manitoba has become the sixth Canadian Province to ban the practice of declawing cats, a procedure that amputates the first joint of a cat’s toes. Newfoundland and Labrador and Alberta banned the practice earlier this year, while British Columbia, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia prohibited it in 2018. New Brunswick is expected to join them in July. Read article
May 16, 2019: Australian Capital Territory Overhauls Animal Welfare Legislation
Under the legislation, “[p]et shops and boarding kennels will be licensed and all pets recognised as ‘sentient beings with intrinsic value’.” In addition, confining an animal, “or even transporting it in a way which causes it injury, pain or stress, will attract a maximum penalty of $16,000 and a year’s imprisonment. An identical penalty will apply for anyone who places an electric shock device on an animal, such as a shock collar.” Read article
Helping Pet Families in Need
By Alicia Obando I had become quite familiar and active with the pet care and rescue organizations around my city of Chicago, Illinois. I saw that there were lots of organizations helping find homes for homeless pets. This was great work done by mostly unpaid, hard-working volunteers. Even though so many of us were working towards this cause of helping homeless pets, it seemed like it would be a never ending battle. I started thinking that maybe instead of helping the animals once they became homeless, I should try to help… Continued
Humane Education
By Stephanie Peters Humane programs that incorporate animal interaction have a profound capacity to help students on a personal level. Angel Banuelos-Price is a fifth grade teacher at Boone Middle School and she has enthusiastically welcomed my educational programs with Marmalade from the very beginning. She observes that Marmalade’s presence in her classroom reduces her students’ stress and anxiety levels, and that her attendance numbers are often higher on the days when Marmalade visits the classroom. Stacy Lehman of University Community Childcare in Ames also notes the social-emotional benefits to her… Continued
Stable Life
By Kathie Gregory In the equine world, I would say it is widely accepted that a horse may live the majority of his life in a stable, and, in my opinion, there is far less awareness concerning the impact this may have on his wellbeing. People may consider it “normal” for a horse to spend most of his time in the stable and only be brought out to do his job or to be given specific exercise subject to people’s requirements…There are numerous studies on the adverse effects of keeping horses… Continued
The “Ouch” You’ll Never Hear
By Andrea Carne …according to Bahr (2017), up until recently “it was thought cats did not experience pain at all, based purely on the fact that they tend not to show it.” In my opinion, it is safe to assume this is a major factor behind why chronic pain caused by conditions like arthritis go undiagnosed and, therefore, untreated in many older cats. This is despite several studies showing that arthritis is the number one cause of chronic pain in cats and that 90 percent of cats over the age… Continued
From Foes to Friends
By Tori Ganino By the end of the second week and into the beginning of the third week since arriving at our home, Jeter was spending more time out of his room. He stayed on leash and chose my bed to be one of his favorite places to relax. One evening, Si entered the room, and with Jeter’s presence on the bed unbeknownst to him, jumped on the bed and the two were suddenly nose to nose. I immediately gave Jeter the “leave it” cue which he followed. Si jumped off… Continued
A Better Awareness of Overarousal
By Anna Bradley When mentioning “arousal” or “overarousal,” dog owners may have some idea as to their definition, but in my experience the consensus seems to be that the terms generally refer to negative trigger events. This is inaccurate, however. Arousal triggers include positive as well as negative events. Examples of positive arousal triggers may include greeting a familiar person, getting the leash out, engaging in a dog sport, or play. Examples of negative arousal triggers may include an unfamiliar person approaching the home, or going to the vet. Each dog… Continued
Busting the Muzzle Myth
By Rachel Brix Walking the busy streets of our small tourist town with my dog, the looks on people’s faces range from confusion, to disgust, to laughter, to disapproval, to openmouthed, wide-eyed shock. The cause? Just a dog wearing a muzzle. Let’s face it, we don’t see too many dogs in public wearing what looks, to some people at least, like some sort of medieval torture device. And when people who are not dog professionals see us, they may draw the conclusion that I’m mean, that my dog is dangerous, or something… Continued
From Zero to Hero
By Ariel Baber A lot of people may get annoyed when a dog wakes them up, particularly if they are woken up by him pawing at their chest and licking their face. To be honest, I’m no different. I had no idea that night why Halligan (whose registered name is Zero to Hero) was insisting I get up when he normally sleeps as long as I do. Nevertheless, I begrudgingly got up and began our normal routine of feeding him first, then checking my blood sugar and eating breakfast. It… Continued
April 26, 2019: Dog Owners More Likely to Meet Physical Activity Guidelines than Non-Dog Owners
A study conducted in West Cheshire, England has found that dog owners are considerably more active than people without a dog, and that dog walking is undertaken in addition to, and not instead of, other physical activities. The findings “provide support for the role of pet dogs in promoting and maintaining positive health behaviours such as walking. Without dogs, it is likely that population physical activity levels would be much lower,” say the researchers. Read study
April 22, 2019: Study Examines Canine Laterality
While some dogs are “left pawed” and some are “right pawed,” the study found that laterality did not appear to extend to canine lying/sleeping positions, as has been shown in other species. Read study
April 17, 2019: Study Examines Use of Normal and Abnormal Behaviors to Affect Motivational State
The study concludes that abnormal behavior usually indicates poor welfare, regardless of whether it was initially adaptive, but points out that sometimes abnormal behavior can also be functional – including to modify motivational state. This, in turn, “makes it likely that certain changes in behavior and physiology, often associated with feelings and emotions in sentient animals, will occur.” Read study
April 15, 2019: Study Finds Emotional Mirror Neurons in the Rat
Researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience have tested the theory of empathy in rats and found the presence of mirror-like neurons in the rat’s anterior cingulate cortex that are responsive when other rats are observed undergoing a painful or unpleasant experience. The finding suggests that observing rats shared the emotion of the other rats and, according to Prof. Christian Keysers, the lead author of the study, “…this all happens in exactly the same brain region in rats as in humans.” Read study
April 10, 2019: New Survey to Research Cases of Shock Being Used on Pets without Owners’ Permission
In the wake of a number of recent news stories, the Pet Professional Guild Advocacy Committee is starting to collect data from pet owners who have had shock collars used on their pets without their permission. Pet owners who have experienced this are invited to complete this form.
April 8, 2019: Shock Collars to Be Banned in Netherlands Next Year
Netherlands Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Carola Schouten, has announced the banning of shock collars for dog training from July 1, 2020. Schouten is also introducing new rules for breeding the Bambino Sphynx cat: “Research from Utrecht University shows that the breeding of these cats is often accompanied by health and welfare problems for the animals.” Read article. In Dutch
April 4, 2019: Study Finds Cats Can Recognize Their Names
A new study, published in Scientific Reports, has investigated whether cats could differentiate their names from four other words, including those with the same length and accent as their own names and the names of other cats living in the same household or environment. The study also tested whether cats were more likely to recognize their own names when uttered by a familiar vs. unfamiliar human. Read study
March 27, 2019: Newly Published Review Debates Reliability and Validity of Behavior Evaluations for Shelter Dogs
The new paper, What is the Evidence for Reliability and Validity of Behavior Evaluations for Shelter Dogs? A prequel to “No Better than Flipping a Coin,” presents the following highlights: Colloquial usage of scientific terms such as “validated” can be misleading. No shelter canine behavior evaluation meets accepted standards as being validated. Published error rates are too high to justify routine use in shelters. Behavior evaluations are heterogeneous and often not comparable with each other. A lack of face validity may explain the high error rate for behavior evaluations. The authors… Continued
March 13, 2019: Shock-Free Coalition Launches Survey on Use of Shock Collars in Dog Training
The study will help the researchers understand various aspects of the use of electronic collars on canines and is being conducted primarily by the Shock-Free Coalition and Dr. Nathaniel J. Hall from the Department of Animal and Food Sciences at Texas Tech University. The survey takes a few minutes to complete and will provide important data for the Shock-Free Coalition. It is available until April 2, 2019 and is pertinent to anyone who shares, or has shared, their life with pet dogs, who works with dogs, or who has any other interest… Continued
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