Tragic Fire at Sweet Pea

     On November 22nd at 10:45 pm a fire broke out and engulfed Sweet Pea no-kill animal shelter in flames. Firefighters did their best to get rid of the flames and save the animals. They were only able to rescue five dogs out of all of the animals. At about 11:45 pm, While the staff were treating the dogs for smoke inhalation the firefighters extinguished the flames and did their best to rescue cats and other dogs. Unfortunately, they were too late and they couldn't be saved. 

     Some of the cats were able to flee to the woods during the event, so cat carries were set up with food in hopes on bringing the cats out of the woods. Two of the dogs that were being treated sadly died. There were about 50 animals lost in the fire.

     During the fire, staff tweeted and posted to facebook asking for help and to bring supplies "this is not a drill". Volunteers showed up with blankets and water for the animals, and also water for the firefighters. They said most of the dogs who fell were smaller breeds. Fire officals from not only Paxton, but, Spencer, Leicester, Oakham and Holden showed up to assist.

     The first theory was believed to be an electrical cause to the fire but, now some are guessing Arson comes into play. How someone could set fire to an animal shelter is beyond me. Shelter director, Richard Clark said Sweet Pea will need a lot of help getting back on it's feet. They added a "wish list" to amazon, including items like pet food bowls, paper towels, canned dog and cat food. He said gift cards to pet stores would also be helpful. 

     With the holidays coming, everyoneshould  be in the giving spirit, so whatever help you can would be appreciated by the animals and the staff. 

Pitbulls and Their Bad Rep's

     When someone is walking around with a golden retriever vs. a pit-bull usually someone's reactions are completely different. From personal experience, I've witnessed people tend to get more nervous around an adult pit-bull then they do around an adult golden retriever. Why do pit-bulls get such a bad rep? I've always wondered this, so I decided to do some research. I did online research and I also made a Facebook post to get multiple people's opinions.
     When I typed in the Google search bar "pit-bulls and their bad rep" I got so many results like 'Monster Myths', 'Why do Pit-bulls get such a bad rep', and 'What's Hype, What's not'. If you want to know the deep history of pit-bulls, the Greeks used them as guard dogs and in times of battle, they would follow their leader into war. For four-hundred years they were used as war dogs. Also, they were used to sub-due an agitated bull, hence the name. In the 19th century bull-biting became banned and then came dog fighting. Pit-bulls were the often used and original fighters in these dog-fights. Although, dog fights are illegal, they still happen. Pit-bulls were not recognized as domesticated home pets until 1963. In the early 1980's there was one specific dog attack to make the papers, most likely because a man sicced 26 dogs after one woman. Some believe it made the papers because a lot of these dogs were pit-bulls. As time progressed, more often the only time a pit-bull showed up in the news was in puppy ads. More people started believing pit-bulls weren't vicious fighters by nature, but, raised to be that way. This is where "canine racism" comes in. Which is the thought that one breed is more naturally vicious, better, friendlier, etc; then others. On the same website I found most of this information, I also found some comments.

There is still Pit-Bull controversy, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. In my personal opinion, I believe the dog's behavior is based off of its master. I got great feed back from my Facebook post. Although, most of the people agree that it's how they are raised, other people have biased opinions.

     I'm not going to use full names in respect of their privacy, but, LD said "This is the result of how the animal is raised, NOT an indication of the dog's temperament." Another person, Initials VB said "If you teach them to be a great family dog than that's what they will be. If you teach them to be aggressive, fighting dogs, than that's what they will be".

      I got some personal experience comments as well, for example GM said "I have a red nose pit bull. He is the sweetest thing. It's all on how the dog is brought up". EAC said "My brother had two wonderfully sweet pits." CH said "I've only ever owned pit bulls I can tell you first hand that every single one I've added to my family had been sweet and gentle".

      Then there's always that one person with the other opinion. PB said "That's the breed my daughter was attacked by. That is the breed I never have or never will trust. And before it's said, the dog was sweet to everyone. They are an aggressive breed." And of course a debate was formed and it caused me to delete the status. Wether or not pit bulls are friendly and if they have a good rep, really depends on the person. It seems as if more people are for pit bulls then against them. What side do you land on? 

Animal Planet Live Animal Cams

     Some of us, don't particularly like visiting zoo's and supporting animals in cages. But, we also want to watch animals we don't get to see everyday. A perfect way to do this is to watch Animal Planet Live videos. If you follow this link,  http://www.apl.tv/ you can watch live stream videos of a panda bear family, kittens, puppies, polar bears, sloths, birds, an African watering hole, bigfoot, bunnies, cows, chicks, Pacific Reef, bugs, penguins, hedge hogs and sea otters. My personal favorites are the pandas, puppies, the African Watering Hole, kittens and the penguins.

 

 

Washing Up Before Pigging Out

     Some Wild Boar like to wash certain foods before they will eat them. A study showed wild pigs in a zoo would often bring dirty apple chunks down to the stream to wash them off before eating them. Study also showed that pigs know when their food is too dirty too eat, so they will take the time to wash it before digging in. This discovery could help change the way some people see pigs. Despite pigs reputations for selfish acts and dirtiness, they’re actually thoughtful and focused animals.
     Pigs aren’t the only animals that clean their food in water before eating it. Raccoons, birds, and monkeys all do this too. But, not all these animals are truly washing their food like the pig does. To prove this study, researchers gave pigs a clean cut up apple and an apple cut up covered in sand. As research showed, the pig picked up the dirty apple and carried it to the stream to clean it off before eating both of the apples. 
     Pigs are known for rolling around in their own feces and mud, so why would they take the time to wash off their food? Researchers assume they might not like the taste or texture of sand on their food. But, it could also be to protect there teeth. Maybe this new finding can help change the way people view pigs and can assist to helping the pigs from becoming extinct. More than 15 pig species are endangered, some even extinct in the wild.

Maybe "you eat like a pig" isn't so bad afterall

Kony and his Elephant Poaching

     A recent article written by Brian Christy, tells his story of attempting to catch ivory poachers. He asks taxidermist, Dante to create a lifelike ivory tusk with a gps tracking system inside. If he could do this, he would be asked to create more. In the criminal poacher world, Ivory works as currency. This is why Brian has asked him to make this counterfeit currency he can track. The purpose of these tusks is to find out where these illegal items are taken. Brian wanted to find out what ports it leaves, what ships it travels on, what cities and countries it visits, and where it ends up.
     Ivory poachers will run a lighter underneath it or scratch it to see if it is legit. A real ivory tusk wont melt and it won't scratch. Dante has to pay attention to this, along with creating the lines at the end of the tusk that resemble the circles in a tree. About, 30,000 elephants are slaughtered every year for their tusks. The Chinese middle class is number one buyer in ivory. Most illegal ivory goes to China where a pair of Ivory chopsticks could see for thousands of dollars and Ivory carved tusks can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
     East Africa is number one for elephant poaching, In June the government announced they had lost 6o percent of it's elephant population. In the past five years the population went from 110,00 too 48,000. Poor villages and unpaid park rangers hunt them for cash. Poachers are enslaving people, taking over villages and killing anyone who gets in their way. “Ivory operates as a savings account for Kony,” says the U.S. State Department’s Marty Regan.
     If you don't know who Kony is, he is one of the biggest African terrorists. His number one goal is to overthrow the Ugandan government. Kony's minions have killed over 10,000 people, doing inhumane and unthinkable acts of violence to these innocent families. He has kidnapped thousands of young boys and have trained them to be killers. Kony tends to set up camp where elephants are plentiful. One of the former sex slaves ws interviewed by Brian Christy and she said "They say the more elephants to kill the more money to be made".
     This is where the artificial tusks come in, to track where it goes and hopefully into the hands of one of Kony's men.

In May 2013 poachers with the insurgent group Seleka massacred 26 elephants at Dzanga Bai, a mineral-rich watering hole in CAR.

 

The 'Blue World' Expansion Contract

     On October 9,2015 hundreds of Sea World activists and supporters gathered in a court room to vote for or against the killer whale tank expansion for the Sandiego Sea World. The contract will include destruction of the 1.7 million gallon tank to construct a 5.2 million gallon tank for the killer whales to live in. The expansion contract also says Sea World "will not house any killer whales taken from the wild after Feb, 12 2016". Along with capturing wild killer whales an further, Sea World is not allowed to breed the whales in capitivity. This includes artificial insemination. 

     The vote insures "no more orcas will be condemned to a nonlife of lonliness, deprivation and misery." -People from the Ethical Treatment of Animals

     "These 11 Orcas will be the last Orcas there" -PETA lawyer Jared Goodman.

     Hundreds of people were expected to show up at the California Commision Hearing and that's exactly what was the outcome. Blackfish has lead thousands of people to change there perception and opinion of Sea World and how they treat the Orcas in captivity. Sea Worlds profits have dropped 84 percent between the premiere of Black Fish and the beginning of 2015. Sea World claimed to be disappointed by the conditions attached to the 'Blue World' contract expansion which is set to start in 2018. 

     Many animal rights activists are outraged. "The only appropriate expansion of a tank at Sea World would probably have to be a 100 miles long, because that's how much wild Orcas swim a day" stated by Michael Harris, a board member at the Orca Conservancy. Activists believe the new tank expansion  would only lead to more captivity for Orcas's around the world. Activists, over 500 of them filled the court room carrying signs reading things like "Vote no on Sea World tanks" and "Sea World hurts Orcas". If you were to vote for the tank expansion or against the expansion? What would you do? And why would you choose this? 

Pumpkin the Rescue Racoon

     Around this time last year in the Bahamas, a woman named Rosie Kemp  was heading home when a baby Raccoon fell out of a tree and right in her arms. The one-month old orphan baby Raccoon had a broken leg and was completely helpless. So Rosie gave her a warm, loving home and nursed her back to health. 

     Rosie named her Pumpkin and welcomed her into her family with her two kids, husband and two rescue dogs. Pumpkin bonded right away with the two rescue dogs and actually started to copy them. 

     Now you must be thinking that Raccoons are usually viscous and you are warned to keep away when you see one. That's correct. "Raccoons are NOT pets" said Rosie to the Dodo. Raccoons will often get moody and mischievous. So if Pumpkin doesn't get her way, she will let you know. Despite the title, Pumpkin acts more like a toddler then the average house dog. She likes watermelon, eggs sunny side up, swimming in the pool, and being lazy on the couch with the dogs. 

     She's even potty-trained and flushes after using the toilet! She's really just a happy creature. You can follow Rosie's posts on Instagram of Pumpkin at pumpkintheraccoon seeing posts like below. 

Sufferpup

     Two explorers Cedar Wright and his expedition partner, Alex Honnold gave themselves just three weeks to finish biking 800 miles and to climb 45 towers in the American Southwest. They go so far off the normal path and have to make unexpected pit-stops. But, during one pit-stop what Cedar found was totally unexpected. In an interview, Cedar said “I have to pee so I just stop on my bike randomly in the desert and all of a sudden I hear this whimpering sound and at first I can’t figure out what it is and then I look and there’s this little puppy curled up in an old tire hiding from the wind. I quickly realized that he had been abandoned.”
     Cedar and Alex decided to name him Sufferpup. They didn't have any dog food with them but, they decided to give him string cheese and some water. Sufferpup ate the entire string cheese and drank all of the water. Sufferpup ended up releasing the digested string cheese onto their sleeping bags later that night. So they made him his own little kennel out of an empty beer box and some rags. "It’s really heartening at the end of the day to come down and have this adorable little puppy to cuddle with. Without Sufferpup I don’t know if we would have made it.” Cedar said. It looks like Cedar and Sufferpup needed each other. Sufferpup went from scared and shivering to a energetic, happy little puppy.
     I thought this was just a really cute story to share, it put a smile on my face and hopefully it put one on yours as well.

Sufferpup, taken by Cedar during a pit-stop

Rehab for Bears

     In early August, a hiker was killed and fed on by a grizzly bear. She was later shot and killed, leaving her cubs alone and orphans. Thankfully, a rehab facility in British Columbia, Canada called Northern-Lights rehab program, agreed to adopt these two cubs into there program. This rehab isn't any normal rehabilitation center you are thinking of. This rehab takes in orphaned cubs with troubled pasts and gives them a second chance at wildlife. Even though these two cubs were from the United States and not Canada, they were allowed in because over 200,000 people signed a petition to get these cubs taken care of. This facility allows cubs to grow and build up there physical weight and size so they can fend for themselves when released back into the wild. They are given a variety of food, stimulated challenges they will encounter in their environment, scavenge for insects from logs and climb trees. 
     Recent debates on whether bears being raised in captivity then released back into the wild has a high, life expectancy and if the money spent is worth it. I feel as though if we have the money to open hundreds of rehabilitation centers for us, for plenty of reasons, we should be able to open a few for grizzly bears and other bears who are endangered. What side of the debate would you land on?


Suzy the five-month-old grizzly bear was the first cub admitted to Northern Lights' rehab program.
                                     Photograph by Angelika Langen, Northern Lights Wildlife Society                                                  

Welcome to my blog!

        If you love animals as much as I do, then you've come to the right place. This blog will be everything you need and want to know about our worlds animals. Everything from endangered species, pet stories and even Sea World. Ever since I was little I have always loved animals. I've never not had a pet. I've had guinea pigs, hamsters, fish, birds, cats and dogs. I currently share my home with a cat named Edward, a fish named Balls and two dogs named Frankie and Daisy. Although, my mom would argue that they are not dogs but, "furry people". I believe that people take animals for granted and don't really take the time to appreciate and love them like they should. I take a huge interest in this topic mainly out of my love for animals.
        If you're thinking to yourself, "Why should I care?" Let me tell you why. Animals play a huge role in our daily lives all over the world. We depend on them a lot more than most people think. They keep earth balanced due to predator vs. prey, they entertain us, some feed us (I apologize to any vegetarians/vegans) and, the most important in my opinion, our pets love us unconditionally. So I hope this answered that question that might have been playing in your head.
        Animals interact with our world in infinite ways. Mainly because out of the millions of species, each individual one plays an important role in stabilizing all of the different ecosystems. Due to drastic climate changes, and our human acts that destroy forests and places animals live, we are losing more and more amazing animals everyday. For example, we continue to litter the oceans with garbage and toxic waste from boats which is killing many of our oceans wildlife. One of these include the endangered Blue-Fin Tuna. Which are the largest of tuna and can live up to forty years, but also a major protein source for us. If we lose them, the ocean becomes unbalanced and tuna lovers lose there tuna fish. That's just one of the many endangered species we continue to destroy. On a more positive note, pet lovers need and love there animals. Our pets impact our lives everyday. So enjoy my blog, comment and feel free to share your opinion. But, most importantly, Welcome!