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.