Hunting dogs 'attacking domestic pets during hunts' - report

Ireland - A recent series of unprovoked attacks by hunt dogs has left numerous pets around Ireland seriously injured, according to The Irish Council Against Blood Sports.

The council has again called on the Government to ban fox hunts.

A new report by the council features a number of cases where domestic cats and dogs were attacked during hunts, with several being left with horrific injuries.

Aideen Yourell of the council said these incidents were happening far too often.

"The latest incident involved a family pet which was attacked in Coillte woods in Carlow last Sunday. It was an horrific incident where 10 hounds descended on this family and inflicted dreadful injuries on the dog."

- Irish examiner

Mexico dog mutilated by drug traffickers recovers

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A dog reportedly mutilated by Mexican drug traffickers is recovering at a sanctuary for abused and abandoned dogs.

Sanctuary owner Patricia Ruiz says Pay de Limon, or Lemon Pie, was fitted with prosthetic front legs last year. The Belgian shepherd mix now walks, jumps and runs.

Ruiz says the dog was left in a trash can to die after his two fronts legs were cut off. She says people who asked her to help Pay de Limon told her that drug traffickers used the dog to practice for mutilating humans.

Pay de Limon is one of 128 abused dogs living at the Milagros Caninos sanctuary. Dogs on wheelchairs, blind, deaf or ill frolic and run around the huge sanctuary in the southern part of Mexico City.

Pets really do provide health benefits

A number of studies have in fact found that pets have positive effects.

"The dominant research approach for decades was only socio-psychological and examined certain effects of pets on their owners," said Detlev Nolte, general secretary of the Bremen-based research group Pets in Society.

The conclusions were based mainly on surveys and observations, so the findings were not very robust. Gradually, however, scientifically based research approaches have been developed as well, he said.

Ample evidence is now available that pets benefit their owners in many ways. There are physical benefits, for example, one of which is rather obvious but important nonetheless: exercise.

"According to a study by US scientists, 150 minutes of exercise weekly is enough to have a positive effect on the cardiovascular system," noted Ralf Jordan, chief physician at the Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention Clinic in Duisburg, Germany.

Dog owners are more likely to reach this number than the dogless.

Studies also show that people who are physically active outdoors daily have a stronger immune system.

"A dog forces you to go outdoors regularly," remarked Udo Kopernik, spokesman for the German Kennel Club. "People who own or look after a horse have to leave their home often, too."

You don't have to step outside to enjoy the health benefits of pets, though.

"It's been proven that the mere presence of animals, and above all petting them, greatly helps to lower blood pressure and heart rate," Jordan said.

The sympathetic nervous system is less active, he said, so the body releases fewer stress hormones such as adrenaline. This applies less to goldfish than to dogs, cats and other domesticised animals.

"A number of scientists have also found that physical activity has a beneficial effect on chronic illnesses like diabetes, cancer, hypertension and chronic bronchitis," Jordan said.

Having a pet can promote physical activity, he pointed out, thereby helping to keep such illnesses subdued and reducing the number and intensity of attacks, as in the case of bronchitis.

Pets can be psychologically beneficial, too. Various studies have shown that a person who lives alone, but has a pet, not only feels less lonely but also makes friends more easily. "Pets can serve to break the ice and make social contacts easier," Nolte said.

source nzherald

Life-jackets for dogs

 Department for Agriculture in Colorado is considering making dog life-jackets in pet-centre pools across the state compulsory in order to ensure all pets are safe.

Authorities say the change in law is necessary following the death of three dogs  in the state last year.

The draft rules state: 'Every dog must wear a personal flotation device while in or while having access to a pool area whenever the pool water is deeper than the height of the dog at its shoulder.

'All pools must have a minimum of one lifeguard constantly observing the pool area while dogs have access to the pool area in addition to any other required supervision.'

The plans are due to go out for a public consultation.