The Daily Dish from WebVet

Puppy Mills: ABC's Nightline Gets the Inside Poop

Ever since Oprah did her show on puppy mills about a year ago, this inhumane practice and treatment of dogs has been a hot topic.  And for most dog lovers, or anyone with even a remnant of a heart, it's enough to set your hair on fire. 

Tonight (Friday, March 27th) at 11:35pm EST, ABC's Nightline will explore the cruel business of puppy mills from the inside.  ABC correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi and investigators from Nightline travel to Lancaster County, PA where they visit a number of puppy mills and film Main Line Animal Rescue's volunteers as they attempt to rescue breeding dogs and their puppies from the notorious Amish commercial breeding facilities. 

Alfonsi interviews, on camera, an Amish breeder while touring his facility - a first for network television.  With more than 500 dogs housed on his property, this commercial breeder speaks openly about this dark and dispicable industry. 

While I imagine this will be very difficult to watch, it is very important that the realities of puppy mills be brought to the forefront - again and again and again - until someone finally puts a stop to this horrendous business practice. 

So please tune in to ABC's Nightline tonight at 11:35pm EST to learn more about the plight of our puppy mill dogs.  And then . . . do something about it.  Write your congress person, Tweet about it, do whatever it takes to get the word out!

Parvo takes Oprah's precious puppy

I was so saddened to hear that Oprah tragically lost yet another of her beloved dogs.   Apparently one of her brand new Cocker Spaniel puppies she adopted from a shelter in Chicago developed Parvo and didn't survive the illness.  His name was Ivan and he had a sister named Sadie who while also contracting Parvo, managed to survive. 

When I heard it was to Parvo, I stopped and asked myself, "what exactly is Parvo and why after having dogs for more than 30 years, do I know absolutely nothing about it other than my dog needs to be vaccinated against it?"  Then I began wondering about how much other pet owners really know about Parvo so I did a little research and am here to share what I learned.   

Parvo is a virus targeting rapidly dividing cells in a dog’s body.  There are certain organs in a dog's body whose cells tend to divide more rapidly than others, most notably the intestines.  The most common symptoms of Parvo include bloody diarrhea, dehydration, lethargy and intestinal inflammation which prevents the dog’s digestive system from absorbing much needed nutrients.  In rare cases, Parvovirus can also attack a dog’s heart causing sudden heart failure; however, these cases occur most commonly in puppies as their heart cells divide more rapidly as the heart grows. 

Parvovirus is most commonly transmitted when a healthy dog comes in contact with the feces of an infected dog.  The scary part is this virus can live on a variety of surfaces including toys, bedding, and kennels for as long as six months, which makes dogs highly susceptible to Parvo long after a location is originally contaminated. 

So how do we protect our precious puppies from Parvo?  First and foremost make sure your dog has been properly vaccinated.  When you get a new puppy, most vets recommend vaccinating him or her within the first six to eight weeks and then following up with booster shots every three to four weeks until the puppy is about four months old. 

Even when vaccinated, there are no guarantees that your dog won't contract Parvo, especially if you rescued it from a shelter.  Parvo tends to be more common in places where a large number of dogs come into close contact with each other including shelters, kennels and possibly even dog runs. 

So the next time someone pokes fun at you for being an over-protective pet parent, simply ignore them.  When it comes to our beloved pets, I say it's way better to be safe than sorry. 

Our deepest sympathies to Oprah and Ivan's sister Sadie.  Losing a pet is one of life's greatest tragedies but in this case we're thankful Oprah and Sadie are there to comfort each other .  

To learn more about Parvovirus go to http://www.avma.org/animal_health/brochures/canine_parvo/parvo_brochure.asp

Take a walk on the wild side: A visit to the Bronx Zoo

Call me crazy, but even though I am the biggest animal lover alive, I'd never visited the Bronx Zoo -- until this past week.  And what a wonderful visit it was!

When the newly appointed Chief Veterinary Advisor to WebVet, and now friend, Dr. Amy Attas, offered to arrange a very special tour of the Bronx Zoo and its adjacent hospital, I was more than thrilled. After slowly navigating our way through the Bronx (Amy will get the joke), we arrived to a very warm welcome from Dr. William Karesh, Vice President of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Global Health Program.  Billy spent a gracious amount of time explaining the mission of the Global Health Program and what his teams around the world are doing to conserve and preserve our most precious wildlife.  It was fascinating, to say the least.

I then received a tour of the hospital where, much to my surprise -- and pleasure, there were no animals currently being treated.  To be totally honest, my curious nature would have loved to have seen some "action", however, my love for the animal appreciated the fact there was no need for those beautiful creatures to be visiting the local hospital. 

My next tour was of some of the major attractions at the Zoo.  From the Madagascar exhibit where I fell in love with the very charming and very vocal, Lemur (see above); to Tiger Mountain where the large cats lounged in the sun in a way that made me long for a trip to the beach; to the Polar Bear (see below) who  I promise you responded to me when I asked him to simply pick his head up and smile for the camera.

 

All in all, the trip was an amazing experience for me. While I love my companion animals with an open heart, I think we sometimes forget about God's wild creatures who deserve the same love and respect we give our own.  I would encourage all animal lovers to remember there is indeed a "call of the wild" and it's our responsibility to ensure they too enjoy the good health and happiness we all do. 

To learn more about the Wildlife Conservation Society and how you can help enhance and prolong the life of these precious creatures visit http://www.wcs.org/getinvolved/donations. 

Pet pigs in the White House?

Many people might believe that throughout history many pigs have lived in the White House.  In this particular case, we're talking about the four-legged kind.  You know, the ones who go Oink, Oink and like to roll around in the mud.  Alright, I'm sure that too is subject to interpretation but I'm talking about the Arnold Ziffle, Porky Pig, Piglet, Babe and the Three Little Pigs type.

Well, according to Catherine Capozzi (a professed vegan), rather than a Portuguese Water Dog the Obama family should be considering a pet pig.  Pigs can make great pets for the right people and they actually share many traits with our new president -- they are highly intelligent, friendly, playful and quite clean, believe it or not.  And while not appropriate for all households, Catherine thinks the sprawling lawn of the White House would make a stellar playground for a little piglet. 

The truth is, pigs don't really require all that much space.  I'm speaking first hand of course as my sister in Atlanta has a pet pig named Piggy.  I suppose she didn't want there to be any confusion over what type of pet she had.  Piggy is very much like a dog.  She likes to play fetch, sleep on the bed and, of course, get the big booty scratch and belly rub.  However, Piggy does indeed live up to her name as she eats everything in site including shoes, toys, dog food and more. 

So the next time we have a pig in the White House, let's hope it's named something like Hamilton, Bacon, Proscuitto . . . you get my drift.