While it is OK for pets to have some healthy “people food” in small amounts there are many foods that can be poisonous to our pets.  Here is a handy list of the top common foods that are toxic to your pet along with tips on what to do if your pet happens to get a hold of any of these substances. For complete story click HERE.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, between 2 million and 4 million dogs are born in U.S. puppy mills every year.  Many of these puppy mill dogs wind up for sale in pet stores.  Several US cities have recently banned pet sales and others are considering it.  To see what really happens when a city bans pet sales, you have to go to Albuquerque, N.M. The Southwestern city banned sales of “companion animals” in 2006, and has seen a marked, positive effect.  Since the ban started, animal adoptions have increased 23 percent and euthanasia at city shelters has decreased by 35 percent.

In February, Animal Humane New Mexico opened a boutique-style adoption center with just a few hand-picked animals abandoned or rescued from the shelter so that people could “shop” for shelter dogs in a pleasant, retail-like environment.  The goal was to adopt out 45 animals in the first month; instead, they placed 118 animals in new homes!  Peggy Weigle, executive director of Animal Humane New Mexico, says “Many people will say, ‘Oh, I just can’t go to the shelter, it’s just too sad.  But if you make a guilt-free shopping experience available, and they don’t have to be confronted with 100 homeless pets staring them in the face, the shopping experience is very parallel to a pet store. If you give the public a choice to shop in that kind of an environment, they will.” For complete story click HERE.

In her previous life, “Lisa” the 1-year-old, 700 pound pig was abused and locked up on a Washington farm. Her owner, a farmer who planned to eat her, apparently didn’t like that Lisa would walk down the road to visit some horses, so he hit her in the face with a two-by-four.  The Humane Society intervened and took Lisa away, finding a home for her at a sanctuary in Oregon.  Sansa Collins, the sanctuary’s manager, says that Lisa shows no residual signs of having been abused.  She loves belly rubs, cuddling with her human friends and eating lots of PB&J sandwiches! For complete story click HERE.

On June 10, 2010 The Animal Welfare Commission in San Francisco will vote on a proposal to ban the sale of animals.  The ban would prevent pet stores from selling dogs and cats, as well as smaller animals including hamsters, rats and chinchillas.  Other cities including South Lake Tahoe and West Hollywood have already banned the retail sale of cats and dog.  San Francisco would become first in the nation to include the smaller mammals. For complete story click HERE.

A Sioux City, Iowa animal control officer responded to a routine injured animal call last week and found a cat that with a three and a half inch nail right in the middle of her head!  An X-ray showed the nail entered between her eyes and was thrust nearly all the way through her skull.  Although a veterinarian was able to safely remove the nail, if it had been just a millimeter in another direction, the cat probably would have died!   “Grace” is now recovering at an animal hospital and is doing amazingly well—purring, eating, and walking around.  The investigation into who may have done this is still ongoing and Animal Control has received several adoption offers from inquiring cat-lovers! For complete story click HERE.

Mercy for Animals, a not-for-profit group that publicizes what it calls cruel practices in the dairy, meat and egg industries just released a graphic undercover video showing workers at a dairy farm beating cows with crowbars, stabbing them with pitchforks and punching them in their heads.  The alleged atrocity took place at Conklin Dairy Farms, based in Plain City, Ohio about 25 miles northwest of Columbus.  The group presented the video and the evidence it collected to the prosecutor’s office in Marysville, OH. The prosecutor’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment late Tuesday. For complete story click HERE.

An internal government report says dogs are dying and living in horrific conditions due to lax government enforcement of large kennels known as puppy mills.  Investigators say the Department of Agriculture agency in charge of enforcing the Animal Welfare Act often ignores repeat violations, waives penalties and doesn’t adequately document inhumane treatment of dogs. The report recommends that the animal care unit at the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service immediately confiscate animals that are dying or suffering, and better train its inspectors to document, report and penalize wrongdoing. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that the department takes the report seriously and will force immediate action to improve enforcement, penalties and inspector training.  For complete story click HERE.

Paco, a Dachshund/ Jack Russell terrier mix, found Josiah Allen and his girlfriend on the beach in Puerto Vallarta.  They decided to take the one-year-old stray home to Canada and keep him!   They flew AeroMexico to Mexico City. No problem. They re-checked the dog for their non-stop Delta flight to Detroit.  It was the last time Allen and his girlfriend would see Paco, their dog of just four days. In Detroit they were told the dog didn’t make the flight but not to worry, their pup would be shipped from Mexico City the next day to his home in Ontario. But Paco never arrived. After speaking with several different Delta employees, finally an airline representative acknowledged the dog was missing. Allen’s friend in Puerto Vallarta contacted the Mexico City airport and was told Paco had broken out of his crate and escaped, which Delta later confirmed. Delta has offered to reimburse the young couple $380 (what they spent on vaccines, flea treatment and supplies) plus a pair of $200 vouchers for a future flight.  Allen isn’t interested in the “vouchers” and only wants to know how this could have happened. For complete story click HERE.

At a recently vacated meatpacking space in New York City, billboards outside promote vegetarianism.  It’s part of an art installation at Gavin Brown’s enterprise, a contemporary art gallery in the West Village.  Instead of pouring concrete floors and painting the walls white, Mr. Brown decided to keep the new space as it was (meat lockers, fluorescent lighting and raw meat smell left behind.) The first show, “Go Vegan!” by conceptual artist Jonathan Horowitz, includes a piece titled “200 Celebrity Vegetarians Downloaded from the Internet,” for which Mr. Horowitz hung dozens of photographs of famous vegetarians from Albert Einstein to former “The Price Is Right” host Bob Barker. For complete story click HERE.

Blaming an especially aggressive strain of ringworm, the Ontario SPCA said it had no choice but to destroy some 350 animals at the Newmarket facility. The society has already spent five weeks applying topical creams and medication, and nothing has worked, Jim Sykes, chief operating officer of the OSPCA, said in justifying the euthanization. While high school students protested outside and tearful shelter volunteers asked to take some of the animals home, officials said even seemingly healthy pets with no symptoms could spread the infection in the community. The society said the outbreak was caused by human error; protocols for identifying ringworm in animals were not followed.  The branch will undergo a thorough cleansing and an inspection to ensure the ringworm is eradicated before it reopens for adoptions. For complete story click HERE.