Families who lost pets in food recall near settlement

Washington families who lost companions after last year’s major pet food recall are close to a settlement — and, finally, closure to a tragedy that killed more than 1,500 pets.

A judge granted initial approval Friday to a $24 million deal reached last month in which companies that made or sold contaminated food will pay pet owners for all costs related to the death or illness of their pets.

“We are kind of waiting for this to wrap up and for there to be closure,” said Cecily Mitchell, a Seattle resident involved in a class-action lawsuit against pet food manufacturer Menu Foods.

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Dognappers take pit bulls from shelter: Police believe animals stolen for dogfights; four arrested

Chewie, the tough and nimble pit bull kept for over a year at the county’s animal shelter as evidence in a felony dogfighting trial, got a brief taste of freedom Sunday night.

But it wasn’t the kind that animal welfare advocates, who have been trying to find sanctuaries for Chewie and seven other battle-scarred dogs dubbed the “Great Eight,” had been hoping for.

Four intruders broke into the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service twice over the Memorial Day weekend, stealing two pit bulls Saturday night and nabbing Chewie on Sunday.

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“Reverse Evolution” Discovered in Seattle Fish

When a historic cleanup helped clear the waters of a polluted lake near Seattle, a population of tiny, spiny fish called sticklebacks may have “evolved in reverse” to survive.

In the 1950s, Lake Washington, an inland lake that parallels Washington State‘s Pacific Coast, took on 20 million gallons (76 million liters) of phosphorous-laden sewage a day (see Washington State map).

By the 1960s it had become a 300,000-acre (121,400-hectare) cesspool.

Then an unprecedented U.S.-$140-million cleanup in the mid-1960s transformed the lake into the pristine boaters’ paradise that it is today.

But the lake’s recovery put at least one species in a pickle: the three-spine stickleback.

The small fish, formerly hidden in the murky depths, found itself swimming in plain view of predators like cutthroat trout.

Researchers now think the threat of predators spurred the fish into rapid evolution toward an older version of itself, evolutionarily speaking.

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Agents trap salmon-eating sea lions in Ore.-Wash. river

One by one, curious California sea lions checked out the open cage left invitingly on a platform in the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam and flopped inside to chill out on the nice flat surface.

Big mistake.

Around noon the door clanged shut and state agents concluded their first day of trapping the salmon-hungry sea mammals. The sea lions weren’t having much fun behind bars Thursday, but it beat the bullet between the eyes some came within a whisker of getting under a federal removal authorization.

A day earlier the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that some of the animals could be trapped but not killed in reply to a lawsuit brought by the Humane Society of the United States.

The sea lions are protected by a 1972 federal law. An amendment, however, leaves open the possibility that some can be captured or killed if the states request it. Oregon and Washington did in 2006 with the support of Indian tribes and sport and commercial fishing groups.

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Washington State University creates School for Global Animal Health

 

The Washington State Board of Regents on Friday approved creation of a new school that will focus on research and treatment of diseases passed from animals to humans.

Just how the new School for Global Animal Health will be paid for is not known, but the university is expected to announce Monday a record $25 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the school, The Spokesman-Review reported Friday.

WSU President Elson Floyd told the regents Friday at their meeting in Richland that the school will be administered by the College of Veterinary Medicine. WSU hopes to house the school in an $83.5 million building. Its request for money was not included in the state’s latest budget.

About 70 percent of the diseases that affect humans have their origins in animals, Floyd said. Those “zoonotic” diseases, such as rabies and tuberculosis, are caused by infectious agents that can be transmitted between, or shared by, animals and humans.

Floyd said the school will bring together scientists who are experts in human and animal disease. The school will coordinate the university’s efforts in infectious disease research and diagnostics, with a particular focus on the intersection of human and animal disease, he said.

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Monroe officials call for calm over puppy video

Internet-fueled rage over a video that appears to depict a Marine throwing a puppy off a cliff continued to grow Wednesday, turning the controversy into a community issue in Monroe.

Threats keep building toward the family of a man many believe is the Marine in the video, and from across the globe Internet vigilantes are calling the workplace of the man’s mother in Monroe and threatening acts of vandalism unless the mother is fired.

The business owner on Wednesday said there is no way he would terminate an employee over anger that others feel toward one of her adult children.

The Herald is not identifying the business because of safety concerns for its employees.

Targeting the family is wrong, City Councilman Mitch Ruth said.

“Certainly, the family members were not involved in the incident, whatever the incident was,” Ruth said. “I view this as a community issue as a whole.”

Ruth said his city e-mail address has been sent many “abusive, profane and harassing” messages accusing the city of tolerating animal cruelty. He urged people to calm down and let the U.S. Marine Corps complete its investigation about the video.

“The city of Monroe has no jurisdiction over this issue.” Ruth said. “If the act depicted in the video did occur, it’s very disturbing at any level. But it has nothing to do with the image of the community.”

The Marine from Monroe is stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, where the investigation of the video is being conducted.

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For more animal-esque music, news, and issues, tune in to Kitty Mowmow’s Animal Expo online at www.thecapstone.ua.edu, Sunday nights 8-10 central.

Monroe, WA family threatened over video of Marine tossing pup

A Monroe family received threatening telephone calls this week after a video apparently showing a Marine throwing a puppy over a cliff in Iraq surfaced on the Internet.

Since it was first posted early this week, the video has become an Internet sensation, gaining widespread attention from news sites, bloggers and animal-rights activists. Hundreds of people have left comments on various Web postings of the video. Some posters have included the Snohomish County home address and telephone number of the alleged puppy-thrower, as well as the names of his family members.

“We learned about the … video and one of our deputies went to check on the family,” said Rebecca Hover, spokeswoman for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. “They said they had received threatening phone calls earlier.”

The U.S. Marine Corps said it is investigating, but would not confirm the man’s identity. In the video, a person off-camera uses the Marine’s last name.

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For more animal-esque music, news, and issues, tune in to Kitty Mowmow’s Animal Expo online at www.thecapstone.ua.edu, Sunday nights 8-10 central.

Film Prompted First Humane Slaughter Law

A film showing slaughterhouse workers abusing animals spurs demands for the federal government to put a stop to the behavior. That happened this year — and also a half-century ago, when a Seattle animal rights activist filmed hogs being mistreated at a Washington state slaughterhouse.

The 1950s film helped trigger a fierce debate on Capitol Hill over whether animals deserve some federal protection in their final moments. Congress ultimately decided they did, and 50 years ago this summer, lawmakers passed the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, which required that meat purchased by the federal government come from processors who kill their livestock humanely.

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Dog stuck on 200-foot cliff rescued by firefighter

A Tacoma firefighter has rappelled down a 200-foot cliff at Point Defiance Park to rescue a dog.

Firefighter Dan Elgin put a harness on the dog named Chug and brought him down the cliff Wednesday to reunite him with his owner, Christian Tollefson.

Elgin is a member of the Tacoma Fire Technical Rescue team.

Tollefson says he was walking his two dogs on a trail when Chug got curious and began sliding down the cliff.

When Chug couldn’t scramble back up, Tollefson and his other dog slid down to help him, but Chug was stuck and Tollefson and his other dog slid all the way down to the bottom. They were not hurt.

– From AP

Click here for video footage of the rescue!

Tour Schedule for Super Furry Animals 2008

What could be more Animal-esque than Super Furry Animals? Here’s their tour schedule for the new year.

12/31 – London, ENG – Royal Festival Hall
01/23 – Hoboken, NJ – Maxwell’s
01/25 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
01/26 – Philadelphia, PA – Starlight Ballroom
01/27 – Washington, D.C. – 9:30 Club
01/29 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
01/30 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
01/31 – New Orleans, LA – The Republic
02/01 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theatre
02/02 – Austin, TX – Emo’s
02/05 – Tucson, AZ – Club Congress
02/06 – Solona Beach, CA – Belly Up
02/08 – Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex
02/09 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
02/11 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir
02/12 – Seattle, WA – Neumos
02/15 – Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theatre
02/16 – Chicago, IL – Metro
02/17 – Detroit, MI – Magic Stick
02/18 – Buffalo, NY – Tralf Music Hall
02/20 – Toronto, ON – Mod Club
02/21 – Montreal, QC – Cabaret Music Hall
02/22 – Ithaca, NY – Cornell University
02/23 – Boston, MA – The Paradise
02/25 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom

www.superfurry.com/