The Pact of Fire

When the world was created, First Man and First Woman struggled to stay alive and warm through the first winter. First Dog struggled also.

Deep in the winter, First Dog gave birth to her pups. Each night, she huddled in the brush of the forest, longingly watching the fire which kept First Man and First Woman warm.

First Winter was severe, so cold that First Dog dared not leave her pups to search for food to fill her own belly, fearing that her pups would freeze to death in her absence. She curled around them, but the wind was bitter. Her belly shrank with hunger, and soon she had no milk. The smallest pup perished, and First Dog felt her own life draining away as she struggled to care for the remaining pups. Fearing for the fate of the others, she knew she had no choice but to approach the fire and ask First Woman and First Man to share their food and the fire’s warmth.

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Animal abuse is becoming rampant in our society. Everyday I see horrific stories of abuses perpetrated on innocent and defenseless animals. Well now a couple of these ‘victims’ are ‘telling’ their stories to help to educate children and adults on the horrors of animals abuse.

One of these ‘victims’ is Charlotte, pictured here as she was found in July 2006. Her head was swelled to four times its normal size due to a plastic zip tie being around her neck, her throat nearly swollen shut, eyes swollen shut, she was horribly emaciated and dehydrated, had heartworm, a heart murmur and she had bite marks all over her face. She ’showed up’ on a St. Louis woman’s porch and the woman called the Human Society of Missouri saying that she had found a “weird-looking animal” and that it was scaring her.

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If you’ve been reading my ‘Dog Food 101′ series, you’re probably waking up to what’s really in the ‘commercial’ foods that are manufactured for our pets to eat and to be honest, the more research I do, the scarier it gets.

One thing that I mentioned in Part 2, in discussing proteins and meats that were used in pet foods, was the usage of 4-D animals; dead, diseased, disabled or dying. One aspect that I touched lightly on is the fact in the past, the use of rendered euthanized shelter animals was an ‘open secret’ in the pet food manufacturing industry. As for now, it is highly denied but since it’s not against the law, who knows? Some say that no source of protein, regardless of the source or quality goes unused.

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Since you’re here I’m guessing that you’re probably a dog owner and dog lover but have you ever wondered what breed of a dog you might be if you were a dog?

Want to find out? :D  This is fun! Just CLICK HERE!

DeShawn Brown, the sick, twisted cretin convicted of inflicting such a horrific torturous death on Mercy, a small 10 month old puppy, was sentenced to only 4 years in prison for his guilt.

Prosecutor David Alex asked for 10 years, one year for each day that Mercy suffered. Defense attorneys Dan Wyde and Lee Westmoreland whined for probation then whined some more after the sentencing saying that it was because of animal welfare groups.

“I’m not asking you for mercy. I’m asking you for justice,” Wyde said during closing arguments.

Kind of ironic wording there. How about Mercy? She was only asking to be loved and treated kindly. She didn’t ask to be stabbed, have gasoline poured on her and set on fire just because some idiot got ticked off because he couldn’t mate her.

Where is her justice?!

Where was her mercy?!

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In Part 2 of my ‘Dog Food 101,’ I discussed some meat/protein sources, now I’d like to go over some information on carbohydrates.

The first thing I would like to say is that dogs, being carnivores, do not require grains and cereals in their diets. Secondly, they are not well processed by their bodies which means nutritionally, they are of little value. If you recall, in Part 1, I said that dogs “have short digestive tracts and their bodies lack certain enzymes which make it difficult, if not impossible for their bodies to process grains and vegetables unless they are ‘predigested’ by processing; cooking, mincing, grinding, breakdown by enzymes, or fermentation through bacteria.”

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the carbs; cereals and grains, that are in our pet’s food.

One of the most prevalent is corn in a variety of forms. Most are ‘by-products’ left over after processing what can be used for human consumption and are usually to add bulk or fiber and are seldom of much if any nutritional value. They are basically just cheap fillers. Another thing to keep in mind is that corn is one of the highest reported food allergens in dogs.

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Dr. Joshua Winston, Sun City veterinarian, accused of punching a Chihuahua in the face 5 times and dislodging its eye on Jun 4 and indicted on felony animal cruelty in July, has been cleared of charges.

In a 5-2 decision, the Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board agreed last week there was no evidence that Dr. Joshua Winston had acted unprofessionally and they found no signs of animal abuse or malpractice. They dismissed the animal abuse complaint against him.

Following is the rest of the story but please be sure to read all the way through

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Just got this information from a vet on a mailing list that I am on and it bothered me. We’re told that our pets need this vaccination and that vaccination but do you ever stop to wonder if they really need all the vaccinations that we’re told they do and if the vaccinations really work?

First, there is SO MUCH conflicting information on this issue..It really is difficult to know exactly WHAT to do.

Different experts are advising different things..

Some are BIG vaccine advocates, while others say to NOT give anything.

I am of the belief that you should give ONLY the vaccines that are necessary, as infrequently as possible.

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Two charges of animal cruelty against Alicia Roth, 33, of 306 Baltimore St, Middletown, Ohio and her husband Taylor Roth, have been dropped. In June, the husband and wife were charged with cruelty to a companion animal, a first-degree misdemeanor, for allegedly abusing and neglecting their 10-week-old brown husky mix puppy. The puppy suffered a broken leg after being thrown against the house by Taylor Roth during an argument and later died of parvo, a fully preventable disease, after being signed over to the humane society.

Then in August, Alicia Roth left her 8 yr old Rottweiler locked in a cage on a porch in the sweltering heat, while she went to Tennessee. She was charged with cruelty to a companion animal, a first-degree misdemeanor and improper enclosure, a third-degree misdemeanor.

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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is asking animal lovers to celebrate national Adopt-a-Shelter-Dog Month in October by adopting a dog at their local animal shelter.

While the ASPCA strives to raise awareness of the plight of shelter animals year-round, in October it will place special emphasis on urging potential pet owners to consider choosing from the millions of adoptable companion animals in shelters across the country.

“Approximately 5 out of 10 dogs in animal shelters throughout the United States are euthanized simply because there is no one to adopt them,” said ASPCA President & CEO Ed Sayres. “By celebrating October as Adopt-A-Shelter Dog Month, we hope to help save the lives of dogs that deserve a second chance to have a permanent, loving home.”

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I written quite a few times over the past weeks regarding chicken jerky and chicken treats for dogs and the dangers that have recently become associated with them and now the FDA is finally releasing a warning.

Source - Associated Press

FDA Warns Dog Owners on Chicken Treats

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chicken jerky treats may have sickened dozens of dogs, federal health officials warned Wednesday despite failing to find any trace of contamination.

The Food and Drug Administration said it’s fielded more than 70 complaints, involving more than 95 dogs, from owners who believe their animals fell sick after eating the products, sold variously as chicken tenders, strips or treats. While most dogs appear to have recovered, an unspecified number died.

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For all their posturing and protesting of their client’s innocence, the jury didn’t take long to proclaim DeShawn Brown GUILTY in the torture abuse case of ‘Mercy,’ as the 10 month old pit bull was dubbed by rescuers.

Although defense attorney Dan Wyde continued to protest DeShawn Brown’s innocence, the evidence piled up. Witnesses who saw him with a knife then saw the dog cut and bloodied, witnesses who tried to douse the flames engulfing the poor dog then seeing this monster with a gas can. Guess he won’t be laughing now!

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