ohmidog!

New Zealand professors Brenda and Robert Vale say the title of their book was partly tongue-in-cheek, partly shock tactic.

“Time to Eat the Dog?: A Real Guide to Sustainable Living” — and we’re thankful they at least used a question mark — doesn’t actually propose pet owners eat their dogs and cats, but it does suggest switching to pets like chickens and rabbits, which then can be eaten.

Of course, if their fate is to be eaten, they wouldn’t be pets. They’d be livestock. But the Vales, both New Zealand professors of architecture and non-dogs owners (as maybe you’d guess), don’t seem to see the distinction.

By eating our pets, the Vales say, we’d reduce their carbon footprint.

And dogs and cats, granted, make some pretty big ones — according to the Vales, the amount of land and energy it takes to make one dog’s food for a year makes for twice the carbon footprint of a Toyota Land Cruiser driven 6,213 miles a year.

A cat’s carbon footprint, meanwhile, is  “slightly less than a Volkswagen Golf.

New Scientist magazine, in an editorial, stopped short of backing the authors’ suggestion – that we should recycle our pets by eating them or turning them into pet food at the end of their lives – but it did call for reducing the impact of pets on the environment, and for the pet food industry to be more environmentally responsible.

“In a world of scarce resources, can we justify keeping pets that consume more than some people?” the editorial asks. “… Giving up our pets in the name of sustainability may seem like a sacrifice too far, but if we are going to continue to keep animals purely for our enjoyment then we have to face uncomfortable choices.

“At the moment, pet-food manufacturers thrive by selling us the idea that only the best will do for our beloved animals, but once owners become more aware, what they demand from the industry is likely to change,” the editorial notes. “The first manufacturer to offer a green, eco-friendly pet food could be onto a winner. Sustainable lifestyles require sacrifices, and even cats and dogs can be made to do their bit.”

A poll this week announced 63 percent of dog owners would be at least somewhat likely to perform mouth-to-snout resuscitation on their dog in an emergency. It didn’t report how many dog owners actually know how. My guess is fewer than 10 percent.

So here’s an ohmidog! rerun — a four-minute lesson on doggie CPR, as taught by Elaine Acker, CEO of Pets America:

1. If your dog is not breathing, use a finger to clear any mucus or other objects from the mouth. Tilt the head back to straighten the airway passage. Hold the mouth shut with one hand, and place your mouth over the dog’s nose and mouth, making sure the seal is tight.

2. Blow into the nose while watching to see if the chest expands.

3. If the chest does not expand, check and clear the dog’s mouth again, and start the procedure over.

4. If the chest does expand, release your dog’s mouth, allowing it to exhale.

5. Repeat the breathing procedure once every five seconds until your dog is breathing normally.

6. If your dog is not breathing and has no detectable heartbeat, and no other forms of help are available, cardiac resuscitation can be attempted.

7. To do this, put your dog on its right side and place the heel of your hand on the ribcage just behind the elbow. Put your other hand on top of the first hand. Firmly press on the ribcage in quick, smooth movements three to four times, using both hands. The compression should last no longer than half a second. The smaller the dog the fewer inches of compression and less force are needed. At all times take care not to damage the ribcage.

8. Repeat this procedure a total of 10 times. Then, if your DOG is not breathing, perform mouth-to-snout resuscitation again, alternating between 10 chest compressions and one breath into the dog’s nose.

Thanks to Pets America for the information.

A 16-year-old girl who used a pit bull dog to attack two women in Washington state was sentenced yesterday to 14 to 17 months in juvenile detention.

In the June attack, the girl and a group of boys were kicking the dog in a street in SeaTac when a woman driving by stopped because she thought they needed help. Police say the girl opened the door and beat the woman who was bitten by the dog. Another woman who stopped to help also was bitten.

The dog, named Snaps, was sent to an animal sanctuary because it was too violent to be adopted, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.

Prosecutors argued that the girl’s actions stemmed from “pure cruelty” and that she deserved a 14- month term, instead of the 13-to-36-week standard term.

“This is a violence and anger-management problem,” King County Juvenile Court Judge Philip G. Hubbard, Jr., said. “Failure to address it is not an option.”

Prosecutors said the girl attacked the first woman when she stopped and told her not to kick the dog. When another woman stopped to inquire about the altercation, she too was attacked by the teen and dog, according to court documents.

The girl apologized to the victims, who were in court for the sentencing yesterday.

In court, the first victim, identified only as Inga, said the attack brought back memories of her own violent childhood. “When I was being beaten, all of that came back to me,” Inga said, speaking directly to the accused. “And I felt for you, because I know what that feels like.”

“I want you to get help,” she continued, eliciting tears from her attacker. “You were horrible. You were terrible, and you know it.”

BARCStoberfest — rained out last weekend — will take place this Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Baltimore’s Patterson Park, in the area around the pagoda.

The festival’s costume contest, a perennial favorite, starts at 1:30 pm. Dogs can compete in any of several categories: Best Halloween Theme,  Best Hon/Best Boh, Matching Dog & Human and Most Original.

A Best in Show winner will be selected (by audience applause) from the four category winners. There’s a $15 entry fee for each category, and prizes in the contest are donated by Dogma.

Other contests at BARCStoberfest include most unique pet trick or talent, best tail wagger, best singer or howler, best kisser, fastest treat eater and smallest and largest dog. There’s a $5 entry fee for those competitions.

The 5th annual BARCStoberfest is a festival for animal lovers that helps raise funds for BARCS, which takes in 12.000 animals a year.

 
The tough tattooed guys from Rescue Ink are coming to Baltimore.

At the urging of Jill Rosen, author of the Baltimore Sun’s “Unleashed” blog, more than 100 Baltimore residents  pledged to get tattoos if the motley but warm-hearted crew of the National Geographic Channel program would visit Baltimore.

Appropriately enough, they’ll be making their appearance on Pit Bull Awareness Day, Sunday, Oct. 25, teaming up with the Baltimore Humane Society and B-More Dog to hold a rally against animal cruelty.

The day before — Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. – will be the Tattoo-a-thon, sponsored by Baltimore Tattoo Museum, 1534 Eastern Avenue. The shop says it will try to accommodate all of those who pledged to go under the needle, operating on a first come, first served basis. Proceeds from the Tattoo-a-thon will benefit both the Baltimore Humane Society and Rescue Ink.

The party continues on Sunday from 12 p.m. to  4 p.m. at the Baltimore Humane Society, 1601 Nicodemus Road, when Rescue Ink will be on hand to celebrate Pit Bull Awareness Day and to rally people against animal cruelty. B-More Dog will also be on hand to conduct demonstrations and speak on responsible pet ownership practices.

For more information call 410-833-8848 or visit www.baltimorehumane.org

Sixty-three percent of dog owners would be at least somewhat likely to perform CPR on their pet in the event of a medical emergency, according to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll.

Only 53 percent of cat owners were so inclined — but we won’t read anything into that.

The poll found that, while most pet owners were prepared to go to great lengths — even mouth-to-snout resuscitation — to save their pets, few are prepared to handle pet emergencies.

Just 20 percent of pet owners have a pet first aid kit in their home, and 54 percent do not have a fire evacuation plan for their pets.

Sixty-two percent of dog owners and a third of cat owners let their pets ride in their cars unrestrained, and 11 percent  sometimes leave their pets unattended in a car or truck. A fourth of pet owners, including 30 percent of dog owners and 22 percent of cat owners, sometimes give their pets bones from table scraps.

The poll revealed that 41 percent have experienced at least one pet safety emergency that required an emergency trip to a vet. More than one of every ten have had their pet hit by a car. About 7 percent of those polled said their pets have eaten something poisonous.

Among pet owners, women were more likely to say they would perform CPR on their pets than men –  65 percent to 50 percent, according to the poll.

But we won’t read anything into that, either.

(For a lesson in how to adminster CPR to a dog, click here.)

Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS) puts no stock in silly superstitions — not even in the Halloween season.

BARCS is offering $13 adoptions for 13 days as part of a special “Howl-O-Ween” promotion.

Apparently, they decided against the black cat specials (shelters generally frowning on promoting gimmicky impulse adoptions).

But gimmicky alone is OK. So, from Oct. 19 through Oct. 31 the shelter will be doing $13 dog adoptions. Regular adoption procedures will apply. All dogs will be spayed or neutered, de-wormed; and be given rabies, DHLPP and bordatella vaccines. BARCS also provides a flea preventative, a general examination, a food sample, and even a month of free health insurance.

“We’re celebrating Howl-O-Ween, but not with tricks, just treats,” says Jennifer Mead-Brause, executive director at BARCS. “We’ll treat you to a new best friend.”

BARCS is the largest shelter in the Baltimore area, taking in over 12,000 animals each year. BARCS has taken in 3,749 dogs from January 1 through September 30, 2009.

To adopt an animal from BARCS, stop by the shelter on Stockholm Street, (behind M&T Bank Stadium), call 410-396-4695 or visit baltimoreanimalshelter.org. BARCS is open for adoptions Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m to 4 p.m.

(Photo: Majesty, a two-year-old male, is one of the adoptable dogs now at BARCS)

Six racing greyhounds have died since August at the Dairyland Greyhound Track in Kenosha, Wisconsin, including two last weekend.

Two state agencies — the state Division of Gaming and the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection — are investigating, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Four of the six dogs bled to death, according to state records.  A food-borne illness is one possibility investigator are looking at.

The state probe comes as Dairyland officials weigh whether to close the track for good. The track lost $3.4 million last year, and has seen attendance drop 19% so far this year.

The pros and cons of pet health insurance were examined on NPR’s “Planet Money” yesterday.

Reporter David Kestenbaum interviewed veterinarians, insurance providers, an economist and pet owners — including one whose hedgehog, Harriet, recently needed a cancerous lump removed. Fortunately, she was covered.

“Pet health care is now crossing the same magic threshold that human health care crossed decades ago: It’s getting good, and it’s getting expensive,” Kestenbaum reported. “Veterinary bills are becoming large enough that people are starting to think it would be nice to have someone else pay for them — like an insurer.”

The business is growing rapidly, at a pace of 15 or 20 percent a year, according to the report.

“It’s an open question whether pet health care will also mimic the problems of human care, with costs that keep climbing and lots of waste. The problem with insurance, economists say, is that it separates people from the money they’re spending. Why not get that extra medical test, if it’s covered by insurance?”

You can read or listen to the report here.

Here’s a not-too-heavy-handed public service announcement being aired by the SPCA of Malaysia.

The star of the spot is Duke, a former stray adopted by Richard and Chae Lin of the Gardner & Wife Theatre Company. You can read more about Duke, a mutt who has won several obedience awards, on his blog.

The ad, aimed at encouraging spaying and neutering, takes a light-hearted approach to a huge and serious problem — both in Malaysia and the U.S., where more than 6 million dogs and cats are dropped off at shelters each year, about half of whom end up being euthanized.

As the ad concludes: ”There are some things you can’t teach your dog. Be a responsible owner. Neuter or spay your pet.”