Hundreds of Turks injured in Muslim animal sacrifice

Hundreds of Turks spent the first day of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha holiday in emergency wards today after stabbing themselves or suffering other injuries while sacrificing startled and agitated animals.

Muslims sacrifice cows, sheep, goats and bulls during the four-day religious holiday, a ritual commemorating the biblical account of God's provision of a ram for Abraham to sacrifice as he was about to kill his son. They share the meat with friends, family and neighbours and give part of it to the poor.

In Turkey, at least 1,179 people - dubbed "amateur butchers" by the Turkish media - were treated at hospitals across the country, most suffering cuts to their hands and legs.

Four people were severely injured when they were crushed under the weight of large animals that fell on top of them, it was reported. Another person was hurt when a crane, used to lift an animal, tumbled onto him.
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The Norwegian Puffin Dog

In order to run down and kill wolves, the people of Ireland bred the powerful and long-legged Irish Wolfhound. When they needed something to chase ill-tempered badgers into their holes to exterminate them, Europeans bred the feisty, short-legged dachshund. But five hundred or more years ago, the people on the northern coast of Norway had a different kind of prey to contend with: humble puffins.

In order to hunt puffins, the Norwegians bred a unique dog. The resulting Lundehund was an extraordinary animal with some unparalleled gifts. For all its uniqueness, the Lundehund is vanishingly rare. It has been so close to extinction that at one point there were only five of them in existence.

Twenty good reasons not to have a pet raccoon

The purpose of this site is to provide factual information about the issues involved with having a pet raccoon.
Aside from the last two paragraphs on this page, all of the information on this site is established fact and is intended to help people make an informed decision when considering the raccoon as a pet.

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Video: Affectionate lions

Watch the video all the way through - the end is quite surprising!

Photography by Adam Orzechowski

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Max collars top dog name in N.Y. in 2006

Max has collared the title of top dog name in New York City again. The name was engraved on 1,228 of the 101,274 dog licenses issued last year by the health department.

Lucky fetched second spot. Princess took third, and hot on her tail were Rocky and Buddy, leaving the Top 5 names unchanged from 2004.

Mixed breeds, with 7,374 new licenses, outnumbered other varieties in 2005. They were followed by Labrador retrievers. Pit bulls and Shih Tzus captured the third and fourth places, clawing their way up from fourth and fifth the year before. German shepherds were the fifth most popular breed, down from third place.

Heaven Scent Pizza for Dogs

Heaven Scent Pizza for Dogs! From Blissful Biscuits a new treat that looks, smells and tastes like your favorite pizzeria style pizza. Each pizza comes pre-cut, shrink wrapped on a 7" pizza disk, and packaged in it’s own delivery box.

Two tastes are combined in one treat: tangy pizza biscuits recipe and a biscuit crust. Preserved with natural vitamin E, no salt, no bake, ready to eat. When the family wants delivery, have a heavenly (but healthy) pizza on hand for Fido too.
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Sheep Stool

Real sheep-skin over a body of jute skin filled with wood shavings (hardened with glue), with head and legs in solid wood. Ears are made of leather.

These life-sized sheep are strong enough to used as a stool.
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S3 Sanitation Safety Stick

S3-Sanitation-Safety Stick is a poop scoop that serves as a walking stick and a flashlight for night walks. It can be used for dog walking, camping or cleaning up the yard.

The only pooper-scooper that is easy to carry, fashionable, functional, and works in all situations.
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Cat Cocoon

The Cat Cocoon is layered corrugated cardboard sculpted into a unique pod shape with playful holes bored into it that your cat will stick its paws thru, have much fun in, and hide out. The cardboard is great for sharpening their claws as all cats love to do. The entire piece is thick enough as well to last a very long time. It is heavy duty and durable for the toughest cat use. They will love it!

New York Tadpoles Fly To Puerto Rico

While many of New York's snow birds head south to Puerto Rico for time in the sun, a recent batch of first-time fliers--born and raised in the city--are heading down for a different reason: to save their own species. And tadpoles generally do not fly, unless they are part of a reintroduction program to save the Puerto Rican crested toad, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which has joined an ongoing effort to save the island's only native toad.

Specifically, animal husbandry experts from WCS have successfully reared nearly 500 tadpoles at the Central Park Zoo and recently released them in Puerto Rico's Guanica State Forest.

"The release went well, and we're hoping that this new generation of toads can help secure a future for this species" said Bruce Foster, Collections Manager for WCS' Central Park Zoo, where he and other curatorial staff successfully reared some 475 healthy tadpoles for the reintroduction effort. "Puerto Rico is an island of great natural beauty, and protecting the natural inhabitants of the island is an important part of preserving that beauty."

Thieving squirrel, seven-legged deer top odd news

From a cat in the wall to patriotic squirrels, characters that seemed more suited to cartoons than news stories made headlines in Wisconsin in 2006.

The animal news of the year started with Mary Poppins, the pet cat that Jany Chumas couldn't find after remodeling the basement at her Eau Claire home.

Then Sir Charles Nugget wandered away from Georgia truck driver John Withers when he was in the Oconto County community of Lena. Withers couldn't find his dog and finally had to leave, but told authorities to call him if Nugget turned up.

Last March, after eight months, he got the call and drove up from Georgia for the dog no one could catch. Withers and his other dog, Moose Edward, coaxed Nugget out from under a parked truck.

Squirrels at Eau Claire's Forest Hill Cemetery had an affinity for the U.S. flag.

Workers thought youngsters were stealing dozens of flags — until they found a squirrel's nest with distinctive shades of red, white and blue. They were ripped and serving as the foundation of a giant nest.

US to propose polar bear for endangered list

The Bush administration has decided to propose listing the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, putting the U S government on record as saying that global warming could drive one of the world's most recognizable animals out of existence.

The administration's proposal -- which was described by an Interior Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity -- stems from rising temperatures in the arctic that are shrinking the sea ice polar bears need for hunting. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the department will submit the proposal today for publication in the Federal Register, after which it will be subject to public comment for 90 days.

Moscow Cats troupe exudes whiskery charm

The Moscow Cats Theatre is most definitely not the slick, high-tech, Eurochic-meets-the-new-Las Vegas sort of circus that Cirque du Soleil audiences have come to expect. Rather, it is in the old-fashioned tradition of the tattered touring troupe, replete with sequences of beach balls and hotdog balloons volleyed into the crowd, a couple of female assistants dressed in kitschy, gaily colored costumes, and one droller-than-droll male clown with s-l-o-w reactions.

Here's the meow on the Moscow Cats Theatre, the decidedly nutty, happily threadbare troupe of 30 felines, two dogs and six clowns, all led by Yuri Kuklachev, a Ukrainian-born clown with yellow-blond hair, a ping-pong-ball nose and broad smile (think Bill Clinton in fancy rags), who, 30 years ago, decided he could train a stray cat. Kuklachev has demonstrated that even those most willful creatures -- from puffy white furball variety to sleek black racer -- can be made to follow orders.

Top ten animal geeks

Non-humans who have made outstanding contributions to science. The list includes Ham, the first chimp in space, as well as Koko, the gorilla who learned sign language.

Macy's Pulls Sean John Hooded Jackets with Dog Fur

Macy's has pulled from its shelves and its Web site two styles of Sean John hooded jackets, originally advertised as featuring faux fur, after an investigation by the nation's largest animal protection organization concluded that the garments were actually made from a certain species of dog called "raccoon dog."

"First these jackets were falsely advertised as faux fur, and then it turned out that the fur came from a type of dog," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States.

Pacelle added that the issue is an "industry-wide problem" and its investigation demonstrated that retailers and designers "aren't paying close enough attention to the fur trim they are selling." He added that the issue is especially problematic when "the fur is sourced from China where domestic dogs and cats and raccoon dogs are killed in gruesome ways."

Goat Facts

Some interesting facts about goats:

• Worldwide, goats provide people with more meat and milk than any other domestic animal.
• Goat meat is called Chevon or Cabrito and is a red meat that is lower in cholesterol and fat than beef, pork, lamb or chicken.
• Goat milk is more easily digested than cow’s milk.
• A goat’s tail turns up while a sheep’s tail turns down.
• Male goats are called “bucks” or “billies” and female goats are called “does” or nannies”.
• Goats are pregnant for five months and normally have two kids at a time.
• Goats can grow to be 8–12 years old.
• Goats are known as “browsers” (eating twigs, leaves and bark) but they also do well grazing grass.
• Goats weigh 5-10 pounds at birth and grow to 75-200 pounds when mature.
• 5-7 Goats can live on the amount of feed it takes to feed one cow.
• There are about one billion goats worldwide!
• The domestic goat is in the family Bovidae, genus Capra, and is of the species Hircus.

Video: 3 Little Pigs Merry Christmas!

Oh no!

Video: Jingle Cats

Cats singing Christmas songs
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Dogs with Blogs-- Do They Know It's Christmas?

Dogs with blogs singing "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
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Video: Animal Super Dancers

Dancing animals
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Video: Cat adopts squirrels

A mother cat adopts orphaned baby squirrels.

Video: When cats take over the world

When cats take over the world
Everyone will be kind
You can jump on the counter
And eat whatever you find
You could cough up a hairball
And no one would mind
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Video: Dog attacks toilet

This dog really, really hates that toilet!

Mass mouse escape on Saudi plane

More than 100 passengers on a Saudi plane were left panic-stricken by the unexpected appearance of furry fellow flyers - dozens of mice.

The small rodents - about 80 in total, according to a local newspaper - escaped from the bag of a man travelling on the domestic flight.

An airline official said the aircraft was at 28,000 feet (8,500m) when mice began scurrying around the cabin.
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South African cheetah to have prosthetic leg fitted

A two-year-old cheetah, who had her paw mangled in a crude snare, is to have a prosthetic leg fitted in a ground-breaking operation by animal surgeons in South Africa.

Betty-Blue was operated on at the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre, near Johannesburg, after being rescued from the iron jaws of the trap which had clamped down on her left hind leg in the province of Mpumalanga.

"She was brought in to a vet, who thought it was so serious she should be euthanised. But we are not big on euthanasia and decided we should give it a try," said project deputy director Vanessa Bouwer.

Polar Bear Habitat & Heritage Village

Since July 2004, in the little town of Cochrane, northern Ontario (Canada), you can visit the Polar Bear Habitat, a kind of local zoo where people can live the once-in-a-lifetime experience of an outdoor swim with polar bears.
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Christmas Comics by Mark Parisi

Cats in Hats for Christmas

Little known fact about cats: They love Christmas!
But what they love more than anything is to get into the spirit of the season and wear their Christmas hats.

Just look:

from flickr, by mo ba ca na

from flickr, by Buntekuh

There are many more --- look

Virgin birth expected for Komodo dragon in UK zoo

Flora, a pregnant Komodo dragon living in a British zoo, is expecting eight babies in what scientists said on Wednesday could be a Christmas virgin birth.

Flora has never mated, or even mixed, with a male dragon, and fertilized all the eggs herself, a process culminating in parthenogenesis, or virgin birth. Other lizards do this, but scientists only recently found that Komodo dragons do too.

"Nobody in their wildest dreams expected this. But you have a female dragon on her own. She produces a clutch of eggs and those eggs turn out to be fertile. It is nature finding a way," Kevin Buley of Chester Zoo in England said in an interview.

He said the incubating eggs could hatch around Christmas.

Parthenogenesis has occurred in other lizard species, but Buley and his team said this was the first time it has been shown in Komodo dragons -- the world's largest lizards.

How one leopard changed its spots ... and saved a baby baboon

She is the ultimate predator - a sleek and stealthy killer. Pouncing on her prey, she silences the baboon with one swipe of a vicious paw. Then, suddenly, something stirs in the dead animal's fur, and the law of the jungle is rewritten.
From the bedraggled pelt of her kill crawls a tiny infant - a one-day-old baboon. In that moment, this young leopard forgets she is a hunter, and nurtures the baby baboon as if it were her own cub.

Smelling blood, a pack of hyenas gather to finish off the kill. Legadema, as she has been named by the camera crew who took these moving shots, carefully carries the baby baboon high up into a tree for protection. There, she cuddles the newborn to her for warmth through the long, African night.
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Doggie Dooley

The Doggie Dooley provides a simple, hassle-free sanitary way to dispose of pet waste. Simply dig a hole and insert the 4-gallon "septic tank". Step on the lid to drop in pet waste. Enzymes and bacteria inside break down waste so it dissolves harmlessly into the soil without odors or mess.
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Art by John Stuart Anderson

Polymer clay creations

Woman in Okinawa stung by scorpion while trying on jeans at shop

A woman was hospitalized after a scorpion stung her on the leg and finger while she was trying on a pair of jeans at a clothing shop here, local officials said.

Health officials were called to the shop, Fashion Center Shimamura in Nago, and captured the scorpion, which was about five centimeters long. They believe that the scorpion is from China, as the jeans involved were imported from there.

The scorpion found inside the jeans was probably a Chinese bark scorpion.

Pakistani groups offer animal sacrifice via Net

Religious organizations in Pakistan are using the Internet to help Muslims in Western countries buy and sacrifice animals for an annual festival.

Eid al-Adha marks the end of the Haj pilgrimage each year to Mecca and is known as the feast of sacrifice. Muslims who can afford it buy and slaughter animals and distribute the meat among the poor and relatives.

Muslims in Western countries unable to perform the ritual can now buy an animal over the Internet and even watch it being slaughtered, before its meat is given away.

"It is not easy for them to buy animals and carry out the sacrifice according to our religious rites in those countries," said Sohail Ahmed, an official at the Al-Khidmat trust Islamic welfare organization.

"They are turning to the Internet to complete their religious obligations," said Ahmed, whose organization offers the service.

Photography by Steve Carter

"Rush Hour"

Folding Cats

A new discovery

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Constant Companions Heated Pet Bed

ColdHeat™, a leading innovator in portable heating technology, introduces the Constant Companions™ Heated Pet Bed, an advanced solution to help keep pets feeling safe, warm and comfortable at home, in a car or virtually anywhere.

“Research shows that a pet’s body temperature can drop severely during times of stress, a prime example of that being when the owner is away from home,” says ColdHeat CEO Kent Baker. “Veterinarians agree that the heat therapy provided by the Constant Companions™ Heated Pet Bed can help reduce that stress. It also can alleviate suffering from muscular and joint problems caused by arthritis or surgery.”

The Constant Companions™ Heated Pet Beds are also available in four different configurations to fit your favorite cat or dog. The small and medium size beds feature padded bolsters for pets to snuggle up against, while the large and extra large pads lay flat so larger animals can stretch out and enjoy the warmth. All sizes feature pads made of ultra-thick orthopedic foam that distributes weight evenly and reduces pressure points.

Smoking Monkey

Smoking Monkey
Real monkeys should never smoke! There, now that that's out of the way you can enjoy our Smoking Monkey guilt free. He's 2" tall, made of ceramic and has a looked of unabashed pleasure as he puffs on his cigarette. He started smoking after he gave up bananas, trading one dirty habit for another. Each monkey comes with a pack of ten Li'l Smokes and has another one in his mouth, ready to light up and smoke. The smokes are actually non-toxic, unscented incense wrapped in paper.

Florida hurricane dog found near Chicago

Alice Baines could not find him on the block. She could not find him near the dock. She could not find him here nor there. She could not find him anywhere.

But two years after a hurricane blew down a back-yard fence in Florida and set free a golden retriever named Sam-I-Am, the wayward pooch was found in McHenry County.

n the most unlikely of reunions Thursday night, Sam-I-Am ran across the tiled floor at O'Hare International Airport and rested his head on the arm of owner Baines, who flew to Chicago from her home in Tampa to retrieve him.

"I can't believe it," she said. "This kind of thing doesn't happen."

13-foot pet boa kills owner in Ohio

A 13-foot boa constrictor wrapped itself around its owner's neck and killed the man in his home, authorities said.

An acquaintance found Ted Dres, 48, inside the snake's cage Saturday and called police, the Hamilton County Sheriff's office said.

The snake was still strangling Dres when deputies arrived, and the officers had to work with members of an animal protection group to remove the reptile, the sheriff's office said.

Dog weddings called off on grounds of cruelty

A Hindu wedding ceremony of 18 dogs has been called off in India after hardline religious groups and animal rights activists said it was a mockery of the religion and cruel to the canines, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

The marriage of nine dogs to nine bitches to promote canine culture was expected to take place on Sunday in the northwestern town of Jaipur, the Times of India reported.

But the wedding which, according to Hindu rituals involves sitting in front of a sacred fire and exchanging flower garlands, was canceled after groups including People for Animals (PFA) criticized the event.

Video: Jingle Pet Song

A Christmas video for your pets. They'll enjoy it.
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Art: Circus Animals by Emily Balivet

Emily Balivet makes lovely, whimsical wooden toys for kids and kids at heart. The toys pictured above are not for sale. However, she will accept commissioned work for ndividual figures or for entire sets.

Video: A Christmas Story (with bunnies)

A Christmas Story in 30 Seconds and re-enacted by bunnies.
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The superlions marooned on an island

Marooned on an island, this group of lions should have died out. Instead, in an evolutionary twist, they've learned to swim and become strong enough to tackle their only prey... giant buffalo

Fearless, ferocious and mightier than the world has ever seen, this is the new breed of super-lion.

Only one species of prey holds its attention: the buffalo — and in order to bring its powerful foe to the ground, it will take to deep water, use sophisticated hunting techniques and then silence the gigantic beast with a single swipe of a savage paw.

Santas Lil' Helper Costume

Even though he's supposed to be helping, I bet you can't keep his nose out of those boxes...It's like having another child...

This stylish and funny costume is sure to be a hit with family and friends.
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Birdwatchers flock to see the crook-necked swan

Birdwatchers have been flocking to a nature reserve to catch a glimpse of an infamously deformed swan that has just arrived for the winter.

Despite having a badly bent neck, Crinkly, a three-year-old Bewick's swan, has just completed a mammoth 3,000 mile journey.

The swan's deformity makes flying difficult as the U-shaped bend in her neck makes her less aerodynamic when in the air.

Crinkly arrived at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) reserve at Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, earlier this week.
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