Climate Controlled Dog Crate

The climate-controlled carrier uses patent-pending conduction/convection technology that turns on cooling when the temperature reaches 72 degrees and warms up when it's below 65. The product has had extensive testing and inspection by veterinarians, according to Bob Inello, chief executive of Komfort Pets, who says the carrier "can provide sanctuary in unheated garages" and is equally useful for homes, cars, boats and RVs. The smallest carrier (19-by-13), designed for lap dogs or cats, is available in ruby or silver for $399 through Komfort Pets

I think there's a market for this kind of thing. Would the airlines allow this to run if the dog was on a plane flight?

Of Course, We Knew This Was Coming

BERN, Switzerland (AP) - The Swiss could soon be voting on whether lawyers should be allowed to defend animals in court.

Look, none of us condones animal abuse. However, that doesn't then logically mean we think that animals have the right or ability to hire lawyers to defend them in court. It is one thing to watch and enjoy a movie, such as Ratatouille. It is quite another thing to believe that rats are little people. C'mon folks, even as a little kid, I knew the difference between a real rabbit and Bugs Bunny.

When did we let the wackos start to run our lives? When we lost our way. When we decided to start attacking and tearing down the foundations of our society.

When things were tough, such as during the Great Depression and WW II, our nation honed what was to be called The Greatest Generation. Family, thrift, hard work, faith and a belief in our nation's founders saw them through. Today, we are overfed and underchallenged, so we have time to think up these ridiculous and self destructive concepts. No wonder the headlines are all about Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and the Olsen twins. We don't hear much about Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, or Franklin. Same thing with our sick sister, Europe. They have lost their way. Demoralized. No longer believing in themselves as nations, having purged their values and dispensed with their heroes.

So, we get this kind of foolishness. Garbage in, garbage out.

Idle hands are the Devil's playground.

Anyone Could Be A Nut... Going Postal

SANTA CRUZ - A letter carrier was arrested Friday in Freedom, a town near Watsonville, following a month-long investigation by the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General into allegations that she tried to extort hundreds of dollars from one of her customers.

Just because a dog is accused of biting someone doesn't mean the dog actually did it. I wonder how many fake dog bite calls happen every year? I know that nasty neighbors will sometimes make fake complaint calls about pets to harass people.

Dog Saves Child

Zoey is a Chihuahua, but when a rattlesnake lunged at her owners' 1-year-old grandson, she was a real bulldog. Booker West was splashing his hands in a birdbath in his grandparents' northern Colorado back yard when the snake slithered up to the toddler, rattled and struck. Five-pound Zoey jumped in the way and took the bites.

How long has it been since we heard a good news story concerning a dog? It seems that all the news is bad news, because that is what sells. Such bad news reporting turns pit bulls into devil dogs, gives the impression that we need to over regulate everyone's lives concerning every thing, and whittles away at our freedoms.

Pit Bulls and Stupid Fools
By Doug Giles

It’s sad that one of the greatest dog breeds ever to grace the planet, the American Pit Bull Terrier, has fallen into the hands of animal abusing idiots. Guys like Michael Vick, our nation’s scurrilous hip hop hoodlums and other waste-of-sperm-and-eggs are not even worthy to carry this canine’s excrement much less superintend their subsistence. The Pit Bulls should be walking these boys on the leash, teaching them to fetch, heel and sit and not the other way around.

I think I speak for all Pit Bull lovers by saying, “thanks morons for sullying a substantial animal’s rep via dog fighting.”

If True, What A Loser!

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on charges related to illegal dogfighting. Vick and three others were charged with violating federal laws against competitive dogfighting, procuring and training pit bulls for fighting and conducting the enterprise across state lines.

Dog Economics

The Virginia Veterinary Medical Association is advising its members to refuse to vaccinate dogs whose owners are upset by a new law that requires rabies certificates to be sent to local tax collectors. The measure is intended to improve compliance with the current dog-licensing law - which could mean a bill in the mail for a dog owner who previously avoided buying a license. But the association's advice could lead to fewer dogs being vaccinated, wrote Bob Kane, president of the Virginia Hunting Dog Owners' Association, in an e-mail to the group's approximately 2,700 members, state legislators and reporters. Some owners want to keep their personal and pets' information private, Kane said. He urged veterinarians to protect clients' privacy by giving the vaccination but not sending the certificate.

Politicians should take a few economics courses before they try to enact legislation. Here is a good quote from an economist which says it better than I can:

Politicians have what we economists call a zero elasticity vision of the world. They think people will behave after taxes just as they behaved before taxes and the only effect of a tax is to bring in more revenue.

Regardless of what you think about requiring people to license their dogs, you can't ignore human behavior when enacting laws. What is worse, people not vaccinating their dogs for rabies, or people not licensing their dogs? I am against dog licensing. I think the fairest and most simple way of covering the cost of animal control services is sales tax on dog food (a consumption tax). Sure, larger dogs eat more than smaller ones, but who cares? Big deal. Licensing is an invasion of privacy and is often used to ban certain breeds of dog. Licensing doesn't make people responsible pet owners. It doesn't make them pick up poop, stop excessive barking, deal with those who don't socialize or train their dogs... nothing. However, if your dog isn't licensed and bites someone, licensing is used by prosecutors as an indicator of whether you are a responsible dog owner. Ignorant stuff. The current system doesn't work, but politicians keep passing the same types of laws and expecting new results.

Pet Neuter / Spay Bill Fails... For Now

SACRAMENTO – Senators turned away mandatory pet sterilization legislation Wednesday, ending months of passionate debate over an issue that touches millions of dog and cat owners throughout California. However, it may be just a temporary lull. Assemblyman Lloyd Levine already has begun to recast his measure to narrow its reach in ways that could attract more support next year.

This article was followed by this comment:

Lloyd Levine is the same freak who wants legislation outlawing incandescent light bulbs. This tool sits around all day thinking of things to ban. The problem in the People's Republic of California is that Government thinks its role is to tell you what to do, what not to do, what not to eat, where to smoke, and what to think. You'd think the legistators would actually be spending their time doing something to fix the problems in this state. Instead, they sit around and think of new ways to control what you do in your home. The people of California are stupid cows and they deserve what they get when they elect people like Lloyd Levine.

Say that! Amen, brother.

Dublin Council Bans 11 Breeds

Akita
American Pit Bull Terrier
Bandog
Bull Mastiff
Bull Terrier
Doberman
German Shepherd Dog
Rhodesian Ridgeback
Rottweiler
Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Tosa Inu

I have worked with every one of these breeds, and not one could be considered inherently vicious. It is interesting how there is never any scientific basis for establishing these lists of breeds. It is always done out of fear, ignorance, hatred of dogs, and publicity / attention seeking do gooders.

Mitt, It Would Have Been Better To Admit You Did Something Stupid

Mitt Romney placed his family dog, an Irish setter named Seamus, into a kennel lashed to the top of his station wagon for a 12-hour family trip from Boston to Ontario in 1983. Despite being shielded by a wind screen the former Massachusetts governor erected, Seamus expressed his discomfort with a diarrhea attack. When Romney's eldest son, Tagg, and his four brothers complained about the brown runoff down the back windshield, their father quietly pulled the car over, borrowed a gas station hose and sprayed down both the dog and the kennel before returning to the road. Romney dismissed any outcry about the 24-year-old incident, saying the dog enjoyed his rooftop perch. "He scrambled up there every time we went on trips," Romney said at a campaign stop in Pittsburgh Thursday. "He got in all by himself and enjoyed it."

OK, doing this to a dog is inhumane. It just is. The dog was wiped out, and the environment for the dog in that crate was extremely unpleasant. This was 12 hours atop the car. You try riding atop a car for 12 hours, strapped on in a windy box, and see how you feel about that. It would be miserable.

It baffles me why politicians can't just say they made a mistake. Not taking responsibility for this kind of thing is a big red flag to me when voting for someone. I won't vote for a liar, cheat, crook, or someone who has no sense of right or wrong (which is why there'd be no way I'd ever vote for someone like Hillary... I've had enough of her and Bill's circus).

By the way, this is no different that you idiots who put a dog in the back of your pickup without restraint so it could fall out, or in the direct sunlight on a 100 degree day so it can burn it's feet on the floorboards and overheat in the sun, or during a downpour so it can dangerously lower the dog's body temperature.