Nip/tuck -- doggy style
Cosmetic surgery for dogs is real and lucrative business.
Now, for the first time, liposuction is available outside Germany at the University of Sydney's new $2.3 million Canine Teaching Hospital, which opened last week.
The university's associate professor in small animal surgery, Geraldine Hunt, introduced the technology here two years ago, and has so far performed the procedure, which can cost about $2000, on 15 dogs.
However, Dr Hunt urged owners to review their pets' exercise and diet regime before considering any surgical procedures.
"I would have to be very careful about whether to recommend it for cosmetic reasons. It is much more responsible to look at what is in the best interests of the dog."
The story also says that owners were asking for testicular implants for their pooches, most often so they could compete in dog shows, be exported for sale overseas or to negate a prostate problem.
But, occasionally, people requested the $400 procedure — which excludes the cost of the implants in small, medium and large — for the sake of appearances.
Randwick Veterinary Hospital's Andrew Herron said,
"I would definitely be counselling these people that this is a cosmetic procedure and they'd have to give me a pretty good reason to do it. If it was to show off down the park, I'd probably suggest I take them from him and put his in the dog."
Dog stew linked to salmonella; Korea asks, should dog meat be regulated?
The Wall Street Journal reports that in South Korea, soup or stew made with the meat of dogs is called "sweet meat" or "healthy soup."
But dog meat has recently been linked to a spate of salmonella and staph infections, drawing the attention of authorities -- and bringing a long-simmering cultural dispute to a boil.
Though dog meat is officially banned in Seoul, enforcement is lax. It is served by an unsupervised industry of small farmers, butchers and mom-and-pop restaurants.
In March, Seoul's food-safety office tied some salmonella cases to dog meat. Concerned, officials proposed designating dogs as "livestock," which would subject the meat to rules on sanitation. While there's no timetable for a final decision, the agency is now making a formal survey of handling methods at restaurants known to serve dog.
People in the dog-meat industry worry their costs will rise under new regulations, weakening demand and tightening the squeeze on a business that's already got an image problem.
Outside the capital, there are no restrictions on dog meat. A large outdoor market in the suburb of Moran, 20 miles south of central Seoul, is one of the centers of the trade in South Korea. About a dozen butchers line a row at the market, with a shop that sells herbs and spices for the stew at the end. The smell of butane, used to fuel burners to remove fur from dog carcasses, hangs over the market. Some butchers also sell goat, goose and chicken.
This in the country that is being gripped by Internet-fueled rumors about the safety of U.S. beef.
Our dog, Sadie, who likes to sit propped up, objects.
Rabies outbreak in Toronto
Reuters is reporting that a rabies alert was sent across Canada Monday after a puppy sold at a Toronto-area flea market tested positive, the first outbreak of rabies in the Toronto area in more than 20 years.
Toronto health officials said the eight-week-old border collie, which has died, was from a group of 12 puppies at the market. The other 11 dogs are under quarantine.
The mother of the border collie, from a farm in Eastern Ontario, has also died after contacting the virus from a rabid skunk.
Howard Shapiro, associate medical officer of health at Toronto Public Health, said at least 80 Toronto-area people, who came in contact with the animals, have had to get rabies shots. More than 900 people have contacted a hotline set up since the disease was found in one of the animals.
Don't let your dog poop on this lawn
"Warning: Idiot holding dog."
And it gets better. Mentalfloss reports on what it calls a rather aggressive warning sign for dog walkers in Sarasota and the potential risks of crapping on this particular lawn.
The scoop on poop
Swansea Council in Wales has bought 600,000 specially designed poop scoop bags which pet owners can use to dispose of their pet's waste when out walking.
The Council says dog owners are more than welcome to use designated beaches all along the peninsula but they want them to use the scoops and help keep beaches clean for everyone.
Dog owners risk fines of up to a thousand pounds if they fail to clear up after their pet.
Riding in Cars
Doug and I just returned from a 10-day road trip to Florida and back to Kansas with three of his teenage girls. The journey to Florida was reasonably broken up into segments and we chose towns, hotels, and restaurants that would accommodate our diverse interests and needs. On the trip back we started talking about the next time we do this trip, when it’s just the two of us, we can drive down with our two dogs and rent a house near a beach on the Gulf somewhere.
When I read yesterday’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch story, “City aldermen loosen leash on dogs dining at restaurants” in FSnet, I added St. Louis to the list of places we can stop on that next trip. Taking a road trip with dogs, like kids, means special consideration about where and how long to stop, and what kinds of towns, hotels, and restaurants we patronize – especially in the summer when it is dangerous to leave the puppies in the car. Cities committed to rules for safe doggy dining make it easier for us to keep our dogs safe while we dine on the road.
Doggy Dining
Pictured: Restaurant in Nîmes, France
In France dining with your dog is a part of every day life. Dogs go in restaurants, grocery stores, and even on trains with their owners. The other night at dinner at a table next to us, a couple sat with their ‘tween son and a tiny doggy that they passed from person to person until the food came. Then he was expected to sit calmly under the chair. He started yelping quickly afterwards when a very big dog came wondering around the restaurant’s terrace looking for handouts (see above photo).
We are the owners of two dogs and two cats who live with us in Kansas. Our lives would be more convenient if we could live like the French and both walk our dogs and sit in restaurants with them on the patio. We used to be able to do this at one of our favorite restaurants in Manhattan, but the management there recently changed and they told us we would have to attach the dogs on the outside of the railing rather than have them at the table with us. They even brought us cups of water for the pooches so they wouldn’t get too hot. Sadie, who was a puppy at the time, dug up their herb garden, and we decided we’d better leave.
Around the same time that rule changed last fall, a reporter called Doug and asked what he thought about the doggy dining laws in Florida. My reaction was that I would frequent a restaurant that allowed me to bring my dog, but if I were a restaurant owner, I would not allow dogs on the patio. Beyond the liability issues of “What if a customer’s dog bit one of my staff or other clients?” I see people do all sorts of strange things with their pets. I confess, I too am guilty of letting my dog lick my plate, but some people even share their food while they’re eating it. As a restaurant owner, knowing I am liable if someone gets sick in my restaurant, and knowing that dogs do often eat poop and live to …err.. tell about it, I wouldn’t trust that a customer wouldn’t sue me for their E. coli poisoning if they got sick from their dog’s germs. The U.S. has strict liability laws when it comes to food safety. If I served the food with poop, I’d be hard pressed to prove where it came from.
