A Cause for the Paws
Check out this fun event coming up Dec. 3!
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Help for Howie
Check out more about this special dog, Howie, and find out how you can help by clicking here.
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Pets in the paper – wild horses take the field
Check out these animal stories in The Oklahoman today -
- Plight of wild horses shown during OSU halftime. (Stillwater)
- Falconers hope for more land to expand hunting opportunity. (Woodward)
- Georgia mascot Uga VII dies. (Georgia)
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
You know you’ll be shopping anyway
Odds are you’re going to do some type of holiday shopping this year, so you might as well help out homeless animals while you’re doing it.
The charity Bring Pets Home has partnered with more than 140 retailers – yes, more than 140! – to help you maximize your holiday cheer. How? Go to www.bringpetshome.org when you do your online shopping this holiday season. Find the retailer you want. When you click on that store through Bring Pets Home, a part of your sale will be given back to the organization, which benefits shelter pets nationwide. (The percent varies by retailer. For example, Walmart gives back 4 percent. iTunes gives 5 percent. Some places even give up to 10 percent.)
So, this Christmas considering combining three fantastic things: shopping, the holidays and helping animals.
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Pets in the paper – THE RETURN!
I’m sure all of you have both noticed and cared that I’ve been gone for the past six weeks. (It’s OK. I know you haven’t.) But now that I’m back from maternity leave, so the daily feature Pets in the Paper. Wahoo!
Check out these animal stories in The Oklahoman today -
- Oklahoma City hunter gets 180-pound deer at Arcadia Lake. (Arcadia)
- Pooches get ready to put their best paws forward. (Oklahoma City, page 17a)
Not much for the first day back. Maybe tomorrow!
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Cute overdose
I can’t think of a better way to end the week than a 3-minute video of a begle puppy wrasslin with a rottweiler. So here you go.
- Staff Writer Bryan Dean
Dogs are funniest … not on purpose
So just in case you were wondering, dogs outshine cats when it comes to wins for America’s Funniest Home Videos. I’m not sure that’s a good thing, though. Most of the time winners on America’s Funniest Home Videos have either done something ridiculously stupid or just been hit in the groin.
The show marks its 20th anniversary at 6 p.m. Sunday on ABC. (Read more about TV on the NewsOK Television Blog!)
And in honor of their anniversary, show officials calculated all the animal winners during the past 20 years. Dogs finished first with cats close behind. But there are all kinds of other animals that have won. (Who knew whales could be funny? And who knew that a praying mantis would win not once but twice?)
- 1 ANT
- 3 BEARS
- 22 BIRDS
- 1 BULL
- 1 CAMEL
- 34 CATS
- 1 CHIMP
- 1 DEER
- 136 DOGS
- 1 ELK
- 1 FERRET
- 1 FISH
- 1 FLY
- 1 FROG
- 4 GIRAFFES
- 4 GOATS
- 1 GORILLA
- 1 GUINEA PIG
- 3 HAMSTERS
- 4 HORSES
- 1 KANGAROO
- 1 LIZARD
- 2 LLAMAS
- 5 MONKEYS
- 2 MICE
- 1 ORANGUTAN
- 1 OSTRICH
- 2 PRAYING MANTIS
- 5 RACOONS
- 1 RAM
- 1 RAT
- 1 RHINO
- 1 SEA LION
- 1 SPIDER
- 1 SNAKES
- 9 SQUIRRELS
- 1 TARANTULA
- 1 TOAD
- 2 WHALES
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
OSU helps save 80 dogs
Check out this heart-warming story out of Stillwater from folks at OSU:
When the Payne County Sheriff’s office called the Oklahoma State University Center for Veterinary Health Sciences on Thursday, Sept. 17, and asked if they could help with approximately 80 dogs and cats rescued from a rural home, faculty, staff and students stepped up to help.
“The Sheriff’s Department alerted us that the animals were coming,” stated Dr. Michael Lorenz, professor and dean of the veterinary center. “We called in veterinary technicians, students and eight veterinarians who were not on call. The animals arrived in the late evening.”
“I was on the phone with one of the ICU technicians and when I heard what was going on, I came in to help,” said Dianne Hudson, RVT, VTS (Anesthesia).
Because the animals are the subject of legal action and serve as evidence, the intake process included identifying and photographing each animal. Detailed records were maintained for medical and legal purposes.
“We had eight teams each comprised of students/veterinary technicians and one faculty veterinarian,” added Hudson.
“The animals were abused, neglected and poorly nourished,” said Dr. Mark Neer, director of the veterinary center’s Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. “While they can’t be adopted until legally released, the plan was to put them in foster care.”
All animals were treated for internal and external parasites including sarcoptic mange, which is a type of mange caused by mites burrowing in the skin especially of the head and face. All adult dogs received Rabies vaccinations and puppies were vaccinated for distemper, adenovirus, parvovirus and parainfluenza.
“It was absolutely amazing to see everyone swing into action,” stated Dr. Jill Brunker, Small Animal Internal Medicine. “People were assigned to a station and we rotated the animals through receiving, triage and treatment. Interns, residents, technicians and fourth year veterinary students worked with one common goal—help these mistreated animals.”
“We were able to do something on a large scale to help the animals and the community,” said Dr. Todd Yeagley, Small Animal Internal Medicine and Surgery Intern. “It was sad to see so many dogs that had suffered such horrible abuse.”
According to Hudson within two hours 80 animals had been examined.“We were careful to do everything right so that the Sheriff’s Department would have what they needed. Even after all the dogs had been processed, the students recognized that the dogs needed to be bathed to help make them more comfortable and then we still needed to clean up to get ready for the next day, so they stayed,” continued Hudson.
“The students and staff worked until the wee hours of the morning,” added Lorenz. “Oklahomans can be extremely proud of the veterinary team. Despite the horrific scene, the group performed at a high professional level. I am very proud of their dedication and competence.”
“Dr. Neer and everyone at the veterinary hospital could not have been any kinder to the animals or been more hospitable to the people who came to foster them,” stated Garry McKinnis, Payne County Undersheriff. “I have 18 of them at my house. My wife and I took four female Dachshunds and their puppies. We wanted to be sure they received the right care until they are able to be adopted.”
Some of the dogs had to be soaked to loosen the debris matted in their hair and eventually were clipped. According to Brunker, a single dose of medicine usually cures the sarcoptic mange. The parasites should be gone in a few weeks followed by treatments at regular intervals.
“I have seen dogs like that before but one at a time,” said Brandy Kastl, fourth year veterinary student from Sapulpa, Okla. “Never so many at once—it was overwhelming.”
“It was pretty sad, especially the high number of dogs involved,” continued Matt Stone of Springfield, Ill., also a fourth year veterinary student. “We were happy to help the animals.”
“That’s what we do,” added Kastl.
Authorities at the veterinary center report that all dogs and cats involved in the rescue have been placed in foster care as of Tuesday evening, Sept. 22, 2009.
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Doggie Snuggies are for mean owners
OK, I have to draw the line, pet owners. Dogs do not – I repeat DO NOT – need a Snuggie.
I’d heard rumors about the Snuggie for dogs, but I didn’t believe them. I thought friends were just pulling my leg because I’m a dog person and I think the Snuggie is merely a bathroom worn backwards. But they were telling the truth. You can buy a Snuggie for your puppy.
For about $23 plus tax you get two Snuggies for dogs. They come in pink or blue. Be sure to pick the right color because your dog would be TOTALLY mortified if it was wearing the wrong colored Snuggie, which in this case looks like some kind of French cape from the early 1900s. I mean look at this dogs in this promotional photo. Imagine how upset they’d be if they had on the wrong color Snuggie. Their doggie family portrait would have been RUINED. (As a side note, the one in the pink looks like an Ewok that’s really suspicious of the photographer.)
While I’m not totally opposed to dog fashion – my dogs both have Halloween costumes this year – I do think it’s silly for most dogs to have outerwear. They come with outerwear – fur. They are genetically designed to have their own Snuggies. (Iggies and Chihuahuas – you are excused, you poor, shivering cuties.)
If there’s anything redeeming about the Snuggie for dogs, it’s that they made a commercial:
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Pets in the paper – bear hunters prep for season
Check out these stories in The Oklahoman this weekend and today -
- Pigs ham it up during races at fair. (Oklahoma City – check out photos here!)
- Puggerfest returns. (Oklahoma City)
- Black bear hunts to begin Thursday. (Latimer, Le Flore, McCurtain and Pushmataha counties)
- The state’s first bear season begins Thursday, and no one really knows what to expect.
- NFL Notebook: Vick is back. (Pennsylvania)
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
