"As most of you know, I'm a big believer in speaking up for all who suffer injustice, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation or in this case, species! And I'm all for adopting from the shelter. The image I created for this print reminds me of a dog I had as kid, a mutt named Honey."
. . . . . – Shepard Fairey, Artist
Go on, take a look.
Just see what's available.
So you can tell others.
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The kind of enclosed turnspit, seen above, required a very small dog to run inside the wheel and turn a chain drive going to the fireplace. The chain drive, in turn, turned the meat on the fire and sometimes ran a bellows as well.
Most of the small turnspit dogs were mutts of various types (terriers, small spaniels).
One type of turnspit dog that was "prettied up" for the show ring, however, was the Glen of Imaal terrier. The low carriage of this dog helped it fit inside the wheel.
Larger dog-powered turn mills were possible, but were uncommon. The contraption, above, was one of two different styles created to power a small sewing machine shop in 1888.
More common than wheels or turnspits in which the dogs ran inside a round wheel, were larger canine treadmills or slat mills in which the dog ran on top.
These dog mills were fairly common canine-power sources which could be used in a kitchen to run a butter churn or centrifugal milk separator, or moved outside to the barn in order to run a corn sheller or bean sorter.
Farms that did not have suitably large dogs could substitute a goat or sheep to do the same job.
Of course, slat mills are still around today, albeit now they are simply used to keep large dogs in condition and not to power farms, kitchens, or small machine shops.
Though a slat mill or rug mill (a slat mill that has a carpet-band for traction) can be used to keep a running or bird dog in shape when out of season, most slat and rug mills today are sold to Pit Bull owners (many some of whom are dog fighters). Click here to see several modern offerings, and note the "rape rack" of the type that was used by Michael Vick and his "Bad Newz Kennels."
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For several years, I simply turned off the comments section to this blog rather than deal with the never-ending tide of trolls who confuse blogs with chat rooms or list-servs or Internet bulletin boards.
And oh yes, the Deparment of Interior also controls the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and it is also in charge of implementing the Endangered Species Act.
And who did Barack Obama put in charge of all this?
A hunter.
A western hunter.
A western hunter who wears a cowboy hat.
A western hunter who wears a cowboy hat and who supports trophy hunting of Polar Bears.
A western hunter who wears a cowboy hat and who supports trophy hunting of Polar Bears, and who thinks we need to start rounding up and humanely shooting feral horses on western lands where they are so overpopulated they are wrecking the ecology.
A western hunter who is a longtime member of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus "whose sole purpose is to preserve and strengthen the rights of hunters and fishermen."
A western hunter who signed on to Dick Cheney's amicus curiae brief in the Heller (gun) case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
So that's Ken Salazar.
A friend of the lunatics at PETA, and the direct mail mill known as the Humane Society of the United States?
I don't think so.
But did the folks on the right even notice?
Do they even understand what agencies decide things in Washington?
No. And apparently not.
So who did Barack Obama tap to run the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency in charge of commercial breeding of livestock, crop support, and farm policy?
None other than Tom Vilsack, the former Governor of Iowa.
Have you ever been to Iowa?
Every job in the state is connected to farms, pigs, cattle and crops.
You cannot get elected to home room monitor in that state unless you are pro-farmer and pro-agricultural livestock production.
This is a state with 3 million people, 4 million cattle, and 19 million hogs.
You want to talk chickens? Fine. Iowa leads the nation in egg production with 52.4 million chickens producing 13.9 billion eggs a year.
You want to talk turkey? Fine. Iowa, produced 274 million pounds of turkey last year.
All told, over 6.60 billion pounds of red meat were produced in Iowa last year, as well as 4.28 billion pounds of milk.
So that's Tom Vilsak, and that's where he comes from. He's their kind of guy.
Is Tom Vilsack a friend of the PETA lunatics and the direct mail mill known as the Humane Society of the United States?
No, I don't think so.
But did the folks on the right even notice?
Do they even understand what agencies decide things in Washington?
No. And apparently not.
But of course, Barack Obama tried to do more. He tried to get former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to join his Administration as Secretary of Commerce.
Now, on a good day I am only luke-warm to Bill Richardson. I cannot tell you why. Something... Dunno; maybe it's the fact that he's always smiling while he works out the angles. He's either a great diplomat or a used car dealer, and I'm unsure of which.
But I can tell you that Bill Richardson is a hunter.
So am I worried about Barack Obama embracing some sort of extremist Animal Rights agenda that is going to stomp all over hunting and the commercial raising of livestock?
NO.
This country is clearly full of lunatics on the far right and the far left, but I am pretty sure Barack Obama is not one of them.
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Sir David Attenborough has revealed that he receives hate mail from viewers for failing to credit God in his documentaries. In an interview with this week's Radio Times about his latest documentary, on Charles Darwin and natural selection, the broadcaster said: "They tell me to burn in hell and good riddance.".
Telling the magazine that he was asked why he did not give "credit" to God, Attenborough added: "They always mean beautiful things like hummingbirds. I always reply by saying that I think of a little child in east Africa with a worm burrowing through his eyeball. The worm cannot live in any other way, except by burrowing through eyeballs. I find that hard to reconcile with the notion of a divine and benevolent creator."
Attenborough went further in his opposition to creationism, saying it was "terrible" when it was taught alongside evolution as an alternative perspective. "It's like saying that two and two equals four, but if you wish to believe it, it could also be five ... Evolution is not a theory; it is a fact, every bit as much as the historical fact that William the Conqueror landed in 1066."
I am have written a little about my coffee habits in the past.
"My own pets are vaccinated once or twice as pups and kittens, then never again except for rabies."
Annual vaccination is a practice that was started many years ago and that lacks scientific validity or verification. Almost without exception there is no immunologic requirement for annual revaccination. Immunity to viruses persists for years or for the life of the animal. Successful vaccination to most bacterial pathogens produces an immunologic memory that remains for years, allowing an animal to develop a protective anamnestic (secondary) response when exposed to virulent organisms. Only the immune response to toxins requires boosters (eg: tetanus in humans), and no toxin vaccines are currently used for dogs or cats. Furthermore, revaccination with most viral vaccines fails to stimulate an anamnestic (secondary) response as a result of interferance by existing antibody (similar to maternal antibody interferance).
"We now know that booster injections are of no value in dogs already immune, and immunity from distemper and vaccinations last for a minimum of 7 years based on challenge studies, and up to 15 years (a lifetime) based on antibody titer.”
