Sunday, April 22, 2007

Coffee and Provocation


More Pet Food Recalls:
The massive recall continues, with more pet food brands being added and melamine-tainted corn and rice gluten now added to the list, along with tainted wheat gluten. Corn and rice gluten is often labeled "corn protein," or "rice protein" on dog food labels. Up to now, the concern had just been about tainted wheat gluten. It turns out that melamine may have been deliberately added to pet food stocks in China in order to boost their protein content during testing. For the record, there is no reason at all to think these poisons did not make it into the U.S. food supply, so if you are a vegan that eats seitan, you might reconsider your menu -- at least for a few weeks. See Google News for more information -- there are a million links out there.

FDA is the Problem, Not the SolutionCheck out what the FDA did when dogs started dropping over dead from Proheart 6, an injected drug to prevent heartworm. Hint: they did exactly what Wyeth told them to do and all-but-fired the FDA researcher who reported the problem. Talk about a captive agency!

Canine PerversionNow you can let your dog gets its kink on with this new canine sex toy/doll. And yes, apparently it's real. God help us all.

A Dubious DNA Test:
If you simply have to know what kind of dog might be in the mix of your mutt, there's a company that claims to do that.
On the other hand, if you send me $50 and a picture of your dog, I'm pretty sure I can do just as good a job.
Pennsylvania Foxing Stories:
Pete Bassani has recently published a small (85 pg.) soft cover book called "Memories of a Fox Huntin' Terrierman." Each chapter is about driving a fox, mainly grays, in the mountains of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The book is available from Pete at RR #1, PO Box 479, Hawley, Pa. 18428, for $17.50, postage included. Teddy Moritz says it's a good history of pre-Jack Russell terriers in the eastern U.S.

Will the Energy Crisis Bring Back the Great Plains?
It turns out that native prairie grasses are more effecient at producing ethanol than corn. It's a little early to tell if this might lead to further expansion of the Conservation Reserve Program and a turn around in grass nesting birds,
but it's a glimmer of something positive in the middle of a $3-a-gallon world.

Working Pets Store:
An online store in Ohio called WorkingPets.com sells the new Deben locators, so it's not just the JRTCA anymore. Check out both stores and then join the JRTCA for all the reason given here. See below for an example.

Pennsylvania Scraps Poorly Written Law:
Pennsylvania has scrapped regulations that would have made it much more expensive (and perhaps impossible) to breed and raise hounds and hunting dogs in the state. A wide coalition of hunting dog groups, including the Jack Russell Terrier Club of America, helped send the law packing.

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