I just read an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution Online on a Lab mix named Batman and his role in the quest for the cure. Yes, in case you haven’t been aware, pet volunteers are sometimes employed in the search for a cure to cancer.

In this case, Batman’s vicious glioma, the kind of tumor Senator Kennedy and my Sophie Sue also have in common, is being treated with a novel technique...

Yeah, it’s been rough in the equine sporting world lately. Eight Belles gets put down on the track at the Kentucky Derby. Big Brown’s cracked hoof might’ve had a thing or two to do with his career’s skid to the finish at the Belmont. Of course there’s the saga of Barbaro’s untimely demise after a catastrophic fracture in a Preakness two years’ prior to this. And there’s always Christopher...

Though vets are on the front lines of animal welfare concerns at all levels of animal husbandry and care, some savvy vet-watchers think vets care less about animal welfare than most people might assume.

That’s because the American Veterinary Medical Association (the leading professional organization in veterinary medicine) has visibly denied animals their due on a series of important animal...

Have you ever considered having your pet undergo the temperament testing and health checks needed to become a therapy pet? If so, this post is for you.

Consider that what we know about pet therapy has always been in the positive arena of what pets can do for hospitalized patients, the elderly, reading-challenged children, etc. There’s no doubt that the benefits are nothing short of astounding....

She’s not just the quintessentially cute media darling of quick home-cooked fare. She’s a pit bull’s mama, too. And pit bulls couldn’t have a more family-friendly frontman than Rachael Ray—or her sweet-faced pitty Isaboo, for that matter. Someone’s got to steer the world away from the gangsta stereotype pit bulls suffer under. Might as well be the current queen of the American meal.

Martha...

Front and center (if below the fold) in the New York Times this morning (Sunday!) is a story on the wild mustangs of western American lore. There they are in an accompanying color shot, speeding ahead of a banking helicopter as it readies for the final maneuvers that’ll add these four glorious animals to the 30,000 already in custody.

Adding fuel to the debate on equine welfare that rages in...

Spain may soon become the first nation to elevate the rights of some non-human primates to that of some humans. It’s a big deal, this seemingly sudden move of the Iberians, not least because Spain doesn’t seem the likeliest candidate to advance this kind of novel animal rights legislation (Ferdinand the Bull and all that).

As you’ve probably already heard, apes are the target of this law....

Much attention has been paid to this bit of weird science from the hallowed halls of none other than my alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. Out of thirty-three breeds of dogs, this study concludes that Dachshunds were the likeliest to grace a human hand with an unwanted nibble.

The study talks a good game about the 6,000 thorough surveys conducted but let me state now for the record...

Yes, really. I’ve never heard anything like this since the Chupacabra hit Mexico. I was living in Monterrey, Mexico at the time and found the shocking news hard to believe. Goats were found dead and drained of blood with puncture wounds decorating their dessicated hides.

Ultimately, the Chupacabra thing proved to be an overblown local phenomenon with no legs beyond the superstitious spheres...

The Association of Shelter Veterinarians recently completed a 7,000-plus word document printed in July 1st’s JAVMA. (To view entire doc, click on FREE Special Report after following this link.) This comprehensive set of guidelines answers a question that seriously needed asking: What is the standard by which veterinarians should sterilize cats and dogs under shelter conditions?

This paper is of...