Sea turtle biologist murdered in Costa Rica
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
Jairo Mora Sandoval, 26, was killed early on May 31, 2013 by suspected sea turtle egg poachers on Moin Beach, near Limon, Costa Rica. Read more
Month: July 2013
BOOKS: Love Saves the Day
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
Love Saves the Day by Gwen Cooper Bantam Books (1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019), 2013. 317 pages, hardcover. $26.00.
Cat rescuer Gwen Cooper follows up her 2010 best-seller, Homer’s Odyssey, about the former strays who kept her company near Ground Zero on September 11, 2011, with Love Saves the Day, another superb work told from three viewpoints: Prudence the cat, the cat’s deceased person Sarah, and her daughter Laura, who saves the day. Each narrator’s personality sparkles. Read more
Barnyard scrambles & turtle racing
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
RIVERDALE, California; DANVILLE, Illinois; EUGENE, Oregon; BELAIR, Maryland––Video of a May 5, 2013 “barnyard scramble” at the Riverdale Rodeo in Riverdale, California obtained and posted online by Showing Animals Respect & Kindness brought the end of the event, the Fresno Bee reported on June 23, 2013. “The five-minute video shows rodeo organizers tossing animals out of trailers and containers onto the arena floor before children are turned loose to chase them,” the Fresno Bee described. Read more
BOOKS: The Possibility Dogs
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
The Possibility Dogs by Susannah Charleson Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (222 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116), 2013. 260 pages. $27.00 hardcover, $9.45 Kindle.
The Possibility Dogs is a sequel to Texas search-and-rescue dog handler Suzannah Charleson’s 2010 hit, Scent of the Missing: Love and Partnership with a Search-and-Rescue Dog. The Possibility Dogs follows a turn in Charleson’s dog-handling career and interests, after an especially gruesome search-and-rescue job stresses her so much that she struggled afterward with post-traumatic stress disorder. Read more
Impressions of Wolf Haven, The Elephant Sanctuary, & Tiger Haven
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
HOHENWALD, KINGSTON, Tennessee; TENINO, Washington––The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, Tiger Haven, and Wolf Haven International have in common housing several of the most difficult species to keep safely in captivity, controversial histories before achieving current stability, and high public profiles. Read more
Elephants Among Us: Two Performing Elephants in the 20th Century
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
Elephants Among Us: Two Performing Elephants in the 20th Century by Mike Jaynes Earth Books (15200 NBN Way, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214), 2013. 199 pages, paperback. $22.95.
Elephants Among Us is a lengthy, detailed and meticulously researched e-book about the life and death of two performing elephants. Born in captivity in 1973 and later purchased by animal trainers Mike and Sally LaTorres, the elephant Stoney began performing in 1977. He was trained by methods including food deprivation and use of the ankus, a traditional Indian elephant training device also called, in the west, a “bull hook,” since similar instruments were used to drive cattle to slaughter before the advent of electric prods. Read more
BOOKS: The Complete Book of Home Remedies for Your Dog and The Complete Book of Home Remedies for Your Cat
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
The Complete Book of Home Remedies for Your Dog and The Complete Book of Home Remedies for Your Cat by Deborah Mitchell St. Martin’s Press (c/o MacMillan, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010), 2013. 248 and 224 pages, paperback. $7.99 each.
Health writer Deborah Mitchell in The Complete Book of Home Remedies for Your Dog and The Complete Book of Home Remedies for Your Cat presents dozens of home remedies for common canine and feline ailments including arthritis, dermatitis, dementia, kidney disease, and hairballs. Read more
Purina buys Petfinder adoption web site
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
Nestlé Purina PetCare on June 5, 2013 announced that it had purchased the Petfinder.com web site from Discovery Communications LLC. Discovery Communications, owners of the Animal Planet and Discovery Channel television networks, bought Petfinder in 2006 from founder Betsy Saul. Attracting about 100 million visits per year, Petfinder.com is credited with facilitating the adoption of about 22 million animals from shelters and rescues since debuting in 1996.
BOOKS: Bloodhound in Blue: The True Tales of Police Dog JJ and His Two-Legged Partner
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July-August 2013:
Bloodhound in Blue: The True Tales of Police Dog JJ and His Two-Legged Partner by Adam David Russ Lyons Press (246 Goose Lane, Guilford, CT 06437), 2013. 273 pages, hardcover. $24.95.
Bloodhound in Blue is an action book about Salt Lake City police officer Michael Serio and his canine partner JJ, a bloodhound who by mid-career was acclaimed as the best search-dog the Salt Lake City police had ever used. Read more