Ticks dogging your pet? Here's what to do

They're every pet owner's nightmare: ticks.

In South Florida, where heat and humidity are a year-round occurrence, the pesky little critters thrive in backyards.

They live in overgrown lawns, shrubbery and bushes just waiting to attack dogs -- and sometimes cats.

But fear not; there are ways to protect your animals from disease-carrying ticks.

''It's up to the pet-owning public to be constantly vigilant of the presence of external parasites, such as ticks and fleas,'' said Dr. James Dee, a veterinarian at Hollywood Animal Hospital.

The American Veterinary Medical Association suggests that at-risk pets be treated with preventive products.

Among the most well-known treatments are Advantix, Revolution and Frontline.

Pit bulls are not pets

Make no mistake about it, Pit bulls are not pets. Whoever wants to can fool themselves and call those animals pets, but they are not and never will be.

Pit bulls are traditionally bred to be vicious fighters and they have been known to maul, to maim and to kill.

In Britain, The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 makes the ownership of Pit bulls illegal. The Government had intended seek the destruction of the more than 10,000 American pit bull terriers in that country but instead, owners of dogs bred for fighting were required to have them neutered, obtain a permit, hold third party insurance, and keep their dogs muzzled and on a leash in public.

The dogs were outlawed in many regions of the United States.

Twenty years ago the breed was categorized by the Bahamas Humane Society as a "time bomb" waiting to explode in New Providence.

Kaufman County May Ban Exotic Animals

For years, Kaufman County has cultivated a reputation as something of a haven for exotic wild animals and their owners, a place where elephants, monkeys and big cats might be as at home on the range as cattle, pigs and dogs.

But after a tiger mauling and the discovery of dead and mangled livestock, this East Texas gateway is reconsidering its historically relaxed approach to regulating exotic -- and some say dangerous -- animals.

While more than 70 percent of Texas counties prohibit keeping dangerous wild animals as pets, Kaufman County is among the few in the state that lets its 89,000 residents keep a giraffe or bear with the right paperwork. .

Pet owners worry about drug safety

Authorities and pet owners are beginning to raise serious questions about the safety and effectiveness of animal medicines, mirroring worries over human drugs like the painkiller Vioxx.

Tested on just a couple hundred animals, a drug meant for pets is less apt than a human one to show all its failings until it reaches the market, veterinarians say. More than 700 drugs have been approved for pets, but many others are used legally without explicit approval for animals.

Most pet drugs were first developed for people. But each species of animal — even varying breeds — may react differently to the same drug.

Further, animals can't say if a drug makes them feel bad.

"I can't tell until you see something physical," said Laurryn Simpson of Commerce Township, Mich., who founded the Web site dogsadversereactions.com

Animal Shelter Push Bill Banning Exotic Pets

If owning a bear or lion sounds better to you than a dog or cat you better hurry, lawmakers in Iowa are looking to make owning these types of animals illegal.

Animal shelters across Iowa are pushing for a new law that would make it illegal for Iowans to own or possess many "dangerous animals."

Over the years the Iowa Animal Rescue League has been asked to find homes for the once-cuddly wild pets, but due to the increase in numbers it's becoming harder and harder to find them homes.

Maria Tiller of the Black Hawk County Animal Control says, "It's a public safety issue. Some of the animals are escaping which causes a threat to the residents in the area."

Many cities including Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, and Iowa City already have ordinances banning people from owning these types of animals.

Exotic pets: Big cats and pigeons and snakeheads. Oh, my.

Thanks for covering this important issue. There are thousands of reasons why wild animals shouldn't be caged and not one justifiable reason for trying to make a pet of a wild animal. Up until 2003 the number of big cats we had to turn away from Big Cat Rescue was doubling every year due to the virtually unregulated pet trade. By 2003 we had to turn away 312 big cats (mostly tigers) in a single year. We had been working hard with others who care about animals to pass a bill that made it illegal to sell a big cat across state lines as a pet. That bill passed in December 2003. The following year, the number of big cats we had to turn away dropped, for the first time ever, to 110. As we pass better state laws, that number is continuing to drop but another thing happened in 2003 as well. The number of cougar sightings, in places where they had not lived in the wild in over 100 years, skyrocketed.

Americans use insurance to medicate pets

With aging, it's become a routine faithfully endured by the Guffords. Each day starts with a blood sugar check and a shot of insulin. Then a couple of pills, maybe mashed into a bowl of tuna and canned carrots. Mixed with dry chow.
All for their 12-year-old dog.
Brownie takes more drugs than his human companions put together. He has been medicated in recent months for diabetes, infections, high blood pressure, and his finicky gut that rebels at red meat. Since 2005, he has taken drugs for everything from anemia to a spider bite.
"He's our baby, he's a family member, I would want somebody to do that for me," explains Ann Gufford.
She estimates spending $5,000 over the last two years on medicine for her baby, a mixed beagle-cocker spaniel.

Dog killer spared petless life

A convicted puppy killer who agreed as part of his punishment never to own pets again didn't wind up with a lifetime ban after all.
A judge Thursday sentenced Kimanie Markeys Carter, 20, to a year in the workhouse and a two-year pet ban for killing 10 puppies last summer in St. Paul.
Ramsey County District Judge William Leary III did not order the lifetime ban because it would be impossible to enforce, prosecutors said.
In addition to the workhouse time and the pet ban, Leary also ordered two years of probation, a stayed 18-month prison sentence, a psychological evaluation and behavioral counseling.
"We would strongly prefer that the defendant in this case never own or possess a pet, but we understand the judge's decision," Ramsey County Attorney Chief of Staff Jack Rhodes said.

Going door-to-door to ensure pets' welfare

A change in the law will toughen up rules about how we care for animals. The News joined the RSPCA as owners were offered advice and practical help with their pets.
RSPCA inspectors know only too well how cruel some pet owners can be.
But as the law stands, they can only intervene and prosecute when they can prove cruelty, which often comes too late for the animals involved.
In April, the new Animal Welfare Act will force pet owners to meet their animals' basic needs, with a proper diet, suitable living space and live with or without animal companions, as appropriate.
It will also compel owners to care for pets in a way which allows them to express normal behaviour and take reasonable steps to protect them from pain, suffering, injury or disease.

Pets may be federally protected tenants

SOLDOTNA, Alaska - Dante is not your typical home health aide, and his presence is causing a scrap with the landlord.
The wrinkly, hairless gray cat helps Miranda Monet feel at home and comforts her when she cries, she says. A nurse practitioner prescribed the cat to help with Monet's treatment for manic depression and a traumatic brain injury that saps short-term memory.
"He calms me down," Monet said, stroking the cat on her sofa in a small living room ringed by posters of wolves. "If I start to get upset, he knows it before I do. He senses it."
Dante is somewhat cold toward visitors, though, casting an icy stare that leads Monet to offer, "He's a one-person cat."
Companion animals like Monet's are an increasingly popular treatment, and advocates for the disabled say too often landlords and store owners don't recognize they have a legal basis.

Pets inspire painter's creativity

Ted Horton lost the sweet-natured golden retriever when she was just 4 years old, and to ease the pain of her untimely passing he painted a likeness of her on canvas.
It was pretty good. Very good, in fact.
Soon one friend, then another, and then complete strangers were calling on him to paint their pets.
And he did, with surprisingly good results, given that he has no training in art and by occupation he's on the crew of the Broome County Department of Public Works. Heavy equipment is more his milieu than dainty paint brushes.
But one after the other, people began singing his praises as an artist.
An acrylic likeness of Shana the Labrador retriever hangs on the living room wall in Mike Cooper's Endwell home.
"I was pretty surprised," says Cooper, who also works for the BCDPW, as does Tim Brink of Binghamton.

Strange Pets

Weird, wonderful, and outright strange pets are becoming more and more popular, and it seems that there is no limit to the animals you can domesticate.
Lets start with fish. You would think that fish in a tank are pretty mundane and boring, but a quick trip to a few aquariums will soon turn that theory on its head.
Tropical marine fish from the Great Barrier Reef are a great place to start, with electric eels, puffer fish, toadfish, parrots, angles, and clowns just being the tip of the iceberg.
But you cant just go out and catch some fish and plop them in a tank. Only specially licensed aquarium suppliers can provide our native fish to pet shops.
Still too boring for you? How about a buying a fish that looks like a lizard, has coral-like horns, breathes with gills, has a fish tail, but walks on four legs! Its an Axolotl.

Spaying and Neutering Pets May Become Mandatory

A state lawmaker wants to reduce the number of unwanted animals in local shelters by requiring California pet owners to spay or neuter their dogs and cats. Assem. Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, is carrying legislation that would require dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered by four months of age, otherwise their owners could face potentially steep fines. "It's a huge problem," Levine said. "My legislation will help by turning off the spigot so to speak. It will help reduce the number of animals going in (shelters) by reducing the number of animals that are breeding," he said." Called the "California Healthy Pets Act," AB 1634 would provide some exemptions. Animals considered too old or unhealthy could avoid the procedure. Also pets with a registered pedigree, service dogs and dogs used by law enforcement could be excluded from the law if their owner obtained an "intact permit." Owners would have to pay a fee for the permit, but the amount of the fee is not specified in the bill.

Exotic birds available at adoption event

LARGO - Having an exotic bird for a pet isn't as easy as it sounds. Many new pet owners find their housemate's behavior uncontrollable and decide to give the bird away.
The epidemic of abused, neglected and unwanted companion birds stems from a general lack of knowledge of the commitment and care required for these complex, highly social, and intelligent creatures, said Denise Hosner, co-founder of the Safe Haven Avian Placement Services.
The haven fosters birds and provides rescue, education and permanent placement services for homeless companion birds.
Dozens of the haven's exotic birds - from parakeets to cockatoos and everything in between - will be available for adoption today during an event at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.