Huge numbers of you reacted so wonderfully to my post of last Tuesday, Afloat on a Sea of Kindness, in which I republished the account of the boat Alaska Quest saving the lives of four deer that were somehow cast into the water.
One of the many comments to that post was from Barb who writes the blog Passionate about Pets.
Barb left a comment to say that she had recently published an account of drowning kangaroos being saved and I thought all you good people would enjoy reading Barb’s post.
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Drowning Kangaroos Hitch Boat Ride
This photo of kangaroos hitching a boat ride touched my heart, and I felt I had to share it with you guys.
The photo was sent to me from friends during the recent evacuation of Theodore, a small country town in Queensland, Australia, which felt the full brunt of the recent floods.
Animal losses were high during the floods with farmers losing livestock, and wild animals were no exception – many got swept away in the flood waters and drowned – but these guys got lucky.
Under normal circumstances a kangaroo would normally panic and take a swipe at a human, easily tearing him to pieces with his long, strong claws. The feet and tail are even more powerful and dangerous.
So you can imagine how hard it would be to get wild kangaroos into, and then sit, in a boat under normal circumstances . . . this is not a sight you will see often . . . but then, these were not normal circumstances.
These desperate and drowning kangaroos willingly accepted human help and were quite happy to hitch a ride to dry land. Better than the alternative.
I think even wild animals recognize when a human is trying to help them and the compassion this kind man showed to these kangaroos certainly restores my faith in human nature.
This is no sinecure – the future of mankind is at risk.
Very often I find a topic for Saturday that is easy on the mind. But I make no apologies for republishing, with Jennifer’s permission, a post that she published over on Transition Times yesterday. When you read it you will see clearly that promoting this today is right. For many readers may well be able to join thousands of others in showing their support for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.
Thousands of Native Americans, members of a whole host of tribes, have gathered at Standing Rock, North Dakota, to protest the North Dakota Access Pipeline (#NoDAPL), which was sited by the Army Corps of Engineers to run dangerously close to the Missouri River and the Standing Rock Reservation.
If there is anyone to look back at this turbulent period in human history on Earth—now coming to be known as the Anthropocene—they will surely wonder at the suicidal tendency of human civilization in the 20th and early 21st centuries.
Why, they will ask, would such an intelligent species willingly—even enthusiastically—engage in the poisoning of its waterways and underground water resources; the destruction of its forests; the chemical contamination of its soils and oceans; the overheating of its precious atmosphere by relentless burning of fossil fuels? Why would humans put so much of their intelligence and technological prowess into developing ever more lethal weapons of mass destruction, used to bludgeon each other? Why would they preside blithely over the extinction of millions of other species, the vicious ripping of the great ecological web of life on Earth?
Why indeed?
I know it’s hard for any of us to escape the clutter of our everyday lives, with the constant pressures and worries that beset us on the personal level. But this is precisely what is being asked of us now.
The courageous defenders out at Standing Rock dropped their ordinary lives to be part of the historic encampment protesting the stranglehold of the oil companies on our waterways and our lands. They are fighting in the courts, through the media, and most importantly with their physical presence, standing up to the bulldozers, the attack dogs and the pepper spray.
Image source: Democracy Now!
This is what McKibben’s World War Three looks like—it’s already begun. It will be fought locally, as communities and individuals wake up to the implications of the destruction and decide that hell no, they won’t take it any more.
In my own corner of the world, we are under assault from General Electric, wanting to create toxic waste dumps right in the middle of our small rural towns. We have a gas pipeline being constructed, despite vehement protests, through a pristine old-growth state forest. We have oil tanker trains running constantly right through our communities. Despite a thriving organic and biodynamic farm renaissance, we still have far too many pesticides, herbicides and fungicides being used locally, and too many trees being cut down.
I have been thinking and writing for some time now about how important it is to align the personal, political and planetary in our own lives and in the way we relate to the world around us. On all three of these levels, 21st century American life is way out of balance.
It is time to focus, each one of us, on using our brief lifetimes to create balance and harmony on Earth. Sometimes the way to harmony leads through protest and discord, as is happening now in Standing Rock. Sometimes it can be as simple as choosing to support local, low-impact agriculture rather than industrial agriculture. Leaning on our political representatives to move faster on policy that will shift our society to renewable energy is key.
There are so many ways to get involved in this War for the Planet, many of them quite peaceful. The important thing is to get off the sidelines. Get involved. Feel the potential of this moment—it’s literally a make or break period for the future of humanity on Earth, and many other living beings too.
The brave defenders at Standing Rock are reminding us that we are all “natives” of this Earth, and we all have a stake in protecting her. Which side are you on?
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Yes, we are all natives of this world and that includes our dear animals and our wonderful animal companions.
Make a promise to yourself to make a difference; even one small difference. With that in mind, if you want to find an event close to you then the Sierra Club have a page where you can look up which event you would like to attend.
Another day yesterday where my creative juices had evaporated; if that’s what creative juices do!
But that doesn’t devalue the following article in the slightest! An article that was recently read on the Care2 blogsite and is republished here for your pleasure.
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Prisoners Care for Deaf Dogs Displaced by Wildfire
The so-called Sand Fire that burned for over a week near Los Angeles didn’t only threaten wildlife sanctuaries. Soon after the wildfire started on July 22, Mark and Lisa Tipton, owners of Deaf Dog Rescue of America (DDRA), a non-profit organization that rescues, trains and rehomes hearing-impaired dogs, decided it was better to be safe than sorry. They evacuated the rescue ranch’s nearly 50 residents.
“It was no small feat to assemble crates, pack them into trucks and trailers, and load the dogs,” Lisa wrote on the DDRA Facebook page. “Backbreaking and stressful. We have wonderful paid kennel staff here which is why we were able to evacuate the dogs so smoothly. Nobody got bitten, no loose dogs, no drugs were used. They stayed with us in our time of need and they were rock stars.”
The Tiptons were eventually able to find a temporary home for the dogs at the California state prison in Lancaster, which invited them to bring the dogs there. Mark happens to operate the Karma Rescue Paws for Life dog-training program for the prison’s inmates. It is California’s first and only dog program in a high-security prison. Many of the participants are serving life sentences.
In this program, dogs rescued from high-kill shelters around Los Angeles County live full-time with the participating inmates. Over a 12-week period, the inmates learn how to train the dogs for Canine Good Citizen certification. This certification helps the dogs become more adoptable and, in turn, helps save more dogs from shelters. The inmates benefit by learning real-world skills and giving back to society by helping these dogs get another chance at life.
“Paws for Life restored my faith in humanity that I’m a person, that I matter,” inmate trainer Jon Grobman told KABC. “It gave me the opportunity to care for something, love something.”
In the two years the program has been offered at the Lancaster prison, 75 former death-row dogs have found forever homes.
‘They Were Thriving Under Their Care’
After the Tiptons dropped off the dogs, they returned to the DDRA ranch to check on the fire, get some sleep and gather up more supplies for the dogs.
“The dogs were bewildered and watched us walk out the gates,” Lisa wrote on Facebook. “The looks on their faces made me cry when things quieted down and I had time to think about it. I have to admit that I felt guilty leaving them there.”
The couple returned to the prison the next morning with food for the dogs – which, along with the feelings of guilt, wasn’t necessary.
“The inmates had handled breakfast beautifully,” Lisa wrote. “They were getting the dogs out for exercise and cleaning their runs… I have never, ever seen anyone clean up dog poop with such glee.”
Nor had she ever seen the dogs so comfortable around strangers. “[They] were thriving under their care,” Lisa wrote, “and had wagging tales and smiles on their faces.”
Thankfully, DDRA survived the Sand Fire. All the dogs returned to their home July 30.
“Can pretty much guarantee that when they are all safely in their kennels snoring,” Lisa wrote, “I’m going to melt into a huge puddle of tears from sheer thankfulness and relief.”
Coincidentally, while the inmates at the Lancaster prison were caring for the displaced deaf dogs, L.A. County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich proposed that, to help with overcrowding in animal shelters, a new one should be built at the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic.
“Such a program could be a cost-effective and progressive way to integrate the needed care of animals with positive benefits to our inmates,” he wrote.
The feasibility of such a shelter is being analyzed by county animal welfare officials and the sheriff’s department. A report on their findings is expected later this month.
A couple of weeks ago, back on the 14th, I posted a warning about leaving dogs in cars if there was the slightest risk of the car being left in the sun.
I feel no embarrassment whatsoever to repeat that warning. This time by republishing an item that was published on Monday on Care2 Causes.
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Firefighters Rescue Dogs Baking Alive in 160 Degree Car
In yet another outrageous case of neglect, three Sacramento, Calif., dogs were found baking alive inside a car that had reached 160 degrees Fahrenheit (71 C).
A Sacramento Fire Department crew circled the vehicle parked at a shopping mall. Using a thermometer designed to detect the car’s internal temperature, the crew quickly determined that the dogs weren’t just hot, they were literally cooking.
The dog seen here panting on the car’s dashboard was immediately taken from the vehicle, and the other two were removed by Animal Control because they were exhibiting aggressive behavior.
This is not the first time that firefighters in Sacramento have had to rescue dogs from a hot car. In fact, they filmed one such rescue last summer.
If you see a dog in a hot car, please take action. Remember, one phone call may not be enough. Wait and see it through to be sure authorities arrive.
Photo Credit: Sacramento Fire Department
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The original article includes a video that is on Facebook that I seem unable to include within this post. But please go here and view it for yourself. (It will require you to log in to your Facebook account.)
Also, please share the information on this post and the one on the 14th as far and wide as you can.
Not exclusively the domain of the male human species!
As most of you know yesterday was Father’s Day. But offering memorial pictures of our recently deceased Hazel was far more important.
Nonetheless, I had seen an item published over on the Care2 site that I wanted to share with you. Namely, that amazing dads are also a feature of the animal kingdom. Granted, not all animals but nevertheless of sufficient importance to attract the attention of The Smithsonian. Or in their words:
Most mammal dads wouldn’t exactly win the “Best Father of the Year” award.
Engaged fathers—those who care for their offspring or bring home the bacon so their female mates can focus on childcare—are present in only about 10 percent of mammal species. But for the rare few who do stick around, the rewards can be myriad: new research finds that parenting efforts pay big dividends for offspring and mates alike. Stay-at-home dads appear to boost reproductive success among their mates by enabling them to breed more frequently and produce larger litters, according to a study published this week in the journal Nature Communications.
Editor’s note: This post is a Care2 favorite, back by popular demand. It was originally posted on June 14, 2014. Enjoy!
Not all non-human animal dads are cut out for family life, but there are a number of species who have become known for their role as fathers who deserve a salute, from giant water bugs who carry dozens of eggs on their backs to males who actually get pregnant and dads who operate solo as single parents. This Father’s Day, it’s time to celebrate some of the amazing dads from the animal kingdom who go above and beyond when it comes raising and protecting their young.
Red Fox
Male red foxes aren’t just loving mates, but excited and protective fathers. They take on the task of providing food for their mates every few hours for about a month after she gives birth. Then they take on the role of teacher – but teachers who like to take time out to play. Even when it’s time to get serious and teach their young how to start finding their own food, fox dads help them out and make sure they don’t really go hungry by hiding it near their dens.
Emperor Penguin
After females lay a single precious egg, Emperor penguin dads take over the responsibility of incubating it by balancing it precariously on their feet and keeping it warm under their feathers in the frigid Antarctic weather while mothers go off to feed. Dads can go for about two months without eating until the egg hatches, at which point he will feed it before mother’s return to give them a break from baby-duty.
Emperor Penguin Protecting Offspring from the Cold
Sea Horse
Seahorses, who are also known to mate for life, have reverse roles; the females compete for males, and the males don’t just play a role in pregnancy, but actually get pregnant. Females deposit their eggs in the male’s pouch, where he fertilizes and carries them until tiny baby seahorses emerge fully developed. According to Science Daily, the process of male pregnancy is unique to the fish family Syngnathidae, which also includes pipefish and sea dragons.
Black seahorse among seaweed
Spotted Sandpiper
It doesn’t happen every time, but sandpipers have been found to reverse roles where female sandpipers establish and defend territory, while taking on multiple male partners. After luring a male to mate with and laying her eggs, she takes off to find another mate. Dad meanwhile stays to incubate the eggs and becomes the primary caregiver for the young for the first few weeks of their lives.
Spotted Sandpiper
Gray Wolf
Despite the myths surrounding wolves that make them out to be villains, alpha male are loving, loyal and protective mates, fathers and leaders. Also known to mate for life, males who breed will guard their partners and pups while they’re in the den and take on the responsibility of finding everyone food. Even as pups grow older, dads will take on the role of teacher, helping them learn their role in the pack and the world.
Mother and son
Great Horned Owl
Great horned owl dads are the stereotypical breadwinners in their families. After finding the perfect home with their mates, male great horned owls take on the role of provider by hunting enough to feed himself and his mate, who is bigger than he is, before taking on the added responsibility of hunting for their young when they hatch.
Grumpy Owl
North American Beaver
Beaver dads are devoted family men, handymen and providers in the animal world. They mate for life and take on a co-parenting role in raising their young until they’re about 2-years-old, while helping care for them and teaching them how to become successful ecosystem engineers before they go off and start families of their own.
In 2012, a beaver in Martinez, Calif., known as “Dad” raised fears about what would happen to his young after his mate died from an infection, but he showed us he could do it all as a single father of three.
Beaver Wearing Leaf
Titi Monkey
Male titi monkeys, who are known for monogamous relationships, are also known for the strong bond they build with their young as primary caregivers. Except for time spent with mom nursing, babies spend the rest of their time being carried around, cared for and protected by their fathers for the first few months of their lives.
Titi Monkey
Rhea
As members of a polygamous species, male rheas have a lot of partners, but when it comes to child-rearing these dads pull their weight and then some. Males can have up to a dozen or so female partners who all lay eggs in a nest he builds before they leave. Males then take on the role of incubating and guarding what can be more than 50 eggs for close to two months before taking on the role of a single parent after they hatch. Males have also been known to adopt orphaned chicks who have been separated from their brood.
Nandu Greater Rhea
Darwin’s Frog
Darwin’s frog dads, who are native to South America, have come up with a neat and bizarre way to protect their offspring from predators. While they breed like other amphibians, where females lay eggs in the water that are fertilized by males, the males of this species take the fertilized eggs into their mouths, store them in their vocal sacs and keep them there until they’re fully developed frogs — at which point he throws them up.
Except that the precise moment of the Summer Solstice is later today or Monday, June 20, 2016 at 3:34 PM PDT to be exact. In universal time (UTC) that is Monday, June 20, 2016 at 22:34 UTC.
However, it is a rather special solstice and all will be explained in tomorrow’s post, albeit a little under nine hours after the event!
Hot, fine weather does carry a risk – for our dogs.
A week today will see us celebrating the Summer Solstice and for much of the Northern Hemisphere the heat of the summer days soon will be upon us. Both we and our dogs love taking a bit of sunshine but equally for both species the danger of heat stroke is not to be underestimated.
So it seemed highly appropriate to republish an article that was presented over on Care2 a couple of weeks ago.
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Five Factors That Put a Dog at Risk for Heatstroke
Summer can be an incredibly fun season for dogs and their active owners. There are walks to go on, boat rides to take and beaches to explore!
But for all the fantastic opportunities summertime offers, there are also a number of seasonal dangers. A serious one that all dog owners should keep in mind is heatstroke. While all dogs are at risk of heatstroke, there are a few factors that can make your dog more vulnerable. From the genetic predisposition of certain breeds to the dangers some outdoor dogs face, here are five heatstroke risk factors to be aware of — and avoid.
Congenital Defects or Underlying Respiratory Problems
Upper-airway problems, as seen in flat-faced dogs like Pugs and Boxers, are some of the most common risk factors for heatstroke in dogs exposed to higher temperatures, according to Dr. Debbie Mandell, staff veterinarian and adjunct associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital. As dogs get hotter, they pant to cool down, and brachycephalic breeds have a difficult time breathing so hard in hot conditions.
Brachycephalic airway syndrome isn’t the only potential issue. Large and medium breeds, like Labs and Pit Bulls, can experience laryngeal paralysis, and collapsing trachea commonly affects small dogs like Pomeranians and Yorkies. With both conditions, the dogs’ airways swell as they pant, which causes them to pant harder. That in turn increases the swelling and can create a dangerous situation quite quickly.
Not Being Acclimated to Hot Weather
That sunny weather can be so inviting that it’s nearly impossible to remain indoors, especially if you — and your dog — have been stuck inside for months. But it’s important to remember that even if you’ve been hitting the gym during the cooler months, your dog might not have built up the same tolerance for activity. And if you take him out to run or play with you, he’s not going to know when to stop, even if he reaches the brink of collapse due to heat stress, Dr. Mandell says.
So what’s a responsible dog owner to do? First of all, start with a visit to your vet, so you’re sure your dog is healthy enough for increased exercise. Second, exercise restraint when it comes to, well, exercise. Start off slowly and build up your dog’s fitness very gradually. Third, make sure you know the signs of heat stress (like excessive panting and drooling, a fast pulse and gums that have changed in color from pink to bright red) and be prepared to help your dog cool down before it becomes an emergency. If your dog vomits or has bloody diarrhea, you should call your veterinarian immediately.
Being Kept Outdoors Without Access to Shade and Water
It’s not only indoor dogs who aren’t used to the heat who can find themselves at heatstroke risk — dogs who live primarily outdoors can land in trouble come summertime, too, if they’re left without shade and water. Of course, it’s best for dogs to be kept primarily indoors, but if a dog must be mostly outdoors, always provide a cool area out of the sun and plenty of fresh water.
Being Left In the Car
When it comes to ways to avoid heatstroke risk, never, ever leave a pet in a hot car. The temperature inside a car can reach over 120 degrees in minutes, Dr. Mandell says. And no, cracking the window doesn’t make enough of a difference to help.
Should you see an animal locked inside a hot car, there are ways to safely rescue it. The Humane Society of the United States and the ASPCA recommend that you write down the car’s make, model and license plate; attempt to locate the owner; and call animal control or your local police department for help.
Obesity and Thick Fur
Obesity can make dogs more susceptible to a whole host of health issues, including heatstroke. That’s because not all heat escapes dogs through the respiratory system; in fact, some heat loss occurs through the skin. But the layer of fat in obese pets can limit their ability to cool themselves that way.
That layer of fat under the skin serves as insulation and can prevent some of that heat from getting to the skin to be released. Thick fur can create the same problem, so furry dog breeds, like Newfoundlands and Great Pyrenees are at similar risk.
By Kristen Seymour | Vetstreet.com
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If any reader has further advice and tips to help others then please don’t hesitate to leave a comment.
These seem like times where very little makes sense.
Blogger Patrice Ayme posted an item on Wednesday under the title of Doomed Dems. It was, inevitably, a commentary on the recent news regarding Donald Trump. Here’s how Patrice’s post opens:
So Donald Trump will be the Republican committee ( 😉 ) for the presidency. And Trump will, probably, be elected US president. Why? Because people want change, and they did not get it. Instead they got more of the drift down, after the reign of the teleprompter reading president. Average family income is DOWN $4,000 since (“Bill”) Clinton’s last year as president. According to a FOX News poll, 64% of Americans blame Wall Street. Meanwhile in a vast report in the New York Times, Obama celebrates, in May 2016, the alliance he said he made with Wall Street in 2008.
Later on in that same post, Patrice goes on to write about the horrific fire in Alberta, Canada, and the damage to trees in Yosemite National Park in California. At first sight those two events would appear disconnected. But not according to Patrice:
Meanwhile a friend of mine went to Yosemite ten days ago. She told me she could not believe the devastation of the forest. Most of it is fiery red. It is devastated by the Pine Bark Beetle. To kill the Beetle, one needs twenty days well below freezing. However, this hard freeze is now a memory. So the Beetle invades, and kills forest. Treating tree by tree is hopelessly expensive, and futile. Yes, the forests will burn soon, adding to CO2 in the atmosphere. And it is all the way like that to Alaska.
Massive walls of flames prompted authorities to order the evacuation of all the city’s more than 80,000 residents last night. The blaze has been caused by un-naturally high temperatures. Such giant fires are our immediate future. Nobody said the Greenhouse crisis was going to be nice. More evacuations coming.
Anything to do with dogs? Well, yes!
For this coming Saturday I am giving a talk about my book, Learning from Dogs, to our local Rogue Valley Humanist and Freethinkers (both Jean and I are members) and it struck me that what Patrice wrote about and what we see all around us are part of the same big picture. That we need to be reminded of a few fundamentals. As I will be saying in my talk:
Dogs are creatures of integrity! Wow! Now you might see where this is leading to!
But more than that, much more than that, they offer us humans a model for a range of behavioural qualities that we ignore at our peril:
I then list the qualities that we see in our dogs, and continue:
Hold those values close to you for just a few moments. Imagine what would flow out across the world if those were the characteristics, the behavioural values, of us humans!
Finally, towards the end of that talk on Saturday I will be saying:
Nature will always have the last word regarding her natural world, to which we humans are so intricately linked. Standing alongside and respecting nature as the future comes to us will be so much wiser than pushing back against nature, and ultimately failing, trying to “convert” nature to some form of materialistic human resource. Because that route will only return those of us who survive to a life of hunting and gathering. Which, so many thousands of years previously, is where early dogs started humankind on the long journey leading to now.
Dogs have been the making of humans and a viable future for humankind on this beautiful planet depends on us never forgetting this oldest relationship of all, the one between dog and human.
Because if we, as a global society, don’t understand that when it comes to power all the plutocrats and all of their money come to naught in contrast to the power of nature then these present lands are going to become very strange indeed!
And nature is rapidly encroaching on these lands that we are now traversing.
One of the many comments to that post was from Barb who writes the blog Passionate about Pets.
This photo of kangaroos hitching a boat ride touched my heart, and I felt I had to share it with you guys.
Learning from Dogs 