Smallbatch Pets has announced it is voluntarily recalling a select lot of its Duckbatch Sliders frozen dog food because it may be contaminated with Salmonella and Listeria.
Smallbatch Pets Dog Food Recall of March 2016
March 26, 2016 — Smallbatch Pets Inc. is voluntarily recalling one lot of frozen dog Duckbatch Sliders due to their potential to be contaminated with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes.
The following image was copied in good faith by The Dog Food Advisor from Smallbatch Pets’ website and may not be a true representation of the recalled product.
What’s Recalled?
The affected products are sold frozen in 3 pound bags and can be identified with the following manufacturing codes:
Lot #: CO27
Best By Date: 01/27/2017
UPC: 713757339001
The “Best By” date is located on the back of the package below the seal.
Where Was the Product Sold?
Eighty cases of the affected lot of dog Duckbatch Sliders were sold between the dates of February 23, 2016 and March 10, 2016.
They were distributed to retail pet food stores in the following states:
California
Colorado
Oregon
Washington
About Salmonella and Listeria
Salmonella and Listeria can affect animals eating the products and there is risk to humans from handling contaminated pet products, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with the products or any surfaces exposed to these products.
Healthy people infected with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever.
Rarely, Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes can result in more serious ailments, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation, and urinary tract symptoms.
Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.
Pets with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting.
Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain.
Infected but otherwise healthy pets can be carriers and infect other animals or humans.
If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.
No pet or consumer illnesses from this product have been reported to date.
However, because of their commitment to safety and quality, Smallbatch Pets is conducting a voluntary recall of this product.
Consumers should also follow the Simple Handling Tips published on the Smallbatch Pets package, when disposing of the affected product.
What Caused the Recall?
This recall was initiated after routine testing by the Food and Drug Administration of a 3 pound bag of dog Duckbatch Sliders that was collected at a distributor revealed the presence of Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes.
This recall is being made with the knowledge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
What to Do?
Consumers who have purchased the above lots of dog duck sliders are urged to stop feeding them and return product to place of purchase for a full refund or dispose of them immediately.
Those with questions may call Smallbatch Pets at 888-507-2712, Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM PT. Or email the company at info@smallbatchpets.com
U.S. citizens can report complaints about FDA-regulated pet food products by calling the consumer complaint coordinator in your area.
Our delivery of trees arrived yesterday from the Arbor Day Foundation and that means that much of today will be spent in getting those trees planted.
Plus the recent wet spell has stopped me taking that first cut of the grass from around the house. So there’s another task for this relatively decent weekend coming up. And the vegetable garden needs some attention. And so on!
All of which is my way of saying that I won’t be paying my normal level of attention to Learning from Dogs for the next few days.
Rather aptly comes this item that was recently published over on The Conversation and is republished here within their kind terms.
ooOOoo
Hug a tree – the evidence shows it really will make you feel better
March 18, 2014.
Author
Shelby Gull Lair, Lecturer, School of Environmental Sciences, Charles Sturt University.
We know that trees have many benefits. In forests they provide habitat, wood, biodiversity and ecosystem services. In cities, they can mitigate the urban heat island effect by cooling the air and reducing greenhouse gases.
But, perhaps surprisingly, there is increasing evidence that trees are also good for our mental health.
Are we all tree-huggers?
The idea that humans are intimately connected to the earth has persisted throughout human history and across cultures. In the western world, this connection was most recently described by eminent biogeographer E.O. Wilson in his 1984 book Biophilia. Wilson notes that humans naturally like to be around other living things.
This hypothesis was the basis of “connection to nature”. Psychologists have now developed multiple scales used by researchers to determine how connected a person is, and how we might be able to increase our connection to our benefit.
Connection to nature research is still developing, but early results seem to indicate that how connected to nature you are is related to your environmental behaviours, such as participation in recycling programs and an increase in overall well-being and happiness.
Because it is still a new line of research, the relative connection to nature of folks who live in urban areas and cities versus those of us living in rural places has yet to be established. But many researchers and environmental educators have come to suspect that we are becoming disconnected from nature.
Nature-deficit disorder
This disconnect from nature was set out in 2005 by American writer Richard Louv in his book The Last Child in the Woods. Louv coined the term “nature-deficit disorder” which means that modern humans have become disconnected from nature through our daily activities and this disconnect has had negative consequences in terms of mental and physical health. Proof of this hypothesis so far lies in studies that show how people with “modern” ailments, such as ADHD, anxiety or depression feel better with exposure to nature.
Based in North America, the Children & Nature Network has pages and pages of summarised research from academics around the world that seems to indicate a strong likelihood this disconnect is a real phenomenon. The sheer number of studies and their results showing the miracle cure of nature can be overwhelming at times.
There are studies represented such as:
Living in urban areas with more tree canopy cover had increased the likeliness of a better birth outcome.
Inner city girls with a greater view of green from their high-rise public housing buildings had more self-discipline than their peers who look at other buildings.
Children with ADHD receive the greatest relief of symptoms through participation in green outdoor activities versus other activities without nature.
Do yourself a favour, skim the pages of research summarised in short abstract form on the Children & Nature Network website. You may start to wonder why we’re not hearing more about getting our children and ourselves back outside.
This research also clearly highlights the important role that urban trees play in cities: their enormous social and psychological benefits may be even greater than ecological benefits.
Stressed at work? Your office might benefit from some folliage. srv007/Flickr, CC BY-NC
Reconnecting with the natural world
So what are our next steps? As I see it, there are two things that must be done.
First, as researchers we really need to directly test the idea of a disconnect particularly between urban/built up areas and more rural areas with plentiful trees. We need to know if people living in areas with fewer trees and natural environments are more disconnected from nature than those living in places where there are abundant trees and wildlife. Deeper still, we could also ask what interventions seem to connect folks to nature in a meaningful way?
Second and most importantly, if we are disconnected from nature, what can we do about it? Fortunately the above studies and resources show us many different activities and ideas we can use to increase our nature exposure.
Just a few ideas to try:
Bring a plant into your office.
Ask council to plant a street tree outside your office window or better yet all around town.
When walking, choose the path through the park instead of around it.
Take your children to the park, to the natural sections as well as the play equipment.
Practise the art of gardening or even veggie gardening.
Plant a tree.
Spend some time sitting under a tree. And if you’re so inclined, maybe even give it a cuddle.
ooOOoo
Setting a fine example!
You all have a lovely weekend hugging as many trees as you can!
Oh, and let me give you that full silly verse that started out in the sub-title.
I have so much admiration for the rescuers, like Jean was in Mexico. They have the biggest hearts, and see the absolute worst of things.
Then a few moments later, a further reply from John:
And to rescue the abused ones. To find them, then live in that lag time before they are freed. I wouldn’t be able to sleep. I don’t have the disposition for it. I’d be physically ill.
Thus the minimum that I can do is to promote the incredible work done by the Rogue Valley Humane Society; just one among many.
For example, by republishing what they present on their About page.
ooOOoo
About The Rogue Valley Humane Society
Our Vision
The Rogue Valley Humane Society envisions a community where every healthy adoptable companion animal has a lifetime, loving home and all homeless animals receive the care and compassion they deserve until they are adopted by their forever family.
Our Story
Fifty years ago homeless animals in the Rogue Valley faced a death sentence if no one adopted them within a few days. In 1965 a small group of animal lovers decided to try to change that, and they started a rescue to give homeless, abused, and abandoned pets in Josephine County a safe haven without a time limit. The Rogue Valley Humane Society grew out of this grassroots effort. RVHS was incorporated in 1965 as a non-profit public benefit corporation dedicated to providing love, food, shelter, and medical attention to these animals until they can find new lifetime homes.
Thirty-five years later the current facility opened with the capacity to house 14 dogs and 80 cats plus litters of puppies and kittens. Our main building houses all of the cats plus the office, laundry and medical room. The separate kennel building has indoor/outdoor runs. The Robert E. and Jennifer Murphy Canine Care Building was built in 2013 to house newborn puppies and any dog needing a quiet place to heal.
Throughout the years we’ve had one singular goal: to improve the lives of animals. We are proud to show RVHS to visitors so they can see first-hand the standard of care we give to every homeless companion animal, from an elderly, blind dog to a day old kitten.
The Rogue Valley Humane Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. We provide shelter, food, medical care and personal attention for hundreds of homeless dogs and cats every year. We are here for the young and cuddly, the old, sick and neglected, and everything in between.
We receive no county, state or federal funds and rely solely on individual and foundation grants to carry out our mission.
Our Mission
The Rogue Valley Humane Society provides compassionate care for stray, unwanted, displaced, and abandoned animals and works toward ending pet overpopulation so that there will be no more homeless pets. We are committed to placing every healthy, adoptable animal in a loving lifetime home, teaching responsible pet guardianship, and maintaining community spay-neuter programs.
Our Core Values
We believe that every animal’s life has value and is worthy of respect and protection.
We believe that euthanizing healthy, adoptable animals is not acceptable.
We believe that animals contribute to the health, happiness and quality of human life.
We believe that we must manage our resources to assure the long-term future of our organization.
We believe in providing quality medical and shelter care by following evidence-based animal welfare practices.
We believe that through humane education we can help foster compassion, protection and guardianship for companion animals.
We believe that we should treat everyone with dignity and respect. Community members, staff, and volunteers are partners in improving the welfare of animals and helping us fulfill our Mission.
We believe that we can end pet overpopulation by adhering to our commitment to spay/neuter all of our animals before adoption and by providing community-assistance spay-neuter programs.
We believe that we best serve our community by placing healthy companion animals in responsible, loving homes.
ooOOoo
By promoting their Facebook page (look them up).
By enjoying some of the pictures on their website of dogs looking for homes:
My name is Rudy. I WAS extremely shy and nervous in the beginning. After a little love and patience, as you can see in the video I have come out of my shell. I love to hang out with both my human and furry friends and to be kept busy. I cherish my daily walks and because I’m a thinking I have a great fondness for brain toys.
Border Collie
Spayed/Neutered
Up-to-date with routine shots
Spayed/Neutered
And …
Labrador Retriever, American Staffordshire Terrier
My name is Margo. I am sweet girl looking for a new lease on life. I promise to give you lots of love and attention, if you promise me the same thing. I’m sure we can come to an agreement and live happily ever after! Sounds good to me!
Yesterday morning Jean and I travelled the short distance into Grants Pass to visit Margaret and the rest of the team at Rogue Valley Humane Society, RVHS. As their website proclaims: Helping Our Community, Four Paws at a Time.
Here’s why we went to meet the team.
If you drop across to my page where I offer my book for sale you will read that:
Please do find your way to supporting our pets in need. For 50% of the net proceeds from the sale of my book are being donated to our local Rogue Valley Humane Society. Every cent makes a positive difference!
Well many of you, dear people, have made a positive difference, as the following pictures illustrate.
Yours truly passing a cheque to the value of $750 to Margaret Varner, Director of Facility Operations at RVHS.
oooo
Explaining to Authentic the dog in the office of RVHS what has just been donated.Being thanked in the only way that dogs can properly thank someone!
oooo
Gorgeous shot of Jeannie and Authentic.
So a tremendous vote of thanks to everyone that has purchased my book for this is what your generosity delivers!
Going to write a little more about the Humane Society tomorrow.
Happy Birthday to grandson Morten who is five today!
Indirectly there is a connection between my sub-title, above, and today’s post about squeezing cute creatures. For Morten will already have enjoyed many hugs and, hopefully, will grow up feeling very comfortable at giving and receiving hugs.
Thankfully, Jean is a great hugger and has opened my eyes to the power of giving in to a hug. Not suprising when one thinks of Jean’s years of hugging dogs way before she and I met back in 2007.
Dear old Pharaoh, as he has aged, (he will be 13 this coming June) clearly enjoys more hugs than when he was a more active, fitter German Shepherd and always on the go.
When The Daily Courier, our local newspaper, came to the house last December Timothy Bullard, the paper’s photographer, took the following photograph of Pharaoh and me having a ‘love in’.
TIMOTHY BULLARD/Daily Courier – Paul Handover with Pharaoh, a 12year-old German Shepard that he uses on the cover of his new book about man’s best friend.
So this recent article from the Care2 website seems an appropriate follow-on to my introductory remarks.
If any of the collected photographs you see here cause you to emit high-pitched noises or ache to cradle the pictured animal tight in your arms, you might be experiencing a bout of “cute aggression.”
The phrase refers to a phenomenon during which we catch sight of a living thing deemed “cute,” usually a baby or an animal or — double-whammy — a baby animal, and feel an overwhelming desire to play with the subject’s features; a compulsion to tickle its feet; the need to tease its rumples or bulges of fat; the want to bury our faces into its belly.
fluffy mouse ball
Granted, not all voiceless lifeforms enjoy being tugged at or played with in an intrusive manner, which is why this behavior is referred to, in part, as “aggressive.” While we might mean absolutely no harm to the creature we long to hold and hug, our near-hyperactive responses to its presence often seem beyond our control, what some have called the “squee” effect.
Yale researchers studied this “dimorphous expression” — the need to manhandle living creatures for which we feel only positive emotions — in 2014. Part of the experimental regimen involved asking some participants to pop bubble wrap while viewing images of “cute baby animals;” others did the same while looking at images of adult species. The results: Those who viewed the infants popped more bubbles by far.
baby maine coon cat feeling
One of the researchers, psychologist Oriana Aragón, said that participants would have likely squeezed whatever they had in their hands or arms while viewing images of the “cute” animals, be it a purse or a pillow. Had something alive, however, actually been in those arms, the strength with which the participants freed their fuzzy feelings might have been worrisome to the researchers.
But Aragón says that strong human emotions are often balanced by “an expression of what one would think is an opposing feeling.” This is similar to what happens when we cry while angry or laugh while nervous. Our actual expressions “scramble and temper” whatever feeling got us into such a tizzy in the first place, helping to restore our emotional equilibrium, “tamping down or venting” feelings that cause us to become too excited.
Funny portrait of curious baby owl
While wanting to squish what could be one’s own offspring might seem an evolutionary misfire, a 2012 study in the journal PLOS ONE indicates that cuteness creates a powerful “approach motivation,” the very thing that drives us to scoop up puppies and kittens in adoption kennels and squeeze them close to our chests and nuzzle them against our faces. It seems the need to be touchy-feely toward cuteness provokes precisely the kind of nurturing that keeps helpless creatures alive.
As for animals, those worthy of this treatment, appealing to us as “cute,” mimic physical characteristics of human babies — “a large head; rounded, soft, and elastic features; big eyes relative to the face; protruding cheeks and forehead; and fuzziness.” The same, in fact, seems to be true for Great Apes, as has been documented with Koko the gorilla and an Internet celebrity orangutan shown interacting with tiger cubs, though the scene remains controversial.
And so it seems the power of cuteness is made all the more apparent when humans (or elevated primates) respond to a rabbit or a duckling the way they might respond to their own kin. Our desire to squeeze is so powerful, in fact, that it “spills over” into interactions with other species. Thus, we have Web sites like Cute Overload that exist only for the compelling pull to exercise that need to feed our “cute aggression,” be the temptation a pleasure or a pain.
ooOOoo
Demonstrating that cuteness can come in all sizes, let me close today’s post with this photograph.
Ben and Jeannie having a quiet one-to-one moment.
Don’t go too long without giving or receiving a hug!
March 18, 2016 — Fromm Family Foods of Mequon, Wisconsin, has announced it is voluntarily recalling three of its canned dog foods because they may contain elevated levels of vitamin D.
What’s Being Recalled?
The company is recalling all lots of the following three Fromm Gold canned dog foods:
Fromm Gold Chicken Pate Dog Food
12 ounce cans
Can case code: #11893
Individual can UPC: 72705 11892
Fromm Gold Chicken & Duck
Can case code: #11895
Individual can UPC: 72705 11894
Fromm Gold Salmon & Chicken Pate
Can case code: #11891
Individual UPC: 72705 11890
The affected products were shipped to distributors between December 2015 and February 2016.
About the Recall
Fromm has discovered through its own analysis that the affected canned dog foods do not contain recommended levels of vitamins and minerals.
These products may contain elevated levels of Vitamin D.
According to the company…
The recall is being implemented in an abundance of caution as symptoms should only be noted in situations where dogs have eaten the affected products as their only meal for an extended period of time and leading to depression of appetite.
While there have been no reports of any health problems, Fromm is recommending the affected products not be fed.
The company has notified the FDA and has also invited distributors as well as The Dog Food Advisor to share the details of this event with consumers.
What to Do?
Recalled product may be returned to authorized Fromm retailers for a full refund.
Consumers with questions may call Fromm Customer Service at 800-325-6331. The company has added additional hours to assist dog owners during the recall.
U.S. citizens can report complaints about FDA-regulated pet food products by calling the consumer complaint coordinator in your area.
That last one was on December 3rd and concerned a recall for Dave’s Pet Food.
Well two days ago Purina announced a recall but it was only alerted by Dog Food Recall yesterday. Here are the details that you can also read here.
ooOOoo
March 10, 2016 — Nestle Purina has announced it is voluntarily recalling select lots of its Beneful and Purina Pro Plan wet dog foods because they may not contain the recommended level of vitamins and minerals.
Purina discovered through its own testing that the affected dog foods did not contain the recommended level of vitamins and minerals and voluntarily recalled the product.
What’s Being Recalled?
The recall includes select lots of wet dog food 10-oz. tubs under the Beneful Prepared Meals, Beneful Chopped Blends and Pro Plan Savory Meals brands.
No other Purina products or sizes are affected.
Lot Information
A complete list of included products by “Best Before” date and production code ranges are listed below:
What to Do?
Purina is conducting this voluntary recall as a precaution for those dogs who may have eaten the affected product as their only meal for more than several weeks.
If you have questions about your pet’s health, the company suggests that you contact your veterinarian.
Although most of the recalled product contains all of the vitamins and minerals your dog needs, Purina recommends that you discard any of the affected product you may have.
For more information or to request a refund, please call the company at 800-877-7919.
U.S. citizens can report complaints about FDA-regulated pet food products by calling the consumer complaint coordinator in your area.
What is deeply fascinating, at a number of levels, is how time only goes one way. At every single level of our experience, from the scale of the universe down to the tiniest particle known to science, it all flows forward. The arrow of time!
I was reminded of this interesting question of time in a book that has been published by a local Oregon author, John Taylor Our Curious UNIVERSE (the book is not available online otherwise I would have linked to it.)
It got me thinking of age. How we are all aging. How there is nothing that we can do to stop it. How the only thing we can do is to change our relationship with age. That then reminded me of an item that was published on The Conversation site a week ago that I wanted to share with you – share within the terms provided by The Conversation. The article was called It’s time to measure 21st century aging with 21st century tools.
ooOOoo
It’s time to measure 21st century aging with 21st century tools
These stories are dire, in part because the most widely used measure of aging – the old-age dependency ratio, which measures the number of older dependents relative to working-age people – was developed a century ago and implies the consequences of aging will be much worse than they are likely to be. On top of that, this ratio is used in political and economic discussions of topics such as health care costs and the pension burden – things it was not designed to address.
Turning 65 in 2016 doesn’t mean the same thing as hitting 65 in 1916. So instead of relying on the old-age dependency ratio to figure out the impact of aging, we propose using a series of new measures that take changes in life expectancy, labor participation and health spending into account. When you take these new realities into account, the picture looks a lot brighter.
How facts from the census questionnaire were tabulated into statistics in 1950. The U.S. National Archives/Flickr
Our tools to measure aging have aged
The most commonly used measure of population aging is the “old-age dependency ratio,” which is the ratio of the number of people 65 years or older to those 20 to 64.
But, since the old-age dependency ratio was introduced in the early 1900s, most countries have experienced a century of rising life expectancy, and further increases are anticipated.
For instance, in 1914, life expectancy at birth in Sweden was 58.2 years (average for both sexes). By 2014, it had risen to 82.2 years. In 1935, when the U.S Social Security Act was signed into law, 65-year-olds were expected to live 12.7 more years, on average. In 2013, 65 year-olds may expect to live 19.5 years more.
But these changes aren’t reflected in the conventional statistics on aging. Nor is the fact that many people don’t just stop working when they turn 65, and that people are staying healthier for longer.
To get a better sense of what population aging really means today, we decided to develop a new set of measures that take these new realities into account to replace the old-age dependency ratio. And instead of one ratio, we created several ratios to evaluate health care costs, labor force participation and pensions.
Who retires at 65 anymore?
One of these new realities is that the number of people working into their late 60’s and beyond is going up. In 1994, 26.8 percent of American men aged 65-69 participated in the labor force. That figure climbed to 36.1 percent in 2014 and is forecast to reach 40 percent by 2024. And the trend is similar for even older men, with 17 percent of those aged 75-79 expected to still be working in a decade, up from just 10 percent in 1994.
Clearly, these older people did not get the message that they were supposed to become old-age dependents when they turned 65.
Depot Supervisor Eric Headley, 74, takes a call on his mobile phone while at work for Pimlico Plumbers in London July 29, 2010. Britain announced plans to scrap the fixed retirement age next year, saying it wanted to give people the chance to work beyond 65, but business leaders warned the move would create serious problems. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett.
This isn’t unique to the U.S. Rates like these in many countries have been rising. In the U.K., for instance, the labor force participation rate of 65- to 69-year-old men was 24.2 percent in 2014, and in Israel it was 50.2 percent, up from 14.8 percent and 27.4 percent, respectively, in 2000. In part this is because older people now often have better cognitive functioning than their counterparts who were born a decade earlier.
So, instead of assuming that people work only from ages 20 to 64 and become old-age dependents when they hit 65, we have computed “economic dependency ratios” that take into account observations and forecasts of labor force participation rates. This tells us how many adults not in the labor force there are for every adult in the labor force, giving us a more accurate picture than using 65 as a cutoff point. We used forecasts produced by the International Labour Organization to figure this out.
The old-age dependency ratio in the U.S. is forecast to increase by 61 percent from 2013 to 2030. But using our economic dependency ratio, the ratio of adults in the labor force to adults not in the labor force increases by just 3 percent over that period.
Clearly, doom and gloom stories about U.S. workers having to support so many more nonworkers in the future may need to be reconsidered.
Is the health care burden going to be so high?
Another reality is that while health care costs will go up with an older population, they won’t rise as much as traditional forecasts estimate.
Instead of assuming that health care costs rise dramatically on people’s 65th birthdays, as the old-age dependency ratio implicitly does, we have produced an indicator that takes into account the fact that most of the health care costs of the elderly are incurred in their last few years of life. Increasing life expectancy means those final few years happen at ever later ages.
In Japan, for example, when the burden of the health care costs of people aged 65 and up on those 20-64 years old is assessed using only the conventional old-age dependency ratio, that burden is forecast to increase 32 percent from 2013 to 2030. When we compute health care costs based on whether people are in the last few years of their lives, the burden increases only 14 percent.
Pension ages are going up
The last reality we considered concerns pensions.
In most OECD countries, the age at which someone can begin collecting a full public pension is rising. In a number of countries, such as Sweden, Norway and Italy, pension payouts are now explicitly linked to life expectancy.
In Germany, the full pension age will rise from 65 to 67 in 2029. In the U.S., it used to be 65, is now 66 and will soon rise to 67.
Instead of assuming that everyone receives a full public pension at age 65, which is what the old-age dependency ratio implicitly does, we have computed a more realistic ratio, called the pension cost dependency ratio, that incorporates a general relationship between increases in life expectancy and the pension age. The pension cost dependency ratio shows how fast the burden of paying public pensions is likely to grow.
For instance, in Germany, the old-age dependency ratio is forecast to rise by 49 percent from 2013 to 2030, but 65-year-old Germans will not be eligible for a full pension in 2030. Our pension cost dependency ratio increases by 26 percent over the same period. Instead of indicating that younger Germans will have to pay 49 percent more to support pensioners in 2030 compared to what they paid in 2013, taking planned increases in the full pension age into account, we see that the increase is 26 percent.
Pranom Chartyothin, a 72-year-old bus conductor, sells and collects bus tickets in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, February 3, 2016. Such scenes will only become more common in Thailand as its population rapidly ages, unlike its neighbours with more youthful populations. The World Bank estimates the working-age population will shrink by 11 percent by 2040, the fastest contraction among Southeast Asia’s developing countries. Thailand’s stage of economic development, the rising cost of living and education, and a population waiting longer to get married are among the reasons it is ageing more quickly than its neighbours. An effective contraception programme in the 1970s also played a part, said Sutayut Osornprasop, a human development specialist at the World Bank in Thailand. Picture taken February 3, 2016. REUTERS/Jorge Silva.
Sixty-five just isn’t that old anymore
In addition to this suite of measures focused on particular aspects of population aging, it is also useful to have a general measure of population aging. We call our general measure of population aging the prospective old-age dependency ratio.
People do not suddenly become old-age dependents on their 65th birthdays. From a population perspective, it makes more sense to classify people as being old when they are getting near the end of their lives. Failing to adjust who is categorized as old based on the changing characteristics of people and their longevity can make aging seem faster than it will be.
In our prospective old-age dependency ratio, we define people as old when they are in age groups where the remaining life expectancy is 15 years or less. As life expectancy increases, this threshold of old age increases.
In the U.K., for instance, the conventional old-age dependency ratio is forecast to increase by 33 percent by 2030. But when we allow the old-age threshold to change with increasing life expectancy, the resulting ratio increases by just 13 percent.
Populations are aging in many countries, but the conventional old-age dependency ratio makes the impact seem worse than it will be. Fortunately, better measures that do not exaggerate the effects of aging are now just a click away.
Let’s embrace those who seek out and love our lost dogs!
Just going to include today two videos from the Hope for Paws charity both of them about rescuing and restoring love to Pit Bulls.
Pit Bull rescue on the beach
Mountain rescue of an abandoned injured Pit Bull
I can’t close this post without thinking of the amazing quality of forgiveness that our dogs demonstrate. It would be a rare person who suffered this pain and rejection and wasn’t scarred for the rest of their days.
What’s Recalled?
Learning from Dogs 