Little Injured Bird Receives Tiny ‘Snowshoes’ And Gets Back On Her Feet

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Little Injured Bird Receives Tiny ‘Snowshoes’ And Gets Back On Her Feet

What do you do when you find a tiny Northern Mockingbird with impaired feet? You take some cardboard and tape, add a bit of creativity and come up with an awesome solution to fix it!Some good-hearted fellows at the California Wildlife Center (CWC) came to the rescue of a mockingbird with a foot condition that made it difficult for the poor thing to walk around, perch or grasp objects. The birdie had an unknown injury that caused her feet to knuckle, something that is a common condition in young birds.The rescuers made something that looks like tiny snowshoes. The design made sure the feet of the bird were back to the proper position and feet could heal. Before that the bird had to stand on the tops of her toes all the time, which was only causing additional injury. ‘It usually takes a week or two of wearing the snowshoes before their feet are back to normal.” – Duane Tom from CWC told The Dodo.The sources confirm that the snowshoe operation has been a success. The birdie is getting ready to go back to the wild and delight us with her lullabies. Hooray!

“It usually takes a week or two of wearing the snowshoes before their feet are back to normal,” – said CWC veterinarian Duane Tom

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Cops Found and Saved This Poor Baby from a Tragic End...

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Cops Had A Bad Feeling About These Men So They Search A Box They Are Carrying And Find This Poor Baby...

 

Three suspects were arrested after trying to sell a mother and baby pangolin on the black market in Western Zambia. According to News 24, the poaching of pangolins is a real concern considering that creature's scales are extremely valuable in Asia for ‘traditional medicine.’
On June 12, Zambian authorities hunted down three smugglers who had the mother and baby pangolin contained in a wooden box. Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife took in the animals in an effort to breed them to better health.

Rescued near the Kafue National park, The GRI- Wildlife Crime Prevention project stated that the mother and baby pangolin are steadily ‘putting on weight.’ From the looks of their condition, Vicky Flynn of the David Sherperd Wildlife Foundation told The Dodo that the animals look like they were stuck in the wooden box for a lengthy two weeks.

After their necessary rehabilitation, the mother and baby pangolin will be released into the Kafue National Park where they’ll return to their natural habitats. ‘They seem to be eating,’ Annekim Geerdes of the GRI Wildlife Vet Program told The Dodo, ‘which is a great sign. They will be given a chance to rest and eat well again.’

According to Sarah V Schweig from The Dodo, ‘when night falls, Annekim takes the rescued, nocturnal pair out for a walk. Under the cover of darkness, the mother and baby are learning to feel safe again.’ Eating insects before bed, these creatures are one of the more fortunate creatures who escape the high number of animal trafficking. 
 

Found in regions throughout Africa and Asia, these hardened, overlapping scaled mammals are considered ‘to be the world’s most trafficked mammal,’ according to News 24.’ Thankfully, this mother and her baby were successfully rescued and set free.

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Dolphin invents new way to breathe ?

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This dolphin has invented a way to overcome a disability

It should not be able to breathe because its blowhole is blocked, but it has devised a way around the problem

Dolphins usually breathe using their blowhole. But it now seems this is not a hard-and-fast rule. For the first time a dolphin has been spotted breathing through its mouth.The finding reveals that dolphins can adapt their behaviour, as you can see in the video above. "It demonstrates the behavioural flexibility of these animals," says lead author Stephen Dawson of the University of Otago in New Zealand. "It has invented a novel work-around to circumvent a disability. However, the process is a bit clumsy, and clearly is nowhere near as efficient as the normal mode of breathing."

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A Dog Has Given Birth To The First Identical Twin Puppies

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A Dog Has Given Birth To The First Identical Twin Puppies

Outside of humans and one species of armadillo, identical twins seem to be vanishingly rare. Now for the first time a dog has given birth to a pair

It seemed like a normal day for Kurt de Cramer, a vet in a busy veterinary practice in South Africa's Rant en Dal Animal Hospital in Mogale City.He was performing a Caesarean section on a female Irish wolfhound, who showed distress and prolonged abdominal straining when she was due to give birth. For de Cramer it was a routine event; he averages about 900 Caesarean sections each year.But something was different about this delivery. When he started the procedure, de Cramer noticed that the wolfhound had an unusual bulging by her uterus.At first, he thought the lump was excess fluid surrounding a foetus. De Cramer painstakingly extracted this foetus from the bulge by making an incision into the dog's uterus.That was when the real shock came. He found not one, but two foetuses. They were both attached with umbilical cords to the same placenta.

"When I realised that the puppies were of the same gender and that they had very similar markings, I also immediately suspected that they might be identical twins having originated from the splitting of an embryo," says de Cramer. He could not stop and marvel at this peculiar discovery, because there were still five live puppies to deliver. These appeared as they normally do, each with their own placenta arranged in single file in their mother's uterus. This was the first time de Cramer had delivered two living pups from one placenta in 26 years of practice.He immediately called upon other reproductive specialists to confirm his suspicions.The team, including Carolynne Joone of James Cook University in Townsville, Australia and Johan Nöthling of the University of Pretoria in South Africa, obtained blood samples when the twins were two weeks old."The twins looked very similar," says Joone. "But pups from the same litter often do, [and] there were small differences in the white markings on their paws, chests and the tips of their tails. I wasn't sure they were monozygotic [identical] at all initially."

However, the results confirmed what de Cramer had suspected: the dog had given birth to two identically genetic puppies. De Cramer had therefore delivered the first known instance of monozygotic twin dogs. The team outline their findings in the journal Reproduction in Domestic Animals.The subtle differences in the markings on their fur initially caused some doubt to their status as identical.This can be explained by the fact that, despite having the same DNA, the way individual genes are expressed can differ. "Human identical twins also have the same genes, but because those genes are expressed differently in each person, they have different freckle and fingerprint patterns," says de Cramer.When the twins were six weeks old the team again took DNA samples, this time from their tissue rather than their blood. They also profiled the rest of the litter, "really just to have some sort of idea of how similar the pups in the litter were genetically", says Joone.If the other pups from the same litter had very similar profiles, the team says they could not have convincingly concluded that the other two were identical.Again, the results confirmed that the first two pups were genetically identical, whereas the others were only similar to the level that littermates usually are. This is the first recorded case in the scientific literature, but does that mean it is a rare occurrence? Female dogs, known as bitches, often have several pups in each litter. Many of the pups often look strikingly similar, and DNA tests are not typically performed.It is hard to know, says Joone. "We are so lucky that this bitch ended up having a C-section," she explains, because otherwise it is unlikely her owners would have noticed. "Yes, there would have been one less placenta than there were pups, but as the bitch often eats the placentas the owner probably would have simply shrugged this off."While this is the first confirmed instance of genetically-identical twins, it is impossible to say just how rare it is. "There have been rumours about twins in dogs before," says Joone. "We just happened to be lucky enough to be able to confirm it genetically."It seems unlikely that identical twin puppies are particularly common. "It has taken so long for us to find a monozygotic pair, so they are probably rare," says Joone. "But so many of them will have been born naturally and blissfully unaware."

Non-identical multiples are common in many species, like dogs and rabbits. However, identical offspring are believed to be extremely rare. The exception is ourselves and nine-banded armadillos, which give birth to identical quadruplets, each with their own placenta.It is thought that identical twins are rare because, when two foetuses share one placenta, they do not get enough nutrients from the mother and are therefore less likely to survive.For instance, identical twin foetuses have been reported in horses, but none have survived. A horse's placenta is not efficient enough to transport oxygen for two foetuses.This means that when a twin foal dies in the womb, "the living one will abort due to his dead neighbour", says Jan Govaere of Ghent University, who in 2008 published a paper on the abortion of identical twin horses, one of which had died early on. "If a horse is carrying twins, most of them are lost within a month of gestation," he says. 

For the same reason, it was surprising to de Cramer that the identical twin pups he delivered were healthy. He had only seen one other case of two foetuses sharing a placenta, back in 2014, and the foetuses were already dead when he performed a Caesarean section."It is even less likely for placenta-sharing puppies to survive, because of several complications relating to nutrient and oxygen supply from a single placenta having to do the job that is normally done by two placentas," he says.Today the twin dogs are still doing well. They were slightly smaller at birth, but by the time they were six weeks old they had reached a similar size to the other pups in their litter.As with many rare things in nature, "people don't see these things unless they know to look," says Joone. "Perhaps now they will, and more will appear."

 

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Dog's heartbreaking loyalty to dead owner after Italy earthquake...

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Dog Refuses To Leave Owner’s Coffin After Italy Earthquake!

On August 24th, central Italy suffered from the rumbles of a threatening earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2. Amongst the severe structural damages and destruction of cultural heritage, it has been reported that the earthquake caused the death 291 people, in addition to 365 people wounded and taken into emergency camps. Images of the earthquakes residues have surfaced everywhere, showing the damaging effects of mother nature and the toll it's taken on the victims families.
 

Among the 291 unfortunate deaths was the 45-year-old dogowner Andrea Cossu who was on vacation in Pescara del Tronto when he was killed by a fallen building. Originally from Sardinia, Mr. Cossu was travelling with his wife when they faced the terrors of the natural disaster.

Mr. Cossu’s funeral was held on Friday, August 26th, inside a gym in Ascoli Piceno, amongst many other late victims when his dog, Flash, was also caught mourning the death of his beloved owner.

Sitting closely to his late owner's coffin with a droopy head of grief, the blond cocker spaniel showed his loyalty to his owner and friend during the heartbreaking effects of the devastating earthquake.

VIDEO:

Relatives of Mr.Cossu told Italian media that Flash and his owner ‘were inseparable,’ and that Mrs. Cossu, who managed to survive the quake, will now be taking care of the animal.

Refusing to leave the casket, the bond between Mr. Cossu and his cocker spaniel was definitely a special one. Aside from being a man’s best friend, thousands of rescue service dogs were used by police and fire department crew to locate possible survivors beneath the masses of destruction and debris throughout the restoration of this natural disaster. 

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Florida Woman Keeps 2 Bengal Tigers In Her Garden!

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Woman Keeps Two Tigers In Her Backyard – And They’re As Loving And Playful As Kittens!

While most people spend their golden years relaxing in their garden Janice Haley chooses to hand feed the two man-eating tigers she keeps in hers. Saber -- a 600 pound white Bengal male and Janda -- a 400 pound orange Bengal female live in a cage at the back of Janice's unassuming suburban home. Each day Janice, 57 hand feeds the gentle giants and Saber -- the baby of the pair - can't get off to sleep without suckling on her finger. She happened upon her extraordinary life around 20 years ago when she quit her job as an admin assistant to spend more time working outdoors.

After spotting an ad for a tiger training course in her local paper she applied and two years later arrived home with Chuffer the tiger cub. She was immediately BITTEN by the tiger bug and in 2002 bought Janda -- who is now 12 -- to live with Chuffer. After Chuffer's death in 2007 little Saber -- who was only two weeks old at the time -- was introduced to the enclosure -- much to the annoyance of Janda. Tigers are fearsome jungle cats that are near-universal symbols of ferocity, strength and courage, but 57-year-old Janice Haley of Orlando, Florida has a different perspective on the matter. To her, they’re also cuddly kitties. When you see her play with her two pets, 400-pound Bengal tiger Janda and 600-pound white Bengal tiger Saber, you’ll understand why – they’re about as loving and playful as their tiny domesticated cousins.

“As far as they’re concerned, I am mommy,” explains Haley. “They rub me in the face, they’ll let me kiss them on the nose.” The two tigers live in an enclosure in her backyard and are fed by hand 3 times a day.

It all began in 1995, when Haley decided to quit her boring desk job and, at her husband’s advice, begin working with exotic animals. She has had quite a few different big cats since then, and plenty of volunteers to help take care of them and play with them as well.

“People who consider it cruel to keep them in captivity have a point, to a point,” conceded Haley. “It is not the ideal place for a tiger to be, in a cage. But at this point, in the wild, there isn’t a lot hope out there for them anymore, and if there aren’t some of them left in cages there aren’t going to be any left at all in a couple of years from now… They are provided for and loved here. In my opinion, I wouldn’t mind being a tiger in my backyard.”

 

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10 best guard dogs in the world!

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Meet the best guard dogs in the world!

 

A guard dog or watch dog (not to be confused with the attack dog) is a dog used to guard against, and watch for unwanted or unexpected people or animals. The dog is discriminating so that it does not annoy or attack familiar people.

Both guard dogs and watchdogs bark loudly to alert their owners of an intruder's presence and to scare away the intruder. The watch dog's function ends here; a guard dog is capable of attacking, or restraining the intruder. Livestock guardian dogs are often large enough, 100-200 lbs and strong enough to attack and drive away livestock predators such as wolves. Some smaller breeds (such as Keeshond and Tibetan Terrier) are excellent watchdogs but not guard dogs because they bark loudly to alert their masters of intruders but are physically small and not given to assertive behavior. Guardian breeds will bark to alert their master and to warn off an approaching animal, or human threat, prior to their interception of the trespasser. They are different from the smaller watchdogs in that they do not continue barking, they take action. The human shepherd would in many cases come to the guard dog's aid with a weapon, not letting the dog fend for itself.

These are the best guard dogs in the world:

10. Great Dane

The Great Dane is great in size, heart and nobility. Ignore the latter part of the name, though. This giant breed is not of Danish origin but was developed in Germany, where it was used to hunt big game, patrol estates and as a war dog. Today, the Dane is a dependable, even-tempered breed that is nicknamed the Apollo of dogs because of its handsome outline and aristocratic bearing. Males measure 30 inches or more at the shoulder, females about 2 inches less; thus, they are best suited to a large home with a yard. The short, smooth coat may be brindle, fawn, blue, black, mantle (black with white trim), or harlequin (white with black patches). Weekly brushing keeps it in shape. High-set ears may be cropped to a point or natural, in which case they fold about on a level with the skull. Danes are slow to mature and have special nutritional needs during the critical growing months. They enjoy a run outdoors but should never be exercised strenuously immediately after feeding. The breed adapts well to city or country living. Great Danes enjoy children, but they can inadvertently step on or knock over a toddler, so supervision is important. They make excellent watchdogs, their size and deep bark capable of scaring off the most determined intruder.

 

9. Tosa Inu

The Tosa, also called the Tosa-Inu or Tosa-Ken, is a stately, massive dog. The large head is broad with a rather abrupt stop. The muzzle is moderately long and squared-off. The black nose is large. The teeth meet in a scissors bite and the jaws are powerful. The small eyes are dark brown in color. The high-set ears are small and thin, hanging close to the cheeks. The neck is muscular, with a dewlap. The tail is thick at the root, tapering to a point and reaching to the hocks when the dog is relaxed. The feet are well padded with dark nails. The coat is short, dense and hard and comes in solid, brindle or multi-colored of red, fawn, apricot, yellow, black, black and brindle and black and tan. There is often a black mask and there may be small white markings on the chest and feet.

8. Ilyrian sheepdog

 

The coat of the Ilyrian is about 4 inches (10 cm) long. The hair is dense and evenly distributed. Colors include: gray, white, tan and black. Colors can be solid or blended. The Ilyrian is one of the few flock guards that come in solid colors other than white. The body is medium in size and bone. The Sar is a flock-guard dog that needs to be working. This sheep-herding guard dog is unaffectionate toward its humans. It prefers the flock it so enthusiastically protects. It has natural guarding qualities and independent thinking typical of the flock guard group. Usually calm, but when the situation warrants, it is ferocious in its efforts to protect the flock. It takes its work seriously. When on sheep-guarding duty it will investigate anything that catches its eye, and has no hesitation about confronting adversaries larger than itself. This is not a brainless tail-wagger; the Ilyrian is a very wise dog that chooses friends carefully and trusts no one completely. He is more obedient to his ingrained code of proper behavior than to accept commands from one master, to whom he is most loyal. These dogs are very devoted to their flocks.

7. Cane Corso

The Cane Corso Italiano is a medium-big size dog, strongly built but elegant, with powerful and long muscles.Very loyal, willing to please and quiet around the house, the Cane Corso is highly intelligent and very trainable. Active and even-minded, he is an unequalled watch and protection dog. The Cane Corso Italiano is great with children in the family. Docile and affectionate with the owner, they are protective yet gentle. The Cane Corso has a very stable temperament. It makes an excellent guard dog and watchdog. It will not wander from the home. They stick close to their masters. If necessary he becomes a terribly brave protector of people, house and property. The Cane Corso is not a fighting dog. They were bred as powerful working dogs for hundreds of years.

6. Tibetan Mastiff

 

The Tibetan Mastiff is a massive, giant dog with sturdy bone structure. The Tibetan Mastiff is courageous, fearless, even-tempered, calm and thoughtful. Very loyal to its own family. Tends to bark at night if left outside, but will be quiet indoors. It is an outstanding flock guardian and is ferocious against wolves, leopards or any prey that try to approach its flock. It is easy to housebreak, but matures later in life than the average breed. The Tibetan Mastiff needs a firm, confident, consistent pack leader to prevent it from becoming willful and stubborn, overprotective and territorial. These dogs have a strong desire to please their owners. They are loving with children, but can distrust and be reserved with strangers if not properly socialized. It comes naturally to this Mastiff to guard its family and their property.

 

5. Neapolitan Mastiff

 

The Neapolitan Mastiff is a serious, powerful dog. The body of this massive, rather rectangular looking dog has abundant, hanging wrinkles and folds on the head and a very large dewlap. The wide, flat head is large in comparison to the rest of the body. The Neapolitan Mastiff is not a breed for everyone. This breed looks a bit intimidating, but is actually affectionate, calm, peaceful and loving. They enjoy family and friends. This breed is a heavy drooler, particularly in hot weather or after getting a drink. Males may drool more than females. They are very keen to their owners’ commands. Intelligent, very protective, courageous, serious and mild-mannered. Generally quiet, they tend to only bark when necessary. They can be reserved with strangers; socialize them well with people, places, sounds and animals. These dogs are usually very loving with children, provided the children know how to display leadership skills.

4. Doberman Pinscher

 

The Doberman Pinscher is a medium sized, squarely built dog with a compact, muscular body. The head is long and when viewed from the side, looks like a blunt wedge. Doberman Pinschers are very keen, super energetic with tremendous strength and stamina. Dobes like to be with their people and are not suited to kennel or backyard life; they need human interaction and leadership. Loyal, tolerant, dedicated and affectionate with the family. Determined, bold and assertive while working, they are very adaptable, highly skilled and versatile. They are intelligent and very easy to train. They are an outstanding watch and guard dog and do not need additional protection training. This breed is not for everyone. The Doberman needs an owner who is willing and able to display a natural authority over the dog. All family members must be firm, confident and consistent, setting rules and sticking to them. Learn to handle the dog properly, as Dobermans can become stubborn and willful if allowed to have their own way. Everything must be on the human’s terms. The dog is the follower, and the humans are the leaders.

3. German Shepherd

 

The German Shepherd Dog is well proportioned and very strong. The GSD has a sturdy, muscular, slightly elongated body with a light, solid bone structure. Often used as working dogs, German Shepherds are courageous, keen, alert and fearless. Cheerful, obedient and eager to learn. Tranquil, confident, serious and clever. GSDs are extremely faithful, and brave. They will not think twice about giving their lives for their human pack. They have a high learning ability. German Shepherds love to be close to their families, but can be wary of strangers. This breed needs his people and should not be left isolated for long periods of time. They only bark when they feel it is necessary. Often used as police dogs, the German Shepherd has a very strong protective instinct, and is extremely loyal to its handler. Socialize this breed well starting at puppyhood. Aggression and attacks on people are due to poor handling and training. Problems arise when an owner allows the dog to believe he is pack leader over humans and/or does not give the dog the mental and physical daily exercise it needs to be stable. This breed needs owners who are naturally authoritative over the dog in a calm, but firm, confident and consistent way. A stable, well-adjusted, and trained dog is for the most part generally good with other pets and excellent with children in the family. They must be firmly trained in obedience from an early age.

2. ROTTWEILER

The Rottweiler has a muscular, massive, powerful body.The Rottie is powerful, calm, trainable, courageous and devoted to its owner and family. Loyal and protective, it will defend its family fiercely if needed, seemingly immune to pain. Serious, even-tempered, brave, confident and courageous, this breed needs an owner who is strong minded, calm, but firm and able to handle this dog’s massive size. The Rottie is a docile, natural guard dog with a laid-back, reliable temperament. It is highly intelligent and has proven its worth beyond question in police, military and customs work over many centuries and can be trained for competitive obedience. Because of its size, training should begin when the dog is a small puppy. This breed needs a lot of leadership and socialization. It will not be happy confined to a kennel or backyard. The objective in training this dog is to achieve pack leader status. It is a natural instinct for a dog to have an order in its pack.

1. American PITBULL Terrier

 

The Pit Bull immediately strikes one as being a dog of power, passion and undying willingness. The American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT) has a strong desire to please. The APBT has evoked more human emotional, rational and irrational response than any other breed that exists today. By no means are these dogs people-haters or people-eaters. Their natural aggressive tendencies are toward other dogs and animals, not people. However if they are properly socialized with a firm, but calm, confident, consistent pack leader, they will not even be aggressive with them. The American Pit Bull Terrier is a good-natured, amusing, extremely loyal and affectionate family pet that is good with children and adults. Almost always obedient, it is always eager to please its master. It is an extremely courageous and intelligent guard dog that is very full of vitality. Highly protective of his owners and the owner's property, it will fight an enemy to the death. It is usually very friendly, but has an uncanny ability to know when it needs to protect and when everything is okay. The American Pit Bull Terrier can be willful with meek owners and needs a firm hand.

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Shocking video - lion attacking a baby on live TV!

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Lion attacks toddler on LIVE Mexican TV Show, tries to snatch child form mother's arms!

 

This is the terrifying moment a baby is attacked by a lion on live TV as handlers desperately try to prise its jaws open.

The incident, which very nearly ended in disaster, occurred during the filming of former Mexican programme Con Sello de Mujer.This clip from the show, which was last broadcast in 2007, recently went viral after re-appearing online and features a toddler and a lion cub in the TV studio.

The child was not harmed.

At the start of the video everything looks to be under control as two handlers sit with the wild animal on a lead and talk to the show's presenter. In between the two parties is a mother, who holds her young daughter in her lap. The lion cub sits on the floor and appears to be quite calm until the baby starts to whine - a sound that sends it into a frenzy. Without warning, the lion suddenly jumps to its feet and lunges at the little girl, grabbing hold of her leg with its sharp teeth. The attack causes the baby to scream in terror, which only aggravates the situation as the female handler calls for calm.

The trainer can be seen wrestling with the lion's face while trying to force it to let go of the child. Meanwhile the toddler's mother, who appears shocked, pulls her baby towards her as the lion tugs her leg the other way.

Eventually the two trainers are able to prise the lion's jaws open and pull the little girl's leg free.The male trainer then heads off with the cub as the woman pulls the baby's trousers up and gives her a hug.The clip concludes with the handler then giving the mother a hug to apologise for the incident.Con Sello de Mujer was a show primarily aimed at women. It ran from 1998 to 2007 and touched on topics including health and beauty.

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Honeybees are dying... The Consequences are fatal!

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THE DEATH OF BEES!

The bees are still dying in masses. Which at first seems not very important until you realize that one third of all food humans consume would disappear with them. Millions could starve. The foes bees face are truly horrifying – some are a direct consequence of human greed. We need to help our small buzzing friends or we will face extremely unpleasant consequences.

Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is the phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a colony disappear and leave behind a queen, plenty of food and a few

nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees and the queen. While such disappearances have occurred throughout the history of apiculture, and were known by various names (disappearing disease, spring dwindle, May disease, autumn collapse, and fall dwindle disease), the syndrome was renamed colony collapse disorder in late 2006 in conjunction with a drastic rise in the number of disappearances of western honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies in North America. European beekeepers observed similar phenomena in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, Switzerland and Germany, albeit to a lesser degree, and the Northern Ireland Assembly received reports of a decline greater than 50%. 

Colony collapse disorder causes significant economic losses because many agricultural crops (although no staple foods)

worldwide are pollinated by western honey bees. According to the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the worth of global crops with honey bee's pollination was estimated to be close to $200 billion in 2005. Shortages of bees in the US have increased the cost to farmers renting them for pollination services by up to 20%. 

In the six years leading up to 2013, more than 10 million beehives were lost, often to CCD, nearly twice the normal rate of loss. Several possible causes for CCD have been proposed,

but no single proposal has gained widespread acceptance among the scientific community. 

Suggested causes include: infections with Varroa and Acarapis mites; malnutrition; various pathogens; genetic factors; immunodeficiencies; loss of habitat; changing beekeeping practices; or a combination of factors. A large amount of speculation has surrounded a family of pesticides called neonicotinoids as having caused CCD.

Honeybees perform some level of pollination of nearly 75% of all plant species directly used for human food worldwide. Catastrophic loss of honeybees could have significant impact, therefore; it is estimated that seven out of the 60 major agricultural crops in North American economy would be lost, and this is only for one region of the world. Farms that have intensive systems (high density of crops) will be impacted the most compared to non-intensive systems (small local gardens that depend on wild bees) because of dependence on honeybees. These types of farms have a high demand for honeybee pollination services, which in the U.S. alone costs $1.25 billion annually.This cost is offset, however, as honeybees as pollinators generate 22.8 to 57 billion Euros globally. 

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This Japanese Artist Draws Pokémon As Real Animals

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This Japanese Artist Draws Pokémon As Real Animals

Just when you’re this close to completing your Pokémon collection, something comes up. This time that something is illustrator and character designer Totomame, who’s been creating new Pokémon characters for a couple years now, giving them a more realistic feel.In his illustrations, Totomame mixes the classic cute beast designs with the looks of real-life animals, producing a Pokémon collection that’s more grounded in real life. And honestly, we can’t decide which one’s better… What do you think?

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All She Needed Was Just a Hug!

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Edie was labeled aggressive in a high kill shelter and was saved from euthanasia at the last hour. This is her story.

Shelter dog Edie was schedule to be euthanized. She was fearful, aggressive, and hard to control. Then Bronwyne Mirkovich gave her another chance as he and Eldad Hagar recorded the process on videos.

-Part 1-

Edie is rescued!

 -Part 2-

Edie has a new family!

There are too many animals and not enough homes. Shelters have been facing a pet overpopulation problem for the last few decades. Some animals are found wandering as strays, and some are surrendered by their owners who cannot, or no longer want to, care for them. 

In order to help reduce pet overpopulation and being part of the solution, it’s important to have your pet sterilized, which is the only permanent, 100-percent effective method of birth control. In most shelters, spaying or neutering is mandatory for all adopted cats, dogs and rabbits. This ensures the animals placed in the community don’t contribute to pet overpopulation.

Shelters are overcrowded. Adoption will not only save the life of the pet you are adopting but will also make room and free up precious resources for another animal that the shelter will take in. Adopting an animal from a shelter is the best way to help the shelter continue its work. Shelters are meant to only house animals temporarily, and in order to be able to help more animals in need, shelters must find loving adoptive homes for the animals they take in.

Shelters are full of healthy, sweet and smart animals who were surrendered not because of their behavior but generally due to the issues of their guardians. The most common reasons animals are surrendered is because of a change in circumstances of their family: a divorce, a move, a new baby or because their family was not ready for all the responsibilities of having a pet and “no longer has time for them”. Shelters and rescue groups offer adoptable dogs, cats and many other animals of all ages, breeds, mixes and sizes. 

Adopt an animal - Save a life!

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