I’d like to say that I’d give a big thumbs up to the Empire State for being the first in the county to outlaw electrocution as an acceptable way of harvesting animals’ fur.

But I can’t believe this was actually allowed in the first place. According to an Associated Press report, People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals is hoping the law, which bans the common practice of electrocuting the animals in their anuses or genitals, will encourage other states to pass similar measures.

Eek! And let me add an “ew” to that for good measure. Just another reason to go faux.

So AOL.com’s shopping site came up with a list of pet items they called “wacky.” Well I can think of someone who has every single item on that list except for the advanced litter pan (and that’s just because I don’t know many cat owners.)

Tear stain remover? I’ve got it in my kitchen cabinet. Hypo-allergenic treats? Ditto. Pet clothing? My dogs actually have entire wardrobes with clothes for every season.

And I’m not alone. A good friend uses a pet stroller on a regular basis. Her dog is blind and this is the way she gets to go on walks in crowded or unfamiliar places.

And I don’t have the exact brand of shampoo touted on AOL, but my dogs are bathed with the line of dog shampoo created by human hair guru Paul Mitchell. Before you roll your eyes too much folks, remember that dogs should not be bathed with human shampoo because the pH balance can cause skin problems.

Happy shopping!

With celebrities and the media making a constant push for blood donation, it’s important to remember that cats and dogs often need donor blood also.

I found this article on MSN.com about animal blood donors and read it with interest.

My Italian greyhound, Molly, has von Willebrand’s disease, a clotting disorder. Animal (humans too) typically have a von Willebrand’s factor of 100 percent or just below. Molly has 8 percent. So any surgery or severe injury could cause her to bleed out quickly.

She’s had three blood transfusions in her five years. The first, at Tufts University outside Boston, was when she was about eight months old. I was concerned about her being spayed, thinking the surgery itself could kill her, but Molly’s veterinarians said she could have problems clotting during her normal heat cycle.

She had her second transfusion at three years old during an invasive test and the third shortly after when she underwent surgery and a biopsy on her liver (Molly also has a congenital liver disorder.) Both those transfusions were done at the County Animal Specialty Group in Yonkers.

Molly’s transfusions consisted of von Willebrand’s rich plasma and I am deeply grateful to the owners who brought in their dogs to give blood. Without those dogs I would have lost my own.

You’d think with the Pennsylvania primary and assorted polygamy news, today wouldn’t be such a slow news day that articles about the most beautiful bulldog have been making the rounds at major news outlets.

But indeed, American media outlets tody are celebrating Buddy, a three-year-old bulldog from Iowa who won the contest that honors the mascot of Des Moines’ Drake University.

His prizes? A crown and a ride in a golf cart Saturday before thousands of adoring fans  at Drake Stadium.

(AP Photo/Kevin Sanders)

New research has come out showing that our pets (you know the ones that give you kisses and sleep in your bed) are contaminated with a multitude of industrial  chemicals.

Not good.

Veterinarians and researchers have said animals test higher than humans because they spend so much time lower to the ground where dust and other particles settle.

This is upsetting on a number of level. First, I keep my home very clean with regular vacuuming, dusting and floor washing. (I have never wanted my house to smell like I’ve got dogs.) And I purposely control the amount of chemicals put into my dogs by researching food ingredients, not using flea and tick medication and only vaccinating them for rabies (and that’s only because it’s required by law.)

But I guess with all the cleaners I use and all the other chemicals in my house (carpet fumes, gas from the lawn mower, etc.) I shouldn’t be surprised at this news. I mean, if they’re ingesting this than so am I, but the problem is that I’m about 10 times bigger than they are.

So my mom lives in a small southern Massachusetts town in a new development that is being expanded all the time. She was one of the first houses up there and enjoyed a thick area of trees and grasses behind her, most of which has been taken down to make way for new houses.

But she still has a strip of see-through forest between her backyard and the next road. And she gets a lot of wildlife that has been relegated to that strip, including fishers, also known as fisher cats.

These are not cuddly animals. According to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation Web site, fishers have sharp nails used for climbing trees and killing prey. And they have been blamed for several attacks on domestic pets including dogs, cats and rabbits.

My mom has a large dog (and my two little dogs visit often) so she was concerned enough to call her local animal control officer—who was basically no help.

The animal control officer’s award-winning idea? Get an airhorn and blast it out the window when she sees a fisher. But, the officer noted, that would probably hurt her dog’s ears so she may not want to do that.

Gee, thanks. I’m sure my mom’s glad her tax dollars are hard at work.

She’s left messages for the state’s wildlife department, but if any of you have suggestions, we’d love to hear them.

(Photo courtesy of the state Department of Environmental Conservation)

It’s been widely reported that the pet industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. I think I’ve spent enough at my veterinarian’s office to put most of her staff’s children through college.

But there are ways to keep expenses down. A recent article on msnbc.com listed 10 ideas, including seeking discounts for health care when you own multiple pets, patronizing free or low-cost rabies clinics and trading pet-sitting services with a friend rather than shelling out big bucks at a boarding facility.

But there are other ways you can keep more money in your wallet:
—But your dogs’ kibble in bulk, set aside what you need for the next week or two and freeze the rest. Make sure you are storing the food your dog is eating in an airtight container, preferably made of glass, stainless steel or another non-plastic material. Make sure the frozen food is also stored in your freezer in airtight packages. Food left exposed to air becomes rancid and stale quickly.
—Don’t go nuts buying your pets new toys all the time. This was a hard lesson for me to learn. Rotate your pets’ toys every few months so they are excited to see old favorites again.
—Another note on toys: if your pet likes to play with stuffed animals buy several from yard sales and the like. They are much cheaper and it doesn’t matter if your animal destroys them because they didn’t cost you $7 a pop! And if your dog likes squeakers you can buy them separately and sew them into the yard sale stuffies.
—Groom your dog yourself. This is easier said than done with some of the long-haired breeds such as poodles, shih tzus and Afghan hounds. But for short haired breeds, bathe them yourself (using dog-friendly shampoo!) and learn to clip their nails on your own. For dogs that absolutely hate the clippers try using a Dremel tool to file their nails. Just make sure not to leave the Dremel on one spot for too long as it becomes hot to the touch. I would imagine this tip is not going to go over well with cat owners, so I will leave this one for dogs only.
—Use reusable materials for litter pans. Washable pee pads are available online and cost less to use than constantly buying disposable pads and litter. Note: this is one piece of advice I do not follow. My dogs use pads indoors while I’m at work and I’m NOT throwing nasty pee pads in my washing machine. But that’s just me.

Happy saving! Anyone got any other tips?

Sure they spit and have humps (lady lumps for the girl camels?) But Dubai’s Prince Sheik Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum paid $2.7 million for one lumped beauty, part of an overall purchase of $4.5 million for 16 camels, according to this article on msnbc.com’s Today show section.

Now I don’t have enough money to purchase a stray toenail clipping from the prince’s prized camel, but wow—if I had millions of dollars I can’t say a camel would even enter my mind when it came to possible purchases. Not having been raised in the Northeast corner of the U.S. that is.

The camels were bought at a festival in  Abu Dhabi.

Okay—maybe for some it is. But today in LoHud.com’s Mets blog, John Declos re-printed a popular article about the Mets and their pets.

The players speak of their pound puppies, sad trips to the vet for cancer treatments and the joy that is growing up with a dog.  Like Declos said in his blog, the article may be dated, but it doesn’t lose relevance with age.

To get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?

I didn’t actually witness it, but my dog Molly found out this week. Sigh..

My other dog, Joey, has taken to raiding my purse in the last several months. I’ve walked into the living room to find pens, my small hairbrush, my press pass, etc. strewn all over the floor.

So after cleaning up his most recent raid, not realizing he’d also fished out a grape Tootsie pop, I went about unloading my dishwasher while Molly chewed on what I thought (judging by the sound of the item she was chewing on) was a cow hoof.

It was not a cow hoof and all I managed to get away from her after realized what she was doing was the stick and the wrapper. Argh.

But the best part? Her face was so sticky afterward that all the fuzz from the carpet, blanket and her toys stuck to her chin.

I know one of these days they will outgrow the puppy phase. Granted, they are both five years old, but I keep waiting for them to start acting like it.