Rio Carnival

Dog getting ready for the Rio Carnival at Copacabana. 

Halloween dogs

Yesterday hundreds of dogs dressed up for America's biggest Halloween Dog Parade at Tompkins Square Park in New York's East Village.The headline in the paper read: 'pawsitively' adorable!

Happy Christmas

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas

London riots

The riots in London have injured 111 police officers and five service dogs, Scotland Yard said in a statement Tuesday.

Many officers remain hospitalised with broken bones, head injuries, serious cuts and eye injuries from broken glass, the Scotland Yard stated.

Rioters have been throwing bricks, bottles, sticks and other objects at police who are trying to keep order in the streets of London, as looting and fires have been witnessed since Saturday in the capital city of Britain.
Five police dogs have also been injured in various attacks. One was seriously injured when hit on the head with a brick.
One dog had its teeth broken out by an object thrown at it. The remaining dogs were injured by bottles and other items hurled in their direction.
The dogs are Belgian shepherds called Malinois.  They are used for police work all over the world.   

Merry Christmas

Wishing all my family and friends and faithful readers of this blog a Merry Christmas.



Animal blessing

Christians everywhere celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi on October 4 by having their pets blessed in the spirit of this patron saint of animals.
The parish of Saint Rita in Paris holds this mass every first sunday of November and this year several animals were present: cats and dogs of course but also camels, zebras, lamas, tortoises, fish, rabbits, snakes, ...

Surfing USA

More than 60 dogs showed up for the 5th annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog competition in Imperial Beach, California this week to compete for an adorable, if odd, honour. In 10 minutes the dogs had to prove their physical prowess to the judges who were looking for confidence and length of ride.
A dog owner spoke to a journalist about his pup Buddy saying: "He's really passionate about it. He sees this as a game and he wants to play. I'm sure he's ridden more waves than any other dog. My job is to get him into the critical part of the wave."
This year's contest raised money for the San Diego Police Department's canine unit.

These dogs do not look happy to me.  I do not agree with Buddy's owner. 

Poor dogs

Just 10 years ago, dogs were still eaten in public restaurants and raised on farms for that purpose in Taiwan. Traditional Chinese medicine held that so-called "fragrant meat" from dogs could fortify one's health.
Now, selling dog meat is illegal, and violators can be slapped with a nearly $8,000 fine, according to Huang Ching-Jung, secretary-general of Taiwan's Animal Protection Association. Eating dog is viewed by many Taiwanese as an embarrassing reminder of a poorer time.
Instead, Taiwanese have embraced dog-owning culture with a vengeance. Dogs are brought into restaurants, fussed over in public, dressed up in ridiculous outfits and wheeled to the park in frilly custom-made buggies.
Huang chalks up the rapid change in attitude to several factors. Taiwan's education level has risen rapidly, and animal welfare groups like his have successfully campaigned for better treatment of animals, with the media's help. The island has grown richer, meaning Taiwanese can now afford many types of meat, and can buy other medicines.
"You don't need dog meat to make you healthier, and we don't need dogs as a source of meat," said Huang. "So dogs have become our friends and companions."
Also, Taiwanese are increasingly shunning marriage and deciding not to have children (the island has one of Asia's lowest birth rates). Raising a dog has become a substitute. "It's like having a child — it becomes family," said Huang.
Finally, there's one all-important factor: "Dogs are very cute animals," Huang said.
The picture was taken at this year's Pets Show Tapei which took place earlier this month.

Ugliest dog 2010

Princess Abby, a grey, brown and black Chihuahua with a curved back and legs and a scrunched-up left eye, was named 2010 World's Ugliest Dog before a packed crowd at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, California. Entrants came from across the US including Arizona, Florida and New Jersey. Princess Abby's owner, Kathleen Francis, won first prize of $1,000, but will have many new opportunities for fame as she and Princess Abby will be guests on television shows throughout the U.S. and abroad.
Princess Abby was picked up five months ago on the streets as a malnourished, flea infested stray. Francis adopted the dog from her vet. Other entrants in the contest have similar hard luck stories and stand out as strong survivors of abandonment and neglect. Their owners and the contest help to carry the event’s organisers’ message: ”Princess Abby is the poster child for spaying and neutering your animals. Her looks probably stem from being inbred."

Fido and Aeneas

On Saturday 5th June the Sydney Opera House hosted a concert for dogs as part of the “Vivid” Light Festival. Organised by American musician Laurie Anderson and her rock legend husband Lou Reed, the Music For Dogs event featured a surreal concerto of high-pitch whistles, synthesizers and strings.

This is how the Sydney Opera House’s website presented the event:
“The World Premiere of a unique concert experience on the Sydney Opera House Forecourt, for you… and your dog!
Laurie Anderson has composed a 20 minute work to create a shared experience for you and your dog.
The morning will be an inter-species social gathering on a scale never seen before in Australia. The site will open from 9am where breakfast can be purchased at our specially created doggie cafe, including freshly brewed coffee, egg & bacon rolls and doggie biscuits. This is an event that you’ll be yapping about for years to come, an absolute must for any dog and their two legged friends!
Unfortunately there is no public transport for you and your dog, however the Sydney Opera House car park is dog friendly and offers you a $15 flat rate for this event!
The wet weather contingency venue will be under the Sydney Opera House vehicle concourse.
ALL DOGS MUST BE ON LEADS.”

And this is what the press had to say after the event:
“The program did not go as far as listing The Barker of Seville or The Marriage of Fido, but for the hundreds of dogs who gathered at the Sydney Opera House, it was still an unusually cultured day out.
While some of the pieces were beyond the range of human ears, they sent the concert's four-legged patrons into a frenzy.
"It was really so fantastic. All the dogs were really grooving on the music. They really seemed to enjoy themselves," said Ms Anderson.
The 20-minute concert opened with a set featuring whale calls and soothing white noise, before moving through a rhythm and beat section to a discordant crescendo almost drowned out by hundreds of barks and howls.
"We've got some singing dogs down here in the mosh pit (*)," joked Ms Anderson, who led the four-piece band with a variety of instruments including slide whistle, violin and synthesizers. Organizers said that dog owners brought around 1,000 pets to enjoy the free event.
"The dogs were really wonderful audience members," Ms Anderson added. "And there were no dog fights. We were very relieved about that, everyone was very well behaved."

(*) For those of you less familiar with “youth speak” here is the definition of mosh pit: “Moshing refers to the act in which audience members at live music performances push and/or slam into each other for the purpose of fun activity and in a non-hateful way most of the time. It is most commonly associated with concerts featuring more aggressive musical genres, such as hardcore punk and heavy metal.
Moshing primarily takes place at live shows, though it can be done to recorded music. In the 2000s, many variations of moshing exist, such as "thrashing," and is typically done in an area in front of the stage which is referred to as the mosh pit or simply pit.”