Paw News | Sep – Oct 07

Like father like son…obese!
Fat mum and fatty dad…no wonder kids are overweight – our pampered pooches in cities. Pets are inheriting the lifestyle sickness with their masters…and most of them are obese and have health problems related to over weight. While obesity invades people because of their busy lifestyle, idleness makes their pets fat. The nuclear family set up and busy working schedule prevents most of the people to give enough physical activity to their pets and themselves. Obesity brings with it ailments like liver problems, complaints of immobility and breathlessness, which can be highly harmful. Here comes the role of dog trainers and dog walkers, who give regular work-outs to pets. Busy pet parents in metros are now availing services of such people for the betterment of their canine kids.
Meet the dog lakhpathies
Our doggies are our love for life, but what after that? Have you ever given it a thought, what will happen to your pets if something happens to you? Well people like Bhawani Dutt Joshi defiantly do. An Utharanchal-based ex-military official, he gave off his entire wealth including retirement benefits to his two sons, Tikaram and Shivaraj. Before brushing aside this news, let me tell you that Tikaram and Shivaraj are his pet dogs! Even though Joshi had two wives, he could not father a child. And so, he showered all his love and affection on his two pet dogs. And now that he is old, he has formed a committee which would look after his pets after he dies. A true example of eternal love.
Bing! Bing…locating doggies!
Next time, when your pet hides himself, don’t worry. You can find him out easily in a high-tech way… like our Hollywood movies. Bing! Bing…locating doggies! A manufacturer of GPS equipment, Garmin, has developed a micro sensor device named Astro to sense motions and other additions to help owners to track their pets. Astro, which weighs two ounces, has two parts. One is a hand held GPS unit for the owner and the other device is meant to be put on the dog’s collar or harness. The unit on the dog’s collar computes the animal’s location from GPS satellites and radios the information to the owner’s hand-held unit. The dog units also have tiny motion-sensing chips that detect whether the dog is running, sitting or on point. Sounds great…well! hold on that’s not all. In Singapore, all the pets are tagged with microchips as well so that parents can trace their dogs easily…now pooch parenting has really become hitech, what say?
Bow! retirement benefits for us too!
The life after retirement might be a nightmare, if we don’t plan for it. Our serving pooches are worst victims of it. In the absence of proper care, old age becomes the sum total of discomfort and sorrows. But now, the dogs in Tamil Nadu Dog Squad will get a sigh of relief as they come under the pension scheme proposed by the state government. The dogs, after retiring from Dog Squad, were generally auctioned to pet lovers. But seeing the pathetic retirement life of these courageous and hardworking dogs, the government decided to give them a peaceful life by providing regular medical check up, diet and total care. Previously, when the dog reached retirement age, they were immediately sent out of the squad. But now, the scheme also allows them to stay in familiar surroundings and carry out routine exercise, so they can avoid the trauma of a sudden change of life style. A smart way for caring our dauntless canines!
Yummy ice creams for us too!
Scorching summer days and yummy ice cream treats…woof! We just love that. When we are slurping on delicious ice candies, our furry angels often pine for these mouth watery attractions. But not anymore as here’s good news for those who want to enjoy the hot summers with their beloved pets with a cup of ice cream. Pooches in Vienna, Austria are already slurping tasty ice creams at Iori, an ice cream parlour near St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Doggy ice creams are available in three flavours-vanilla, vanilla-rice and soy. After several months’ experiments, Anton Mramor-Leonardini, the owner of Iori, has developed these most suitable doggy ice creams. A sure way to pamper your canine’s taste buds!
Dog trafficking foiled in Assam
Every other day, we come across news of heinous activities conducted for making money. More recently, a few young men in Assam were caught for trafficking stray dogs to Nagaland. They paid Rs 50 per dog to the dogcatchers and later handed them over to the Naga traders for Rs 1000 for each dog, who use these dogs for food.
Recently, People for Animals, under the leadership of Sangeeta Goswami, saved the life of 32 such stray dogs from death, after they came to know these canines had been confined and dumped at Uluoni forest by some local youths. A real encroachment to the life of the hapless! Let’s all unite to make this world a better place for our canine friends.