MelSkunk's stories

Rottweilers seem like macho, tough dogs, but a British pet insurance company concluded they were the most accident prone canines in the UK, with about 3 in every 5 needing serious vet treatment, requiring an insurance claim, for accidents in their lives. Last year's most sickly dog was the chocolate lab (really a colour type of lab, not a separate breed) and the year before, it was the boxer. On the other hand, poodles are still very hearty dogs, with only 1 in 5 ending up at the vets due to severe illness or accident.

Maybe a froo-froo dog knows something the tough brawlers don't?

Well, the winners of the Nobel Prize in Phisiology and Medicine has just been announced, but if the genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death doesn't float your boat, how about a mathematical formula for measuring the surface of an elephant, bellybutton lint and its study, or "The Effects Of Pre-Existing Inappropriate Highlighting On Reading Comprehension"? All of these were awarded IgNobels, a spoof prize honoring people whose achievements "cannot or should not be reproduced."

Technology helps up communicate, and now it's helping people understand their dogs better. Bowlingual uses a tiny microphone, attached to a dog collar, which transmits the sounds of the animal to a palm-sized console.

The sounds are sorted into six emotional categories: frustration, menace, joy, sorrow, demand and self-expression, and the console shows a phrase to fit the emotional state, such as "I am sad. I want to play" and "I am super angry. I am going to explode!". It's selling like hotcakes, but it's only avaiable in Japan. And don't worry about 'accents', Bowlingual is compatible with more than 50 dog breeds, from Chihuahuas to German Shepherds.

Stray dogs are a real problem on Koh Samet, an island off of Thailand, roaming the beaches and attacking tourists. Dog owners, whether visitors or residents, are being ordered to come in and get their canines photographed for a special 'dog passport' with the dog's date of birth, age, sex, species, ID number and the owner's name and address. A tag will be given out to be worn by the canine to inform any dog catcher of thier doggy passport. Any canine without one will be vacinated and deported onto the mainland.
On the other paw, shop owners in Penza, a city in Russia, are making the dogs work for them by luring them into their shops and painting them up as billboards. Logos of the shop and its goods are sprayed onto the sides of the dogs, who are then released as living adverts. Shops even capture 'rival' shop dogs and repaint them into their colours. Unfortunatly, spray painting dogs isn't illegal, and local vets can do nothing but decry the ethics.