clipped from www.sfgate.com

Animals in crisis: how you can help

A new Petfinder.com survey found that 84 percent of a total of 700 shelters and rescue groups that responded from across the country are experiencing an increase in pets being surrendered as a result of job loss and foreclosures linked to the economic downturn.

How can you protect your pet from financial uncertainty?

Budget for vet care in advance: Setting aside a few dollars every month can help ensure that you have enough cash to cover basic medical costs.

Invest in preventative medicine: Make sure your pet’s vaccines are up to date and don’t skimp on their annual checkups.

Consider subscribing to a pet health insurance plan: A small monthly contribution can help you sidestep unexpected big bills in the future.

clipped from news.yahoo.com

FBI’s newest ‘Most Wanted’ terrorist is American

WASHINGTON – For the first time, an accused domestic terrorist is being added to the FBI’s list of “Most Wanted” terror suspects.

Daniel Andreas San Diego, a 31-year-old computer specialist from Berkeley, Calif., is wanted for the 2003 bombings of two corporate offices in California.

Authorities describe San Diego as an animal rights activist who turned to bomb attacks and say he has tattoo that proclaims, “It only takes a spark.”

Officials have offered a $250,000 reward for information leading to his capture, five times the reward amounts offered for other so-called eco-terrorists wanted in the U.S.

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com

Bonobos rate food on scale from bark to grunt

Great apes yell out food ratings using at least five distinct vocalizations

Bonobos yell out their food ratings using at least five distinct vocalizations, the study found. Since the calls are tonally similar to certain other primate sounds, such as the human exclamations “Yum!” and “Ewww,” the scientists think there might be a somewhat universal primate language when it comes to food.

clipped from www.venturacountystar.com

Panel approves pet neutering bill

SACRAMENTO — Treading cautiously back into an issue that lawmakers say generated more letters, e-mails and phone calls than any other last year, a Senate panel on Wednesday approved a bill that would force dog and cat owners to have their pet spayed or neutered if they are also cited for certain other offenses, such as allowing the animal to roam free.

Legislators have wrestled for years with the question of how far to go in trying to control the overpopulation of dogs and cats, and the costs to local governments for animal control services and operating animal shelters. State law already requires shelters to spay or neuter animals before they can be adopted and also imposes escalating state fees on owners who claim an unaltered pet that has been impounded.

clipped from www.latimes.com

Portuguese water dogs play key role in genetics research

The Obama’s puppy comes from the most studied breed in the world. The clues into what determines size and disease susceptibility help researchers looking into human disease.

clipped from www.ucla-pro-test.org

UCLA Community to stand up for Biomedical Research

The campus movement,
UCLA Pro-Test,
has organized a demonstration on
Wednesday, April 22nd
in order to support medical research; it will coincide with the “World Week for Animals in Laboratories” rally organized by various anti-research extremist groups.
The upcoming UCLA Pro-Test demonstration parallels the 2006 demonstrations by the UK student organization Pro-Test, which opened the public debate on animal research in the UK and contributed to the downfall of animal rights activism in the UK.
One of UK Pro-Tests founders, Tom Holder, will be on hand at the Los Angeles rally to show his support for our efforts and to emcee the event.

clipped from news.yahoo.com

Scientists start to unlock secrets of bird flight

WASHINGTON – For millennia, people have watched the birds and bees and wondered: “How do they do that?” Thanks to high-speed film and some persistent scientists, at least one of the secrets of flight is now revealed. When birds, bats or bugs make a turn, all they have to do is start flapping their wings normally again and they straighten right out.

clipped from news.yahoo.com

Jury: Colorado school wrongly fired professor

DENVER – A jury ruled Thursday that the University of Colorado wrongly fired the professor who compared some Sept. 11 victims to a Nazi, a verdict that gives the professor $1 and a chance to get his job back. “What was asked for and what was delivered was justice,” Ward Churchill said outside the courtroom.

Churchill said claims including plagiarism were just a cover and that he never would have been fired if it weren’t for the essay in which he called World Trade Center victims “little Eichmanns,” a reference to Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi leader who helped orchestrate the Holocaust. Jurors agreed.