Today in History
1909, the steamship SS Arapahoe became the first ship in North America to issue an S.O.S. distress signal, off North Carolina's Cape Hatteras.
1934, the first federal prisoners arrived at Alcatraz Island (a former military prison) in San Francisco Bay.
1992, the Mall of America opened in Bloomington, Minn.
Celeb B-Days
Computer scientist and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is 62.
Comic-Actor-host Joe Rogan is 45.
Actor Chris Hemsworth is 29.
Crew
Jon Patch - Host
Dr. Linda Register - Vet/Co Host
Bob Page - Executive Producer
Zach Budin - Network Producer
Special Guests:
Tune in Saturday at 5:00 PM EST when Jon and Talkin' Pets is joined by Ramses Bravo author of BRAVO! Health Promoting Meals From the TrueNorth Kitchen - he will be giving away a few of his Vegan cookbooks on air
Paws Aboard Founder and CEO Amber McCrocklin will join Jon and Talkin' Pets Saturday at 6:30 PM EST to discuss and give away the Monster Walker
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Jersey Shore town calling in some old goats... no not Snookie and JWow...
Officials in a New Jersey shore town might use goats from Maryland to rid an environmentally-sensitive area of poison ivy.
Seaside Park can't burn the toxic plant or use chemicals because the patch overlooks Barnegat Bay. The town is considering an alternative.
Officials believe it would cost between $15,000 and $20,000 to use nature's weed eaters.
Councilman Michael Tierney said the cost includes two handlers who come from Maryland to watch over the 15 to 18 goats.
Dawn Yurkiewicz of Stratford Farm in Whiteford, Md., said it might take the entire herd up to three weeks to eat all the poison ivy.
New Jersey environmental officials are worried the goats might also eat rare plants along the bay.
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Rare Rhino's spotted and photographed...
A conservationist says seven of the world's rarest rhinoceroses were photographed at a national park in Indonesia. It is the first sighting there in 26 years.
Tarmizi, from the Leuser International Foundation, said that pictures from movement-triggered cameras identified a male and six female Sumatran rhinos in Aceh province's Leuser National Park as of April.
More than 1,000 images from 28 camera traps were taken since last July. The park's rhino population is estimated to be no more than 27.
There are an estimated 200 Sumatran rhinos living in the wild in small groups in Indonesia and Malaysia, half the number from 15 years ago.
An estimated 70 percent of the population has been lost since 1985, mainly to poaching and loss of habitat.
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Badger... badgers store!!
A badger that wandered into a retail store in northern Nevada dodged a tranquilizer dart and held authorities at bay for about an hour before the teeth-baring critter was lured into a cage with cat food.
No one was hurt in the standoff at the convenience store in a residential neighborhood in Sparks, and the badger ultimately was returned to the wild north of Reno, Nevada.
A state game warden was called to the Fresca Waterstore along with two assisting officers from Washoe County Animal Services.
Photos show the badger baring its teeth through the store's glass door and later at an animal control officer trying to nab it with a noose on a stick inside the store. The baited cage was brought in after the tranquilizer dart missed.
Lingering drought often sends bears and coyotes into urban areas and that could have played a role in the badger's adventure.
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Don't pet the pigs.
That's the message state and county fair visitors are getting from health officials who reported a five-fold increase of cases of a new strain of swine flu that spreads from pigs to people. Most of the cases are linked to the fairs, where visitors are in close contact with infected pigs.
This flu has mild symptoms and it's not really spreading from person to person. But any flu can be a risk for some people and people should be cautious.
The case count jumped from 29 a week ago to 158 this week, thanks to a wave of new cases in Indiana and Ohio.
Most of the infected patients are children - probably because many were working closely with raising, displaying and visiting pigs at the agricultural fairs.
The recent cases include at least 113 in Indiana, 30 in Ohio, one in Hawaii and one in Illinois.
The CDC has been tracking cases since last summer. A concern: The new strain has a gene from the 2009 pandemic strain that might let it spread more easily than pig viruses normally do.
The good news is the flu does not seem to be unusually dangerous. Almost all the illnesses have been mild and no one has died. Two of the recent cases were hospitalized, but both recovered and were discharged.
Pigs spread flu virus just like people do, with coughing, sneezing and runny noses, so people can get it by touching pigs or being near them.
Health officials don't think it's necessary to cancel swine shows, but are urging people to take precautions.
Fairgoers should wash their hands and avoid taking food and drinks into livestock barns, officials said, while pregnant women, young children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems should be particularly careful.
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Say it aint so... We have less pets than a few years ago... did they not count the crazy cat ladies???
Fewer American families have cats and dogs in their homes today than six years ago, a possible effect of changing family structures and a lingering sober economy.
That's the theory of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). Its most recent survey found that between 2006 and 2011, the number of American households with pets decreased by 2.8 million.
Dogs remain part of the family in 36.5 percent of homes, while cats find favor in 30.4 percent of households. But Americans have 2 million fewer dogs and 7.6 million fewer feline friends than they did in 2006, according to the AVMA's 2012 U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographics Sourcebook presented this week at its convention in San Diego.
While dogs are found in more homes than any other pets, cats outnumber them, 74.1 million compared to 70 million. The data was based on household surveys of more than 50,000 Americans.
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The dog days of summer are wrapping up but new tools are helping save lives...
Good Samaritans, temperature guns and tougher laws are the newest tools in the campaign to keep animals out of hot cars, where just minutes can mean death.
More calls are coming in about overheated dogs — and officials say that's a good thing, because more people are aware of the problem and calling before it's too late.
Still, despite annual warnings, pets continue to die or suffer serious injury in hot cars. While no one keeps tabs on annual deaths or injuries because so many different agencies handle calls. But agencies say calls have increased to 911, police departments, fire departments, animal control officers, shelters or veterinarians.
Studies show that the temperature in a car — even on a mild day — can go up 34 degrees in just 30 minutes.
Heatstroke affects every organ in the body. As a dog begins to get hot, it will become anxious, agitated and start pacing, which heats the dog even more. Then the dog will start drooling, maybe frothing at the mouth, vomiting and defecating, the veterinarian said. As the heat starts to affect the dog's brain, it will stumble, lose its balance and have trouble standing. It will then collapse, and finally lose consciousness.
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