On 15th April 2008 ASPCA’s much talked about event, ‘America’s Next Top Dog’ was held. At the end of this enjoyable dog fashion event, a pit-mix named Cali bagged the $1 million worth crown studded with Chopard diamonds.

The event was held with a view to promoting the Bergh Ball, an event to support ASPCA. Dylan Lauren, Nicole Miller and Isaac Mizrahi will grace the event.

Source: NYC Blog

Here English animal lovers have something to turn their noses upon – perfume for their beloved canine friends! On Monday, a London store launched an eau de toilette for cities pampered pooches that costs 38 pounds ($78.60) for a 50 ml bottle.

Pet shop Mungo & Maud hired perfumer Lyn Harris to create a fragrance exclusively for the best friend of the mankind. As said, the result was

A natural fragrance inspired with notes of French blackcurrant, Tunisian neroli, mimosa and violet leaf based on sweet vanilla bourbon along with some almond.

“This will refresh the dog and appeal the human nose”, says shop’s creative director, Nichola Sacher, about the perfume Petite Amande.

Source: Yahoo! news

People keep on innovating things which I at least feel are useless. In this case that may be because I don’t have a pet, nor I plan to do so. For all of you, who have pet and love them, here is a new product to own. This includes a rescue jacket, a rain coat and surprisingly, the rescue jacket contains an emergency kit plus food. The price hovers in between $238 and $425. Displayed and demonstrated at the Security and Safety Trade Expo in Tokyo on October 17, 2007, the product actually looks cute to me. I wonder how heavy that is!

Source: Spluch

Source: Luxuryaffair

Here is a piece of furniture not for you but for your cats. Elizabeth Paige Smith, a Venice, Calif., furniture designer, speaking of the traditional feline stuff said, “The color, the texture, the shape, the scale — those things are just all wrong.” This particular piece of luxury furniture will make your cats comfy and also add to neatness at your place. This has been made from cardboards and it looks stylish as well.

Source: Neatorama

Seeing this dog costume for the first time, I decided to laugh it off, but then I realised the imporance of this costume to the loyal Darth Vader fans and I gave it full marks.

And the only point that made me sympathisize with the geeky Darth Vader fans was the proud face of that cute dog.

Although I’m not an ardent fan of Star Wars characters, but I admit that the Darth Vader dog costume will definitely elevate the spirit of your pampered canine.

The costume, which incidentally is the officially licensed Darth Vader Dog costume from Star Wars, features the Darth Vader halmet and a jumpsuit with attached arms and a cape with belt.

The costume is available in three sizes - small, medium and large, and should fit most of the breeds.

The Darth Vader dog costume sells for $9.99 at Amazon.

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It is a batter powered unit that can be programmed for up to 48 hours to feed your pet at the appointed hours in the required quantity. You can fix the time when you would like your pet to be fed and the unit would act accordingly. The two compartments can keep around 1.5 cups of food. So, while you are away your pet’s eating can now be taken care of automatically. No pet worries any more. Isn’t that wonderful?

The unit is priced at $29.99.

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An animal sanctuary in China is playing witness to an odd friendship between a 12-week-old macaque and a white pigeon. The macaque was abandoned by his mother and was close to death when it was rescued on Neilingding Island, in Goangdong Province. It was then shifted to an animal hospital where he reclaimed his health, but still lacked the spirit to live on.

But God sends a saviour for everyone in need, and the macaque got his saviour in the form of a white pigeon. The little macaque developed a friendship with the pigeon and got a new reason to live. According to the sanctuary staff, the two developed a strong liking for each other which has helped the macaque regain his health. Now the two are always found attached to each other.

I wish the human race could learn from such examples.

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This picture was leaked by some of Pete’s sickened pals who even gave some strange details regarding the poor kitten’s venture into drugs. According to them, the singer regularly helps her pets go easy with the crack. According to one of his friends,

One in particular has borne the brunt of his drug abuse. Pete thinks it’s hilarious to get it wasted. He even made a special mini-crack pipe out of a bottle so it can get the maximum hit. But the kitten is starting to get really bad withdrawal symptoms. It has lost some of its balance and takes huge risks jumping over things that are too high. It thinks it can fly. It’s really distressing to see.

Well, if we see the picture it is clear that the junkie singer, who is currently in rehab, appears to have lost his mental balance after his split with supermodel girlfriend Kate Moss. And the poor kitten is paying the price.

Is this the lowest a person can fall? May be not, because if its Pete Doherty then its bound to go even further.

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If you think, you have to be a smoker for letting smoking harm you, you are vehemently wrong, so is also the case with your pet! Like humans, household pets such as dogs, cats and birds can also have health problems from other people’s smoking – and can eventually develop malignant cancer.

Do you know, your little pet can silently fall victim to your smoking and can even develop oral cancer and lymphoma?

This is found to occur especially in cats. And, lung and nasal cancer from indoor tobacco smoke occur in dogs, with lung cancer more common in birds.

Dr. Carolynn MacAllister, an Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Service veterinarian informs that secondhand smoke can eventually increase cancer mostly in the nose and sinus area among dogs, as well as to the lung in certain cases.

It has been found that household ‘passive-smoker’ dogs suffer higher risk of nasal tumors than ones living in a smoke free environment. To add to this, lung cancer rates are higher among shorter or medium nosed dogs.

And if a cat is own by a smoker, the poor animal is twice as likely to develop malignant lymphoma, killing 3 out of 4 cats within 12 months of developing it.

Next time you smoke with your pet around, pause a while to find if your smoking is worth its health and life.

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Maybe fanny packs are comfortable or more stylish but that should be no reason for you to get them and deprive your pet from sense of freedom. Fanny packs are really not needed!

Source: Styledash

The rare and the ancient breed of dogs, Tibetan Mastiff has become the latest craze in China’s elite class. The breed has become so much in demand that people are willing to pay whooping amounts of $500,000 to become its proud owners.

Once domesticated in the mountainous regions of Tibet some 6,000 years as a flock dog and guard dog, this breed is considered to be the oldest, biggest and fiercest of domestic dogs. Known to be excellent family protectors they are now being domesticated by Chinese as a status symbol.

Some few years back the breed suffered because of the limited genepool from the original stock, however the dog lovers and breeders helped in curtailing the genetic problems by selective breeding and internationally exchanging new bloodlines. As a matter of fact pure bloodlines are really precious as they can fetch high prices because of its rarity.

United States too has been gripped by the animal, as today there are a lot of breeders here and an American Tibetan Mastiff Association which has a great gallery of photos and a list of Tibetan Mastiff rescues in need of homes.

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Source:Luxist

The Perfect pet feeder is dishwasher safe and the chic designed appliance is made of stainless steel. It is able to hold up to ten pounds of food at a time and is programmable for up to six meals and also has battery back up to ensure that your pet gets its meals on time. Its integrated sensor alerts you when the unit needs to be refilled

So, according to their own words “Simply put, the Perfect Pet feeder was conceived to do one thing, feed your pet flawlessly, for a lifetime. Succeeding in both substance and style, it allows you to effortlessly implement healthy, consistent, portion-controlled nutrition that’s customized for your pet’s optimum health, without respect for long work hours and busy schedules. Invitingly easy to use with features that surpass expectation, the Perfect Petfeeder has been warmly received by discerning pet owner’s as the automated solution of choice.”

A lifetime of ‘meals-on-time’ is guaranteed for your pet when you bring home this paw-proof pet feeder. The Perfect pet feeder comes with a 3 year warranty and costs $699.

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Via

Avis: ARK (Animal Rescue Kerala) has Memorandums of Understanding signed by the local Panchayaths of Vizinjam and Venganoor , and we have had just over 2 lakhs in total from the Animal Welfare Board of India, but apart from that we have had no governmental support whatsoever.

2. You might have faced certain challenges in the region, especially from the Municipal Corporation, how did you cope up with those?

Avis: On many occasions with great difficulty. When the mayor of Trivandrum asked in August 2006 if we could teach Corporation staff how to implement the ABC (Animal Birth Control) program we were happy to help. To later discover that they had used the skills we had taught them to kill thousands of dogs, many of which were our sterilized dogs, I was devastated. If it wasn’t for the dogs I would have left long ago, they give me the strength and courage to continue.

3. Could you please tell us something about the Animal Birth Control program?

Avis: The program has been scientifically proven to be the only way of efficiently -and humanely- reducing the dog population.

Dogs are systematically collected, from one area at a time, and are sterilized and vaccinated against Rabies. At the same time we put a tattoo in one ear (for identification), and a v shaped nick (for identifying previously sterilized dogs from a distance). We have records kept for each animal that enters into our care, and their tattoo number and location of capture are recorded. Every animal is released to the exact location it was captured. This is extremely important as dogs are territorial, they need to go back to their territory in order to find food, but also they will stop other dogs from entering their territory, so once all the dogs in an area are sterilized/vaccinated it then becomes a stable population, no other dogs are allowed in, no puppies are born and the area becomes rabies-free (the panchayaths that we have been working in for the last 5 years are completely rabies free).

We also sterilize male dogs this makes the dog much more placid so the dogs are less likely to fight amongst themselves.

In areas where there is no ABC program, when the female dogs come into heat, the male dogs wander in packs and fight amongst themselves.
Killing doesn’t work as when you kill dogs other dogs take up the vacant territories. It is usually the friendly community dogs that are the first to be caught, and in their place come more nervous who maybe not so friendly. Where there is organic waste there will be animals looking for food. If there are no dogs there will be rats instead.

4. Critics postulate that there is an escalating graph of poverty in the country which does not allow a workable atmosphere to help the stray dogs. What do you have to say in this regard?

Avis: It is not a people v/s dog situation. The ABC program is important for both humans and our canine friends. Over the course of time the ABC program reduces the dog population so that you end up with a steady population of friendly community dogs as opposed to packs of roaming hounds. The ABC program, done as it is intended, in a systematic way, is the only way of eradicating rabies in the dog population.

5. What do you have to say about animals laws under the Indian administration?

Avis: The animal welfare laws of India are great, but they are very often not implemented and particularly not in Kerala.

6. How far have you reached in achieving your goals?

Avis: I came here when I reached the age of 60. I intended to sterilize the dogs in the Kovalam area and to stay for about 3 years. I have achieved this, but find I am unable to leave as there is so much cruelty and so many animals needing our care.

7. Where do you see yourself, let’s say, five years from now?

Avis: If would like to say that I would be retired and taking things easy, however as long as I am fit and healthy I honestly cannot see me leaving the Centre. The animals are my life.

8. Would you like to leave some message to our readers?

Avis: I believe that the world would be such a better place if everybody did their little bit to try and improve the planet and to help people or animals in need instead, unfortunately it seems to be left to a few people to do a lot.

Please try and do just a little act of kindness each day.

9. Finally, we would like to have your thoughts on the Instablogs News Network and all its related sites. Which one is your favorite?

Avis: Of course I will have to say the pets section.

Before signing off, I’d like to thank Avis for sparing out time for this wonderful interview and also to Odette, her daughter, for arranging responses. Furthermore, I’d like to wish both of them luck for all their future endeavors.