It is hard to believe that it has been eight years since our country was attacked. Please take a moment today to remember all those lost on 9/11/01. May God provide some comfort to their still suffering families.
Let us also take a moment to remember the heros of that day, both human and canine.

Canine influenza, the potentially deadly H3N8 virus commonly known as dog flu, is spreading.

So far the virus has led to the death of one dog last week, closed down the kennel at Virginia’s Fairfax County Animal Shelter, and, according to experts, is now affecting dogs in at least four other states: Colorado, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

While the reason for the shelter outbreak, which killed a 15-year-old whippet owned by a clinical technician and sickened 26 dogs, remains unknown, it’s possible that one or more infected dogs from Philadelphia or D.C. introduced the illness to Virginia.

“Dogs often move in and out of shelter systems over long distances, such as via breed and rescue groups,” Edward Dubovi, director of the virology center at Cornell’s Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory, told Discovery News.

“Boarding kennels and even elite doggie day care centers can also result in cases, since, as for kennel cough spread, the virus is highly contagious and dogs may catch it from one another,” added Dubovi.

He first isolated the canine influenza virus in 2004, after University of Florida researchers sent him fluid and tissue samples from greyhound race dogs that had died from a then mysterious respiratory illness at a Florida racetrack.

Dubovi and his team determined the cause was the H3N8 equine flu virus, which jumped from horses to dogs. In addition to spreading from dog to dog, canines can also catch it from humans, who may have come into contact with infected animals.

The illness has not yet sickened any people.

Symptoms in dogs can include fever, lethargy, loss of appetite and a respiratory infection that may last a few weeks. One to five percent of victims die from related hemorrhagic pneumonia.

Although 30 states have reported cases over the past five years, Dubovi said outbreaks are “usually sporadic and then die out.”

“For example, we’ve seen outbreaks in San Diego, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh, but those all ended,” he explained.

As officials work to contain the Virginia cases, nearby states and cities are also on guard.

Tara deNicolas, a spokesperson for the Washington Humane Society, told Discovery News, “No cases are currently in our shelter.”

She added, “We’re being very proactive, however, and are ordering tests whenever any possible symptoms surface.”

Source:

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/08/18/dog-canine-virus.html

RICHMOND, Va. – A dog belonging to Robin Starr, the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA, died after being left alone for four hours in the car.

In an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch at the SPCA’s offices, Starr and her husband Ed cried while recounting the story.

Ed said he put the dog, a sixteen year old deaf and blind mutt named Louie, into the vehicle as Robin prepared for work.

Robin arrived at her job without realizing the dog was in the car.

Several hours later when she left to get lunch, Robin saw Louie in the car.

She took the dog inside to the SPCA clinic, then to an emergency veterinary clinic.

The dog died later of kidney failure.

Starr has been CEO of the Richmond SPCA since 1997.

She does not plan to resign.

SOURCE:

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Dog of Richmond SPCA CEO dies after being left in car for 4 hours 

Some of you will remember Theresa, the two and a half month old beagle puppy that was born without her right paw and also without  part of her right leg. This imperfection  caused her owner to bring her to the shelter. We pulled Theresa from the shelter the very same day she was going to be euthanized. She has since been seen by our veterinarian and I am happy to say she was transported to her new adoptive family in Ct on Wendsay,July 22nd.

We would like to share with you a few photos we received from Nancy, her adopter. We also would like to take a moment to thank Nancy and her wonderful family for opening their heart and home to this little girl in need!!!

Avril Lavigne granted permission to use her song “I’m with you” to convey this important message for animals. The organization is called “New Leash On Life”

First I want to thank one of our volunteers for her wonderful brain storming and coming up with this one. Many if not all of you know that placing an older dog is next to impossible. With that in mind SFF will be implementing, immediately, our new Seniors for Seniors program. The goal of this program is to match up senior citizens with senior canines that are in need of homes. Their will be no cost to the senior adopting the senior dog. It is our hope that thru sponsorship we will be able to fully vet a sr. dog and adopt it out at no cost to the adopter. SFF will also, as funds allow, provide the new adopters with monthly food donations and free yearly rabies vaccination.

There are so many benefits to this program, the most obvious of which is saving the dogs life. However there are many benefits to the older adopter as well including companionship and an increase in excersize. Not to mention the medical benefits of owning a pet, studies have shown that just petting a dog can lower a persons blood pressure.

I should also mention that these dogs prior to adoption will remain in the care of SFF for two full weeks after being rescued so that their tempermant can be properly accessed.

Qualifying is fairly simple, the potential adopter must be 60 or older, must pass a home inspection, vet check, ( if they had previously owned pets)and must have never been charged with animal abuse,neglect or cruelty at any time in his/her life.

Qualifying for the canines is as follows: Large breeds qualify if they are 7 years +, Smaller breeds qualify if they are 10 +

No animal exibiting ANY type of aggression will qualify for this program.

If you know of a Senior in need of some companionship, please email us at SavingFurryFriends@yahoo.com or call us at 276-706-6477.

The penalties for failure to license a dog or a cat in Smyth County,Va. just got a little stiffer with the supervisors’ adoption of an amendment to the county code.
The supervisors voted unanimously to adopt the new language Tuesday, a month after a public hearing on the matter heard no comment for or against it.
Until now, failure to license dogs and cats brought a $10 fine for the first offense in a year, $20 for the second.
The amendment makes failure a misdemeanor, subject to the same penalty provided in the Code of Virginia with which the amendment brings county code into agreement.
“If the known owner of any dog or cat shall fail to pay any license tax required by this Chapter before February 1 for the year in which it is due, he or she shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor, and in addition, the Court may order confiscation and the proper disposition of the dog or cat,” now reads the ordinance.
Class 1 misdemeanors will include impersonating a humane investigator.
The Code of Virginia sets a penalty for a Class 4 misdemeanor at not more then $250. A Class 1 misdemeanor is punishable by “confinement in jail for not more than twelve months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both,” the code said.

Yet another reason to unchain your dog and bring him into the home with the family, where he belongs.

A dog drowned after it was chained to a stake and left outside during the storm Sunday night.

It happened in Frame in Kanawha County.

A volunteer firefighter tells WSAZ.com that the dog was always chained and left alone. It does have a doghouse but she says the dog did not fit inside.

For several weeks, she’s complained to the homeowner and the Humane Society but has been ignored.

When flash floods hit overnight the dog was left to fend for itself. The water took over the homeowner’s backyard and since the dog was chained and could not escape, it drowned.

The homeowner says he didn’t realize it was going to rain that night and he didn’t know there was a flood warning.

The Humane Society does not plan to press charges.

New, Fast-Evolving Rabies Virus Found — And Spreading

Evolving faster than any other new rabies virus on record, a northern- Arizona rabies strain has mutated to become contagious among skunks and now foxes, experts believe.

The strain looks to be spreading fast, commanding attention from disease researchers across the United States (U.S. map).

It’s not so unusual for rabid animals to attack people on hiking trails and in driveways, or even in a bar—as happened March 27, when an addled bobcat chased pool players around the billiards table at the Chaparral in Cottonwood.

Nor is it odd that rabid skunks and foxes are testing positive for a contagious rabies strain commonly associated with big brown bats.

What is unusual is that the strain appears to have mutated so that foxes and skunks are now able to pass the virus on to their kin—not just through biting and scratching but through simple socializing, as humans might spread a flu.

Usually the secondary species—in this case, a skunk or fox bitten by a bat—is a dead-end host. The infected animal may become disoriented and even die but is usually unable to spread the virus, except through violent attacks.

Skunks have already been proven to be passively transmitting the strain to each other, as documented in a 2006 study in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Genetic studies suggest foxes are also spreading the new strain to each other, though the results have not yet been peer reviewed.

Unprecedented Evolution

When a skunk in Flagstaff, Arizona, died of rabies in 2001, wildlife specialists thought it was a “freak accident”—due to a one-off, run- of-the-mill bat bite—said Barbara Worgess, director of the Coconino County Health Department.

Lab tests later showed that the virus had adapted to the skunk physiology and become contagious within the species.

“It shouldn’t have been able to pass from skunk to skunk,” Worgess said.

Rabies has continued to crop up in skunks for eight years now, despite periodic vaccination campaigns. And so far this year, county officials have documented 14 rabid foxes in the Flagstaff area.

Now laboratory studies at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta appear to confirm that the fox and skunk rabies viruses are mutated forms of the bat strain.

“We can see degrees of relatedness and patterns in their genetic codes,” said Charles Rupprecht, chief of the rabies program for the CDC.

This sort of rapid evolution is exactly what worries public health officials when it comes to all manner of viruses. Virologists haven’t seen such fast adaptation to a new species in rabies before.

“That’s why Flagstaff is such an interesting story worldwide,” said David Bergman, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s state director for Arizona.

“We’re watching evolution in action on the ground.”

Could Rabies Become Contagious in Humans?

The Arizona rabies situation is risky, because the infected species live so close to people.

Flagstaff’s sprawl in recent decades has created a perfect opportunity for rabies to mutate into species- hopping forms, the CDC’s Rupprecht said.

New-home construction, often in wooded areas, has actually increased habitat and food sources for bats, skunks, and foxes. Skunks live under houses, for example, and as diggers, make themselves at home on golf courses. Bats, meanwhile, are adept at living in attics and under loose shingles.

As more rabies- susceptible animals congregate in the region, more infections can take place. And each infection is an opportunity for the virus to mutate into a more virulent form—literally upping the odds of a new strain developing.

“That’s a pattern that we see all over the United States,” Rupprecht said. Similar suburban development in the eastern U.S. in the late 1970s, he noted, led to the spread of raccoon rabies from the Canadian border to the Deep South.

The risk of such a virulent strain jumping to people “should be a major concern,” said Hinh Ly, a molecular virologist at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, who is not involved in studies of the Arizona outbreak.

But no one is expecting the rabies strain to become a contagious, swine flu-like epidemic among humans.

Flu viruses, for one thing, tend to infect people fast, so “vaccination after exposure would be too late to prevent infection,” said Elisabeth Lawaczeck, the Arizona Department of Health Services’ public health veterinarian.

Rabies takes its time before going from incubation to infection, so post-exposure rabies vaccinations tend to be effective at stopping the virus. If untreated, though, rabies, which attacks the central nervous system, is often fatal in humans.

What Next?

Rabies cases among animals are expected to increase as the spring and summer mating seasons bring potential pairs and rivals together. (Related: “Bat Rabies Threat Rises With Summer Temperatures.”)

Already, Flagstaff has declared a 90-day pet quarantine—all dogs on leashes and all cats indoors—which began in April.

A wildlife vaccination plan could stem the virus’s spread.

Local and state officials enacted vaccination programs in northern Arizona in 2001 and 2005 but discontinued each effort after two years without rabies reports—the World Health Organization’s standard for declaring an area rabies-free.

Now state vaccination funds have been reallocated, the USDA’s Bergman said, and emergency funds are increasingly rare due to the recession.

Adding to the worries, Lawaczeck, the Arizona veterinary official, said she and other public heath officials were “very unsettled” when the first rabid fox reports came in from Flagstaff this year—and not just because of the evolutionary implications for rabies.

“This means a much wider spread of rabies,” she said, “because [foxes] travel so much farther.”