April Is Heartworm Awareness Month. Here’s How To Protect Your Pets From Danger
April is more than rainy showers. It’s also Heartworm Awareness Month, which is celebrated each April to raise awareness about this dangerous disease before mosquito season sets in. The good news is that heartworm disease–although potentially fatal for our furry friends–is also a treatable condition. Read on for everything you need to know about heartworm in dogs and cats, symptoms and treatment, and how to protect your pets from this serious disease. Heartworm 101<!—-> Photo: Pixabay What is Heartworm Disease?...
Arizona Joins Growing List of States Banning Cages For Egg-Laying Hens
Life just got a little better for egg-laying hens in Arizona. They will no longer live in tiny cages, known as battery cages, and will finally be able to spread their wings, peck, and socialize. All eggs sold and produced in the state will be cage-free. The bill, HB 2724, states that the hens must be provided with “enrichments that allow them to exhibit natural behaviors, including at a minimum, scratch areas, perches, nest boxes, and dust bathing areas.” Photo: Pixabay/ Wolfgang Ehrecke Arizona is the 10th state to go cage-free...
How This Officer Worked Differently to Keep a Cat Safe While His Owner Was Hospitalized
This National Animal Care & Control Appreciation Week, we’re sharing stories that show the absolutely critical role field services officers play in HASS’s community-focused model of animal services. This story comes out of Kitsap Humane Society in Silverdale, Washington—stay tuned for more very inspiring, very HASS-y field services stories on social media! And please reach out to let us know if you have a great story to share about the ways your organization is implementing the HASS model to keep people and pets together...
Rescuers Found a 5-Year-Old Lost Boy Accompanied by His Dog Best Friend
In Houston, Jasmine Martinez was left worried at home after noticing that her 5-year-old son with Down Syndrome was missing. She and her son took an afternoon nap, and when she woke up, José wasn’t home anymore. Jasmine assumed that José may have opened the door by himself and roamed somewhere else. She soon called the Houston Police Department to report the missing child. Shortly after reporting that the child was missing, Jasmine was informed that José Muñoz had been found half a mile away from their house....
How one of the nation’s highest-volume foster programs is engaging foster caregivers online
Cincinnati Animal CARE Humane Society has one of the largest foster programs in the country, placing over 4,600 pets in foster homes in 2021. How did they do it? A major secret to their success is the thriving Facebook group they created to facilitate communication with foster caregivers. Since its creation in September 2020, the group has grown in leaps and bounds. Today, over 1,900 members submit about 20 posts per day. Not only does the group enable foster staff to better support and communicate with foster caregivers, they use...
Cat Breaks Into Baby’s Crib To Play With The Hanging Toys
Cats are many things. Subtle is not one of them. In fact, cats can be quite extra when the mood strikes. They know precisely how to pull focus at any given moment, whether it’s mealtime, playtime, or nap time. Cats march to the beat of their own drum and they do as they please. In fact, if you’re a cat owner you’ve probably made peace with the fact that it’s the cat’s world, and you’re just living in it. Photo: Wikimedia Commons Of course, this can often lead to some pretty silly moments caught on camera....
Kitten Receives CPR After Being Rescued From A Drain Pipe
Cats are, by nature, quite curious beings. And when they’re little, their curiosity definitely knows no bounds. That is why kittens can sometimes find themselves in some rather precarious and downright dangerous situations if they’re not properly watched. For one kitten in Cleveland, OH, it was a race against time after the tiny feline found itself stuck inside a drain pipe. Photo: YouTube/WKYC Channel 3 Fortunately, there was a group of rescuers on hand to save the little cat from a horrible death. The kitten had fallen a whole 8...
Owner Surprised When Dog Receives Speeding Ticket In The Mail
A driver in Germany was shocked when they received a speeding ticket in the mail. While getting a ticket isn’t that out of the ordinary if you happen to be speeding, this was an unusual case because the person who received the ticket wasn’t behind the wheel at all. Instead, a white dog was in the driver’s seat! The dog’s owner was surprised to see the ticket with the pup’s face plastered on it. The man’s nephew posted about the incident in a now-private tweet and it quickly went viral. Photo:...
Woman Wakes Up To Find Stray Dog Sitting On Her Patio Furniture
When Amy Haden woke up one morning, her daughter informed her that a dog was outside on the patio. Since Haden has two pets, she didn’t think much of it and assumed it was one of her dogs. But apparently, it was a different dog they’d never seen before! The dog was sitting on a chair on the patio, completely making himself at home. He seemed so comfortable, as it if were his patio! Photo: YouTube/Good Morning America In an interview with Good Morning America, Amy said: “He had completely made himself at home on the cushions,...
Loving Pittie Fosters Baby Raccoon And Teachers Her How To Survive In The Wild
When a baby raccoon was found orphaned in a tire wheel, it could’ve been the end for the little guy. The poor kit was all alone, scared, and seemingly had been without his mom for a few days. He was desperately underweight and in need of some nutrition and special care. Even then, it wasn’t clear if the kit would survive. Kate decided to take on caring for the little orphaned baby and tried to rehabilitate him, but she didn’t have to do it alone. Alongside her was her blue-nosed pit bull, Ashlyn. Photo: YouTube/The Dodo Kate...
First Responders Rescue 8 Huskies Trapped In House Fire
A mama husky and her seven puppies are grateful to be alive after being trapped in a terrifying house fire. When first responders arrived at the scene of the fire in Glendale, Arizona, they could see smoke and flames pouring from the house. It would’ve been an awful scene to arrive at, but it was made worse by the sound of dogs howling and yelping from inside! Photo: YouTube/Inside Edition The first responders could hear the high-pitched squeals of the animals inside and they quickly began working to pry open the garage door. Using a...
Boy Walking To School Stops To Hug Stray Dogs On The Street
In many countries, stray dogs are seen as little more than a nuisance. Some neighborhoods may help feed and care for the street dogs, but others might intentionally harm them or try to shoo them away. Living on the streets is a sad reality that millions of dogs face, but some kind-hearted people are working to give those dogs the best lives possible. While some people do their part to help animals by opening shelters or raising money for care, others offer their help in smaller, subtle ways. Photo: flickr/Andrey The perfect example of this...
Dad Dresses Up As Dog’s Favorite Chew Toy
Dogs often have a favorite toy. For some, it might be a chew toy or a stick. For others, it could be a special stuffed animal or blanket. For Charlie the golden retriever, his favorite toy was a stuffed duck named Mr. Quakers. Charlie lives with his owners, Alicia and Stan, in Springfield Ohio. The couple documents Charlie’s life on social media, where he has almost half a million followers. If you happen to follow Charlie, you’re probably familiar with Mr. Quackers. The toy has seen much better days and it’s a bit deflated...
Mealtime Etiquette Helpful Hints
My Chihuahua, Jasmine, has developed a strange ritual at mealtimes. She is not a morning eater and prefers to have her main meal in the late afternoon, while my other dog, Bella, would love it if she could eat all day. Jasmine eats on an ottoman next to her favorite chair because she generally feels more comfortable being elevated on a piece of furniture than eating on the ground. This has nothing to do with her wanting to exert dominance over Bella; she just feels happier being higher up. The world can be overwhelming when you’re that...
Soothing your pet’s car travel anxiety
Submission Guidelines Thank you for your interest in writing for Animal Wellness. As the #1 natural health magazine for pets in North America, we take pride in providing our readers with the information they need to make wise health care choices for their animal companions. Our publication embraces the entire holistic spectrum, from physical health issues to the emotional and spiritual well being of our animals. We welcome unsolicited articles and story outlines as long as they focus on holistic healing, whether physical, emotional or...
Maddie’s Weekly Roundup: Open Arms Challenge winners, barrier-free adoption webcast, and more!
Happy Monday! Below is a brief roundup of resources added over the past week. The Open Arms Challenge winners are…The Open Arms Challenge winners are here! From November 22, 2021 to January 3, 2022, animal shelters and rescue organizations piloted new approaches that opened doors to adopters and volunteers, and welcomed their entire community. The 194 participating organizations embraced inclusive policies, including translating materials into multiple languages, creating new partnerships with organizations outside...
Mary The Bulldog Found Abandoned And Bleeding On A Roadside Finally Finds Her Forever Home
A bulldog was seen thrown out of a truck in Woodbridge, Connecticut back in late October. The animal control officer that handled the wounded animal said that the dog had some internal bleeding when she was brought in and suspected that the animal suffered injuries from a failed C-section surgery. PHOTO: Youtube/News 12 Jess Moffo, a Woodbridge Animal Control Officer, said that the dog was one of the worst cases they have seen and that you could physically tell that the dog had been used solely for breeding and assumed that the previous...
Featherless Hens Get Rescued From Commercial Cages
Have you ever been asked about how you prefer your eggs? For Belle & Fleur, they like to have their eggs from hens who are not kept in cages. Haidy Mansfield, the woman who is dedicating her life to rescuing caged chickens and rehoming them, started Belle & Fleur when she and her partner decided to rehome some hens to have their own steady supply of eggs, to be more self-sufficient. But the hens that they were able to rehome happened to come from commercial cages. She said in an interview that she fell in love with the hens the more...
Cat Rescued From 30 Feet Up in a Tree
This story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Submit your own rescue story here. Your story just might be the next to be featured on our blog! It was a cold winter morning, 30 degrees. I went to get the daily paper at the road about 120 feet from our house and heard a faint cry. I looked in the culverts and ditches to no avail and went back out to get the mail at 4 or so. This time I heard a screaming cry. CAT. PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK / BELYAAA I traced the sound to a tree. I looked up and down and about 30 feet up, I saw something...
Adorable Grandpa Wears A Cone To Make Dog “Feel Less Lonely”
“We don’t need unity in theory, we need solidarity in practice.” -Curious George Brigade Ollie is a 7-year-old chocolate labrador retriever living in the UK. He has been enjoying his internet fame since 2021 and has been described as 10/10, a certified good boy. Last month, Ollie posted about how he had surgery to remove a lump found on his eyelid and has been advised by his vets that he had to wear a cone for a few days while his stitches healed. Here he is on his ‘shady’ Instagram post with an update on his...
