10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2014

Mice/rats in your house or business? ” Most people don’t understand what they’re doing when they use rat poison. By the early 1980s, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was aware that poison control centers were reporting 12,000 to 15,000 calls annually regarding children under the age of 6 ingesting rat poison, and rodenticides were documented as causing large numbers of secondary poisoning in wildlife. Call the pest control company.

Rats 80

Rats 2014 San Francisco Barn Owls 80

Critter News

APRIL 1, 2011

rats technologyAnything to help stop the dissection of real mice in schools.

Dissection 116

Dissection Rats Mice 2011 116

4 The Love Of Animals

JUNE 4, 2016

If you’re keeping rats you often need to find out quickly whether you can give them a snack, maybe something from your own meal, or you want to know whether it’s worth buying in something you think they might enjoy. … Continue reading → The post Can My Rat Eat That?

Rats 109

Rats 2016 Animal 109

Critter News

MAY 26, 2009

Nice article about people who are committed to defending "lab rats" used for medical research. I've worked with rats and I find them charming and intelligent creatures. You see people shut down if you talk about how a rat can suffer," says Chad Sandusky, director of toxicology and research at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a group that fights for animal rights and advocates vegetarianism.

Rats 100

Rats Chad 2009 Vegetarian 100

Critter News

DECEMBER 27, 2010

I recently fostered the sweetest little rat and I currently have two mice. And, of course, our old friend, Charles River Laboratories, will be a major supplier of lab rats. Scientific advances over the last three years have now made it feasible to easily tinker with rat genes, creating the possibility of far better models of certain human diseases, and potentially shortening the time it takes to develop medications.

Mice 109

Mice Rats 2010 Boston 109

10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2013

After all, if feral cats should be allowed to roam free without fear of poisoning, being trapped-and-euthanized, or otherwise coming to harm then why not give rats the same treatment? So we announce the formation of a new, national organization dedicated to the preservation of the rat. Ladies and gentlemen, please throw all of your support behind Alley Rat Allies ! Like cats, the rat is not native to the vast majority of areas where it thrives. Rats are cute!

Rats 78

Rats 2013 Trap Neuter Return Feral Cats 78

4 The Love Of Animals

DECEMBER 8, 2011

Since wild mice and rats carry disease, ruin household foundations and leave a general mess everywhere… it is very wise to get rid of them as soon as possible. Many dog owners don’t realize, however, that rat poisons are extremely dangerous for dogs. Dogs eating rat poison is not an uncommon problem for dog owners. Rat poisons can be fatal even in small amounts. Symptoms of Rat Poisoning. Dogs eat rat poison because they sometimes mistake it for kibble.

Rats 109

Rats 2011 Rodents Dogs 109

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2016

After invasive rats had effectively extirpated Manx Shearwaters from two of the Isles of Scilly—British islands off the southwestern coast of Cornwall—Prince Charles and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) sprang into action. Achieving it involved £750,000, full commitment from the islanders, and more than 1000 poison-filled boxes to kill off the islands’ rats, which predated on chicks and eggs. Score one for the good guys.

Rats 54

Rats 2016 2014 Eggs 54

Critter News

FEBRUARY 7, 2009

Rats 100

Rats Cats 2009 100

4 The Love Of Animals

DECEMBER 16, 2010

Looks like this sweet little rat is all settled in for a long winters nap. cute of the day

Rats 142

Rats 2010 142

Critter News

JULY 19, 2012

Invading rats with bodies up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) long have begun eating eggs and chicks, and some experts fear that unless the rats are eradicated, they could tip the Humboldt penguin toward extinction. rats chile extinction penguins endangered speciesFrom the Huffington Post.

Chile 109

Chile Penguins 2012 Eating Eggs 109

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2011

Green Bay, Wisconsin, will put up nesting platforms and boxes in an attempt to lure birds of prey. The nesting program isn’t to benefit the birds but to try to contain a serious rodent problem. How cool is that? Asides

Rats 58

Rats Wisconsin Rodents 2011 58

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2015

A bird species battling an onslaught of invasive rats just got a glimpse of hope. While this is happy news for any parents, and wonderful news for any threatened species (these Pipits live only on Antarctica’s South Georgia Island and number only 3,000-4,000 pairs), it’s tremendous news for those trying to eradicate rats from the island. That’s because these birds won’t breed when rats are around. News invasive species rats South Georgia south georgia pipit

Georgia 74

Georgia 2015 2017 Rodents 74

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

Let me introduce my guest blogger, Lisa Owens Viani, co-founder of the California-based group RATS ( Raptors Are The Solution ), which educates people about the dangers of rat poisons. It takes a lot of nerve—or something that can’t be printed here—to name your rat poison after the animals that so effectively and efficiently control rodents but that are also being poisoned—as “non target” animals—by your product.

2015 85

2015 Mountain Lions Rodents Lions 85

Critter News

APRIL 7, 2009

For an 11-month period that ended in December, researchers subjected pigs and rats to about 200 blasts, according to Pentagon documents and interviews. Tags: rats animal experimentation military pigs Lovely. Military researchers have dressed live pigs in body armor and strapped them into Humvee simulators that were then blown up with explosives to study the link between roadside bomb blasts and brain injury.

Pigs 100

Pigs Research 2009 Afghanistan 100

Animal Person

AUGUST 21, 2009

Modest Mouse's "King Rat," directed by Heath Ledger "The function of art is to disturb." --George Braque What do you think?

Rats 100

Rats 2009 Tagged Ethics 100

Critter News

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

The increase was largely due to new EU rules on chemical compounds, which have led to an increase in testing on rats, the inspectors said. From the DutchNews.nl. Dutch researchers carried out 592,665 experiments on animals last year, a 2.5% increase on 2008, government inspectors said on Friday. More than half the experiments were carried out for academic research and one third of those were for medical research.

2010 109

2010 Medical Research Rats 2008 109

4 The Love Of Animals

JULY 26, 2010

We think Beethoven is an adorable weather rat. Beethoven says “Hey, mom! It’s raining outside!&#. Cute of the Day: Beethoven originally appeared on 4 The Love of Animals on July 26, 2010.

2010 125

2010 Rats Tagged Animal 125

Critter News

MAY 5, 2011

This billboard poses the issue as an either/or.save the child or the rat. Well, you know how they are.going for the emotion and oversimplifying the issue. Certainly not showing what they do, how they are funded and how the licensing of their "altruistic" work nets them a tidy sum. Bullshit. It's not that simple. How many of these experiments are even necessary? How many of them are of the quality of checking to see whether junk food makes someone fat? Please. animal research

Animal Research 109

Animal Research Research 2011 Rats 109

4 The Love Of Animals

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

Not just dogs though, pet birds, ferrets, and even pet rats are all able to catch a cold from a person. It’s that time of the year again when the humans start sniffling and sneezing! If you have ever wondered if your dog can get a cold, the answer is yes ! If you have a cold, it’s best to keep your distance from your beloved pet so you don’t spread it.

Dogs 217

Dogs 2012 Ferrets Vet 217

Critter News

AUGUST 2, 2010

In four years it experimented on 157,839 mice, 17,324 rats, 11,096 fish, 1,941 birds, 1,253 guinea pigs, 933 pigeons, 884 frogs, 207 cats, 54 rabbits and 18 tree shrews from the tropics of south-east Asia. Here's an article about an increase in animal experiments at Cardiff University in Wales. According to a Wales on Sunday investigation, the number of animals used at Cardiff has risen by 13 percent since 2006.

Animal Research 109

Animal Research 2010 Research Mice 109

Critter News

JULY 18, 2010

All companion animals including dogs, cats, hamsters, mice, rats, chinchillas, guinea pigs, birds, snakes, and lizards would be considered as pets. Pet sales would be banned altogether, except for the sale of pet fish. If it passes, San Francisco residents would have to go to a shelter or rescue group to adopt an animal. Sounds good, but I just don't believe this will pass. It would set a national precedent, even if it is San Francisco.

San Francisco 109

San Francisco 2010 Chinchillas Guinea Pigs 109

Critter News

JUNE 5, 2009

Those patterns hint at the ancient origins of human hilarity and suggest that other social species - including apes, dogs and rats - really, truly laugh as well. I personally think that a credible laughter concept can, and already has been, extended to mammalian species as lowly as the rat.". There are researchers out there who say that they do. I certainly think they can laugh and have fun. I've seen it.

2009 131

2009 Apes Animal Rats 131

Critter News

OCTOBER 21, 2008

Sadly, though, some 200,000 hamsters were used for research in the United States in 2000, third behind rats and mice. Interesting article. Prior to the 1930s, hamsters were pretty much in the wild. Prior to the 1970s, virtually all were descended from one breeding pair. Now, one million hamsters are kept as pets, an increase of 41 percent since 2001. This includes the two sitting on the shelf in our house!)

Hamsters 100

Hamsters 2008 Mice 2001 100

Critter News

MAY 31, 2010

A Malaysian government official defended an Indian company's plans to build an animal testing medicine lab in his state, saying Monday that God created monkeys and rats for experiments to benefit humans. That's why he created rats and monkeys. This is pretty vile in my opinion. From the AP.

2010 109

2010 Monkeys Rats Primates 109

Creature Talk

JUNE 30, 2009

Someone is doing an experiment on a chimp or a rabbit or a rat. The weekend of June 13th and 14th I went to an animal rights conference in the Twin Cities called Their Lives, Our Voices. Much like last year, it was awesome. I took notes and hope to write a few entries on what I learned there. For now, I’m going to start with the very last presentation (because I forgot my notebook so I don’t have notes, but it’s still fresh in my memory!)

2009 43

2009 Goats Chickens Animal 43

Animal Ethics

JULY 24, 2007

Here is a New York Times story about the lowly rat. Rats have feelings, just as you do.) Do you suppose stories such as this will change people's attitudes toward rats? I'm being facetious. If so, will that make experimentation on them less likely

2007 40

2007 Rats New York Times New York 40

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2011

A plant in South Africa, commonly called Rat’s Tail but referred to by scientists as Babiana ringens , evolved a perch for birds to use while feeding. This aids the plants because they get pollinated as part of the bargain. Now if only one of the plants in New York would evolve a couch near a good birding spot… a. Asides

Rats 54

Rats South Africa 2011 Africa 54

Critter News

OCTOBER 17, 2009

Huntingdon used mostly mice and rats , but also some dogs, monkeys, fish and guinea pigs , in its research in New Jersey. It was a 2-1 decision by the US Court of Appeals. From the Philadelphia Inquirer. Six members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty were convicted at a 2006 trial in New Jersey of conspiracy to violate the 1992 Animal Enterprise Protection Act. The law, since revised, aimed to protect animal research laboratories from illegal, sometimes violent protests.

2009 100

2009 Guinea Pigs Protest Protesting 100

Animal Person

JUNE 8, 2009

Engber mentions that in 1972, the USDA put into place "a special exemption for rats, mice, and birds, allowing scientists to treat them however they saw fit—in cages of any size, in experiments with any degree of pain and suffering. He concludes this segment with: Meanwhile, rats and mice are subject to some of the most extreme and invasive experiments in biomedicine. Scientists mapped out the entire mouse genome in 2002 and the rat genome in 2004.)

2009 118

2009 Vivisection Monkeys Mice 118

Animal Person

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

Before you answer, here are some details to inform your decision: The first "knockout animals" were laboratory rats, whose anterior cingulate cortex have been damaged/blocked so that though they might still feel pain, they do not find it unpleasant.

2010 114

2010 Factory Farm Factory Farming Factory 114

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2012

Bidding is on TradeMe (New Zealand’s eBay), and the money raised will go to clearing the Antipodes Islands of introduced rats ( a story we talked about before ). The Department of Conservation in New Zealand is giving you, yes you , the chance to spend two days and one night raising Kakapo chicks ! So it’s win-win really. Bidding ends Sunday in New Zealand, Saturday in the US. Asides Kakapo New Zealand Conservation parrots

Raised 56

Raised Rats 2012 New Zealand 56

Critter News

OCTOBER 24, 2009

However, it involved exposing rats to chemicals at levels that humans are usually not exposed to. this study was mainly about the effect of high doses of a chemical called phthalates on the number of rats born with undescended testicles, it is premature to report that stress has a part to play in reducing fertility in men. I came across these stories about two different medical experiments using mice. In this experiment, scientists tested whether lighting can cause depression.

Mice 109

Mice Experience Experiments 2009 109

Critter News

MAY 28, 2009

Homemakers employ deadly rat traps and poisons to rid their dwellings of vermin. In university labs nationwide, scientists inflict spinal-cord injuries on dogs and cats, inject rats with carcinogens, test dangerous drugs on monkeys, and do all kinds of evil things to guinea pigs in the name of scientific research. This is an excellent opinion piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The author, an assistant professor of sociology at Tulane University, poses some important questions.

Michael Vick 100

Michael Vick 2009 Guinea Pigs Rats 100

Animal Person

MAY 23, 2009

If you believe your dog has a right to a life free of torture and slaughter for no reason, then you really ought to think about extending that right to mice, rats, chickens and fish. I've used the term "animal activism" lately as an experiment. I'm trying to gauge people's receptivity to what I'm about to say. I notice that if I use "animal rights activist" or anything with the word "rights" in it, because it's loaded and misunderstood, my listener often has an immediate bias of some kind.

PETA 103

PETA 2009 Advocacy Animal Advocacy 103

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2011

The famous Red-tailed Hawk of Central Park is apparently using his pad with a great view of Central Park to woo the women who find themselves unable to resist his rat-catching ways and wiles. New York Magazine uses a more descriptive term for Pale Male’s recent behavior but the fact that he has had a veritable harem since the demise of Lola is beyond a doubt.

Rats 53

Rats 2011 New York 53

Critter News

OCTOBER 6, 2009

And let's not forget the required sanctimonious quote from an animal researcher “Our primates are essential partners in medical progress, as are mice, rats, guinea pigs and opossums. This place is celebrating its 10th year with ground-breaking research into what makes us all fat. By destroying the health of baboons with fast food. Fast food is bad for you? Really?)

Primates 100

Primates 2009 San Antonio Guinea Pigs 100

Critter News

AUGUST 10, 2009

It's so much cheaper to buy, use and dispose of a bunch of voiceless chimpanzees and thousands of rats than to invest in alternative R&D. In the United States, we are in the midst of a health care debate in which the pharmaceutical industry disguises itself as a champion of the people. It is funding stealth organizations that support "patients' choices" and that assist in organized mob disruptions of town hall meetings.

Animal Research 100

Animal Research Industry Research 2009 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2017

The law of unintended consequences has tragic effects at a zoo in England, as rat poison ends up killing the Rainbow Lorikeets it was intended to protect. If there’s one common theme to this week’s bird news items, it’s their collective bizarreness: The eagle has landed—on the drone, as France trains birds to take out drones that stray into restricted airspace.

2017 40

2017 France Argentina Stray 40

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2013

They’re better predictors than that more famous overgrown rat in Pennsylvania, bob-bob-bobbing along with the first warm winds to begin caroling from our maples and stalking our lawns. I DREADED that first robin so, But he is mastered now, And I ’m accustomed to him grown,—. He hurts a little, though. Emily Dickinson. Hold on a second, Em. First robin?

2013 65

2013 Pennsylvania Rats Birds 65

4 The Love Of Animals

JANUARY 24, 2013

You can prevent your dog from environmental toxin related seizures and other ill effects by making sure there is no possible exposure to rat poison, snail bait, flea powder, bug spray, pesticides, lead paint and household cleaners. Although seizures are rarely fatal, they signal severe problems with the electrical activity in your dog’s brain. Seizures in dogs lasting more than five minutes are especially serious and require emergency veterinary attention.

2013 181

2013 Dogs Vet Puppies 181

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2014

In April 2014, a 4-year-old boy in the Bronx, New York, died after eating rat poison. An owl who eats a rat poisoned by a farmer or a pest-control company will die the same death as one poisoned by a homeowner. Raptors Are The Solution (RATS) has a list of poisons still allowed for over-the-counter sale , as well as their manufacturers, active ingredients, and known impacts. Banner photo by Dave Harper; second by Suzie Gilbert; third by RATS.

2014 83

2014 Rats Rodents 2015 83

4 The Love Of Animals

DECEMBER 19, 2012

And, speaking of poisons, talk to your vet before putting down any rat or ant poison, which can sicken your pet before it reaches its intended target. Take one look at the viral blog, Pet Shaming , and it’s difficult to retain any illusions about our furry friends. Love them as we may, they will make a mess of the house when left to their own devices, and they might make themselves very ill in the process.

2012 176

2012 Pets Psychology Rats 176