Treat ‘Em Right! 8 Ways In Which You Might Be Mistreating Your Pets

There is something particularly rewarding about being the object of an animal’s affection. It’s sort of like a paw-shaped mark of approval – as if saying “this human is kind, this human is compassionate.” It’s something many pet owners, or human companions (as we like to think of ourselves), prize over even the affections of fellow people. I think I can speak for everybody who’s had a pet they’re very attached to when I say that the day you bring a pet home is one of those momentous, life-changing, personality shaping events you always look back to with gratitude – even if you’ve had your heart broken by the passing of a beloved pet. The bond between our pets and us is at once both simple and complicated. Give a stray dog a bowl of food and he will love and guard you fiercely with his whole being. Give a human your whole doggy (or kitty) heart, are they as likely to return it in equal measure? I’m not so sure.

Here is a list of the various ways in which we do a grave disservice to the pets who, despite everything, think the world of us:

1. Buying Our Pets

The acquisition of a pet to many is only that – an acquisition. Rather than recognizing a pet as a living, breathing, needing individual, it becomes a toy, an attraction or a status symbol. That people buy pets from shops says enough about their commodification. Even the choice of breed bought can say a lot about the pet owner, when a just-as-deserving pup at a shelter could have been adopted out of the clutches of ‘compassionate euthanasia’. Maternal deprivation, killing off ‘unsellable specimens’ and forced insemination are just some of the things you condone when buying from breeders.

2. Playthings We Outgrow

Often the initial joy of welcoming a pet into our home diminishes into a routine of negligence. Our classrooms, jobs, dinners and dates often take precedence over our pets who want nothing more than to spend time with them. As a result, many a pet is left home alone for long hours without any interaction or stimulation.

3. Irresponsible Parenting

Even worse is the disdain and anger we sometimes show to very young dogs or cats for biting, scratching or weeing all over the place, because we just don’t put in enough hours training them. It takes time for young ones to learn, remember you didn’t waltz into pre-school spouting Euclidean geometry, now did you?

4. Not Cute Anymore

In addition to turning out dogs and cats that ‘misbehave’, pet owners have been known to disown their furry family members because they outgrew their babyhood appeal. But then again, they didn’t really consider them family in the first place.

5. Improper Grooming

Every breed of dog and cat has its own grooming requirements. It is particularly infuriating to see long-haired breeds being paraded around in the blistering summer heat of India because the owners just don’t know or don’t care to have them shaved. In any case, even if you are one of the lucky few who can afford to run three air-conditioners in your home all summer long, I implore you to think twice before subjecting your Siberian Huskies and St Bernard (breeds from regions that enjoy subzero temperatures) to this heat. The same goes for cat breeds from cold places.

6. Bad Diets

Onions. Garlic. Chocolate. Avocados. A lot of the things you relish at the dining table are toxic to your pet if you indulge them with scraps. Regardless of whether you’ve been feeding these to your pet for ages or if you’ve just begun to research about your pet’s food, take a look at this list of foods that are a big no-no.

7. Delegating Responsibility

Taking care of a pet is not like your management courses. You have to be hands-on and one hundred percent involved. Getting in your pets business – no matter how much they grumble about you picking through the fur – is the name of the game. People who leave their pets unattended or in the care of house help are not going to pick up on signs of medical distress, mood disorders and other discomfort

8. Prohibiting Movement

Depending on their breed, a pet needs anything between thirty minutes to two hours of physical exercise each day, and it is important to ensure that they get it. While we may obsess about hitting the gym after work, few of us are concerned for our pets’ exercise as well. Once again, ignorance or just plain unwillingness has caused dogs to be tied up in a corner or cats boxed into cages. Apart from exercise, the practice of prohibiting our pets movement – pretending like the balcony is a dog house etc. – is actually a crime in India. The third chapter of the Prevention of Cruelty To Animals Act highlights the inability to ensure adequate room for movement constitutes a criminal charge. Need I even say anything about caged birds (who have their wings clipped at the pet shop)?

The above is not an exhaustive list of the things we need to change in order to give our pets a comfortable and loving life, short lives that they have, but it would certainly make a world of difference to our pets.

10 Animals on the verge of extinction

Would you believe that out of 50 billion animal and plant species that ever existed on earth, only 50 million survive today—that means one in a thousand, Here is a list of animals that might become extinct during our lifetime itself.

Slowly and gradually there have been number of animals that have already vanished while some of the other popular ones have come at the verge of extinction.

Animals are a beautiful creation of nature. It is sorry state when any news approaches regarding species of animals and birds vanishing slowly. When talking about the term, “endangered”, it makes you remind of the lovely plants and animals that are slowly dying out. Some reports also suggest that all the species that are present on earth are considered to be endangered because of the serious environmental threat that is growing at an alarming rate

Scientists and conservationists warn that the animals and plants that are currently disappearing rapidly from the natural ecosystem due to some or the other major reason and the rate of extinction is a major cause for concern. Scientifically, it has been said that if the rate of disappearing remains the same then chances are that more and more species will end up being extinct, as all animals and plants are somehow linked in an ecosystem.

People today are aware about various species that are getting extinct but it is very important to understand the reasons behind them getting disappeared.

1. Siberian Tigers

With the Chinese and Korean populations nearly extinct, Siberian Tigers are considered to be Critically Endangered. Less than 200 are left on earth. It has also been estimated that tigers have lessened to an extent of 7 percent on the earth. Tigers were once considered as most dangerous animals and have been chosen as national symbols for many countries.

2. Ivory Billed Woodpecker

The Ivory-billed Woodpecker is or was one of the largest woodpeckers in the world, at roughly 20 inches in length and 30 inches in wingspan. This top ranking endangered species (possibly extinct already), used to live in Southern part of US as well as Cuba. Due to habitat destruction, and to a lesser extent hunting, its numbers have dwindled to the point where it is uncertain whether any remain. There are various resources which state that the last time when ivory billed woodpecker was sighted was in year 2004. 

3. Blue Poison Dart Frog

The blue poison dart frog is one of the most brilliantly colored animals on the planet. Humans harness the poison as a potential ingredient in painkillers and the indigenous Chocó peoples of Columbia dab it on blowgun darts for hunting. The tiny frogs inhabit South American rainforest, which is disappearing at a rate of four football fields per minute.

4. Greater Bamboo Lemur

The Greater Bamboo Lemur, which is about the size of a cat, had been thought to be extinct until a survey in 1986 found a few survivors along with a completely new species, the golden bamboo lemur, and resulted in the development of Madagascar's Ranomafana National Park. It is said that lemurs Madagascar was once the special hometown for a large number of lemurs but as on date, they are available only in fewer numbers.

5. Northern Right Whale

Nothern Right Whale, the most endangered of all the world’s whale species, numbers around 350 individuals that travel the Atlantic coasts of Canada and the US. During the whaling days of the 19th century, the right whale got its name because whalers considered it the “right” whale to kill, as it not only was full of valuable whale oil, but it floated after it was dead, which made it easy to handle and process. These whales are still living but there are various sources which say that they are continuously being hunted to the level of extinction.  

They are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Vessel strikes and entanglement in fixed fishing gear are the two greatest threats to their recovery.

6. Western Lowland Giorilla

Western lowland Gorillas or the Mountain Gorillas are among the most famous of all endangered animals. These majestic animals live in the tropical mountain forests in central Africa, but they are lately finding it very hard to survive, and a couple of years back they were brought at the brink of extinction. Forest loss is gradually destroying gorilla habitat and they are being hunted down to extinction. Large-scale farming and grazing is also shrinking forest areas that have been their natural habitat.  Zoos worldwide have a population of 550 western lowland gorillas and the Cincinnati Zoo leads the United States in western lowland gorilla births.

7. Polar Bear

The world’s largest terrestrial carnivore, Arctic polar bears are threatened by global warming. They must fast longer in the summer due to melting sea ice. In 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. As of May 14th 2008, the Polar Bear was listed on the ESA. The decision was crucial as 29.7 million acres of the Chukchi Sea, which supports polar bear populations, are set to be opened to oil and gas activities.

8. Leatherback Sea Turtle

Leatherback Turtle are the longest-living marine species to ever ply the world's oceans. They survived catastrophic asteroid impacts and outlived the dinosaurs. But this largest turtle in the world, is on the brink of extinction, and scientists question whether the animal will survive into the next decade. Over the last 22 years their numbers have declined in excess of 95 percent.

Large-scale hunting and poaching of sea turtle eggs has pushed this beautiful species to the verge of extinction.

9. Kakapo Parrot

Native of New Zealand, the ancient, flightless Kakapo is the world's rarest and strangest parrot. It does not fly and is a nocturnal bird, which makes it relatively easy to poaching by humans and other animals. There were only 62 left, when they were shifted to safe habitat, where their population is now growing slowly.

10. Chinese Giant Salamander

The Chinese Giant Salamander is the largest salamander in the world, reaching a length of 180 cm (6 ft), although it rarely – if ever – reaches that size today. Endemic to rocky mountain streams and lakes in China, it is considered critically endangered due to habitat loss, pollution, and over-collecting, as it is considered a delicacy and used in traditional Chinese medicine.