The sun is up, first rays streaming through the canopy, and the two hunters pause to inspect tracks – big, dusty imprints with five toes – on the forest floor. They move on, boots crunching twigs as they climb a ridge. “What you reckon the chances we’ll get one?” asks Josh Brones,…
It Has Come to This: A Fitness Tracker for Your Dog
A Japanese company has created a line of body monitoring fitness trackers for dogs. The device, made by Fujitsu, attaches to your dog’s collar. It contains three accelerometers and records data every 10 minutes, tracking info like the number of steps Fido takes and his stress level (based on how much he shakes). … Read More
Dog Saved From Euthanization for Role on Broadway
After all of the heavy, and depressing news that has been pouring into your Twitter timelines and Facebook news-feeds for the past 24 hours, we figured that this article could bring a smile to your face. The following is an excerpt from ABC News. Just hours away from being euthanized, a two-year-old mutt in Houston got her big break when an animal trainer recognized her star quality. Sunny, a terrier mix, was quickly adopted and flown to New York City to try out for the role of “Sandy” in the new Broadway production of Annie. “Something about her picture appealed to me,” William Berloni, the animal trainer in charge of casting the role told ABC News. “We already had three other candidates, but when I met Sunny I thought she’d be a great fit. She’s outgoing, friendly and eager to learn.” Sunny got the role, in part because she looks so similar to the original Sandy, who was also chosen by Berloni. “It’s something about the sad eyes,” Berloni said. “They just get you. It was definitely typecasting.” Berloni has trained all the Sandys, as well as numerous other animals for the stage and screen. He says it takes a certain kind of personality and some special training to prepare a dog for the Great White Way. “First, we have to get her acclimated to life in New York City,” he told ABC. “She was a stray, and might have been hit by a car, so she gets a little nervous when cars drive by, which can be a problem in New York.” A world away from her previous hard-knock shelter life, Sunny now lives with Berloni and 22 other showbiz dogs on a 90-acrea estate in central Connecticut. Berloni and his wife are working to get her ready for the stage by teaching her basic skills like walking and sitting on command. “She came to us with no tricks, so we have to start with getting her used to an audience, bright lights, an orchestra,” Berloni told ABC. “When we learn her personality a bit more and get her working with Lilla [Crawford, the actress playing Annie], we’ll start putting the show together. Really the dog dictates what happens.” Sunny was found during a nationwide shelter search for a new Sandy. Berloni has looked in shelters for all of the dogs he has cast in other shows and movies, including Toto in The Wizard of Oz on Broadway and Bruiser in the Legally Blonde films. It all started when he was charged with casting Sandy for the very first production on Annie. “Somebody told me they had cheap dogs at the pound,” Berloni told ABC. “When I saw the conditions they were living in, I was profoundly moved. So I made a promise to myself that I would only get rescue dogs from then on.” Dogs in Houston shelters, where Sunny was found, are only held for 48 hours before being euthanized. Sunny had been held for one day already when Berloni found her picture. “I called an ex-trainer I knew in Houston, and had her go to the shelter right away and adopt her on my behalf,” Berloni said. “There’s definitely an element of fate in her story.” Performances of Annie begin on Oct. 3. During the show’s run, the dog food company Pedigree has teamed with the production to raise money to promote dog adoption and to provide shelters with resources … Read More
Egypt ex-MP gets jail for public indecency
An Egyptian court has sentenced a former MP to a year in prison for public indecency, after police said they found him fondling a woman on his lap in a parked car at night.Ali Wanees was sentenced on Saturday to a year in prison for the incident and six months for abusing the policemen, while the woman involved got a six month jail term.Police said in a report that the man was touching and caressing the woman when they approached him while parked alongside an agricultural road outside Cairo last month.Wanees has denied the charges, saying that he he pulled the car over to assist his ill niece. Police claim that he is not her uncle.The police report claims Wanees called the officers “sons of dogs” when they knocked on his window asking to see his license and registration.Wanees’ whereabouts are unknown and he was tried in absentia and is allowed a retrial.The court sentenced the woman he was with, who has been in custody for about a month, to six months in jail. She also has the right to appeal.Wanees once sat in parliament as part of a Salafi-led coalition headed by the Nour Party, which won 25 per cent of seats in the lower house before it was dissolved late last month.Earlier in the year, the Nour Party was forced to issue an embarrassing and apologetic statement after one of their lawmakers was reported to have lied to cover up a nose job, claiming that he sustained injuries to his heavily bandaged face from a carjacking and beating. He was kicked out of the party and resigned from parliament. 289 … Read More
Canine cops to carry cameras
They’ve long been man’s best friend, but now dogs with one British police force can hound criminals in a new way thanks to “FidoCam,” a digital video camera that straps to the canine’s head. … Read More
Missing dogs reunited with owners after 5 years, long journey
Two dogs who went missing from their Tennessee home five years ago were reunited with their owners Saturday after they were found in Georgia by animal care workers. … Read More
