spotblogging

hi, in preparation for July 4th, we’re offering great deals on loads of items in the store! stop in, shop away, and save a lot. we’ve got lots of new must-haves in the shop, and can’t wait to show them off. what’s on special? how about…

- T-shirts: 25% off
- Books: 40% off
- Beds: 20% off
- Bowls and Feeders: 20% off
- Select collars: 20% off
(note: all specials refer to in-stock items only)

it’s a great time to shop at spot. find great summer items for hound and human, and save money while you’re at it. see you at spot!

so, in our last green day entry, we return to the source we used for the first entry, ‘wired’ magazine. this piece, in the july edition, tells the story of the Tata Nano, a new small car for India’s growing middle class. and while it gets 50mpg, it’s replacing bicycles and scooters, and walking, any of which used less fuel and generated less pollution. so, even a gas-efficient car is *adding* to the problems of oil supply and emissions. it’s an interesting story of business, culture, technology, and the environment.

we really hope you’ve enjoyed these blog postings, and hope you learned a bit, too. let us know what you think, and feel free to comment on any of our postings. thanks for reading!

an excerpt from the wired story:
The global market for the Nano and similarly low-priced cars could be immense — the World Bank counts more than 800 million people who earn between $3,600 and $11,0000 annually. In India, the new vehicle could change the taxi business overnight and energize a cadre of small-time entrepreneurs by providing new levels of mobility, carrying capacity, and social status. At the same time, the prospect of a flood of additional cars terrifies city planners and environmentalists. Metropolises throughout the developing world are expanding at breakneck speed. In many places, the crumbling roads are already crammed beyond capacity. Traffic fatalities are on the rise, and air pollution threatens to choke remaining pockets of green space. Sure, a single Nano is a step toward independence, security, and social mobility — but to some observers, millions of Nanos spell apocalypse.

It takes almost an hour for Srinivasan to negotiate the traffic to his wife’s office. By the time he arrives at the IT center where he manages a small team designing ads for mobile phones, his white shirt is gray with dust. He shows his ID badge to the security guards and makes his way through a sea of cubicles to his desk. He boots up his computer and taps an email to coworkers: He wants to know how to join the waiting list to buy a Nano.

…and animal-friendly, too, with the next episode of its ‘big ideas for a small planet’ program. check out the information on the sundance website, and you’ll also be able to view a quick clip from the program, which covers the many ways humans are letting animals in their lives ‘go green’. and don’t forget to watch (or tivo) the complete program on friday, june 27th at 10am ET, or sunday, june 29th at 3pm ET.

from the episode synopsis:
From zoos to shelters to pampered pets, this episode of BIG IDEAS FOR A SMALL PLANET explores how animals’ diets and living environments are increasingly reflecting the “green-ness” of their human guardians.

this is a great short film and slideshow on the washington post site, showing us the good work done by the staff at Great and Small, a Montgomery County farm “where horses and people are rescued.” if you watch the clip you’ll know, we don’t have to add more verbiage here.

this story from the washington post highlights a new finding on a specific form of cancer in dogs, which appears to be contagious, contrary to years of earlier findings. the article reports that sticker’s sarcoma is rarely fatal, but is passed from dog to dog through direct contact. the article is 2 years old at this point, and we’re not trying to alarm anyone. just want to offer the information as a caution that we hope no one ever has to follow up on.

from the article: “I rather thought we might disprove this, but it came out the other way around,” said Robin Weiss, of University College London, who led the study appearing in today’s issue of the journal Cell.

Weiss and his colleagues did genetic studies on the tumor cells from 40 dogs with Sticker’s sarcoma, collected from five continents. The researchers showed that the cells are not genetically related to the dogs they are in — proof that they did not arise from the dogs’ own cells.

the headline on this story in the ny times sort of says it all: ‘disgraced cloner reports success with tibetan dog breed’. there is something disgraceful about unmonitored cloning in the first place. but in this case, the cloning is backed up by evidence that is spotty or suspect. anyone who saw the moving story about ‘chance’ and ’second chance’ on the first-ever episode of the tv version of ‘this american life’ knows how emotional this topic can get. but this is the kind of story that makes you wonder if the environment is a real threat to the well-being of animals and pets, especially compared to greedy, shady people.

an excerpt:
The team, from the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, said the cloned Tibetan mastiff dogs were born in April, two months after being requested by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The team that cloned the dogs was led by Hwang Woo-suk, who in 2005 successfully created the world’s first known dog clone, but was found the same year to have fabricated research on cloning human stem cells.

across the country, pet owners are forced to make hard choices, about food, vet bills, medicines, and, as we’ve seen, some have even abandoned their pets when faced with foreclosures. this AP story, in the atlanta journal-constitution, tells us about some of these people. they are people who have hit a rough patch, but they don’t always opt to pass along that pain to their pets: “Doreen Kazijian said she delayed buying her own medication for high blood pressure, using the money to buy medicine for her 16-year-old cat with thyroid problems and a 17-year-old cat suffering from liver failure.” so, it’s worth checking out the article to see how the economy, gas prices, and the housing bubble have affected pet owners around the US.

an excerpt:
Some hope was restored after she visited a local food pantry, which has started offering free pet food to help owners keep their animals out of shelters.

But, “Just because financially you may go downhill a little or a lot, doesn’t necessarily mean you have give the part of your family that you love,” she said.

we’ve all seen the tv shows, from ‘quincy’ to ‘csi’, and we know the important work done by police labs around the country. in this 2-year old story from Time Magazine, forensic scientists use dogs, dog hair, dog DNA to help solve crimes. criminals (fortunately) don’t usually know what evidence they’ve left behind, and this forensic work is one more way to solve murders, rapes, robberies, and other heinous crimes.

an excerpt:
t’s all in a day’s work at the forensics division of the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at the University of California at Davis, the CSI of the four-legged world. The humble surroundings bear only slight resemblance to the flashy labs you see on TV crime shows, but the division’s record of success reads like a Hollywood script. In its first year of operation, the lab helped prosecutors win a tricky sexual-assault conviction in Iowa in which the key clue was dog urine (the victim was unable to identify the suspect, but her dog had relieved itself on his truck during the assault). “Once we had the DNA to connect him to the crime scene, he pled guilty,” says acting lab director Beth Wictum.

they can be found anywhere. in arlington sometimes they are confused with red foxes, but more and more urban residents across the u.s. are finding themselves sharing space with coyotes. this article in the columbus (OH) ledger-enquirer is fairly common. suburban resident hears dog barking like a banshee, goes out to see what the fuss is about, and sees the coyote, who usually is neither threatening nor easily encouraged to move along. it’s a matter of territory, food, and the solitary, nomadic nature of the coyote. not to mention its ability to survive under less-than-friendly conditions.

an excerpt:
Coyotes can get up to 4 1 /2 feet long, 2 feet tall and 50 pounds. Like wolves and foxes, they are of the canine family. They vary in color from off-white to near black. Their ears and snouts are pointed, their canine teeth sharp and their eyes typically are yellow. They are lanky and their tails are bushy. Springing traps

Trapping wily coyotes is tricky, especially in residential areas, Short said. The problem is the coyotes are intelligent enough to distinguish a cage trap from a true meal and the city does not allow its trappers to put out coil or claw traps. Since the city hired Southeast Wildlife last year, not one coyote has been captured, Short said.

this article in the baltimore sun tells of a movement underway among residents and businesses in anne arundel county, to build an eco-village in the suburbs of baltimore. website? check. recycling business? check. push for sustainability? check. they’re doing all the right things, and they’re working to educate and involve the community, too. every bit helps, and people pitching in together is the best solution, so read the article and remember the old slogan, ‘think globally, act locally’. these folks in anne arundel are doing just that.

an excerpt:
Forsman, the former owner of the yacht charter company Nautical Destinations, said she was attracted to the concept of Green Drinks because it is a fun way to hear environmental tips - no boring lectures to attend and no membership fees.

On Friday, Green Drinks took over South River Golf Links in Edgewater in conjunction with Yappy Hour, an annual event in which club members can show off their canines and raise money for the SPCA. A table featured information about organic dog food and links to Web sites about composting dog waste and natural ways to control fleas.