Dog and Cat Treat Recipe

Though I don't usually post recipes, this one looks intriguing. The summer has been so hot that all my dogs are itchy and this just might work to help with those heat related skin issues. Plus they love sardines.

Note this is a dog and cat recipe using a dog food from The Honest Kitchen as a base.

Woman Helps Save Sinking Horse

In Geelong, Australia a woman and her horse were having a nice ride along the beach when the horse suddenly became trapped in the mud flats and started to sink. Undaunted, the woman stayed by her horse, Astro's side and kept him calm until rescuers could pull him out with a tractor--unscathed but a bit shaky after a 3 hour ordeal.

Watch the amazing clip here.

Political Animals

Had your fill of politics? Well you could always relocate to Bright, Indiana where only four legged beasts runs for office. The town is not incorporated so it has no official government. Some of the candidates, however, have the right idea--not to take themselves too seriously!

Dog Act Extraordinaire

Ok there are dog acts and there are dog acts. This one is pretty amazing, proof that you can teach a dog just about anything (are you listening Sam?).

Apparently America thinks they are pretty good too because they are through to the next round.

Olympic Animals

So in case you are worried about the animals in the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, fret no more. Producer Danny Boyle has sent a handwritten letter to animal rights activists that the live animals used in the ceremony will be well taken care of.

"All I can say is that genuine care will be taken of the animals, including judging how they react to the stadium environment.

"They will feature only in the beginning of the show during daylight hours and will leave the stadium shortly after 9pm and before any large effects or noisy sequences take place," he wrote.

These animals include goats, sheep, horses and assorted fowl and Mr. Boyle claims to be investigating whether these animals can be retired to an animal sanctuary after the ceremony.

PETA, however, is not totally appeased.

According to their spokesman: "We are satisfied that the animals won't now end up in an abattoir and that much more attention is now being paid to their welfare.

"But their transport and the stress of unfamiliar surroundings as well as their use as props rather than sentient, sensitive individuals have still not been addressed."

You will just have to watch and make sure the animals look happy, which I am betting they do.

Olympic Torch Visits Residents of Battersea

The Olympic Torch is making the rounds outside of London and a few days ago, British soccer star, Michael Owen, took it to visit the dogs and cats at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. A remarkable place getting well deserved recognition.

Owen is a fierce animal lover, with two French Bulldogs and three Staffordshire-Bull Terriers at home!

Well done!

Up Close and Personal with a Lion

A close encounter of the feline kind! These kids in the video must look like a light lunch to these lions! Maybe they need to feed them more?

My How They Grow!

That is Baby Z--Zenyatta's first foal, a colt, now known as 12Z. He is getting so big and that is Anne Moss, wife of Jerry Moss, owner of the great Zenyatta, with him. The photo was taken over Father's Day weekend in June and there are more on the Zenyatta web site. Just imagine how big he is now!

Also great news, Zenyatta is in foal again to Tapit so more exciting babies on the way!!!

With all the retirements in the news, it is good to look into the future and see such prospects.

Lenny Wins Kitten's Joy Stakes

Woo! Hoo! Lentenor had a nice stakes win on Saturday at Colonial Downs, where he won the Kitten's Joy, an ungraded stakes. He showed real determination down the stretch when the came after the leader a few times, before pulling away to clinch it by a head at the wire.

Here is the link so you can see for yourself. Good job Lenny and great ride Sheldon Russell.

Union Rags Retired

What a shame. Yesterday, Phyllis Wyeth, the owner of Union Rags announced that her Belmont winner is officially retired. They are actively looking for a stud deal.

"I spoke to Phyllis about two hours ago," said Russell Jones, Wyeth's advisor. "She discussed it with Jamie (her husband) and it was all about the risk factor. This was a time to make the tough decision. The horse is very much in the limelight as far as breeders go at this moment, and they felt like it would be a challenge and a risk to be back in this position next year."

Union Rags had been retired for the rest of the year due to a small lesion detected in the middle of the suspensory tendon last week. It was believed that with rest, the horse would make a complete recovery.

There is a lot of risk in horse racing--that is the nature of the game--and this decision, according to Jones was made to try and minimize that risk.

"There was a lot of risk involved because if they did not get him back to where he is now, it would be at a significant cost," said Jones. "This is all I was told."

The decision, on that level, is understandable, but it is also a shame for the game.

Elephant in Tune

Shanti, the elephant at the Washington National Zoo loves to play the harmonica! Keepers there installed a harmonica in her indoor space and let her decide if she wanted to play. Sure enough, the musical ditties she composes have beginnings, middles and endings--usually big crescendos.

Watch the video and see for yourself.

Straight From the Horse's Brush

Justin, the horse, is quite the artist. After his owner discovered he could draw shapes in the sand with her crop, she gave the horse a paintbrush. The rest is history.

Justin's paintings sell for hundreds of dollars and an auction of his work will benefit the American Saddlebred Museum when they go up for sale this weekend.

No word on whether he gets paid in carrots or oats.

Geese Police in Action

This is a video of a member of the Geese Police in Loudon, Virgina where border collies are used to chase geese off of golf courses, office parks and even airports. It's all part of a franchise, Geese Police, Inc. started by a New Jersey fellow who has learned that border collies are better than retrievers for "staring" down those pesky geese. No word on whether regular collies can do the job but I think Amos would just bark--and the geese would probably bark back!

Not to mention, all border collies need a job!

Went the Day Well Out for the Year

Went the Day Well, trained by Graham Motion and owned by Team Valor International, is out for the rest of the year with bone bruising in his front ankles.

"Fortunately there are no fractures or chips or spurs, but the deep bone bruising in his front ankles was severe," said Barry Irwin, Team Valor president. "It is probably why he ran so poorly in the Preakness (gr. I). It didn't show up until he was put back in hard training and breezed."

Went the Day Well was closing nicely at the finish of the Kentucky Derby, having rallied from 17th to fourth. In the Preakness, the colt never showed much, finishing a disappointing tenth.

It is interesting that some of these injuries do not show up right away, especially this one since there were no fractures or lessons. Instead, bruising from training and racing hard that didn't who up until those same conditions were simulated.

There is every reason to believe the horse should be back in the Fall.

Fetch Over the Edge

A happy ending to this literal cliff hanger when firefighters rescued a boy and his dog, dangling on the steep California hills. Watch and remember not to toss anything over a cliff if your dog likes to play fetch.

Edwina Set Free

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Edwina the sea turtle returns to the sea after a year in rehab! A great story about the wonderful work of aquatic rehab centers. You go girl!

Dog Rescued After Tornados

This is true dedication and love for animals in action!

"You guys are like the Calvary, swooping in here!" says one vet tech after the HSUS brings in a dog found buried under the remains of a house in Kentucky after the devastating tornadoes. Amazing story of dedication on all levels.

Olympic Opening Ceremonies Feature Live Animals

The Olympics are coming and this is a preview (or miniaturized version) of British director Danny Boyle's (he directed the Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire) vision of the Opening Ceremonies on July 27.

Look carefully--it is a meadow with live sheep, horses, cows, goats and chicken. Borrowing from The Tempest, the show is called the "Isles of Wonder" and will feature all the isles that make up the United Kingdom.

And just in case it doesn't rain (a big just in case), there are man made clouds, complete with rain that will be sure to make all the athletes know they've entered the British climate!

Looks like quite the spectacle, but don't worry about those live animals. They all be very well taken care of, we are assured.

NBC News Reports on I'll Have Another

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Whatever you think about the allegations pertaining to Doug O'Neill or the soundness of I'll have Another when he went through the Triple Crown campaign this year, the fact remains that this report on a National News broadcast does little to better the plight of American horse racing. The general public is not going to look any farther than the headlines in the New York Times or the insinuations about the industry in this report. Anyone who thinks that horse racing is fine and well, better think again.

Personally I believe I'll Have Another had serious conformation issues from the very beginning--hence his low price tag. Whether or not the various cocktails and treatments that his trainer doled out helped or hurt the horse remain to be seen. He did win the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, most likely feeling no pain. It is worth noting that the Belmont would have been his first and only time to race in New York State, where all eyes were on that syringe.

Do I think that his connections made a decision not to race for financial reasons? Yes. Do I think they knew going into the race that he wasn't going to enter? No. I think that reality caught up with them and they didn't want to risk losing what they had created. Why not go out an "injured" winner rather than a "pulled up" Big Brown?

The simple truth remains that drugs in racing need to be banned and the proper mechanism needs to be put in place to make than ban enforceable. Nothing less than that is going to save the sport, especially when headlines like these continue to make news.

Here and There

Some loose ends.

Union Rags has sustained a minor tendon injury in his left front leg and will not race for the remainder of the 2013 season, according to the Daily Racing Form. Alex Brown posted on Facebook, that veterinarian Kathy Anderson called the colt's prognosis: "excellent."

And for all you Zenyatta fans, here is a link to a timeline of some wonderful photos of her colt, who is growing so fast.

And about the above video, well you never know you or what you are going to run into in the train station in Marseille Saint Charles, France.

Dog Day Afternoon--On Tape!

Ever wonder what your dog sees? Well with the help of this dog-cam, custom made from a soccer shin guard and a harness, you can see what looks like a pretty good dog-day afternoon! Lots of walks, some ocean time, play with friends, human and canine and even some ball chasing.
Not bad even if it does make us a little dizzy to see the world from canine height!

Caught on Tape: A Grizzly Encounter

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The Griffiths from new Mexico were on a photo safari in Alaska when they had this up close and personal encounter with a grizzly. It was so close, Larry told the Today Show that he could hear the bear breathing and see the fish parts in its mouth. When the bear turned to charge at them, they all thought it was over, but as you will see from the above video that Larry took, the bear eventually loses interest and backs away.

Wow! Talk about a vacation they will never forget.

Let Me Outta Here

Researchers at the Rotterdam Zoo flee after a polar bear successfully cracks the glass with a brick on the second attempt. No word on what followed....

Fountain of Youth

There must be something in the water. The world's oldest horse, at 51, and the word's oldest dog, at 24, both live in the same town in England, Brentwood. Somebody should bottle it!

Shayne, is an Irish Draught horse that has been living out his retirement in a horse sanctuary in the Essex countryside. He eats four meals a day and trots happily around his paddock. Except for mild arthritis, he is in remarkably good shape for any age.

According to Sanctuary founder, Sue Burton, "Shayne is a really good boy. He is still very active--sometimes we forget how old he is. I guess his secret to a long life is taking it easy in his old age and enjoying his retirement."

Pip, the world's oldest dog, a whippet-terrier mix, also lives in the same town. he is 24.

You can see Shayne's picture here.

Swimming with a Polar Bear

What an amazing video. The man is Mark Dumas and the polar bear is Agee, sixteen years old. Mark and his wife have raised Agee since she was six weeks old. She lived in their house and played with the family dog during those early weeks when she was bottle fed.

Agee has appeared in many television commercials as well as the movie Alaska. The happy bear family lives in Abbotsford, British Columbia, where I would love to visit!

Butterflies Are Free

The new baringo giraffe calf has made her debut at the Bronx Zoo and is clearly more interested in chasing butterflies than snuggling with mom. As yes, we know how quickly they grow up!

Clever Cat

So a lot of people have asked us if there is a cookbook for cats on the back burner. As this video attests, there is no reason for such a project. They can get their own supper and if they wanted to, they could probably defrost it as well!

Big Bunny

So it is officially rabbit season, chez Feldman and those little cotton tails have been spotted nibbling the grass and evading the dogs--for now. My rabbit visitors are about 8-10 inches long and the babies (which I am sure are inevitable) are about an inch or two long when they are first born.

I tell you all of this just so you can realize just how huge this bunny is.

I wonder if he hops or just waddles?

Therapy Dog Returned

I know it is a happy ending but who would steal a dog right out of the front yard with the child presumably nearby?

Teeth of the Dog Wins Dwyer

Teeth of The Dog, trained by Michael Matz, who was fifth in this year's Preakness, scored a big win on Saturday taking the Grade II Dywer Stakes by a neck over Fast Falcon. It was the first graded stakes win for the son of Bluegrass Cat and his second victory in a row.

Joel Rosario, who recently moved to New York from California, had the mount and did a great job fighting off Fast Falcon with Rosie Napravnik aboard.

"He's an unbelievable horse," Matz remarked. "He can come from off the pace or go to the lead if he needs to go to the lead. He's a pretty darn game horse, that's for sure. The jock looks like he fits him well."

What's next for the colt? Perhaps the Jim Dandy at Saratoga or the West Virginia Derby at mountaineer. For now, he will get a well deserved break at Fair Hill, to just be a horse.

Neville Bardos

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With the London Olympics just a few weeks away, this is the story of a horse who cheated death, not once, but twice. Guess who I will be rooting for?