Are We What We Eat?

I digress a bit today to tackle the topic of food--specifically those that help heal you, as in the ones that Chef Seamus Mullen has found to be beneficial to his rheumatoid arthritis. In fact, these so called "hero foods" are the topic of his next cookbook, due out in the Spring, "Seamus Mullen's Hero Food: How Cooking With Delicious Things Can Make Us Feel Better."

I bring this up because of course sharing these delicious foods with your pet should make them feel better too! According to Mullen, the addition of leafy greens, small-oil laden fish like anchovies and sardines as well as olive oil, stone fruits and almonds have helped beat back the inflammation at the root of his rheumatoid arthritis. Of course, medication has helped as well, but according to the New York Times, "he's zealous about the nutritional potency of stone fruits." That would be those with pits like peaches, cherries, nectarines and mangos.

Just yesterday, I was barraged with claims about coconut oil--for your pets--that is portended to cure everything from hot spots to ear infections. One of our chefs in the book, Cornelia Guest, uses coconut oil in her sinful vegan cookies. How could something so fattening be good for you?

Which is why I take all these claims with a large grain of salt. Yes I think eating healthy is great--for people and pets--but I also think that eating too much of any one or two or three things is not necessarily the best thing for anyone.

What about you?

Chew on This....

Send in the goats! At least that is what some eco-minded businesses in Maryland are doing when it comes to clearing land that is covered with weeds and dense vegetation. According to Brian Knox, owner of Eco-goats, hungry goats thrive on things most humans don't want to touch. His thirty goats can clear 100 square meters of brush a day and leave behind their droppings which are good fertilizer.

His goats have been in demand by conservation minded groups with land to clear, like the Izaak Walton league of America that used goats to clear harmful, invasive plants in the parks for which it has responsibility in Gaithersburg, Maryland. "It's such an innovate, sustainable way of removing invasive species, and you get to hang out with some cute goats while you're doing it," said Rebecca Wadler, an associate in the group's sustainability education program.

Philadelphia Mounted Police are Back!

They're back!! The Philadelphia mounted police unit that is and thanks to a grant from the Bureau of Justice, the unit, which was cut due to budgetary restrains in 2004, is gearing up once again. According to Marquise Robinson, as assistant trainer, an officer on a horse is worth ten on the ground.

At the moment the force has seven donated horses, four from a Newark mounted police unit and three from a rescue ranch. The Police Department has also purchased four more. There are thirteen police in the mounted unit.

Training has recently begun for the new recruits, which involves getting used to their horses and then training the horses not to be skiddish around crowds and noise. It is a 16 week intensive training program.

Not all the newcomers are trained horsemen/women but all love the animals and are enjoying the process of learning. "I just can't believe I'm getting paid," said Chanthavy Hearn. "It's like putting together two things that I like to do together. It was always a dream of mine."

For now, the unit is looking for permanent stables within the city limits as it rebuilds its corps. We're glad its back!

Mustang Monument



Saving America's Mustangs from Celebrate Texas 175 on Vimeo.

Madeleine Pickens has worked tirelessly to save America's mustangs and this video captures one of her first success stories--the release of the Paiute horses to Mustang monument.

Watch it and you will know why she is truly a hero to these beautiful creatures who deserve to run free.

Let the Good Times Roll!

This guy above is a species of tortoise known as a Gamera, and according to Japanese culture, it usually comes with wings and breathes fire. This guy, however, is literally on a roll, thanks to a hardware store prosthetic that helps him get around.

The tortoise ended up at Washington State University Vet School after it was injured in a fire. Vets there had to amputate his front limb to save his life.

A trip to the local hardware store provided the tortoise with his new limb that has also returned his life to normal. "Nobody knew what we were going to be able to do with him, with burns as severe as what he has," said Dr. Nickol Finch, an exotic animal specialist at WSU. "To see him now, doing fantastic and eating like a little pig does a whole lot of good for the heart."

Monkey Business (In Many Ways)

This is a clip from a new documentary being shown on PBS about Nim, a chimp that was raised with a family, like a human, and taught sign language. Utterly fascinating especially when you add in Terry Gross' interview with several of the main characters in the film. Have a listen here.

I have to agree with Bob Ingersoll, one of Nim's dearest human friends, who says he is so grateful researchers now study chimps in the wild because he cannot condone studying chimps in captivity. Of course this is now and that was then. . .

Horse Drawn Carriage Accident

A recent accident involving a horse drawn carriage carrying three tourists (including a baby), and a taxicab has New Yorkers buzzing once again about whether or not horse drawn carriages should be allowed on any streets. For the most part, horse drawn carriages in New York stick to the paved park roads, but they do pick up their passages along the sides of Central Park, which is apparently where this accident occurred.

According to the Daily News, the horse drawn carriage was hit by a taxi just before midnight on Monday July 25. The baby was thrown out of the carriage; the horse was knocked to the street when the buggy flipped on its side and the driver of the carriage was taken to a nearby hospital with head injuries.

The passengers and the horse all suffered minor injuries and were treated at a nearby hospital and then released. The horse sustained cuts and bruises but was well enough to return to his normal barn. The driver is expected to recover.

The taxi driver, apparently was in the middle land of Central Park South when it struck the horse drawn carriage. The driver, however, claims that he was in the far right land and was unable to stop when the carriage pulled out in front of him.

Regardless of where the taxi driver actually was, how fast was he going? To me, that remain the critical question and all the more reason for carriage horses to remain in the park, on roads without cars.

Better for the horses. Safer for passengers and drivers, but probably not as lucrative. And there, my friends is the reason that people continue to put animals, themselves and others in danger. Enough.