Posts in Category: The Animal Health Foundation News and Events

For the past five years, San Francisco International Airport has brought in goats to clear brush near a runway to prevent fires and protect nearby homes. It’s an eco-friendly plan not only because machinery is not needed, but also because it allows the clearing to proceed without disturbing two endangered species. Goats R Us supplies some 400 goats as well as a herder and a border collie to keep them in line, and the crew takes about two weeks to clear the area. The Huffington Post/The Associated Press (7/5)

Passengers flying out of San Francisco International Airport recently might have caught a glimpse of something bizarre: goats munching away at overgrown weeds.Mr. Fuzzy, Cookie, Mable, Alice and nearly 400 other goats were chomping on brush as part of the airport’s unique – and environmentally friendly – approach to fire prevention.Airports are mini cities, often with their own firefighters, baristas, doctors and even priests.But goat herders?Brush in a remote corner of the airport property needs to be cleared each spring to protect nearby homes from potential fires. But machines or humans can’t be used because two endangered species – the San Francisco garter snake and the California red-legged frog – live there.So for the past five years, the airport has turned to Goats R Us, which charged $14,900 for the service this year.”When passengers takeoff and fly over the goats, I’m sure that’s a thrill,” said Terri Oyarzun, who owns and runs the goat-powered brush removal company with her husband Egon and their son Zephyr.The goats travel 30 miles each spring from their home in Orinda, Calif. to the airport in a 16-wheel truck that Oyarzun calls her “livestock limo.” With the help of a goat herder and a Border Collie named Toddy Lynn, the goats spend two weeks cutting away a 20-foot firebreak on the west side of the airport.When Oyarzun’s goats aren’t clearing brush at the airport, they are busy doing similar work on the side of California’s freeways, at state parks, under long-distance electric lines and anywhere else with overgrown vegetation. The family has about 4,000 total active goats.Working at an airport does come with its own set of challenges, namely loud, frightening jets constantly taking off.”There was an adjustment period,” Oyarzun said. “But they have a lot of confidence in their herder.”At least one other airport has taken note. Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport has requested bids for goats to clear brush in a remote area of the airport’s 7,000-acre property and expects a here to be at the airport sometime this summer.When goats become too old to work, they are typically sold for meat. But fear not, Mr. Fuzzy, Cookie, Mable, Alice won’t end up at the slaughterhouse. The Oyarzun family lets its goats peacefully retire at its farm.At least one part of air travel is still humane.

Chickens can plan ahead and may have better spatial skills than young children; sheep can recognize colors and shapes; pigs and monkeys can use mirrors to find hidden food; and even flies can remember their destinations and get there despite distractions, according to a variety of studies from the past few decades. “Finding sophisticated learning and awareness in animals can alter the way people think about the species and may result in better welfare in the long run,” said researcher Donald Broom. The Guardian (London)/Shortcuts Blog (6/19)

Rebecca A. Johnson, University of Missouri, USA (Co-Author of “Walk A Hound, Lose A Pound)

ABSTRACT for AVMA Convention, 2013, Human-Animal Bond Track

A large share of the industrialized world is recognizing and struggling to address an epidemic of overweight and obesity which has also extended itself to companion animals. Creative strategies are needed that transcend species and help to facilitate physical activity. The nature of human-animal interaction (HAI) as a key facilitator of physical activity for both ends of the leash will be explored. In particular, what components of HAI and the human animal bond are most likely to facilitate cross-species physical activity, what role dog walking can play when it is incorporated into treatment plans for people and companion animals, and what arethe theoretical and empirical bases for advocating dog walking?

The potential for dog walking as a communities-wide intervention and its applicability across cultures will be discussed. Attention will be paid to clinical implications around dog walking and its potential for advancing One Health practice in a variety of disciplines.  This work grew out of my research on relocation of older adults in which I found that physical limitations were common reasons for them to relocate to a nursing home. In our first study we achieved significant weight loss among participants. Subsequent studies showed that older adults’ normal walking speed increased
significantly after dog-walking and that dog walking was associated with increased physical activity outside of the dog walking. The findings show that HAI can have important implications for health and well-being.

Clinicians at Colorado State University’s Equine Reproduction Laboratory, which reopened in March after it was destroyed in a 2011 fire, wasted no time in getting back to work even as construction continued around them. “Literally the day we moved into the facility, we were examining mares,” said veterinarian and facility director Jerry Black. The new space, bigger and filled with state-of-the-art equipment, is central to the effort to develop an Equine Institute at the school. The Coloradoan (Fort Collins, Colo.) (tiered subscription model)

It burned into the ground only to be reborn from the ashes — a home to new life.

After it was demolished by an early morning fire in July 2011, Colorado State University’s Equine Reproduction Laboratory was rebuilt in its former place at the Foothills Campus in west Fort Collins. Just days after final inspections, the now-larger and updated facility opened to eagerly awaiting employees and clients in early March.

“Literally the day we moved into the facility, we were examining mares,” said Jerry Black, appointed the new lab director at the year’s start. Black, a veterinarian and associate professor in the Department of Animal Sciences, also kept his title as director of CSU’s undergraduate equine sciences program.

As construction got under way, CSU continued providing services in temporary Equine Reproduction Laboratory buildings scattered among barns and other facilities unharmed by the fire. And while work never stopped, Black and others are excited for what came next.

“With the tragedy came an opportunity,” he said Wednesday, sitting in a new office that still smelled of fresh paint. The fire, which burned an estimated $12 million in real estate, research equipment and genetic material stored for clients, is counted among the most costly and damaging disasters in CSU history.

The rebuilt facility is “considerably” larger than its predecessor at 12,000 square feet and brings together several long-separated services. Traffic flow is much improved, Black said, with mare and stallion services kept apart for the safety of both horses and humans.

Still in the works is an equine molecular reproduction lab — what Black said will be “one of the only” labs of its type in the country. There users will manipulate high-tech equipment to identify in mere hours potentially harmful bacterial organisms growing in a mare’s uterus; compare this to common practice of growing cultures over two to three weeks.

There’s also more teaching space and places for professors and visiting professionals to conduct research, said Black, opening doors to rooms in which still-covered microscopes and boxed monitors lay unopened on countertops and tables. Down the hall, interns, professors and resident veterinarians were gathered around a microscope and screen that displayed fluid flushed from a mare next door.

In June, 2011, Kathy Mullins’ dog Skipper had a problem.  “We’d take him out in the yard and we’d notice immediately that he couldn’t urinate. He was trying very hard and he was straining and he just couldn’t. And that went on a day or so. Eventually little drops of blood started coming out.

“And you can imagine, I started panicking.” Mullins took her dog, a five-year-old Pomeranian-Toy Poodle mix, to Irvine Boulevard Animal Hospital in Irvine where Dr. David Driscoll examined him.  “I’m thinking he has some kind of blockage,” the veterinarian told Mullins, “probably some stones. But I won’t know for sure until we do x-rays. I might be able to do this without surgery. But I can’t guarantee that. It could be that he has to have surgery.’”

Mullins said: “So I’m thinking ‘Oh, Lord!’  First of all, you don’t want your pet to suffer and you don’t want to lose your pet but you’re also certainly thinking about the financial end of it. At the time, I didn’t have a job.  I was working at some temporary jobs.  That was the only thing I was able to get at the time. And I was between temporary jobs.  It was a really difficult time.

“So Dr. Driscoll did the x-ray and I was able to scrounge up a few dollars for that so that he could determine exactly what was going on.” The x-ray showed that Skipper had bladder stones – “quite a few of them.” Mullins recalled, and the doctor said that surgery would be needed to save Skipper’s life.

“Dr. Driscoll was able do a procedure to alleviate the problem that seemed to buy us a little time. It was getting to the point where the bladder could have ruptured.  And he told me about Angel Fund. It took us a day or two to arrange for them to help us.

“The people at Angel Fund were very nice. And we were able to get Skipper back in there and schedule the surgery.  I couldn’t sleep and I was crying the whole time and my three daughters were very upset.

“But everyone was very kind. We still talk about it to this day. How Angel Fund and the doctor and the other people at the hospital – people cared.  And that was so touching for our family, that they cared about our pet and they cared about us. And so we still get to enjoy our Skipper. They saved our dog.”

Angel Fund contributed $500 to help pay for Skipper’s surgery and Irvine Boulevard Hospital slashed its bill by $700.

Kathy and David Mullins, who lived in Irvine when Skipper was sick, have since moved with their three daughters to Ashland, Ky. “We feel very blessed. It was such a hard time then and there were some caring people who helped us and saved our dog and we are very grateful.”

Bonnie

 (BearCreek Bonfire, CGC)

Breed:              Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie)

Birthday:         February 8, 2005

Handler:           Daleen

Bonnie has been a registered therapy dog since 2006. An active, lively dog at home, she is calm and cuddly with patients at Mission Hospital. As a “Reading Education Assistance Dog” at an elementary school in Orange County, she loves to listen to children as they read aloud to her. She also enjoys visiting with seniors as well as teens. Bonnie shares her home with her human family, another Sheltie, three cats, four birds, and a tortoise.

Bella

Birthday:                           July 11^th

Favorite Toy:                     My green stuffed turtle

Favorite activities:             Running through canyon trails with my best friend Tyson (another boxer) and playing chase with Maddie and Mitch

Favorite treats:                  Liver treats, peanut butter on milk bones

Greatest accomplishment:  Passing the Pet Partner Exam with my Mom and Pet Partner Cindy

BOSCO

Breed:                   American Bulldog

Birthdate:               May 18th, 2004

Weight:                  105

Human/Partner:     Betty

Bosco’s favorite things to do: sticking his head out the car window while I am driving, going to the beach and playing in sand, wading in the ocean (Bosco doesn’t swim, but will wades in the ocean)

 He loves all treats and food

 Bosco has special talents/tricks:   He waves, crawls, holds items in mouth, rings a bell, and my favorite…puts his arm around another dog.

 He is very photogenic and comfortable in front of a camera. Its like he knows when you have a camera and are going to take a pic.

STRYKER

Breed: Husky / Labrador

Birthday: April 17, 2009

Partners: Dorothy & Jim

When I was just 6 weeks old I was adopted into a loving family.  I was just a brown puff ball with floppy ears and a skinny tail.  As I grew my ears went up, my tail got bushy like a fox and my fur turned the same color as my eyes. I grew to love and respect cats too since I live with 3 of them.  I have never met a treat I didn’t like, including fruits and veggies! I love to play ball, hike, run with a bicycle and go everywhere with my family!  I always get asked about my black/purple tongue and great eyeliner.  I just tell them, “That’s the way God made me and I like it!”  I certainly loved meeting you and I hope I brought a smile to your face today.

The University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine has opened its new $58.5 million, 76,000-square-foot research facility, designed to bring researchers into an open, collaborative space and facilitate “teams of scientists working to solve complex problems,” said veterinary school dean and veterinarian Michael Lairmore. The facility houses pet health researchers, scientists specializing in ecosystem health, the 100K Pathogen Genome Project for food safety and the One Health Center of Expertise. The Sacramento Bee (Calif.) (free registration)

Officially, the ceremony at UC Davis on Friday was about a building. A four-story structure with a sandstone and gray-colored exterior – with water-chilled beams for energy conservation and recycled construction materialsfor forest sustainability.

But to Michael Lairmore, dean of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, the opening of a $58.5 million building – dubbed “Research Facility 3B” – was “a celebration of discovery.”

His effusiveness Friday was due to the fact the new 76,000-square-foot facility will serve as the hub for one of America’s top veterinary schools.

UC Davis’ $60 million in annual veterinary research ranges from studies on weight management for the family cat to the ecological health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the 100,000 infectious microorganisms that can speed diagnosis of food-borne illnesses.

“What this does is to put people together in a modern, open laboratory structure,” Lairmore said of the center, the cornerstone of a $203 million construction program for the veterinary school. “And basically what that allows is to have teams of scientists working to solve complex problems.”

Besides a veterinary hospital that treats 40,000 animals a year, from domestic pets to mountain lions, the veterinary school once had as many as 20 distantly scattered buildings for teaching and research. Now it will have eight – with the new building as its core research location.

UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi said Friday that the new building brings together diverse research and clinical studies “that make a difference for the lives of people, for the lives of pets, for health and for treating disease in animals and humans.”

So on the new facility’s second floor, Dr. Andrea Fascetti and Dr. Jennifer Larsen, specialists in animal nutrition, offered tips on preventing feline and canine obesity with nurturing and healthy pet treats.

Nearby, postdoctoral researcher Shawn Acuna, a specialist in anatomy, physiology and cell biology, led demonstrations on nurturing the health of tiny river smelt – “the baseline fish” for “the health of the Delta.”

One floor above, Rob Atwill, a doctor of veterinary medicine and director of the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security, which will use the new building, explained his detective work ensuring the healthiness of agricultural products.

“We’re the group called in to track down the water for E. coli (contamination), to trap the feral pigs, to test the lettuce – the whole food safety CSI type of work.”

The UC Davis veterinary medicine program also conducts research on the health and welfare of herds in California’s $2.8 billion annual beef industry and $2.5 billion poultry industry while undertaking training programs for U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors.

On Friday, Darren Minier, project coordinator for the school’s International Institute for Human-Animal Networks, located in the facility, touted disease transmission studies by UC Davis graduate students tracking interaction between cattle and giraffes, gazelles and zebras in Africa.

“We just got back from India, looking at human-monkey conflict,” he said of another endeavor. “In some parts of northern India, there are just as many monkeys as people – moving from building to building, crop to crop, temple to temple.”

The new building is also home to UC Davis’ “100,000 Pathogen Genome Project” – which is compiling a database of infectious microorganisms in food- or water-borne viruses.

It also includes the One Health Center of Expertise, an institute melding environmental, social science, agricultural and engineering research for a stated mission of responding “to global health problems arising at the human-water-animal food interface.”

In opening ceremonies, Katehi said the new multidisciplinary research center “allows us to be creative and forward-thinking in ways that have not happened before.”