5 Ways to Have a Happier New Year 2009!

Do you want to train your Dog to have a happier New Year 2009?

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Dorothy
www.DogMillion.com

Beverly Hills Chihuahua -The Movies

The latest dog movies is in Town. Go and watch at your nearest cinema

Beverly Hills Chihuahua -The Movies

Check out the preview at this video



Happy New Year 2009!

Dorothy
www.DogMillion.com

World's first cloned pet dog turns 1

With one ear flopped forward and her tongue dangling in anticipation of another item to fetch, Mira seemed like any other playful pup scampering around Eastwood Park in Tamalpais Valley.

But proud owner Lou Hawthorne of Mill Valley said Mira - the world's first cloned pet dog - signals a new horizon in genetics. The border collie/husky just turned 1 year old.

"I'm delighted we're here at this milestone," said Hawthorne, who spent a decade trying to clone his family's dog that died in 2002. "During the process of creating her, it was a goal. But once I had Mira in my arms she was an entity with feelings. She's real."

Hawthorne, 48, said Mira's home life provided "the first time we can say anything halfway intelligent about behavioral similarities" among clones. His dog was born in the same Korean biotech lab that created the first cloned dog in 2005.

In addition to a striking physical resemblance to Missy, a three-quarters border collie and one-quarter husky that died at age 15,

her clone shows the same athleticism, intelligence and mischievousness, but some differences as well.

Like Missy, Mira likes to play a game in which someone holds an item just out of reach; unlike Missy, Mira doesn't mind loud noises and bright lights.

Hawthorne, chief executive of Mill Valley-based BioArts International, which licensed patents issued in the 1990s after researchers in Scotland cloned a sheep, created three other Missy clones months after Mira. Missy Too lives with other family members; Mani lives with a scientist in Phoenix; and Kahless lives with a linguist in Boulder, Colo., where she is being taught commands in the Klingon language from "Star Trek." (In the "Star Trek" franchise, Kahless was a legendary Klingon leader who was cloned in an episode of "The Next Generation" series.)

"We have four near-Missys," he quipped.

Their genetic makeup was confirmed to be Missy's exact copy by the University of California at Davis veterinary genetics lab.

Elizabeth Wictum, associate director of the school's veterinary forensics lab, said though the puppies were deemed genetically identical, "in terms of how identical the dogs would be, we don't entirely know how much genetics play in terms of personality."

"Their environment plays a role in developing the animal's personality," she said.

BioArts, which raised more than $700,000 in an online dog-cloning auction earlier this year, is Hawthorne's second commercial cloning venture. His Genetic Savings and Clone of Sausalito, which offered to clone customers' pet cats, closed in 2006.

In the past month, the firm cloned three dogs. Hawthorne declined to identify the customers, but he said they included clients from the company's auction - and possibly Trakr, the German shepherd search-and-rescue dog that found the last human survivor of 9/11 among the World Trade Center rubble. Trakr's owner has accepted BioArts' offer to clone the dog.

Hawthorne would only say of the auction clients that they were all couples or families wishing to clone their pets; four of them live in the United States, and cloning fees ranged from $130,000 to $170,000.

"Pet cloning is fun, but I think it's not going to be a huge business because the work is very complex," he said. "Most of the world is going to get dogs out of shelters, and that's a good thing."

by Jim Staats

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Dororthy
www.DogMillion.com

Emaciated dog with inherited skin condition found wandering in Klang,Malaysia.

INDEPENDENT animal rescuers are crying foul and want the relevant authorities to monitor dog breeders in the country after an emaciated, weak and disoriented Doberman was found wandering in Teluk Pulai, Klang, recently.

The dog, which is literally a walking skeleton, is also hairless due to a genetically inherited skin disorder.

The dog, which was wearing a good quality choke chain around its neck, is believed to have been abandoned by its owners who might not have known how to manage its skin condition.

Pitiful sight: The Doberman is believed to have been abandoned by its owners.

Independent rescuer Leigh Chen said the Doberman’s inherited condition might be due to too much in-breeding.

“Many pedigree puppies come from backyard breeders and unlicensed puppy mills.

“These unscrupulous breeders have no qualms about mating siblings with each other or even offspring with their parents,” alleged Chen.

Chen said the Veterinary Services Department (DVS), as the custodian of animal welfare, must be given the power and legal right to crack down on errant breeders.

“In addition to this, it must also be made compulsory for pet shop owners to microchip the pets they sell, for identification,” she added.

Fellow rescuer Sherrina Krishnan concurred and advised the public to be cautious when buying pets.

“My only advice to people who buy pedigrees is, please don’t just buy one for the sake of buying one. Check the breeding conditions, check the breeders – ask for papers,” she said.

Meanwhile, a passer-by rescued the Doberman and handed it over to non-governmental organisation Community Development and Integration Initiative (CDII), which recently launched its canine welfare project dubbed “Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better”.

The dog has since been sent to a veterinary clinic where it was diagnosed to be suffering from severe heartworm infestation, low platelet count and malnutrition.

The attending veterinarian also said the dog was only about two years old.

According to CDII director Clarence C.R. Chua, his organisation’s canine welfare project emphasised a no-kill policy and therefore the dog would be treated and taken care of until its last day.

“It’s only two years old and therefore deserves a second chance to continue living,” said Chua.

He said CDII’s canine welfare project was a long-term plan aimed at opening a sanctuary and hospice for dogs in Selangor.

“We have a long way to go and need to raise funds to realise our plan.

“We also hope that the Selangor government will give us a helping hand by allocating us a piece of land for our sanctuary and hospice,” he added.

Those interested in sponsoring the abandoned Doberman’s treatment or adopting it can write to malaysiandogsdeservebetter@gmail.com.

By:WANI MUTHIAH

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Dorothy
www.DogMillion.com