Monday, June 30, 2008

Toxic Fertilizer Enters the Food Chain

This is a story Ms. X feels very strongly should be read by EVERYBODY. That is, everybody that raises animals, gardens or eats food. Did I leave anyone out?

Industrial herbicide taints British soil.

Gardeners across Britain are reaping a bitter harvest of rotten potatoes, withered salads and deformed tomatoes after an industrial herbicide tainted their soil.
...
The affected gardens and allotments have been contaminated by manure originating from farms where the hormone-based herbicide aminopyralid has been sprayed on fields.


What this article neglects to mention is...what happens to the cows? This stuff can deform a potato and the cow is still safe to eat? What about the cows' calves? What about our kids if we eat this stuff?

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Vitamin Supplements go to the dogs

(Hey I'm on a theme here!)

This is considerably more serious than dogs being banned from kitchens in bed and breakfasts'.

And closer.

This time it is the Canadans making decisions about our health and of course the health of our best friends. New legislation in Canada is brewing fear that nutritional supplements will be banned, and illegal use will be severely punished.

I've written quite a bit in this blog about Dogs' Health ,
and I am convinced a good part of the general malaise in dogdom exists because dogs have been consigned to a life of premanufactured kibble, generation after generation.

No, of course I don't take kindly to the idea of government prohibiting me from doing whatever I choose to enhance my health and the health of my loved ones.

But what say you, furry readers?

Again, the real question is this... Will Barak Obama or John McCain be the freedom fighter that will save us from such stupidity?

Perhaps it's time to look a little closer at Chuck Baldwin.

Bed and Breakfast go to the dogs

And, not in the good dog friendly way you normally expect when a site about dogs says something has gone to the dogs.

No, this time it means Bed and Breakfasts' in Europe are at the end of an era. Dogs have been banned from the kitchens and food preparation areas of these weekend and honeymoon retreats. The beauty of a Bed and Breakfast has always been the homelike feel, without nagging parents or endless work. The best of domestic bliss, good food, good company, beautiful countryside, and more often than not one or two friendly pettable companions of the canine or feline variety. People love their pets, and a surrogate they don't have to clean up after is the crowning touch on a perfect weekend.

But European Union officials have declared dogs "potential health and safety hazard to guests' food." Of course, many a bed and breakfast will close it's doors rather than banish their four footed member of the family (and sometimes star attraction) to the outdoors.

What say you, furry reader? Is this time to sit up and beg? Roll over and play dead? Or release the hounds? :-)

The real question is this... Will Barak Obama or John McCain be the freedom fighter that will save us from such stupidity?

Hey! It's not a trick question. Ms. X wanted Ron Paul.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Dogs Belch Too

Tomorrow (June 12) is Carbon Belch Day so lets all do our part to throw off the shackles of the peer driven guilt trip and JUST SAY NO to all the envisioned government incursions into our lives, liberties and pursuits of happiness.

Intrusions.
Violations.
Affronts to Dignity.

It's Freeing.

And it just might give some of us the much needed courage to say "NO" to a few more peer-induced guilt trips, like thinking you have to register with the AKC to be a responsible breeder.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Are our pets killing us?

Or are we killing them?

I just put up an article about pyrenthrins and Austism, and here is another scary story about medicines (prescription and over-the-counter) making their way into our water supplies. Medicines that don't just come from humans, but ever increasingly from medicated pets.


"Meds lurk in drinking water"

Other veterinary drugs also play a role. Pets are now treated for arthritis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, allergies, dementia, and even obesity — sometimes with the same drugs as humans.


A vicious cycle perhaps...we lather on the pesticides to kill the fleas and ticks, and treat the subsequent behaviour problems with prescription drugs which in turn make their way into our water supply. Known contaminants (the government call them "additives") to the water supply are already suspected of causing some serious diseases that we treat with more pharmaceuticals.

We are now being advised to dispose of unused, leftover meds by mixing them into used cat litter. Purportedly, this will stop substance abuse, but heck, when we can all get high from the drinking water, will it matter? Actually, an unwritten benefit of this disposal technique is that it would keep the leftovers, at least, out of the groundwater. The used cat litter will make its way to the landfill. Modern landfills are designed to minimze runoff and keep all of its contents out of the groundwater.

Autism and Your Dog

Scientists have recently uncovered a link between Autism disorders and pyrenthrins.

Common Chemicals May Have Autism Link

"WHAT are pyrenthrins?" you ask. Pesticides. Our enduring love - hate relationship continues. 'Silent Spring' may have been bogus, but the suspicion generated for pesticides lingers on and resonates continually among scientific and natural health circles.

Maybe there is a way to solve our bug problem more, um, naturally...

Ick.