HUMANE HERO: SHERIFF'S DEPUTY RESUSCITATES DOG IN FLORIDA
Source: ASPCA News Alert 12/27/01

When Dennis Stonecipher was informed by a passer-by that a beagle had fallen out of the window of a parked car and was dangling by his leash, the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Deputy sprang into action. As reported by ABC News, the canine was not breathing and his pupils were dilated, so Stonecipher decided to try cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the eight-year-old beagle mix. Unable to find a way to channel the air into the dog's mouth, the deputy "just took that big old nose" and breathed directly into his snout. Between breaths, he performed chest compressions, and after about five minutes, the dog responded.
Recalls the humane hero, "I didn't even think about it; I knew I had to do something." Way to go, Deputy!

Sniffer Dogs Often Better Than Machines  
APO 11/26 1320 Sniffer Dogs Often Better Than Machines

NEW YORK (AP) -- You simply can't send a machine to do a dog's work.

Despite millions spent on sophisticated explosive detection machines, experts agree that the snout of a hunting dog is the best equipment to find bombs in large buildings or airplanes.

Aviation officials gathering at a security technology conference this week in Atlantic City will compare the merits of high-tech ion-mobility spectrometers -- already in use as bomb- and drug detectors -- with the advantages of sniffer hounds.

Even parties with vested interests in the technology say the dogs are better under many circumstances.

"A dog's nose is probably the most sensitive piece of equipment going. They're enormously accurate," said Brook Miller, vice president of Barringer Technologies, one of the companies that will exhibit spectrometry scanners at the FAA-sponsored Aviation Security Technology Symposium.

The conference will focus on a variety of security technology, from X-ray imagers to cameras that broadcast real-time surveillance video from inside airliners to the ground.

Much of the agenda delves into the relative merits of spectrometry scanners, which detect even microscopic residue of explosives or drugs left on baggage or passengers' clothing, documents or skin. The machines -- along with X-ray and magnetic-imaging equipment -- are likely to play an important role for airports that need to comply with new aviation security legislation.

During the detection process, particles are swabbed from suspicious areas or sucked directly into the machines. The particles are vaporized and the resulting ions are examined to see whether they resemble chemicals used in bombs or narcotics.

Paul Eisenbraun, vice president of Ion Track Instruments, said his company is under contract with the FAA to produce its Itemizer scanners, already used in 76 airports. Now the agency is pushing for more of the detectors, Eisenbraun said.

Ion Track's handheld scanner, called the VaporTracer2, is in the process of gaining FAA certification, Eisenbraun said. The company also carries a walkthrough version called EntryScan.

Devices like these and Barringer's Ionscan can identify particles as small as one-billionth or one-trillionth of a gram, putting them in the same league as a good bomb dog.

Companies at the forefront of trace-detection technology find themselves in competition with Labrador retrievers, German shepherds and Belgian Malinois.

Even though new aviation legislation requires bomb-detecting machines to be installed at all large U.S. airports by the end of 2002, the FAA has no plans to retire its dogs. This year, the FAA had 188 canine teams working full-time at 39 major airports across the country, said FAA spokesman Paul Takemoto. The agency planned to add teams to 25 more airports in 2002 and 16 more in 2003, Takemoto said.

Proponents of the scanners say dogs have several drawbacks.

Dogs can only work a few hours before getting tired. They need to be cared for and cleaned up after.

And, though a trained dog comes cheaper -- $10,000 compared to a $20,000-$40,000 detector -- it doesn't take a skilled handler to operate the devices.

"Any yahoo can use them," said Miller.

Also, dogs are usually trained to find either explosives or drugs, but not both. The scanners can check for traces of narcotics or explosives -- as many as 30-plus compounds.

"A dog trained on American-made C-4 may not alert to Chinese-made C-4 because it's a different kind of material," Eisenbraun said.

Eisenbraun said these factors make his company's devices more efficient for screening bags and passengers.

When it comes to finding a bomb hidden in a stadium or airport, however, all agree it's time to send in the dogs.

"A dog can go into an area and lead you to where the odor is coming from. That's the main advantage," said Mike Herstik, who trains canines for military and law-enforcement clients.

Two canine teams could search a 20,000-seat arena in an hour and a half, while it might take a full day for 30 people with trace detectors to examine the same area, experts say.

As a result, dogs have worked their paws raw in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Herstik has no fear that dogs will be replaced by machines anytime soon. He welcomes help from the machines.

"Everything at our disposal should be used," Herstik said. "But I still think there's nothing better than a dog."

Nov. 20 — 

The war in Afghanistan could have a long-term impact on the health of birds migrating from central Asia to India every year but the effects may take a while to appear, an Indian ornithologist said on Tuesday.

About 200 species of birds, including the Siberian crane, shoveller duck, crested poacher and Arctic tern begin their journey from Russia and central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to India at the end of October or the beginning of November each year.

The birds stop to refuel at many wetlands in Afghanistan during their 6,000-7,000-km (3,750-4,375-mile) journey that takes them to various bird sanctuaries across India.

"The bombing may have a long-term impact on birds migrating to India. The chemical contents in the bombs could enter the food chain," Abrar Ahmed, senior program officer at World Wide Fund for Nature India, told Reuters.

Ahmed said while the migration of birds this season had been normal up to now, ornithologists feared the chemicals released from the bombing could enter the birds' bodies and affect breeding cycles in the long run.

"The chemical contents will be stored in the fat layers of the birds, making their return journey much tougher. And that could prove fatal," Ahmed said.

"The chemicals can also be passed on to their eggs," he said.

He said past studies on the impact of pesticides on peregrine falcons had shown that a high content of the non-biodegradable, insecticide aldrin had led to a decline in the bird population and had also affected the nature of their egg shells.

"The egg shell became so thin that it was crushed by the weight of the mother," Ahmed said. "If one chemical could have such an impact, so many chemicals can certainly pose a danger."

It will not be known until December or January when most of the birds usually reach their destination in India whether the heavy bombardment of Afghanistan by U.S.-led forces has reduced the numbers arriving. So far, two Siberian cranes have landed in Bharatpur bird sanctuary in the northwestern state of Rajasthan, R.K. Singh, assistant director of the sanctuary, told Reuters.

"Birds normally come when there is a full moon. We will get to know if bird arrivals have been affected during the next full moon in the beginning of December," Singh said.

Stowaway cat returns to N.Z. after Korean trip
The saga of the sleepy stowaway began on November 15, when the nine-year-old white, black and gold cat curled up with a South Korean sailor who had taken her aboard a methane tanker for a meal at New Zealand's Port Taranaki.

It ended 9,600 km (5,965 miles) later at the South Korean port of Yosu on Tuesday, when thankful James Gordon MacPherson embraced the cat that he and his fellow dockworkers had raised at Port Taranaki since the early 1990s.

The New Zealand dockworkers had tried to arrange a mid-sea ship-to-ship cat transfer that was abandoned as too risky. To calm the New Zealanders' worries, South Korean captain Chang Seong-mo sent email photos of Colins back to the port.

"Many people have been involved in in getting Colins back to New Zealand and we're very grateful for that," MacPherson told South Korea's YTN television network.

He thanked the crew of the tanker Tomikawa for their care, Whiskas pet food and Korea Airlines for airfare and quarantine officers in South Korea and New Zealand for speeding the return of a cat he said "kept us company for many long nights".

"We'll have to give her a talking to -- not to talk to strange men," he said

Omron has a pet robot for cat lovers
October 21, 2001

Problem: You want to own a pet robot, but you're a cat person and most available entertainment pet robots, such as Sony's Aibo, are dog-like.

Now, Japanese electronic component maker Omron has an answer: A cat-like entertainment robot that looks furry and real, and responds to its owner, the company has announced.

The Necoro robot, which comes in two colors, is covered with artificial fur. Necoro is equipped with sensors on its head, chin, cheek and back, to sense when it's touched. It also has voice recognition and visual recognition systems, and contains an acceleration sensor which detects its own posture, according to a company statement.

"By patting, holding and talking to the robot, users can communicate with the robot," said Tadashi Katsuno, a spokesman for Omron.

The company developed a programmed system called Mac (mind and consciousness) that gives a robot abilities to learn and build emotions, the statement said.

Necoro cannot walk around but its body's 15 joints allow it to sit down and stand up naturally. Via a built-in speaker, it makes 48 different mews. A rechargeable battery lasts up to 90 minutes.

A limited number of 5,000 robots will be on sale on November 20 at 185,000 yen (US$1,526), available for order only by telephone or Internet within Japan, Katsuno said.

Stranded pets now being rescued
September 16, 2001

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A few blocks north of the police barricades on Canal Street volunteers are running a command center for a special sort of operation -- pet rescues.

The command center has been sending out its vans to evacuate animals from the buildings around the World Trade Center complex, what is now called "ground zero."

After the terrorist attacks, none of the residents of the buildings in the area were allowed back in to collect their pets.

Among them was Hiro Oshima, a photographer who lived a block away. He was at home when he heard the first airplane attack. He rushed out with his camera and was clicking photographs when the buildings began to come down.

He ran for his life and thought he would come back later to get Laertes, his 9-month-old Bengal cat. He never dreamed it would be four days before he could. Oshima contacted the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals command center on Kings Street. Laertes had water but no food. "But even the water was filled with soot when we went in to the apartment," Oshima said, "He must have been so scared."

Volunteers here have rescued and treated more than 50 animals since Thursday when they set up the makeshift center -- complete with a mobile operating theater.

That includes cats, dogs, birds, even a gecko. The 3-year-old lizard "Little Dude" was so stressed by the explosions, it shed its skin (geckos shed their skins routinely, but this skin-shedding was brought on by trauma).

To rescue "Little Dude" Humane Law Enforcement agents had to climb 39 floors to bring him back to its owner, Eve Kline, a TriBeCa resident.

"Sometimes the owners feel so guilty that they abandoned their pets," said Jennifer Olsen of the ASPCA. "We have to counsel them, too. But it is so gratifying to see them when they reunite with their pets after all this time."

Not all rescued pets have been reunited with their owners. Authorities fear some of the pets being housed at animal care shelters in the city may have belonged to someone who died or is missing from Tuesday's attacks.

If that is the case, they will probably put the pets up for adoption soon. The ASPCA is receiving offers to adopt the animals from other New York residents every day.

Help for the animals in several forms has poured in as people across the country try to find some way of reaching out. They have donated hundreds of bags of cat food and dog food and animal containers to transport the pets.

One pet transporter, Robert Ake, drove to New York all the way from Colorado to help with the pet rescues.

And as New Yorkers lined up at the police barricades on Canal Street to cheer for their heroes -- firefighters and rescue workers returning from their shifts at the wreckage site -- they also cheered for the "animal heroes" -- handsome dogs who have been sniffing for survivors.

One Minnesota couple even sent "dog boots" to help protect the canine workers from the sharp rubble.