Whales, Dogs and Travel

Many of you may know that the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) is currently underway in Agadir, Morocco. This year’s meeting has been dominated by a proposal, three years in the making, to allow limited commercial whaling under the control of the IWC.

Hunting whales commercially has been illegal since 1986. Nonetheless, three countries (Japan, Norway, and Iceland) have illegally killed nearly 35,000 whales since the whaling ban was adopted. According to International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the most hotly debated components of the proposal was a plan to overturn the worldwide ban on whaling, by allowing legalized hunting of whales by Iceland, Norway, and Japan.

“This was an intense three year effort but one conducted behind closed doors and focused on defining terms under which commercial whaling would continue rather than how it would end,” says Patrick Ramage, Director of IFAW’s Global Whale Campaign. “The proposal it produced could not withstand public scrutiny and ignored the overwhelming global support for permanent protection for whales. Any future process of negotiation should not leave the views, expertise, and perspective of the global NGO community sitting outside.”

With offices in 15 countries, IFAW saves animals in crisis around the world. They rescue and provide veterinary care to individual animals and advocate for the protection of entire populations. For more information about IFAW, visit their website.

The Tortoise and the Scare
Brandie Keaveny of Ramona, CA, found herself rushing her desert tortoise Charlie to emergency care. “I came home from work and was playing with my dog,” Brandie says. “Charlie was eating grass and came over to me when he saw me. As he got closer, I noticed there was something wrong with his head. His scalp skin was pulled forward exposing bone and muscle.”

Brandie realized immediately she’d need to get 50-year-old Charlie help fast. With no defensive wounds or tooth and claw puncture marks visible, the veterinarian on duty knew Charlie’s injuries had not been caused by an animal attack. The veterinarian theorized that the tortoise had been resting under a low hedge, had managed to get his head caught on a branch, and pulled his head too quickly into his shell, scraping the skin. The veterinarian prescribed a months worth of antibiotic for Charlie, and he wore his stitches for several weeks.

As the most unusual claim submitted in May, Charlie’s claim was placed in the running for the 2010 VPI Hambone Award. Each month, VPI employees nominate the most interesting claim submitted and in August 2010, the company will ask the public to vote for the most unusual claim of the year. The VPI Hambone Award is named in honor of a VPI-insured dog that got stuck in a refrigerator and ate an entire ham. The dog was eventually found, with a licked-clean ham bone and a mild case of hypothermia.

All pets considered for the award made full recoveries and received insurance reimbursements. Click here for more stories and pictures of the Hambone Award nominees.

GREY2K USA Holds Contest

Last year, GREY2K USA introduced a new credit card to benefit the work of GREY2K USA. Now they want you to put your greyhound in the picture on the credit card. Up to four winners will be chosen and each will grace the front of a GREY2K USA credit card. The contest ends July 5. Click here for details.

Formed in March of 2001, GREY2K USA is a national non-profit organization dedicated to passing stronger greyhound protection laws and ending the cruelty of dog racing.

Win a Best Western Travel Card

If you forget something for your dog, there's a good chance that the pet-friendly Best Western hotels will have it on hand.

There is still time to enter. Our contest ends this Monday! Pet News and Views, GoPetFriendly, Doggy Bytes, and Doggie Stylish have teamed up with Best Western to offer one lucky winner of our joint contest a $300 travel card good at any Best Western in the U.S. or Canada. The $300 card value can be applied to your hotel stay and meals.  Click here for details.