Weekly News Roundup 2/9 – 2/15/18

 

United Kingdom could ban pet shop puppy sales

In a move to crack down on puppy mills, the United Kingdom is considering a new law that would ban pet shops and online dealers from selling puppies. If the new law passes, the sale of puppies would be limited to licensed dog breeders and non-profits that rehome abandoned dogs. In addition, licensed dog breeders will be forced to show puppies alongside their mother before making a sale, and online sales of dogs—where the new owner doesn’t see the dog before they buy—will be outlawed entirely.  

Suspected poacher eaten by lions

A suspected poacher was eaten by lions at a big game park in South Africa. “It seems the victim was poaching in the game park when he was attacked and killed by lions,” a police spokesperson said. A loaded hunting rifle was found near the man’s remains. Poaching has been on the rise in that area of South Africa in recent years, in part because big cat’s body parts are sometimes used in traditional African medicine. In January 2017, three lions were found in the same area with their paws and heads cut off. In a possible case of poetic justice, the lions who ate the suspected poacher left his head behind.

Woman flushes pet hamster down airport toilet, says airline made her do it

A Florida woman says a Spirit Airlines employee told her to flush her pet hamster Pebbles down an airport toilet because the emotional support rodent wasn’t allowed to board the plane with her. The woman, a 21-year-old college student who was flying home to deal with a family medical emergency, said she had no time to make arrangements to board Pebbles and called the airline twice to make sure the dwarf hamster could fly with her. But when she got to the airport, she was told she’d been misinformed. The airline admitted their mistake but deny telling the woman to flush the hamster. The woman said she was horrified at her actions, but, “I didn’t have any other options.”

FDA issues safety warnings after companies recall dog food over salmonella concerns

The FDA issued safety warnings for dog food products from five different companies in the past two weeks, including Raws For Paws Dog Food, Red Barn Pet Products, and Smokehouse Pet Products. Several of the products were recalled after samples of salmonella were detected. The agency is also investigating a pattern of contamination in some raw pet foods made by Arrow Reliance, including Darwin’s Natural Pet Products and ZooLogic’s Pet Food. The FDA issued the warnings after reciving six reports of illness and death in animals that had eaten the recalled products.

Dog out of the running for Kansas Governor

The Kansas Secretary of State’s Office this week determined that Angus Wooley, a wire-haired vizsla, can’t serve as the state’s governor. Angus’s owner, Terran Wooley, said he entered his dog in the race after looking up the requirements needed to run for governor of Kansas and realizing that “basically there are none.” But the Secretary of State’s Office scrambled and found a loophole. As a spokesperson explained, “Kansas statute and the Kansas Constitution make repeated references to a person being governor. Nor can a dog carry out the statutory and constitutional duties required of a governor.”

NEWStat Legislation & regulation Interesting/unusual