BluePearl Pet hospital acquires PetHospice, expanding scope of veterinary services

BluePearl Veterinary Partners has acquired PetHospice, a California-based end-of-life services company focused on telehealth and education for pet owners and veterinarians as well as in-home care for pets. The company name will transition to BluePearl Pet Hospice. Through this acquisition, BluePearl—a provider of specialty and emergency veterinary care with more than 95 practices across the US—will offer in-home hospice, palliative care, and euthanasia for pets in the California counties of San Francisco, Marin, Napa, and Sonoma, with plans to expand in-home end-of-life services to markets nationwide. . . . more

New study shows Arctic animals responding to climate change

Animals across the Arctic are changing where and when they breed, migrate, and forage in response to climate change, says a new study unveiling the massive scale of change. The changes mean humans in the Arctic may have to adapt and adjust everything from hunting seasons to conservation to land use, scientists say. The study describes the new Arctic Animal Movement Archive, which compiles data on the movements of 86 species—from golden eagles to caribou to bowhead whales—across the Arctic over three decades, combining the work of more than 100 universities, government agencies, and conservation groups in 17 countries around the world. That database allows researchers to observe changes on a scale they’d never been able to before. . . . more

Big cats and small dogs: Solving the mystery of canine distemper in wild tigers

New research out of Cornell University has revealed that vaccination of endangered Siberian tigers is the only practical strategy to protect the big cats from a deadly disease in their natural habitat. The disease, canine distemper virus (CDV), causes serious illness in domestic dogs and infects other carnivores, including threatened species such as the Siberian tiger, of which there are fewer than 550 in the Russian Far East and neighboring China. It is often assumed that domestic dogs are the primary source of CDV. But a team led by Martin Gilbert, PhD, MRes, of the Cornell Wildlife Health Center, found that other local wildlife was instead the primary source of CDV transmission to tigers. . . . more

Rates of dog bites in children up during COVID-19 pandemic

Greater rates of Colorado’s children are going to the pediatric emergency department as a result of dog bites during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recently published commentary article in the Journal of Pediatrics. The article’s authors, attending physicians at Children’s Hospital Colorado (Children’s Colorado) and University of Colorado School of Medicine faculty, share data revealing significant increases in dog bite rates presenting to Children’s Colorado since the initiation of statewide stay-at-home orders in March. Moreover, the high rates of dog bite injuries have continued even as these orders have relaxed over time, and they are not unique to Colorado. . . . more

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