Passive Smoking Kills Pets Too
I personally never thought it didn’t, but now we have scientific proof: pets 
owned by smokers are twice as likely to develop certain cancers. Dogs have increased risk for nose and lung cancer, and cats get a double whammy since they not only inhale the smoke, but also lick it off their fur. And, even worse, if they’re indoor cats, they never get out to breathe fresh air, putting them even more at risk than the humans of the home. Dr. Anthony Moore of Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine said “The results of our study clearly indicate that exposure to environmental factors such as second-hand tobacco smoke has devastating consequences for cats because it significantly increases their likelihood of contracting lymphoma.”
Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine
Buckinghamshire SmokeFree Support Service
This Ape is Smarter Than Your Grad Student
And it’s not just apes. New research suggests that animal intelligence has been hugely underestimated. Researchers have been interpreting findings as lack of intelligence, when in reality, the design of the studies is to blame. More and more researchers are starting to realize that they need to look at things from the animals’ perspective.
Wall Street Journal
Spaying and Neutering – Good or Bad?
This is something I am seeing more and more discussion about both here in the US and in Europe. In Sweden (where I’m originally from), dogs are normally not “fixed”; in fact, it used to be illegal to do so unless there was a medical reason for it. Here in the US, it’s a different story. But people are starting to question whether the practice of routinely spaying and neutering is a good idea. Two recent studies suggest that certain cancers are more prevalent in sterilized animals.
dvm360.com
The Dangers of Wireless
This is not strictly animal-related, but it supports one of my long held convictions: that wireless technology 
is terrible for everyone’s health. Students in Denmark found that garden cress seeds placed in a room with two Wifi routers (emitting the same amount of radiation as an average cell phone) did not grow at all, while seeds (receiving the same amount of light and water) in a room without Wifi thrived. The students, a group of 9th grade girls, came up with the idea for the project after noticing that when they slept with their cell phone close to their bed, they did not sleep well and had difficulty concentrating the next day. Scientists in Sweden and Belgium are now looking to conduct similar experiments on a “more professional, scientific level”.
DR
Touching Story of the Week: Dog saves Owner’s Life
When German Shepherd April’s owner had a stroke and was passed out with saliva flowing out of her mouth, April stepped in a kept licking away the saliva, which could have otherwise blocked her nose and suffocated her. She did this for an hour until her “human dad” came home and called paramedics. Today, April’s owner is fine, and says April continues to watch her closely.
CBS New York
