VetBros Pet Education Charitable Fund, a 501c3 nonprofit institution, is changing the industry, one pet at a time. The VetBros PECF created by Dr. Mondrian Contreras is teaming up with Central Bark doggie daycare and Carol Stream Animal Hospital to implement sustainability, renewable/green energy and conservation into their facilities in efforts of influencing the USA Pet Industry to be more environmentally responsible. Climate change is one of the greatest public health threats of the twenty-first century.
The pet industry has had a strong desire to promote environmental sustainability within our industry, but lacks the resources available to make an impact.
The VetBros PECF is teaming up with Green2Gold’s TRANSITION PROJECT with this focus to support the pet industry in learning about and taking action to decrease its environmental footprint. The Transition Project, in partnership of a master national initiative by the insurance industry's Resilience Innovation Hub, is the environmental initiative that is helping the pet industry upgrade their facilities (veterinary hospitals, doggie daycare, pet stores, animal shelters, etc.) in order to reduce their general waste and energy consumption. The pet industry has always highlighted their own concerns about the impact that climate change has on the pets we care for and care about. It is time for our industry to lead by example, and the Transition Project provides the tools and guidance needed to make our industry be a leader in environmental sustainability and resilience.
Services provided by Green 2 Gold’s Transition Project includes 52 years of expert consulting, research, identification of needs, applications and implementation of loss prevention opportunities, liability & insurance reduction, federal, state, local tax benefits, rebates, grants, private and philanthropic sector incentives and partnerships, permits, licenses, recognition (certification, awards, etc.) for energy efficiency, water & waste conservation, renewable energy usage, yielding reductions in overhead, maintenance, and operational costs, with enhancement of profitability of the business. Benefits of transitioning to “greener” facilities include providing a non-toxic and healthy indoor environment for the pets, human staff and clients as well as contributions to the local community's economic development. Additional benefits are seen in state, national, and global environmental quality, as well as climate change mitigation and adaptiveness.
Time4Pets, a Green2Gold enterprise and VetBros will also be launching a semi-annual “Eureka!! 4Pets” contest for new pet products in which these contest winners will be offered the opportunity to have their green products licensed for further development. T4P expects to market an extensive line of pet products from this contest. Our T4P team sincerely hopes that investors around the world will join our efforts in creating sustainable products while also helping VetBros save the lives of thousands of pets every year. Time4Pets has multiple opportunities for investors who are interested in being an active part of T4P.
Website Link:
National Transition Initiative
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s9GQe8exeafhPDINtQruEmOhOlNm81sB/view?usp=sharing
Speech: See Dr. Contreras’s speech on the pet industry roll in sustainability
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15iX4WuTIFkVvdmNZ7WXhFyltWOSZqi6v/view?usp=sharing
Newsletter
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WQaEyZHfPzR2ZZNHmj7RlDDBQYpNj-GV/view?usp=sharing
If you are interested in supporting a worthy cause to help save birds and other creatures from injury and death, this is an organization for you - The Wild Bird Fund. And every year they host a benefit fundraiser call a Flocktail Party in New York City's Central Park Boathouse. It is a wonderful setting for a worthy cause. This year it will be held on Wednesday, April 27, 2022 from 6:30-9:30.
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This fascinating guide, which we post in two parts, can help us better understand how dogs can communicate with us and with each other. It is written by Will Hank and Medically reviewed by Dr. Erica Irish
Dogs sometimes bark, growl, or whine to send messages, but nonverbal communication is more common in canines . Since dogs depend so much on their pet parents, it’s essential for owners to understand their methods of communication. Even common dog body language, like a wagging tail, can mean different things in different circumstances. Pet parents can keep their pups calm, safe, and happy by learning how to read and decipher a dog’s body language.
PART 1
Dogs use a variety of movements with different parts of their bodies and faces to convey messages. Even a dog’s body position itself helps to display a certain attitude or emotional state. Keep an eye out for these common communication methods when trying to understand your dog:
Body position and posture. Dogs stand differently when relaxed versus excited, aroused, or scared. Even weight distribution on all four paws often indicates a relaxed or happy dog. Stiff front legs with the weight shifted forward and hackles raise, hair standing up on your dog’s neck, can show arousal or excitement. Conversely, dogs cowering or hunched over are often displaying signs of fear and/or submission.
Body movement. Like body posture, dog body movements can communicate a lot. Pacing can often signal a stressed or nervous dog. On the other hand, a jumping or bouncy dog is usually happy and excited. One common example of dogs greeting each other is the “play bow,” with the front legs down and their butt in the air. As the name implies, this signal is used between dogs as an invitation to play.
Tail. There’s one common misconception about a dog’s tail: the idea that a wagging tail automatically equals a happy dog. Yes, dogs often wag their tails loosely when relaxed or happy. But, a raised or stiffly wagging tail may suggest arousal, excitement, confidence, or even aggression. On the flip side, a lowered tail, especially one tucked between the legs, is often a sign of fear, stress, or submission.
Ears. Dogs communicate with their ears in a variety of ways. Upright, forward-facing ears “at attention” often show interest or arousal, while pinned back ears may mean a dog is afraid. As with other body language, ear movements can have conflicting meanings. So, it’s important to consider the situation and the dog’s other movements when deciphering ear position. In general, dogs with erect ears, like German shepherds, display a wider variety of ear movements than a floppy-eared breed, like Labrador retrievers.
Eyes. Eye contact is an important sign for dogs and the intensity of a dog’s eyes matters. A soft or squinty stare often suggests happiness or relaxation. A hard, direct stare, can often mean an aggressive dog. A dog averting their eyes or looking away can be a common sign of stress or fear. They’ll often display the whites of their eyes, a gesture known as “whale eye”, in response to stress or anxiety.
Mouth. Dogs display facial expressions and mouth movements to communicate in several ways. Many of us recognize relaxed dogs by their slightly open mouths and panting tongues. But, several mouth movements can often suggest signs of stress or even nausea. Yawning and/or licking the lips are often displacement behaviors. This means the dog is anxious and suppressing the urge to do something else, such as bark or bite. A more concerning sign is when dogs display their teeth in a snarl or “smile.” While it may look funny to us, this often signifies aggressive behavior.
Alex Fox of Smithsonian writes about the evolution of Amazon birds in response to climate change:
A 40-year study found 77 species of rainforest birds weigh less on average, and many have longer wings, than they used to. Here is a short excerpt:
When the first ever World Climate Conference concluded in February 1979, the scientists in attendance issued a statement calling on world leaders "to foresee and prevent potential man-made changes in climate that might be adverse to the well-being of humanity." On October 17 of that same year, scientists deep in the Brazilian Amazon unfurled a set of 16 mist nets at 6 a.m. to begin a study of the birds living in the understory beneath the rainforest’s green roof.
In the 40 years that followed, climate change went from a far-off-seeming idea to a grave reality that grips every square inch of the planet, and hundreds of dedicated researchers kept opening the mist nets at dawn to capture and study the feathered inhabitants of an intact patch of Brazilian rainforest about 40 miles north of Manaus.
Now, a new paper leveraging this long-running study, originally aimed at testing the impacts of forest fragmentation, shows that as human activities have altered Earth’s climate, the bodies of birds living in the understory of this remote, undamaged patch of rainforest have been changing in response. The authors of the paper report today in the journal Science Advances that all 77 species of birds surveyed by the study weigh less on average than they did 40 years ago and nearly 80 percent of those species also have developed greater average wing-lengths.
Researchers aren’t yet sure what the consequences of these physiological changes might be or the precise mechanisms that gave rise to them, but the team’s analyses suggest the rising temperatures and changes in rainfall seen at the study site offer the most powerful statistical explanation for the birds’ transformation.
“This is the middle of the Amazon rainforest, far away from deforestation,” says Vitek Jirinec, an ecologist at Louisiana State University and the paper’s lead author. “But even here, in this place that is teeming with life and looks totally undamaged, you can’t escape the consequences of climate change.”
Jirinec and his co-authors embarked on this study in earnest in 2020 after finding that 21 species of birds at this site north of Manaus, known to researchers as the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP), were in decline. Even within this protected area, buffered from logging and pollution, some species had declined by as much as 40 percent, especially insect-eaters. Those results, published in 2020, led Jirinec and his colleagues to try to tease out what might be going on, and, in particular, to probe the role of climate change.
To do that, the researchers compiled the weights of 14,842 individual birds and the wing lengths of 11,582 birds recorded by BDFFP scientists between 1979 and 2019 and paired those data with the last 50 years of changes in temperature and precipitation in the region.
In terms of climate change, the team found that compared to 1966 this region’s wet seasons have become 13 percent wetter and its dry seasons are now 15 percent drier. The average temperature for both seasons has also increased over that time span, with temperatures rising by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit in the wet season and 2.97 degrees in the dry season.
Among the birds, all 77 species in the study showed average decreases in body weight over the last four decades, with some species losing nearly 2 percent of their mass every decade, and 61 species showed increases in average wing-length. Statistical analysis linked those changes to climatic shifts.
The results fall short of demonstrating cause and effect, but show a strong association. “The relationship between body size and climate change is correlational, naturally,” writes Mario Cohn-Haft, an ornithologist with Brazil’s National Institute of Amazonian Research who wasn’t involved in the paper, in an email. “But both several-decade long trends and year to year trends are demonstrated here with a monstrous amount of data to support them.”
The study found that birds tended to be lighter following hotter and drier conditions than usual, especially if those conditions fell during the dry season, which is the most stressful time of year for birds because food is harder to find.
The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards have been unearthing hilarious and heartwarming photos of creatures basically being their best selves since 2015.
And this year is no exception. The recently announced winners and finalists of the 2021 competition include a visibly uncomfortable monkey, a trio of gossipy raccoons, a joyful bird reunion, gravity-defying fish and an all-powerful prairie dog.
A panel of judges sorts through thousands of submissions from expert and novice photographers alike, and determines one winner for each of the several categories — except for the peoples' choice award, which is left up to members of the public. The overall winner gets a handmade trophy from a workshop in Tanzania and a weeklong Kenyan safari.
Read the full article on NPR
The winged mammal is critically endangered and won the award to raise awareness about their existence and importance to the island ecosystem
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Kemp’s ridleys can weigh as much as 100 pounds as adults—though they are still the smallest species of sea turtle— and can live for decades. It takes about 15 years for turtles to mature to the point that they can lay eggs, and a mature female can lay two to three clutches of about 100 eggs each nesting season. But less than one percent of hatchlings survive to adulthood, so every adult turtle is important to the overall population—especially a breeding female.
Kemp’s ridley turtles live primarily in coastal environments in the Gulf of Mexico. Over the past century, these gentle creatures have faced increases in pollution, oil spills, and accidental catch risk from commercial fishing, as well as coastal development and crowded beaches in their nesting areas. And as Toni’s situation exemplifies, recreational fishing also poses a major threat.
It’s hard to count how many individual Kemp’s ridley sea turtles live in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, so biologists count nests to track the health of the population. In the early 1940s, biologists estimated there were 40,000 nests in the Gulf of Mexico. By the mid-1980s, that number had fallen to fewer than 750. Through intensive conservation efforts, nests increased to 19,000 by 2009, but the number has dropped back down to 11,000 nests in 2014, the last year biologists published a nesting survey.
Read more hereIn 1975, an injured broad-winged hawk found its way to Dr. Richard Brown, an ornithologist at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Along with several biology students, Brown helped the bird back to health and released it into the wild—it would be the first of many rehabilitations.
Over the years that followed, more and more birds were brought into the makeshift clinic in the basement of the university’s biology building. In 1980, Brown and Deb Sue Griffin, one of his students, decided to make things more official. Together they founded Carolina Raptor Center, which has admitted some 20,000 birds over the last four decades.
In 1984, the center moved into a new home inside Latta Nature Preserve, which spans more than 1,400 acres. The preserve offers opportunities for hiking, horseback riding, and paddling in the waters of Gar Creek and Mountain Island Lake.
Around 60 percent of the raptors admitted are rehabilitated and then released back into the wild. The birds that cannot be released become permanent residents at Carolina Raptor Center or another facility that can care for them.
Over the years the center has grown in size and complexity—helped along the way by the 300+ Boy Scouts who have completed Eagle Scout projects on its grounds. Today the center is home to 85 permanent resident birds from all over the world, many of which can be seen from the Raptor Trail that encircles the center. One of the highlights of the trail is the eagle aviary, where visitors can take in the impressive sight of golden and bald eagles. Other species on display include a peregrine falcon, red-shouldered hawk, spectacled owl, and turkey vulture.
In 2016, the center began a project that will expand its educational offerings and ability to care for injured birds of prey. This includes Quest, a newly-built facility that will house both the Latta Nature Center and Carolina Raptor Center along with exhibit space, indoor classrooms, and an amphitheater.
Carolina Raptor Center is open Wednesday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for children. Check the website for more information.
Note: Erosion prevention measures make the trail inaccessible for most powered wheelchairs, but the Visitor Center is wheelchair accessible.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/carolina-raptor-center?utm_source=Atlas+Obscura+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2cd7c186e8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_04_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f36db9c480-2cd7c186e8-63315921&mc_cid=2cd7c186e8&mc_eid=11ee67816a