In my upcoming book with the working title of "Blessing of the Animals" (Sterling Publishing, Spring 2006) I talk about animals helping to choose their own names and naming ceremonies. I found it interesting to come across this article on dolphins choosing their own names and recognizing them.

I thought this was a good commentary regarding some of the recent wild animal attacks on humans. The article talks about bear attacks and mentions the latest cougar attack and suspected wolf attack on humans.

Clumping cat litter is not a good environmental choice. For those of you who have inquired about toilet training your pet...toilet train your cat with this pet product. Just don't go too fast!

The Fox Hunting Ban in the UK took effect in 2004. Check out this little tidbit on London foxes.

In today's world there are a ton of issues related to wildlife and pets. One of the big problems is that there are a variety of opinions and too few officers to administer the laws. Check out this article related to an intentional drowning of a dog.

The underlying problem is that there is little or no education on how to properly care for animals, let alone any guidelines on how to dispose of pets and other animals. Different regulatory agencies govern the many laws on the books. The bottom line is that pet owner responsibility needs to be brought to a new level.

This is occurring in segments of the population, especially in urban areas. What do you think about this issue?

Ever wonder about the status of animals in the wild. This IUCN release contains a few updates.

Many of you know that I was selected as the pet expert for a series of infomercials. The spot is appropriately called, "Ark Animals Answers" and touches briefly on some of the hot topics of interest to the surrounding community and visitors. I recorded four segments on Saturday and have a list of others if the spot is well received.

One of the topics I'll need to address is that of urban wildlife or tips for tourists. Take a look at the raccoon bite on this guys leg. If you are going to have a pet door near a wilderness area, or an area where you have wildlife trotting by, get an electronic pet door. The electronic door only opens for your pet.

You might get a kick out of this little trinket...a pet PDA!

Invasive species are a big problem to other ecosystems. You might have heard about the deer problem in Pt. Reyes national park in California. Jan Goodall is involved so read more here.

If you are interested in weird science and marketing check out this little gem on cloned pigs!

Of course, I can't forget to bring you the latest on the avian flu newsfront with this commentary.

Here is the latest news on mad cow disease in Alabama and the update on the mad cow disease news.

I thought you might want to take a look at this snippet about a movie, Best Friends Forgotten . Good idea and I hope it catches on but I doubt people really want a real glimpse into the problem--it is ugly.