i Still Love Dogs

Frank Sinatra Loved the Ladies…and the Dogs

Frank Sinatra, who was born 100 years ago today, didn’t just love the ladies (and vice versa) — he was also very fond of dogs, according to several sources. Who knows, maybe Ol’ Blue Eyes was thinking about sharing his bed with his pooches when he sang “Strangers in the Night.”

According to the official Frank Sinatra Facebook page, his mom didn’t allow him to have a dog when he was a kid, “but he made up for that later in life by having many!”

“He liked animals, period. Particularly underdogs,” his widow, Barbara, told the Palm Beach Post in 2011. The Sinatras had dogs, cats and horses.

“I found a snake in the yard one day and I called the gardener to kill it,” Barbara recalled. “Frank said, ‘No, no, he’s a friend of mine.’ So he threw it over the fence onto the golf course. He was very softhearted.”

Sinatra had an especially soft spot for Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

“He absolutely adored them,” Barbara told the Palm Beach Post. “When he was sick in his room, he’d have the cats on one side of the bed, and the dogs on the other. And he would pet them both.”

In her memoir, “My Father’s Daughter,” * Tina Sinatra recalls that when she was a little girl and asked her dad where heaven was, he replied, “Heaven is where all the animals go.”

When Sinatra died in 1998, several mementos were placed in his coffin.

“My contribution was a small dog biscuit, for Dad’s love of little critters,” Tina wrote.

I wish Sinatra a very happy birthday. I’m a huge fan of his, as was my mom, who as a teenage bobby-soxer ditched high school to see her idol perform at the Chicago Theater. “The Summer Wind” was one of her favorite Sinatra tunes, and I can fondly recall her and my dad (a non-fan who called Frank “Snotnose,” LOL) slow-dancing to it on the living room floor. I’d like to dedicate this to the memory of all three of them.

Rest in peace, up there where all the animals go.

Photos via Amazon; YouTube; pinterest; Buzzfeed; ilxor.com

* This is an affiliate link. If you buy this item from Amazon, i Still Love Dogs will get a small portion of the purchase price.

6 People Die After Eating Dog Meat in Cambodia

After chowing down on barbecued dog meat Sunday, six people died in Cambodia. Thirty others were sickened and had to be hospitalized.

Chea Reth, who lives in the Snoul district in Cambodia’s Kratie province, bought the dead dog from another villager, ChannelNews Asia reports. After barbecuing the dog and eating some of its meat, Reth died of acute food poisoning. The other people died or were sickened after eating the dog leftovers at Reth’s funeral.

Four other people died of food poisoning after drinking home-brewed rice wine.

The Kratie provincial health department along with experts from the U.N.’s World Health Organization are investigation the deaths and illnesses.

Health department chief Chhneang Sivutha told the Associated Press that “people in the province have been warned not to eat the meat of animals that have died from illness or poisoning, and not to drink any wine that has not been properly inspected.”

The cause of death of the dog that was barbecued is not known. Unless it was natural causes, the poor dog was probably killed in an extremely cruel way, as are the dogs killed for their meat in China.

“Dog meat is popular in some remote Cambodian provinces as a delicacy, especially when consumed with homebrew white sticky wine,” according to ChannelNews Asia.

Sivutha told the AP samples of the dog meat and wine were collected and sent for testing to the Health Ministry in Phnom Penh.

He said that while food poisoning cases are not unusual in Cambodia, which is one of Asia’s poorest countries, it is uncommon for so many people to get sick at the same time.

As pet dog ownership grows in Asia — as well as awareness of the cruelty of the dog meat trade — the consumption of dog meat is fortunately losing popularity in some countries.

In February 2014, officials from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam agreed to take action to end the dog-meat trade and eliminate rabies by 2020.

“The dog meat trade is undermining rabies elimination efforts in the region,” said Lola Webber, program leader for the Change for Animals Foundation, at the time. “Many dogs carry deadly diseases, such as rabies, and transport conditions increase the possibility of disease exchange.”

Perhaps these deaths will motivate Cambodian officials to step up their efforts to end the dog-meat trade. And as a result of this incident, perhaps many Cambodians will no longer consider dog meat a delicacy, but something to be avoided.

Photo via Facebook

RECALL ALERT: Bravo Blends Chicken Diet for Dogs & Cats

For the second time since July, some lots of Bravo Blends Chicken Diet for Dogs & Cats chubs are being voluntarily recalled because they may be contaminated with Salmonella.

According to a press release today from Bravo Pet Foods, which is based in Manchester, Conn., the products were recalled after routine testing by the Colorado State Dept. of Agriculture revealed the presence of Salmonella contamination.

Salmonella can affect animals as well as people who handle the contaminated food. The symptoms for both people and animals include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. If you or your pet experiences these symptoms after handling or eating the recalled products, see a doctor or veterinarian. Bravo Pet Foods has not yet received any reports of illness in either people or animals.

The pet food was sold to distributors, retail stores, internet retailers and directly to consumers throughout the United States.

The following product is being recalled due to the possibility of Salmonella:
Bravo Blends Chicken Diet for Dogs & Cats – Chub

Item Number: 21-102
Size: 2 lb. (32 oz.) chubs
Best used by date: 11-13-16
UPC: 829546211028

The following three products did not test positive for Salmonella, but are also being recalled “out of an abundance of caution” because they were manufactured in the same facility and on the same day as the products that tested positive:

Bravo Blend Chicken Diet for Dogs & Cats – Chubs

Product Number: 21-401
Size: 5 lb. (90 oz.) chub
Best used by date: 11-13-16
UPC: 829546211059

Bravo Blend Turkey Diet for Dogs & Cats – Patties

Product Number: 31-508
Size: 5 lb. bag of 8 oz. patties
Best used by date: 11-13-16
UPC: 829546315085

Bravo Balance Turkey Diet for Dogs – Patties

Product Number: 31-401
Size: 3 lb. bag of 4 oz. patties
Best used by date: 11-13-16
UPC: 829546314019

If you purchased any of these products, do not feed it to your pet. Dispose of it safely, such as in a securely covered trash can, or return it to the place of purchase. Submit the Product Recall Claim Form available on the Bravo Pet Foods website for a full refund or store credit.

This is the fifth voluntary Bravo Pet Foods recall since 2013. The company primarily sells frozen and freeze-dried raw food for dogs and cats.

In July, more than 100 cases of Bravo Blend Chicken Diet for Dogs & Cats were recalled because they may have been contaminated with Salmonella.
In September 2014, several frozen Bravo chicken and turkey pet food products were recalled due to Salmonella contamination concerns.
In May 2014, the company recalled several products that were possibly contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism that is generally harmless to pets but can cause sometimes fatal infections in people.
In March 2013, Bravo recalled some of its Raw Food Diet Chicken Blend for Dogs and Cats due to Salmonella concerns.

For more information about this latest recall, go to the Bravo Pet Foods website or call the company toll-free at 866-922-9222 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST.

Photo via BravoPetFoods.com

In California, It’s Legal to Drive with Your Dogs in the Trunk

A driver in South Los Angeles was shocked by what he saw Monday in the car ahead of him: Two Huskies poking their heads out of the partially open trunk.

A cellphone video and photos the driver took and posted on social media got the attention of local media.

When contacted by CBS Los Angeles, the unidentified dog owner said she put the Huskies in the trunk because her children were in the backseat. Besides, she was only driving a short distance, so why not?

Believe it or not, the dogs’ owner committed no crime.

California vehicle code 23117 simply requires that any animal that’s transported on highways in the back of a vehicle “in a space intended for any load” (the trunk or bed of a truck, for instance) to be “either cross-tethered to the vehicle or protected by a secured container or cage, to prevent the animal from falling, jumping, or being thrown from the vehicle.”

The Huskies’ owner used a bungee cord to prevent the trunk door from flying open.

Still, the incident is under investigation by the ASPCA and the LAPD Animal Cruelty Task Force, but representatives from both said it’s unlikely the dogs’ owner will face any charges.

“I believe it’s dangerous to have two dogs back there,” Dr. Richard Polsky, an animal behavior expert, told CBS Los Angeles, and I agree with him (as does the driver who took the photos and the dozens of people who commented on them).

However, Polsky cautioned against jumping to conclusions that this was a case of animal abuse.

“We have to get more facts, you have to get more knowledge about the circumstances in the background of these dogs,” he said.

I would like more knowledge about the background of their owner, who put her dogs in an unsafe, albeit legal, situation. Did she really only do this one time, for a short trip? The dogs appear to be very calm — as if they were used to this strange mode of transportation.

The LAPD Animal Cruelty Task Force told ABC7‘s Marc Cota-Robles it is not recommended to drive with your dog in the truck (duh!), and it could be considered a sign of animal neglect.

But since it’s actually legal, the most the Huskies’ owner will get is a warning.

To save the lives of dogs, it’s time to change California vehicle code 23117 and make the transportation of dogs in trunks, with or without bungee cords, against the law.

Photo via Facebook

Michael Vick, Animal Welfare Advocate? Yeah, Right

Michael Vick is getting a lot of positive press lately, and it’s not related to football. No, the convicted owner of a dog-fighting ring who killed poor-performing dogs with his own bare hands is now…are you ready…advocating on behalf of animal welfare!

Tomorrow Vick will go to Harrisburg, the state capital of Pennsylvania, and ask the Democratic caucus to support House Bill 1516, referred to as the “Hot Car Law.” The law would give police officers the authority to smash car windows to save pets locked inside on hot or cold days.

Wait, what? Why is someone who once killed dogs advocating for a law that could save their lives?

“I know that I’m an unlikely advocate. I was part of the problem,” Vick said today in a news release. “Now my perspective can help reach people that activists can’t reach. I can help others become agents of change.”

Kids from Harrisburg schools will join Vick tomorrow “to teach children the political process,” according to the news release.

Are you getting the warm fuzzies? Neither am I.

In response to the outrage when he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in August, Vick told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that while he can’t change his own past, “the only thing I can do is try to inform the masses of kids to not go down the same road I went down.”

If Vick’s support helps get animal welfare laws passed and in the process shows children how to make positive changes, that is a good thing.

So why am I still not getting the warm fuzzies?

Probably because I have a feeling Vick’s “advocacy” is little more than a publicity ploy to help remove some of the tarnish from his image. And what better way to do it than with laws saving animals’ lives?

What I find most perplexing is how someone who could personally hang, electrocute and smash dogs’ heads to the ground (yeah, yeah, yeah, he was convicted and served prison time for it, but the fact remains that he had no problem murdering dogs) could have such a complete turnaround. I realize that people can and do change, but this drastically?

It doesn’t seem possible — or genuine.

What do you think? Does Michael Vick truly care about animals, or is he advocating for the publicity? Please leave a comment below.

Photo via Facebook