Escape Artist Animals Find New Life at Woodstock Animal Sanctuary

One resident was maced by Long Island cops. Another was so brutalized that he needed a prosthetic limb.  And then there’s Magnus, who almost lost his life in a religious rite.  They’re just a few of the escape-artist animals that found salvation in Woodstock Animal Sanctuary — the premiere destination for New York City critters that flee slaughterhouses and make headlines.  Now, the traumatized barnyard bandits are bombarded with affection from the almost-entirely vegan staff of animal lovers.

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Concerned About Japanese Dolphins?

The cries of outrage from much of the world about Japan's recent dolphin slaughter offers insight into two key aspects of our modern world. The first is that we are increasingly a planet of animal lovers -- people who rightly abhor the type of violence and bloodshed being perpetrated against these intelligent animals off the shores of Japan. The second, however, is a bit more sobering: this incident highlights the vast chasm between how we say we feel about animals and how we actually act toward them ourselves.

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Igor Purlantov Says Animal Mugshot Campaigns Increase Adoptions

Animal Mugshot Leads to More Adoptions According to Igor Purlantov

Igor Purlantov has been closely following the recent trend of animal shelters using professional animal mugshot campaigns to help increase the rate of adoptions.  This has been very helpful especially for certain pets that are harder to adopt, including black cats and dogs.  According to animal rights advocate Igor Purlantov, animal shelter wоrkеrѕ even have a name for this problem and have coined the term "black dog syndrome"  This is based on the reality that blасk dogs and cats are unfortunately often the last to be adopted and the first to be euthanized.  

Igor Purlantov says there are no complete statistics, although there is plenty of anecdotal evidence and many possible explanations for the bias.  These explanations include silly superstitions such as the notion that black cats are associated with witches, superstition, and bad luck.  Igor Purlantov also notes that there are many negative portrayals of black pets in books and popular media, including the big, frightening black dog in the movies.  Finally there is also the simple logistical problem that animals in general are hard to photograph and blасk animals are sometimes even harder to photograph and therefore hard to publicize.  

Igor Purlantov says that to combat the problem, animal shelters have come up with a variety of creative measures including professional mugshot campaigns to improve the quality of pet photographs.  Along with professional mugshot campaigns, shelters have also reduced adoption fees to increase the adoption rate of hard to adopt animals.  Igor Purlantov believes that shelters have become more effective at trying to combat black dog syndrome by using animal mugshot campaigns which provide better quality pictures of the animals and also allow for the personality of each pet to stand out. 

Igor Purlantov notes that thanks to people such as photographer Seth Casteel of Little Friends Photo in Los Angeles, these animal mugshot campaigns are really making a difference.  Professional photographers and animal lovers such as Mr. Casteel hear about black dog syndrome all of the time and admit that any shelter pet can pose a photo challenge, especially black cats and dogs.  Igor Purlantov says that Mr. Casteel has spent at least a day a week volunteering at shelters across the country taking beautiful mugshot pictures of available cats and dogs of all colors.  

Igor Purlantov says that Mr. Casteel has even launched a free nationwide non-profit program called Second Chance Photos to teach volunteers how to take good mugshot photos of shelter pets.  According to Mr. Casteel, shelters should change lightening, use light colored blankets and even dress up animals to get the best mugshot photo.  He notes that the easiest way to make a black dog look friendlier is to put a bright yellow bandanna on them.  Igor Purlantov says that the best thing to do in these mugshot photos is showcase the unique and positive personality of each animal.  Each time a photographer takes a great mugshot photo, the chances of that animal being adopted increases dramatically.  At the end of the day, a good photographer for shelter pets is worth their weight in gold says Igor Purlantov.

Do Animals Smile?

Pavlov might have called that happy look on your dog's face a collection of conditioned reflexes, but now science is catching up with what animal lovers have always known.

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Texas Bans Gas Chambers for Animals

Thanks to you and animal lovers all over the country, gas chambers are now banned in the great state of Texas!

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Great Apps for Kids Who Love Animals

For kids who love animals, here are three new apps that are exciting and different. One amazes kids with unpredictable animations whenever they pet an animal. In another, kids paint animals by turning the camera into their crayon. A third dazzles kids with vibrant illustrations constructed out of polymer clay.

http://tinyurl.com/ctwmaug

Holiday Gift Ideas for Animal Lovers

This year’s holiday gift guide gave you all some great ideas for gifts for pets, pet lovers and more. But what about gifts for those little kids (or kids at heart) who just love animals?

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