Welcome to the Week’s Review of Canine Social Media
Welcome to this Special Feature on the DoggieU K9 Blog for an update on this week’s dog-related media and social media from around the world. There are so many stories. Here we will share some of the best stories this week.
Enjoy & share them.
Celebrity Chef Prepares Special Sunday Treat for Street Dogs in Thailand
Sundays are usually about chilling. But why should only humans have that fun? A celebrity Irish chef prepares a feast for stray dogs in Thailand’s Koh Samui island with a special Sunday treat.
Niall Harbison, who moved to Thailand in 2018, posted a video of his special day with street dogs. An Instagram video, shows him serving meals in bowls placed at the back of a pick-up truck. He goes around with the vehicle dropping the food items for the dogs.
While Niall has been involved in dog care since 2020, this Sunday was a special treat because he recently received a donation for his efforts. He had been working to help the dogs on Koh Samui through his content on social media platforms apart from other efforts. “I wanted to think up the greatest meal possible for the street dogs for a very special reason,” he wrote.
The video led to a flood of comments from Instagram users. Reacting to the clip, people lauded his efforts for making the world a better place for dogs. “You are one amazing person wish there were more compassionate people in the world it would be so much a better place. Thank you for all you do this is my kinda heaven,” wrote a user reacting to the video while another commented, “This just made my weekend. just amazing.”
Niall Harbison started feeding street dogs after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the island and most of the people were left without any government support, reported Irishtimes.com. “Luckily we don’t have rabies here on the island. I started with one street dog and grew organically. Now I look after 80 dogs in my direct vicinity,” he said.
Nial also plans to set up a foundation and is looking for land to start a sanctuary for sick dogs on Koh Samui.
Your Dog or Cat Can Now Donate Their Poop to Science
Whether you’re scooping it, bagging it, or bleaching it out of your carpet, dealing with poop is a downside of pet ownership.
You may not appreciate the presents Fido and Fluffy leave for you everyday, but scientists studying pet health might. The Mars Petcare Biobank is seeking cat and dog stool samples as part of the most comprehensive real-world study of its kind.
In addition to its numerous human food brands, Mars Incorporated own several pet food companies, including Cesar, Pedigree, and IAMS. The corporation has a vested interested in the health of its customers, and it’s launching the Mars Petcare Biobank to gather relevant data. Like human biobank projects, the new study will use biological samples from the real world as datapoints. Over the next decade, scientists plan to collect and analyze stool and blood samples from 10,000 dogs and 10,000 cats. The subjects will be asked to donate samples once a year, allowing researchers to track how their health changes as they age.
The biobank is looking for volunteers who visit one of the participating locations of the Mars-owned veterinary hospital chains. Pet owners who agree to sign up their cat or dog for the study will be required to bring them in once a year for a standard check-up and biological sample collection. In return, the cost of the vet visits will be waived and owners will receive a free activity monitor for their dogs, a free DNA testing kit for their dogs or cats, and an e-gift card.
Poop can reveal a lot about an animal’s health, including the quality of their diet. By the end of the study, Mars hopes to have a robust database that pet experts can use to identify health problems before they become too severe. You can learn more about the project and the application process for pet owners at the Mars Petcare Biobank website.
Some wonderful dog situations from Social Media
Click to enlarge pics and for slide show view
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