"House votes to ban debarking procedure
The Massachusetts House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to ban the surgical “debarking’’ or silencing of dogs or cats. By a 150-1 vote, the House approved the bill, which prohibits the devocalization of dogs and cats unless a licensed veterinarian certifies that the procedure is medically necessary to relieve an illness, disease, or injury.
I'm just wondering how you would like your voice taken away, human?
I can think of some war-mongering war criminals eligible for the operation; however, that's not the way to do it.
Animal rights groups pushed for the bill, saying the practice amounts to animal cruelty and poses only risks to the pets. Some dog owners opt for the procedure as a last-ditch effort to try to quiet chronically barking dogs.
What are you trying to tell us?
And what, they don't have muzzles anymore?
The bill now heads to the Senate (AP)."
Your tax dollars in action.
And I found this an odd choice for a story especially with all the war-wounded worldwide without limbs.
"Faux paws have cat back in business" by Associated Press | June 26, 2010
“Oscar can now run and jump about as cats should do,’’ said Dr. Noel Fitzpatrick, who gave him two metal prosthetic implants. (Jim Incledon/Associated Press)
Cute little guy and he looks like some cats I know.
LONDON — Oscar the cat may have lost one of his nine lives, but his new prosthetic paws make him one of the world’s few bionic cats.
After losing his two rear paws in a nasty encounter with a combine harvester last October, the black cat with green eyes was outfitted with metallic pegs that link the ankles to new prosthetic feet and mimic the way deer antlers grow through skin. Oscar is now back on his feet and hopping over hurdles like tissue paper rolls.
After Oscar’s farming accident, which happened when the 2 1/2-year-old-cat was lazing in the sun in the British Channel Isles, his owners, Kate and Mike Nolan, took him to their local veterinarian. In turn, the vet referred Oscar to Dr. Noel Fitzpatrick, a neuro-orthopedic surgeon in Eashing, 35 miles southwest of London.
Together with biomedical engineering experts, Fitzpatrick gave Oscar two metal prosthetic implants, or pegs. Those were attached to custom-built faux paws that are a bit wobbly, to imitate a cat’s natural walk. But first, he covered the brown implants with black tape to match Oscar’s fur.
Fitzpatrick said he and biomedical engineers designed the artificial paws so that they would be fused to the bone and skin.
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