Dogs! In the News!

FDA Approves New Medicine for Dogs Who are Scared of Fireworks

We reported on this just last week in our most recent edition of Five Questions for Dr. Moore. The Food and Drug administration has approved a new medicine to help dogs keep calm during fireworks displays.

The New York Times reports:

By some estimates, at least 40 percent of dogs experience noise anxiety, which is most pronounced in the summer. Animal shelters report that their busiest day for taking in runaway dogs is July 5.

Veterinarians tell of dogs who took refuge in hiding places so tight that they got stuck, who gnawed on door handles, who crashed through windows or raced into traffic — all desperate efforts to escape inexplicable collisions of noise and flashing light.

Just this month the FDA approved a drug called Sileo for “canine noise aversion” came on the market. The drug inhibits norepineprhine, a brain chemical associated with anxiety and fear response.

Here’s a chart from the drug’s manufacturer showing the different behaviors of dogs suffering canine noise aversion.

You can read all about it here from the Times and here from Sileo.

NYPD Deploys New Dogs to help Track Down Terrorists

Just in time for Independence Day, the NYC Police Department is deploying its first class of “Vapor Wake Detection Dogs.”

Business Insider reports:

New York City will deploy its first class of police dogs trained to trace vapor trails left behind by would-be bombers as part of stepped-up security measures to protect the country’s largest city during the Fourth of July weekend.

The so-called Vapor Wake Detection Dogs are capable of detecting air-borne scents from explosives even after the carrier has left the area, a skill that sets them apart from other bomb-detection canines.

The new canine patrols will join thousands of police officers, including the city’s new counter-terrorism squad, in patrolling crowds gathered for a massive fireworks display over the East River and other Independence Day events.

Here’s a really interesting eight minute video describing how these amazing dogs do what they do.

You can read more from Business Insider here.

RIP: Bill Cunningham

A gazillion years ago, I was a News Clerk at the New York Times. I had the pleasure of meeting and working (very briefly) with the amazing photographer and chronicler of New York City fashion, Bill Cunningham. I used to type his copy into the computer (he would slip me a tip!) and once I was assigned to cover a New York City Opera event and he was my photographer! He was very helpful, telling me who among the glitterati was whom. (I still have a photo he took of me in the ill-fitting dinner jacket I wore to the event!)

He died last week at the age of 87.

You can read his obituary here and a great tribute about working with him from his colleagues here. Both articles are from the Times.

I noticed in some of the articles about him that he often caught canine trends in fashion. Take a look at the pics below.

RIP: Bill Cunningham.