We all need to do our part to clean up the earth. Change begins at the individual level, and Skooperbox is the way that dog lovers can make a real difference today – one scoop at a time. It is made from 100% recycled material and is 100% biodegradable.

These little boxes are amazing and only take days to break down, compared to the 1,000 years it takes a plastic bag to decompose. The Skooperbox even attaches to your dog’s leash so your hands remain free! I am seriously thinking about buying some of these for one of my neighbors. EVERY DAY he walks his adorable little dog by my house and every single day he let’s his dog shat around my mailbox. The annoying part is the he doesn’t pick it up! He just walks off like it’s no big deal that the next time I go check the mail I will have to hop around the mines just to get my mail. Maybe I should just do like that one car commercial and start picking it up for him and then leave it by HIS mailbox with a note that says, “You dropped this.”

You can get your own at Skooperbox.com.

[tags]Dogs, Skooperbox, Eco Friendly, Dog Walking[/tags]

What would a dog say if it could talk? “Stranger”, “fight”, “walk”, “alone”, “ball” and “play”, according to scientists who have developed a computer programme to translate dog barks.

The special programme analysed more than 6,000 barks from 14 Hungarian sheepdogs in six different situations.

The software is designed to recognize different dog barks to identify things like “play”, “ball”, “strange”, etc. but so far is only accurate about 43% of the time. With more time and research they could possibly get this to a much higher success rate. I doubt this could get to the point where we are having 2-way conversations with a dog, but it could certainly have some very fun and interesting applications.

Daily Mail has the full story.

[tags]Pets, Dogs, Science[/tags]

In 2001, when it became apparent that animal cloning may become a commercial venture to help improve the quality of herds, FDA requested livestock producers and researchers to keep food from animal clones or their offspring out of the food supply. Since then, FDA has conducted an intensive evaluation that included examining the safety of food from these animals and the risk to animal health.

Based on a final risk assessment, a report written by FDA scientists and issued in January 2008, FDA has concluded that meat and milk from cow, pig, and goat clones and the offspring of any animal clones are as safe as food we eat every day.

A Seven year study has produced findings that meat and milk from cloned cows, pigs and goats was as good for us as non-cloned animals. This could mean we’ll be seeing more and more cloned food in our stores. Will they be required to label it? Could this be the first steps in doing away with having to use hormones and other chemicals? It’s an interesting development and one I’ll be watching closely. Read the details of the FDA Cloning Report yourself. What do you think?

[tags]FDA, Anmials, Cloning, Cloned Food[/tags]