South Korean scientists claim they have cloned pet dog

South Korean scientists have confirmed that they have completed the first ever commercial cloning of a dog to take place.

Bernann McKinney, who ordered the cloning for US$50,000, has said that she is pleased with the result of the cloning. "They are perfectly the same as their daddy. I am in heaven here. I am a happy person," she said in a press conference delivered earlier today. The regular charge will be up to US$150,000, but was discounted for the first customer.

Police capture escaped monkey in Wisconsin, USA

Thursday, August 9, 2007 Police apprehended a 18 inch tall monkey that is reported to have bitten a 20 year-old woman outside State Street Brats, a Madison, Wisconsin nightclub.

The long-tailed, black and white monkey, which was wearing a diaper, was leashed in a beer garden outside the nightclub on State Street when people began to pet the animal. When the woman approached the monkey around 1:00 a.m. CDT (UTC-5) on Wednesday morning and put her hand out to pet it, it bit her then escaped the garden and led police on a seven hour 'monkey hunt' before it was caught.

Contaminated pet food causes massive recall

At least 10 pets, 9 cats and 1 dog have died as a result of eating contaminated pet food, says the United States Food and Drug Administration, or FDA. The contamination caused cats and dogs to both go into kidney failure.

At least 51 brands of cat food and 40 brands of dog food have been recalled. The manufacturer of the food is Menu Foods, which is based in Mississauga, Ontario in Canada. The brands include: Iams, Nutro, and Eukanuba pet foods. Nestle, Purina PetCare Co., Procter & Gamble and Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc. are voluntarily recalling their pet foods as a precaution. The FDA says that only wet food has been reported to have caused the deaths. The food was sold between December of 2006 and March 3 of 2007. The recall includes pouches and cans of wet food that total over 60 million.

Dog's throat cut in Cairns, Australia

In what the RSPCA calls a "horrific" case of animal cruelty, a dog's jaw was taped shut, and its throat cut, in Cairns, Australia.

The Staffordshire mix, who was found by police in a critical condition last Thursday, was reportedly struggling to breath and bleeding heavily due to her throat being slashed and her muzzle being bound.

"The way they cut was almost down to the larynx, so muscles were cut but luckily they missed the jugular veins," said Sarah Gill, the vet who stitched the 10 cm long, 3 cm deep cut.

In a statement reported on Tuesday, Inspector Cameron Buswell, a law enforcement officer with the RSPCA animal welfare charity, said it is hard to comprehend that there are people in the community capable of this level of cruelty.

Amsterdam pet shop owner creates beer for dogs

A woman in The Netherlands who uses her dogs to hunt in Austria has decided to give her dogs a new kind of treat: beer.

Terrie Berenden, a woman who owns a pet shop in Amsterdam, created a non-alcoholic beer for her dogs which is made from malt and a beef extract. The beer is called Kwispelbier ('kwispelen' means "wagging of a  tail" in Dutch), and was put onto shelves just last week.

"Once a year we go to Austria to hunt with our dogs, and at the end of the day we sit on the verandah and drink a beer. So we thought, my dog also has earned it," said Berenden.

Mad Cow disease confirmed in U.S.

John Clifford, Chief Veterinarian of the United States Department of Agriculture, confirms that tests done on a sample from a cow on a farm in Alabama indicate bovine spongiform encephalopathy or mad cow disease. The original results were confirmed by a Western Blot Test.

"We received a positive result on a Western blot confirmatory test conducted at the USDA laboratories in Ames, Iowa, on samples from an animal that had tested 'inconclusive' on a rapid screening test performed on Friday, March 10, 2006. In this instance, the inconclusive result from the contract lab in Georgia was confirmed through a second rapid test at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory. Now, the Western blot test has returned a positive result, and that is sufficient for us to confirm this animal to be positive for BSE, which is why we are making this announcement today," said Clifford.

Cloned cattle's milk and meat seem safe, according to new study

A National Academy of Sciences report (.pdf) last year said that while the milk and meat from cloned animals would not likely make anyone sick, more research should be performed. Now, a new US-Japan study published in the April 11 online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says that milk and meat from cloned cattle does indeed appear to meet industry standards and appears to be safe for human consumption.

As BBC News reports, the scientists, led by Professor Jerry Yang from the University of Connecticut, compared the produce from two beef and four dairy clones, all derived from a single Holstein dairy cow and a single Japanese black bull, with the produce from normal animals of similar age and breed.

The meat was analysed against more than 100 physiological, tissue and cellular components, while the milk was analysed for protein, fat and other variables. No significant differences between the produce of cloned and normal cattle were found. Higher levels of fat and fatty acids were found in the cloned cow meat, but they still fell within beef industry standards.