Recently in Pets Category

Canine owners all over the South Bay showed up in San Pedro Thursday for the audition of "Dog Whisperer With Cesar Millan," but why resort to a pet shrink when you can be your own?

Reader's Digest has five tips the Dog Whisperer himself urges every canine owner to heed.

If you need to go away for a while or just want an extra helping hand, PetWatch Club can help you find someone in your area who might want to pet-sit for your canine companion or feline friend. Find others who might have advice for your problems, or alert members in the neighborhood if your pet goes missing. Enter your ZIP code and find fellow pet owners. The South Bay is well-represented in the PetWatch club database.

If you're planning a trip but don't want to keep your furry pals at home, Petswelcome.com lists more than 25,000 pet-friendly hotels, campgrounds and beaches that'll cater to your needs.

Good pet owners should always be prepared. The Department of Homeland Security advises pet owners to have emergency plans for the care of their animals.

We've saved the best for last. By far, and without irony or hyperbole, the single best source for pet news and resources is the South Bay Pets Blog. Read the items and see the videos, then bookmark it or even make it your home page.

Full disclosure: The South Bay Pets Blog is run by the Daily Breeze. That's what makes it so great.

Dig around in the Torrance City Council's Web site and you're sure to find a bone.

Sniff around a little more and you'll find that the city runs an Animal Control Program clinic in conjunction with Plaza Del Amo Animal Hospital where you can get your dog or cat cheaply vaccinated or licensed. The clinic is Wednesday, June 18, from 7 to 8.30 p.m at the Torrance Police Department Animal Control facility at 2200 Jefferson Street, in the northeast corner of Wilson Park, next to the tennis courts.

A rabies shot costs $6; dog six-in-one (DHLPP) is $14; dog Bortadella is $11; and cat four-in-one (FVRCP) is $14. License prices are $40 for an unaltered dog and $20 for a spayed or neutered dog.

Pet owners need their pet's Certificate of Sterility for the spayed/neutered fee. Bring a separate check for vaccinations and licensing. Dogs should be on a leash while cats should be brought in secure carriers.

Maybe you've got a bone to pick with your neighbor's noisy, barking dog? You can file an online incident report.

For anything else doggy-related, including lost and found animals, trapped animals, deceased animals, feral cats or dog bites, you can contact the City of Torrance Animal Control Office at 310-618-3850, during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM. At all other times, please contact the Torrance Police Department at 310-328-3456. You can also contact Animal Control via e-mail at AnimalControl@torrnet.com.

Additional links:
Los Angeles County Animal Control

Los Angeles County West Vector Control (West Nile virus or bee problems)

Department of Fish and Game (Trapping rules and regulations)

South Bay Center for Dispute Resolution
310-376-7007

Also check out everything pet-related at our South Bay Pets blog.

Is your dog the perfect pooch? You might want to consider this opportunity. The Associated Press reports:

A biotech company announced Wednesday that it will clone the dogs of the five highest bidders in a series of online auctions. Opening bids start at $100,000 for the service by Mill Valley-based BioArts International.

BioArts chief executive Lou Hawthorne formerly ran Genetic Savings & Clone, which offered to clone pet cats for $50,000 but folded in 2006 because few were willing to pay so much.

But Hawthorne said another service he provided -- storing pet DNA for future possible clones -- showed him the market for dog clones was strong.

"The average dog owner has a different relationship with his dog than the average cat owner," Hawthorne said. "The level of intensity on the dog side just dwarfed what we saw on the cat side."

To conduct the clonings, BioArts has partnered with a South Korean team that created three clones of Hawthorne's family dog, Missy, who died in 2002.

The team was led by Hwang Woo-suk, who scandalized the international scientific community in 2005 when his breakthrough human cloning research was found to have been faked. But his current endeavor has been verified.

Tests found that DNA samples taken from Missy and the three other dogs appeared to belong to the same individual.

Hawthorne said that after spending 15 years with Missy, he is taking pleasure in seeing her mischievous streak in her clones. They also like steamed broccoli -- just as she did.

Global positioning technology has come a long way. Prices have come way down and the technology has become more versatile than a high-tech replacement for the Thomas Guide.

Zoombak is marketing itself as a GPS device to help track lost pets. The $200 unit weighs less than 3 ounces and can be attached to a dog's or cat's collar, and the canine or feline can be tracked on the web, via Zoombak's customer service line or through text messaging on a cell phone.

Zoombak also has a unit available for GPS's most customary use, vehicle navigation and tracking. The $250 unit can be fixed inside a vehicle and portable, and can be used to track a vehicle's location and notify subscribers when it enters or leaves a user-defined "safety zone." The GPS device is promoted as a great way for parents to monitor teenagers' driving habits.

The low price and interface has attracted the attention of Martha Stewart and techno-geek sites such as Engadget and Slashdot. Early adopters have taken advantage of the compact size and cost to track other valuables besides pets and cars: An art collector places Zoombaks on expensive pieces, and a pharmaceutical uses the devices to track inventory.

Zoombak is not without its flaws. The $200-$250 price tag is for the physical unit; customers must still pay a monthly service fee to maintain coverage. Real-time cell phone tracking is not yet available. Also, the GPS technology is not yet advanced enough to receive a strong signal while indoors. This is less of a concern for vehicles, but the gadget might not work if a dog or cat happens to be inside a building.

Still, Zoombak would be a useful gadget to have for your lovable four-legged friend. Plus, the cellular-based coverage for the service shows signals to be robust throughout all but the mountainous areas of Southern California. And for other helpful products, information or pet-related chatter, visit the Daily Breeze's South Bay Pets blog and South Bay Pet Talk, which appears online and in the Breeze print edition every Tuesday.

If one fertile female rabbit is left at the county's Alondra Park within a year's time there could be a colony of 3,500 rabbits.
This is just one of the fun facts you can find here. The Web site is run by Linda Baley from Redondo Beach, who created the rabbit adoption and information site.
The rabbits that she offers for adoption are neutered and healthy. This makes them better pets if you just have to get a bunny for Easter.
Baley's site also stresses that like all pets getting a rabbit is a commitment and shouldn't be taken lightly. Because abandoning rabbits in public parks isn't fair to them or good for the environment.

The nation’s premier dog show came to an end Tuesday at the Westminster Dog Show at Madison Square Garden in New York. But highlights of the show, its history and its records are available on the Westminster Kennel Club’s Web site.
The site also includes information about the club itself and tips on how to buy a dog from a breeder.
For those interested in dogs that might lack the pedigree seen at the kennel club but nonetheless make great pets, go to animalshelter.org. The Web site provides information about animals in need of homes and includes a national search of shelter dogs.

Are you on MySpace? How about your pet?

Two Marina del Rey residents have created PoochSmooch, a Web site where pet owners and their four-legged companions can meet and network. Check out the site and create a profile.

Does Rover respond if you call him "Refrigerator"? Can he get to a treat placed under a soup can in under five seconds? These and other exercises can help you determine your dog's IQ -- if you want to know that sort of thing. Two Web sites offer similar tests. ABC TV Science walks you through the exercises and has videos of dogs performing optimally and not so well (poor Gus). And Pets First has the IQ test along with recipes for pet treats, advice about your pets' health, and a few good jokes to make pet owners chuckle.

A special adoption day with reduced fees will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 5 at the Harbor Animal Shelter at 735 Battery St., San Pedro.
The Los Angeles city shelter, between Channel Street and Capitol Drive off North Gaffey Street, offers dogs, cats and rabbits for adoption. All pets are spayed or neutered, microchipped and fully vaccinated.

There is a list online of pets that are available for adoption.

L.A. Animal Service's Web site has a matchmaking service that asks you to enter information about your dream pet and shows you some options of animals available at the shelter.

If you're traveling for the holidays, but hate to leave Fido home alone, you're in luck. Find travel tips and pet-friendly hotels.