If you’re not busy flinging feathered folk at pig castles, you might check out these new Angry Birds tie-in books (from rovio.com, of course). How best to describe Angry Birds: Bad Piggies’ Egg Recipes? Here, we’ll let them do it: “Be a pig for a day, no worries in the world, no Angry Birds trying to knock you down. The kitchen is your pigpen and life’s good! So go ‘head, crack an egg or two and fling your awesome self to new levels of egg-cellence with these easy and fuss-free (for the most part) recipes, addictively fun activities and impressive party moves. From the classics to off the wall, these top-secret egg recipes will fill your tummy and tickle your brain!” You heard ‘em. Also available are the Angry Birds Big Red Doodle Book and Angry Birds Big Green Doodle Book, filled with fun drawing activities for Angry Birds fans of all ages.

image c. 2012 Rovio Entertainment

Matthew Scully is an unusual proponent of animal rights, coming from the Christian-favoured, U.S. Republican party. Indeed, he speaks about people automatically assuming he is on the side of hunters and pig 'farmers' when, in fact, he has been a vegetarian for over 30 years.

While Scully does support animal rights, he makes that stand from a generally religious perspective, arguing that current treatment of animals is an abuse of god-given dominion, and disagreeing with the secular reasoning of animal rights proponents like Peter Singer.

Scully's ability is shown when coming to the main thrust of his book, where he writes about animals, how they are treated and how they should be treated. He is an excellent writer (a former speechwriter for then-president George W. Bush), and a dutiful investigator, travelling to most of the places about which he writes.

Judging by compensation payouts, almost 50,000 households were affected by evacuations from the vicinity of the Fukushima I nuclear power plant – not counting those who died in the tsunami. Many kept pets, and were forced to leave them behind when the call to leave came.

The animals are now trying to survive on what they were left or can scavenge from the area. Reports of a breeder's pack of shelties in Minamisōma led to a rescue mission, but many fled.

Local cats are also affected. While some have been fed and rescued, others found their own food (note: graphic imagery). [furryne.ws: 1, 2]

The BBC investigates the development of the Enviropig – a genetically modified breed of Yorkshire pigs which can digest plant phosphorous, reducing feed costs and harmful emissions.

Planning to eat soon? You might want to check your bowl for little bean dogs (mameshiba).

According to Curiosite, the trivia-spewing beans – named after Shiba Inu, a Japanese breed of dog – were created in 2009 by advertiser Dentsu purely to build a brand.

The beans have their own website and were recently promoted at Comic-Con.

See more: Watch the mameshiba theme song. [tip: Starling]

Morphicon's latest newsletter details their End-of-Summer Picnic and the Woollybear Festival.

As reported by the BBC, Scottish brewery BrewDog has created twelve bottles of beer of 55% alcohol content, bottled in stoats and grey squirrels and sold for £500 (US$775, €595).

Its creators claim the animals involved were roadkill, and say the beverage was infused with "nettles, juniper berries, and mead" in a video which combines fursuits and German sausage:

Note: Flayrah does not endorse the production or consumption of the depicted beverages.

Bears killed and devoured a monkey in front of horrified visitors at a Dutch zoo, officials and witnesses said.

Visitors reported that the grisly scene began as several bears chased the monkey, a macaque, onto a wooden structure at Beekse Bergen Safari Park.

They said a bear tried unsuccessfully to shake the monkey loose, ignoring attempts by keepers to distract it. The bear then climbed up and grabbed the monkey, mauling it to death and bringing it to its concrete den, where three bears ate it.

(Full article can be found on CNN)

I found the following article by the ASPCA this weekend stating that there is increasing evidence that grapes and raisins are toxic to dogs. Of 140 cases of ingestion noted during a one year span from April '03 to April '04, 50 dogs developed complications ranging from vomiting to kidney failure. Seven dogs died.

As the specifics of the toxicity are not yet known, they cannot say whether the ill effects are only seen following a volume dose. There may be a cumulative component in reaching an individual dog's level of tolerance for whatever the toxin is.

The full article is here: http://www.aspca.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=16645&news_iv_ctrl=-1

Apparently there are even still a lot of vets who do not know about this potential toxicity, so spread the word to anyone you know who has a dog. I know I've given grapes and raisins to Rio at times in the past...

A bear raided a campsite cooler and drank 36 cans of Rainier beer, puncturing each with a claw and guzzling the contents before passing out drunk.

He tried one can of Busch and that was more than enough.

The bear was chased off the grounds, but returned for more beer the following day. He had to be baited with a trap containing the usual sweets and... two more cans of beer.

Dressed in a tuxedo, Simba sat at the front of one of Manhattan's newest dining establishments and nodded at people who greeted him. Then he yawned, began to roll on the floor and lick his paws. That's acceptable behavior at the Meow Mix Cafe, a new eatery designed especially for cats and their human owners.

[Read Article]

A three and a half foot long hare from Holland can't hold any records in the Guiness Book of World Records. They just won't list them due to the fear that it would only encourage owners to overfeed their pets.

From a national park on the edge of Bombay, India, leopards have killed ten people this month that has prompted forest officials to let loose pigs and rabbits to feed the big cats.

The killings are up from previous years, and six of this month's deaths occurred outside the park as leopards extended their range in search of food.

OSLO, Norway - When Varg the police dog was sent into a candy factory to track down two intruders, his sense of taste got the better of his sense of duty. The German Shepherd nearly ate himself sick.

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