Slashdot recently featured a blurb referencing an article in The Daily Telegraph that discusses how cats "heal themselves" by purring. It's a rather interesting article that touches on the benefits of exposure to low-frequency sound for both felines and humans. It doesn't talk about HOW cats purr, however, so if you're looking for that you'll have to hit the vet texts. The article also references some of the extraordinary accidents that cats have been involved in and survived (for example a 45-story fall).

Florida voters have an opportunity to promote legislation that will prevent cruelty to pigs used to produce meat. If we're going to eat them, we should treat them with some dignity and respect. Visit bancruelfarms.org for more information on how you can help, and some really heart-wrenching photographs.

Animal Planet has a web page devoted to live webcam sites specifically aimed at animals. Included are a shark cam, a penguin cam, a rhino cam and more. The page also sports a link to yet more cameras listed off of Discovery.Com (parent of Animal Planet). This listing has far more links, with links to a camera in a pet shelter, a lion camera, hippos and more. Take a peek!

The Korea Animal Protection Society is an organization dedicated "to preventing cruelty to and educating people about animals." It was founded in 1991 by Sunnan Kum, who is attempting to extend the benefit of a caring shelter to animals that are still being raised in illegal "dog farms" for butchers (a 1991 law prohibits the consumption of dogs or cats). Evidentally she faces quite an uphill struggle, as her organization has had to euthanize several animals that were in the her care and termed untreatable, something that the Korean culture treats as essentially taboo, "...even if the animal is suffering. Many Koreans believe any life, however bad, is better than death."

It's strange. Less than 24 hours ago I submitted an article about how oil companies want to drill in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge. I briefly remarked that this is something we cannot permit to happen, because no matter how careful the oil companies are the risk of a spill and ecological disaster occuring is far too high. Now I find an article from the BBC News about the world's largest oil rig providing a frightening example of what I was writing about yesterday: disaster can, and will, happen at any time.

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1222200152 is Dwight Dutton's sale of the FurryMUCK .com, .org and .net addresses. He's selling all three of them as a set. I did a check and yes, he does own these domains and thus is entitled to sell them. According to Dwight he had a bid on the set 10 minutes after putting them up for auction, so it sounds like a change will definately be occuring. But, since nothing was hosted on them before I don't see this as being a particularly big deal, outside of the name itself. FurryMUCK's site all runs off the furry.* domains, so....

The Alaska Wildlife Alliance is asking for help in its crusade to save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from legislation that would allow oil companies to drill there. According to the website the ANWR "represents the only portion (5%) of Alaska's north slope that is not currently open to drilling." That's a significant percentage of land, even though it may not seem like a lot. To be fair, oil companies DO try not to allow spills or leaks to happen. Public opinion is against them enough as it is, which costs them a lot. Not to mention it's in their best interests not to lose any of their product. But, regardless of those facts, accidents can and will happen, and those accidents endanger and destroy countless species as well as harm the environment as a whole. It's in our interest to keep this land set aside and away from human intervention, as it was originally intended.

According to this article at CNN, legislators in Maine are working to ban elephants from any circuses that visit the area. The concern is that these animals, frequently used as "beasts of burden" to erect and then tear down structures used in the circus are being mistreated. I don't mean to sound cynical, but the following quote from the article is taken from the brainchild of this legislation. It made me consider this as a well-intended but utterly misguided effort:

Announcing a new online comic strip -- The World of Vicki Fox -- by Laura Howell and Michael Russell. Published once a week on Sunday, it is a Sunday style strip featuring the adventures of Vicki Fox, her friends and family. Family friendly fun.

For those of you who just can't get enough of those oddly furry, constantly-battling little creatures known as Pokemon, it is time to rejoice. According to the Pokemon.com website they will be hitting the silver screen again as the third Pokemon movie is scheduled for release in the US on April 11th.

From over on the scifi.com news site, here's an online workshop for the writers among us...

Stan Sakai of Usagi Yojimbo comic book fame was recently interviewed by Sequential Tart, a montly comics e-zine. Check out the interview here

How many furry artists can you identify? Win a sketchbook!

Contest ends March 28.

http://web.eyesurf.net/~tomt/contest.html

While it's nothing new to have a camera pointed at wildlife, this article from CNN details a slightly new take on things.

In a BBC news article last week, it was reported that elephant breeding rates are determined by their environment.