Posted: 19 Apr 2010 03:49 AM PDT

Washington, April 19 (ANI): They are known for providing companionship, but a new U.S study suggests dogs and cats are a lurking household danger, causing all kinds of injuries related to falls.

During the study, researchers found that the accidents took place while people were chasing after them, stepping over them, and other scenarios.

"Certainly pets are wonderful and have many benefits, so we're not saying anything about not having pets," Live Science quoted study researcher Judy Stevens, a senior epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, as saying.

The report comes from a nationally representative sample of emergency department visits to about 60 hospitals from Jan. 1, 2001 to Dec. 31, 2006, finding some 7,456 records were linked to pet-related falls.

From this, Stevens and colleagues calculated the national estimate would reach 86,629 for fall injuries associated with cats and dogs in the United States in 2006.

Though an alarming number, it's just 1 percent of the 8 million fall injuries treated in emergency departments, Stevens said.

The report showed that even though cats are known to follow at your heels, or right beneath your feet, dogs were involved in nearly 7.5 times as many injuries as cats.

That's "mainly because dogs are bigger and stronger, and we do see children and women are most likely to be involved in a fall with a dog."

The researchers also found that girls were more than twice as likely as men to have pet-related fall injuries. And children and the middle-age group were the most likely to end up in the ER after an accident with the fur balls.

More than a quarter of dog-related injuries occurred while people were walking the pet, with the most frequent circumstances falling or tripping over one's dog and being pushed or pulled by the four-legged pals.

As cats are mostly homebodies, it's no surprise most falls involving the bossy felines occurred in or around the house. Nearly 12 percent of these injuries happened while people were chasing cats.

The findings are detailed in the current issue of the Journal of Safety Research. (ANI)

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People with problem pets must make their own peace - Deseret News

Posted: 18 Apr 2010 11:28 AM PDT

Angie Best-Boss has tried changing litter boxes, types of litter, brands of litter. But something has gone terribly wrong with Tiger.

"I loathe my cat," said the freelance writer in New Palestine, Ind. "Actually, loathe might be too weak of a word. I hate it. The stupid, stupid cat pees. On clothes. Only on clean clothes. And beds. Regardless of what spray I buy, what medicine she takes, she just really, really likes to pee."

Dogs chewing through table legs. Cats diving for the family dinner. Biting cockatiels. At a time when many people are scrimping on themselves to indulge their animals, the love is lost for owners of infuriating pets.

Still, many can't bring themselves to dump their wayward animals in shelters. Instead, they pay sky-high vet bills for intervention that doesn't work. They endure in-your-face barking rants in the middle of the night or are startled awake by the routine hacking of hairballs.

Some wish out loud their pets would just run away.

When Cherie Miller's 16-year-old cat, Kitty, goes out, he wants in. When he's in, he wants out. He whines relentlessly and refuses to eat unless a human stirs the kibble around in his self-feeder. The family calls it "whooshing."

"When it scratches on the bedroom door at 3:21 a.m. to have its food whooshed, it's enticing to imagine creative ways to ditch this cat. I'm a pet lover, but come on," said Miller, who lives in suburban Atlanta and was inspired to start a blog about pesky pets called pet-peeves.org.

So how does a human make peace with a problem pet? Venting helps, said an expert, though the griping may be more emotionally complicated for the humans involved.

"We all know couples who look like they like to fight. They let fights happen because, it seems, they're getting something out of it. Some people have that relationship with their pets," said psychologist Stephanie LaFarge, who specializes in the human-animal bond as senior director of counseling services at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"Some people like to think they love their animals so much they're willing to be victimized by them," she said. "It's proof of how much they love that animal and proof of what a good animal person they are and what a good person they are. It's part of their identity."

There's no national clearinghouse for where and how people acquire their pets, but about 63 percent of all U.S. households have at least one, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. Ten to 20 percent of cats and dogs come from shelters and rescue organizations, sometimes arriving in well-meaning homes with heavy emotional baggage.

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Pets can now be protected under restraining orders - KDVR.com

Posted: 12 Apr 2010 04:50 PM PDT

Eli Stokols Political Reporter

5:54 PM MDT, April 12, 2010

Pets can now be protected under restraining orders

DENVER - Colorado's newest law, signed Monday afternoon at the Capitol by Gov. Bill Ritter, looks to protect at-risk pets and their owners from domestic violence.

Sponsored by Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, and Rep. Jerry Frangas, D- Denver, Senate Bill 80 allows a victim's pets to be protected under a restraining order.

Newell told a story about an abuse victim who left her dog at home when seeking shelter from an abusive partner. The partner sent her an audio recording of him abusing the dog, which caused her to leave the shelter.

"She was never heard from again," Newell said.

Had this bill been law at the time, that victim could have dispatched police to arrest her partner for abusing her dog, according to Dr. Frank Ascione, a professor at the University of Denver and an expert in human-animal relationships.

"In more than 50 percent of homes where there is domestic violence and there are animals, the abuser also threatens or harms the animals," Ascione said.

"We are pleased that animals will now be included under protection orders which are issued in Colorado," said Frangas.

"By legally protecting animals, we decrease the use of a common manipulative tactic used by domestic violence abusers in the coercion of his/her partner. For so many of us, pets are part of our families, and clarifying the law to protect them makes sense and is the right thing to do."