• Veterinarian performs in-home pet euthanasia in New York City

    John Moore / Getty Images

    Cris Cristofaro looks over a puppy photo of his dog Dino as veterinarian Wendy McCulloch prepares to perform an in-home pet euthanasia. Cristofaro, a New York City artist, made the difficult decision to end Dino's life when oral cancer became unbearable for his 12-year-old Italian Spinone.

    John Moore / Getty Images

    Cris Cristofaro holds his dog Dino as veterinarian Wendy McCulloch checks his heartbeat after performing an in-home euthanasia on Thursday. End of life issues have become increasingly important for pet owners, as advanced medical treatments and improved nutrition are extending pets lives well into old age. McCulloch runs Pet Requiem, a home veterinary service designed to provide geriatric care and in-home euthanasia for dying pets in the New York and New Jersey area. Many pet owners are choosing such in-home care to try and provide a humane and compassionate "good death" for their beloved pets.

    John Moore / Getty Images

    Cris Cristofaro weeps over his dog Dino after veterinarian Wendy McCulloch euthanized the 12-year-old Italian Spinone.

    The same photographer, John Moore of Getty Images, recently had images in PhotoBlog from a pet cemetery in New York.

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  • Pets rescued from Japan's Fukushima radiation zone

    Issei Kato / Reuters

    Members of United Kennel Club Japan (UKC Japan) care for pets which are rescued from inside the exclusion zone around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, at the group's pet shelter in Samukawa town, Kanagawa prefecture on Jan. 25. Dogs and cats that were abandoned in the Fukushima exclusion zone after last year's nuclear crisis have had to survive high radiation and a lack of food, and they are now struggling with the region's freezing winter weather. A 9.0-magnitude earthquake and massive tsunami on March 11 triggered the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years and forced residents around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to flee, with many of them having to leave behind their pets.

    Issei Kato / Reuters

    Dogs which were rescued by United Kennel Club Japan (UKC Japan) from inside the exclusion zone around Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, are seen inside cages at the group's pet shelter in Samukawa town, Kanagawa prefecture on Jan. 25.

    Reuters reports that United Kennel Club Japan, led by Yasunori Hoso, has been trying to save pets from the no-go zone:

    Hoso said he aims to carry on until the last dog in his shelter is returned to its owner or finds a new home.

    "When dogs are returned, many owners are really grateful and a limited few are not so grateful. But when it comes to dogs, all of them, without exception, become really ecstatic when they get reunited with their owners," Hoso said.

  • Penn. Gov. Corbett introduces first pups Penny and Harry

    Dan Gleiter / AP

    Brother and sister Airedale terrier puppies Penny and Harry rest on the lawn at the governor's residence during an informal meet-the-pups session.

    Dan Gleiter / AP

    Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett gets a kiss from one the new "first puppies", Penny.

    By Rich Shulman

    They may not become as famous as first dog Bo, but they're pretty darn cute.

    As First Lady Susan Corbett's website reported:

    The newest additions to the Corbett family are two Airedales, Penny and Harry. Born in Pennsylvania, Penny and Harry arrived at the Residence in July 2011. The names were given to them by Pennsylvania children who won a statewide “Name the Pups” contest in August 2011.  Penny and Harry can be seen around the Residence, running the hallways, or out playing in the gardens that make the Governor’s Residence such a special place.

    Related: Pennsylvania's first pets in history.

     

     

  • Legendary post office pup Owney honored with his own stamp

    U.S. Postal Service

    As the Smithsonian Postal Museum announced today:

    On July 27, 2011, one of the National Postal Museum’s most interesting objects is being commemorated with a U.S. postage stamp. During his lifetime, a scruffy mutt named Owney was the nation’s most famous canine. From 1888 until his death in 1897, Owney rode with Railway Mail Service clerks and mailbags all across the nation.

    The Railway Mail Service clerks adopted Owney as their unofficial mascot, marking his travels by placing medals and tags from his stops on his collar. By the early 1890s, the traveling postal dog was a regular feature in newspapers across the country as Owney visited town after town.

    Owney page here.

    Owney video here.

    Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian

    Smithsonian National Postal Museum

    Owney the dog on display at the U.S. Postal Museum