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Those Silly Brits!
Posted by: jn at 11:44AM MT on June 19, 2009
"Cats outsmarted in psychologist's test"
 The Guardian reports that a psychology lecturer, Britta Osthaus, devised a simple experiment in an attempt to understand more about how cats perceive the world. The resulting scientific paper is due to be published as a short communication in the Animal Cognition journal. The thought processes of 15 cats were tested by attaching food to the end of lengths of string and observing whether they could figure out that pulling the line brought the treats closer. The cats had no problem with tackling single pieces of string. However, when faced with two options, experts discovered that unlike their canine counterparts, cats were unable to consistently pick a baited string over a dummy. Osthaus, of Canterbury Christ Church University, Kent, said: "This finding is somehow surprising as cats regularly use their paws and claws to pull things towards them during play and hunting. "They performed even worse than dogs, which can at least solve the parallel string task." She added that the results show that cats do not understand cause-and-effect connections between objects. The experiments involved attaching fish and biscuit treats to one end of a piece of string, placing them under a plastic screen to make them unreachable. They were tested in three ways, using a single baited string, two parallel strings where only one was baited, and two crossed strings where only one was baited. With two crossed strings, one cat always made the wrong choice and others succeeded no more than might be expected by chance. Osthaus added: "If we know their limits we won't expect too much of them, which in turn is important for their welfare. "I am not trying to say cats are stupid, just they are different. We are so anthropomorphic we can't see the world through their eyes." In a mirrored Telegraph article, Osthaus said "the findings shatter the myth that cats are smarter than dogs". Not bloody likely! I'd say Osthaus' anthropomorphising feline intelligence is what miserably flawed the study. Maybe it's time for the university to test the limits of intelligence for psychology lecturers. The real humor, though, is in the 8 pages of comments following the article, poor Ms. Osthaus was unlikely prepared for a backlash of growls and hisses. 
Posted by: jn at 11:34AM MT on June 19, 2009
 Kansas City -- The owners of a pet-food company implicated in the 2007 recall that is estimated to have killed about 4,000 pets pleaded guilty to some of the charges leveled against them. Sally Qing Miller and her husband, Stephen S. Miller, of Las Vegas, were indicted, along with their company, Chemnutra Inc., in 2008 for their alleged role in the 2007 pet food recall. Chemnutra buys food and food components from China, then imports and distributes those foods in the United States, according Matt J. Whitworth, acting U.S. attorney for the western district of Missouri. The Millers imported more than 13 shipments, totaling 800 metric tons, of wheat gluten tainted with melamine between November 2006 and February 2007, Whitmore says. The tainted wheat gluten was then used to make various brands of pet food -- 150 brands of which were later recalled, but not before an estimated 1,950 cats and 2,200 dogs died from eating the tainted food. The Millers and their company each pleaded guilty to one count of selling adulterated food and one count of selling misbranded food. They Millers are subject to up to two years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine of up to $200,000 and restitution, according to Whitmore. Chemnutra as a company is subject to a $400,000 fine and restitution. China was also implicated in melamine-tainted baby formula that killed six infants and made thousands of babies sick with kidney stones. The former company chairwoman was jailed for life and fined $3.6 million for her role in the scandal. In 2007, Menu Foods recalled 60 million containers of cat and dog food after animals died of kidney failure. The FDA alone had received more than 8,000 complaints. Sentencing hearings have not yet been scheduled. U.S. attorney's news release The Associated Press has more about the case
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Because life ain't worth living without the dog who sniffs the guests and the cat who shreds the toiletpaper. All things fun and educational in the crazy world of pets.
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