By AMANDA RICKER
Bozeman Daily Chronicle


BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Bozeman-based West Paw Design’s mission is to appeal to the human desire to reduce their carbon footprint by helping them cut their furry friends’ carbon pawprint as well.

West Paw produces eco-friendly pet beds, toys and apparel. The "green" material employed by the company ranges from old cardboard Dole banana boxes used to store and transfer materials during manufacturing, to soy-based ink and corn-based plastic on the merchandise tags.

And the eco-strategy is working. Today, West Paw Design employs 40 people, double the number it did 10 years ago, said owner and president Spencer Williams. The company ships 10 percent of its products overseas; sales in Montana represent just 1 percent.

"It’s something, I think, a lot of us have in common, this belief that we need to take care of this place," Williams said.

While many manufacturers, from cars to textiles, are struggling in the current economic slowdown, Williams said West Paw plans a 15,000-square-feet...

Depending on your family’s lifestyle, the responsibility of taking are of a cat or dog may be too time consuming. Left with the desire for a pet but time constraints that aren’t conducive to a cat or dog, some people think that getting a “pocket pet”, reptile, or another exotic animal might seem like the right solution.

Unfortunately, if you have small children exotic pets can be dangerous to your family’s health.

“Pocket pets” are small animals, often rodents that can fit into your pocket such as: hamsters, hedgehogs, mice, rats, and gerbils.
Though they are slight larger, guinea pigs also fall under the “pocket pet” category. Other exotic pets that people often turn to for companionship include baby chickens, baby ducks, and reptiles such as lizards, snakes, iguanas, and turtles.

“If you have kids under the age of 5, you should be extremely careful if you elect to have exotic pets in your home,” states Dr. Sharman Hoppes, an assistant clinical professor at the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine...

Hurricane season isn’t over yet. In the wake of Hurricane Ike’s
wrath, we are again reminded of the stress and chaos that can come from
evacuations. Though a difficult time for everyone, pet owners have the
added responsibility of making sure their furry (or scaly) friends are
safe.
First and foremost, do not leave your pets behind. If the situation is
not safe for you, it is not safe for them. There is no way of knowing
how long the evacuation will last, or what damage your home might
experience.
“Saving the Whole Family,” a brochure in the American Veterinary
Medical Association’s disaster preparedness series, recommends
planning ahead. Create a disaster kit that you can grab on your way out.
Of course making sure your pet has food and water is the most important
necessity for their survival, but there are a few very important, less
obvious things you need as well.
The American Veterinary Medical Association recommends having these
essentials in your disaster kit:
Identification- Make sure your pet has on ID. Whether it is...

KANSAS CITY — Dog & Cat Lovers of America announces that cash and prizes are up for grabs in the Fall Cutest Pet Photo Contest. Prizes include Pet Smart gift cards, tropies and $1,000 in cash.
Pet owners are welcome to enter to win a share of the prizes. Deadline for entries is Oct. 19. Dog or cat photos are welcome. There is a strict limit of one photo per household.
Submit online or by postal mail. Visit www.cutestpetcontest.com or mail send one photograph in full color or black and white of any size. All photo entries must include the photographer’s name and address on the back. Send to Dog & Cat Lovers Fall Contest, PO Box 4470, Olathe, KS 66063. There is no entry fee.

NAMPA — Anyone seeking a new or a lost pet should call the Pet Haven Shelter at 466-1298 for information, or visit the shelter at 333 Orchard Ave.
Pet Haven’s shelter is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, Saturday noon to 4 p.m. and closed Sunday and most holidays.
It costs $50 to adopt a cat. These charges include spaying or neutering the pet, deworming it, vaccination and a leukemia test.
Remember the low-cost spay and neuter clinic at the shelter. Call for times and dates.
All cats ready for adoption are spayed or neutered.
Find out more online at www.pethavenonline.org.
The Thrift Store at 619 Main St., Caldwell, helps fund the operating expenses of Pet Haven. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 10-4:30 Saturday. However, the store is closed Friday through Monday this week. Next week is the bagged book sale and clothing sale. Also, volunteers are needed through the busy holiday season. Check out the Web site, pethaventhriftstore.net For more information call 455-1303.

CALDWELL — The Canyon...

By MATTHEW D. LaPLANTE
The Salt Lake Tribune

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — She was born 27 years ago in the wilds of Africa.

By the time she was a year old, she had been ripped from her family.

Penned, chained and shipped to a noisy new world, her California keepers allowed her to roam only a few paces this way and a few paces that.

She was bullied and dominated. She lost a baby. She was poked, prodded, cut and left in pain.

Misha the elephant died Sept. 9 on the concrete floor of a cinderblock building in a lot behind her most recent home at Utah's Hogle Zoo, some 10,000 miles from where she was born.

No one is certain yet what caused her death, at what could be described as middle age for an elephant. But one of Misha's former trainers has a strong suspicion: "She lost her will."

Out of Africa. It was the early 1980s in South Africa. Apartheid was law. Nelson Mandela was in prison. And the nation's population of elephants, which had fallen to less than 200 earlier in the century, had steadily climbed to more than 8,000, pushing...

COLLEGE STATION, Sept. 18, 2008 – It’s probably happened to you: You’re walking down the sidewalk, you hear a faint chirping sound, and you look down to see a plump baby bird staring up at you and you think that a cute new pet has fallen right into your lap.
But wildlife experts have three words of advice: leave it alone.
“Take pictures, enjoy them, admire them, but don’t mess with them,” says Teresa Shisk-Saling, a veterinary technician at the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University. “The absolute worst thing you can do is pick it up, take it home and try to make it a pet.”
Touching a bird is a bad idea for several reasons. Parasites, salmonella and other bacterial diseases can all be picked up from wildlife, and although birds are not typically known for biting, they can do some damage with their beaks.
In addition, a well-intentioned animal lover may only do more harm than good by moving the bird. The most common reason a young bird ventures out of the nest is because it is...