History and Culture

Fido is a Latin word and means to trust, to confide in, to believe. As it’s not popular, how did it become a name referring to any dog? We have to go back in time to Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States. Lincoln suffered spells of depression and as many pet owners do, […]

Latin dictionaries define the name Fido as meaning “to trust, believe, confide in”. Books describing origins of names say that Fido means “I am faithful.” All apt descriptions of dogs. Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, esteemed for preserving the Union and ending slavery, was a pet lover as well. Lincoln often recovered […]

“Noah” a film starring Russell Crowe, is an epic about the biblical tale of the Flood. It is also a story of belief, courage, sacrifice and hope. The director of the film, Darren Aronofsky, is a recipient of the HSUS Humane Filmmaker Award because instead of using live exotic animals that could be stressed or […]

Overtoun Bridge is on a 19th century estate near Dumbarton, Scotland. Since the 1960s, more than 50 dogs have jumped to their deaths in the same spot, the right-hand side of the bridge. Hundreds more have survived the jump onto the rocks 50 feet below, some dogs even returning to leap again. Since no explanation […]

Moby Dick, the white whale of Herman Melville’s novel written in 1851, was actually modeled after a real live whale called Mocha Dick. Spotted often in the early 1800s, Mocha Dick’s home was the Pacific Ocean. He was usually seen near an island called Mocha off the coast of Southern Chile. Mocha Dick was a […]

My 180 pound Alaskan Malamute was taken to Three Trails Animal Hospital on December 10, 2012, where Dr. Rhodes’ opinion was that Grizz had lymphoma. I left with a prescription for prednisone, and no hope. In the early morning hours of December 21, Grizz could no longer walk, so in a few hours myself, roommate, […]

Veterinary medicine has a long history dating back to at least 9000 BCE. Sheepherders, although not veterinarians, used their crude medical skills to treat their animals. Translated hieroglyphs from 4000 to 3000 BCE show that Egyptians, with their more advanced knowledge of medicine, treated and maintained the health of their domestic animals. Sanskrit texts (the […]

Cats were revered and worshipped in Ancient Egypt. It was believed that they were sent by Egyptian gods to kill the insects and rodents that invaded the grains, threatening the food supply. In these ancient times, killing a cat, even accidentally, was considered an act of treason and punishable by death. At one time it […]

Superstition is defined as a belief that is not based on reason or knowledge, but blindly accepted. It is an irrational belief founded on ignorance or fear of the unknown or mysterious. Most cultures, including the ancient Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks and Romans viewed a howling dog as an omen of something ominous. Many of these […]

In 2009, researchers conducted a study of where domestic cats originated. Their findings, based on DNA showed that domestication of cats began in the Fertile Crescent. The Fertile Crescent is part of the Middle East including Turkey to Northern Africa and eastward to Iraq and Iran. When humans decided to settle in one place and […]