A (Vick) Dog's Life!

CNN has a story about some of the dogs who were seized from the Michael Vick property last year. They were cared for and rehomed by a group out in California. And let's just say their life now sounds a bit more comfortable than the federal pen in Virginia. Some of the dogs have been taken in by Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah. They have video of the dogs on their page and you can even sponsor some of them. And check it out--the dogs even have their own lawyer!

The Oakland, California-based pit bull rescue and education group Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pit Bulls, or BAD RAP, which had done similar rescues from busts in California, asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gill for permission to evaluate and rescue as many of the dogs as possible, with the hope of eventually placing them in adoptive homes.

"Much to our amazement, he said yes," said Reynolds, who heads BAD RAP. "This doesn't happen. People don't say yes to pit bulls."

Gill declined to comment, but those familiar with the Vick case said the Justice Department hoped early on to find a way to give the dogs a second chance. As part of his plea deal, Vick agreed to pay for the dogs' care.

The court even appointed a guardian and special master, Valparaiso University animal law expert Rebecca Huss, who oversaw the dogs' disposition and recommended which rescue groups would accept them.

I hope Michael Vick buys them bully sticks and stuffy toys every day. And lobster and steaks. I hope they get access to his credit card and buy us ALL lobster and steaks.

Your Smarter Cousins

I've been meaning to blog about this but it turns out the naked apes' chimpy cousins are smarter than them! Chimps outperformed college students at memory games (no word if the college students were tested before or after the kegger):

Monkeys performed about as well as college students at mental addition, U.S. researchers said on Monday in a finding that suggests nonverbal math skills are not unique to humans.

The research from Duke University follows the finding by Japanese researchers earlier this month that young chimpanzees performed better than human adults at a memory game.

As for the teams, both were paid. Boxer and Feinstein (the chimps) got their favourite reward: a sip of Kool-Aid soft drink. As for the students, they got $10 each -- enough for a beer or two.

As if to prove the idiocy of naked apes--AP, chimps are not monkeys, they're apes!