Meat goes mobile with Wolf smartphone innovation

German meat and sausage manufacturer Wolf is offering consumers the chance to access detailed product information about its pre-packed products at point of sale via their smartphones.

New Study Shows That Our Dogs Understand What We Are Saying.

The study titled ‘Neural mechanisms for lexical processing in dogs’ recently published in the Journal of Science shown that our dogs have much more complex brains than previously thought- they ‘really’ think..even Irish Setters. The study used 13 dogs, including golden retrievers, border collies, a German shepherd. The dogs were trained to lie down and remain still for more than seven minutes while in a brain-scanning MRI. Dogs use the left hemisphere of the brain to process words, much the way we do, said Attila Andics, a research fellow at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary and primary author of the study. The study also went on to suggest that dogs use a right hemisphere brain region to process intonation independently of words. What this means is that they may separate what you say from how you say it. The researchers used the machine to record and measure neural activity in the dogs’ brains while they listened to a woman trainer, whom they were familiar with, recite various words in various intonations. For instance, positive or meaningful words such as “well done,” “good boy” and “clever” were said in both a praising intonation and a neutral intonation. Neutral or meaningless words, such as “even if,” “although” and “however,” also were said in both intonations. The brain scans revealed that parts of the left hemisphere reacted the most to the meaningful words. In general, the brain’s left hemisphere is linked to language and speech processing in most humans. Meanwhile, parts of the right hemisphere reacted to intonation, suggesting that the dogs processed the meaning of words separately from the tone in which they were spoken, according to the brain scans. Only when a praise word was spoken to the dogs in a praising tone of voice did the brain’s reward center light up like a Christmas tree in the brain scans. The reward center is the part of the brain that responds to pleasurable stimuli, like food treats or being petted.

Teen accused of posing as vet tech, faces animal cruelty charges.

A 19-year-old woman faces felony charges, after allegedly cropping a puppy's ears without a license, and botching the job. Brandi Seipe appeared before a judge on Wednesday, charged with practicing veterinary medicine without a license and animal cruelty.Graphic pictures from Palm Beach County Animal Control show what the charges are all about - a pitbull puppy with his ears cropped unevenly too close to the head, says a real veterinarian. The cuts to the puppy's ears were apparently sutured with fishing line. "He was very drugged up," recalled Natalie Nunez, the owner of the puppy, named King. "He was scared and acting crazy." Nunez says she was given contact information for Seipe, who allegedly offered to crop King's ears for just $80. Nunez says Seipe told her she was a veterinary technician who worked at a vet's office, and performed ear croppings at her home on the side. When Nunez went to pick up King, she noticed something was wrong.Nunez then took King to a licensed veterinarian, who alerted Animal Control. "I feel bad that I put him in that situation," said Nunez, who adds King is doing well now. But Nunez says she's had many extra vet bills because of what happened."Very angry, very angry," said Nunez. "She says she's done other people's dogs. So I'm sure there's plenty of other people out there that don't know about the situation." The judge allowed Seipe's release from jail on Wednesday. If convicted as charged, Seipe potentially faces five years in prison, and a year in jail.more

Clipping the nails saga!!!

Simple stuff such as nail clipping could turn out wild see

AGRIBUSINESS: Coccidiosis in piglets.

AGRIBUSINESS: Coccidiosis in piglets. Coccidiosis is a major cause of diarrhea in piglets that have long-term effects on health and performance,though its relatively under-diagnosed its a global concern. The problems of piglet diarrhea, includes high mortality, poor performance and susceptibility to other diseases because of secondary bacteria infection. The diarrhoea is usually yellow or gray and pasty.. AGRIBUSINESS: Coccidiosis in piglets. The primary cause of coccidiosis in piglets is the parasite Isospora suis, which is a pig-specific coccidia. There are other coccidial species that can infect pigs, but they don’t commonly cause disease. Coccidial oocysts that are shed from infected animals can survive on the farm for months or even years. Ingesting oocysts still present in the environment, usually from previous litters by piglets is the common route of infection. When ingested, the oocyst in the small intestine undergoes some of developmental stages, which takes five to seven days before new oocysts are formed. Each stage invades and multiplies within cells then bursts out. This destroys the infected cells, which in turn damages the gut, leading to diarrhea. Once the new oocysts are shed in the feces, they go through a short maturation process in the environment before being ready to infect a new host. AGRIBUSINESS: Coccidiosis in piglets. Prevention strategies like hygiene and biosecurity will help to reduce the incidence of many types of diarrhea. However, it is important to know the cause in order to treat effectively and implement a specific control plan. Clinical signs of coccidiosis can be seen in pigs as early as six days of age to about three weeks old. This is consistent with them becoming infected soon after birth, which is when they are most susceptible. As coccidiosis is the most frequent cause of diarrhea in piglets between six and 15 days of age,they will have poor body condition, be dehydrated and with a rough coat . The diarrhea is pale yellow or grey and very pasty. Antibiotic treatment with sulphonamides ,treating animals with clinical signs is strongly advised. If the diagnosis is uncertain fecal samples can be taken for oocyst identification and count at the This is to prevent losses as well as reducing ongoing damage to the gut. In order to prevent clinical signs of coccidiosis, many pig producers treat all piglets on a farm at three to five days of age.

The role of coccidiosis control in salmonella prevention.

Researchers say that coccidiosis vaccination can reduce the cecal Salmonella load in broilers, compared to birds treated with ionophores. Broilers vaccinated for coccidiosis have lower lesion scores than do birds treated with either chemical coccidiostats or ionophores. There are nine species of coccidia that impact broilers, with E. acervulina, E. tenella and E. maxima being the most prevalent. E. tenella is primarily found in the ceca and it is the species of coccidia that seems to affect Salmonella levels in broilers the most,thus better control of E. tenella may lower Salmonella incidence in a flock at time of market. Research has shown that coccidiosis breaks in broilers associated with E. necatrix and E. tenella are associated with increases in Salmonella colonization in the bird. The E. necatrix control in breeders plays a role in helping to keep Salmonella loads on chicks low, but E. tenella control is of more importance for controlling Salmonella colonization in the broiler house. Coccidiosis vaccination is very important for a number of factors; the resistance of coccidia populations in broiler houses to both chemical coccidiostats and ionophores continues to be a growing problem with no new drugs introduced in the last few decades and vaccinating for coccidiosis reestablishes populations of susceptible strains of coccidia on broiler farms. The recent clamor for antibiotic-free production among some consumers have also increased use of coccidiosis vaccines.

Togo has first HPAI cases in 7 years.

Two poultry farms in the Maritime region of Togo have been affected by highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza, resulting in the deaths of 14,372 birds. This marks the first time that highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been detected in the African nation since January 2009. According to information provided by Togo’s ministry of agriculture to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the two farms were considered to be “semi-modern,” but lacked biosecurity measures. At one of the farms, 10,350 birds died, while another 3,000 were destroyed. At the other farm, 950 birds died and another 30 were destroyed. The carcasses, by-products and waste are being disposed of. The source of the avian influenza infection is not known. The farms have been quarantined and are being disinfected. A protection zone has been established, and surveillance inside and outside the zone is taking place. While the virus is new to Togo in 2016, other African nations – including Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon -- have been dealing with cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza in recent months. OIE stated that it intends to file weekly reports on the H5N1 avian influenza situation in Togo until it considers it to be resolved. contributed by wattagnet.com