Knut - Berlin's Star Polar Bear Is Dead

Knut with his zoo keeper Thomas Doerflein

Knut with his zoo keeper Thomas Doerflein

Knut with his zoo keeper Thomas Doerflein

Knut with his zoo keeper Thomas Doerflein

Little Knut

Knut the poser was a favorite of the media and Zoo

A grown up Knut

Knut, the famous polar bear of the Berlin Zoo is died yesterday. He became an international star when his mother abandoned him and he was raised by his Berlin zoo keeper.

Knut was only four years old and the cause of his death has not been revealed. He was the first bear to be born in captivity in the zoo for 30 years. The first time media saw him was in 2007 and he became a major attraction for media and animal lovers.

He became a star over night when an animal activist said he should have been put down after he and his brother (who died later) were rejected by their mother following their birth in December, 2006. He was so popular that he ended up generating millions of dollars for the Berlin Zoo.

Thomas Doerflein took care of little Knut from the beginning when he bottle fed him and played Elvis Presley's songs for him. Thomas died of a heart attack in 2008. Knut was kept with his mother - Tosca and two other females - Nancy and Katjuscha later on.

He never really had any romantic relationships with them. In fact, there were cases of violent maulings when Katjuscha once tried to bite him.

Anyhow, Knut was rather young to have died. He seemed very cute in all his pics! I wish I could have seen him live. The Berlin Zoo will miss him dearly looking at the way they took care of him, he seemed like a real favorite.

Dogs Being Run To Death!

The Iditarod is a long, grueling race that has become known for its abuse of animals, causing hundreds of injuries and deaths.  Dogs' paws become bruised and bloodied and are cut by the ice. Many dogs incur stress fractures or become sick with intestinal viruses. 

Dogs often die in the 1,150-plus-mile race from hypothermia, pneumonia, gastric ulcers, accidents, beatings, and "sled dog myopathy"—literally being run to death. Twenty dogs used in the Iditarod have died since 2005. On average, more than half the dogs who start the race don't make it across the finish line, and 81 percent of those who do finish have lung damage, according to a report published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 

Many compassionate companies have pulled their sponsorships of the Iditarod, including, just this week, the Transportation Security Administration after hearing from PETA. With the Iditarod starting on March 5, we need your help NOW to urge the remaining sponsors to end their support of this cruel event. 

Please take a moment to send a single e-mail to the executives of the companies that are still sponsoring the Iditarod. Ask them to cancel their sponsorship of this event, which results in injured, and often dead, dogs.  

Don't Let Antifreeze Harm Your Pet

Antifreeze is one of the leading household substances responsible for the accidental deaths of both children and pets. Even just a small dose of this sweet-tasting substance can kill a living creature. We can't stop using antifreeze altogether, but we can take steps to make this product's taste less appealing to our unknowing loved ones.

H.B. 96 is a proposed Ohio bill that would require antifreeze makers to make its taste bitter and less appetizing to unsuspecting creatures. Sign the petition asking Ohio governor Ted Strickland to endorse H.B. 96, thereby making our homes safer for our children and animals.

http://www.therainforestsite.com/clickToGive/campaign.faces;jsessionid=A9D0725502DE45554888B42D461F064B.ctg-b?siteId=4&campaign=AntifreezePoisoning