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First aid for canine cane toad poisoning

December 16, 2013 10:18 AM / 3 Comments on First aid for canine cane toad poisoning

Don’t get me wrong I love our dog, Just as I have loved all of the previous canine companion animals that have been part of our family for, well forever. But I can’t help but think that this story is far from serious, in fact I reckon its just a bit of seasonal nonsense.

Tis the season to go cold turkey…

Way back in the dim dark past we had a little black dog called Sascha he was a lovely loyal and devoted toy poodle who we rescued from the pound. My wife was devoted to the little bloke and he loved her with the sort of devotion that we admire in a dog. He had only one flaw to his otherwise spotless character and that was his predilection to bothering cane toads. Believe me its not a pretty sight when a dog has caught a cane toad. They salivate madly and their cries are blood curdling to put it mildly, if they have had enough of the toxin they then go into convulsions with their heart in maximum overdrive eventually they expire in a most unpleasant manner.

silly people have also risked death by dabbling in cane toad highs

Its not irredeemable though if your dog has bothered a toad and you find them salivating like mad the best first aid is to get your hose and thoroughly wash out the dogs mouth with the hose paying particular attention to the mucus membranes inside the cheeks, the toxin is absorbed through the mouth rather than being ingested through the GI tract so the more that you can remove with the hose the lower the dose will be. They will of course hate this and may well resist but do persist if you want your little mate to survive. If symptoms persist then rush your dog to the vet who will probably give sedatives to your pooch to stop his heart exploding…

To you they will give a big invoice a few of those and you may be tempted to let your little mate take his chances with fate, of course you will dig deep an pay the bills.

We tried training the behaviour out of Sacha to no avail, maybe with a younger dog would have been more amenable to aversion therapy but Sacha wasn’t. In the end we found a new home for him so we will never know if he ever learned his lesson …

Yep its fine to make jokes about cane toad -poisoning but when you have seen the results its nothing to joke about

Woof woof Comrades

Keeping toads off the island (abc.net.au)
Complexity of Systems (lee6ep.wordpress.com)
The Interacting Effects of Ungulate Hoofprints and Predatory Native Ants on Metamorph Cane Toads in Tropical Australia (plosone.org)
Thank you for dealing with all of our crap – the humble dung beetle [& not so humble cane toad] (pipmarks.com)
Polish Designer Turns Cane Toads into Fashion Accessories (odditycentral.com)
Everyone Agreed: Cane Toads Would Be a Winner for Australia (Op-Ed) (livescience.com)

Under Christine Milne the Greens prove that tail docking is not always cruel or unjustified

April 17, 2012 4:46 AM / 39 Comments on Under Christine Milne the Greens prove that tail docking is not always cruel or unjustified

What I love about the change of leadership in the Greens party is that they have gone from the leadership of a man who had a pretty thick veneer of reasonableness coupled with some pretty good political instincts to the leadership of a woman who actaully believes every loopy conspiracy theory that lays at the heart of every policy and position of the party. There is nothing at all subtle about Milne. What you get is pure unadulterated zealotry for the faith. As if that were not enough now in the lead up to the budget we find that the new Milne controlled Greens tail is desperately trying to wag the Labor dog:

click for source

Isn’t this just the most perfect example of the hubris of the Greens?
They are truly so certain of their manifest destiny that they think having just one seat in the house and nine in the senate gives them control of taxation and the treasury!
Makes me think that maybe the RSPCA are just plain wrong in the opposition to the docking of dogs tails. Clearly there are instances when the damage done by a wayward tail make shortening that appendage nothing short of imperative.
Cheers Comrades

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