By comparing skulls of dogs over decades, Fondon and Garner found significant and swift changes in some breeds' appearances. For example, between the 1930s and today, purebred bull terriers developed longer, more down-turned noses.

Urine-Off has a specially designed advanced formula using a combination of naturally occurring bio-enzymes to digest the uric acid salt crystals (which produce urine's pungent aroma) as well as remove the urea (sticky substance in urine) and urochrome (makes urine yellow). It is effective on all animal and human urine and not only works on the surface, but also penetrates below to break down and remove the stain and odor from sub-flooring, walls and baseboards. It is safe to use in any environment.

Feed your pet only commercially prepared food and treats. Animals can contract zoonotic infections from undercooked or raw meat or eggs. Also, do not let your pet drink from the toilet because several zoonotic infections can be contracted this way. Cats can contract infections (such as toxoplasmosis) by eating wild animals.

Keep your pet's nails short or declaw the animal to reduce the risk of infection caused by animal scratches. Cats are capable of transmitting B. henselae, the organism responsible for cat scratch disease.

• What Makes Your Dog Tick?
• How To View Training From Your Dog's Point Of View
• How To Establish A Great Relationship With Your Pooch, from Day One
• How To Select The Right Breed For You

In 2003, the Oregon legislature authorized a 20% increase in the number of video lottery terminals operated in restaurants and taverns throughout the state; and it appears that further expansion of the state lottery will take place in the upcoming 2005 legislative session, via the conversion of the state lottery's current video poker machines into slot machines.

Indian casinos in Oregon have continued to grow and significantly cut into the market share of the pari-mutuel industry. Recent announcements regarding new Indian casinos, both within Oregon and just north of the Oregon-Washington border, highlight the fact that the competition from Indian casinos will only grow more fierce in the coming years.

Oregon's off-track betting network has suffered significant declines in business, primarily due to account wagering providers who take wagers on greyhound and horse races from Oregon residents over the telephone and Internet.

Maggie seemed to have aged overnight. Gone was the energetic, constant-motion, shiny-coated seven-year-old Irish setter. She now had become a serious couch potato with a weight problem, in spite of eating a low-calorie dog food. Maggie's haircoat looked as though a moth had eatenthrough it: the hair was dry, dull and brittle, with patchy areas of hair loss. Her skin had an odor and she seemed to live with ear infections.

White supremacist Luke Curtis thought he was unstoppable - until he met Police Dog 33, a German shepherd known to his handler as Titan.

Curtis had told his girlfriend he would chop up two men with an axe to show her what he was really like. He then took an axe and threatened her father.

Early on Thursday he stepped out of his home in Barbara Boulevard, Seven Hills with a carving knife in each hand ranting neo-Nazi slogans.

The police had him surrounded and were prepared to do anything to bring him down without using bullets.

As the 23-year-old apprentice boilermaker approached the police line that had been placed around the house seven hours earlier, officers shot him with an electric charge from a dart gun. He kept coming and kept ranting.

Police shot him three times with a "bean bag" shot-gun.

But Curtis kept coming, and broke through the police line, still holding the knives.

Senior Constable Sean McDowell then set Titan on his heels. The three-year-old attack dog had served 18 months on the force and was a pet to Constable McDowell's two young children when kennelled at his home.

Titan chased Curtis for about 50 metres before biting into his left arm and forcing him to drop one of the knives. But Curtis plunged the other blade three times into Titan's chest.

By then police had caught up and managed to wrestle Curtis onto the road as he struggled and screamed. But the damage had been done. Titan was dying.

Frank and Barbara Rozzo of Brookline left their four-pound Yorkshire terrier, Gizmo, alone for a couple of minutes on her front porch, and when she returned she found the dog had been fatally injured by a large bird.

"It's a very rare occurrence," said Jill Argall, director of the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania Wildlife Center in Penn Hills.

"Usually a hawk can't pick up anything more than three or four pounds," she added. "I get a lot of calls from people worried about kittens and puppies. My best advice is go outside with your animal if you've got a hawk in the area."

Beginning early Friday morning (12/17), federal and state authorities, accompanied by members of HSUS' anti-animal fighting task force, raided facilities in Arizona, Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia. They seized hundreds of animals and arrested several of the fighting ring's organizers on a variety of felony charges, including animal cruelty.

Many of the animals seized during this weekend's raid were severely scarred and injured from the fighting ring. Hogs were found with broken legs and their ears barely attached to their skulls. All of the dogs were found either chained or penned up in squalid conditions.

Your sponsorship will help PETA provide sturdy, solid, straw-filled doghouses for dogs who are forced to live outdoors in freezing cold and snow. Our doghouses are often the only "home" these sad animals have ever had, and they jump for joy and curl up inside them to get out of the wind and sleet. Last year alone, PETA built and delivered 567 special long-lasting doghouses to needy dogs. With your help, we can provide shelter for hundreds more throughout the cold winter months.

A dog responds to like sounding commands having different meanings but a similar inflection of the voice. For example, a dog that has been trained to the command "Heel," if ordered "meal," "reel, "steal" or "veal," will obey as readily, despite the fact that he has been told to do something entirely different or that he has heard an expression devoid of any meaning at all as a command word.

• 70 percent of people surveyed told Pedigree they consider their pooches to be a part of the family.



• 71 percent admit they even talk to their dog as if he/she was human



• 22 percent say they include their pup in family vacations



• 50 percent of people surveyed say they have met a new friend or acquaintance while walking their dogs



• 15 percent even met their spouses that way



• 42 percent of dog owners admit they have, or might, take their dog out for the sole purpose of meeting someone of the opposite sex.



• 14 percent of women said they would even take their dog's opinion into consideration when choosing a mate



• 72 percent of people frequently pamper their pooches



• 50 percent of people give their dogs presents during the holidays



• 47 percent of people gave their dogs a human name, with the most common being Max, Jack, Molly and Daisy.



• 99 percent of people believe their dogs are happy and most also report taking steps to keep them that way.



• 55 percent of people give their dogs a daily romp around the block



• 41 percent of people keep up with regular visits to the vet



• 68 percent of people said that their pooches motivate them to live a healthier, more active lifestyle



• 49 percent of people incorporate their dog into their daily exercise regime



• 54 percent of people say their pooches dart to the dish when their favorite food is served