Dog Gene Offers Clues to Rare Human Brain Disease

Mutation may be similar in both species, study suggests

MONDAY, Aug. 30 (HealthDay News) — Scientists who discovered a gene mutation that causes a fatal neurodegenerative disease in American Staffordshire (Pit Bull) terriers say the same gene may also be linked to a similar, rare fatal brain disease in humans.

The discovery of the gene associated with a variant of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs) — a family of diseases that lead to mental and motor deterioration and death — may lead to improved screening and diagnosis of the disease in dogs. It may also be an early first step in developing a cure for NCLs in both dogs and humans, according to the multinational team of researchers.

In American Staffordshire terriers, also known as American Pit Bull Terriers, the disease causes mental and motor deterioration leading to death. Adult-onset NCL affects one of every 400 registered American Staffordshire terriers, according to research team member Dr. Natasha Olby, an associate professor of neurology at North Carolina State University.

“The disease became so prevalent because it was a recessive disease with late onset. Carriers of a single copy of the mutated gene never develop symptoms, and dogs with two copies of the gene might not show symptoms until five or six years of age, so the mutation was able to take hold in the breeding population,” she explained in a university news release.

Genetic analysis revealed the location of the specific gene and an entirely new mutation that has not been reported in people.

In humans, NCLs such as Batten disease mostly affect children, but there is an adult-onset form called Kufs’ disease that causes gradual death of brain neurons, resulting in vision loss, epilepsy, loss of coordination and dementia, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

The unique nature of the mutation in dogs means that researchers can now conduct tests to determine if the same mutation is responsible for Kufs’ disease in humans, according to Olby.

“The canine disease is a good model of the adult human form of the disease. We hope that this discovery will provide insight into the development of this disease,” she said.

The study was published in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Chihuahua Mix Attacked By Coyote, Saved By Pit Bulls

Neighbors Say Attacks Becoming Commonplace

Russell Haythorn, 7NEWS Reporter
POSTED: 8:46 pm MDT July 31, 2010

LITTLETON, Colo. — A Littleton neighborhood is on edge after a coyote attacked and nearly killed a woman’s dog Saturday morning…

Buster is a Chihuahua-Terrier mix. He was attacked Saturday morning.

“He woke me up at 6:30 to do his thing. I let him out and I came out with him,” said Jodi Robinette of Littleton. “And about a minute later, he screamed like I’ve never heard an animal scream.”

Robinette ran after Buster and the coyote behind her home at 949 West Peakview Circle near Angeline Little Greenway Park.

“And right when I came around this corner, the coyote had my dog in his mouth, shaking him as he was running,” she said. “And then, I see the coyote at the very middle of this field drop my dog.”

Turns out the neighbor’s pit bulls were going after the coyote…

As for the pit bulls – they scared off the coyote and then protected Buster under a bush.

“They were circling him and sitting by him. Making sure he was all right,” said Robinette. “So it needs to be said that there’s some good (in pit bulls) and not all bad.”

Back at the animal clinic, Buster’s got a polka-dot bandage, a heated blanket and some pain medicine. He’s had a rough day.

He will need surgery Monday. He has a collapsed lung, chest injuries and many deep lacerations.

The Division of Wildlife suggests never allowing your pets to roam, especially at night.

The division also suggests you keep your pets in a fenced area, or a completely enclosed kennel at times when you’re not able to keep an eye on your pet.

Pit bull saves family from house fire

Share By KPIC.com staff

Story Published: Jul 29, 2010 at 12:05 PM PDT

CANYONVILLE, Ore. – As Teresa Holt and her children slept, an electrical fire silently smoldered in her closet.

Before the flames erupted and destroyed their home and possessions, the family’s pit bull mix Grizzly woke up Holt’s son Justin.

“The dog trampled over me and stuff,” Justin Holt said. “It was acting weird and I was like, ‘What’s wrong?’ And then I thought I smelled something on fire, and I thought it was the stove at first. Then I realized when I rolled back over it was coming out of my mom’s (closet) into my closet.”

The small house quickly went up in flames and everything was a total loss.

“I still don’t know how we got out because the house was so full of smoke, and I’m surprised it wasn’t further inflamed before we woke up,” Teresa Holt said.

She credits Grizzly with saving the family’s life.

It’s the second time in her life Teresa had to flee a house fire. When she was 16, Teresa’s parent’s house also burned to the ground.

“It was pretty scary then,” she said, “and it was really scary this time.”

The community and the Red Cross have assisted the family. People can also make donations at any Umpqua Bank branch for Teresa Holt.

Pit bull joins police search and rescue team

By NBC 10 News
Published: July 23, 2010

For the first time in Rhode Island, a pit bull has been certified to be part of the State Police Search and Rescue Disaster Team.

The dog, whose name is “X” was trained by Rhode Island State Trooper Matt Zarella.

The dog just completed the Disaster Search course, one of the most difficult tests. Earlier she completed the agility course and training to find a person under rubble.

It’s a good thing for this family that their dog wasn’t banned. Councilmembers might want to be reminded of this.

E-mail addresses for city council:
dave.osborne@coei.org ; brian.thomas@coei.org ; david.henke@coei.org ; ron.troyer@coei.org ; brent.curry@coei.org ; thines@elkhart.k12.in.us ; mary.olson@coei.org ; ralph.bean@coei.org ; rodregina@comcast.net

http://www.fox28.com/Global/story.asp?S=12773449 

Pit bull saves family from house fire

Posted: Jul 08, 2010 9:46 AM CDT

An Elkhart family is alive thanks to their pit bull dog. The Red Cross of Elkhart County is crediting the dog with waking the family when their home caught fire early Thursday morning.

The Red Cross says “Thor” woke up the family of three and even tried to pull the baby and basinet out of the house. The family were asleep when a fire began in the hallway.

The fire happened early Thursday at a trailer home at 53500 County Road 27 in Bristol. The fire heavily damaged the trailer.

Sam’s story: Distinguished dog helps saves petsitter

By Jean Gilbert / For the Sun-News
Posted: 06/05/2010 10:09:09 PM MDT

Pit bulls as a breed have been vilified, getting a bad rap for the notoriety of people implicated in cruel practices like dog fighting. Prejudice toward the breed also comes from a bully image perpetuated by people for vicarious reasons, with the dog used to project a tough or macho appearance. We know the fear and discrimination leveled at pit bulls here at home, caused by alleged dog fighting in the region or the alarm caused by the publicity of a rare attack on a human by a provoked or abused pit bull.

On the positive side, we are changing the negative view and countering discrimination by embracing pit bulls through humane education and awareness campaigns.

One story that might change some minds took place last November. The extraordinary dog involved is Sam, a full-blooded American Staffordshire Pit Bull Terrier, a neutered male and a cherished family member. He belongs to Las Cruces residents Sandy and Charlie Cruz, who have owned Sam since he was a puppy. On the day I interviewed them for this story, Sam was busy greeting guests and being a companion to their toddler-grandson, Josiah.

At 8 years old, Sam weighs 90 pounds, a stocky guy with a concentrated mass of muscle typical of his breed. He is a handsome fellow, with brown-and-white coloring and beautiful gold eyes. His stature comes from his social nature and readiness to please his family. He will sit for treats, or just relax in close proximity as companion and protector. I observed this during the interview, along with play time (happily carrying soft toys in his mouth) and darting to windows with a keen eye and ear to the outside goings-on.

Sandy Gibson, a volunteer in humane education, was present at the interview along with pet sitter Marlene Ham. Marlene is an in-house pet sitter, “Grandma” to a myriad of dogs and Sam is her guardian angel. She was at the Cruz home, caring for Sam as she has done on other occasions when the family was away traveling. At bedtime Sam was on his blanket, on the left side near the foot of the large bed with Marlene occupying the right side. Sam is well-behaved and very smart, Marlene notes, so he won’t get on the bed unless granted permission, with his blanket laid out. He is a sound sleeper and doesn’t move a muscle all night.

This particular night Marlene was stirred from her sleep. It was well past midnight and Sam had scooted to her side of the bed. He was resting his head solidly on her thigh while gently nudging her, looking for a response. As Marlene awakened she sensed a dramatic drop in blood sugar. As a diabetic, she knew she was in trouble.

Marlene managed to pull herself up and hold on to the walls to stay erect while making her way to the kitchen, feeling so dizzy she could pass out. Her blood sugar registered dangerously low at 42, but fortunately climbed to normal limits after some cake and milk.

Marlene had been insulin dependent for many years, but nothing like this episode had ever happened. She was dangerously close to a coma saved by Sam’s feat of detection. Marlene is grateful to him for saving her life.

How did Sam know what to do? Marlene and the Cruz family are still pondering the question with information and insight gleaned from a variety of sources. But the simple fact remains: Sam innately knew what to do, and he did it.

Sam is a celebrated guy, for sure, and distinguished among his breed. Sam is a hero to Marlene and his family, a guardian angel. And theirs is a love returned every day.

For information online about the topic, search “dogs detect diabetes.” For information on the plight of pit bulls, go to the “No Kill Revolution” blog spot by Michel Meunier at www.lascrucessunnews.org

For information about pit bull dogs available for adoption, contact ACTion Programs for Animals at 644-0505, the Animal Services Center of Mesilla Valley at 382-0018, the Humane Society of Southern NM at 523-8020, and Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary at 805-5338, and go to Pet Finders online for rescue animals.

Jean Gilbert is a humane educator, board member and volunteer with the Humane Society of Southern New Mexico.

http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/full_story.asp?StoryNumber=46079

Roving toddler found with only a dog for company

By SooToday.com Staff
SooToday.com
Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Wearing only a diaper and a sweatshirt, a 2-year-old boy was found wandering alone – save for the company of a pit bull by his side – in the Gaylord area on Sunday.

It appears the toddler had been without adult supervision for at least six hours, according to a report by TV 9&10 News.

Michigan State Police believe the child went roaming while his mother was at work and his father, who was on prescription medication, was sleeping.

No charges have been filed against the parents to date.

Pitbull in wheelchair helps Utah kids in wheelchairs

Piggy works as a therapy dog at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Salt Lake City.

By Heather May
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 03/26/2010 04:42:00 PM MDT

The boy sees the dog from across his hospital room, and his grin is contagious.

Piggy waddles into the room. Hit by a car 2½ years ago, the dog’s back legs are paralyzed and she uses her front legs and a doggy wheelchair to drag them behind her.

The pitbull-boxer mix is a therapy dog at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Salt Lake City, where children are often in wheelchairs or casts after receiving free orthopedic surgeries for spinal and leg disorders.

The boy barely talks and doesn’t need to. His smile speaks for him as he crawls to the edge of his bed to pet Piggy and toss her a piece of dried chicken jerky.

Seeing reactions like that, April Hollingsworth knows she was right to keep Piggy alive after she was hit by a car.

Whether Hollingsworth is taking Piggy room to room in the hospital, or on runs down Millcreek Canyon, the smiles that follow the dog make her feel like she is passing out $100 bills.

“I feel she’s a gift I have to give,” she says.

Piggy is one of four therapy dogs that visit the hospital. Despite the reputation pitbulls have, the dog is friendly and calm. Intermountain Therapy Animals tests all of the volunteer dogs to ensure they are controllable, predictable and like to be around people.

Shriners recreation therapist Laura Lewis said the dogs help make the hospital seem less scary and more like home. It gives children a sense of control to feel like they can take care of something else, even if it is just brushing a dog’s fur.

“The kids love the dogs,” she said. “I’ve witnessed moments where a child hasn’t talked to anyone else but the second that the dog comes in the room, they will just sit down and tell a dog how they’re feeling and what scares them.”

Hollingsworth brings Piggy, 6, to Shriners every couple of weeks. This week, she stopped by 20 rooms, where children were recovering from surgery or waiting to be fitted for new wheelchairs or casts.

The visits were quick — enough time for the children to scratch under Piggy’s chin or feed her a treat. Piggy lives up to her name, occasionally grunting.

Francisco “Javier” Ramerez, 10, stood in his hospital gown, his right foot in bandages from surgery to straighten it, dropping a tennis ball in front of Piggy.

The New Mexico boy feels bad for the dog. “I hope that she gets well. She is very playful.”

Sometimes, the parents seem more excited than the children.

Maria Ocano snaps pictures of Piggy while her 14-year-old daughter, Maria Castro, is shy. The girl, from Mexico, has spinal muscular atrophy and is in a wheelchair.

Ocano likes that Piggy needs help getting around, too. “It’s better for the child,” she says. “The child see the dog have a disability.”

Angel Lowery has to tell her daughter to stay in bed when Piggy rolls into Haley Champion’s room. The 12-year-old from Denver has a neuromuscular disease and was at the hospital to be refitted for leg casts.

Mom and daughter talk about their own dogs. “He is so pretty,” Haley says, thinking Piggy is a boy.

When Piggy was hit in November 2007, up to 90 percent of her spinal cord was severed. Hollingsworth was told she wouldn’t regain any movement in her hind legs. Within days of the hit-and-run, Piggy had lost all muscle tone. She had no reflexes.

“It seemed like I would have to put her down,” Hollingsworth said.

But she held off because it was the holidays. In January, Piggy stood on her back legs and her reflexes — reacting when the bottom of her paws were touched — started returning.

Euthanizing her never made sense to Hollingsworth. “I got her [from the pound] because I liked her personality and she keeps me company. And she still does that.”

Today, Piggy can occasionally use her back legs. She goes to rehab, walking on a treadmill without her cart and balancing herself on an exercise ball. Hollingsworth has installed a wheelchair ramp for Piggy to get from her deck to the back yard.

She decided to train Piggy as a therapy dog based a reaction she got while walking Piggy around her neighborhood a couple of years ago. A man in a wheelchair, whose legs were amputated after a climbing accident, saw Piggy in her cart and started visiting her. He said she was one of the few things that made him happy.

“Just watching her keep going is just amazing,” Scott Williams said in an interview with Hollingsworth through the oral history project StoryCorps on KCPW public radio. “She’s like the coolest wheelchair individual in the United States.”

hmay@sltrib.com

Boxing Champion Wants To Knock Out Dog Fighting

Andre Ward’s charity work and causes
February 17, 2010

The award-winning Knock Out Dog Fighting program today unveiled a new public service announcement (PSA) called “It IS Your Fight”.

The PSA stars WBA Super Middleweight Boxing Champion Andre Ward and aims to raise awareness about the fight to knock out dog fighting and the link between animal cruelty and domestic abuse. The PSA can be viewed here.

The Knock Out Dog Fighting program partners with schools, juvenile detention facilities, community centers, law enforcement agencies and gang prevention task forces with the goal of stopping cruelty and abuse by providing alternative activities and interests for young people. Team members include professional athletes, dog trainers, dancers, musicians, artists, and scientists who present information and involve under-served and gang-impacted youth in intriguing alternative activities to get them to stop fighting dogs, away from the gang life and to help them succeed in life.

Ward holds an undefeated record of 21-0 with 13 KOs as a professional boxer and has won more than 90 matches as an amateur, including the Gold Medal at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. As the only American boxer to claim Olympic gold in the past decade, Ward joined the likes of Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Oscar De La Hoya.

With more and more kids looking to professional athletes and celebrities as role models, Ward takes the responsibility of being a role model very seriously. He knows that because he is a professional athlete there is a child somewhere watching what he says and what he does. Ward knows his actions can impact lives.

“Because of my accomplishments, I have a platform, whether I like it or not, and there are young and older people looking at me saying, ‘Ok, you’ve accomplished these great things but what are you going to do with your platform?’” said Ward. “I plan to make a difference in the lives of others and bring awareness and knowledge to all who will listen about the cruelties of dog fighting and the link between those who abuse animals and those who abuse people.”

Dog fighting, and all the acts that go along with it – the brutality towards the dogs, the use of weaker animals as bait, the agony inflicted in the fighting pit, the execution-style killing of dogs – cannot be described by any reasonable person as anything less than horrific abuse.

“Unfortunately, many people don’t get involved in stopping dog fighting because they think ’it’s just a dog issue, why should I care?’”, said Knock Out Dog Fighting founder, Kris Crawford. “The mentality that it is just a dog issue and there are more important crimes to worry about – than stopping dog fighting – loses much credibility when such abuse is proven to be linked to serious and deadly criminal behavior towards humans.”

Cruel acts toward animals have long been recognized as indicators of a dangerous psychopathy that often claims more than animal victims. The FBI has recognized the connection since the 1970s, when its analysis of serial killers found that most had killed or tortured animals as children. “Murderers … very often start out by killing and torturing animals,” according to Robert K. Ressler, who developed profiles of serial killers for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Research in psychology and criminology shows that people who commit acts of cruelty to animals don’t stop there—many of them move on to their fellow humans. The American Psychiatric Association considers cruelty to animals one of the diagnostic criteria of conduct disorder.

In fact, in a home where there is an animal abuser, more often than not there is also elder, spousal or child abuse going on. That’s why the Knock Out Dog Fighting program is so important – it helps stop the cycle of violence.

Andre Ward and the Knock Out Dog Fighting program are not only saving dogs, they are also helping our children and our communities. For more information about how you can join Andre Ward and his fight to stop cruelty and abuse, click here.

“You might as well have a lion running around the house. What do you want one of them for? They’re bred to fight. They’re not domesticated pets. When they turn to fight mode they don’t listen to anything, they just go.”

From: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/2802313/Ozzy-Osbourne-secretly-visits-injured-troops.html#ixzz0cJg44uMt