We look through the regular print newspapers or online magazines every day, and the news about animals are more and more numerous and often brings us back to gruesome facts, mistreatment or even worse scenarios. As in all things in life, there is fortunately a positive side to everything, they shine with a deep love for life, and are wonderful beings who know how to give a lot of love. Here we tell you about a beautiful story about cats, so full of good intentions that it almost seems like a fairy tale, but it is actually a true story.

A story of sacrifices made with the heart by Maria Torero, a Peruvian nurse who lovingly takes care of sick people during her working hours and then continues her work at home with dedication, but for a large group of cats. Maria is the creator and leader of a wonderful project called "La Casita Gatuna"; a rest home for cats suffering from Felv which is feline leukaemia. These cats are often abandoned and are terminally ill. Nobody really wants to adopt them. Maria thought of them and took care of their needs, their suffering, the melancholy of abandonment and therefore created a home for them.

She lives with a very big family but they are all united by the misfortune of an unforgiving disease but also by an infinite love that binds them like a thin but very strong silver thread. A love that enables Maria to take care of 175 cats to whom she gives food, medicine, care, a roof and a lot of affection. Many of them also suffer from other diseases and this very strong woman copes with everything with the help of her three children and of donations. Maria's cats are serene; they doze and eat and they are surrounded by the warmth of an environment designed especially for them.

Maria wants her cats to live happily all the days they has left on earth, and relieves all their ailments with pills, injections and cuddles, giving a better quality of life. Maria tells us that she started rescuing animals when she saw the wickedness of the people at the market, arid people who chased them away by throwing hot water or bleach at them: "I started when I saw the vendors throw bleach or boiling water at cats in the market, treating them as if they were garbage".

They didn't stop to think that animals ever even had feelings. “Who suffers and feel pain, cold and hunger, like us ". Among the many pages that talk about Maria Torero, we also find a nice photo shoot where Maria's cats are portrayed, very sweet and peaceful, colourful in their cute sweaters. These pictures portray that there is still good in life and that all animals must be taken care of. Including cats sick with Felv. Thank you Maria.

Dogs are the man's closest friends. Proof of this is the fact that they have really great levels of attachment to us humans.

The dog elects its owner as leader of the pack, so he becomes its point of reference, its company and, in a way, its best friend. The relationship is in fact mutual and the affection that we humans give to the dog is rewarded with a great devotion and an attachment that goes beyond the boundaries of the natural.

Let's analyze, for example, dogs know perfectly the habits of their owners and recognize their step, the noise of the car or the scooter approaching. An interesting research recently monitored the behaviour of dogs when the owner is at work. At the exact moment when the owner looks at his watch and gets up to go home, the dog senses this change and begins to fidget, wagging his tail and preparing to welcome him at the door of the house.

This event takes place even if the distance between dog and owner covers a radius of several kilometres, so we can really be amazed by their peculiar behaviour.

Dogs are sensitive to the habits and health of the owner. Recently, science is dealing with their propensity to discover serious pathologies in the body of the owners, such as tumours.

Dogs have a special sense of smell, which allows them to 'break' odour molecules into many small sections and to isolate smells that are abnormal and considered dangerous. It is no coincidence that many dogs employed by the police are used to find traces of blood and body fragments for the recovery of missing persons.

The changes in the health of the owners are immediately perceived by the dogs, who point it out by licking certain areas of the body or by insisting on rubbing the muzzle in a particular section. It is therefore possible that their sense of smell allows them to discover tumour pathologies even before symptoms appear and before modern diagnostic systems can reveal their existence.

In this regard, we want to tell you a couple of news cases, which may be emblematic of this special power that dogs have. Allison Powel, a 47-year-old woman, had been noticing the dog's special attention to her left breast for several months. In fact, his Labrador continually rubbed his face on that specific area of ​​the body.

Allison was able to understand the message her dog was giving her and promptly went for a specialist examination, which revealed early stage breast cancer. In this case, the message was fortunately received promptly by the owner, who was able to intervene quickly and save her life. During hospitalization, the Labrador felt sad and distressed, recovering energy as his owner was recovering as well. It is a very strong empathy, which involves two apparently different beings, but capable of understanding each other's sensations. Now Allison has returned home and every morning her dog sniffs her from top to bottom, perhaps to get a thorough check-up and make sure everything is okay.

The thing has happened to many women all over the world, such as the case of Claire Guest, who discovered early breast cancer. As well as a 57-year-old lady living in New York, who was able to intervene quickly thanks to the discovery of a tumour by his Doberman Troy. Striking cases, which reveal a special sense of smell of dogs.

According to specific studies, animals are able to understand the presence of tumours because the diseased cells produce substances that have a different smell. It appears that dogs can detect the presence of prostate tumours. The training of dogs to detect cancer cells in patients' urine is underway.

What can I say; dogs are really a man's best friend. If their great strength can be used to save human lives, that would be an awesome advance for the scientific department. Prevention has always been the best cure to fight disease.

Two years have passed since the closure of the Green Hill breading centre by the State Forestry Corps, on the main charge of animal abuse. 

According to the data collected, in fact, in the Montichiari (Brescia) breading centre, numerous Beagles were used for vivisection purposes, a crime not yet recognized in Italy. However, this aspect had sparked the indignation of the animal rights activists and the investigations by the authorities which linked to the conditions to which these animals were subjected.

The number of dogs forced to live in conditions incompatible with the fundamental rights for animal welfare were exorbitant. According to official estimates, in fact, over 6 thousand Beagles died inside the structure in just 4 years. The dogs who died following the kidnapping, despite the great commitment of animal rights associations, would instead be 98.

An impressive fact, which has certainly not escaped public opinion and legal authorities.

According to what was reported by the prosecutor Ambrogio Cassiani, the accusation would not be pharmacological experimentation through vivisection, but the ways in which the animals were raised.

Sick dogs were offered no treatment to save due to the cost of antibiotics. They were simply ignored or suppressed without any second thoughts.

The battle of animal rights activists had given rise to suspicions on Green Hill with the 2012 blitz inside the farm, during which numerous cages were opened without any authorization to free the animals.

In these two years, many other demonstrations and protests have focused precisely on the fate of the leaders of the lager-breeding centre. The reports have been heard and welcomed by the authorities reaching the final sentence in the last few day.

The manager Ghislane Rondot, together with the veterinarian Renzo Graziosi, were sentenced to one year and six months on the charges of animalicide. A year was sentenced for the director Roberto Bravi, while the co-manager Bernard Gotti was acquitted for not having committed these terrible acts.

Above all, the Anti-Vivisection League benefited from this ruling, in favour of which a compensation of 30 thousand euros was ordered for the commitment in the care and adoption of the kidnapped Beagles.

This is how the former minister Michela Brambilla, who immediately commented for the defence of animals responds: "The Brescia sentence is a great victory, a milestone of extraordinary importance. It recognizes the existence of the crimes and therefore the principle according to which, even in the context of maximum economic exploitation and for purportedly scientific purposes, animals must be respected and protected, as required by law".

However, there was no shortage of protests by the defence lawyers of the accused, Luigi Frattini and Enzo Bosio, who declared that "there have been no violations and if some rules were not respected, only an administrative sanction would be triggered". In addition, they noted that the kidnapping decision left 50 employees in the farm unemployed.

In any case, the news represents an important victory, which could represent the first step to obtain greater recognition of animal rights.

However, the associations continue to fight with great strength to abolish the practice of vivisection.

Source: http://brescia.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/15_gennaio_23/animalicidio-condannati-3-dirigenti-green-hill-10ff8998-a2e0-11e4-9709-8a33da129a5e.shtml

Blood transfusions are not only an exclusive human need, dogs and cats may also need them in particular situations. Those of us who have the opportunity to spend time on social media will surely have noticed the presence of several announcements of desperate owners and veterinary clinics that require urgent blood donations for hospitalized animals. Precisely in the face of these increasingly numerous requests, but also in view of the growing difficulty in finding blood for transfusions at the time of need, the first database of donor dogs was developed.

The DbD - Dog Blood Donors, this is the name of the database, is financed by the "Almore Fund" social fund of the famous Almo Nature brand and sponsored by the National Association of Italian Veterinarians and by the National Federation of the Italian Veterinary Order.

The service has been active since the 1^st of October 2014 and allows all dog owners to register their four-legged friend in the database, so vets can use them in case of need or to help less fortunate dogs.

Veterinarians who want to join the service can do so comfortably by registering on the DbD website, in order to make their facility visible throughout Italy, becoming easily contacted by all interested owners.

Registered veterinarians will be able to carry out the classification of the blood group of four-legged patients for free. The entire amount, including sampling and laboratory tests, will be fully supported by the "Almore Fund" foundation.

Owners, on the other hand, will be able to request registration of their dog in the database directly online, by entering a series of data to assess the animal's actual suitability for blood donations.

Once the main characteristics have been ascertained, owners will be contacted to carry out blood sampling and blood group classification by one of the veterinarians enrolled in the service. The veterinarian will complete the registration by communicating the data relating to the blood group of the animal.

Dogs registered in the database can be contacted when needed to help other compatible four-legged dogs, and at the same time, they can consult the list of members in case of need themselves.

When a dog in need calls, the owners will be able to decide whether or not to consent the collection of blood for transfusions from their dog, based on the needs of the moment, the commitments and their will. The transfusion, in fact, is not taxable in any way, but remains totally voluntary.

The cost of the transfusion will also be covered by the foundation up to a maximum of € 150.00, equivalent to the average value of a blood bag.

For more information, visit the official Dog Blood Donors website.

The everyday news inform us of unpleasant situations regarding animals, mistreatment, abuse, and barbaric killings. It almost looks like some human being are unable to have some love and respect for our friends; fortunately, this is not the case for everyone. A recent study conducted by AstraRicerche for Agras Delic, on the relationship between "Us and pets" highlighted that 68% of Italians consider their pet as a member of the family. Concisely, our country can be included in the list of "good" while many other nations do not shine for humanity and respect for animals.

The President of AstraRicerche, Enrico Finzi explained: "68 percent of Italians, including non-owners of dogs and cats, declare that they know people for whom four-legged friends are in effect a family member”

They are treated "as if they were children, the pet becomes part of people's daily lives with a much higher level of interaction and affective involvement than those found in the past" .

Finzi went on to explain the in-depth analysis of the research conducted: "We are even witnessing a reversed relationship, based on the psychological and emotional assistance that animals provide to humans”.

Precisely because it is a fundamental manifestation of affection and care, the choice of pet food is addressed from the organoleptic point of view, to provide the same satisfaction and happiness that we derive from good food.

 At the same time, "the product must not only promote good health, but also contribute to maintain the psychophysical well-being of the animal”

In our homes, pets are treated with care and affection, the owners buy quality food for them, take them regularly for health checks to their trusted vet, fill the house with toys and accessories to make their life more comfortable and pleasant and they choose places for holidays where animals are allowed.

There are people who criticize these attitudes or find them ridiculous. Certainly, they are individuals with a low degree of moral depth, love in all its forms and respect for life. They clearly don’t appreciate the gift of having a pet in their life.

 After reading this news, many of you will probably run to adopt a cat or try to spend most of your days with your feline, just to see the effects. The cat's purr, in fact, would have the ability to induce numerous beneficial effects on our body. This is demonstrated by Elizabeth von Muggenthaler, expert in animal bioacoustics and president of the Fauna Communication Research Institute.

According to Elizabeth von Muggenthaler, the explanation of this phenomenon should be attributed to the frequency of the sound waves. The human ear is able to perceive sounds between a frequency of 20 and 10,000 Hz. The purr of the cat is placed between 20 and 50 Hz, but in some cases, they can even reach 140 HZ, so we are perfectly able to hear them.

There are many theories regarding the purr of cats, but one of the most certain explanations says that cat are able to self-heal with purring. In particular, the frequency of purring would be very similar to the one that stimulates bone healing in case of fractures. It is no coincidence, in fact, that felines are able to heal very quickly. Certainly not because they really have seven lives.

As some of us may know, felines can purr for a variety of reasons. For example, it may happen that an injured or frightened cat may begin to purr. In this case, it could act to stimulate brain frequencies that induce a state of relaxation to fight against stress.

The explanation would be found in the typical phenomenon of acoustic resonance. As an example, let's think of musicians, who often use the tuning fork to tune their voice or instruments. This small steel instrument, when struck, produces a vibration, with a frequency that corresponds to the musical note, La. If we bring the vibrating tuning fork close to a second "stationary" tuning fork, it will begin to vibrate in a short time as the first one. Sound waves, in the form of vibration, can in fact be transferred from one object to another.

Similarly, if we approach a cat while it purrs, the vibrations perceived by our ear will be transferred to our brain, which will begin to "tune" in to the same frequency.

That's why, according to Elizabeth von Muggenthaler's study, cats could be the source of our healing. The effects of the purr would be aimed mainly at:

• Bones: according to experts, bones would heal at a frequency of 50 Hz, perfectly compatible with that of the cat's purr;
• Heart and cardiovascular system: the cat's purring would be able to slow the heartbeat and lower blood pressure, thus preventing the risk of stroke, heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases;
• Lungs: the relaxing effect of the purr would consequently also affect the breathe, lowering its frequency;
• Wounds: purring could also help soft tissue regenerate in the event of injury and trauma;
• Infections: the cat's “ron-ron” sound would even be able to act on infections, with two parallel mechanisms. On the one hand, it would help to repair damaged tissues, and neutralize the attack by some bacteria;
• Stress, anxiety and depression: by listening to a cat purr, we could stimulate the typical brain frequencies to rest, immediately feeling more serene and relaxed.

At this point, we just have to lie down next to our four-legged friend to check if this theory is true.

Source: http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/202302/cats-purring-frequency-has-been-proven-to-positively-affect-human-health/