Page 9 – Perros siempre en movimiento

Barcelona will create more play areas for dogs

In Barcelona, since October 2014 it is already possible to access the metro with a dog, as long as they are tied up and with a muzzle, as was already approved in other European cities such as Berlin, Brussels, Amsterdam or Geneva.

Current space for dogs of l’Estació del Nord – Barcelona

Now a plan is added to add more play areas for dogs, going from the 56 existing now to 80. But not only will parks be added but some of the existing ones will be renovated.

It will be guaranteed that the minimum area of each one is 150 square meters and it will also be required that each District has at least a large area of at least 700 square meters.

The regulations will also ensure the comfort and safety of these spaces: they must be surrounded by fences of 1.80 meters high to prevent flight, with materials that can not cause damage to the limbs of the dogs or separations where they could be injured head or neck. Whenever possible, there will be more than one gateway and paths to be able to stroll. They must have fountains 15 centimeters high without a container underneath to avoid contagion and mosquitoes.

Click on the map to get the location of all the recreational areas for dogs in Barcelona

You can also check the recreation areas for dogs in Barcelona on their website: http://guia.barcelona.cat/es/

Special outdoor spaces for dogs are vital to their health. In addition to allowing them to do the physical activity they need to keep the body in shape, they are imperative to keeping their emotional state balanced.

Dogs are social animals that obtain information from the outside in a somewhat different way than we do: smell is their most essential sense. This means that it is essential that the dog can smell outside environments and other animals or their traces. It is also important that the dog has some daily time outside and without a leash, in order to give him moments of autonomy. Many behavioral problems are caused by the fact of denying the dog its nature.

From Ortocanis we are glad that more and more consideration is given to dogs and owners. The expansion of recreation areas and the possibility of entering the metro are a breakthrough. Maybe the next thing could be to have a dog area on the big beach in Barcelona? That would be fantastic!

Orthocanis Team

12/06/2015/0 Comments/by Ortocanis

Now Madrid will eliminate subsidies to bullfighting shows and bullfighting schools.

Animal welfare

The candidacy headed by Manuela Carmena signed a commitment with groups that defend the rights of animals.

Now Madrid, the candidacy headed by Manuela Carmena, has committed to develop an ordinance that makes the capital “a city friendly to animals” and to create an Office of Protection, after a meeting held between representatives of the candidacy with groups in defense of animal rights, of which he informs Europa Press.

Another key point is the elimination of subsidies or municipal aid to bullfighting shows and bullfighting schools as well as addressing the recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child on this issue.

The commitment signed by Ahora Madrid in this area has among its programmatic objectives, to bet on a city “close, cohesive and livable”. To this end, they propose lines of action and policies aimed at improving the quality and use of urban space, “its care and improvement for an adequate coexistence in the city”.

As they have explained, in Madrid in particular and in general there has been a notable increase in the number of pets, which has led to a growing social demand for actions to improve coexistence between people who own animals, pets and all citizens.

“As demonstrated by the EU strategy 2012-2015 for the protection and welfare of animals, as well as recent regulations in our environment, there has been a growing interest on the part of citizens to promote respect and protection of all animals and in the obligation to receive a dignified and correct treatment, which in no case, supposes poor hygienic-sanitary conditions contrary to its species and degree of development. It should be noted that this aspect is increasingly demanded by a society aware of the respect that all living beings deserve, “they added.

The regulatory framework in ordinances of the Madrid City Council is from 2001 and Now Madrid considers that the city and the Community “are far from updates that have occurred in the rest of Spanish and European cities”. For all these reasons, they propose the elaboration of a comprehensive human rights ordinance, “that makes Madrid a city friendly to animals”.

The municipalist candidacy will elaborate an ordinance “jointly and in a participatory manner” with the entities that work in the field of animal protection, municipal technicians and professionals related to the field of animal protection. It will include “effective measures” of animal welfare and protection, as well as the integration of companion animals in the urban social context and / or in the different public spaces.

The commitment of Ahora Madrid is to include in turn protocols of ethical control of feline colonies through the CES method or the population of wild urban animals and the creation of a municipal registry of pet holders.

Zero sacrifice

They also want to advance to zero slaughter in animal collection centers through the promotion of adoption, sterilization and control of the sale of animals, as well as review the criteria for authorizations of recreational and recreational activities that involve the participation of animals.

On the other hand, within the framework of the competences of the City Council and Madrid Salud, Ahora Madrid intends to create an Animal Protection Office that reorders and follows up on the proposals and guarantees the principles and actions against the mistreatment of animals, “as well as the respect, defense and protection of them”.

This commitment is incorporated as a development of the electoral program in relation to the rights of animals “and will have its development with the participation of the groups and entities that work in this field, with the corresponding institutional proposals in the City of Madrid”, have indicated its promoters.

Source: “The Newsletter“

www.ortocanis.com

06/06/2015/0 Comments/by Ortocanis

France grants companion animals rights as living beings

Animal welfare

Thanks to an amendment approved on January 28 by the National Assembly of France, companion animals will be considered as “living beings endowed with sensitivity”.

Until now in France pets were considered “movable property”, that means that for many years dogs, cats and horses had the same legal value as a piece of furniture.

It has been thanks to an amendment proposed by the legislators of a party, and with this modification the animals would be protected by the law to avoid mistreatment or abandonment, because the owner would face a prison sentence.

This legislative amendment is the response to a petition launched two years ago by the animal protection foundation “30 Millions d’Amis“, according to the French newspaper Le Monde.

Both the Rural Code and the Criminal Code explicitly or implicitly recognize animals as “living and sentient beings”, however, the Civil Code did not, so it was necessary to apply the modification.

About 89 percent of French people are in favor of this modification of the Civil Code, according to a survey by the ifop company for the “30 Million Friends” foundation.

In Spain, there has recently been a reform of the Criminal Code (LO 1/2015) in which several points have been added and modified. For example, the sexual exploitation and/or abuse of domestic animals is now considered illegal (yes, I know what you are thinking. Indeed, until now it was legal…). In addition, there is an increase in convictions, but unless the offender has a record, the prison sentence is rarely enforced. While most of us would like the animal protection law to be much tougher in our country, this reform has been a breakthrough that, in the medium or long term, will possibly open the door to fairer legislation with our friends and colleagues.

Orthocanis Team

29/05/2015/0 Comments/by Ortocanis

Norwegian police create unit against animal abuse

Animal welfare

Norway once again gives us a lesson in progress and civility. This small country with only about 5 million inhabitants and a capita income of € 73,400 (2014) proves to be one of the most advanced societies on the planet. Also with regard to respect for animals.

In Norway animal abuse is punishable by up to 3 years in prison and has just formed a special unit against animal abuse that will consist of 3 agents: a legal expert, a coordinator and an investigator. It is also interesting to know that different studies have shown that those who are able to mistreat an animal also have a tendency to mistreat people. Under this argument, the Norwegian police in defense of animal rights are also protecting the same citizens.

The police unit will be tested for 3 years to see how it works. In 2014, 38 cases of animal abuse were reported to the Norwegian police. Having a unit dedicated to investigating and monitoring animal cruelty may help promote reporting and reduce abuse.

“First of all, it is important to take care of our animals, as they enjoy rights we must follow up to protect them,” says Agriculture Minister Sylvi Lsthaug.

Police units have already been formed in the Netherlands and Sweden for the same purpose as the Norwegian one. In addition, animal rights organizations continue to try to spread this good practice in many other states. Let us hope that more countries will take this initiative, which we think is more than right.

www.Ortocanis.com

17/05/2015/0 Comments/by Ortocanis

Relaxing music for dogs and cats

Animal welfare, Curiosities

Did you know that music is a great ally when you need to relax a dog? It may sound strange but judging by the thousands of searches and millions, if yes, millions of views that have the videos below that we have selected for you, it will be that some truth has.

What’s more, dogs respond differently depending on the type of music they hear. As in humans, heavy music increases nervousness and classical music reassures and makes even dogs sleep 6% more according to the study conducted by psychologist and canine behavior specialist Lori R. Kogan, from the University of Colorado (USA). The effect of different musical styles such as classical, heavy-metal and others was studied on a total of 117 dogs, who were waiting for an adoption in an animal shelter.
Here we leave you a selection that we have made so that you can relax your dogs for hours;

1 hour of relaxing music for dogs:

2 more hours of relaxing music for animals:

One more hour of relaxing dog songs:

Another hour of relaxing music for puppies:

More relaxing music for dogs and cats:

Ideal music to relax dogs during the massage:

15/05/2015/0 Comments/by Ortocanis

Duc, a dog with torn knee ligaments and something else…

stories

Carpal protector accelerates recovery from old Duc fracture

Duc is a Breton dog of 4 years and about 30 kg of weight that will have to be put on a diet.

He has instability in his right knee and complains of pain from a partial rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament.

Ana, his caregiver, noticed Duc limping slightly and took him to the vet. While making the decision whether to operate or not, they found the knee protectors online. The protector will give you stability and reduce pain.

In addition, a few months ago Duc fractured his front leg. Nothing more and nothing less than the radius and ulna near the carpal joint.

The veterinarians of the University of Bellaterra looked to immobilize the leg temporarily with a bandage of Robert Jones. Later they placed a plaster on him.

Ana noticed that after a few weeks of removing the plaster, Duc was supporting the leg that had injured something crooked, especially on cold days. To stabilize and accelerate the rehabilitation process we have placed a carpal protector. The ceramic particles of the protector reflect the infrared heat released by Duc’s body and keep the joint warm, improving blood flow and speeding up recovery.

We hope he recovers soon.

$Duc, perro con carpo fracturado$ $Duc, perro con carpo fracturado$

Text and photography: Toni Fernández
www.ortocanis.com

26/04/2015/0 Comments/by Ortocanis

We manufacture a wheelchair for Pepa, a paralyzed cat.

stories

Pepa is a one-year-old kitten weighing 2 kilos. It was a baby that some neighbors were going to sacrifice and Carlos, its caretaker, found out and decided to take care of it.

Pepa grew up surrounded by other animals and always answered Carlos’ call. One day he didn’t come and went out to look for her. He found her lying on the street bleeding. She thought a dog would have attacked her but the next day she took her to the vet, they did an X-ray and saw that she had a lead pellet right in her spine. He had been shot.

Carlos and Pepa live together with another cat and 3 dogs in the mountains, in the province of Barcelona, and used to walk together. A few weeks earlier a neighbor hunter had threatened the animals for having invaded a few seconds an area of the forest without fencing of which he claimed to be the owner. The same neighbor who days before witnesses had heard beating his own dog before it disappeared.

Carlos did not hesitate to denounce the alleged aggressor to the Mossos d’Escuadra and look for some solution for Pepa, who in addition to rehabilitation will have a wheelchair that will help him move.

Thank you Carlos for helping. Thank you for reporting. It is the responsibility of all of us to make this world a place where life is respected.

We hope to see you run very soon Pepa.

www.Ortocanis.com
Photography and text: Toni Fernández

17/04/2015/0 Comments/by Ortocanis

Thor, a Carlino breed dog with patella dislocation

stories

Thor is a nice one-year-old Carlino. A few weeks ago he began to lift his right back leg when running and little by little his caregiver began to notice that he was less and less supporting the weight on this leg.

He went to the vet and was diagnosed with a medial patella dislocation. This means that a bone located in front of the knee joint slips out of its groove in the tibia, causing pain and functional weakness of the limb. The veterinarian informed the caregiver that the only solution was to operate.

Being a breed dog, breeders sometimes guarantee the health of the animal. Patella dislocation is usually a congenital disease so it will depend on whether they can prove that this case is genetic or not for the breeder to take care of the costs of the operation. While this procedure is being solved, your caregiver has decided to protect the knee with an Orthocanis knee protector . This protector will reduce discomfort by keeping the joint warm and delay the possible appearance of osteoarthritis in the knee, since having the optimal working temperature, Thor will exercise more muscles in the affected area. In turn, this musculature will stabilize the joint and also reduce pain.

Ortocanis.com Veterinary Team

07/03/2015/0 Comments/by Ortocanis

How do I know if my dog is in pain?

Animal welfare, Curiosities, Pathologies

Luckily or unfortunately dogs don’t talk, so sometimes it can be hard to tell if they’re in pain. Fortunately, the dog’s response to pain is very similar to what we give. Depending on its level of tolerance to it, its intensity and its origin, we will observe changes in behavior that seek to avoid it. These avoidant behaviors will be more or less marked, so it is important to know well what the normal behavior of the dog in question is to realize the changes.

These changes can manifest themselves in the form of general behavioral alterations ranging from depression/apathy of the animal, through loss of appetite and abnormal panting, to situations of social avoidance or even aggressiveness, especially when the pain becomes more intense when touching the area causing said pain.

In more concrete terms, postural or movement alterations can be observed: the dog avoids performing those movements and postures that intensify the pain. A simple example is not to support that leg that is injured. There can also be an excessive grooming behavior of the painful area, which can bring more serious situations, such as when a small lesion on the skin is complicated in licking dermatitis, although the pain is a physiological response of protection whose function is to avoid the aggravation of an injury.

Those abnormal postures that the dog adopts to avoid feeling pain or to decrease its intensity are called analgesic postures. An example of these is the slouching that can be observed in the face of abdominal pain. With this posture the animal seeks to reduce the tension exerted by the walls of the abdomen on the organs of the cavity, which is where the pain has its origin.

Sometimes realizing the problem is not so simple, because the tolerance that the specific dog has to pain varies from one animal to another. Also, as with people, pain is difficult to quantify objectively. Even the situation occurs that pain can confuse us about the origin of it, because pain is a nervous mechanism that can originate from a localized physical injury, but it can also originate in the nervous system without having an apparent injury in the painful area. An example of this situation is the pain that is observed in a pinching in the spine: the pain does not manifest itself more intensely in the place where the injury is, but refers to the areas that are innervated by the affected nerves.

It also happens that the pain feels different depending on the affected tissue. It is easy to locate the exact place of injury in the case of muscle or skeletal pain, but not when the problem is of an internal organ: a thorn stuck in a finger is easy to find, but to know the cause of abdominal pain, the perception of which is more diffuse, it is advisable to carry out more detailed explorations, even with more informative diagnostic techniques such as an ultrasound or an X-ray.

What is really important is to realize as soon as possible the existence of pain, both to treat the problem that originates it as soon as possible and to take measures to reduce its intensity. Since pain, although a physiological response to protect the body from the complication of injuries, has been shown to delay recovery from injury. It is for this reason that treatments against pain are used even before it appears in surgical interventions. In this way it has been possible to shorten the recovery time of the dog, in addition to significantly improving its well-being.

In addition, it has been seen that if the pain is not treated it can become chronic and require lifelong medication, since the nerves are “sensitized”, even when the cause of that pain has already been resolved.

www.Ortocanis.com Veterinary Team

26/02/2015/0 Comments/by Ortocanis

Buika, a paralytic dog

stories

Buika is a beautiful dog of about thirty-seven kilos and eleven years of age.

A year ago he began to have some symptoms of dysfunction in his hind legs. After 5 months he began to lose practically all the mobility of the hindquarters. They visited numerous veterinarians for 6 months, and the conclusion is that a strong contusion in the hip area when she was small, could have injured her marrow and that she had now become inflamed blocking the nerve activity of the back legs and ephincters.

His caregiver tried anti-inflammatories but the result was not very noticeable and he also did not want to abuse their use since he was afraid of damaging other organs, an effect quite common in nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. He also knew of two cases of friends in which the use of anti-inflammatories had had devastating effects on their dogs and did not want to take risks.

He has also tried natural therapies, thermotherapy in addition to practicing massages and stretches to avoid entanglement in the affected limbs. He only had to hold it with a towel the abdominal part, a very widespread practice, although he knew that it must be something temporary since with it he oppresses the entire digestive system and worsened the situation.

Finally, after weeks without finding a solution, and carrying on their backs the almost forty kilos of weight so that Buika could go out and walk a little with her front legs, they decided to look on the internet for some help. And they found the wheelchair self-adjusting. With her, Buika has regained mobility and can go back to walking wherever she wants and as long as she wants.

Text and photos: Toni Fernández Ortocanis

20/02/2015/0 Comments/by Ortocanis