Broken & Beaten Cat Now Up For Adoption!

June is Adopt-A-Cat Month. It’s the inspiration of the American Humane Association to call attention to the nearly 4 million cats that are abandoned every year. It’s also a reminder to the public that cats left to fend for themselves, are at risk for disease, abuse, starvation and many other dangers. A young cat by the name of Broke Back is one of these felines, but she not just a statistic. She is a real cat that someone threw away like the trash. Here is her story of abuse and the spirit to survive.

Broke Back is a terrible name for a cat, but it was the nickname given to her by the animal rescue group that saved her life. It was their way to lighten the tragic moment when they crawled under an abandoned trailer and found her twisted body.

Broke Back had been under the trailer for several days with a broken back, pelvis and hip.

Details from neighbors at the trailer park are sketchy about how the Tortoiseshell cat got hurt, but it was apparent to the rescue group that she had been beaten and left to die. That would have happened if a neighbor hadn’t taken the time to call for help.

The Heaven Can Wait Animal Society (HCWS) in Las Vegas, NV took Broke Back to a local veterinary hospital for a complete evaluation. Dr. David Henderson found that in addition to having a broken back, hip and pelvis, the cat also had multiple fractures in her spine. He explained the cat faced several surgeries over the next few months and many more months of rehabilitation.

HCWS made the decision to have the costly surgeries performed and over the next seven months, Broke Back underwent a series of operations to repair the damage done to her.

Nearly one year later Broke Back has not only healed, but she is ready to be adopted. The cat has also dropped her nickname for the more suitable name of Katira. It means “ray of light.”

Elaine Warken, the group’s Cat Coordinator reported on the organization’s blog, “Broke Back will make a wonderful family pet.”

“Yea, she limps a little, but hey she also uses the litter box, rolls over, plays with other cats and loves to purr. Even though her nickname is Broke Back, there is nothing broken about this cat’s spirit,” wrote Warken.

Click Here to see the complete story and photos of Broke Back's recovery.

Help the American Humane Association spread the word about Adopt-A-Cat Month. Please share with others that “wonderful cats of every breed, age and personality waiting for homes in animal shelters.”

7 Foods Banned in Europe - Still In The U.S.!

Modified Foods

Although the E.U. is continuously coming under attack for policies banning GM foods, the community is highly suspicious of genetically modified foods, and the agro-industrial pressures that drive their use. The problem with GM foods is that there is simply not sufficient research and understanding to inform good public policy. In spite of widespread GM use without apparent negative impacts in other countries, the recent public reaction to trans-fats are reason enough to support a precautionary principle for the food supply chain.

Pesticides in Your Food

The E.U. has acted against the worst pesticides typically found as residuals in the food chain. A ban on 22 pesticides was passed at the E.U. level, and is pending approval by the Member States. Critics claim the ban will raise prices and may harm malaria control, but advocates of the ban say action must be taken against the pesticides which are known to cause harm to health and nevertheless consistently found in studies of food consumption.

Bovine Growth Hormone

This drug, known as rBGH for short, is not allowed in Europe. In contrast, U.S. citizens struggle even for laws that allow hormone-free labeling so that consumers have a choice. This should be an easy black-and-white decision for all regulators and any corporation that is really concerned about sustainability: give consumers the information. We deserve control over our food choice.

Chlorinated Chickens

Amid cries that eating American chickens would degrade European citizens to the status of guinea pigs, the E.U. continued a ban on chickens washed in chlorine. The ban effectively prevents all import of chickens from the U.S. into Europe. If chicken chlorination is “totally absurd” and “outrageous” for Europeans, what does that mean for Americans?

Food Contact Chemicals

Phthalates and Bisphenols in plastic are really beneficial. They help manufacturers create plastic products with the softness and moldability needed to fulfill consumer needs. But when the food contact additives are found in the food and liquids contained by those plastics, trouble starts. Both the U.S. and Europe stringently regulate food contact use of chemicals. However, the standard of approval is different. In Europe, the precautionary principle requires that the suppliers of chemicals prove their additives safe, or they will be banned. Of course, although the E.U. has banned phthalates in toys, both phthalates and bisphenol-A remain approved for food contact uses — subject to strict regulations on their use.

Stevia, the natural sweetener

The U.S. recently approved this “natural” sweetener as a food additive. Previously, it was sold in the U.S. under the less stringent dietary supplement laws. It has been embraced in Japan for over three decades, but E.U. bans still stand — pointing to potential disturbances in fertility and other negative health impacts. But the sweetener is credited with potentially positive health effects too. Is this a case where consumer choice should prevail?

Planned Ban: Food Dyes

Many food dyes previously recognized as safe are suspected of contributing to attention deficit disorder. Action is afoot as the UK evaluates a ban on synthetic food colors. Regulation in the E.U. often starts through the leadership of one Member State, which pushes the concepts up to Brussels after a proof-of-concept pilot phase. Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Orange B, and Red 3 are among the food colors associated with hyperactivity.

Scariest Fast Food Breakfasts

How would you like to meet your daily sodium and saturated fat allowance, as well as nearly half of your daily calorie needs, in one quick breakfast eaten on the road? It’s becoming progressively easy these day as food technicians, chefs and market researchers, holed away in corporate fast food “studios,” are busy developing monstrous new breakfast items. Trying to claim as much of the $57 billion fast food breakfast market as they can, the fast food giants are drumming up increasingly cheesy, steak-y, fried chicken-y breakfast dishes that tap into flavor combinations that have proven successful for lunch and dinner items. It’s no longer eggs and English muffins for fast food breakfast–breakfast burger anyone?

What’s most striking about some of these high-calorie items–aside from the unsustainable, industrial, often GMO and synthetic ingredients–is the very high sodium and saturated fat content. According to the USDA, the current recommendation for sodium consumption is less than 2,300 milligrams a day. For saturated fat, the maximum allowance is between 18 grams to 31 grams, depending on your caloric intake needs. (You can calculate your caloric need with this calculator from the Mayo Clinic.) Many of these breakfast items meet or exceed the daily sodium and fat allowances, and provide much more than one-third of your daily caloric needs.

1. Carl’s Jr Breakfast Burger
Yes, I’m afraid you read that right, “breakfast” and “burger” in the same menu item. How do you turn a regular burger into a breakfast burger? By adding not only an egg–but an egg, bacon, American cheese and hash brown nuggets too!

Calories: 780
Fat Calories: 370
Total Fat: 51 grams
Sat Fat: 15 grams
Sodium: 1460

2. McDonald’s Big Breakfast with Hotcakes
Chances are that if you are ordering a breakfast that contains scrambled eggs, sausage, hash brown, hotcakes and a biscuit, you’re probably not really watching your waistline (well, watching it increase, maybe) but still, the tally for this corpulent combination is quite impressive.

Calories: 1150
Fat Calories: 540
Total Fat: 59 grams
Sat Fat: 20 grams
Sodium: 2260

If you decide to go with something less bulky, like the McSkillet Burrito with Sausage, you’ll still be ringing up 610 calories. The “best bet” here is the Egg McMuffin at 300 calories and 5 grams of saturated fat. But then again, the sound of “Pasteurized Process American Cheese, Canadian Style Bacon, and Liquid Margarine” may leave you a little blue in the gills…

3. Burger King Biscuits and Sausage Gravy Platter
I can’t decide which one is worse, the Biscuits and Sausage Gravy Platter or the Double Croissan’wich with Sausage Egg and Cheese. Calories are the same, but you can have 35 grams of fat with 2350 mg of sodium (that’s your limit for the day), or you can opt for the 49 grams of fat with 1520 mg of sodium.

Calories: 680
Fat Calories: 310
Total Fat: 35 grams
Sat Fat: 28 grams
Sodium: 2350

4. Burger King Double Croissan’wich with Sausage Egg and Cheese
Does the cutesy name make it any less threatening?

Calories: 680
Fat Calories: 421
Total Fat: 49 grams
Sat Fat: 18 grams
Sodium: 1520

5. Hardee’s Double Sausage Egg n’ Cheese Biscuit
Anytime you start saying “double sausage” when talking about a meal, you should just know to expect trouble…like 21-grams-of-saturated-fat kind of trouble. Along with your RDA for sodium and saturated fat all scooped up with this one sandwich, you can pretty much eat nothing else besides celery for the day. The problem with any of the biscuit meals here is that the biscuit alone is 370 calories.

Calories: 830
Fat Calories: 570
Total Fat: 63 grams
Sat Fat: 21 grams
Sodium: 2100

6. Hardee’s Loaded Breakfast Burrito
Can you imagine? “Eggs, crumbled sausage, bacon and diced ham, lots of shredded cheddar cheese, then wrapped in a warm flour tortilla. Served with zesty salsa.” I like the use of “zesty”–as if it somehow lightens this overwhelming brick of animal fat disguised as a burrito.

Calories: 760
Fat Calories: 400
Total Fat: 49 grams
Sat Fat: 21 grams
Sodium: 1380

7. Hardee’s Low Carb Breakfast Bowl
So, you think maybe the low carb option is going to be the better option? How does this sound: “eggs topped with a sausage patty and a slice of Swiss cheese, then piled with a loaded omelet (with crumbled sausage, bacon, diced, ham and shredded cheddar), then finished with more shredded cheddar and sprinkled with bacon bits.” Sounds like “call 9-1-1″ to me.

Calories: 620
Fat Calories: 450
Total Fat: 50 grams
Sat Fat: 21 grams
Sodium: 1380

8. Jack in the Box Steak and Egg Burrito
I don’t know who came up with the idea of steak and eggs for breakfast, but, ouch. Even worse when they are wrapped up in a tortilla along with hash browns, cheddar cheese, jack cheese and a bunch of sauce.

Calories: 821
Fat Calories: 450
Total Fat: 48 grams
Sat Fat: 15 grams
Sodium: 1616

9. Jack in the Box Extreme Sausage Sandwich
When a regular sausage sandwich just isn’t enough…

Calories: 690
Fat Calories: 445
Total Fat: 41 grams
Sat Fat: 17 grams
Sodium: 1356

10. Chick-fil-A Sausage Biscuit
The Chick-fil-A Sausage Biscuit is not too much better or worse than the other sausage biscuits. The general problem with a biscuit breakfast is that it is not that large of meal, yet you are using up a lot of calories for a lot of junk and animal fat.

Calories: 590
Fat Calories: 370
Total Fat: 41 grams
Sat Fat: 16 grams
Sodium: 1250

11. Chick-fil-A Chicken Egg and Cheese Bagel on a Sunflower Mutligrain Bagel
Well it’s nice that they opted for a multigrain bagel studded with sunflower seeds, but does that really hide the fact that there is a slab of fried chickenbetween the eggs and American cheese?

Calories: 530
Fat Calories: 200
Total Fat: 23 grams
Sat Fat:7 grams
Sodium: 1330

Ripped Fish + Overfishing 'Solution'

The increase in the popularity of fish as well as the every growing human population has led to the creation of a ripped fish. Professor Terry Bradley of the University of Rhode Island, has found a way to create trouts that produce 20% more muscle than the average trout.

For over ten years, Professor Bradley has been trying to address a way to create more food while spending the same amount on feed and equipment. While Bradley's super fish are a new development, the concept of creating animals that produce more muscle is not. Since the 1950s, the desire for meatier animals led to the popularization of genetically engineered cattle, namely the Belgian Blue. This cattle contain a natural mutation that inhibits the myostatin gene. This gene is what controls muscle growth. When this muscle is truncated, the lean muscles grow at an accelerated rate, leading to double-muscling [Source: Wikipedia]. Bradley takes the same concept and applies it towards fish.

When Bradley first began the experiments, he was unsure of the results, since fish have different muscle development than animals. However after 500 hours of injecting rainbow trout eggs with different types of DNA that inhibit myostatin, 300 of the 20,000 eggs developed the "six-pack" effect [Source: Science Daily]. Those fish that carried this trait were then bred with all of the offspring expressing the desired trait. This could be a huge boon to the fish farms as they could farm the same amount of fish but make more money while spending the same amount. Not only that, but this could help decrease the amount of bottom-trawling occuring in our oceans and over-fishing in our lakes and streams. The study of how these genes affect fish and mammals could also shed light on muscle wasting diseases in humans [Source: URI].

A major issue still facing Bradley is whether these transgenic fish meet regulatory standards. But besides that, there are many variables to consider before allowing these bodybuilder fish for public consumption:
1. Will there be any side effects for those eating the fish?
2. If they somehow made it to the wild, how will they affect the natural ecosystem?
3. Will more lean muscle decrease the amount of good fat in fish(i.e. omega-3 fatty acid)?

There are still many unanswered questions, and while the proposition seems attractive, especially to those who own fisheries, there is still not enough information to begin mass production. Still, this news could help to decrease the overfishing problem all over the world.

I'm one of the many avid fishers out there - unlike some, though, I only keep fish I am planning on consuming. This isn't a nation-wide outlook and many still keep fish they have no intention of consuming. I'm still unsure as to whether or not the "ripped fish phenomenon" is going to effect my lifestyle or my fishing habits. What are your thoughts on this article?