Articles: pets

Dr. Dana Varble, vice president of veterinary education North American Veterinary Community (NAVC) talks with me HERE on my Steve Dale’s Pet World show on WGN Radio about NAVC’s post graduate institute and their amazing rice pudding. Mostly, we chat about what’s new and what’s cutting edge in veterinary medicine, including artificial intelligence. And Varble…

New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been in hot water among many pet lovers since he initiated the ban against domestic ferrets as pets in New York City in 1999. The former Mayor continues to be adamantly and almost bizarrely against ferrets,  He has periodically ranted about ferrets when the subject has come up over…

Like lots of laws, once passed there are unintended loopholes and that turns out to be the case regarding animal cruelty, which is now by definition a felony. The problem is  interstate distribution of animal fighting videos or other materials, until now, skirted the law. U.S. Representative Rep. Dan Lipinkski (D-IL-03) co-sponsored and helped to…

Ignorance is the only word I have to possibly describe the response of the California Fish and Game Commission earlier in October when Pat Wright, of legalizeferrets.com and longtime ferret advocate again asked the Commission to designate that domestic ferrets are indeed – as their names implies – domestic. He said, “We all know domestic…

On my WGN Radio Steve Dale’s Pet World show HEAR me tickle your funny bone with Chicago legendary starmaker Charna Halpern, the co-founder of iO Theater. On November 7, iO improvisational actors will perform to Tickle Your Funny Bone to support Friends of Chicago Animal Care and Control. at iO 1501 N. Kingsbury Street. Adoptable…

Halloween has the doorbell constantly, the door opening and closing with creatures that smell like humans but look like zombies or Avengers can be scary for many pets. Here are tips for dealing with Halloween anxiety. Pheromone Fixes Preparation should begin a week or so before the ‘howliday.’ Plug in pheromone diffusers in rooms the…

Dressing up pets for Halloween was so rare only 10 years ago that the National Retail Federation (NRF) has no data. Today,, according to the NRF nearly 20 percent plan to dress up their pet(s) for Halloween. Spending on pet costumes is expected reach nearly $500 million, still nowhere near the over $8 billion spent…

On my national Steve Dale’s Pet World show, I speak with Dr. Clive Wynne, author of Dog is Love: Why and How Your Dog Loves You  and I explain the question I get A LOT is, “Does my dog really love me?” Wynne is among the increasing number of scientists now saying dog hormones in…

On Chicago Marathon morning I thought about the story of the tortoise and the hare – so we spoke about tortoises and hares (rabbits) HERE on WGN Radio Steve Dale Dale’s Pet World.  My guest, Dr. Byron De la Navarre, past President of the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians and is considered a world expert…

Veterinary parasitologist Dr. Michael Dryden, distinguished professor of Veterinary Parasitology, Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology at Kansas State University says right now is when dogs are most susceptible to Lyme disease. Dryden is a guest on my national Steve Dale’s Pet World radio show. Dryden goes agrees there is as an epidemic of tick…