I Knew Dogs Were Loyal, But This…? I Have No Words For What He Did.

Druzhok means “Little Friend” in Russian. This past summer, a loving mutt named Druzhok showed just how loyal of a friend he could be to his family. He is part of the Andreev household in the Amur region of Russia. He is a compassionate pet, even though he has a strong sense of freedom.
If he wants to run around, no chain will stop him. He will break it and run away. And when he’s had enough he comes and shows his neck like he’s saying, “Leash me, I’m ready.” (Source)
But, this willful dog showed his family just how much he cared for them when their town was overtaken by flood waters.
When the Andreev’s town became flooded, they took their dog and went to stay with friends.
twentytwowords.com
In August, the Andreevs and 100,000 others in their area had to be evacuated because of flooding. Of course, they took Druzhok with them. They went to stay with some friends who were not affected by the floods. These friends lived in a small apartment, so Druzhok stayed outside. But he was used to living outside, so this wasn’t really strange or problematic for him.

For a couple nights he slept under the Andreevs’ car, guarding it and waiting like everyone else for the flooding to go down and life to go back to normal. But then on the third morning he was gone.
They couldn’t find him anywhere until they finally took a boat back to their house. There they found him staying out of the water by standing on the top step of the stoop.



Super Market Selling Food From It's Huge Organic Rooftop Garden Opening This Month

Images courtesy of Whole Foods

Kevin Lee | Inhabitat

Whole Foods has announced that it will be opening its long-awaited Gowanus store on December 17th this year. In addition to putting the usual organic and artisan products on it shelves, the new location at 214 3rd Street will bring the local food trend to new heights with a 20,000 square foot rooftop farm right on top of the building. It doesn’t get more local than that!



The rooftop farm was made possible thanks to a partnership with Gotham Greens, a Greenpoint-based rooftop farm. The two organizations are calling the endeavor the first commercial-scale greenhouse farm and say that it will help reduce the carbon emissions spent on transporting food from far away sources. The elevated greenhouse will grow high-quality, pesticide-free produce all year round to be sold at the bustling supermarket below.

Other attractions at the grocery store will include a bar with 16 different types of beer on tap. The store will also have its own ramen shop headed up by ramen master Yuji Hariguchi for eat-in and take-out options. It opens a little too late for Thanksgiving, but people in the Gowanus area will have a tasty and green treat to look forward to just a month later.

Images courtesy of Whole Foods




Source: inhabitat.com

Cancer is finally Cured in Canada but Big Pharma has ‘No Interest’




CTV News in Atlantic Canada reports that a Cure For Cancer is found and it has been censored just like Dr Buzinski’s Cure for Cancer from Houston, Texas. This report by CTV News covers Dr. Evangelos Michelakis at the University of Alberta and the drug called

DCA which has been found to reduce the size of cancerous tumors. Dr. Dario Alterieri from the University of Massachusetts agreed that the drug should be tested for its side effects and safety issues. However, there is no patent on this drug.

Since there is no patent on DCA and no pharmaceutical company owns this drug, CTV reported that drug companies will not want to bring this drug out on the market or conduct studies on this drug due to the fact that they can’t make a profit off a drug that can be inexpensively produced. CTV News also mentioned that it costs nearly $100 million dollars for testing to become completed on a new drug, so it looks like everything comes down to a matter of money. Of course, there is another case like Dr. Burzinski’s which is the only case I know of where a doctor received five court acquittals with a “Not Guilty Verdict” in Houston, Texas for coming out with his treatment for Cancer that has been hidden from us all since 1977.



Source: http://worldtruth.tv/cancer-is-finally-cured-in-canada-but-big-pharma-has-no-interest/

FDA finally admits antibiotics in farm animals must stop, but is it too late?

Image: thegreengirls92.wordpress.com

April McCarthy | Prevent Disease

Antibiotics are added to animal feed or drinking water of cattle, hogs, poultry and other food-producing animals to make them gain weight faster or use less food to gain weight. The United Nations and World Health Organization have both stated that humans are building up dangerous levels of resistance to modern antibiotics that could leave them vulnerable to killer diseases in the future. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is implementing, albeit a modest voluntary plan, but still one in the right direction, to phase out the use of certain antibiotics for enhanced food production.

Due to the vast uses implemented for antimicrobial drugs in both humans and animals, they have contributed to the development of antimicrobial resistance. It is imperative that we begin to eliminate the use of drugs from the food supply.

Governments around the world consider antimicrobial-resistant bacteria a major threat to public health. Illnesses caused by drug-resistant strains of bacteria are more likely to be potentially fatal when the medicines used to treat them are rendered less effective.

The UN and WHO wants farmers to stop using antibiotics simply to make their animals grow.

Use of antibiotics leads to resistant strains of bacteria in animals and in the environment. (Thus, if you get sick from Salmonella, for example, the strain may be resistant to many antibiotics.) Meat from corn-fed cattle is also far more contaminated with E coli bacteria, partly because corn interferes with ruminant digestion, and partly because the animals are crowded together in filthy conditions. E. coli levels are much lower in grass-fed cattle.

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are increasing in prevalence and cause many healthcare-associated infections and are estimated to cost approximately $4 billion annually.

FDA is working to address the use of antibiotics in food-producing animals for production uses, such as to enhance growth or improve feed efficiency. These drugs are deemed important because they are also used to treat human disease and might not work if the bacteria they target become resistant to the drugs’ effects.

“We need to be selective about the drugs we use in animals and when we use them,” says William Flynn, DVM, MS, deputy director for science policy at FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM). “Antimicrobial resistance may not be completely preventable, but we need to do what we can to slow it down.”

FDA is issuing a final guidance document that explains how companies can work with the agency to voluntarily remove growth enhancement and feed efficiency indications from the approved uses.

Once manufacturers voluntarily make these changes, the affected products can then only be used in food-producing animals to treat, prevent or control disease under the order of or by prescription from a licensed veterinarian.

“This action promotes the judicious use of important antimicrobials, which protects public health and, at the same time, ensures that sick and at-risk animals receive the therapy they need,” says CVM Director Bernadette Dunham, DVM, Ph.D. “We realize that these steps represent changes for veterinarians and animal producers, and we have been working to make this transition as seamless as possible.”

Drugs Primarily in Feed

Flynn explains that all the drugs affected by this plan are antibacterial products. They have long been FDA-approved for production (e.g. growth enhancement) purposes as well as for the treatment, control or prevention of animal diseases. Even today, he says, it is not entirely understood how these drugs make animals grow faster. The drugs are primarily added to feed, although they are sometimes added to the animals’ drinking water.

Bacteria evolve to survive threats to their existence. In both humans and animals, even appropriate therapeutic uses of antibiotics can promote the development of drug resistant bacteria. When such bacteria enter the food supply, they can be transferred to the people who eat food from the treated animal.

In 2010, FDA called for a strategy to phase out production use of medically important antimicrobial products and to bring the remaining therapeutic uses under the oversight of a veterinarian. The guidance document that FDA is issuing on Dec. 11, 2013, which was previously issued in draft form in 2012, lays out such a strategy and marks the beginning of the formal implementation period.

Why Voluntary?

Flynn explains that the final guidance document made participation voluntary because it is the fastest, most efficient way to make these changes. FDA has been working with associations that include those representing drug companies, the feed industry, producers of beef, pork and turkey, as well as veterinarians and consumer groups.

“Based on our outreach, we have every reason to believe that animal pharmaceutical companies will support us in this effort,” says Michael R. Taylor, FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine.

Sources:
preventdisease.com
fda.gov

April McCarthy is a community journalist playing an active role reporting and analyzing world events to advance our health and eco-friendly initiatives.