Weirdest Mix Breed Ever?

Have you ever seen a mix between a pit bull and a dachshund?

This is Rami:
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(Moultrie Colquitt County Humane Society)

You can clearly see the influence of both of his parents, with the distinctly pit bull face and long short dachshund body. Such a large head for such a small frame! It is hard to decide whether he is cute or ugly, or so ugly he is cute. Yet, Rami is up for adoption in Georgia.

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(Moultrie Colquitt County Humane Society)

Rami is now famous online, as a dog of his unusual appearance is apt to be. Many did not even think he was real! After the Moultrie Colquitt County Humane Society posted him for adoption on Facebook they received so much interest they are setting up a special adoption and interview process to place him in the best home possible.

You can watch a news story about Rami due to all the attention over this odd appearance:

Never forget that you can find a gem at your local animal shelter too! So many dogs need forever homes, just make sure that you are ready for the task by spending a little time assessing any dog’s needs and whether you can fulfill them.

-Fizz

Cloning Your Pet

If money were no object, would you clone your pet? While cost is the most limiting factor at the moment, and it seems only South Korea is providing the service now, as science and technology move forward it will become cheaper and maybe even common place.

We here at FT love pets, LOVE them. People do crazy things for their pets, spending so much money to get them, keep them happy, treat them when sick, and more. But cloning? That may be going too far.

There are so many unknowns. Will the pet act the same way as your old pet? Just because a clone is genetically the same as your old pet does not mean they have the same memories or experiences, will learn the same tricks, or even have the same personality. So much is dependent not on genetics, but on how a pet is treated and what they experience. Therefore, they may never be the “same” as your beloved pet in the way you expect and that could be much more off-putting (and potentially heartbreaking) than actually getting a different pet. Even with all that, would you take the chance to maybe get your pet back or keep the same pet forever?

The story which prompted this post is Britain’s first cloned dog.

Here is “mini Winnie” – the puppy which is a clone of the dachshund dog Winnie:
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Mini Winnie is a clone of Winnie, a 12 year old dachshund created in a lab in South Korea. Sooam Biotech will clone a pet for 60,000 pounds, or about $100,000 us dollars. Winnie’s owner saw a contest where you could enter to win a clone of your dog, she sent in a video about she wanted Winnie to live on, and everything went from there. The process (very simplified) involved taking a skin sample from Winnie, which was stored in liquid nitrogen and flown to South Korea. Her cells were then transplanted into donor eggs from a different dachshund and electricity was run through them to make them embryos. The embryos were then placed into a surrogate dog womb. Mini Winnie’s owner flew to see her after she was born, but due to quarantine laws Mini Winnie must wait 6 months before flying to Britain. Only time will tell how much Mini Winnie is like Winnie.

The first Winnie:
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— Cola

These pictures are from the original story in the Mirror.

You can read why Winnie’s owner wanted her cloned here.

Lion and Dog, Friends Forever

After my previous article about animal friendships, I found the friendship of a Lion named Bonedigger and a Dachshund named Milo truly inspiring.

Just look at them together:
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Bonedigger has a metabolic bone disease which has left him slightly crippled. Milo, and a couple other Dachshunds, seemed to recognize his disability and took to him to protect him as part of their pack. Milo has been with the lion since he was a cub, so they have a special relationship to the point that Milo will even groom him. All of these animals live at the G.W. Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood Oklahoma.

The pictures alone are simply amazing! Such a big cat with such small dogs, sharing in mutual grooming and even eating together!

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I think it can be easily said that animals form friendships. Such a small dog would seem like an easy snack for a lion, but instead they are living together in a way in which is enriching for both.

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Even more intriguing is the story of Bonedigger’s keeper, John Reinke. He used to be a professional bungee jumper but ended up losing both of this legs to an accident from the sport and now works with big cats. You can read his story at NewsOK.

Reinke with Bonedigger and Milo:
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(all pictures from the dailymail)

If you are ever near the G.W. Exotic Animal Park you should pay these unique animals a visit!
– Fizz Pig