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Adorable Nigerian dog festival is changing the stereotypes surrounding Africans and dogs

Dogs are often mistreated in Nigeria. Let's change that.

via Lagos Dog Festival/Instagram

Two contestants in the Dog of the Year contest at the Lagos Dog Festival.

Nigeria is far behind the rest of the world when it comes to its treatment of dogs. It is one of the few countries left in the world where they are sold for their meat and many people who do own dogs keep them for protection, instead of as pets.

Matthew Nash, a lead researcher of an in-depth Dog-Friendly Country Index, ranked the country 45 out of the 51 on a list of dog-friendly countries. For the list, countries are ranked based on animal rights, pet-friendly hotels, veterinarian availability, animal protection, risk of rabies, recognition of animal sentience and animal companionship.

The good news for Nigeria and its dogs is that Jackie Idimogu, animal rights activist and organizer of the Lagos Dog Festival, is working to change her country’s relationship with dogs and doing it in a very adorable way.

For the past four years, the Lagos Dog Festival has been a way to change stereotypes of how Africans treat dogs by throwing a carnival that brings dog lovers and their furry pals together. The carnival’s main event is the Dog of the Year competition where the canines, dressed to the nines, take a walk on the red carpet.

The competition encourages dogs and their human companions to look their best while they strut their stuff.

"Since the dogs cannot express themselves vocally by saying thank you, we created Lagos Dog Carnival to create the humans that take care of these dogs, and also give awards to these dogs, it’s a way of appreciating people for the love they show to their animals," Idimogu told Africa News.

This year’s competition saw a bunch of different breeds. Siberian huskies, American Staffordshire terriers, American Eskimos, Neapolitans, French bulldogs, Maltipoos, poodle crossbreeds and golden retrievers all strutted their stuff on the red carpet.

This year's winner was Pasha, a 6-year-old Caucasian shepherd mix. He dazzled judges with his red and black outfit and black sunglasses. His look was perfect for this year’s theme, "Splashes of Colors.”

"I chose red because it is vibrant, it is royalty, it is majestic just like him," his owner Hadiza Seidu said, according to Yahoo.

Pasha may have won because he and his owner are festival regulars.

"I would say we are like veterans because this is our fourth edition, so we’ve been coming to the carnival since 2019 and it feels really good and we look forward to it because it’s an opportunity for us to interact with other dogs, for me to meet other dog lovers and for him to get to socialize, so, I always look forward to it," Seidu told Africa News.

Idimogu is happy with how the carnival is changing minds in Nigeria. "I have been able to make humans understand that dogs are not for guards like they are not just to be kept at the gate or outside the compound," Idimogu said.

"I am happy to say that Nigerians are beginning to understand the love language of these animals,” she continued.

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Heroes

U.S. Marine veteran started 'VETPAW' to combat animal poachers in Africa

gritdaily.com

We have all seen videos of sickening and senseless violence that trophy hunters inflict on innocent animals and been so enraged that we want to book the next flight to Africa and put a stop to it. Well, meet the man that did.

U.S. Marine veteran Ryan Tate came across a documentary on animal poaching one night. "On the show there were some poachers, and instead of shooting the animal, they got a hold of a shootable tranquilizer. It doesn't make a loud gunshot noise," Tate told Grit Daily. "They darted a female rhino. She went to sleep and they hacked her horn off."

She woke up and conservationists found her and wanted to help, but she kept running. She was confused. She was scared. The rhino ended up bleeding out and dying." That was all it took for Tate to take matters into his own hands and do something about it. That was when he left his job at the U.S. State Department providing security for foreign diplomats and started non-profit VETPAW (Veterans Empowered to Protect African Wildlife).

Tate used the connections he had made while working at the State Department to start working with the federal wildlife parks in Tanzania. He flew over and funded it with his own money. His first order of business was to find out what skill sets the park rangers possessed. He found they excelled at tracking animals, so he combined that with his military skills to create a training program. The rangers lacked the medical training necessary for an operation so far from a hospital.

"Not a single ranger knew first aid, CPR, nor had they ever seen a tourniquet," Tate said. "We had rangers dying of Malaria. It was unbelievable and so mind-blowing to introduce a tourniquet and antibiotics to rangers. We bring them medical supplies. Some of these guys didn't even have heels or soles on their boots. They had holes in them. We gave them our boots and we ran around in gym shoes."

Animal poachers in Africa are extremely dangerous and the rangers are often outgunned. It's been reported that a kilo of rhino horns is worth up to $65,000. The demand comes from East Asia, where rhino horn is seen as a medicine and a status symbol. It's met with international networks linking poor villages in South Africa with traffickers and then people who buy it. Law enforcement turns a blind eye and corruption continues.

As Tate explained to Grit Daily, "Wildlife trafficking is one of the top five international crimes. Rhino horns and elephant tusks are very much part of this. When you start messing with their bottom lines, which could be a million dollars for one horn, you get some very dangerous people who take notice."

Over the past year, Tate and his crew of over 30 veterans trained the rangers and patrolled up to 100,000 acres. They also work with local law enforcement to find poachers in nearby neighborhoods and have them arrested. If there is one group you don't want to mess with, it's pissed off U.S. Marines. So poachers, go home, re-think your life and save us all the trouble.

And if there is a "Coolest Guy on the Planet" award, I am pretty sure Ryan Tate is not only a nominee, but a heavy favorite to take home the hardware.

Visit their web site at https://vetpaw.org/ where vets can apply to join the fight. You can also make a donation, as well as sign up for a 10-day experience for which all the proceeds fund VETPAW.

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Nature

Jane Goodall speaks some hard truths to the people of China about the Coronavirus

Jane Goodall has been a friend to primates for decades. Her conservation work has inspired and moved people of countless generations, cultures and background. And through it all she's so often a voice of warmth and compassion in the face of senseless violence, cruelty and tragedy.

In a new video, Goodall directly addresses the people of China who finally seem to be coming up for air, literally and figuratively, after suffering through the world's first COVID-19 outbreak. And as one might expect, her video begins with a sympathetic and warm message of hope."It is a truly terrible time you are going through," Goodall begins. "And my heart is with all who are sick, all who have lost loved ones. I just hope and pray that the nightmare will soon be over."


But as any honest observer knows, the "nightmare" never had to become a reality. And that's where Goodall speaks some hard truths to the people of China, and those around the world, about animal rights. As Goodall explains, animals welfare isn't just a nice thing to do. Reforming our relationship with the animal kingdom is essential for our own survival. Most of us are familiar with the risks posed by global climate change, extinction and the destruction of natural habitats and wildlife. But beyond our compassion, Goodall explains that there is a real risk to taking too much from the animals of the world, stating plainly: "Our too close relationship with animals in the markets, or when we use them for entertainment, has unleashed the terror and misery of new viruses. Viruses that exist within animals without harming them but mutate into other forms to infect us with diseases like Ebola, SARS, MERS and now, the Coronavirus."

Thank you Jane Goodall for showing that there's a way to be critical of practices in China (and around the globe) without being racist or xenophobic. As the coronavirus is showing us for better and for worse, we're all one connected world and we have to take care of each other and the animals that share the planet we call home.

Watch the whole thing below:


Video message from Jane Goodall on Covid-19www.youtube.com


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Nature

I never imagined becoming a 'hermit crab rescuer,' but every animal deserves good care

Two Claws Up/Instagram

Five years ago, I unexpectedly found myself driving to New Jersey to pick up hermit crabs from a stranger.

Like many New Yorkers, I search Craigslist ads when I'm bored. I don't remember what I was looking for that day—it might have been a sodastream or mini trampoline. But what I found was a young woman who was moving away to college and wanted to find a home for her hermit crabs.

I remember thinking they could be interesting pets, small enough to fit in my NYC sized apartment. They also seemed like low-maintenance animals, perfect for living in the city.

I trekked out to New Jersey and took home the small tank, which I was told contained "five to seven crabs." But when I started my research on what owning hermit crabs actually entailed, I was shocked to learn how much these little guys need to be healthy. Most pet stores don't keep hermit crabs in the right setup and don't give out correct information on care, so people (understandably) don't know what hermit crabs need to survive when they buy one.

Hermit crabs have a type of gill and need a very damp environment to breathe properly. (Most are from the Caribbean, and all are taken from the wild). They require about 80% humidity in the air—for comparison, my dry NYC apartment's humidity is about 25%. They also require a deep mix of sand and coconut fiber so they can burrow and molt, something they must do to grow and be comfortable. If they can't, it would be like wearing the same pair of pants forever. (I don't know about you, but my size has certainly increased over the years.)

RELATED: Hermit crabs line up biggest to smallest to exchange shells, and it's mind-blowing to watch

They are also incredibly social creatures, not the misanthropic loners their name suggests. My hermit crabs often sit on top of one another in a pile, even though they have a huge tank to hang out in. Just like for people, life is better with buddies. They also constantly need to be moving into a larger shell, so it's important they have tons of different seashells to choose from.

After finding a much larger tank and taking several trips to Home Depot to get supplies (like 200 pounds of sand—not kidding), I was able to create a little slice of beach life for my hermit crabs. Immediately they became more active and healthier looking.

Pretty soon I started noticing other ads on Craigslist with a similar story. "Help! I just bought some hermit crabs and had no idea they needed so much care! Will someone please adopt??." I never saw myself becoming 'NYC's Hermit Crab Rescuer', but nevertheless, the calling found me.

I've "gotten crabs" from all over New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, and collected some interesting stories along the way. One guy posted that his company Christmas party was racing hermit crabs as a game and giving them away to attendees at the end of the night (whether they wanted them or not). Another woman said that while on vacation at the Jersey Shore she found two crabs abandoned in her hotel room. Someone had most likely experienced a case of buyer's remorse after purchasing them from the boardwalk and then left them behind in their small wire cage.

Perhaps the most bizarre was a couple who went abroad and brought home a seashell from the beach, only to find a hermit crab in it four days later in their suitcase. (Side note: I've stopped collecting seashells from the beach. Seashells are homes for hermit crabs, and shell collectors may end up with a stowaway. I've actually had more than one person email me that this just happened to them.)

Realizing that my tank—and apartment—were not big enough to take them all in, I decided a better solution would be providing education and resources to help aspiring crabbers know what they are getting into. I started Two Claws Up on both YouTube and Instagram as a place to share videos, tips and cute pics to ensure that hermit crabs have everything they need to live long, happy (and crabby) lives.

I now get tons of emails and messages from people with questions—anything from "What kind of water do hermit crabs drink?" to "Is it normal for them to sleep all day?" and "Can they eat popcorn?" (Yes, and they love it).

RELATED: Woman who took animal shelter kill rate from 100% to 0% wins $35,000 'Unsung Hero' award

It may seem kind of silly to give so much effort and attention to hermit crabs, but I believe that every animal deserves to have the environment that nature designed for them. Unfortunately, pet stores do not always value the well-being of the animals they sell, particularly "novelty pets." No living creature is a toy or a throw-away souvenir, and places that sell any animal need to give the right information on how to care for them.

In addition to learning about hermit crabs, I've also learned a thing or two from them. They are resilient creatures, always adapting to their environment. They understand that change is a necessary part of life.

And just like any New Yorker, they're always on the hunt for a bigger, better apartment.

Want to see the weirdest thing a hermit crab does? Of course you do. Here you go:

When not rescuing hermit crabs, Sarah Porter is the Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships with the non-profit Hope for Haiti and also the Board President of the New York City Peace Corps Association.

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