Make a Disaster Plan for Your Pets

From the Humane Society of

the United States.

"How to keep pets safe in natural disasters and everyday emergencies.

The best way to keep your pets safe during an emergency is to keep them with you.

1. Start Getting Ready Now

ID Your Pet

Make sure that cats and dogs are wearing collars and identification tags that are up to date. You'll increase your chances of being reunited with pets who get lost by having them microchipped; make sure the microchip registration is in your name. But remember: The average citizen who finds your pet won't be able to scan for a chip, but they will probably be able to read a basic tag!

Put your cell phone number on your pet's tag.

It might also be a good idea to include the phone number of a friend or relative outside your immediate area - in case you have had to evacuate.

Put together your disaster kit.

Use our checklist to assemble an emergency kit for yourself and your pet.

Find a safe place to stay ahead of time.

Never assume that you will be allowed to bring your pet to an emergency shelter. Before a disaster hits, call your local office of emergency management to see if you will be allowed to evacuate with your pets and verify that there will be shelters in your area that take people and their pets.

Contact hotels and motels outside your immediate area to find out if they accept pets. Ask about any restrictions on number, size and species. Inquire if a "no pet" policy would be waived in an emergency. Keep a list of animal-friendly places handy, and call ahead for a reservation as soon as you think you might have to leave your home.

Make arrangements with friends or relatives.

Ask people outside your immediate area if they would be able to shelter you and your pets - or just your pets - if necessary. If you have more than one pet, you may need to arrange to house them at separate locations.

Consider a kennel or veterinarian's office.

Make a list of boarding facilities and veterinary offices that might be able to shelter animals in disaster emergencies (make sure to include their 24-hour telephone numbers).

Check with your local animal shelter.

Some shelters may be able to provide foster care or shelter for pets in an emergency. But keep in mind that shelters have limited resources and are likely to be stretched during a local emergency.

Plan for your pet in case you're not home.

In case you're away during a disaster or evacuation order, make arrangements well in advance for someone you trust to take your pets and meet you at a specified location. Be sure the person is comfortable with your pets and your pets are familiar with them. Give your emergency caretaker a key to your home and show them where your pets are likely to be (especially if they hide when they're nervous) and where your disaster supplies are kept.

If you have a pet-sitter, they may be able to help. Discuss the possibility well in advance.

2. If you evacuate, take your pet

Rule Number One:If it isn't safe for you,

 it isn't safe for your pets. 

You have no way of knowing how long you'll be kept out of the area, and you may not be able - or allowed - to go back for your pets. Pets left behind in a disaster can easily be injured, lost or killed.

Rule Number Two: Evacuate early.

Don't wait for a mandatory evacuation order. Some people who have waited to be evacuated by emergency officials have been told to leave their pets behind. The smell of smoke or the sound of high winds or thunder may make your pet more fearful and difficult to load into a crate or carrier. Evacuating before conditions become severe will keep everyone safer and make the process less stressful.

3. If you stay home, do it safely

If your family and pets must wait out a storm or other disaster at home, identify a safe area of your home where you can all stay together.

• Close off or eliminate unsafe nooks and crannies where frightened cats may try to hide.
• Move dangerous items such as tools or toxic products that have been stored in the area.
• Bring your pets indoors as soon as local authorities say trouble is on the way. Keep dogs on leashes and cats in carriers, and make sure they are wearing identification.
• If you have a room you can designate as a "safe room," put your emergency supplies in that room in advance, including your pet's crate and supplies. Have any medications and a supply of pet food and water inside watertight containers, along with your other emergency supplies. If there is an open fireplace, vet, pet door or similar opening in the house, close it off with plastic sheeting and strong tape.
• Listen to the radio periodically, and don't come out until you know it's safe.

4. After the disaster

Your home may be a very different place after the emergency is over, and it may be hard for your pets to adjust.

• Don't allow your pets to roam loose. Familiar landmarks and smells might be gone, and your pet will probably be disoriented. Pets can easily get lost in such situations.
• While you assess the damage, keep dogs on leashes and cats in carriers inside the house. If your house is damaged, your pets could escape.
• Be patient with your pets after a disaster. Try to get them back into their normal routines as soon as possible. Be ready for behavioral problems caused by the stress of the situation. If these problems persist, or if your pet seems to be having any health problems, talk to your veterinarian.
• If your community has been flooded, check your home and yards for wild animals who may have sought refuge there. Wildlife can pose a threat to you and your pet. Check out our tips for humanely evicting wildlife.

5. Be ready for everyday emergencies

You can't get home to your pet.

There may be times that you can't get home to take care of your pets. Icy roads may trap you at the office overnight, an accident may send you to the hospital - things happen. But you can make sure your pets get the care they need by making arrangments now:

• Find a trusted neighbor, friend or family member and give him or her a key. Make sure this backup caretaker is comfortable and familiar with your pets (and vice versa).
• Make sure your backup caretaker knows your pets' feeding and medication schedule, whereabouts and habits.
• If you use a pet-sitting service, find out in advance if they will be able to help in case of an emergency.

The electricity goes out

If you're forced to leave your home because you've lost electricity, take your pets with you to a pet-friendly hotel. If it's summer, even just an hour or two in the sweltering heat can be dangerous. If you stay at home during a summer power outage, ask your local emergency management office if there are pet-friendly cooling centers in the area.

If it's winter, don't be fooled by your pets' fur coats; it isn't safe to leave them in an unheated house."

Click here for the original article.

Product Highlight- MiSeal Thermal Vessel Sealing System

Have you heard about our

MiSeal Thermal Ligating System?

The MiSeal System offers surgical instruments used to seal and divide tissue utilizing proprietary Thermal Fusion technology.

The MiSeal is made up of 3 different pieces:

MiSeal Reusable 5 mm MiFusion Hand-Piece

This reusable hand-piece offers cost-effective and eco-friendly benefits when compared to fully disposable devices.The hand-piece boasts a 360 degree shaft rotation, a 5 mm diameter insertion shaft.It is available in 14 cm and 35 cm lengths (minus tips).

MiSeal Thermal Ligating Shears Kit

Comes as a box of 5 disposable thermal ligating shear tips

 that fit the end of the Reusable Hand-Piece and

 a power cord for the MiSeal System.

The tip utilizes proprietary thermal fusion technology 

to facilitate the precise application of heat, 

minimizing collateral damage.

The tip has a curved, Maryland-style jaw with 

an active length of 16.4 mm.

The instrument cord is approximately

 3 meters (10 feet) long and connects the Hand-piece

 to the Universal Power Supply.

MiSeal MiFusion Universal Power Supply

The Universal Power Suppy is a compact, 3-lb unit that can easily be suspended from an I.V pole or placed on any flat surface, making the UPS portable and easy to use.

Converts AC power from a hospital-grade wall outlet into low voltage DC power required by all MiFusion instruments.

Compatable with voltages worldwide.

Check out the MiSeal in action!

This video shows a splenectomy in a canine patient with the MiSeal tissue sealing and separation device. We have surgeons reporting splenectomy cases with a skin to skin time of under 10 minutes. This video shows the spleen removal with the MiSeal device in a 3 minute continuous clip.

Note: Not a single drop of blood is lost!

Want to know more about the MiSeal?

Check out our website or contact us!

Come back next week for a new

Product Highlight!

PacVet

It's time for the Pacific Veterinary Conference!

Make sure to stop by

Booth 202!

Product Highlight - The Ratigator Combo Grasper

Have you heard about our

Ratigator Combo Grasper?

For those of you who cannot decide on an alligator jaw or rat tooth grasper, here's the perfect instrument for you!

The Ratigator - a combination rat tooth and alligator jaw grasper that give you the best of both worlds: the flat, gripping power of an alligator jaw and the precision 'pinch-hook' ability of the rat tooth.

The Ratigator is reusable, repairable, autoclavable, and features an ergonomic plunger-style plastic handle.

These instruments are constructed of surgical stainless steel for years of use. The 8 mm or 15 mm wide jaw opening can grasp most tissue and foreign objects in a body cavity.

Removal of a tube of lotion from the stomach of a dog using the Ratigator.

The instrument is available in 1.8 mm and 2.4 mm outer diameters to accommodate most endoscope biopsy channels and has an ergonomically-designed, thumb-activated handle for ease of use during procedures.

The Ratigator can easily be sterilized via soaking, autoclave or ETO gas methods.

Want to learn more about the Ratigator?

Contact us or visit our online store!

Come back next week for another 

Product Highlight!

ACVIM 2016

Take a tour of our booth from ACVIM this year!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!

AVMA Animal Hospital

Did you know that the

 American Veterinary Medical Association

has their own video game?!

"Start out as a New Veterinarian and work your way up the ranks to become Chief Veterinarian of AVMA Animal Hospital. The quicker you are at diagnosing and treating the animals, the more points you'll score. Can't get to all the animals in time? Just try again and build on your skills. Learn about each animal's ailments, diagnostics, and treatments as you race the clock and treat the animals. During the game you'll have the opportunity to treat dogs, cats, guinea pigs, birds and turtles."

Play online now!

Flag Day

Today is a day for Americans to celebrate and show respect for our flab. It is a representation of our independence and of our unity as a nation. The American flag has a proud and glorious history. It was at the lead of every battle fought by Americans, many people have died to protect it, and it even stands proudly on the surface of the moon!

As Americans, we have every right to be proud of our culture, our nation, and our flag. So raise the flag today and every day with pride!

How to Properly Display Our Flag:

Care and handling of the American flag is steeped in tradition and respect. There is a right way and a wrong way to display the flag. This is called Flag Etiquette. The American flag should be held in the highest of regards. It represents our nation and the many people who gave their lives for our country and our flag. 

Here are the basics on displaying the American flag:

-The flag is normally flown from sunrise to sunset.

-In the morning, raise the flag briskly. At sunset, lower it slowly. Always, raise and lower it ceremoniously.

-The flag should not be flown at night without a light on it.

-The flag should not be flown in the rain or inclement weather.

-After a tragedy or death, the flag is flown at half staff for 30 days. It's called "half staff" on land, and "half mast" on a ship.

-When flown vertically on a pole, the stars and blue field, or "union", is at the top and at the end of the pole (away from your house)

-The American flag is always flown at the top of the pole. Your state flag and other flags fly below it.

-The union is always on top. When displayed in print, the stars and blue field are always on the left. 

-Never let your flag touch the ground, never.

-Fold your flag when storing. Don't just stuff it in a drawer or box.

-When your flag is old and has seen better days, it is time to retire it. Old flags should be burned or buried. Please do not throw it in the trash.

There is a very special ceremony for retiring the flag by burning it. Your local Boy Scout group knows the proper ceremony and performs it on a regular basis. If you have an old flag, give it to them.

Meet Rosie!

Say hello to our temporary team member Rosie!

Rosie belongs to one of our employees and needs to be monitored for the rest of the day after spending a few hours at the vets office.

She's about 5-years-old and enjoys eating, sleeping, and bossing around her little sister, Daisy.

We're trying to get her to answer phones, but she seems more interested in sleeping!

Install with Sales Manager Rich

Equipment install with Rich.

Want to learn more about the products in the picture?

Check out our online store or contact us!

ACVIM

It's time for the ACVIM Conference!

Make sure to stop by 

Booth 218!!

Product Highlight- Veterinary Flexible Endoscopes

Have you heard about our

 Flexible Veterinary Endoscopes?

E.S.S. VET-H150

Small Animal G.I. Video Endoscope

For the examination and treatment of

 small animal G.I problems and disease.

Product Specifications:

-Insertion tube outer diameter: 9.6 mm

-Working length: 150 cm (1500 mm)

-Biopsy channel size: 2.8 mm 

-Uses 2.4 mm diameter x 200 cm or longer instruments

-Angulation: 180 degrees up and down

160 degrees left and right

-Designed for the ESS HVP-2100 

All-In-One Vet Video System

-Soaking and gas sterilized methods

-One (1) year manufacturer's warranty

Want to see it in action?

This video of a feline colonoscopy shows the quality of the E.S.S. 

VET- H150 Small Animal G.I. Video Endoscope.

E.S.S. VET-H150P

Slimline Small Animal Video Endoscope

For the examination and treatment of

 small animal G.I problems and disease.

Product Specifications:

-Insertion tube outer diameter: 8.3 mm

-Working length: 150 cm (1500 mm)

-Biopsy channel size: 2.2 mm

-Uses 1.8 mm diameter x 200 cm or longer instrument

-Angulation: 180 degrees up and down

160 degrees left and right

-Designed for the ESS HVP-2100 

All-In-One Vet Video System 

-Soaking and gas sterilization methods

-One (1) year manufacturer's warranty

Want to know more?

Check out our online store or contact us!

Ramadan Mubarak!

Kul 'am wa enta bi-khair!

"Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Every day during this month, Muslims around the world spend the daylight hours in a complete fast.

During the blessed month of Ramadan, Muslims all over the world abstain from all food, drink, and other physical needs during the daylight hours. Ramadan is much more than just not eating and drinking; it is a time to purify the soul, refocus attention on God, and practice self-discipline and sacrifice."

World Environment Day!

It's World Environment Day!

What is World Environment Day?

"Celebrate the biggest day for positive environmental action!

World Environment Day (WED) is the United Nations' principal vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the environment. Over the years it has grown to be a broad, global platform for public outreach that is widely celebrated by stakeholders in over 100 countries. It also serves as the 'people's day' for doing something positive for the environment, galvanizing individual actions into a collective power that generates an exponential positive impact on the planet."

This years theme is "Go Wild For Life!"

"WED aims to inspire more people than ever before to take action to prevent the growing strain on planet Earth's natural systems from reaching breaking point. The 2016 theme is the fight against the illegal trade in wildlife, which erodes precious biodiversity and threatens the survival of elephants, rhinos and tigers as well as many other species. It also undermines our economies, communities and security. This year's slogan "Go Wild for Life" encourages you to spread the word about wildlife crime and the damage it does, and to challenge all those around you to do what they can to prevent it."

"Zero tolerance for the illegal trade in wildlife

Slaughtered elephants lying in the African Savannah with their tusks hacked off by poaching gangs; tiger skins with embalmed heads roaring silently from market stalls in Asia; the shells of giant sea turtles impounded by customs agents before they reach their Western buyers.

These images highlight how the booming illegal trade in wildlife products is eroding Earth's precious biodiversity, robbing us of our natural heritage and pushing whole species toward extinction. The killing and smuggling is also undermining economies, fueling organized crime, and feeding corruption and insecurity across the globe.

The trade endangers iconic elephants, rhinos, tigers, gorillas and sea turtles. Lesser-known species include helmeted hornbills, pangolins and wile orchids. Efforts to protect them have scored some successes. However, these and many other species remain at risk despite international campaigns to influence policy and considerable investments in conservation and law enforcement.

To turn this tide, more people need to understand the damage this illicit business is doing to our environment, economies, communities and security. We must also change our habits and behavior so that demand for wildlife products falls. More awareness increases the pressure on governments and international bodies to introduce and enforce tougher laws and combat those still willing to break them.

This year's theme for WED - Go Wild for Life - encourages you to celebrate all those species under threat and take action of your own to help safeguard them for future generations. This can be about animals or plants that are threatened withing your local area as well as at the national or global level - many local extinctions will eventually add up to a global extinction! Whoever you are, and wherever you live, show zero-tolerance for the illegal trade in wildlife in word and deed, and make a difference."

Want to learn more about how to get involved?

Visit the UNEP website!

National Hug Your Cat Day!

It's National Hug Your Cat Day!

(Or for many of you, what you normally do on a Saturday!)

Go ahead and give your fluffy friend a big hug!

Don't have a cat?

June is "Adopt a Cat Month"!

Contact your local humane society.

World No Tobacco Day 2016

World No Tobacco Day brings awareness of the health issues and dependency issues related to tobacco use. World No Tobacco Day stresses the importance of making people all over the world aware of the health dangers of using tobacco. It also stresses the addictive nature of tobacco use. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) created World No Tobacco Day in 1987 to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and the preventable death and diseases it causes. 

"Every year, on 31 May, WHO and partners mark World No Tobacco Day (WNTD), highlighting the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption. 

For World No Tobacco Day, 31 May 2016, WHO and the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control are calling countries to get ready for plain (standardized) packaging of tobacco products. 

Plain packaging is an important demand reduction measure that reduces the attractiveness of tobacco products, restricts use of tobacco packaging as a form of tobacco advertising and promotion, limits misleading packaging and labeling, and increases the effectiveness of health warnings.

Plain packaging of tobacco products refers to measures that restrict or prohibit the use of logs, colours, brand images or promotional information on packaging other than brand names and product names displayed in a standard colour and font style. 

Guidelines to Articles 11 and 13 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) recommend that Parties consider adoption of plain packaging. 

Plain packaging builds upon other measures as part of a comprehensive multisectoral approach to tobacco control. Policy makers, civil society and the public can take action to ensure that their governments consider adoption of plain packaging."

"Facts about plain packaging

Interest in plain packaging is progressing across the globe:

-In December 2012, Australia became the first country to fully implement plain packaging.

-In 2015, Ireland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and France all passed laws to implement plain packaging from May 2016.

-A number of countries are in advanced stages of considering adoption of plain packaging laws. 

Goals of WNTD 2016 campaign

World No Tobacco Day 2016 aims to: 

-Highlight the role of plain packaging as part of a comprehensive, multisectoral approach to tobacco control.

-Facilitate policy development by Member States and the globalization of plain packaging by providing informative, compelling and persuasive information. 

-Encourage member States to strengthen packaging and labeling measures and restrictions on advertising, promotion and sponsorship as they work towards plain packaging in a step-wise approach. 

-Support Member States and civil society against tobacco industry interference in political processes leading to adoption of plain packaging laws."

Facts About Tobacco

"Leading cause of death, illness and impoverishment

The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing around 6 million people a year. More than 5 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600,000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

Nearly 8-% of the more than 1 billion smokers worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of tobacco-related illness and death is heaviest.

Tobacco users who die prematurely deprive their families of income, raise the cost of health care and hinder economic development. 

In some countries, children from poor households are frequently employed in tobacco farming to provide family income. These children are especially vulnerable to "green tobacco sickness", which is caused by the nicotine that is absorbed through the skin from the handling of wet tobacco leaves. 

Surveillance is Key

Good monitoring tracks the extent and character of the tobacco epidemic and indicates how best to tailor policies. Only 1 in 3 countries, representing one third of the world's population, monitors tobacco use by repeating nationally representative youth and adult surveys at least once every 5 years. 

Second-hand smoke kills

Second-hand smoke is the smoke that fills restaurants, offices or other enclosed spaces when people burn tobacco products such as cigarettes, bidis and water-pipes. There are more than 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, of which at least 250 are known to be harmful and more than 50 are known to cause cancer. 

There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke.

-In adults, second-hand smoke causes serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer. In infants, it causes sudden death. In pregnant women, it causes low birth weight.

-Almost half of children regularly breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke in public places. 

-Second-hand smoke causes more than 600,000 premature deaths per year.

-In 2004, children accounted for 28% of the deaths attributable to second-hand smoke.

Every person should be able to breathe tobacco-smoke-free air. Smoke-free laws protect the health of non-smokers, are popular, do not harm business and encourage smokers to quit. 

Over 1.3 billion people, or 18% of the world's population, are protected by comprehensive national smoke-free laws. 

Tobacco users need help to quit

Studies show that few people understand the specific health risks of tobacco use. For example, a 2009 survey in China revealed that only 38% of smokers knew that smoking causes coronary heart disease and only 27% knew that it causes stroke. 

Among smokers who are aware of the dangers of tobacco, most want to quit. Counselling and medication can more than double the chance that a smoker who tries to quit will succeed.

National comprehensive cessation services with full or partial cost-coverage are available to assist tobacco users to quit in only 24 countries, representing 15% of the world's population.

There is no cessation assistance of any kind in one quarter of low-income countries. 

Picture warnings work

Hard-hitting anti-tobacco advertisements and graphic pack warnings - especially those that include pictures - reduce the number of children who begin smoking and increase the number of smokers who quit. 

Graphic warnings can persuade smokers to protect the health of non-smokers by smoking less inside the home and avoiding smoking near children. Studies carried out after the implementation of pictorial package warning in Brazil, Canada, Singapore and Thailand consistently show that pictorial warnings significantly increase people's awareness of the harms of tobacco use.

Only 42 countries, representing 19% of the world's population, meet the best practice for pictorial warnings, which includes the warnings in the local language and cover an average of at least half of the front and back of cigarette packs. Most of these countries are low- or middle-income countries. 

Mass media campaigns can also reduce tobacco consumption by influencing people to protect non-smokers and convincing youths to stop using tobacco.

Over half of the world's population live in the 39 countries that have aired at least 1 strong anti-tobacco mass media campaign within the last 2 years. 

Ad bans lower consumption

Bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship can reduce tobacco consumption.

-A comprehensive ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship could decrease tobacco consumption by an average of about 7%, with some countries experiencing a decline in consumption of up to 16%.

-Only 29 countries, representing 12% of the world's population, have completely banned all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. 

-Around 1 country in 3 has minimal or no restrictions at all on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

Taxes discourage tobacco use

Tobacco taxes are the most cost-effective way to reduce tobacco use, especially amount young and poor people. A tax increase that increases tobacco prices by 10% decreases tobacco consumption by about 4% in high-income countries and about 5% in low- and middle-income countries.

Even so, high tobacco taxes is a measure that is rarely implemented. Only 33 countries, with 10% of the world's population, have introduced taxes on tobacco products so that more than 75% of the retail price is tax. Tobacco tax revenues are on average 269 times higher than spending on tobacco control, based on available data. 

Illicit trade of tobacco products must be stopped

The illicit trade in tobacco products poses major health, economic and security concerns around the world. It is estimated that 1 in every 10 cigarettes and tobacco products consumed globally is illicit. The illicit market is supported by various players, ranging from petty peddles to organized criminal networks involved in arms and human trafficking. 

Eliminating illicit trade in tobacco will reduce the harmful consumption of tobacco by restricting availability of cheap, unregulated alternatives and increasing overall tobacco prices. Critically, this will reduce premature deaths from tobacco use and raise tax revenue for governments. Stopping illicit trade in tobacco products is a health priority, and is achievable. But to do so requires improvement of national and sub-national tax administration systems and international collaboration, such as ratification and implementation of the Protocol to Eliminate the Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, and international treaty in its own right, negotiated by parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).

While publicly stating its support for action against the illicit trade, the tobacco industry's behind-the-scenes behaviour has been very different. Internal industry documents released as a result of court cases demonstrate that the tobacco industry has actively fostered the illicit trade globally. It also works to block implementation of tobacco control measures, such as tax increases and pictorial health warnings, by misleadingly arguing they will fuel the illicit trade. 

WHO response

WHO is committed to fighting the global tobacco epidemic. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control entered into force in February 2005. Since then, it has become one of the most widely embraced treaties in the history of the United Nations with 180 Parties covering 90% of the world's population.

The WHO Framework Convention is WHO's most important tobacco control tool and a milestone in the promotion of public health. It is an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of people to the highest standard of health, provides legal dimensions for international health cooperation and sets high standards for compliance. 

In 2008, WHO introduced a practical, cost-effective way to scale up implementation of provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on the ground: MPOWER. Each MPOWER measure corresponds to at least 1 provision of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

The 6 MPOWER measures are:

-Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies.

-Protect people from tobacco use.

-Offer to help quit tobacco use

-Warn about the dangers of tobacco.

-Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

-Raise taxes on tobacco."

For more information,

 please visit the official WHO website!

Reminder!

On Monday May 30th, 2016

Endoscopy Support Services will be 

closed in observance of the holiday.

This day is dedicated to all of the service men and women who gave their lives for freedom and country. It's also the time to remember loved ones who have passed away.

Did you know?

Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day, and goes all the way back to the end of the Civil War.

Product Highlight- E.S.S. Brand Water Bottles

Have you heard about our 

E.S.S. Brand Replacement Water Bottles?

For Pentax fiber optic and video endoscopes, 

we have the generic non-autoclavable

 Pentax style water bottle.

This bottle plugs into the air feeding hole on Pentax light sources and video processors just like the original Pentax bottles.

If you're looking for an Olympus replacement,

 we also offer a generic replacement for the

 Olympus 140, 160, 180, and newer Endoscope Series'.

This replacement water bottle features:

-A 250 ml capacity.

-Easy to connect/disconnect from scope.

-Metal connector to bottle top and metal endoscope connector for durability.

-Attached cap to protect endoscope connector.

-Metal clip and strong plastic strap to attach the water bottle to the stock hanger on Olympus light sources.

-Non-autoclavable - use soaking methods to sterilize.

Can't find a compatible water bottle?

We can help!

Contact us with the make and model 

of the endoscope and we can help you

 find other model water bottles.

Come back next week for a new 

Product Highlight!

World Turtle Day!

It's World Turtle Day!

"American Tortoise Rescue, a nonprofit organization established in 1990 for the protection of all species of tortoise and turtle, is sponsoring its 16th annual World Turtle Day. The day was created as an annual observance to help people celebrate and protect turtles and tortoises and their disappearing habitats around the world.

Susan Tellem and Marshall Thompson, founders of ATR, advocate humane treatment of all animals, including reptiles. Since 1990, ATR has placed about 3,000 tortoises and turtles in caring homes. ATR assists law enforcement when undersized or endangered turtles are confiscated and provides helpful information and referrals to persons with sick, neglected or abandoned turtles."

"American Tortoise Rescue's Tips:

-Never buy a turtle or tortoise from a pet shop

 as it increases demand from the wild.

-Never remove turtles or tortoises from 

the wild unless they are sick or injured.

-Emergency Care - If a tortoise is crossing a

 busy street, pick it up and send it in the

 same direction it was going- if you try to make

 it go back, it will turn right around again.

-Report the sale of any turtle or tortoise of any

 kind less than four inches. 

This is illegal throughout the U.S.

-Report the cruelty or illegal sales of turtles

 and tortoises to your local animal control shelter.

-Write letters to legislators asking them to keep sensitive habitat preserved or closed to off road vehicles, and to prevent off shore drilling that can lead to more endangered sea turtle deaths."

Click here to learn more about

 what you can do to help!

Meme Monday

Pirate The Pit Bull’s Favorite Part Of The Week Is When This Autistic Boy Reads To Him

By Lavanya Sunkara

from BarkPost

"Pirate the Pit Bull is just like any other shelter dog: lonely and anxious to find a home. But, unlike other dogs, he has something remarkable going for him. A six-year-old boy named Jacob comes weekly to read to him, and that's his favorite time of the week.

Jacob Tumalan hails from La Habra, Orange County; his parents learned early on that their boy had autism. Jacob's mom, Katherine Tumalan, told NBC 4 News that her son has loved books ever since he was a baby, but it seemed to be the only thing in which he was interested.

Katherine Tumalan told NBC 4 News: "I noticed things were different; he didn't want to play with other children."

But a year ago, when Jacob's Aunt, Lisa Ferranti, brought him to the animal shelter where she works, he immediately took to the animals. At the Carson Animal Shelter, which Pirate the Pit Bull currently calls home, Jacob's reading has become the highlight. He comes every week on Therapy Thursday, lays down his mat in front of Pirate's cage, takes out his book, and reads aloud. This gives Pirate much needed interaction and allows Jacob to improve his literacy skills. When Jacob learned that Pirate disliked cats, he chose a book about a kitty who wears colorful shoes.

Jacob is lovingly known as "The boy who read to dogs" at Carson. During his time with Pirate, he has learned to cope with noise, which he had a problem with earlier. He can now block anxiety-causing sounds around him and concentrate on the task at hand: reading to this lonesome shelter dog who just needs a little extra love.

The boy and dog's special story-time seems to have aided them both. Jacob's parents are happy to report that he is now reading at third-grade level. Pirate also seems to have a happy ending in sight; he will soon be staying with a rescue worker for further training until he finds his forever home.

Jacob told NBC 4 News: "If I read to the dogs, they will come out of the cages and find homes."

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