A service dog, as the term is used in the United States, refers to any dog trained to help a person who has a disability, such as visual impairment, hearing impairment, mental illness, seizures, mobility impairment, and diabetes. The right of service dogs in the US to accompany their owners everywhere their owners go is protected under the ADA and parallel state and city laws, and significant monetary penalties have been assessed by courts against those who have sought to abridge those rights.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) is a registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States. In addition to maintaining its pedigree registry, this kennel club also promotes and sanctions events for purebred dogs, including the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, an annual event which predates the official forming of the AKC, the National Dog Show and the AKC National Championship. The AKC is not affiliated with the Fédération Cynologique Internationale.
An amber alert or a child abduction emergency alert is a message distributed by a child abduction alert system to ask the public for help in finding abducted children. It originated in the United States in 1996.
Pet adoption is the process of taking responsibility for a pet that a previous owner has abandoned or released to a shelter or rescue organization. Common sources for adoptable pets are animal shelters and rescue groups. Some organizations give adopters ownership of the pet, while others use a guardianship model wherein the organization retains some control over the animal's future use or care.
The Pet Travel Scheme ("PTS") is a system which allows animals to travel easily between member countries without undergoing quarantine. A pet passport is a document that officially records information related to a specific animal, as part of that procedure. The effect is to drastically speed up and simplify travel with and transport of animals between member countries, compared to previous procedures if the regulations are followed.
A microchip implant is an identifying integrated circuit placed under the skin of an animal. The chip, about the size of a large grain of rice, uses passive radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, and is also known as a PIT tag. Standard pet microchips are typically 11-13 mm long and 2 mm in diameter.
A dog licence is required in some jurisdictions to be the keeper of a dog. Usually a dog-licence identifying number is issued to the owner, along with a dog tag bearing the identifier and a contact number for the registering organization. If a stray pet is found with the tag, a rescuer can call the registering organization to get current contact information for the dog's owner.
A dog tag, pet ID tag, or pet tag is a small flat tag worn on pets' collars or harnesses.
Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc., marketed simply as "Hills", is an American pet food company that produces dog and cat foods. The company is a subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive.
Dogs Trust, known until 2003 as the National Canine Defence League, is a British animal welfare charity and humane society in the United Kingdom which specialises in the well-being of dogs. It is the largest dog welfare charity in the United Kingdom, caring for over 15,000 animals each year. Dogs Trust's primary objective is to protect all dogs in the UK and elsewhere from maltreatment, cruelty and suffering. It focuses on the rehabilitation and rehoming of dogs which have been either abandoned or given up by their owners through rehoming services.
The Drever is a breed of dog, a short-legged scenthound from Sweden used for hunting deer and other game. The Drever is descended from the Westphalian Dachsbracke, a type of German hound called Bracke. The breed name Drever was chosen through a contest in 1947.
The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) is a non-profit organization for companion animal veterinary hospitals. Established in 1933, the association is the only accrediting body for small animal hospitals in the U.S. and Canada. The association develops benchmarks of excellence, business practice standards, publications and educational programs. Any veterinary hospital can join AAHA as a member, but must then pass an evaluation in order to receive AAHA accreditation.
The Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (PETS) was a bi-partisan initiative in the United States House of Representatives to require states seeking Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance to accommodate pets and service animals in their plans for evacuating residents facing disasters. Introduced by Congressmen Tom Lantos (D-California) and Christopher Shays (R-Connecticut) on September 22, 2005, the bill passed the House of Representatives on May 22, 2006 by a margin of 349 to 29. Technically an amendment to the Stafford Act, it was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 6, 2006. The bill is now Public Law 109-308.
A child abduction alert system is a tool used to alert the public in cases of worrying or life-threatening disappearances of children.
The Child Alert Foundation (CAF) is a private, 501c(3) non-profit organization that was established in the state of Pennsylvania in 1998. Operating strictly from donations and fund raising, CAF is dedicated to assisting federal and local law enforcement agencies in the recovery of missing and abducted children and elderly individuals. The Child Alert Foundation helps law enforcement notify their surrounding communities with their copyrighted Abduction Central Alert (ACA) community alert notification system.
A Silver Alert is a public notification system in the United States to broadcast information about missing persons – especially senior citizens with Alzheimer's disease, dementia, or other mental disabilities – in order to aid in locating them.
A pet recovery service is a service that has been created for the specific purpose of reuniting lost or stolen pets with their owners.
Human–canine bonding is the relationship between dogs and humans. This bond can be traced back at least 15,000 years ago to the Bonn-Oberkassel dog that was found buried with two humans. In the United States, over 48% of households have a pet dog. For centuries, dogs have been labeled as "man's best friend," offering companionship and loyalty to their human counterparts. This is evident in most homes where dogs are domesticated. Children and adults have cordial relationships with all kinds of dogs.
Microchip implant (animal) privacy denotes the information security and privacy issues related to the microchipping of animals. The microchip is a small, electronic chip encoded with an individual number, which is enclosed in a biocompatible glass cylinder and includes an identifying integrated circuit placed under the skin of an animal. The microchip, also known as a PIT tag, which is about the same size as a large grain of rice, uses passive RFID technology. This means that it does not have a battery and is activated by a scanner that is passed over the area. The radio-waves emitted by the scanner activate the chip, making the chip transmit the identification number to the scanner, and the scanner displays the number on screen.
