Let's visit Work & Woof

A freshman at the Texas School for the Deaf (with the help of his teacher) is learning how to help take care of dogs at a place called Work & Woof. Here's a video about Fabian Davenport and his teacher Alexis Roland.

No, Koko had not mastered sign language

image from KoKo.com

Koko is dead. The gorilla that some claimed could communication using sign language died last week. But there was no proof of this—sign language not being something so simple an animal can use it. Geoffrey Pullum writes about the myth of Koko's linguistic prowess in an article for the Chronicle of Higher Ed here.

officer shoots deaf woman's dog

A Greenbelt, Maryland police officer is being investigated for animal cruelty after she shot a deaf woman's dog at a dog park just for growling at her. WJLA-TV has a video report. Read the story here.

Cochlear's "silence" on animal testing

Australia's implant maker, Cochlear, is coming under fire for how it's using animals to test the latest version of its "bionic ear." One commentator says the company "maimed animals" in the process. Read the full story here.