Welcome to Paws & Claws Newsletter.Our aim is to bring you the most informative and educational articles while promoting responsible pet ownership and care for our wildlife. To date, we have donated over $100,000 of advertising and article space in Paws & Claws Journal to non-profit animal organisations. We donate a further 10% of our profits to the Animal Welfare League of Qld and the RSPCA Qld so please support our advertisers.

Pawsandclawsonline.com.au and pawsandclawsjournal.com.au is your gateway to everything that is pet and wildlife related! We aim to be largest hub for all animal resources with a new and exciting library of wonderful animal articles available online this March! Paws and Claws Online will provide pet owners with the latest pet information, pet advice, plus products and services not only for their pets, but for their home, garden, and everyday life necessities. For all animal lovers, join us at Paws & Claws and be part of a unique group that will enrich the rest of the world with critical and educational information, in the aim to make this world a better place for all creatures, big and small. Pass this on to another animal lover, just like you!

The 2007 Paws & Claws Awards for Charity is now in full swing! With hundreds of votes coming in, competition is now really heating up! Check out the current nominees (click here) and vote online for the person you feel deserves a great night out of glamour n' glitz! This magnificent 'red carpet' event will take place this August 2007 - so be quick and vote now!(click here)

All nominees will receive a half-price entry to the Awards Ceremony night, including fabulous food & drinks at the event. It will be great opportunity for them to relax and enjoy the entertainment we have instore for them! There are three levels of nominations, we are currently on level one so votes are very critical to stay in the running! Voting forms are available from supporting businesses, click here to browse through our supporters.

Corporate tables will also be made available with a complimentary bottle of bubbly. For more details on corporate bookings please call (07) 5594 7998 or send us an e-mail.

WEDGE-TAILED EAGLE WINS 2007 AUSTRALIAN WILDLIFE OF THE YEAR AWARD >>>

Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on Australia’s Gold Coast is home to 250 species of native Australian wildlife – one of the largest collections in the world! The Sanctuary’s thirty wildlife officers voted. The finalists included:-
• The short beaked echidna
• Carpet Python
• Saltwater crocodile
• Wedge-tail eagle
• Koala
There was no specific selection criteria. Just a popular vote.
The winner - THE WEDGE-TAILED EAGLE
• Only 70 pairs left in Tasmania. We have decimated their numbers throughout Australia as we thought they were a threat to our live stock.
• Largest raptor in Australia with a wingspan reaching 2.8 metres
• Females are larger than males
• Their talons (claws) can be over an inch in length
• They pair for life
• They can live for over 75 years
• The world over Eagles are a symbol of strength & freedom.
• They spend a lot of their day riding thermal air currents looking for food
• They have excellent eyesight due to their binocular vision. Wedge-tailed Eagles can spot a mouse from 2km away.

<<< SUNDAY, 25th FEBRUARY 2007 IT'S A DOG'S BREAKFAST AND RESCUE ANIMAL REUNION

The annual “It’s a Dogs’ Breakfast and Rescue Animal Reunion” is on at Doug Jennings Park at the end of the Spit on Sunday 25th February from 7 a.m. – 11 a.m. Come along with your family and dogs and enjoy live entertainment including Grant Petersen, Dean Vegas, Nebo, Lani and Sheri, Gold Coast Orchestra, Carnival of the Divine Imagination, Sarah from Gold FM will be there too,  join in dog games and win great prizes, and support your local AWL Refuge which cares for all the stray and abandoned animals on the Gold Coast - 10 000 animals a year - and relies solely on community support to do this.

$10 entrance fee gives you a “Save Lives Pack” which includes human breakfast (great coffee/smoothies/sweet and savoury food, your dogs’ breakfast, a stick-on tattoo, and other vouchers and information. Also bring $20 for a t-shirt to spread the message so that the Gold Coast can become the first city in Australia to end the euthanasia of healthy cats and dogs.

If you have rescued a dog or cat from a refuge or a sad situation, send your rescue story to pr@awlqld.com.au ASAP to be in the running for some great prizes. Winners announced and presented on stage at the Dogs Breakfast.

Among many of Alexander Graham Bell’s amazing inventions (like the telephone); he also took time to teach his dog to talk! He wanted to prove his theory that deaf people can be taught to talk by omitting a continuous sound and shaping the tone by moving the mouth and tongue. Using food as a reward, he taught his small pet dog, a Sky terrier, to say “Ow ah oo ga ma ma?”, (“How are you grandmamma?”) by moving the dog's voice box around to cause vibrations, which make the speaking-like sounds with the movement of the jaw. He described his little, black pooch as “very intelligent” and thanks to the rewards he became very fond of their articulation lessons! Later Alexander Graham Bell became the cofounder and president of the National Geographic Society.