Fourth of July // Current

I'm a Patriotic

How I celebrated my Fourth of July

TimBuktu
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5 months ago
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Shooting Rockets Out of Your Butt

What's the best way to show the world that you love America this July 4th? Though we... more

infoMania
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5 months ago
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Joey Chestnut wins the 2009 Nathan's 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest

Joey Chestnut celebrates his record breaking win. Kobayashi won six previous... more

lvp
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5 months ago
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Chinese Cook invented Firework?

as a result, now there are Firework Competition!

mashdata
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5 months ago
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An Amazing Fourth of July Super-Spectacular Extravaganza!!

Yes indeedy, this is a truly amazing Fourth of July super-spectacular extravaganza!!... more

disembedded
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5 months ago
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10 comments

This Fourth of July, Americans will celebrate their freedom with picnics, trips to the beach and time spent with the people they love. But America isn't a free country for everyone who lives here. In nearly every community-perhaps even on your own street-Americans' best friends, our dogs, are kept chained and deprived of every freedom.

These dogs will spend our nation's birthday as they spend every other day: pacing their tiny patch of dirt, panting in the heat, wishing for companionship or a drink of cool water and watching the world go by out of their reach. The only difference is that many will spend this night terrorized and trembling in fear because of the booming fireworks.

"Out of sight, out of mind" in the back yard, many chained dogs are deprived of even their basic needs and rights. "Dinner" might consist of kibble tossed on the same soggy ground where they must relieve themselves, table scraps or nothing at all, if their guardian forgets or doesn't feel like walking outside to feed them. Green, algae-contaminated water is all that many chained dogs have to drink, and if their chain knocks over the water container, they go thirsty.

Plastic barrels, which offer little insulation in the winter and are sweltering in the summer, are "home" to many chained dogs. Others have nothing but the tree that they're tied to or a propped-up piece of plywood to huddle under during storms. Veterinary care is often nonexistent for these dogs, and they routinely suffer and die from preventable conditions including internal parasites and heartworm disease. They itch continually from flea bites, and the flies who are attracted to their waste eat them alive and bite their ears bloody.

With no escape from the elements, other animals or cruel people, dogs often die on the end of their chains. Some, like Hugo-a pit bull PETA's caseworkers discovered dead in his doghouse on New Year's Day-starve and freeze to death after weeks of neglect. Others have been stung to death by swarms of bees; killed by coyotes or roaming dogs; or beaten, poisoned or doused with gasoline and set on fire by cruel passersby.

Perhaps even crueler than the physical hardships that chained dogs endure are the emotional ones. As highly social pack animals, dogs need and crave the companionship of their human guardians and other dogs. They long to please their guardians and go exploring with them. They yearn to be scratched behind the ears and hear the words "Good dog!" Like us, dogs also get bored and need exercise and something interesting to do. They need to read the "news" on fire hydrants, catch Frisbees and go for long walks every day. On a chain, dogs receive none of the things that make their lives worth living, and many of them become severely depressed or even go mad and become a danger to the community.

It's no wonder that chained dogs often lash out. Dogs are territorial, and confining them to small spaces only makes them more so. To a dog with no way to escape, even a harmless toddler who wanders onto his or her turf may be perceived as a threat. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, chained dogs are nearly three times more likely to attack than are dogs who are not tethered. Another study found that more than one-quarter of fatal dog attacks involve chained dogs. Dogs' lack of freedom isn't just an animal welfare issue-it's also a serious public safety concern.

So before we slice the watermelon and light the sparklers this Fourth of July, let's make it a true Independence Day for everyone by speaking up for those who have no freedom. Urge your friends, family and neighbors to unchain their dogs. Work to get a dog-tethering ban passed in your community. And if your own dogs are chained, please give them their freedom: Bring them indoors and let them be a part of your family.This Fourth of July, Americans will celebrate their freedom with picnics, trips to the... more

Apocalipstick
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5 months ago
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Crazy funny -- and and deadly serious -- 4th of July injuries.

The idea wasn’t a good one. A group of fraternity brothers decided to barbecue by the side of a river on the outskirts of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, setting up their grill on a sand bar that could only be reached by a steep descent down the bank.

One of the young men, drunk and dehydrated, slipped and fell 15 feet onto the grill, which had been fashioned with an improvised spit. When Ben Abo, a veteran emergency medical technician, arrived ten minutes later, he found the man face down in the embers and dirt, one of the prongs intended for the roast poking through his stomach and jutting out of his back.

“On the Fourth of July most accidents happen because of stupidity,” Abo says. “That is my job security.”

Happily the student survived, but his is a cautionary tale. Chances are someone (actually, several someones) will do something just as stupid this July 4 weekend – and not all of them will be as lucky as our friend the human shish kabob. Alcohol and long days in the sun, combined with explosives, barbecues, and fast moving vehicles are a sure recipe for trouble. And while everyone knows not to light fireworks after doing a series of Jaegerbombs (right?), there are some other basic mistakes people make that could lead to comical, painful, even fatal injuries. Read and learn.

The Sparkle Fades
Denver resident Caley Cook calls it merely “the bad Fourth of July.” Every year, her father would gather residents of their Redmond, Washington-area neighborhood for a homespun fireworks extravaganza. That year, all signs indicated that they should have packed well before sundown. First, a woman slipped on a child’s toy and broke her ankle. A bike collision between children resulted in two dislodged teeth and a trip to the ER. And when her father lit the first professional-grade rocket, it puttered into the air and landed on a neighbor’s roof. “Everyone stood still for a second to see if it would just die out," Cook says. "But the thing exploded on the roof and suddenly we could see flames.”

A neighbor hurriedly scaled a ladder to try and fight the fire. He promptly fell into a bush. “You definitely won't catch my dad lighting any display-class fireworks in the neighborhood anymore,” Cook says.

(Obvious) lesson learned: unless you're a professional, don't shoot professional pyrotechnics. But it’s not just the serious fireworks that are a danger. Even seemingly innocuous sparklers pose a threat.

A report just released by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) found sparklers caused eleven percent of 2008’s 7,000 firework injuries – and that those injuries can occur even after all the sparkles seem finished, Ralph Apel, president of the National Council on Fireworks Safety, urges revelers to use a bucket of water as a receptacle for discarded sparklers, offsetting the high probability of someone with bare feet stepping on them. (At their peak, sparklers burn at about 1200-2000 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning even the left-over sticks can leave a mark).

Alfred Sacchetti, an emergency room physician at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden, New Jersey, says that one of the most common and “exquisitely painful” injuries associated with sparklers are burns in the eye. “Often times you will see an actual pit in the cornea.” Children, who stand just about eve-level to adults’ hands, are uniquely prone to wandering into a faceful of sparks. Accordingly, Sacchetti warns adults around children to hold sparklers high above their waists.The idea wasn’t a good one. A group of fraternity brothers decided to barbecue by... more