Latest news with #KyleBrown
The Sun
24-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- The Sun
From a poodle with an odd peeing ritual to best reptile for kids – your pet queries answered
HE is on a mission to help our pets . . . and is here to answer YOUR questions. Sean, who is the head vet at tailored pet food firm has helped with owners' queries for ten years. 4 Q: MY female dog Petra cocks her leg like a boy when she pees. She's a poodle. Is she an oddball? Shaun Spencer, Burnley, Lancs Sean says: It's not that unusual, really. I see it quite often and generally it's nothing to worry about. Some female dogs just develop the habit of going that way. Others might want to save their undercarriage from getting wet or cold. Some may even have more naturally occurring testosterone than others, which can drive the behaviour. And despite what recent court rulings have suggested, biological female versus biological male are not always clearly defined in the mammal kingdom. I have heard of some cases where a dog is intersex and has both male and female internal equipment. If Petra is straining to urinate or going more often than normal, get her checked out. Otherwise, accept it as a quirk. I'm a property expert, here are the five key things when moving with a pet Q: WHAT is a good starter reptile for children? I have a ten-year-old son Ollie and he's been asking forever to have a snake or lizard. He's sensible. What do you recommend? Kyle Brown, Exmouth, Devon Sean says: The honest answer is there's no perfect choice, because reptiles are pets which require a fair degree of understanding, research, expensive equipment and housing — regardless of species. So I always say if a child wants one, their parents/guardians need to want one, too. It's going to be down to the adult to make sure all of the animal's needs are being met. Saying that, the top four list of species that are robust and suitable for this arrangement include corn snakes, bearded dragons, leopard geckos and crested geckos. Q: HOW do I know if my dog is too fat? Bob is a labrador cross and he is a bit barrel-like. He loves his food and my kids always give him snacks. Does he need to be put on a diet? Someone said you should see the ribs — is that true? Derek Peters, Brighton Sean says: There is a great technique that lets you get hands on to assess any breed of dog called body condition scoring. It looks at three key areas — the ribs, belly and waist — to check if your dog is overweight, underweight or just right. Your vet team can also help you set a target weight for Bob, as even among pedigree Labradors there are all shapes and sizes, let alone with cross breeds. Search for 'body condition scoring on YouTube — you'll find some videos I've made on this topic. This has just made me realise that I have certainly crept up in the body condition score department since I started working at — with a few more grey hairs to boot! Q: I'VE always wanted a pot-bellied pig. Do you think they would make a good pet? Can they be house trained? Sam Bryant, Skegness, Lincs Sean says: Being brutally honest, they make terrible pets for most people, and many who insist on getting one live to regret their decision as they didn't fully understand the commitment, space and care required. Pigs are social animals so you need at least two. They are clean animals, but they dig up and trample the ground so they need a lot of it to prevent their enclosure becoming a muddy quagmire, especially in winter. They also don't toilet train well, so prepare for accidents if they are indoors. Unless you have a smallholding and serious dedication, they are not a great idea as house pets. Star of the week TAYLOR the Labrador has helped his owner to inspire others – and even run her first marathon. The Rev Melissa Carter, 44, a visually impaired runner from Dover, raised money for Guide Dogs, as the three-year-old pup is her fourth dog from the charity as well as her exercise buddy. Rev Carter, of the diocese of Canterbury, who ran this year's London Marathon in just over five hours said: 'Having Taylor has given me the confidence to go out, work and live life to the full.' She joined her local Snap Fitness in August 2024 to help her train using the motto: 'One step at a time.' Manager Max Brunetti-Leach said: 'Her determination is an inspiration.' WIN: Dog dental kit GIVE your furry friend something to smile about with Plaqtiv+. It's hard to get started with a teeth cleaning regime but keeping on top of oral hygiene with your dog or cat can help avoid health problems. We have five sets of Plaqtiv+ products, worth £65 each, to give away including vanilla and mint-scented oral spray, dental wipes, water additive and toothpaste. To enter, send an email titled Plaqtiv+ to: sundaypets@ by June 15. See T&Cs apply. PROTECT PETS FROM SUN'S HARMFUL RAYS OWNERS are being urged to protect their pets from the sun in a bid to prevent skin cancer. It comes after harmful rays caused the disease in seven-year-old cat Gracie, who then had to have her ears amputated. 4 If Gracie hadn't had her op, the cancer could have spread and claimed her life. Following treatment, she has now been rehomed. Charities Cats Protection and the RSPCA are warning readers their four-legged friends are also at risk of sunburn and heatstroke. Nikki Butcher, co-ordinator at Cats Protection Bracknell and Wokingham, said: 'We see too many cats suffering from the effects of sun damage and it can be easily prevented. 'Hopefully, Gracie's story will make more pet owners aware of the risks of the sun and save other cats from losing their ears.' Dominika Jagoda, from the RSPCA, added: 'You can use pet-safe sun cream on exposed skin, such as the ears or nose, especially on those with white or light-coloured fur and pale skin, to avoid sunburn.' Cats Protection advises keeping pets indoors between 10am and 3pm, when it's hottest, and providing plenty of water to avoid dehydration.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Going solar should be cheaper and easier. Local governments are standing in the way.
(Getty Images) Colorado doesn't need to wait on Washington to address climate change, reduce costs for families, and make government work more efficiently. We have the power to make it cheaper and quicker for families to install rooftop solar and home batteries by streamlining local permitting processes. Unfortunately, permitting wait times and delays for rooftop solar in Colorado are some of the worst in the western United States. In Arapahoe County, for example, the majority of permits take more than 10 weeks to process. These delays impose significant costs. According to a recent analysis by Brown University, local red tape increases the price of installing a residential solar system by more than $3,200. This price hike puts solar out reach of thousands of Coloradans, particularly low- and middle-income families. As solar professionals in Colorado, we can attest to the detrimental impact of these unnecessary bureaucratic barriers: fewer jobs installing solar and more greenhouse gas emissions. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Wisely, our General Assembly offered legislation this year to tackle this problem. House Bill 25-1096, sponsored by Reps. Lesley Smith and Kyle Brown and Sen. Matt Ball, and championed by Gov. Jared Polis, would have required our cities and counties to implement one of several software platforms that automatically approve most residential solar and home battery permits. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden developed one of these software platforms, SolarAPP+, which is now used in Denver — and in hundreds of other localities around the country. Using a platform such as SolarAPP+ also makes for faster inspections. Automating solar permitting is one of those rare win-wins — saving families and solar installers money and headaches, and saving cities and counties resources and time. But climate-forward cities and counties, including Boulder and Fort Collins, lined up this legislative session to oppose the legislation and were ultimately responsible for its demise. They argued that automated permitting would prevent them from assessing the historical significance of every home built before 1975 before allowing solar panels on its roof, that certain homes in flood plains should be raised on stilts before they were allowed to install rooftop solar, and that their government IT departments would struggle to implement widely-used free software. Their opposition is disappointing. Boulder and Fort Collins have set goals to get to 100% renewable energy by 2030 — a stronger target than even the state of Colorado. And yet city officials and local electeds in Boulder and Fort Collins spent valuable time and resources lobbying against a common-sense solution that would make rooftop solar cheaper for Coloradans statewide. Our local governments should keep two important considerations in mind. First, decarbonization is on the chopping block in Washington, including critical funding for renewable energy projects and facilities in Colorado. Our cities and counties — especially those that claim to be environmental leaders — should do everything in their power to ensure that as subsidies go away we make renewable energy as cheap to buy and as fast to deploy as possible. Second, we are seeing just how many Americans have lost faith in the simple idea that the government prioritizes our needs over its processes. Across the ideological spectrum, more and more believe that government is standing in the way of building what we need, from critical national infrastructure to a simple home renovation. Cities and counties in Colorado like Boulder and Fort Collins should be at the forefront of creating an efficient government that prioritizes people, rather than hiding behind local exceptionalism to justify burdensome red tape and costly inefficiency. Colorado is blessed with abundant sunshine, and a commitment to good government. We urge our cities, counties and the legislature to step up and make it easier for Coloradans to install rooftop solar, reduce their utility bills and fight the climate crisis. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Fox News
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Misgendering trans people on their death certificates could be jailable offense under blue-state bill
A bill before the Colorado state legislature would require a deceased person's gender identity be recorded on their certificate of death under penalty of a fine and/or jail time for anyone who "knowingly and willfully violates" the measure, which one critic told Fox News was an "insane" effort that compels speech. Under the proposed law – sponsored by Democratic state Reps. Karen McCormick and Kyle Brown and state Sen. Mike Weissman – if a document memorializing the decedent's gender identity is presented, the individual completing the death certificate must record the decedent's sex based on that identity. If this is thwarted in any way, the penalty is a class 2 misdemeanor, which in Colorado is punishable by up to 120 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $750. "The state registrar must also amend the certificate of death to reflect a legal name change if the appropriate legal name change documentation is submitted to the state registrar," the bill states. If there is no official document showing the decedent's gender identity, and the person who is responsible for managing the decedent's remains such as a family member or legal representative disagrees with the sex recorded on the death certificate, they have the right to request a change, the bill states. Specifically, before the death certificate is officially filed, the person in charge of the remains can inform the individual completing the death certificate of their objection. If this happens, the person completing the certificate must update the record to reflect the gender identity that the individual controlling the remains states, rather than the biological sex. Current law allows coroners, medical examiners, forensic pathologists and other "qualified individuals" to determine the cause of death and complete the death certificate. State rules define "qualified individuals" as a physician or the chief medical officer of the institution where the death occurred. Other liberal states have passed similar laws in recent years, but do not have a criminal penalty tacked onto it. California's law allows for the update of gender on death certificates, but it does not specifically include criminal penalties for failing to record gender identity properly. If a death certificate is incorrectly issued, the family or legal representative can request an amended certificate. New York, Washington and Oregon also have these laws. "And the idea that it's under compulsion, that's unprecedented," Dr. Travis Morrell, a Colorado physician and fellow with the conservative medical coalition Do No Harm, told Fox News Digital in an interview. "Although the misdemeanor is maybe a new little feature that they've added, it's kind of situation normal here in Colorado." Morrell said he plans to speak at the bill's hearing next week. "This is very much in line with Colorado's overall war on reality and war on scientific truth," he said. "The idea that not only does a doctor or mortician have to lie, they're being tried with jail, that's insane. It's compelled speech." The bill comes on the heels of President Donald Trump declaring that there are only "two sexes" in an executive order last month, as well as a slew of other gender-related executive actions seeking to weed out "radical gender ideology." Fox News Digital has reached out to the legislators for comment but did not hear back by time of publication.
