Characteristics of Animals Entering an Animal Control or Humane Society Shelter in a Midwestern City

This study compared companion animals entering a humane society shelter with those entering an animal control shelter in the same city, and both to data on companion animals in the area. The study compared stray and relinquished animals. Adult dogs were more numerous than pups, particularly at the Animal Control facility, whereas cats and kittens entered the shelters in roughly equal proportions. Further, the study identified a very small proportion of both cats and dogs as having been altered. Labrador retrievers, German shepherds, chow chows, and rottweilers were the most common breeds at both shelters, and the last three appear to be overrepresented in comparison with their prevalence among owned dogs. Results are discussed in terms of their contribution to understanding local and regional differences in shelter populations and community use of two types of shelters, as well as in terms of the challenges facing Animal Control and Humane Society staff.     

Ultrastructural changes in the hepatocytes of green sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus Rafinesque, exposed to solutions of sodium arsenate

The rate and level of arsenic accumulation in the liver of green sunfish is greater than that in the other organs examined. The level to which arsenic is concentrated is positively associated with the concentration of arsenic, in solution in the immediate environment of a fish, the duration of exposure to arsenic, and water temperature, Since it was found that accumulation causes histopathological changes, a study was made to examine the appearance of and rate of change in hepatocyte ultrastructure morphology following exposure to arsenic concentrations of 0, 30, or 60 ppm and after exposure times of one, two, or three weeks at 20°C. As arsenic concentration and exposure time increased, electron dense particles were observed, and the numbers of intranuclear and cytoplasmic electron dense particles and aberrant mitochondria increased. Also, lysosomes and smooth endoplasmic reticulum increased in number, while the number of myelin figures decreased.