pet connection

When Rupert Murdoch announced that his company was purchasing the Wall Street Journal, people were wondering if the ownership change would be noticeable in the publication.

Well, if this story and video are any indication, the answer is a resounding YES!

It’s not that picking up after your dog isn’t a worthy idea — it’s practically imperative in public places. And there’s nothing wrong with having some friendly competition between professional poop-scooping services. The question I have is … what the heck is the Wall Street Journal doing covering this event? Not only that, but the once-prestigious business publication thought it was so important they sent not one, but TWO reporters to cover it.

The business angle of the story is loosely based on the fact that the pet products industry is booming, and professional pet services are as well. So instead of a doing a serious story about this industry, the WSJ chose to stoop to the level of poop-scooping. As I read this and watched the video, I had to keep checking the calendar to be certain it wasn’t April Fools Day.

Even the organizer of the competition, Mr. Tim Stone, owner of Scoop Masters USA Inc. of Santa Clarita, Calif., had a hard time keeping a straight face while explaining the competition.

It was interesting, though, to see that while most competitors used various sorts of poop-scooping tools in the competition, the overall champion collected more fake feces that anyone else by going back to the basics: A gloved hand and a bucket.

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Good stuff elsewhere (this is Gina, updating): Speaking of crap reported in the Wall Street Journal (but not crap reporting):

China’s drug-safety agency, responding to questions about oversight of an exported blood-thinning compound, said checks of pharmaceutical ingredients made in China are ultimately the responsibility of the countries that buy them.

Now that’s a confidence builder, eh? … Also … Itchmo’s Jennifer Moore scores an interview with Nathan Winograd. Want more? Remember we have full transcripts of Christie’s interviews with Nathan Winograd and Maddie’s Fund’s Richard Avanzino here.  Nice work, Itchmo crew! … Winograd himself continues to have lots to say (not much of it nice) on his blog, of course.  … German police dogs to start wearing shoes. … Some encouraging news on one of the nicest and most talented dogs of all time, the dancing golden Rookie, over on the Land of Pure Gold … Pet Connection BFF Dr. Patty Khuly has so many good posts it’s hard to pick one (or even two), so just go … and above all HUG YOUR PETS (and your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers — if allowed by office policy, heh — and even your mail-carrier. Hugs R Gud, for both hugger and huggee. I can tell you for a fact that they help with back pain.

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