TEL AVIV (Israel21C)–Israelis love their dogs. Nearly 400,000 pet dogs are listed on the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture’s National Dog Registry, and Tel Aviv has the largest number of registered dog owners in the country.
But Israelis aren’t content just to feed and shelter Lady, Lucky and Bonnie (the three most popular Israeli dog names). In the Israeli entrepreneurial spirit, they’re also working to keep canines everywhere happy, healthy and safe, using technology, innovation, and a great deal of imagination.
Whether it’s high-tech ways to get rid of doggie doo, unique training programs to turn pooches into Alzheimer guide dogs, new vaccines, or even special television channels for dogs, Israelis are leading the way to make life better for man’s best friend.
Here are some of ISRAEL21c’s favorite ways Israel loves dogs — things that will help you love your dog, too, no matter where you live.
1. DogTV
The made-in-Israel cable TV channel for dogs went live in Israel on January 15 through the YES network, following a highly successful six-month pilot in San Diego, California.
In February, according to DogTV CMO Zuri Guterman, “we will launch with a big platform on the US West Coast, and later in 2013 we plan to expand nationally with at least four or five platforms around the US. We signed several partnership deals with international distributors in Asia and South America, and hopefully this will mature during 2013 as well.”
DogTV, also available online, is a 24-hour digital channel scientifically programmed to keep pooches stimulated, happy and comforted when they’re home alone. Three different programs were developed with input from Tufts University animal behavior expert Prof. Nicholas Dodman, “Animal Planet” trainer Victoria Stilwell and animal rights activist Warren Eckstein.
There are 46 million households with dogs in the United States, encompassing a total of 78.2 million pet canines.
2. AshPoopie
Serial biotech inventor Prof. Oded Shoseyov of the Hebrew University came up with a novel pooper-scooper that gathers dog droppings and turns them into odorless, sterile powder within seconds after the dog-walker releases an activation capsule from a cartridge inside the unit.
Ramat Gan-based Paulee CleanTec, the company founded to develop this and related patented products for cats and even humans, is working with engineers to finalize the design ahead of a product launch in the United States. It will probably be marketed under a different name, but for now the working name remains AshPoopie.
At the low-tech end of the same topic, Israeli inventor Israel Solodoch is awaiting patent approval for his lightweight plastic harness that attaches to the back of a dog and collects the waste in a pouch so owners can dispose of it without scooping or bagging.
3. New vaccine against deadly dog disease
Canine monocytic ehrlichiosis (CMT) is the most common infectious dog disease, carried by ticks. It can even be fatal. Until now, there has been no cure for CMT. Recently, Dr. Shimon Harrus and Dr. Gad Baneth of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Koret School of Veterinary Medicine in Rehovot revealed that they have a formula for the world’s first vaccine for CMT.
Commercial partners are now being sought to further develop and market the drug. Canine vaccines are the fastest-growing segment within the global veterinary vaccine market, which in 2011 grossed $4.23 billion.
To read the rest of the list, please click here to be taken to the article on the Israel21c site.