Page 8 - IAV Digital Magazine #477

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Overweight
Chicken Gets Her
Own Wheelchair
Animal rescuers in Oklahoma are helping an over- weight chicken who can’t stand anymore by giv- ing her a cus- tomer wheelchair.
The Oliver and Friends Farm Rescue and Sanctuary also took in Milo, a puppy born with upside down paws. After a successful sur- gery, his story was shared around the world.
“We saved a puppy, and we were heroes,” said Jennie Hays, the rescue’s director. “We save a chicken and people think that maybe we’re nuts. But that’s OK.”
Hays and her team are now determined to save “Colorado,” a Cornish hen that was rescued from a defunct factory farm.
“There were, I think, 13,000 chickens that
needed to find a place to go,” she said.
With the help of Luvin Arms, another Colorado animal sanctuary, the rescue took in 25 very sick chickens.
Although it may be hard to believe by their appearance, Colorado and her chicken friends are only a few months old.
“It’s all about pro- duction, so the faster they grow and the bigger they grow, that makes more money,” Hays said.
Hays said she considered euthanasia since
Colorado’s legs could no longer support her. But her husband got on Google, saw a chicken in a wheelchair and started building.
“So, ever since she got the wheelchair, her sparkle’s back,” Hays said.
The rescue is now focused on keeping all the chickens at a healthy weight through exercise and diet.
“We honestly believe here at Oliver and Friends that every animal deserves the chance to live their best life as pain-free as pos- sible,” Hays said.
The Flying Saddle: Would You Give It A Try?
By Chris McGinnis, Tim Jue
PARIS — Airlines are squeezing as many passengers as they can onto their jets, but one seat manufactur- er believes its product can help carriers push capacity to the absolute limit. And it may help push down fares. Say goodbye to whatever person- al space you had left.
At this
week's Paris Air Show, lots of curious conven- tion-goers eager- ly wanted to try out Avio Interior's "SkyRider" sad-
dle-like airplane seat, but that's probably not the reception it would get if people found it installed on their next flight. See it in the slideshow at the top of this post.
SkyRider passen- gers would lean on a bicycle-seat type cushion that sits higher than your traditional airline seat. Legs sort of hang off the saddle, as they would if you were riding a horse. The seat back sits straight up, forcing good posture. A knee cut-out provides another precious few inches of
legroom.
You're neither sit- ting nor standing — you're sort of leaning.
The SkyRider seat has been around for nearly a decade and has undergone several improve- ments. The next generation of the product will come with some built-in recline — but not much. The seat maker is also pondering an under seat "shelf" where kids and shorter passen- gers can rest their feet so they're not dan- gling for the dura- tion of the flight.