By Daniel Schweimler
BBC News, Buenos Aires

An eight-year-old dog has touched the hearts of Argentines by saving the life of an abandoned baby, placing him safely alongside her own new puppies.

The country's media are calling him "the miracle baby".

He was born prematurely to a 14-year-old girl in a shanty town outside the capital, Buenos Aires.

She is said to have panicked and abandoned the boy in a field, surrounded by wooden boxes and rubbish.

Then along came La China, the dog which somehow picked up the baby and carried him 50m to place him alongside her own puppies.

The dog's owner heard the child crying and found him covered with a rag being safely guarded by the mama dog as one of her own pups.

The baby, weighing 4kg (8lb 13oz), had some slight injuries, but no bite marks. The owner called the police and the child is now being looked after by the authorities, while a decision is taken about his future.

The frightened mother appeared shortly after her baby was found.

The Argentine media has descended on the shanty town, talking of "the Argentine Romulus and Remus", the founders of Rome, abandoned as babies and rescued by a wolf, nearly 3,000 years ago.

 
 

The presidential nominees are all but chosen, but what have you heard so far from any candidate that addresses the welfare and treatment of animals? I haven’t heard a thing, nor have I found anything on the Web sites of either presumptive nominee.

That’s why I am asking you to join me by signing a petition to both Sens. McCain and Obama asking them to tell us where they stand on an issue that is important to me—and I believe to you as well—the fact that the Food and Drug Administration does not mandate the use of proven alternatives to animal testing by companies applying for approval for their products.

Please click here to sign the petition, and forward to as many friends and family as you can.

Best regards,

 

Neal Barnard, M.D.
PCRM President

 
 

     "The Beastie Biscuits were such a treat to unwrap! The cardboard box they were shipped in, the containers you packed them in, the wonderful shapes of the cookies themselves - it was all too wonderful! It felt like Christmas! And the card was so sweet. I loved that photo of Sophie with the squirrel! Even the sticker and I totally dig the magnets!!! Talk about a box full of bonus gifts!!! So much more than I expected. You are so special. Thank you. And Casey and Max thank you as well."

 

Beastie biscuits are wholesome organic treats that you give your beast friend and they know that you love them.