<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=20XD5Q_0wEaTpkN00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=20XD5Q_0wEaTpkN00" width="1600" height="1067" ><figcaption>Rosemarie Mosteller/Shutterstock</figcaption></figure>Help keep One Green Planet free and independent! Together we can ensure our platform remains a hub for empowering ideas committed to fighting for a sustainable, healthy, and compassionate world. Please support us in keeping our mission strong.Purina has teamed up with UC San Diego to fund an exciting new research initiative aimed at understanding how pets can communicate with humans using soundboard technology. With a $200,000 grant, the study will be conducted at UCSD’s Comparative Cognition Lab, where scientists will explore whether animals can use audio devices to express their needs and desires more effectively.This groundbreaking research seeks to look into the cognitive capabilities of pets by equipping them with soundboards containing simple words such as “play,” “outside,” “potty,” and “walk.” The goal is to see if pets can learn to use these buttons to communicate more clearly with their human companions.Annie Valuska, a principal scientist with Purina’s pet behavior team, is particularly enthusiastic about the potential of this research. She notes, “What excites me most about this research partnership is the opportunity to give pets an actual voice in our research for the first time.” Valuska believes that by collaborating with UCSD’s lab and involving pet owners who use similar soundboard devices at home, the study could unlock new ways to understand the needs of our pets.Federico Rossano, director of the UC San Diego Comparative Cognition Lab, emphasizes that this research has the potential to improve the well-being of pets on a broader scale. “This research can help us better understand our pets and what they want and need, which has the potential to improve their health and well-being in a variety of ways,” he says. He also highlights the importance of citizen science in this study, with pet owners across different locations contributing to the data collection.This collaboration comes on the heels of Purina’s ongoing interest in pet communication technology. In 2022, Purina’s Pet Care Innovation Prize Program awarded San Diego-based startup FluentPet with its grand prize for using cognitive science to enhance communication between pets and people.Please sign this petition to Demand Accountability for Man Who Left Dogs in Kennels for More Than Two Weeks!Easy Ways to Help the Planet:<ul><li>Eat Less Meat: Download Food Monster, the largest plant-based Recipe app on the App Store, to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy. You can also buy a hard or soft copy of our favorite vegan cookbooks.</li><li>Adopt-a-Pet: Visit WildWatchers, a watchdog platform specifically designed for animal, earth, and wildlife warriors to actively give back, rescue, and protect animals and the planet.</li><li>Reduce Your Fast Fashion Footprint: Take initiative by standing up against fast fashion Pollution and supporting sustainable and circular brands like Tiny Rescue that raise awareness around important issues through recycled zero-waste clothing designed to be returned and remade over and over again.</li><li>Support Independent Media: Being publicly funded gives us a greater chance to continue providing you with high-quality content. Please consider supporting us by donating!</li><li>Sign a Petition: Your voice matters! Help turn petitions into victories by signing the latest list of must-sign petitions to help people, animals, and the planet.</li><li>Stay Informed: Keep up with the latest news and important stories involving animals, the environment, sustainable living, food, health, and human interest topics by subscribing to our newsletter!</li><li>Do What You Can: Reduce waste, plant trees, eat local, travel responsibly, reuse stuff, say no to single-use plastics, recycle, vote smart, switch to cold water laundry, divest from fossil fuels, save water, shop wisely, Donate if you can, grow your food, volunteer, conserve energy, compost, and don’t forget about the microplastics and microbeads lurking in common household and personal care products!</li></ul></div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Purina is Helping Us Explore New Ways to Communicate with Our Animal Companions

Help keep One Green Planet free and independent! Together we can ensure our platform remains a hub for empowering ideas committed to fighting for a sustainable, healthy, and compassionate world. Please support us in keeping our mission strong. Purina has teamed up with UC San Diego to fund an exciting...