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Camels Disqualified from Saudi Beauty Pageant Due to Botox Injections

posted by Fnord666 on Thursday January 25 2018, @01:06PM   
from the more-attractive-to-whom dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

A Dozen Camels Disqualified From Saudi Beauty Pageant Over Botox Injections

Some pageant contestants hit a hump in the road this week. That is, a camel beauty contest in Saudi Arabia disqualified a dozen camels for receiving Botox injections to make them more attractive.

Saudi media reported that a veterinarian was caught performing plastic surgery on the camels a few days before the pageant, according to UAE's The National. In addition to the injections, the clinic was surgically reducing the size of the animals' ears to make them appear more delicate.

"They use Botox for the lips, the nose, the upper lips, the lower lips and even the jaw," Ali Al Mazrouei, a regular at such festivals and the son of a prominent Emirati breeder, told the newspaper. "It makes the head more inflated so when the camel comes it's like, 'Oh look at how big that head is. It has big lips, a big nose.' "

Real money is at stake: About $57 million is awarded to winners of the contests and camel races, The National reports, with more than $31.8 million in prizes for just the pageants.

Also at The New York Times, Reuters, and Newsweek.

Check out the world's tallest camel

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Original Submission

• Re:Eye of the beholder Re:Eye of the beholder (Score: 1) by Sulla on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:53PM (2 children)

  by Sulla (5173) on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:53PM (#627853) Journal

  Such defensiveness, maybe you should get that Toxoplasma gondii checked.

  From wikipedia

  There are many instances where behavioural changes were reported in rodents with T. gondii. The changes seen were a reduction in their innate dislike of cats, which made it easier for cats to prey on the rodents. In an experiment conducted by Berdoy and colleagues, the infected rats showed preference for the cat odour area versus the area with the rabbit scent, therefore making it easier for the parasite to take its final step in its definitive feline host.[10] This is an example of the extended phenotype concept, that is, the idea that the behaviour of the infected animal changes in order to maximize survival of the genes that increase predation of the intermediate rodent host

  Looking at humans, studies using the Cattell’s 16 Personality Factor questionnaire found that infected men scored lower on Factor G (superego strength/rule consciousness) and higher on Factor L (vigilance) while the opposite pattern was observed for infected women.[83] This means that men were more likely to disregard rule and were more expedient, suspicious and jealous. On the other hand, women were more warm hearted, outgoing, conscientious and moralistic

  Correlation has also been observed between seroprevalence of T. gondii in humans and increased risk of traffic accidents. Infected subjects have a 2.65 times higher risk of getting into a traffic accident.[86] A similar study done in Turkey showed that there is a higher incidence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies among drivers who have been involved in traffic accidents.[87] Furthermore, this parasite has been associated with many neurological disorders such as schizophrenia. In a meta-analysis, 23 studies met inclusion criteria. The results demonstrate that the seroprevalence of antibodies to T. gondii in people with schizophrenia is significantly higher than in control populations. More recent studies found that suicide attempters has significantly higher IgG antibody levels to T. gondii than patients without a suicide attempt.[89] Infection was also shown to be associated with suicide in women over the age of 60.

  From the huffington post - https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/07/cats-facts-jerks_n_4520552.html [huffingtonpost.com]

  Those infected with Toxoplasma have even been known to develop a fondness for the smell of cat urine. That’s right: A study found that infected individuals found the smell of cat urine “pleasant.”

  In 1992, at an American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference in New Orleans, a forensic pathologist told a haunting story: He explained that when people who live alone with their pets die unexpectedly, their bodies are sometimes left in the house for several days. Without their owners around to fill their bowls, the pets often go unfed. In cases where these people owned dogs, their pets would usually go several days without resorting to eating the owner’s body. However, a cat would only wait a day or two. The phenomenon is called “postmortem predation.”

  Cats - Not once ever.

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachik%C5%8D [wikipedia.org]

  In 1924, Hidesaburō Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo, took Hachikō, a golden brown Akita, as a pet. Ueno would commute daily to work, and Hachikō would leave the house to greet him at the end of each day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued the daily routine until May 1925, when Ueno did not return. The professor had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, while he was giving a lecture, and died without ever returning to the train station in which Hachikō would wait. Each day, for the next nine years, nine months and fifteen days, Hachikō awaited Ueno's return, appearing precisely when the train was due at the station.

  You may like having an owner, I like having a best friend

  --
  Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam

  Parent

• Re:Eye of the beholder (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:03PM

  by Grishnakh (2831) on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:03PM (#627857)

  You like having a pet that attacks other animals? From the Wikipedia page for Akitas
  "Akitas tend to be less tolerant of dogs of the same sex. For this reason, Akitas, unless highly socialized, are not generally well-suited for off-leash dog parks." Also, "An akita fatally injured an Arizona woman who was trying to rehabilitate it."
  Sounds like an animal that has no business in an urban setting.

  As for parasites, that's something you have to worry about with any animal if you don't practice proper hygiene. Dogs have worms.

  Parent

• Re:Eye of the beholder (Score: 2) by Immerman on Friday January 26 2018, @01:07AM

  by Immerman (3985) on Friday January 26 2018, @01:07AM (#628010)

  Dogs aren't best friends, they're loyal, almost worshipful slaves. I loved dogs as a kid, but as I matured I found the relationship increasingly disturbing.

  Cats can certainly be the opposite, and most will indeed make you their servants if you let them - but nothing says you have to let them. Set down reasonable boundaries, stick to them, and you can have a rewarding relationship with an animal that genuinely enjoys your company (and/or the comforts you provide) rather than being genetically programmed to adore you no matter what.

  Parent