HEALTHCOL_HEP_CSidney Merry at a dog park near her home in Pasadena, TX Sept. 19, 2010. Merry spent 48 weeks undergoing therapy similar to chemotherapy for cancer patients to become cured of Hepatitis C. This is yet another stealth health problem or what some experts call "a postcard from the past." If you had sex at an early age, or with multiple partners, have body piercings or tattoos or had a blood transfusion before 1992, the CDC says you are at risk for Hepatitis C, which has no symptoms until it starts causing severe liver disease that is frequently fatal as much as 30 years after you were exposed. An estimated four million Americans have it, about 10,000 die annually from it and there are 36,000 new cases every year. Several new medications are just coming to market, and experts are warning anybody who falls into a high-risk category to get a blood test.. CREDIT: Eric Kayne For The Wall Street Journal

76650Rocky Spencer, carnivore specialist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, tracks kills sites in the Snoqaulmie Tree Farm Aug. 24, 2007. 082407

Boneyard DrinkeryApril 7, 2011 in Houston, TX at the Boneyard Drinkery. (Eric Kayne/For the Chronicle)

purina_lynn_murrayLynn Murray with her two dogs Aiden, a German Shepherd, and Bella Oct. 21, 2011 in Houston, TX. in Hermann Park.

purina_todays_breederKen Sauer and his dog “Karl” in Cypress, Texas.

K-9_rescueEvery week, Mary Tipton and her volunteers with K-9 Angels Rescue head to Barc and Caps to pull dogs out before they are euthanized if they think they are adoptable. Then they foster the dogs out to about 60 fosters in the Houston area. An adoption event took place at their temporary center at 2409 Montrose Feb. 7, 2015 in Houston.(Eric Kayne/For the Chronicle)

HSUS_CA_FireThe Humane Society of the United States' Animal Rescue Team operates a temporary emergency shelter to care for animals displaced by the wildfires, Friday, Nov. 23, 2018 in Richvale, California. The animals in our care are mostly owned animals whose owners need help caring for them until they get back on their feet and are able to reclaim them.

HSUS_CA_FireRick and Karen McGee reunite with their dogs Peeble, Gidget and Coco as the Humane Society of the United States' Animal Rescue Team operates a temporary emergency shelter to care for animals displaced by the wildfires, Saturday, Nov. 24, 2018 in Richvale, California. The animals in our care are mostly owned animals whose owners need help caring for them until they get back on their feet and are able to reclaim them.