The cow says moo

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today. If you’re looking for a used car you might want to consider an EV, Poison dudes make nice, and what happens when you talk nice to Rover 🐕‍🦺

Let’s get into it!

A comprehensive study on automobile costs found that over the course of ten years of ownership, used electric vehicles may be the most affordable option.

Conducted by the Responsible Battery Coalition, the State of Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, and the University of Michigan Electric Vehicle Center, the study uncovered a much steeper depreciation rate over the course of the first three years of EV ownership.

In other words with many EVs expected to hit the used car market in the coming years, those looking to buy a car would get the best bang for their buck on EVs that are more than three years old.

The depreciation rate tapers off considerably at the three year mark, according to the study, and ownership costs such as maintenance and fuel in the following seven years would run motorists less money than gas-powered cars in years three to ten.

According to the study’s researchers, the average savings for used EV owners over a ten year period would fall somewhere between US$6,700 and $13,000.

A study published recently in PLOS One suggests dogs are physically affected by the emotionally charged voices of humans.

An angry human voice and a happy human voice were both found to impact the balance of various dogs in a study that analyzed the responses of 23 pups.

According to lead researcher Nadja Affenzeller and her colleagues at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, dogs were placed on pressure-sensing platforms that could record the way a dog’s balance shifted when exposed to the sound of an angry voice or a happy voice.

57% of the dogs experienced a destabilizing effect when they heard a happy human voice, while 43% experienced a “freezing” effect—that typical stiffened-up, anticipatory reaction a dog often has before approaching a friendly human or exploding in a race to see who can get outside the fastest for a walk.

On the other hand, 30% of the dogs experienced major destabilizing effects when hearing an angry human voice, while 70%—frankly, cheekily—experienced no changes at all.

Affenzeller says the study results suggest more research is needed to identify what past experiences or genetic variations may cause dogs to react differently under these conditions.

After raising eyebrows a few weeks ago in a Page Six interview saying a Poison tour wouldn’t happen because Bret Michaels demanded six times more money than the rest of the band combined, drummer Rikki Rockett set the record straight in a new Eddie Trunk interview.

Speaking with Trunk, Rockett reaffirmed his claims about the financials, but admitted he’d only had that information relayed to him rather than communicated directly by Michaels.

He said he felt pressured to make the statement due to rumors he’d read that fans had dismissed the possibility of a 40th anniversary Look What The Cat Dragged In tour.

“‘Oh, Rikki has cancer again,’ or ‘C.C.’s off the wagon again,’ or all these different things. ‘Those guys don’t really wanna work and Bret wants to work.’ And none of those things are true,” he said. “We do wanna work; all of us do wanna work. C.C.’s sober. I don’t have cancer.”

He said there’d actually been no official discussion about fees, confirming what Bret said in response to the Page Six quote. He also said he’d spoken with Michaels the morning he was quoted, with the two discussing plans for next year rather than in 2026.

“[We’re aiming to] do something in ’27; that’s one of the things, main things, that Bret and I talked about…We wanna celebrate 40-plus years with the four of us with fans…It’s not gonna happen in ’26…but it is gonna happen.”

What’d you see in ’83?

Happy Monday Staker! We’re taking a look back to this week in 1983, with today’s trivia. Complete the game and earn a shot at a $25 eGift Card ;)

Winner will be notified on Tuesday afternoon. Keep an eye on your inbox and don’t forget to check your spam folder!*