AP Poll: Half of pet owners give pets human names
By MEGAN K. SCOTT
June 23, 2009

NEW YORK (AP) -- So much for Rover and Fido. Almost half of American pet owners gave an animal human-like name, such as Jack or Sophie, according to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll of more than 1,000 pet owners released Tuesday.

Some of the more unusual names: Hollywood and Chichi Mittens, both cats; Vegas the Labrador Retriever; Jibber Jack the dog; the Beagle named Talulublue, and Louis XIV, the Yorkie.

In all, 49 percent of respondents, including 51 percent of dog owners and 50 percent of cat owners, had given at least one of their pets a human-like name.

The most popular? Max got more mentions than other names in the AP Poll, but not enough to give it any broad claim of popularity (less than 2 percent of all mentions). One database of pet names, maintained by Veterinary Pet Insurance, also finds that Max pops up more frequently than any other name.

There has been a move away from classic dog names such as Spot and Lassie, according to VPI spokesman Curtis Steinhoff. There were 13 Fidos in VPI's database in 2008, placing the name at No. 2,866. Rover was No. 2,534, behind names like Grendel, Ginger Snap and Munchie. Steinhoff said the trend reflects a stronger bond between people and their pets.

Pet owners who give their pets human names are more likely to see them as full members of the family, said Wayne Eldridge, veterinarian and author of "The Best Pet Name Book Ever!" But he cautions against reading too much into pet names. Many people choose names based on the animal's appearance, he said. One of the most unusual names in the VPI database was Snag L. Tooth for a cat with a "snaggle tooth" that protrudes.

And some people don't know why they chose a certain name for their pet. Like Beth Hart, 63, of Houston, who started naming her dogs Sassoon for the hair salon Vidal Sassoon. Her current Shih Tzu is Sassoon the Third. Her husband named their Lhaso Apso, "Dawg," their second dog with that name.
Daniel Rivera, 23, of Lansing, Mich. said his 4-year-old daughter named their pit bull lab mix Little Fella. He said he guesses the name fits since the dog has very short legs.

For some it's all about being creative. Susan Jacobs, 45, of Long Beach, Calif., named her black poodle Kingston for her best vacation ever. "It was beautiful, the people, the music, the warm weather," she said of her trip to Jamaica a decade ago. "Now whenever I say his name, I think of that time of in my life."

Pet hotels pick up clients, even as travel industry sags during recession
Paradise 4 Paws expands, even as human travel sags
By Ann Meyer | SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE
June 22, 2009

With the travel industry plummeting last year, entrepreneur Saq Nadeem couldn't have picked a worse time to open a luxury pet hotel.

Nadeem's 25,000-square-foot Paradise 4 Paws resort, complete with splashing pool, indoor grassy play area, flat-screen TVs, Webcam access and private rooms with attached patios opened near O'Hare International Airport in May 2008, just as the travel industry was descending rapidly due to the economy.

A year later, the firm has taken off and Nadeem has plans to open a second location near Midway Airport by the end of the year. He hopes to have facilities open in 10 markets within the next five years if he can find funding.

Nadeem sunk every penny of his savings into the business and raised funds from individual investors, including several professors at his alma mater, Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

The company's success is a credit to Nadeem's skillful execution, investors said.

"It's a unique idea, but it's also the implementation with loving care," that has made Paradise 4 Paws successful, said Kellogg dean emeritus Donald Jacobs, who has invested in the business.

While a master's student at Kellogg, Nadeem, who has a dog and two cats, came up with the concept of a luxury pet hotel located near the airport and open 24 hours a day to accommodate business travelers.
He took a consulting job after graduation, but his travel schedule made him realize the strength of his business plan. If he had a 7 a.m. flight Monday, he would have to drop off his dog at the kennel on Saturday, because it wasn't open Sunday or early enough Monday. If he got back late Thursday, he couldn't get his dog out until Friday, only to have to return it Saturday for the next week.

By building a pet resort near the airport and allowing 24-hour drop-off and pickup, Nadeem figured he could save pet owners time, money and guilt.

At $47 a night, dogs get a private room, plenty of playtime and round-the-clock care. The facility also is open for doggy day care any time of day or night, for $25 to $32 per day. With many customers watching their budget, Nadeem has created promotions, such as discounts for longer reservations, additional pets or frequent users. Still, few people balk at the price, he said.

Bob Vetere, president of the American Pet Products Association, isn't surprised. He knows of one Virginia pet hotel charging $75 a night. "If you're in the right spot where it can be supported, a lot of pet hotels are springing up and doing well," he said. "Pet owners are making decisions for their pets based on human feelings and emotions." People treat their pets like children. That's one reason the pet industry is proving to be resilient during the recession, Vetere said.

Pet spending in 2008 hit $43.2 billion, up from $41.2 billion the prior year. And the trade association is projecting a 5 percent increase in spending this year to $45.4 billion. Pet services, including boarding and day care, is projected to climb 6 percent to $3.4 billion this year, adding credence to the premise that pet owners are more likely to cut back on spending for themselves before their pets, Vetere said.

Retail giant PetSmart Inc., based in Phoenix, also has noticed the trend. It now has 152 PetsHotel locations, which offer suites with TVs and personal care, said spokeswoman Jessica Douglas. The company opened 45 PetsHotels last year and plans to open 14 this year, including two in Illinois, she said. "We see the services in our PetsHotels continuing to be strong during peak travel times and holiday weekends," she said.

Even with growing competition, Paradise 4 Paws seems well-positioned due to its emphasis on convenience, investors said. Located near O'Hare, it offers extended parking and will get pet owners to and from the airport at any hour after they drop off their pets.

"The idea of putting it adjacent to where people need to go when they travel is unique," said Julie Hennessy, clinical professor of marketing at Kellogg, who has invested in the business.

What's more, few boarding facilities offer the space that Paradise 4 Paws does, said veterinarian Rae Ann Van Pelt, co-owner of Family Pet Animal Hospital in Chicago, who boards her own dogs there when she travels so they get more exercise.

The artificial-turf play area, which was built with a drainage system to allow for regular cleaning, sold Van Pelt on the place. She also appreciates that the animals are kept in rooms, not cages.
"It's less stressful for them," she said.

Standard suites for dogs are 4 feet by 7 feet with an additional 4-by-4 patio, but larger drywalled rooms are popular with families boarding several dogs together, Nadeem said.

Photo: Saq Nadeem, founder of Paradise 4 Paws, an upscale resort for dogs and cats in Schiller Park. (Photo for the Tribune by Yvette Marie Dostatni / June 22, 2009)

Little Dane puts prince in doghouse
Matthew Campbell
June 21, 2009

SPARE a thought for Prince Henrik, the dog-loving husband of the Queen of Denmark. His 75th birthday celebration earlier this month was overshadowed by a public furore over Evita, his beloved dachshund, after she bit a royal guardsman on the leg.

Calls by MPs for the dog to be put down appear to have stirred Henrik’s unhappiness over a lack of respect for him as the foreign-born husband of the queen.

Opinion polls show his wife, Queen Margrethe, 69, to be one of the most popular heads of the Danish monarchy. Nobody would have the nerve to suggest putting any of her pets to sleep.

For Henrik, a Frenchman, life is more complicated, particularly since the coming of age of Prince Frederik, his son and the heir to the throne. Henrik has lamented his own relegation to “third rank” after years of being “number two”.

Denmark’s recent referendum vote in favour of granting male and female heirs equality was seized on by the prince to press his own case for more equality with Margrethe, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth.

“I hope men will enjoy the same equality as women - there is a man married to the queen,” he said when asked about the referendum, in which an overwhelming majority voted in favour of changing the law.

Concerns about the status of Henrik have prompted extraordinary scenes at the family’s rococo palace of Amalienborg in Copenhagen.

In 2002, when Margrethe cracked a rib and Prince Frederik took her place at a function, Henrik retreated in a huff to Château de Caïx, the vineyard near Cahors in France that is, beside his dogs, his pride and joy.

The 11-year-old Evita had attacked the guard at the royal family’s castle in Fredensborg.

“If my dog had been so aggressive I’d have had it put down,” said Bjarne Laustsen, an opposition MP. Another MP suggested Evita be muzzled. It is not known what Henrik thinks of that idea, but the queen can only hope he will not withdraw to his vineyard.

BO WOW FOR PIC OF LITTER
HOT DOG!
By CHARLES HURT
June 20, 2009

WASHINGTON -- First dog Bo got the presidential treatment yesterday with the unveiling of his very own official White House portrait.

The shaggy-haired Portuguese water dog -- whose approval ratings have remained sky-high since he moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in April -- is shown preening on the South Lawn in the fetching pic.

It appears to be the first time an official first-pet portrait has been taken by the White House. In addition to the new pic, dog lovers can also get their Bo fix with new details about life in the biggest doghouse in the land.

According to a baseball-style card released by the White House, Bo's hobbies include playing on the lawn and going on walks with his owners, and he loves running.

His goal as First Dog is to make friends with "foreign DOGnataries" and his favorite food is tomatoes.

ASPCA Assiistant Director Joe Pentangelo sais that Dogs nibbling on tomatoes is fine but pet owners must make sure that their canines donm't eat the tomato's stem or leavesbecause they are harmful to the animals.

Perhaps most surprisingly, Bo reveals that even though he's a Portuguese Water Dog, a canine bred to work alongside fishermen, he doesn't know how to swim. Bo shouldn't let his landlubber ways get him down though, said Stu Freeman, president of the Water Dog Club of America. "You have to introduce them to it. You can't say, hey, there's water. Go jump in it," he said. We do it with our puppies. Some swim naturally. Some go down like a rock."

SICKOS SHOOT JACK RUSSELL TO MAKE BELT
'I SAW MY PUPPY'S SKIN HANGING THERE'
By TODD VENEZIA
June 20, 2009

A 23-year-old woman has been accused of being a real-life Cruella de Vil -- for allegedly killing a helpless puppy so she could skin it and make a belt for herself.

Krystal Lynn Lewis of Muskogee, Okla., allegedly launched her evil plot earlier this week when she

Krystal Llynn Lewis	Michael Mullins

had a male friend pump a clip full of bullets into little Joplin, a Jack Russell terrier with white fur and a black spot that she got as a gift from her lesbian ex-lover, cops said. She allegedly skinned the animal and started tanning its hide -- but was caught before she could complete her cruel couture.

When confronted about the gruesome crime by the woman who gave her the dog, Lewis allegedly admitted that she was as heartless as the infamous villain from Disney's "101 Dalmatians."

"When have you known me to have a heart?" she told her stunned former gal pal Jessica Nichols, according to the Muskogee Phoenix newspaper.

Nichols said Joplin was born on April 3, and she gave the pup to Lewis because she had to move and could no longer take care of him. She said she later asked for the dog back, but Lewis wouldn't return him.

Sometime this week, Lewis allegedly had friend Austin Michael Mullins, 26, shoot little Joplin 10 times with a .22-caliber pistol, authorities said. Lewis then told Nichols what she had done. But the ex-lover told the paper that she refused to believe the woman could really be that cruel -- until she actually saw a photo of the carcass in the paper.

"I still wasn't sure she had done it until I opened the paper and saw my puppy's skin hanging there," said Nichols.

Authorities found the dog's white and black hide pinned to a board and left to dry inside Lewis' apartment. The horrifying sight disgusted the officers who found the dog.

"We're talking about a 6- or 7-week-old defenseless puppy," said sheriff's deputy George Roberson. "That's pretty heinous and sadistic."

Both Lewis and Mullins allegedly admitted to killing the puppy and skinning it.

The were both slapped with felony animal-cruelty charges and held on $25,000 bail. A judge ordered a mental competency hearing for both of them.

The pair of accused puppy skinners now face up to five years in jail and a $500 fine.

"Why did she have to do what she did?" Nichols told the paper. "I just can't believe she didn't give the puppy back to me," Nichols said.

A Furry Mercy: Momofuku Donates Bones
By Frank Bruni
June 19, 2009

Eat a bowl of ramen—and make a dog smile.

That’s an odd notion, yes, but it would be an apt slogan for Momofuku Noodle Bar , should the restaurant want to use it. (My gift! Enjoy! Or maybe not . . .) It captures the gist of a new and unusual (at least to my knowledge and quick reporting) but abundantly clever effort by Momofuku to help homeless dogs.

The restaurant is taking the leftover pork bones from its daily production of gallon upon gallon of ramen broth and giving them to New York City animal shelters.

Momofuku workers started doing this about a month ago and are slowly expanding their effort, though there’s been some red tape to cut through, according to the Momofuku staffer most centrally involved in the project, Christina Tosi (right). She said some animal shelters resisted overtures, while others had to pause to research whether any city codes or ordinances discouraged such donations.

Ms. Tosi is the pastry chef for many Momofukus — Ko ,Ssam Bar ,Milk Bar — but that’s not the credential most relevant here. She’s also a dog lover, as she explained during a recent telephone conversation. Although she lives in a one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment with only a small yard out back, Ms. Tosi, 27, has three dogs totaling nearly 200 pounds: Bernadette, a 110-pound, 8-year-old Rottweiler/German shepherd mix; Thurgood, a 65-pound, two-and-a-half year old mix of hound dog and pit bull; and Beans, a 20-pound recent arrival from Puerto Rico whose exact age and pedigree she doesn’t know. “He looks like a mix of a bat and a dog,” she said.

About two months ago, Ms. Tosi explained, an animal rights advocate dropped a flier off at Momofuku Ko, saying that if the restaurant didn’t stop serving foie gras, protests could be in the offing. She said that while the flier didn’t prompt a menu change, it did prompt a little soul searching.

“We started brainstorming as a group: how do we show people that we really are as thoughtful as possible?” she said. She said that the restaurant workers wondered in particular if they could do something related to animal welfare. With input from — and the help of — several key outsiders, they started thinking about kitchen leftovers, the kind that hadn’t gone out on any plate and made contact with customers, the kind the restaurant could know were clean and safe and such.

And she said that everyone realized: “We have bones. We love dogs.” It’s such an obvious idea, it just takes a little legwork,” Ms. Tosi added.

Over the past month, Momofuku bones began to go to the Brooklyn Animal Rescue Coalition and the Williamsburg Animal Clinic , she said. Momofuku bones are just now starting to go as well to the Animal Haven in SoHo.

Tiffany Lacey, the executive director of the Animal Haven, told me on the phone late Thursday afternoon that in her five years at the rescue center, she’d never been approached by a restaurant or heard about restaurants giving bones to shelters. “It was something totally new,” she said, going on to marvel over how many bones the Momofuku restaurants in aggregate have to give—and how many other donate-able bones must be out there.

A worker at the Brooklyn Animal Rescue Coalition told me that Momofuku’s effort, while rare, isn’t unprecedented. He said that at various points in the past, the Brooklyn shelter had received bones from Peter Luger, the legendary steakhouse.

Ms. Tosi said that the bones that Momofuku restaurants are rounding up and sending out are, in addition to pork bones from Noodle Bar, beef bones that come off the short ribs cooked at Momofuku Ko and lamb bones from Ssam Bar.

She said that the restaurants are giving away “only bones that are left from cooking,” not bones that come back from tables in the restaurant and have been out of the restaurant staff’s eyesight and control.

Photo (above right): The pastry chef Christina Tosi has led the effort to bring Momofuku’s leftover bones to animal shelters.
Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times

Pele: A dog who loves a good read
July 19, 2009

Seven-year-old Kevin Clarkson wasn’t ready to leave the Kanab City Library just yet, no matter how much his friend tried to persuade him.

He was having too good a time. He’d spent the past hour learning dog safety tips, coloring and reading a book about guinea pigs to Pele, a golden retriever and certified service dog. “He’s a good listener,” Clarkson said.

After reading to Pele, Clarkson chose a small stuffed zebra from a bin of stuffed animals, named him Zak, and signed an adoption certificate promising to read to him every day.

Clarkson was one of almost 40 children who showed up at the library June 17 to take part in “I Read to Animals,” a program of Best Friends Animal Society’s Humane Education department. One by one, Clarkson and the other children took turns reading to Pele from a book they’d chosen from a large bin. Pele, comfortably lying on a blanket with a stuffed toy duck in his mouth, seemed to hang on their every word. Pele didn’t critique them, didn’t correct them when they stumbled on a word—he just enjoyed being read to.

Reading to dogs
The “I Read to Animals” program drew quite a crowd. “This is an incredible turnout,” said Dr. Sandy Passmore, manager of Best Friends Humane Education department. “Some adults came without children just to see this.”

Kanab library director, Dicki Robinson, agreed. “The turnout was good,” Robinson said. “It’s a good program.”

The program opened with Passmore and the Humane Education department’s Jennifer Andrews giving the children dog safety tips with the help of a stuffed sheepdog named Hal. The children learned that they should always ask before petting a dog and that they should never pull a dog’s ears or try to take his toy away. Then, they introduced Pele.

“Pele is a very special dog and he’s our guest today,” Passmore said.

While waiting their turns to read to Pele, the children made their own storybooks complete with stories and illustrations. Seven-year-old Emmorie Decker made a colorful drawing of a duck. Macie Stewart, also 7, drew turtles in her book before reading “Me and My Dog” to Pele.

Nine-year-old McLean Ray read “Mr. Putter and Tabby Stir the Soup” to Pele before “adopting” his stuffed animal, a dog he named “Black.”

Pele, the assistance dog
Pele is the assistance dog of Kelly McMahon of Las Vegas, Nevada, a longtime fan of Best Friends. Pele helps the wheelchair-bound McMahon with the chores of everyday life. He turns on light switches, opens and closes doors and even fetches the remote control. “They work from the heart,” McMahon said.

Humane Education
Pele is McMahon’s second service dog. Her first, a golden retriever named Frisco, crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. Both dogs came from a Georgia-based organization called Canine Assistants. “They don’t charge the recipient for training, not even for airfare,” McMahon said. And the dogs stay with their people after retiring. It was McMahon’s first trip to Best Friends.

“I was like a little kid going to Disneyland,” McMahon said.

Joining Pele and McMahon at the library was Best Friends education ambassador Jill Matsuda, also of Las Vegas. “I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for kids to get experience in reading,” Matsuda said. “I can’t think of a better way to encourage kids to read.”

Kim Dalton, a second-grade teacher from northern California who’s spending her summer working at Best Friends, agreed. “It empowers them to read and feel comfortable about reading out loud,” Dalton said.

Best Friends is launching the “I Read to Animals” program in a number of target cities, including Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and Chicago. The next stop is in July in Henderson, Nevada, where children will read to some rescued baby tortoises. The Pound Puppies company generously donated stuffed animals for the program and the KISH Foundation provided a $1,000 grant to help buy the life-sized stuffed golden retrievers which Best Friends will donate to libraries and schools. Canine Assistants donated a T-shirt and collar with a tag for the stuffed golden retriever at the Kanab library.

Read more about educational opportunities at Best Friends.
Read more about Canine Assistants.

9/11 Search Dog Cloned for Former Canadian Police Officer
17 June 2009

LOS ANGELES (AP)  -- Scientists in California say they have cloned a dog that helped with search-and-rescue after the New York terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Five German shepherd puppies cloned from a dog named Trakr have been delivered to owner James Symington, a former police officer in Halifax, Nova Scotia, who now lives in Los Angeles.

Before Trakr died in April at age 16, Symington entered a contest sponsored by the California company BioArts International that offered to clone a pet dog for free.

Symington took Trakr to New York after the World Trade Center collapsed and said Trakr helped find one woman who was still alive.

Symington was briefly in hot water for working at the Trade Center while he was supposed to be on medical leave.

Cats outsmarted in psychologist's test
Strings experiment shows limits of feline intelligence
James Meikle
June 17 2009

It will cause outrage among some cat owners, but research suggests the pets are not as clever as some humans think they are or at least think in a way we have yet to fathom.

Psychology lecturer Britta Osthaus says cats do not understand cause-and-effect connections between objects. She tested the thought processes of 15 of them by attaching fish and biscuit treats to one end of a piece of string, placing them under a plastic screen to make them unreachable and then seeing if the cats could work out that pulling on the other end of the string would pull the treat closer.

They were tested in three ways, using a single baited string, two parallel strings where only one was baited, and two crossed strings where only one was baited.

The single string test proved no problem, but unlike Dogs (which Osthaus has previously tested) no cat consistently chose correctly between two parallel strings. With two crossed strings, one cat always made the wrong choice and others succeeded no more than might be expected by chance.

Osthaus, of Canterbury Christ Church University, Kent, said: "This finding is somehow surprising as cats regularly use their paws and claws to pull things towards them during play and hunting. They performed even worse than Dogs, which can at least solve the parallel string task."

The study helped show the limits of feline intelligence, said Osthaus, who conducted the research while a teaching fellow at Exeter University. "If we know their limits we won't expect too much of them, which in turn is important for their welfare. I am not trying to say cats are stupid, just they are different. We are so anthropomorphic we can't see the world through their eyes."

There is just one consolation:

Humans don't understand string theory either.

Unleash planner inside before bringing pet on plane
CABIN OR CARGO? | Learn rules of your specific carrier
BY SAMANTHA BOMKAMP
June 7, 2009

NEW YORK -- We dress them up. We feed them gourmet foods. We treat them like family. So when we have to fly, our pets are often a first-class priority.

Bringing animals on flights has become more common in recent years, but some airlines now have strict regulations -- and even stricter prices -- to pack a pooch or carry a cat.

A half-million pets fly each year, according to statistics
compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation. (AP)

click √ on image for full article

Alabama Dog Fighting Bust
45 Dogs Seized, Remains Found
June 5, 2009

On Monday, June 1, a dog fighting operation in Randolph County, AL, was raided by the state’s 5th Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force. The ASPCA dispatched forensic veterinarian Dr. Melinda Merck and our Mobile Animal Crime Scene Investigation Unit to collect evidence in the investigation and aid in the prosecution of the case.

Dr. Merck examined 45 dogs who were discovered tied to heavy chains and living in deplorable conditions on two properties. She also examined partially buried skeletal remains of a dog found on site. In addition, controlled substances, illicit drugs and other paraphernalia related to dog fighting have been collected into evidence.

“These dogs definitely suffered abuse and inhumane treatment at the hands of dog fighters,” says Dr. Merck, Senior Director of Veterinary Forensics for the ASPCA. “So far, we’ve seen that one is unable to walk, another who is limping, and many who are injured, some severely.”

As a result of ASPCA participation, two suspects have been formally charged. William Alsabrook was charged with two counts of possession of dogs for fighting, and Artis Kyle was charged with one count of possession of dogs for fighting, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, one count of possession of drug paraphernalia and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

View video footage of the scene.

Learn more about the brutal world of dog fighting and what you can do to help end this cruel “sport.”

ASPCA Rescues Over 300 Animals from deplorable conditions!
June 2, 2009

On Tuesday morning, May 19, the ASPCA was on hand in Cazenovia, WI, to assist in the raid of an animal sanctuary, the Thyme and Sage Ranch. The ASPCA Forensic Cruelty Investigation and Disaster Response teams, as well as our Mobile Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) Unit, are currently working alongside the Richland County Sheriff’s Department to collect evidence and evaluate the animals found at the site.

UPDATE
Approximately 374 animals were discovered during the execution of the search warrant, led by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. Most of the animals were housed in deplorable conditions . On May 21, 2009, Jennifer Petkus, the founder of the Thyme and Sage Ranch was charged with 11 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty and 5 forfeitures. More than 270 animals have been relinquished by Ms. Petkus to animal welfare groups throughout Wisconsin and will eventually be made available for adoption. The ASPCA continues to collect evidence and actively aid the prosecution in building the criminal case.

DOG-O-MATIC A REAL SPOT CLEANER
By BRUCE GOLDING
May 26, 2009

There are dog walkers, and doggy day care. And now -- canine fluff 'n' fold.

A French entrepreneur has invented an automatic dog-washing machine that promises to clean and dry dirty pooches in 30 minutes or less.

Romain Jarry, 31, insists his Dog-o-Matic is humane, but this photo of it at work in his hometown of Saint-Max suggests something more akin to canine waterboarding.

A wash costs about $20 to $48, depending on the size of your pet.

After drawing raves in Saint-Max, Jarry hopes to expand into England.

"The dogs don't seem to get bored," he told Britain's Daily Mail newspaper. "They just sit there, and they come out clean."

Photo: Gamma/ZUMA Press

The smelly dog stays -- the anchorwoman goes
SCOOP & HOWL - commentary

We’ve been through Co-op Hell ourselves and know what it’s like.
We could not remain in the noxious environs of 15 East 10th Street
with this cadre of megalomaniacs and gossips lording over us, with their prying and their abuse.
I rather live with animals than in such "company".
We bought our Dogs a house on an acre of wooded land, The DOGHOUSE,
where they are happy and safe, where our Dogs can be Dogs.

It’s THEIR house and we serve at THEIR pleasure.

We lost an apartment and found a HOME.

Other than bugs and bears, we suffer no pests...
...and the shoe WILL drop..., on OUR timetable.
~ RC.

UPDATE:

DOG STAYS
BY ODOR OF THE COURT
Janon Fisher
May 24, 2009

A Housing Court judge has curbed SOLEDAD ["Loneliness" in Spanish ] O'BRIEN's attempt to evict a family from her swanky Chelsea co-op building because their mutt is messy.

O'Brien, a CNN correspondent, was secretary of the West 26th Street co-op board when it claimed in a 20-page affidavit that Steven Lyon's Neapolitan Mastiff, Ugo, violated the terms of their co-op lease because of his "size, slobbering, shedding, drooling, gassiness and odors."

She signed a notice ending the Lyons family's lease and began eviction proceedings in January. Manhattan Housing Court Judge Arlene Hahn dismissed the case Monday, ruling the dog's owners were not properly served in the suit.

"The board is trying to evict a family, and it can't even serve the initial papers correctly," said Michael Schwartz, the lawyer for the family. "Maybe the board should be put on a leash."

After The Post broke the story in January, the backlash against the TV newswoman was so strong, she was forced to resign from the board.

"After discussions with neighbors and others, [my husband] and I have become increasingly concerned about my personal safety," O'Brien wrote in a Feb. 16 e-mail to the co-op.

Lyons said neighbors welcomed him after he bought his $3 million apartment in 2003.

But that changed in March 2007, when he obtained Ugo, bred from an award-winning bloodline, in Turin, Italy. By that summer, a new board had begun complaining, despite a co-op agreement allowing pets.

Lyons said he began taking Ugo to a grooming salon three times a month and spritzing him with an orange-scented deodorizer. He also offered to use the freight elevator to walk the dog, but the board was set on eviction.

O'Brien did not respond to requests for comment.
Jerry Montag, the co-op's lawyer, declined to comment.

OXYMORON

"Beauty Fades, Dumb Is Forever." ~ Judge Judy Soledad O’Brien 142 W 26th St New York, NY 10001 Contact CNN >>> http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form1.html?35

SCOOP & HOWL - from the archives

January 22, 2009 CNN's Soledad O'Brien vs.Ugo the Dog CAT WOMAN SOLEDAD O'BRIEN TRYING TO EVICT MASTIFF View FOXnews INTERVIEW. Go to > > Pooch Problem? FOX & FRIENDS Ugo's Mom UGO ATTORNEY STEVEN LYONS Ugo's Dad WRITE >>> Soledad O’Brien 142 W 26th St New York, NY 10001 Contact CNN >>> http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form1.html?35

Wisconsin Animal Sanctuary Raid: ASPCA Rescues Over 300 Animals from "Trusted Sanctuary"!
May 22, 2009

On Tuesday morning, May 19, the ASPCA was on hand in Cazenovia, WI, to assist in the raid of an animal sanctuary, the Thyme and Sage Ranch. The ASPCA Forensic Cruelty Investigation and Disaster Response teams, as well as our Mobile Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) Unit, are currently working alongside the Richland County Sheriff's Department to collect evidence and evaluate the animals found at the site.

"We are just starting to scratch the surface of what appears to be a horrendous situation," says ASPCA Disaster Response Team member Sandy Monterose.

Since 2007, the ranch has held the animal control contract for Richland County, WI, and acted as the county's animal shelter. The ASPCA became involved in the raid at the request of the Richland County District Attorney and Dane County Humane Society, which began investigating the Thyme and Sage Ranch because of public complaints.

As of now, animals continue to be examined both on the scene and in the ASPCA Mobile
CSI Unit.

Dog taped to fridge adopted

A 2-year-old Shiba Inu that was taped upside-down to a refrigerator in a dispute involving a couple in Boulder, Colo., has been adopted by another family.

The dog was placed with the Boulder Valley Humane Society after police discovered him April 14.
He's now been adopted by a couple who own two other shiba inus.

Twenty-year-old Abby Toll was charged with felony aggravated cruelty to animals and drug possession.
Police say Toll told them she did it because she was mad at her boyfriend for refusing to get rid of the pet.

A judge is allowing Toll to live in Chicago this summer with her mother -- who also has a dog.

Family angry after police shoot dog
By Becky Schlikerman, Staff writer
May 18, 2009

Behind Amber Singleton's Chicago Heights home there's now a neat, yet ornate, gravesite topped with a headstone bearing a paw print, a heart and the words "Beloved friend." Behind that, a flowered wind chime tinkles in the breeze. Inside the home, the wood floor in the dining room is pocked with bullet holes.

The floor was marred May 1 when Chicago Heights police shot and killed Singleton's dog after police responded to a domestic disturbance at the home. Police shot the 84-pound pit bull eight times when it escaped from its cage and charged towards them, police said. But Singleton thinks they used excessive force and killed "Sin," short for Cinnamon, simply because he was a large pit bull.

"No sooner did he stop, they shot him," said the 27-year-old office assistant as she wore a memorial T-shirt with her dog's picture and the dates of his birth and death. "It's like losing a child."

But the officers did the right thing because they were in danger of being attacked, Chicago Heights Deputy Chief Michael Camilli said. He said it's not unusual for the police to shoot a dog if they feel threatened.

In this case, the incident began early May 1 when Singleton called police about 4 a.m. because her live-in-boyfriend, Robert Smith, was arguing and fighting with a relative inside the house in the 1600 block of Hanover Street.

After police arrived at the home, Sin, one of the couple's three pit bulls, got out of his cage and charged the officers, police said. Two officers fired one shot each at the dog and another fired six shots, police said. Camilli said those eight shots were necessary.

Singleton said she wishes she hadn't called the police that morning. "I will never call them," she said. "I don't trust them." And she said it speaks to the bigger issue of police relations in the city's crime-ridden East Side. "This is why people in the neighborhood we live in don't call (police)."

Camilli, though, stood by his officer's decisions.

Chicago police dog found 4 days later
Bear disappeared after spooked by thunder
By Andrew L. Wang | Tribune reporter
May 18, 2009

A thunderbolt clapped Wednesday night, and Bear the police dog, apparently spooked by the noise, took off, leaping over a fence and into the night. He wasn't seen again until Sunday morning, when a man walking to a hardware store spotted him near a cemetery on the border between Evergreen Park and Chicago.

Bear looked up and cocked his head quizzically, Howard Overton said. "I said, 'That looks like the dog on the news.' "

Overton flagged down a nearby police car, and a few minutes later, the officer tracked Bear down. A scan of the microchip in his neck confirmed his identity.Related links

Firefighters rescue 2 men, 3 puppies By midday, the 2 1⁄2 -year-old German shepherd was reunited with his handler, Canine Unit Officer Rick King. At a news conference Sunday afternoon, Bear, who panted happily as he soaked up the attention from reporters, appeared to have suffered few effects from his days away from home.

"He's a little shaggy and a little dirty," King said. "But otherwise, he seems fine."

King took Bear out into the backyard of his home in the 3800 block of West 109th Street about 10:30 p.m. during a break in Wednesday's thunderstorms to allow the dog to relieve himself. Then, rolling thunder startled him, and he suddenly headed for the corner of the yard, where a neighbor's 5-foot wooden fence meets King's fence; climbed it; and disappeared.

King said he had slept about five hours since Bear vanished and had followed up calls of found dogs from as far north as Montrose Avenue. "It's like your child. Animal lovers will know what I'm talking about," King said.

King said the dog was most likely hunting small animals in the wooded areas of the Far Southwest Side.
"He's a little hunter," he said.

Photo: Bear the Chicago Police Dog is reunited with his partner Rick King at Area 8 Police Headquarters in Chicago, (David Banks, Chicago Tribune)

New Chapter in Dog Tale
William J. Gorta
May 14, 2009

A Queens judge granted visitation rights to a woman fighting to regain custody of her beloved Yorkie.

Ravely Arias left Panda, the tug-of-love terrier, with her friend, Leandro Rohde, in January. She says it was temporary; he claims it was permanent.

Justice Valery Brathwaite Nelson said Arias could have unsupervised visits with the Dog for 13 hours each weekend until the case is decided.

"We're very excited," said Arias' lawyer, Lary Hutcher, who called Panda "the most litigated little animal in the history of the world."

A SPECIAL CHANCE FOR A HAPPY ENDING!
From Missouri to New York with love …
May 11, 2009.

In a Mother’s Day weekend to remember, Best Friends rescued 215 dogs from Missouri puppy mills and transported them to New York for a new “leash” on life.

These dogs, discarded from mills, include older dogs who were no longer profitable breeders. And they include puppies with health issues who didn’t quite “make the grade” in the eyes of the breeder. If they hadn’t been rescued, these sweeties would most likely have been killed, or sold at auction for as little as 25 cents.

Partnering with National Mill Dog Rescue, we took Cocker Spaniels, Chihuahuas, mini Pinchers, Jack Russell terriers and poodle mixes – all in high demand in the New York/ New Jersey area – to North Shore Animal League America and other local partners who will find just the right family for each of them.

And, of course, a few of the dogs who showed signs of more severe trauma are happy to be coming back with the Best Friends crew to the quiet beauty of the Sanctuary in Utah to receive some much-needed TLC.

The rescue and transport of the dogs is part of Best Friends' Puppies Aren't Products national campaign. We’re also targeting the retail end of commercial breeding through peaceful, educational demonstrations at puppy stores.
If more people knew where the puppies in the pet stores and on the Internet came from – born to over bred and neglected mama and papa dogs like many of the ones saved this weekend – more people would choose to adopt instead of supporting puppy mills through buying … one giant leap towards No More Homeless Pets!

The driving force behind all of this is the love and support from our members around the country. And as this campaign ramps up around the nation, we will need you more than ever! Please consider a special gift to help us end puppy mills.

ASPCA Experts Help Secure Puppy Mill Conviction
May 8, 2009.

This past March, Dr. Melinda Merck, ASPCA Senior Director of Veterinary Forensics, helped secure an animal cruelty conviction by testifying in the trial of Kathy Bauck, operator of Pick of the Litter Kennels. The New York Mills, MN, breeder sells animals to pet stores and online—and has at times housed more than 1,300 dogs of at least 32 different breeds. Bauck was arrested in August 2008 and charged with several counts of felony animal cruelty, torture and practicing veterinary medicine without a license. On March 24, after a 41⁄2-day trial and six hours of deliberation, a jury cleared Bauck of felony charges but found her guilty of four misdemeanors (one count of animal cruelty and three counts of torture).

In early 2008, a freelance animal cruelty investigator, Jason Smith, began working at Pick of the Litter to gather evidence against Bauck. Smith submitted testimony and videos of alleged abuse to Otter Tail County sheriff’s detectives last May. The videos included footage of injured, ill and emaciated dogs, as well as of Bauck dunking dogs in vats of insecticide. “The veterinarian working with the prosecution contacted me about one month before the trial started,” recalls Dr. Merck. “I was asked by the prosecutor to review all the video and case files and provide expert opinion.”

With a history of complaints and citations against her—including a 2006 cease-and-desist order from the Minnesota Board of Veterinary Medicine for performing surgery on animals without a veterinary license—Bauck is well known to ASPCA investigators. “Kathy Bauck has been a chronic problem,” states Bob Baker, ASPCA Anti-Cruelty Initiatives Investigator. “I visited her facility in 1998 and reported her to the USDA for violations of the Animal Welfare Act—but as far as I know, there was no follow-up on the part of USDA.”

At her sentencing hearing last Friday, May 1, Bauck was sentenced to 90 days in jail, with 20 days to be served right away. The other 70 days were “stayed,” meaning they will be served only if she violates her probation. The judge also sentenced Bauck to 80 hours of community service and ruled that if she plans to continue participating in operating the kennel, she must allow unscheduled inspections—and that inspectors must be allowed entry into ALL areas.

Family Dog Alerts Staten Island Couple To
'Ninja' Burglar
Wednesday, 06 May 2009

NEW YORK (1010 WINS)  -- An Emerson Hill couple was alerted to a burglar by their pint-sized pooch earlier this week, but not before the "ninja" made off with the goods. The couple says the 7-year-old Yorkshire Terrier began growling and barking Monday night, which tipped them off to the burglar's presence.

Russ Irady came face-to-face with the "ninja burglar" in his hallway.

"I see this guy dressed as a ninja...black mask on with only his eyes showing...all black outfit...he comes running down our hallway," Irady said.

Irady said the burglar had no hesitation as he gracefully jumped from the second floor balcony to the foyer below with the stolen goods -- a box of expensive watches. "It was amazing...he just jumped...flew in the air...did a little roll at the end," Irady said.

Rumors circulated in 2007 and 2008 about another "ninja burglar" who terrorized Staten Island's Todt Hill section. Most of those cases were the work of a ring of Albanian suspects, who have since been deported, according to authorities.

Photo: "Snickers" the Irady family dog who alerted them to the "ninja burglar" / Steve Sandberg

Weird but True
LEONARD GREENE
May 4, 2009

She treated him like a dog, so he stabbed her pooch.

Officials said an Australian man was jealous of the attention his wife gave to their dog, and threw a knife at the tail-wagging troublemaker. After the man confessed, an Australian magistrate sentenced him to community service and anger management counseling.

The dog was euthanized.

HOWL ABOUT THAT! WOLVES OFF ENDANGERED LIST
May 4, 2009

BILLINGS, Mont. -- Wolves in parts of the Northern Rockies and the Great Lakes region come off the endangered species list today, opening them to public hunts in some states for the first time in decades.
Federal officials say the population of gray wolves in those areas has recovered and is large enough to survive on its own. The animals were listed as endangered in 1974, after they had been wiped out in the lower 48 states by hunting and government-sponsored poisoning.

"We've exceeded our recovery goals for nine consecutive years, and we fully expect those trends will continue," said Seth Willey, regional recovery coordinator for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Denver.

With the delisting, state wildlife agencies will have full control over the animals. States such as Idaho and Montana plan to resume hunting the animals this fall, but no hunting has been proposed in the Great Lakes region.

Ranchers and livestock groups, particularly in the Rockies, have pushed to strip the endangered status in hopes that hunting will control the wolf population.

But environmental and animal-rights groups have said they planned to sue over the delisting, claiming that there are still not enough wolves to guarantee their survival.

Wolf Pup	Our Baby Frida

Big Dogs Get Fewer Spots in the City’s Public Housing
By MANNY FERNANDEZ
May 3, 2009

For the record, Dobie is perfectly welcome to make his home in one of New York City’s 178,000 public housing apartments, as he has for years. But others of his kind are not.

Dobie is a miniature Doberman pinscher, all 10 pounds of him. Margarita Rivera, 61, took Dobie on a walk Saturday morning around the La Guardia Houses on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The day before, a new pet policy took effect for public housing residents: full-breed or mixed-breed pit bulls, Rottweilers and Doberman pinschers are banned, as are any dogs expected to weigh more than 25 pounds when fully grown. The ban applies to new pets only.

Tenants who currently own a pit bull, Rottweiler or Doberman pinscher, or a dog that is more than 25 pounds, are allowed to keep the pet as long as they had previously registered it with the city’s public housing agency, the New York City Housing Authority.

Ms. Rivera does not mind the ban. She registered Dobie, her daughter’s dog, with the management about eight years ago, and said the dog had never bitten any of her neighbors, though such a bite would be relatively harmless, since Dobie had most of his teeth removed when he was neutered. “I think it’s great,” she said of the ban. “In my building there’s a pit bull. He looks at Dobie like he wants to eat him.”

The new policy has stirred passions among dog owners and others at some of the city’s 340 public housing complexes.

Some residents say the ban is a kind of dog profiling that unfairly singles out three entire breeds and treats owners of those dogs as potential problem tenants. Others support the ban, saying that other tenants fail to control big dogs both inside and outside the buildings and encourage aggressive behavior in their pets.

In numerous public housing developments where a gang culture predominates, an aggressive dog can be a kind of status symbol, particularly among youths who view their pet as a means of protection or intimidation.

The three banned species are responsible for a number of vicious attacks around the country and the New York region. Last month, a 5-year-old Dutchess County boy was attacked by a pit bull and required 1,000 stitches. Last year, a police officer shot and killed a stray pit bull in the Bronx after it attacked the officer and a pregnant woman selling newspapers. And in June 1997 at a Brooklyn public housing complex, two pit bulls mauled a 12-year-old girl, who survived the attack.

At the La Guardia Houses on Saturday, Lilliana Madonia, 17, said Coco, a pit bull and German shepherd mix, looks more intimidating than she really is. Coco is a service dog for Ms. Madonia’s mother, who is in a wheelchair. “She’s the most loving thing,” said Ms. Madonia, who was taking Coco on her morning walk. “Sometimes she thinks she’s a cat.” A man tried to walk by Ms. Madonia at about that moment, and Coco barked. Then she led Ms. Madonia on a chase — not after the man, but after a squirrel off in the distance.

Ms. Madonia said the Housing Authority was unfairly taking aim at pit bulls like Coco.
“They shouldn’t ban them,” she said. “Dogs will be dogs. It depends on how they’re brought up and trained.”

Howard Marder, a spokesman for the Housing Authority, said in a statement that the policy was modified “to address the concerns repeatedly raised by our residents and resident leadership” and does not affect “those individuals who have demonstrated responsible ownership of dogs and who have registered their dogs.” Mr. Marder said the decision to ban the three breeds was based on the agency’s research and experience, as well as information gathered from other public housing authorities around the country about their pet policies. Relations between the agency and dogs have long been difficult.

When the Harlem River Houses opened in 1937, dogs were barred from the premises. By the 1960s, tenants in all public housing complexes were prohibited from owning dogs or cats, except guide dogs for the blind, because of concerns about cleanliness, noise and the danger of dog bites. “It’s not that we aren’t sympathetic,” Gerald J. Carey, the agency’s general manager, told a reporter for The New York Times in 1964, after an effort to rescind the pet ban had failed in Albany. “But we have to consider the safety and comfort of the majority of our tenants, instead of the wishes of a few.”

In 1994, managers responding to complaints about aggressive dogs mailed notices to all tenants urging them to get rid of their dogs, or risk losing the roof over their heads. Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, the proud owner of Goalie, a yellow Labrador, took exception, and the notices were withdrawn.

It was not until 1998 that Congress gave public housing residents nationwide a federal right to own pets.
Since 2002, the Housing Authority has allowed tenants to have either a cat or a dog as long the pet is registered with the agency.

Photo: Lilliana Madonia with Coco, a pit bull and German shepherd mix, at the La Guardia Houses.
Credit: Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times

Pit bulls, Dobermans, Rottweilers banned from
public housing
BY Oren Yaniv and Lisa L. Colangelo
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Wednesday, April 29th 2009

Pit bulls are now Public Enemy No.1 at city housing projects.

Starting Friday, the powerful popular breed that's sometimes trained to be violent is banned from all apartments run by the city Housing Authority.

"Finally someone is realizing that these potentially dangerous animals have no place in a confined urban space," said City Councilman Peter Vallone (D-Queens), who has unsuccessfully lobbied state legislators to ban the dogs.

The Housing Authority regulations also bar residents from owning any dog over 25 pounds. The current policy allows dogs that weigh up to 40 pounds. In addition, owning Rottweilers and Doberman pinschers also is banned under the new rules.

Housing Authority residents who already have the breeds will be able to keep them as long as they register by Friday.

City housing officials said residents urged them to ban the dogs that they claim are too vicious and threatening. But dog lovers who have pit bulls and the other targeted pooches are upset.

"He's my baby," Jose Hernandez, 32, who lives in the Lillian Wald Houses on the lower East Side, said of his 6-year-old pit bull, Chopper. "These are not bad dogs."

"It all depends on how you teach a dog," said Anthony Nieves, 37, as he walked his 1-year-old pit bull, Storm, near his home at the Wald Houses. "My dog is like a puppy," Nieves said.

The ASPCA and other groups opposed to the ban have been working with the city housing agency to ease some of the restrictions. "We are opposed to breed-specific bans," said Michelle Villagomez, ASPCA senior manager of advocacy and campaigns. "And we find the weight restriction is too oppressive. So many breeds are over 25 pounds. You can get an overweight beagle that weighs more than 25 pounds."

Photo: Anthony Nieves, 37, calls his pit bull, Storm, 'my baby' and pans the New York City Housing Authority's rule banning large and menacing dog breeds.
Credit: Theodorakis/News

New pets-only airline aims to make the skies friendlier, comfier for animal passengers
New airline tries to make skies friendlier for furry travelers
By William Hageman | Tribune Reporter
April 23, 2009

Few tasks are more stressful for a pet owner than having to pack up little Spanky or Fluffy and put the furry family member on a plane, knowing the animal is destined to spend the next few hours in a cargo hold.

Dan Wiesel and Alysa Binder faced that a few years ago when they and their Jack Russell terrier, Zoe, moved from San Francisco to Florida. Zoe survived the experience -- she's 17 and going strong -- but it got Wiesel and Binder thinking.

The result: Pet Airways, an airline designed just for pets.

It launches July 14, with flights to and from five cities (Chicago included), all at an introductory fee of $149 each way. Beechwood aircraft have been remodeled to hold 50 pet carriers each, and the animals will fly in relative comfort. Chicago flights will use Chicago Executive Airport (formerly Palwaukee Municipal) in Wheeling.

"If you own a pet, you get it," Binder says. "They're in the main cabin, not cargo. There is always an attendant with them. ... There's fresh circulated air, like any passenger would have. It's well-lit. It's a whole different service than cargo."

Pet Airways -- at petairways.com -- even provides pet carriers.

Binder says the announcement of the launch has brought a flood of reservations and even briefly crashed the company's server earlier this week.

"And we're flying at night, when skies are calmer and the animals are calmer," she says. "Everything we're doing, we're doing around the pets."

Click √ to watch commercial

Giving up pets:
Animals' fortunes fall in tough economy
More owners blame finances for giving up animals to shelters
By Sara Olkon
Tribune reporter
April 21 2009

When people showed up to give away their dogs and cats at a local shelter last year,
the main reasons they cited were "no time" and accidental pet pregnancies. This
year, the No. 1 reason is a lot simpler: no money.

Bruiser, whose owner put in foster care at PAWS Chicago,
waits to be placed with a temporary family.
Photo: Charles Cherney/Chicago Tribune
Click √on image for full article

MEET THE BARKERS
NYC'S NUMBER 1 NOISE OFFENDERS
By JAMES FANELLI and SARAH RYLEY
April 19, 2009

Meet the worst dogs in New York: a Jack Russell terrier named Cavo and his three Pomeranian cohorts, Hunter, Peanut and Casey. To their Upper East Side owner, they are man's best friends, precious pooches who can do no wrong. To their neighbors, they are the hounds of hell whose barks drive people bonkers.

The clamorous canines make so much noise in their back yard that their owner, Rob Ryder, according to his account, has become the most-penalized pet owner under the city's updated noise code. Neighbors complained so much that a city inspector slapped Ryder with a $70 violation in March 2008. He said that he has been fined two more times and that a judge has threatened to take away his four fidos if he gets one more.

"In the spring and the summer, there are people who stick their heads out the window screaming at them, 'Shut your dogs up!' " said Alan Yesner, a financial analyst and a neighbor of the four furballs. "You're never free of these yapping dogs."

The tail-wagging tormenters live with Ryder and his family in the first two floors of a posh four-story brownstone on East 72nd Street. Ryder lets them out in the brownstone's back yard starting at 7 a.m. or earlier each day, according to neighbors.

That is when a "chorus of dogs erupts," said Yesner, who lives in an apartment building that abuts the yard. He and other residents in his building have lodged complaints through the city's 311 hot line, have written letters to Ryder and have even spoken to Ryder's wife. But despite the complaints and fines, the unapologetic dog owner just shrugs it off.

"Give me a break! Everybody in this city owns dogs," Ryder, 38, told The Post as his dogs barked continuously. "This is Manhattan. Move to Minnesota if you want quietness."

Loud pets became a punishable violation in July 2007. Under the city's updated noise code, animals are not allowed to make unreasonable noise for 10 minutes or longer between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. The time shortens to five minutes between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Since the rule was instated, 13,557 dog-noise complaints have been lodged through 311, and 236 complaints have been filed for other loud pets, the Department of Environmental Protection says. City records show 71 violations -- 18 in Manhattan alone -- have been handed out to owners of loud animals for a total of $7,650 in fines. According to the DEP, pet owners are given warnings and chances to correct the problem before fines are issued. Fines have ranged from $70 to $525.

Photo: RUFF & TOUGH: Rob Ryder, who owns three Pomeranians and a terrier, says neighbors annoyed by the dogs' barks should "move to Minnesota" if they want quiet.

SCOOP & HOWL - Letter to the Editors of The NYPost
Re MEET THE BARKERS, April 19, 2009

Our problem was the co-op board (an oxymoron, if there ever was one, for that private fiefdom so often populated by know-nothings, do-nothings and be-nothings who can’t seem to aspire to anything higher than minding other people’s business) in Manhattan, where we lived.

Our solution was the opposite to what Rob Ryder recommends: we bought our Dogs (two Schnauzers and a Beagle) a house in an acre of wooded land in “the upper elevations of the Hudson Valley, north and west of the City”. We dubbed it The DOGHOUSE.

What started as a weekend escape from the abuses and harassment of the co-op board soon became home. The weekends just got longer, then permanent.

We also found a practical solution to the barking problem: citronella bark collars, which you can get online from websites such as petguys.com and petedge.com for about $75, at NYC pet supply stores for around $125. Spread the word.

I’m at that place in the woods. Everything I need is here with me: wife, dogs, studio and, once I hit “Send”, it's back to Bach, Brahms, Beethoven, Britten, Borodin, Bruckner, Bruch, Berlioz, Bizet, Bernstein, Bellini, Boccherini; Bob, Beer, Bourbon and Book. No boobtube. No babies, no brats. No bosses, no busybodies, no bark collars, no bunglers, no boards; no burglars, no bums. Other than bugs, beavers and bears, NO PESTS. My Dogs are Dogs and I paint Dogs.
What more could I want?

ST. BERNARD DE CLAIRVAUX: “Who loves me loves my Dog.”

May the Dogs be with you!

ROBERT COANE
Scoop & Howl
From-The-DOGHOUSE.com

The Bo Peep Show
By Sheryl Gay Stolberg
April 15, 2009

He may be the leader of the free world, but he still has to walk the dog.

“We all have to take turns walking the dog,’’ President Obama declared Tuesday, as Bo Obama , the newest – and only four-legged — occupant of the White House, made his much-anticipated Washington debut. Then again, the president had his two young daughters with him. What else could any self-respecting father and new dog owner say? “We’re trying to be responsible dog owners,’’ he later confessed.

In this city of jaded journalists, about 100 members of the Fourth Estate turned out to watch the Obamas — President Barack, First Lady Michelle and First Daughters Malia and Sasha – scamper around the South Lawn with Bo and entertain dog-related questions.

This we now know as a result:
Bo has not yet had any accidents in the presidential mansion. “We’re trying to keep her from having accidents,’’ Mrs. Obama said, mistakenly using the female pronoun even though Bo is a boy. (No offense intended, Bo, but with your curly black hair, white front paws and carefully-groomed tail, you do kind of look like a girl.)

Bo, a gift to the Obamas from Senator Edward M. Kennedy Jr., is a Portuguese Water Dog . The president allowed that Porties, as they are called, like to eat tomatoes.

“Michelle’s garden is in danger,’’ Mr. Obama declared. Not to worry, Mrs. Obama said – the garden doesn’t have any tomatoes.

Here, Sasha Obama, 7, weighed in, changing the subject. “He doesn’t know how to swim!’’ she exclaimed. (Water dog or not, Bo will apparently require swimming lessons.)

Bo joins a long line of presidential pooches , the most recent being Barney, President George W. Bush’s dog, who once bit a reporter. (For the record, some say Barney was provoked.) Barney was allowed in the Oval Office. Will Bo have similar privileges?

“Of course,’’ Mr. Obama replied. Will he sleep in a bed? “Not in my bed,’’ the president said.

Photo: Doug Mils/The New York Times

"When a shepherd goes to kill a Wolf, and takes his Dog along to see the sport, he should take care to avoid mistakes.  The Dog has certain relationships to the Wolf the shepherd may have forgotten.”
ROBERT M. PIRSIG
American writer and philosopher
(b.1928)

Editorial Observer
Science, Mythology, Hatred, and the Fate of the Gray Wolf
By VERLYN KLINKENBORG
April 13, 2009

For the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to find a way to accept the decision by Ken Salazar, the new secretary of the interior, to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list in Idaho and Montana.

It was a relief to have a sensible conversation with newly appointed interior officials after eight years of hearing almost nothing but distortion and duplicity from the top figures in the department. It was also a relief to hear them say, in describing the way they reached this decision, that they were simply following the guidance of career scientists. And yet I still can’t accept it.

The reintroduction of wolves in the Rocky Mountain West has been an overwhelming success. It began with 65 wolves in 1995 and 1996, and the population has now reached approximately 1,600 across the region, with about a hundred breeding pairs. The numerical standards of the original recovery plan have been more than met, and there is new evidence, according to Interior Department scientists, that enough intermingling is taking place among separate populations to ensure a healthy genetic diversity.

Unfortunately, very little has been done to change the behavior of humans — who drove wolves to the brink of extinction.

The way the wolf has been delisted, this time, is a reminder that what we are really doing when we protect endangered and threatened species is managing our own species.

Under the proposed delisting for Idaho and Montana (wolves in Wyoming will remain on the endangered list), the wolf will be protected by state management plans that more or less acknowledge the wolf’s right to exist.

C. L. Otter, the Republican governor of Idaho, has pledged “to continue our policy of responsibly managing wolves for a viable, sustainable population that can coexist with our ungulate herds, our livestock and our people.” The very first step in “responsibly managing” wolves will be a wolf hunt. And Mr. Otter’s idea of coexistence between wolves and humans doesn’t bear examination. He has said he’d be the first in line for a wolf hunting license, and he has also said he favors reducing the wolf population in Idaho to 100, way below the current level of more than 800 and well below the number required by the state management plan.

When it comes to wolves, federal law has been protecting what is, fundamentally, a mythic species. And when it ceases protecting them, they will be exposed to the worst aspects of that myth — a deep, ancestral hostility to wolves based on ... nothing.

Wolves do not kill humans. They are responsible for a minuscule number of livestock deaths in the West — less than domestic dogs — and there are federal and state programs specifically designed to compensate ranchers who lose stock to wolves.

To hunters, killing wolves is both an end in itself and a way of reducing their predation on elk and deer. And it is more than that. Killing a wolf is also a way of participating in the myth of the West. That myth nearly drove the species to extinction.

I would be happy to see wolves taken off the endangered species list if they were not hunted. It is that simple. Their reintroduction has been an unequivocal boon for the ecosystem — the return of a top predator to a system that is biologically unbalanced without it. There is more than enough game for wolves and humans to share. There are adequate protections for ranchers. There is every good reason to try genuine coexistence.

No one shoots a wolf to keep from going hungry.

So far the political pressure in the West is too great to allow this. And that, in the end, is the trouble with Mr. Salazar’s decision. It may indeed have been based on the science, and on the numbers called for in the recovery plan. But that plan surely needs revaluation, and in any case the administration clearly was not eager to defend it. The announcement was made on a Friday (like so many Bush-era decisions) and without much warning to environmental groups. Several of those groups have now filed suit to block that delisting.

Mr. Salazar — a Coloradan and a rancher — now faces the very difficult task of making certain that Idaho and Montana adhere to the letter of their management plans.

As for the wolves, they have been brought back only to be killed again.

Its Closest Relatives

A victory for canine victims of violence
By Sandy Miller
April 13, 2009

Their loyal nature, their eagerness to please, are the very qualities that make pit bulls easy prey for dog fighters. And now, Best Friends Animal Society and other animal welfare groups have joined forces to help future canine victims of this organized crime.

On April 8, representatives from Best Friends, Bad Rap, ASPCA, National Animal Control Association, Maddie’s Fund, Nevada Humane Society, Spartanburg Humane Society and the Humane Society of the United States met in Las Vegas to address the matter of dogs seized as a result of cruelty investigations into animal fighting rings. The meeting was in response to concerns expressed by Best Friends last December regarding HSUS’ policies related to animals confiscated in dog fighting busts. The meeting was in the planning stages before Superior Court Judge Ed Wilson Jr. ruled that 145 pit bulls, including approximately 70 puppies, confiscated from Wildside Kennels in Wilkes County, North Carolina, would be euthanized without evaluation to determine suitability for placement. Some very positive news came out of that meeting room in Las Vegas. The HSUS now has a new policy that recommends that all dogs be professionally evaluated, according to agreed upon standards, to determine whether they are suitable candidates for adoption. The new policy states that dogs deemed suitable for placement should be offered as appropriate to adopters or to approved rescue organizations. The HSUS plans to update its law enforcement training manual and other materials to reflect the change in policy.

Now, the future victims of dog fighting will get a second chance at life.

“Last year, these dogs would have been summarily killed,” said Julie Castle, director of Best Friends Community Programs and Services. “We had only one way to go with this policy, as killing was the only option being recommended. We’re very pleased, but recognize we have a lot of details to hammer out.”
Donna Reynolds, executive director of the San Francisco-based Bad Rap, said it took a lot of energy and many lives to get to this historic moment in the breed’s history.

“The HSUS decision to support the groups that assist the victims of cruelty raids is a long time coming,” Reynolds said. “But the battle isn't over by any means. We have a lot of work to do to create realistic, widely accepted policies that will benefit the thousands of yearly victims, and many challenges to having those protocols implemented. The meeting in Las Vegas was a big first step, and the dogs are counting on us to stay on course for the long haul.”

And stay the course is just what all the organizations, including the HSUS, intend to do. They agreed to form a working group to develop future protocols for cooperation in addressing needs of dogs seized in raids, such as how to assist with the housing of fighting dogs, how to conduct professional evaluations and how to screen potential adopters.

“This is a very positive first step in addressing the collective concerns related to dogs rescued from dog fighting/cruelty cases,” said Best Friends founder Francis Battista.

Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive officer of the HSUS, agreed. “I have long felt that pit bulls are the most victimized of dogs, and this new collaboration is another piece of our effort to turn that around,” Pacelle said.

The groups agreed that all dogs should be treated as individuals, and that they’re the true victims of the organized crime of dog fighting.

Ed Fritz, a campaign specialist who heads up “Pit Bulls: Saving America’s Dog,” one of four Best Friends campaigns aimed at reaching the goal of No More Homeless Pets, called the HSUS’ new policy and the recent collaboration “a great step forward.”

“This change in policy removes a large obstacle to reforming the image of these dogs, which in turn will save lives and bring us closer to no more homeless pets,” Fritz said. “It won’t happen overnight, but it is a significant step.”

Photo by Terrah Johnson

WELCOME, BO[BAMA]!!!

Hey, Bo Puppy! Obamas Finally Choose
By R.M. Schneiderman
April 12, 2009

President Obama might have initially expressed interest in selecting a mutt to serve as the nation’s first dog, but when it came down to it, a puppy with Kennedy connections reportedly got the nod. As reported in The Washington Post on Sunday, the Portuguese water dog was a gift from Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who owns two of the breed.

Mr. Obama’s daughters reportedly named the puppy Bo:
Malia and Sasha chose the name, because their cousins have a cat named Bo and because first lady Michelle Obama’s father was nicknamed Diddley, a source said. (Get it? Bo … Diddley?)
The Post described the dog as “a handsome little guy” with “tuxedo-black fur … a white chest, white paws and a rakish white goatee.”

Senator Kennedy offered the 6-month-old canine to the Obama girls after its previous family could not take care of it, according to an article in The Los Angeles Times .

As is the case with many secrets in Washington, the Obamas were unable to conceal Bo’s identity until the official announcement, which was scheduled for Tuesday. And now the buzz on this seemingly slow news day is who first broke the news about Bo.

A Web site called firstdogcharlie.com posted a picture of a Portuguese water dog on Saturday morning, saying its original name was Charlie, The Post wrote. TMZ.com linked to the picture, and eventually The Post received its tip from an anonymous source inside the White House. Soon thereafter, the blogosphere was abuzz with clever (and not-so-clever ) plays on words.

Before deciding to give the dog a home, the Obamas arranged a meeting between Bo and the girls, The Post reported:
Bo charmed the first family, a source who was there said. He sat when the girls sat, stood when the girls stood. He made no toileting errors and did not gnaw on the furniture. Bo has, after all, been receiving lessons in good behavior from the Kennedys’ dog trainers. These lessons have been taking place at a secret, undisclosed location outside Washington.

Bo, though he was raised elsewhere, already has a keen sense of who’s in charge inside the Beltway. When the president walked across the room during the visit, Bo followed obediently.

In November, Mr. Obama announced that he and his wife, Michelle , would purchase a puppy for their daughters.

In January, the president said that he had narrowed his choices down to a Portuguese water dog and a Labradoodle, in part because Malia is allergic to dogs. Portuguese water dogs, or porties, as they are often called, “are considered to be hypoallergenic because they are single-coated,” according to the Web site of The Portuguese Water Dog Club of America : “Hypoallergenic dog breeds (single-coated or hairless) will still produce allergens, but because of their coat type will typically produce less than others.”

An earlier version of this post erroneously said the puppy was previously owned by Senator Edward M. Kennedy. The Portuguese water dog was a gift from the Massachusetts Democrat, who owns two of the breed, though he did not own Bo.

Photos: Pete Souza/The White House, via Reuters

Manhattan Man Arrested for Beating Dog and Girlfriend
April 10, 2009

Early last week, ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Special Agent Debbie Koch arrested Manhattan resident Richard Smith, 24, on multiple charges related to domestic abuse. Smith allegedly assaulted his 21-year-old girlfriend and severely beat a two-year-old Shiba Inu belonging to the girlfriend’s sister. Multiple attacks on the dog allegedly occurred in the last few months.

“As we have seen in the past, the brutality associated with domestic violence all too often affects other members of the household, including pets,” says Joe Pentangelo, Assistant Director, ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement.

The dog, named Michigan, was brought to the ASPCA’s Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital (BMAH) on March 25 in a state of distress. ASPCA veterinarians discovered that she had sustained 12 fractured ribs and suffered from trauma. Michigan is currently recovering at BMAH and will be reunited with her owner.

Smith was charged with one count of aggravated animal cruelty and assault. If convicted, he faces up to two years in jail and a $2,000 fine.

If you know of an animal who is being hurt, please report it—those who assault animals often abuse the people in their lives, too. To report animal cruelty in New York City, contact the ASPCA’s anonymous tip line at (877) THE-ASPCA. Visit our Report Cruelty FAQ to learn how to report cruelty elsewhere.

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Seder Fare for Pets That Keep Kosher
By ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN
April 9, 2009

WHEN Robert Uri Heller, a psychologist and professor at the Adler School of Professional Psychology, leads a Passover Seder in Chicago on Saturday, some of the rituals symbolizing Jews’ exodus from Egypt may be lost on the yarmulke-wearing guests. Those guests will, after all, be dogs.

The Seder, which will be conducted at a pet store, Wigglyville, is being sponsored by Evanger’s Dog and Cat Food Company to promote its kosher varieties, which have been endorsed by the Chicago Rabbinical Council.

Dr. Heller, who keeps kosher and feeds Evanger’s to Lilly, his wheaten terrier, has led Seders for dogs at pet stores in the past, “much to the chagrin” of many at his synagogue, he says.

“They say, ‘How could you do it for dogs, isn’t it sacrilegious?’  ” Dr. Heller said. “And my answer is, ‘We’re having fun.’ ”

• • •

Alice Lerman, who owns Barker & Meowsky, a Chicago pet store billed as “a paw firm,” said that Evanger’s is also favored by non-Jews “who perceive kosher as being another group of checkpoints, so that the protein sources are maybe better checked than for nonkosher food.”

But there is a certain kitsch factor, too.

Ms. Lerman, who grew up in an Orthodox home and keeps kosher still, does a brisk business in quadruped Judaica in her store. She sells yarmulkes and tallits (prayer shawls) for dogs as well as plush toys by a company called Chewish Pets, including a bagel and a fish embroidered with the word “lox.” The store supplies such items, and Evanger’s food, to increasingly popular Bark Mitzvahs, a cheeky canine rite of passage where, as documented in videos of the celebrations posted on YouTube , some guests utter a congratulatory “Muzzle Tov.”

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Photo: Joshua Lott/Chicago Tribune
Ella, a year-old beagle, savored a kosher dog food dinner at a Passover Seder for dogs in 2005 at Soggy Paws, a dog wash in Chicago. Kosher pet food sales rise in the week before the holiday.

A TINY PUP IN A CUP!
Rita Delfiner
April 7, 2009

An itsy-bitsy British pup who is only one-third the size of a guinea pig may have a chance to collar the title of world's smallest dog.

The 2-week-old Chihuahua-Jack Russell mix named Tom Thumb can sit in a teacup, weighs about 3 ounces and is less than 4 inches from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail, according to London's Daily Mail.

Owner Archie Thomson is convinced Tom is not likely to grow much more. "He's perfectly proportioned, but absolutely miniscule," said Thomson, of West Dunbartonshire in Scotland. "Judging by the size of his paws and head, I'd be surprised if he grew much bigger than an inch or two more."

• • •

Weird but True
By ANDY GELLER
April 7, 2009

It's a bad thing when a Dog turns up his nose at your paintings, especially if it's a drug sniffing Dog.

A man was taken into custody in Arizona after customs agents found 90 pounds of pot hidden in the frames of six large paintings in hsi vehicle.

Agents picked t5he vehicle for a routine inspection at the border crossing in Douglas, Arizona, and their Doog showed an immediate interest in the paintings. An X-ray revealed pot in the frames.

Dog overboard found four months later
Mon Apr 6, 2009

SYDNEY (AFP) – A pet dog that fell overboard in rough seas off Australia has been reunited with its owners after surviving alone on an island for four months, reports said.

Sophie Tucker , apparently named after a late US entertainer, fell overboard as Jan Griffith and her family sailed through choppy waters off the northeast Queensland coast in November. The dog was believed to have drowned and Griffith said the family was devastated.

But out of sight of the family, Sophie Tucker was swimming doggedly and finally made it to St Bees Island, five nautical miles away, and began the sort of life popularised by the TV reality show "Survivor."

She was returned to her family last week when Griffith contacted rangers who had captured a dog that had been living off feral goats on the largely uninhabited island, in the faint hope it might be their long-lost pet. When the Griffiths met the rangers' boat bringing the dog to the mainland they found that it was indeed Sophie Tucker on board. "We called the dog and she started whimpering and banging the cage and they let her out and she just about flattened us," Griffith told the national AAP news agency. "She wriggled around like a mad thing."

Griffith said that when the dog was first spotted on the island she had been in poor condition. "And then all of a sudden she started to look good and it was when the rangers had found baby goat carcasses so she'd started eating baby goats," she said.

Sophie Tucker, a member of the Australian cattle dog breed , had been quick to readjust to the comforts of home, complete with airconditioning, Griffiths said.

"She surprised us all. She was a house dog and look what she's done, she's swum over five nautical miles, she's managed to live off the land all on her own," Griffiths said. "We wish she could talk, we truly do."

Photo: Cattle dog Sophie Tucker, a pet dog that fell overboard in rough seas off Australia
AFP/Jan Griffith

Dispute [over a Dog urinating] Led to Shootings in Pittsburgh
April 6, 2009

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A 911 call that summoned two police officers to a home where they were ambushed, and where a third was later killed during a four-hour siege, was precipitated by a fight between the gunman and his mother over a Dog urinating in the house....

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Suspect Richard Poplawski

SCOOP & HOWL QUOTE
"Being nice to the staff is second only to being nice to Dogs as a pinnacle of civilization."
~ A.A. GILL: LARGER THAN LIFE IN LONDON - Did the Obama Magic Travel Well?

OP-ED
5 April 2009

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Click √ on Inkwell & Quill for Canine Quotes

Dogs Do Look Like Owners
By Robert Roy Britt
03 April 2009

People can guess pretty successfully what breed of dog a person might own just by looking at the owner, a new study finds.

A group of 70 people who do not own dogs were asked to match photos of 41 dog owners to three possible breeds — Labrador, poodle or Staffordshire bull terrier. They matched the owners to the dogs more than half the time. Yet given three choices, they should have been right only about a third of the time.

"This suggests that certain breeds of dogs are associated with particular kinds of people," said study leader Lance Workman, a psychologist at Bath Spa University in the UK.

It's no secret that people are obsessed with pets. Two-thirds of American households have at least one, and dogs are the top choice (though by sheer numbers, fish win out). And dog owners are particularly so, suggests a study in 2007 that found when a pet goes missing, dog owners contact and visit shelters much sooner than cat owners.

The analysis runs deep: Those who don't own dogs used stereotypes to match the dogs to their owners, Workman figures. "These stereotypes persisted into judgments of the dog owners' personalities: non dog owners considered the owners of each breed to share certain personality traits, such as level of conscientiousness and emotional stability."

The real connection is only skin deep, however.

"But when we tested the dog owners' personalities, we found no strong links between any particular personality trait and choice of dog breed, so any shared qualities are only skin deep," Workman said.

A similar phenomenon happens among couples. People tend to be attracted to those who have personalities similar to their own, according to a study done in 2006. And as time goes on, similarities in appearance grow, explaining why some older couples look alike.

The canine findings were presented yesterday at the British Psychological Society Annual Conference in Brighton.

Photo: Schnauzer Rodin, Robert Coane, Schnauzer Frida
Credit: C. F. Coane / From-The-DOGHOUSE.com

Pets Feel the Recession, Too
By Christine Haughney
April 2, 2009

It wasn’t long ago that one way the wealthy flashed their fortunes was by decking their dogs in Burberry collars and sending them for spa services. Now even the city’s wealthiest dog owners have cut their budgets and sometimes abandoned their dogs entirely.

John Ziegler, co-founder of the Manhattan doggie gym with six locations called Biscuits and Bath , said he had never seen so many dogs abandoned by owners who had just spent thousands of dollars on them.

He pointed out Gracie, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, whose owner spent about $2,000 to buy her and $700 a month on unlimited day care. When Gracie’s owner lost her Wall Street job and returned to Chicago to live with her parents, she asked the Biscuits and Bath staff to help Gracie find a home.
Fortunately, Gracie was adopted by the owners of the spaniel she used to nap with.

Peanut

Now Mr. Ziegler is seeking homes for a Chihuahua named Peanut and a poodle named Coco whose owners have asked for help adopting them since they can’t afford them. A third dog, a terrier mix from Midtown, was recently abandoned because her owner didn’t want to spend about $500 on training to stop her barking. Mr. Ziegler calls these pups victims of “greed and mismanagement of wealth.”

Coco

It’s happening to dogs all over Manhattan. Jennifer Bristol, director of operations at the private shelter Animal Haven downtown, said that she was seeing more surrenders of pure-bred dogs that typically cost owners more than $1,000. In one recent week, she received a Pekingese, a Bulldog and a Shih-Tzu, all by owners who “definitely had means,” she said.

Wealthy pet owners who are holding onto their dogs are cutting back. At the Sutton Dog Parlour , the owner, Marcia Habib, has watched demand shrink by half for day care, grooming and $15 bags of dog food. Owners also have started to stretch out their dog’s grooming services to every eight weeks from every four weeks, leaving the pets less catwalk-ready for their Park Avenue strolls.

“They look ragged,” she said. But the owners apologize: “I’m sorry my dog is a mess. But I don’t have a job.’ ”

Photo top left: John Ziegler, owner of the pet spa Biscuits and Bath, with Bully, a 3-year-old German shepherd who found a home with one of Mr. Ziegler’s employees.
Damon Winter/The New York Times
Photos of Peanut and Coco: John Ziegler

'HOP-ALONG' CASSIDY GETS LEG UP IN LIFE
BX. DOG'S LIMB A GIANT STEP FOR PROSTHETIC SCIENCE
By RITA DELFINER
March 31, 2009

It gives one paws -- or, at least, paw.

Bronx pooch Cassidy had just three legs to stand on until he got a fourth, thanks to a cutting-edge technique that made him a walking miracle.

The German-shepherd mix -- well, OK, mutt -- has become one of the few animals in the world to receive a permanent prosthetic limb, and is a trailblazer whose surgical experience could help humans.

The dog, who lost his right rear leg below the knee joint, had an "osseointegration" procedure in which a titanium implant was attached to the tibia, a leg bone. A removable, C-shaped foot made of titanium, carbon fiber and rubber screws onto the prosthesis.

"The implant is permanent and goes into the bone like a dental implant in humans, and then the bone and the implant fuse," said Steve Posovsky, 61, a retired dentist from Long Island who with his wife, Susan, adopted Cassidy in August 2005, when the dog faced euthanasia.

Posovsky was watching a morning news program that showed "this dog that had been found in The Bronx with his leg cut off wandering the streets who was about 21⁄2 years old.

"When I saw him on TV, I had to get him," said Posovsky, who lives most of the year in Florida. "He was 30 pounds underweight. He limped along. He had almost no hair," recalled Posovsky, who said that before his surgery, Cassidy "would walk for 10 minutes and have to plop down and need a rest. Now, he can walk for hours."

After taking in Cassidy, he and his wife contacted Dr. Denis Marcellin-Little, a surgeon with the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Raleigh and had a removable prosthesis made. Cassidy "kicked off" the leg, so they decided to go with a permanent one. Last August, the permanent prosthesis was implanted, and last month, the final version of the foot was perfected.

"What is being assessed and being designed for Cassidy may improve our knowledge and may ultimately help in what is being done for people," he said.

Meanwhile, Cassidy "is very happy," Posovsky said. "He walks on the beach with me every day with his new leg. When he's running I take his leg off. I'm a nervous father."

• • •

E. SIDE DOG OF WAR
GAL & PAL IN YORKIE TUG-O'-LOVE
By WILLIAM J. GORTA and ERIN CALABRESE
March 31, 2009

An Upper East Side man set off a canine custody clash when he refused to return a tiny terrier he was watching for a harried friend. The friend, Ravely Arias, of Douglaston, Queens, claims in a lawsuit that Leandro Rohde fell in love with her Yorkshire terrier and now refuses to give it back.

Arias said she had a taxing schedule as a community-outreach worker and the hours left her unable to care for Panda, the 2-year-old Yorkie. So in January, she leaned on Rohde to look after Panda until her hours became more manageable.

"I did it for the best [interest] of the dog at that time, but then I realized that I missed him and that I never should have given him up," Arias told The Post yesterday. "He's adorable. I miss his face. He was a very loving dog. I miss the companionship, especially living alone."

Arias recently got a new job with more reasonable hours and went to retrieve her pet, only to find Rohde now claimed Panda as his own, she said. Arias said Rohde told her, "You gave him to me, and he's mine."

"It's my dog and I never said he was yours," Arias recalled replying.

She said she understands Rohde's predicament. "The guy fell in love with him, and I feel bad," Arias said yesterday. "I was even thinking I could go to an animal shelter and see if they have one like Panda that I could bring him."

Instead, she's bringing Rohde to Queens Supreme Court to force him to return Panda, who has been living in the lap of luxury on East 86th Street near Fifth Avenue. Arias, who is representing herself, said in court papers that she needed to get back her "only companion."

Rohde's only reason for keeping the dog is that he "has taken a liking to the animal," the papers say. But Rhodes, a director of marketing for New York Life, told The Post that Arias gave him the dog because Panda was putting a crimp in her social life. When she got back together with a boyfriend who gave her the pup, she decided she wanted the dog back, he claimed.

"The only thing she asked was that she could visit him on Sundays," Rhodes said. "She never said it was temporary. I'm not a dog hotel."

The family dog
Why we treat our pets like royalty
By Michael Schaffer

BACK IN NOVEMBER 2007, Utah's Deseret News wrote up a five-year-old Shih Tzu whose wardrobe included a pink mohair sweater and a fur-trimmed parka. The same month, the Arizona Republic reported on the growing popularity of puppy Tupperware parties. And in South Carolina, the Greenville News highlighted an increasingly common sight on local sidewalks: pet strollers. Such conveyances might have proved popular at the six Dallas-area malls that announced preholiday "pet nights," where animals could sit for a picture with Santa.

Gilded-age indulgences that ended when recession officially arrived a month later? Hardly. According to the American Pet Products Association, the pet industry - which includes everything from old-fashioned kibble to new-age veterinary acupuncture - grew by $2 billion in 2008. For 2009, the association predicts $45 billion in sales. Fifteen years ago, that number was $17 billion. "We're as recession-resistant as any industry I can think of," declares Bob Vetere, the association's president.

A century ago, the pioneering economist Thorstein Veblen lampooned the house pet as the ultimate emblem of conspicuous consumption, an "item of expense" with "no industrial purpose." Veblen's dim view isn't so out of place among today's cynics, either. Candidates for our era's canine Marie Antoinette might include Trouble, the beloved Maltese who was willed $12 million by hotelier Leona Helmsley. From $5,000 Swiss chalet doghouses to $1,200 leashes inlaid with Swarovski crystal, critics have plenty of excesses to mock.

But for most of America's 69 million pet-owning households, the changing treatment of pets isn't a function of money. It's a reflection of a century's worth of deeper changes. The move from farm to city has meant many people no longer experience agriculture's sometimes harsh, utilitarian model of human-animal interaction. The evolution of the middle class means more people can afford an animal that doesn't have to work for its food - or become ours. Most of all, modern pet ownership has been transformed by our evolution in recent decades into a less connected, lonelier society. Four-legged companionship matters more than ever.

To scholars who study the human-animal bond as well as marketers who profit from it, those broad changes have given rise to the phenomenon of "humanization," the modern tendency to see domestic animals less as beasts than as junior members of the family. And right along with that evolutionary promotion comes a new set of perceived responsibilities on the part of owners. Bring on the pet-food nutritonists, veterinary dermatologists, and professional dog groomers: Yesteryear's consumer excess has become, in the favored phrase of pet-goods vendors, today's "fur baby."

Today's pet owners "view their pets as full-fledged members of the family, with regard to which they would no more take lightly any serious cutbacks on spending than they would for their kids," concluded a March market report from the consumer-research group Packaged Facts. A 2001 survey for the American Animal Hospital Association revealed that 83 percent of pet owners call themselves their animal's "mommy" or "daddy."

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Well-Regarded New Jersey High School to Use Drug-Sniffing Dogs
By TINA KELLEY
March 28, 2009

MILLBURN, N.J. — The high school here, which was named the state’s best by a respected magazine last year, plans to begin using dogs to search for drugs on campus this spring. Millburn, an affluent New Jersey suburb, joins a nationwide trend.

“We seek to discourage illegal substances from being brought into school and to show unequivocal support for those students who do ‘just say no,’ ” the principal of Millburn High, William S. Miron, and the district superintendent, Richard Brodow, wrote in an e-mail message to parents and students Friday afternoon. “I willingly risk student trust if it saves a single life."

In stepping up searches for drugs, Millburn will join scores of schools across New Jersey and the country. About 1,000 districts have introduced random tests for marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines and an assortment of other narcotics since the United States Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that schools could test students participating in extracurricular activities. A growing number also test for alcohol. Locally, West Essex Regional High School in North Caldwell, N.J., about 10 miles from Millburn, had two visits by canine patrols this year, neither netting any drugs.

The New York Civil Liberties Union has called police dog searches “incompatible with nurturing environments that are supposed to be conducive to adolescent education,” and argued that school districts must create a careful balance between school safety and student rights....

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FROM
CDC: Fido and Fluffy behind 86,000 falls a year
By MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer
March 26, 2009

ATLANTA — Watch out for Fluffy and Fido! Cats and dogs are a factor in more than 86,000 serious falls each year, according to the first government study of pet-related tumbles. Such incidents are relatively rare, accounting for just about 1 percent of injuries from falls. The vast majority cause only minor injuries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But they are a disproportionate hazard for senior citizens, said CDC officials. They advise older people to improve lighting, remove pet toys and use obedience training.

"There are many benefits to pet ownership. But they also can be a hazard," said Judy Stevens, a CDC epidemiologist who co-authored the study.

Stevens, an injury researcher, said she got the idea for the study after getting asked at conferences about falls caused by pets. The report was released Thursday and is being published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Researchers looked at emergency department reports for 66 U.S. hospitals for 2001 through 2006. They checked patient charts for mentions of dogs and cats involved in nonfatal injuries. From that, they concluded that about 3 out of every 10,000 people annually suffer fall-related injuries from cats or dogs that are serious enough to send someone to the hospital. The rate was nearly twice as high for people 75 and older. And women were two times more likely to be injured than men. Most were quickly treated and released, but nearly 10 percent involved broken bones, internal injuries or other conditions that required hospitalization, the researchers found.

Cats mainly caused injuries by tripping people — a phenomenon well understood by cat owners who have affectionate felines that rub against their shins and ankles during the morning walk to the coffee pot.

Dogs were blamed in most of the pet-caused injuries. They tripped people, startled them and pushed or pulled them off balance during a walk. Or they ran away and their owners toppled chasing after them. Their dog toys also caused tumbles.

"A lot of these statistics show the owner does not have complete control of dog," said Lisa Peterson, a spokeswoman for the American Kennel Club, which runs a purebred dog registry and promotes responsible dog ownership.

Obedience training can help. Also, reducing the number of dog toys and storing them each night could help. And people who might get knocked over could consider getting already-trained dogs or smaller dogs, she said.

Rowayton woman saved in fire by dog
By John Nickerson
Staff Writer
March 26, 2009

NORWALK--A Rowayton woman was saved by her dog when her kitchen caught fire while she was sleeping early Thursday. Calli, a 2-year-old German shepherd mix Priscilla Ryan had rescued from a shelter, nudged her awake as flames ravaged her kitchen.

"I was sound asleep, and she came over to my bed, and her nose was right where my face was. This wet nose woke me up and she was whimpering" Ryan, the homeowner, said. "We all would have died." Ryan's Shih Tzu, Ariel, was asleep next to her and was not awakened by the fire.

Rowayton Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ed Carlson said the blaze, which gutted the kitchen in the woman's Burchard Lane home, could have claimed her life if it wasn't for the dog's response. The house did not have a working fire alarm.

Firefighters were called to the single family cape at 4:34 a.m., Carlson said. When the volunteers arrived, Norwalk firefighters had knocked down the fire, Carlson said. The blaze was brought under control in about 20 minutes.

Carlson said the fire was accidental. Ryan had left a plastic package of vegetables boiling on her stove at about midnight, the water boiled off and the plastic caught fire, touching off a cabinet over the stove, Carlson said.

After Calli woke Ryan and she discovered the fire, she and the dogs escaped the burning house, Carlson said. Ryan and Calli suffered no injuries, but Ariel was treated by firefighters with oxygen and taken to the vetrinarian later for breathing problems.

"The big dog, she will probably get a steak." as a reward, Ryan said.

The fire destroyed the kitchen and caused smoke damage throughout the first and second floor, said Carlson; he had no estimate for repairs to the home.

The house was posted unfit for occupancy and Ryan will be staying with relatives in Rowayton, Carlson said. Ryan said she has lived in the house for 36 years.

The first floor had no fire alarm and the second-floor fire alarm had its battery disconnected, Carlson said.

"I cannot stress enough how important fire alarms are, and they should be checked and maintained properly," Carlson said.

Fido makes friends, and so does his owner
Dog parks provide places to run free
BY CELESTE BUSK
March 26, 2009

For the unassuming, a city dog park is merely a gravel or concrete fenced-in park. But for thousands of Windy City canines, these parks are paradise. That's because the Chicago Park District's dog parks are leash-free and give canines a year-round chance to do what they were born to do -- run free, and with other dogs, no less.

Chicago's doggie parks Share photos of your partner and pet(s) Share YOUR cutest dog photos!
Some dog parks provide extra bonuses, such as drinking fountains specially sized for dogs (those are turned on in mid-April). The Wicker Park dog park, 1425 N. Damen, features a doggie wading pool brought to the park by community residents.

"More and more people are getting dogs rather than having children," said Janis Taylor, planning coordinator for the Chicago Park District, which operates 14 dogs parks and a dog beach. "It's congested in the downtown area, and some people don't have a backyard. Dogs need a place to get exercise and play, so the dog parks become very popular, especially during the warm months," Taylor said.

Bonding with other people is a big dog park attraction. "It's a good opportunity for people to socialize and form bonds that bring the community together," Taylor said.

For dog walker Lexie Antonio, getting to the dog park is a way to meet and greet other people. "It's basically a chance to network," said Antonio, 33. "If I have my way, I'm going to figure out some way to make a party out of it this summer."

The humans aren't the only ones socializing. "I've met many people here and so has Jovie," said Christine Bainbridge. The dog park at 653 N. Kingsbury is a daily ritual for her and her 3-year-old Shih Tzu. "His favorite friend is a Pekinese named Henry. They roly-poly and have a great old time."
Since Wiggly Field -- the city's first dog park -- opened in the Lincoln Park neighborhood in 1997, the number of parks has grown to 14. Two more are scheduled to open in late 2010.

Ben Jablonski, 28, often takes his 5-year-old yellow Lab, Janie, to the Hamlin Park dog park. Recently, Janie was attacked by another dog and suffered injuries that required two surgeries. Still, Jablonski says he's sold on dog parks, and he and Janie have both already returned. However, he says dog owners heading to the park need to exercise caution.

"The main thing is to pay attention. If someone approaches the park with a dog that is acting aggressively outside of the fenced area, I would ask that person not to enter," Jablonski said, something dog owners are allowed to do under park regulations.

RULES FOR PARK LARK
The Chicago Park District has specific rules for its dog parks, including:
* Dogs must have city dog license tags and be fully vaccinated. Misdemeanor penalty fines can be as high as $1,000.
* If your dog bites or injures someone, you're legally responsible.
* Dogs with a known history of, or who exhibit, dangerous behavior are prohibited.
* Owners must remain with their dogs at the park and dogs must be watched at all times.
* Dog owners are required to clean up their pet's waste. Failure can result in a fine up to $500.
* Children under 12 can enter the park only when accompanied by an adult.
* Only three dogs per person allowed.
* Puppies must be older than four months and female dogs in heat are prohibited.

Photo: Sara Comer plays catch with her 1-year-old Labrador retriever mix, Lucy, at the Montrose Dog Beach. Chicago has 14 dog parks and one dog beach. (Dom Najolia/Sun-Times)

Michael Vick leaves federal prison in Kansas
By LARRY O'DELL
Associated Press Writer
March 25, 2009

RICHMOND, Va. – Suspended NFL star Michael Vick has left a federal lockup in Kansas, apparently bound for Virginia to appear at a bankruptcy hearing next week.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons Web site showed Wednesday that Vick was no longer at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan. It listed his status as "in transit."

It was not clear when he left, or where he was. But two weeks ago, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro demanded that Vick to testify at an April 2 hearing in Newport News about whether his Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan should be confirmed. Another judge issued a court order directing federal marshals to bring the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback to Virginia for the hearing.

Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Victoria Joseph said bureau policy prohibits disclosure of the prisoner's destination until after he arrives. Vick's attorneys did not immediately return phone messages left by The Associated Press.

Vick is serving 23 months for bankrolling a dogfighting conspiracy. He is eligible to move into home confinement no earlier than May 21 and is scheduled to be released from custody on July 20.

Vick will likely be kept in a southeastern Virginia jail until the hearing, but it wasn't known which one. Newport News Sheriff Gabe Morgan said he had not been notified that Vick would be staying in the city jail, but it was possible Vick and federal marshals would show up unannounced.

The judge overseeing Vick's bankruptcy case rejected the idea of allowing testimony by video hookup, saying he needed Vick in the courtroom so he could assess his demeanor and credibility.

Vick's plan for paying his creditors is based largely on his intention to resume his NFL career. Vick was suspended indefinitely after his 2007 indictment, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said he will review Vick's status after he is released.

The Falcons still hold the contract rights to Vick but have said they will try to trade him. Vick's bankruptcy plan would allow him to keep the first $750,000 of his annual pay. After that, a percentage would go to his creditors based on a sliding scale.

Photo: JUSTICE, Bronze and glass sculpture by Rodin S. Coane, 2008
Click √ to view the VICKTORY MEMORIAL WORKS by Rodin S. Coane

Cops seize Chihuahuas from alleged puppy mill
By Sara Olkon |Tribune reporter
March 25, 2009

Almost 70 puppies were found Tuesday living in a West Englewood residence, some in filthy bird cages, officials said. "I couldn't believe it: the chaos, the noise, the smell," Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said outside the small home while holding two shivering Chihuahua puppies. Dart, who took part in the raid, garnered national attention last fall after he briefly suspended evictions for mortgage foreclosures in the county. Earlier this month, the sheriff sued Craigslist.com for allegedly facilitating prostitution.

In a news conference Tuesday outside the residence in the 6400 block of South Bell Avenue, Dart carried the tiny dogs out in cages for cameramen to photograph. The dogs—mainly Chihuahuas, but also a Yorkshire terrier, Pomeranians and a pug mix—yipped and yelped during the procession but did not look underfed or ill.

Dart said the animals would be checked out by a veterinarian at Chicago Animal Care and Control and would likely be available for adoption in coming days. For information on adoption, call 312-747-1406. Demetria Newell, 38, of the Bell Avenue address, was charged with 67 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, while another resident, David Hayes, 37, was charged with felony possession of marijuana, authorities said. Dart said the puppies were being sold for $475 apiece at the alleged puppy mill.

Underneath a neon dog sign outside the house was a placard that read: "Warning: This is a 15th Ward Block Club Watch Area and we know our police."

Officials removed 67 puppies, some crammed into bird cages during a raid at a home in the 6400 block of South Bell Avenue on Chicago's South Side.
Tribune photo by Terrence Antonio James

FROM
Mean dogs stand guard at Idaho prison
By REBECCA BOONE
March 24, 2009

BOISE, Idaho — Nobody has broken out of the Idaho State Correctional Institution in more than 20 years. Prison officials like to think a hard-bitten corps of sentries with names like Cookie, Bongo and Chi Chi has had something to do with that.

The institution is the only state prison in the U.S. to use snarling, snapping sentry dogs to patrol its perimeter. In a program begun in 1986, 24 mean dogs — mostly German shepherds, rottweilers and Belgian malinois, with a few boxers and pit bulls — roam the space between the inner and outer chain-link fences 24 hours a day, ferociously defending their territory. Get too close to the fence and they will bare their teeth, bark and lunge. Set foot in their space and they will attack.

The animals themselves are former death row inmates — dogs that were deemed too dangerous to be pets and would have been destroyed at the local pound if they had not been given a reprieve and assigned to prison duty. "We're basically giving them a second chance at a good, healthy life," said Corrections Officer Michael Amos, who heads the sentry dog program. "Those same instincts that make them a bad pet make them good sentries."

Prison officials say the canines save on manpower and are more reliable during power outages than electrical security systems and more effective in the fog and the dark than the humans posted in the lookout towers. They also seem to have a powerful deterrent effect.

No one has escaped from the 1,500-inmate medium-security prison since the dogs were brought in. No one has even tried to get past the fences since the early 1990s.

"The average offender has no problem engaging in a fight with a correctional officer — they're used to fighting with humans. But they don't want to mess with a 100-pound rottweiler who has an attitude and who wants to bite the snot out of them for climbing that fence," said James Closson, a dog trainer in Boise who arranged the donation of some overaggressive dogs to the prison when the sentry program was new.

Over the years, the dogs have bitten handlers, badly mauling a staff member who in the late 1990s entered the kennel without first making sure all the animals were caged. But no inmates locked up at the prison have been bitten, authorities said.

Dogs were once widely used as sentries in the U.S., particularly after World War II, when canines that had been trained by the military were pressed into civilian service. The practice fell out of favor during the civil rights era as police dogs became associated with racist and repressive law enforcement, said Chris Byrne, owner of Stonehill Kennel and Unlimited Dogs, which provides police dogs to the New York Police Department.
Many prisons continue to use dogs for tracking escaped inmates or sniffing out drugs or other contraband, but not as sentries.

"Most facilities have gone to electronic motion detectors or electrical fencing," said Jay Christensen, deputy warden of security at the Idaho prison. "But technology can be circumvented. We had a guy at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution get through a motion detector system a few years back" by moving so slowly that the sensors didn't pick him up. "The dogs are much more dependable and the cost is really low," he said.

In the early 1990s, three inmates at ISCI tried to escape through the one portion of the fence that wasn't guarded by dogs at the time, Christensen said. The guards in the towers could not see them in the dark, but a dog along a nearby section of the fence sounded the alarm by barking. The ruckus alerted the nearest tower guard, who fired a shot, hitting one of the convicts, Christensen said. The two others were so frightened by the shot that they gave up, and all three were recaptured, he said. Officials promptly reconfigured the fence so that there were no sections without dogs, he said.

Angus Love, executive director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, an inmate advocacy group, said he knows of no complaints about the use of prison sentry dogs.

The dogs work two days on and one day off. On their days off, they are returned to their kennel, where their handlers groom them, play ball and tug-of-war with them, or, in the summer, let them splash in a plastic kiddie pool. The handlers have to be alert at all times because of the danger of getting bitten.

Adam Goldfarb, a spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States, said that the Idaho prison appeared to be handling the dogs well, but that he had mixed feelings about the program. "We love the thoughts behind it, of taking dogs who would otherwise be euthanized and finding a way to work with them and give them a kind of purpose to their life," Goldfarb said. "But we'd have concerns of the dogs being harmed in some way, if an inmate could throw or poke something through the fence that could harm the dogs. And I'm not sure what kind of life that is for a dog. When people have dogs in their home, we would certainly discourage them from leaving the dog on a chain or in a pen for most of their life."

The program, with 36 dogs in all, costs less than $100,000 a year, including food and veterinary care, Christensen said. He worries that one day, officials will come up with the $300,000 or more he estimated it would cost to replace the animals with electric fences or motion detectors.

"Is this K-9 program going to survive for ever and ever? Probably not," he said. "But I tell you, I do not want to be the deputy warden of security who takes these dogs off the perimeter. I consider that a risk to the public."

After talking at length about the economy and AIG's bonuses, Leno changed topics and his questions turned more personal--asking the President about bowling, basketball, and his pick for the Final Four. Then Leno had one last question--about the much anticipated First Dog.

"When is the dog coming? I keep hearing about the dog. When was the dog supposed to be there by?" Leno asked. "I thought it was as soon as you moved in."

"Listen," Obama said with mock seriousness. "This is Washington. That was a campaign promise.

"Oh, wow," Leno shouted, as the audience laughed and cheered and Obama broke out into a huge grin.

"I'm teasing," Obama said. "The dog will be there shortly. We have been laying the groundwork. I've got to go to the NATO summit. When I get back, the dog will be in place."
 
 "Wow,'' Leno babbled. "It's, what, a Portuguese water head?''
"It's not that,'' Obama laughed. "It's not a "water head."

"Whatever they are,'' Leno said, "I don't know what they are.''

"That sounds like a scary dog,'' Obama joked. "Sort of dripping around the house.''
"I don't know what it is,'' Leno confessed.

"We're going to get a dog that is -- that I think the girls will have a great time,'' the president said. "I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with it. You know, they say if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.'' (Actually, it was President Harry S. Truman who said that; he gave his dog Feller away, so we hope Obama doesn't do that.)

Click √ here > for more from Helena Sung at Pet News Examiner

Sago Palm Plant Kills Puppy
March 20, 2009

It’s hard to believe a houseplant could harm a tough cookie like the Woytek family’s Lab mix, Amber. A survivor of Hurricane Ike, the young pup was diagnosed with distemper in the months after her adoption from the Houston SPCA in September 2008. But according to Laurie Woytek, Amber defeated the often fatal virus—and went on to form a tight bond with her canine “sister” and partner-in-crime, Scout, a one-year-old Rhodesian ridgeback mix.

Early last month, Laurie discovered that Amber had eaten parts of a sago palm plant. Sago palm—with its dark green leaves and hairy trunk—has become a popular houseplant in recent years, but unbeknownst to many green-thumbed pet parents, it’s also highly toxic to cats and dogs.

Immediately ill, Amber was hospitalized at a nearby emergency clinic. Says Laurie, “I was very scared, but thought, ‘She's tough—she'll make it through.’” After several days in the hospital, the emergency veterinarian delivered the heartbreaking news to the Woyteks—Amber had developed jaundice and life-threatening liver failure.

“We took Amber to our regular veterinarian to discuss our options with him,” explains Laurie. “She suffered seizures in the car on the way, and we ultimately made the very difficult, yet humane decision to let her go.”  

Sadly, Amber’s story is all too common. Since 2003, the ASPCA has seen an increase by more than 200 percent of sago palm and cycad poisonings, and 50 to 75 percent of those ingestions resulted in fatalities. According to Dr. Sharon Gwaltney-Brant, veterinary toxicologist and vice president of the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, all parts of the plant are toxic, not just the seeds or nuts, and common signs of ingestion include vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, depression, seizures and liver failure.

Before the Woytek family said their final goodbyes to Amber, they took her home to see her best buddy, Scout. “As Amber lay still on the floor, Scout kept nudging her as if to say, ‘C’mon, get up,’” Laurie says. “They weren’t just 'sissies'—as we referred to them—they were best friends.”  

“It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do,” reflects Laurie. “Amber is truly missed and will forever be in our hearts. She was our little princess.”

In memory of Amber the ASPCA reminds all pet parents to stay informed about protecting pets from accidental poisonings. Please read our poison prevention tips online. See links below.

Sago Palm
• Additional Common Names: Coontie Palm, Cardboard Palm, cycads and zamias
• Scientific Name: Cycas revoluta, zamia species
• Family: Cycadaceae
• Toxicity: Toxic to Cats, Toxic to Dogs, Toxic to Horses
• Toxic Principles: Cycasin
•Clinical Signs: Vomiting, melena, icterus, increased thirst, hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, bruising, coagulopathy, liver damage, liver failure, death.

Related Links
What To Do If Your Pet Is Poisoned
Don’t panic—these tips can help save your pet. 
17 Common Poisonous Plants
Learn to recognize dangerous household plants.
Animal Poison Control FAQ
Common questions that can save your pet’s life.

Video Exposes Military's Stabbing of Dogs
The Bolivian military performs barbaric exercises on dogs.
March 19, 2009

PETA has received horrific torture videos that show live dogs who scream in pain while being stabbed and killed during combat-training exercises conducted by soldiers in the Bolivian military. The soldiers state that their instructors received training from the U.S. military in how to conduct these exercises, and the training partnership is corroborated by a written agreement signed by the two countries.

Watch this video now and learn how you can help stop this!
WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC!
http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/bolivia_military?c=weekly_enews

Weird but True
By LUKAS I. ALPERT
March 19, 2009

An Apex, NC, couple thoughtthey had been robbed when $4000 in cash disappeared from their house. They discovered the truth only when mom took the Dog out for a walk and discovered bits of cash in its poop.

Kelly Davis washed the pieces off and hopes there is enough of the money left to bring it to the bank.

One of Oprah Winfrey's puppies succumbs to virus
By William Hageman | Tribune staff reporter
March 18, 2009

One of two puppies adopted by Oprah Winfrey this month has died.

Winfrey adopted an 8-week-old blond cocker spaniel from PAWS Chicago and introduced the puppy, named Sadie, to her TV audience on her March 6 show. She also brought out three of Sadie's littermates, one of whom she subsequently adopted and named Ivan. Several days later, Ivan became ill with the highly contagious parvovirus. A spokeswoman for Winfrey's Harpo Productions confirmed Tuesday that Ivan died late last week. Sadie, too, was infected, but has stabilized for the first time since she began receiving treatment last Thursday. The spokeswoman said "she's holding her own for now."

Winfrey, in a statement to the Tribune, said, "I'm saddened by his passing, though we only had him for a weekend. I remain hopeful that Sadie will pull through."

Puppies, whose immune systems are not yet fully developed, are most susceptible to parvovirus, which is transmitted through fecal matter and vomit of infected dogs. It can be brought into a puppy's environment on someone's shoes or clothes or even on the tires of their car. It's extremely hardy and can survive in the environment for up to nine months. A pet owner doesn't know a dog is infected until the symptoms develop.

"It's a devastating disease when it hits," says Kathleen Heneghan, past president of the Chicago Veterinary Medical Association.

Symptoms include bloody vomiting and/or diarrhea, which can lead to extreme fluid loss and dehydration until shock and death result. Also, bacteria can invade the animal's entire body, resulting in the formation of septic toxins and death. It is not a threat to humans. With early and intensive treatment the survival rate is nearly 80 percent.

In a statement released late Tuesday, PAWS said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with Oprah Winfrey on the loss of Ivan, and we are hopeful that Sadie makes a full recovery. "

At PAWS Chicago, all of our animals receive excellent medical care. We take stringent precautions to prevent life-threatening diseases, including parvovirus. Our medical protocols are best in class in the industry and the steps we take prior to adoption include administering all required vaccinations, diagnostic testing, multiple veterinary checks and a 14-day isolation period for puppies.

"Of the 501 puppies that PAWS Chicago took in during 2008, 99.2 percent either did not contract parvovirus or were cured of the disease.

"We remain committed to staying at the forefront of excellent shelter practices."

Winfrey has worked with and supported PAWS in the past, most notably during a series of shows last year about puppy mills and pet overpopulation. She also has funded a pet room at the facility.

Heneghan says that until a puppy has completed its shots, it's best to avoid areas where they might come in contact with the virus: the beach, puppy play dates, dog parks and so on. "You have to treat a puppy like a brand-new baby," she says. "They're not fully protected until they're 4 months of age."

Heneghan also said that the best insurance for a pet owner is to develop a strong relationship with a vet.
"Make sure the puppy is checked out from Day 1. That way, if something does change and it becomes ill, you've already got someone you trust who you can bring the pet to."

Photo: Oprah Winfrey shows off her cocker spaniel puppy, Sadie / New York Post

Equine Alternative
Published: March 17, 2009

Early this month, a team of archaeologists reported evidence that horses were domesticated perhaps a millennium earlier than had previously been thought. The site was where northern Kazakhstan is now, the culture was called Botai and the date was around 3500 B.C. The Botai did not just herd horses for meat. Scientists found bit-wear marks on Botai horses’ teeth — a clear sign the animals were being ridden. They also found evidence on pottery fragments that “very likely” came from mare’s milk fat — a sign that the horses were being milked.

This discovery pushes back the date for a hugely important technological change in human existence. But it’s also a reminder that domestication isn’t just the conquering of one species by another. It’s the willing collaboration between two species, a sharing of benefits. There is something in the equine nature — genetic or social — that allowed it to partner with humans, just as there was in the character of Dogs.

You might also say that there is something in human nature that allowed us to seek out this partnership. Among all the animal species on this planet, humans have domesticated only a handful. And that fact gives rise to a thought-experiment. What if that genetic or social something had been missing in horses? What if they had remained resolutely wild, refusing the domestic kinship humans tried to impose upon them?

It is not a far-fetched notion. But what it suggests is an alternative history of human development, one in which we could have moved no faster over land than our own foot-pace.

How that would have retarded the spread and integration of language, culture, civilization is hard to calculate. It is safe to say that without domesticated horses, we could not have begun to be who we are today.

The Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals works to end euthanization in shelters by 2015!
Patricia Flaherty
NY Animal Advocate Examiner
March 16, 2009

New Yorkers understand the quick passing of time – and, the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, understands how the New York minute negatively affects the unadopted animals in New York shelters.

Every year, over 40,000 animals enter the New York City animal shelter system. In 2008, it is projected that 16,340 were euthanized simply because there was no room to keep them and no homes to be found for them. But, with the ingenuity and passion employed by people like Jane Hoffman, now President and Chair of the Board of the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, The Mayor's Alliance for NYC’s Animals, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is dedicated to ending the euthanization problem....

Click √ on Mayor's Alliance logo above for full article

Click √ here for more from Patricia Flaherty, Ny Animal Advocate Examiner

Rabies Deaths From Dog Bites Could Be Eliminated Globally
Adapted from materials provided by McMaster University
March 16, 2009

Someone in the developing world – particularly in rural Africa - dies from a rabid dog bite every 10 minutes. But global elimination of this horrific disease appears to be possible, according to a team which includes scientists from McMaster University, Britain and the United States.

In a paper in the current issue of PLoS Biology, they report their analysis of data on rabies transmission in two districts of rural Tanzania (Serengeti and Ngorongoro) and suggest that with "sustained, international commitment, global elimination of rabies from domestic dog populations, the most dangerous vector to humans, is a realistic goal."

Jonathan Dushoff, an assistant professor of biology at McMaster University, and a member of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, analyzed the data. "The paper provides important evidence that the elimination of canine rabies may be possible."

Rabies is an acute viral encephalitis that is spread through the saliva of infected animals. Human rabies deaths from domestic dogs are rare in North America, but the disease causes over 24,000 deaths a year in Africa, mostly in poor rural communities and, most often, in children. Globally, 55,000 people die annually from canine rabies....

Click √ on Science Daily logo for full article

In Hard-Bitten Baghdad, Tough Tactics on Strays
Newly Calm City Now Finds Dogs a Threat
By SAM DAGHER
March 15, 2009

BAGHDAD — While human beings in Iraq were killing each other in huge numbers, they ignored the dogs, which in turn multiplied at an alarming rate. Now stray dogs are such a menace that municipal workers are hunting them down, slaughtering some 10,000 in Baghdad just since December.

This is not exactly good news, but it does seem a measure of progress that Iraqis have the luxury of worrying about dogs at all.

“Give us clean water instead of killing dogs!” Hussein Ali, 62, yelled recently at a group of veterinary employees enticing a pack of strays with meat laced with strychnine. “The dogs are not harming us, it is the water.” Many Iraqis still lack the most basic of services, like sewage systems and potable water.

One of the dog control officers, out poisoning dogs on a crisp and clear winter morning, explained that he was only doing his part, unglamorous maybe, to make life here better. “Iraq has many problems,” he said. “We are here on a mission to kill stray dogs.”

With fewer bombs going off and hardly any bodies being dumped anymore, the dogs are perhaps the biggest problem on the filthy and rubble-strewn streets of Baghdad. Packs of strays scare schoolchildren and people who get up at dawn to go to work. They gather at open-air butcher shops where customers choose their meat from flocks of live sheep.

Some people believe that the dogs spread disease, not a difficult case to make in a society that generally shuns dogs as pets, believing them to be contrary to Islamic edicts on personal cleanliness.

Thus a relative peace has changed priorities, and not just in Baghdad. The holy Shiite city of Karbala was so overwhelmed with stray dogs last year that officials there offered 6,000 dinars ($5.30) for each animal caught and handed over to the municipality. The dogs were shot and buried en masse.

Here in the capital, a program began late last year in which the national Ministry of Agriculture’s veterinary services teamed up with the municipality, the police and even the army in some of the tougher neighborhoods to tackle the problem. Mostly the dogs are killed with rotten raw meat laced with strychnine, a poison used in pesticides and against rodents.

In some cases, particularly around the city’s sprawling garbage dumps, the dogs are instead shot. By the time this campaign is over this month, perhaps 20,000 dogs will have been exterminated, said Shaker Fraiyeh of the ministry’s veterinary services company.

“Our work may be against animal rights, but there is a more important issue, public health,” said Dr. Fraiyeh, a veterinarian in his 30s.

Click √ on NYTimes logo for full article

Photo: Jehad Nga for The New York Times
A stray peered out from a pile of corrugated metal in Baghdad, where feral packs have surged.

LA Pet Store Embraces Humane Model
Grand Opening of Woof Worx features animal shelter rescued pups
By Lisa Dulyea, Best Friends staff
March 16, 2009

Best Friends Los Angeles Programs (BFLA) hosted an event March 13 to celebrate the grand opening of the first rescued pets store resulting from A Puppy-Store-Free LA .

Eight months ago, Best Friends LA launched A-Puppy-Store-Free LA to stop pet stores from selling puppies because, sadly, that doggie in the window comes from a puppy mill. Not only is this a heartbreaking situation for the dogs being forced to breed in deplorable conditions, but for the new pet parents, as well.

A puppy purchased from a pet store can cost up to $1,500. More often than not, these sweet new additions have congenital disorders and may die with in the first two years of life due to inbreeding and unhealthy living situations. Few families can afford the thousands of dollars on unexpected vet bills and many puppies are surrendered to shelters, where they are euthanized or wait in vain for a new home. Most never get that second chance.

Best Friends has been hard at work to find an alternative, and collaborated with Woof Worx (formerly Pets of Bel Air) on the idea to sell wonderful, healthy, purebred puppies that come from local shelters. For a mere fraction of what it would cost at a traditional pet store, people can adopt one (or more) of these dogs, support a business that’s doing the right thing, and save a life.

Jamie Katz, owner of Woof Worx, proudly opened the doors last weekend to over 150 supporters of this new concept. Veggie hors d’oeuvres and wine were served at the beautiful, high-end pet store in the heart of Bel Air.

Available dogs were there to celebrate their new lives, as well. This is not a typical store where puppies are kept in cramped confinement on newspaper or plastic flooring. Think of it as an indoor dog park. The puppies had toys, individual soft beds, even an indoor pet potty. A comfy couch is in the puppy room for anyone who wants to get acquainted with their potential new family member or just be covered with puppy kisses.

“We are so thrilled to be partnering with Jamie Katz, the owner of this beautiful store, and to support her in her efforts,” says Elizabeth Oreck , BFLA manager. “We truly believe that traditional pet stores that sell dogs from puppy mills will soon be a thing of the past, and that a store like Woof Worx will become a national model for cities all across the country.

“This is not only a great way to showcase rescued animals who need homes, and to help lower the number of dogs and cats in our drastically overcrowded shelters, but an opportunity to educate the public about animal welfare issues. And we are so grateful to Jamie for taking that leap and being willing to show the rest of the country that a successful pet store can be modeled on compassion rather than cruelty.”

Katz was an employee of Pets of Bel Air when BFLA began its peaceful protests. “I always knew in my heart that selling puppies this way was wrong,” she says. “I’m a huge animal lover and advocate of animal welfare.” Katz acquired the store when the original owner of Pets of Bel Air lost his lease, due in part to Best Friends’ protests.

Jennifer Krause, puppy mill campaign coordinator, thanked all the volunteers, supporters and Jamie. “This is a huge victory, and we couldn’t have done without them. Jamie just gets it.”

Woof Worx
2924 N Beverly Glen Circle
Los Angeles, CA 90077
Phone: 310-474-1211
E-mail: jamie@woofworx.com

Photo: Patrons check out the newly opened Woof Worx by Roberto Valenzuela of Beverly Hills

Weird but True
By LUKAS I. ALPERT
March 14, 2009

He's claiming his fraternity hazing has left him in a permanent haze.

A 21-year-old man charged in a hit-and-run car crash in Kansas City says posttraumatic stress disorder from a frat hazing, where he was tied up and left in a dog cage, has hindered his ability to make proper decisions.

His lawyer says the defendant makes bad choices under stress.

COMMENT: So what about caged Dogs?

SCOOP & HOWL - EDITORIAL

OPINION
March 13, 2009

We regret and strenuously object to the charges against Muntada al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at President George W. Bush during a news conference, and his conviction on those.

We at The DOGHOUSE insist he be charged with the more serious bias crime of BLASPHEMY under universal Caninite law for equating DOGS to George W. Bush, an insult to Canines everywhere. "This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you Dog!” shouted al-Zeidi as he miserably missed his target. Lousy 'gift'.

May he share a bunk with Bernie Madoff for 150 years!

LET JUSTICE BE DONE!

From-The-DOGHOUSE.com

• • •

Iraqi Shoe Thrower Gets Three Years
RIYADH MOHAMMED and ANWAR J. ALI
Published: March 13, 2009

BAGHDAD — An Iraqi journalist who gained acclaim for hurling his shoes at President George W. Bush during a news conference here in December was sentenced to three years in jail on Thursday as distraught family members and supporters wept outside the courtroom.

Click √ on NYTimes logo for full article

• • •

/AP
SHOE HURLER TO COOL HEELS
March 13, 2009

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at then-President George W. Bush was convicted yesterday of assaulting a foreign leader and sentenced to three years in prison - provoking outrage among many Muslims who consider him a hero.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi's bold act last December electrified many across the Middle East who saw it as a fitting protest against a president widely reviled for his policies in the region.
Zeidi, 30, pleaded not guilty to the assault charge, telling the three-judge panel, "What I did was a natural response to the occupation."

Defense lawyers said he shouted, "Long live Iraq!" once the sentence had been imposed. Some of his relativescollapsed upon learning of the sentence and had to be helped out of the courthouse.

 • • •

To Make Female Hearts Flutter in Iraq, Throw a Shoe
By ABEER MOHAMMED and ALISSA J. RUBIN
Published: March 13, 2009

BAGHDAD — What does it take for an Iraqi woman to fall in love with a man?

In parks and dress shops, in university halls and on picnics, Iraqi women are still smitten — three months and one new American president later — by the shoe thrower, Muntader al-Zaidi.

His conviction and sentencing for three years on Thursday, only burnished his image as someone who lives out the dream of the common man and in doing so becomes gallant and desirable.

Zainab Mahdi, a 19-year-old student sporting a red baseball cap, swung on a swing set in a riverside park on Friday as she spoke admiringly of Mr. Zaidi. “Every Iraqi wanted to beat Bush,” she said. “Muntader made our wishes comes true.” Her sister, Hanan Mahdi, 22, who was standing next to the swing set, spoke with passion in her voice. “Muntader make us proud of ourselves as Iraqis,” she said. “We were in Syria when he hurled his shoes at Bush, and we noticed the change in the way Syrian people treated us,” she said. “They treated us in a better way.”

Mr. Zaidi, whom Iraqi girls call informally by his first name, captured nearly everyone’s imagination here when he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during a Dec. 14 news conference with the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. While Iraqi men have been divided over Mr. Zaidi’s gesture, it was hard to find a woman who wholeheartedly disapproved of him. In conversations with 20 women over the last several days, most expressed strikingly positive sentiments about him and much anger about the three years he must serve behind bars. “Zaidi restored Iraqi women’s dignity, which was stolen” since the 2003 American invasion, said Um Baneen, 31, a homemaker who said it was President Bush, not Mr. Zaidi, who deserved three years in prison. “No one dared to face Bush in the whole world, only Muntader al-Zaidi.”

Atiyaf Mahmoud, 19, a student in her first year of medical school said, “I love Zaidi. I saw him in my dreams twice, the last one was after the trial, he was released and I went to congratulate him and shake his hand.”
“I was so excited in that sweet dream,” she said. “I wish to have that dream again.”


Shoe sculpture honoring Muntader al-Zaidi in Tikrit

Dog Sledding in Montana’s Wilderness
By GREG BREINING
Published: March 13, 2009

DOG sledding is an exercise in changed states, of chaos turning to order. One moment dogs were barking, yapping, whining, snarling, scrapping, jumping, biting and all the other things dogs do. The next moment they were straining at the gang line, and with a burst of acceleration, all turned silent but for the hiss of the runners on the snow and the sound of my own exhilarated breathing.

We were mushing in southern Montana earlier this winter in the Beartooth Mountains, near Yellowstone National Park , where long, gliding downhills followed laborious uphills. As we crested a small hill, the valley opened, and brilliant Pilot Peak burst into view in stark relief against a black snow cloud. “This is why I do this,” Jason Matthews said, standing on the sled runner next to me. “This is why I’m out here.”

Mr. Matthews, sled-dog racer and guide, runs Yellowstone Dog Sled Adventures of Immigrant, Mont. Like many sled-dog outfitters — there are dozens of small businesses that run trips across North America , from Alaska to the Rockies to Maine — Mr. Matthews is peddling the romance of age-old wilderness travel amid stunning scenery, and the intense experience of working closely with trained, selectively bred dogs.

Dog sledding is an exhilarating and nostalgic way to travel through wild country — quieter than snowmobiles, faster than skis or snowshoes. To join a tour requires no experience, though it does take a bit of effort. And this pristine region on the Montana- Wyoming border is one of the most breathtaking spots, literally and figuratively, to do it

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Photo credit: Part of the Pack, Jim Wilson/The New York Times

A Family Again
by Cathy Scott
March 11, 2009

Renee Clark always held out hope that she’d see Bebe again. Two long years later, her wish has come true. Bebe, a Chihuahua stolen from a car, was reunited with Clark and partner Carlton Robbins on March 10.

When Bebe saw the couple for the first time after all those months, she immediately ran to Robbins. “Boy, did she remember him,” Clark says. “She gave him licks all over his nose and ears.” Then, three-year-old Bebe ran to Clark. Bebe jumped like a bouncing ball, two feet off the ground, with excitement, says Jameson Yu, a staffer with Best Friends Los Angeles Programs who drove Bebe from a Northern Utah shelter, where she had been left, to her real family in California.

The dog was stolen after Clark left Bebe in her car to run into a Los Angeles shelter to pick up a companion dog she’d just adopted. When she got back to her car, she found that a thief had pried open a car window, and Bebe was gone.

For three months, Clark posted flyers, ran “lost” ads in newspapers, regularly checked the local animal shelters and reported her stolen with a microchip company. It was that implanted microchip that brought her home again. A Humane Society of Utah employee called the microchip company after a woman dropped off Bebe at the shelter. The woman told shelter employees that she and her husband had had a new baby and could not keep the dog. She also told them a family member had given the dog to them.

In Bebe’s absence, Clark and Robbins adopted two shelter dogs: a German shepherd and a Chihuahua named Luke. “Luke and Bebe are going to get along great,” Clark says.

She got her as a puppy and had a difficult time adjusting to life without her. She still has Bebe’s dog tag, T-shirts, sweaters and toys. “I kept everything, just in case,” she says. “I can’t tell you how traumatic it was losing her. She used to sleep next to my ear when she was as small as a mouse.”

When Bebe went missing, the couple lived in the Eagle Rock suburb of Los Angeles. Today, they live in Acton, not far from Magic Mountain, on 2-1/2 acres. “We have doggie doors and a large fenced in area to protect our dogs from wildlife,” Clark says. “Bebe’s going to love life here.”

Now that Bebe’s back, Clark’s not taking any chances. “I won’t leave her alone in a car again,” she says, “not even for a moment.

Above: Bebe back home with Carlton Robbins and Renee Clark
Photo by Jameson Yu

Editorial
Mr. Salazar’s Repair Mission
Published: March 11, 2009

We ... urge [Ken Salazar, the new secretary of the interior] not to forget the wolf.

The Interior Department’s scientists say that wolf populations are healthy enough, and state protections strong enough, to take the animal off the endangered species list in Montana and Idaho. We do not share their confidence in the states. De-listing allows for some hunting, and hunters in both places are itching to start firing away. Mr. Salazar should be ready to restore protections the instant the long-term survival of the species seems at risk.

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Man wounded, his dog killed in upper West Side push-in robbery
By Jonathan Lemire
Wednesday, March 11th 2009

A trio of armed robbers burst into an upper West Side apartment Tuesday with guns blazing, wounding one man and killing his dog, police said.

The pit bull was hit by three bullets fired at point-blank range when the home invaders pushed their way into the apartment inthe Amsterdam Houses near W. 64th St., police said.

The dog, named Nayna, died instantly. The canine's owner, a 31-year-old man, was shot once in the leg and was taken to St.Luke's Hospital , where he was in stable condition after the 11:45 a.m. shooting, police said.

Investigators believe the three men targeted the eighth-floor apartment believing its occupant had drugs or drug money inside, police sources said. It was not immediately known if they took anything before fleeing the housing project, which is located just a block from Lincoln Center .

The men have not been located, police said. Investigators were reviewing video from several surveillance cameras late Tuesday

Bashur, dog of war, may be princess in disguise
Her family knows Bashur is special, but dog rescued from Iraq
might have pedigree too
By Carolyn Starks | Tribune reporter
March 11, 2009

John Fenzel never doubted that Bashur was special, but it took a customer at his car dealership to help him discover the bloodlines in the adorable mutt sent home from war-torn Iraq by his paratrooper son.
Bashur was just a few days old when she was found along a roadside in 2003 by U.S. soldiers on their way to Kirkuk. They scooped her up into their Humvee, and soon she won their hearts with her relentless affection and will to survive.

As profiled in the Tribune on April, 23, 2004, Fenzel's son, Lt. Col. Mike Fenzel, became her unofficial guardian, helping Bashur survive efforts to eliminate feral dogs on the military base. She was struck by vehicles twice, suffering a crushed paw the second time, but recovered with the help of Fenzel, then a major, and an army medic.

Mike Fenzel realized he couldn't keep Bashur in Iraq and had her shipped to his father in Sleepy Hollow. John Fenzel has pampered her, all the while shrugging off comments that she was nothing more than a wild dog.

Then one day in 2006, Pam Odgers took her truck for repairs at Fenzel's Chrysler dealership in Hampshire. While waiting, she turned her attention to Bashur, who was sprawled across the floor, her reddish and white coat resembling a large area rug.

"He showed me a puppy picture of Bashur, and I knew what she was but I couldn't come up with the name until we got on the Internet," said Odgers, a dog trainer. "The minute I saw a picture of the breed I knew it was her."

Odgers started tapping furiously on Fenzel's computer, researching Bashur's unique look—amber-colored hound eyes, a thick tail that curled up over her back, triangular pendant ears and large size: 35 inches tall, 135 pounds and 47 inches long.

"She pointed to a picture and everything matched perfectly," John Fenzel said. "Nobody knew what she was—her veterinarian, nobody. Finally, we put it all together."

They decided that Bashur is an Anatolian shepherd, an American Kennel Club registered breed valued around the world as a loyal and trustworthy livestock guardian. The Anatolian originates from the ancient land with the general boundaries of what is now Turkey and is used to help Turkish shepherds protect their flocks from wild animals.

"I just got a kick out of it," Fenzel said. "She really is a treasure."

The behaviors that were at once exacerbating and endearing suddenly made sense. Bashur obsessively watches the car lot and her yard at home in Sleepy Hollow, barking at any animals she senses nearby.
Fenzel walks Bashur every morning before dawn, even in subzero winter temperatures. She rides with him to the dealership in a pickup truck, sitting on the seat, her paws on the floor and her head resting on the dashboard.

"She's the princess here," said sales manager Jerry Gargo with a smirk.

Indeed, Bashur is professionally groomed every three months. Every day after lunch, Fenzel walks Bashur in a cemetery where his father is buried. Bashur knows the routine: She stops and sits at the grave site while Fenzel talks to his father.

At home, Bashur has the run of a large yard but at night she sleeps at the top of the steps, standing guard while Fenzel and his wife sleep.

"She's as loyal as they come," he said. "She's not a very affectionate dog, but she's constantly with you."

The last time Bashur saw Mike Fenzel, now stationed in California, was two years ago during his brief visit home. He walked in the door and said, "Hi buddy!" and Bashur ran up to him, tail wagging, as if no time had passed.

Tribune photo by Stacey Wescott

Vick's Former Home Fails to Sell at Auction

BUFORD, Ga. – Michael Vick's house is still available. No one made an offer on the luxury home in suburban Atlanta at an auction Tuesday. A minimum bid of $3.2 million was required, but only two parties showed up and neither brought the $160,000 payment that was needed just to start the auction.

Sterling Realty Services president Narender Reddy said there is no market for the eight-bedroom, 11-bath home at that price in light of the economy. The whole process lasted less than an hour. Now, a bankruptcy judge must decide the next step for Vick's house.

The former star quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons is serving a nearly two-year sentence after pleading guilty to running a dogfighting ring.

Tools That Leave Wildlife Unbothered Widen Research Horizons
By JIM ROBBINS
Published: March 9, 2009

• • • In Bhutan, for example, biologists are gathering scat to study snow leopards, which are extraordinarily difficult to see, let alone trap. The problem is that there are a lot of different types of scat on the ground that cannot be differentiated visually. Out of 100 fecal samples gathered, often only 2 belong to a snow leopard. Lab testing to find those two samples is expensive.

The scat is shipped to Bozeman, where Dr. Parker is training a dog, a Belgian Malinois named Pepin, to tell snow leopard scat from other types. Once Pepin’s sniff test weeds out the false samples, the right scat can be sent to a lab. Because of technological advances, a fragment of DNA found in scat can identify the species and sex of the animal that produced it. By collecting numerous samples across a territory, critical migration corridors can be identified as well as the abundance of a species. Stress hormones in the sample may be an indicator of the animal’s health. Diet and parasites can be assessed.
• • •

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Martha Stewart's chow puppy was one of 17 dogs killed in a propane explosion at an eastern Pennsylvania kennel.

The domestic maven wrote on her blog that she was "deeply saddened" by the death of her dog, Ghengis Khan, in Friday's blast at Pazzazz Pet Boarding, a kennel in the Pocono Mountains that breeds and trains show dogs. Fifteen dogs were killed in the explosion, and two more died over the weekend.Related links

The kennel was getting a propane delivery when the tank ignited, setting the pens on fire and injuring the driver, Timothy Kleinhagen, of Summit Hill. Though badly burned, Kleinhagen managed to toss a cairn terrier over the kennel fence to safety. He was listed in critical condition Monday at Lehigh Valley Hospital.

"That man is a hero," said the kennel's co-owner, Karen Tracy. "My heart goes out to his family."

Genghis Khan was a grandson of Stewart's previous chow, Paw Paw, which died last April at age 12. Stewart announced on her blog in December that she was adopting Genghis Khan, then 7 weeks old, calling him "very cute and square." She said she expected him to be "conquering his new territory in my home soon, with great charm and prowess. I'm also confident that Sharkey and Francesca (Stewart's French bulldogs) will be enamored with him."

It wasn't immediately clear how much time Genghis Khan had spent at Stewart's Westchester County, N.Y., estate.

Stewart also sent condolences to Tracy, who breeds and trains dogs that compete in shows throughout the country, including Westminster. Many of the dead dogs belonged to Tracy and her mother, Jean Ahner, who live on the property in Franklin Township, Carbon County, about 75 miles north of Philadelphia.

"My heart goes out to Karen Tracy and I am hoping for a speedy recovery for those (both pets and humans) injured in this terrible event," Stewart wrote.

Officials have said a spark or static electricity may have started the blaze, which remains under investigation but is considered accidental. AmeriGas Propane Inc., which owned the truck that Kleinhagen was driving, has declined to comment.

Photos: Martha Stewart with Sharkey and Francesca (left); Paw Paw (right)

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tragic antifreeze death inspires Georgia legislation to save pets
By SANDRA ECKSTEIN
Sunday, March 08, 2009

Becky Davis knew the moment she saw her dogs that something was wrong. “I could look in their eyes and see they were in trouble,” the Jefferson woman said.

Then she found the chicken and potatoes in her yard, soaked in antifreeze. Someone had deliberately poisoned her two 8-year-old dogs, Chief and Rebel.

Although she got them to a veterinarian within an hour of the poisoning, the vets were able to save only Rebel, and he has permanent kidney and brain damage. She lost her German shepherd, Chief.

Police never discovered who killed her dog, but the poisoning spurred Davis to action.

“I sent e-mails to everyone, including the Humane Society of the United States, the ASPCA and my elected officials, including Tommy Benton,” Davis said.

It was Rep. Benton (R-Jefferson), who responded, saying if she sent him some research on the topic, he’d look into introducing a bill on the issue.

The result is House bill 219, which would require antifreeze sold in Georgia to have a bittering agent added to it. The main ingredient in almost all antifreeze is ethylene glycol, which has a sweet taste and smell that often attracts animals and children. Only a teaspoon can kill a pet or small child.

Benton said the bill will require an additive that would make antifreeze taste bitter, and it would add only about 2-3 cents to the cost of a gallon of antifreeze. He said antifreeze manufacturers have told him they support the bill.
Cheryl McAuliffe, the state representative for the HSUS, said her organization supports the bill, which is similar to legislation passed in at least six other states.

“I get calls frequently from people saying my pet has been antifreezed,” McAuliffe said. “This solution is so simple and inexpensive, and it protects people as well as animals.”

The bill was still pending in a house committee last week, and Benton said he was hopeful it would be voted on in time to get it to a full vote in both the House and Senate this year.

Davis, who is approaching the first anniversary of the poisonings this month, said she’ll continue to push the bill.
“I’d rather spend that 2 cents than $7,000 and still lose my dog,” Davis said. “I think anybody would.”

Gray Wolf Will Lose Protection in Part of U.S.
By JIM ROBBINS

Published: March 6, 2009

HELENA, Mont. — In a blow to environmental groups and a boost for ranchers, the Obama administration announced Friday that it would take the gray wolf off the endangered species list in Montana and Idaho, though it left the predator under federal protection in Wyoming.

The gray wolf will remain on the federal endangered species list in Wyoming.

The delisting allows Montana and Idaho to assume complete management of the animal, which will include a hunting season in both states. The move also delists wolves in the western Great Lakes and parts of Oregon, Utah and Washington.

The new policy was announced by the Bush administration in January, but its adoption was delayed so the incoming Obama administration could assess it.

“The recovery of the gray wolf throughout significant portions of its historic range is one of the great success stories of the Endangered Species Act,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said. “Today, we have more than 5,500 wolves, including more than 1,600 in the Rockies.”

Jenny Harbine, a lawyer with Earthjustice in Bozeman, Mont., which has sued to keep the federal protections, said, “We’re disappointed.” She added, “Idaho has shown an eagerness to kill as many wolves as possible, and they are drawing up plans for killing wolves as we speak.”

In 2007, Gov. C. L. Otter of Idaho said he favored reducing the number of wolves there to 100 from more than 800. He also said he would be the first to buy a wolf hunting license.

Officially, however, Idaho has agreed in its state plan to maintain a population of 500 wolves. Montana has agreed to keep 400 wolves. If the number of animals falls below 150 total and 15 breeding pairs for three years in a row, the wolf will be relisted in that state.

Environmentalists sued last year to stop the delisting under the Bush administration. They argued that without protection, wolf numbers were not great enough to assure connectivity between animals in different regions of the northern Rockies, which is crucial to assuring long-term survival.

A federal judge agreed, issuing a temporary injunction to stop the delisting. The Fish and Wildlife Service then dropped its proposal for more study. “We now have information that wolves routinely move back and forth between recovery areas,” said Ed Bangs, the agency’s recovery coordinator in Helena, Mont. “We’ve resolved that issue.”

Environmentalists say they will take the issue back to court.

While state wolf management plans in Idaho and Montana assure protection, federal officials say, the one in Wyoming falls short, so the wolf will remain listed there. Yet in most of Wyoming, the wolf is designated as a predator and could be shot on sight if it were to be delisted. Controversy erupted last year when people chased wolves down on snowmobiles and killed them from planes.

Photo credit: Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Speeder found in stolen car with stolen items, Dog
March 6, 2009

KENNER, La. (AP) -- First of all, police said he was speeding. Second, the 18-year-old wasn't wearing a seat belt and was driving on a suspended license. But that was the least of his troubles. According to police, when the man was pulled over on Tuesday they found a marijuana cigarette. Then they found out the car he was driving was reported stolen. Then they found $27,000 worth of stolen goods in the car.

And when officers asked about the small dog on the front seat, the man could not tell them anything about it. But a call to the veterinarian listed on the dog's tag led to its owner, who said the pet had been stolen during a home burglary.

Detectives were unsure if the suspect remained in jail Friday.

Information from: The Times-Picayune via 1010wins

New Way to Treat your Pet's Arthritis
Thurs., March. 5, 2009

Little Rock, AR -- Imagine watching your dog become crippled -- with no relief from drugs or surgery. Well, there's a new procedure that uses the dog's own fat cells to help with arthritis. Hundreds of dogs who have osteoarthritis have undergone this procedure. And according to the company that developed the stem cell therapy, 80 percent showed improvement after the procedure. But it is still experimental and expensive.

One doctor, however, doesn't see any controversy with using stem cells. "This is taken from the own dog and it's treating its own disease, so there's no problem there, it's not like a Jurassic Park thing where you take some embryonic stem cells and go and create a new human." Human clinical trials using this same type of stem cell technology are also underway for several diseases.

Weird but True
Leonard Greene
March 3 , 2009

A German politician is proposing a high-tech solution to th pooch-poop problem.

Officials would use DNA testing to match the offending Canine with the offending excrement, which would be on file in a doggie-doody database.

YO QUIERO 500G FOR YAPPY CHIHUAHUAS
By DAREH GREGORIAN
February 27, 2009

Ay-yi-yi, Chihuahuas! An Upper West Side woman has filed a $500,000 lawsuit charging that her downstair's yappy little dogs are driving her loco.

In papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, lawyer Paulette Taylor says Theodore Henderson's two Chihuahuas "bark in a manner that is offensive, constant, continuous and incessant."

The mighty miniatures are loud enough to be heard outside of Henderson's apartment and inside hers - and she can't take it anymore.

Taylor, 62, says in the suit that the dogs have her so stressed that she can't sleep. The suit adds that Henderson "may even be guilty of inciting his Chihuahuas to bark."

Taylor has complained to Henderson and to the management of their building at 382 Central Park West for well over a year, but they've done nothing, said her lawyer, Jacqueline Bukowski.

"We're asking for a restraining order against the dogs," Bukowski said, or "some sort of soundproofing" to block the barking from coming into Taylor's apartment, which is directly above Henderson's.

Henderson could not be reached for comment. A lawyer for the building's management company, Maxwell-Kates Inc., said he had not been served with a copy of the suit and couldn't comment on it.

The suit seeks $500,000 from Henderson, Maxwell-Kates and the building's owners for Taylor's "emotional and physical distress."

* * *

VICK GOING TO HIS DOG HOUSE
THROWN A BONE: Michael Vick will spend the final two months of his term under home confinement.
By CLEMENTE LISI
February 27, 2009

Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick is getting a pass. A government official told The Associated Press yesterday that Vick would be allowed to finish his prison sentence at home because there is no room at a halfway house for him.

He is currently serving a 23-month term at the federal lock-up in Leavenworth, Kan., after pleading guilty in 2007 to bankrolling a dog-fighting operation in Virginia known as Bad Newz Kennels.

The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback was sentenced in December 2007 and was due to be released July 20, 2009.

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Bedbugs Can’t Hide From Ruby and Pasha
By JAMES BARRON
February 26, 2009

Michael F. Morin says he has cutting-edge technology in the fight against that growing scourge of city life, bedbugs. His cutting-edge technology is: dogs. Two of them, Ruby and Pasha.

Ruby is a Beagle. Pasha is a Basenji “and maybe part terrier,” said Donald Frey, Mr. Morin’s partner in a four-month-old company that dispatches them to root out the speck-sized parasites in apartments and schools. And also four-star hotels (and three- and two-star ones) that worry about being mentioned in the same breath as “fleabag.”

Alas, a bedbug-free place is not necessarily flea-free. Ruby and Pasha have a nose for Cimex lectularius, the common bedbug, and only Cimex lectularius, Mr. Morin said. Fleas are different.
Ruby and Pasha act mild mannered and well behaved, not like fang-baring attack dogs that want to sink their teeth into whatever is close by. When Ruby and Pasha smell a bedbug, they don’t lap it up; they simply sit down.

They savor the moment, hoping for a doggie treat, while Mr. Morin and Mr. Frey do some bird-dogging of their own. It is up to the two men to figure out where, exactly, the unsavoriness that got the Dogs’ attention is coming from — on a pipe near the ceiling, or in a book on a shelf, for example.

“Our dogs have found bedbugs in suitcases in the lobby as people were coming in” in hotels, Mr. Frey said. Nosing around in guest rooms, Ruby and Pasha have discovered them in items every hotel room has — Bibles and telephone books. Ruby and Pasha have padded through apartment houses and schools, too, and have picked up the scent in gym bags and in children’s books.

Officially, Mr. Morin and Mr. Frey pride themselves on confidentiality, and Ruby and Pasha will never tell where they found the infesters. But Mr. Morin let slip that one building where Ruby and Pasha have made the rounds is home to a couple of well-known television personalities and a famous actor. They have also visited what Mr. Morin called “a big, big university on the West Side — I think you can put two and two together.”

Ruby and Pasha’s blood lust for bloodsuckers is acquired. They were trained to sniff for bedbugs the way other dogs are trained to sniff for bombs, drugs or missing people. Ruby and Pasha have joined a small contingent of bedbug-sniffing dogs....

They have yet to find bedbugs on each other.

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University of Michigan stops operating on Dogs
Associated Press
February 27, 2009

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The University of Michigan has announced it no longer will operate on live dogs from animal shelters to teach surgeons lifesaving techniques.

The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press reported Thursday the university's Health System said its Graduate Medical Education Committee decided to use only simulators, such as mannequins with human organs.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine sought to end the practice. The animal-welfare group filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and erected protest billboards.
The Ann Arbor News reports the group won't pursue the federal complaint.

The group has lobbied to end such practices at other schools.

Michelle Obama: First dog arriving in April
February 25, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) — This isn't just another wag-the-tail story: The Obamas are getting a dog in April and are looking for a rescue Portuguese Water Dog.

First lady Michelle Obama tells People magazine that the target date for the arrival of the family pet is after her daughters' spring break trip in April, though 7-year-old Sasha is convinced the dog is coming April 1.

"So Sasha says 'April 1st.' I said, 'April.' She says, 'April 1st.' It's like, April!" said Mrs. Obama.
The Obama girls — Sasha and 10-year-old Malia — attend the private Sidwell Friends school, which has spring break March 20-29 and a day off for students on April 13.

The family wants a rescue Portuguese Water Dog who is the appropriate age and match.

"Temperamentally they're supposed to be pretty good," Mrs. Obama said. "From the size perspective, they're sort of middle of the road — it's not small, but it's not a huge dog. And the folks that we know who own them have raved about them. So that's where we're leaning."

The first couple and their daughters have been going back and forth on possible names. Among the two Mrs. Obama mentioned — and nixed — were Frank and Moose.

""Oh, the names are really bad. I don't even want to mention it, because there are names floating around and they're bad," she said. "You listen and you go — like, I think, Frank was one of them. Frank! Moose was another one of them. Moose. I said, well, what if the dog isn't a moose? Moose. I'm like, no, come on, let's work with the names a little bit."

Barack Obama and his wife had promised their daughters that they would get a dog after the election, and the selection of the first pet has been eagerly awaited not only by the children but by the nation's dog lovers.
In the interview, the first lady discussed the family's daily routine in the White House, her efforts to keep things normal for her children and a recent girls' night in.

She said on Feb. 19, when the president traveled to Canada, she invited secretaries and policymakers to the White House for popcorn and a screening of the movie, "He's Just Not That Into You."

She said she and her husband rise at 5:30 a.m., exercise in the White House gym and typically have breakfast together. The White House chefs cook "mean waffles and grits," she said.

"We have dinner as a family together every night, and Barack, when he's not traveling, tucks the girls in," she said. "We haven't had that time together for (years), so that explains a lot why we all feel so good in this space."

The interview with Mrs. Obama appears in Friday's editions of People. The first lady, dressed in a sleeveless, bright pink lace dress, is on the magazine's cover.

Photos: Portuguese Water Dog (top left) / The Obamas with daughters Malia, left, and Sasha (above right).

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Manhattan Court: Helmsley Fortune Can Go to More than Dogs
Wednesday, 25 February 2009 3:30PM

NEW YORK (AP)  -- Real estate baroness Leona Helmsley's multibillion-dollar fortune can go to more than just the dogs.

In a ruling announced Wednesday, a Manhattan judge said trustees managing Helmsley's estate can distribute her funds to a broad range of charities.

Helmlsey died in August 2007. She left instructions in one of the documents relating to her charitable trust that money be donated to help care for dogs, as well as other charities.

Manhattan Surrogate Court Judge Troy Webber ruled that trustees of the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust have sole discretion for which charities should get the Helmsley fortune.

Trust spokesman Howard Rubenstein says the trustees will announce the first grants from the foundation next month.

SLIP US A MICKEY!
BIZARRO ROURKE ROCKS THE RED CARPET
By MACKENZIE DAWSON
February 24, 2009

HEY, Mickey, you're so fine/You're so fine you blow our minds wearing sunglasses indoors and a necklace with a picture of your dead Chihuahua on it.

White suit by Jean Paul Gautier, who "did [him] a solid" by whipping up something last minute? Yes.

• • •

He's like Hollywood's crazy old Uncle Bob now, and that's a good thing. Because everyone needs a crazy old Uncle Bob, especially in these tough economic times.

And because the person who shows up on the red carpet wearing a necklace with a picture of his dead Chihuahua on it wins at life.

Photo: Wireimage.com

New pot-cop pup on a high
February 21, 2009

SAN DIEGO -- Not bad for a first day on the job.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency says a drug-sniffing patrol Dog on its first night on duty Tuesday helped its handler find a 477-pound load of marijuana.

The agency said the drugs were found in nine duffel bags off a remote stretch of highway in Jacumba, about 75 miles east of San Diego.

The precocious pooch was described as a 2-year-old male German Shepherd.

Agents two suspects who allegedly brought the drugs accross the border.

The marijuana is estimated to have a street value of about $380,000.

West Milford, NY -- The West Milford Police Special Operations Unit rescued a Dog that fell through the Belchers Creek last ice last Wednesday afternoon. The officers were trining in recovery and ice rescue when they were called to the scene to rescue Snickers, a two-year-old brown Puggle.

Police received a 12:22 pm report that a Dog fell through the ice on Belchers Creek. The Dog's owner, Heather Chapman of Prescott Ave., pointed out Snickers, who was treading water. Officer James DeVore responded.

The Special Operations Unit was training at Moosehead Marina on Greenwood Lake using dry dive suits and ice rescue suits. The unit is traind in underwater recovery and ice rescue.

Officer Greg Post, with the assistance of Sgt. Tom Celano, Offiter Joe Nevin and Officer George Richnavsky, was able to enter the creek and retrieve Snickers from the water about 15 minutes after the Dog fell through. Greenwood Forest Fire Co. assisted..

Animal Control Officer Beverly Lubji transported Snickers to the Greenwood Lake Animal Hospital for evaluation. The Dog was uninjured but suffering from hypothermia. According to police, Snickers is expected to fully recover.

Because of the number of lakes in West Milford, emergency services departments throughout the community carry ice rescue apparatus and train in ice recovery.

Photo: WM Police Officer Gregory Post (left) and WM Fire Inspector Fred Stewart pet Snickers after the Dog was rescued from Belchers Creek last week.

Weird but True
Lukas Alpert
February 19, 2009

A baby boy in India was married to a neighbour's Dog after the child grew a tooth out of his upper gum which members of his tribe believe is a bad omes making him prone to attacks from wild animals.

"It will overcome any curse that might fall on the child as well a on us," said his father.

Weird but True
Lukas Alpert
February 12, 2009

Quick, to the barkmobile!

Pottsboro, Texas, authorities found a woman living in a station wagonwith 22 Dogs.

"The car was soaked with urine and covered in feces," SPCA official Courtney Stevens said.

Police said the woman would not face charges, as she was incoherent. She was turned over to adult protective services.

Manhattan man was sentenced to six days in jail yesterday for fatally kicking his roommate's Boston terrier - and the dead dog was there for the proceeding.

"I brought Sasha so she would know that she was vindicated," bereft pet owner Teddy Bonaros sobbed after court, carrying a bag containing the pooch's ashes in a brown carton.

With good behavior, killer Tufik Habib, a 40-year-old banker, will be released today, since the days he already spent in jail on the case counts in his favor.

Prosecutors say the callous brute bashed the tiny terrier's head in with his foot and an umbrella in January 2008 in Bonaros' Washington Heights apartment.

At yesterday's sentencing, Bonaros, a former travel-agency owner, tearfully lit into Habib in an emotional victim impact statement, calling him, in turn, a murderer, a deadbeat, a pervert, a liar, a con artist, and "a heartless son of a bitch. I curse and condemn you, Tufik, from the second you go into jail until the last breath you take," railed Bonaros.

He noted that Sasha was nursing five puppies at the time she died, and that the puppies' sire, Rocky, died "of a broken heart."

"May you always suffer with pain, loneliness and poverty," Bonaros shouted.

Bonaros didn't pull the ashes out during his statement, but Sasha's remains were there with him, boxed inside the bag, which was slung over his shoulder.

Bonaros had met Habib through a roommate search Web site.

Habib pleaded guilty last November to misdemeanor animal cruelty and has served 175 hours of community service.

Δ PHOTO -- GRIEF: Teddy Bonaros holds the ashes of Sasha, who was fatally kicked, in Manhattan court yesterday.
Photo Credit: Robert Kalfus

NOT FIT FOR A DOG!
WESTMINSTER CHAMP SNUBS SARDI'S
By AMBER SUTHERLAND and ANDY GELLER
February 12, 2009
Sardi's has gone to the dogs, so the top dogs are no longer going to Sardi's, the pets' well-heeled promoters growled yesterday.

The venerable Times Square restaurant has been usurped as the eatery of choice for the Westminster Kennel Club's Best in Show, who was instead treated to a celebratory lunch at Grand Central Terminal's Metrazur.
Those who control the dog-eat-dog world of show dogs said Sardi's is past its prime and hasn't learned any new tricks.

"Old institutions like Sardi's are crumbling. We're about the new. Who goes to Sardi's, anyway?" barked Metropolitan Dog Club President Charlotte Reed, whose group hosts the annual lunch.
"We're trying to diversify and to make the club younger and hipper. We want to be more inclusive. We are a salon of dog thought."

Max Klimavicius, Sardi's owner, was laughing out loud at the snub. "We're certainly not crumbling," he said. "Sardi's has been a very popular theater spot for 80 years." Last year, the kennel club chose Cipriani Dolci in Grand Central for its lunch - although the winner also chomped a steak at Sardi's.

Metrazur, on Grand Central's East Balcony, "is what the dog world is about now," said Reed.

Taking center stage - actually a table - was Stump, the Sussex spaniel who, at age 10, is the oldest dog ever to win Best in Show in the competition's 133-year history. He sat patiently on his hind legs while photographers fired away.

Then, a gold-rimmed platter appeared. On it was a 10-ounce flatiron steak, a shoulder cut that is $27 on the restaurant's menu. It was lovingly cooked medium rare by Metrazur's chef, Stefan Barh, who calls himself more of a cat person. "My cat wouldn't appreciate me making steak for a dog. I'll bring her home some tuna," he said.
"I don't usually feed dogs. But Stump is a champion. Stump is like all our other VIP customers."
In view of Stump's advanced age - he is 70 in human years - Barh sliced the steak into fine pieces, and the top dog made short work of it. Then he went back to sitting patiently to pose for dog fanciers, who paid up to $125 to attend.

"He is a wonderful example of what you want in that breed," said judge Sari Tietjen, who named Stump the Best in Show. "I didn't know who he was or how old he is. I hope we all age as well as he has.

"He showed his heart out. I thought his overall attitude said, 'This is me, this is my night and I'm the star.' "

Δ CHOW HOUND: Stump, with handler Scott Sommer, licks his lips for Metrazur steak yesterday.
Photo Credit: Chad Rachman

10-Year-Old Spaniel Completes Comeback
By KATIE THOMAS
Richard Sandomir contributed reporting.
February 11, 2009

At 10 years old, Stump the Sussex spaniel should be well into his dotage. Instead, the dog who technically retired four years ago took home Best in Show on Tuesday at the 133rd Annual Westminster Kennel Club show at Madison Square Garden, becoming the oldest to win the award.

Stump, officially named Ch. Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee, might have surprised aficionados, who had their eye on a giant schnauzer, but the crowd clearly preferred the jaunty spaniel. Stump was greeted with deafening applause each time he plodded around the ring.

It was the first time that a Sussex spaniel won the top prize, although the breed, which originated as a hunting companion in England, was among the first to be recognized by the American Kennel Club.

Judge Sari Brewster Tietjen said she made her decision at the last minute.

“I didn’t know who he was or how old he was,” Tietjen said. “He’s just everything that you’d want in the breed, and I couldn’t say no to him.”

Stump won the sporting group at Westminster in 2004, but in early 2005 fell seriously ill with an undetermined sickness, said Scott Sommer, Stump’s handler and an owner along with Cecilia Ruggles and Beth Dowd.

Stump eventually returned to health, and by last year he was looking quite good. Still, Sommer said he was not sure until last Wednesday that he would definitely show Stump at Westminster.

“I wanted to take him here and hope he showed good,” Sommer said after winning the group. “That was my goal.”

The night brought to a close the reign of Uno, the beagle who went from being a humble hound to canine celebrity last year after becoming the first in his breed to win Best in Show. Uno spent the past year on a tour of the country, visiting the White House, riding on a Peanuts float at the Macys Thanksgiving Day parade, and even lighting the Empire State Building on Monday in Westminster’s signature colors of purple and gold.

Uno ceded his crown to another workaday dog, a spaniel who spends most of his time sleeping in Sommer’s bed in Houston “between the sheets.” Stump competes for space there with J. R., a bichon frisé who won Best in Show at Westminster in 2001 with Sommer.

Sommer said he did little to prepare Stump for his big night, barely even walking him around the driveway to see if he was show ready.

Sussex spaniels are a rare breed with a small gene pool, Sommer said. According to their breed standard, the dog should have a “cheerful and tractable disposition.” Stump’s merry gait is also in keeping with his breed: the standard describes a rolling gait that is charitably described as deliberate but not clumsy.

According to American Kennel Club statistics, Sussex spaniels are less common than 144 other breeds. Stump’s victory edges out Ch. Loteki Supernatural Being, an 8-year-old papillon who won Best in Show in 1999, for oldest winner.

Another favorite of the night was Spirit, a giant schnauzer who was the top-ranked dog in the country last year and who won her working group only moments before entering the Best in Show ring.
Other dogs competing in Best in Show were a standard poodle, a Scottish terrier, a puli, a Brussels griffon and a Scottish deerhound.

Despite Stump’s charisma, Sommer hinted that the dog was unlikely to replicate Uno’s demanding travel schedule. And at his age, who can blame him?

“Stump’s going to travel back to Houston and kind of stay there,” Sommer said. “He doesn’t travel that much.”

Stump with handler Scott Sommer. Photo Credits: Barton Silverman/The New York Times

The Stump Theory
By GAIL COLLINS
Op-Ed Columnist
February 12, 2009

On Tuesday, a 10-year-old Sussex spaniel named Stump won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club, becoming the oldest dog to win the title in the show’s 133-year history.

Yet another sign of the emerging trend of 2009:

Old is in.

This is not exactly what we were expecting from the Age of Obama. When a 47-year-old becomes president by trouncing a 72-year-old opponent, there’s every reason to think that the tide is turning youthward.

• • •

So it’s better if we readjust our thinking and start regarding everybody as 20 years younger than the calendar suggests. Then you will feel much better when the 80-year-old postman delivers your mail and it includes a request for money from your 38-year-old offspring doing post-post-post-doctoral work at Ohio State.

At least this will be good news for anybody under the age of 40 who gets into a jam. If the Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and the Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez have drug issues, who cares? In the new adjusted way of viewing the country, Phelps is just a toddler and Rodriguez is barely in puberty.

And in their place, we have Stump. You may have missed his great star turn on Tuesday night. Strangely, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show does not get as much attention as, say, the Super Bowl, even though there are way more Americans who own dogs than play football. Perhaps if Bruce Springsteen (59) had done a half-time show at Westminster involving huge amounts of jumping around and a crotch-first slide into the camera, things would be different.

Stump, whose hobbies are sleeping and sleeping, is actually Champion Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee, but nobody his age can remember all that. After a refreshing workout that involved a short walk around the driveway, he trotted onto the stage and wiped the floor with his younger competition, the most notable of which was a poodle that was conceived with the 25-year-old semen of a long-dead champion named Snapper.

Stump would be around 70 in human years, but Snapper — wow. Even given the fact that it was frozen, Snapper’s seed has to have been the equivalent of at least 150.

Click √ on Stump Image for full article

Keeping Championship Bloodlines Alive
By KATIE THOMAS
February 11, 2009

Every time Tim Brazier leads his dog Yes into the ring, he can’t help thinking of Snapper, another champion black standard poodle.

Yes, a standard poodle who won the nonsporting group Monday at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, is a product of artificial insemination that used 25-year-old frozen sperm.

“It’s a trip down memory lane,” said Brazier, who won the nonsporting group with Yes, or Ch. Randenn Tristar Affirmation, at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Monday.

Yes, a daughter of Snapper, or Ch. Eaton Affirmed, shares her father’s sashay as well as his fluid movement and balance.

“And the little personal quirks, too, like cocking her head to the side, like he always did,” Brazier said.
Like father, like daughter, with a twist: Snapper died in 1990, 13 years before Yes was born. She was conceived using 25-year-old frozen sperm from Snapper, who sired more than 100 champions in his lifetime.

Yes’s story is considered unusual because of the age of the specimen and her extraordinary success as a show dog. But frozen semen has been used for decades by breeders who want to inject a dash of nostalgia into a litter of puppies.

Click √ on Image for full article

Photo Credits: Barton Silverman/The New York Times

Vicktory dog goes home!
by David Dickson
February 6, 2009

The first Vicktory dog has gone home! How’s that for a statement worth shouting from the rooftops? This is one happy ending a long, long time in the making.

When Traci first heard about the Vicktory dogs, her heart went out to them. She couldn’t believe all they had been forced to live through. The one thing she knew for certain was that they deserved better. They deserved a home full of love and kindness. She wanted to be one of those homes. "If I could," she says, "I would have given every one of them a good home."

There was one setback, though. The Vicktory dogs were still a long way from looking for homes. First, they had quite the recovery ahead of them at the sanctuary. It would be a long wait to adopt one, with no guarantees, but Traci still wanted to be considered.

Then something happened. A big, goofy lovable pit bull named Tacoma came to Best Friends from a shelter. Tacoma is as friendly as a puppy. He even did a stint as office dog at the Best Friends clinic. Aside from knocking over all the furniture and thoroughly licking everybody who strayed close enough, he excelled as an office dog.

The adoption folks contacted Traci and told her about Tacoma. He, too, needed a home. Would she consider him? She took one look—and was hooked. Traci adopted Tacoma and they’ve been best pals ever since.

But she never stopped thinking about the Vicktory dogs. When the time came for several of the Vicktory dogs to get ready for homes, Traci still wanted to be considered. She and Tacoma felt it was time to welcome a friend.

It was a tough adoption process -- there a lot of special requirements for being able to adopt one of these special needs dogs. But after the adoption staffers approved Traci, she was thrilled! She had only one request: "Pick the dog you think will get along best with Tacoma."

Boy, did they knock this one out of the park. They chose Halle, a sweet, bashful girl who used to be afraid of her own shadow. When Halle first came to Best Friends, she was terrified of everything, everywhere. The whole world was one big threat. With all the help and constant TLC from her caregivers and friends, however, she’s come a long way and overcome so many fears. Even so, Halle still has confidence issues. Tacoma, on the other hand, is the kind of guy with enough confidence to bet the house on a pair of deuces in a poker game. This guy wouldn’t know how to act bashful on a dare.

When these two met, it was a cosmic case of love at first sight. They romped and played together and never had a moment’s trouble. In fact, they snuggled side by side on the bed with Traci during the initial sleepover. Talk about a deal-clincher! Traci and Tacoma took Halle home.

However, Traci can’t officially adopt Halle quite yet. The Vicktory dogs came to Best Friends with specific legal requirements, one of which is a six-month foster period before adoption. Still, if the first week of fostering is any indication, it looks like Halle has found her forever home.

She follows Tacoma around every minute and he’s equally smitten with her. They are inseparable in every sense of the word. Traci says that Halle is still a tad coy around new faces, but she doesn’t duck for cover or anything. Besides, every day she spends with Tacoma she absorbs a little of his confidence. And Traci couldn’t be more thrilled to have her around. "She has the sweetest, most innocent-looking face," she says about Halle.

So for now, it’s one big trial run. But with all the obstacles Halle has overcome so far, a six-month waiting period should be a cinch. Congrats to Halle, Tacoma, and Traci. It’s a happy-ever-after most certainly worth waiting for.

Photo of Halle and Tacoma courtesy of Traci

New World Wolves and Coyotes Owe Debt to Dogs
Researchers have determined that black-coated wolves, like these in Yellowstone National Park, got their distinctive color from dogs.
By MARK DERR
February 6, 2009

In a bit of genetic sleuthing, a team of researchers has determined that black wolves and coyotes in North America got their distinctive color from dogs that carried a gene mutation to the New World.

The finding presents a rare instance in which a genetic mutation from a domesticated animal has benefited wild animals by enriching their “genetic legacy,” the scientists write in Thursday’s Science Express, the online edition of the journal Science. Because black wolves are more common in forested areas than on the tundra, the researchers concluded that melanism — the pigmentation that resulted from the mutation — must give those animals an adaptive advantage.

Although common in many species, melanism in dogs follows a unique genetic pathway, said Dr. Gregory S. Barsh, a professor of genetics and pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the senior author of the paper.

Last year, Dr. Barsh and his laboratory identified a gene mutation responsible for the protein beta-defensin 3, which regulates melanism in dogs. After finding that the same mutation was responsible for black wolves and black coyotes in North America, and for black wolves from the Italian Apennines where wolves have recently hybridized with free-ranging dogs, the researchers set out to discover where and when the mutation evolved.

Photo: Daniel Stahler/Associated Press

SCIENCE EXPRESS: Molecular and Evolutionary History of Melanism in North American Gray Wolves

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Daily Herald-Tribune
Passing of Service Dogs Act applauded
CHRISTOPHER MILLS - Herald-Tribune staff
Posted 5 February 2009

Grande Prairie, Alberta CA - That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for service dogs.

The Alberta government recently passed the Service Dogs Act, which enables those with disabilities who use qualified service dogs to access any public place in the province.

Since the passing of the Blind Persons’ Rights Act in 2007, guide dogs have been allowed in all public venues, but service dogs do more than act as eyes for the visually impaired. They also help people with illnesses such as epilepsy and diabetes with things like every day tasks, carrying and retrieving items, providing balance and stability, or responding to seizures or diabetic episodes.

Now, all types of services dogs will be extended the same benefits.

According to the province, there are approximately 130 guide dogs for visually impaired persons in the province right now, which will initially leave less than 100 qualified service dogs for people with other types of disabilities.

Connor Warkentin, a nine-year-old Grande Prairie boy with autism, has been using his service dog Duncan for more than three years. Connor uses the dog because his autism keeps him from perceiving danger or understanding fear, his mother Gayle said.

“He does not realize that there is danger out there,” she said. “The dog keeps him safe whenever he’s in a public place. It’s a safety element we do not have if we don’t have the dog.”

The Warkentins got the yellow Labrador from National Service Dogs in Cambridge, Ont.

Click √ on HEADLINE for full article

Arkansas animal cruelty bill signed into law
By ANDREW DeMILLO, Associated Press
Thu Feb 5, 2009

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Gov. Mike Beebe has signed into law new animal-cruelty restrictions that make aggravated cruelty to cats, dogs and horses a felony on the first offense.

The new law, which also makes cockfighting a penalty, comes after previous attempts to stiffen animal-cruelty restrictions had faltered over arguments between animal welfare groups and hunters and farmers.
"I became convinced that a first-offense felony was appropriate for the definitions in the bill," Beebe said Wednesday at a bill-signing ceremony.

"They satisfied me that it wasn't going to be used for things that were discussed as extreme and the language was there and protected to ensure that. I don't know who could argue against it."

Arkansas becomes the 46th state to make cruelty to animals a felony, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

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Houston Chronicle
Sniffing out a trail
Private investigator specializes in furry friends, saying the key to finding lost dogs is understanding how canines think
By RICHARD STEWART
Feb. 3, 2009

A pampered Dachshund named Dazzle slips under a backyard fence in Pearland and scampers off for an adventure as fast as her short legs can take her.

And now she’s a lost dog with her frantic owner Gerry Thornton looking everywhere.

Enter pet detective Karin TarQwyn. She is one of the few licensed private detectives in the country who specializes in finding lost dogs. In the four years in the business, she’s been involved in more than 1,500 cases.

She does it, she says, by knowing how dogs think — and they don’t always think like their human companions believe they do.

Dazzle spent most of her five years on the show circuit under the name Got 2 B Dazzling, having her long red coat brushed and her every need taken care of. But TarQwyn said that beneath Dazzle’s pampered exterior beats the heart of the hunting dog of her ancestors. Once she got too far away from home to find her way back, her instincts took over and she began to look for her own food.

TarQwyn started Dazzle’s case like she always does, interviewing Thornton on the telephone and drawing up the dog’s profile. She then poured over maps and satellite photos to try to predict where Dazzle may have gone since her disappearance on Jan. 6.

TarQwyn took Thornton’s case late last week. “Many cases are just handled over the telephone,” she said in an interview from her ranch near Bristow, Okla.

Last week she loaded up her crew of real experts — a set of tracking dogs that range from Cade the big Labrador to Paco the Chihuahua — and headed to Pearland.

“A big part of the job is being a dog handler,” TarQwyn said.

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