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Check here for past articles published on our website:
Pet owners face hard
decisions in lean economy
Stiffer
Penalties Result from New Dogfighting Legislation Now Signed into Law
Military dogs' new mission:
'Voltage' the Cat Rescued After Days on
Power Pole
Cat Round Up Redux
Man Allegedly Shoots Cat 'To Get Even
Make
Mine Pink
Cat
BountyThis Hoarding Got out of Hand
Save the Dog First
Spay rule delays dogfighting bill
Meatloaf the Cat Heads Home
After Trek
Firefighter performs CPR on Dogs
A
Happy Ending for the I-85 Dog
Dog Saved by Marine Gets
Permanent Home
Doggone it, my truck's gone!
Do They Come in Narrow Widths?
Pet Sterilization Becomes Law in LA
Mail Carrier Trapped in Car by
Dogs
Pet owners face hard decisions in lean economy
Surrendering dogs or cats can feel like giving up
family members. In some communities, animal food banks help out
as times get tough.
Associated Press
Franklin, Mass. —- Diana Bardsley wiped tears from her eyes as she recalled taking food off her plate to feed her beloved spaniel Hunter and two Siamese cats.
Her greatest fear: that she could be forced to surrender the animals as she struggled to stretch her food stamps and Social Security income to meet the escalating cost of living.
Some hope was restored after she visited a local food pantry, which has started offering free pet food to help owners keep their animals out of shelters.
"I know a lot of people will probably say, 'Well, if you don't have enough money to be able to feed your animals, that you shouldn't have pets,' " said Bardsley, 53, of Franklin, as Hunter played in the living room with three of her grandchildren.
But, "just because financially you may go downhill a little or a lot, doesn't necessarily mean you have to give up part of your family that you love," she said.
For some pet owners, though, there is little choice.
The rising costs of fuel, food and housing —- and the rising tide of foreclosures —- have generated a surge in requests for pet food from traditional food pantries and prompted some pet owners to give up their animals. Others are trying to save money by forgoing veterinary care.
The Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge, Ill., has seen the average number of pet owners getting monthly rations from its pet food pantry increase by more than 50 percent since last year.
Meanwhile, the number of people seeking service at its discounted veterinary clinic has more than doubled, said Linda Estrada, the group's director and president.
"We could do it every day if we had enough food, I mean, that's how bad it's gotten," Estrada said. "The line goes all the way down the street" as pet owners gather once a month for supplies.
In Santa Cruz, Calif., a pet food bank run by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has seen demand spike by about 20 percent just in the past six months. The facility typically hands out about 5,000 pounds of free pet food a month.
"In the past, the demographics has been people who are disabled or on disability and senior citizens," said executive director Lisa Carter. "Nowadays, during the pet food program, I see people who are able-bodied and not able to find a job."
The deepening foreclosure crisis also is having an effect.
A growing number of pet owners are abandoning their pets or surrendering them to shelters after losing their homes or being forced into housing that doesn't allow animals, said Brian Adams, spokesman for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell Animal Medical Center.
"We've seen where people have abandoned dogs in the house, we've seen dogs that have been surviving for weeks on toilet water, we've seen dogs that have either been chained up outside or left in the yard when the people have left, we've seen cats who are just set free," Adams said.
Petco Foundation, the charity arm of Petco Animal Supplies, is establishing a program to provide up to $5,000 in grants to shelters to train, care for or find new homes for pets abandoned during the foreclosure crisis, said director Paul Jolly.
The program also will benefit shelters that help pet owners find homes that allow pets or supply food to disadvantaged homeowners who want to keep their animals.
Linda Pouliot, executive director of the Franklin Food Pantry, said her organization has been struggling to keep up with demand as it serves about 2,200 people, two-thirds of whom have pets.
"When we first started, people couldn't believe there'd actually be pet food because often times they'd take six or eight cans of tuna and we'd find out they weren't actually eating it themselves —- they were feeding the cats because they couldn't afford pet food," she said. (Back to top)
Stiffer Penalties Result from New Dogfighting Legislation Now Signed into Law
(reprinted courtesy of Best Friends News
www.bestfriends.org)
by Michael Rinker
Saying that dog fighting is “an activity we will not tolerate here in Georgia,” Gov. Sonny Perdue signed into law a bill Best Friends helped engineer that provides tougher penalties for individuals involved in dog fighting, including spectators.
State Sen. Chip Rogers, who had pushed for the legislation since 2004, was at the signing ceremony on May 6.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Best Friends Animal Society for all their work behind the scenes when we were first crafting this legislation,” Rogers said.
“Without the help of Best Friends, our task of taking this legislation from a bill to the governor’s desk would have been much more difficult.”
Georgia’s previous dog-fighting law was among the worst in the country.
“It is a big win for the dogs in Georgia and a good day for any of us who are working for a kinder, more civil society,” said Paul Berry, Best Friends’ chief executive. “The old law was very vague and was of little help to local law enforcement agencies working to stop dog fighting in Georgia. This new law gives law enforcement better tools to prosecute people who fight dogs, as well as those who participate as spectators of this cruel, violent enterprise.”
The new law makes it a felony to train, transport, sell or own a fighting dog, or to advertise, promote or bet on fights. Attending a dogfight will be a high and aggravated misdemeanor on the first offense, a felony on subsequent ones.
Perdue, a veterinarian, called dog fighting a "repulsive, senseless organized crime.”
“Over the past year there has been a bright spotlight shining on a sad situation ... the bloody, brutal world of dog fighting,” he said, referring in part to the conviction and imprisonment of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick for dog fighting. “It’s not a sport, it’s really barbarism.”
Berry praised Rogers for his years of work on the legislation.
“Long before dog fighting became the hot issue of the day, Sen. Rogers was working hard behind the scenes on behalf of the animals. Best Friends salutes his major contribution to this new law.”
In addition to the governor and Rogers, others at the signing ceremony were State Rep. Bobby Reese, who sponsored the bill in the House, State Rep. David Knight, State Rep. Rich Golick, K-9 law enforcement teams and representatives from animal welfare groups such as the Georgia Canine Coalition and outdoors groups such as the Georgia Wildlife Federation.
“This is a big step in closing a legal loophole in Georgia, and I hope this deters future violence against dogs,” Reese said.
Rogers said the new law “sends a loud message to those who would torture man’s best friend for their own sick enjoyment.”
“Dog fighting will be prosecuted and those taking part in this heinous act can expect to go to jail,” he said. “No longer will Georgia be a haven for these depraved dog fighters.” (Back to top)
Service animals trained in brig to fetch beers, do
laundry, provide support for wounded war veterans. 'It gives you a measure of
independence back.'
McClatchy Newspapers
Camp Lejeune, N.C. —- One day, the six dogs will do amazing things.
They will load laundry in washing machines and pull it out of dryers. They will perform simple banking transactions.
They will even be able to open a refrigerator on command, select a cold beer
—- yes, just like that dream-come-true TV commercial —- and bring it to their
grateful owner.
For now, though, the dogs are locked in the Camp Lejeune brig. And so are the young Marines who are training the dogs, which eventually will be donated to Marines badly wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan to help them regain some independence.
Civilian prisoners have been used for the labor-intensive task of training service dogs to help disabled owners since 1981. The new program at Lejeune is believed to be the first in a military prison. Base officials said they were willing to do it because the dogs will help disabled Marines, and because studies have shown that working with dogs helps rehabilitate prisoners, calming them and improving their attitudes.
Prisoners in the program said the dogs have turned days of tedium into lives with focus, allowed them to contribute at least a little to the country they let down, and even given them back some of the self-respect they left outside.
"I'd still be doing laundry and anything I could to keep my mind from dwelling on the past," said Mark, a compact 23-year-old who is halfway through a sentence of about two years. (Under the rules for interviews in the brig, prisoners could give only their first names and ages, and weren't allowed to name their offenses.)
As Mark talked, Dixon, a stocky, mellow English Labrador retriever that he and another Marine are helping train, lay calmly at his feet.
"People don't give them the respect they deserve," Mark said. "They think they're stupid, but dogs can really do some great things."
When he gets out, Mark said, he has decided he wants to try for a job training dogs.
A couple of bunks down, Chris, 28, and Gene, 23, sat with dark-haired Roxy, the star pupil. She was the youngest of the six dogs, just 10 months old, but was ahead of all the others in learning her lessons.
Roxy will leave the brig before Gene, who has three years to go, but after Chris, who is down to just seven months.
"The good thing is that Roxy will go on to help someone," Chris said. "Someone I know, most likely, because the Marines are a pretty tight community."
He bent down as Roxy watched and pulled up the left pant leg of his orange jail suit, revealing a round white scar on each side of his calf where a sniper's bullet had entered and exited.
"There was a time I could have used a dog like this myself," he said.
Most of the dogs came from shelters. Bailey, a yellow Lab, was adopted the day he was scheduled to be killed. The civilian trainers who have been teaching the Marines how to work with the dogs said Bailey was taken to the shelter by a young Marine who was going off to war.
Dixon was donated by owners who used to show him and had spent most of his life locked in a kennel. Now he has more spring in his step and a feeling of purpose, Mark said.
The dogs bunk with their trainers in an austere, concrete-floored room, their cages placed between the steel cots of their two trainers. Every four hours, one of the men has to take the dog outside, and the dog goes with them to meals and anywhere else they have to go.
The 11 prisoners picked for the program have only been in it a few weeks, and weren't problem inmates before, but they clearly are better behaved, said Warrant Officer John Nolan, second in command at the brig.
More than 100 prisoners wanted to sign up for the program, Nolan said. A social worker helped screen the best choices.
Those with discipline problems or major offenses were kept out. Those picked typically didn't have minor offenses, either, because the trainers wanted them to have at least seven months left on their sentences so the dogs wouldn't have to switch trainers too often.
When the dogs are ready, they will have learned more than 70 tasks, from "handling" laundry to pulling their owners' wheelchairs around and switching lights on and off. In some cases, the owners will literally lean on the dogs, relying on them to help with their balance as they do things such as getting in or out of a wheelchair, or climb steps.
At the bank, they can do things like take a withdrawal slip and ID card from an owner who can't reach from a wheelchair, carry it to the counter, put up their front paws and lean forward to hand it to the teller. Then, they can accept the cash and bring it to their owner.
Rick Hairston of Carolina Canines, which trains service dogs for civilians and proposed the training program to Lejeune leaders, said some of the things the dogs can do may seem startling, but they aren't tricks.
"If it's something you can't do for yourself, all of a sudden, it's not a funny trick anymore," he said. "Some of them are fancy skills, and some are mundane, but if you can't do them, and you get a dog that can, it makes a huge difference. It gives you a measure of independence back."
'Voltage' the Cat Rescued After Days on Power Pole
By Gary MeyerHe's tired and hungry, and probably not much in the mood for chit-chat after spending at least four days and nights atop a power pole in Frazier Park.
Nicknamed "Voltage," the male orange and white tabby was spotted sitting on top of the pole between Decator Trail and Irvon Trail in Frazier Park on Sunday, March 23, by Paul Brown, who called 9-1-1, spoke with the fire department, Southern California Edison and Cause-4-Cats & Dogs.
Brown remembers hearing cat meows two days earlier. "My son and I heard meowing, but we didn't know where it was coming from," he said in an interview on Tuesday, March 25. "You don't think to look up in the sky for a cat. a cat. But on Sunday we spotted him up there on the pole." Brown said he doesn't know how long the cat had been on top of the pole.
Russ Robrahn, co-founder of Cause-4-Cats & Dogs, stepped up efforts to get Edison out to the scene, continually calling and getting a work order started.
Sheree Denham emailed The Mountain Enterprise, who asked Rapid Cable to try to help with its bucket truck. Greg Banks went to the scene immediately, when called, to see if he could reach the kitty using Rapid's bucket truck. But with vehicles blocking close access to the power pole, the bucket could not reach the top where the feline was perched.
Finally, after days of sitting, lying and stretching on top of the pole, "Voltage" was rescued by Edison's Troubleman Gordon McNeill, who lifted himself half way up in the bucket and climbed the rest of the way to the top.
Voltage" was very cooperative as McNeill stuffed him into his sweatshirt for the bumpy walk down to the bucket.
"He's lucky he didn't touch those wires at the edges of the cross-arm," McNeill said, "those carry 12,000 volts."
Russ Robrahn was waiting with a Cause-4-Cats & Dogs pet porter.
"Voltage" will receive a complete checkup and an attempt will be made to locate his people. (Back to top)
DES MOINES, Iowa - The tiny town of Randolph has rescinded a US$5 bounty on feral cats.
Instead, the southwest Iowa town of 200 people has agreed to work with animal rescue groups on a catch, neuter and release program.
"We've told them to get it lined up to do it," Mayor Vince Trively said Friday.
The City Council approved the bounty after receiving numerous complaints about feral cats. Under the initial policy, which went into effect March 1, stray cats without collars would be taken to a veterinarian, and if they weren't claimed, they would be euthanized. That caused an uproar among animal lovers.
On Thursday, the city voted to end the bounty and form a task force involving three organizations, Maryland-based Alley Cat Allies, Best Friends Animal Society of Utah and Feline Friendz in Nebraska.
"We're very keenly interested in helping this community. The mayor is reaching out for help," said Barbara Williamson of the Best Friends group.
The task force will meet next week to devise a plan, which the City Council will consider on Thursday, said Elizabeth Parowski, spokeswoman for Alley Cat Allies.
"What will happen is the cats that are truly feral will return to the outdoors and the cats that are strays that are actually socialized will be adopted into homes," Parowski said.
Trively still wants the cats gone - and said returning them to town is not a solution.
"How would you like it if a dozen cats come around there every morning as you tried to feed pets and they gobble up food and chased your pets away and then left a calling card on your yard or walk to step on?" he asked.
When the bounty was in place, two cats - one of them pregnant - were turned in. The mayor said the first cat was ill and died.
Feline Friends eventually picked up the second cat. Haftings said it was doing fine. (Back to top)
Man Allegedly Shoots Cat 'To Get Even
BOULDER, Colo. - Police say a man shot a cat with a rifle and sent e-mails to relatives to tell them he did it "to get even" with his wife.Longmont police say they arrested 50-year-old Paul John Vickers Wednesday after his wife's sister told police of the e-mail in which Vickers wrote about killing "Bootsie." Police Sergeant Tim Lewis says the married couple was involved in a long-running argument and Vickers was angry at his wife.
Police found the cat's body in a pond near where Vickers lives and say "Bootsie" was shot while in the couple's basement.
Vickers is being held at the Boulder County Jail on $25,000 bond. He faces charges of felony animal abuse, domestic violence and harassment. (Back to top)
BOULDER, Colo. - A Boulder woman facing a $1,000 fine for dyeing her poodle pink has hired a lawyer to fight the charge in court.
Joy Douglas says she dyed Cici, her white miniature poodle, to call attention to breast cancer. She says she used beet juice and Kool-Aid.
She was ticketed March 1 under a Boulder ordinance that makes it illegal to dye animals. The ordinance is designed discourage people from dyeing rabbits and chicks for Easter.
Douglas had a court hearing scheduled Tuesday, but the judge postponed it until April after she said she has hired a lawyer.
Douglas took Cici with her Tuesday but had to leave her outside the courthouse. (Back to top)
DES MOINES, Iowa - Attention, cat haters: A tiny town in Iowa is offering $5 bounty for each feral feline turned in.
Those not claimed will be destroyed.
Mayor Vance Trively says that Randolph, the southwest Iowa town of 200 people, is being overrun by dozens of feral cats and needed to do something.
"You can't just let them keep multiplying in town," Trively said Tuesday.
Town officials approved the bounty after receiving numerous complaints, ranging from a cat attacking a small dog to a dozen cats showing up at the bowl when a resident tried to feed his own cat.
"One guy threatened to shoot all of them. I told him he couldn't do that in town. Other people talk about poisoning them, but you can't do that in town," Trively said.
Under the new policy, stray cats without collars will be taken to a veterinarian in the nearby town of Sidney - Randolph has no vet clinic - where they'll be kept "for a time for people to claim them," the mayor said.
If no one does, they'll be euthanized and buried.
Kristen Everett, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based Humane Society of the United States, said Wednesday it plans to offer assistance to the mayor "to humanely capture the animals and help him provide a more safe and humane environment for both animals and people in this town."
Since the bounty went into effect March 1, two cats - one of them pregnant - have been turned in. (Back to top)
TUCSON, Ariz. - About 800 small dogs, including Chihuahuas, terriers and Pomeranians, were seized from a triple-wide mobile home whose occupants were overwhelmed trying to care for the animals, authorities said Wednesday.
Pima County sheriff's deputies and animal welfare officials who removed the dogs also found 82 caged parrots in the home in a rural area northwest of Tucson.
Some dogs were pregnant and giving birth as they were taken to shelters in Tucson, said Jenny Rose, a spokeswoman for the Humane Society of Southern Arizona. Ninety-six dogs were taken from the house Monday and another 700 on Wednesday, she said.
"The home was definitely in very bad condition, urine and feces all over the home, in the kitchen and bedroom, with a very strong odor," she said. "Obviously, 800 dogs in a triple-wide mobile home, they were packed in there. That being said, they were in pretty good shape."
The elderly owners, who have not been identified, were apparently overwhelmed but have cooperated with authorities, sheriff's Sgt. James Ogden said. No charges have been filed, but authorities continue to investigate.
The animals appeared to have had enough food, but a few were missing paws - some from having been attacked by other animals, others apparently having caught their feet in fencing outside, Rose said.
The breeds included Chinese cresteds and Lhasa apsos. The owners were breeding and offering the dogs for sale, Rose said, but she described it as a hoarding case, in which elderly people sometimes feel no one else can give their animals a good home and won't part with them.
Deputies were alerted this month after a woman who bought a Chihuahua at the home reported the conditions, Ogden said.
The dogs living inside the house apparently had free run of the premises, Ogden said. Others were found in other structures on the property.
Ogden described the living conditions as "horrible, filth everywhere ... probably one of the worst (situations) I've ever seen."
The animals will be offered for adoption soon, Rose said, adding that a rescue group from Phoenix had taken 100 of the dogs. (Back to top)
While waiting for someone to rescue them on Mason Lake in northern West Virginia, Earl clung to the 12-foot boat's hull. The water temperature was about 50 degrees, said J.M. Crawley, a senior conservation officer for the Division of Natural Resources.
Another fisherman, Jan Thorn, watched from shore as a state trooper paddled out to rescue Earl and Lacy. "He asked the state trooper to take the dog first," Thorn said. "It was very touching."
Earl, 53, said Lacy means a lot to him and his wife since they lost both of their children in a car accident 15 years ago. "That dog is like a child to us," he said. (Back to top)
Spay rule delays dogfighting bill
Author angry: Reese
says amendment could penalize some dog owners unfairly. Others
push neuter mandate.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/13/08
The author of a dogfighting bill is mad over a Senate amendment that calls for the mandatory sterilization of canines seized in dogfighting cases.
State Rep. Bobby Reese (R-Sugar Hill) on Wednesday questioned the constitutionality of the change by Sens. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) and Robert Brown (D-Macon) to his House Bill 301, which would require convicted owners to pay for the spaying or neutering of impounded dogs.
Reese said he plans to disagree with the changes, which could land his bill in a joint conference committee to work out differences. The Senate passed the amended measure unanimously and sent it back to the House. "This is not a spay-and-neuter bill," an angry Reese said. "This is a joke. I was quite angry when I saw it."
The measure was intended, Reese said, as a "simple" bill to stiffen criminal penalties for those who participate in or watch dogfighting matches.
The amendment could penalize some dog owners unfairly, Reese said, because sterilization, which would not be connected to the guilt or innocence of the owner, would be an automatic part of the "humane" care of all dogs impounded in connection with dogfighting.
Rogers said he thought the amendment was a good idea, but, if Reese opposes, it would not have to stay in the bill. "It's not something we're wedded to," Rogers said. "It's not going to hold up the bill."
The Humane Association of Georgia, which wanted the bill's focus broadened to include all animals, considers the spay-or-neuter requirement a positive development. "If [owners will] accept the animal back neutered, you know they just want the animal," said Carolyn Danese, association president. "If they won't accept it back, then you know they just want it as a fighting or breeding machine."
The Georgia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which advocates the spaying or neutering of all impounded dogs and cats, also agrees with the amendment. Rogers, who has been working to rid Georgia of dogfighting for four years, credited the dogfighting case of suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick with increasing public knowledge of the problem. Other elements of HB 301 remained the same. The bill would make it a high and aggravated misdemeanor for spectators caught for the first time at a dogfighting match and a felony for subsequent violations.
Participating in dogfighting, which includes promoting matches or training dogs for the sport, would be a felony punishable by imprisonment of as many as five years and a $5,000 for first-time offenders. Prison time would double and the fine triple for repeat violators. (Back to top)
The container spent time in a Florida warehouse and on a semitrailer before being delivered to a Phoenix facility.
A worker heard a cat meowing inside the container Tuesday. The cat, named Meatloaf, was hungry and thirsty but unharmed. The man who was moving remembered a similar cat near his old apartment.
Meatloaf's owners had put up posters around their neighborhood. The apartment manager remembered them when Humane Society called.
Firefighter performs CPR on Dogs
WEST MONROE, La. - A firefighter performed CPR on a dog, saving its life after responding to a mobile home fire. When firefighters arrived at the scene Friday, a resident of the house approached firefighter Stephen "Odie" Odom and told him two dogs were trapped inside the burning house.
Odom put on his air pack and headed for the room where the two small dogs were kept.
After searching through a smoke-filled bedroom, Odom located the two terrier dogs in carriers underneath some blankets and removed them from the burning home.
When Odom removed one of the dogs from the carrier, he noticed it was not breathing and his tongue was hanging out. The firefighter removed his face mask and placed the dog's head inside so the oxygen could blow in its face.
When this didn't work, Odom began performing CPR on the dog by "cupping my hands around the dog's snout and blowing until I could feel his chest expand," he said.
"I then did chest compressions similar to that of infant CPR. After approximately one minute of doggie CPR, I noticed the dog trying to breathe on its own."
Five minutes later the dog began looking around and was given to the owner of the house, Linda Lewis. An oxygen tank was left with the pup.
Fire Prevention Officer Curt Meachum said he is glad the dog's life was spared.
"We do not know the dog's name, but we could just call it 'Lucky,'" Meachum said. (Back to top)
On Wednesday, January 30
(2008) the Georgia Heartland
Humane Society (GHHS) hotline and email box received
distress messages from a woman saying that she saw a dog on I-85
between the Newnan and Grantville exits that needed help.
She said that for the last week as she was driving to work she
saw the body of a white dog on the side of the highway and
what appeared to be a black trash bag lying beside it. As she was driving to work the morning of the 30th she saw
that it wasn't really a trash bag. It was a black dog lying beside her
companion. GHHS sent volunteers out to the site to try to rescue the dog,
but the dog wouldn't come until her companion's body was put in the car first.
The volunteers took her to Oakley Animal Hospital. Then Barbara Grosse,
president of GHHS, sent a plea out to everyone on the GHHS emailing list, asking
for help in fostering this dog. The response was heart warming. So
many told us that they would love to be this dog's foster. Oakley told us
that the dog was obviously in a state of depression and was refusing to eat.
Then yesterday, Oakley received a call from a hysterical woman saying that she
thought it was her dog. She described both dogs to the attendant and the
descriptions fit. Last night she picked up the surviving dog. We are very
gratified to have been a part of this amazing tale.
Annette Janssen, who has been covering this
amazing story, has the latest: “'Bear’s' owner (Barbara West of
Newnan) called me this morning to express how grateful she is at Bear’s
rescue and that Ron and Linda (the Lefebvres, who rescued Bear) were
thoughtful enough to take Cola, the deceased dog. She was very touched
at everyone’s concern and grateful for an organization like GHHS. She
cried during most of our conversation. She did mention that she went to
our web site and found a link for a grief chat line. She said it was
very helpful to talk to others about her loss. She also said her
friends and family are very supportive. She said Bear and Cola
squeezed out of a gate which had been set askew by some heavy equipment
while they were cutting down trees. She and her husband knew about the
gate but didn’t feel the gap between gate and fence was large enough for
the dogs to exit."
(Back to top)
Read the article about Bear, the I-85 Dog, in the AJC
But what followed for Marine Maj. Brian Dennis and the mutt was a tale of friendship and loyalty that spanned miles, borders, and overcame long odds - a tale that took a turn Friday afternoon when the dog arrived at San Diego's Lindbergh Field airport.
"This dog who had been through a lifetime of fighting, war, abuse ... is going to live the good life," Dennis told his family in an e-mail from Iraq.
The tale unfolded in October, a few months after Dennis deployed to Iraq from San Diego to work as part of the military team building infrastructure along the Syria-Iraq border and training Iraqi forces to take over.
Dennis, 36, of St. Pete Beach, Fla., had volunteered for the assignment. It was a departure from his role as a fighter pilot. He had seen the country from the air, but it was different on the ground.
Dennis wrote stories home about the reciprocal relationship that desert dogs, strays wandering outside border towns, had with Iraqis.
"The dogs get to eat the Iraqi scraps and have a home in the middle of the desert," he wrote in an e-mail. "The Iraqis get an incredible early warning system; these dogs hear anything approaching from miles away and go nuts and scramble to defend their territory."
While on patrol in the Anbar province, Dennis spotted what appeared to be a gray and white, male German shepherd-border collie mix. He named the dog Nubs after learning someone cut the ears off believing it would make the dog more aggressive and alert.
Within weeks, Nubs was greeting Dennis during routine patrol stops along border communities. The Marines fed him bits of their food and by November, the Marine and his unit were keeping an eye out for the dog, which routinely chased their Humvees when they departed.
Life on the run, however, was taking a toll on the dog. He had lost a tooth and been bitten in the neck. In late December, Dennis found Nubs near death in freezing temperatures. The dog had been stabbed with a screwdriver.
Dennis rubbed antibiotic cream on the wound and slept with Nubs to keep him warm.
"I really expected when I woke up for watch he would be dead," Dennis wrote. "Somehow he made it through the night."
Dennis thought he had seen the last of the dog days later when his squad headed back to its command post some 65 miles away. He couldn't take the dog with him and watched as it tried to follow the Humvees away from the border.
Two days later, while Dennis and a comrade were working on a Humvee, he looked up and saw the dog staring at him.
"Somehow that crazy damned dog tracked us," he wrote Jan. 9.
But the reunion was short lived. Military policy prohibits having pets in war zones, and Dennis was given four days to get the dog off the base or kill him.
The decision was easy: Nubs was going to San Diego. The logistics, though, were anything but easy.
With help from his Iraqi interpreter, Dennis managed to find a Jordanian veterinarian to get the care and paperwork needed to get the dog to the states. He also negotiated the red tape to get Nubs across the border into Jordan.
His family and close friends helped raise the $3,500 needed to get the dog from Amman, Jordan, to San Diego, said his mother, Marsha Cargo.
"I just can't believe it. Out there in the middle of nowhere these two find each other," Cargo said.
A colleague in San Diego agreed to care for the dog and have it trained until Dennis returns in March from Iraq.
"We anticipate a real steep learning curve for Nubs," Capt. Eric Sjoberg said. "We want him to learn to just be a dog."
For now, though, Dennis will settle for the knowledge that Nubs is finally
safe - and waiting for his master to follow him.
(Back to top)
McCowan called police, assuming the truck had been stolen. When officers arrived, they found the pickup across the street in a fast-food parking lot but had no idea how it got there.
In security video shown Thursday on KCAL-TV, the truck can be seen rolling backward out of the store lot and across the street, threading its way through traffic and out of view.
Police said that after McCowan left the truck, Max knocked the vehicle out of gear and sent it rolling backward.
Both Max and the truck emerged without a scratch.
(Back to top)
"All 20 of our police dogs - German and Belgian shepherds - are currently being trained to walk in these shoes," Andre Hartwich said. "I'm not sure they like it, but they'll have to get used to it."
The unusual footwear is not a fashion statement, Hartwich said, but rather a necessity due to the high rate of paw injuries on duty. Especially in the city's historical old town - famous for both its pubs and drunken revelers - the dogs often step into broken beer bottles.
"Even the street-cleaning doesn't manage to remove all
the glass pieces from between the streets' cobble stones,"
Hartwich said, adding that the dogs frequently get injured
by little pieces sticking deep in their paws.
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The ordinance is aimed at reducing and eventually eliminating the thousands of euthanizations conducted in Los Angeles' animal shelters every year.
"We will, sooner rather than later, become a no-kill city and this is the greatest step in that direction," Councilman Tony Cardenas said as he held a kitten at a City Hall news conference.
Councilman Richard Alarcon, who like Cardenas is a co-author of the bill, brought his two pet Chihuahuas to the event to be neutered in a van operated by the city.
The ordinance does exempt some animals, including those that have competed in shows or sporting competitions, guide dogs, animals used by police agencies and those belonging to professional breeders.
The average pet owner, however, must have their dog or cat spayed or neutered by the time it reaches 4 months of age (as late as 6 months with a letter from a veterinarian). People with older unneutered pets and newcomers to the city with animals also have to obey the law.
First-time offenders will receive information on subsidized sterilization services and be given an additional 60 days. If they still fail to comply they could be fined $100 and ordered to serve eight hours of community service. A subsequent offense could result in a $500 fine or 40 hours of community service.
The ordinance brings the nation's second-largest city into line with about a dozen of its neighbors that have similar laws.
Many states require animals adopted from shelters to be sterilized, and New York City requires the same for animals bought from pet shops, but restrictions such as those in Southern California are rare. A 2006 Rhode Island law requires most cats to be sterilized.
A measure similar to Los Angeles' passed the California Assembly last year but did not gain state Senate support.
Los Angeles animal shelters took in 50,000 cats and dogs last year and euthanized approximately 15,000 at a cost of $2 million, according to city officials.
Bob Barker, the retired game-show host who famously ended every "Price is Right" show with a call for sterilizing pets, pushed for the law's adoption and was among those at Tuesday's news conference.
"The next time that you hear me say, 'Help control the
pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered,' I can add, 'It's the law
in Los Angeles,'" a jubilant Barker said.
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Mail Carrier Trapped in Car by Dogs
HANOVER, Pa. - A mail carrier was trapped inside her car for nearly two hours at a home near Hanover after a pair of dogs attacked her tires, flattening three of them.Robin Barton had to summon help by cell phone on Wednesday. When the police arrived, the dogs attacked the cruiser's tire as well.
Authorities were preparing to tranquilize the dogs Judge and Justice, a Rottweiler and a pit-bull mix, before the surprised and apologetic homeowner arrived.
Stephanie Dekelbaum, the dogs' owner, called them "generally
sweethearts" and blamed the attack on a tire toy the dogs had
recently been given.
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