ohmidog!

Bernann McKinney, the California woman who had her pit bull cloned, appeared on NBC’s Today show this morning.

McKinney, soon to return from Korea, where the cloning took place, won’t get custody of the clones of her dog for a month or two. She said she plans to bring three of five clones born last week home, and hopes to someday start a training center for service dogs, known as “Booger’s Place.”

McKinney says Booger, a dog she rescued from the street, saved her life when she was attacked by another dog 12 years ago, then went on to become her assistance dog.

Doggyspace — a Myspace for dogs — has drawn more than 3,000 registered users since it started up in July.

Described as a crossbreed between Facebook  and YouTube, Doggyspace allows dog owners to come together, create profiles, and share photos and videos of their pups.

Based in Virginia, it’s another example of the phenomenal growth in social networking sites that target interest groups looking to connect with like-minded people — pretty much the Internet version of butt-sniffing.

 ”It’s not so much social networking, it’s having a social experience around things that we care about, so pets are just such a great example of that,”  Fred Stutzman, an Internet researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says in a recent AP article.

Stutzman said people who use general social networking sites are also signing up for sites like Doggyspace that offer more focused support on specific issues. 

In the last month, Doggyspace has attracted more than 3,000 registered users — of which nearly 80 percent are female according to Levi Thornton, founder of the Virginia-based company. Thornton predicts that Doggyspace will have racked up more than two million accounts year’s end.

The Humane Society of Harford County will hold a Pet Adopt-a-Thon from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Jarrettsville Volunteer Fire Company’s fifth Classic Car, Truck & Motorcycle Show. The show features door prizes, raffles, food and live music. The fire company is at 3825 Federal Hill Road. For information, call 410-836-1090, Ext. 106.

   The heat-related death of a police dog left in a patrol car has led the police chief of Mulberry, Florida, to suspend operation of the department’s canine unit until changes can be made to ensure the dogs’ safety.

  On July 21,  a two-year-old German shepherd named Sam Diesel died in a patrol car that had been left running with its air conditioner on. The air conditioner malfunctioned and when  Officer Sara Movahedi went to check on the dog in the afternoon, she found him dead.

  Starting today, the department’s two other dogs will no longer perform police duties and will stay in the care of Mohavedi, who is their handler, Chief Larry Cavallaro said.

   Cavallaro said he expects the suspension to last about six months, until the department can purchase new cars for the canine units and build an outdoor kennel for when handlers are inside working on reports or other tasks.

  Sam Diesel was in the car - a 2004 Crown Victoria with a history of air-conditioning problems –because of concerns that  the police department might ”begin smelling like a dog,” according to a report of the incident released Tuesday.

  The department, which has about 19 officers and two canines, tried keeping the dog inside the 1,200-square-foot department, according to an article in today’s Tampa Tribune, but that didn’t work out.

  The police chief said he wants new vehicles that are less likely to have mechanical problems. He also wants a heat alarm fitted in the cars that will alert the handler by beeper if temperatures rise. In addition, the department has enacted a new policy requiring officers to check dogs left in cars  every 30 minutes and to notify dispatchers when making the check.