ohmidog!

A “substantial” reward is being offered for the return of Max, a Norfolk terrier that belongs to Princess Beatrice, daughter of Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York.

In an interview with BBC Radio, Sarah Ferguson said her eldest daughter was “devoted” to Max, who was last seen Wednesday afternoon chasing a squirrel into Windsor Great Park, in Berkshire.

“We believe he’s been picked up by somebody who does not know what to do with him, but if they could take him to a vet or the police station … There’s a substantial reward offered and it’s very important that no questions will be asked.”

The duchess said Max went everywhere with her Beatrice, 20, who had been devoted to him for the past seven years. She described Max as cream and sand colored, very friendly with “a bit of a tummy” and two missing front teeth.

The duchess added: “Beatrice is distraught without him and we just hope someone can come forward with some information.”

Our “schmuck of the week” award — and there are so many out there we’re thinking of making this a regular feature — goes to an Arkansas mayor who ordered a city employee to “dump two loads of dogs” in the St. Francis National Forest.

The U.S. Forest Service has ordered Helena-West Helena Mayor James Valley to pay $1,900 in fines and restitution.

A forest service spokeswoman says dumping the dogs, who were alive, violated a federal prohibition against abandoning “property” in national forests.

Under the agreement, Valley will pay $300 in fines and $1,600 to Northeast Arkansans for Animals to compensate the group for its work in locating and rescuing the dogs, Fox News reported. Valley did not immediately return the news organization’s call for comment.

Read more »

In a year’s time, Chiara Sforza went from bank vice president to dogwalker — not that we at ohmidog! see that, in terms of honorable professions, as any sort of a plunge — and she wrote about her unexpected change in career paths in Sunday’s New York Times.

Sforza had been with Deutsche Bank for eight years. She was laid off in the summer of 2007 when the work her department did was outsourced to Manilla.

After collecting unemployment, and being rejected as “over-qualified” by many employers, she ended up six months ago in the employ of Fetch Pet Care of New Jersey Gold Coast in Fort Lee.

“Pet-sitting and dog-walking give me an opportunity to do something different,” she wrote in a first person feature the Times calls “Preoccupations.” I’m tired of going to work every day in jobs where I have to worry if my position is going to be outsourced, and the new job is actually working out well…

“I don’t make anywhere near my corporate salary, but this job is perfect for now. I have a little flexibility because I have savings. Being happy while making some money is more important to me right now than making a lot of money and being miserable. At this stage in my life I’m willing to make the sacrifice …  I get so much gratification from walking dogs. They’re so appreciative of the simplest things you do for them.”

It’s getting nasty out there. But it’s nice to know that at least in some cases, when one door closes, another one does indeed open — and it’s nicer yet when there’s a dog behind it.

A Lancaster County dog kennel that continued to operate even when denied a license was shut down Sunday by state dog wardens, who removed 96 dogs.

Ervin Zimmerman, owner of the Ephrata kennel, had fought to keep his dog breeding operation in business since the state revoked his kennel license in 2007.

On Dec. 5, a Lancaster County judge granted an injunction request from the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement and gave Zimmerman 14 days to shut down his kennel. He was to keep no more than 25 dogs, the maximum allowed without a kennel license.

Dog wardens and officers from the Humane League of Lancaster County inspected the property Sunday and removed all but five of Zimmerman’s personal farm dogs. The dogs seized during Sunday’s inspection are now with the Humane League. Read more »