ohmidog!

Three times in 10 days, Baltimore city animal control officers and police have descended on the park at Mount Vernon Square to cite dog owners whose dogs were off their leashes.

According to a Baltimore Sun report, the crackdown was prompted by complaints from area residents who say some dog owners allow their pets to run wild and destroy flower beds.

Failing to have a dog on a leash results in a $100 fine for a first offense and up to a $1,000 fine for repeat offenders. Bob Anderson, director of the Animal Control Office, said those fines could soon increase. Officers have also been citing dog owners who do not pick up their dogs’ waste.

With spring on the way, and the city in financial straits, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a lot more of these  — even more than the advent of warmer weather traditionally brings. Most likely, there will be one coming soon to a park near you.

Watch for a lone and dogless undercover officer acting like he’s enjoying a day in the park. If he sees you, he’ll escort you to animal control officers hiding nearby. There you’ll receive your ticket, while police stand by to make sure you don’t abscond. At least that’s how it works at the park I frequent.

Meanwhile, I suggest we all be good dog owner-citizens, keep our dogs on leashes (at least when the authorities are around), scoop our poop, and make sure our dogs don’t tiptoe through, or pee on, the tulips.

It may not take a village to save a dog, but the more people that pitch in, the easier it is.

Take Hector. His headed-for-a-happy-ending story is the kind that happens thousands of times a day. At it’s simplest, it’s merely a matter of well-intentioned people communicating. But when you take a closer look, it’s amazing, and a little inspiring, how many people can get involved to save one dog.

First, in Hector’s case, came the animal control officers who swooped him up.

Found wandering at a Baltimore park, Hector — believed to be, beneath all his scraggliness, an American Eskimo dog — was taken to Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS), where staff and volunteers cared for him, gave him a name, arranged to have him neutered, and assessed his temperament and condition. The former was fine. The latter needed some work.

Hector was not just underweight. He was toothless.

He showed no other apparent injuries, but some suspect Hector, because his teeth appear to have been pulled, might have been used as a “bait dog” by dogfighters. Because the wounds in his mouth were still open, and subject to infection, Hector was taken to veterinarian Marcella Bonner, of Swan Park Animal Hospital.

She tried to repair his gums, but the holes were too big. Hector probably needs a specialist, and even then — once the holes in his gums are healed — isn’t likely to be gnawing any bones.

Hector was returned to BARCS, but, because of his medical problems and his less than stellar appearance, he was an unlikely candidate for adoption — the only alternative to which is to end up on the PTS (put to sleep) list.

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We don’t know how much heat the Pentagon is getting for its edict banning “dangerous” dog breeds from Army housing, despite many of those breeds having served the country honorably.

We do know, though, that the new Army policy, which singles out Rottweilers, chows, Dobermans and pit bulls as undeserving of life on American military bases, has led to at least one letter – a copy of which was sent to us by the writer, one-time Army brat and ohmidog! correspondent Anne Madison.

With her permission, we reprint it here:

Dear Ms. Vanslyke,

I am writing to respectfully but vehemently protest the banning of certain dogs (deemed “aggressive”) from military housing.

I have a somewhat different viewpoint. Though I am now in my fifties, I grew up as the daughter of an Army officer, an “Army Brat” if you will. I had one younger brother. Our beloved dogs followed us from one posting to the next, getting us through strange, new schools, new cties and towns, new people and teachers, and all the huge (and I will say unnatural) adjustments that Army children are forced to make.

They provided us with comfort, love, stability, and loyalty. The first dog I ever had, Cho-Cho, was half-Doberman. She was with us while we were stationed at the Ryukyus Command. I was between three and five years of age, and she was my best friend.

Our soldiers–and their families–give up so much for us! I believe that their lives are much more difficult now than the life that I experienced. At least we were at peace during most of my childhood, so we didn’t have to experience fear and worry for our father.

Is this “breed-oriented persecution” really going to accomplish anything besides tearing families apart and separating respected war veterans from their loved pets? It seems to me that the Army has many means at its disposal to to control any unwanted canine behavior without simply
going through and eliminating all dogs of certain types. If there’s a problem dog of any breed, by all means–address the issue with the adult involved.

This is just too sad and terrible a burden to lay on the shoulders of those who are doing so much for our country at such a cost. And it’s completely unnecessary!

Sincerely yours,

Anne Madison

As they periodically do, Baltimore animal control officers and city police have cracked down on unleashed dogs — this time at Mount Vernon Square near the Washington Monument this week.

Bob Anderson, director of Baltimore Animal Control, estimated fewer than 10 dog walkers have been cited in the past three days for failing to have their dogs on leash.

According to the Baltimore Sun, the sweeps followed citizen complaints about dogs bothering people in the park.

Failing to have a dog on the leash can result in a $100 fine for the first offense and a $1,000 fine for repeat offenders. Those fines are set to go up soon, Anderson said.

City law requires dogs to be on a leash when not on their owner’s property. For my experiences with the law, you can click here.

According to the Sun, Anderson pointed out that dog owners have the option of using “the city’s dog parks” to let their pets run off leash.

In reality, the city of Baltimore has only one dog park, in Canton, though the city has promised to add more – with the first of them opening later this year in Latrobe Park in Locust Point. 

In all the city parks, as they now exist, leash laws apply — and with the weather warming up, expect crackdowns soon at a park near you.

“Two dogs died in the name of sport this week, and this time it wasn’t Michael Vick’s fault.”

So begins an Associated Press commentary by national sports columnist Tim Dahlberg that recounts the final hours of Dizzy and Grasshopper, two members of musher Lou Packer’s team. The two were among three dogs that died in this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

“Listen to race supporters and they’ll tell you that, unlike Vick’s dogs, the 5-year-old huskies died doing what they loved. Read the official Iditarod Web site and you’ll find out that sled dogs are pampered and loved by their masters…”

On the other hand, Dahlberg wrote, “They don’t have a problem with chaining up big packs of dogs and running them to within an inch of their life for sport. They accept the fact that the Iditarod is a part of the state’s heritage, and its biggest sporting event. A lot of us in the Lower 48, though, just don’t get it.”

He goes on to ask the question on the minds of many animal right activists: “How many dog deaths are reasonable? How many more must die before the fun is finally sucked out of the sport?”

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One of the designer-wannabes from ”Project Runway” has been arrested and charged with assaulting her ex-fiance with, among other things, a cat.

Kenley Collins, the third place designer from the show’s fifth season, was arrested Tuesday in a Brooklyn home. Police say she attacked her sleeping ex-fiance with a laptop computer, apples and a hurled cat.

According to legal papers Kenley told her ex, “You’re lucky … it could’ve been a lot worse.”

Kenley was charged with 2nd degree assault, 3rd degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon in the 4th degree, according to TMZ.

A “bad” dog, an “ugly” dog and a gaggle of “unwanted” beagles all prove that, deep down, they were not those things at all in the season premiere of “DogTown” Friday night.

All three stories show the benefits of looking a little deeper than the surface, but it’s the tale of Aristotle, a scab-ridden and a hairless mutt, that’s going to tug your heartstrings the hardest.

A terrier mix rescued from a hoarding situation, Aristotle comes to DogTown with a skin condition that has left him a pitiful sight — his hair has fallen out, his skin is covered with scabs, and he has no apparent eyelids.

Veterinarians at Best Friends Animal Society, the southwest Utah sanctuary where the National Geographic Channel program is centered, set out to make a diagnosis on Aristotle and relieve his itching, in hopes his coat might grow back and he might get adopted.

Aristotle’s story is one of two told in “The Survivors,” the first episode of the new season of “DogTown,” which airs Friday at 10 p.m.

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A brand new, a 50,000-square-foot indoor dog park has opened in Dallas — but the play area has been closed to pit bulls.

Unleashed, a multi-service dog center, complete with café and grooming services, says its insurance provider requested the ban on pit bulls.

“It’s not our call,” said co-owner Cody Acree. “I’d much rather take every animal and customer.”

Pit bulls were banned after a customer was bitten by his own dog during the park’s first day of operation, according to an article in the Dallas Morning News.

John Boeglin, 49, went to Unleashed with his three rescue dogs — including a pit bull mix. When his pit bull mix, Pinta, met another pit bull, the dogs began to fight and Boeglin was bit when he tried to separate them.

The incident has led to additional restrictions at the park. Dogs now have their temperament observed when they check in, and vaccination and veterinary record must be preented to verify breed.

“Its unfortunate, but we’d much rather the remaining customers have an experience that’s pleasant,” he said.

Acree said that pit bulls are still welcomed in the supply and grooming centers at the facility — just not the park area.

Times are as hard for Kelley Davis as they are for everybody else, so when Augie, her family’s Swiss mountain dog gobbled up $400 in cash she was going to put in the bank — three $100′s and five $20′s — she started keeping a close eye on Augie’s doggie droppings.

The Apex, N.C. mother took the dog for a long walk on Saturday and that’s when Augie made a deposit that included her deposit. Or at least, once rinsed and pieced back together, $160 of it.

Davis, 42, a physical therapist, had left the money on her bedroom dresser, the Charlotte Observer reports. Augie, who is 2, helped himself.

When she saw pieces of the money in Augie’s droppings Saturday, Davis grabbed a garden hose and yelled, “Kids, get the colander!” she said.

By Monday night, Davis had the remnants of $160. She’s hoping to reclaim the full amount eventually.

Lance Mackey crossed the finish line of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race at 11:38 a.m. today (Alaska time) to capture his third straight victory in the 1,100-mile race, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

“It’s done,” he said. “It’s amazing, absolutely amazing.”

The race was marred by the deaths of two more dogs. In addition to a dog on musher Jeff Holt’s team that died last week, two dogs on the team of rookie Lou Packer of Wasilla apparently froze to death. Packer scratched after being found Monday 22 miles past the Iditarod checkpoint by searchers in a plane.

Mackey became the third musher to win three Iditarods in a row, joining Montanan Doug Swingley and the late Susan Butcher.

Mackey had a huge lead after leaving White Mountain, 77 miles from the finish line in Nome. In White Mountain, he received a hug of congratulations from his mother, and turned to his dogs, according to the Associated Press.

“They’re superstars,” he told her.

Only Sebastian Schnuelle and John Baker were anywhere close to Mackey, but they were still hours behind Mackey, ahead of a storm that trapped other mushers farther back on the trail.

Thirteen mushers, including four-time champions Jeff King and Martin Buser, were holed up at the checkpoint in Shaktoolik, stopped by 40 mile-per-hour winds and a wind chill driving temperatures to more than 50 below. Temperatures were expected to be even colder Tuesday night.

Sixty-seven teams began the race more than a week ago in Willow, about 50 miles north of Anchorage. Nine teams have either scratched or been withdrawn.