ohmidog!

Margaret Bucher has five dogs.

The town she lives in only allows four.

That, after the village board turned down her pleas Monday night, leaves Margaret with only a couple of options — ditch one of her beloved canines, or get the heck out of Wheeling, Illinois.

Bucher on Monday did her best to get an exemption from the rule, bringing a letter of support from her mail carrier, and a letter ”written” by her dogs: “Please let us stay in our home. We are house dogs and live in a clean home. We have to depend on our owner to fight for us. She loves us very, very much.”

Only a handful of people attended the meeting, and only one person spoke out on Bucher’s behalf, according to the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago. 

Trustee Robert Heer blamed Bucher for “creating a circus atmosphere … You talked to every radio station and newspaper you could.” (Does Wheeling restrict the number of media outlets one can speak to, as well?)

“Laws are for all people,” Heer added. “You come with this idle threat of moving. If you choose to leave, then leave.”

Village officials had given Bucher until April 1 to give up one of her dogs or face a fine of between $50 and $500 per day. Officials later extended the deadline to give Bucher time to work out a plan. But Bucher said she couldn’t possibly choose which of her five dogs – a Pomeranian, two Maltese, a shih tzu and a Maltese/shih tzu mix – she would give up to comply with Wheeling village code.

If the village doesn’t let her keep all five dogs, she said, she’ll move.

The University of Washington — home, ironically enough, of the Huskies — has banned dogs from campus buildings.

The UW Board of Regents decided in a meeting last month that non-service animals will no longer be permitted inside buildings, according to The Daily, the student newspaper.

The changes also prohibit leaving animals unattended or tethered to campus property and allows them to be seized and impounded.

UW Police Department Assistant Chief Ray Wittmier said the new policy followed a dog bite incident in Parrington Hall.

Wittmier said the department would respond to complaints and ask pet owners to take their animals out of a building. Owners would be cited or banned from campus if they refuse.

“[Violators] will always get a warning first,” Wittmier said. “If somebody doesn’t have ties to campus, they could be banned. Someone on campus will be handled as an employment-type issue. Employment could be terminated. Other actions could affect students and their student status.”

No word on whether the changes apply to Dubs, the dog that serves as school mascot. Judging from his blog, he seems to be allowed indoors, or at least inside the football stadium and basketball arena.

A man in Tarpon Springs, Florida, is sticking to his guns — and threatening to use them — in a protracted battle over walking his dog without a leash.

Robert Wirth Jr. has spent $100,000 in legal fees on the case, and may lose his house, all because of walking his dog in a deed-restricted community without a leash.

“We’re running out of time because we’re running out of money,” said Wirth, 52, who works as a real estate broker and continues to walk his black Labrador, Cole, without a leash.

In January 2003, the River Watch Homeowners Association fined Wirth and his wife, Sandra L. Blaker, $1,000 for letting Cole walk without a leash. When the couple didn’t pay, the association filed a lien and, later that year, foreclosed on the home to collect the debt.

Last year, a circuit judge ordered Wirth and his wife to pay the fine, plus interest, attorney fees and other costs or the house would be sold. Wirth now owes more than $40,000, he said. He filed another appeal in February 2008, which has yet to be ruled on.

Wirth argued that the River Watch Homeowners Association deed restriction –  “A dog must be kept on a leash at all times when outside” — is too broad and, as written, required even dogs in fenced yards to be on leashes.

Wirth’s frustration have escalated to the point that he not too wisely said he would shoot and kill one of the board members if things don’t go his way. “I am not going to let them ruin me and my wife like this without standing up to them,” Wirth said.

Wirth’s comments were reported to the Tarpon Springs police, which followed up. The agency said the threat didn’t appear imminent, but that authorities would monitor the situation.

The St. Petersburg Times, in an editorial today, comes down on the side of the homeowner’s association, calling Wirth’s defiance of the rule ”stubborn and illogical.”

The editorial argues that the couple, by buying the house, agreed to the restriction and states that, no matter how well-behaved a dog might be “there are no guarantees when dealing with an animal.”

The full story an be found here. The editorial is here.

A Phoenix area police department is trying out a new heat-warning system designed to keep police dogs from overheating when left alone in vehicles.

The Peoria Police Department had the system installed in Officer Aaron Brewer’s patrol car about a month ago to keep the department’s lone police dog, Havoc, safe in high desert temperatures.

If a dog is in the vehicle when a handler removes the keys from the ignition, the system will keep the engine running. If the vehicle’s air-conditioning fails while the handler is away and the temperature rises above 90 degrees, a siren will go off.

Once the alarms sounds, the handler has about 3 minutes to get to the vehicle and disarm it before a message is sent to police dispatch, according to the Arizona Republic.  (The system’s alarm is high pitched, to distinguish it from a regular police siren.) If the handler can’t be located, the dispatcher will send officers to the vehicle’s last known location.

Peoria has never had a police dog die from overexposure, but a Chandler K-9 died in August 2007 after his handler forgot to let the dog out of the back of his patrol vehicle, and other jurisdictions have reported deaths as well.

Tellef believes Peoria was the first police department in the country to install this system, which cost about $800.