ohmidog!

Councilman Ed Reisinger has notified concerned constituents that he will be co-sponsoring a bill to reduce the fine for leash law violations from $1,000 to $250.

Here’s what he wrote:

“Hello to All,  On April 20, I will be co-sponsoring a bill to reduce the fine for leash violations from $1,000 to $250. As you know, this fine amount was increased during the consideration of Council Bill 08-0050, which raised fines for a number of animal-related offenses, such as animal abuse, dogfights, and failure to report possible rabies exposure.

“Among those violations for which we raised the fine to $1,000 were those that fell under the subtitle devoted to “General Care and Control.” This subtitle includes failure to provide food, shelter, sufficient space, or veterinary care needed to prevent suffering. I believe that most would agree that failure to provide these most basic elements of humane care warrants a steep fine. The leash law also falls under this subtitle.

“The bill I will be co-sponsoring creates a separate penalty for the leash requirement, and assigns a fine amount of $250 to any violation of this provision. This still represents an increase from the previous fine amount of $100, because it is important that the fine serves as an adequate deterrent.

“Unfortunately, in many parks throughout our neighborhoods, unleashed dogs are the norm. It is important that responsible dog owners recognize that the potential for negative consequences of this behavior go far beyond whatever fines are imposed—it creates a threat to the well-being and safety of both passersby and the dogs themselves.”

If his letter sounds a tad familiar, it’s because it’s  the exact same one that Councilman Jim Kraft wrote a constituent in response to concerns about the new penalties.

At least we know they know how to cut and paste.

Reisinger’s — or should we say Kraft’s — letter is in stark contrast to what the Baltimore Sun quoted Reisinger as saying yesterday in the newspaper’s Unleashed blog:

“… Reisinger says changing the law to reduce the fines is ‘not going to happen … My response is that the leash law has been on the books for years. It shouldn’t matter whether it’s $100 or $1,000.’

“While Reisinger says he won’t consider reducing the fines, he will talk with residents about how they could work with the city to create a dog park in South Baltimore.”

What a difference a day — and a few hundred perturbed dog-owning voters expressing themselves — makes. What makes this all the more interesting is that Reisinger and Kraft were both sponsors of the bill that increased the fines in the first place.

Reisinger will be meeting with concerned dog owners at Riverside Park, in the pavilion, at 7 p.m. Thursday.

This has got to be some kind of record — the day after the dog arrived at the White House, the first “Bo book” is already on the market.

“Bo, America’s Commander in Leash,” published by Mascot Books in Herndon, Va., is the first children’s book “starring the most famous dog in the world,” according to the publisher’s website.

“Join Bo on an exciting adventure as he learns all about the White House and experiences the traditions that make it such a special place. Bo’s adventures include time-honored White House traditions, including the Easter egg roll, Fourth of July fireworks on the National Mall, the pardoning of the Thanksgiving turkey, and all the festivities associated with holiday time at the White House.”

In other words, it’s a book about the White House into which Bo is being quickly inserted in hopes of capitalizing on the bad case of Bo fever we all seem to have.

Mascot is small independent publisher in Herndon, Va., that specializes in producing titles based on university and school mascots. The book is written from Bo’s point of view. Here’s an excerpt:

One day I was feeling a little mischevious and decided to swipe the Presidential letter opener from the President’s desk. Always a good sport, President Obama played along with my antics and chased me around the room, calling “Give me that back, Bo!” I was afraid that I might end up in the Presidential doghouse after this stunt.

Among those who are less than pleased with the Obama family’s decision against getting a rescue dog is Jana Kohl, whose book promoting adoption of animals featured a photo of Obama with her dog, a puppy mill refugee named Baby.

The author of “A Rare Breed of Love,” Kohl rescued Baby four years ago. Baby not only had her vocal chords removed with scissors but lost a leg due to the years of abuse at the hands of a breeder.

Not long after that, she decided to write a book calling attention to puppy mills. The book recounts Baby’s story and features photos of the dog with celebrities, including Paul Harvey, Steven Tyler, Bill Maher, Jim Cramer, and several politicians.

One of those politicians that agreed to meet with her was then-Senator Obama. Touched by Baby’s story, he then agreed to a photoshoot and, according to a press release promoting her book, pledged to Kohl that when he brought a dog home for his family, it would be a rescue dog – not one from a breeder.

This weekend’s announcement that the president opted to accept a puppy as a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy (via a breeder) and not to go to a shelter or rescue center has left Kohl upset, the Christian Science Monitor reports.

“I feel like he’s made a mockery out of the book and the things I wrote about him,” Kohl told the Monitor’s “Vote Blog.”

“I read what I said about him and it makes me cringe.”

Kohl said that his decision is more distressing because of the possible domino effect it could have — fueling the puppy mill industry.

“To add insult to injury, during these tough economic times it is incredibly insensitive and elitist of them to do this, ” she said. “People are tearfully turning in their pets to shelters because they can’t afford them anymore. We see it on news all the time.”

(Photo from “A Rare Breed of Love.”)

ohmidog! correspondent Anne Madison and her beagle Spencer received a visit over the weekend from Baltimore’s finest — and by that we mean Animal Control — after a medical emergency required Spencer’s humans to leave him home alone for longer than usual.

Anne’s human companion, Greg, after falling ill, was taken by ambulance to Hopkins Bayview. Anne road along. She returned home briefly in the late afternoon to tend to Spencer then left again for the hospital. Greg was admitted and Anne got home after dark, in the rain. It was still pouring Saturday, so Spencer missed his walk and Anne again spent much of the day af the Hospital. Saturday evening, Anne returned home with Greg, who, though warned to start charting a healthier life course, was still ticking.

On Sunday, as Anne reports on her blog, they all settled in for a lazy afternoon when there came a knock on the door…

“I’m from Animal Control,” said the courteous young woman as she showed me her badge. “And the first thing you’re going to have to do is clean up all these feces.” I cringed. Two walk-less, scoop-less, rainy days can certainly make your yard look bad in the feces department. “We’ve had a bit of a medical emergency,” I replied. “But I’ll certainly take care of it. Was…there anything else?”

Of course there was. They’d received a call from a concerned neighbor who figured we were torturing a dog in here. “Ah,” I replied. “That would be Spencer. My husband has been in the hospital for two days, and the dog’s been here all by himself  for several hours on both days. He was probably lonely and upset.”

This was an intelligent young woman, and I will love her for her next question: “What kind of dog is it?”  As soon as I got out the word “Beagle,” her official face relaxed a bit. “I always ask if it’s a Beagle. They can sound like they’re dying,” was her reply.

Spencer and his dad were duly summoned from their nap. Spencer sat courteously while she inspected his license and rabies tag. She noticed that he’s microchipped, and when she’d seen what she needed, she had a pat on the head for him and an “It’s OK, old man.” We promised to scoop the poop, and that was it.

So all’s well that ends well. Praises to Baltimore Animal Control for checking things out, and praises to the young officer for knowing about Beagles. And the Dog House Girls are now in my cell phone in case this ever happens again.

When Jane Guardascione, a 94-year-old Queens grandmother, lost her pet collie and constant companion, Angel, her granddaughter got on the phone, placing several calls to Animal Control and Care to see if the dog turned up in the city’s shelter system.

Angel wasn’t there, the agency repeatedly told her Friday.

On Saturday, though, she was told the 13-year-old dog had been euthanized at Animal Control and Care’s Manhattan shelter — the same day she arrived.

Shelter officials said Angel had collapsed at the shelter, had no identification and fit no description of any dogs reported lost. Because of her age and deteriorating condition, a veterinarian at the facility decided to euthanize Angel in an effort to prevent any additional suffering, the New York Daily News reports.

In a statement, the agency expressed ”deepest sympathies” to the family. “It is our goal to avoid euthanasia unless we deem it absolutely necessary,” the statement read.

Family members say, while Angel suffered from arthritis, she was able to get around just fine —  and was probably frozen with fear in the shelter. Jane’s daughter, Carole Miller, a collie breeder, gave her mother the dog when Angel was just over a year old. The dog was her constant companion, she said.

AC&C, which operates city shelters under a contract with the Health Department, is required to hold lost and stray animals for at least 72 hours before putting them up for adoption or euthanizing them. Exceptions are made if an animal is critically injured or gravely ill.

Outraged animal rescue groups said such mistakes are not unusual at AC&C and charged the nonprofit organization is plagued by mismanagement. In January, the Daily News reported that one rescue group sued the city because it was breaking its own law by not providing animal shelters in all five boroughs. The suit charged that facilities are overcrowded and disease-ridden and that animals are being euthanized in “unconscionable numbers” because there is no space.