ohmidog!

What was initially a proud moment for Linda Brown turned sour not long after Joe Biden bought his new German shepherd puppy from her kennel in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Brown says the sale led to a visit every month from the state Department of Agriculture, death threats from animal rights activists, and loads of criticism.

“I thought when Joe Biden bought a puppy from me, what an honor,” Brown told the Chester County Daily Local News. “Out of millions of breeders in the country, in the world, he picked me.”

But as soon as the purchase was publicized, the criticism started — first of then vice president-elect Biden, for purchasing from a breeder, and for the Secret Service contingent that arrived at Brown’s Wolf Den Kennel with him; then of Brown, whose kennel was cited for record-keeping problems and warned about maintenance and sanitation shortfalls by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

“I was cited for a piece of kibble on the floor and five strands of dog hair. They took a picture of that, they walked around, snapped pictures and don’t tell you why,” said Brown.

According to Philly Dawg, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s dog blog, the violations found included dogs kept in outside pens with ice accumulation, broken fencing, shredded aluminum capping, and holes in pens large enough for a dog to escape. One large dog’s only shelter was an airline travel crate in which he could not stand erect.

Brown racked up five citations after December for numerous kennel violations and a slew of warnings for other problems including an “immediate grooming” order for a St. Bernard to “prevent the dog from harboring infectious and contagious disease.”

Brown was warned about the problems in a Jan. 5 inspection. When investigators returned to the kennel in Spring City in Jan. 22 they found conditions had not improved. They also found incomplete sales and health records, prompting three more citations –  one each for records, drainage and maintenance. Brown also received two citations in December – the same week that Biden purchased the six-week-old puppy.

According to Philly Dawg, Brown, who also operates as JoLindy’s German Shepherds, had 85 dogs on the property on Jan. 22 and reported 188 dogs sold in the past 12 months. She holds the largest state commercial kennel license that allows her to keep or sell an unlimited number of dogs. 

Brown’s case was heard by District Justice James DeAngelo in South Coventry on March 31. She was found “not guilty” for each citation, the judge’s office confirmed Wednesday.

A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture said Brown was inspected in December because of a complaint. He declined to release the name of the person who complained. He said the inspectors returned as a matter of follow-up to determine if the matters had been addressed

Brown’s kennel, Wolf Den, was inspected twice a year by the agency and had satisfactory reports until December 2008 when it was rated unsatisfactory in seven of 26 areas, according to the inspection records on the agency’s website.

Brown, who spent $4,000 on lawyers to fight the citations, says she doesn’t plan to sell any more dogs to high profile clients. “Never, never, never again,” she said.

When Karen and Anthony Scully filed for divorce, determining custody of the six dogs wasn’t too difficult. He got four, she got two. The sticking point came later — with a feud, still going on five years later, over who should get the dogs’ semen.

The matter –  or perhaps issue is a better word — landed before Family Court Judge Cheryl Matthews Wednesday morning.

Karen Scully, who lives in Florida, and her ex-husband, Anthony Scully of Oakland County, Michigan, are feuding in Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac over who has the legal right to the semen belonging to Cyrus, Regg and Romeo, all AKC-registered bullmastiffs.

Bull mastiff pups fetch $2,000 each in the marketplace.

The Scullys were hobby breeders in Oakland County until their divorce in 2002, and they had banked sperm from their mastiffs in a freezing center in Sterling Heights. Both still raise bullmastiffs.

Anthony Scully, through his attorney, said the semen is his — or rather, is property that should belong to him — and that his ex-wife, in moving to Florida, gave up claim. Karen Scully, who appeared in court via teleconference, claimed she has ownership, since the dogs that provided the semen once belonged to her.

Judge Matthews said she thought the case was a prank at first. “I asked, ‘Am I Being Punk’d … Is this a Candid Camera thing?” she said.

Matthews ruled that it was not a divorce matter and told the couple they would have to fight it out in civil court, according to an article in the Detroit Free Press.

The case has been assigned to Oakland County Circuit Judge Leo Bowman.

(Photo: Anthony Scully with Romeo, family photo)

Honda showed off it’s most dog-friendly Element SUV yet at the New York International Auto Show yesterday.

The vehicle will feature a cushioned pet bed with safety restraints in the cargo area, a spill-resistant water bowl, a ventilation fan to keep canines comfortable and a folding ramp that gives animals an easy way to get in and out.

In the back seat, there’s an integrated pet carrier and machine-washable seat covers. The rubber floor mats feature a toy-bone pattern, and paw-print emblems on the side and back of the vehicle draw attention to its pet-friendly status.

Honda says it’s still finalizing the features, but the Dog Friendly Element will be available this fall, according to the Associated Press.

“In an interesting turn of events, cars are now chasing dogs,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda. “Factory integration of a cushioned pet bed, restraint systems and other components are intended to transform the Element into the ultimate dog car.”

“Pets have become more like family, more important to households than ever before,” said James Jenkins, a senior product planner for Honda. “We felt this was the perfect vehicle to offer such dog friendly features.”

The Element already is appealing to pet owners because of features such as its easy-to-clean flooring in the cargo area and its wide side cargo doors.

The consumer pet travel advice website, Dogcars.com, honored the 2007 Honda Element with its first-ever “Dog Car of the Year” award.

The maker of the Michael Vick chew toy for dogs — or one of them, anyway — has been sued by the state attorney general’s office, which alleges the company claimed animal charities would benefit from the toy’s sale, but never donated a cent.

Attorney General Bill McCollum filed a lawsuit alleging toy seller Jaime Salcedo and his Jacksonville, Florida, company, Showbiz Promotions LLC, misled consumers with claims that proceeds from the dog toys would go to animal shelters

The company also produced a doll modeled after Caylee Anthony, a 2-year-old Florida girl whose mother is awaiting trial on charges of murdering her and hiding her body in the woods. The company said profits from the sale of the dolls would benefit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

McCollum said the company donated only $10 to the children’s group and none to animal shelters, according to a Reuters report. 

“Any company that intentionally misleads innocent consumers to believe they are contributing to worthy charitable causes is absolutely reprehensible,” McCollum said in a news release. “It is disgusting that a company would exploit a tragic situation for personal gain.”

He said the state began investigating the Internet sales company last year after receiving more than 200 complaints about the dog chew toys.

Showbiz Promotions suspended sales of the Caylee doll in January because of public outrage. 

When I last wrote about the toy, two companies were making them — the guys who came up with the idea had split up and gone their separate, but similar ways. Darren Usher was producing what he called The Official Michael Vick Dog Chew Toy, while Salcedo operated Vickdogchewtoy.com.

Here’s the ad still running on the latter website:

Walkers wishing to pregister for next Sunday’s March for the Animals can do so this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. or Tuesday from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Maryland SPCA Headquarters House, at 3300 Falls Road in Baltimoe.

The march is Sunday, April 19, at Druid Hill Park.

By registering earlier, walkers can avoid the lines the day of the event, and get their t-shirt, doggie bandana and goody bag.

For those walking in packs, a designated pack member should bring donations and pledge sheets and pick up the t-shirts, goody bags and doggie bandanas for everyone in  their pack. Pack shirts will not be available the day of the event.

Donations for all walkers will be accepted up to and including the day of the event. 

The March for the Animals is the annual 1.5-mile walk-a-thon benefiting The Maryland SPCA. Nearly 6,000 people and their pets attend the March last year.

Registration begins at 9:00 a.m. and the walk will kick-off at 10:00 a.m., with Duff Goldman of “Ace of Cakes” cutting the ribbon at the starting line.

More information about forming a pack can be found here. For directions to the event, click here. For the schedule of events, click here.

The roots of “Beyond the Myth,” an independent documentary about the plight of pit bulls, go back to when Libby Sherrill was a student in graduate school at the University of Tennessee.

What was her senior project is now a nearly-finished product — a documentary that looks at pit bulls and the people who love and defend them.

The film explores the factors behind the public’s fear of pit bulls and examines the conflict existing between advocates and opponents of breed specific legislation. It also investigates the myths associated with the breed and asks the question, “What exactly is a pit bull”?

To see a trailer, click here.

Sherrill left an eight-year career with HGTV to write, direct and produce her self-financed film debut, and is now hoping to enter “Beyond the Myth” in film festivals.

“Beyond the Myth” challenges the idea that pit bulls are inherently vicious and goes one-on-one with people on both sides of this controversial issue, according to the documentary’s website.

A pit bull owners herself, Sherrill is against breed specific legislation, such as that passed in Ohio, Denver and numerous other jurisdictions.

“Opponents of BSL believe that such laws are a demeaning overreaction perpetuated by media bias and claim that dog bite statistics (showing pit bulls are responsible for the majority of fatal dog attacks) are unreliable sources of information regarding the ‘viciousness’ of a breed. They argue that BSL is unenforceable and ineffective, and that it fails to reduce the occurrence of dog attacks because it fails to address the root cause — people.

“Instead of focusing on and punishing owners who are irresponsible and criminals who use their dogs for illegal purposes, legislatures choose to place their focus on the dogs, making them into scapegoats. Many opponents believe BSL is the equivalent of racial profiling and banning a breed is, quite possibly, unconstitutional.

Through the documentary’s website, Sherrill is raising funds to help offset its cost of the documentary, fund a public opinion survey about public perceptions of pit bulls and how the media contributes to them, and establish a legal defense fund for people trying to keep their dogs in jurisdictions that have banned them.

Apparently only a few days remain before the Obama family dog arrives at the White House – a Portuguese water dog, most sources seem to be saying.

That means we better run now with our list of the top 10 names for the First Family’s dog – assuming that, if they haven’t already, they’ll quickly come up with a name for the pup and not take another four months to get that accomplished.

Since we don’t know the gender we’ve included masculine, feminine and a few unisex names. Got a better suggestion? Send it along.

1. Ah-choo (or Gesundheit )– in honor of all the sneezing that, since the dog is allegedly hypo-allergenic, won’t be going on

2. Vasco – in honor of Vasco Bensaude, the Portuguese shipping magnate who kept the breed from going extinct.

3. Nottadoodle – Just to get back at those pushy Labradoodle fans who insisted the First Family choose that hybrid.

4. Monica – As a reminder that, when you’re in the White House, things can go down(hill) really quickly.

5. McCain – In honor of his opponent in the presidential race.

6. Stimulus, or Stimuli – We could use all we can get.

7. Hope – Maybe a bit audacious, but a nice name.

8. Omar – In honor of the president’s favorite character on “The Wire,” a gay stickup artist who steals from drug pushers to give to the poor.

9. Intruder – Just to make the Secret Service jump up every time anyone calls the dog.

10. Fin – In honor of the far-too-drawn-out, much-too-commented-upon drama of what the First Dog would be finally being over.

Indianapolis Councilman Mike Speedy plans to submit a “dangerous dog” proposal to the city-county council this month, calling for all pit bulls to be spayed or neutered.

His proposal also would require dog owners to purchase liability insurance if they mistreat their dog  or fail to keep it confined — no matter what breed it is.

“Living with the fear of a serious dog bite, you’re not fully free to enjoy this great city or your neighborhood,” Speedy said. “The pit bull is the most abused breed in America and in Indianapolis, and when that breed is abused they are more likely to bite people in a devastating and life-altering way. If you reduce their numbers in a humane way through spay and neutering, you will reduce the bites.”

Speedy’s comments came in an Indianapolis Star article. The newspaper has reported that pit bull bites rose 33 percent in 2008 from the previous year and were three times higher than in 2006. Pit bulls also account for more bites and more severe bites than any other breed, the newspaper said.

Animal Care and Control Advisory Board Chairman Warren Patitz said he is opposed to the sterilization requirement and is “not enthusiastic” about the liability insurance provision, because it would make dog ownership more difficult for low-income residents.

“Targeting a specific breed isn’t in the best interests of anyone because we need to target individual behaviors and people and not breeds of dogs,” he said. The city’s new animal control director, Doug Rae, has instituted a policy to try to curb euthanizations, including among pit bulls. Humane Society of Indianapolis Executive Director John Aleshire also prefers laws that are not breed-specific.

It’s the second attempt in as many years to pass breed specific laws in Indianapolis. Last time around, after a pit bull nearly killed a local toddler, a council member proposed banning the breed from the city.  A majority of council members opposed it.

The city council of Springfield, Missouri turned down a proposal that would have allowed some animal rescue groups to take pit bulls from the city pound and find new homes for them.

Instead, the city, which doesn’t allow unclaimed pit bulls and pit bull mixes to be adopted,  plans to continue killing any that come into the shelter.

Councilwoman Mary Collette proposed changing that policy, but was outvoted, 6-3.

If a dog’s owner doesn’t claim it within five days of Animal Control officers capturing it, it is euthanized, rerports TV station KY3.

Collette argued rescue groups should be able to save the animals just as they do breeds, and suggested rescue groups could sign waivers promising that they wouldn’t sue the city if a dog bites and injures a person.

Despite that, the majority of the council agreed that the risk of a lawsuit payout is too great.