ohmidog!

The second in a summer-long series of dog-friendly cocktail parties is Friday night at the Loews Annapolis Hotel.

The gatherings –  held the last Friday of every month — each feature a different theme, and benefit a different cause.

This Friday’s “Spring Fling Posy Party” benefits the Anne Arundel County SPCA, and features an opportunity to paint Paw Posies with your pooch — as well as an opportunity to lap up some beverages, enjoy complimentary munchies and socialize (both you and your dog).

The events run from 5 to 8 p.m. on the Weather Rail outdoor patio at Loew’s Annapolis, 126 West St. Admission is free. They are sponsored by Loews and Paws Pet Boutique. Parking is available at Loews for $2.

Here’s the rest of this summer’s line-up:

June 26: Patriotic Pooch Contest, benefits Oldies but Goodies Cocker Spaniel Rescue

July 31: Canine Ice Cream Social, benefits Davidsonville Wildlife Sanctuary

August 28: Best Dog Tricks, benefits K9Lifesavers Rescue

Sept. 25: Paws Fido Fashion Show, benefits Modest Needs

Two weeks ago, Scott Seymore learned his dog had cancer — and opted not to put her down. Instead, he decided to let her live out the few weeks the vet predicted she had remaining, comforted by some painkillers.

Last weekend, Brittney, a 9-year-old American bulldog, woke Seymore up with her barking, letting him know that their house in Grand Rapids was on fire in time for both of them to escape.

The terminal diagnosis for Brittney had come May 7, according to the Grand Rapids Press. Seymore, a 39-year-old salesman, decided against chemotherapy and, though he knew her time was limited, opted against euthanasia.

After the fire — faulty wiring in the rented house was blamed – Seymore and Brittney went to stay at the home of Seymore’s parents, but Brittney’s condition worsened. She stopped eating, couldn’t get up and was having trouble breathing. “I laid her in bed with me in my parent’s spare room and she shook the bed with us in it just breathing,” Seymore said. “She didn’t deserve to be in such distress.”

Brittney was euthanized Tuesday at the Animal Hospital of Kentwood, Seymore at her side.

“A dog loves you unconditionally and totally, which makes this really hard,” Seymore said afterwards. “To have to do it days after she saved my life is really depressing.

“I know that it’s the right thing,” he added, “but it feels like the worst thing.”

Seymore told the newspaper he was looking for a new house — one big enough for a dog.

 
“Virginia may be for lovers, but Loudoun County isn’t the place for dog lovers.”

That’s the conclusion of an animal welfare legislative analyst in light of a Loudoun County judge’s ruling that the county can ban pit bull adoptions — despite a Virginia law to that ensures the right to own a pit bull.

“This is a dark day for shelter dogs in our nation,” said Ledy VanKavage, of Best Friends Animal Society.  “Throughout the land, cities and states are rejecting breed discriminatory laws and this decision embraces profiling.”

The judge’s May 21 ruling ended the nearly two-year battle over the county’s no-adopt policy on pit bulls.

In a 13-page opinion, Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge Burke F. McCahill sided with the county, ruling that banning the adoption of pit bulls does not break state or local laws, the Loudoun Times reports. The ruling came after a two-day trial May 5 and 6.

The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by Loudoun resident Ronald Litz in 2007 after he tried to adopt a pit bull from the county animal shelter. He was told the shelter did not allow pit bull adoptions.

Of the judge’s May 21 decision, Litz said, “If the judge doesn’t want to enforce Virginia law, there’s nothing I can do about it.” Litz had argued that the county was denying him the right of ownership of a pit bull, which is against Virginia law.

McCahill disagreed, saying that while state law may give county residents the right to own pit bulls, there is no right to adopt one.

Effectively, the sentence is a death penalty for any pit bulls who end up in Loudoun’s animal shelter and go unclaimed by owners.

Read more »

Lucky, a 10-year-old Lhasa Apso, arrived at the Helen Woodward Animal Center in San Diego County as a textbook example of neglect.

Left alone in a back yard in Lancaster County, north of Los Angeles, his fur had grown so matted and full of burrs and stickers that he had difficulty walking, and even going to the bathroom. He was also found to have a heart murmur and a thyroid condition, both of which are now under control.

The center captured Lucky’s makeover on video, and reports that he is now available for adoption.

Helen Woodward Animal Center is a private, non-profit organization in San Diego County that, for over 30 years, has been committed to the philosophy of people helping animals and animals helping people.

Located on 12 acres in Rancho Santa Fe, it was founded by Helen Whittier Woodward, who formed it in 1972 to provide services that benefit the community through educational and therapeutic programs for people, and humane care and adoption for animals.

A new study says the English cocker spaniel is the most aggressive dog breed – at least in Spain.

They may look like floppy-eared bundles of sweetness, but, according to the study, the English cocker was responsible for the highest number of canine aggression cases brought to a veterinary teaching hospital from 1998 to 2006.

“In our country and according to our database, the English cocker spaniel is the breed that shows more aggression problems,” says lead author Marta Amat, a researcher in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

She and her colleagues analyzed 1,040 cases and found English cocker spaniels to be most often involved in aggression cases, followed by Rottweilers, boxers, Yorkshire terriers and German shepherds, according to Discovery News.

The study, published in the latest Journal of Veterinary Behavior, also reported that golden varieties of the breed were more likely to act aggressively, as were males.

Amat noted that “inadequate handling by the owners” is a contributing factor.

The English cocker is a different breed than the smaller, American cocker — though both breeds, like other Spaniels, originated in Spain.  The English Cocker Spaniel Club of America describes the breed as being “a homebody” that is “typically affectionate, loyal and reserved with strangers.”

 
For the story behind this picture, click here.

(Photo by Lisa Lang, Courtesy of one19designs and the Lee family)

So many of the life-size dog statues set up as part of a community art fundraising project in Lafayette, Indiana, have been stolen and damaged that organizers of the “Dog Days of Summer” exhibit are moving most of the works inside.

“I’m disheartened by the lack of respect for creativity,” said Joanne Kuhn Titolo, who had two pieces in the outdoor exhibit. “Because of the increased thefts, our artwork isn’t safe. This is horrifying.”

A total of 41 dog statues were installed in Lafayette, West Lafayette and on Purdue University’s campus. Two, as we told you last month, were stolen before the exhibit even offically started.

Altogether, seven have been stolen or significantly damaged, with most of the problems coming at Purdue or in West Lafayette near the Wabash River, according to Channel 6 News in Indianapolis.

As of Friday, organizers had moved 18 of the dogs, including “St. Joan of Bark,” to the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette until suitable indoor homes can be found for the work. Some dogs in Lafayette will remain in their original spots.

The “Dog Days” event celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Purdue Veterinary Medicine Department and the 100th anniversary of the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette.

(Photo: courtesy of Dog Days of Summer)

Harassing the seals is illegal on San Diego’s beaches — unless you’re the city of San Diego and a court has ordered you to do it.

The city Friday submitted plans that include broadcasting the sound of barking dogs for use if and when it is ordered to stop harbor seals from congregating at La Jolla’s Children’s Pool beach, where their numbers have raised health concerns and precluded children’s play.

A lawsuit against the city claims the seals’ presence violates the terms of the 1913 trust that established the beach as a safe wading area for children. Attorneys representing the plaintiff filed a motion last week asking that the seals be immediately dispersed. The lawsuit was filed not against the seals, or Mother Nature, but against the city.

If the order comes, according to the La Jolla Light, the city would use loudspeakers to broadcast the sound of barking dogs to attempt to disperse the seals. Other steps outlined include having employees or contractors harass the seals from afar, possibly spraying water at them.

The plan, at an estimated cost of $688,934, would require personnel to walk the beach from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week for a year, .

(Note to the city of San Diego: Ace and I hereby volunteer for that contract; for half that price, we’d even be willing to camp there at night. Ace would bark at seals and act intimidating, while I would patrol the shore, saying, “Move along now, seals, nothing to see here.”)

The plan submitted to the court also includes steps to protect the public, noting that dispersing the seals “has a high potential to create an environment requiring a police response.” It includes facilitating traffic flow, monitoring demonstrations, keeping the peace and responding to calls. Animal welfare activists have spoken out against evicting the seals.

For a closer look at the plan, you can find it on a council member’s website.

A Michigan man thinks he has come up with a way to flush away the dog poop problem.

Curt Fournier, of GreenDog LLC, is ready to start marketing the “PowerLoo,” an outdoor, flushable toilet for dog waste.

It lists at $1,000 a unit, which I’m assuming includes the required tie-in to your home’s water and sewer lines.

The PowerLoo works just like an indoor toilet. It sits mostly below ground level and taps into sewer lines that lead to waste treatment centers. An optional heating unit to prevent freezing is available for colder climates, according to the Detroit Free Press.

You can view a commercial for the product at the PowerLoo website.

Fournier and his fiancée and business partner, Victoria Januszewski, say their product provides a solution to the environmental and health problems associated with dog poop. It’s set to launch next month.

“Both the Centers for Disease Control and Environmental Protection Agency say pet waste should be flushed down a toilet, but up until this point, there was really no safe or convenient way to do so. Carrying dog poop into your house can be unsafe, and not to mention gross,” Januszewski said.

“Vicki and I were getting tired of cleaning up the mess left by our two dogs and thought that being able to flush it down a toilet in the backyard would make things easier,” Fournier said.

Of course — unless you train your dog to do it – you still have to pick up the poop, carry it to the PowerLoo, open it and flush (both of which can be done with your foot), but otherwise, the company literature boasts, disposal of dog waste is “hands-free.”

“There are 75 million dogs in the U.S., and each produces, on average, one pound of waste per day,” Fournier said. “Most of it is either left on the ground, where it is exposed to humans and has the potential to contaminate water sources, or it gets thrown away in a plastic bag and ends up taking up space in a landfill.”

GreenDog expects to produce 500 PowerLoos in 2009. In addition to homeowners, the company hopes to market the PowerLoo to dog breeders, doggy day care centers and pet-friendly apartment complexes.

An American Opera “Jane’s Trailer”

Tom McPhee and his award-winning documentary about pets during Hurricane Katrina — “An American Opera: The Greatest Pet Rescue Ever!” — are hitting the road on a year-long 80-city tour.

“The Rescue Party Tour” starts this month and will highlight local animal organizations in each city it visits (Baltimore’s not on the list yet).

The documentary is described as a “visceral, operatic vision of what happened to the pet owners of New Orleans who were forced to evacuate after Hurricane Katrina without their beloved pets, and the volunteers who came from all over the world to help.

“America suffered its worst domestic animal crisis in history when tens of thousands of animals were left to perish in neighborhoods all across the gulf. This heartfelt story follows the pets, vets, owners, officials, rescuers, and adopters of animals as they work through the chaos to do what is right, only to discover not everyone is working toward the same goal.”

For more information about the movie, visit its website.

For more information about the tour, see www.RescuePartyTour.com.

Local animal groups interested in showcasing the movie and their work in the community, can email rescuepartyinfo@mansmilingmovingpictures.com