ohmidog!

Colleagues laid floral tributes in honor of the two police dogs who died last week after being left in a car by their handler on one of the hottest days of the year.

Animal welfare experts said that, while it’s not known how long the two German Shepherds were left in the car, parked outside Nottinghamshire Police headquarter, they could have died in as little as 20 minutes.

Their handler, who has not been named, has been interviewed by an RSPCA inspector and could be prosecuted under the Animal Welfare Act, according to the Daily Mail.

The dogs were found dead in the handler’s private car last Tuesday – the hottest day in three years.

The Sunday Times said at least 10 dogs died last week after being left in vehicles, including one that belonged to a veterinarian.

When we pointed out the dangers of dogs eating marijuana last month, we didn’t even stop to think about the possibility of this double whammy — dogs eating marijuana brownies.

Renee Morgan says her white standard poodle Saydy did just that last week.

Saydy ate a marijuana brownie someone tossed into Morgan’s back yard in Danville, California, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

Morgan returned home from work to find the two-year-old dog wasn’t “her normal, rambunctious self.” The dog had urinated on herself, couldn’t stand and was shaking.

Morgan scoured the yard looking for something Saydy might have eaten, and collected some vomit for tests at a veterinary emergency center, where Saydy was checked for bee stings and other injuries.

Morgan said that when the veterinarian realized the street Morgan lives on is near a trail, he suggested drug testing. A few hours later, as her dog was recovering overnight at the animal hospital, Morgan was called with the results — Saydy was high on marijuana.

“We would have never thought it was this,” said Morgan, who is a member of the town’s Planning Commission. “I’ve never tried marijuana in my life. We don’t even drink.”

Morgan was told by police officers that hikers sometimes get high on the trail, disposing of their drugs when they see someone coming.

Saydy — despite the toxic combo of chocolate and pot — is fine after $1,500 worth of treatment and medical tests.

Animal welfare advocates fear the revised New York City Housing Authority pet policy could lead to even more dogs ending up in shelters.

As of May 1, tenants who live in New York City Housing Authority buildings are barred from owning pit bulls, Rottweilers, Doberman pinschers and any dog that weights more than 25 pounds.

Public housing residents who already have dogs can keep them, but only if they weigh under 40 pounds — the previous weight limit.

the new regulations have confused many public housing residents, who, under the changes, are also required to register their dogs with the housing authority.

Dozens of people who have called the ASPCA for advice in recent weeks, unsure about whether they can keep their beloved dogs, the New York Daily News reported.

“There’s been a lot of misinformation out there,” said Debora Bresch, a lawyer in the ASPCA’s government relations department.

“One woman who has a lovely pit bull that weighs under 40 pounds said she was having trouble registering her dog,” said Bresch. “We had to get involved and speak with the manager.”

NYCHA spokesman Howard Marder said the managers were well-informed about which dogs are allowed and which are not.

“This is a wrongheaded policy that doesn’t get into the root problem,” said Jane Hoffman of the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, which rescues animals from shelters. “You need to go after the reckless owners who don’t treat their dogs like family members.”

 About 5% of the city’s population live in housing authority properties.

In the weeks leading up to the policy change, more than 170 dogs from New York City Animal Care and Control shelters were adopted out to NYCHA tenants. According to Bresch, who obtained the statistics, more than 100 of these dogs would no longer be allowed into those homes because of the new weight and breed restrictions.

“That’s a whole population of potential owners foreclosed to us,” said Hoffman. “Hundreds of dogs will be dying in shelters because of this policy.”

Veterinarians and dog owners in New York are on alert for leptospirosis after reports this week that two Brooklyn dogs died of the disease and dozens more have been hospitalized.

The infectious illness rarely strikes the city in high numbers, but vets say it seems to be hitting a little earlier and harder this year, the New York Daily News reported.

“Lepto likes warm, wet weather and we’ve got that to a T,”  said Dr. Cathy Langston, a renal specialist with the Animal Medical Center in Manhattan, which is treating three dogs for the disease.

The swift-moving illness is spread by a bacteria in the urine of rats, skunks, raccoons and other infected animals, which dogs can come in contact with through contaminated water or moist soil. The disease can damage the kidney and liver and prove fatal if untreated.

The first signs in dogs are weight loss, vomiting, lethargy, depression, muscle pain and sometimes diarrhea or bloody urine.

The Daily News article says Amy Tiscornia, a waitress, returned home from work to  her 4-year-old pit bull Bird unable to move. The white dog’s skin and belly were glowing yellow from jaundice and his eyes, she said, “were the color of Mountain Dew.”

 The dog fully recovered after three days of treatment in a Long Island animal hospital.

And after a week of round-the-clock IV and treatment at a Long Island animal hospital — amounting to a $7,000 bill — Traci Schiffer’s Boston terrier Fenway also recovered.

Both women live in the East Village and frequently take their dogs to East River Park, where the canines play in the soggy fields and puddles of still water left by the intense rains, the story noted.

A Health Department spokeswoman said it is not considered an outbreak. In 2007, 17 cases were reported in the five boroughs.