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Main Line Animal Rescue placed an ad in today’s Washington Post, pledging five bags of dog food to Washington D.C. animal shelters for each time Michael Vick is sacked.

The rescue, located outside of Philadelphia, said the ad is aimed at bringing attention back to the needs of dogs.

Each time the Eagles new  backup quarterback is tackled during the Oct. 26 away game against the Washington Redskins, five bags of dog food will be donated to a D.C. animal shelter.

It also encourages people to volunteer at a shelter on game day.

Vick served 18 months in prison for funding a dog-fighting operation. The Eagles, in signing Vick to a two-year deal, said he’d served his time and deserved a second chance.

“I think we’re all getting tired of the ‘Does he deserve a second chance?’ kind of thing,” said Bill Smith, founder and CEO of the shelter, which is near Valley Forge. “… Maybe it’s about time that the million pit bulls euthanized every year got their second chance.”

“It’s such a misunderstood breed. … They’re great dogs,” Smith told the Philadelphia Inquirer, adding that the stigma pit bulls carry is ”because of people like Michael Vick.”

The ad’s aim is to bring attention back to the needs of dogs, he said. “I think we just need to raise public awareness and this is a good way to do that.”

 The ad may run in other cities where the Eagles play, including San Diego, Chicago and New York, he said.

Smith said that if Vick had “any sense of humor at all,” and really wanted to help dogs, he could stand on the field before the Oct. 26 game and let players tackle him, so even more dogs will get fed.

Given Vicks public statements that he wants to help the dogs he once tortured and killed, “He should thank us” for the opportunity, Smith said.

Yet another incident of cat abuse has come to light after a witness saw a group of boys swinging a small orange and white cat by his tail.

Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter (BARCS) reports that the incident took place on the 2600 block of Wilkens Avenue.

The witness reported the boys were swinging the cat in the air, smashing his head on the ground, and also appeared to be trying to throw the cat, by his tail, onto a rooftop.

The woman took the cat and handed it off to another woman who then brought the kitten directly to BARCS. 

The Snyder Foundation for animals is offering a reward of $1,000 for anyone with information leading to an arrest and conviction of the boys responsible.

At BARCS, veterinary technicians determined the three-month-old kitten most likely had a broken jaw.

Using the Franky Fund, the technician sent the kitten to Everhart Animal Hospital, where X-rays showed he will need surgery on his jaw. The surgery is expected to be performed later this week. 

Staff at BARCS gave the cat a name:

Miracle.

As summer fades away, there are only a few chances left to take your dog for a dip.

The 4th annual Pooch Pool Party at Montgomery County’s Wheaton/Glenmont Pool will be Sept. 13 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and registering in advance is suggested. All 275 slots sold out last year. If there’s any space left for this summer’s dip, walk-ins will be allowed.

The Wheaton/Glenmont Pool is at 12621 Dalewood Dr., in Wheaton. The fee is $5 per dog. Dogs must have written proof of current rabies vaccination (a tag does not count). Dogs from Montgomery County must also have a dog license. If your dog doesn’t, police will be selling licenses at the event.

For information call 240-777-6840. To register online click here.

The City of Rockville will hold a Doggie Dip Day, also with a $5 fee,  on Sept. 12 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Rockville Swim and Fitness Center, 355 Martins Lane. For more information call 240-314-8750 or click here.

For Northern Virginia doggie swimming opportunities, go to www.nvrpa.org, and click on “events,” then on “calendar of events,” then click on “next” to get to September. Doggie swims are listed under “see events” for Sept. 12.

The Mayor’s Anti-Animal Abuse Task Force will hold its first public meeting next Wednesday (Sept. 16).

The task force invites members of the public to attend and voice their concerns about animal abuse in Baltimore. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, 1400 W. Coldspring Lane.

The meeting is scheduled to last two and a half hours, and those wishing to speak are asked to sign in when they arrive.

The newly formed task force, because it has just begun its work, won’t be answering questions, said Caroline A. Griffin, task force chairperson. Instead, the meeting is intended to allow the public to express their comments and concerns regarding animal abuse in Baltimore.

The task force was appointed by Mayor Sheila Dixon in the wake of several highly publicized cases of animal cruelty. It includes representatives from city offices, the police, the state’s attorney’s office, animal welfare organizations and city residents.

The task force will assess the effectiveness of Baltimore’s cruelty laws, brainstorm ways to raise awareness of animal abuse and consider ways city agencies and animal advocates can better coordinate their efforts.

After a year of study, it will issue recommendations to the mayor.

In May, someone doused a pit bull puppy with gasoline and set it on fire in Southwest Baltimore. The dog, who came to be known as Phoenix, had to be euthanized. A reward fund of $26,000 was raised, leading to the arrest of twins, who were charged as juveniles. In June, two cats were found within two weeks in the same Northwest Baltimore neighborhood, burned, beaten and tied to a school fence. In August, a cat was set on fire twice in a West Baltimore neighborhood.

A yellow Labrador retriever named Finn is helping injured Marines in Hawaii recuperate from their war wounds.

Pressed into service about a month ago, Finn is stationed at the Wounded Warrior Battalion at the Kane’ohe base. His duty is simple, and not that different from that of any dog — to bring some joy into the lives of the people around him.

Finn is the first service dog to be placed in a barracks in Hawaii, said Susan Luehrs, executive director for Hawaii Fi-Do, a nonprofit group that obtained, trained and donated Finn to the Marines.

The Honolulu Advertiser reports that he brings a sense of calm to the Wounded Warrior barracks, which was designed to aid in the recovery of war-related injuries and illnesses. 

Finn “has contributed significantly,” said Sgt. Karlo Salgado, in charge of the Wounded Warrior barracks. “He’s here more for morale. He’s very consistent with his attitude. As you can see, he’s always playful so he definitely breaks up the monotony here.”

Finn, short for Finnegan, is more of a companion dog, but he has about 80 skills, such as opening doors, that he can use to help those coping with disabilities.

“We’re coming back with a lot more injured young people and they’re saying we’d rather be walking with a dog than a cane,” Luehrs said.

The organization is working with Congress to pass legislation that would pay for training and upkeep. It typically takes two years and costs about $20,000 to train an animal, not including the price to purchase a puppy.

“We’re really proud of him,” Luehrs said. “He had all of his service dog’s skills but because of his personality and socialness, we felt this would be the perfect setting for him.”

(Photo: Honolulu Advertiser/Jeff Widener)

Grisly testimony was heard yesterday in the trial of a woman accused of being a member of one of England’s biggest dog fighting gangs.

 The case was brought against Claire Parker by the Royal SPCA after Steve Ibinson, an undercover investigator, infiltrated a dog fighting gang called the Farmer Boys in Northern Ireland for a BBC Panorama program.

The busted dogfighting ring had links to Northern Irish paramilitary organizations, according to the Times of London.

Parker, a 44-old breeder of Boston terriers, denies being present at a dog fight, using her property for fights and owning three pit bulls.

Parker is on trial with 33-year-old Mohammed Nasir Farooq,  who it is claimed acted as the “time keeper” during the Lincolnshire fight in May 2007.

At the opening of what’s expected to be a two-week trial, the Lincoln Magistrates Court heard how some of the gang made the dogs train on treadmills and in swim tanks, used lunge poles with dummies hanging on them, electrocuted dogs, and used “rape harnesses” to force female dogs to mate.

RSPCA raids also uncovered weighing scales, ’break sticks’ for parting the animals once their jaws had locked on to each other and veterinary products to treat wounded animals.

Ibinson, a former SAS operative who had lived in fear of his life following the investigation, uncovered links between the gang and dog fighting fanatics across the United Kingdom. His identity was revealed after his death, from natural causes, earlier this year while serving as a security guard in Afghanistan.

Statements he made are being given as part of a case that has seen five people from across the North of England already admit various dog fighting offenses.

In a secretly recorded video, Gary Adamson, a 38-year-old welder, is shown standing next to three reinforced pens in his yard boasting about how his pit bull, Pablo, suffered a “real good ragging” during a 26-minute fight held in the garage of  Parker’s home in Lincolnshire.

In his statement, Ibinson said that Adamson was a representative of the Farmers Boys, from County Armagh, and aspired to be for pit bull fighting what Don King was for boxing.

(Photo: Courtesy of the RSPCA)