ohmidog!

Three people have been convicted for their roles in one of Europe’s largest dog-fighting syndicates — offenses brought to light by a BBC program called “Panorama.”

Claire Parker, 44, from Lincolnshire, Mohammed Farooq, 33, from Birmingham, and a 17-year-old boy were convicted at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court, the BBC reported.

The RSPCA said it was one of the biggest cases of dog-fighting it had prosecuted. Read more »

Jessica Simpson’s designer dog was snatched by a coyote, and she hasn’t seen her since.

Daisy, a Malti-poo (Maltese and poodle) was snatched right in front of her, Simpson announced on her Twitter page.

“My heart is broken because a coyote took my precious Daisy right in front of our eyes,” tweeted Simpson. “HORROR! We are searching. Hoping. Please help!”

Fans and fellow dog owners expressed sympathy to the 29-year-old singer, who reportedly has been searching for Daisy in her Los Angeles neighborhood, the New York Daily News reports.

Simpson, who was just in Rio de Janeiro shooting her VH1 reality show “The Price of Beauty,” was given Daisy as a gift from her ex-husband Nick Lachey several years ago.

A woman in Australia who received a $200 citation for unregistered dogs thinks the inspectors who cited her may have been barking up the wrong tree.

The two dogs in Mishka Gamble’s front yard are fiberglass.

Gamble does have a dog, a 15-year old shih-tzu who rarely goes outside, and then only uses the backyard. She thinks the inspectors mistook her fiberglass dogs — a Staffordshire terrier and a blue heeler — for the real thing.

Gamble told The Cairns Post she was shocked when she received a notice saying she had seven days to pay $200 for the registration of two dogs. “I certainly don’t have two dogs,” she said.

“I’ve got a fiberglass pig and sheep. Do I need to register them too?”

Earlier this month, the Cairns Regional Council came under fire for its dog audit after issuing 61 advisory notices to homes that, it turned out, didn’t have dogs. One resident was given a notice for having a cat bowl in the yard.

Gamble said she had since registered her “real” dog.

(Photo from The Cairns Post/CHRIS HYDE)

The Pennsylvania SPCA, while it’s not among those animal welfare organizations offering a bounty for taking down Michael Vick, is still sending out a strong anti-dogfighting message — most recently, this one.

The PSCPA, which says it is investigating an increasing number of dogfighting cases in Philadelphia, takes in thousands of pit bulls every year – many of them victims of abuse that end up getting euthanized.

Police found two large marijuana plants growing in an Illinois back yard, but the man of the house explained he was only growing the plants to train his dog to detect the substance.

Officers, acting on a tip, showed up at the 31-year-old man’s home in Joliet and saw a marijuana plant growing behind a shed, according to a police report.  A woman who lives at the residence, the report said, allowed officers to enter the back yard.

Once inside, a police sergeant performed a field test on the plant that revealed it was cannabis. The officers say they then found a second plant growing in the yard, and a third one that was dead and lying on the ground.

When the officers called the woman’s husband on his mobile phone to inquire about the pot plants, he told them he had “a controlled substance license and was growing the cannabis to train his dog.”

Reached Sunday by the Herald News, the man initially denied having such a license. He did say he was training his dog to detect drugs, but then quickly added that he could not discuss the matter.

 
Beagle Rescue of Southern Maryland, Inc. is hosting its fourth annual fundraiser and alumni celebration, Beagle Bash, on Sunday, September 27.

The event takes place at Countryside Kennels in Owings, from noon – 4:00 p.m.

Beagle Bash is a free event, celebrating all things beagle. Activities include games, contests, canine good citizen testing, swimming in the beagle pool, raffles, vendors and more.

“Beagle Bash is a wonderful event for the entire family, both the two and four-legged members, that helps raise funds for the care of our beagles all year long,” said Mara Melton, Founder of Beagle Rescue of Southern Maryland, Inc. “Our volunteers are able to reconnect with our dogs who have found their forever families and celebrate their hard work and dedication to finding loving and safe homes for the dogs that come to Beagle Rescue of Southern Maryland.”

Countryside Kennels is located at 9214 Boyds Turn Road in Owings.

Beagle Rescue of Southern Maryland was formed in 2001. The nonprofit, volunteer-run corporation has found homes since then for almost 900 beagles in need from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and even South Carolina.

It took a DNA test to prove it, but Angie Cartwright — who lives in a town that bans pit bulls — has certified that her dog Lucey is only 12 percent bully breeds, and now she has her back.

Lucey had never bitten anyone; nor had she ever acted aggressively, according to the Salina Journal in Kansas. But she was scooped up by animal control officers.

The officers explained that they were taking Lucey to a veterinarian for a breed check — a professional opinion (meaning veterinarian’s guess) to determine Lucey’s breed.

Since 2005, Salina has had a ban on owning unregistered pit bulls and mixed breeds that are predominantly pit bull.

Cartwright got approval to have her vet conduct DNA breed analysis test, ther results of which led to the return of her dog.

The blood test found that a minor amount of Lucey’s DNA came from Staffordshire bull terrier genes — just over 12 percent.

“Maybe this can save someone’s animal, hopefully,” Cartwright said. Read more »

The National Greyhound Adoption Program has added to the bounty placed  on Michael Vick: For each sacking of the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, it will donate ten cases of snacks to a Pennsylvania shelter — and a case to the tackler, as well.

Last week, Main Line Animal Rescue, outside Philadelphia, published an ad in the Washington Post, offering to donate five bags of dog food to local animal shelters in Washington D.C. every time Michael Vick gets sacked during the Eagles game against the Redskins on October 26.

The group is considering running a similar ad in every city to which the Eagles travel for a game.

The National Greyhound Adoption Program has upped the ante.

It is promising, for every tackle of the convicted dogfighter, ten cases of Wellness snacks for Pennsylvania shelters.

The NGAP offer applies to both home and away games.

“If the player that does the tackling has a dog, we will be happy to send the player a case to their home office,” David Wolf, NGAP director.

(Pennsylvania shelters can contact the organization if they would like to take part by emailing info@ngap.org)

By day, Army Maj. Steven Hutchison — a Vietnam veteran who came out of retirement at age 59 to fight in Iraq — was rough and tough, crusty and disagreeable, a man with little respect for the rules.

He violated one of them nightly, sleeping with his arms wrapped around Laia, a stray yellow puppy he had taken in from the streets.

Hutchison died in May, killed when a roadside bomb exploded near his truck — the oldest soldier to die in the Iraq war. But Laia lives on.

Laia was transported back to the U.S. by Operation Baghdad Pups, preserving not only the pup, but — as described in the Detroit Free Press yesterday — the memory of Army Maj. Steven Hutchison, as well.

“Whenever Laia was around,” Hutchison’s “demeanor and personality changed 1,000%,” Sgt. Andrew Hunt wrote in an e-mail to Hutchison’s family. “He was never without a smile; he was so much happier in life.” When a senior officer ordered Hutchison to get rid of the dog or face disciplinary action, Hutchison sent her into hiding with a friend at a far outpost on the border of Iran. The puppy broke free and ran away, returning one day to Hutchison’s base with a broken leg.

The day Hutchison was killed, Laia was spotted chained up outside a tent by Jerry Deaven, an employee of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Detroit. He was visiting Iraq to research terrorist funding.

“What’s going to happen to her, now that the major is gone?” Deaven asked. A few members of Hutchison’s team said they wanted to take her, but they were getting redeployed. “If I didn’t take the dog, they would have had to put the dog down,” he said. Read more »

 
After a nearly year-long hiatus, Ace went back on duty as a Karma Dog over the weekend, attending the first HEARTS (Help Encourage All Readers to Succeed) session of the season at the Baltimore County Public Libary in Catonsville.

The program runs for the next eight Saturdays, and starts at 11 .a.m.

Nine books (three of them Curious Georges) were read to Ace, who – from the moment I put on his special Karma Dogs harness and bandana — seemed happy to get back in the program.

He was one of three dogs at the library Saturday morning. The program is aimed at helping children grow more confident about their reading skills. Dogs don’t judge or criticize young readers when they make mistakes, which can often unintentionally cause them to become discouraged readers. When a child is more confident, they can learn more easily and are able to increase their vocabulary and become better readers.

The sessions are aimed at children who can read or are learning to read, and are usually in grades 1-5. To get the most out of the program, Karma Dogs recommends that children attend a session weekly.

Karma Dogs is a non-profit organization that seeks to improve the lives of others through relationships with therapy dogs. Its various programs are aimed at improving literacy skills among elementary school students and working with children and adults with developmental disabilities to improve communication and socialization skills.

Karma Dogs was also in the news recently for its “Oath of Kindness” program, which was developed in response to the recent violence against animals in Baltimore. Children take an Oath of Kindness with a Karma Dog, where they promise to be kind, tell their friends to be kind and tell an adult if someone isn’t treating an animal properly.