ohmidog!

The police dog shot by a Baltimore police officer is expected to make a full recovery, the Baltimore Sun reported.

Blade, who mistakenly attacked an officer during a pursuit of a suspect, underwent surgery today, according to staff at the Falls Road Animal Hospital, where the German shepherd was being treated.

The dog should be released this week, said Dr. Keisha Adkins, who performed the surgery. The dog faces four to six weeks of restricted movement but should be able to comfortably walk after that. Adkins said the surgery involved removing bullet fragments from the dog’s shoulder.

The unidentified officer who shot Blade wasn’t aware he was a police dog, a police department spokesman said.

A case of double mistaken identity led to a Baltimore police officer shooting the Baltimore police dog who attacked him Sunday night.

Police called in a K-9 unit to help chase a man who drove through a checkpoint near Wegworth Park, off of Hollins Ferry Road, then exited his car and started running, according to a report in the Baltimore Sun

When the K-9 unit arrived, a German shepherd named Blade was unleashed to pursue the motorist. When another officer arrived on the scene from a different direction, he was attacked by the dog. The dog, possibly mistaking him for the suspect, leapt on the officer and bit him about the upper body.

The unidentified officer, not knowing the dog was a police dog, pulled out his handgun and shot the dog at least once.

A police spokesman said the dog was taken to Falls Road Animal Hospital in Mount Washington, where he underwent surgery for a bullet wound. The spokesman said he did not know how many times the dog was shot, or what condition he was in.

The officer, who was wearing body armor, was not seriously injured.

Meet Tom Skeldon, the dog warden — yes, they still use that prison-esque title there — for Lucas County, Ohio.

If he seems a tad perturbed in this video, part of a Toledo Blade report, it’s because a lot of folks — many of them part of the “criminal element,” he says — are calling for him to resign.

Animal-rights groups say Skeldon refuses to work with them and is focused on killing dogs — 2,483 last year and 1,848 so far this year, based on a Blade review of records in the dog warden’s office.

About three of every four dogs that enter the pound don’t make it out, and are instead injected with fatal doses of chemicals each week, frozen in room-sized freezers at the pound, and buried in area landfills. Lucas County’s dog adoption rate was a dismal 13 percent, much lower than in neighboring counties.

The continued killing is at the center of recent calls for the warden to step down. Among those requesting he depart is the Ohio Coalition of Dog Advocates, whose members, armed with candles, staged a vigil outside the pound last month.

Skeldon, however, says the facility’s adoption and kill rates are “statistically glowing,” and that those calling for his resignation are misguided. He told the newspaper that his staff euthanizes only the lamest, oldest, meanest, and most incorrigible of the dogs in their care. Except for unlicensed “pit bulls.” They kill all of those. The dog warden’s office has killed at least 932 “pit bulls” or “pit bull” mixes this year, including 46 “pit bull” pups.

One Lucas County Commissioner, Ben Konop, has also suggested Skeldon resign.

Skeldon, who has been warden since 1987, said that he will not step down from his job and vowed to stay until his retirement, “sometime in 2011.”

This photo helped authorities in Shelby County, Tennessee get the search warrant that was used in a predawn raid that led to the temporary closure of the Memphis Animal Shelter two weeks ago.

The raid followed allegations of mismanagement, mistreatment of animals and improper euthanizations.

The mayor of Memphis, A C  Wharton, fired Animal Services Director Ernest Alexander Friday — a day after residents held a candlelight vigil at the facility.

“I am not an expert on (animal shelters), but I tell you what, I can walk in here and tell you whether it is clean or dirty,” Wharton said Friday during a news conference at the shelter. “I can tell you the difference between a pet that has been fed and cared for and loved and not loved.”

Wharton’s decision to fire Alexander came after shelter employees improperly euthanized a dog and preliminary results of a city investigation showed the facility had been mismanaged, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported.

In addition to Alexander’s termination, three other shelter employees remain suspended with pay until the city investigation is complete.

Last week, Wharton established a committee to review the shelter’s operations and installed surveillance cameras that the public can access online. Members of the committee will monitor the shelter daily.

Public pressure for Wharton to take action at the shelter — long criticized by animal rights activists — has been building since Shelby County sheriff’s deputies raided the facility last week.

The puppy in the photo was admitted to the Memphis Animal Shelter Aug. 18, and died Sept. 4.  A necropsy showed the dog hadn’t eaten in at least 72 hours.