ohmidog!

And the new voice of Westminster is … Mario Lopez?

The USA Network — apparently attempting to squirt some youthful juice into the old show — announced yesterday that Lopez will be the new co-host of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Lopez, thank goodness, isn’t replacing David Frei (that would qualify as sacrilege), but he is taking over from NBC anchor Lester Holt who has been a co-host for the past three years .

Lopez, who is actually 35 now — still young by Kennel Club standards — is host of the entertainment magazine show “Extra.”  He will join the venerable Frei, who is in his 21st consecutive year of hosting the show. The 134th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show takes place Feb. 15 and 16.

Lopez, a teen star on “Saved by the Bell,” gained further fame on the third season of ABC’s hit “Dancing with the Stars,” which led to his Broadway debut in the musical “A Chorus Line” — all, clearly, qualifying him to host the foremost dog show in the world and the second longest continuously held sporting event in the United States.

USA officials did not say why the change is being made but Holt apparently will be involved with NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics in February, the Tampa Tribune reports.

“I am really excited to be a host of the 2010 Westminster Dog Show,” says Lopez. “I’ve been doing my research and checking out some of the world’s top dog shows, so I’m well prepared on show day. I can’t wait to be a part of the Super Bowl for canines.”

Here’s a sneak preview of tonight’s “Dog Whisperer” — another episode from Australia, where Cesar Millan continues to apply his techniques to down under dogs, and their owners.

In this segment he tries to teach a Weimaraner that the mailman — or postie, as they say over there — is his friend, as is the red scooter he rides in on. The dog has already bitten two posties on red scooters

Sydney was once struck by a postie’s red scooter, and he seems to still hold a grudge — so much so that, even though Millan has stuffed dried liver into the bike, Sydney appears on the verge of biting the Dog Whisperer as this video ends.

It airs at 9 tonight on the National Geographic Channel.

E! Online is reporting that Casey Johnson’s family says they don’t plan to put down the deceased heiress’ ailing dog so that it can be buried with her.

But the dog still may be put down, and buried with her.

As we told you yesterday, celebrities Nicky Hilton and Bijou Phillips collected celebrity Casey Johnson’s dogs, Zoe and Elvis, from Johnson’s celebrity fiancee, Tila Tequila.

Tequila made a big to do over what she said were plans for Zoe — elderly and ailing — to be put down so she can be be cremated and her ashes buried with Johnson, which was apparently Johnson’s wish.

Such wishes are carried out all the time — but generally not so publicly, and not with a dog who’s alive at the time of its owner’s death.

E! Online’s Mark Malkin reports the dog may be blind and have liver problems. “She is something like 20 years old,” he quotes an unnamed family source as saying. “Sadly, she probably should have been put down a while ago. She’s suffering.”

Casey had said on numerous occasions that she would keep Zoe’s remains in an urn and have the urn buried with her, Malkin reported.

Before any decision is made, Malkin reports,  Zoe will first be examined by a vet and then by the Johnson family’s animal doctor on the East Coast.

“No one is going to ceremoniously kill the dog just so she can be with Casey,” the family source insisted. “That is not what Casey would have wanted to happen.”

An animal control officer in Mississippi has been fired amid allegations he shot more than 100 dogs he was supposed to bring to a shelter and instead dumped their bodies in a creek.

Alonzo Esco was fired by the city of Canton during an executive session Tuesday night, WAPT-TV in Jackson reported.

The investigation began when a resident attempted to adopt a dog  that Esco had picked up in her neighborhood in November.

“I called the animal rescue league to see if they would hold him for me, but they informed me that Alonzo Esco had not been there that day, nor had he been there for several months,” the resident, Debbie Young, said.

She contacted Canton police, who referred the case to Madison County District Attorney Michael Guest. Esco, however, has not been charged with any crime, and county and city officials don’t officials don’t come across in news reports as sounding too outraged. There are no felony charges for animal cruelty in Mississippi, although animal-rights activists are pushing lawmakers to change the law.

“Some of those animals may have been killed, or discarded without following the rules and procedures set forth,” Guest said. “In researching the issue, it appears the killing of a dog is a crime, but it’s a misdemeanor.”

“There are no criminal charges that have been filed or anything like that that I’m aware of,” Canton Police Chief Vicky McNeill said. “Our investigation did not call for any form of arrest.”

Maybe somebody should.

(An update)