ohmidog!

About four months ago, I gave Petside.com a hard time for choosing Dallas as the second-most dog friendly city in America — this just after the Big D bestowed the key to the city on Michael Vick.

My point — and I did have one — was that a city’s dog friendliness is, or should be, based on more than mathematical formulas that tally how many groomers, pet boutiques, veterinarians, etc., it has per capita.

Now, along comes Dog Fancy magazine with its picks — based on similar criteria — for the five dog-friendliest cities in 2011.

Among them: Santa Cruz, Calif., which for 33 years has banned dogs from part of its downtown area.

True, the ban — finally — has been lifted, conditionally, effective this week. And true, there are other very dog-friendly parts of Santa Cruz, including some beaches, and plenty of fine services as well. But a city that has banned dogs from its main drag for three decades being chosen as among the dog-friendliest in the nation?

Were I one of the other cities vying for the honor, I’d have a bone to pick with that.

The world’s most widely read dog magazine, as Dog Fancy calls itself, named Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, the winner of the 2011 DogTown USA competition, saluting it as America’s most dog-friendly city.

While we couldn’t agree more with Dog Fancy’s top choice last year — Provincetown, Mass., as we showed you during our travels, is indeed highly dog friendly — we have some trouble with this year’s selections.

The other three cities in the top five were Bend, Oregon; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Doylestown, Pa., where, earlier this month, a dog was found to have been given poisoned hot dogs and shot 32 times — allegedly by his owner, the golf course superintendent — while tied to fence of the Doylestown Country Club.

The acts of one deranged person shouldn’t blow a city’s chance at being proclaimed “dog-friendliest,” but we do think the number of animal cruelty cases that surface in a city should be a small part of any formula assessing dog friendliness.

The criteria used to select winners in the Dog Fancy contest — sponsored by Natural Balance Pet Foods and Wahl Clipper – include the amount of dog-friendly open spaces and dog parks, veterinarians, pet supply stores and other services, events celebrating dogs and their owners, and municipal laws that support and protect pets.

“Journalist Barbara Walters has saluted Coeur d’Alene as one of her favorite cities, calling it a little slice of heaven,” Dog Fancy Editor Ernie Slone said in announcing the results — though, Barbara being human, what the heck that has to do with anything I don’t know.

“What we discovered is that whether a dog likes a place to run and hike, loves to mingle downtown, or needs a new home, dogs and their owners have it made in Coeur d’Alene, a little slice of dog heaven.”

Slone traveled to Coeur d’Alene to present $5,000 to the Kootenai County Dog Park Association. Additionally, Natural Balance Pet Foods will donate 1,000 pet food meals to Kootenai Humane Society on behalf of Coeur d’Alene, and 500 pet food meals to each of the regional winners.

Given all that, I don’t want to totally disrespect these lists and the organizations that put them together, but I will suggest that they are not as much about truth or reality as they are about politics, public relations and sales.

A Seattle woman who saw two dogs with their noses pressed against the window of a burning home jumped out of her car, hosed her shirt down, broke a window in the house and saved the two dogs trapped inside.

Kim Swanson suffered smoke inhalation in the process and was treated at the scene, a spokesman for the Seattle Fire Department said.

Swanson and Karen Jacobs were driving home after dinner when they saw the fire. Jacobs called 911 while Swanson sprung into action.

After breaking the window, she entered the home, picked up the two small dogs, named Angus and Babu, and passed them through the window to Jacobs. Both dogs escaped injury.

“I had taken off my shirt and sprayed it down with a hose I found in back, and then put it over my face and head,” Swanson told KOMO.

The fire was mostly contained to the attic, where an electrical problem started the blaze.

A North Jersey physician has been accused of stabbing her 13-year-old  daughter with a screwdriver at least 100 times because she failed to properly wash her dog’s clothes, police and health officials said.

Dr. Sylvia S. Lee of Emerson, an allergist, faces felony charges of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

Her license to practice medicine has been suspended by the state Board of Medical Examiners, according to The Record.

State officials said Dr. Lee, 58, admitted jabbing the child multiple times with a flathead screwdriver after the girl failed to wash “doggie clothes” and a “doggie towel” in the correct order.

The alleged attack occurred in Dr. Lee’s home in Emerson on July 3. Emerson police said they received a call from the Lee’s adopted daughter after she fled to a former caretaker’s house near her home, Lt. George Buono said.

“The girl was visibly upset and had some bruising and redness on her face, scrapes and small puncture wounds on different parts of her body,” Buono said.

Though the blows from the screwdriver broke the skin and caused some bleeding, the wounds weren’t deep and the child did not require hospitalization, officials said.

Dr. Lee practiced medicine at the Center for Asthma and Allergy, in offices in Wayne and in Old Bridge. Robert Conroy, an attorney who represents the practice, said Lee resigned at least a week ago.

The state Department of Children and Families was called in after the alleged assault and that the girl has been placed with another family. Dr. Lee was released on $200,000 bail.

A Phoenix area animal advocate plans to tie herself to a tree Saturday in hopes of raising money to provide her shelter with air conditioned dog houses.

Erica Wellman, a caregiver with Friends for Life Animal Rescue in Gilbert, hopes the demonstration will bring awareness to the plight of dogs left tied up outside in Arizona’s heat.

Temperatures this week in Arizona are expected to reach 116, according to the Arizona Republic.

The non-profit, all-volunteer, no-kill shelter currently holds 21 dogs, but it is forced to rescue fewer in the summer because of space limitations. With air-conditioned dog houses, it would be able to keep dogs outside, and have room for more.

The group recently purchased three air-conditioned doghouses from a company in Alabama at a cost of $5,800.

The non-profit group hopes the “Erica Unchained” fundraiser, starting at 8 a.m., will raise at least a $1,000.

“I can feel what it is to be a dog for a day and see how hard it is for them to handle it,” Wellman said.

Wellman will be tied to a tree with a short leash attached to her waist. A thermostat board will keep track of donations as they come in. Wellman will allow herself to take a water and potty break with every $200 donated.

“I’m hoping to get the money fast so I can come inside,” she said.

Fadidle, a miniature pinscher who disappeared from her home in Salt Lake City eight months ago, was found in San Diego and flown home to reunite with her owner.

“It’s wonderful,” Sharalyn Cooper said Saturday as she held the quivering 2-year-old min pin in her arms at Salt Lake International Airport.

Cooper said her dog often roamed the immediate neighborhood, but one day last October she didn’t come home. Cooper searched, put up flyers and checked with area animal shelters, all without luck.

“We had a hard time,” Cooper said. “She’s our baby. It was pretty tough.”

Then, two months ago, came a call came from the San Diego Humane Society.

Athena Davis, an employee at the humane society said the dog was brought to them by a “Good Samaritan.”  They placed the animal on a stray hold, but then discovered she had been microchipped and were able to track down Cooper, the Deseret News reports. 

Because the dog was on ringworm watch, her return was delayed until this past weekend. Davis accompanied the dog to Salt Lake City.

“She’s the best little girl,” Davis told Cooper when she handed the dog over.

“I’m just so excited we were able to do it and make it happen,” Davis said of returning Fadidle. “It’s one of the more unusual things I’ve done, but I enjoyed it.” She noted that, without Fadidle’s microchip, the reunion might never have taken place.

“We see a lot of different things,” Davis said. “When it works out this way, it’s really touching.”

Cooper said she has wondered a lot about how Fadidle disappeared, and ended up in California. She suspects, she was stolen

“I’d love to hear what she has to say about this whole thing,” Cooper said. 

(Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred / Deseret News)

As public relations professionals go about rehabilitating Michael Vick’s image, his old place is getting a makeover, too.

Inside the home that once served as headquarters for Bad Newz Kennels in Surry County, Virginia, the quarterback’s cream colored carpet has been ripped up and replaced with rubberized flooring; his oversized tiled shower is now being used for doggie baths.

Dogs Deserve Better, which bought Vick’s former home, continues its work to turn it into a rehabilitation center for chained and abused dogs, assisted by generous donors and volunteers who are showing up regularly,  including a group from Baltimore who arrived there this weekend.

According to a Sunday report in the Newport News Daily Press, nine dogs are now living at Good Newz Rehabilitation Center, with five more expected in coming weeks.

“It takes most dogs that have spent their lives in pens or on chains about three months to learn to play, to learn to chase a ball, because they are so traumatized,” said Tamira Thayne, founder of  the Dogs Deserve Better.

Dogs will spend three to six months in rehabilitation before they are put up for adoption on Petfinder.com, and adoption fees will range from $75 to $150, depending on the pet’s age and size.

Vick’s former house will also serve as headquarters for Dogs Deserve Better, which formerly operated out of Thayne’s hous in Tipton, Pennsylvania.

The Daily Press article says Dogs Deserve Better was able to raise $180,000, within weeks of annoucing their intention to buy the property. One anonymous donor contributed $10,000, a private business donated $18,000, and one contributor, Monica Severy of Virginia Beach, has pledged to donate $5,000 a month for the next decade — more than enough to cover mortgage payments.

Dogs Deserve Better received a $10,000 grant to make the house more dog-friendly. Thayne installed the rubber flooring, added a dog door, bought tarps and fencing for yard areas so some dogs could stay outside during the day. All the yards have shaded areas and plastic, bone-shaped swimming pools to keep the dogs cool on hot days; all of the dogs sleep inside at night, Thayne said.

Thayne said Vick’s old living room will be used to provide dogs with obedience training.

Thayne said few have been made in the four buildings where Vick’s pit bulls were trained to fight and kill other dogs. All of them are painted black, windows included.

One of them has eight kennel runs, and some of the vestiges from the property’s past remain – unused syringes, which once were used to inject dogs with steroids and antibiotics, and a ”rape stand” used for breeding purposes.

Thayne says she’s not sure if she’ll take down the buildings, but that she doesn’t plan to use them for rehabilitation.

“I feel like they need to be seen,” she said.

The Daily Press also reported that some neighbors aren’t pleased with the property’s new use.

Neighbor Earnst R. Hardy Sr. said at least one of the dogs has ended up on his property.

“All the time he (Vick) was over there fighting and breaking the law, he didn’t disturb me,” said Hardy. “I’ve had more problems with them in the six weeks they’ve been here than I ever had with Vick.”

Thayne told the newspaper she feels the house has been rehabilitated.

“Dogs are living in the house and people say Michael Vick is rehabilitated. I hope he is … and I hope people will focus on the beautiful stuff happening here instead of the hideous crimes that occurred here in the past.”

Does this, or something close to it, ever happen to you at home: Your white dog squeezes under the sofa, and then comes out a black dog?

Fortunately for me, Ace, being 130 pounds isn’t about to go under the sofa, though sometimes during thunderstorms he seems to think about it.

There’s some dispute on YouTube over the breeds of the two dogs used in this ad for Black & Decker’s pivoting floor vacuum, but one commenter insists they are a white Havanese and a black corded Havanese — and that the black one won best of breed at Westminster twice (2007 & 2010).

All of our “Woof in Advertising” selections can be found archived here.

Here’s a Chevrolet ad I’d never seen until recent weeks.

When his master dreams he’s taking his Camaro for his spin, the dog decides to get in on the action. With no window to stick his head out of, he gets up, walks over to the edge of the bed and sticks his head in front of the fan to soak up the breeze.

It’s a simple concept, but one that — intentionally or not — seems to capture part of the essence of dog, that being their unending agreeability: “Sure, I’ll go along with that. I’ll adapt. Whatever you say. Or dream.”

All of our “Woof in Advertising” selections can be found archived here.

That round up of stray dogs in Fayetteville, North Carolina we’ve repeatedly voiced reservations about? The one we were amazed no animal welfare activists had stepped forward to protest?

There’s good news and bad news.

The good: The protesting has begun. A group of citizens marched earlier this week to show their concerns about the county hiring a private contractor to hunt down, and trap, if possible, stray or feral dogs.

The bad: Of the 55 dogs removed so far from the streets by the contractor, working with Cumberland County’s department of animal control, 22 were captured. Thirty-three, despite the county’s assurance that it would only be used as a last resort, have been shot and killed.

“We are concerned about the shootings in our neighborhoods, of these feral dogs,” said Amy Frey, among the group of animal rights activists that gathered in downtown Fayetteville Tuesday afternoon.

 ”We can’t confirm information whether the dogs are being shot lethally on-sight or if they are being put down,” she told  ABC 11 News.

“It’s incredibly inhumane to be shooting animals on sight,” activist Melissa Katzenbeger said. “Pets do get out of their yards once in a while, and they are not trapping these animals and assessing them for behavior.”

Cumberland County animal control officials say up to 150 stray or feral dogs are roaming neighborhoods, and that those dogs have killed at least 15 pets.

In an e-mail statement, animal control director John Lauby reiterated that the goal is to trap the dogs. ”If the dogs cannot be trapped and are in a safe area, then off-shelter euthanasia is used.”

The activists say they are not opposed to euthanizing dangerous dogs but want to make sure that animal control doesn’t kill someone’s pet or friendly strays that could be adopted.

Michael Vick bares a bit of himself — literally and figuratively — in the new (September, 2011) issue of  GQ, now available at a newstand near you.

In an article written by Will Leitch, Vick makes some revealing comments  that seem to come from a little deeper place than his public relations team (it consists of seven members, according to the article) normally allows.

But most of them — like the tired old argument that dogfighting is part of black culture and thus OK  – seem aimed at rationalizing, if not excusing, what he did to dogs. Leitch quotes Vick as saying:

“[The media] are writing as if everyone feels that way and has the same opinions they do. But when I go out in public, it’s all positive, so that’s obviously not true … You got the family dog and the white picket fence, and you just think that’s all there is. Some of us had to grow up in poverty-stricken urban neighborhoods, and we just had to adapt to our environment. I know that it’s wrong. But people act like it’s some crazy thing they never heard of. They don’t know.”

Vick didn’t make the cover of GQ — that honor went to another quarterback, the New York Jets Mark Sanchez, who was decked out for his photo shoot in a $185 sweater, a $895 pair of pants, a $590 belt and a $8,850 watch.

Vick — wait a minute, a $590 belt??? — Vick is featured in three photos accompanying the online version of the article about him. He’s clad, or at least partially so, in what appears to be underwear/protective gear from his new sponsor, Nike.

We don’t know if that was a condition of him doing the interview, or just business as usual at GQ,  taking a perfectly good story and turning it into something that doubles as advertising — not to mention also serves to make us covet unnecessary things we can’t afford, such as $590 belts.

The article itself, though, is well done. It manages to partially penetrate the facade built around Vick by his public relations team, and get beyond the canned and rehearsed remarks he normally emits while suppressing his real self and following the dictates of the image-makers.  At one point, Leitch recounts one of Vick’s first appearances before students, which, in conjuntion with the Humane Society of the United States, he does from time to time, impressing upon them the evils of dogfighting.

Vick is  fielding questions from students at Philadelphia’s Camelot School when one asks, in connection with Vick’s prison sentence:  “Are you mad about what happened to you?”

Fifteen feet away, halfheartedly taking notes alongside a cluster of reporters, I snap to attention. What a strange question. Certainly to many, framing the past four years of Michael Vick’s life in terms of something that happened to him suggests a gross misunderstanding of how he wound up behind bars. But this is not the way the Camelot students see it at all. The kid’s question is met with head nods and shouts of “You better believe it!” and “That’s right!”

Vick, who has barely changed his expression throughout the thirty-minute session with the students, smiles wide and looks over his left shoulder, directly toward the hallway of reporters. He glances left and right, cartoonishly grinning, all mock-conspiratorial. “Where the media at?” he says, and everyone laughs.

The article, to its credit, doesn’t totally gloss over what happened to Vick’s dogs:

In April 2007 … Vick, who had been taking great pains not to be seen at the kennels, “helped out” in the killing of seven dogs—the ones who had lost in the fighting sessions. He then assisted in burying the dogs, too. A week later, police raided the compound. Vick said at the time, “I’m never at the house…. I left the house with my family members and my cousin…. They just haven’t been doing the right thing…. It’s unfortunate I have to take the heat behind it. If I’m not there, I don’t know what’s going on.” He tells me today: “I was walking away, just totally refocused on something else…. I just happened to get caught out in the yard trying to help out.”

Vick also told Leitch that he wants a dog: “I miss dogs, man. I always had a family pet, always had a dog growing up. It was almost equivalent to the prison sentence, having something taken away from me for three years. I want a dog just for the sake of my kids, but also me. I miss my companions.”

In addition to making public appearances with the Humane Society, Vick recently spoke out against the Android app called Dog Wars and  appeared on Capitol Hill to back an anti-dogfighting bill.

Since his release from prison in July 2009, Michael Vick has had a team of “at least seven” PR professionals working for him, the article says. Together, they formulated a plan to redeem, if not the man, at least his image.

Rightly or wrongly, as Leitch notes, what may be working most in Vick’s favor — when it comes to the whole “redemption” thing, and putting dogfighting behind him –  is his stellar performance on the field last season. Leitch concludes: