ohmidog!

How low can one go? How about this: Stealing an autistic child’s therapy Chihuahua.

Betty Peltier of Antioch, Ill., pleaded guilty to just that this week in exchange for a sentence of 100 hours of community service.

She could have been sentenced to a maximum of one year in jail and fined $2,500, according to the Lake County News-Sun.

Peltier was accused of stealing  Peanut, a 3-pound Chihuahua who ran out of his family’s house while they were unloading groceries. Peanut served as a therapy dog for the son of Monica Hidalgo. Hidalgo offered a $1,000 reward for the dog’s return.

After Peliter called Hidalgo several times inquiring about the reward, Round Lake Beach police arrested her when she attempted to return the dog.

In addition to 100 hours of community service, Peltier received one year of supervision, after the successful completion of which the theft charge will not go on her record as a conviction.

Luttrell with Rigby

Two men will be sentenced in February for killing former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell’s service dog.

One entered a guilty plea to the charges this week, and a second was found guilty yesterday by a jury in Walker County, Texas, according to the Huntsville Item.

Luttrell took the stand Thursday, with his new service dog, Rigby, at his side. He testified he was so angry the night his dog, DASY, was killed by gunfire from a passing car that, while chasing the car down, he pulled his pistol.  

“I wanted to take a shot at the driver, but I figured if I missed and shot out the back window, I would not be able to catch them,” Luttrell said.

DASY — an acronym for Luttrell’s fellow Navy SEALs that were slain in the line of duty — was shot on April 1, 2009. A Labrador retriever, she was given to him by friends to help him cope with emotional and physical injuries sustained in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Luttrell was the lone survivor of a 2005 mission in which his SEAL team was pinned down in a firefight with Taliban forces in Afghanistan. He was awarded the Navy Cross for combat heroism in 2006.

He testified in court Tursday that he let DASY out and was watching television when he heard a gunshot and, grabbing his gun, went to see what had happened.

“I saw my dog in a ditch and two men standing outside the car. I could hear them laughing,” said Luttrell who would go on to chase the car through Walker, San Jacinto and Polk counties before a patrol officer with the Onalaska Police Department pulled it over.

According to testimony in the case, one occupant of the car, after the dog was shot, got out and kicked and beat the animal with a bat.

“(Alfonso Hernandez) got out and kicked and beat that dog and thought it was funny. They thought it was just another dog,” Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Stroud during closing arguments. “To Marcus Luttrell it was so much more. It was a symbol he carried around for what happened to him. He was reminded of the people it was named after. To Marcus Luttrell that was just not another dog.”

Alfonso Hernandez was found guilty of cruelty to non-livestock animals, which carries a sentence of up to two years in a state facility and a $10,000 fine.

Two days earlier, Michael Edmonds pleaded guilty to the same charge and admitted he was the one who fired the shot that killed DASY.

Sentencing is expected to take place in February.

HSSP advertisement

This could get ugly, if it hasn’t already.

This week, a newly formed national organization called The Humane Society for Shelter Pets (HSSP) began making itself known, with full-page ads in national newspapers aimed at discouraging people from contributing to the Humane Society of the United States.

The new organization’s point: HSUS, despite public service ads that seem to indicate it helps dogs and cats in shelters, provides little direct funding to local shelters, which need help more than ever.

While polls show 71 percent of Americans believe HSUS is affiliated, represents or helps fund local humane societies, HSSP says “the reality is that just 1 percent of HSUS’s $126 million budget goes to needy hands-on pet shelters.”

“The Humane Society of the United States continues to fundraise on the perception that they give millions of dollars every year to local pet shelters with misleading advertising campaigns. Unfortunately for the dogs and cats in our local pet shelters, that is not the case,” said Diana Culp, HSSP co-director. (Culp is a former director of education for HSUS and former supervisor of animal control in Frederick County, Maryland.)

HSSP, while noting on its website that it doesn’t contribute directly to shelters, either, does provide a database enabling visitors to obtain all the information they need to donate to local shelters. 

However philanthropic that may be, and whether or not you agree with HSSP that HSUS is misleading the public in its fundraising approach, HSSP may not be the angelic organization it makes itself out to be.

Berman, USA Today photo

For one thing, it has ties to Richard Berman, who, through his Center for Consumer Freedom, has been a long-time, highly vocal critic of HSUS.  Berman has raised millions from industries that, at least in the view of HSUS, are cruel and abusive to animals.

In response to the HSSP ads — they’ve appeared this week in USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and New York Times – HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle fired back earlier this week.

On his blog, A Humane Nation, Pacelle, called Berman a “king of charity fraud,” and went so far as to show a photo of Berman’s mansion in McLean, Virginia.

“He sets up phony front groups to do the dirty work of bad actors in industry. He takes their money and then takes on their critics. He runs ‘charitable’ organizations, like the Center for Consumer Freedom (which fights The HSUS), the American Beverage Institute (which fights Mothers Against Drunk Driving), and the Center for Union Facts (which attacks public employees and unions), yet his groups don’t feed one animal, shelter one homeless person, or provide any other tangible social service.

“They are charitable organizations in name only, and Berman and his for-profit public relations company pocket a large share or even a majority of the total revenue. It’s a personal enrichment scam of the highest order, and he’s the architect of the con job. He’s got the mansion in McLean, Va., and the Bentley in the driveway as the spoils, with his accountant wife standing by to tally the profits.”

Pacelle, HSUS photo

Pacelle said the HSUS has never presented itself as an umbrella agency that funds local shelters, and he points out that HSUS television ads include a small-print disclaimer: “Local humane societies are independent from HSUS.”

While the HSSP ad states that HSUS gave just 1 percent of the $131 million in donations it received last year to local shelters, Pacelle says that figure doesn’t include the campaigns HSUS has conducted nationally and globally to fight such things as puppy mills, dogfighting, animal cruelty laws and pet overpopulation.

Pacelle says about 20 percent of the Humane Society’s efforts involve companion animal issues, and that, in the last five years, HSUS has given more than $43 million in grants to other animal organizations.

Whether or not it manages to steal the Humane Society’s thunder, the HSSP has done a pretty good job of co-opting the HSUS name and logo.

Berman, while not listed as an official of HSSP, has been hired to do its public relations work and to help bring HSSP “to fruition,” said HSSP Co-Director Jeffrey Douglas.

“… HSSP is a product of the efforts of a group of individuals with deep ties to the animal welfare community and dedicated to improving the well-being of shelter animals across the country,” he added. “Who we hired as our PR firm should be immaterial to the project.”

As Pacelle sees it, though, Berman is its backbone: “Now, this Beltway con artist — who has probably spent as much time as anyone in recent years fighting against animal welfare — has formed a new supposed animal welfare charity … He’s the man behind the curtain … He’s reached a new level of fraud and deception.”

Pacelle said that between CCF and HSSP, Berman’s outfits have taken out 25 full page “attack” ads in national newspapers, at an estimated cost of $2 million.

Berman, meanwhile — whose full response to Pacelle’s comments can be found here — says HSSP has been welcomed “warmly” by the shelter community.

The question the HSSP ad raises is not entirely illegitimate: Are those heartstring-tugging HSUS ads, even with disclaimers, contributing to the misperception that the national organization helps foot the bill for all local shelters that call themself by that name?

But a question can also be asked of the HSSP: If you really care about animals, why not, instead of those full page ads, send that $2 million to animal shelters?

The trial of Andrew David Thompson, intially accused of killing 13 Italian greyhounds — now officially charged with only six of those deaths – has been indefinitely postponed.

Judge Paula Manderfield quashed seven of the 13 counts of animal killing and torture against the former Michigan State University medical student on Wednesday, ruling they were based on hearsay testimony.

As a result, prosecutors are regrouping, and the Dec. 5 start date for his trial is up in the air.

The evidence in question regards the number of puppies Thompson owned while living in one of the two residences where he was alleged to have killed the dogs.

Ingham County Animal Cruelty Investigator Jodi LeBombard interviewed Thompson’s former roommate, who told her he knew of seven dogs Thompson had owned while they shared a residence. LeBombard recounted what the roommate said in an earlier hearing.

In a pre-trial motion, Thompson’s attorney argued that — since the roommate was out of town and didn’t appear in court — LeBombard’s testimony was hearsay and shouldn’t have been deemed inadmissable.

Judge Manderfield concurred and quashed seven of the 13 counts Thompson faced.

As of Wednesday evening, Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings had not decided whether to appeal the ruling or send the counts back to district court so the roommate can testify, the State News reported.

(Photo: Dogbreedinfo.com)

Chispita is home!

And by now, maybe, Arlene Corona has put some clothes on.

The woman who donned a bikini to bring attention to her lost dog has been reunited with her Chihuahua, NBC in San Diego reports.

And while the news outlet seems to question why Arlene remained in her bikini, at the intersection, holding a sign seeking the return of her dog for hours after the dog was found, there are multiple explanations for that.

Corona’s mother picked up the white Chihuahua around noon Tuesday at the Carlsbad animal shelter.

As of  3:45 p.m, the bikini-clad Corona was still at the intersection.

Taking a few jabs from Internet commenters about that, Corona – who continued her bikini vigil even after a man who claimed to have the dog texted her photos of his genitals – offered an explanation in a Facebook post: Read more »

Robert Cottingham was duck hunting when he took a shotgun blast to his buttocks — fired, from all indications, by Piper, a yellow Labrador that belonged to a hunting companion.

The 46-year-old resident of Brigham City, Utah, was was hunting Sunday with his son and brother-in-law at the north end of the Great Salt Lake near a bird refuge, said Box Elder County Sherriff’s Chief Deputy Kevin Potter.

The victim told Fox 13 that the dog was in a marshy area of the lake and jumped into the boat, triggering a 12-gauge shotgun resting inside of it.

Cottingham was taken to the hospital where 27 birdshot pellets — most but not all of those he was struck by – were removed from his backside.

One of the owners of 100 dogs removed from what authorities described as deplorable conditions in two homes is an American Kennel Club dog show judge, KOMO News in Seattle has reported.

Based on video footage anonymously sent to an animal rescue group, King County deputies seized 100 dogs from homes in Burien and Issaquaha last month.

KOMO aired the video Wednesday, and revealed that the owner and caretaker of at least dozens of the dogs — Chihuahuas, Pomeranians and Japanese Chin — is a dog show judge.

She has not been charged, but the sheriff’s office says an investigation is underway, and the case may be forwarded to prosecutors in the next few weeks.

The video footage showed dogs being hoarded in rusted and feces-infested cages, matted with pet hair, with empty food and water bowls.

Fourteen of the dogs were in such bad condition they had to be euthanized; the rest are being cared for by local rescue groups and veterinarians.

KOMO said the dog show judge, who they did not identify by name, also shows dogs, and that one of her dogs won an award in February at the Westminster Kennel Club Show.

The woman declined to talk to reporters, saying her attorney advised her against commenting.

“We’re certainly going to be asking that they are never able to own dogs again,” Amber Chenoweth said. 

In a report on Pasaodo’s Safe Haven’s website, the owners of the dogs are identified as Margi and James Hamilton, who have been breeding and showing dogs for decades.

“When we discovered who owned these dogs, we were shocked and disgusted that one of the people responsible for this was none other than a judge for the American Kennel Club… Read more »

Here’s the story of Slim, as documented by Jenn Aldridge, the human who, with help, gave the one-time fighting dog from Georgia a happy home in San Diego.

Like many a sheltered dog in need of help, Slim ended up on Facebook, along with a report that indicated his days were numbered.

Jenn, who had three other pit bulls — all rescues — saw the photo and couldn’t forget it.

“Because there are so many local dogs needing help, normally I would not rescue an out-of-state dog, but I couldn’t get his emaciated picture out of my head,” she told ohmidog!

“Knowing he had no chance because of breed specific legislation in that county of Georgia, I told my best friend we have to go get him and she said, ‘ok, let’s do it !’”

They flew to Georgia last May, but learned he was not healthy enough to fly. Instead, after getting two rescue groups involved — one in California and another in Georgia – they managed to get Slim placed in veterinary boarding care for treatment of his heartworm and another tick borne disease.

“It was all quite complicated,” she said. “We had to get a rescue here get approved by a rescue out there, to pull him on their behalf, if that makes sense. It was down to the last hour getting it all done. I heard about him on a Sunday and by Wednesday, he would have been in the landfill, dead.”

In June, they returned to Georgia and flew Slim home to San Diego.

There, Slim joined Jenn’s other dogs — Kyra, Teddy and Daffodil. Now about  three years old, Slim is 46 pounds, up from the 32 pounds he weighed when she met him.

“I like to share his story because the average person still thinks that a game dog (fighting dog) is vicious to humans …quite the contrary,” said Jenn, who hosts a pit bull meet up group in San Diego that works to improve the image of the breed.

“Their loyalty was exploited and used against them,” she said. “Sadly, only about one of every 800 pit bulls will make it out alive of a shelter in the United States – yet selfish people continue to breed them.”

Less than a week after her owner was charged with animal cruelty for pulling his dog on a leash while driving his van, a mutt named Cricket has a new home — with an officer in the police department that made the arrest.

Cricket now belongs to Michael Lake, a police officer in Warren, Michigan — one of a handful of officers who offered to adopt her after she was taken away from her owner after his arrest Sunday, the Daily Tribune reports.

“I mentioned it first. I guess I drew the lucky straw,” Lake said. “She’s such a lovable dog.”

Police arrested resident Keith John Parker, 43, after several people reported to police that a man was pulling a dog on a leash while driving in the parking lot of the County Line Flea Market.

Some witnesses told police that  the dog had difficulty keeping up and apparently tumbled at one point. When confronted by officers, Parker said he felt the dog needed to go for a run, police said.

Parker was arraigned this week on misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty and drunken driving.

Warren Police Commissioner Jere Green said Parker, who’d had Cricket since October, agreed to relinquish the dog.

Police said Cricket had a wound above one eye, and had lost a claw. Lake was scheduled to take her to a veterinarian yesterday.

Officers aren’t sure what breeds are in Cricket, or how old she is, with estimates ranging from 7 months to 7 years.

Lake has another dog, a German shorthair pointer. “They should get along great,” Lake said.