ohmidog!

Of the more than 50 street dogs rounded up after five humans were found dead in a Mexico City park, almost half have had tests done on their stomach contents, and none have shown any evidence of having eaten human flesh.

Sources in Mexico City told the Associated Press that initial tests on 25 strays showed none had human remains in their stomachs. An unnamed employee of the city prosecutors’ office said officials were still awaiting results from tests on the dogs’ fur and paws to see if any human DNA was present.

Authorities in Mexico City have blamed five deaths on stray or wild dogs that roam Cerro de la Estrella park, where five mauled human bodies have been found in recent months.

Fifty-seven dogs, including the one pictured above, were swept up in and around the park, prompting protests from animal activists and others who believe authorities aren’t looking closely enough at the possibility that the bodies were killed by drug gangs and dumped there.

Dozens of protesters chanting “free the dogs, arrest the criminals!” and “the dogs aren’t criminals, the police are inept!” demonstrated outside Mexico City police headquarters Friday, demanding the release of the stray dogs.

Authorities say autopsies determined that three women, a teenage boy and a baby found in the park since mid-December died of loss of blood due to bites from multiple dogs.

The protesters, while acknowledging dogs might have fed on the victims after their deaths, say the dogs are being unfairly blamed, and many suspect the victims were killed by humans, then dumped in the park in hopes the stray dogs would destroy any evidence.

Jose Luis Carranza, of the Citizens Front for Animal Rights, was one of those critical of the round-up of strays:

“If the authorities really want to crack down on the overpopulation of dogs, then they should go after the clandestine puppy sellers,” he said. “Every day there are people selling dogs on the streets, and the police don’t do anything.”

The 57 dogs rounded up at the Cerro de la Estrella park, located in a poor Iztapalapa neighborhood, are mostly small to mid-size dogs, and include beagle and border-collie mixes. Twenty-three are puppies or very young dogs, according to the Associated Press report.

On Friday, authorities in Iztapalapa announced that the dogs taken into custody would, once tests are completed, be put up for adoption. They had earlier promised animal rights groups that the dogs would not be killed.

The dogs will get shots, baths and medical treatment before being given away, they said.

(Photo: Dario Lopez-Mills / AP)

Sampson County will dismantle the gas chamber it uses to euthanize dogs, thanks to a $7,000 grant from the Humane Society of the United States.

The North Carolina county– one of about 20 in the state still gassing dogs — says it has accepted the grant and will use it to destroy its gas chamber.

The Sampson Independent reports that the grant was one of three the county accepted that were aimed at reducing the number of animals put to death.

In addition to the HSUS grant, the county board of commissioners approved accepting two others from the Petfinder Foundation, including a $6,300 award to fund a kennel cough vaccine program and a $3,000 grant to fund a feline vaccination program.

Kimberley Alboum, HSUS director for North Carolina, said the grant requires the county to phase out its use of the gas chamber in six months. Any money left over, she said, can be used  by the Sampson County Animal Shelter for repairs and upgrades.

County manager Ed Causey that the use of gas chambers is declining across the state, and said switching to lethal injections isn’t likely to cost the shelter any more.

“The state has done a lot of encouraging to get shelters to transition on their own without a mandate. I think one of the reasons (the state inspector) has been so cooperative with us is she’s seen that effort on our part to get out of (operating the chamber). We felt this was something that would put us in a more favorable light with the state and all the people who are interested in the humane treatment of the animals.”

Both Vance and Person counties also recently halted use of gas chambers at their shelters.

Even sleeping dogs can be controversial.

Bizkit — possibly the most viewed sleeping dog ever — carried on to such extremes in her sleep that many, including her owners at one point, suspected she might have something seriously wrong with her.

Among the episodes her owners videotaped was one of Bizkit flailing on the floor, getting up, and running into a wall  — all seemingly in her sleep.

Some viewers found that funny, some did not. Some comments on the videos urged her owners to get her treatment, and speculated she might have a  neurological disorder.

Some commenters even suggested she was in need of an exorcism.

According to this feature on Bizkit on Animal Planet (below), Bizkit’s owners — in addition to getting her a sleep helmet — did get her medical attention.

They say their veterinarian told them nothing was wrong with Bizkit and that she was simply sleepwalking.

To see more sleeping dogs, click here, then click on the headline for the video.