Archive for 'Muttsblog'
The dog who fell from the sky
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A lot of us think our dogs were gifts from above, but here’s one that truly was.
A seven-year-old boy in Salinas, California, got a new puppy after it escaped from the clutches of a hawk and fell out of the sky into his backyard.
KSBW reported that the two-month-old puppy was dropped an estimated 30 feet before it was discovered by a seven-year-old named Taylor.
The dog has been adopted by Taylor’s family and named T.J. Heavenly.
The family believes that T.J. Heavenly somehow worked himself free of the hawk’s talons.
“If you look at him right now, he’s so wiggly,” Elaine Bouchard told the TV station. “And his nose; he’s such a little bulldozer, I can see him wiggling right out of the talons.”
The dog was taken to a veterinarian to get treated for wounds and dehydration before the family took him home for keeps.
“When God drops a puppy from the sky, you keep it,” Bouchard said.
Posted by jwoestendiek May 16th, 2012 under Muttsblog, videos.
Tags: animals, california, dog, dogs, dropped, Elaine Bouchard, fell, found, gifts from above, hawk, heaven, pets, puppy, salinas, sky, talons, taylor, tj heavenly, video, yard
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Racing greyhound found on Florida freeway
A racing greyhound found running down Interstate 75 in Florida last week continues to recover from dehydration and more than 20 wounds found on his body.
After reports of the loose greyhound being sighted on I-75 near Gainesville, greyhound rescuers went to the scene, stopped traffic and captured the dog, a two-year-old male.
“He was in shock, had a fever, and was severely dehydrated … He still had his racing muzzle on and his kennel collar. I have no idea if he was being hauled and escaped or is loose from a local kennel and frankly, don’t care. He has over 20 wounds on his body, some severe, and some pretty serious road rash,” volunteer Kendra Stauffer wrote on the Goldcoast Greyhound Adoptions Facebook page.
The dog, now named Freeway, was rushed to the University of Florida Veterinary School emergency clinic, where he was operated on and his wounds were treated, according to Examiner.com
After his first surgery, Freeway was taken home by Stauffer, who fed him pureed chicken through a syringe for the first few days.
Goldcoast Greyhound Adoptions says his medical expenses have grown to more than $3,400, and that donations to his care have come from Canada and 30 states.
More photos of Freeway can be found on this Facebook page.
Posted by jwoestendiek May 16th, 2012 under Muttsblog.
Tags: animals, dog, dogs, florida, found, freeway, gainesville, goldcoast greyhound adoptions, greyhound, medical, pets, racing, rescue, surgery, treatment, veterinary
Comments: 1
Singing the praises of Hank (He’s her dog)
Here’s seven-year-old Ava Hudak singing about her dog, Hank.
The song was written and the video produced with help from her aunt, Jes Hudak.
Posted by jwoestendiek May 16th, 2012 under Muttsblog, videos.
Tags: animals, ava hudak, dogs, hank, he's my dog, jess hudak, pets, song, video
Comments: 2
Accused dog killer arraigned in New Haven
Twenty-two-year-old Alex Wullaert, accused of choking his dog to death when it misbehaved, arrived for a court hearing in New Haven yesterday amid shouts of “coward” and “murderer.”
Wullaert, of Branford, Conn., was arraigned in New Haven Superior Court on animal cruelty and littering charges and released when he promised to appear in court for his next hearing, June 5.
He was arrested last Monday after a microchip found inside the body of a pit bull-boxer mix named Desmond identified him as the owner.
Authorities say Wullaert confessed to strangling Desmond at his home after the dog urinated on his leg and bit him. Wuallert said he put the dog in a plastic garbage bag and disposed of it in a lake.
Later, feeling regret about what he’d done, he went back to the lake and threw flowers into it, according to court documents.
Wullaert adopted Desmond from a shelter soon after his former girlfriend gave the dog up, WTNH reported. Some volunteers from the shelter were among the crowd calling him names when he arrived for his court appearance yesterday.
Supporters of Desmond, who want to see Wullaert get the maximum penalty, have set up a “Justice for Desmond” Facebook page.
Posted by jwoestendiek May 16th, 2012 under Muttsblog.
Tags: adopted, alex wullaert, animal cruelty, animals, arraignment, boxer, branford, choked, court, coward, cruelty to animals, desmond, dog, killed, murder, murderer, new haven, pets, pit bull, shelter, strangled
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Digital dogs: Playing fetch in the subway
Harried New York subway riders can now stop and play some fetch — throwing digital tennis balls to digital dogs at a digital dog park on the wall of a vacant storefront at the Columbus Circle subway station.
The storefront beneath 57th St. and Eighth Ave. has been transformed into a virtual dog park — with dogs included.
It’s like a Nintendo Wii game, the New York Daily News reports, with a screen that’s 64-feet long and 6-feet high.
It’s all part of a Beneful dog food advertising campaign — but one commuters are finding to their liking.
“This is awesome,” said Zeinabou Banks, 38, as her two pre-schoolers tossed tennis balls that two digital dogs retrieved. “It’s ingenious.”
Daily News columnist Pete Donohue described it as:
“… a perfect and unexpected antidote to all the dismal sights in the subway: a woman panhandler sitting on the floor at Grand Central with an infant cradled in her arms; a madman in filthy rags looking like he escaped from a leper colony; a middle-aged man in a suit keeling over and dying of a heart attack on the dirty floor of a crowded No. 4 train; a teen-age mom with a neck tattoo cursing out a crying toddler for acting like a toddler.”
“In the Columbus Circle passageway,” he noted, “the sun shines, birds chirp and the wind rustles the green grass.”
The interactive advertisement is only the second of its kind in the subway system, but more are expected to be showing up underground.
(Photo: Andrew Savulich / New York Daily News)
Posted by jwoestendiek May 15th, 2012 under Muttsblog.
Tags: ad, advertising, animals, balls, beneful, columbus circle, digital, dog food, dog park, dogs, fetch, interactive, marketing, mta, new york, new york city, pets, riders, subway, subway riders, tennis balls, throw, virtual, wii
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Puggle in the middle of custody tug of war
A Manhattan man says he is going broke trying to regain custody of his puggle. He says he has spent $60,000 so far. Now he wants your help.
Craig Dershowitz says he considers Knuckles his son, and that’s why he’s hoping to raise another $20,000 over the Internet to continue his legal fight.
“I’ve pretty much gone through my life savings,” the 34-year-old gallery employee said. “It’s worth it.”
According to the New York Post, Dershowitz claims in papers filed earlier this year in Manhattan Supreme Court that his ex-girlfriend Sarah Brega “took unilateral control of Knuckles and kidnapped him” after they broke up.
Brega responds that Dershowitz gave her the dog as a gift, and that Knuckles is enjoying life in California.
“Knuckles lives a happy and healthy life in California with me, where he has ample room to play, and lives in close proximity to a beach for off-leash dog-park outings,” Brega said in court papers.
Dershowitz responds that Knuckles “hates water … He’ll be happy wherever he is — especially if he’s with his dad and the friends he grew up with.”
Dershowitz said he left Knuckles with Brega while looking for a new place after their breakup. She was supposed to return him when he found one, he says.
Brega, a wardrobe stylist, was initially ordered to return the dog, but she then retained her own lawyer to represent her in a case that involves courts in New York and California.
Dershowitz said he believes she’s trying to run up his legal bills. “Unfortunately, I don’t have the money to keep it going,” he said.
So he started a webpage to raise money for the fight, with his artist friends contributing “perks” for large contributors, like portraits of Knux, “Free Knux” t-shirts and, for $250, a chance to play fetch with Knuckles, once he’s back in New York.
The Post reports his campaign is off to a slow start — with only $85 being donated in the first week.
(Photo of Knuckles by Craig Dershowitz)
Posted by jwoestendiek May 15th, 2012 under Muttsblog.
Tags: animals, appeal, battle, beagle, behavior, boyfriend, california, courts, craig dershowitz, custody, dogs, ex, fight, fund raising, fundraising, funds, girlfriend, internet, knuckles, lawyers, legal, mix, money, new york, pets, pug, puggle, relationships, sarah brega
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Regulating Internet puppy merchants
Dog breeders who avoid animal welfare laws and regulations by selling puppies over the Internet would face tighter scrutiny under a rule change proposed last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Under the change, dog owners who breed more than four females and sell the puppies electronically, by mail or over the phone, would be subject to the same oversight faced by wholesale dealers as part of the Animal Welfare Act.
The proposal is aimed at closing the loophole created when the Internet became a new venue for puppy sales. The thousands of large-scale breeders who advertise there have not been subject to oversight or inspection.
Under the changes, sellers either must open their doors to the public so buyers can see the animals before they purchase them, or obtain a license and be subject to inspections by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, according to the Associated Press.
The Animal Welfare Act, written in 1966, set standards of care for animals bred for commercial sale and research. Retail sales were exempt from inspections since those customers aren’t buying dogs sight unseen.
“We feel this is certainly a much-needed change to an outdated system,” said Rebecca Blue, deputy undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs. Blue said it’s designed to ensure that dogs sold and shipped to buyers are healthy, treated well and genetically sound.
“This is a very significant proposed federal action, since thousands of large-scale breeders take advantage of a loophole that allows them to escape any federal inspections,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States. “Dogs in puppy mills often live in small, overcrowded cages, living in filth and denied veterinary care. We need more eyes on these operations, and this rule will help.”
The change does not affect backyard breeders who sell puppies from their homes or other physical locations.
Posted by jwoestendiek May 15th, 2012 under Muttsblog, videos.
Tags: animal welfare, animal welfare act, animals, change, department of agriculture, dogs, hsus, humane society of the united states, inspection, internet, merchants, mills, oversight, pets, proposal, proposed, puppy, puppy mills, regulation, rule, sales, usda
Comments: 1
Saint Bernard honored for saving family
Nana, a 2-year-old Saint Bernard who helped a New York family of five escape unharmed from their burning house, was honored yesterday.
Nana perished in the fire at an 1819 farmhouse, just outside of Jamestown, but husband, wife and all three kids escaped.
In honor of Nana, the Chautauqua Children’s Safety Education Village, a nonprofit agency that teaches safety education, held a special ceremony.
“We consider her a fire hero just because of her instinct, and that she knew to wake the father, who was downstairs at the time,” said Terri Kindberg, the agency’s executive director, told the Buffalo News.
The Invisible Fence Company donated two pet resuscitation kits to the two local fire companies that responded to the scene in hopes that they will someday save the life of a pet, Kindberg said.
On Jan. 17, Menash Petscher was awakened by Nana licking his face, and woke up to smell smoke and find the house in flames, a result of an ember escaping from the fireplace.
Petscher went upstairs to get his two youngest daughters, and Nana followed them. After taking the children to safety, he went back into the house and called Nana, but she didn’t come.
When state police arrived, it was too late to re-enter the house.
For about a day, the family hoped Nana had escaped the house on her own and would return, but they found the dog’s body inside the house as it was being demolished.
Posted by jwoestendiek May 15th, 2012 under Muttsblog.
Tags: animals, buffalo, burning, Chautauqua Children's Safety Education Village, children, died, dog, dogs, family, farmhouse, fire, hero, honored, house, jamestown, Menash Petscher, nana, new york, pets, Petscher, rescue, saint bernard, saved, smoke, Terri Kindberg
Comments: 1
Woman drowns trying to save her dog
A North Dakota woman died trying to save her dog from the Sheyenne River.
Thirty-eight-year-old Jodi Kvien Opatz of Valley City called authorities Friday morning, asking for help getting her spaniel out of the river, near the Little Dam.
Dispatchers told her to wait for help to arrive, but Kvien Opatz said she was going to try to save the dog, said Valley City Fire Chief Gary Retterath.
“It was almost like a family member or a kid to her,” Ratterath told DL-Online. “You risk your life for someone you love, and she loved (the dog). I guess I believe that is what went through her mind.”
While crews were retrieving the woman’s body, the dog managed to pull itself out of the river, Retterath said.
Once the woman’s body was pulled from the river, the dog jumped back in and drowned.
“By the time we got to it, it was too late,” Retterath said. “It got into the undercurrent of the dam.”
(Photo: From the Facebook page of Jodi Kvien Opatz)
Posted by jwoestendiek May 14th, 2012 under Muttsblog.
Tags: animals, dies, dog, dogs, drowning, drowns, Jodi Kvien Opatz, little dam, north dakota, pets, river, save, saving, sheyenne, spaniel, valley city
Comments: none
Tim Tebow’s dog is Bronco no more
Tim Tebow has slightly altered the name of his dog, as a result of being traded from Denver to the New York Jets.
His Rhodesian ridgeback, formerly known as Bronco, is now named Bronx, which he hopes the dog won’t find too confusing.
The quarterback adopted the dog in 2010, the year he signed with the Broncos.
Tebow was traded to New York two months ago after the Broncos signed Peyton Manning.
All of which makes us wonder if there are other canine name changes underway among those fans who name dogs after their hometown quarterbacks.
What’s happening with all the dogs named Peyton in Indianapolis, all the dogs dubbed Tebow in Denver? If you live in Baltimore, should you name your dog Flacco? Or should you opt for something more stable and long term, based on institutional memory as opposed to the flavor of the day?
Here, Unitas.
(Photo: Twitter)
Posted by jwoestendiek May 14th, 2012 under Muttsblog.
Tags: animals, broncos, bronx, changing, denver, denver broncos, dog, dogs, flacco, football, names, naming, nfl, pets, peyton, peyton manning, quarterbacks, rhodesian ridgeback, tebow, tim tebow, unitas
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