ohmidog!

A pit bull who helped show Baltimore the breed’s good side, inspired a blog and turned a young couple’s life around passed away at the end of last week.

Knox, only about 3, died from complications associated with a blood parasite for which he recently tested positive.

His final days, and his short but joyous life — at least since being adopted — are recounted on the blog Pittieful Love: Adventures in Fostering and Loving America’s Dog.

Knox was adopted by a young couple named Brian and Jess DeLeon in May 2010 from BARCS (Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter), the same shelter Ace came from.

Upon his arrival at BARCS, he’d been given the name Oil Change, because he (and his brother, dubbed Dipstick) came to the shelter from a gas station, where they apparently were leading pretty neglected lives.

His adoption would turn that around, as well as life for Brian and Jess.

“We went from young 20-somethings who wanted to rescue a dog, to two completely devoted owners who also are now completely devoted to this breed (which we didn’t know jack about before) … We brought home a “Baltimore Mutt” (aka a pit-mix) and had no idea how much of an influence he would have on us, on the world he lives in, the streets he walks, and the people he’d meet.  Not to mention the people whom he’d introduce us to.”

Knox was a regular participant in Pit Bulls on Parade, a series of weekend walks sponsored by B-more Dog, aimed at correcting public misconceptions about pit bulls. He was a friend and guide to the other fosters Brian and Jess took in, and a blood donor, as well. And he’d inspire the couple to fight for pit bulls city-wide, through their connections with B-More Dog, Mid-Atlantic Bully Buddies and BARCS.

Just before Christmas, Knox was diagnosed with the blood disorder, and, as Jess blogged, became a different dog — no longer as lively, or as willing to place his 68 pounds, at least half of that seemingly head, on your lap.

In her blog, Jess astutely reflects that, after the long fight, sometimes it’s best to let nature take its course — especially when the heroic efforts you’re making are, at their core, not for your dog but for yourself.

“It may sound horrible, but I refuse to string him along for no reason, not to mention waste thousands of dollars to keep him alive for my own personal benefit … Keeping him alive, barely…who is that serving?  Certainly we love him too much to be that selfish … We love him way too much.

We extend our condolences to Jess and Brian, and encourage them to keep focusing not on the loss, or the void, but on the substantial contribution Knox made, and the joys — big and little – he provided, both to them and others.

Judging from yesterday’s Pittieful Love blog post, that’s exactly what they’re doing:

“You, sneaky boy, were wild.  WILD.  But you loved us right away, and we loved you.  We met you at first in an escort room.  Small, tight space, but we weren’t intimidated by your jumping, your tail, your huge head and that awesome smile.  We wanted to take you outside to the run.  You were in HEAVEN.  And you loved to run!  But you kept coming right back to us, and sitting on our feet.  The fresh air, the open space, you loved it!  But you loved us too.  And that was a good sign to us.  We couldn’t stop smiling.”

(Photo courtesy of Pittieful Love)

Don’t get me wrong. Some of my best friends are Boston terriers. And I’ve known enough of them to know it would be wrong to paint them all with the same broad brush.

But they do seem to have a way — more so than most breeds — of making you laugh until your stomach hurts.

Here’s a video by a Boston terrier lover that includes her own rescued dog, Manoja, and countless others.

It was posted on YouTube by “Snowy1985,” who explains:

“I made this video to my new favorite song in honor of the rescue that got me hooked on the Boston terrier breed. This video is intended to educate people on the joys of having a Boston terrier by showing them how much fun they are. It is also a parody of the LMFAO song, “Sexy and I Know It.”

Snowy notes that her video was a labor of love, not intended to make money — and she directs those interested in finding out more about Boston terriers in need of homes to Adoptaboston.com.

Despite an outpouring of support from the public, time is running out for four dogs found starving and tied to a tree in Columbia, Tennessee last month.

The four, described as “American Shepherd-Bulldogs,” were all set to go to a rescue organization, but on Christmas Eve the plan fell through, News Channel 5 reports.

Now, unless another rescue can be found, the dogs are facing the end of the road — an outcome they weren’t far from when they were found.

“I was physically ill when I saw their intake pictures,” said Sonja Rine with Pet Pals of Maury County Organization.

“They were vomiting rocks and twigs because that is all they had eaten and they were all attached to one tree,” said Councilwoman Debbie Matthews, who is also trying to help them find a home.

An animal control officer spotted the dogs tied to a tree in their owner’s backyard last November. The owner told the officer the dogs hadn’t been fed in “a couple of days.” A judge ordered the owner to give the dogs up and donate $100 worth of dog food to the shelter.

He has yet to do so, but others in Columbia have stepped forward with donations.

“What a little love can do, it’s an amazing thing,” said Matthews.

The dogs are about a year old. They’ve tested heartworm positive, and have some other medical issues, so they need to go to a rescue before they can be adopted individually.

“They have tried so hard, they have such a will to live, they forgive. They don’t hold a grudge,” said Rine. “It’s gonna happen, it’s just gonna happen they deserve it,” said Rine.

Once again, an animal welfare organization in the UK is seeking a home for a blind dog and her guide dog — this time, a pair of pugs.

That’s Elly, the blind one, on the right. Franky, the black one, serves as her eyes, and the RSPCA in Newport is insisting that both be adopted into the same home, according to the BBC.

If Franky leaves her side, Elly sniffs him out, then nuzzles up to follow him wherever he goes.

“He looks out for her and provides support while guiding her on walks or to food or water,” said the Newport RSPCA’s manager, Elaine Buchan.

The story is reminiscent of one we reported three months ago, also in the UK, about two Great Danes in need of a new home — Lily, the blind one, and Maddison, the sighted one who helped her get around.

Similarly, Elly and Franky have been deemed inseparable.

“There’s absolutely no option of homing them separately as it would break their hearts and also be wholly impractical,” she said. “They’re great little dogs and I’m already jealous of the lucky owner who will get to care for such a loving pair.”

(Photo: BBC)

Lucy, a dog saved from the streets of Bogota — but not until after her owner beat her beyond recognition — is now in the U.S. and in the process of finding a new home.

And if you think there are only a few people who would find beauty in her unaligned face, think again.

Everyone, it seems, loves Lucy.

Stray from the Heart, a New York City rescue, says it has been inundated with inquiries from people seeking to adopt Lucy, now in a foster home — so many that they’ve removed her profile from their website as they sort through applicants.

Lucy was beaten by her former owner so badly that her nose and jaw were broken, according to Stray from the Heart. Both have healed, but they never set properly, leaving her jaw and snout slightly askew.

Her abuser also pulled out some of her teeth, to keep her from fighting with the many male dogs she was bred with.

Somehow, she escaped and was found living on the streets, alone, emaciated and pregnant. She was picked by a good samaritan and taken to a veterinarian who discovered her uterus was twisted. The vet had to decided between saving the mother or the babies, and opted to save Lucy,  Stray from the Heart says.

It was believed to have been the three-and-a-half-year-old dog’s fifth or sixth pregnancy.

After a few months in foster care in Bogota, Lucy was brought to the U.S., and was boarded in Connecticut until foster care could be secured.

Stray from the Heart is now picking a permanent home from the many applicants who got in touch after her photos appeared on the rescue’s website and Facebook page.

(Photos:  From the Facebook page of Stray from the Heart)

Unwanted and tossed out of her Chicago home a few days ago, Isis, an abused shepherd terrier mix, is now in demand.

The Chicago Tribune reports that at least a dozen callers have made inquiries to the city’s office of Animal Care & Control about fostering or adopting her.

The dog’s owners kicked her out Saturday because they were moving to a new apartment that didn’t allow pets.

But Isis ended up back at the family’s new apartment in East Garfield Park, two blocks away from their old one, scratching at the door.

Neighbors say the shepherd terrier mix paced the sidewalk outside of the new home, howling and barking in the cold for hours. Police said, during that time, several youths tried to beat the dog with broomsticks and baseball bats.

Police charged the dog’s owner, Lashon Johnson, who told officers she no longer wanted the dog, with misdemeanor animal cruelty.

Animal control officials said Isis did not suffer life-threatening injuries. While uncertain when she would become available for adoption, they pointed out that there are dozens of other dogs in the shelter in need of homes.

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.

Topaz, the pit bull who lost a leg after being caught in a barrage of police gunfire in Inglewood more than three years ago, is in need of a home in the Los Angeles area.

The health of her human, a formerly homeless man named Michael Reed, has deteriorated to the point where he can no longer care for her, and can barely care for himself, say those trying to help out the once inseparable pair.

I met the two of them three years ago in Los Angeles, after spotting Reed, his shopping cart and his three-legged dog walking down the sidewalk.

They were homeless at the time, and just recently reunited.

He told me their story: how police opened fire on another homeless man they thought was pulling a gun in Inglewood. The gun turned out to be a toy, but that wasn’t discovered until, 47 shots later, Eddie Franco had been killed, and Topaz had been struck by four or five bullets.

Reed, by virtue of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, was taken into custody, and his possessions, Topaz included, were confiscated.

He was later released – but he was given no information about his dog. Having watched as she went down in the hail of gunfire, he presumed she was dead.

Two days later, though, a message was relayed to Reed that his dog was alive.

Months before the incident, Ingrid Hurel-Diourbel, founder of Streetsmarts Rescue, had seen Reed and his dog on the street, collecting recyclables, and stopped to talk to him.  She placed one of her organization’s rescue tags on Topaz, who otherwise had no identification, and Reed gave her his stepmother’s phone number.

When the animal shelter in Carson — where Topaz was taken after the shooting — saw the tag, they called Ingrid and she relayed the news to Reed.

By the time Reed got his dog back, she had lost a leg as a result of an infection that set in after being shot.

Ingrid started trying to raise money for the pair then, to cover the cost of Topaz’ veterinary care, and — because of their additional misfortunes   – she hasn’t stopped since.

For a while, things were looking up. Michael got off the streets and moved into a trailer, but not long after that he learned he was terminally ill with cirrhosis of the liver, and that Topaz had cancer.

Topaz had surgery again, and Michael has been in and out of the hospital. During one recent stay, another member of the rescue was caring for Topaz when he noticed a mass around her vulva, which led to yet another operation for Topaz.

Ingrid – that’s her narrating the video at the top of this post — says that operation went well, and early signs, though biopsy results are still pending, indicate Topaz may be cancer free. Her hospital stay, surgery and treatment cost more than $3,500, which Ingrid is still trying to raise.

Michael, meanwhile, has continued to decline, mentally and physically – so much so that the man who so graciously let me take photos of him and his dog three years ago, isn’t allowing his photo to be taken anymore.

He gets incommunicative, and neglects to take his medications, friends say.

“We have no more money for rent for him,” Ingrid said, “and unless his SSI kicks in soon, he will need to move out of the trailer … He has no family and he really needs care every day to maintain him.”

That’s led the rescue to intensify its efforts to find Topaz a new home, preferably one that will allow the dog to continue to make visits to Reed.

It’s also still trying to pay off the veterinary bills. Donations can be made via PayPal to pajade@yahoo.de

A boxer mix  is recovering after apparently being thrown from a Toledo freeway overpass.

No one actually saw what happened, the Toledo Blade reports, but X-rays of the dog showed extensive leg injuries that looked more consistent with a fall than getting hit by a car.

“It’s too bad she can’t just tell us what happened,” said Melissa Hagemann, office and personnel manager at Maumee Bay Veterinary Hospital in Oregon, Ohio, where the dog, who’s being called Gretel, is being treated.

Gretel was spotted on Interstate 280 by Julie Cox, an unemployed Oregon resident, as she took her son to school. She assumed the dog had been hit by a car and died.

On her way home, though, she saw two other women standing with the dog and stopped.

“They said that she had actually been in the middle of the road hobbling around on three legs and they stopped to get her to the side of the road,”  Cox said. “They helped me get her into my car and I took her to my vet.”

Dr. Kevin Soncrant, who named the dog Gretel, estimated she was between 4 and 6 years old. Soncrant and area KeyBanks were taking donations for the leg surgery that was scheduled to be performed Friday at West Suburban Animal Hospital.

The Toledo Area Humane Society is looking into the incident, but John Dinon, executive director, said that it might be difficult to confirm what happened, given there are no known witnesses.

The overpass has six- to eight-foot high chain-link fence on both sides.

Once Gretel recovers, she will be put up for adoption:

“We’ve already gotten calls from a lot of people interested in adopting her after she’s fully recovered,” Hagemann said. “She has a really good temperament and is going to make someone a great pet.”

(Photo: Toledo Blade)

Daniel, the miracle beagle, has a new home.

The dog who survived an Alabama gas chamber has been adopted by Joe Dwyer, a 50-year-old motivational speaker and dog trainer, his wife, Geralynn, and their daughter, Jenna.

While the family intends to continue the dual missions Daniel has already become part of — encouraging adoptions and ending the use of gas chambers to euthanize dogs — they promised that “his life as part of this family is paramount.”

“We can’t deny he has a purpose,” Dwyer of Nutley, N.J., told the Newark Star-Ledger. But, he added, “he won’t be exploited.”

The Dwyer family has four other dogs, including another famous one –  Shelby, an abused pit bull Dwyer adopted and trained as a therapy dog. Dwyer wrote a book about the dog and uses her in presentations at schools about bullying.

Dwyer said Daniel may become a therapy dog some day, but for now the family will allow him to continue to be used, as he has been since his rescue, as the poster child for the campaign to end gas chambers, which are still legal in 31 states.

Estimates are Daniel is around five, but the Star-Ledger reports he was behaving like a puppy as he dashed around the yard with the family’s other dogs.

Daniel was one of a group of dogs being euthanized in the gas chamber at the local pound in Florence, Ala. When the process was completed, though, Daniel walked out of the chamber.

Word of his survival spread across the country, prompting the Rockaway, N.J.- based rescue group Eleventh Hour Rescue to take him in. He was flown to New Jersey by Pilots N Paws.

On Saturday, Daniel made his first official appearance — in Pennsylvania at a rally for a bill to ban gas chambers. That bill is named after Daniel.

(Photo of Daniel and Shelby by Jennifer Brown / Newark Star-Ledger)