ohmidog!

A Florida sheriff’s deputy plans to adopt the dog he helped rescue after her owner slashed her throat and stabbed her.

The dog, a 70-pound collie-Labrador mix named Amber, was attacked Sunday night, according to the Jacksonville Times-Union.

St. Johns County Deputy Dan Sorrells arrested her owner and then joined an animal control officer in a search for the dog, following a trail of blood and finding her in a thicket of grass, with her throat slashed and stab wounds to her sides.

When he called her name, she came, he said. “She walked right over to me. She showed no  aggression.”

Amber was taken to Atlantic Veterinary Hospital in Jacksonville. Sorrells plans to pay Amber’s medical and take her home in about a week.

Her owner, Randal Bryen Hart, 28, has been charged with animal  cruelty. Hart, who was being held in St. Johns County jail agreed to relinquish ownership of the dog.

He told deputies the dog needed to be “put down” because she attacked a kitten.

According to Hart’s two roomates, who reported the incident, he became angry when he thought the dog had harmed the cat.

“He called the dog over to him and stabbed it several times,” they told Sorrells. “Then he cut its throat.”

One of the roommates said he tried to help the wounded dog, but that Hart told him to ”back off.”

The kitten, as it turned out, was not harmed.

Amber is believed to be about 4 years old. Sorrells visited her Tuesday and  Wednesday. His family has two other rescue dogs.

“This dog will fit in perfectly with them,” he  said.

(Top photo: Amber, far left, visits the vet with Sorrells, far right; by Bruce Lipsky / The Times-Union)

The German shepherd thrown from an overpass onto Interstate 40 earlier this month is being adopted by the state trooper who was the first to come to his aid.

The dog has been named Rookie.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Jennifer Fisher plans to bring him home to her family, News9 reports.

The search for the person who threw the dog onto the highway in Oklahoma City — it was witnessed by a truck driver — continues, and the reward for information leading to an arrest has grown to $7,500.

Rookie had a fracture to his rear left leg and internal bleeding, and was treated and operated on at Oklahoma State University Veterinary College Teaching Hospital.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s office at (405)-869-2501.

Black dogs can be adopted for free in Wichita on this Black Friday, thanks to a girl scout in Kansas.

Madison Bell, a seventh-grader at Mayberry Middle School, recently launched the Black Dog Club after noticing — while volunteering at the Kansas Humane Society — that black dogs tend to get passed over in shelters, at least more often than their multi-colored and lighter-colored counterparts.

“Black dogs are overlooked … You can’t see their faces very well,” said Madison, 12. “When I heard about it, I was shocked. I wanted to so something to help.”

Today, Madison is helping the Humane Society host the Black Dog Adoption Drive, an event geared toward getting more black shelter animals into loving homes, according to Kansas.com. All adoption fees for black animals are being waived, while fees for other animals are being discounted 25 percent.

She’ll also be encouraging visitors to join the Black Dog Club, which she launched last month as her Girl Scout Silver Award project. It has raised about $1,300 to help provide medical services and more for the shelter’s animals. (You can find more information, donate, and get the T-shirt here.)

Most shelter directors concur that black dogs often have more trouble finding a home — their facial expressions are harder to see, and photographs of them tend to not come out as well.

“They don’t grab your eye as quickly as brighter colored animals,” said Jennifer Campbell, spokeswoman for the Kansas Humane Society.

But as Madison points out, they’re just as special. “Black dogs are amazing,” she told KAKE-TV. “They’ve got personality just like any other dog.”

(Photos: Courtesy of the Kansas Humane Society)

Grace is now Maggie again.

The loyal black Lab, who was videotaped as she guarded  the body of a yellow Lab killed by a car in Southern California, will be reunited with her family.

Maggie’s family stepped forward Monday, according to CBS in Los Angeles.

Dubbed Grace by Los Angeles County animal control, the dog had been in a  Baldwin Park shelter since last week when she was spotted on Hacienda Boulevard in La Puenta standing guard over a dog killed by a hit and run driver.

Animal Care and Control Capt. Aaron Reyes says Maggie’s family was at the shelter looking for her at the same time animal control officers were getting the dogs out of the street.

Reyes said Maggie has since been spayed and microchipped, and that dozens have offered to adopt her. Instead, she’ll be going home today after shelter workers inspect her home.

A good Samaritan saw the incident in La Puente last Wednesday, put traffic cones around the dog so she wouldn’t be struck and called animal control. He also took the photos and video of Maggie keeping vigil by the deceased dog’s side.

Up until the family came forward, it appeared he was going to adopt the dog, which had no identification tag and no microchip.

On Monday, though, the original family came forward. Now that they have, they’ll get their dog back, but will also be issued citations for having an unregistered dog, and for allowing the animal to run loose, animal control officials said.

No new information has surfaced on the dog who died.

Sgt. Rex will finally be reunited in retirement with his ex-Marine handler, Cpl. Megan Leavy, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said.

The Associated Press reports that the Air Force has agreed to release the German shepherd into the care of Leavey, who lives in Rockland County, north of New York City,

Leavey was injured with Rex in 2006 while trying to disarm an explosive in Iraq.

Leavey came home with a Purple Heart, but Sgt. Rex was evaluated and found to be capable of continuing his service.

Leavey had tried to adopt the dog then, but her request was rejected by the Air Force.

At age 10, Sgt. Rex started developing other problems and was allowed to retire. Leavey again tried to adopt him, but Schumer said bureaucracy still stood in the way.

“We salute the Air Force and the Marines for doing the right thing and allowing Rex to be with Corporal Leavey,” Schumer said Monday night. “One canine, one human, both heroes. They should be united shortly, and we’re glad it’s happening … It’s only appropriate and right that the two of them enjoy their retirement from the service together.”

Nala, a pit bull-Labrador mix living at an animal shelter in Washington state, made headlines in December when she helped save another dog — a blind cocker spaniel she found freezing to death in a ditch while on a walk with a shelter staffer.

Despite the publicity and her newfound hero status, no one stepped forward to adopt Nala — who has what the Humane Society of Redmond describes as “some behavioral issues” – and, as of March, her stay at the shelter had stretched to a year.

This month, though, there was one more publicity push by the shelter, which established a Facebook page for Nala — and that helped lead to her adoption this week by Janet Roberts, 63, the Bend Bulletin reports.

A week ago, the Humane Society teamed up with a photographer, held a photo shoot with Nala and created a Facebook page for the dog. Reese Mercer, a board member, provided “first person” updates, from Nala’s perspective, about her hunt for a home.

As a result, Nala had fans from as far away as Finland, all of them rooting for her to find a home — but few of them volunteering to provide one.

Nala’s new caretaker, a court transcriber who lives on 80 acres in Powell Butte, first heard about Nala’s story in December. When she learned Nala was still without a home months later, Roberts offered to take her home for a trial visit. Roberts has four cats, two horses and an older dog. The dog spent the night Tuesday, and the next morning, Roberts decided it was for keeps.

“She was ever so sweet, and fit in really well,“ said Roberts. “She was so respectful of everyone here … She really wants to please people, which is really endearing,” said Roberts.

The official adoption took place Thursday.

“It’s going to be tough to say goodbye,” said Alan Borland, the shelter staff member who was walking Nala when she found the cocker spaniel.

Borland told the Bulletin the couple that the Roberts family has invited him to come visit Nala, but said he probably won’t.

“She needs to get on with her life, and forget about the year she spent at the shelter,” he said.

(Photo: From Nala’s Facebook page)

Greyhound racing is nearing the finish line in Wisconsin.

Dairyland Greyhound Park, in Kenosha — the last operating track in the state –  announced Tuesday it will close its doors after racing ends Dec. 31.

Dairyland was one of five Wisconsin tracks that opened after a 1987 amendment to the state constitution allowed for a state-run lottery and legalized parimutuel betting. The others closed earlier, unable to compete with the state’s tribal casino offerings that began to emerge in the 1990s.

According to the Kenosha News, the 19-year-old track has lost $17 million over the last seven years.

Dairyland has remained in operation in recent years with the hope that the Menominee Nation wins federal and state approval to develop a $1 billion casino complex on the site. The tribe is now in litigation to overturn a January denial of the project.

Closing the track will put about 180 people out of work, and, track officials say, leave the 900 dogs that race at the facility in need of homes.

If you’re interest in adopting, here’s how to find a greyhound rescue near you.