ohmidog!

Authorities say a South Carolina woman put her dog out with the trash — twice.

Not her dog’s body. Her dog.

The dog was first discovered by sanitation workers who found it in a trash bag while picking up garbage on a street in Spartanburg County, according to WYFF.

Jamie Nelson, with Spartanburg County Environmental Enforcement, said a trash company worker brought the dog to the house the trash can was in front of, and the owner originally said it didn’t belong to her.

Eventually, she admitted the 8-year-old black and white Shih Tzu was her dog, and animal control was called. While they were on their way, Nelson said, the woman put the dog back in a trash bag and put it back in the trash can, hiding it beneath other bags of trash.

When animal control officers found it there, Nancy Jeanne Smythe, of Spartanburg County, was charged with ill treatment of animals and the dog was taken to a local shelter, where it — other than a pre-existing skin condition — was reported to be doing fine.

All in all, it has been a rough few days for Gladiator Max, an 85-pound Argentine Mastiff in Colorado — but maybe rougher yet for Denver TV news anchor Kyle Dyer, who Max bit during a Wednesday interview about the dog’s icy rescue.

Dyer was interviewing the dog, his owner, and the firefighter who rescued him from an icy pond Tuesday — all of whom had been invited to the offices of 9 News in Denver. Max had shown no aggression — not during the rescue and not during the studio interview.

But when Dyer got too close, Max bit her in the face. She was taken to Denver Health Medical Center, where she was listed in fair condition, according to 9NEWS.

The incident aired live, but the station is not reshowing video of the bite.

Doug Kelley, the director of Denver Animal Care and Control, said Max’s owner will be cited — for the bite, for the leash law violation, and for not having Max vaccinated against rabies.

The dog is being held at the Denver Animal Shelter and will be quarantined for 10 days, according to Kelley.

The studio interview was for a follow up story on Max’s rescue Tuesday evening. Max chased a coyote onto the ice of Smith Reservoir and fell through, according to 9 News in its initial report.

The dog spent 20 minutes in the freezing water before firefighters arrived. Firefighter Tyler Sugaski fell through the ice on his way to Max, swimming the rest of the way to grab him.

“The dog recognized right off that I was there to help, so he came towards me,” Sugaski recalled.

Other than some scrapes from the ice, the dog appeared fine and was taken into an ambulance to be warmed up.

“He’s just a rock solid dog,” said his owner, Michael Robinson.

Animal control officers in Anne Arundel County are seeking the owners of an injured pit bull found last week in Linthicum.

And it’s not so they can hold a reunion.

A citizen called authorities about the dog, found on the 600 block of Andover Road, NBC 4 in Washington reported.

Officers found the dog suffering from multiple wounds — possibly from being used as a bait dog by dog fighters — but described him as affectionate, even though he was barely able to walk.

The Waugh Chapel Animal Hospital offered to treat the dog, who they have named Rocky Road.

Rocky underwent surgery and is now in stable condition. He is  expected to take several weeks to recover, after which he’ll be placed in the care of Tara’s House, a rescue group.

On the day after her abuser was sentenced to three years in prison, a tan pit bull named Michelle has been put up for adoption by the Baltimore Humane Society.

Michelle is the first of what’s known as the “Pit 6” to be cleared for adoption. She was among a group of dogs seized from Larry Alston when he was arrested at a home in the Woodlawn area on charges of animal cruelty and mutilation.

Baltimore County police said there was evidence the dogs had been used for fighting.

Humane Society officials don’t know if Michelle was used in dog fights, but she was apparently used to produced litters of fighters while Alston was living in South Carolina.

She has scars on her nose and above her left eye, and marks on both of her front legs suspected to have been left by the metal grips of a device used to hold her still for forced breeding.

Alston, 37, was charged with 22 counts of violating various animal cruelty laws, including charges of mutilating the animals.

On Monday, he was sentenced in Baltimore County Circuit Court to three years in prison for animal cruelty.

Michelle and Alston’s other surviving dogs spent nearly two years in the Baltimore County animal shelter, as Alston’s criminal case dragged on. They were released late last year to animal advocates, and eventually taken in by the shelter to be rehabilitated.

The Humane Society is still working to rehabilitate and socialize the other dogs, Shelley, Meme, Tippy, Meris and Bridgett.

Michelle is 4 1/2 years old, and shelter officials want to see her go to a home without other dogs, and without young children.

A humane society press release describes her this way:

“Michelle is a petite Staffordshire with a beautiful smile when she greets you at the front of her kennel. The “Pit 6,” five females and one male, were found by the police locked in undersized cages. They are believed to have been used as bait dogs. Bait dogs are typically less tough than others and used as practice targets for dogs training to fight. The “Pit 6” were all emaciated with multiple burn and bite scars. They also showed signs of overbreeding – in other words they were repeatedly raped. In dogfighting rings it is not unusual for bait dogs to endure severe pain. Frequently they are wounded, drowned, electrocuted, slammed to the ground, shot, or left to die a slow and painful death from their open wounds.”

The humane society added, “It’s always cause for celebration when an abused dog gets a second chance at a good life, but in the case of the Pit 6 it’s a landmark. That’s because animals held as evidence in severe animal abuse and dog fighting cases are typically euthanized once the case is complete.”

In the case of the Pit 6, animal rescue advocates and Baltimore Humane Society were able to convince the Baltimore County Attorney, State’s Attorney, and Baltimore County Animal Control that the dogs deserved a second chance.

“Michelle demonstrates that even dogs who come from such violent, abusive backgrounds can become loving family pets. Baltimore Humane Society hopes she and the remaining Pit 6 will be used as an example for dog fighting and other animal abuse cases across the nation.”

For more information about Michelle and other dogs at the Baltimore Humane Society, visit www.bmorehumane.org or call 410-833-8848.

(Photo by Mary Swift, Mary Swift Photography)

A trainer and rescuer of birds who once worked for the National Aquarium in Baltimore is being sought for questioning in connection with the deaths of 40 animals found in her Columbia townhouse, about half of which may have been abandoned while still alive.

Howard County animal control officers found 19 dead animals inside a freezer at the home, including birds, rabbits, a guinea pig and a hermit crab, according to the Baltimore Sun. Twenty one more dead birds, cats, rabbits and a snake were inside cages or loose in the home with no food or water. Four animals were found alive.

Howard County police on Wednesday left a letter at the home of Beth Lindenau, on the 9600 block of Lambeth Court, requesting she come in for an interview.

National Aquarium officials confirmed that Lindenau worked there from December 2004 until November 2009.

A police spokesperson said charges likely won’t be filed at least until after they have results of lab reports that show how and when the animals died.

Officers entered the house Monday after a property manager reported odors coming from the home. The electricity and heat had been turned off, and while food was left for some animals, those in cages had no access to it.

Several neighbors at the Lambeth Court townhouse said they had suspected that animals were inside the house and not being looked after, but officials with the county’s health department said they never received any complaints at that address.

Police said they are investigating whether she was involved with a nonprofit animal rescue group. A trailer belonging to the Bailey Foundation, a Columbia-based bird rescue organization was in the driveway.

WJLA reports that Lindenau is executive director of the organization.

According to the Bailey Foundation website, it was established in 2004, and has taken in dozens of birds, from finches to macaws, in hopes of finding them adoptive homes.

“Many of these birds will need care for up to 80 years or more,” the website says. “…Space is running out for the care of large birds like macaws and cockatoos. We will need to expand our available space soon. Our long-term goals are to purchase land on which large aviaries can be built to house the various species of birds as well as serve as an educational center. In our current location this is not possible…

“It is our goal to always have a place for one more bird in need.”

This clip from the documentary “100,000” provides a glimpse into the life of street dogs in Puerto Rico who — sometimes sick, sometimes starving, nearly always unwanted — have become part of the urban landscape.

Like those who call Los Machos Beach home, these dogs in Guayama survive mostly by scavenging, and sometimes with a little help from humans, like Anibal.

Anibal Rosario, though he seems to have little himself — living in an abadoned home, with abandoned dogs, after being abandoned himself, he says, by his own parents — does what he can to see that the dogs get food and stay out of trouble.

He doesn”t view the spurned, mistreated and abused dogs as his own, just as a group that he ”manages.”

“People hit them also,” he says. “They throw rocks and bottles at them so the dogs get aggressive,” he says.

While some of his neighbors are critical of him, others see him as filling a need and taking responsibility for what  noone else seems willing to.

“Anibal is someone that you really have to admire,” one neighbor says. “Believe me, he will look for at least a piece of meat for each one of them.”

(Our coverage of the documentary “100,000,” a probing look at dog overpopulation in Puerto Rico, continues tomorrow)

An Arizona man rang in 2012 with the happy news that the dog he lost a month ago while traveling through Montana has been found.

And, given it’s “National Pet Travel Safety Day” — yes, really — what better time to share that news.

Phil Nichols, 79, was heading back to Arizona from Helena, Montana, on Nov. 28 when he discovered his 6-year-old Lab mix, Buddy, was missing.

Buddy rode in the camper in the bed of Nichols’ pickup — and we won’t debate the safety of that practice here. He was in the camper, Nichols said, when he stopped for gas in Dillon. But on his next stop, Idaho Falls, he checked and found Buddy was gone.

Nichols drove 150 miles back to Dillon and spent a day and a half searching before heading, doglessly, back to Arizona.

In Pocatello, Idaho, Nichols, cut off by another car, hit a guardrail and rolled his vehicle. He wasn’t seriously injured, but the camper was crushed. Nichols wonders if Buddy somehow had a “sixth sense” about the accident and got out of the camper — though he doesn’t know how — before it was too late.

“I think the dog has more brains than I do,” said Nichols, who adopted Buddy from an animal shelter.

One month after Buddy’s disappearance, back in Montana, animal control officers got a  call Thursday about a wounded stray dog in the Buxton area, about 10 miles southwest of Butte, according to the Billings Gazette.

Animal control officer Charlie Dick responded, spending 45 minutes coaxing the limping dog toward him with treats, before snagging him.

The dog was emaciated, had scratches on his face, and a wounded rear foot. In addition to freezing temperatures, and having to survive in the wild, Buddy had been shot with BB’s, X-rays by a veterinarian revealed.

“What a little survivor,” Dick said. ” He was out there a long time.”

Animal control was able to locate and contact Buddy’s owner through a lost dog ad on Craigslist, which had been posted by Nichols’ daughter in Helena.

Nichols said he plans to reunite with Buddy once the vet pronounces the dog ready to leave, but that he may call his dog before then.

“I just want them to put the phone to his ear and let him hear my voice,” Nichols said. “I think that would make him feel better.”

(Photo: Buddy and Nichols before they got separated)

We start the New Year by looking back at one of last year’s most downer dog stories (and there were many) — that of a stray pit bull who wandered into a hardware store and ended up getting euthanized, despite the efforts of rescue groups and a community to save him.

And we start – Happy New Year! — with what is both its latest twist and its silver lining:

A Detroit rescue group’s efforts to save that pit bull — named Ace – has moved an anonymous California woman to donate $1.5 million to build a no-kill shelter in a city that sorely needs one

Detroit Dog Rescue says the donation — in the form of stock options — came from a woman they described as “a fellow dog rescuer who is battling a life-threatening illness.”

“She just kind of nonchalanty, very humbly, just rambled off very quickly, ‘I just want you to know that we’re going to do this very fast and it’s just going to be a quick transfer of stocks to you guys. You should have the million dollars overnight,’”  co-founder Daniel “Hush” Carlisle told Channel 4 News. “And I was like, ‘Excuse me? Did you just say a million dollars?’”

But the story starts with Ace.

On November 4, the rescue learned through emails and Facebook posts that a dog had wandered into an Ace Hardware store on E. McNichols. He was emaciated, and there were wounds on his neck. DDR staff rushed to the store — knowing all stray pit bulls seized in Detroit are euthanized — but animal control had arrived there first.

“Due to Detroit Animal Control’s egregious policy of euthanizing 100 percent of dogs that they deem to be pit bulls or pit mixes, we knew that Ace would almost certainly be put down,” DDR’s account of the story on its website explains.

“Luckily, the media had gotten a hold of the story as thousands rallied together. A group of people started a “Save Ace” Facebook page, and a licensed rescue (Stray K-9 Rescue) confirmed that they would take Ace if Detroit Animal Control would release him.”

Ace’s supporters attended a city council meeting to urge the dog be released.

Despite that, city health department officials said Ace wouldn’t be released, and that if no owner came forward, he would be killed after the mandatory four-day holding period.

An owner did come forward, after seeing Ace on the news, stating the dog had been stolen from her home. But when she arrived at animal control to claim her dog, the dog she was shown wasn’t her’s. Nor was it Ace, DDR says.

The rescue group suspected animal control might have euthanized Ace the day he arrived, and that it was attempting to cover it up.

Hiring lawyers, the rescue group and the owner went to court and were granted an injunction that barred animal control from killing any dogs resembling Ace until a hearing could be held.

On Nov. 10, though, animal control reported it had euthanized Ace.

“We at Detroit Dog Rescue believe that Detroit Animal Control put the dog they tried to pass off as Ace down early rather than have to prove whether he was or was not Ace … Their preferred method is one of eradication and they believe themselves to be above the law. They bumbled, lied, tried to backtrack, and then disregarded a direct order from the judge,” the DDR website says.

While unsuccessful in saving the dog, DDR’s efforts impressed the mystery donor.

DDR spokesman David Rudolph said the donor tracked the organization’s work after seeing it on TV in May, and decided to make the donation after learning about the group’s attempt to save Ace.

Carlisle said the donation brought him to tears. “To have a donation of this size given to us in the amount of time that we’ve been up, 10 months, it’s going to be a really exciting time,” he said.

On top of that donation, DDR — whose budget had reportedly shrunk to $43 at one point — saw an influx of donations, more than $200,000, after it was featured on an NBC Nightly News segment called “Making a Difference.”

“This donation is just the beginning,” said Monica Martino, who co-founded the organization after city officials denied a Discovery Channel request to film her series “A Dog’s Life.”

“While Hush and I were working on the streets of Detroit, we saw firsthand the true scope and scale of the stray dog situation. This problem in Detroit is an epidemic and the system that is in place to control it is broken. The first step is to build a no-kill shelter.”

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.

We ran our “Christmas miracle” story yesterday — that of an eyeless dog named Stevie Oedipus Wonder, who, with a lot of help, found his way back home.

Then we came across another we have to share, too — that of a pit bull named Kapone, who, missing for six months, also made his way back home for Christmas.

Kapone, 11 years old, was one of two family pit bulls who escaped from their fenced yard six months ago in Cordova, Tenn., and were picked up by a Memphis animal control officer.

But when the family arrived at the Memphis Animal Shelter the next day to pick up the duo, only one dog was there.

“We found Jersey in the back row,” Brooke Shoup, the owner of the dogs said. “…Then we kept looking for Kapone and he wasn’t anywhere.” Shoup said a shelter manager told her his staff didn’t know where Kapone was. “He said he would review the videos and try to find out where my dog was, and what happened, and he would be in contact with me.”

Not until the next month did word come out that, while animal control records indicated both dogs were picked up, records indicated only one arrived at the shelter. What happened to Kapone was a mystery, and not exactly a new one in Memphis.

According to statistics from No Kill Memphis, in addition to the nearly 12,000 dogs euthanized at the Memphis Animal Shelter in 2010, 155 went missing — that’s right, missing, from a shelter.

Since then, the shelter has been the subject of investigations, some firings — including Demetria Hogan, the animal control employee who picked up the Shoup’s dogs — and lingering suspicions that impounded dogs were being sold, possibly to dogfighting operations.

None of that was helping to find Kapone, though, until last week.

A week ago today, the Shoup’s and animal advocates got an anonymous tip from the Memphis CrimeStoppers hotline that Kapone (an $8,000 reward was being offered for his return) was at a house in Senatobia, Miss., about 50 miles to the south.

Senatobia police escorted Darrel Shoup to the home. “I called his name, went over to pet him and he just went crazy,” Shoup said. “And we put him in the back of the van.”

You can see last week’s reunion in this Action News 5 report.

No charges have been filed against the homeowners, who had two other pit bulls. They told police Kapone had just wandered into their yard.

(Photo: From the Where’s Kapone? Facebook page)