ohmidog!

A white husky was found tagged with black spray paint in Sioux City, South Dakota, over the weekend.

Tabitha Taylor told police she found her dog Blaze covered with graffiti Sunday morning, according to the Sioux City Journal

“I can’t believe people would actually do that to somebody’s dog,” she said. “That just baffles my mind.”

The dog was sprayed on his head and back, sometime after he got loose. Blaze, in addition to the graffiti, was limping when he returned home, Taylor said.

Police are investigating and said whoever painted the dog could face charges. They ask anyone with information to call 402-494-7555.

The incident happened a week after a city security camera captured two people spraying gang graffiti on a building on B Street. The building had been tagged at least 10 times previously.

Taylor said her family spent four hours scrubbing the paint off with mayonnaise, olive oil and fish oil. Blaze belongs to her 4-year-old son, she said.

“Our dog is the cutest dog ever. He’s nice to everybody. He’s never mean,” Taylor said.

After a Valentine’s Day hearing, a Texas judge will decide who should have custody of Victory, a bearded collie who is missing her nose.

Victory was found last month wandering in Hutto, Texas, outside of Austin. Her fur was heavily matted. She’d sustained puncture wounds. And her nose appeared to have been cut off.

Since then, an owner has stepped forward, saying Victory (not her original name) had run off a month earlier, and that the loss of her nose was the result of an autoimmune illness she was being treated for.

After she was found, the 4-year-old dog was treated by a local veterinarian, then placed in a foster home by Austin Pets Alive, which began a fundraising campaign and raised $2,000 for the dog to undergo skin graft surgery on her nose last week.

The surgery was canceled after a man called saying he owned her and wanted her back, said Laura Stromberg Hoke, a spokeswoman for Austin Pets Alive.

A judge will hear the matter Thursday, deciding whether the dog should be returned to her owner or remain with Austin Pets Alive, according to the Austin American-Statesman. No charges have been filed in the case, but police say they “wanted a judge to hear the information they had gathered during the investigation.”

Hutto animal control officers found the dog Jan. 9, and initially suspected she’d been the victim of abuse. The owners of the dog — who authorities refused to name — said she had run away around New Year’s, according to Hutto Police Chief Peter Scheets.

Police say they are still investigating whether the dog lost her nose due to medical neglect or abuse. Veterinary records show that the dog was last treated for lupus nine months ago but had no follow-up treatment, the police chief said.

One type of lupus that occurs in dogs can cause redness, scabs and ulcerations on a dog’s nose.

Scheets said there is also a possibility that the dog was injured after she escaped from her home and before she was discovered by police.

The hearing is open to the public and will be at 4 p.m. Thursday (Feb 14) in Hutto Municipal Court, 401 W. Front St.

You can find an update on this story here.

(Photo: Austin Pets Alive)

Eicher

An Amish man who shot a mother dog and her eight puppies told police in New York that he thought killing dogs was acceptable under his culture, as long as it was done out of sight and with discretion – or as he put it, “Shoot, shovel and shut up.”

“In the Amish it’s acceptable to put dogs down. I thought as long as you did it out back it was okay,” Jonathon Eicher reportedly told officers who arrested him and the breeder of the dogs in Wayne County.

The nine dead dogs were discovered in a ditch by a highway crew on January 17.

Also charged with animal cruely was Merlin Schmucker, 26, who owned and bred the Australian red heelers, but was unable to sell the dogs because, he said, they’d become too big.

Schmucker

Schmucker asked Eicher, his employee, to put the dogs down, said Wayne County District Attorney Rick Healy.

“This is simply a case of animal cruelty,” he said. “They can’t treat the animals the way they want to treat the animals; they must treat the animals humanely.”

Both Schmucker and Eicher were charged with nine counts of cruelty to animals , WHAM reported.

Schmucker told police he had “raised the dogs and couldn’t put them down myself so I asked Jonathan to do it.”

Eicher admitted killing the dogs with a .22-caliber rifle, police said.

Spiked collars, break sticks and Michael Vick’s indictment papers are among items on display at a new exhibit at the Crime Museum in downtown D.C.

The dogfighting exhibit, put together by the ASPCA, is scheduled to run through September.

“We want the public to see that dogs used in dogfighting are the victims of the crime, not instruments of the crime,” said Dr. Randall Lockwood, senior vice president of ASPCA Forensic Sciences and Anti-Cruelty Projects. “We want people to realize the brutality of dog fighting and see that it’s the greatest violation of the human-animal bond.”

Janine Vaccarello, chief operating officer at the Crime Museum, told WTOP the exhibit seeks to expose the public to the brutality of dogfighting, but that attempts were made to keep it rated “PG.”

The exhibit features artifacts and evidence seized by the ASPCA during dog fighting raids, including the largest dogfighting raid in U.S. history, carried out in 2009.

The exhibit, “Dog Fighting: The Voiceless Victims,” also looks at the work of ASPCA veterinary forensic experts in investigating such crimes.

Among the artifacts in the exhibit is the indictment naming Michael Vick, the NFL quarterback who served time for his participation in dogfighting and has since worked to speak out against it and rehabilitate his image.

“Personally, I have difficulty in forgiving him, but if he can be helpful in the fight against dog fighting, we welcome whatever help we can get,” Lockwood said.

Also on display are a treadmill used to condition dogs for fighting; a “rape” stand used to immobilize female dogs for breeding purposes; breaking sticks used to force a dog’s release on another dog; a spring pole used to strengthen a dog’s bite, neck, and leg muscles as he pulls or hangs from the end, a handmade nailed collar used to antagonize fighting dogs; an electrocution device used to kill dogs who lost a fight or failed to show sufficient aggression; and a pit bull skull excavated from a dogfighting crime scene.

Lockwood says pit bulls have suffered most from dog fighting.

“Too often, pit bulls in general are demonized as the weapons of dog fighting, but from our perspective they are the victims of dog fighting,” he said.

The exhibit does have some upbeat notes, including the story of Dragon, a dog rescued from a Virginia dogfighting ring who has since been adopted into a new home.

(Photo: ASPCA)

Deputies say a 20-year-old Oregon man was preparing to heat his enchilada lunch, but when his grandmother’s dog nipped him, he put the nine-pound Chihuhua mix in the oven instead.

Kevin Dean Parrish of Lyons, southeast of Salem, was arraigned Tuesday on a  charge of first-degree aggravated animal abuse, the Associated Press reported.

Marion County sheriff’s  spokesman Don Thomson said the six-year-old Chihuahua-miniature pinscher mix, named Kudo, sustained cuts, bruises, singed fur and burns on three of his legs.

Parrish had been caring for the dog while his grandmother was out of town. He told deputies he had reached into Kudo’s kennel and was bitten.

Deputies say he punched the dog, tried to strangle him, then put him in the oven, set at 350-degrees.

When he heard his brother coming into the house, he took the dog out, officers said. Parrish’s brother and father took the animal to a veterinarian.

Parrish’s next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 30.

The vet who treated Kudo said he expects him to make a full recovery.

(Photo: Marion County Sheriff)

A pit bull mix who was kicked and slapped by her owner on an apartment house elevator — that’s the surveillance video above — has been adopted by a young New York couple.

Richard Palacios, a 33-year-old SoHo waiter, and his fiance, Natalya Prokenpenko, 24, adopted the dog Friday, according to the New York Post.

“We didn’t know her story … When we saw the video, my fiancée started crying,” Prokopenko said.

The dog, who appears pretty happy with the new developments, is now known as Hazel.

Prokenpenko said as soon as they entered their Queens home with Hazel she “started kissing me, kissing my fiancé.”

Hazel’s beating on the elevator at East Harlem’s Wagner Houses, was recorded by police department surveillance cameras last August, and led to the arrest of  Brian Freeman, 28. Hazel was taken from him and placed in a shelter then.

She had a cracked rib and bruises, but vets said she didn’t seem to have been subjected to prior abuse.

Freeman, who worked in a security job at a homeless shelter and was in college, entered a guilty plea last week to a reduced charge of misdemeanor trespassing. A  judge indicated he would sentence Freeman to term of 25 days community service at his sentencing on Feb. 5.

 (Photo: Brigitte Stelzer / New York Post)

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)

Shot in the face, tossed in a trash bag and tied to a fence post on the side of the road, a dog in Conroe, Texas was rescued, treated and — though he’s expected to have lasting damage — is mostly recovering.

Rescuers named him Buck — after the buckshot left in his face by a shotgun blast.

A driver spotted the bag on the side of the road Saturday on Bulldog Lane, and saw that it was moving.

Once it was was opened a bloody dog crawled out and collapsed on the ground.

When a call to animal control produced no immediate results, Tami Augustyn — known in the area for helping animals in need — was called.

Augustyn took the dog to Animal Emergency Clinic of Conroe, where it was determined he’d been shot in the face with buckshot, according to the Mongtomery County Police Reporter, which broke the story.

Dr. Ron Hendrick, a veterinarian at the clinic, said the mixed breed dog, about three years old, sustained damage to both eyes and also shows signs of  hearing loss and brain damage.

The article about Buck — and a Facebook page set up to help him — led to nearly $10,000 in donations towards Buck’s medical care.

This week, the New York Daily News picked up the story.

“Today he’s great,” Augustyn told the Daily News on Tuesday. “He’s very happy when he sees me, when he hears my voice.”

The arrests of a couple accused of running a dogfighting operation in Chester County has led Pennsylvania congressmen to renew calls for tougher laws.

Rep. Jim Gerlach, of West Pikeland, and Rep. Pat Meehan, of Delaware County, both Republicans, urged passage of a bill that would make it a federal offense to attend an organized animal fight.

“As former prosecutors we know how crucial it is for law enforcement to have all of the tools necessary to deprive the organizers of these horrific events from receiving the financial rewards they need to continue the criminal enterprises,” Meehan and Marino said in a joint statement.

“With passage of this bill, we can give federal prosecutors more ability to crack down on animal fighting and the criminal culture that typically surrounds animal fighting events.”

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Tom Marino, a Pennsylvania Republican, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, was passed by the Senate last week, but remains in the House Agriculture Committee.

Despite bipartisan support, the bill could die if no action is taken before the end of the year.

Called the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act, the bill would also institute harsher penalties for bringing minors to animal fights.

Shane Santiago and his wife Laura Acampora, both 33, were arrested last week for allegedly operating a dogfighting ring out of the home they shared with five young children in West Brandywine.

Officials accused the couple of contributing to the death of at least 10 dogs and the maiming of many more that were forced to fight in an arena in the basement of the couple’s home. Two of the dogs were found in Chester County, left for dead at the side of the road. One survived.

Santiago and Acampora are charged with over 30 counts of animal cruelty and numerous other offenses. Both remain in Chester County Prison, according to the Pottstown Mercury.

(Photo: One of the dogs seized from the West Brandywine dogfighting operation)

Officials in Pennsylvania believe they have found the source of that pit bull corpse that turned up in Chester County — a dogfighting operation they say operated out of a home in West Brandywine.

Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan announced the arrests of a husband and wife Wednesday.

He described their home as “a house of pain and horror for the dogs that lived there. The defendants’ dogs lived by one rule: Fight and win, or die.”

Hogan said five young children also lived in the home, one of whom was  bitten by one of the dogs. In retaliation, that animal was hung with a coaxial cable, he said.

The Unionville Times reports that, according to the criminal complaint, the father, who referred to the animals as “livestock,” acknowledged killing at least 10 dogs by hanging or electrocution, and said the couple was “planning on making the training and fighting of pit bull dogs a family business.”

Shane Santiago and Laura Acampora, both 33, are accused of operating a dog-fighting business that led to the deaths of at least 10 dogs and the maiming of countless more.

Six living dogs were recovered from the home and are in the custody of the SPCA, according to the York Daily Record

The investigation began after two abandoned pit bulls were found — one, who had been burned, dead in cage; another maimed and burned but still alive, alongside a road. That second dog, Radar, is recovering under the care of the Chester County SPCA.

The younger of the pit bulls was found on the same road the Santiago’s lived on, just miles away.

Santiago was first identified as a suspect when he was arrested on drug charges as part of Operation Silent Night, an operation aimed at curbing violent crime in Coatesville. Neighbors had complained about large numbers of people visiting the property, many from out of state and most bringing dogs with them.

Investigators observed the couple from afar, and went through their trash. They finally managed to search the property after the landlord, who was evicting the Santiagos, gave permission.

“When we got into that home, what we found was a nightmare,” Hogan said. “This was a full-scale operation of not only dog fighting, but dog training, dog breeding and dog killing.”

They discovered a treadmill, tools used to encourage aggression, and an arena in the basement, with blood-spattered plywood barriers set up around the fighting area. Up to 16 pit bulls were kept in the home at one time, Hogan said.

Santiago and Acampora are charged with more than 30 counts of animal cruelty, endangering the welfare of a child, and conspiracy to commit animal cruelty. Both were being held in Chester County Prison.

(Photos: Unionville Times)