Tag: barking
Stray dog found nursing kitten along creek
An animal control officer in South Carolina responded to a call about a barking dog behind a Home Depot, and was touched when she discovered what all the noise was about.
“This is one example of why I love my job,” officer Michelle Smith said in her report.
A stray dog was nursing a kitten along North Pointe Creek in Anderson.
On Monday, a caller to animal control reported a dog had been barking in the area along the creek since Saturday, Fox Carolina reported
Smith followed the noise and found the dog and kitten at the bottom of a steep embankment.
She took them both to Anderson County P.A.W.S.
Smith said the dog is taking care of the kitten, cleaning and feeding it.
Animal control is hoping either the dog’s owner or whoever adopts her will agree to bring the cat home, too.
Posted by jwoestendiek May 16th, 2013 under Muttsblog, videos.
Tags: anderson, animal control, animals, barking, cat, creek, dog, dog and cat, dog nurses cat, dogs, embankment, friends, friendship, guarding, kitten, loyalty, michelle smith, nursing, officer, pets, south carolina, stray, unlikely friends, video
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Dog saves woman, woman saves dog
A pit bull saved a woman from a fire in a Long Island home Friday, barking to alert her as flames began to engulf the house.
Then the woman returned the favor.
Jackie Bonasera said she was drying her hair in an upstairs bathroom of a home in East Norwich when she heard the dog barking. She ran downstairs and saw the flames on the side of her garage, according to NBC Channel 4 in New York
She ran out of the house, but then returned to save her dog, a pit bull named Cain.
“I’m like, ‘He saved my life, I have to save his,’” Bonasera said.
“So I just put my robe over my face and I ran back in and I grabbed the dog and then I stood out here and I watched my house burn,” she said.
Bonasera believes she would have been trapped upstairs if the dog, named Cain, hadn’t alerted her to the fire. Her daughter, Alexus Stallworth, called Cain “the town hero.”
More than 70 firefighters fought the fire, the cause of which hasn’t been determined.
Posted by jwoestendiek May 6th, 2013 under Muttsblog, videos.
Tags: alerts, animals, barking, barks, burning, cain, dog, dogs, east norwich, fire, house, Jackie Bonasera, long island, new york, pets, pit bull, pit bulls, pitbull, pitbulls, rescues, saves
Comments: 1
Greetings from Bellaville, New Yorkie
I’m a proponent of spending more time with your dog, and less with your computer, but here’s an interesting, and interactive, presentation from WNYC in New York, which has mapped out not just what breeds dominate the city’s neighborhoods, but what names as well.
Citywide, the top three female names for dogs are Bella, Princess and Lola; the top male names are Max, Rocky and Lucky and the top breeds are Yorkie, Shih Tzu and Maltese.
(Actually the most popular dog in New York is the mutt, and WYNC does report that elsewhere. Somehow they didn’t rate getting on the map, though.)
What’s the most fun though is scrolling through the boroughs to see where Lola tops Lucy, where Buddy beats Buster as the name of choice, and what breeds are, from neighborhood to neighborhood, most predominant. While Yorkies dominate most areas, there are enclaves where Labs and Chihuahuas and pit bulls are owned in the highest numbers. There’s a major English bulldog contingent in lower Manhattan, and pit bulls are the highest in number in Bed Stuy.
The list is based on information WNYC obtained from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which runs the city’s dog licensing program.
The feature has some other bells and whistles, too, including opportunities to play games and make a t-shirt.
Just after WNYC came out with its map, Gothamist put together an interactive map of its own – this back in January — claiming to show not where the dogs are, but where their poop is, or at least where it’s most complained about. The map shows what neighborhoods have the most barking dog complaints, too.
One wonders what would happen if those two interactive maps were to interact. Would that reveal large dogs named Brutus leave bigger droppings than Chihuahuas named Princess? That Sparky barks more than Snoozy?
Somewhere we have to draw line on all this interactivity with our computers — especially that share of it that’s presenting information that’s just everyday knowledge or common sense or entirely bogus.
In those cases, your time would be better spend interacting with the dog.
Posted by jwoestendiek April 23rd, 2013 under Muttsblog.
Tags: animals, barking, boroughs, breeds, bulldogs, chihuahua, complaints, dog, dog waste, dogs, gothamist, interactive, labrador retrievers, maltese, maps, names, neighborhoods, new york city, nyc, pets, pit bulls, poop, popular, popularity, shih-tzu, WNYC, yorkie
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“You’re damn right I shot your dog”
An off-duty Buncombe County sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed a border collie mix at North Carolina’s Catawba Falls says he did so to protect his children from what appeared to be an aggressive dog.
“You’re damn right I shot your dog,” he reportedly told the dog’s owner, Scott Shulman of Durham.
Shulman, who was hiking with his son, said his three dogs got ahead of them when he fell into the water.
By the time he caught up, he saw Deputy Jason Honeycutt pointing a gun at one of his dogs, a 45-pound border collie mix named Nellie, who he says was barking and wagging her tail.
“I hear two or three pops, and I see Nellie roll over and hit the ground,” Shulman said. “I was in shock. I couldn’t believe what I saw. I just said, ‘Did you shoot my dog?’ He said something like, ‘you’re damn right I shot your dog.’”
Shulman told the Asheville Citizen-Times that his dog was not posing a threat to the officer or his children, and that he thought shooting the dog was “disproportionate and excessive.”
The McDowell County Sheriff’s Office has investigated the case, and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office conducted an internal probe, but no charges or disciplinary action were recommended against the deputy.
“We don’t have any issue with what our officer did,” said Lt. Randy Sorrells of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department. “He was protecting his children.”
A McDowell County incident report that lists Deputy Honeycutt as the victim states the dog appeared to be aggressive toward children.
Shulman disagrees, and says two witnesses to the shooting also believe Nellie, while barking, wasn’t behaving aggressively otherwise.
“My main concern is making the citizens aware that this incident occurred … I don’t want anybody else to have to experience something like this.”
(Photo: Asheville Citizen-Times)
Posted by jwoestendiek February 26th, 2013 under Muttsblog.
Tags: aggressive, animals, barking, border collie, buncombe county, catawba falls, children, deputy, disproportionate, dog, dogs, durham, excessive, hiking, jason honeycutt, kills, mcdowell county, mix, mountains, nellie, north carolina, off duty, pets, protecting, scott shulman, sheriff, shoots, tail, wagging
Comments: 7
Man gets 1-year sentence in hatchet attack
A Washington state man who attacked his neighbor’s dog with a hatchet and tried to strangle it with wire was sentenced to six months in jail Monday
On top of the jail sentence, he was ordered to spend an additional six months on electronic home monitoring and pay the golden retriever’s veterinary bills, which amounted to $5,000, the Bellingham Herald reported.
The judge also banned Knowles from owning pets or having animals in his house.
At the sentencing, Knowles apologized to the dog’s owners, who since have moved out of state.
Deputy prosecuting attorney Dione Hauger said she asked for the maximum sentence “based on the brutality of the actual crime … on the thought and premeditation that went into it. And it was based on the fact that this was a fairly vulnerable victim.”
Knowles was arrested in March after police found the 3-year-old dog, named Kona, tied to a pole in his garage. Police said he lured Kona to his property with treats. The dog has since recovered from the injuries, which included a skull fracture and broken jaw.
Knowles had reportedly complained to Kona’s owner in the past about the dog’s barking.
At the sentencing, Knowles said the act wasn’t premeditated. “I just couldn’t take the noise any longer,” he said. “He was barking and I just snapped. I can’t explain it.” (Video from the hearing is included in this KBOI report.)
During a search of Knowles’ home, authorities found blood-splattered cutting tools, a hammer, a bloody garbage can and dog treats.
Posted by jwoestendiek September 19th, 2012 under Muttsblog.
Tags: abuse, animal cruelty, animals, attack, barking, court, cruelty to animals, dog, dogs, golden retriever, hatchet, judge, kona, neighbor, one year, orting, pets, ricky lee knowles, sentence, washington, wire
Comments: 6
Dog finds Wake Forest’s missing monkey
Humans had been searching more than 10 days for the monkey that escaped from Wake Forest University’s Primate Center, but it was a dog who finally spotted her.
Cassidy Garwood, 14, told WGHP/Fox 8 that her dog, Keeley, saw the monkey Tuesday afternoon in some trees outside their house on Frye Bridge Road.
When the family went to see what Keeley was barking at, they saw the 8-pound, one-foot-tall macaque jumping from tree to tree.
The family called authorities and officials from the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, Lexington Police and Wake Forest soon arrived on the Garwoods’ property, where the monkey was brought down with three tranquilizing darts and returned to the research facility.
Richard Young, who heads the animal resources program for Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, told the Winston-Salem Journal that the monkey is doing fine and will be quarantined for six weeks.
After that, he added (in a word choice he probably regrets) she’ll be placed “back with her other cage mates, inmates, back in her family.”
The monkey outsmarted two barriers at the center on June 29 and fled into the woods, prompting a search in which law enforcement, university officials and animal control officers set traps with apples and bananas and even used recordings of a baby monkey in their efforts to capture her.
The 16-year-old macaque is a breeder, producing offspring that are used for medical testing. She came to the primate center in 2008 after being captured in Indonesia.
According to the website for Wake Forest’s Primate Center, staff “use nonhuman primates to study six of the 10 major causes of death in the United States.”
The monkey’s escape led to criticism from some animal welfare groups, including PETA, which filed a formal complaint July 4 with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The group urged the agency to investigate Wake Forest for possible violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act, including failure to ensure that the primate housing is safe and secure.
Young said that Wake Forest has beefed up security at the primate center.
Posted by jwoestendiek July 11th, 2012 under Muttsblog, videos.
Tags: animal rights, animal welfare, animals, barking, captured, cassidy garwood, davidson county, dog, escaped, healthy, keeley, laboratory, loose, macaque, medical tests, monkey, monkeys, peta, pets, primate center, quarantined, research, richard young, trees, veterinarian, wake forest, wake forest university, winston-salem
Comments: 1
Woof in Advertising: VW’s Super Bowl ad
Dogs barking ”The Imperial March” from “Star Wars” — that’s what Volkswagen may have planned for its Super Bowl ad this year.
But this isn’t the ad, just a “tease” for the ad, which is for the revamped 2012 Beetle.
USA Today reports that no part of the tease will be in the real ad, which makes me wonder why they’re teasing us with it.
What we do know is that the commercial will have a ”Star Wars” theme, as did last year’s — the spot featuring a boy in a Darth Vader costume marching around his house, trying to use The Force.
The teaser for this year’s ad features dogs wearing Star Wars gear, including a doggie ewok, a doggie wookie and a doggie ATAT, somehow managing, as a group, to bark out “The Imperial March.”
Fred Meier, in USA Today’s “Drive On” blog, notes — as we’ve been pointing out for months now — that the ad, or at least the teaser, ”honors a basic rule of Super Bowl advertising: The only thing that trumps sex is a cute animal.”
(To see all of our archived “Woof in Advertising” selections, click here.)
Posted by jwoestendiek January 21st, 2012 under Muttsblog.
Tags: 2012, ads, advertising, animals, barking, beetle, commercials, dogs, dogs in advertising, dogs sing star wars, imperial march, marketing, pets, star wars, super bowl, theme, volkswagen, woof in advertising
Comments: 1
To live and bark in L.A.
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously this week to start imposing fines on the owners of dogs that bark excessively.
What’s excessively?
A dog’s barking would be considered excessive if it continued non-stop for 10 minutes or more, or intermittently for 30 minutes or more, Assistant City Attorney Dov Lesel said.
Fines would start at $250 for a first offense, $500 for a second and $1,000 for a third if a hearing conducted by the Department of Animal Services determines that a dog barks too much, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The new ordinance also gives animal services officials the power to ticket the owners of unlicensed barking dogs. Previously, hearings did not proceed against residents who did not have licensed dogs.
Despite concerns among some that the fines are too high, Brenda Barnette, general manager of the Animal Services Department, called them reasonable, and added that dog owners would have time to remedy the problem before a fine would be imposed.
“If a dog hears somebody or something and barks, that’s a good thing. That’s a warning,” Barnette said. “If a dog just stays out and barks and barks, that’s really not reasonable.”
Barnette said her department has a six-month backlog of hearings, most of which involve excessive barking cases.
Once signed by the mayor, the amended ordinance is expected to take effect before the end of the year.
(Photo: Los Angeles Times)
Posted by jwoestendiek November 4th, 2011 under Muttsblog.
Tags: animals, bark, barking, city council, dogs, excessive, fines, licensed, los angeles, neighbors, nuisance, ordinance, pets, tickets, unlicensed
Comments: 2
Can a dog really bark himself to death?
An upper Manhattan animal clinic let a woman’s dog “bark itself to death,” the New York Post and other news media are reporting.
It’s not an entirely accurate description, and to make matters worse the Post originally misidentified the veterinary office named in a lawsuit that charges it covered up the cause of the dog’s death.
A veterinarian at Riverside Animal Clinic — not Riverside Animal Hospital, as the newspaper first reported – told Marie Moore that X-rays showed her bulldog, Cowboy, had died from congestive heart failure.
A necropsy, however, showed that the dog’s heart was fine, and that he actually suffocated. The lawsuit says Cowboy was suffering from ”severe laryngeal edema and airway obstruction” and that his life could have been saved with proper emergency procedures.
While barking didn’t cause his death — even the Post story eventually points out a dog can’t die from over-barking – it could have contributed to the difficulties he was having breathing.
“Defendants ignored obvious signs of Cowboy’s distress, allowing Cowboy to continue barking for days without proper care or intervention, until his severely swollen throat suffocated him and caused his death,” Moore said in her suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court. It charges the clinic and kennel with veterinary malpractice.
“Moreover,” the lawsuit says, “the X-rays Dr. [Javier] Ramos claims to have relied upon to substantiate his claim that Cowboy died from heart failure actually show that Cowboy’s heart was normal.”
Moor took Cowboy, an English bulldog “who was in good health,” for boarding at the clinic in March.
Posted by jwoestendiek July 25th, 2011 under Muttsblog.
Tags: animals, bark, barked itself to death, barking, boarding, bulldog, clinic, cowboy, death, dogs, english bulldog, health, lawsuit, manhattan, new york, pets, riverside animal clinic, veterinarian, veterinary
Comments: 2
Chihuahua versus robbers (Chihuahua wins)
This July 7 surveillance video just released by L.A. County sheriff shows a 10-pound Chihuahua named Paco chasing off a pair of robbers at Ace Smoke Shop in Altadena, Calif.
Two masked men entered the store with an empty backpack and demanded money, pointing the gun at the cashier.
From out of nowhere comes Paco, barking furiously and biting at their legs. For a second, it appears the two robbers were so frightened they were going to leave without the money. But one, after initially retreating, grabs it before they flee, Paco chasing at their heels.
No one was injured — not even Paco — during the incident.
Paco, according to Time.com, was a rescue dog and has been with shop owner Eric Knight for five years.
Knight wasn’t at the shop during the robbery, but was proud of how bravely his dog behaved.
“I’m going to put a cape on him, I think,” he said.
Posted by jwoestendiek July 20th, 2011 under Muttsblog, videos.
Tags: ace smoke shop, altadena, animals, barking, biting, bravery, california, chihuahua, dog, dogs, hero, los angeles county, paco, pets, rescue, robbers, robbery, sheriff, surveillance, video
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