ohmidog!

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)

After a stray dog was struck by a car in Zhangzhou, China, her canine companion stayed by her side for six hours, nudging her with his nose, licking her, and, according to a local butcher, even shedding tears.

It can all be seen in a series of photographs being described by most major media as both “heartbreaking” and “heartwarming” — though we’d note it would have been much more heartwarming if somebody had gone to the aid of the two dogs in the street.

Xiao Wu, a local butcher, said he had recently started to feed the female stray. Her male friend, also a brown and white mutt, were often seen together.

“He stayed beside her the whole day, keeping licking her and pushing her, trying to wake her up, the butcher said. ”… Then he pushed her with his head, and licked her face … I even saw tears.”

The male dog showed up in the neighborhood about a week ago, he said. Since then, “They were together all the time, playing and in love.”

(Photos by HAP/Quirky China News/Rex)

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)

How big of a reward would you post for the safe return of your lost dog?

A couple in Warren, Texas, is offering $50,000 — and putting their house up for sale to come up with the money.

Their dog Sir, a chocolate Lab, has lived with the couple for five years.

Charlie Parker said he and his wife have no children, and that Sir was like a child.

The dog disappeared from their property on September 15.

The couple posted fliers at local businesses, but they have yet to hear anything, according to KFDM. (Click the link to see the video report.)

When he disappeared, Sir was wearing a camouflage collar, the Parkers say.

Anyone with information is asked to phone (409) 547-2297 or (409) 200-6008.

What happens in Vegas is usually superficial, of little lasting importance and brings but a fleeting moment of pleasure.

So we are all in when it comes to the decision by newlyweds Clare and Ceri Morgan of south Wales to can their honeymoon and pay for cancer treatment for their dog Teeto instead.

After their wedding, the Morgans, of Swansea, were due to fly to Las Vegas when they discovered their five-year-old American bulldog Teeto had cancer and need his leg amputated, as well as chemotherapy treatments.

That’s where the honeymoon money went.

“Teeto had to come first,” Ceri Morgan, 36, is quoted as saying in this BBC report. “We had no hesitation, we had to use the money for his vets bills,” he said.

“We told the vet that it didn’t matter about the money, just do whatever it takes to make him better,” said Clare Morgan, 26. “We can go on honeymoon again when we’ve saved up, but a dog is for life and we want Teeto around for a lot longer.”

Teeto had his rightfront leg amputated and underwent a course of chemotherapy to fight the cancer in his right shoulder. They report he is doing well.

(Photo: BBC)

A Massachusetts couple drowned Monday after jumping off their pontoon boat to save their dog in Hampton Ponds.

Police said Daniel Cyr, 64, jumped in the pond to retrieve the couple’s West Highland terrier, Sadie, who had leapt off the boat.

Patricia Cyr, 61, went into the water– even though she couldn’t swim — to help her husband as he struggled in the water with the dog.

Daniel Cyr died at the scene while his wife passed away at a nearby hospital later Monday, the Boston Globe reported.

The dog, who survived, had been given to the couple by Daniel Cyr’s sister six weeks ago to replace a dog who had died a year ago. Sadie will be returned to the sister.

Custody of a Maltese named Bubkas has been awarded to the male half of a former couple in Manhattan that had been unable to agree on with whom the 2-year-old dog should live.

A Manhattan Civil Court judge granted custody to Adam Le Conte, but pointed out it would be nice if he let the ex, Kyungmi Lee, enjoy some time with he dog now and then.

Le Conte’s parents gave him the dog while the couple was living together in 2009. On Christmas Eve 2010, they broke up. Lee initially cared for the dog while Le Conte sought a new place to live. But after a couple of weeks, he reclaimed Bubkas.

Later, in August, he asked Lee to babysit Bubkas while he went on a trip, after which declined to give him Bubkas. Lee filed filed a lawsuit, saying he never surrendered the dog and he had a legal right to Bubkas.

Le Conte is “entitled to the return of his canine companion,” Justice Andrea Masley found in a November ruling. The ruling was reported Thursday by the New York Law Journal, and subsequently by most other media outlets in the city — because so much fun can be had with the dog’s name.

“A Manhattan man got Bubkas for the holidays — and couldn’t be happier,” reported the New York Post.

Bubkas, more commonly spelled ”Bupkis,” is Yiddish for “nothing.” (But we won’t begin to guess what Le Conte translates into.)

Judge Masley ruled that Le Conte “is entitled to the return of his canine companion,” according to the New York Daily News. “While there is no legal obligation to do so, the court hopes the parties will find a way for Bubkas to continue to spend time with both parties,” she said.

(Photo: SpoiledMaltese.com)

An Oregon woman has been charged with first-degree animal cruelty for allegedly throwing her boyfriend’s dog into traffic on Interstate 205 Thursday night in Vancouver, Washington.

The dog, a Catahoula named Peanut Butter, was struck by a car and killed.

According to KATU, Shellie L. Hubbard, 45, appeared in Clark County Superior Court Friday, where a judge set bail at $20,000. Hubbard is also accused of second-degree assault and possession of methamphetamine.

Washington state troopers said Hubbard got into an argument with her boyfriend, Darwin Vonschirmer, while he was driving south on Interstate 205.  Hubbard struck him with a broken coffee mug, slicing his hand, police said. When he pulled over to the shoulder, Hubbard let the dog out of the car and threw the animal onto the highway, police said.

Peanut Butter was struck by a car while attempting to walk back to the shoulder of the freeway.

Vonschirmer told KATU he was in the process of breaking up with Hubbard when she reacted violently. He said he had taken the dog in about a year ago, after finding it on the side of the freeway.

Yet another report of jealousy-induced dog abuse has come to light — this one in Austin, where a woman is alleged to have repeatedly slammed her boyfriend’s 12-year-old shih tzu to the ground.

About a week ago, we told you about Patrick Caleb Land, who was sentenced in San Diego to five years in prison for beating his girlfriend’s three dogs to death because, he said, he was jealous of them.

Just three days after that, police in Austin responded to a report of a couple arguing and arrested Maria Martinez on a charge of cruelty to animals.

She’s accused of taking her boyfriend’s dog, Chase, a shih tzu mix, from his truck and throwing him into a Dumpster, KXAN reported.

She then climbed into the Dumpster, according to the boyfriend, lifted the dog above her head and threw him to the ground.

The dog’s owner also told police that Martinez poured bleach into Chase’s dog’s food in an attempt to poison the dog.

According to police, Martinez admitted that she and her boyfriend had argued all day and told officers she was mad and jealous of the dog.

Chase was being treated for his injuries.

Wally and Boo — a Chihuahua and a pit bull — were dropped off at an animal shelter in southern California (not the no-kill kind) by their owner, who was moving and could no longer care for them.

It didn’t take long for the Rancho Cucamonga shelter, in San Bernadino County, to see the strong connection between the two.

During their stay at the shelter, Boo, the 4-year-old pit bull, and Wally, the 6-year-old Chihuahua, protected and comforted each other in the same kennel. 

When separated, both would become depressed.

The shelter did its best — including making the video above — to try and adopt them out as a pair, but found no takers.

At one adoption fair, the pair was spotted by members of the The Fuzzy Pet Foundation, a Los Angeles area rescue group.

“We were so touched by their bond, but we also knew it would not be easy to place into a forever home a pit bull and a Chihuahua together,” said Sheila Choi, Fuzzy Pet’s CEO and founder.

“We asked the animal shelter to give us a little time to network, and begged them not to put to sleep Boo and Wally,” Choi said.

Joe Pulcinella, Rancho Cucamonga director of animal care and services, said Wally and Boo were never scheduled to be euthanized — and that the shelter spent five months trying to adopt them out together “because they were so bonded.”

Rancho Cucamonga has increased its adoption rate to about 90 percent, but still, as Choi saw it, the pair getting put down was a possibility.

“For many days and weeks, we made more than a thousand phone calls, sent out a slew of e-mails to our network of friends, family members, donors, and general supporters, hoping to find Boo and Wally a loving, permanent home. It was not an easy feat. No one had come forward to adopt this pair of lovers,” Choi told ohmidog!

That’s when Choi remembered a conversation she had with a classmate at Harvard’s Kennedy School, where she’s enrolled in a two-year master’s program.

“This classmate, Jack Jaskaran, also a New York City police captain, and I always talked about our love for pit bulls. Jack had owned pit bulls all his life, and had talked to me about adopting another one or two dogs after he graduated from the program last year.”

Fuzzy Pet shared Boo and Wally’s story with Jaskaran’s family, as well as a video the Rancho Cucamonga shelter had made and posted on YouTube. They agreed to adopt the pair.

“We bailed out both Boo and Wally on August 3, 2011. We have sheltered them at a cage-free boarding facility ever since, and today, they will be flying in cabin (NOT cargo) via a pet aircraft for NYC,” Choi said yesterday.

The Jaskarans were eagerly awaiting their arrival. “My little girl looks at the dogs’ video clip daily … She keeps telling me about Wally’s smile. We are very excited about them,” said Jaskaran.

The pair arrived, together, in New York today.

“The Fuzzy Pet Foundation believes in giving every pet a second chance,” said Choi. “Pit Bulls, especially, have a bad reputation and we want to share with everyone that they are a loyal and loving dog breed. Boo and Wally were considered by the animal shelter difficult to re-home as a pair, but we truly performed a miracle.”

(See the comments on this post for the remarks of Wally and Boo’s original owners.)