ohmidog!

Some folks in Arlington, Mass., are searching for a missing dog — one so big children used to ride on him.

He has been gone for 60 years.

He’s believed to be a Labrador-mastiff mix, and he’s missing his tail.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, he’s a statue — missing from Robbins Farm Park since about 1950.

According to Boston.com, Roland Chaput and fellow members of the Friends of Robbins Farm Park decided earlier this year to make at least some effort to find the dog and return it to its original home.

“Maybe it is in some guy’s backyard and he forgot all about it,” Chaput says.
Since the early 1900s, the dog — he has no name — sat atop a hill at the park.

But where he came from, like where he has gone, isn’t known.

According to a history of the park, by Oakes Plimpton, the statue belonged to the land’s previous owner, the late Nathan Robbins, a member of a well-known Arlington family that gave the town several of its public buildings, including the library.

Robbins married May Robbins in 1902, and around 1912 they moved into a house on the farm. While it’s not known where the Robbinses obtained the statue, it has been speculated that he was procured for use as a make-believe guard dog.

Chaput says the statue was probably cast iron, but could have been bronze. He says it was about four feet long, and modeled after a Labrador retriever, or a mastiff, or a mix of the two breeds.

Nathan and his wife May, by some accounts, had a major falling out in the 1920s, and went 20 years without speaking to each other, though living in the same home. A 1929 Globe article reported that May was suing her husband for financial support and claimed that, though her husband grew potatoes, he would only give her rotten ones to cook for herself.

The farm was owned by the Robbinses until 1942, when the town obtained the property for use as the purpose of using the land as a park.

Around 1950, the old farmhouse was torn down, and the statue of the dog disappeared, possibly taken by a memberof the demolition crew. Or maybe not.

Not even the dog’s sculptor is known for sure. One member said it was initially thought to have been made by famed Arlington sculptor Cyrus Dallin, but recent research suggests that wasn’t the case. Now they suspect the statue was a copy of one made by 19th century Rhode Island artist Thomas Frederick Hoppin. It was called “The Sentinel.”

The group has located similar dog statues in Houston, and is considering having a copy of one of those made if they can’t find the missing one.

Chaput said they’d even consider paying something for the statue’s safe return.

“I want it to go into the playground, where the kids can have their picture taken with it,” he said.

Anyone with information about the statue is asked to call the Friends of Robbins Farm Park at 781-646-7786.

(Photo: From the book,”Robbins Farm Park, Arlington, Massachusetts: A Local History,” by Oakes Plimpton)

Back when he was the Republican candidate for governor of Florida, Rick Scott and his staff did their best to let the public know his family adopted a rescue dog.

They even held a contest to allow the public to name the dog, who would become “Reagan.”

So, to some, it seemed strange that the Labrador retriever hadn’t been seen again since Scott took office, in January of 2011.

The Tampa Bay Times, albeit it two years later, finally solved the mystery — but not until after getting quite a runaround.

The Times last week  asked both Scott’s current and former communications directors what happened to Reagan, but both refused to answer.

Brian Burgess, communications director during the campaign and for more than a year after Scott took office, told two Times reporters he thought it was strange that they would ask, and declined to answer.

When pressed, he referred all questions about the dog to Melissa Sellers, the governor’s new communications director. Sellers told reporters she was too busy to find an answer to the question.

A spokesman for the governor’s wife also declined to respond to questions about Reagan, saying only that they have one dog — a rescued 7-year-old Lab named Tallee.

What was the governor’s office trying to hide, reporters wondered. Why weren’t the communications directors, uh, communicating? And where was Reagan, the dog the Scott family made such a big deal about when they rescued him?

Commenters at the time praised Scott for getting a rescue dog, instead of a purebred like Bo, the president’s Portuguese water dog.

“The Scott family is proud to announce that the name (chosen by you) for their newly adopted pup is Reagan!” read Scott’s announcement on his Facebook page. “Thanks to everyone who participated in the fun contest.”

But apparently they were less proud to announce what became of Reagan, and how they ended up with a dog named Tallee.

This week, Times reporters were able to ask the governor himself, and learned that Reagan, due to behavioral issues, had been returned to the grooming and boarding business they got him from.

Scott said Reagan never bit anyone, but that he “scared the living daylights” out of people at the mansion. One kitchen employee threatened to quit because of the dog, he said, and photographer Eric Tournay was frightened when the dog “barked like crazy” every time he saw him with a camera.

“He was a rescue dog,” Scott said, “and he couldn’t be around anybody that was carrying anything.”

About a month after the family moved to the governor’s mansion, they gave the dog back to his prior owner, the governor said.

Tallee, he said, has a much different personality.

Based on his description, Tallee sounds more needy, submissive and controllable.

(Photo: Reagan, from Facebook)

Bring author Dennis Lehane’s dog back to him and he’ll name a character in one of his next novels after you.

That’s the promise that Lehane made on his Facebook page after his beloved beagle disappeared from his Boston home this week.

WCVB.com reported that Tessa, went missing  Monday, and was last seen around 4:30 p.m. that afternoon near a gas station in the neighborhood of Allston.

Lehane is the author of several best selling novels, including “Mystic River” and “Gone Baby Gone.”

He posted on Facebook that Tessa was microchipped, but that she wasn’t wearing any tags when she was left out in the yard and apparently jumped a fence and ran away.

“It’s possible she’s staying in some good Samaritan’s home right now or has tucked herself away on a porch,” Lehane wrote. “But if anyone sees her or knows of her whereabouts, please reach out to this page.”

The reward:  “Naming of character in the next book for anyone who gets her back to us! (No, really!)”

“She’s smart, fast, and immeasurably sweet. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body,” he posted.

Lehane was getting numerous suggestions from his Facebook fans, from hiring a doggie detective to assembling a beagle posse to search for Tessa.

Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) has announced this year’s Hambone Award winner — a dachshund-terrier mix who chased a skunk under a deck, followed it into a hole, and then disappeared underground.

She wasn’t found and dug out until the next day.

It has been about a year since Peanut’s underground adventure, and she has recovered fully.

VPI said thousands cast online votes in a close race that saw Peanut beat out a cat trapped in a car engine to win the title of VPI’s Most Unusual Pet Insurance Claim of the Year.

The fourth recipient of the annual award, Peanut was found buried in the dirt beneath the deck at the Sicklerville, N.J., home of her owners,  Keith and Christy Wolfram. The day before, she’d gotten in a scuffle with a skunk, chasing it under the deck and into a hole. Apparently the underground tunnel collapsed once she got inside it.

Her owners called the Winslow Fire Department. After hours of poking holes in the deck and searching for the dog, the firefighters were ready to call it quits, but Christy didn’t given up hope.

“When the firefighters saw Christy continue to dig, one of them decided to take a last look,” said Keith. “I remember him shouting, ‘I see her paw!’ and my heart just sank. By the time they got her out she was barely moving. I couldn’t believe she was alive.”

The firefighters administered oxygen to Peanut and she was taken to a veterinarian. She was treated for hypothermia and, after about a week and a half, had made a full recovery.

As the 2012 VPI Hambone Award winner, Peanut will receive a bronze trophy in the shape of a ham, as well as a  bag filled with toys, treats and an emergency pet kit.

Second place went to Pebbles, a  domestic shorthair cat who got stuck in a car engine and was discovered after a 15-mile drive. Pebbles was treated for lacerations and a broken jaw. Third Place went to Bayley, a  Labrador retriever in Maryland who shattered a a 55-gallon aquarium while playing in the house, resulting in a two-inch gash.

The 12 nominees were chosen from more than 1 million claims VPI receives annually.

For more details on the Hambone Award  visit VPIHamboneAward.com.

A basset hound named Molly, missing for three years, has been found 1,000 miles away from the home she disappeared from in Fort Hood, Texas.

Molly was picked up by police in Prescott Valley, Arizona, who found her wandering the streets — but looking like she hadn’t missed too many meals.

The owner of the rotund basset was located through a microchip on the dog, police said, and she plans to pick her up when she returns from her tour of duty in a month.

The owner, who wasn’t identified by name, was happy to hear Molly had been found, according to the Daily Courier in Prescott.

She told police she had returned from one deployment in Iraq, went on another mission, and while she was gone Molly ran away from the house of a friend who was watching her.

Members of her family in Tucson will be keeping Molly until she returns.

Leo fell into a Dumpster and couldn’t get out.

An aging Australian cattle dog mix, Leo apparently climbed a ramp attached to a large Dumpster and, when no one was looking, either jumped or fell in.

Barbara Grabell and her husband George Anderson searched high and low for Leo after he disappeared from their ranch in Alfalfa, Oregon.

“I thought he – sometimes, they just go off to die privately. I was walking the property, looking under trees, the sagebrush,” Grabell told KTVZ.

Grabell said she walked over to the nearby trash transfer station and looked in the 9-foot-tall Dumpster, which has a ramp that allows residents to more easily dump their garbage. It was about two-thirds full of garbage by then, but she didn’t see Leo. She shouted his name, but he’s hard of hearing.

Four days after Leo disappeared, the Dumpster was picked up for the trip to the Knott Landfill in Bend.

There, Paul Decker, a driver for Bend Garbage and Recycling, was watching its contents pour out when he saw, amid the trash, a dog — dazed and confused but alive, apparently having survived on a diet of garbage.

The dog was taken to the Humane Society of Central Oregon, which Grabell had called earlier to report Leo missing. They notified her he’d been found. She picked up Leo, took him to a vet to be checked out, and then back home.

“He’s home and he’s resting comfortably,” she said Saturday night. “I’m so thankful and relieved, you have no idea.”

Vito is supposed to find the missing, not go missing, but that’s what he did Thursday during a search and rescue exercise in Maryland.

The 3-year-old, mostly black German shepherd was working with his handler at White Marsh Park off Route 3 in Bowie when he got distracted by a fox and ran off, according to his handler,  Sonja Heritage, of the Fairfax County, Virginia, search and rescue team.

WTOP radio reports he has since been found and reunited with his handler.

Heritage, who put up fliers and contacted local animal shelters after he went missing, said it was little embarassing since Vito is a highly trained search and rescue dog. But, she added, even the best-trained dogs can get distracted.

“A dog is a dog,” she said.

Petie, the Jack Russell terrier who disappeared from his back yard in Tennessee in July, and turned up in Michigan last week, has been reunited with his 73-year-old owner.

A Michigan Humane Society volunteer, Nancy Greiser, drove Petie the 600 miles to Erin, Tennessee and handed him over to owner Jim Arrighi on Thursday.

The reunion couldn’t come at a better time, the Detroit Free Press reported: Arrighi’s wife of 37 years, Juanita, died two weeks ago.

The  4-year-old dog arrived to much fanfare — balloons, welcome signs, TV cameras and, inside, a steak that had been prepared for Petie by a local restaurant.

“He’s more excited than I thought he’d be,” Arrighi said moments after Petie greeted him with barks and a wagging tail.

Arrighi had been searching for Petie since the dog disappeared from his yard July 28. He put up posters, bought ads in the local newspaper, and went door to door.

Earlier this week, in Michigan, a Rochester Hills man found Petie wandering in his backyard and took him to the humane society. There he was scanned for a microchip, and that information led them to  Arrighi. How Petie got to Michigan remains a mystery.

“He meant a lot to me and my wife,” Arrighi said. “I figured he was gone. I thought the chip was a waste of money, but I guess not.”

(Photo: Mark Hicks / The Stewart Houston Times)

A blind and deaf pug named Snowy disappeared under curious circumstances while in foster care, and Mid Atlantic Pug Rescue (MAPR) wants to know what happened to him.

Snowy was rescued after being abandoned in a backyard by a family in Wilmington, N.C., who moved away. He was blind, probably deaf, heartworm positive, with rotten teeth and skin infections.

But a foster volunteer in nearby Leland took him in, and Snowy began regular visits to the vet, all paid for by MAPR.

Early reports from the foster mom were encouraging:

“Last night, for the first time, he layed on his back and wanted belly rubs,” she wrote last November. “He’s finally trusting and feeling safe, which makes everything I’m doing feel so worthwhile and rewarding. His temperament is wonderful. He’s very easy going and sweet. He’s only improved from the moment I met him. Just a sweetheart!”

But somewhere along the way, things took a turn for the worse.

The foster mom in February contacted Robin Young, a board member of MAPR who helped arrange the foster placement, and told her she had to move and could no longer provide foster care for Snowy.

Young made arrangements for a volunteer to pick up Snowy, living in Leland, outside Wilmington, and bring him to Waxhaw, outside of Charlotte, where she could care for him herself until a new foster was found.

But when the volunteer called the foster mom, and sent emails, she got no response.

For months MAPR tried to make contact with the foster mom, even sending a certified letter, but still no response. Eventually they called the veterinarian treating Snowy, and learned that his file was “inactive.”

At MAPR’s insistence, the vet’s office contacted the foster mom, and she finally called Young, but even then it wasn’t clear what had become of Snowy.

“At first she said, ‘I gave him back to you. I gave him to that woman,’” Young recounted. Asked what woman, she said she didn’t know. And still later she said her ex-husband took the dog to Greensboro and gave her to “some woman.”

But no MAPR members or volunteers had received the dog, Young said.

“We really don’t know where he is, or who took him,” Young said. “At this point whoever has him must have taken him because they cared about him. At least I’m hoping so. But we want to make sure they were they given all the information about he needed, like the heartworm treatment.

“We’re not demanding he come back into the rescue, we just want to know if he’s OK,” she said.

MAPR asks anyone with information about Snowy to contact them at:
OUTREACH@MIDATLANTICPUGRESCUE.ORG

Animal welfare advocates who noticed the sudden disappearance of 80 dogs from a privately run, city-owned shelter in Ferris, Texas, are disturbed with the shelter management’s refusal to say where the dogs ended up.

Domestic Animal Rescue Emergency Shelter Services (DARESS), a nonprofit that had been contracted with to operate the city owned shelter, began taking in dogs in November.

The manager of the organization says workers took the dogs to an Indian reservation. But he won’t say where, according to the Dallas Morning News.

“Every one of those dogs are happy, healthy, well-fed, watered, taken care of, loved and not abandoned any longer,” shelter manager James “Soaring Eagle” Vonda said. “Every Native American wants to have a dog and a cat because it relates to their spirit guide.” 

Vonda declined to give the location of the reservation, saying that revealing it might also disclose the location of a shelter he runs for victims of domestic violence.

The city of Ferris has since terminated its contract with DARESS, under which the city didn’t pay DARESS anything but did agree to make $5,000 in improvements to the shelter. The nonprofit was to make its revenue by adopting out animals.

Under the contract, after 72 hours of being held at the shelter, all animals became the property of DARESS.

“We can do what we want to do with them … we’re certainly not going to kill them,” said Vonda, whose nonprofit is based in Leonard in Fannin County, north of Collin County. “We’re going to take them to someone who will care for them for the rest of their life.”

The animal shelter is now back in the city’s control.

It’s not the first controversy involving the animal shelter in Ferris. In December 2008, the former city manager allowed Ferris police officers to shoot feral dogs on sight. Last summer, the city ordered all the animals in the shelter to be euthanized if they weren’t adopted within 15 days.