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There’s a rising star in the North Carolina legislature, and she has four legs.

A miniature Pomeranian named Diva comes to work every day at the General Assembly with her owners, Republican representative Nathan Ramsey and his wife, Robin Ramsey, a legislative assistant — and the fuzzy four-pound dog is said to be developing quite a following.

The Ramseys, who live on a farm in Fairview during the off-season, say they started bringing Diva to work in February, because they thought she’d be lonely staying at the condo they reside in while in Raleigh.

Since then, she’s shown herself to be a valuable asset, both a diplomat and a crowd-drawer.

“… In a short time, the taffy-colored rescue pup has arguably become the most chased after creature at the legislative building. Walk in on any given day and you’ll see a steady stream of bipartisan visitors knocking on the Ramseys’ office door,” North Carolina Public Radio station WUNC (91.5 FM) reported.

“It certainly opened the door to more visitors, which is good,” said Robin Ramsey.

On building tours for visiting schoolchildren, Diva’s office has become a regular stop — and, we’d guess, one of the more exciting ones.

“I make it a point to stop by,” said Democrat Rick Glazier of Fayetteville. “You can’t leave after playing with Diva and talking to the Ramseys unhappy or in a bad mood, and that is not always true around here.”

Ramsey, a former county commissioner, says Diva helps breaks the ice and cut through frosty exteriors. And he suspects she has helped him garner support for at least a couple of measures he has introduced.

“A lot of this is about relationships, and really, unless you’re a seat-mate with someone, there aren’t a lot of opportunities to reach across the aisle,” he said. “You don’t develop relationships by sitting in a committee meeting. You have to find out about other people’s lives and families and get to know them in more depth.”

Speaker of the House Thom Tillis recently stopped by Ramsey’s office with his boxer, Ike. A spokesman for the speaker reported the get-together was ”like many meetings in this building — more sniffing around than anything else.”

Back home on the family dairy farm, Diva likes to spend her time circling the baby calf pen.

She likes to round things up, Ramsey says, and those skills seem to have translated from barnyard to state house.

(Photo by Jessica Jones / WUNC)

Chica is a happy border collie who lives on a farm in Clay County, Indiana.

Her favorite pastime is playing fetch with her owners Martha and Buddy Knox.

That wouldn’t be news — WTHI-TV notes — were it not for this: She does it without any eyes.

They were surgically removed when she was a pup.

Veterinarians and animal welfare workers today euthanized at least nine of the 300 pit bulls rescued from a dogfighting ring in the Philippines — and they expect to euthanize dozens more — primarily because of there are no facilities in which to rehabilitate them.

Anna Cabrera, of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society, said 17 of the seized dogs had been put down a day after the raids.

Noting that some of the rescued dogs had been seized before from dogfighting operations, Cabrera said she feared many of them — if simply adopted out — could again end up facing “a fate worse than death.”

How many more will still be euthanized depends on their health, behavior, their potential to be rehabilitated, and the animal welfare group’s supply of drugs — reportedly only enough to euthanize 70 animals, the Associated Press reported.

Police arrested eight South Koreans suspected of running an illegal online gambling operations in which players outside the Philippines bet on dogs fighting at the compound. 

Welfare society veterinarian Wilford Almora said many of the pit bulls had injuries from previous fights, including ripped ears and tongues.

He said his group had enough drugs to euthanize 70 dogs, and had put down at least nine Tuesday afternoon with 13 more planned before they finished later in the evening.

“We are not in a hurry. We just want to make sure that the ones we put to sleep are the ones that deserve to be put to sleep based on their medical condition,” he said.

Cabrera said it was not possible to care for all the pit bulls that were rescued and it would be irresponsible to allow the injured animals to be adopted.

Most of the dogs were seized from a 5-acre coffee plantation in San Pablo city, where they were kept in metal fuel drums and tied to heavy steel chains. Police also recovered 30 dogs from an arena in the nearby town of Calauan where a dogfight was about to begin.

More than 300 dogs were rescued in the separate raids. The eight suspects, charged with animal cruelty and gambling, are being turned over to immigration officials.

If convicted of illegal gambling, they face a maximum of 12 years in prison. The charge of animal cruelty carries a penalty of up to two years. No one in the Philippines has ever served time for animal cruelty, the Associated Press reported.

(Photo: Philippine Animal Welfare Society)

A New York man who promised to take a friend’s dog to a farm in the country instead duct taped the dog’s mouth and legs and tossed him in a ditch, state police say.

Shane Morehouse, 52, of Fort Edward, was charged Saturday with animal cruelty and abandoning an animal — both misdemeanors, the Saratogian reported.

Police say the dog belonged to an acquaintance of Morehouse who could no longer care for the dog.

“The dog’s owner said he was going to be released on the farm,” state police Sgt. Chuck Salaway said. “Morehouse apparently changed his mind and left it along the side of the road without any concern over what was going to happen to it.”

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail.

The dog, a 12-year-old malamute mix named Chubby, was taken to a local SPCA, where he was euthanized after he was found to be suffering from an unrelated illness.

When is an animal sanctuary not an animal sanctuary?

When state wildlife officials raid it and begin shooting its fenced-in denizens with shotguns.

Thousands of people have joined a popular campaign on Change.org demanding the North Carolina Wildlife Commission investigate the shooting last month of nine tame deer by its officers on a rehabilitation farm in North Carolina.

The officers shot and killed the deer on Wayne Kinley’s farm in Randolph County, saying they needed to conduct tests on the animals to see if they had Chronic Wasting Disease, an illness that has never been found in North Carolina.

State wildlife officials say the test can’t be conducted on live animals.

According to Fox 8 News, wildlife officials received an anonymous tip in June that Kinley was running a captive deer farm without a license.

They showed up at his farm on September 20, handed him a warrant and proceeded to shoot seven fallow deer and two white-tailed deer with 12-gauge shotguns.

Among those killed were a fawn and a deer that was blind in one eye.

“Deer were running everywhere,” Kinley said. “It was not a sight for anyone to see. They were judge and jury and convicted my deer today within a matter of 30-45 minutes.”

Wildlife officials say state law requires those running captive deer farms to have a license, and that Kinley doesn’t have one.

Kinley said he has been running the rehabilitation farm for 30 years, caring for peacocks, buffalo, kangaroos and, in the past seven years, deer.

“I didn’t know anything was wrong until today. They wouldn’t even give me a chance to plead my case to a court or anyone,” Kinley said.
Kinley received a citation, but said he plans to go to court and fight it.

The petition at Change.org was started by Millie Bowling, a  North Carolina resident.

“I’m a great supporter of the wildlife commission,” said Bowling. ”But they are out of control shooting these animals.”

While the wildlife agents who stormed the property claimed to have a warrant, Kinley’s supporters argue that the warrant did not authorize agents to kill the animals, only to seize them.

“Where were our fourth amendment rights in all this?” asked Jo Henderson, a neighbor who initially raised one of the slain deer before placing it on the rehabilitation farm. “It just breaks my heart. There was no reason to kill those animals, and our rights are being trampled. We’re not going to stand for it.”

Henderson has been collecting petition signatures both online and offline and planned to deliver them — 7,000 as of yesterday — at a wildlife commission meeting today.

“People across the country have been moved by this campaign,” said Corinne Ball, Director of Organizing at Change.org. “This may have happened in a small community in North Carolina, but now folks from all over are paying attention.”

Attention wine-drinking dog owners: There’s an opportunity to enjoy sampling wines with your dog at your side this weekend — and to support a good cause in the process.

The fourth annual Bark and Wine event is Saturday (May 1) from noon to 4 p.m. at the Fiore Winery in Pylesville.

The event, which features wine, dog treats, music and raffles, is being held by Best Friends Fur Ever to raise funds for Fallston Animal Rescue Movement (FARM).

Best Friends, a dog daycare and overnight resort, is part of the foster network for FARM, an organization that has found homes for 8,000 animals.

Tickets are $10 per person, with an additional $5 fee for the wine tasting. For $5 dollars more, you can ride the bus from Best Friends (1009 Philadelphia Rd. in Joppa) to the event with your dog.

If you’re interested, RSVP to Best Friends at 410-671-7529 by April 28th.

(Photo: Painting by Amy Reges, a former wildlife biologist and current Lab lover and artist whose Otter Tail Art studio is located in Burdett, New York.)

A New York dog may have been executed for a crime he didn’t commit.

Suspected in the death of six alpacas at a neighboring farm in Forestburgh, Nubis, a Belgian malinois, was shot by an employee at the farm — five days after the alpacas were found dead.

Now, a report issued by an animal control officer says there’s no evidence connecting Nubis to the alpaca attack.

The dog belonged to Ben Wechsler, neighbor of Stuart Salenger, who owns the farm. The two men have a history of not getting along, according to the Times Herald-Record.

Animal Control Officer Arnold Burger said the likely culprits in the slaying of Salenger’s animals were coyotes, not dogs, and that photographs provided by Salenger are insufficient evidence to confirm the dog was shot in the alpaca pen. The photos show the dog’s body in two locations, he said. Salenger said his farm workers removed the dog from the pen because the body was bothering his animals.

(Photo courtesy of Peter K. Bertine, Jr.)

Two pet dogs were found shot to death Sunday — execution style, authorities said — in Pennsbury Township in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

A woman walking in the woods came upon the bodies of Emma and Luna, laid out tail to tail “like bookends,” along the railroad tracks, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

The dogs had been reported missing Saturday from a family farm three miles from where they were found, according to Rich Britton, spokesman for the Chester County SPCA.

Each had been shot once between the eyes.

“The dogs were placed with their backs to the tracks and their tails towards each other,” Britton said. “These were two young dogs – one was two; the other, a year and a half. It breaks your heart that anyone could do this.”

Neighbors reported seeing a red Ford 150 pickup truck in the area around the time the animals disappeared. Authorities are seeking that vehicle, and ask that anyone with knowledge of it call 610-692-6113, ext. 213.

The pets had the run of a 100-acre farm, Britton said, and there were no known issues with neighbors.

The SPCA is offering a $500 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

A woman in Poland is suspected of fattening up her dogs, then slaughtering them and selling their lard as a health supplement, according to an AFP report.

Polish police were questioning a woman at a farm near Czestochowa, in southern Poland, whose 28 dogs include St. Bernards and several puppies, found living in cages on the farm.

Police also founds bottle of lard, which they are testing to see if it came from dogs.

An animal welfare group tipped off the police after buying some lard at the farm.

Some of the dogs “were overfed to the point of no longer being able to walk,” according to a spokesperson for the organization For Animals.

The For Animals group’s undercover inspector, Renata Mizera, said the farmer had stressed the health benefits of the lard and told her that she herself added a spoonful to her daughter’s evening meal.

The police are checking whether the lard – which was found in bottles in a refrigerator at the woman’s farm – comes from dogs.

The 37-year-old farmer could face up to two years in jail for animal cruelty and distributing an unsafe substance, Poland’s TVN24 reported.

The dogs were seized and are being cared for by a vet while For Animals seeks to find new homes for them.

There’s a creepy story unraveling in Hoosick, New York, where the town’s animal control officer has been charged with unlawfully euthanizing dogs and burying them on his property.

Matthew Beck, 46, a former member of the town council who’s still listed as animal control officer, was charged after a May 27 state police search of his farm revealed “several” dog carcasses.

Since then, Beck has also been charged possession of stolen property in connection with a missing hay rake that was found on his property during the search, the Albany Times Union reports.

Beck is suspected in the disappearance of two dogs reported missing by April Stevens, a local resident. When three of her dogs ran off, and only one returned, she searched for the other two, then put up posters, according to News 10 in New York. After that she contacted Beck, who  told her he had picked up two dogs, but they were of a different breed than her’s.

Later, though, the woman who had handed the dogs over to Beck saw them on a flyer, and told Stevens they were the dogs she turned over to Beck.

Beck told state troopers the carcasses found on the property were not those of the dogs that he had picked up. Those dogs, he said, were turned over to another town resident.

Beck has been charged with filing a false written statement, second-degree forgery, official misconduct as a public servant and larceny, troopers said.