ohmidog!

A homeless Rhodesian Ridgeback mix being walked by a  volunteer came to her aid when she was attacked on a path behind the Friends of Strays animal shelter in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The 38-pound dog, named Mabeline, scared the attacker off, allowing the 17-year-old girl to escape.

Volunteering at the shelter on a recent Saturday, the girl was chased, grabbed by the hair and pinned down before Mabeline scared the attacker away.

Michael Bacon, a registered sexual predator, was arrested, WTSP-10 in Florida reported.

Since the attack, Mabeline has been adopted. Her new owner, Mary Callahan, had no idea what the dog had done, until 10 News told her.

“I looked at my dog and I thought, ‘You are a hero,’” Callahan said.

The shelter said they are no longer allowing volunteers to walk dogs down the path where the attack happened.

Firefighters searching for an accident scene along State Road 84 in Florida were having no luck — until a German shepherd appeared out of the darkness and showed them the way.

The shepherd came out of nowhere, limping down the side of the road.

When he spotted the firefighters, he changed direction, leading them for nearly a quarter of a mile to the body of his owner.

“I think the dog definitely meant to lead them there,” Davie Batallion Chief Robert Belizaire told the Sun Sentinel. ”I think he was out there looking for some help.”

At the scene, Simon circled his owner twice. He licked him and, getting no response, jumped in the car and waited.

Authorities say Simon’s owner, Gregory Todd Travers, 41, died Saturday night when his car slammed into a bridge support and rolled over on S.R. 84.

Simon was taken to Broward County’s animal shelter, where a woman identifying herself as Travers’ wife picked him up.

“A good shoot” is how police in Pembroke Pines, Florida, are describing the shooting of Baxter, an Australian shepherd officers opened fire on outside his owner’s home.

The 6-year-old Australian Shepherd was shot at least three times Friday night inside the gated Lido Isle neighborhood.

Police went to the house after receiving a call from a citizen who reported the dog was loose in front of the owner’s house.

The dog’s owner, Frank Jones, said Baxter was already back inside the house when police arrived, but the front door was open and the dog ran out.

His son, Cameron Jones, 13, went outside to get Baxter, who was barking at officers. “They said get your dog or we’re gonna shoot him,” the boy told Local 10 News. Two seconds later, according to the boy, they did.

Police officials said the dog bit an officer’s shoe.

Baxter was still alive Saturday (you can see video of him, not looking too ferocious, in this news report). He was being treated at a Cooper City animal clinic.

A Pembroke Pines police spokesman said the shooting was justified: “It was a good shoot,” said Pembroke Pines Police Sgt. Chris Chacon-Chang. “The officer was being attacked.”

A Florida man will serve 40 days in jail for tying a 30-pound dumbbell to a dog’s neck and tossing him in the river.

Willie T. Bell, 41, of Palmetto, told police he was trying to make the dog stronger.

He pleaded no contest to the third-degree felony earlier this week, the Bradenton Herald reported.

Police in April spotted the two-year-old pit bull mix, named Blackie, in the Manatee River, not far from where Bell was fishing.

According to Palmetto police officer Micah Mathews’ report, the dogs snout was sticking up as it tried to tread water.

“Mr. Bell said he was trying to make the dog stronger,” Mathews wrote.
“The dog was unable to touch the ground and was not able to move the weight,” the officer wrote. “When I arrived I could see only the nose of the dog out of the water.”

On the officer’s request, Bell brought the dog to shore. Bell told the officer the dog had been swimming in place for about 15 minutes.

Mathews asked Bell the same question that’s probably running through your mind right now: Would he like to be anchored to a dumbbell and left in the water like that? Bell replied, “Hell no,” the police report states.

Bell was not the dog’s owner, animal control officials said.

The dog was returned to its original owner and animal control officials said it suffered no lasting physical damage.

The Marlins have welcomed Mark Buehrle to Miami, but his dogs are another matter.

One of the former White Sox pitcher’s four dogs is a pit bull, and “pit bull types” are banned in Miami-Dade.

So Buehrle, his wife Jamie, their two young children and four dogs are residing in nearby Broward County — but making their opinions about the discriminatory law known.

As animal lovers and spokespeople for Best Friends Animal Society, the Buehrles are featured in a new public service announcement in support of legislation (HB 997 /SB 1322) that would overturn the breed-specific law, passed in 1989.

Miami-Dade is the only county in Florida with such a ban, due to an exemption in state law, Best Friends says.

Florida State Representative Carlos Trujillo and Senator Jim Norman are leading the legislative effort, along with the help of Best Friends Animal Society. The bill has yet to be placed on the committee agenda in the Senate.

Jamie Buehrle also has started a Change.org petition urging support of the legislation.

In her blog, she said Slater, their adopted 18-month-old American Staffordshire terrier, is a member of the family:

“We had always agreed to make sure that wherever Mark ended up playing, Slater would be welcome. So, when Mark had the opportunity to sign with the Miami Marlins we were harshly confronted with Miami-Dade County’s 20-year-old pit bull terrier ban and immediately knew we would have to live a county over in Broward.

“Mark and I are fortunate to have the resources to accommodate Slater,” she wrote. “But it breaks our hearts that so many families are faced with losing their family pet simply because a local government has deemed their dog ‘dangerous’ based on nothing more than appearance. We can’t imagine ever having to give Slater up simply because a city says we can’t have him. Not only would we be distraught at that prospect, but our kids would be devastated.”

A spokesperson for Best Friends Animal Society says the ban — it applies to any dog resembling a pit bull, without any consideration of a dog’s behavior — causes severe hardship to hundreds of responsible owners of friendly, properly supervised, well-socialized pets.

Ledy VanKavage, senior legislative attorney for Best Friends, says breed-discriminatory laws are expensive and ineffective, citing a study by the economic research firm John Dunham and Associates that estimates Miami-Dade County spends more than $3 million a year to enforce the current law.

“In these tough economic times, laws that waste precious taxpayer dollars while failing to accomplish what they set out to do should be repealed,” said VanKavage. “The simple truth is breed is not a factor in bites. Many studies, along with the experience of Best Friends Animal Society, show that breed discriminatory laws are ineffective and result in the deaths of hundreds of pets in Miami-Dade each year.”

Twelve states, including Florida, prohibit canine profiling, but Florida’s law grandfathered Miami-Dade’s provision. HB 997/SB 1322 would give pet owners in Miami-Dade the same right as pet owners throughout the state.

Ohio, the only state that designates a breed of dog as vicious, is in the process of repealing its breed discriminatory law, with a Senate vote on HB 14 expected next week.

“This is America,” VanKavage said. “Responsible dog owners should be allowed to own whatever type of dog they choose, regardless of appearance. Reckless owners should be prevented from owning any dog.”

In a tragic story out of Florida, a recovered dog is providing a lone note of solace to a grieving family.

Barney, a Vizsla, was jogging with his owner, Donna Chen, a mother of three, when she was killed by a drunk driver.

Somehow, Barney ended up in the Gulf of Mexico after the accident, where he was found by a kayaker, about a half mile offshore from Sarasota.

“I thought maybe he had fallen off a boat or something” Rory O’Connor told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News. “I knew it was probably trouble, because you know, he was coming straight toward me and he had a look of terror in his eyes.”

O’Connor, of Bellingham, Wash., inadvertently recorded the rescue and put it on YouTube, before knowing anything about the rest of the story:

Through his microchip, Barney was reunited with the Chen family, members of which say his presence is helping them through the grief.

“This is our one piece, our one link to Donna,” said Chen’s sister-in-law, Colette MacPhail. “For Barney, he’s going to have his own adjustments. He’s just a piece that came back for us.”

A 7-year-old dachshund flew first class from Florida to be reunited with her 14-year-old owner.

Abby Mason hadn’t seen the dog, named Addison, since June, when, on a visit to Florida, the dog got away from relatives and disappeared.

Addison was picked up as stray in Tampa, and Hillsborough County Animal Services identified her through a microchip.

That just left the problem of getting the dog to Missouri, but another dachshund lover stepped forward to help with that.

Crista Banks, after hearing of the dog’s plight, used her Skymiles to escort Addison on the the flight to Kansas City — and, even though dachshunds don’t really need the extra leg room, Delta upgraded them to first class.

(Photo: Keith Myers / The Kansas City Star)

Another hunter has been shot by his own hunting dog.

Billy E. Brown, 78, was on a hunting trip near Wesley Chapel, Florida, when his dog triggered a loaded rifle. He was shot in the thigh and remains hospitalized, in critical condition, after surgery.

Authorities said Brown and a fellow hunter were driving down a rough road in a pickup truck, with Brown’s dog, Eli, sitting between them. Eli got excited and bumped a Browning .308-caliber rifle, which discharged.

Brown is general manager and executive vice president of the Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative.

Just over a week ago, a duck hunter in Utah was shot when his dog triggered a 12-gauge shotgun resting in his boat.

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The Humane Society of the United States has released the results of a three-month investigation into Purebred Breeders LLC, thought to be the nation’s largest online seller of puppies.

The investigation was featured on NBC’s Today show (above) this morning.

HSUS says Purebred Breeders gets at least some of the dogs it brokers from inhumane commercial breeding facilities — puppy mills where investigators found dogs stacked in cramped wire cages, with no exercise, veterinary care, socialization, or human companionship.

HSUS attorneys, in partnership with Florida firm Leopold~Kuvin, have also filed suit in Florida state court on behalf of HSUS members and other consumers who received sick or dying dogs from Purebred Breeders.

The HSUS investigation found that Purebred Breeders owns nearly 800 websites designed to mislead consumers into believing that they are dealing with local breeders when they shop online for a puppy.

Former employees told HSUS investigators that the company sells approximately 20,000 puppies every year, using hard-sell, deceptive tactics encouraged by company executives.

Despite the company’s guarantee of a “triple health check,” puppies purchased through Purebred Breeders have arrived ill, and died after arriving at new homes.

Often, though the company portrays itself as local, the dogs are flown long distances directly from the breeding facility to the consumer.

“Purebred Breeders reaps massive profits by purchasing puppies from puppy mills around the country and selling them at a huge mark-up to dog lovers who would never knowingly buy a puppy mill dog,” said Jonathan Lovvorn, senior vice president for animal protection litigation and investigations at The HSUS. “Internet puppy sellers like Purebred Breeders deceive consumers about the origins of the puppies they sell, and as a result unsuspecting families suffer great expense caring for sick dogs, or the terrible anguish of losing a beloved family pet.”

“Our goal in this lawsuit is to expose the deceptive practices of Purebred Breeders and achieve justice for the consumers and animals that the company mistreats,” said Ted Leopold, the lead attorney in the case.

HSUS says a federal law has been proposed that would help crack down on companies like Purebred Breeders.

Congress is considering the Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety (PUPS) Act (S. 707 and H.R. 835), introduced by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and David Vitter, R-La., in the Senate, and Reps. Jim Gerlach, R-Pa., Sam Farr, D-Calif., Bill Young, R-Fla., and Lois Capps, D-Calif., in the House.

The PUPS Act would close a loophole in the federal Animal Welfare Act regulations that allow puppy mills selling directly to consumers over the Internet to escape basic oversight and inspection. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is also considering taking action to regulate large-scale commercial dog breeders that sell directly to consumers online.

Any consumer who purchased a sick puppy from an online seller is encouraged to fill out the complaint form at humanesociety.org/puppycomplaint.

When a Lab mix ate $1,000 of his owners’ money — intended for a car payment — the Florida couple was able to make him cough up $900 worth.

Christy Lawrenson says she left ten $100 dollar bills stuffed in an envelope at her home in St. Augustine one day a couple of weeks ago.

When her husband Joe came home during a lunch break to get the money and pay the bill, the envelope was gone, according to the St. Augustine Record.

“I saw one $100 dollar bill almost ripped in half on the floor,” Joe Lawrenson said. “I found like three or four pieces around the house. I thought somebody broke in originally.”

But there was only one explanation: Tuity, a four-year-old mutt they’ve had since she was a puppy.

“She ate the bills, the envelope … everything,” Christy Lawrenson said.

Joe Lawrenson fed Tuity a hydrogen peroxide mixture to induce vomiting, waited, then the family began putting the pieces together. Only one of the $100 bills remained intact, and the Lawrensons, with tape, were able to reassemble another $800 worth.

The bank refused to accept what remained of the last one, because it was missing serial numbers.

Instead, the Lawrensons sent it to the U.S. Treasury along with details about what happened in hopes of getting a new one.