ohmidog!

Animal control officers in Anne Arundel County are seeking the owners of an injured pit bull found last week in Linthicum.

And it’s not so they can hold a reunion.

A citizen called authorities about the dog, found on the 600 block of Andover Road, NBC 4 in Washington reported.

Officers found the dog suffering from multiple wounds — possibly from being used as a bait dog by dog fighters — but described him as affectionate, even though he was barely able to walk.

The Waugh Chapel Animal Hospital offered to treat the dog, who they have named Rocky Road.

Rocky underwent surgery and is now in stable condition. He is  expected to take several weeks to recover, after which he’ll be placed in the care of Tara’s House, a rescue group.

On the day after her abuser was sentenced to three years in prison, a tan pit bull named Michelle has been put up for adoption by the Baltimore Humane Society.

Michelle is the first of what’s known as the “Pit 6” to be cleared for adoption. She was among a group of dogs seized from Larry Alston when he was arrested at a home in the Woodlawn area on charges of animal cruelty and mutilation.

Baltimore County police said there was evidence the dogs had been used for fighting.

Humane Society officials don’t know if Michelle was used in dog fights, but she was apparently used to produced litters of fighters while Alston was living in South Carolina.

She has scars on her nose and above her left eye, and marks on both of her front legs suspected to have been left by the metal grips of a device used to hold her still for forced breeding.

Alston, 37, was charged with 22 counts of violating various animal cruelty laws, including charges of mutilating the animals.

On Monday, he was sentenced in Baltimore County Circuit Court to three years in prison for animal cruelty.

Michelle and Alston’s other surviving dogs spent nearly two years in the Baltimore County animal shelter, as Alston’s criminal case dragged on. They were released late last year to animal advocates, and eventually taken in by the shelter to be rehabilitated.

The Humane Society is still working to rehabilitate and socialize the other dogs, Shelley, Meme, Tippy, Meris and Bridgett.

Michelle is 4 1/2 years old, and shelter officials want to see her go to a home without other dogs, and without young children.

A humane society press release describes her this way:

“Michelle is a petite Staffordshire with a beautiful smile when she greets you at the front of her kennel. The “Pit 6,” five females and one male, were found by the police locked in undersized cages. They are believed to have been used as bait dogs. Bait dogs are typically less tough than others and used as practice targets for dogs training to fight. The “Pit 6” were all emaciated with multiple burn and bite scars. They also showed signs of overbreeding – in other words they were repeatedly raped. In dogfighting rings it is not unusual for bait dogs to endure severe pain. Frequently they are wounded, drowned, electrocuted, slammed to the ground, shot, or left to die a slow and painful death from their open wounds.”

The humane society added, “It’s always cause for celebration when an abused dog gets a second chance at a good life, but in the case of the Pit 6 it’s a landmark. That’s because animals held as evidence in severe animal abuse and dog fighting cases are typically euthanized once the case is complete.”

In the case of the Pit 6, animal rescue advocates and Baltimore Humane Society were able to convince the Baltimore County Attorney, State’s Attorney, and Baltimore County Animal Control that the dogs deserved a second chance.

“Michelle demonstrates that even dogs who come from such violent, abusive backgrounds can become loving family pets. Baltimore Humane Society hopes she and the remaining Pit 6 will be used as an example for dog fighting and other animal abuse cases across the nation.”

For more information about Michelle and other dogs at the Baltimore Humane Society, visit www.bmorehumane.org or call 410-833-8848.

(Photo by Mary Swift, Mary Swift Photography)

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.

Brieann Masenior has saved many a dog, but none from this kind of peril.

A fire this week destroyed her home, all her family’s belongings, and the offices of Ruff Life Rescue in Rising Sun, Maryland. 

Masenior, who regularly saves dogs from a different kind of fate, ran into the burning house at least three times to rescue the dogs in her care.

Now, according to Facebook posts from friends, she and her family are staying in a motel, searching for some temporary housing and trying to put their lives back together.

Ruff Life Rescue is a group of volunteer animal lovers who provide sanctuary and seek to re-home abandoned and stray dogs, and who regularly pulls dogs scheduled for euthanization from animal shelters.

“We focus on the most dire need cases, where they are on there last day at the shelter and have no other means of rescue,” the Ruff Life website explains.

Ruff Life Rescue also operates a pet food bank, in association with the Ray of Hope Mission Center  in Port Deposit.

Donations can be sent to Ruff Life Rescue, P.O. Box 256, Rising Sun, MD 21911.

They can also be made via chip-in.

Leave it to the Sun to melt the Snowman.

The Baltimore Sun reports that Frosty the Snowman — so rudely removed from the Chestertown Christmas parade — has a history of tangling with police, and that Saturday’s arrest, after he allegedly kicked at a police dog and butted his snowman head against an officer, was his fifth this year

The man beneath the Frosty costume, Kevin Michael Walsh, 52, of Chestertown, has performed off an on at the Christmas parade for 10 years.

But this year alone, according to the Sun, he has been convicted of “telephone misuse” for calling police in April and pretending to be a CNN reporter, and found guilty of disorderly conduct for standing outside the Town Hall in May banging pots and pans because he couldn’t get inside. Both incidents led to suspended jail sentences and probation.

The parade-related charges, though — three counts of second-degree assault and one count of resisting arrest — could, upon conviction, carry a sentence of as much as 33 years in prison.

“He likes to agitate police,” Deputy Police Chief William H. Dwyer Jr. told the Sun. “He’s just a town nuisance.”

Walsh, who once ran a watch business, describes himself as a political activist “exercising his right to free speech in a small town where officials don’t like being challenged,” according to the Sun.

Walsh said that upon noticing a police dog at the parade, he approached patrolman James H. Walker, who was standing on the corner with his K9, Henzo.

“I said, ‘Well, that’s not right to have a dog at the parade,’” Walsh told the Sun. “I don’t think a children’s parade should have police dogs.”

Police reports say Walsh made a “kicking motion” toward the dog; Walsh says he merely lost his balance in the costume.

After putting Henzo in his police car, the patrolman returned and removed Walsh from the parade — ostensibly to counsel him on the wisdom of antagonizing police dogs.

Deputy Chief Dwyer said Walsh then started “cussing” and became “verbally abusive” toward Walker, at which time he was arrested. He was released on his own recognizance later that day.

A man dressed up as Frosty the Snowman for the annual Christmas parade in Chestertown, Md., was removed from the festivities Saturday and charged with assault and disorderly conduct.

Police said the man beneath the costume — identified as Kevin Michael Walsh, 52, of Chestertown — scuffled with officers and kicked a police dog.

Sgt. John A. Dolgos told The Star Democrat of Easton (registration is required to read the article) that Walsh became agitated when a dog-handling officer tried to escort him away from the crowd.

Walsh said the officer began giving him a hard time after he made a joke about the police dog’s presence at the parade.

Walsh has dressed as Frosty in the Eastern Shore town’s Christmas parade for at least 10 years.

(Photo: Easton Star-Democrat)

BARCStoberfest is this Saturday (Oct. 22) at Patterson Park.

K-9 demonstrations, adoptable pets from area shelters and rescues, pet product vendors, food, music and costume contests are all part of the free, day-long event, held by Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter (BARCS)

In addition, the Orioles bird will be there to promote the 2012 BARCS Orioles calendar and have his picture taken with people and their pets.

The centerpiece of the event is the annual Strut Your Mutt walk, starting at noon.

Participants may register for the walk at the event, starting at 11 a.m., or online, by clicking here.

The top prize for the walker who raises the most money is a trip for two to New York City.

In the pet costume contest, categories include most original costume, most Baltimore costume, and best dog and person look-alikes.

The rain date for BARCStoberfest is Sunday, October 23.

If you’re looking to do some good for dogs and other animals — as, of course, the typical ohmidog! reader always is — here’s an opportunity.

Maryland Votes for Animals (MVFA) is looking for people who want to get involved in the political process in hopes of making 2012 an even more successful year for animal protection legislation in the state.

MVFA is an all volunteer organization working to improve the lives of animals by winning passage of animal protection laws in the Maryland General Assembly.

In 2011, MVFA played a leading role in the passage of five major animal protection bills making it the most successful year ever for animal protection legislation in Maryland.

Volunteers are needed in every legislative district in Maryland to call, write or visit legislators; staff membership recruitment tables at events; and assist with fundraising.

The organization is also looking for volunteers who are willing to play leadership roles in building a humane voting block by becoming district captains. Read more »

The Maryland SPCA has launched a new television and radio campaign to promote pet adoptions and encourage support of its work on behalf of animals.

The campaign will run for a month on local television stations, and a radio version will be broadcast on WLIF-FM.

Everyone who signs up to make a monthly gift during the campaign will receive a ”Feel the warmth of a cold nose” bumper sticker and will be enrolled in the SPCA’s Faithful Friends group.

As a monthly donor, you choose the amount to have automatically withdrawn from your account or charged to your credit card. There is no transaction charge, and you can cancel at any time. To learn more about being a monthly donor, visit this page.

Supporters can also enroll by email, or make a one-time donation.

The retrial of twin brothers Travers and Tremayne Johnson, accused of setting a pit bull on fire in Baltimore way back in 2009, has been delayed again.

Now it’s scheduled for Nov. 18, which will be nearly two and a half years after the incident.

Attempts to save the young female pit bull, later named Phoenix, were unsuccessful and she died five days later.

Their first trial ended with a hung jury when jurors could not reach a unanimous decision. One juror believed the evidence presented didn’t prove they were guilty.

Prosecutors filed charges against the brothers again, and the new trial was scheduled for May, then postponed until September.

The case led to the creation of an anti-animal abuse task force by then-mayor Sheila Dixon. That task force has since become a city commission.