ohmidog!

A dog on a hot warehouse roof, spotted by a rider on a commuter train, has become a source of controversy in Miami, with some animal activists saying he needs to be rescued, and warehouse officials saying he’s only doing his job.

“No animal should live on top of a roof … a scalding hot roof,” said Amy Roman Restucci with Abandoned Dogs of the Everglades, who posted an account about the dog on Facebook.

“We do not know why this dog is up there, but we thought of a few different possible scenarios, and can not think of one that would be acceptable for this dog to be there. Not knowing the circumstances, we are torn as to how and go about helping this dog without possibly putting him in more danger or dooming him to death by animal control if called.

“… One thing we do know is that this is NO PLACE FOR A DOG!! The temperatures on that roof alone can cause this dog a heat stroke. We want the dog removed from that roof immediately!

Local 10 flew its helicopter above the building, spotting the dog on the roof. There are some shaded areas, and a doghouse, and several bowls nearby, it reported.

Neither the Miami Fire Department or the Miami-Dade County animal control department planned to get involved, saying it’s not against the law to keep a dog outside, as long as it has food, water, and shelter.

Raudel Hernandez, a worker for G&G Produce, told Local 10 that the dog on the roof, named Burro, is one of two that serve to protec the building from thieves. Burglars have broken in three times, stealing copper wire from the air conditioning units.

A petition to “save the dog on the roof” has been posted on Change.org

WSVN-TV –

A small dog who fell off Miami’s Brickell Avenue drawbridge as it was being opened was found alive and well the next day.

The mixed breed dog, wearing a pink sweater when she was thought to have plunged into the water, was found in a restricted area below the bridge. Bridge operators say the dog apparently landed on a cement slab.

David Bernstein stopped at the Brickell Avenue drawbridge Tuesday night and saw the dog going across it as it began opening.

He said he tried calling the dog back, and, along with other motorists, who were yelling and honking, tried to alert the bridge operator.

But the bridge continued rising and the dog continued across it.

The dog slid and appeared to have fallen into the Miami River.

Bernstein spent the next hour searching for the dog, without success. On Wednesday, he returned and talked to a drawbridge operator who checked the service areas under the bridge.

“And she said, the dog’s in there, five stories down,” Bernstein told the Miami Herald, “and I was just, I was blown away.”

The dog was taken to a veterinarian, who cleaned her up and pronounced her healthy. No owners have yet come forward.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich yesterday signed a bill that repeals the 25-year-old state law that automatically declared pit bulls vicious.

Once the new law takes effect, in 90 days, shelters will be able to allow them to be adopted, owners will no longer be required to buy additional liability insurance and pit bulls will be free of the restrictions imposed when the state declared them, based on their looks, a public enemy.

House Bill 14 was overwhelmingly approved 67-30 by the state House on Feb. 8.

In addition to dropping any reference to specific breeds, the new law redefines what makes a dog  “vicious.”

The old law defined a vicious dog as one that, without provocation, has seriously injured a person, killed another dog, or belongs to the general breed of pit bull.

Dogs so labeled required additional liability insurance, restraints and were subject to other restrictions.

The new law revises the definitions for vicious, as well as the categories of “dangerous” or “nuisance” dogs. It also requires a dog warden to provide proof of why a dog deserves such a classification, and creates a process for dog owners to appeal law enforcement’s labeling of their dogs.

“A well-meaning but poorly conceived law is no more, and it represents a victory for Ohio dogs and their people,” said Gregory Castle, chief executive officer of Best Friends Animal Society, a Utah-based organization that opposes laws that discriminate against certain breeds of dog.

“It ends the practice of causing undue hardship to thousands of responsible owners of entirely friendly, properly supervised, well-socialized pets,” he added.

Best Friends said it hopes that the Florida’s legislature follows suit, and votes to change a similarly archaic law in Miami-Dade County, the only county in Florida where pit bulls are banned.

“The change in Ohio law truly signals a new day for dogs that for years have been discriminated against just because of their looks — the same type of discrimination that’s been going on in Miami-Dade County for years,” said Ledy VanKavage, senior legislative attorney for Best Friends.

Legislation that would repeal the Miami pit bull ban is under consideration in Florida, and recently passed through two more committees.

Florida outlawed canine profiling in 1990, but Miami-Dade County’s 1989  pit bull ban was grandfathered in. Hundreds of dogs and puppies are seized and killed in Miami-Dade every year because of their appearance, Best Friends says.

Ohio was the only state in the country to declare a type of dog vicious, based solely on appearance with no consideration of behavior.

(Photo: A smiling pit bull, from the website Three Little Pitties)

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.”

Police and firefighters rescued a dog in south Florida Monday whose head was trapped in a discarded bait cooler — possibly for more than a week.

Passersby spotted the dog in western Miami-Dade County and called authorities.

Police, firefighters and animal control officers joined in the rescue, injecting the dog with Valium to sedate her, then using a reciprocating saw to enlarge the hole in the fiberglass boat cooler, TV station WTSP reported.

An animal control officer said that, based on the severity of the dog’s wounds, she might have been trapped for a week.

The dog is a 40-pound female Labrador mix, according to Firehouse.com. She appeared to have recently given birth, authorities said, and her extra body fat may have helped keep her alive. No puppies were found in the area.

The dog was taken to Miami-Dade Animal Services, where she was treated by veterinarians.  She has been named Lucky and will be put up for adoption.

A walk in a park turned fatal for a Florida man’s dog, which was apparently electrocuted last week when he jumped in a lake while playing fetch.

Victor Garcia was walking with his 6-month old Labrador retriever, Ruger, Wednesday afternoon at the Perrine Wayside Dog Park in south Miami-Dade when he threw an object into the park’s man-made lake for the dog to fetch,  CBS4 reported

After the dog jumped in, Garcia said, he began acting strangely.

“All of a sudden, as he got closer to the center of the fountain, he started screaming, yelping, bloody murder,” said Garcia.

Garcia said when he ran into the lake to rescue he too was zapped by what felt like electric shocks.

“I just couldn’t pass this wall of electricity and I had to watch my best friend drown right in front of my face, essentially, I mean that dog is my whole entire world to me, he’s the reason I wake up in the morning.”

Garcia didn’t require hospitalization, but his dog was killed.

Park officials say the fountain in the center of the lake was turned off, but apparently it was still sending an electric current into the water. Electricians have removed the fountain to inspect it.

Kids aren’t the  only ones climbing aboard the school bus these days in Miami.

Totally Dog, a day camp for dogs in southwest Miami, sends a yellow school bus to pick up its campers — and from what I can see in this video they seem to behave at least as good as schoolchildren.

Dog trainer Elena Sweet opened Totally Dog in 1999. Her husband Jeremy drives the bus. Owners pay about $45 a day for camp.

The trial began yesterday for a former Miami-Dade police officer charged with killing a K-9 with a series of kicks.

Duke, a Belgian Malinois, died in 2006 after collapsing during a training exercise with handler Sgt. Allen Cockfield, according to the Miami Herald.

Cockfield is charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty and a felony count of killing a police dog. If convicted, he faces possible prison time and the loss of his state police certification. Cockfield contends any blows he might have administered were in self defense.

“He was simply trying to save himself,” defense attorney Douglas Hartman said.

Authorities arrested Cockfield, 55, in 2007 after a one-year investigation by Miami-Dades Police Department’s internal affairs unit. Cockfield spent more than two decades as a canine handler with the department, which has since fired him.

Miami-Dade prosecutor Isis Perez told jurors yesterday that Duke was not obeying commands during a training exercise, prompting Cockfield to lift the dog up by its leash and kick it three to five times.

“He stiffened his hind legs, shaking as he was going into some sort of seizure, and a few seconds later he became numb, and that was it,” a fellow police officer who witnessed the incident testified.

Cockfield’s attorney disputed that account, saying the dog was behaving aggressively and his client was trying to protect himself.