ohmidog!

Aside from both having seven letters, Ireland and Arizona wouldn’t seem to be that easily confused — one is green, one is not; one is on the other side of the Atlantic and one is on this side.

But, four days before St. Patrick’s Day, a dog destined for Phoenix was accidentally put on a flight to Ireland.

United Airlines realized the mistake even before the dog, named Hendrix, landed at the airport in Shannon.

Once he did, he was bathed, fed, and put on a flight back to Newark.

Edith Lombardo-Albach of Staten Island, N.Y., told ABCNews.com that Hendrix, a six-year-old English springer spaniel was scheduled to arrive in Phoenix Thursday evening on a United flight from Newark.

But seven minutes before the flight was supposed to land, she received a phone call telling her that Hendrix would not be arriving in Arizona.

“Originally, I thought the dog had died and I started screaming,” she said.

An airline representative told Lombardo-Albach that her dog was put on the wrong flight, and was destined for Ireland. United told her that once Hendrix arrived in Shannon, they would send him back.

“The dog had already gone seven hours to Ireland, and now the dog has a two-hour layover and then a seven-hour flight to Newark,” she said. “I was insane.”

The dog was flown back to New Jersey on Friday morning, and Lombardo-Albach was waiting. She stayed with him at the airport until he boarded his flight for Phoenix, where the family is moving.

Lombardo-Albach said Hendrix was hesitant to get back in his crate for the next leg of the flight — and who could blame him?

A United Airlines spokeswoman said the airline regretted the mistake: ”We are reviewing the circumstances surrounding the situation and will take steps to prevent this from happening again.  Hendrix’s experience is not typical of the service we provide to the more than 100,000 pets who travel with us every year.”

United Airlines offered Lombardo-Albach a refund for the dog’s flight.

The animal shelter in Cleveland, Tenn., is under fire after euthanizing a dog days before it was to be picked up for adoption.

Austin Rhoades met Delilah, a Lab mix, Friday at the Cleveland Animal Shelter and filled out paperwork to adopt the dog.

He paid the adoption fee and agreed to come back Monday to pick up the dog after she received the necessary vaccinations.

But by Monday morning, Delilah had been euthanized.

When he arrived at the shelter, staff brought out another dog instead, Rhoades said. “We asked them had they put our dog down and they said yes.”

Animal Control Director Gene Smith told WRCB in Chattanooga that it was ”an honest mistake.”

He said Delilah was mistaken for a similar dog, and that that disciplinary action was being taken against the kennel worker responsible.

Animal rescuer Beth Foster said it wasn’t the first time that has happened: “There have been several occasions where we have said we are coming to get that animal in the morning. We went and it was dead.” Foster is part of a group called Cleveland For A No Kill City, which organized last month and is calling for a change in the shelter’s euthanization and adoption policies.

“We need to change this culture of our local animal control to one about saving lives and facilitating adoption, instead of kill and dispose, which is where we are now,” Foster said. She and others are pushing for a policy change that would increase the three-day holding period before strays could be put down.

Smith says the shelter complies with all state guidelines, and that any change in policy would have to be approved by the police department.

In other bad news for dogs, the Cleveland City Council announced this week that a special fund that has been used to reduce the cost of adoptions has run out of money, meaning the $50 fee will probably go back to as much as $100.

Michael Paxton says he and his Australian cattle dog, Cisco, were playing Frisbee in his backyard when a police officer approached.

The officer, he says, pointed a gun at him and told him to put his hands in the air. That was about the time Cisco ran over and started barking at the officer, KXAN reports.

Paxton says he assured the officer that his dog would not hurt him, but when Cisco approached the officer fired, killing the dog with one shot.

The entire incident took place Saturday afternoon on Paxton’s property in Austin.

While there are reports that the officer, answering a domestic disturbance call, responded to the wrong house, Austin police would neither confirm nor deny that over the weekend, saying only that they were reviewing the incident.

Paxton and friends, meanwhile, have set up a  Justice For Cisco Facebook page that has more than 14,000 likes.

APD spokesman Anthony Hipolito said an investigation is continuing, and told the Austin American-Statesman, “Don’t believe everything you hear.”

Paxton insists the officer had no reason to question him or shoot his dog.

“He had a Taser. He had pepper spray. I don’t understand why, in broad daylight, he pulled a gun on me. I wasn’t running. I wasn’t hiding,” Paxton told ABCNews.com today. “I was just saying, ‘I live here.’ I was panicking. I was afraid for my life.”

Paxton said the officer said he was responding to report of a man choking a woman. Paxton does not have a girlfriend and believes the report came from his neighbor’s house.

Paxton said the officer did not apologize; nor did a sergeant who arrived and told Paxton the officer was within his rights to shoot the dog. Paxton said he has not heard from the police since the incident.

A DeKalb County police officer responding to a domestic dispute shot and killed a family’s dog Tuesday night.

That happens far too often, but this time there’s an even sadder twist — he was at the wrong address.

The officer went to Bobbie Currie’s home on Silva Court around 9 p.m. in response to a domestic dispute call that possibly involved an armed person, Atlanta’s Channel 2 Action News reported.

When the family’s German shepherd lunged at the officer, he shot and killed the dog, even though it was on a chain in the garage. He then pointed his gun at Currie’s husband, Anthony.

“I said, ‘Why you shoot my dog?’ And he said, ‘Well, I’ll blow your brains out,’” Anthony Currie said.

A DeKalb police supervisor sent to the scene said the officer made an error.

“Subsequent investigation determined that the actual address that he was looking for was actually across the street,” DeKalb police Lt. Dane Cunningham said.

Moose, the bull mastiff who was mistakenly put up for adoption after biting a child at the Kendall County animal control shelter in Illinois, was euthanized yesterday morning.

Moose bit a 6-year-old boy at the county animal shelter in Yorkville on July 3, and the head of Kendall County animal control told officials the dog was euthanized after that incident.

Last week, though, it was revealed that the shelter accidentally euthanized the wrong bull mastiff, and that Moose was adopted by a couple in nearby LaSalle County. When officials found out Friday that Moose was still alive, the animal control administrator was put on leave, and officials asked the family to return the dog.

Moose was returned and euthanized yesterday, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Moose, who had bitten two people before biting the boy, had bitten another person since he was adopted — a neighbor of the couple that adopted him.

After initially telling officials and reporters the dog had been euthanized, the director of animal control, Christine Johnson, admitted Friday at a special meeting of the Kendall County Board’s animal control committee that he had not been.

Johnson was placed on administrative leave after the meeting, and her future employment is scheduled to be discussed today.

July was a bad month for the Kendall County animal control department in Illinois.

First, on July 3, a bull mastiff in its care, named Moose, bit a 6-year-old boy visiting the shelter with his family.

Then, intending to euthanize Moose, the shelter accidentally euthanized a different bull mastiff.

Then, not realizing its earlier mistake, Moose was accidentally adopted out to a young couple.

Christine Johnson, the warden of Kendall County animal control, has been placed on administrative leave, Animal Control Committee chairman Anne Vickery told the Chicago Tribune.

Moose bit the boy a month ago at the county animal shelter and “we had every reason to believe” the dog had been euthanized, Vickery said.

Vickery said the series of mistakes came to light during a special meeting of the animal control committee Friday, when Johnson admitted that the wrong mastiff had been euthanized and the mastiff that bit the 6-year-old had been adopted.

Vickery said officials were trying to get Moose back from the family that adopted him.

The boy who was bitten was taken to the hospital for treatment of a bite wound to his cheek. An animal control employee told the deputies the dog was kept in a part of the shelter that had both employee-only signs and others warning visitors to keep their hands and fingers out of the cages.

Having spent an inordinate amount of time last summer seeking and finding kudzu growing in the shape of dogs, we can’t help but pass on to you reports of Jesus being sighted in the kudzu.

This utility pole — in Kinston, North Carolina, about 90 minutes east of Raleigh — has been attracting attention in the last week from people who see in it a strong resemblance to Jesus on the cross.

And who are we to argue — especially with our addiction to kudzu dogs?

Kent Hardison, who goes by the pole every day on his way to work at Ma’s Hotdog House, told the Free Press of Kinston that he considered spraying weed killer on it when he first saw it, but then thought better of it.

“I glanced at it, and it looks like Jesus,” Hardison said. “I thought, ‘You can’t spray Jesus with Roundup.’”

Hardison said some of his customers think the vine might be an indication that God is watching over the region — and he thinks that’s possible. As he noted, there are some similarities between kudzu and Jesus.

“It doesn’t matter what you do, it is going to be around,” he said. “Ain’t that a lot like Jesus?”

And, as one news report pointed out, The Gospel of John quotes Jesus as saying “I am the true vine.”

The blog of John (different John) carried repeated reports last summer — as Ace and I criss-crossed America — of kudzu growing in the shape of dogs.

Based on our vast experience, and being — while a disciple of dog — an afficianado of kudzu, I can tell you that Kudzu Jesus isn’t kudzu, despite what’s being reported by news media around the world.

At the time, spending hours seeking out and photographing kudzu growing in the shape of dogs, I questioned what had become of my life — how a prize-winning journalist had been reduced to pursuing such a trivial diversion. But now it all pays off, as I can warn the world of a false prophet.

Kudzu Jesus is actually Trumpet Vine Jesus.

To its credit, The Free Press, which broke the story of Kudzu Jesus, corrected itself today, reporting that “multiple sources” have confirmed “that the Christ-like vine on a pole about one mile south of Kinston on U.S. 258 South, is actually Trumpet Vine — a wild vine native to Southeastern U.S.”

Both a local historian and an agriculture extension agent told the newspaper that trumpet vine — named for its trumpet-shaped flowers — is what’s growing up the pole.

Don’t be fooled by Trumpet Vine Jesus; wait until the real kudzu saviour comes along — and I’m sure, in time, he will.

(Top photo: Charles Buchanan / Daily Free Press)
(Bottom photo: John Woestendiek / ohmidog!)

After its news reports blamed two pit bulls for the mauling Saturday of a 7-year-old girl, ABC2 News in Baltimore took steps to correct the error.

But take a look at the news report (above) and see if you agree with me – that they only compounded it in this story touted as “the real truth about dangerous dogs.”

Rather than clear the name of pit bulls, they besmirch that of American bulldogs, lumping them in with pit bulls and saying they share the same “aggressive” traits and legendary jaw power – or “muscles of mastication” as one vet calls it.

“They have muscles of mastication. They have muscles in their jaws that are so strong they have 500 pounds of pressure. They can snap a broom just like that,” Dr. Kim Hammond, of Falls Road Animal Hospital, says in the report. “They’re a predator if you’re lower on the food chain and they’re good at their job, and they’re going to win.”

Those remarks – inaccurate and irresponsible as they might be in reference to pit bulls or American bulldogs – were apparently being made about pit bulls, which he also compared to “a loaded gun.”

My guess is that ABC2 sent a reporter out to do the knee-jerk, misconception-spreading, how dangerous-pit-bulls-are story, then learned it was two American bulldogs that were actually involved in the attack on Amanda Mitchell, who remains hospitalized with severe facial injuries.

For the sake of expediency, it appears, the report portrays pit bulls and Ameridcan bulldogs as peas in a pod, which wouldn’t be so bad if the pod wasn’t 99 percent wrongful stereotype and 1 percent fact.

Mitchell was playing outside when the dogs escaped from a neighbor’s yard in Dundalk Saturday. Both dogs were later seized by Baltimore County Animal Control and, with the consent of their owner, euthanized.

On Monday, the Baltimore County Health Department issued a correction – identifying the dogs involved as American bulldogs – and, after more than a few complaints from vigilant Internet commenters, ABC2 corrected the story, pointing out that police had provided the misinformation.

In all fairness, the breed of the dogs was also misreported by other media outlets, including the Baltimore Sun.

Even though most news outlets have corrected their reports, the misinformation remains – not just in the public consciousness, but on Google, where search result summaries of news reports since corrected still describe the dogs as pit bulls.

Tragic as it is, the story goes a long way in helping to understand how pit bulls have gotten, and continue to get, a bad rap – based largely on police mistakenly identifying dogs, “experts” who may not know what they’re talking about and the news media’s dutiful reporting of such misinformation.

What gets lost amid all the assumptions and jumping to conclusions is this: Any breed or type of dog has members who can turn violent or aggressive – be it pit bull, bulldog or Chihuahua.

Target — a dog credited with saving soldiers lives in Afghanistan, and brought to the U.S. by one of them — was accidentally euthanized yesterday at an Arizona animal shelter.

Target’s owner, Sgt. Terry Young, found out his dog had been killed when he showed up at the shelter to claim her.

The dog had escaped from his backyard over the weekend.

“When it comes to euthanizing an animal, there are some clear-cut procedures to follow,” Ruth Stalter, Pinal County animal-control director, said in a statement. “Based on my preliminary investigation, our employee did not follow those procedures.” 

The county is investigating the accidental euthanization at its Casa Grande shelter.

In Afghanistan, Target snapped and barked at a suicide bomber, who was trying to enter a building on a military base. The bomber instead set off his bomb in a doorway. Five soldiers were injured, several of whom credited Target with helping save their lives.

“I just can’t believe that something like this would happen to such a good dog,” Young told the Arizona Republic.

When he returned to the U.S., Young brought Target with him to his home in the Phoenix area.

A county spokesman said a shelter employee has been placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation.

Young said he found the gate to his backyard open on Friday morning, the day after Veterans Day.

Heather Murphy, a spokeswoman for Pinal County, said Target was found by a nearby resident, who put her in his backyard and called the pound.

Later that night Young saw Target’s picture on a website used by Pinal County’s animal control office, and, assuming the shelter was closed for the weekend, figured she would be safe until he could pick her up Monday.

When he arrived, he filled out some forms and a staff member brought him another dog. Young then showed the employee a picture of his dog. Then he waited for an hour.

According to the Republic, Young saw one worker sobbing. And the director of the shelter told him there had been a mistake.

A local humane society in Kentucky mistook a Shiba Inu for a coyote, and released the dog into the wild.

The AKC-registered dog, a female named Copper, had been picked up by police and taken to the Frankfort Humane Society, which deemed her a coyote.

Lori Goodlett told The State-Journal that her pet of 11 years disappeared from her fenced back yard on July 3.

Only when she put up posters with her dog’s picture did a police officer recognize Copper as the dog he had taken to the shelter.

After the officer dropped the dog off, a shelter worker called police and said the animal had to be picked up because coyotes weren’t allowed there, according to an Associated Press report. (Apparently, the AP is no expert on the breed either, as it spelled it Sheba Inu.)

The Frankfort Humane Society turned the animal loose behind a home improvement store after consulting — apparently on the telephone — with a wildlife expert who said coyotes were nuisance animals and should be returned to the wild or killed.

A Humane Society official defended the actions. “If our manager assessed the animal to be a coyote, then it is against the law for it to be at the shelter. We rely on the people who work there,”  said Humane Society board chairman John Forbes.

Goodlett, however, said she can’t understand how her dog was misidentified. “People would say when Copper was young, she looked like a fox with her pointy ears and red coloring,” Goodlett said. “But no one has ever mistaken her for a coyote.”

Police and volunteers are helping Goodlett search for her pet and have set cages in hopes of capturing her, and PETA has kicked in a reward as well — up to $1,000. “Copper needs to be home with the people who know and love her,” says PETA Director Martin Mersereau. “We hope that someone will find Copper so that she can be reunited with her family.”

“I know in my head Copper is gone for good, but in my heart I would like to think some nice family found her and took her in,” Goodlett said.