ohmidog!

The U.S. Postal Service says it is investigating the death of a northern Kentucky dog who family members say was deliberately run over by their postman.

The mail carrier has been suspended with pay, WLWT reported.

Nelson Hamm said his three-year-old golden retriever, Nala (or Nayla, according to some news reports) was struck and run over by a postal vehicle last week, and that he witnessed it.

Nala, he said, was sniffing the mail truck’s tires when the postal worker drove the truck over her neck.

“When he ran up on her, he knew he was on something, and her legs was going like this, and he kept going, gunning it and gunning it and gunning it,” Hamm said.

The postal worker then made his next delivery before speeding out of the neighborhood, according to the Kentucky Post.

“She laid down in the foyer, base of the steps. My dad was crying, he kissed her on the nose. She looked him right in the eye, she licked him, and she just died,” his daughter, Lisa Hamm, said.

Covington City Commissioner Steve Frank said the postal service told him they extended their sympathies to the family and are investigating. Officials could not say how long the investigation will take.

“We made a strong suggestion that the postman not carry mail in the city of Covington for a while,” Frank said. ”Our message to the public is you will not abuse animals in the city of Covington.”

The family has retained an attorney for a possible civil suit. Nala has been buried near some trees where she used to play.

(Photo: Kentucky Post)

Two years after losing her fiance, Krissy Rankin is searching for the dog he gave her shortly after their engagement.

Nala, a 95-pound Rhodesian Ridgeback, was a gift from Eric Shellenberger, a Navy Seal who did five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Shellenberger died, in a training accident, three months after they got the dog in 2009.

The dog slipped out the door of Rankin’s Smyrna, Ga., home Saturday.

“She’s beyond a dog,” Rankin told 11 Alive News. “She’s my everyday reminder of Eric. I think of him every single day when I see Nala.”

Nala, who has a distinct kink in her tail, has served as both her companion and therapist, Rankin said: “A lot of days she’s been my only happiness. “There’s times I sit there and cry on Nala. It still happens.”

Since Nala’s disappearance, Rankin, a teacher, has searched, checked shelters and put up posters everyday before and after work.

Nala, a pit bull-Labrador mix living at an animal shelter in Washington state, made headlines in December when she helped save another dog — a blind cocker spaniel she found freezing to death in a ditch while on a walk with a shelter staffer.

Despite the publicity and her newfound hero status, no one stepped forward to adopt Nala — who has what the Humane Society of Redmond describes as “some behavioral issues” – and, as of March, her stay at the shelter had stretched to a year.

This month, though, there was one more publicity push by the shelter, which established a Facebook page for Nala — and that helped lead to her adoption this week by Janet Roberts, 63, the Bend Bulletin reports.

A week ago, the Humane Society teamed up with a photographer, held a photo shoot with Nala and created a Facebook page for the dog. Reese Mercer, a board member, provided “first person” updates, from Nala’s perspective, about her hunt for a home.

As a result, Nala had fans from as far away as Finland, all of them rooting for her to find a home — but few of them volunteering to provide one.

Nala’s new caretaker, a court transcriber who lives on 80 acres in Powell Butte, first heard about Nala’s story in December. When she learned Nala was still without a home months later, Roberts offered to take her home for a trial visit. Roberts has four cats, two horses and an older dog. The dog spent the night Tuesday, and the next morning, Roberts decided it was for keeps.

“She was ever so sweet, and fit in really well,“ said Roberts. “She was so respectful of everyone here … She really wants to please people, which is really endearing,” said Roberts.

The official adoption took place Thursday.

“It’s going to be tough to say goodbye,” said Alan Borland, the shelter staff member who was walking Nala when she found the cocker spaniel.

Borland told the Bulletin the couple that the Roberts family has invited him to come visit Nala, but said he probably won’t.

“She needs to get on with her life, and forget about the year she spent at the shelter,” he said.

(Photo: From Nala’s Facebook page)

Kate Gosselin now says Jon’s two allegedly beloved German Shepherds, which were recently returned to their breeder, may — that’s right, “may” — return home one day.

Radar Online quotes Kate Gosselin as saying the following in a talk at the Southern Women’s Show in Charlotte, North Carolina on Thursday:

“He (Jon) called the breeder and took them back for a short period of time. I’m feeling like I have not enough time to take care of my kids, let alone give the dogs what they need, and the kids surprisingly weren’t that upset about it. They’ll come back I’m sure at some point. But for now, I just needed a break.”

Jon has blamed Kate for forcing him to give up his two dogs, Shoka and Nala, because she doesn’t want to care for them when he’s not at the family’s home in Wernersville, PA. The estranged reality show couple is taking turns staying at home and caring for their eight children.

In addition to all their other highly-exposed character flaws, Jon and Kate may not be the world’s greatest dog parents, either.

Jon Gosselin, the embattled father of TLC’s reality show “Jon and Kate Plus 8,” is now responding to allegations that he and his family have been mistreating their German shepherd puppies, Shoka and Nala, ABC News reports.

The allegations stem not so much from anything actually witnessed, but from a June 4 interview published on People.com in which Gosselin said that his kids often “beat” their dogs.

“Those kids beat them up, climb on them, pull their tails, bite at them, drag them around and everything you can imagine not to do to an animal, they’ve done,” said Gosselin, who described the dogs as “loyal creatures.”

Karel Minor, the executive director of the Humane Society of Berks County, Pa., told ABCNews.com that about a dozen community  members have complained about how the Gosselins treat their dogs — all apparently based on the interview remarks.

Minor confirmed that the two dogs have licenses in the area where the Gosselins live and that they are up-to-date on their vaccinations. “We have no credible reason to believe in any way that there is cruelty going on,” Minor said.

Gosselin, in a statement released to ABCNews.com, sought to “set the record straight” regarding the mishandling of his family pets, stating that his previous remarks about his kids were taken out of context.

“We understand the responsibilities of being good dog owners,” Gosselin said. “Whenever my kids are with Shoka and Nala, everyone is carefully supervised to ensure that no one — dog or child — is injured.”

“Shoka and Nala are loyal companions who we consider members of our family,” he said. “We would never do anything to hurt them, and treat them with the respect and love that they deserve.”