ohmidog!

Nana, a 2-year-old Saint Bernard who helped a New York family of five escape unharmed from their burning house, was honored yesterday.

Nana perished in the fire at an 1819 farmhouse, just outside of Jamestown, but husband, wife and all three kids escaped.

In honor of Nana, the Chautauqua Children’s Safety Education Village, a nonprofit agency that teaches safety education, held a special ceremony.

“We consider her a fire hero just because of her instinct, and that she knew to wake the father, who was downstairs at the time,” said Terri Kindberg, the agency’s executive director, told the Buffalo News.

The Invisible Fence Company donated two pet resuscitation kits to the two local fire companies that responded to the scene in hopes that they will someday save the life of a pet, Kindberg said.

On Jan. 17, Menash Petscher was awakened by Nana licking his face, and woke up to smell smoke and find the house in flames, a result of an ember escaping from the fireplace.

Petscher went upstairs to get his two youngest daughters, and Nana followed them. After taking the children to safety, he went back into the house and called Nana, but she didn’t come.

When state police arrived, it was too late to re-enter the house.

For about a day, the family hoped Nana had escaped the house on her own and would return, but they found the dog’s body inside the house as it was being demolished.

Volunteers at the “no-kill” Westchester Shore Humane Society in New York are accusing the animal shelter’s directors of cruelty, stealing from the charity, mismanagement and euthanizing hundreds of animals.

A lawsuit claims the society’s president, Nina Ryan, and her husband and board secretary, John Ryan, neglected animals in the shelter’s care. Vice President Marcia Halley is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

It also alleges, based on medical records, that the shelter euthanized hundreds of animals, even though its website claims a no-kill policy, according to The Journal News.

The plaintiffs want the court to remove the Ryans and Halley from their positions, order an accounting of the society’s assets, and force the Ryans and Halley to pay at least $150,000 in damages.

Fourteen volunteers and society members filed the April 24 lawsuit in the state Supreme Court. It also accuses the Ryans of renting a neighboring house owned by the society and keeping the proceeds for themselves, and of running a for-profit animal boarding business at the shelter, and using donated food to feed the pets boarded there.

John Ryan, who is also executive director of the Legal Aid Society of Westchester County, wrote in an email to the newspaper that in the past month he and his wife have spent $11,997 of their own money to fix up the property and pay bills.

He said he and his wife took a $30,000 home equity loan to give to the society, a loan the couple said they forgave years ago.

The Ryans and Halley also are trouble with the state Attorney General’s Charities Bureau, according to the newspaper. The bureau warned the society in February that it was delinquent in filing financial statements. State law prohibits a delinquent organization from raising money.

The Westchester County Department of Health says the shelter operated without a license for several months this year.

Health Department spokeswoman Caren Halbfinger said inspectors found healthy animals and a clean shelter during a visit last week, but she noted that its license expired at the end of 2011. The society reapplied weeks ago for another one, but the process is still not complete.

Diamond Pet Foods is voluntarily recalling its Lamb Meal & Rice dry dog food because the product may be contaminated with salmonella.

According to a company news release Friday, no illnesses have been reported and no other Diamond products are affected.

The product was distributed to customers in 12 states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia.

Consumers who purchased bags of the recalled food should stop using it and discard it, the company said. Consumers can obtain a refund by contacting Diamond Pet.

Pets with salmonella may have decreased appetite fever and abdominal pain.

People who handle the pet food can become infected with salmonella.

The recalled products are 6-, 20- and 40-pound bags of Diamond Naturals Lamb and Rice, with a “best before” date of Jan. 3 or Jan. 4, 2013, and the following production codes:

DLR0101D3XALW
DLR0101C31XAG
DLR0101C31XMF
DLR0101C31XAG
DLR0101D32XMS

I’m guessing this wasn’t an April Fool’s joke, as the photo was taken a few months ago.

What it means, I don’t know.

True, there are few resources as renewable as cats — except maybe bunnies — but this sign makes me wonder just exactly what an “organic kitten” is.

And, for that matter, what a non-organic cat would be.

Chickens and cows, all pumped full of hormones and chemicals, wouldn’t be considered organic. But wouldn’t all pets be — except maybe cloned ones?

If electricity is involved in creating something, can it be called organic?

The photo was taken a few months ago by a friend traveling through rural New York state.

(Photo: By Tamara Granger)

Sgt. Rex will finally be reunited in retirement with his ex-Marine handler, Cpl. Megan Leavy, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said.

The Associated Press reports that the Air Force has agreed to release the German shepherd into the care of Leavey, who lives in Rockland County, north of New York City,

Leavey was injured with Rex in 2006 while trying to disarm an explosive in Iraq.

Leavey came home with a Purple Heart, but Sgt. Rex was evaluated and found to be capable of continuing his service.

Leavey had tried to adopt the dog then, but her request was rejected by the Air Force.

At age 10, Sgt. Rex started developing other problems and was allowed to retire. Leavey again tried to adopt him, but Schumer said bureaucracy still stood in the way.

“We salute the Air Force and the Marines for doing the right thing and allowing Rex to be with Corporal Leavey,” Schumer said Monday night. “One canine, one human, both heroes. They should be united shortly, and we’re glad it’s happening … It’s only appropriate and right that the two of them enjoy their retirement from the service together.”

When we hear about it, we like to pounce on big dog discrimination before it happens.

So let’s talk about Middletown, New York, where city officials think it would be a good idea to require all renters whose dogs tip the scales at more than 25 pounds to carry liability insurance.

This makes about as much sense as Wausau, Wisconsin’s two-dog limit, our topic Friday.

What fear-mongering, fact-ignoring, bandwagon-jumping city officials need to get through their heads, once and for all, is that it’s not the size of the dog, the breed of the dog, or even the number of dogs that cause dog problems — it’s the dog owner.

Be it “nuisance” or “danger” they are trying to protect us from, that’s who they need to be going after.

Not family’s like the Lecker’s in Wausau, who have four dogs, but bought a house not knowing the town limited households to two, and now face a choice between moving or ditching two dogs.

And not responsible dog-owning renters who, in the case of Middletown, might find themselves paying up to $300 a year to ensure any dog bigger than a breadbox.

Singling out breeds and setting arbitrary weight limits is doggie discrimination, pure and simple. (We’d argue the proposed Middletown law discriminates against renters as well.)

In Middletown, the Common Council is looking at a proposal that would require tenants to get at least $100,000 worth of liability insurance on dogs weighing over 25 pounds, according to the Times Herald-Record.

The proposed law is in response to a rising number of dog bites, city officials said. According to Mayor Joe DeStefano dog bites are covered under most homeowners’ policies, so the law would target only renters. The proposal doesn’t single out any breeds, but city officials have said they are concerned about the rising number of pit bulls in the city.

The city says there were 94 reported dog bites in Middletown over the past three years. Of them, 79 were from “large-breed” dogs, 37 of them from pit bulls or pit bull mixes. It also says two city employees have been attacked by pit bulls in recent months while on the job.

I wonder how many of those pit bulls were really pit bulls, as opposed to a convenient designation. I wonder, in the case of all those ”pit bull mixes,” why what else is in the mix isn’t mentioned. And I wonder, when it comes to those “large-breed” dogs doing the majority of the biting, if the city is referring to all dogs over 25 pounds.

But what I wonder most of all, since the requirement would do nothing to actually address the problem, is what purpose — beyond fattening up insurance companies — it would serve.

A New York man who promised to take a friend’s dog to a farm in the country instead duct taped the dog’s mouth and legs and tossed him in a ditch, state police say.

Shane Morehouse, 52, of Fort Edward, was charged Saturday with animal cruelty and abandoning an animal — both misdemeanors, the Saratogian reported.

Police say the dog belonged to an acquaintance of Morehouse who could no longer care for the dog.

“The dog’s owner said he was going to be released on the farm,” state police Sgt. Chuck Salaway said. “Morehouse apparently changed his mind and left it along the side of the road without any concern over what was going to happen to it.”

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail.

The dog, a 12-year-old malamute mix named Chubby, was taken to a local SPCA, where he was euthanized after he was found to be suffering from an unrelated illness.

A vigil is being held in New York Saturday in honor of Nick Santino, the soap opera actor who took his own life after putting his dog down.

Santino, according to friends and family, was distraught and feeling guilty after having his pit bull Rocco euthanized — a step acquaintances say he took after his condo board instituted rules against pit bulls and other restrictions against dogs.

“Rocco trusted me and I failed him,” Santino wrote in a suicide note. “He didn’t deserve this.”

Santino was allowed to keep his dog under a grandfather clause, but according to friends, he was being harassed about his dog by the board and fellow residents.

In response to the incident, the Animal Farm Foundation, in conjunction with the National Canine Research Council, had scheduled a press conference on on the social, financial, and legal challenges and discrimination facing pet owners in New York City, but canceled it in the wake of a police officer’s death in the city.

Instead, it’s coordinating a vigil that starts at 4 p.m. Saturday, outside of One Lincoln Plaza, 20 West 64th St.

“The recent death of Nick Santino and his dog Rocco highlight the important role pets play in American lives, but it also illustrates the social, financial, and legal challenges facing pet owners, especially in urban areas like New York City,” the foundation said in a press release.

(Photo: Emmacleary.com)