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.

A year and a half after a starved pit bull was found at the bottom of a trash chute at a Newark high rise apartment — looking more like a corpse than a pet — the dog who would go on to be named Patrick is doing great.

Progressing far less quickly are court case against his former owner, and a proposed bill, named after Patrick, that would bring stiffer penalties against those who abuse and neglect animals.

Patrick’s Law would increase penalties against those who abuse and neglect animals. Last week,  it cleared the New Jersey Senate Economic Growth Committee, but it still requires approval by another committee and both houses of the legislature.

The bill (S1303) would make certain acts of neglect and abuse fourth-degree offenses and increases the civil penalties — up to $3,000 for a first offense and $5,000 for a second offense, according to NJ.com. If an animal dies, offenders could be charge with a third-degree crime, which carries stricter penalties.

Sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr., it would also increase the penalties for dogfighting; failing to provide an animal with proper food, water and shelter; and leaving animals unattended in hot cars.

Patrick was found in March 2011 in a garbage chute at Garden Spires.

His former owner, Newark resident Kisha Curtis, was charged with animal cruelty and remains free on $10,000 bond. Curtis has entered a plea of not guilty and has rejected a plea deal under which she would serve 18 months in prison, pay a $5,000 fine and serve 30 days of community service.

Instead, she wants to enter a pretrial intervention program,which would involve no jail time and, once completed, leave her without a record.

That’s now under consideration by Newark Superior Court Judge Joseph Cassini III, who agreed last month to review documents from the Department of Children and Family Services regarding Curtis and her childhood.

Curtis admits to abandoning Patrick, but says she “never harmed” the dog and that she had only had him for a few days. She is not accused of throwing the dog down the chute, only of neglecting and abandoning him.

Patrick, meanwhile — after months of veterinary care and intensive rehabilitation at Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls, N.J.–  is happy and healthy.

Who will eventually be awarded custody of him is still at issue, but it definitely won’t be Kisha Curtis.

(Photo: Tony Kurdzuk / The Newark Star-Ledger)

Upset that her family’s parked car had been blocked by another vehicle, a Newark woman threatened and assaulted the car’s owner and threw her shih tzu into oncoming traffic, authorities say.

Honey Bey, 2 years old, died instantly.

Nearly ten months later, an Essex County grand jury indicted Haniyyah Barnes (above right) this week on charges of  animal cruelty, burglary, criminal mischief and theft, according to the Newark Star-Ledger

Prosecutors said a Newark police officer who happened to be patrolling in the area saw Barnes storm out of the house with one hand around the 4-pound dog’s throat and toss her into the street.

The argument began when Barnes went to the home of a neighbor who was allowing Barnes’ mother to park her car there. The homeowners vehicle was blocking it in the driveway.

Prosecutors say Barnes, 25, began screaming and kicked in the woman’s front door, then threatened and assaulted the woman.

At that point, Honey Bey, the 31-year-old homeowner’s dog, started barking. Barnes grabbed the dog and threw her into oncoming traffic, police said.

“It was a tiny dog that was barking instinctively to protect its owner,” said Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Michele Miller. “It wasn’t attacking the defendant. It went to see what the commotion was and paid for it with its life.”

If convicted, Barnes faces up to 10 years in prison on a second-degree burglary charge and five years for the third-degree animal cruelty count. She remains free on bail and an arraignment is scheduled for June 18 in Superior Court in Newark.

Barnes’ public defender could not be reached for comment. A relative told the Star-Ledger that Barnes “wasn’t in her right mind when she did it,” and that she believed alcohol played a role in the incident.

A year has passed since a starving pit bull was put in a plastic bag, dropped down a trash chute and found in a garbage bin at a high-rise apartment complex in Newark.

Just look at him now.

Dubbed Patrick — in honor of St. Patrick’s Day — he defied all the odds.

One year later, he’s looking healthy and happy — though a custody battle is still raging over him.

Meanwhile, his former owner, who turned down a plea deal, is scheduled to appear in court today for her trial on animal cruelty charges.

Patrick was originally taken in and cared for by the Associated Humane Societies, New Jersey’s largest animal shelter organization.

They took him to Garden State Veterinary Specialists, where, after a giant hairball was removed from his stomach, he began eating and gaining strength.

In the months that followed, by virtue of his inspiring story, he’d become a poster boy for the rescue organization, the veterinary hospital, and a few others that hoped to capitalize on his growing fame by using his case and image to fight for stronger animal abuse laws.

Associated Humane Societies  is seeking permanent custody, despite earlier rulings that he should remain in the custody of Garden State Veterinary Specialists of Tinton Falls.

Both sides accuse the other of trying to profit from Patrick’s plight.

Patrick weighed 19 pounds when he arrived there, and now weighs 50. He has been staying with Patricia Smillie-Scavelli, the hospital’s administrator, who wants to keep him.

AHS says Patrick should be returned, and that once he is, they would begin the process of finding a home for him. They deny that they are trying to make a profit off of him, and say the veterinary hospital didn’t have the right to take possession of a dog brought in for treatment.

Kisha Curtis, meanwhile, the dog’s former owner, rejected the state’s plea offer of 18 months in prison, a $5,000 fine, 30 days community service and termination of animal custody rights.

She is not accused of tossing the dog down the chute, only of neglecting and abandoning him.

(Photo credits: Top, The Patrick Miracle Facebook page; middle, Associated Humane Societies; bottom, Newark Star-Ledger)

Patrick, the dog found starved nearly to death after he was dumped down a high-rise apartment building’s trash chute in Newark, now weighs in at more than 35 pounds. 

And that’s without the petrified hairball that was surgically removed from his stomach this week. 

Dr. Jason Pintar, an internist at Garden State Veterinary Specialists, removed the long flat hair mass from Patrick’s stomach using a video endoscopic procedure while Patrick was under anesthesia. 

Hair mass removed from Patrick

 After the hair mass was removed, Patrick was transferred to another surgery suite for neutering, Associated Humane Societies in New Jersey reportsAfter surgery, he’ll still need treatment for mange, and physical therapy for weak rear legs, AHS says. 

The non-profit organization says it’s receiving thousands of emails a day — and that it has been contacted by several people who say Patrick was their dog. Some say he ran away, some say he was stolen, and one told AHS they’d contacted an attorney. 

Also casting a cloud over Patrick’s story is the emergence of people hoping to profit off his name and image. 

The number of Internet sites related to him — some well-intentioned, some not — has steadily grown, and some are selling ”Patrick” items such as t-shirts, keychains and posters, and using his story to ”solicit funds for their own use,” AHS says. 

(Photos: Courtesy of Associated Humane Societies and Popcorn Park Zoo)

Newark Mayor Cory Booker is asking the public for a birthday present — a new animal shelter to be built in honor of Patrick, the pit bull dumped down a high rise apartment building’s trash chute and left to starve.

Booker called the act “one of the most heinous incients of animal cruelty that I’ve seen since I’ve been mayor” and he noted that it has led to outrage across the country.

But, he added, “This is a time that, instead of blame, we all take more responsibility for what’s going on to animals in Newark, New Jersey and around the world.

“For my birthday wish … we would like you to join our cause” — a state of art animal shelter that can be No. 1 in honor of Patrick but also in honor of those many other animals in our larger Newark community that face severe problems and challenges. We must be there for them, too.”

The mayor’s YouTube video refers viewers to a website where donations be made.

The campaign seeks to raise $50,000 towards construction of a facility that would serve Essex and Hudson Counties. Already, Booker said, a site has been identified and architects are working on the design.

“By working to build a modern, state-of-the-art shelter through public and private funding, and by employing innovative policies to improve responsible pet care, decrease birthrates, increase adoptions, and help keep animals with their responsible caretakers, we believe that Newark’s animal shelter operations can become a model for the rest of the nation.”

Patrick is now in the custody of Associated Humane Societies and is receiving treatment at Garden State Veterinary Specialists, both of which say they’ve received enough public donations to cover his care.

Kisha Curtis, with whom Patrick lived, has entered a not guilty plea to charges of abuse and abandonment.

A not guilty plea was entered Friday on behalf of Kisha Curtis, the Newark woman accused of animal cruelty charges stemming from the discovery of a dog who’d been tossed down a trash chute and left to die in a garbage bin.

The 1-year-old pit bull, whose rescuers named him Patrick, continues to recover at an area animal hospital.

Public defender Regina Lynch entered the plea in Superior Court in Newark on behalf of Curtis, 27, the Newark Star-Ledger reported. She appeared at the hearing via a video hookup from the Essex County Jail.

Curtis faces two counts of tormenting and torturing a living creature by failing to provide sustenance and two counts of abandonment, said Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Cheryl Cucinello.

After the hearing, Kisha’s mother, Tammie Curtis, said her daughter didn’t discard the dog, but only left him tethered at the high-rise Garden Spires apartments in Newark — while she went on a trip to Albany. She implied that the dog was stolen.

“Anybody would take that dog,” the mother said. “If she tied the dog, she didn’t leave the dog to die.”

A security guard at the 520-unit complex told the Star-Ledger that the dog had been seen tied to a railing with a leather leash, and had been the subject of resident complaints for more than a month.

“It would whimper, and it would yelp when you would come up to it,” Ortman said.

A custodian found Patrick on March 16, inside a trash bag at the bottom of a 22-story garbage chute.

Judge Amilkar Velez-Lopez kept Curtis’ bail at $10,000 bond or $1,000 cash and forbid her to have contact with pets. If convicted, she faces 18 months in prison, a $3,000 fine and community service.

Patrick has been recovering at Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls, where he has gained two pounds since being found.

A 28-year-old Newark woman has been charged with four counts of animal cruelty in the case of Patrick, a 1-year-old pit bull who was found almost starved to death after he was dumped down a garbage chute in a high-rise apartment building.

Kisha Curtis was charged Friday with two counts of abandonment and two counts of failure to provide proper sustenance, New Jersey SPCA officials said.

The dog was discovered by maintenance workers March 16 inside a garbage bin at Garden Spires, a 550-unit apartment building. Staff at the Associated Humane Societies/Popcorn Park called it one of the worst cases of cruelty they’ve ever seen.

Matthew Stanton, a spokesman for the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told FoxNews.com that Curtis, the alleged owner, faces two criminal counts and two civil counts, which he said could result in up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine and community service if convicted.

Stanton said Curtis told authorities she was unable to take care of the dog anymore, but she denied throwing the dog into the chute at the 22-story apartment building. The New Jersey SPCA is investigating whether anyone else was involved in the abuse and disposal of the animal.

Patrick, meanwhile, is slowly recovering at Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls. Staff there say he is now standing and eating small amounts of food several times a day, though he remains pathetically thin.

AHS, which is paying for Patrick’s continuing care, is continuing to post daily updates on his condition. Most recently, they’ve reported that an ultrasound test found a foreign body lodged found inside the dog, and they speculated he may have swallowed something to quell the hunger that he was experiencing. 

AHS also arranged to have Patrick interviewed by an animal communicator, who reported he told her, among other things, ”I am broken, I don’t know why.”

(Photo: Courtesy of Associated Humane Societies and Popcorn Park Zoo)

Patrick the pit bull — a dog who was starved, placed in a garbage bag and tossed down the trash chute of a 22-floor apartment building in Newark — continues to slowly recover.

And considering the condition he was found in — by a maintenance worker who noticed a soon-to be-compacted plastic bag moving — that’s pretty close to miraculous.

According to Associated Humane Societies, Patrick, as he was later named, was living — and just barely — somewhere in the Garden Spires apartment building, which is equipped with garbage chutes on each floor.

“Someone had no more use for this dog. They had starved it to near death, put it in a garbage bag and threw it down the garbage chute,” AHS reports on its website.

Normally, the contents of the bin at the bottom of the building are sent directly into a trash compacter, but on Wednesday, March 16th, a maintenance worker noticed a bag moving, opened it and found the dog inside – about one year old, pathetically thin and on death’s doorstep.

“His eyelids were moving a little. But he was just lifeless — his body hung there when we picked him up,” Monmouth County animal control officer Arthur Skinner said.

Skinner took the dog to Associated Humane Societies Newark Animal Care Center, and he was sent from there Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls,  veterinarians and technicians have been giving him transfusions of blood, feeding him intravenously and warming him with heated blankets.

By Monday, Patrick, who was named by hospital staff on St. Patrick’s Day, was able to sit up and walk. He’s now off IV fluids and eating canned dog food.

Patrick — and we’ll warn you now that the picture below, taken shortly after he was discovered, is highly disturbing — is slowly becoming more than skin and bones. He spends most of his time in his cage, napping next to stuffed animals donated by the hospital’s staff. He doesn’t bark or wag his tail, but lifts his head whenever someone passes by, accordingn to the Star-Ledger in Newark.

Officials from the Monmouth County Humane Society have offered a $2,000 reward for information leading to the dog’s abuser.

The Associated Humane Societies reported this week that Patrick is now able to stand, eats little bits of food several times a day and is having normal bowel movements. The organization is accepting donations towards his continued care. You can find AHS updates on Patrick here.

Michael Vick told a gathering  of children in New Jersey that he would like to have a dog.

“I wish I could have a dog right now more than anything in the world,”  the convicted dogfighter and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback told  children at the Boys and Girls Club of Newark.

A federal court judge banned Vick from owning dogs.

Vick’s appearance, according to NBC News in New York, was about the sixth he’s made with the Humane Society of the United States since his release from prison and house arrest in July.

“Everything you read and everything you heard was true — except for the electrocution,” he said, denying the widely repeated accusation that he electrocuted dogs that didn’t perform well as fighters. “That never happened.”

Vick said he’s hopeful he’ll have a dog again one day. “I don’t know when that day is going to come.  It’s up to my judge at his discretion,” he said.

When asked by one of the children why he participated in dog fighting, Vick responded: ”I don’t understand why to this day.” But he told them, “use me as an example for you not to do the things that would lead you down the wrong path.”