ohmidog!

Kabang — after eight months of medical treatment in the U.S. paid for by $27,000 in donations from around the world — returned this morning to Zamboanga in the Philippines, where she was greeted by well-wishers, driven through town in a motorcade and honored by the mayor.

The mixed breed dog, who lost half her face when she jumped in front of motorcycle two years ago, saving her owner’s daughter and niece, met the media upon her arrival in Manilla yesterday and received a rousing welcome this morning upon her return to Zamboanga, a city in the southern Philippines.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports that Bunggal admits to having a drinking problem, that his wife has left him due to alleged physical abuse, and that, as a $5-a-day construction worker, he’s worried about being able to care for the Kabang, or provide the  dog the ”rich lifestyle” he experienced while being treated in the U.S.

“I hope there are other people with kind heart who will donate dog food,” he  said.

The newspaper says Bunggal has asked Anton Lim, the Philippine veterinarian who accompanied Kabang to the U.S., to temporarily care for the dog.

Bunggal has turned down offers from people wishing to adopt Kabang.

“… I said no. A lady from the United States even called me expressing her  interest to adopt Kabang. I told them Kabang will stay with us and I entrusted  everything to Dr. Lim for the dog’s care and medication. Lim has helped us a  lot,” he said.

Lim said he and others are trying to improve the Bunggal’s living conditions. “We are looking at ways on how best to help them so that they can take better care of Kabang or make it easier for them to take care of her,” he said.

A city government-sponsored parade was held this morning. Kabang and Rudy Bunggal rode in the back of a pickup truck festooned with yellow balloons to the Municipal Hall, where Mayor Celso Lobregat bestowed the title “Pride of Zamboanga” on the dog

Kabang’s condition — she lost the top of her snout in the motorcycle’s wheel – attracted worldwide support, and donations from 45 countries paid for her extended treatment at the University of California, Davis, veterinary hospital.

Vets treated her for heartworm and a tumor before performing two facial surgeries. While they did not reconstruct the dog’s jaw or snout, they covered up exposed areas on her face to prevent infection.

Kabang leapt into the path of a motorcycle heading toward the daughter and niece of her owner in late 2011. The motorcycle’s front wheel ripped off her nose and the top her jaw. The girls were not injured.

(Top photo, Lim and Kabang, Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine; bottom photo, Kabang arriving in Manilla, Associated Press)

For the past four years, B-More Dog members and friends have come together to hold “Pit Bulls on Parade” events at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

On Sunday May 20th, they’re planning their biggest yet.

Up to 100 participants are expected to showcase their  dogs in the wake of the Maryland Court of Appeals Court ruling which labeled all pit bull and pit bull mix dogs to be “inherently dangerous.”

“B-More Dog’s goal for Pit Bulls on Parade is now — and has always been — to introduce people to real pet pit bulls and their people, thereby reducing the stereotype and myths that surround these dogs,” the organization said.

The parade will start at 11 a.m. at Rash Field and continue around the promenade to the Coast Guard Cutter Taney and back.

Participants in the walk will include family pets as well as pit bulls available for adoption at Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter, Inc. (BARCS). Local rescue groups such as Jasmine’s House, Adopt a Homeless Animal and FurEver Love often participate in the walk as well.

“B-More Dog was extremely disappointed to learn of the new ‘pit bull’  law in Maryland as a result of the Solesky v. Tracey case. B-More Dog has been working around the clock with regional and national experts to determine the best course of action to have this law changed,” said Pauline Houliaras, President of B-More Dog.

B-More Dog provides humane education in Baltimore city by taking trained and well-mannered pit bulls to community centers, after school programs, schools and churches.

For more information about Pit Bulls on Parade or any of the programs offered by B-More Dog, contact Pauline Houliaras at 410-292-3869 or b_moredog@yahoo.com.

Leave it to the Sun to melt the Snowman.

The Baltimore Sun reports that Frosty the Snowman — so rudely removed from the Chestertown Christmas parade — has a history of tangling with police, and that Saturday’s arrest, after he allegedly kicked at a police dog and butted his snowman head against an officer, was his fifth this year

The man beneath the Frosty costume, Kevin Michael Walsh, 52, of Chestertown, has performed off an on at the Christmas parade for 10 years.

But this year alone, according to the Sun, he has been convicted of “telephone misuse” for calling police in April and pretending to be a CNN reporter, and found guilty of disorderly conduct for standing outside the Town Hall in May banging pots and pans because he couldn’t get inside. Both incidents led to suspended jail sentences and probation.

The parade-related charges, though — three counts of second-degree assault and one count of resisting arrest — could, upon conviction, carry a sentence of as much as 33 years in prison.

“He likes to agitate police,” Deputy Police Chief William H. Dwyer Jr. told the Sun. “He’s just a town nuisance.”

Walsh, who once ran a watch business, describes himself as a political activist “exercising his right to free speech in a small town where officials don’t like being challenged,” according to the Sun.

Walsh said that upon noticing a police dog at the parade, he approached patrolman James H. Walker, who was standing on the corner with his K9, Henzo.

“I said, ‘Well, that’s not right to have a dog at the parade,’” Walsh told the Sun. “I don’t think a children’s parade should have police dogs.”

Police reports say Walsh made a “kicking motion” toward the dog; Walsh says he merely lost his balance in the costume.

After putting Henzo in his police car, the patrolman returned and removed Walsh from the parade — ostensibly to counsel him on the wisdom of antagonizing police dogs.

Deputy Chief Dwyer said Walsh then started “cussing” and became “verbally abusive” toward Walker, at which time he was arrested. He was released on his own recognizance later that day.

A man dressed up as Frosty the Snowman for the annual Christmas parade in Chestertown, Md., was removed from the festivities Saturday and charged with assault and disorderly conduct.

Police said the man beneath the costume — identified as Kevin Michael Walsh, 52, of Chestertown — scuffled with officers and kicked a police dog.

Sgt. John A. Dolgos told The Star Democrat of Easton (registration is required to read the article) that Walsh became agitated when a dog-handling officer tried to escort him away from the crowd.

Walsh said the officer began giving him a hard time after he made a joke about the police dog’s presence at the parade.

Walsh has dressed as Frosty in the Eastern Shore town’s Christmas parade for at least 10 years.

(Photo: Easton Star-Democrat)

The San Diego Padres may be in the basement of the National League West, but they set a record this week.

Guinness World Record officials were at PETCO Park’s annual “Dog Days of Summer” event to pronounce it official: The 337 costume-clad dogs is now the record for most dogs in a pet costume parade.

The annual infield costume parade was lead by Tillman, the world famous skateboarding dog. The record setting took place during the Wednesday, before the Padres played the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“It has been an amazing record attempt and I’m happy to say it was successful,” said Freddie Hoff, adjudicator for Guinness World Records. “The 337 dogs in the costume parade was way above the set amount and on behalf of Guinness World Records, I’d like to say congratulations.”

No, it’s not to get to the other side.

The 500 dogs expected to march from Manhattan to Brooklyn Saturday night are taking part in the second Brooklyn Bridge Pup Crawl — a parade that raises funds for animal shelters and rescues across the country.

“In this difficult economy, shelters and rescue groups need donations more than ever to keep up with the demand for their lifesaving efforts, “said Jane Hoffman, President of the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, a coalition of more than 150 animal shelters and rescue groups committed to ending the killing of healthy and treatable cats and dogs at New York City shelters.

The march was launched in 2009 to help animal shelters hard hit by the economic crisis.

Proceeds from The Pup Crawl event are shared equally between five non-profit animal rescue organizations: Ace of Hearts (Los Angeles), Bobbi & The Strays (New York), Sean Casey Animal Rescue (New York), Get-A-Life Pet Rescue (Ft. Lauderdale) and Pets for Life NYC, a program of The Humane Society of the United States that provides free and reduced cost hands-on assistance, resources and solutions to help keep pets with their families for life.

“The Pup Crawl walk is a great way to raise awareness and funds for shelter pets,” said Jane Harrell, associate producer of Petfinder.com, the online directory of adoptable pets. Petfinder is one of the event’s major sponsors.

Advance registration is required for The Pup Crawl, which begins in City Hall Park at 5:30 PM on Saturday. Anyone can support The Pup Crawl, though, by attending the event, or purchasing a Pup Crawl (illuminated). The Pup Crawl Leash program provides three dollars to shelters and rescues across the country every time they refer a sale online. Any non-profit shelter or rescue in the United States can participate

The Pup Crawl was conceived as the first-ever nighttime dog parade over the Brooklyn Bridge, an event aimed at raising money to help the one million pets expected to lose their homes to the foreclosure crisis.

For more information on the event, visit www.thepupcrawl.com.

(Photos: courtesy of the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals)

A dozen adoptable pit bull-type dogs from Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS) will put on the green and march Sunday in the city’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Crystal, Wisteria, Penny and others will don green T-shirts, beads, bowties, shorts and shamrock headbands. Volunteers will walk the dogs in the parade, beginning at 2 p.m., and carry posters with pictures of other pit bulls available for adoption at BARCS.

The volunteers will dress the dogs at 1 p.m. Sunday, meeting at the Washington Monument, 600 N. Charles St.

The parading dogs are meant to show that pit bull terrier-types who are loved, spayed or neutered, properly trained and socialized, make happy and affectionate pets — and that anything else you might have heard to the contrary, according to BARCS “ is just a bunch of blarney.”

In conjunction with the parade, the shelter is having an adoption promotion March 13-19. All week, adopters of pit bull-type dogs will go home with a a goody bag filled with dog treats, toys, T-shirts, collars and leashes, as well as educational information on pit bull terrier-type dogs and tips on responsible dog ownership.  

BARCS works in conjunction with Best Friends Animal Society on the Shelter Partners for Pit Bulls Project, with funding support from PetSmart Charities. The project is designed to encourage responsible pet guardianship and reduce euthanasia of pit bull terriers and similar-type dogs, as well as to improve the public’s perception of pit bulls.

We can’t remember a week — at least not since 2007, when federal authorities raided 1915 Moonlight Road – that pit bulls have grabbed so many headlines … without even biting anyone.

Here in Baltimore, the week began with a pit bull parade, sponsored by B-More Dog and designed to improve the image and shatter the misconceptions about the breed — such as the one that they are innately inclined to inflict violence.

Those who ran into the pack of four-legged goodwill ambassadors at the Inner Harbor Sunday got a chance to see beyond the myths.

The very next day, a mistrial was declared in the case against twin brothers in Baltimore accused of setting a pit bull on fire in the summer of 2009. Phoenix, as the dog was dubbed, died five days later. The police investigation that followed, testimony at the trial indicated, was something less than thorough — likely, I think it’s safe to say, because the murder victim was a dog, and, in particular, a pit bull.

Jurors were unable to reach a decision, and a new trial is a possibility, but as of now, it appears the fatal burning of Phoenix will go unpunished. Despite that, she leaves a legacy.

“We waited almost two years for justice for Phoenix and though justice was not met for her, she became the change agent and public figure for animal abuse,” said Jennifer Brause, executive director of Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter (BARCS). “Thousands of people offered their support on her behalf. Because of her, a Mayor’s Commission on Animal Abuse has been formed and the seriousness of animal abuse has been elevated to a national level.”

No dog, I will go out on a limb and educatedly guess, is more often the victim of abuse and neglect than the pit bull type — just as they are the most often maligned. Society, rather than simply label them as aggressive, and ban and muzzle them,  needs to come to terms with the fact that, in those instances when they are violent, our fellow humans are responsible for it, training them to fight, attempting to breed for viciousness, and trying to turn their natural born tenacity into something mean and macho.

Which brings us, once again, to Bad Newz Kennels.

Down in Dallas, the adoptive parent of one of Michael Vick’s dogs confronted the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback and offered him an opportunity to meet Mel, a shy and fearful pit bull who was apparently used as a bait dog at Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels.

The convicted dogfighting ring operator — in Dallas to receive the key to the city — declined, and his entourage shoved Mel’s new owner, local radio personality Richard Hunter, who captured the whole episode on his shaky camera, out of the way.

A few days after that, reports surfaced that Vick’s former estate on Moonlight Road, the Surry, Virginia, headquarters of Bad Newz Kennels, which has sat empty for three years, may be getting a new owner — Dog Deserves Better, a Pennsylvania-based dog rescue and advocacy group.

They hope to turn the former Vick mansion — where 51 dogs were seized by authorities and eight more were found dead and buried on the grounds — into a training and rehabilitation center for rescued dogs.

As usual, bringing up Michael Vick brings on lots of comments, on this blog and others, from his supporters — those who say “give it a rest,” those who say “he served his time,” those who say he’s a different person now who should be permitted to move beyond his besmirched reputation.

Be that as it may, I’m wondering when pit bulls — given they are regularly accused and punished without any trials, given that any violence they display has been instilled into them by humans, given that their bad reputation is mostly undeserved – will be afforded that same opportunity.

As a breed, they’ve done their time.

(Photo by Tim Quinn)

If you happen to be strolling around Baltimore’s Inner Harbor Sunday and run into a pack of pit bulls, fear not — they are there to make friends, influence people, and lick away any misconceptions you may have about the breed.

B-More Dog, the organization behind “Pit Bulls on Parade,” plans to make group walks like Sunday’s a monthly event, held in various parts of the city — all aimed at erasing the stereotypes surrounding the breed.

While all breeds are welcome, dogs must be signed up in advance to take part in the parades. So while it’s too late to get your dog into Sunday’s, you can find out about participating in next month’s by emailing bmoredog@gmail.com.

To check out Sunday’s parade, show up around the Inner Harbor at 11 a.m.

Pauline Houliaras, a founding member and current president of B-More Dog, came up with the idea for the parade after noticing how often she’d be stopped and asked about the dogs she was walking. Her own dog, Ravenopolis, she found, often got greeted on walks around the harbor by tourists and locals alike, who’d stop to ask questions and pet the dog.

Taking the concept to the next level, B-More Dog organized groups of pit bull owners to walk together and spread goodwill about the breed. Then they decided, rather than just do it once a year, to try and parade pit bulls every month.

B-More Dog is an outreach and education organization that formed in the fall of 2007 to speak out against breed specific legislation being proposed in Baltimore County. That legislation, which would have required all pit bull owners to muzzle their dogs and confine them in locked kennels, was not passed.

Since then, B-More Dog has gone on to focus on improving the breed’s image and promoting responsible ownership of pit bulls and all other breeds through education, mentoring, and outreach.

Its members work with local shelters to provide information packets about the breed to adopters. B-More Dog also offers a “Humane Education” program in which members take their friendly, trained and well-mannered pit bull to community centers and after-school programs.

The past week has been a hectic one, mostly spent avoiding snowstorms, seeking out landlines for radio interviews and, just when we thought our traveling was done, traveling some more.

No sooner were Ace and I back in Baltimore than we left again — this time back to North Carolina for my mother’s 85th birthday celebration.

Now we’re back again, just in time for a snowstorm – that’s the ohmidogmobile at the bottom right of the picture — seeking a place to squat for a month or so while we ponder our long terms plans.

Step one is to visit my storage unit to try and find some winter clothes.

We packed for a three-month summer trip. It turned into a seven-month one that didn’t wind up — and in a way still hasn’t — until January was upon us.

Living out of one’s car — convenient as it is in some ways — is a pain in the butt in others. I can easily locate most things I need in the course of a day, but when it comes to things that I only sometimes need, and are thus buried deeper, it’s nearly hopeless, requiring a good bit of unpacking and repacking.

It will be nice to have that chaos straightened out. And Ace, though he has said he enjoys the constant traveling — 22,000 miles of which we’ve done since May – is, in my interpretation, ready for a return to something resembling a routine.

Back from North Carolina, we lodged one night at the home of his godmother, and we’re freeloading for two nights at the home of my teacher friends.

Our goal is to find someplace dirt cheap to stay for a month or two before we wear out our welcomes. I have not been focusing on it as I should, and I think, deep down, it might be because I don’t want to return to the routine.

I want a bed, and a refrigerator, and a TV and heat. I want a big table on which to spread things out. But part of me hesitates to get back into that situation of paying all those bills every month — rent, utilities, Internet, cable, telephone, and all those other things I’ve come to see as sucking away not just my money, but my freedom.

Then, too, promoting my new book “Dog, Inc.: The Inside Story of Cloning Man’s Best Friend” — is also taking up a lot of time, most of it spent searching for landlines to borrow for radio interviews.

Speaking of the book, which has been out about 10 days now, it has been having some pretty nice things happen to it.

It got nice mentions in Mother Jones and Real Simple magazines, and was chosen by Parade magazine as a “Parade Pick.” This week, it was named one of January’s ”Mover and Shakers” by Goodreads.com, where it has also gotten some good reviews from the public.

Thanks, public.