ohmidog!

Firefighters in Plum, Pennsylvania said they used an industrial-strength vacuum to pull a Shih Tzu puppy — a family’s Christmas gift — from the bottom of an abandoned well.

The pup, named Romeo, fell into the well — actually a narrow drainage pipe — during the weekend.

After three hours trying to rescue him, firefighters hooked up an industrial-strength vacuum, latched on to Romeo’s leg and hoisted him out, Pittsburgh television station WPXI reported. You can see a video here.

“It was a miracle,” said Assistant Fire Chief Jim Scuffle.

The pup wasn’t breathing when it came came out of the well, but firefighters performed mouth-to-snout resuscitation on the way to veterinarian and Romeo awakened and started to breath on its own.

The veterinarian gave the puppy a clean bill of health.

Joe Biden’s family has come up with a name for the vice-president elect’s new dog: Champ.

On Christmas morning, the Delaware senator’s granddaughters announced the name for the German shepherd puppy Biden picked out at a Chester County, Pa., kennel earlier this month. “Champ” was a nickname given to Biden by his father.

At campaign events, Biden often recounted his father’s advice for tough times — “Champ, when you get knocked down, get up!” — as a rallying cry to voters, according to Delmarva Now.

Champ will join the Biden family in Washington after the inauguration. He is being trained by New Castle County, Delaware, Police K-9 coordinator Cpl. Mark Tobin, who helped pick out the new pet.

Biden, after taking some heat from animal welfare organizations for buying from a breeder, announced that he plans to get a second dog — likely a golden retriever — from a shelter.

There’s a media firestorm rising out of vice-president-elect Joe Biden’s purchase of a German shepherd pup from a Pennsylvania breeder, but, as with many media firestorms, this one may be more smoke than fire.

At its center is this question: Did Joe Biden by his dog from a puppy mill?

Puppy mill is a subjective term. Some use it to describe large scale breeding operations where the welfare of dogs runs a distant second to making a profit. Some use it to describe any commercial breeding operation.

Linda Brown owner of the kennel in Chester County, Pa., insists that violations found after Biden purchased his dog — during a regularly scheduled inspection — mostly pertained to record-keeping, and she says they were the first she ever received.

That hasn’t stopped either over-zealous animal rights activists, or overworked journalists, from slapping the “puppy mill” label on Brown’s operation.

“Joe Biden hooks up with bad dog breeder,” read the headline in yesterday’s Baltimore Examiner — or at least in its online version. The story beneath the headline doesn’t substantiate that at all. Read more »

The Pennsylvania kennel where Vice President-elect Joe Biden bought his German Shepherd puppy was cited for records violations days after he picked out the dog.

After a regularly scheduled inspection on Dec. 10, four days after Biden picked out his 3-month-old puppy, the Wolf Den Kennel  was cited for a record-keeping violation and failure to produce records of rabies vaccinations, according to state records. Each citation carries a fine of $50 to $300.

Linda Brown, who also operates the kennel in Chester County as Jolindy’s German Shepherds, said she had never before been cited, and said the records in question were accidentally tossed out when the kennel cleaned up in preparation for Biden’s visit.

“We went in there and cleaned everything up and I didn’t even think about it,” she said. “How many times does the vice president visit? Maybe once in a lifetime?”

Brown said she had since gotten copies of the rabies vaccinations and given them to state officials.

Dog wardens, working with the Humane League of Lancaster County, shut down an illegal dog kennel Wednesday in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and removed 20 dogs from the facility.

The owner, Aaron Lapp, will not be permitted to obtain a kennel license in the future and will be required to keep fewer than 25 dogs per year. In Pennsylvania, any kennel housing more than 25 dogs per year is required to be licensed and inspected.

Wardens first became aware of the illegal kennel from a consumer tip and cited the kennel in August for operating without a license. Lapp pleaded guilty to those charges and was told he could not own or keep more than 25 dogs in a year.

A follow-up inspection of the kennel Wednesday showed a decline in sanitary conditions and dogs in the kennel were found to have matted fur. Wardens contacted the Humane League, which removed the dogs.

“Our state dog wardens are following up on any information about illegal kennels and they are making sure that those facilities come into compliance with the law or are shut down,” said Jessie Smith, Pennsylvania’s special deputy secretary of dog law enforcement. ”

Smith said all dogs in commercial breeding kennels will be better protected under Pennsylvania’s recently signed dog law. The new law doubles the minimum floor space for dogs, eliminates wire flooring, and requires exercise that is at least as good as unfettered access to an exercise area twice the size of the primary enclosure. The previous law did not require that dogs ever be taken out of cages.

In July, the state launched a toll-free hotline, 1-877-DOG-TIP1, to help anyone wishing to offer confidential tips about unsatisfactory or illegal kennels.

Pennsylvania lawmakers approved a bill Wednesday that makes sweeping improvements to the care and housing of dogs in commercial kennels.

The “puppy mill” bill (H.B. 2525), covers roughly 650 commercial breeding kennels, most of them in Lancaster and Chester Counties.

The new law bans wire flooring in cages, doubles the minimum cage size, eliminates cage stacking, and requires regular exercise and semiannual veterinary care for thousands of dogs, according to the Allentown Morning Call.

The new standards for cage size and flooring go into effect in one year. Some other provisions won’t go into effect for three years. A provision that allows only veterinarians to euthanize dogs in commercial breeding kennels will take effect immediately.

Governor Edward G. Rendell today urged Pennsylvania’s Senate to swiftly pass two bills — already approved in the house — to protect kennel dogs and consumers.

Rendell praised the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for voting to pass House Bills 2525 and 2532, and called upon the Senate to help rid Pennsylvania of its reputation as “Puppy Mill Capital of the East.”

“The bills that passed in the House today with overwhelming, bi-partisan support will go a long way to protecting dogs kept in kennels with poor but currently legal conditions,” the Governor said. “I applaud the House of Representatives for defeating the many amendments to House Bill 2525 filed on behalf of special interest groups and aimed at weakening the bill. The House has delivered strong legislation that reflects not only the needs of dogs, but the will of the public in improving the minimum standards in the worst of Pennsylvania’s kennels.”

Rendell said current state laws allows dogs to receive minimal care and live their entire lives in cramped, stacked cages.

“These conditions lead to dogs with physical and behavioral problems. Pennsylvania must ensure that the standards of care are raised for the sake of dogs and the families that will eventually own them.”

Governor Rendell said widespread public support could help move the legislation through the Senate, and urged Pennsylvanians to let their senator know their thoughts on the issue.

Read more »

You can’t escape the message in author-activist Jana Kohl’s book, “A Rare Breed of Love,” the story of her dog Baby, rescued after years of abuse in a puppy mill.

And you certainly can’t escape the message on the bus in which she and her dog Baby are touring the country to promote the book and campaign against puppy mills.

As the video above, produced by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) shows, the bus is a rolling anti-puppy mill billboard.

Kohl’s dog spent nine years in a puppy mill, where she was tattooed with a number and had her vocal cords cut so the owners wouldn’t have to listen to her cries. She was rescued by a passing stranger on the day she was to be killed because she had gotten too old to breed. Her leg had to be amputated after her rescue due to the earlier abuse.

With Kohl, Baby has become a “national spokesdog” to raise awareness about cruelty in the dog breeding industry. The book contains more than 60 photographs of Baby and supporters of the cause — from Barack Obama to Judge Judy, from Lindsay Lohan to Amy Sedaris.

Kohl and Baby will be appearing this coming Saturday at Puppy Mill Awareness Day in Intercourse, Pa.

For those of you who can’t find Intercourse on your own, here are the directions.

Pennsylvania has long suffered the “Puppy Mill Capitol of the East” label, but Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff believes the state has a chance to turn that around – with the swift passage of House Bill 2525 this week.

Wolff urged Pennsylvanians to call their legislators and ask them to pass the bill quickly during the short legislative session.

(Here’s a list of Pennsylvania’s senate members. Here’s a list of house members.)

“Current Pennsylvania law allows dogs to be kept in cramped, stacked cages their entire lives with minimal care and no opportunity to exercise. It’s easy to see how the state has come to be known as the home of puppy mills. These conditions are legal, and the result is dogs that are physically and emotionally damaged,” said Wolff. “Pennsylvania owes it to every dog owner to ensure that the standards of care are raised for the sake of their dogs and families.”

By improving the minimum standards for commercial breeding kennels, the worst of which are called puppy mills, Wolff said Pennsylvania can better protect dogs in kennels and the families who welcome them into their homes.

Among other protections for dogs, H.B. 2525 doubles the minimum floor space for dogs, eliminates wire flooring, and requires access to an outdoor exercise area twice the size of the dog’s primary enclosure. Current law does not require dogs to ever be taken out of cages, much less given access to exercise areas.

The bill would require veterinary examinations for each dog at least once per year or during each pregnancy.

Current law treats all kennels the same, regardless of size or function. The proposed legislation would allow the health and welfare needs of the dogs housed in large commercial breeding kennels to be addressed

Wolff said widespread public support could help move the legislation forward. He said his office has received an outpouring of support for the bill in light of the recent shooting of 80 dogs in two Berks County kennels.

Read more »

After a candelight vigil for the 80 dogs shot and killed by two kennel-owning Amish brothers, one of the brothers approached the lingering crowd, Tina Evangelista-Eppenstein, an animal advocate, reports on a blog for the Reading Eagle.

Elmer Zimmerman explained that he was told shooting the dogs was legal and said he had been advised to do so by his veterinarian.

He also said he regretted the choice, but it was unclear to Evangelista-Epperstein if it was the act or the publicity it led to that Zimmerman lamented.

You can read her full report and see more of her photos of the event here.

The dogs were shot by the two puppy mill owners after a state inspection resulted in an order that they provide about 40 dogs with veterinary care.

Dr. Frank Moll, of Hamburg, who had treated Zimmerman’s cattle but not his dogs, said he received a frantic call from him after the inspection. He told him it was legal to shoot animals in Pennsylvania.

“I warned him, though, that it was not the preferred method of disposing of dogs,” Moll told the Reading Eagle. “I told him the Humane Society probably wasn’t going to like it.”

Zimmerman shot all of his animals. Ammon H. Zimmerman Jr., his brother and owner of a breeding operation next door, disposed of 10 dogs the same way even though his kennel had not been inspected July 24. The  brothers surrendered their kennel operator licenses and dismantled the kennels.

Chris L. Ryder, spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture, said all 80 dogs were shot with a .22-caliber rifle and buried in a compost heap on one of the farms near Kutztown.