ohmidog!

After rapper Young Calicoe showed off what he said were fighting dogs and roosters being kept at a Detroit home, a search warrant was executed and the animals were seized.

Police removed animals from the west-side home after the search Wednesday, a Detroit Police spokeswoman told The Detroit News.

In the video, the rapper wanders the grounds of the home, on the 12200 block of West Outer Drive, pointing to pit bulls in kennels and one chained next to a doghouse, and several roosters, of which he says, “We fight them, too. That’s a  grand champ right there.”

The animals from the home will be taken to the Michigan Humane Society,  Detroit Police Sgt. Eren Stephens said. Police are also investigating whether the allegations are part of a larger  dogfighting or cockfighting ring and are questioning several people, Stephens  said.

Michigan Humane Society spokesman Kevin Hatman said all the animals will be treated by veterinarians. “We’re just happy right now that the animals are going to be receiving  high-quality care,” he said.

In the video,  Young Calicoe calls the dogs “champions in the making,” and says  “I hope we don’t get indicted for that — that Michael  Vick-type shit.”

We start the New Year by looking back at one of last year’s most downer dog stories (and there were many) — that of a stray pit bull who wandered into a hardware store and ended up getting euthanized, despite the efforts of rescue groups and a community to save him.

And we start – Happy New Year! — with what is both its latest twist and its silver lining:

A Detroit rescue group’s efforts to save that pit bull — named Ace – has moved an anonymous California woman to donate $1.5 million to build a no-kill shelter in a city that sorely needs one

Detroit Dog Rescue says the donation — in the form of stock options — came from a woman they described as “a fellow dog rescuer who is battling a life-threatening illness.”

“She just kind of nonchalanty, very humbly, just rambled off very quickly, ‘I just want you to know that we’re going to do this very fast and it’s just going to be a quick transfer of stocks to you guys. You should have the million dollars overnight,’”  co-founder Daniel “Hush” Carlisle told Channel 4 News. “And I was like, ‘Excuse me? Did you just say a million dollars?’”

But the story starts with Ace.

On November 4, the rescue learned through emails and Facebook posts that a dog had wandered into an Ace Hardware store on E. McNichols. He was emaciated, and there were wounds on his neck. DDR staff rushed to the store — knowing all stray pit bulls seized in Detroit are euthanized — but animal control had arrived there first.

“Due to Detroit Animal Control’s egregious policy of euthanizing 100 percent of dogs that they deem to be pit bulls or pit mixes, we knew that Ace would almost certainly be put down,” DDR’s account of the story on its website explains.

“Luckily, the media had gotten a hold of the story as thousands rallied together. A group of people started a “Save Ace” Facebook page, and a licensed rescue (Stray K-9 Rescue) confirmed that they would take Ace if Detroit Animal Control would release him.”

Ace’s supporters attended a city council meeting to urge the dog be released.

Despite that, city health department officials said Ace wouldn’t be released, and that if no owner came forward, he would be killed after the mandatory four-day holding period.

An owner did come forward, after seeing Ace on the news, stating the dog had been stolen from her home. But when she arrived at animal control to claim her dog, the dog she was shown wasn’t her’s. Nor was it Ace, DDR says.

The rescue group suspected animal control might have euthanized Ace the day he arrived, and that it was attempting to cover it up.

Hiring lawyers, the rescue group and the owner went to court and were granted an injunction that barred animal control from killing any dogs resembling Ace until a hearing could be held.

On Nov. 10, though, animal control reported it had euthanized Ace.

“We at Detroit Dog Rescue believe that Detroit Animal Control put the dog they tried to pass off as Ace down early rather than have to prove whether he was or was not Ace … Their preferred method is one of eradication and they believe themselves to be above the law. They bumbled, lied, tried to backtrack, and then disregarded a direct order from the judge,” the DDR website says.

While unsuccessful in saving the dog, DDR’s efforts impressed the mystery donor.

DDR spokesman David Rudolph said the donor tracked the organization’s work after seeing it on TV in May, and decided to make the donation after learning about the group’s attempt to save Ace.

Carlisle said the donation brought him to tears. “To have a donation of this size given to us in the amount of time that we’ve been up, 10 months, it’s going to be a really exciting time,” he said.

On top of that donation, DDR — whose budget had reportedly shrunk to $43 at one point — saw an influx of donations, more than $200,000, after it was featured on an NBC Nightly News segment called “Making a Difference.”

“This donation is just the beginning,” said Monica Martino, who co-founded the organization after city officials denied a Discovery Channel request to film her series “A Dog’s Life.”

“While Hush and I were working on the streets of Detroit, we saw firsthand the true scope and scale of the stray dog situation. This problem in Detroit is an epidemic and the system that is in place to control it is broken. The first step is to build a no-kill shelter.”

TMZ is reporting a strange little story out of Arizona involving comedian/rapper/actor Katt Williams.

During a tour bus stop last month in the town of Williams, near the Grand Canyon, one of Williams’ bodyguards was bitten by a dog, and then shot the dog twice, killing him.

The German shepherd — named Lester — was a retired police dog that had gotten loose during a walk with his owners, and ended up in the same Jack-in-the-Box parking lot where Williams’ bus stopped.

After the shooting, Williams told the family that the bodyguard would be fired, then he stepped into his bus and came back out with an 8-week-old puppy, reportedly a mastiff.

Williams offered the puppy to the family to replace the dead dog.

The family accepted, then posed for pictures with Williams.

The family told TMZ they named the new dog Bella, and that, though they were “devastated” by the death of Lester, they appreciated Williams taking responsibility and offering them the new pup.

Police responded, interviewed Williams and others, and opted to file no charges.

(Photo: TMZ)

An Atlanta woman has filed a lawsuit against Rick Ross, seeking damages for the death of her 3-year-old Yorkshire terrier, who she says was killed by the rapper’s three pit bulls.

The woman, a neighbor, says the three dogs — described in the lawsuit as pit bulls — escaped from Rick’s mansion and attacked her dog, Banks, on her property.

According to documents obtained by TMZ, the Yorkie suffered “3 large bite wounds on his back ” along with a “very large bite wound” around his neck.

Police responded to the scene and managed to free the smaller dog, but his wounds were so severe he had to be euthanized.

According to TMZ, Ross was cited for the incident.

The lawsuit seeks $15,000 in damages and court costs.

Earl Simmons, better known as the rapper DMX, was sentenced in Arizona Friday to 90 days in jail and at least 18 months probation for theft, drug-possession and animal-cruelty.

Simmons pleaded guilty Dec. 30 to three felony counts — theft, possession or use of marijuana, and possession or use of narcotic drugs — and one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty.

The animal-cruelty and drug charges stem from an August 2007 raid that Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies conducted at Simmons’ home in Cave Creek, a Phoenix suburb. Authorities investigating a report of animal abuse found three dead dogs, guns, ammunition and drug paraphernalia, according to the Arizona Republic.

The 38-year-old rapper has been in the Maricopa County Jail since being arrested Dec. 9 in Miami on a warrant after failing to appear in court in Phoenix.

Earl Simmons, better know as rapper DMX, faces at least 90 days in jail after pleading guilty on Tuesday to drug, theft and animal cruelty charges, Arizona prosecutors said.

The Baltimore-born Simmons, 38, pleaded to three felony charges and one misdemeanor count in Maricopa County Superior Court under a deal to settle three criminal cases against him. He also agreed not to own any animals or posses firearms.

His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 30.

“I am pleased that this defendant will be held accountable for both his drug and animal cruelty offenses,” said County Attorney Andrew Thomas, in a statement.

The rapper turned actor has been battling legal woes during the past year in Arizona, according to Reuters. In May, he was arrested on drug and animal cruelty charges after sheriff’s deputies raided his home in Phoenix. Authorities found dog carcasses and malnourished pit bulls at the residence.

(Photo: DMX’s album “Year of the Dog… Again”)