ohmidog!

Singer Patti Page has re-recorded her classic hit, “How Much is that Doggie in the Window?” in hopes that a more politically correct version — “Do You See That Doggie in the Shelter?” — will steer the public away from puppy mills dogs.

The 81-year-old Page, whose autobiography, “This is My Song,” comes out next month, originally recorded “How Much is That Doggie” in 1952.

The re-recorded tune, she says, is an effort to bring attention to the plight of shelter dogs awaiting adoption and the deplorable conditions in puppy mills that supply dogs to some pet stores.

The new lyrics were written by Page’s publicist, Sanford Brokaw, and Chris Gantry, composer of the 1968 Glen Campbell classic, “Dreams of the Everyday Housewife.”

The first live performance of the song, during its recording, was played to an audience that included three rescued Bassett hounds and a rescued Italian Greyhound.

Page says she hopes that when people now hear the old familiar “Doggie” melody, they’ll think about homeless animals and animal shelters instead of pet stores and puppy mills.

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.

Perhaps its says something about my maturity level, but, when it comes to the three new dog movies on the horizon, I’m most excited about “Hotel for Dogs” — a family-friendly flick about two orphans who set up a refuge for dogs in an abandoned hotel.

The DreamWorks/Nickelodeon release opens Jan. 16.

Adapted from author Lois Duncan’s 1971 children’s book of the same name, the movie stars Don Cheadle, Emma Roberts and Lisa Kudrow.

There’s just something about those movies where kids conspire to beat the odds, overcome the bully, and/or outwit the grownups that gets me every time. Throw in a rag-tag collection of dogs and you’ve got a movie I may even leave the house for.

Vice president-elect Joe Biden, who faced some heat for his decision to purchase a dog from a breeder, says his family plans to get a second dog — this one from a shelter or rescue organization.

“We’re going to have more than one puppy,” he said in on the ABC News show This Week With George Stephanopoulous.

Biden’s purchase of a 6-week-old German shepherd from a Chester County breeder Dec. 6 touched off a national debate about pet-shopping, with critics pointing to the millions of dogs euthanized in shelters each year.

Biden said his family is not getting the dog in an effort to appear politically correct, but because his wife wants it, and because his family has almost always had two dogs. Read more »

Colleen Spalioni went to an animal shelter to find a dog.

She went home with 27.

The rescued pooches — including 10 Chihuahua mixes, one purebred Chihuahua, a Jack Russell, a poodle, two shepherd mixes, two miniature pinschers and an Australian cattle dog mix — were apparently facing euthanasia.

Spalioni, of Sparks, Nevada, was looking for a dog to replace the pointer she lost in November to a car accident, according to the Reno Gazette Journal.

She found one on the website DogsinDanger.com, which posts photos of dogs in shelters and the number of days until they are euthanized. It was nearly 400 miles away, but Spalioni made the trip to Delano, Calif., near Bakersfield, accompanied by a neighbor, in her pick-up.

There she learned how many more dogs were facing euthanasia — and adopted them all. Delano police animal control officers helped her load the 27 dogs into her pickup. Some fit in the cab, with the rest in the truck bed with a down blanket and a tarpaulin over the top.

Spalioni did all this while her husband was away on a business trip. He returns home today.

One dog died on the trip home, and two more since. The 24 others yelped enough to lead her neighbors to complain, and it has been pointed out to her that a local ordinance sets a limit of three dogs per household.

“I didn’t realize I was going to be in so much trouble or that so many  people would be so angry at what I did,” Spalioni said. “But after I lost my dog who gave me so much unconditional love, I couldn’t leave these dogs to die.”

She had found homes for all but three of the dogs as of Monday, and said she hoped to place the remaining dogs before her husband got home.

Take ”Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” replace the straight guys with dogs, throw in some firm tugs on the old heartstrings, and you have a basic understanding of the Animal Planet’s soon to premier program, “Underdog to Wonderdog.”

Every episode will feature the “Wonder Team” — made up of a groomer, carpenter, trainer and, of course, good lookin’ and energetic host  — transforming an “unkempt, undernourished, unloved” shelter dog into a well coiffed, housed and trained family dog.

Having not seen it yet, we give it a D for originality, a C for the inadvertent slap in the face to shelter workers, and a B for meaning well.

The show promises to send each dog through “a complete metamorphoses, becoming the dog it was always destined to be. Every shelter dog is rescued, groomed, trained and rehabilitated before finally being placed into a loving home - equipped with its very own custom-designed dog house.”

The show starts Saturday, January 3, at 8 p.m.

Read more »

Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS) is lowering its adoption fees for the rest of December, and will waive it entirely for animals two years old and older.

The move comes amid a surplus of abandoned dogs and cats — many of them dropped off by families facing financial difficulties.

“We’re being inundated with healthy, adoptable animals,” said BARCS executive director Jennifer Mead-Brause told the Baltimore Sun. “We have people driving up in U-Hauls, dropping off their pets. It’s heartbreaking.”

On top of that, the economic downturn has resulted in fewer people showing up to adopt.

For pups and kittens six months and younger, the fee will continue to be the usual $65, which includes spay/neuter, vaccinations, and preventatives. For animals aged 7 months up to 2 years, the fee hs been dropped to $10, and for animals under two, there will be no fee at all.

The reduced fees are in effect from Dec. 13 through Dec. 31.

To see the animals now at BARCS, you can visit BARCS Petfinder page, or visit in person, at 301 Stockholm St. Shelter Hours are Monday to Friday, 12:30 to 6:30 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

One hundreds dogs — seized by authorities in Montana from a man hoarding them in a broken down bus and a trailer — have now multiplied to about 150, and animal welfare officials in Butte plan a fundraiser to help pay for their care.

The dogs — up until this weekend — couldn’t be adopted out to new homes, nor could they be spayed or neutered, because of the pending court case against Phillip Brode, 60, who was arrested Oct. 5 after the bus he was driving broke down at the Rocker truck stop.

Brode, who originally pleaded not guilty, entered a guilty plea at a hearing yesterday, allowing the shelter to begin placing the dogs in permanent homes. The dogs will officially go up for adoption Saturday.

Brode told authorities he was transporting the dogs to Alaska to work as sled dogs.

Read more »

The Benjamin Vicuna MacKenna Animal Protection Society in Santiago, Chile billed itself as a haven for stray and unwanted pets, but prosecutors say the shelter illegally killed up to 200 animals a month during the four months of a police investigation.

Hundreds of dead cats and dogs were found on the grounds of the shelter yesterday, according to district prosecutor Emiliano Arias.

“Its pure, hard cruelty,” he said. “All the animals are in a terrible state, abandoned, without food, without water. It’s a strong case of mistreatment: dogs dying, agonizing with distemper.”

Neighbors had complained several times about the smell. Some of the animals had been killed and others were allowed to die from illness, Bloomberg News reported.

Prosecutors said they found evidence of health violations and people posing as veterinarians.

Police arrested Luis Navarro, the president of the charity, and six employees. They solicited donations from the public and charged people who brought in unwanted animals up to $85.

Animal refuges in Chile aren’t regulated, Bloomberg reported, and the conditions found in Santiago are reflected at shelters throughout Chile.