ohmidog!

A Florida sheriff’s deputy plans to adopt the dog he helped rescue after her owner slashed her throat and stabbed her.

The dog, a 70-pound collie-Labrador mix named Amber, was attacked Sunday night, according to the Jacksonville Times-Union.

St. Johns County Deputy Dan Sorrells arrested her owner and then joined an animal control officer in a search for the dog, following a trail of blood and finding her in a thicket of grass, with her throat slashed and stab wounds to her sides.

When he called her name, she came, he said. “She walked right over to me. She showed no  aggression.”

Amber was taken to Atlantic Veterinary Hospital in Jacksonville. Sorrells plans to pay Amber’s medical and take her home in about a week.

Her owner, Randal Bryen Hart, 28, has been charged with animal  cruelty. Hart, who was being held in St. Johns County jail agreed to relinquish ownership of the dog.

He told deputies the dog needed to be “put down” because she attacked a kitten.

According to Hart’s two roomates, who reported the incident, he became angry when he thought the dog had harmed the cat.

“He called the dog over to him and stabbed it several times,” they told Sorrells. “Then he cut its throat.”

One of the roommates said he tried to help the wounded dog, but that Hart told him to ”back off.”

The kitten, as it turned out, was not harmed.

Amber is believed to be about 4 years old. Sorrells visited her Tuesday and  Wednesday. His family has two other rescue dogs.

“This dog will fit in perfectly with them,” he  said.

(Top photo: Amber, far left, visits the vet with Sorrells, far right; by Bruce Lipsky / The Times-Union)

Two and a half years after the manager of a sled dog tour company shot and slashed the throats of scores of no-longer-needed huskies, he’s scheduled for sentencing in court.

Bob Fawcett — who claims the owners of Howling Dog Tours ordered him to cull the herd, and that doing so gave him post-traumatic stress disorder — is to be sentenced tomorrow in British Columbia’s Provincial Court in North Vancouver.

The animals, owned by the Whistler-based tour company, were killed in April 2010, but were exhumed more than a year later after an SPCA investigation. They were reburied earlier this month in a memorial ceremony.

Fawcett entered a guilty plea in August to charges of causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal and faces maximum sentence of five years in prison and $75,000 in fines.

The mass slaying came to light after Fawcett filed a workman’s compensation claim, stating that shooting, slashing and dumping the bodies of about 100 dogs over a two-day period had left him with post traumatic stress disorder.

He said the cull was ordered by company owners after the demand for sled dog tours dropped after the  2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Since the slaughter, the province has revised its anti-cruelty laws to provide new protection for sled dogs, and established more severe penalties for cruelty.

After being dug up and examined, the bodies of 56 of the sled dogs were reburied at a pet cemetery near Penticton, British Columbia, earlier this month at a memorial ceremony.

Fifty-six separate stones were placed individually on a memorial stone which read, “In loving memory of the Whistler sled dogs,” according to the Penticton Herald. Mourners attending the ceremony brought their own dogs, and some wore T-shirts that read, “Justice for the Whistler sled dogs.”

“You (dogs) will never be forgotten, and we pledge that in your memories that we will fight any form of animal cruelty and abuse,”  Marylee Davies, president of the BC-SPCA, said during the service.

As Fawcett’s sentencing neared,  a former volunteer BC-SPCA investigator has come forward to question whether the organization — based on what she saw on a 2000 visit to Howling Dog Tours — could have prevented the tragedy.

Eleanor Matthews visited Howling Dog Tours in January of 2000, when 73 dogs were under Fawcett’s car, and, described inhumane conditions in a report submitted to the SPCA, according to the Edmonton Journal.

She took photos of dogs, some emaciated, cramped in cages, and crammed into crates on two trailers — including this one:

Matthews  says she joined the SPCA as a voluntary investigator about 14 years ago. She quit when the SPCA failed to act on her report, declining to take it to prosecutors so charges could be brought.

BC-SPCA officials, however, said earlier investigations at Howling Dog showed no evidence of abuse, cruelty or neglect, and that while they did order improvements in conditions for the sled dogs there, the company had complied with those orders.

(Top photo by Jeff Bassett / The Canadian Press; bottom photo by Eleanor Matthews)

Hundreds of people gathered outside the Marathon County Courthouse in Wisconsin this week during a hearing for a woman who is accused of killing her boyfriend’s dog and describing her ongoing torture of the animal in her diary.

In a packed courtroom, Sean D. Janas, 20, of Wausau, waived her right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday and was ordered to stand trial on charges of felony mistreatment of animals, giving poison to an animal and obstructing an officer.

Janas is accused of poisoning and stabbing Mary, a 4-year-old Laborador-shepherd mix in June.

According to the criminal complaint, Janas kept a diary describing her intense hatred for Mary, and detailing the abuse she inflicted on the dog, included forcing her to drink bleach and Drano over the course of several months.

Janas faces more than five years in prison and $30,000 in fines if convicted. She remained in jail this week on a $2,500 cash bond.

Those attending her hearing — before Marathon County Circuit Judge Mike Moran — were required to walk through metal detectors, and Marathon County Sheriff’s deputies searched briefcases and handbags, according to the Wausau Daily Herald.

Before and after the hearing, protesters circled the courthouse, seeking justice for Mary and demanding more laws and tougher penalties to combat animal abuse.

“We don’t have tough enough laws that protect animals, and I believe vets should have to report any suspected abuse, just like they would in a child,”  said Kelli Obremski, 42, of Mosinee, who brought both her children and her boxer to the protest.

“We’ll come to every appearance we can,” Obremski said. “It’s that important.”

(Photo: Sean D. Janas mugshot)

Two alleged dog killers — one in Florida who used a knife, and one in California who opted for hanging — both blamed their acts on curiosity, police say.

On Sunday night, a Jacksonville, Florida, woman allegedly attacked her family’s dog with a butcher knife, later explaining to officers that she wanted to “know what it felt like.”

Two nights earlier, in California, a 12-year-old boy told police he’d hung the family dog because he wanted to see it die.

Let’s be clear. That’s not curiosity. That’s psychotic behavior, and if convicted they both should get to know what prison feels like, for a long time.

News 4 in Jacksonville reported that 22-year-old Mariessa Caggiano stabbed the family’s 10-year old Labrador retriever seven times with an 8-inch knife.

Authorities said Caggiano stabbed the dog once in the family driveway, and that the dog ran off with the knife still in her. Caggiano chased the dog into a neighbor’s yard and stabbed it about six more times, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

The dog, still alive when authorities arrived, was rushed to a veterinary hospital, but was not expected to live.

Officers said Caggiano admitted to stabbing the dog because she w”anted to see what it felt like.” She was arrested and charged with cruelty to animals.

In Salinas, California, a 12-year-old boy was placed in juvenile hall after allegedly hanging a dog because, he reportedly told officers, he wanted to see the animal die.

The boy, not named, was booked Friday into Monterey County Juvenile Hall on felony animal-cruelty charges, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Police said they were called to an apartment by a woman who sounded as if she was struggling with someone and yelled, “He’s hurting the dog.” When they arrived, they found the 12-pound terrier-mix dead, hanging by its collar on a bedroom door handle.

The boy came out of the bedroom showing no remorse, police said, and told officers, “I was mad at the dog so I killed it.”

(Photo: Mariessa Caggiano, courtesy of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office)

Police say an investigation into a Connecticut woman’s suspicion that her ex-boyfriend stabbed her dog has led to animal cruelty charges against the woman.

Michelle Masella had told police her boxer returned home from a neighhboring park with a knife — her boyfriend’s knife — sticking out of her chest.

But East Haven police say all evidence pointed not at the boyfriend, but Masella.

Masella, 42, denied hurting her dog, and maintains the incident is just the latest harassment from her ex-boyfriend.

Bailey, her 68-pound boxer, was treated for a small superficial wound to her right shoulder, and another wound to her chest. She’s recovering, but remains in the care of the local animal control department.

According to police, officers found blood on Masella’s front porch, on the stairs leading to her second floor apartment and on the kitchen and living room floor. No blood was found at the park, or the sidewalk leading to Masella’s house.

Masella was arrested yesterday on a warrant charging her with cruelty to animals, filing a false report, interfering with a police officer and failure to vaccinate her dog for rabies.

She was released on $5,000 bond with a court date in New Haven on Oct. 12.

Masella, police said, has also been charged with forging her ex-boyfriend’s signature on one of his unemployment check and cashing it.

A Baltimore County dog was stabbed in the throat earlier this week while in her own fenced yard, and died later that night.

Princess, a 3-year-old mixed breed, was stabbed sometime Wednesday, and was found bleeding by her family when they returned home.

David and Robin O’Steen rushed the dog to the vet and left her there overnight, hopeful that she was going to survive. The vet told the O’Steens that the wound appeared to be from a knife.

“I had planned to go at 2 o’clock yesterday and get her from the vet,” Robin O’Steen told WJZ in Baltimore. “And they called yesterday (Thursday) morning when I was at school to tell me that she had passed overnight.”

The O’Steens said Princess had been mistreated by passersby before, because she was prone to bark at strangers. The street they live on in Essex is near a pedestrian bridge, and gets a lot of foot traffic, they said. Once someone walked by and spit on her because she was barking.

Contrary to the WJZ report (above), Princess wasn’t really on the cover of “Dog Fancy” magazine. According to Robin O’Steen, it’s a fake cover she had made at Walgreen’s. Because the visiting news crew didn’t ask about it, Robin said she didn’t bother to point it out. Even though Princess wasn’t a true cover dog, Robin still considered her a star.

Baltimore County police are investigating the death of Princess, but with no witnesses having come forward, Robin O’Steen isn’t too hopeful that the dog’s assailant will be found.

“Without an eyewitness, the police are unable to do anything, which greatly saddens me,” she told ohmidog!

Princess, a Rottweiler and black Lab mix, was a rescue from Georgia and had a limp when her daughter adopted her.

“She was my sidekick/my shadow. If I went outside to sit on the porch, she had to go outside with me. Even if to just lay in the yard, she was always by my side to make sure I was OK. Even though she was 80 pounds, she would lay in my bed with me while I watched TV, worked on homework, etc. She spent almost every night at my feet, sleeping with me and my husband.”

“I had her for three years and she was THE best dog I ever had. She was not my property, she was my family. I feel so lost without her, and I am so angry that anyone could do this to a dog that never hurt anyone.”

More than 20 Connecticut state legislators have asked a judge not to show leniency in the case of a New Haven man charged with stabbing a young pit bull mix 29 times.

The legislators, led by state Rep. Diana Urban, of North Stonington, voiced their concerns in a letter to the judge who is presiding over the case of Alexander Bernard, 24.

Bernard told police he stabbed the eight-month-old dog, named Princess, because “no one in the family liked her,” according to Patch.com.

Princess is recovering from her injuries at North Haven Animal Hospital and is expected to be put up for adoption when the criminal case conludes.

Bernard was charged with one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty, which is punishable with up to a year in jail. A felony animal cruelty charge carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine in Connecticut.

“What Mr. Bernard did to this innocent young dog shows a shocking lack of empathy and a shocking and inappropriate level of violence,” the legislators wrote. “This adult didn’t steal a pack of gum from the grocery store, he stabbed a living, breathing creature capable of feeling pain 29 times like it was a natural thing to do.

“Clearly this individual in incapable of making rational decisions and shows a dangerous lack of civility and remorse. If Alexander Bernard could ruthlessly stab the family pet, imagine what he might be capable of in the years to come should his behavior go unpunished and untreated.”

“It is time we took animal cruelty seriously and approach it as an opportunity to interrupt the cycle of violence,” the letter added. “The sheer violence of his attack is enormously worrisome and the fact that the court doesn’t appear to take what he did seriously is also distressing.

Judge Philip Scarpellino said in court last week that he believed the letter could be interpreted as “intimidation” towards him. “I am upset by the letter but not influenced by it, ” he said. The judge postponed taking action on the case.

WorldNetDaily was among those asking that question this week after reports that Jenna, a German shepherd whose owner admits she doesn’t like non-whites, was stabbed by one of the owner’s employees.

The attack cost Jenna an eye.

“The dog reacts to black people, Hispanics, anyone who is not white,” owner Paul Tocco, who runs a family-owned oil-delivery business in Yonkers, told New York’s Journal News.

One of Tocco’s employees, a black handyman named Andrew Owens, became annoyed at Jenna’s incessant barking, and reportedly ”egged on” the dog before charging at her and slashing her eye with a 9-inch folding knife.

Detective Ken Ross said Jenna, a four-year-old guard dog, was cut “over the right eye, all the way down to the socket bone.” Ross said Owens “never liked the dog. The dog did not bite him (Monday). It appears everything was done out of anger.” Owens allegedly had threatened to kill the dog in the past and claimed Jenna had bitten him last year.

Owens was arrested and charged with felony aggravated cruelty, as well as fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a misdemeanor.

Tocco says he never trained Jenna to behave that way. He said it wasn’t fair to call his dog racist or prejudiced. Jenna  just “doesn’t like minorities,” he said.

Your civil comments on this one, as always, are welcome. Can dogs be “racist?” Is the owner always to blame?  Might this phenomenon show up more in guard dogs, and if so why?