ohmidog!

An engineer spotted a dog tied to train tracks in Riverside County, Calif., engaged the emergency braking system and was able to stop in time.

The dog’s owner, a 78-year-old man who was arrested at the scene, told authorities his family didn’t want the dog and he didn’t know what to do with him.

Union Pacific Railroad officials say the incident took place April 2.

The train’s engineer witnessed someone placing something on the tracks and, once he saw it was a dog, stopped the train in Mecca.

A Union Pacific special agent arrived, untied the 10-month-old poodle-terrier mix and detained the man, CBS in Los Angeles reported.

Charges weren’t pursued because ”the man appeared to be confused, or senile and didn’t fully understand what he had done,” John Welsh of the Riverside County Department of Animal Services said in a statement.

The man was released to family members.

The dog, who was nicknamed Banjo, was taken to the Coachella Valley Animal Campus in Thousand Palms where he was examined, treated and bathed.

Anyone interested in adopting Banjo, can email: shelterinfo@rivocha.org.

Shot in the face, tossed in a trash bag and tied to a fence post on the side of the road, a dog in Conroe, Texas was rescued, treated and — though he’s expected to have lasting damage — is mostly recovering.

Rescuers named him Buck — after the buckshot left in his face by a shotgun blast.

A driver spotted the bag on the side of the road Saturday on Bulldog Lane, and saw that it was moving.

Once it was was opened a bloody dog crawled out and collapsed on the ground.

When a call to animal control produced no immediate results, Tami Augustyn — known in the area for helping animals in need — was called.

Augustyn took the dog to Animal Emergency Clinic of Conroe, where it was determined he’d been shot in the face with buckshot, according to the Mongtomery County Police Reporter, which broke the story.

Dr. Ron Hendrick, a veterinarian at the clinic, said the mixed breed dog, about three years old, sustained damage to both eyes and also shows signs of  hearing loss and brain damage.

The article about Buck — and a Facebook page set up to help him — led to nearly $10,000 in donations towards Buck’s medical care.

This week, the New York Daily News picked up the story.

“Today he’s great,” Augustyn told the Daily News on Tuesday. “He’s very happy when he sees me, when he hears my voice.”

A heartless soul stole 7-year-old Mia Bendrat’s dog on Christmas Eve — scooping him off the sidewalk in front of a store in Manhattan where her owner’s left him tied.

Fortunately, a good-hearted one was out there, too.

Tina Cohen, a teacher, saw a man a couple of neighborhoods away trying to sell a dog on the street, circumstances that made her suspicious. She purchased the dog from him and, on Christmas day, returned the dog to the owners.

New York City police arrested the alleged thief, who they say took the Cavalier King Charles spaniel, named Marley, from outside a shop in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood, all under the eye of a surveillance camera.

“Thank you, the people of Washington Heights … Those great Samaritans… And now we got him on Christmas Day,” Mia’s mother Angie Estrada told WABC-TV.

Cohen, a high school Spanish teacher came across a man on Monday in another section of Manhattan standing on a street corner and yelling that he had a dog for sale.

“I said that’s not right. I said I’d like to buy the dog. I only have $100,” Cohen said.

When the man demanded more cash, Cohen went to a nearby Staples, bought some merchandise with her credit card, then returned it for cash.

She paid $200 for Marley and took him straight to a veterinarian, where he was identified through his microchip.

On Tuesday Cohen watched Marley jump into Mia’s arms.

“You guys belong together,” she said. “I’m so happy you are together.”

No word on whether Cohen got her $200 back, but — in the event Santa is listening, and maybe is willing to make a return trip — we’d say she deserves that and much more.

A volunteer on her way to work at a Riverside, Calif., animal shelter noticed a dog sniffing a burlap bag on the side of the road and stopped to investigate.

As she approached, the bag — tied at the top — began moving.

And when she opened it she found a cream and white- colored Chihuahua mix inside, dirty but alive.

According to the Riverside Press-Enterprise, the dog has been named Angel and is being cared for at the Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center, formerly the Riverside Humane Society.

The volunteer, Debra Jordan, was on her way to work at the center when she spotted the sack, about 9 a.m. Monday, according to center spokeswoman Carrie Ridgeway.

Ridgeway said the dog is believed to be about three years old. Her ears were caked with mud and there were insect bites on her body.

“Who knows how long she’d been out there,” Ridgeway said.

After a bath and a meal, the dog seemed to be fine, she added.

Adoption Center officials reported the incident to the Riverside County Department of Animal Services.

“It’s not only heartbreaking, it’s also a crime,” Denise Perry, executive director of the adoption center said. “Pets aren’t disposable. They are living, breathing beings.”

A dog was found tied to the porch of an animal clinic in Rogue River, Oregon, with an apparent gunshot wound to his face.

The mixed-breed dog was discovered by employees at the Animal Clinic of Rogue River on Friday, alive and alert, but  laying in a pool of his own blood.

“It looks like the muzzle of the gun was stuck in the dog’s mouth and it was shot execution-style,” Rogue River police Chief Ken Lewis told the Medford Mail Tribune.

“He had a large hole in his face, just under the chin,” the police chief said.

The dog, believed to be about two years old, had no identification. He was rushed to Best Friends Animal Hospital in Talent for emergency surgery.

“He had two fractures in his jaw that had to be fixed with a wire,” Dr. Margarita Garcia said. “The wound is still leaking, but he can now eat watered-down food.”

Best Friends Animal Hospital workers say the dog has a friendly disposition. “We all have fallen in love with him,” said veterinary technician Erin McCreary.

 The animal hospital will continue to treat the dog until he is fit for adoption, Garcia said.

Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to call Rogue River police at 541-582-4931

(Photo: Bob Pennell / Medford Mail Tribune)

A South Carolina woman called a county animal control office asking they come pick up a dog she no longer wanted.

Then she left the hound mix in a bag on the curb — for three days.

Veronica Crawford, 29,  of Florence, was arrested by Darlington County Sheriff’s deputies on June 14 and charged with ill treatment of animals, SCNow.com reported.

According to Capt. Andy Locklair of the Darlington County Sheriff Office, Crawford called the county Animal Control office on Monday, June 11, saying she had a dog she no longer wanted.

She asked that the dog be picked up, but was informed that she would have to bring it in and fill out paperwork.

Three days later, according to Locklair, Crawford called Animal Control again requesting that the dog be picked up — and noting that it had been outside her home since Monday, tied up in a bag.

Animal Control contacted the Sheriff’s Office, which sent deputies to the residence. The dehydrated dog was found with only her head protruding from a bag.

Crawford was arrested and taken to the Darlington County Detention Center.

The dog was named Belinda at the shelter, where she was being treated for dehydration and injuries from her collar having becoming embedded in her skin.

(Photo: Darlington County Animal Control)

A pit bull mix purchased two weeks ago through an ad on Craigslist is being treated for injuries received when his new owners dragged him behind their Jeep, police said.

Four people were charged with animal cruelty in Troutdale, Oregon, in connection with the dragging of the dog, named Rhino.

Police say they received several calls Monday night from witnesses who saw the dog tied to the back of a moving Jeep Cherokee by his leash.

Troutdale police found the dog later, bleeding from his paws, KOIN reported

The four occupants of the Jeep told police they’d forgotten the dog was tied to it when they pulled out of a McDonald’s parking lot and drove 600 feet to a gas station, where bystanders stopped the driver.

Police transported Rhino to a veterinary clinic, where it was determined he had lost most of his foot pads and nails. He was to be transferred to Multnomah County Animal Control.

Police said the dog’s owner Launa Dickinson, 20, was charged with one count of second degree animal abuse. Also charged were Allen Cook, 20, Justin Rinde, 21, both of Portland, and Nicholas Falkenhagen, 21, of Milwaukie. All were booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center.

Police said all four were believed to be living in the Jeep.

A pit bull tied to a cement block was found in the Gulf off of Florida and officials are trying to find out who is responsible.

The Tampa Bay SPCA says it was contacted by a local fishing guide last week, who found the pit bull in the water, off of Treasure Island.

The animal had been weighed down by the cement block.

Pinellas deputies retrieved the animal’s body, according to WTSP.

SPCA Tampa Bay is offering a $500 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible.

Anyone with information, can contact the SPCA in Tampa Bay at 727-586-3591, ext. 135.

A Florida man will serve 40 days in jail for tying a 30-pound dumbbell to a dog’s neck and tossing him in the river.

Willie T. Bell, 41, of Palmetto, told police he was trying to make the dog stronger.

He pleaded no contest to the third-degree felony earlier this week, the Bradenton Herald reported.

Police in April spotted the two-year-old pit bull mix, named Blackie, in the Manatee River, not far from where Bell was fishing.

According to Palmetto police officer Micah Mathews’ report, the dogs snout was sticking up as it tried to tread water.

“Mr. Bell said he was trying to make the dog stronger,” Mathews wrote.
“The dog was unable to touch the ground and was not able to move the weight,” the officer wrote. “When I arrived I could see only the nose of the dog out of the water.”

On the officer’s request, Bell brought the dog to shore. Bell told the officer the dog had been swimming in place for about 15 minutes.

Mathews asked Bell the same question that’s probably running through your mind right now: Would he like to be anchored to a dumbbell and left in the water like that? Bell replied, “Hell no,” the police report states.

Bell was not the dog’s owner, animal control officials said.

The dog was returned to its original owner and animal control officials said it suffered no lasting physical damage.

Despite an outpouring of support from the public, time is running out for four dogs found starving and tied to a tree in Columbia, Tennessee last month.

The four, described as “American Shepherd-Bulldogs,” were all set to go to a rescue organization, but on Christmas Eve the plan fell through, News Channel 5 reports.

Now, unless another rescue can be found, the dogs are facing the end of the road — an outcome they weren’t far from when they were found.

“I was physically ill when I saw their intake pictures,” said Sonja Rine with Pet Pals of Maury County Organization.

“They were vomiting rocks and twigs because that is all they had eaten and they were all attached to one tree,” said Councilwoman Debbie Matthews, who is also trying to help them find a home.

An animal control officer spotted the dogs tied to a tree in their owner’s backyard last November. The owner told the officer the dogs hadn’t been fed in “a couple of days.” A judge ordered the owner to give the dogs up and donate $100 worth of dog food to the shelter.

He has yet to do so, but others in Columbia have stepped forward with donations.

“What a little love can do, it’s an amazing thing,” said Matthews.

The dogs are about a year old. They’ve tested heartworm positive, and have some other medical issues, so they need to go to a rescue before they can be adopted individually.

“They have tried so hard, they have such a will to live, they forgive. They don’t hold a grudge,” said Rine. “It’s gonna happen, it’s just gonna happen they deserve it,” said Rine.