ohmidog!

The cairn terrier — the breed that played Toto in “The Wizard of Oz” — won’t become the official state dog of Kansas, at least not this year.

The House Standing Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources declined to hear House Bill 251, leaving its chances of passing in the current session somewhere between slim and over the rainbow.

But State Rep. Ed Trimmer, D-Winfield, who introduced the bill, said he plans on re-introducing it again next year, according to a Wichita Eagle report.

“We had great responses from kids,” Trimmer said. “And, I think this will give me a chance to go into the classrooms and visit with them, let them know this is part of the learning process and sometimes when you ask the first time, and the answer is no, you have to learn how to ask again. If it is something you want, you have to be persistent.”

PETA came out against the bill, saying it would create high demand for the breed and add to the state’s puppy mill problems.

But Brenda Moore, obedience chairwoman with the South Central Kansas Kennel Club who pushed for the proposal, says she doubt PETA’s action played any role in the bill’s apparent demise.

“I don’t think PETA made a dent in what we are doing. I just think it had more to do that this is an election year.”

She said she wants to create a petition drive and collect signatures from Kansans to present to state politicians; she also wants to raise awareness for existing state laws that have created stiffer penalties for puppy mill operations.

“Over the last six years, we have cleaned up a lot of the nasty people,” Moore said. “Most of the breeders are on the up and up. We want people to know that dog breeders are responsible people and that if we do get a state dog, we will not capitalize on it.”

PETA is objecting to proposed Kansas legislation that would make the cairn terrier the state dog, saying doing so will lead to increased demand for the breed.

And that, Peta says in a letter to the bill’s sponsor, “would worsen one of Kansas’ serious problems: its reputation as a hotbed for cruel, filthy puppy mills.”

“Naming the cairn terrier — or any breed — Kansas’ state dog would drive up demand for these dogs and entice puppy mills to churn out litter after litter of the breed, meaning fewer dogs would be adopted from your state’s animal shelters.”

The letter urges Kansas State Rep. Ed Trimmer to withdraw his proposal to make the cairn — the breed of Toto in “The Wizard of Oz” — the official state dog.

“Kansas’ animal shelters are already overcrowded—the last thing they need is a deluge of ‘Totos,’” says PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “If Kansas is set on naming an official state dog, PETA suggests the humble, healthy, and 100 percent lovable all-American mutt.”

In Kansas some are swearin’
Cuz there’s no breed that’s bearin’
The title of state dog

To correct this error glarin’
Oh, the answer’s quite apparent
It can only be the cairn

You don’t need to be a wizard, or even have a brain, to figure this one out. If Kansas is going to name a state dog, it’s got to be the cairn terrier — Toto’s breed.

A proposal, and not the first, has been submitted to do just that, so that Kansas — in addition to its state insect, bird, reptile, grass, animal, tree and song (it’s not “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” it’s “Home on the Range”) — will have a state dog.

The man behind the curtain, in this case, is a woman, Brenda Moore of Augusta, who is described as “obedience chairwoman” with the South Central Kansas Kennel Club.

So one should probably do what she suggests.

“I’ve lived in Kansas all my life. I am a middle-aged woman and would like to say I’ve done something great for my state before I am dead and gone. I’m hoping this will go through,” she told the Wichita Eagle

Moore contacted State Rep. Ed Trimmer about proposing a bill designating the cairn terrier as the official dog breed of Kansas. Last week, that’s what he did.

A waste of time? Not in Trimmer’s view: “I realize we have very critical, critical issues at the state level. But our constituents and their issues are very important … and that’s why I introduced it for them … If we are going to have a state dog, I think that is the appropriate choice.”

Before the bill can be passed, the proposal will go to a committee – in this case, the House Standing Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The last time Kansas adopted a symbol was 2010 when, after a 3 1/2-hour debate, it declared the official state grass: little bluestem.

Trimmer hopes the state dog bill goes through the committee and passes with a quick vote. “We certainly have a lot of very important issues to deal with, especially in terms of economy,” he said. “I hope we can do this quickly, and I don’t mean for it to be a time waster.”

There was a push to name the cairn terrier the state dog in 2006, but after several thousand signatures were gathered, no elected official stepped forward as a sponsor.

At least 10 states have state dogs. You can take ohmidog’s state dog quiz here, or (though I’m not sure the obedience chairwoman would like it) go directly to the answers here.

It was like a scene from the Wizard of Oz, and it most likely left Alfie wondering what it was all about.

A silky terrier in Manhattan, swept off an 11th floor terrace by high winds, survived a five-story fall with only minor injuries.

Sarann Lindenauer, 67, had opened her terrace door to let in some air, left her apartment for five minutes and came back to find Alfie — a 4-year-old, 10-pound silky terrier — had vanished.

“I ran all over the house calling his name,” she told the New York Post. “I looked down on the plaza and onto the landing of the town houses.”

The dog was swept from the Independence Plaza complex on May 3 during a thunderstorm, landing five stories below, and 30 feet to the east, on a rooftop.

“It was like ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ and he was Toto,” said Jessica Gould, a neighbor who rescued Alfie.  Gould, who lives in a different tower of the complex, had been looking out at the storm from her seventh-floor window and spotted Alfie.

Gould retrieved the dog and brought him to the lobby.

“‘This is Alfie. Oh, my, God … He came from the 11th floor,” she recounted the doorman saying. Lindenauer was called and reunited with the dog, who  sustained only a few bruises and scratches and a cut lip.

“It had to be a horrible, horrible quick wind because he definitely doesn’t jump,” said Lindenauer, who added that Alfie no longer likes going out on the terrace.