ohmidog!

Ten thousand dollars worth of supplies were stolen from a California rescue organization that helps homeless and low-income people care for their pets.

Mohave Desert Animal Rescue, based in the Victorville area, said their warehouse in Apple Valley was broken into twice over the weekend.

The organization’s founder, Annie Lancaster, said the stolen supplies would have lasted for a year, and if there aren’t enough new donations, the non-profit organization may have to close.

The rescue provides food, leashes and care so the homeless, sick and recently unemployed can keep their pets. It also dispenses clothes, toiletries, sleeping bags and tents to the homeless, according to KABC in Los Angeles, which last year featured the organization in its “Pay It Forward” campaign.

“How low on the food chain do you have to go to find somebody who will steal from homeless people and their animals?” Lancaster said.  “It makes me sick.”

“One thing people don’t seem to realize about homeless people is they take incredible care of their animals,” Lancaster added. “They’ll go hungry to feed their own animals. That pet is their everything, it’s their heart, it’s their best friend, it’s their confidante.”

Thieves stole more than 20,000 pounds of dog food from an Atlanta warehouse last week, and the owner of the kibble says the loss may put him out of business.

James Galloway, owner of Intown Healthy Hound, told WSBTV that the stolen food was worth $35,000.

It was stored in a warehouse that was broken into Wednesday. Police said the thieves apparently cut a hole in the fence of the next-door property, climbed through the warehouse window and used a forklift to move pallets filled with the dog food and load it onto a vehicle.

There was no camera or alarm on the property, police said, and Galloway said he didn’t think his insurance covered items being stored outside of his shop.

A dog on a hot warehouse roof, spotted by a rider on a commuter train, has become a source of controversy in Miami, with some animal activists saying he needs to be rescued, and warehouse officials saying he’s only doing his job.

“No animal should live on top of a roof … a scalding hot roof,” said Amy Roman Restucci with Abandoned Dogs of the Everglades, who posted an account about the dog on Facebook.

“We do not know why this dog is up there, but we thought of a few different possible scenarios, and can not think of one that would be acceptable for this dog to be there. Not knowing the circumstances, we are torn as to how and go about helping this dog without possibly putting him in more danger or dooming him to death by animal control if called.

“… One thing we do know is that this is NO PLACE FOR A DOG!! The temperatures on that roof alone can cause this dog a heat stroke. We want the dog removed from that roof immediately!

Local 10 flew its helicopter above the building, spotting the dog on the roof. There are some shaded areas, and a doghouse, and several bowls nearby, it reported.

Neither the Miami Fire Department or the Miami-Dade County animal control department planned to get involved, saying it’s not against the law to keep a dog outside, as long as it has food, water, and shelter.

Raudel Hernandez, a worker for G&G Produce, told Local 10 that the dog on the roof, named Burro, is one of two that serve to protec the building from thieves. Burglars have broken in three times, stealing copper wire from the air conditioning units.

A petition to “save the dog on the roof” has been posted on Change.org

Here’s a look inside the cavernous warehouse in St. Louis that has served as the emergency shelter for the hundreds of dogs seized in this summer’s massive five-state dog-fighting raid — the largest in U.S. history.

The Humane Society of Missouri, at one point, was sheltering more than 400 dogs, and 100 newly born puppies, at the emergency shelter, the first public access to which was granted last week to the Associated Press.

More than 120 of the seized pit bulls have been placed in foster homes, but about that many still remain in the temporary shelter. Another 160 dogs were put down because of injuries, illness or behavior.

“They are not a vicious animal. They are the victims of abuse,” said Debbie Hill, vice president of operations for the Humane Society of Missouri. “That face and their eyes tell the story. They only want to be in someone’s home, on a couch, or sleeping at someone’s feet, maybe chew up a rug or two for entertainment. They’re learning for the first time how to be a dog.”

Animal behaviorist Pamela Reid, who was part of the team that evaluated the dogs, said a surprising two-thirds tested well for nonaggression and adoptability. She’s fostering one puppy, although one of her favorite dogs had to be euthanized because he showed aggression toward men.

Rising foreclosures and the sagging economy are making it more difficult for families to properly care for their pets, and this week JAKKS Pets and the Petco Foundation are doing something about it — offering free dog and cat food to struggling families and pet rescue groups in Detroit, Chicago and Greater Cleveland.

A free one-week supply of dog or cat food will be handed out to those who show up Saturday or Sunday at the Petco stores at Westgate Mall in Fairview Park or at 500 East Aurora Road in Macedonia.

“Pets have become innocent victims of the recession,” a company spokesman said, “and the number of animal intakes at shelters has risen dramatically.”

The move may not be purely altruistic. The company’s public-relations events follow a raid of its Illinois warehouse in June, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and marshals confiscated pet food that had been stored in filthy conditions, according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.

The warehouse, which supplied Petco stores in Ohio and 15 other states, was infested with rodents and birds. There had been no reports of pet illness from consuming Petco food, but pet owners were told to wash their hands after handling the bags and plastic containers.