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A Raleigh city councilwoman posted a photo of her dog relieving himself on a marble column of the statehouse, and compared her canine’s act of seeming disrespect to the way the Republican-controlled General Assembly is treating North Carolina’s citizens.

“I figured, what better way to get my frustration across than with humor?” said City Councilwoman Mary-Ann Baldwin, who used her Maltese-Yorkie mix and Facebook to register her displeasure.

“It shows a little outrage, and I think a little outrage is appropriate right now,” Baldwin said Friday. “I think it’s time for the gloves to come off.”

Baldwin on Friday posted a photo on Facebook of her dog, Jack Bauer — named for the terrorist-fighting agent from the TV show “24″ – relieving himself on a marble column outside the North Carolina General Assembly.

The Democratic councilwoman admits it may be undiplomatic, but she says the image seems to capture the sort of disrespect that, in her view, Republican lawmakers are showing — particularly in regards to a deal the city of Raleigh made with the state to lease the 325-acre grounds of the closed Dorothea Dix mental hospital for a regional park.

Republican lawmakers have moved to kill the deal, which had been signed and approved by former Gov. Bev Perdue, a Democrat.

Bills introduced last week would essentially tear up that contract. Republican lawmakers say the deal is not good for taxpayers,  and that the $68 million the state could receive over the decades from the city is too low, according to the Associated Press

“It’s beyond me how lawmakers, who are supposed to uphold the law, can think they can undo a legally binding contract,” Baldwin said. “This is nothing more than bullying and intimidation by some members of the General Assembly.”

“I was hoping for the best, but I think I’m seeing the worst,” Baldwin said of the GOP legislative agenda. “When I think about some of the legislation that has moved forward lately, whether it’s telling local governments what design standards they should have, or getting rid of renewable energy tax credits, and then you through Dix on top of that, you just sit there and say, ‘What are we doing?’”

The mother of Miley Cyrus says one of her daughter’s dogs (Ziggy) killed the other (Lila), prompting the family to “give away” Ziggy.

Tish Cyrus, in an entry on her blog, says Ziggy “grabbed” Lila in “just the wrong spot and Lila didn’t survive.”

“For some unknown reason, Ziggy grabbed Lila …Not really sure if she was playing or what … We dont think Ziggy is a mean dog.”

She said Ziggy was “taken to SPOT dog rescue and they found her a new home with no other pets or children just in case it wasn’t a fluke.”

Miley Cyrus tweeted about Lila’s death last week: “For everyone asking … I have never been so hurt in my life  My heart has never been so broken … Lila my sweet baby girl has passed away.” 

Lila, a Yorkie mix, turned 2 in November.

Ziggy is a rescued English bulldog who Cyrus bought for boyfriend Liam Hemsworth as a birthday present.

Cyrus has adopted at least five dogs in recent years, including Floyd, an Alaskan Klee Kai, also known as a miniature husky, a Rottweiler-beagle mix named Happy, and a black and white mixed breed named Mary Jane.

Each time, news coverage resulted, as it did when she dyed Lila pink for her second birthday.

Her mother Tish said Miley was not ready to talk about what happened:

“As for Miley, its been a really tough week.  As you all know her beloved baby girl Lila passed away.  Everyone has been so precious and so supportive of her and I love you all so much for that.  Miley loved Lila more than anyone can imagine.  I know some people were saying its JUST a dog, but to Miley she was so much more.”

(Photos: Top, Cyrus and Lila; below, Cyrus and Ziggy / Twitter)

A crated dog was set on fire Friday night in West Brandywine Township, Pa., , the Chester County SPCA reports.

The dog was the second to be found fatally burned in Chester County in just over three months.

Wagontown Fire Chief Todd Ziegler was driving on Manor Road about 8 p.m. Friday, when he stopped to investigate what looked like a brushfire near Route 340. He discovered the burning body of a dog in a  crate and called his department, which put out the fire.

A necropsy on the dog was planned at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine at the New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

On June 9, the charred remains of a Yorkshire terrier mix between 3 and 5 years old was found in the 300 block of Coates Street in Coatesville. The 15- to 20-pound dog had been burned, then placed in a trash bag.

A $5,000 reward has been offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in that case, Chester County SPCA spokesman Rich Britton said Saturday.

Tips about both attacks can be reported anonymously by calling the SPCA at 610-692-6113, ext. 213, or by sending an e-mail to cruelty@ccspca.org.

I didn’t tune in to the first couple of episodes of “Dogs in the City.”

Another “Dog Whisperer” ripoff, I assumed; another show that makes transforming a poorly behaving dog appear, through the wonders of editing, magical and instantaneous. Then there was the pretty boy star of the CBS show — far too good looking to have been hired for his dog training skills, I figured.

But, based on the episode that aired last week, I like it, and, so far, him.

Here’s why. Justin Silver, the New York City trainer who’s the star of the show, went straight to the core of the behavioral problems of the three dogs featured — humans, of course, in every case.

Last week’s episode looked at a young couple on the verge of marriage whose dogs didn’t get along, an overly rambunctious family golden doodle, and a lonely woman who complained that two of her dogs, dachschunds both, were manhandling her third, a pampered celebrity Yorkie.

In each case the solution boiled down to three words, or less:

To the doting Yorkie owner whose world revolves entirely around her dogs, “Get a life.”

To the woman who saw her husband’s pit bulls as threatening to her Chihuahua — when actually it was the Chihuahua who was doing all the threatening – ”Chill out.”

And to the husband who encouraged rough play between his two young children and the golden doodle, “You’re an ass.”

He didn’t put it quite that bluntly, but almost, suggesting the husband release his pent-up energies by joining an “over 40 basketball league” rather than allowing and encouraging his children to “play” with the dog in a manner that came across as both cruel and harassing.

True, they were simple, obvious anwers — the kind everyone can see, except maybe the dogs’ owners.

A dog raised with no rules, in a chaotic environment, is most likely to become a chaotic sort, as seemed the case with the golden doodle. Beings that are idle, hardly ever get outdoor exercise and lack any socialization, like the dachshunds, and prison inmates, are going to come up with their own forms of stimulation, appropriate or not. Nervous and fearful dogs most often have a nervous and fearful owner at the other end of the leash.

It was neither rocket science nor miracle working, and while such shows always make canine transormations appear more instant thay they really are,  Silver seems adept at getting to the root of the problem, coming up with a plan to address it, and dispensing both brutal honesty and compassion along the way.

Silver explained to the Yorkie owner, who admitted to spending 99 percent of her time in the house, that her dogs were acting out because they got little exercise. Minus stimulation, they created their own, albeit it at the expense of the Yorkie who seemed humped, licked and bitten to no end. He insisted the dogs started getting some walks, and he took their owner to a meet-up group, where she and her dogs had a chance to socialize.

With the Chihuahua owner, it was clear from the start that she had issues with pit bulls — and thus her Chihuahua did, too. The Chihuahua was picking up on her nervousness, and growling and snarling at the mellow pair of pitties. Silver worked to put her at ease around her husband-to-be’s dogs.

And with the golden doodle, it was a mainly matter of teaching the husband and two children that their dog wasn’t a punching bag, and setting some boundaries — for the dog, and kids, and dad.

“Dogs in the City” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m.

(Photo: CBS)

Firefighters extinguishing a trash fire in Coatesville, Pa., found the charred body of a small dog Saturday, and investigators suspect the fire may have been set in connection with abusing the animal, or to cover it up.

The dog appeared to be a male Yorkshire terrier or Yorkie mix and was 3 to 5 years old. He weighed about 15 pounds and had silver, black and tan coloring. The dog’s owner is unknown.

“Foul play is suspected. Coatesville Detective Kevin Campbell told the Delaware County Times. “This dog was dumped in the middle of nowhere.”

Campbell said it hasn’t been determined whether the dog was killed in the fire or killed before it was set. A necropsy is scheduled.

Chester County SPCA spokesman Rich Britton  showed reporters a photograph of a dog that he said likely was similar in appearance to the burned animal. “If this turns out to a criminal act, let me tell you, we’re going to go out there and we’re going to do everything we can with the Coatesville Police Department to bring this person to justice,” Britton said.

“In the eight years that I’ve been here I’ve never seen something so horrific,” Animal Protective Services officer Craig Baxter said. “How someone could do this to a small animal is beyond my belief.”

Animal Protective Services officer Cheryl Shaw emphasized that unwanted animals can always be brought to the SPCA’s shelter. “We’re not going to judge anybody. Please, if you don’t want your animal or can’t keep it for whatever reason, bring it to us,” Shaw said.

Investigators asked that anyone who is missing a dog similar to the burned animal or who has any information call the Coatesville Police Department at 610-384-2300 or the Chester County SPCA at 610-692-6113, ext. 213.

(Photo: Chester County SPCA spokesman Rich Britton holds a picture of a dog he says is similar in appearance to the one found burned in the fire; by Michael N. Price / Delaware County Times)

A truck driver pulled out of a rest area in Hannibal, Missouri, last Friday, unaware that anything was wrong.

He got all the way to Cedar Rapids, Iowa before he realized something was missing — his  9-month-old Yorkshire terrier, named Rambo.

“Didn’t even cross my mind that he might jump out, he never has before,” Michael Siau told the Hannibal Courier-Post. “I jumped back in the truck, put it in gear and drove off. And I just thought he was in the back asleep.”

Fearing missing his deadline could cost him his job, Siau kept driving, stopping only to call the police department he thought was closest to the rest stop, in La Grange, to report his lost dog.

He called them back two days later to check again, at which point they told him Hannibal was the town the rest area was in, and suggested he try the animal control department there.

He did that, and hoped for the best. Three hours later they called back and said they’d found his dog. Rambo had been picked up at the rest area — still waiting for his owner.

He was taken to the Northeast Missouri Humane Society

Siau planned a return trip to Hannibal this week to pick Rambo up.

(Photo: Dominic Genetti / Hannibal Courier-Post)

A 2.5-pound dog in New Jersey has been named by the Guinness Book of World Records as the ”world’s smallest working dog,” wresting the honor from the former title-holder, a 6.6-pound search and rescue dog in Japan.

Lucy, a 3-year-old mini Yorkshire terrier who works as a therapy dog, received the certificate — which is considerably larger than her – on Saturday.

Just 6 inches long, and 5.7 inches high, Lucy belongs to Sally Leone Montufar, of Absecon. “She gets a lot of attention already,” Montufar told the Camden Courier Post. “She stops traffic.”

Lucy, who was homeless two years ago, now works as a therapy dog through the Cherry Hill program Leashes of Love, visiting hospitals, nursing homes and schools.

“She had to be trained to sit for long periods, lay for long periods, not be flustered when there’s wheelchairs and walkers all around, and she has to be able to walk for me and be nonaggressive,” Montufar said.

Montufar used to run a pet boutique called Paw Dazzle, and one day a woman came in with several dogs — all headed for an animal shelter.

“She was so pitiful and lethargic, I couldn’t leave her,” Montufar said of Lucy. “I didn’t know if I could save her or not.”

Montufar, a former teacher, hopes Lucy will serve as an advocate for rescuing dogs.

“There’s a lot of people out there who are desperate for companionship,” she said.

Glendale, California, has joined the list of cities voting to ban the retail sale of commercially bred dogs and cats in pet stores.

The Glendale City Council unanimously approved the ordinance in August. It goes into effect later this month, but store owners have a year to come into compliance.

According to Examiner.com in Los Angeles, those pushing for the ordinance included Christy Schilling, a Glendale resident instrumental in helping to convert Glendale’s Pet Rush from selling puppy mill dogs to only offering rescued dogs for adoption, and Lindsay Reeves, a member of the local group Citizens Against Puppy Mills, which conducts pet store demonstrations and public outreach.

Reeves attended a council meeting with her dog Eliza, a Yorkshire terrier that spent 8 years as a breeding dog in a Missouri puppy mill before being rescued two years ago.

An Atlanta woman has filed a lawsuit against Rick Ross, seeking damages for the death of her 3-year-old Yorkshire terrier, who she says was killed by the rapper’s three pit bulls.

The woman, a neighbor, says the three dogs — described in the lawsuit as pit bulls — escaped from Rick’s mansion and attacked her dog, Banks, on her property.

According to documents obtained by TMZ, the Yorkie suffered “3 large bite wounds on his back ” along with a “very large bite wound” around his neck.

Police responded to the scene and managed to free the smaller dog, but his wounds were so severe he had to be euthanized.

According to TMZ, Ross was cited for the incident.

The lawsuit seeks $15,000 in damages and court costs.

For the 20th year in a row, the Labrador retriever is America’s top dog.

While America’s three most popular dog breeds remained the same — Lab, German shepherd and Yorkshire terrier – the American Kennel Club’s annual list of most oft-registered purebreds had some surprises.

The beagle overtook the golden retriever for the No. 4 spot.

And the bulldog, who has been steadily rising up in rank, took 6th place away from the boxer.

“Not since the early 20th Century has the bulldog enjoyed such sustained popularity,” said AKC Spokesperson Lisa Peterson. “‘Bob’ was the first AKC registered bulldog in 1886, and today the breed enjoys its highest ranking in 100 years at number 6.”

The AKC numbers are based on the numbers of purebreds registered with the organization.

Baltimore’s top five breeds reflected the national averages, except for the presence of the Rottweiler at No. 5.

Chihuahuas, ranked 13th nationally, were the sixth most popular breed for Baltimore.

Some other national highlights from the AKC’s count:

• The French bulldog made the largest leap in the past decade, jumping 50 places from 71st to 21st. Other breeds with the biggest increase in rankings over the last decade include the Havanese (from 86th to 31st) and the Cavalier King Charles spaniel (from 54th to 23rd).

• Closing the gap this year, a couple of breeds that had been on the decline over the past decade made double digit increases over the past year — Keeshonden (from 102nd to 87th) and Anatolian shepherd dogs (from 115th to 109th).

• “Bully” breeds have been steadily increasing over the past decade, including the bull terrier (from 78th to 53rd) and the Staffordshire bull terrier (from 97th to 74th).

• Among smaller dogs that rose in the rankings were the Yorkshire terrier (from 7th to 3rd in the past decade), the Cavalier King Charles spaniel (from 54th to 23rd) and the Havanese (from 86th to 31st), proving that they are top of the Toys.

• A trend toward larger breeds is seen with the rise of the Great Dane (from 28th to 17th), mastiff (from 39th to 28th), Newfoundland (from 53rd to 44th), Bernese mountain dog (from 58th to 39th) and the Greater Swiss mountain dog (from 104th to 88th).

• Three new breeds entered AKC’s registry in 2010, and the larger the breed, the higher they appeared in the rankings. The Leonberger, the largest of the new breeds, was ranked 33rd; the Cane Corso ranked 51st; and the smallest of the new breeds, the Icelandic sheepdog, came in at 82nd.