Yesterday, as can happen in life, I took a wrong turn on the way to Utopia, ending up instead on a dead-end dirt road. So I turned around, drove back through my own dust, took a different road and finally spotted the driveway I was looking for — the one into Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, founded by mystery novelist, … Read more
After half a century as an amateur dog walker, and three months as a professional one, I’m prepared to give a qualified answer to that question. It depends on the dogs. It depends on the dog walker. But three at a time should be plenty. Many a dog walker might scoff at that — and … Read more
An Oregon State University scientist’s study, published yesterday, is drawing a lot of attention for concluding (as scientific studies often do) the obvious: The longer dogs live with us, the more dependent they become on us, and, as a result, their problem-solving and survival skills aren’t what they were back when they were wolves. Not … Read more
Attention all you “dog shamers,” all you dog dresser-uppers, all you dog-dyers, and anyone else who finds it fun and harmless to put your dog in a costume, use him to make a fashion statement, or ridicule him on social media. You may be making him feel silly, and damaging his self-esteem. The Telegraph reports that … Read more
It was the sort of scene I can’t walk past A muttly looking dog, a white-bearded homeless guy and a handmade cardboard sign offering: “Dog Tricks 1$.” On the sidewalk along Franklin Street — the main drag in Chapel Hill — Mark Williams, after offering me some room on his bench, said he and his dog, Two … Read more
Commuters in Moscow share the subway with stray dogs — and that’s just one of the ways dogs (and people) have adapted to the changing city. Dogs were barred from Moscow’s metro in Soviet times, but now they are a common sight, curling up on empty seats, lounging in stations and — like the one … Read more
When U.S. Marine Cpl. Dustin Lee was cut down by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq’s Anbar province, his partner was hit by shrapnel too, but still managed to crawl over to Lee and lay on top of him, protecting him until medics arrived. Lee, who hadn’t yet turned 21 and was three months from finishing … Read more
Linda Deris took her dog Daisy May to the PetSmart in Abingdon earlier this month to buy her a leash. And something terrible happened. Daisy May, a beagle-collie mix, approached another customer’s dog — described in an ABC2 report as a bulldog – and before anybody could stop it, the bulldog bit Daisy May on her back. “He just chomped … Read more
“Virginia may be for lovers, but Loudoun County isn’t the place for dog lovers.” That’s the conclusion of an animal welfare legislative analyst in light of a Loudoun County judge’s ruling that the county can ban pit bull adoptions — despite a Virginia law that ensures the right to own a pit bull. “This is … Read more
One hundred and twenty beagles who faced lifetimes being used in medical research experiments have been freed — just in time for the Fourth of July weekend. On Friday, the beagles — owned by a research facility in New Jersey whose parent pharmaceutical company went into bankruptcy — were released to the care of animal rescue … Read more