Dog & Dolphin – True Friendship: Touching Video
November 19, 2010 in Environment, Fun Videos, News
This video is guaranteed to make your day better!
You are browsing the archive for 2010 November.
by Kenn Bell
by Kenn Bell
Woman Fined For Dying Poodle’s Paws Pink
November 19, 2010 in Animal Control, Holidays, Law Enforcement, Legal News, News
A Florida woman says she’s been fined $255 because of her dog’s Halloween costume!
Christine Hill says she decided to dye her poodle’s tail and feet pink in honor of the holiday.
But when an animal control officer saw the dog, Hill got a ticket for breaking a state law.
Christine hill says for fun, on Halloween, she dyed her poodle’s paw’s pink and the tip of her tail.
Christine says, “It goes on like shampoo and you rinse it off like shampoo.”
She bought the bottle of dye online and paid about $15 for it. The website says it’s specifically for dogs and you can get in any color. Christine says it always gets people’s attention.
She says, “Everyone thinks it’s cute.”
But it got the attention of an animal control officer who just happened to be driving by. Christine says, “She told me it was against the law.”
Christine was in this field across from her house when the officer stopped her. And the officer gave her a ticket for $255. And it says right here that she’s in violation for artificially coloring her animal.
Christine says, “I mean, people put clothes on their dogs and t-shirts and you don’t think twice because you’re not harming the dog.”
by Melody Chen
Boy Scout Gives Dogs A Warm Home
November 19, 2010 in Charity, Dog Safety, Heroics, Lifestyle News, News
Boy Scout Matt McClintock building a dog house.
By Sharon Dargay for Hometownlife.com
Matt McClintock likes dogs, pure and simple.
And he’s pretty handy with a paint brush and saw.
So, it was a natural choice for the Livonia resident to build and donate dog houses for his Eagle Scout project in Troop 271.
“I like to build things,†said Matt, 13, an eighth grader at Holmes Middle School. “And I did it because I like dogs.†After touring the Michigan Humane Society (MHS) to earn his dog care merit badge last year, Matt wrote a letter to the organization. It was part of a school assignment requiring students to write business letters.
“They responded and that started the ball rolling,†said his mom, Connie McClintock, adding that the tour helped raise his awareness of animal abuse. “Matt wanted to do something for the dogs.â€
He collected bottles and cans to raise funds for the project and solicited local businesses for supplies. He also recruited other Scouts, a few adults — his dad, Vince, among them — to help with the hands-on construction from plans supplied by MHS.
He and his helpers built six dog houses that MHS’ Animal Cruelty Investigation Department will supply to outdoor canines in need of warm shelter this winter.
To read the full story click here.
by Melody Chen
by Kenn Bell
Trial Of Federal Officer Who Shot Husky In Maryland Dog Park Set For Friday
November 18, 2010 in Dog Parks, Endangerment, In Remembrance, Inhumane Practices, Law Enforcement, Legal News, News, Tragedy
Bear-Bear In The Snow.
Two family pets were brought to a neighborhood dog park on a summer evening in Severn, and the owner of one dog shot the other dog, producing outrage from animal advocates, and then, two weeks later, criminal charges against the shooter.
Everything else is in dispute in the emotional case that left a Siberian husky named Bear-Bear so severely injured the dog was euthanized.
The differing accounts of what happened at the Quail Run community’s dog park are scheduled to be aired Friday in an Annapolis courtroom.
A judge is to decide if Keith Elgin Shepherd, 32, is guilty of animal cruelty and firing his gun near homes, or if the shooting of the husky owned by Ryan and Rachel Rettaliata was justified.
Shepherd’s lawyer said he was protecting himself, his wife and pet, a German shepherd named Asia.
Since the Aug. 2 shooting, the Rettaliatas have adopted two huskies, a brother and sister they named Chief and Spirit.
“To be honest, the boy looks like Bear-Bear,” Ryan Rettaliata said. The dogs romp twice a day in the same park where Bear-Bear was shot — and where a plaque memorializing Bear-Bear will be placed, he said.
“I am defiant in the fact that I will not allow this to change my life in any way. I will not leave the dog park.”
by Kenn Bell
Vick Dog Owner Can’t Forgive Michael Vick
November 18, 2010 in Celebrity, Dog Safety, Inhumane Practices, News
While Michael Vick was screaming toward the sky, a black pit bull named Mel was standing quietly by a door.
On this night, like many other nights, Mel was waiting for his owners to take him outside, but he couldn’t alert them with a bark. He doesn’t bark. He won’t bark. The bark has been beaten out of him.
While Michael Vick was running for glory, Mel was cowering toward a wall.
Every time the 4-year-old dog meets a stranger, he goes into convulsions. He staggers back into a wall for protection. He lowers his face and tries to hide. New faces are not new friends, but old terrors.
While Michael Vick was officially outracing his past Monday night, one of the dogs he abused cannot.
“Some people wonder, are we ever going to let Michael Vick get beyond all this?” said Richard Hunter, who owns Mel. “I tell them, let’s let Mel decide that. When he stops shaking, maybe then we can talk.”
I know, I know, this is a cheap and easy column, right? One day after the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback officially becomes an American hero again, just call the owner of one of the dogs who endured Vick’s unspeakable abuse and let the shaming begin.
by Kenn Bell
‘Dangerous’ Label Placed On Family’s Siberian Husky 8 Years After Duck-Chasing Incident
November 18, 2010 in Animal Control, Law Enforcement, Legal News, News
PLANO,TX- The saga of Sasha the Siberian husky has ruffled more than a few feathers.
The pure white dog with bright blue eyes chased a duck into a pond eight years ago; a neighbor’s complaint to the city of Plano got her branded a dangerous dog.
Owner Chris Dunne says his dog is no danger, and he’s complied with the city’s extra requirements, which include the posting of signs at his house warning of a dangerous dog there.
But recent problems with the city’s animal-control division have Dunne howling.
He’s turning to the courts to get Sasha out of the doghouse.
“They know the dog’s not dangerous,” he said. “She was caught chasing a duck.”
Plano officials say there’s no mechanism in the ordinance to get Sasha off the dangerous dog list for good behavior.
And even if there was, her case doesn’t warrant it. They cite Dunne’s numerous animal-control violations.
by Kenn Bell
Border Collie Tracks Bed Bugs With 95% Accuracy
November 18, 2010 in News, Training, Working Dogs
A Valencia County man sent his dog to a special school to learn how to sniff out a critter irritating to people across the nation.
A border collie, Sienna, is now the only dog in New Mexico trained to track down bed bugs.
The dog’s owner, Robert Duck, trains Sienna every day by hiding live bed bugs in tiny vials around the house.
Sienna was trained at a school in Florida about a year ago and has since sniffed out bed bugs for the City of Albuquerque and the Department of Health.
“All over the U.S. [bed bugs have] been growing exponentially. It’s already here, but it’s a growing problem,†says Duck.
Sienna is able to find bed bugs in a single room in about a minute with 95 percent accuracy, says Duck.
That’s compared to a pest control service that could take up to two hours with only a 30 percent success rate, he adds.
