A 46-year-old man who swung a pit-bull puppy by its leash against an elevator wall and also kicked the animal was charged with aggravated animal cruelty on Monday.
A surveillance video released by the police shows a man, identified as Irving Sanchez, slamming the dog, Max around the elevator of public-housing complex in East Harlem, New York on Sunday night.
Max, whose age was not provided, was not seriously injured. Aggravated cruelty to animals carries a penalty of up to two years in prison.
Surveillance videos of people abusing dogs in public-housing elevators have become a depressingly regular feature of the city’s criminal landscape. Last year, at least three separate such episodes were captured on video in one Harlem building alone.
Life after the military is looking brighter than ever for America’s four-legged veterans since one of their own helped in the mission to kill Osama bin Laden.
War dog organizations say the number of people asking about adopting retired military canines has risen dramatically since the mission involving Cairo, the Navy SEALs dog tasked with tracking anyone who tried to escape from bin Laden’s compound and alerting the special operations forces to anyone approaching.
While about 300 retired U.S. military dogs are put up for adoption each year, military officials say they’ve received more than 400 adoption applications in the three weeks since the May 2 raid. In past generations, most military dogs were euthanized once their tours of duty were done.
“They made a really big deal about Cairo being a super dog but all dogs in the military are super dogs,” said Ron Aiello, president of the U.S. War Dogs Association. “These dogs are fully trained, are worth probably $40,000 to $50,000 each at least, and it’s a dog that has been saving American lives. It’s kind of a hero in a way.”
While these dogs, which are usually Belgian Malinois, Dutch Shepherds, German Shepherds and Labrador Retrievers, are considered heroes, they haven’t always been treated as such. After the Vietnam War, only 204 of an estimated 4,900 war dogs returned to the United States, according to military dog organizations. The others were euthanized, given to the South Vietnamese army or abandoned by soldiers trying to save the dogs.
That changed in 2000 when President Bill Clinton signed a law allowing the dogs to be adopted. Dog lovers say the military has made dramatic strides since then. Last year, 338 dogs were adopted, including 34 that were given to police departments or other government agencies.
None are euthanized now, said Gerry Proctor, a spokesman for Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, where the military’s dog adoption program is based.
“All the animals find a home,” he said. “There’s a six-month waiting list right now for people wanting to adopt. And (the applications) have gone up substantially since the raid.”
Officially, military dogs are considered equipment and retired dogs are excess or surplus equipment. Debbie Kandoll, founder of the nonprofit organization Military Working Dog Adoptions, wants the military to reclassify the dogs as canine veterans. That would take an act of Congress, but it could also ensure that all dogs shipped out of the United States are brought back.
“Uncle Sam gave the dogs a ride over. He should give them a ride back,” Kandoll said.
Everyone knows that a dog is man’s best friend, but in China it seems that a dog is also a liger’s best friend.
A Chinese zoo official says two rare cubs born to a male lion and a female tiger are being nursed by a dog after they were abandoned by their mother.
Cong Wen of Xixiakou Wildlife Zoo in eastern China says four cubs were born to the lion and tiger earlier this month.
On Tuesday the tiger mother fed the ligers for four days but then abandoned them for unknown reasons. Two of the baby ligers died of weakness.
Cong said staff members at the zoo found a dog who had just given birth to feed the surviving cubs. The dog mom is now nursing not just the liger cubs but her own puppies, as well.
She said the two cubs had trouble at first drinking milk from the dog but are now used to it.
Ligers are very rare and are sometimes bred in zoos by mistake.
As the third longest-serving therapy dog in the country, she helps bring joy to those who need it most.
Kayla, a 14-year-old former stray Labrador-mix, has been a therapy dog since 1998 soon after Lori Morgan, of Green, Ohio adopted her.
One of Kayla’s biggest fans is 10-year old Joey Karam who sadly has had more brain surgeries than birthdays. While Joey has had to watch far too many of his favorite Scooby-Doo shows on televisions at Akron Ohio’s Children’s Hospital, he looks forward to Kayla‘s visits.
“Dog visits get you through the day sometimes,” Karam said as Kayla nestled with him in bed.
Sadly, though Kayla may be fighting cancer herself. Her veterinarian recently discovered a large tumor in her shoulder.
It’s either a hemangioma or hemangiosarcoma, Morgan said, “but Kayla would need surgery to get an exact diagnosis and prognosis. We’re not sure we should put her through that at her age.”
Kayla’s walks through the hospital are slower now and may be coming to an end after years of making patients smile at the children’s hospital, Akron, Ohio City Hospital and the Ridgewood Road Hospice Center.
Kayla also went with Morgan, who has a master’s degree in school counseling, to New York City after 9/11 and comforted survivors, victims’ families and first responders, like the soldier who sat next to Kayla during breakfast in a Salvation Army tent. As he was petting her, he released some of the stress of finding human remains, Morgan said.
Kayla has also helped students Morgan has counseled.
“There are many times Kayla licked a child’s face as tears fell,” said Morgan.
“I can’t tell you the number of students, patients and staff Kayla has touched over the years, but I know that even after she is gone, she will continue to live on in their memories and hearts. That is what’s important to me … all the people that carry little pieces of Kayla around with them.”
For years now, at every Mets and Yankees game, she’s been forced to sit outside for hours on end with a pipe in her mouth, wearing what is believed to be a shock collar hidden by colorful bandanas and silly outfits with neither food, nor water, nor rest, just so her owner can panhandle for money.
While the shock collar hasn’t been seen since it would be hidden underneath the attire, witnesses say that when the dog attempts to lay down, she immediately hops back up. Her owner stands about ten feet away from her.
This is the plight of a dog named Coffee and thanks to 7000 plus caring individuals who have joined the “Stop Abusing Coffee” Facebook page, hopefully this abuse will stop.
Along with the Facebook page there is also a petition for Coffee, that with hopefully enough signatures, stadium officials will be moved to take a stance against the dog’s owner.
Lassie has nothing on Yogi, a Golden Retriever credited with saving his owner’s life after a serious cycling accident near Lake Travis in Texas.
Tuesday, the Humane Society of the United States recognized Yogi as the 2011 Valor Dog of the Year for leading neighbors to where Paul Horton lay paralyzed after flipping off his mountain bike.
For his efforts, Yogi will get a crystal likeness of himself and a pair of customized silver dog tags. Chances are, he’d be happy just snuggling up next to Horton, a 58-year-old retired mechanical engineer who got the dog five years ago when he was a puppy.
Horton had taken Yogi along last October as he rode trails near his home. As Horton jumped a curb on his bike, disaster struck.
“I’m sure I’ve done it 100 times, but this time my front wheel stopped, and I went over the handlebars and landed on my head,” Horton said. He wasn’t wearing a helmet, but doctors told him that probably wouldn’t have prevented his spinal injuries.
Horton was knocked unconscious. When he woke up, he couldn’t move and was bleeding from the nose and mouth. Yogi was at his side.
For the next 45 minutes, Horton pleaded with the 85-pound dog to go home and get help. Yogi didn’t want to leave. Horton couldn’t yell, and he was out of sight of passers-by.
Finally, Yogi headed back to the main road, where Horton’s neighbors Bruce and Maggie Tate were walking. The normally mellow dog barked frantically. The Tates knew something was wrong and followed Yogi to Horton. There, Yogi stood protectively by his friend.
Horton was transported to St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center, where doctors determined that his vertebrae had shifted, pinching his spinal cord and paralyzing him from the chest down. After four days, Horton was then moved to St. David’s Rehabilitation Hospital, where he stayed for two months. His wife, Shearon, brought Yogi to visit several times.
“It takes a very unique and special dog to do what Yogi did,” said Nicole Paquette, Texas senior state director of the Humane Society.
Since the accident, Horton says Yogi now acts differently. “He stays within sight of me in the house. If I change rooms, he changes rooms,” he said
You might remember Dozer, the Goldendoodle who joined the runners in the Maryland Half Marathon. Well, the race raises important funds for the Greenebaum Cancer Center and it seems Dozer has raised his fair share. You can donate to the Cancer Center in Dozer’s name right here.
Check out the video to see Dozer receive his Maryland Half Marathon Finishers Medal.
Coyote attacks in Sun City West, Arizona have spiked, sending at least six dogs to the vet in the last 10 days.
Sun City West Animal Hospital says they’ve seen everything from puncture wounds to life-threatening injuries.
Arizona Game and Fish says spring is coyote season, when the animals look for food in the cool morning hours for themselves and their new pups but they admit, the numbers are unusually high.
Ardy Geyer’s Poodle mix, Lacy, was attacked by two coyotes early Thursday morning after she let the dog out.
Geyer says she left Lacy for just a minute before she heard two coyotes who had jumped over her four-foot fence to attack the dog.
“I just heard her cry and yelp and thought ‘Oh my God.’ It was quiet, you wouldn’t know [the coyotes] were there. It was almost eerie.” Lacy suffered a large puncture wound, and hernia but she will survive.
Beth Barnard’s dog was also attacked in the early morning hours. Louis, also a Poodle mix, was bitten by a single coyote Tuesday morning at her home in Sun City.
“I walked back into the house and heard him fighting like I’ve never heard him fighting before.” Barnard says her dog fought the coyote back, which she says was about three feet tall and full grown. Louis suffered two puncture wounds.
Arizona Game and Fish says pet owners should try and keep their dogs on a leash when they’re outside. If you see a coyote, make yourself as big as you can, make a lot of noise and scare it away so the animal knows it’s not welcome.
The department adds that homeowners should never feed the coyotes or leave trash out.
If your pet is ever bitten by a coyote, veterinarian Joshua Winston advises you bring it to your vet to get it checked out. Even if the bite doesn’t look bad there could be an underlying infection.
