4446 Route 247 in Gorham, NY, the approved site for the proposed large scale, puppy mill.

If you would like to see this stopped, voice your opinion to the Gorham Town Planning Board here. Please be firm in your opposition, but nice. Meanness will trivialize us and make them go ahead with it. You can also sign this petition here.

– Kenn

GORHAM, NEW YORK — Dog breeders who recently received approval to open a breeding facility on Route 247, north of the intersection of Lake to Lake Road, violated federal regulations at their current location in Seneca County, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture documents.

The USDA cited Jolene Martin with failing to provide veterinary care at the dog breeding facility in Varick, Seneca County. Specific findings involved a boxer “with a lip that appeared split open and swollen,” a female husky “recently in a fight” who had “multiple injuries to the right ear and left paw,” and dirty empty whelping boxes with “an accumulation of rodent droppings in the whelping boxes … adjacent to enclosures housing young puppies and their mother.”

The USDA documented that between Nov. 23, 2010 and Jan. 5, 2011, “a male Shitzu was matted with feces in mats around the feet and long nails,” several dogs had dirty ears emanating strong odor and a Maltese “was observed with dried blood on its back fur that originated from the dog’s tail which was split open.”

Mary Anne Kowalski, a volunteer with the Seneca County SPCA and the New York State Humane Association, said her organizations are familiar with the breeding operation of Curtis and Jolene Martin because of the violations that considered “among the worst” in the state.

A recent USDA inspection dated Nov. 8, 2011 shows no complaints or violations at the breeding facility the Martins operate at 4520 Route 89.

Reached by phone earlier this week, Curtis Martin said he didn’t want to talk publicly about their plans to build a dog breeding facility on their property at 4446 Route 247. Martin couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday.

The town Planning Board unanimously granted the Martins a special use permit and site plan to build a facility that could house anywhere from 200 to 600 dogs, depending on the size of the animals. Planning Board Chairman Tom Harvey said the Martins presented detailed engineering and design plans that address environmental issues and adhere to federal specifications for the operation, which must be licensed and monitored by the USDA.

When citing the Martins with violations at their Seneca County facility, which the document said had 349 dogs and 124 puppies, the USDA said “it does not appear that the facility has enough employees to carry out an acceptable level of husbandry for these animals. This needs to be addressed for the welfare of the animals.”

Kowalski said the operation is family-run and, as far as she knows, has no outside employees.

Town zoning officer Gordon Freida said since the special use permit was granted, emails and phone calls have been flooding in from all over the country with strong reactions to the permit. “We have gained national attention,” he said. Comments he has received include: “How could you do this?” and “How could you let this happen?

Freida would still have to issue a building permit pertaining to the structure, planned to be about 8,400 square feet, on the 20-acre lot that has two barns and house on it. He said the dog breeding facility, like other businesses ranging from marinas to dog kennels and veterinary hospitals, needed a special use permit because the town does not list them as permitted uses. Freida said he didn’t know whether the town could flat-out ban a dog-breeding operation.

Jennifer Baxter, a Gorham resident who volunteers with local animal-welfare groups such as Lollypop Farm (Humane Society of Greater Rochester), said she is very concerned about her town housing a “puppy mill.”

“They are designed to maximize profits and commonly disregard the physical, social, and emotional health of the dogs,” said Baxter.

Melissa Henchen, president and founder of Going to the Dogs Rescue in Perry, Wyoming County, a shelter that covers western New York, said a dog breeding facility also raises fiscal concerns. In addition to the facility not paying dog licensing fees like owners of pets do, these facilities contribute to increasing the population of unwanted dogs who end up in shelters, she said. While dog breeders make money off selling the dogs to pet stores, the dogs may ultimately end up in shelters because either they can’t be sold or the new owners discover they can’t afford to keep the dog or the dog isn’t the right fit for their household.

Towns and counties that house dog breeders can also be stuck with bills to address complaints and expenses tied to a potential shutdown of such a facility, with the welfare of hundreds of dogs needing to be addressed.

“They’re not only not making money off the deal … on top of that they will have to pay more money,” Henchen said.

One crooked stitch runs from ear to ear over the back of Hule’s shaved scalp. Another traverses her forehead before sealing shut her left eye.

But if her post-operation pictures are any indication, this doe-eyed, golden brown cocker spaniel is going to be all right.

Two weeks ago, Hule (pronounced “oolay,” which means “rubber” in Spanish) lay in a Cancun, Mexico veterinary hospital, the victim of a machete attack in Bonfil, a nearby town. After three hours of surgery, Hule was left with thick sutures and only one eye.

Now the 2-year-old dog is in Toronto, where she will receive more surgery to dislodge chunks of skull from her brain — and also a new home.

On Wednesday night, her flight arrived at Pearson airport, where she was met by a representative from CANDi, a British Columbia-based organization that saves and rehabilitates stray dogs and cats in Mexico and the Caribbean.

“I can’t even tell you how absolutely adorable (Hule) is,” said Doris Wohl from the airport. “She’s only got one eye, she’s a little nervous, naturally, but she’s very alert.”

CANDi, or Cats and Dogs International, had been operating a temporary animal clinic in Cancun at the time of the incident.

The details of the attack remain sketchy. According to CANDi founder Darci Galati, the dog’s 21-year-old owner, who was drunk and enraged that his wife had left him, took his anger out on Hule, lacerating the animal’s head and leaving it to die in his front yard.

A CANDi animal clinic volunteer by chance discovered the dog lying in a pool of blood.

Despite the machete slashing, Galati said Hule has not shied away from people.

Now in Toronto, the cocker spaniel will be put up for foster care as she undergoes neurological testing at a local veterinary clinic. But while the dog’s cross-continental journey is reaching a conclusion, Wohl said CANDi is not ready to place Hule with a new owner just yet.

“There is a bit of a road to recovery,” she said.

If you would like to know more about Hule or have interest in adopting her, contact Doris Wohl at 416-817-3946

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT — While everyone was able to safely escape a fire Saturday at Da Legna restaurant in New Haven, something special was left behind in the rubble.

To those watching the flames rip through the State Street apartments, above the restaurant, it was obvious there would be some major damage. However, once the fire was out and crews started tearing the apartments down they found a surprise.

“All of a sudden a big pit bull sat up in the middle of the debris,” said Kevin Plummer of United Cleaning and Restoration. “We grabbed him by the collar and brought him down to the ground. He didn’t bark. He didn’t growl. He’s a good dog.”

The pit bull, named Spooky, was immediately taken across the street to the animal hospital.

Another dog, named Mona, and a cat, Sammy, were rescued from the fire and all three are on oxygen from the fire. Their owner was hospitalized after a car crash last week, and wasn’t home at the time of the blaze.

Three cats didn’t make it out.

“It does injure the lungs where they can’t process oxygen and they can’t breathe as well,” said veterinarian Kim MacDonald. “It predisposes them to other problems like pneumonia.”

The workers are still amazed they saw Spooky staring at them. The dog was able to survive the fire and frigid weather by hiding in a closet.

“Everything else you can replace, but an animal is like a child,” said Plummer.

The workers feel for Spooky’s owner who lost their apartment and the owner of Da Legna, which has only been open around a month after taking over the former Amato’s Pizza, but they’re hoping Spooky will remind them something good always comes out of something bad.

“It just put a nice sunshine on a little bit of a gloomy day,” said Pat Deleva of Cherry Hill Restoration.

The State Street neighborhood is rallying around the owner of the apartment, whose name is Mike Simonelli, a veteran, who was in a car accident on Friday, and in serious condition in the hospital when his apartment caught fire on Saturday.

“He is a really good guy,” said Lisa Siedlarz, of New Haven, “He served our country. He has lived here a really long time and to have this happen it is a series of tragic events.”

While the animals recover in the vet clinic, Simonelli is recovering in the hospital. Neighbors are hoping everyone will be released soon.

In the meantime, neighbors are raising money for the vet bill and already have more than $1,000.

“On top of that there are people out there who want to donate items for Mike because he lost everything,” said Siedlarz. “We have kitchenware lined up, we need to find out more about clothing size. People are really stepping up for this.”

LOVELAND – Any pet owner will tell you that when you let a dog into your home, you let them into your heart as well.

The McDonald family did that with a 6-month-old German Shepherd named Nala and quickly fell in love with the dog. It made for some difficult moments when the dog became ill soon after.

“Shortly after that we started seeing she was vomiting all over the house,” Christine McDonald, owner of the dog, said.

Nala simply couldn’t keep food or water down, became weak and started running a fever.

Veterinarians couldn’t determine what was wrong until they did an X-ray of the dog’s esophagus and diagnosed Nala with canine megaesophagus.

Animals with megaesophagus have muscles in the esophagus that fail and are unable to propel food or water into the stomach.

Without some form of help, the prognosis for these animals is not good.

“They either starve to death over a long period of time, a slow starvation because they never get the nutrition, or they die of aspiration pneumonia,” McDonald said.

The McDonald family found a possible solution for Nala on a website offering support for dogs with canine megaesophagus: http://www.caninemegaesophagus.org/.

The website provided information about a contraption called a Bailey Chair, which puts dogs in an upright position for them to eat. Gravity helps the food and water move to the dog’s stomach.

The McDonalds built a chair based on the Bailey Chair and Nala has been eating in it for the last three years. Nala is now very healthy, energetic and weighs 80 pounds.

Nala does have to stay in the high chair for 25 minutes after she finishes eating to allow the food to reach the stomach. She is so comfortable in the high chair that she typically falls asleep during this time.

The McDonalds say it is a small inconvenience for the love and enjoyment they get from Nala’s companionship.

“I think anyone who has an animal, if you choose to have an animal we fall in love with them and they’re part of your family,” McDonald said. “I mean, you’d do anything to keep a family member alive and it is the same thing with her.”

And here’s a second, older video of another rescue by a different group of men.

Tom Hayden is trying to give Jerry Brown a guilt trip.

The “Chicago Seven” activist who stormed the 1968 Democratic National Convention and later married Jane Fonda has asked the California governor to consider his own dog, Sutter, before repealing the state law that lengthened the amount of time animal shelters must hold stray and abandoned pets before euthanizing them.

In an online video posted on YouTube, Hayden explains that as a state senator he wrote the legislation in 1998 to make euthanization a last resort and give animal owners a chance to recover their pets. The mandate, which has been suspended since 2009, is one of roughly 30 that Brown wants to eliminate to save money in the next fiscal year.

“Governor, I see you’re a dog owner. I can tell from the publicity that you love that dog, your wife loves that dog,” Hayden says in the video. “So stop and think: Thousands of dogs and cats are put to death needlessly every year. It’s not a budget issue…. It is a humane issue. And I urge you to look at your dog before you allow this bill that protects animals to die.”

Since Brown’s inauguration last year, Sutter has been a bona fide celebrity — at least by Sacramento standards. After Sutter attracted front-page headlines and Capitol admirers, the governor’s office created an official website and Facebook page for the first dog. An unofficial Twitter account has thousands of followers.

Brown himself has used the canine as a political prop, taking him into budget negotiations with dog-loving Republicans and offering him to the state GOP as his surrogate to debate the anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist.

According to Brown’s Department of Finance, the governor wants to repeal the shelter mandate “because it is more appropriate to allow local governments to determine how long to care for certain animals.”

Asked for a response, Brown’s press office sent the following: “Sutter could not be reached for comment.”

UNITED KINGDOM — A dog was caught in a hollowed out hole after getting stuck 20ft up an oak tree.

Tyson the Jack Russell was rescued by firefighters after dashing into the hollow tree and getting trapped halfway up.

It took more than six hours and a team of five men to free the tiny terrier.

Owner Stuart Smirk, of Carrbrook Village, Stalybridge, said: “My dad had been walking Tyson through Carrbrook Heritage trail when it happened.

“When he phoned me to say to he had lost Tyson up a tree I couldn’t believe it.”

Stuart’s dad Simon, 48, tried to coax down the dog – who the family adopted four years ago after he followed Stuart home from college – but failed.

Simon, an electrician for a stage lighting company, said: “It was only when I saw his nose poking out of a hole 20ft up that I realised he was in the tree.

“He just couldn’t, or wouldn’t, come down. My daughter Jenny and her boyfriend came out to help as well as Stuart.

“I contacted my brother and a local tree surgeon before finally being advised by the fire service to ring the RSPCA.”

RSPCA inspector Paul Heaton came out but even he couldn’t reach Tyson – so crews from Stalybridge fire station were called in.

They finally freed him after tying a rope around his neck and feeding it through the tree trunk to lead him down.

Demolition worker Stuart, 20, said: “He is a very mischievous dog but he’s never done anything like this before. “We’re all very grateful to the RSPCA and firefighters for all they did. Most dogs would be tired out by the ordeal but not Tyson, all he wanted to do when he got home was to play.”

Stalybridge crew manager Rob Steele said: “This was a bizarre one to say the least.

“Having served 21 years in the fire and rescue service I’ve seen plenty of cats up a tree but never a dog.”

Pit Bull File Photo.

Another pit bull was found Saturday inside a brand new dog crate. He had just been shot in the face. His body was still warm and blood was still flowing. It had a collar on. The killer or killers shot through the crate.

The Houston animal loving community is in shock about the horrific cruelty inflicted on these dogs.

BBRR is asking for help from Houston police to investigate these killings.

We’ll bring you more info as we receive it.

ROMULUS, Mich., (WXYZ) – A few dog treats, a game of fetch and the sound of friendly voices are what finally led to the safe recovery of a former bomb-sniffing dog that recently worked to secure the U.S. Capitol and the White House.

About 12 hours on the run, Officers from Romulus Police, the Airport and Romulus Animal Control were able to coax the five-year-old specially trained German Shepherd named Arco back into a collar and leash.

Late Monday night, Arco got away from his new owner, Sheri Schumann, on airport property after slipping out of his collar.

Arco had just flown from Arizona to Metro-Detroit to meet Schumann, but shortly after Schumann attached a leash to Arco’s collar to let him relieve himself after the long flight, he slipped out of that loose collar.

It’s believed the stress of the long flight from Arizona and other unfamiliar circumstances caused Arco to run.

We’re told Arco was set to be euthanized after killing a cat while working in Washington D.C. as a bomb-detection dog, but Arco was rescued by a group in Arizona and he was being flown to Schumann on Monday.

An officer with the Airport Authority and a Romulus Police officer both sustained dog bites during earlier attempts to capture Arco.

The Romulus officer had to have stitches.

After 10 days in quarantine, Romulus Animal Control officers say Arco will be released to Schumann who resides in Toledo.