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The clutch of walkers in San Pedro stood and gawked with disbelief. They watched as a man got out of his car, played for a bit with his beautiful, muscular pit bull, and then got back in the vehicle and drove off – without his dog. A suddenly slap-happy canine – left behind by his despicable owner – discovered a new found joy in his freedom as a rover. For a few moments in his life, there was no leash, no owner, no Alpha boss -- and a Los Angeles park right beneath his paws to explore. The jolly canine...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is issuing this health alert to warn consumers not to use Pig Ears and Beef Hooves pet treats manufactured by Pet Carousel because the products may be contaminated with Salmonella. The products were distributed nationwide in both bulk and retail packaging for sale in pet food and retail chain stores. Pet Carousel is based in Sanger, Calif. The products were manufactured under conditions that facilitate cross-contamination within batches or lots. Although no illnesses associated with these products have been reported, the FDA is advising consumers in possession of these products to not handle or...

<p>Janet Torren sensed something was wrong when the animal control officer didn’t return her calls. When she reached the officer, it seemed peculiar that her story changed with each question, she said.</p> <p>It was not until Torren threatened to call police last month that she learned the Stoughton official in charge of finding stray dogs had given away her “little princess,’’ a 4-year-old Yorkshire terrier that Torren calls Shai.</p>

Thanks for killing the planet, dog owners. Well, that's a rough paraphrase of a New Zealand study that claims a medium-size dog leaves a larger ecological footprint than an SUV. In "Time to Eat the Dog? The Real Guide to Sustainable Living," authors Robert and Brenda Vale argue that resources required to feed a dog — including the amount of land needed to feed the animals that go into its food — give it about twice the eco-footprint of, say, building and fueling a Toyota Land Cruiser.

But I have a problem with pit bulls. And it has more to do with the two-legged creatures holding their leashes (if there is a leash).Because of their sheer numbers—estimates show that there are anywhere from 5 million to 10 million pit-bull-type dogs in the U.S. today, out of about 61 million total dogs—pits have become the dog du jour for a lot of people, not just gangbangers and wannabe thugs who use a pit as proxy for toughness. About 20 percent of dogs in ASPCA shelters are pit mixes. I've seen those who adopt these dogs for all the...

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- Man and dog reunite for the first time in a decade. Gary Rowley greeted his Boxer-lab mix "Brindle" Sunday morning with a smile and a leash. "His coloring hasn't changed except his gray snout. [It] used to be black. But my god! I didn't realize he was so thin! He's definitely taller!"

The complaint that led to her firing began as a routine missing dog case. Rochester resident Janet Torren said her 4-year-old dog, Shai, went missing on Sept. 18 after it escaped while she was visiting her son’s home on Birch Street. Torren said the dog had a microchip implanted in her ear. She said she called the microchip company, 24PetWatch.com, and learned the Stoughton dog officer had scanned the chip into the system on Sept. 18. Torren said she called the dog officer on Sept. 21, and Bousquet said in a taped message that she had no knowledge of the...

A dog rescued by a retired police officer attacked him Sunday — inflicting hideous wounds on his face. "The doctors and nurses have never seen anything like this," said John Wess, a friend of the victim. Jim Stewart, 53, of Woodbury, reportedly suffered a severed ear and had the skin torn away from most of his face in the attack. He was listed Thursday evening in good condition at Regions Hospital in St. Paul. "He has not seen himself in a mirror, and we are pretty worried about that," said Wess, a retired St. Paul police officer and longtime friend....

Otto Jones, a Dachshund terrier cross from Shropshire, may be the oldest dog in the world at 20 years and eight month - but he still knows how to play. He has been recognised as the oldest living dog by Guinness World Records and, despite his age, still enjoys playing ball with neighbours' children. His owners Lynn and Peter Jones, from Shrewsbury, said he was a "loveable, affectionate rogue".

FISHERSVILLE — Dog influenza has come to the Shenandoah Valley. An Augusta County veterinarian last week confirmed the first area case of canine influenza, H3N8, a virus informally documented by the Virginia Veterinarian Medicine Association only six times in state history. “We knew it was coming,” Cedarcrest Animal Clinic veterinarian William Olkowski said Friday. Considered a horse virus until late 2003, H3N8 mutated and began to spread among dogs, Olkowski said. The local confirmation is not cause for alarm, he said, but vaccination is recommended for some dogs. Owners of dogs that come into contact with other dogs at shows,...

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia,- An Internet campaign has been started to help a 75-year-old Canadian man burned out of his home to get his dog back from a foster home. Earl Shadbolt lost his house in Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia, to a fire in April, and the apartment he took while repairs were made wouldn't allow him to keep his terrier-mix dog Willie, The (Halifax) Chronicle-Herald reported Friday. Shadbolt made arrangements with fellow church member Laura Naugler to board the dog until he could move back in, but things turned nasty in August when he moved back home and asked for...

cheating wife was caught by her husband after he spotted their faithful Yorkshire terrier tied up outside a bar. The 40-year-old man was out with the couple's two young children when he spotted the dog tethered to a lamp post. The pet happily started barking when he spotted his master.

Metro Vancouver dog owners have forgotten Fido, rejected Rover and pretty much scrapped Rags. Since the turn of the century, your furry friend has a better chance of having a human name than a traditional canine moniker. Enter Max, Charlie, Molly, Lucy, Sam and Abby. Max is widely reported to be the most popular dog name on the planet and The Vancouver Sun's 100,000-entry dog-name database shows that local dog owners are true to the trend. There are 1,347 dogs named Max registered in the 15 municipalities that contributed data to the project, good for first overall. The global dominance...

After running over a dog on a rural road in McClellanville on Thursday morning, the driver of a pickup truck tried to "put the dog out of its misery" by whacking the animal with a machete and a hammer, authorities said. The dog's owner heard the dog's plaintive yelping and ran out of his house, grabbed the machete and hammer and started waling away with the hammer, attacking the man who had been attacking his dog. The driver was hospitalized with a skull fracture. The dog's owner is in jail, accused of trying to kill the driver. The dog, whose...

Samantha is one lucky dog. You wouldn't know it, though, if you saw her Aug. 11. Someone had shot her in the face and left her to die inside a locked mobile home in Ellsworth, Wis. But lucky for Samantha, police came knocking that day. Bloody dog prints outside the home were a sure sign something was wrong. Doug Ducklow, an investigator for the Pierce County sheriff's office, had gone to the home to follow up on an unrelated case when he found the blood. Looking through a window, he couldn't believe what he saw: a skinny dog with part...

A North Carolina woman said a family's lost dachshund apparently walked 80 miles toward home before she found him outside a church. Marcie Morgan said she found the small dog in some bushes outside a Hillsborough, N.C., church where her husband serves as pastor and located the canine's family by posting an ad on the Web site Craigslist, WTVD-TV, Raleigh-Durham, N.C., reported Wednesday. Morgan said the Richmond, Va., family told her it had lost the dog during a camping trip in Advance, N.C. She said the dog apparently walked 80 of the 295 miles between the campsite and the family's...

Pit bulls are always earning notoriety as fighting dogs, attack dogs and all around vicious canines, but East Lincoln's Phil Hemby has one specimen of the square-headed breed earning a new name for itself. And that name is lifesaver. Well, not quite ... Shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday, Hemby stepped out to take Slim, his 2-year-old pit terrier, for a joy ride in his Yamaha Rhino ATV around the Hemby Farms chicken houses off Townsend Drive. But the normally docile dog was in a rage - barking, snarling and driving him back - and wouldn't let him approach the machine....

Dachshunds from all over the metroplex traveled to Southlake to compete in the Wiener Dog Races.

TUCSON, Ariz. — When you're the biggest dog in the world, you make your own rules. You cruise by countertops of an outdoor kitchen and adjacent barbecue and lower your calf-sized head a notch to sniff out any crumbs from a recent party. You nuzzle up to a bystander, easing your floppy, foot-long ears into the middle of his chest to request some lovin'. You saunter up to a couch, twist your 42-inch-tall, 245-pound body into a puppy pirouette and land your rump on your owner's lap to take a load off. Such is life for 4-year-old George, the Greatest...

Guiness Book Record Breakers Boomer from North Dakota is now the world's biggest dog.Boomer, a 180-pound Landseer Newfoundland dog, stands with owner Caryn Weber at her home south of Casselton, N.D. The dog measures seven feet from nose to tail and stands 36 inches tall at the shoulders. Weber will send his measurements to Guinness World Records for consideration as the tallest living dog. The previous record holder was a Great Dane that died this summer. He measured just over 42 inches at the shoulders.

Obama wins 2009 AKC "Best of SHow".

What do you expect? There's so much s#@t going on in the White House they probably didn't notice! Did the First Dog Leave a Number Two on Air Force One? Washington Wire- WSJ October 7, 2009 The mystery begins in a Pittsburgh bar where several high-flying airline types met last month. The group swapped stories over drinks when three people present let loose with a good tale. Bo, the presidential puppy, recently left a present on the presidential jet, they said, and a flight attendant had nearly stepped in it. A White House press official was certain—the scoop on the...

The mystery begins in a Pittsburgh bar where several high-flying airline types met last month. The group swapped stories over drinks when three people present let loose with a good tale. Bo, the presidential puppy, recently left a present on the presidential jet, they said, and a flight attendant had nearly stepped in it. Associated Press Bo, the Obama family dog, walks away from Air Force One Aug. 30, 2009, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., upon the Obamas’ arrival from a vacation in Martha’s Vineyard. “You can imagine the horror on board when they discovered what it had done,”...

MARICOPA — Maricopa's police chief has been ordered to turn in his gun and stay away from four people after he shot and killed their dog. Lisa Chavez filed for a temporary restraining order against Chief Gene Fretheim after he fatally shot her pit bull mix, Matty, on Sept. 8. Her lawyer calls the chief a "loose canon" who shot the dog even though it already had been snared by a dog catcher. Fretheim says he opened fire because it was acting aggressively and already had bitten a city employee. A Kern County court commissioner granted Chavez's request Friday and...

Note: The following text is a quote: Home » Briefing Room » Justice News Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden Speaks at Project Gunrunner Press Conference HOUSTON ~ Thursday, October 1, 2009 Good morning. I am happy to be here today with ATF Acting Director Melson and our partners in state and local law enforcement to highlight the real successes of Project Gunrunner and announce our plans to build upon those accomplishments. This administration and this Justice Department have made protecting the integrity of our Southwest Border a top priority. That means stemming the tide of illegal drugs and illegal...

A German shepherd named Taz, who was almost 2 years old when he was assigned from the city police’s K-9 unit to do search and rescue at the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attack, has died. Taz was the last of the dogs involved in the attacks to still serve on the force. He died of cardiac arrest last Sunday, the Police Department said. Taz would have been 10 years old on Oct. 31 and had served in the Canine Emergency Service Unit, where his duties consisted of searching for evidence, suspects and missing persons. (The average age of...

HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, N.J. - The last of six wolf-hybrid dogs who escaped from a fenced in property in northwestern New Jersey this week has returned home.

FORMER French President Jacques Chirac's little white dog underwent treatment for depression after leaving the Elysee palace and bit his master thrice before being sent off to a farm, a newspaper reported on Friday. Sumo, a Maltese Bichon, apparently couldn't cope with life after the Elysee, Chirac's wife Bernadette told Le Parisien newspaper. The Chiracs moved into a spacious Paris apartment owned by the family of the late Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri in May 2007, when Nicolas Sarkozy became the new resident of the Elysee palace. "He just never came to terms with leaving the Elysee," Bernadette was quoted...

Over the last 20 years, the Love Me Tender animal rescue in central Tennessee has rounded up more than 1,000 abandoned dogs. And although most are timid and untrusting, CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman reports, one Rottweiler named Ella was notably different. "I could just tell right away she was somebody's baby. She just didn't act like a stray dog to me," said Kathy Wilkes-Myers, who found the dog a few months ago. Ella was emaciated and drinking from a drainage ditch along an empty stretch of highway. Kathy says it's typical for people to dump unwanted pets in the...

'Lucky' the dog and 'Misty' the cat are in love...

A year ago Princess Goodwin was left with a gaping hole instead of a nose after her hound savaged her face in a freak attack.Recalling the moment when she awoke to find that greyhound Ali, who'd been sleeping on her bed, had launched the frenzied attack, she said: "It was quite confusing because I didn't know what had happened. "It was only when I realised the dog had bitten me I thought this isn't good, this is bad. "My first instinct was 'Hell, it's bad, what is anyone going to do with that?' – there wasn't anything to do anything...

TWO teenage girls were left shaken and frightened after their Staffordshire bull terrier was attacked by a golden retriever. The family has now called for all breeds of dogs to be kept on leads and under control when out in public. Three-year-old Zakk was left with a bleeding face and ear and now has a nasty scar on the side of his head. Jude Cother, of Bettle Close, Drakes Broughton, near Pershore, thinks ‘Staffies’ get too much bad press and believes other breeds of dog need to be kept under better control. Mrs Cother, aged 40, said: “Zakk was on...

A DOG owner was left horrified after her Staffordshire bull terrier was viciously mauled by a collie during its daily walk in the latest in a spate of dog attacks in the area. Karen Ofinski-Fogarty said it was the second time that her "soft" and "kind-natured" Staffie Lucy has been targeted in the Braid Hills.Mrs Ofinski-Fogarty, from Colinton, said that Lucy was first attacked last September when a mongrel tore her ear and caused a huge gash across her head. She required emergency surgery. "Lucy was screaming like I had never heard before, there was blood pouring from the wound....

Thomas Scott, 97, was in his backyard at 503 Court St. when a black Lab-mix attacked him. Scott said the dog bit him on his leg as he was walking in his yard, and he had to use his walker to get the dog off. In a report by Crawford County Deputy Sheriff Eddie Weber, who responded to the incident, Scott was in his residence when Weber arrived and had sustained a severe laceration to his leg. Crawford County EMS treated the victim at the scene, and he was transported to Harrison County Hospital in Corydon. It required 11 stitches...

A dog that was responsible for a vicious attack on a teenage girl in east Windsor last weekend is being designated by the Humane Society as "dangerous." "It had her by the arm," said William Green, a neighbourhood resident who witnessed the attack. "The bone was visible... She had chunks of her own flesh on her clothes. She was in shock." The incident happened around 4 p.m. on Sept. 5 in the 2600 block of Jos St. Louis Avenue.Windsor police said the dog -- a six-year-old Chesapeake Bay Retriever -- bit the victim deeply on her right forearm. The severity...

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) - A 3-year-old girl was hospitalized after she was attacked by a dog outside her Coeur d'Alene home. According to a Coeur d'Alene police report, the toddler ran outside to greet her mother when two dogs belonging to a neighbor ran up and 1 of them, a Belgian shepherd-type dog, attacked her. Her mother began kicking and screaming at the dog, and the child's father and the dog's owner ran over and were able to pry the dog away from the child after several minutes. Police said the child suffered bite wounds to her head, chest,...

A woman was left shaken after being bitten by a greyhound, which also attacked her dog, in the Isle of Man. The woman was walking her Tibetan terrier along Douglas Street in Peel when the other dog, which was also being walked, attacked them. The terrier suffered an open wound to the neck, which later required surgery, and the woman was bitten on the hand. Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident, which happened at about 1615 BST on Friday. Pc Ian Scott, of Peel police station, said: "I am led to believe a number of people witnessed the...

The Irish love their dogs, but aren’t a big fan of cats, according to a new study about pet ownership in Ireland. Research by University College Dublin (UCD) found that 36 percent of homes in Ireland have a dog, while just one in 10 homes own a cat. The dog-to-cat ratio is much more drastic than in most other countries. For instance, in the U.S., 37 percent of homes have dogs while 32 percent have cats, while in Britain, the split is even smaller with 22 percent dogs and 18 percent cats. But Ireland is unequivocally a nation of dog...

When Kathy Wilkes-Myers of Love Me Tender Animal Rescue found a Rottweiler on the side of a highway in Tennessee, she immediately got the feeling the dog belonged to somebody — she wasn’t as timid and untrusting as most abandoned dogs. “I could just tell right away she was somebody’s baby. She just didn’t act like a stray dog to me,” said Wilkes-Myers, who found the dog a few months ago, emaciated and drinking from a drainage ditch along the road. Wilkes-Myers suspected there was more to the dog’s story, and began doing some detective work. She returned to where...

MARTIN COUNTY, FL -- A 23-year-old Stuart woman stabbed and killed her dog Sunday, according to an arrest affidavit.According to our news-partners at Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers, Cassandra Danielle Lauderdale who lives in the 1700 block of Southeast Salerno Road was charged with cruelty to animals and was being held at the Martin County Jail in lieu of $2,500 bail Monday. The Martin County Sheriff’s Office was called about the incident about 10:30 p.m. Sunday at Lauderdale’s home. Deputies found several people inside, including Lauderdale, who appeared agitated. The people at the home told deputies she had taken the dog...

A Milpitas man with a long history of violence was sentenced Friday to more than 25 years in prison for beating his former girlfriend's cocker spaniel to death with a hammer, a third strike for Alex Castro. Castro, 48, begged the court for mercy, saying such a long sentence was too much for killing a dog, but the judge said he could not ignore the violence Castro inflicted in his life, according to the prosecutor. "I am appreciative that not only did a jury take this case incredibly seriously, as evidenced by their verdict, but also that the judge did,"...

Mozart is trying to win a million dollars for New Orleans recovery efforts. But the charitable effort by the 6-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel may be derailed by a dog named after the satirical TV anchorman Stephen Colbert Both canines are contestants in a dog beauty pageant -- but only one pup can take home the big money. The first round is under way, with a hairy finalist selected each week by the number of fan votes. Mozart, or MoMo as friends and family know him, came in second last week in the Cutest Dog Competition with 2,780 votes. This...

The intruder carried a silver gun when he opened the door and walked into Tabitha Billings’ home Tuesday night. A white bandana covered the lower portion of his face. Another covered the upper portion. Only his eyes were visible. Billings said she thinks he may have known her, and that he likely intended to rob her of her college loan money. Billings attends Brown Mackie College, and she’d recently received her tuition check. Only a few knew. The intruder left without it. But not before shooting her pregnant dog in the head. Billings said the medium-sized, mixed-breed dog she calls...

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) - It's out of town or else for Gizmo, a Pomeranian with a bad reputation in Aspen. Municipal Judge Brooke Peterson told Gizmo's owner, Melinda Goldrich, that if the dog is seen again in town, it will be put to death. Goldrich was in court Wednesday on a charge of keeping a vicious dog. An employee at an Aspen fitness club says Gizmo, who was tied to a fence, bit her in August. The dog served 10 days in an animal shelter. Goldrich had been under a court order to not leave Gizmo unattended after he bit...

A West Jordan (Utah) man -- who says a teen walked into his yard, attacked his daughter's yellow Labrador using a baseball bat and pushed his granddaughter to the ground -- was ordered Tuesday to pay a $200 fine. Meanwhile, Dale Sweat's daughter -- who owns Nikki, the dog -- was ordered to pay $37.50 for letting her dog's license expire. West Jordan Justice Court Judge Ronald Kunz suspended half the licensing fine because Carrie Sweat licensed Nikki shortly after the June incident.

SALEM A three-year dog fight over who gets to keep Dexter the beloved pug ended Monday when a Superior Court judge ordered the ex-couple to share ownership. Eric Ware and Doreen Houseman, who live miles apart in Monroe Township, must start sharing the family pet on a five-week cycle. "I just can't wait to have him in my hands on Friday," said Houseman, who said she hasn't seen Dexter in two years, seven months, and three weeks. She guaranteed it would be an emotional reunion with "a lot of hugs and kisses." Dare and Houseman, who never married, spent 13...

He saw a squirrel the other day in his new back yard in Derby and chased it up a tree. First time he'd ever done that. He hadn't seen squirrels, or trees, in Afghanistan. It was a big moment for ETTy, a black and white mutt that was adopted in Afghanistan in December by 1st Lt. Chris Corman of Derby and some of his Marine buddies Corman, 28, was stationed with about 20 other Marines in Mehtar Lam, halfway between Kabul and Jalalabad. For nine months, they served as an embedded training team with a unit of the Afghan National...

Dateline middle America: ...... Even this ladies dog dislikes our President. Dog Treats

An Australian man who freed his dog from an animal pound's "death row" and then went on the run has offered to surrender, police say. Ron Gilbertson's dog, Max, was going to be put down for mauling sheep. Mr Gilbertson went to say goodbye to Max last week, but instead cut the dog from his cage and fled, leaving his wife and two children. Police in South Australia say the renegade pair were located after a search and were prepared to surrender....

Jessica Simpson's beloved maltipoo Daisy was grabbed by a wild coyote that then vanished with the small dog, the singer wrote via Twitter Monday night. "My heart is broken because a coyote took my precious Daisy right in front of our eyes. HORROR!" she Tweeted. Simpson, 29, has offered a reward to anyone who can reunite her with her 5-year-old, caramel-colored dog.