Free Republic

Pittsburgh, PA (AHN) -- A Pittsburgh man is charged with cruelty to animals for feeding two of his neighbor's dogs meatballs laced with glass and nails. Brett Kolarik, 41, turned himself into police Friday after the dog's owner, Debra Rogers, realized that the meatballs were filled with harmful materials after her dogs seemed unwell. Police told reporters that Kolarik fed the dogs the hazardous materials because he was tired of their incessant barking. The dogs, a beagle and a husky, required emergency surgery at a cost of $4,000. Both are home recovering. If convicted, Kolarik faces up to two years...

Muslim prisoners are being given fresh clothes and bedding after sniffer dogs search their cells – because they view the animals as unclean. The inmates say their bedclothes and prison uniforms must be changed according to Islamic law if they have come anywhere near dog saliva. Government rules mean warders are having to hand out replacement sets after random drug searches to avoid religious discrimination claims. The dogs have also been banned from touching copies of the Islamic holy book the Koran and other religious items. Now some staff and other prisoners are incensed by what they claim is special...

Wagging the Rescue Dog Vote Great news from the campaign on the rescue front! Not the economic rescue package. The canine rescue package. Michelle Obama pledged on ``Entertainment Tonight’’ that when the family gets a dog – Barack Obama has promised one to his daughters once the campaign is over – it will be a rescue dog from a shelter. Online petitions urging the Obamas to do just that have been circulating, accumulating thousands of signatures from people – most of them probably voters – who want the Obamas to adopt a homeless dog, not buy a purebred. Ingrid Newkirk,...

I'm wondering how others came across the cat (or dog), or cats (or dogs) they currently have. I grew up in the Sandhills of Nebraska with dogs, although once in a great while there was a cat around.Then I went away from home after graduating from high school, and no more pets until many many many years later, when I moved back to the Sandhills (but not the same part where I had grown up), and involuntarily began acquiring cats.I wish I had pictures of all the current cats to post here, but I'm still learning this "scanning" thing, and...

A Florida man risked his own life to save his four legged friend from the jaws of a shark. It happened in Islamorada, in the Florida Keys. Jake, a rat terrier, was swimming when a five foot shark attacked, pulling him under the water. His owner, Greg LeNoir, dove into the water and punched the back of the shark's neck, causing it to release Jake from its grip. Jake has teeth marks in his abdomen, back, and chest, but he is expected to fully recover.

After months of work by The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), guide dog Vargo has become the first guide dog in the UK to enter a mosque after the Islamic Shari’ah Council issued a historic fatwa11 stating “a blind person, in the light of Shariah Law, will be allowed to keep a guide dog to help him and if required to take him to the mosque for his prayers2”. In this momentous event today (on Wednesday 24 September), Vargo accompanied his 18-year-old owner Mahomed-Abraar Khatri to his local mosque in Leicester, seen...

My dog was stung by 20 or more bees. What do I do?

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A 40-year-old man walking his dog in the nude was Tasered by police when he refused to follow an officer's commands.

A Marine who dropped off his German shepherd at PAWS when he was deployed in February has been reunited with his dog. Marine returns, reunites with pup September 14, 2008 BY DONNA VICKROY, Staff Writer Call it fate. Call it destiny. Call it, simply, a happy ending. On a cold day this past February, a young Marine said farewell to his best friend, knowing he might never see him again. Bound for a second tour of duty in Iraq, the Marine had no one to care for his German shepherd pup. His family was scattered across the country and...

NEW YORK -- A Long Island pet supply company is recalling a chew toy after some dogs suffered serious tongue injuries while gnawing on the playthings. At least two dog owners say their pets had to have their tongues amputated because of the mishaps. One New York man says his 10-year-old Labrador mix got his tongue stuck in a hole in the ball. Veterinarians cut the chew toy off, but the dog's tongue became so swollen it needed to be amputated. Another owner says she had to have her dog euthanized after a similar injury. The company that made the...

[clip]Eating snake Who is Barack Obama? The best clues to that riddle can be gleaned from his two volumes of autobiography. He spent the first half of his life in search of a stable identity. He looked “black”. But he was the son of a white mother from Kansas and an African, rather than an African-American, father from Kenya. He spent four years in Indonesia, where he attended local schools (including a Muslim one) and ate local delicacies such as dog, grasshopper and snake, on which his stepfather fed him. He eventually ended up living with his white grandparents in...

(CNN) - A dog sheltered a newborn baby abandoned by its 14-year-old mother in a field in rural Argentina until the boy was rescued, a doctor said Friday

A lawyer for the state today defended the firing of a state Highway Patrol trooper who was caught on video repeatedly kicking his police dog. Charlie Jones, a sergeant and 12-year veteran of the agency, has said that he was simply training his canine partner, Ricoh, after the dog failed to release a piece of fire hose. Jones is trying to get his job back. But Assistant Attorney General Ashby Ray today urged the state Personnel Commission to watch the videotape before making a decision. The tape, shot with a cell phone camera by another trooper, shows that the dog...

A couple recovered their sport utility vehicle stolen as they visited Riverside National Cemetery, but it was too late to save their prized pet.

Did anyone catch the latest episode of "Cooking in the Danger Zone" last night? The host visited a commercial dog farm in South Korea that raises dogs for slaughter. He also visited several street vendors that sold dog as well as a popular restaurant specializing in everything from basic dog stew to spicy dog penis. The episode showed a dof being butchered in the kitchen and cut up for stew, and the BBC host said during his visit to the dog farm that the animals there were treated better than hogs in Great Britain. So, why has dog never caught...

Dogs are not allowed and never have been on the FLDS compound. So most kids had never seen one and many have never even seen a picture of a dog. But when some of the children were housed at a San Antonio shelter they requested to finally see a four footed friend. The call for a dog went to Pasty Swendson, a former TV personality, now owner of Pennies from Heaven, a dog therapy service. The fragile meeting was arranged. After all, the kids didn’t know a dog from a gopher. Swendson says she brought her Golden Retriever, two smaller...

Michael Gonzales gave a $3,000 teacup poodle to his girlfriend as a graduation gift. Missy, the dog, was almost three-years-old and weighed three pounds. The little pup had a big appetite and last Tuesday morning, Missy choked while gobbling down her dinner. With her airway partially blocked, veterinarian care was a must. "We jumped in the car rushed down to the New Braunfels pet clinic. She had just gone limp right as we ran out of door," said Gonzales. The dash cam video from the San Marcos police officer's car shows Gonzales speeding down I-35, police say at speeds up...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska-- A 6-year-old girl remains in critical condition Tuesday after a pit bull attacked her and a baby sitter. Two neighbors came to the rescue and one of them shot the dog to save the victims. The attack happened a little before 3 p.m. at an East Anchorage trailer park, the Riviera Terrace, near 32nd Avenue and Lee Street. "The report was a pit bull had attacked a 6-year-old girl and she was severely injured. In fact the original report thought the girl was dead," said APD Lt. Paul Honeman. John Kersbergen and Shawnee Hart witnessed some of the...

The FBI has launched a review of the violent law enforcement raid of the home of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo in Prince George's County last week that resulted in the deaths of the family's two dogs. The agency has begun "reviewing the events that occurred at Mr. Calvo's residence," said Richard J. Wolf, spokesman for the FBI in Baltimore, which has jurisdiction over federal civil rights investigations in Maryland. (snip) Courts across the country in recent years have ruled that it is almost always unacceptable for police to kill pets in the course of searching a home. Cases in...

English Bulldogs are notoriously bad swimmers. With a giant head and chest compared to a lighter tail end, they have a tendency to go bottoms up in the water. It’s hard to keep that head up above the waves when it’s the largest part of your body! Most owners are very aware of this problem, and will take care to see that their dogs have a good life vest on if they’re going to be boating or there’s a chance the bulldog could end up in some deep water without someone right at hand to save them if they look...

A British family said a crow they adopted as a pet has begun taking on the characteristics of their five dogs, even going so far as to attack the mailman. The Notaro-Livingstones of Huntsworth, England, said they adopted Jack the crow about 10 months ago when they discovered him outside of his nest and unable to lift his own head, The Telegraph reported Wednesday. The family said that as Jack recovered, he began mimicking the family's other pets -- a pack of five dogs. They said Jack steals dog treats from the other pets and will often jump onto the...

KUCHING: A misunderstanding over a small pet dog saw three stallholders attacked by a group of youths, resulting in one of the victims losing a part of his finger and sustaining a broken arm on Friday night. Prior to the 9.30pm incident at a parking lot in Kota Sentosa, where a number of foodstalls operate, a young couple and a friend went to a stall selling fried kuey teow accompanied by their small pet dog. The stall was operated by a 35-year-old man and assisted by his ‘mentally-challenged’ younger brother who is also in his 30s. Although it was unclear...

Costa Rican artiste Guillermo Habacuc Vargas is making headlines for tying a dog from the street in an art gallery as part of an exhibit to starve it to death. The title of his exhibit "Eres Lo Que Lee" was written across the gallery in dry dog food. The food and a bowl of water were both out of the dog's reach. Eventually the animal died of starvation. The artist claimed the dog was sick and would have died anyways. Now Vargas has been selected to represent Costa Rica in Visual Arts Biennel of Central Americas 2008. The organizers have...

Jerry and his ball From the Author: I built the ball machine because I thought my dog Jerry, might like it and that it would be something fun for me to build. So after two years of on and off work, with many safety features such as IR proximity sensors to protect Jerry and my son from the machine, I finally complete. Far from being a replacement for me, I was always right there with him enjoying his fun. And with all the troubles that I went through to build the ball machine, I still end up throwing more balls...

Police sniffer dogs will have to wear bootees when searching the homes of Muslims so as not to cause offence. Guidelines being drawn up by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) urge awareness of religious sensitivities when using dogs to search for drugs and explosives. The guidelines, to be published this year, were designed to cover mosques but have been extended to include other buildings. Where Muslims object, officers will be obliged to use sniffer dogs only in exceptional cases. Where dogs are used, they will have to wear bootees with rubber soles. “We are trying to ensure that...

They may not look as threatening as some of the larger canine, but research revealed that the dachshund is the most aggressive breed of dog. Citing a study published by Applied Animal Behavior Science, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported that one in five dachshunds has bitten or tried to bite strangers, and one in 12 has shown aggression toward its owners. The study involved researchers from the University of Pennsylvania. About 6,000 dog owners were questioned about their dogs' behavior. Thirty-three breeds were ranked on their aggression. Ranking below the dachshund was an even smaller dog, the Chihuahua....

AKC Selects Short List of "Canine Candidates" and Enlists America's Help to Choose the Right Dog Breed for the Obama Family @ www.presidentialpup.com New York, NY – Vice President isn't the only high-level position that Barack Obama is currently trying to fill. It's been widely reported that – win or lose – the Obamas have promised their two daughters a dog after the presidential election. With 158 breeds registered by the American Kennel Club® (AKC®) – each with its own unique temperament, coat type, size, energy level and appearance – the search for a canine cabinet member is on. "Deciding...

WILLIAMSBURG, Va., June 27, 2008 – On Aug. 19, 2006, the life of Army Capt. James Barclay IV changed forever. Army Capt. James Barclay IV bonds with his hunting dog, Bryant. A Williamsburg, Va., trainer donated his services to train Bryant for Barclay, who was wounded in an Afghanistan roadside-bomb attack. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joe Laws   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. He was in the lead vehicle of a convoy in a remote area of Afghanistan when a roadside bomb tore through his vehicle. Barclay survived, but suffered burns over 40 percent of...

Yes, we have a new "World's Ugliest Dog." A one-eyed, three-legged Chinese Crested was crowned, so to speak, yesterday at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, Calif. The Santa Rose Press Democrat reports: It was hard to deny the fact that Gus -- a one-eyed, three-legged hairless Chinese crested with skin cancer -- wasn't exactly a looker. It didn't help that he spent most of the three-hour event sleeping in a baby blanket in owner Jeanenne Teed's arms with his tongue hanging out. Or that he sometimes bites when folks get too close. But that turned out to be a winning...

A three-legged, one-eyed, cancer-afflicted dog named Gus has been crowned the World's Ugliest Dog at a fair in California. Gus, a Chinese Crested dog, beat allcomers to take the title at the Sonoma-Marin Fair. Owner Jeanenne Teed, from Florida, said she would spend the $1,600 prize on treatment for Gus's skin cancer. The competition has been running for 20 years, and is one of the fair's top attractions, organisers said. Vicki DeArmon, marketing director of the fair, said that in the past few years, winners had been dogs that had been abandoned or neglected before being adopted by dog-lovers. "They...

Bo (woof) In Commentary: Some think this dog is amazing. Me, I’m not surprised. (In case you missed this one, a Mission Viejo woman’s dog — a 9-year-old cockapoo known as Cookie Einstein — has become a celebrity of sorts for her apparent mathematical abilities, the O.C. Register’s Niyaz Pirani reported over the weekend. She [Cookie] adds, subtracts, multiplies, divides and calculates square roots and simple algebra through barking. And Cookie can answer if the question’s asked in either English or Spanish.) Bi-lingual and good in math…she must have scored well on her SATs. Cookie won’t respond to anybody but...

Bo (woof) In Commentary: They say only the good die young, maybe that’s why I’m a ripe 16 and a half years old. Here’s the story of an elected official, Mayor Cochran, who died at the age of 12. Yup, a mayor that was elected to office at the young age of eight, serving four years before his death. "Junior Cochran, the mayor of Rabbit Hash, Kentucky has died at the age of twelve. A little young for a mayor you might think, but that’s 84 in dog years! Yes that’s right (con't @ http://boknowsonline.com/2008/06/09/mayor-to-rule-rainbow-bridge/#more-499)

Dog Survives Toto Impression During Tornado RICHTON PARK, Ill. (CBS) Chase certainly doesn't look like Toto from "The Wizard of Oz." He's a big rottweiler, not a little cairn terrier. But he certainly does a wonderful impression. On Saturday, when a tornado swept through Richton Park, Chase was hanging out the backyard of Sandra Holmes' house. That is, until the tornado picked him up and took him on the ride of his life. "People started coming up and saying 'we saw your dog in flight,'" said Holmes, Chase's owner. Neighbor Tatyiana Smith saw it. "The dog was in the air,...

Bo (woof) In Commentary: So I had to go the vet the other day for an embarrassing situation. Here’s exactly what happened… “So what’s the problem, Bo?” the vet asked. “I’ve been farting a lot. I mean I fart all the time,” I tell her. She just nods, encouraging me to talk some more. So I continue, “Luckily, my farts don’t stink and you can’t hear them. It’s just that I can’t stop it. Look, we’ve been talking here for about 10 minutes and I’ve farted five times. You didn’t hear them and you didn’t smell them, did you?” She...

Bo (woof) In Commentary: Although not covered by the Geneva Convention, one look at this disgusting video and you’ll have no doubt what the meaning of torture is. Go ahead, click on it, if only as a reminder of the brutality of our enemy. If you don’t speak french, let me translate for you, “One minute inzide zee masheeen and zee animal wheel never beg again. Gare on teed!” I urge all of you to write your Senators, Representatives, Councilman and owners to stop this heinous bathing now! *Breaking News Alert* - If you see a Maytag repair man in...

Here’s a quick joke for you all… Mahtin goes to pick up his date for the evening. She’s not ready yet, so he has to sit in the living room with her parents. He has a bad case of gas and really needs to relieve some pressure. Luckily, the family dog jumps up on the couch next to him. He decides that he can let a little fart out and if anyone notices they will think that the dog did it. He farts, and the woman yells, “Shep, get down from there.” The guy thinks..(con't @http://boknowsonline.com/2008/03/08/fahtin-mahtin/)

Bo (woof) In Commentary: Imagine, if you will, walking in the rain but instead of raindrops coming out of the sky it’s bacon flavored bubbles. Sound like a dream you’d twitch to? Well, purchase the Bubble Buddy and according to its maker, Happy Dog Toys, it may very well come true. Recently I was in PetSmart, perusing the aisles with the old man in tow when the Bubble Buddy caught my eye. Once I read the packaging, I knew I had to get one for myself. It read… * Blow ‘em! Chase ‘em! Chomp ‘em! * Get ready for bubble...

For those of you that can walk and chew gum at the same time, here’s an article you must read. (WILMINGTON -- An artificial sweetener can be deadly for dogs, and a local dog owner learned that the hard way. Anna Frazelle rushed her dog, Scout, to the Dineen Animal Hospital when she noticed her King Charles Spaniel acting strange. "He was using the wall to hold himself up," said Frazelle. She was shocked by the diagnosis of sugar free gum poisoning. Sugar free gum contains Zylatol, a sugar substitute found in almost any sugar free food, which can be...

Forty-four of about 90 dogs rescued from a squalid Randolph house last week are now in Framingham and Ashland, receiving much-needed care from local animal control officers. The pooches, some caked in filth when they were first discovered, were bathed and groomed Monday at the Framingham Animal Control facility on Western Avenue, courtesy of about 10 PETCO employees. "They were in very sad, filthy condition - incredibly matted," said Katherine MacKenzie, Framingham's animal control director. "They look beautiful now." MacKenzie and Cheryl Rudolph, animal control officer for Ashland and Holliston, agreed to provide the dogs temporary homes to aid the...

Bo (woof) In Commentary: For all you old timers out there, do you remember how excited you used to get when it was time for a car ride? Check out this pup as he gets the question, “Wanna go for a ride? ” Note the sounds of a jealous, car door opening challenged cat in the background.....http://boknowsonline.com/2008/04/18/wanna-go-for-a-ride/

Bo (woof) In Commentary: Drugs. I don’t clearly remember how I’ve become addicted to them. It may have been my parents pushing them on me or maybe it was me demanding them. It’s all so hazy now. All I know is that I ‘need’ to have each and every one of my pills to keep me going every day. That’s why this story on an owner pilfering his dog’s drugs is so upsetting. (DES MOINES, Iowa - A Des Moines man who was arrested for driving while intoxicated apparently took his dog’s pills by mistake. Authorities say (con't @ http://boknowsonline.com/2008/06/02/478/)

Bo (woof) In Commentary: Have you ever gotten so excited over something that you forgot everything else around you? You know, like when you hear the word treat…all else ceases to exist except the placement of the cookie jar and the hand that dips into it. Well here’s a story about a little terrier that was focused on a mouse and the subsequent fallout from his inability to multi-task. (Hector the dog was left howling in frustration after he took an unfortunate turn during a mouse hunt. The Norfolk terrier got his head wedged in an owl-shaped earthenware pot a...

Bo(woof) In Commentary: Cuteness comes in many forms, although I believe the cutest is of the canine form. So what makes you feel warm all over (besides me peeing on your leg)?....http://boknowsonline.com/2008/05/29/q-t-piis/

Border Patrol drug-sniffing dog detected almost 1,400 pounds of marijuana stacked between pallets of squash in a tractor-trailer rig at the Interstate 19 checkpoint Wednesday. The trailer contained 63 bundles of marijuana, with an estimated street value of $1.1 million, said U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. The driver, a 41-year-old Mexican national, was taken into custody. The vehicle and marijuana were confiscated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Officials said that since October 2007, the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector has seized more than 520,000 pounds of marijuana. Dog units have been responsible for one-fourth of the seizures.

Good dog, bad pool owners. Let’s face it, you wouldn’t jump in either! That's one smart doggie...http://boknowsonline.com/2008/05/30/doggie-paddle/

RABBIT HASH, Ky. -- The dog mayor of Rabbit Hash has passed away. The Rabbit Hash General Store confirmed Thursday that Junior Cochran died two days before his 13th birthday, Cincinnati television station WLWT reported. Junior Cochran was elected mayor with more than 3,000 votes in November 2004. A documentary aired on Animal Planet about the black Labrador in 2006. The store could not say what would happen next, but said that word on the street indicated that previous contenders Marty the mule and Charlie the chicken would have a runoff.

Bo (woof) In Commentary: That is one hot dancer, and I ain’t talkin’ about the 50+ year old Olivia Newton John wanna be in this video, but I don’t see what all the excitement is about. C’mon I dance with my mother too. Admittedly she only knows how to do the Chicken Dance but we nail the routine every time.......http://boknowsonline.com/2008/01/11/this-is-not-what-i-want/

London, May 26 (ANI): Naming his sniffer dog “Allah” has resulted in in prison officer Chris Langridge, 28, being shifted out of Britains top Belmarsh high-security jail. Though Langridge insisted that his labrador was called Ali, and not Allah, a Muslim inmate filed an official complaint against the the dog handler, and he was promptly shifted. One Belmarsh officer said: This is political correctness gone mad. Belmarsh houses some of Britains most notorious extremist Muslims, including hook-handed Abu Hamza. It also has the highest proportion of Muslim prisoners of any jail in Britain. Muslims dont like dogs and it would...

Bo (woof) In Commentary: Just to set the record straight, I think it’s actually a cat not a dog in this video. If it truly is a dog, then it was just messin’ around. Either that or it takes the short bus to doggie daycare.....http://boknowsonline.com/2008/05/22/ram-it-home/

Bo (woof) In Commentary: It’s always good to see humans returning the favor of our unending loyalty and support to them. This story about “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” warms my heart, much like the pacemaker she just received warms hers. (COLUMBIA, Mo. - After years of helping authorities look for murder victims and survivors of natural disasters, a search-and-rescue dog named Molly has been rescued herself. Surgeons at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine on Thursday installed a pacemaker in the 5-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever’s heart. She needed the surgery after being diagnosed with a complete electrical heart...