Free Republic

This image says it all. A Dogs Against Romney Pack Member was stopped by the Littleton, Colorado police yesterday for having a dog crate on the roof of his car. The Pack Member , identified only as "Oredigger," was on his way to protest at a Mitt Romney event yesterday with the crate atop his car carrying a stuffed toy dog when the police officer, believing he was actually transporting a live dog on the roof of his car, stopped him. Says Oredigger, "I was pulled over for suspected animal abuse."

A dog that reportedly bit a policeman during a domestic battery investigation last year was shot dead Wednesday night by a detective during a drug raid at the same house, according to Key West police reports. Buddie, a 5-year-old pit bull terrier mix, was shot in the head by Detective Michael Chaustit, who reportedly fired one bullet from his .45-caliber service handgun while the dog's mouth was clamped down on his left hand -- requiring three stitches at Lower Keys Medical Center. A veterinarian euthanized the dog at the scene about an hour laterreports say. During a 9 p.m. raid...

A dog feared dead after he was swept away in an avalanche that killed his owner turned up four days later at the Montana motel where they had stayed before going backcountry skiing. Search and rescue team member Bill Whittle said he was 'positive' that the Welsh corgi – named Oly – had been buried in Saturday's avalanche and had managed to dig his way out. 'The avalanche guys were up there on Monday investigating and they were looking for the dog too and never seen any signs,' he said. But on Wednesday afternoon, Oly showed up exhausted and hungry...

We all know and love Oskar, but it’s been a real treat getting to know his BFF, Klaus, in this video clip! What a pair!

Ashlan Gorse and her Siberian Husky, Aurora Ashlan Gorse, host of E! News Now, is the proud mom to a rescued Siberian Husky named Aurora. Gorse recently went through a scare that no pet owner ever wants to face after Aurora was diagnosed with cancer. Fortunately for both dog and owner, Aurora completed daily radiation and is on the road to a full recovery. Gorse says the experience has been life-changing for both human and dog, as caring for a suffering pet has made the bond between herself and Aurora unbreakable. Gorse is now an advocate on how important it...

"The couple also are developing a line of vegan pet foods — after discovering a void in the market for people looking to feed their dogs and cats vegan vittles," said the Chicago Sun-Times.

If only our dogs could pick out our gifts! Click Here

Chicken jerky treats may be to blame for dozens of new reports of mysterious illnesses and some deaths in dogs, prompting a renewed warning for pet owners by the Food and Drug Administration. At least 70 dogs have been sickened so far this year after reportedly eating chicken jerky products imported from China, FDA officials said. That’s up from 54 reports of illness in 2010. Some of the dogs have died, according to the anecdotal reports from pet owners and veterinarians. FDA officials say they have not been able to find a cause for the illnesses. Extensive chemical and microbiological...

"Veterinarians are reporting an outbreak of canine flu in the New York metro area." "The Journal News reports that officials at the Cornell University Veterinary School say canine flu has been spreading in New York City, the lower Hudson Valley and northern New Jersey."

Despite the anemic state of affairs in the U.S., there's at least one industry un-phased by the economic picture: the pet business. It's absolutely booming. From 1994 to 2010, the American Pet Products Association reports the industry jumped a whopping $31.53 billion dollars. People will spend about $50.84 billion dollars on their pets in 2011 alone, estimates the association, up from $48.3 billion in 2010. Granted, more people own animals than they used to back in 1994. Today, Americans care for about 377.41 million household pets, meaning there are 27 million more pets than humans in the U.S. But the...

Angry passengers have started a boycott of American Airlines after it lost a cat named Jack in the baggage area at New York's John F Kennedy Airport seven weeks ago. Supporters of Jack the cat yesterday held a day of action at the airport to raise awareness of the missing moggy. The weeks may have passed, but the anger over the airline’s failure to find him is growing. The Jack The Cat is Lost in AA Baggage at JFK Facebook page now has more than 15,000 followers. It is updated daily with hundreds of comments from supporters. The aim of...

When illness forced vets to remove Great Dane Lily’s eyes, the prospects of a fulfilling life didn’t look good. But then no one had reckoned on her pal Maddison stepping in to turn guide dog. The pair have been inseparable for years but now find themselves looking for a new home because their owner could no longer cope

All too often when a disaster strikes, our four-legged friends are left to fend for themselves and sometimes end up lost, injured or killed. The best way to avoid this tragic scenario is to have a well-thought-out disaster plan that includes pets...

I've never posted on FreeRepublic before, so I hope I'm doing this correctly. I was hoping to get some advice/information from any dog owners who have had a dog with a liver shunt. I have an approximately 3 year old Shih Tzu which I believe has a liver shunt. I took him in last week for his routine yearly exam and bloodwork, and his liver values came back high. So the vet did an X-Ray of his stomach, liver, etc. and everything looked fine. So I took him back in for a Bile Acid test and once again, the value...

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a McDonald’s manager who punched a customer in the face for bringing a service dog into the restaurant.

"Get that thing outta here..." Click on link

Rocky is a retired military dog who will be put down on August 24 if he’s not adopted. He served three tours in Iraq and desperately needs a loving home to enjoy his final years. Pets for Patriots is responding to a request to help create awareness of this veteran’s plight. We have spoken to authorities at Camp Pendleton and confirmed this story. Rocky currently lives at Camp Pendleton, his home base since entering the Marine Corps in 2004. He served three tours in Iraq between 2004 and 2007 as a patrol and explosives dog, and returned to the states...

There are many here on Free Republic that absolutely love our "Fru-babies". We post pics and follow each other, well I thought it would be terrific if we post the pictures of our 'babies'. I don't know about you all but mine 'get me through' these nightmarish days. They love me no matter what. They are there and want to be with me no matter what. That includes the way I now look in the mornings! LOL! Show YOUR babies here... :) Here are a few of mine both past and present...

It’s summer time, which (hopefully) means vacations and lazy days at the beach or in the hammock. Here’s DogWatch’s list of some dog-related summer reading to help you pass the time!

HORRY CO. Police are investigating a case of animal cruelty in which a tabby cat was shot at least three times, shattering a femur and breaking one knee. The male cat, now named Matty, was found in an abandoned home last week in Green Sea by Candace Mize, who works at Paws Inn in North Myrtle Beach. At least three 22-caliber bullets were found inside the cat, which has undergone two surgeries so far. Mize, who was attending a friend's party in Green Sea, walked out to her car and heard soft meows coming from the neighbor's house. The house...

OLYMPIA – Pollution in the Puget Sound is such a problem that a group trying to protect the ecosystem spent $27,000 in state money to make a catchy video, complete with dance steps, telling people how they can do something about it. Pick up dog poop. The 2 1/2 minute “Dog Doogity” video, which features rhythm and blues singer Martin Luther delivering the musical message of bag your doggie's dooties, is a parody of the late ‘90s hit “No Diggity” by Blackstreet. Released June 30, it is getting very positive responses, said Janet Geer of the City of Bothell and...

Almost 1,000 cases of pet arson are reported every year, according to the NFPA (National Fire Protection Agency). Two years ago, The American Kennel Club decided to take action against these pyromaniac pets by launching National Pet Fire Safety Day (July 15) to warn unsuspecting owners of the potential danger. Here are the top 5 most notorious pet arsonists and the crimes that made them famous. 5. Lucy the dog denied cake; sets blaze Just this February, Lucy nearly burned down her owner’s Jacksonville, Okla., house when she tried to eat a cake sitting on the stove. Lucy’s “big paws”...

Portland, OR - Bill is a senior German shepherd who wandered into a yard...he was taken to the Multnomah County Animal shelter and listed as a "stray"... Now he waits. The theory is that Bill was dumped by his family - why, no one may ever know. What is known is that Bill is a senior dog - and he is blind. Someone out there would love to have this beautiful senior dog by their side - that someone needs to be found and they need to be found quickly. Please take a moment to share Bill's story. Anyone interested...

If you see a seven-foot lizard in your Broward or Palm Beach residence, that's a problem, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Nile Monitor lizards, native to Africa, have been popping up around the two counties -- enough times to warrant a hotline and a website dedicated to reporting freak lizard sightings. The lizard hot spot is the canal along Southern Boulevard in West Palm Beach, according to the FWC, which just caught two in the area last week -- including a five-foot lizard discovered on someone's patio after it crawled through the doggy door. They killed...

San Francisco mulls ban on all pet sales, including goldfish and hamsters San Francisco, a city named after the patron saint of animals, is considering banning sales of all pets including goldfish and hamsters in a sweeping attempt to end cruelty. By Nick Allen, Los Angeles 4:37PM BST 27 Jun 2011 The ban would cover everything from dogs and cats to snakes, lizards, guinea pigs, parrots, mice and rats. All mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and fish would be banned from sale in pet stores in what would be the most radical measure of its kind in the Unite States. Those...

San Francisco - The first vision was simple and straightforward: To curtail puppy mills and kitten factories, the sale of cats and dogs should be banned in San Francisco, where the loving guardians of animal companions come to regular blows — politically — with the loving parents of children. The ban was put on hold last year after animal advocates broadened it to include anything with fur or feathers. Now it's back, with a new name and a new strategy: More is more. The Humane Pet Acquisition Proposal is on its way to the Board of Supervisors, and it hopes

First the bay city decided we American’s just shouldn’t be able to decide matters such as circumcision. We shouldn’t have to worry about decisions like that since we have a brilliant and all knowing government to think for us.Now San Francisco is taking things a step further by possibly relieving the American’s that live within its limits of the terrible right to purchase a pet goldfish. San Francisco’s Animal Control and Welfare Commission is recommending that the City ban the sale of goldfish, tropical fish and guppies in its borders, according to Matier and Ross.The recommendation to the San Francisco...

First kittens, then puppies and hamsters and now goldfish? San Francisco's Animal Control and Welfare Commission is recommending that the City ban the sale of goldfish, tropical fish and guppies in its borders, according to Matier and Ross. The recommendation to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is part of the commission's ongoing efforts to discourage "impulse buys" of animals.

First kittens, then puppies and hamsters and now goldfish? San Francisco's Animal Control and Welfare Commission is recommending that the City ban the sale of goldfish, tropical fish and guppies in its borders, according to Matier and Ross. The recommendation to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is part of the commission's ongoing efforts to discourage "impulse buys" of animals. The commission's ban would cover pet stores and breeders in the City. It comes after more than a year of study and findings that aquarium fish are often mass bred under inhumane conditions or stripped from the wild.

Dogs and cats joined us as symbiotes a long time back; we made most of them dependent pets and now that they can’t survive on their own, we’re throwing them under the bus. The termination is the probably unintended result of SPCA, PETA, tender-hearted elected local officials and decades of anthropomorphized Disney creatures but it’s no less terminal for that. We’re eliminating these critters in order to save them. It isn’t that we love our pets less; rather that we love Gaia more. And she doesn’t poop on the rug. This ending has been coming for a while. On farms,...

"This is probably the most dramatic we've seen as far as an injury in an animal that's survived this long," said Phil Doster at Birmingham Jefferson County Animal Control shelter, who is caring for Mason following surgery. The shelter has dealt with hundreds of pets hurt by the storms.

The discovery of a dog that was buried alive up to its nose after being shot in the head 40 times has led to calls for Malta to reform its animal welfare laws. The crossbreed mongrel, which was named Star by her rescuers, was found near the city of Birzebbuga by animal welfare officers investigating an unrelated case. After hearing whimpering coming from beneath a wooden board with a tree stump placed on top of it to weigh it down, officers were confronted with the distressing sight of a dog's face buried in the dirt.

A scruffy Alabama terrier mix named Mason was whisked away by fierce twisters last month, prompting his owners, who lost their home in the storm, to fear the worst. But the redoubtable mutt apparently crawled back to his home days later with two broken legs in a remarkable tale of survival. Local news outlet WBRC reports that Mason was blown away by the storm from the garage in Birmingham where he was hiding on April 27. His owners looked for him everywhere but couldn't find him. Two and a half weeks later, though, they found Mason waiting for them on...

Aren't you glad it's Friday? Do you want to maybe cry a little in celebration? Then check out this video, below, of Judy Pugh, whose home was destroyed by the tornadoes that swept through Tuscaloosa, Alabama on April 27. The ferocious twister left at least 39 dead in Tuscaloosa alone. Pugh cheerfully told local station WIAT that she rushed to the hallway with her three cats when the mile-wide tornado hit. The roof fell on top of her, but miraculously she and two of her cats were all in one piece. "I tried to get to my hands and knees...

Those leaving the Tuscaloosa Metro Animal Shelter these days are either overjoyed after finding their pets lost when tornadoes ravaged the region or heartbroken and often moved to tears when they don't. Reginald Jackson has felt both. He walked up and down the rows of cages, looking for his pit bull Bolo, but the dog was nowhere to be found. About to leave, distressed that his year-old animal was still missing, Jackson looked and there was Bolo. A veterinarian was walking him from an exam.

It’s time to change your ways human carers; you are insulting your companion animals and you should be ashamed of yourself. If you use terms like pets, wild- life, critters, beasts, or pests, the Journal of Animal Ethics has a (non-animal) bone to pick with you and your lack of sensitivity. A (wackier than normal) group of leading animal ethicists is calling for a new “animal language” because the common animal terms we use “send out the wrong message.” To whom, exactly? The Rat would call these people “loons,” but that would be an affront to loons. Anyway, check out...

Dolphin and cat together at last.

Animal lovers should stop calling their furry or feathered friends “pets” because the term is insulting, leading academics claim.

I'm hoping for some advice. I have a 12 year old dog. She's a maltese poodle mix, 17 pounds. About two months ago she had some sort of injury to her left hind leg. She couldn't walk on it. We took her to the vet and the X-ray showed nothing. I was sent home with an anti-inflammatory and instruction to keep her off of it. We did the best we could. Well, two months later she can walk on it but she still limps and it shakes. I don't quite know what to do. I'd say it was arthritis, but...

Hungry, hurt and separated from owners who are either dead or in evacuation centres, hundreds of family pets are struggling to survive in the desolation of Japan's tsunami-ravaged northeast coast. Among the many rescue teams sent from around the world to search for survivors and bodies after Japan's worst natural disaster for nearly a century, a handful of specialised animal rescue groups have also been at work. In the days immediately after the March 11 tsunami that wiped out dozens of thriving coastal towns, the prospects looked grim. "In the hardest hit areas, we saw no animal life whatsoever," said...

BERLIN – Berlin's beloved polar bear Knut, who rose to stardom when he was hand-raised by zoo keepers after being rejected by his mother rejected at birth, died on Saturday, a zoo official said.

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2011 – On Jan. 25, Egyptians began protesting against the government of then-President Hosni Mubarak. By Feb. 1, the U.S. State Department had ordered the departure of all nonemergency U.S. government personnel and their families from Egypt. After many Americans evacuated Egypt, their pets were left behind, but Army Capt. Eric Coulson helped to set up an impromptu pet kennel to care of the animals. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. But not all "members" of the families departed. The four-legged ones stayed behind. "A lot of people had pets that they really didn't have...

We’ve all done it, or at least know someone who has. Animal lovers who kiss their pets — mouth to mouth. “Kisses” from mans’ best friend or a feline companion may seem loving and irresistible, but is it safe?

America’s first lady is hell bent on fighting the obesity epidemic. For now it is focused on the nation’s children. She has interfered in school lunch and snack programs, and has even gotten one of the largest companies in the world, Wal-Mart, to comply with her plea to sell foods with less sugar and salt. In a Daily Caller op-ed, Orit Sklar, spokeswoman for My food. My Choice! wrote, “Now, one of the largest companies in the world is the vehicle through which all American food and health policy will flow. As Wal-Mart begins to institute the five-year plan, aimed...

Many people are attached to their pets. Pastor Greg asks Randy Alcorn if we will see our pets in heaven. Taken from the message, Big Life Issues by Pastor Greg Laurie. CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR VIDEO...

The American Kennel Club has released its annual list of the most popular dog breeds in America (slide show). The most popular dogs in America

Last night when I returned from work at 11pm,my husband informed me that one of our mini schnauzers had gone missing. We went out looking for her around town. After about thirty minutes of this aimless driving and looking to no avail,we came upon the town cop.We debated stopping and telling him what we were doing. We decided in the end to do so. After telling him,he said nothing more than he would keep his eye out for her;we went off in one direction to keep looking and he left in the other. We kept coming back to the house...

I decided to have my own little "FReepathon" in memory of my beloved furry family member Kitty. She died on Thursday, December 16, 2010, just after 9:30 am. Some of you probably saw my thread when I self diagnosed her with CRF (I was vetless at the time). Turned out my little 19 year old Kitty had a urinary tract, as well as a kidney infection, which she apparently was too old and too tired to fight. This is my proposal, in which I came up with because of you, my fellow FReepers. I asked for help and info. So...

Macha is one of those once-in-a-lifetime pets — a tall, lean, savvy dog who lives to hunt pheasant. Out in the field, the Labrador retriever is so focused that she shuns pats from her Woodland Park owner, Tom Bulloch. “She doesn’t want her line of vision obstructed,” he explains. Macha, who can run like the wind, was named after a mythological Irish goddess who was faster than any man or beast. Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/pets-110435-pain-lifetime.html#ixzz19nXnqJSS frpa ....“At the time I thought, ‘aren’t stem cells illegal or a political problem?’” Bulloch says. In fact, they can be used for treatment of animals....

<p>SAN ANTONIO — Franklin James "Pancho" Kruse rescued his wife and a niece from his burning home early Christmas Day and went back in one more time.</p> <p>Sugar, an aging Labrador that was his near-constant companion, was trapped in the mobile-home fire.</p>