We interrupt this blog for a special news bulletin.

OK, that was a little silly. But then I've seen real press conferences where -- despite words spewing from human mouths -- even less is said.

The dog holding the press conference in the video above is Schmitty, a New York Yorkie who has been working to get out the vote since 2004 -- and otherwise being a role model for civic responsibility.

She posed for a line of greeting cards to raise money for firefighters after 9/11. She founded DOGS WHO CARE to help pets in need after the hurricanes of 2005. She appeared on cards thanking the employers of soldiers from the National Guard and Reserve troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And, as she did in 2004, she's working again to get out the vote -- to "take a bite" out of voter apathy, as her owner, Elly McGuire, an Upper West Side media sales consultant and political junkie, puts it.

According to a Newsday article in 2004, Schmitty -- whose biography refers to her gender as "not a leg lifter" -- began her campaign around then.

With more than 4 million pet owners in New York City alone, McGuire said she thought, "Wouldn't it be fun if Schmitty and myself could unite their pooches to walk their two-legged friends to the polls on Nov. 2 to exercise their right to vote?"

For the campaign, McGuire developed neutral T-shirts and buttons carrying the message: "Schmitty says Bark the Vote." She also provides free posters with the slogans: "Be a Party Animal," "It's a treat to vote" and the tongue-in-cheek message, "What's wrong with this country going to the dogs?"

The T-shirts, buttons and posters are available at Schmitty's Web site

McGuire said 100 percent of the proceeds from sales of the T-shirts and buttons will go to Animal Care & Control of New York City.