Amy Murphy, an occupational therapist, pit bull lover and volunteer for a rescue organization in North Carolina, has put together a video that pays tribute to her rescued pit bull -- a former "bait dog" named Gunny.

It's also a tribute to all the others who helped Gunny on the road to recovery.

We wrote about Amy back in the Spring, and how she'd become a teller of dog tales on Craigslist, putting together accounts of pets in need of adoption for North Mecklenburg Animal Rescue.

Not long after that, in May, she met Gunny:

"I met One Of Those Dogs today. I’d tell you his name, but he doesn’t have one. I can, however, tell you that he has one of the most amazing spirits I have ever had the good fortune to encounter. I can also tell you that his capacity for love and forgiveness warms my heart….and shatters it into a million pieces."

Continue reading "A tribute to Gunny (and his friends)" »

Posted by John Woestendiek at 5:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
                    

Today we introduce a guest blogger, a fellow Sun employee who, for reasons you will see below, ended up with a fairly steady lunchtime date -- a rendezvous with Lily Lulu, a puppy that resides at the florist shop down the block.

It struck me as pretty interesting how -- in an age where companies are actually renting pets,  providing bonded, web-cammed-equipped day care for pets, cloning pets and otherwise treating them as a commodity -- one human could just simply walk up to another, a stranger, and end up with an informal daily date walking their dog. No written contracts. No liability concerns. No fee. No drama.

Her story is a simple reminder that dogs -- with the unconditional, non-judgmental, loving spirit they exude -- allow us to cross silly human boundaries; that, though they may have one owner, they're here for all of us to share; and that we don't need a corporation to provide us with that.

Here's Deborah Dramby, and her story:

So I have a beta fish at my desk, Mr. Limpet, who brightens up my long days at the office as much as he possibly can, but I’ve found that nothing lifts my spirits and gives me energy more than a walk over to Lord Baltimore Florist, home of my lunchtime pup-pal Lily Lulu.

I didn’t meet Lily in the flower shop though - I met her right outside of The Sun. The precocious little thing was bouncing around in the lawn near our lunch tables quite regularly actually.

One afternoon, we saw the little pup headed south on Calvert St with a different owner than usual and it dawned on us that we didn’t know this dog’s name, who she belonged to, or where she called home so a coworker and I did a little investigating.

Continue reading "Lily Lulu's lunchtime rendezvous" »

Posted by John Woestendiek at 7:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

Council members in Santa Cruz, Calif., met well into last night to consider a measure that would add four new dog parks to the city.

That's right, four. They already have three spots where dogs can wander without a leash.

Granted, Santa Cruz isn't exactly middle America, but the city of Baltimore -- with its one official dog park -- might want to pay a little heed.

In a discussion that stretched late into the evening, council members considered whether to set aside space for canines to run free in three parks and a vacant lot. They also pondered whether to fence off the dog areas, the children's play areas or both in the parks where dogs would be allowed, according to an article in today's San Jose Mercury News.

Already, dogs can wander without a leash at designated spots and times in three parks and beaches. City staff recommended council members approve the new dog parks in hopes of corralling owners who already let their dogs run loose in various parks around the city.

Dog park supporters made up two thirds of crowd at the meeting; opponents expressed fears that they or their children might be attacked by out-of-control canines at the parks.

Councilman Mike Rotkin said he supported the idea of dog parks but sharply rebuked those who said they had never seen a dog jump on a child and therefore did not want their four-legged friends fenced in.

"We're dealing with the reality that this is an urban area that is 95 percent built out. This is not the countryside," Rotkin said. "We're put in a position of compromising somewhat competing interests."

Posted by John Woestendiek at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

More than 14 Kenwood High School special education students received certificates and awards at a graduation ceremony Wednesday to mark their completion of an eight-week class conducted by the therapy dog organization Karma Dogs.

Students in the school’s Functional Academic Learning Support (FALS) Program learned how to care for a dog on a daily basis, how to groom and train a dog, and when and why it’s important to take a dog to visit the vet.

The program was funded by Erickson Retirement Communities and public donations and conducted by Karma Dogs in conjunction with the FALS Program.

Karma Dogs is a Baltimore-based nonprofit organization dedicated to rehabilitating rescued dogs into therapy dogs and has developed various program aimed at working with people with special needs.

Among its canine members is my dog Ace. A video of his experience as a therapy dog can be found here.

(Photo courtesy of Karma Dogs)

Posted by John Woestendiek at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

"The Unsinkable Molly Brown" -- a search and rescue dog better known as just "Molly" -- has lived up to her name, surviving an operation in Missouri that saw a pacemaker installed in her heart.

After years of helping authorities look for murder victims and survivors of natural disasters, Molly, a 5-year-old chocolate Lab, became lethargic last month. Veterinarians believe she had a heart attack.

On Tuesday night, after noticing her heart rate had dropped, her owners, Allen and Alicia Brown of Saginaw, rushed her to Columbia.

After the Joplin Globe reported on the story, the Browns were overwhelmed with offers to help pay for the $2,500 surgery, follow up visits and travel costs. A medical technology company, Medtronic, Inc., donated the device, and an anonymous Kansas businessman offered to kick in $2,000.

Molly was scheduled to return home today, where she will be confined to her crate for two weeks. She should be able to return to full-time rescue work, Allen Brown said. Allen, a paramedic, and Alicia, a nurse, work with the all-volunteer Newton County K-9 search-and-rescue unit.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Amy Murphy, the teller of dog tales -- like the one we featured yesterday -- became a volunteer at North Mecklenburg Animal Rescue after stumbling upon the organization and its dogs at a North Carolina Petsmart.

She started taking her own dog -- Oscar, a rescued pit bull mix -- to the store on days that the rescue organization was holding adoption days so that he could meet the puppies.

"He absolutely adores puppies, and would be so disappointed if we went on a day when the rescue wasn't there," she said.

An occupational therapist, Murphy signed up as a volunteer at the rescue organization about seven months ago, specifically to work with pit bulls.

"Since getting ...  Oscar, I have become a complete and total pit bull fan, and feel I understand them to a degree that makes them very easy for me to train," she said.

Oscar, not yet three, is a registered Delta Society Therapy Dog that visits hospitals and nursing homes.

She routinely takes rescue organization dogs home to bond with Oscar.

"Oscar is so good with puppies and small dogs that he hosts lots of playdates with pups from the rescue that need socialization in new, potentially scary places. Our large fenced yard is too good not to share, so every time you turn around, there is a new dog in my car, coming to meet Oscar and learn to play ball."

Wanting to see more of the rescued dogs find homes, Murphy asked Beth Phillips, the rescue organization's director, what more she can do -- and that's when Murphy took over composing notices of dogs available for adoption.

They're not your standard announcements, though. Murphy takes on the persona of the pup in her stories and aims for readers' hearts when putting together the biographies.

"I love to write ...  So, I started writing the dogs' biographies, putting them on the rescue's site, Craigslist and Petfinders, and the rest is history. It seems that they have acquired quite a following, and Beth gets emails daily just to tell us how much they love the stories or to say that they think I should do this for rescues around the nation."

Posted by John Woestendiek at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Down in North Carolina, there's a woman seeking love on Craigslist -- not for herself, but for the dogs that come into the rescue organization where she volunteers.

Amy Murphy, a volunteer at North Mecklenburg Animal Rescue, near Charlotte, asked the organization's director, Beth Phillips, what more she could do to help find homes for the dogs -- most of them either abandoned or surrendered by families that have moved.

Phillips suggested Murphy post information about available dogs on Craigslist. Phillips had done that sporadically, when she had time.

Murphy, who loves to write, jumped into the task with both feet, and ever since her Craigslist dispatches have not just helped find homes for the dogs, but developed a bit of a following.

We'll introduce you to Murphy properly tomorrow, but here's an example of her most recent work:

Lonely Boy Still Lookin for LOVE....

Hello, my name is Brewster. One of the volunteers decided to write down my story, as she felt there had to be a loving human out there who would be willing to help. I'm the kind of pup who flies under the radar, and this lady said "enough of that, let's get the world to know about this sweet guy and see what happens!" So, here is my story, as dictated to said human...

I came to the rescue about a year ago. Since that time, no one, yes you read that right, NO ONE has shown any interest in me. Not one call, not one application, not one visit, nothing. I try not to take it too hard, I have heard that sometimes nice guys finish last, but to be honest, it doesn't seem fair. I mean NO ONE? Some of my friends have 10 people at a time applying to take them home in a matter of DAYS. Hearing those stories can be hard on a guy's self esteem you know. As nice as the people at the rescue are, and as much as they love me, a year is a long time.

Continue reading "Looking for love on Craigslist" »

Posted by John Woestendiek at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

Her breast cancer has spread, gone into what's called stage four. Her prognosis is not rosy. Her medical debts are rising far beyond what a kennel manager at a veterinary hospital could ever hope to pay. And Tracy Santos is trying to raise some money.

For dogs.

At a time when many people might wallowing in self-pity, angry at the world or preoccupied with their own problems, Santos is rallying friends, strangers, colleagues and pretty much anyone she can find in an attempt to raise $10,000 for the Maryland SPCA.

And on April 20, Santos, who at 27 has little guarantee of a future, will walk 1.5 miles -- leading a "pack" of 25 humans and even more dogs -- to ensure that Baltimore dogs might have more of one.

"Tracy's story is one of incredible courage and love for everything related to dogs and Baltimore," said Anne George, a dog behavioral therapist and trainer for Barkbusters who has worked with Santos' dogs and is helping drum up support for her pack.

The SPCA's upcoming March for the Animals at Druid Hill Park on April 20 will be the third for Santos, who this year has formed a "pack" that, pooling their pledges and miles, hopes to out-fund-raise all competitors.

"I've always been an animal person," said Santos, who grew up in Canton. "It's just sort of an instinct with me. If I see a cat on the street, I pick it up. I'm the person everyone calls and says, 'I've found this cat, what should I do?'"

Continue reading "When bad things happen to dog people" »

Posted by John Woestendiek at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

With potential $2,000 fines for bringing your dog on the beach and out and out battles in city parks between those who own dogs and those who don’t, Vancouver, B.C., has never been considered one of your most dog-friendly towns.

But a Vancouver developer has gone to a lot of trouble, and spent a lot of money, to improve that reputation.

A company called Amacon is building what it says is Canada's first condo dog run in its new downtown development, the Beasley Residences – a 2,000 square-foot, mulch-lined dog run on the eight floor of the 33-story condo complex.

The landscaped dog run at the $150-million complex will include benches for owners, a waste receptacle, a dog wash and grooming station, the Globe and Mail reports.

The idea came from an elementary-school principal who says it took him a year to find a downtown condo that would meet his needs as well as those of Buddy and Dixie, his Boston terriers. He passed his idea on to a friend who was the sales and marketing manager for Amacon, the newspaper reports, and the “wooftop deck” was born.

“More and more, people seem to have dogs - yet developers are never really catering to the dogs that mean so much to so many people," marketing director Nic Jensen told the newspaper. To see the full story, click here.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The Costa Mesa City Council in Orange County, Calif., has taken a piece of parkland designated for additional tennis courts and directed that it instead be used to expand TeWinkle Park's "large dog" area.

First off, we say a big paws up to the council.

Second off, we say ... TeWinkle Park?

TeWinkle, it turns out, is the only park in Costa Mesa where dogs can play, socialize and, well, TeWinkle while off the leash.

That the "Bark Park" there, with its big dog area and its little dog area (also to be expanded, the council decided) could prevail over tennis in health-conscious sunny southern California, is another sign that, across America, dogs are coming a little closer to getting their day.

The council voted unanimously to direct the Parks and Recreation Commission to consider changes to the TeWinkle Park Master Plan, a change necessitated by the rapid growth of the dog park, which easily draws 1,000 people on a weekend day. 

TeWinkle Park, by the way, is named after Charles W. TeWinkle, Costa Mesa's first mayor.

To read the story in the Costa Mesa Daily Pilot, click here.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 7:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Every year, the American Kennel Club honors five of America's top dogs for their achievements in the areas of companionship, search and rescue, law enforcement, therapy and service.

The winners of the Awards for Canine Excellence (ACE) are chosen from nominations made by the public.

Last year's winners included Rumor, a 4-year-old Rottweiler adopted by a teenager who had been raised in foster homes in San Francisco -- leading to a relationship in which both flourished.

And Penni, a 10-year-old Pembroke Welsh Corgi who spends her time comforting others as a therapy dog at local nursing homes, hospitals and a school for the deaf.

And Holly, a Shetland Sheepdog in Utah who grew up a sickly pup, nurtured by a 14-year-old girl. Three years later, when the girl was diagnosed with epilepsy, the family found Holly had the ability to predict seizures, helping her get to a safe place before one happened.

And Ranger, a Labrador Retriever who works as a search and rescue dog for the Shreveport, La., Fire Department and searched 2,800 collapsed homes after Hurricane Katrina.

A fifth ACE went to the members of the Baton Rouge Police Department's K9 Division (Ace, Bandit, Buster, Jake, Philos, Relic, Rosco, Rowdy, Stone, Zain), who helped keep order in Baton Rouge when its population, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, doubled overnight.

To see all winners and complete descriptions of their achievements click here.

The AKC is now accepting nominations for the 2008 awards. Each of the five honorees receives a cash award of $1,000, an engraved sterling-silver collar medallion and an all-expenses-paid trip for dog and owner to Long Beach, Calif., to be honored at the seventh annual AKC/Eukanuba National Championship in December 2008. Submissions must include a non-returnable, original photograph of the dog, a 500-word-or-less description of how the dog has demonstrated excellence, and the dogs name, breed and sex.

There is one more rule -- and, of course, we at Mutts don't think much of it: To be considered, dogs must be an AKC recognized breed.

(Photos courtesy of American Kennel Club)

Posted by John Woestendiek at 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Nubs may be getting most of the publicity, but he wasn't the only Iraqi dog who was rescued by American troops in Iraq and sent to a new home in the U.S. this past weekend.

On Saturday, Liberty and K-Pot, two puppies rescued off Iraqi streets by U.S. troops who went on to serve as sanctioned security dogs for the unit who adopted them, took their first steps on American soil.

Liberty and K-Pot are SPCA International’s first emergency rescues from the war zone through the Operation Baghdad Pups program.

The program was started after an earlier rescue, which culminated with the Valentine's Day arrival of Charlie, a black-and-white puppy and unit-mascot for Charlie Company serving in Iraq.

Rescued from the streets of Baghdad as a puppy and nursed back to health, Charlie had his trip home sponsored by SPCA International and I Love Dogs, Inc.

"Working together, we can help rescue these animals who have meant so much to these American heroes who put their lives on the line everyday," SPCA International says on the special web site it has created for Operation Baghdad Pups.

Saturday's arrivals, Liberty and K-Pot, were both working with the Army unit, but were not approved to go with the unit when it relocated.

"If SPCA International had not come to the rescue in time, K-Pot and Liberty would have been left to the harsh war-torn streets and Iraqi civilians who are sometimes hostile to dogs who have befriended our U.S. troops," the SPCA said in a press release.

(Photos courtesy of SPCA International)

Posted by John Woestendiek at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

An animal control officer blew the whistle on the shelter she works for in Indiana after she found a live dog in a freezer that was used to hold the carcasses of euthanized animals.

The discovery – and allegations that four other dogs had survived euthanasia attempts since August -- led to the firing of the Rushville, Ind., “animal warden” Jack Hill.

The allegations were made by Hill’s assistant, animal control officer Jamie Glandon, who recently found a dog who had spent four days alive in the freezer.

Glandon had gone into the freezer to dispose of a euthanized animal when she saw the live dog, named Gabby, pop her head out of a barrel.

Glandon told Channel 6 News in Indianapolis that orders were given to try to euthanize Gabby, but she refused and took the dog to a veterinarian.

She told the station she fears her job is in jeopardy because she spoke about the failed euthanasia attempts. She said she hopes to place the dog in a home once it has recovered.

Here’s to Gabby finding a nice home, and Glandon getting a big fat raise.

To see the TV station’s full report, click here.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

Hayle is the official taste-tester for a new small business in Maryland, Love of Dog Bakery, which was opened this month in Laurel by Julie and Rob Newman.

Without a two paws up verdict from the flat-coated retriever mix, adopted from an animal rescue organization when she was 10 weeks old, the Newmans' handmade mutt munchies don't leave the kitchen. (Hayle also has her own blog, which you can find here.)

In late 2006, Julie tried her hand at making homemade dog treats as gifts for her friends' dogs over the holidays. When a friend suggested she sell them, she and Rob, a marketing professional, turned to the Internet and launched their website in October. 

Every month, they choose a different animal-related charity and donate 5 percent of all sales to it. Last month it was the Humane Society. This month, it's the ASPCA.

Rob contacted me last week, interested in looking at making Rolling Dog Ranch, the sanctuary for disabled animals in Montana, a beneficiary in the future. (The ranch was featured in the Mutts blog all last week. To see those stories, scroll down a bit.) 

Julie, who is finishing up her PhD program in clinical psychology, personally bakes every treat herself, including a chicken and parmesan treat, a beef and cheddar one, peanut butter carob chip and Peanut Butter Carrot PupCakes. 

As for Hayle, she says on the website that she'll answer your email, though she prefers checking "pee-mail" while out walking in the neighborhood.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

… The Girl Scouts of Cadette Troop 816 in Laurel, thanks to whom dogs in Howard County can now breathe a little easier.

For a project, the four Howard County girls, aged 13 to 15, set out to raise enough money to buy pet oxygen masks for two of the county’s fire stations. By the time they were done, they had seen to it that all 11 Howard County fire stations got them.

Without such masks, firefighters and paramedics are forced to resort to reviving dogs using ill-fitting human oxygen masks, or by mouth-to-snout resuscitation. That’s often unsuccessful, and it’s one reason nearly 10 times more pets than humans die annually in fires, according to insurance industry estimates.

Alerted to the problem by their troop leader, who had seen a magazine article about it, the four girls did some research. They called each fire station in the county to see if they had such equipment (two did), then listened on a speaker phone as rescue workers told tales of transporting animals in ambulances and struggling to make human masks fit on pets.

The girls — Sarah Lewis, Amy McNeil, Melissa Bunner and Veronica Sun — then planned and held a father-daughter dance to raise money to buy the masks. Meanwhile, Sarah was doing some further research on the Internet when she came across a program that offered matching grants to help communities purchase pet oxygen masks.

The girls sent the money they had raised to Best Friends Pet Care’s “Cause for Paws,” which doubled it, bought the masks and had them delivered — enough so that every fire station in the county had a set. On June 19, the Girl Scouts held a ceremony to present a set of masks to one of the stations.

“They were very puffed up about it,” said Martha McNeil, co-leader of the troop and mother of Amy.

“The oxygen masks the fire department had are for humans, and in most cases they are too big for the animals,” said Veronica Son, 14, one of the troop members. “It was a lot of work — lots of fund raising and planning, but when we finally finished it felt really good.”

Montgomery County, through the same program, has equipped all its fire houses with the masks, said Deb Bennetts, a spokesperson for Best Friends Pet Care, a national chain of boarding kennels. Carroll County, through the efforts of the county Humane Society, has pet oxygen masks at each of its 14 fire stations.

The program began three years ago, when a New Jersey firefighter who had failed to revive a dog shared his story about it at one of the company’s kennel locations. Since then, Best Friends Pet Care has matched $70,000 in local contributions and distributed 3,000 sets of the masks, which are manufactured in New Zealand. For more information about the program, click here.

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We'll have to wait and see how much force they bring to the task, but we're awarding a preliminary wag of the tail to Frederick H. Bealefeld III, the acting city police commissioner, and city health commissioner Joshua M. Sharfstein for creating a task force to investigate dogfighting rings.

 And we won't even ask, "What took you so long?"

While long overdue, the plan to put some teeth into investigating and prosecuting those who engage in dogfighting in Baltimore is a welcome development. Traditionally, it has been a crime that has fallen through the cracks. Police see going after it as a menial pursuit. Animal control officers lack the time and authority to fully investigate.

In announcing the new task force, city officials spoke of the connection between dogfighting and other crime -- like drug dealing and illegal gambling. And Bealefeld was quoted as saying that dogfight investigations can lead to larger busts. As an example, he cited his involvement 15 years ago as a detective in a case that started out as a complaint about dogfighting that led to a "gold mine" of drug arrests.

So we award our wag with a caveat. If you're going to make combatting dogfighting a priority -- make it a priority, not something you may or may not prosecute on your way to looking for something "bigger."

You can read Lynn Anderson's story about the new task force here.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)