F.Y.I.: Questions About New York City
By MICHAEL POLLAK
May 28, 2011
Q. A recent circular I got from the post office said that May 15 to 21 was National Dog Bite Prevention Week. How likely are New York City dogs to chomp on letter carriers?

A. Relatively likely, judging by a United States Postal Service list of the cities with the most dog attacks on letter carriers for the year that ended Sept. 30. New York’s five boroughs totaled 69 bites, placing the city at the head of the pack. Next were Houston (62 bites), and San Diego and Columbus, Ohio (tied with 45). Los Angeles had 44.

Not all of New York is threatening to postal employees. Manhattan recorded only four attacks and the Bronx seven. But there must be something about Queens, which the Postal Service breaks into several parts. The Jamaica area recorded 17 bites, ahead of cities like Indianapolis, Washington and Las Vegas. Flushing had 15 bites. Staten Island had 14 and Brooklyn had 12.

Medical expenses from dog attacks cost the Postal Service nearly $1.2 million last year, it said. A letter carrier has the right to refuse to deliver mail to a home where a loose or unrestrained dog seems to pose a safety threat, according to Postal Service regulations.

Among the service’s tips for dog owners, besides obedience training and neutering, are these:

Take precautions when accepting mail in the presence of your pet, which might interpret the carrier’s actions as a threat. When a carrier comes to your home, keep your dog inside, away from the door, in another room. Dogs that get little attention or handling, or that are tied up for a long time, are especially prone to bite, according to the service.

Alexandra Horowitz, author of Inside of a Dog
“A lovely and clear-headed book on all things dog—emotion, mind, and breed. John Bradshaw’s authority and experience are matched by the thoughtfulness and humanity of his writing. Read this before you bring a dog into your life.”

Publishers Weekly
“Bradshaw…offers an alternative to conventional, dominance-based approaches to understanding dogs (Cesar Milan’s methods, for example) in an informative…guide to how canine biology and psychology determine behavior…. Bradshaw’s book is useful to those looking to further their understanding of dog behavior and clarify common misconceptions.”

Dog Sense
How the New Science of Dog Behavior Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet
By John Bradshaw Reviewed by Susan Tasaki
Dogs and wolves may have more than 99 percent of their DNA in common, but when it comes to understanding dogs, John Bradshaw, director of the Anthrozoology Institute at the University of Bristol, says it does them an injustice to look to wolves as models. Not only did domestication have a profound impact, but also, many early wolf studies were carried out on groups of unrelated animals forced together in artificial environments, which resulted in behaviors not exhibited by wild-living wolves.

Using this model has led to what he calls “one of the most pervasive—and pernicious—ideas informing modern dog-training techniques”: that dogs are driven to set up dominance hierarchies.

This has real consequences for their well-being. Bradshaw suggests that many of the behavior problems that result in dogs being abandoned or euthanized can be laid at the door of inept training, especially training based on force.

What matters, he says, is how dogs actually learn. Bradshaw provides a wellgrounded overview of the Canis family’s evolutionary journey. He also considers dogs’ brainpower, emotional states, sensory capacities and problems that come with breeding for looks rather than temperament.

The point of all this science is to lay the foundation for his central thesis: “If owners were able to appreciate their dogs’ intelligence and emotional life for what it actually is, rather than for what they imagine it to be, then dogs would not just be better understood—they’d be better treated as well.” Ultimately, this is what makes the book so appealing. He does more than simply lay out interesting theories; he uses science to advocate for a better life for companion dogs.

Click √ on book cover to order from Amazon.com

The New Science Of Understanding Dog Behavior
May 26, 2011
What's the best advice to give man about respecting man's best friend?

Animal behaviorist John Bradshaw says it's realizing that dogs are neither wolves nor furry humans and that dog owners have certain responsibilities to make sure their dogs are psychologically healthy.

Bradshaw, who has spent much of his career debunking bad advice given to dog owners, is the author of a new behavior guidebook called Dog Sense: How the New Science of Dog Behavior Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet. The book details what pet owners should expect from their dogs and what their dogs should expect in return from their owners.

How To Reprimand Your Dog

One of the most common problems owners face, says Bradshaw, is knowing what to do when a dog misbehaves. For example, many owners might be inclined to immediately physically reprimand a dog for jumping up on visitors. But Bradshaw says that's the wrong way to teach your pet how to behave because dogs see any form of attention — even negative attention — as a reward. Instead, he says, owners should immediately ignore their pet completely.

"Most dogs require their owners' attention [and] they want their owners' attention," he says. "They want people's attention in general. And withdrawing that is a very powerful signal to the dog."

Bradshaw recommends folding your arms, looking away and pretending your dog isn't in the same room. Your change in body language will be apparent to your pet.

"Then you'll find that quite quickly the dog begins to realize that [their bad behavior] is not working," he says. "You can then use a distraction technique to get the dog to do something else, like sit or lie down and then it will get the idea that this is what it's supposed to do when visitors come to visit."

Bradshaw says dogs naturally want to please and play with people, especially the people who love them.

"[When a puppy's eyes open it has] a very strong ability to learn about people and ... this behavior persists throughout life," he says. "And surprisingly, most dogs, given the choice, will actually prefer human company to other dog company."

Studies indicate that dogs will naturally gravitate toward humans, though Bradshaw says how that idea gets into a dog's developing brain is still somewhat of a mystery.

"But they have an exaggerated tendency to learn from anything that people do right from the minute they're capable of doing it," he says. "They're particularly sensitive to human body language — the direction we look in, what our whole body language is telling them, pointing gestures. They are much more sensitive to things like that than almost any other species on the planet."

Creating Expectations For Dogs And Owners

Bradshaw says humans also expect dogs to be companionable when they're needed and unobtrusive when they're not. City dogs, he says, are expected to be better-behaved than the average human child and as self-reliant as adults. But these expectations, he says, create problems for modern dogs.

"Many dogs — maybe as many as half the dogs in the West — that are kept in homes have a real problem with being left alone at some point in their lives," he says. "And the problem may last for weeks or years. ... They crave the company of people. They also have a mind which does not have a particularly good sense of time, so when they get left alone, they can immediately begin to think, 'When's anyone coming back? Have I been abandoned forever?' "

Dogs can get extremely anxious as a result, Bradshaw says. But there are bits of training owners can do to help their dogs avoid separation disorders.

"You train your dog to toilet outside. You train your dog to sit on command," he says. "You should also train your dog to cope with being left alone."

Click √ here to listen to John Bradshaw's interwiew with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air.

Judge Denies Request To Move Starved Pit Bull ‘Patrick’ To Shelter
June 2, 2011
If they had tails, the staff at Garden State Veterinary Specialists would be wagging them. A judge awarded custody Thursday to the Tinton Falls hospital and its staff members who had been caring for a 1-year-old pit bull that was found starving in a Newark trash chute in March.

The dog was named Patrick because he was found near death the day before St. Patrick’s Day.

Patrick was at the center of a dispute between the animal hospital and Associated Humane Societies, the organization that initially discovered him. The humane society wanted to move Patrick to a shelter in Forked River that shares property with the AHS Popcorn Park Zoo to await his final adoption decision.

The hospital, who nursed him back to health, wanted to keep him until he’s ready for adoption.

According to a Facebook post from NJ SPCA, “Judge Joseph C. Cassini (left) of Superior Court of NJ in Essex rendered the verdict that Patrick is a victim and evidence, so he stays with GSVS pending criminal charges of Kisha Curtis (right).”

Authorities say Curtis tied Patrick to a railing in her Newark apartment building and left the state for more than a week. A janitor later found the emaciated dog in a trash bin. Curtis is charged with two fourth-degree offenses for “tormenting and torturing” an animal. She also faces two abandonment charges that are punishable by up to six months in jail.

Patrick’s story received worldwide attention when he was rescued in March, with hundreds of donations pouring in since then for his medical care.

Photos:
Patrick with toys - Mel Evans/AP
Patrick with nurse - Jennifer Brown/The Star-Ledger
Kisha Curtis - Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger

Paying tribute to dogs of war
They are America's humblest -- and hairiest -- military heroes.
By HEATHER HADDON
May 30, 2011
Military war dogs may not get their own Memorial Day parade, but they are on the front lines, protecting American soldiers, sniffing out bad guys and detecting illicit drugs overseas.

"We handlers have the most sophisticated pieces of military machinery ever made," said Petty Officer 1st Class Kathleen Ellison, 48, of Grahamsville, NY, a military-dog handler stationed at the US Naval Station in Rota, Spain.

"These dogs, no matter what their specialty, are saving US troops," added Ellison, a lifelong dog lover.

Ellison was deployed three times to Iraq and Afghanistan with war dogs between 2004 and 2009.

Her favorite perky companion, a German shepherd named Riki, detected mountains of illegal drugs, including marijuana, hashish and opium, while on the job.

One night on patrol in northeast Afghanistan, Riki's keen senses picked up on the movement of Taliban fighters 75 yards away. Thanks to the dog's heads-up, US soldiers -- whose night-vision goggles hadn't even picked up the insurgents -- were able to safely clear out of the area.

"[Military dogs] are on the absolute frontlines with our troops," said Ellison, who re-enlisted with the Navy after her godson's father, Lt. Vincent Halloran, was killed in the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

There are approximately 3,000 military dogs safeguarding US bases and embassies, as well as patrolling in the Middle East, according to Ron Aiello, president of the US War Dogs Association and a handler during the Vietnam War. About 60 have been killed or injured in the line of duty in the last eight years, he said.

All of the dogs are trained to conduct dangerous missions, such as the one just handled by Cairo, the Navy SEALs pooch who policed Osama bin Laden's compound during the raid that killed the al Qaeda leader.

RODIN SCHNAUZER COANE @ 7
Sunday, June 12, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,
EDITOR~IN~CHIEF!

New York, please help guarantee shelter access
NOW!
BY FRANCIS BATTISTA
Co-Founder, Best Friends Animal Society
JUNE 05, 2011
Your Action Needed Now: Companion Animal Access and Rescue Act legislation
in New York state.

New York assemblyman Micah Kellner (left) and Senator Joseph Robach (right) have introduced the Companion Animal Access and Rescue Act (CAARA), which will guarantee shelter access to qualified rescue groups and empower them to claim animals who are scheduled to be destroyed at shelters.

At the present time, New York law does not recognize or distinguish qualified animal rescue organizations as a unique resource capable of saving lives as well as taxpayer money. Euthanizing shelter animals is not only unconscionable, it costs money and is the ultimate form of animal cruelty. Adopting shelter pets to the public or placing them with rescue organizations generates revenue and reduces costs. Sadly, current law does not allow qualified rescue organizations to step in and provide these animals with another chance at life. CAARA will change that.

CAARA is based on the Hayden Law, which was passed in California in 1998, and a similar Delaware law that passed in 2010. The intent of the measure is to find homes for shelter pets, rather than euthanize them. Both bills passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.
In recent weeks, Best Friends Animal Society along with other animal welfare organizations, including Alley Cat Allies and the No Kill Advocacy Center, has been working closely with New York state assemblyman Micah Kellner to help craft this bill. We believe CAARA is important and effective lifesaving legislation that reflects the values and expectations of the animal-loving public.

In addition to helping to save more animals, the bill will set higher standards of care provided to homeless pets in shelters, including fresh food and water on a daily basis, exercise, socialization, clean living spaces and adequate veterinary care. It also will ensure that animal welfare organizations empowered by this bill will be qualified to meet the needs of the animals that they rescue.

It may be surprising to many that New York state does not have such basic provisions in place already, but it doesn’t. The legal standards of care for shelter animals in the Empire State are marginal at best, and while many shelters do work with the rescue community, many do not. Some shelter directors seem to be indifferent to the profound responsibility they have for the lives in their care.

Politics is not a spectator sport, so please act now. If you are a resident of New York, send a message to the Senate and General Assembly Agriculture Committees, in addition to your own state senator and representative.

Click here to send your message!

Thank you for taking action for the animals and helping to save our homeless dogs and cats. Working together we can create a time of No More Homeless Pets in New York!

Francis Battista
Co-Founder, Best Friends Animal Society

Leona Helmsley's pampered Maltese 'Trouble,' one of the world's richest dogs, dies at age 12
BY JOANNA MOLLOY
NEW YORK
Thursday, June 9th 2011
Leona Helmsley's pampered pooch "Trouble," who inherited $12 million from the real estate mogul, has died at the age of 12. That's 84 in dog years.

Like many Americans, the pampered Maltese retired to Florida in 2007, shortly after Helmsley died. Carl Lekic, the general manager of the Helmsley Sandcastle hotel in Sarasota, cared for her.

"Trouble was cremated, and her remains are being privately retained," spokeswoman Eileen Sullivan said. "The funds held in trust for her care have reverted to The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for charitable purposes."

Trouble, one of the world's richest dogs, died in December, following a series of health setbacks that left her blind and infirm, sources said.

While Helmsley left the dog $12 million, a judge later knocked it down to $2 million. Lekic said he could manage on $100,000 a year: $8,000 for grooming, $1,200 for food and the rest for his fee and a full-time security guard. The security was necessary after John Codie, a trustee of the $8 billion charitable trust, reported that Trouble had received 20 to 30 death and kidnapping threats.

The high-maintenance pooch had a life of luxury from the git-go. She was bought at a Kennel Club pet shop on Lexington Ave. and traveled home in a Mercedes-Benz stretch limo, a source said. "Codie bought her to help Leona get over her grief over Harry's death," the source told the Daily News.

The luxe life continued, as Trouble accompanied Helmsley via private jet to her homes in Arizona and Florida, her 21-room Connecticut mansion Dunnellen Hall, and Helmsley's duplex penthouse with swimming pool at the Park Lane Hotel on Central Park South.

Helmsley, who cut two grandchildren out of her will and evicted her son's widow after his death, was often seen cuddling the canine, which was always impeccably dressed.

Helmsley wanted Trouble interred with her in the 12,000-square-foot family mausoleum in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Westchester County. That was not to be.

"You cannot bury pets in a cemetery," said Stephen Byelick, a member of the cemetery's board. "The same rules apply to mausoleums."

Well, they're together crossing RAINBOW BRIDGE.

State law prevents woman from being buried with pets
By ISABEL VINCENT and MELISSA KLEIN
June 11, 2011
No humans allowed. The final wishes of animal lovers to spend eternity with their furry little pals in a pet cemetery has been thwarted by state bureaucrats.

Bronx resident Rhona Levy, 61, has already planned to be buried at the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery in Westchester along with her dog, Snow, and cats Putchke, Pumpkin and Twinkie. Her wishes are in her will, and the headstone is already there with the inscription "Mommy Will Be Home Soon." It waits for her and cat Shaina, who is 10.

"I feel these little furry children are my children. Why not be with them? They're my babies," Levy said.

But state law says cemeteries are for people and pet cemeteries are just for animals. "The two shouldn't cross," said Richard Fishman, director of the state's Division of Cemeteries.

Fishman's April letter to pet-cemetery operators said the state Cemetery Board had ruled that any business that buries people must comply with state law and operate as a nonprofit. The pet cemeteries are run as for-profit businesses.

The Hartsdale cemetery is the final resting place of some 75,000 pets, including Mariah Carey's cat and former Met broadcaster Ralph Kiner's dog, and perhaps 700 of their devoted owners. The pet cemetery has allowed people to be buried there for decades, as long as they were cremated and their pets beat them to the grave.

Cemetery director Edward Martin (said its lawyers have always maintained that the human ashes "are no longer human" and therefore could be placed anywhere, including a pet graveyard. He said about 10 people a year want to be buried with their pets at the five-acre ceme tery. The burials cost $235 plus a one-time $1,800 payment for perpetual care.

Retired NYPD Officer Thomas Ryan wants to rest in peace with his wife, Bunny, and beloved Maltese pups -- BJ the First and BJ the Second. Instead, Ryan's ashes are sitting on a shelf at his sister's upstate home and his distraught family is seeking permission for the former Bronx resident's remains to rest in peace. The Korean War vet died in April.

"We had a family memorial service. Relatives flew in from Ireland. It was excruciating to go through all that and not be able to end it with a burial," fumed Ryan's niece Taylor York.

Rhona Levy photo: ANGEL CHEVRESTT
Ed Martin by the plot reserved for his family and their pets in Hartsdale photo: AP

RELATED

NY Tells Pet Cemeteries To Stop Taking In Humans
HARTSDALE, N.Y.
June 11, 2011
A state agency has told New York’s animal cemeteries to stop burying the ashes of pet owners alongside their beloved cats, dogs and parakeets.

The order from New York’s Division of Cemeteries comes as a growing number of Americans are deciding to share their final resting place with their pets.

The ruling has blocked at least one burial at the 115-year-old Hartsdale Pet Cemetery, which claims to be the nation’s oldest. And it has upset a woman who had prearranged to have her ashes interred there along with five pets, four of which are already buried.

“Suddenly I’m not at peace anymore,” Rhona Levy of the Bronx said Friday. “You want to be with the people you are closest with, your true loved ones. The only loved ones I have in my life right now are my pets, which I consider my children.”

Levy, 61, said she has no backup plan and is hoping the state order will be reversed.

Taylor York, a law professor at Keuka College in Penn Yan, N.Y., said the state order compounded the grief in her family after the April death of her uncle, Thomas Ryan. Ryan’s wife, Bunny, and their two dogs, B.J. I and B.J. II, are buried at Hartsdale. Ryan had arranged, and prepaid, to join them, York said. There’s also a space for B.J. III, who’s still alive. But Ryan’s ashes sit in a wooden box at his sister’s home because the state’s new rule won’t allow him into Hartsdale. “My mother is completely distraught over this,” York said. “She breaks down in tears again and again, every time it crosses her mind. After watching her brother die, she has to go through this insanity?”

Hartsdale was ordered to stop taking in human ashes, it never allowed intact human remains, on Feb. 8, three days after it was featured in an Associated Press story about human burials in pet cemeteries. The order was issued statewide in April, said Lisa MacSpadden, spokeswoman for the New York Department of State, which includes the cemetery division.

She said that remains buried in human cemeteries benefit from state protections more so than if they are buried at pet cemeteries. For instance, she said human cemeteries qualify for the state-mandated permanent maintenance fund, which ensures that lots and cemeteries are maintained.

Hartsdale has an estimated 700 humans interred with about 75,000 animals. It has added 10 or 12 in each of the past few years, compared with three to five before, Ed Martin Jr. (left), the cemetery’s president and director, said in February. The International Association of Pet Cemeteries and Crematories has also noted a recent increase nationwide.

The New York cemetery division said any cemetery providing burial space for humans must be operated as a not-for-profit corporation. And by promoting the human-interment service and charging a fee, $235 to open a grave and add ashes, Hartsdale was violating laws governing not-for-profit corporations, it said.

However, Martin says the pet cemetery is a private, for-profit business. And the Division of Cemeteries’ own website says private cemeteries do not fall under its jurisdiction.

“It seems ridiculous we can’t do it,” Martin said Friday. “As of now, we’ve suspended the human part of it, but it’s our position that they don’t have the authority to do this.” He said the service was an accommodation for customers and never raised significant revenue.

York, who has a law practice in addition to her teaching post, has sent the cemeteries division a legal memo detailing why she believes it cannot prevent human burials in pet cemeteries.

“The law is clear,” she said. “There’s no authority for this board to just arbitrarily impose nonprofit corporation law on a privately incorporated for-profit business. … If I have to file a lawsuit, then I’ll file a lawsuit.”

“My uncle wants to be buried beside his wife and what he considered to be his children and I’m not letting anyone stand in the way,” she added. “His love for those dogs was just as real and just as strong as any parent’s for any child.”

The state asked Martin to sign a pledge that Hartsdale had stopped human interments, but he has resisted. Instead, he asked the state to at least “grandfather” the cases of people who had already arranged to have their ashes buried with their pets.

MacSpadden said that request would be discussed at the next Cemetery Board meeting.

The state position could disrupt Martin’s own plans. He said earlier this year he hoped his ashes would be added to a family plot, including a dog, at Hartsdale.

PHOTO CREDITS
Woman sits in front of a dog’s grave at a pet cemetery
Jeff Chiu/AP
Headstones marking the graves of pets are spread throughout the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery
Seth Wenig/AP

Yelping pooches paintballed
By JAMIE SCHRAM and ANDY CAMPBELL
June 17, 2011
An uptight Swiss man was so annoyed by the ceaseless barking of a Brooklyn neighbor's dogs that he allegedly opened fire on the pooches with a paintball gun.

Daniel Lacin, 26, let off the rapid volley of splattering shots at two dogs loudly yapping at construction workers at around 11 a.m., Wednesday police said. "In Switzerland, we train our dogs not to bark," he allegedly told their owner, Peter Wojcik (below left).

Baby, a 1-year-old pit bull-terrier mix, got the worst of it, taking 10 paintball hits, including three to her face. Birdie (below right), a 3-year-old pit bull-mastiff mix, took five shots.

Wojcik, 32, said he was in the shower when he heard a "tat-tat-tat-tat" noise. "Then, I heard Baby squeal like a pig and scream," he said. "I come out in a towel, and my dogs are covered in paint."

"I yelled, 'Who's the f - - king p- - -y shooting at my dogs?!' Then I see a guy up on the roof with a paintball gun. He says, 'Tell your dogs to shut the f - - k up.' "

When Wojcik complained about the dogs' injuries, he said, Lacin replied, "Your dog is not dead. What are you worried about?"

Lacin was arraigned yesterday on charges of reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, weapon possession and injuring and torturing animals. He was freed without bail. His lawyer, Elizabeth Latimer, said the charges should be dismissed.

"He's a very responsible person," she said. "And he's a dog-lover, for whatever it's worth. This is not a true animal-abuse case."

Photo Credits
Baby: Peter Wojcik
Wojcik, Birdie: CBS 2 stills

For the Executive With Everything, a $230,000 Dog to Protect It
By JOHN TIERNEY
MINNEAPOLIS
June 12, 2011
Don’t call her a guard dog.

When she costs $230,000, as Julia did, the preferred title is “executive protection dog.” This 3-year-old German shepherd, who commutes by private jet between a Minnesota estate and a home in Arizona, belongs to a canine caste that combines exalted pedigree, child-friendly cuddliness and arm-lacerating ferocity.

Julia and her ilk have some of the same tracking and fighting skills as the dogs used in elite military units like Navy Seal Team 6, which took a dog on its successful raid of Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan. In fact, Julia was sold by a trainer, Harrison Prather (right), who used to supply dogs to Seal Team 6 and the British special forces.

But then Mr. Prather switched to a more lucrative market.

He and others in the high-end dog training business say prices have shot up thanks to the growing number of wealthy people around the world who like the security — and status — provided by a dog with the right credentials. Moguls and celebrities now routinely pay $40,000 to $60,000 for a well-bred German shepherd that is certified as an expert in the sport of Schutzhund, which means “protection dog.” The price can go much higher if a dog does well at an international championship, as Julia did.

“She’s a top deal,” Julia’s owner, John Johnson (right), said as she escorted him around the grounds of his 15-acre estate outside Minneapolis. “She’s won awards. She looks at you, she’s got the most beautiful face.”

But $230,000?

“It’s a lot of money,” he said matter-of-factly. “It’s the speed, the smartness, the quickness — and you would not believe the roughness that she has inside. She’s like a little pit bull when she bites. She has that model face, and then opens the gums up and lets you have it.”

Mr. Johnson said he got his first protection dog after receiving personal threats while he was running the Northland Group, a debt-collection company in Minnesota that he founded and eventually sold three years ago. Now he has six protection dogs, all German shepherds, and normally takes a couple in his car whenever he goes out.

“It’s for both security and companionship,” he said as Julia nuzzled his leg, looking like a gentle enough companion. But when an intruder emerged near the tennis court of his estate, all it took was one command, “Packen!” (the bite command from the German word for “seize”), to send Julia racing across the lawn.

She sunk her teeth into the intruder’s arm, which was encased in padding for a demonstration, and hung on even as he lifted her off the ground in a vain attempt to shake free of her. She let go only upon being commanded and then stood guard over her new prisoner, barking and threatening to bite again whenever he made a move to escape, which he wisely did not try.

Julia’s was a controlled ferocity, which trainers distinguish from the anger manifested by ordinary dogs. When two dogs try to intimidate each other, they stiffen, growl, bare their teeth and stare intently.

Protection dogs are trained to continue looking around and protecting their owners, not establish their own dominance. And, when commanded, they are supposed to switch instantly from attack mode to pet mode.

“The dog has to get along with children,” Mr. Prather said. “The client is often a guy on his second family. He travels a lot, leaves his wife alone with the kids in a large house — maybe 30,000 square feet, so big you don’t even know what’s going on at the other side of the house. He wants peace of mind and a dog that his wife can handle. We don’t sell tank-stoppers.”

The price tag for a protection dog has risen because of increasing demand in the United States, Latin America (especially Mexico), the Middle East, Asia and other places, said Mr. Prather and Wayne Curry (left), the owner of Kraftwerk K9 in Rochester, Wash.

“I’ve turned down offers of more than $200,000 for one of my champion dogs,” said Mr. Curry, who added that he knew of a dog that had sold for more than $400,000 because of its bloodline and breeding potential. (Although Julia’s offspring most likely would have commanded top prices, Mr. Johnson said he had no time to breed her and instead had her spayed shortly after buying her in January.)

To clients who can afford the $50,000 price for a typical well-credentialed dog, there are lots of ways to rationalize the price. “When you compare the costs of a full-time bodyguard versus a dog, the dog makes a lot of sense,” Mr. Curry said. “And the dog, unlike the bodyguard, can’t be bought off.”

Mr. Prather said one client, a well-known entertainer, came to him after first trying to ward off a stalker by hiring bodyguards. “The stalker stabbed one of the bodyguards, got out of jail and started showing up again,” Mr. Prather said. “Then they got a canine, and they haven’t seen the stalker since. People just have an innate fear of animals with sharp teeth. We don’t want to be on the menu.”

Mr. Prather’s dogs are trained for three years in Germany before they go to South Carolina, where they receive further training and are put to the test of family living. Before her sale, Julia lived for four months in the home of November Holley, the company’s vice president and head trainer.

“I’ve probably trained a thousand dogs, and she’s the best I’ve ever seen,” Ms. Holley said. “The total package. Did absolutely everything you wanted, no questions asked. Good with kids, good with horses, good with cats. A perfect lady in the home.”

Julia also proved her mettle as a babysitter, Ms. Holley added. “If my daughter Kailee was outside in the woods, I’d say, ‘Julia, where’s Kailee?’, and she’d go out and find her. She was like a person.”

At her new home in Minnesota, Julia has a part-time trainer, Jeremy Norton (left), who also works as a firefighter in Minneapolis. Mr. Norton agreed that Julia was a special dog, but he smiled a bit uncomfortably when asked to explain the $230,000 price.

“It’s in the eye of the beholder,” he said. “That’s as politic an answer as I can muster. I mean, Julia’s nice, but that’s half my house. There’s no way to wrap your head around that.”

Click √ on KRAFTWERK logo for website

Costly Guard Dogs
LETTER
June 17, 2011
To the Editor:

Re “For the Executive With Everything, a $230,000 Dog to Protect It” (front page, June 12):

As a lifetime German shepherd owner and former breeder and exhibitor, I know that German shepherds possess wonderful traits. They are courageous, loyal, smart and would give their lives for their families. They are not, however, diseaseproof or bulletproof.

To spend $230,000 on a living thing that could be felled by illness or a bullet gives new meaning to the phrase “wretched excess.”

If these people need a status security system, they could spend a fraction of that on a well-trained protection dog and have money left over to donate to one of the many worthy rescue groups trying to save abandoned and stray animals from the dire fates that await them on the streets or in kill shelters.

JUDITH ZINN
Laurel Hollow, N.Y., June 14, 2011

14-year-old girl beat dog with shovel, doused him with gasoline, then lit him on fire
BY MICHAEL SHERIDAN
Thursday, June 09, 2011
A 14-year-old girl is facing animal abuse charges in Missouri after hitting a dog with a shovel, then setting it on fire, cops said.

The black Lab puppy named Phoenix suffered third-degree burns over 40% of his body and lost his ears in the horrific attack, according to Fox 8 News in Kansas City.

An adult relative of the teen is also being charged with animal neglect for failing to get the dog medical care. Maria Alarcon (right) waited a day before taking Phoenix to a vet, police said. The 43-year-old claimed she did not get the dog help sooner because she couldn't afford it.

5 puppies in Paterson saved from stifling heat
BY CHRIS HARRIS
THE RECORD
PATERSON, N.J.
June 8, 2011
A pit bull mother and her five 2-week-old pups denned in a derelict house would have perished in Tuesday’s stifling heat if not for the initiative of several residents.

After alerts by neighbors, city Chief Animal Control Officer John DeCando (left) recovered the animals from an abandoned house at 607 East 22nd St. on Tuesday.

In addition to the mother pit bull and her puppies, authorities removed six other adult dogs from the house.

DeCando said his office learned of the abandoned dogs after neighbors living nearby heard several barking dogs inside the deserted residence.

“They definitely would have been dead with this heat,” says DeCando, who said mom and her pups are now doing fine and will have a second chance at life. “The mother and the pups were on the second floor of this building, with the sun beating down on them all day. Another day in there and they would not have made it,” he said.

The puppies are so young they have yet to open their eyes, DeCando said. They will receive medical attention and will be cared for over the next two months by S.T.A.R.T. II, an animal rescue agency located in Wayne.

DeCando said he has been fielding calls all morning from people interested in adopting one of the five pit bull puppies, but the animals won’t be ready for adoption until at least August. “S.T.A.R.T. II will foster these pups until they are old enough for adoption,” DeCando said. “These pups are absolutely gorgeous. It’s very disturbing knowing there are people out there that would leave these dogs like this. They could have perished if not for these concerned citizens. It’s a happy ending.”

DeCando, who has been Paterson’s animal control officer going on 37 years, said that the home the dogs were found in has since been boarded up by the Department of Public Works. He did not know who owned the home, but said he’ll be looking for whoever abandoned the dogs inside.

“I’d love to find them, because I’ll be banging them with a bunch of tickets,” DeCando said. “They’ll get up to 40 tickets, each one carrying a six-month prison sentence and $1,000 in fines.”

Photo of Pit and puppies: KEVIN R. WEXLER

Six Summertime Hazards for Dogs
By Casey Lomonaco, KPA CTP
June 7, 2011
Seasonal pet health hazards should be considered during the extreme temperatures of both winter and summer. Keeping pets safe during the summer is easiest if you know what the risks are and how to manage them for your dog's safety.

The dog days of summer provide lots of opportunities for fun with your dog (camping, hiking, swimming, kayaking and backpacking, to name a few) but also bring a unique set of health hazards and risks pet owners should be aware of; including, though not limited to: dehydration, burned pads, parasite infestation, heat stroke, leptospirosis, and seasonal allergies.

Six Common Summer Hazards for Dogs

1. Dehydration
One of the best ways to keep your dog safe in the summer time is by providing lots of cool, clean, fresh water. Consider preparing low sodium chicken broth or yogurt ice cubes, and introducing canned dog foods (best when frozen in a Kong!) to increase the moisture content in your dog's diet.

2. Burned Pads
Under the summer sun, asphalt on sidewalks and streets can heat to a temperature that can burn a dog's paws. To avoid scorched paws, walk your dog very early in the morning or in the late evening when the streets have cooled off. If you must walk your dog during the day, dog booties can protect his feet. Always put your hand down on the asphalt for about thirty seconds - if you must pull your hand away because the street is too hot, it is too hot for your dog to walk on without hurting his paws. If you don't want your hand on the street for thirty seconds, your dog probably does not want his paws on it for thirty or more minutes of walking.

3. Parasites
Summer is the season for fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes; pests which can present a minor discomfort to your dog at best and at worst may be life threatening or cause self-mutilating behaviors. Feeding your dog a high quality diet, without preservatives or chemicals will build his immune system, making him generally more resistant to parasite infestation. There are a wide variety of preventatives on the market, including chemical spot-on treatments, repellent shampoos, essential oils, and flea/tick collars; talk to your vet to see what she recommends for your dog. Cleaning your house frequently and keeping your dog well groomed will also reduce the risk of parasite infestation.

4. Heat Stroke
Heat stroke is a serious risk to dog's health - in worst case scenarios, it can be fatal. You can prevent heat stroke by restricting your pet's exercise during the hottest hours of the day (early morning or late evening are the best times for exercise during the summer), by making sure he is well hydrated, providing cool places for him to relax, providing opportunities to swim, cooling mats, and by never leaving your dog unattended in the car during summer heat.

Many dogs die annually in hot cars. Even if your windows are cracked or you park in the shade, heat can build quickly in a car in the summer, turning it into an oven. If it's 95 degrees at noon and you leave your windows cracked, the temperature in your car may still rise as high as 113 degrees. This is a recipe for disaster for your dog. If you must leave your dog in the car for any period of time, the air conditioning should stay on. Leaving a dog to die in a hot car is not just a health risk for your dog, but may be cause for animal cruelty charges in some area. The solution? Don't leave your dog in a hot car.

5. Leptospirosis
Leptospirosis is contracted through bodily fluids or tissue and can be transmitted through direct (as in the case of a bite or ingestion of flesh) or indirect contact (through water sources, food, etc.) with an infected animal. Stagnant waters are a common source of leptospirosis bacteria. Lepto can cause permanent health problems or death if not treated quickly. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, trembling/shaking, lethargy, anorexia, tenderness of joints and muscles, and increased water intake. If you suspect your dog has lepto, get him to a vet right away, an emergency vet if need be. There are vaccines for lepto but they do not prevent all strains and can cause significant adverse reactions. Talk to your vet about
weighing the risk of infection with the risks associated with the lepto vaccine.

6. Seasonal Allergies
Your dog may be allergic to one or more seasonal items, which include fleas, grass and various plants, and mold. If you suspect your dog may have seasonal allergies, is scratching and perhaps losing fur, a visit to your vet is recommended. Here is a great website where you can learn more about the various kinds of allergies affecting dogs and treatments for canine allergies in any season.

About the Author: Casey Lomonaco graduated with distinction from the Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training and Behavior. She owns Rewarding Behaviors Dog Training in Binghamton, NY. Keep up with Casey by visiting Dogster's Dog Training Guide.

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Bay Shore Firefighters Rescue Dog Trapped On Roof For Hours
BAY SHORE, N.Y.
June 6, 2011
It was quite a terrifying morning for a little puppy named Rosie. Apparently, she decided to go for a sky-high adventure on her dog-sitter’s roof. Getting to her precarious perch was the easy part, but firefighters had the tough job of saving her life, reports CBS 2’s Hazel Sanchez.

We’ve all heard of a 'cat on a hot tin roof,' but what about a dog?

“Never in my life, ever, did we see anything like this,” neighbor Pat Baker said. “Who would expect that you would see a dog on a roof?”

That’s exactly what Baker and her husband spotted on top of their neighbors’ house. “At first, like i said, I thought it was an owl or something,” Baker said.

It was Rosie, a tiny mixed breed that had been trapped on the roof for at least two hours. The neighbor’s son was watching Rosie for a friend when she escaped.

Bay Shore firefighters Michael Ippolito and Tom Komoroski came to the rescue. “Our first concern was it was a very steep roof, so we didn’t want her to get scared and run down, possibly slip and fall,” Komoroski said.

Lieutenant Ippolito straddled the 30-foot roof and slowly inched his way toward Rosie.“Saw the dog, seemed pretty terrified, shaking. I went up, calmed the dog down…I just kind of put my hand out and let the dog smell me, and with that I just grabbed the collar and pulled her in,” Ippolito said.

“I’m just glad the dog got down without anybody getting hurt, the dog getting hurt – just doing what we’re told,” Komoroski said.

So how did Rosie get up there? The dog-sitter said the answer was pretty simple – Rosie was on the second floor and jumped out a rear window onto the roof.

“It was a little nerve-wracking,” Baker said. “The firemen, they handled it great.”

After a few scary hours atop a roof, things are looking just rosy again for the adventurous pup.

BOOKSHELF
By SAM ROBERTS
June 5, 2011
The Dogs of Central Park
It is billed as “a photographic love letter to dogs.” In “The Dogs of Central Park” (Universe Publishing, $19.95), the photographer Fran Reisner writes that she has never seen so many in one place. During seven visits to New York, she captured on film a vast assortment of breeds and mutts, purebreds and rescue dogs, and presents them in vivid color.

The Health Department estimates there are 500,000 dogs in the city.

Among those she introduces are “Lenny, the world traveler; Scheki, the three-legged beauty rescued from Israel; Charley, the certified Delta Dog; Daisy, whose eyes inspired Roberta Flack to stop and sing to her; Gertrude, a pit bull mix who was rescued by Bernadette Peters.”

In the preface, Adrian Benepe (right), the city’s parks commissioner, says:

“Let Maine have its moose and Florida its manatees! In the heart of Manhattan, it takes a dog to understand the beauty of autumn leaves, the thrill of new-fallen snow and the promise of flowers on a rainy spring day.”

‘For the Dogs’ Has a Whole New Meaning
By ANDREW MARTIN
ORLANDO, Fla.
June 4, 2011
Lisa Cornish is rattling off today’s menu:
• Pan-seared duck with brown rice and blueberry compote.
• Roasted turkey with butternut squash and russet potatoes.
• Salmon with black-and-white quinoa.

Delish. Just keep in mind that all of this, right down to those banana and yogurt health bars, is dog food. Not mere Alpo, mind you — not by a long shot. And to prove it, Ms. Cornish, who works for a company called Petcurean Pet Nutrition, will give you a taste.

If you’re wondering why anyone would even consider noshing on dog chow, you haven’t been to the Global Pet Expo here, where the impresarios of America’s thriving, multibillion-dollar pet economy profitably ply their wares.
If there is a pet heaven, this could be it.

Even as the economy for us humans bogs down again, the pet economy has proved remarkably resilient to a weak housing market, high unemployment and those diminished 401(k)’s. The industry has continued to grow through the recession, albeit at a slower pace, and last year, Americans spent a record $55 billion on their pets, according to the market research firm Packaged Facts, more than the gross domestic product of Belarus.

Wherever the stock market goes — and lately, it has been going down — this nation seems to be in the thrall of a great bull market for pets. And high-priced, “human grade” pet food is only the beginning.

Pet owners, or “parents” in industry parlance, are being sold on human-style luxuries and medical care. There are stylish rain slickers, organic foods and even antidepressants for today’s pampered cats and dogs. If more evidence of this boom were needed, consider Neuticles, prosthetic testicles for neutered dogs and cats, at about $1,000 a pair, which, their designers say, help “your pet to retain his natural look, self esteem and aids in the trauma associated with altering.”

Make no mistake: this is big business, as a visit to the Pet Expo here shows.

Over at one booth, Debbie Bohlken, owner of Claudia’s Canine Cuisine, sits behind a table of brightly-decorated cookies and cakes that wouldn’t look out of place in a bakery. All of these treats are for dogs. She sells her products under the slogan: “Treat Her Like the Bitch She Really Is.”

“Will you try one?” she asks. Her dog biscuits, it turns out, taste a bit like ginger snaps.

Elsewhere, manufacturers are marketing foods with ingredients worthy of a Michelin-starred restaurant: pheasant, freshwater trout, yak’s milk, organic pumpkin — the list goes on. There is much more to this than food. At the Petzlife booth, one of the owners, Steve Tibbetts, explains that his oral spray is made from “human-grade” ingredients that keep a dog’s teeth and gums healthy and fight dog breath. He says it works for cats, too. And apparently, for people: Mr. Tibbetts sprays the stuff into his mouth. Twice. “People are just ga-ga over their pets,” Mr. Tibbetts says. “They’ll spend money on their pets before they spend money on themselves.”

The growth in the pet market last year was driven in part by a 7 percent increase in veterinary services. America’s pet population, like its human one, is living longer. Human medical technologies are increasingly being used for pets. Dogs’ and cats’ owners — particularly those without children at home — are taking better care of them, both medically and nutritionally, experts say.

“Pet owners aren’t just looking to provide a home for their pets,” says Bob Vetere, president of the American Pet Products Association. “They are investing in their pets’ quality of life. Oftentimes they do this at their own expense, cutting personal expenses, but not those affecting their faithful companions.”

Jessica Taylor, managing editor of Petfood Industry, says that when she started at the magazine four years ago, the pet food industry lagged human trends by a year or more. Now, it is just six months behind, or less. She predicts that blueberries and pomegranates, whose antioxidant wonders have been marketed to humans in recent years, will be the next big thing in pet food.

THE pet industry has long considered itself recession-resilient, and it proved just that during the recent downturn, despite some bumps along the way. For instance, shelters were swamped with pets that were given up by owners who apparently could no longer afford them. Fewer people bought pets, in part because pets are often acquired after a home purchase, and there were considerably fewer of those.

Sales growth of pet products slowed, particularly among “hard goods” like leashes and bowls. But they were still up — which is more than you can say for many industries. Sales growth of natural pet products slowed to a relatively meager 6 percent in 2009, compared with 43 percent in 2007, according to Packaged Facts.

Analysts say the pet industry will continue to rebound, driven by demand for veterinary care and health-related products, including premium treats and chow for dogs and cats.

“I’m still very bullish on natural and organic,” says David Lummis, senior pet market analyst for Packaged Facts, noting that such products account for about 7 percent of pet food sales. “There is still a lot of growth there.” In addition, he notes that expected demand for luxury pet products is strong enough to lure companies and even celebrities into the business. Among them: Martha Stewart, Ellen DeGeneres, Fisher-Price and General Nutrition Center, which now offers health supplements for pets.

Wall Street is bullish, too. Shares of PetSmart, the pet store chain, are hovering near a record high, at $43.46 a share. In its most recent quarterly earnings report, the company said same-store sales had increased 6 percent over the quarter a year earlier.

PetSmart’s main competitor, Petco, is privately owned and doesn’t publicly report its earnings. But Jim Myers, Petco’s chief executive, says his company did not have a single negative quarter throughout the recession. Fewer people traded up to more expensive items during the downturn, but he said they didn’t trade down, either, sticking with a “premium and higher-level range of food products.” “Our perspective is that, thankfully, we are in a pretty emotional category,” Mr. Myers says.

At a Petco store in West Orange, N.J., natural and organic products occupy more than half the aisles set aside for dog and cat food. A sign hanging from the ceiling reads, “It’s all natural: the very best natural products for your pet.”

A representative for Blue Buffalo dog food, Gina Corbosiero, is to pitch an array of products, which she says are “holistic” and contain antioxidant pellets that are “cold pressed.”

Blue Buffalo’s dog food costs as much as $4 a pound, but it isn’t the most expensive line on these shelves. Royal Canin makes dog food for specific breeds. Its Shih Tzu line sells for $6.80 a pound. Lowly Pedigree, by comparison, costs 50 cents a pound.

It’s all too much for Mike Pinkard, 46, who was dispatched to buy some food for his daughter’s new pit bull-Labrador retriever puppy, Taz. Asked what he will buy, he says: “I have no idea. It’s changed so much from when I had a dog.” When Mr. Pinkard was a kid, he says, “It was regular dog food. Make sure you give them water and exercise and you are in good shape.” He settles on a bag of Nature’s Recipe, a midprice natural brand.

Are our pets healthier for all of this? Tony Buffington, a professor of veterinary nutrition at Ohio State University, says his students have studied the diet history of thousands of animals and have not yet determined that one pet food is better than another. “We have been unable to distinguish an outcome in healthy animals eating a wide variety of foods,” he says. Asked about the variety at megastores like Petco, he says, “I don’t even go in there anymore. I wouldn’t know where to start.”
He adds: “If you put them all in a plain brown bag, you’d probably be fine with any one of them.”

ABOUT 62 percent of American households have a pet, with dogs accounting for 40 percent of the total. Cats are second, at 34 percent. Dog and cat ownership has continued to grow slightly in recent years, even as the popularity of other types of pets, like birds, fresh-water fish and reptiles, has declined But the vendors at the Global Pet Expo, held at the Orange County Convention Center here in April, are betting that pet owners will splurge again.

One vendor is offering treadmills and treadwheels — essentially oversize hamster wheels — that let dogs exercise indoors, without the indignities of cracked sidewalks or rain.

There are “eco-friendly” pieces of furniture, grooming products and wipes, the wipes made from organically grown bamboo. An Israeli firm hawks dog shampoo containing Dead Sea minerals. Another, Pet Pop of Australia, promotes a vitamin-infused “mountain-spring water” for dogs. The price: $3.30 a bottle, about as much as a gallon of milk.

“We actually saw that there was a gap in the market for beverages for dogs,” says Bonnie Senior, a manager at the company. Then there is Jenn Mohr, who says she combined her love of dogs and love of candles to create Sniff Pet Candles. Made of “100 percent organic natural ingredients,” the aromatherapy candles have names like “Day in the Hamptons” and “Field of Dreams” and “promote your dog’s optimum health and well-being,” her company says. Ms. Mohr even designed a candle to address the flatulence of Rufus, her Rhodesian ridgeback. Made with floral ylang-ylang, white tea, myrtle and fennel, the “Fart & Away” candle “won’t completely stop them,” Ms. Mohr says. “But it will help.” The price: $28.

Aromatherapy candles aside, pet food, rather than pet extras, dominates the expo. Many vendors were pushing the idea of human grade pet food. Nummy Tum Tum, which sells canned organic pumpkin and sweet potato for pets, acknowledges that the line between pet and owner has been blurred. Last fall, amid a pumpkin shortage, people called to ask if it was O.K. to use Nummy Tum Tum to make pumpkin pies.

Answer: Sure. Daniel Stockton, national sales manager, says the company that makes Nummy Tum Tum makes canned pumpkin for pies, too. It simply switches the label. Both are simply pureed vegetables.

“What you can do is make some pies out of it, and leave the cans on the counter after everyone has eaten to freak people out,” Mr. Stockton says.

Canine Caviar Foods says it makes “the only alkaline-based dog food in America that was specifically designed to prevent cancer.” The ingredients include canned beaver, duck and venison tripe for dogs and cats, as well as a variety of “free-range, grass fed buffalo” treats for dogs.

The Honest Kitchen is offering dog food with names like “Zeal” and “Verve” and lists the provenance of the ingredients. There is organic, fair-trade quinoa from Bolivia and “wild, line-caught Icelandic haddock.” Its food is “gently dehydrated” to preserve it.

Hill’s Science Diet promotes prepackaged meals to help slim down tubby dogs and cats. American pets, it turns out, have weight problems just like many of their owners.

“We show you how to feed your animal to lose weight,” says Mike Gooch, a sales manager for Hill’s Science Diet. “It’s really kind of a paradigm shift in how you control the weight of the animal.”

Of course, it would be easier — and substantially cheaper — to feed pets less or take them for longer walks. But Mr. Gooch said that simply isn’t happening for pets or owners. “I would like to see us eat less McDonald’s and Hardees,” Mr. Gooch quips.

Bravo Raw Diet is peddling raw food for pets, which, along with refrigerated pet food, is among the hottest trends in the business. Bette Schubert, a co-founder, says dogs that eat raw meat diets — much like their wild ancestors — are healthier than those that eat processed kibbles.

Over at the Del Monte booth, Don Terry and Daniel Caulfield take all of this in with an air of bemusement. Del Monte makes old-line dog food like Kibbles ’n Bits, Gravy Train, Milk Bone and Snausages. Neither seems too worried about all these organic and holistic upstarts. “Do you know how many Milk Bones we sell compared to these companies doing $2 million a year?” Mr. Terry asks. “Dogs have lived a long time on Kibbles ’n Bits and Gravy Train.”

Mr. Terry, however, isn’t about to pop a Snausage into his mouth.

The idea of eating your dog food to prove its wholesomeness didn’t originate at the Global Pet Expo. Paul Newman sampled his organic dog food on “The Tonight Show” in 2006. The audience howled.

These days, pet food makers are eating their own products to make a point and close a sale, wisecracks aside. Ms. Bohlken, of Claudia’s Canine Cuisine, says she ate all sorts of dog treats while tweaking recipes for her products, which now include cookies and microwaveable cakes for dogs. Even now, she says, she will suck on a Puppy Pop when she has a sore throat.

Up in Brooklyn, Hanna Mandelbaum and Alison Wiener spent March dining on their dog food, Evermore, a brown mush made from beef hearts and chicken livers, among other things. “My business partner really enjoys the taste,” Ms. Mandelbaum says. “For me, it was a little bit more an acquired taste.”

The gimmick generated a huge spike in sales but came at a price: relentless ribbing from friends.
Says Ms. Mandelbaum:
“They want to know if we have a sudden urge to sniff each other’s butt.”

Global Pet Expo photos: Gary Bogdon for The New York Times

Handicapped Brooklyn man with pooch in tow wins $20K bias suit against city
BY BARRY PADDOCK AND REUVEN BLAU
Wednesday, June 1st 2011
A handicapped Brooklyn man's bark is worse than his sight.

Charles Romo Jr. recently was awarded more than $20,000 by a city judge after complaining that he was barred from entering a state building to claim his benefits while toting his Italian Greyhound.

Romo, 47, is blind in one eye - but his pooch, Ramses, is not a guide dog. Ramses is registered as a service dog with the Health Department because he helps Romo with 9/11-related posttraumatic stress disorder.

That didn't fly with ISS Security guards, who said the building allows visitors to have only service dogs for the blind.

When Romo was stopped June 30, 2009, in the lobby of 55 Hanson St., he did not have his papers showing Ramses was a service dog. A heated dispute ensued.

One of the guards demanded that Romo disclose his disability, Romo testified at a February 2011 hearing. A guard claimed that Romo spat at her as the argument escalated.

In an effort to calm the situation, the building manager moved Romo into his office and called Romo's case manager, who was handling his visual impairment benefits under the state's Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities program.

Romo submitted his paperwork and was then escorted out of the building.

He filed a complaint with the city Commission on Human Rights, alleging that he'd been discriminated against.

"I find it that everywhere else people are respectful of my service dog, but in New York, a lot of people just don't care," he told the Daily News.

Administrative Law Judge Alessandra Zorgniotti agreed.

"The level of emotional distress suffered by Mr. Romo, even though it was based on one instance of discrimination, is significant and an award at the high end of the range is appropriate," she ruled April 12.

She recommended the security company cough up a $15,000 civil penalty to the city and pay Romo $20,000 for "mental anguish" and $360 in actual damages to cover the cost of his airfare back home to Houston, where he went to visit relatives for comfort. The decision was forwarded to Human Rights Commissioner Patricia Gatling, who will make a final ruling.

Romo said he began suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder after 9/11. He was living in Jersey City at the time and his roommate, John Willet, was killed in the attacks on the twin towers.

It became difficult for him to walk past large buildings and go into elevators without his doctor-prescribed service dog, Romo said.

But his neighbor across the hall in Crown Heights said the dog has its own issues with stress. "You know how dogs suffer from separation anxiety?" said Troy Benning, 32. "The dog is always in the apartment barking. He's not with the dog all the time.

Get healthy with nature's personal trainers
By JACK KELLY
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service
June 1, 2011
People who own and walk dogs are 34 percent more likely to meet federal benchmarks for physical activity, according to a study led by Michigan State University, published recently in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health.

The study indicated that people who walked their dogs walked about an hour longer per week than people who owned dogs but didn't walk them. "We found people who walked their dog also had higher overall levels of both moderate and vigorous physical activities," said Mathew Reeves, an epidemiologist at Michigan State.

A study at the University of Missouri in 2009 found that senior citizens go for longer walks, and walk faster, when their companion is canine rather than human.

No special equipment needed
Dr. Charles Sturm, a family-medicine practitioner at West Penn Hospital, Forbes Regional Campus, in Monroeville, Pa., owned and walked a dog for 13 years.

"We walked 20 to 25 minutes in the morning and up to an hour in the evening," Sturm said. "Even longer on weekends."
He added, "It's a very easy and convenient way to exercise. No special equipment is needed. You don't have to drive somewhere or go to a sports field to participate."

Dr. Dawn Marcus, a neurologist and pain researcher at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, has written a book, "Fit as Fido," which asserts that dogs can teach us a lot about healthy living.

"Dogs really are nature's personal trainers," Marcus told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "They model fitness behaviors, and behaviors for eating and socializing, too."

Dogs are always eager to go for walks, she said. "Unlike your human exercise buddies, dogs are not going to beg off" if the weather is bad.Following our dogs' example

In addition to an eagerness to exercise regardless of weather, "dogs love sleep," Marcus said. "People who don't sleep are more likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure." And when dogs are on their walks, they stop to socialize with other dogs, she said. "Stopping and saying hello to other people is important to human health as well," Marcus said. "Research shows social interactions are essential to human health."

In addition to benefiting from following the example of dogs, we'd be healthier if we treated ourselves the way we treat our dogs, she said. Most dog owners feed their pets healthy food, and see to it that they don't overeat.

"The other thing we learn from our dogs is an attitude for approaching life," Marcus said. "The dog is always wagging his tail and is eager to go out."

The Michigan State study indicated that younger and older people are more likely than middle-aged people to walk their dogs, and that larger-breed dogs are taken for longer walks than are smaller dogs.

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Some large Labrador, whose parents obviously neglected his lunch
CINDY ADAMS
June 1, 2011
So this elegant blonde of a certain age took takeout from a 58th Street coffee shop. Chanel bag swinging, Manolos clicking, onto the street she strutted -- plastic bag of edibles dangling from her hand.

Down the block came a major tug. Some large Labrador, whose parents obviously neglected his lunch, was eating through her ham and cheese with tomato and mayo and already barking for seconds on the sponge cake.

Only in New York, kids, only in New York.

Doggie death row
Insiders condemn shelter
By PHILIP MESSING
May 31, 2011
They're marked for death -- just to cut costs and save cage space.

Homeless dogs with the slightest coughs are routinely fast-tracked for execution at the cash-strapped Animal Care and Control shelter in East Harlem, multiple inside sources tell The Post.

"There's no doubt that animals are being labeled as being sick or dangerous so they can be killed more quickly," said Emily Tanen (right), a former paid staffer at ACC's shelter at 326 E. 110th St. "Dogs come in healthy, and within a few days, they're dead. As soon as they start coughing, we're allowed to kill them and say it's 'disease euth.' "

The unwritten policy is designed as both a space-saving measure and an end-run around charity-funding rules, charge Tanen and two current Manhattan ACC workers who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The otherwise healthy dogs simply suffer from curable kennel coughs, a common animal-shelter malady, the sources say. The illness -- contagious to other dogs and marked by a runny nose, coughing, sneezing and lethargy -- can be cured if a dog is isolated and placed on a 10-day regimen of antibiotics. But each night, anywhere from a few to more than a dozen dogs are quickly shunted onto the shelter's "euth list" for euthanasia the next morning -- with kennel cough as the most common death-penalty offense, say Tanen and the two workers.

Charities that provide vital funding to the shelter -- on condition that dogs won't be killed solely for space reasons -- are told the dogs were killed due to "disease," these insiders say.

Tanen, a respected anti-euthanasia activist, was fired May 13 and is director of Project Pet, a private animal organization she founded three years ago.

She says that she was only told, "It's not working out," when she was fired, but that it followed a dispute over her sending out adoption photos of dogs posing with people, which was against policy. The ACC refused to say why she was fired.

Julie Bank (left), executive director of ACC, which also runs shelters in Brooklyn and Staten Island, dismissed criticisms about the shelter's euthanasia practices as baseless, noting the organization rescues about 40,000 animals annually. "Last year, over 17,000 animals got out of our building alive," she said. "So the thought that we are not proactively trying to get the animals adopted is not accurate."

The agency's Web site also notes that the number of euthanized dogs has fallen dramatically in the past five years, dipping from 4,824 killed in 2006 to 2,226 last year.

But Tanen and the other staffers argue that the statistics can't disguise that dogs are still routinely being killed more quickly than can be humanely justified.

Viral Outbreaks in Dogs Yield Clues on Origins of Hepatitis C
By CARL ZIMMER
May 30, 2011
Hepatitis C is, in some ways, a high-profile disease. Worldwide, an estimated 200 million people are infected with the virus. Some of them will suffer cirrhosis, liver cancer and even death. Celebrities like Steven Tyler (left) of Aerosmith and “American Idol” have spoken publicly of their infections. But mysteries still shroud the disease.

Typically spread through drug injections, blood transfusions and sexual contact, hepatitis C can quietly cause liver damage for 20 years or more before victims become aware that they are ill. “Worldwide, it’s causing devastation,” said Brian Edlin, an epidemiologist at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.

Its origins are even more puzzling. Hepatitis C is a distinct disease from hepatitis A and B; it belongs to an entirely different virus family that includes diseases like West Nile fever and yellow fever. Scientists have searched for years for related viruses in animals to figure out how it evolved into a human disease.

“Identifying the species reservoir of hepatitis C — one of the most common and deadly of all human viruses — has been something of a holy grail in studies of viral evolution,” said Eddie Holmes (right), a virologist at Penn State University.

Now scientists have gotten an important clue, finding a close relative in an unexpected host: dogs.

The discovery, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, “represents a major step forward,” said Dr. Holmes, who was not involved in the research. The finding came as a surprise to all the scientists involved. Researchers at Pfizer were investigating virus outbreaks in dogs in shelters across the United States. They swabbed the noses of dogs sick with respiratory diseases and searched for viruses. In some cases they could not isolate a known virus, so they sent samples to the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University, where researchers specialize in finding new viruses.

The Columbia center found that six of nine dogs in one outbreak and three of five in another shared the same unknown virus. Nasal swabs from 60 healthy dogs showed no sign of it.

Amit Kapoor, a Columbia virologist, compared the genetic material of the new virus to known ones. His analysis revealed it was closely related to the hepatitis C virus (HCV for short). “I was not expecting anything like HCV,” Dr. Kapoor said. Like many other researchers, he assumed that it had evolved from a primate virus, because chimpanzees can be experimentally infected with hepatitis C.

But as Dr. Kapoor and Peter Simmonds of the University of Edinburgh analyzed more genetic data, the link continued to hold. Dr. Kapoor and his colleagues have called the new virus canine hepacivirus, or CHV for short.

The Columbia researchers collaborated with hepatitis C experts at Rockefeller University in New York to compare the two viruses. Canine hepacivirus infects the airways of dogs and is present at low levels in the liver.

Based on the genetic similarity of the two viruses, the scientists estimate that they share a common ancestor that lived 500 to 1,000 years ago. “It’s really quite rough,” said W. Ian Lipkin, the director of the Center for Infection and Immunity and an author of the journal article. “This is not something that happened recently, but it didn’t happen hundreds of thousands of years ago.”

The researchers see three possibilities for the origin of the viruses. The least likely is that dogs acquired hepatitis C from humans. Another possibility is that dogs and humans both acquired the virus from an unknown animal. This is the sort of evolution that gave rise to the 2004 outbreak of SARS. At first scientists found the virus in the catlike palm civet of Southeast Asia. But later research revealed that the virus actually started out in bats and then spread to palm civets and humans.

A third possibility — one favored by Dr. Kapoor — is that the virus started in dogs, and then evolved into a liver-infecting disease in humans.

“The evidence we have favors an origin in dogs,” Dr. Kapoor said.

To test these alternatives, Dr. Kapoor and his colleagues plan to search for hepatitis C-like viruses in dogs from other countries, as well as in foxes and other species of carnivorous mammals.

Even before that mystery is resolved, however, researchers expect to see some benefits from the discovery of canine hepacivirus. In the current issue of the journal Nature, Dr. Edlin (right) argues that much more needs to be done to fight the hepatitis C epidemic.

Along with better surveillance, he sees a need for research into antiviral drugs as well as vaccines. (Currently there is no commercially available hepatitis C vaccine.) Researchers may now be able to study CHV in dogs to get insights into hepatitis C in humans.

“I’m sure this will be helpful,” Dr. Edlin said.

Miracle twister pup
By JENNIFER FERMINO
May 28, 2011
There's no place like home for this brave little pooch!

A miracle dog who was sucked away in a deadly Alabama tornado crawled back to the ruins of his owners' home with two badly broken legs nearly three weeks later, wagging his tail with joy at the sight of his shocked family.

The owners, who lost nearly everything in the twister that devastated North Smithfield on April 27, burst into tears upon seeing their dog, Mason, perched on what was left of their front porch.

Now the 1-year-old terrier mix is on the yellow brick road to recovery after undergoing surgery to fix his legs.

"He's doing great," said Dr. William Lamb, the Birmingham vet who has been tending to Mason for free since the pup was found on May 16.

Mason will be returned to his owners, who want to remain anonymous, in a few weeks.

Police Search For Vandals After Damage To 9/11 Rescue Dogs Statue
LINDENHURST, N.Y
May 27, 2011
Police on Long Island were hunting for vandals who knocked over a 300-pound monument dedicated to 9/11 rescue dogs. The cement statue in Lindenhurst is modeled after Hansen, a German shepherd who spent 150 days searching through the rubble of Ground Zero.

Retired NYPD officer Steve Smaldon, who was Hansen’s handler, said he is perplexed by the damage. He said it’s like going into a cemetery and knocking over gravestones.

Police weren’t sure if the statue was targeted or just the subject of random vandalism but Smaldon thinks it was intentional.
“A garbage can was used to get over the fence, because it’s locked up at night, and they went over and that’s the only thing that was touched, they spent their time to smash it into many pieces,” Smaldon told 1010 WINS. “I can’t believe that somebody would not respect 9/11 and not understand 9/11 and do something like that.”

Smaldon said the statue is “totally unrepairable” and will try to raise money to build a new one.

Hansen died in 2004 at age 11.

In addition to the statue, the park has plaques dedicated to eight Lindenhurst residents who died in the 9/11 attacks.

If you’re interested in the effort to rebuild the statue you can e-mail Smaldon at
nyhansenpdk9@aol.com.

Photos: Steve Smaldon

Sloppiness Aside, Dogs Are Sophisticated Drinkers Too
The great dog-cat liquid lapping investigation continues
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
May 26, 2011
Late last year, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology used high-speed photography to describe the elegant way in which cats lap up liquid with the tip of the tongue, seemingly defying gravity. Dogs, on the other hand, form a cup with the tongue and scoop up liquid, the researchers said, spilling quite a bit of it.

Not so, according to Alfred Crompton, a zoologist at Harvard, and Catherine Musinsky, his assistant, who used high-speed light videos and X-ray videos to demonstrate that dogs and cats actually use the same mechanism to drink. They report their findings in the current issue of the journal Biology Letters.

“Dogs are just a little more exuberant and messy in their drinking, so it looks like it’s being scooped up,” Dr. Crompton said. “But they do it the same way as cats.”

Both animals reach into liquids with the tips of their tongues, pulling up a long column. Before the liquid drops back down, they open their mouths and pull it in.

But the dog tongue tip penetrates the liquid a little more deeply than the cat tongue, causing a messy spray around the tongue during withdrawal, Dr. Crompton said. This gives the false impression that dogs use a scooping motion.

“The video shows that all the liquid that was so-called being ‘scooped up’ falls right back out,” he said.

The test subject in the study was Dr. Crompton’s dog, Mathilda (right). Once the liquid was in her mouth, they saw that it was held in ridges called rugae on the roof of the mouth before it continued down her throat. This intermediate location for the liquid allows Mathilda, and other dogs, to lap continuously and pull in another column of liquid without losing the previous one.

Click √ on image above right for video

Rodin's Brew photo: From-TheDoghouse.com/SCOOP & HOWL
Sophisticated Drinkers illustration: Chris Gash

Nina In New York: Anyone Need A Dog Walker?
A young professional’s take on the trials and tribulations of everyday life in New York City.
May 26, 2011
The other day I was feeling under the weather and decided to take a sick day. I was feeling logy and foggy and stuffy-headed, so it didn’t occur to me to call the dog walker, Betty, to tell her she could skip Gus’s walks since I’d be home.

I was lying on the couch answering work emails and trying to orchestrate all sorts of things by proxy in my absence when Betty opened the door with her key. She looked fresh-faced and happy, relaxed and flush from the sun. Like someone who had nothing to worry about throughout the day aside from walking dogs, getting natural exercise, enjoying the day and making a surprising amount of money, much of which could very easily be under the table.

All of a sudden, I felt I had to restrain myself from impulsively quitting my job and trying to break into the dog walking game.

Of course, I didn’t, and I wouldn’t.

I care about my career and I have no idea what other stressors Betty faces in her life. But gosh, it does look good from here. Those dog walkers really have it made. Their clients are generally sweet and entirely nonverbal, the best ones only walk a couple of dogs at a time, and there will never be a shortage of 9-5ers who can’t take care of their dogs’ daytime needs around here. Often, mine just brings Gus to the dog run so he can get more exercise, which means she doesn’t even have to walk much if she doesn’t want to. She’s a pro-walker! None of them work a very wide radius, so it’s not like they even have to contend with schlepping around the city. Plus, they have almost no overhead outside of durable footwear and sunblock.

The only downside and the great irony is that most of them are too busy to take care of their own dogs. That and they pick up a whole lot of poop. But really, small prices to pay. What a life!

Better than the Upper East Side nannies, better than the professional closet organizers or pregnancy consultants or personal shoppers or wedding planners or life coaches or any other highly-paid, highly-specialized independent contractor work that could only ever exist in this city, dog walkers are the unsung geniuses of the New York job market.

The more I think about it, the more convinced (and jealous) I become. Dog walkers everywhere, I tip my proverbial hat to you. Well played, guys.

Photo credits

Top left: Gus with Nina

Above right: Our walker Janine with manfriend Seiko, pooches Gizmo (floor) and Poochie (lap)and Daddy Bob (avec moi on the apron) at one of our many summer BarK-b-Q pawties
Photo by Michelle Kang-Fagan

Obama shakes hand of warrior who killed bin Laden and meets military work Dog
By GEOFF EARLE
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky.
May 7, 2011
A grateful President Obama yesterday shook the hand of the Navy SEAL who shot and killed terror nemesis Osama bin Laden.

At Fort Campbell, one of the nation's largest military bases, Obama met privately yesterday with members of the assault force that carried out the mission to get bin Laden, thanking each one individually for their "heroic and selfless service" to the country.

Obama then awarded the SEAL teams the "Presidential Unit Citation" -- the highest honor a unit can get, in recognition of their "extraordinary service and achievement."
The president met Cairo, the Dog that took part in the mission and helped alert the special forces teams to hidden threats, an official said. The Dog is the only member of the raid team to be identified by name so far.

CONVERSATION WITH GERRY PROCTOR
Commando Dog: Osama bin Laden's four-legged foe
MAY 5, 2011
ABOUT THE TOPIC
Navy SEALs may have taken down Osama bin Laden, but not without a fierce four-legged friend by their side. Accompanying the SEAL's was a dog, whose breed is speculated to be either German shepherd or Belgian Malinois. Gerry Proctor, an officer at Lackland Air Force Base where the dog was trained, answered questions about the training process for these dogs, what they can do and why having a military dog was valuable to the Navy SEALs while taking down Osama bin Laden.

ABOUT GERRY PROCTOR
Gerry Proctor is the public affairs officer for the 37th Training Wing, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Proctor is responsible for the public relations role for all of the training missions on Lackland including the Department of Defense Military Working Dog School. He has served the U.S. Air Force both in uniform and as a civilian for more than 30 years. His assignments have taken him worldwide reporting military news and creating pathways for civilian media to tell their story.

Click √ on images for Q & A Conversation

The Dogs of War: Beloved Comrades in Afghanistan
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
WASHINGTON
May 12, 2011
Marines were on a foot patrol last fall in the Taliban stronghold of Marja, Afghanistan, when they shot and killed a lethal threat: a local dog that made the mistake of attacking the Marines’ Labrador Retriever.

Capt. Manuel Zepeda, the commander of Company F, Second Battalion, Sixth Marines, was unapologetic. If the Lab on the patrol had been hurt, the Marines would have lost their best weapon for detecting roadside bombs — and would have called for a medevac helicopter, just as they would for a human. An attack on the Lab was an attack on a fellow warrior. As Captain Zepeda put it that day, “We consider the dog another Marine.”

The classified canine that went on the Navy Seals’ raid of Osama bin Laden’s compound last week has generated a wave of interest in military dogs, which have been used by the United States since at least World War I. Now, more valued than ever, they are on their own surge into Afghanistan.

American troops may be starting to come home this summer, but more dogs are going in. In 2007, the Marines began a pilot program in Afghanistan with nine bomb-sniffing dogs, a number that has grown to 350 and is expected to reach nearly 650 by the end of the year. Over all, there are some 2,700 dogs on active duty in the American military. A decade ago, before the Sept. 11 attacks, there were 1,800.

“Most of the public isn’t aware of what these dogs add to national security,” said Gerry Proctor, a spokesman for training programs at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, including the Military Working Dog School. Dogs are used for protection, pursuit, tracking and search and rescue, but the military is also increasingly relying on them to sniff out the homemade bombs that cause the vast majority of American casualties in Afghanistan. So far, no human or human-made technology can do better.

Within the military, the breeds of choice are generally the German shepherd and a Belgian shepherd, or Malinois, but Marines in Afghanistan rely on pure-bred Labrador Retrievers because of the dogs’ good noses and nonaggressive, eager-to-please temperaments. Labs now accompany many Marine foot patrols in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, wandering off-leash 100 yards or more in front as bomb detectors. It is the vital work of an expensively trained canine (the cost to the American military can be as high as $40,000 per dog), but at the end of a sweltering day, sometimes a Lab is still a Lab.

Last spring on a patrol in Helmand’s Garmsir District, a Lab, Tango, was leading a small group of Marines on a dirt road leading into a village when the dog suddenly went down on all fours, wagging his tail — a sign that he had detected explosives nearby. The patrol froze as a Marine explosives team investigated. No bomb was found and the patrol continued, but on the way back the dog, miserable in the 102-degree heat and like most Labrador retrievers a good swimmer, abandoned his duties and leaped into an irrigation canal to cool off. But then he could not climb back up the steep bank. One of the Marines, swearing lustily, finally jumped into the canal and carried the dog out in his arms.

The bonds that grow in battle between the Labs and their Marine handlers are already the stuff of heart-tugging war stories. But few have had the emotional impact of that of Pfc. Colton W. Rusk, a 20-year-old Marine machine gunner and dog handler who was killed in December by sniper fire in Sangin, one of the most deadly areas in Helmand. During his deployment, Private Rusk sent his parents a steady flow of pictures and news about his beloved bomb dog, Eli, a black Lab. When Private Rusk was shot, Marine officers told his parents, Eli crawled on top of their son to try to protect him.

The 3-year-old Eli, the first name of the survivors listed in Private Rusk’s obituary, was retired early from the military and adopted in February by Private Rusk’s parents, Darrell and Kathy Rusk. “He’s a big comfort to us,” Kathy Rusk said in a telephone interview from her home in Orange Grove, Tex. After the dog’s retirement ceremony in February at Lackland Air Force Base, an event that generated enormous news coverage in Texas, the Rusks brought Eli for the first time into their home (right: Eli with Colton's 12-year-old brother Brady Rusk).

“The first place he went was Colton’s room,” Mrs. Rusk said. “He sniffed around and jumped up on his bed.”

So far, 20 Labrador retrievers out of the 350 have been killed in action since the Marine program began, most in explosions of homemade bombs, Marine officials said. Within the Special Operations Command, the home of the dog that went on the Bin Laden mission, some 34 dogs were killed in the line of duty between 2006 and 2009, said Maj. Wes Ticer, a spokesman. Like their handlers, dogs that survive go on repeat deployments, sometimes as many as four. Dogs retire from the military at the age of 8 or 9.

To an American public weary of nearly 10 years of war, dogs are a way to relate, as the celebrity status of the still-unknown commando dog proved. (President Obama is one of the few Americans to have met the dog, in a closed-door session with the Seal team last week.)

Few understand the appeal of dogs in battle better than Rebecca Frankel, the deputy managing editor of ForeignPolicy.com. Last week, she posted a “War Dog” photo essay, with her favorite pictures of dogs jumping out of helicopters, skydiving from 30,000 feet and relaxing with Marines. The photo essay went viral, with 6.5 million page views to date — a record for the site.

“I think people go weak at the knees for these dogs,” Ms. Frankel said in an interview. “I do, too. But their contribution is significant.

"These are serious dogs.”

Click √ above for Rebecca Frankel's "WAR DOGS" photo essay

PHOTO CREDITS
MWD Canvas with his handler, Lance Cpl. Matthew Albano: unattributed
'Firefight': DMITRY KOSTYUKOV/AFP/Getty Images
Eli and Colton Rusk: Courtesy Photo / SA
Eli Adopted: San Antonio Express-News, JERRY LARA / glara@express-news.net
Eli with Brady Rusk: U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III
Engraving, Roman war Dog Molossus, modern day Cane Corso: unattributed

Animal Rights Activists Rally As Newark Woman Accused Of Starving, Dumping Patrick The Pit Bull, Appears In Court
NEWARK, N.J.
May 6, 2011
Kisha Curtis (left) pleaded not guilty in late March to animal abuse charges. A judge could schedule future court dates and a possible trial.

Curtis is charged with two fourth-degree offenses for “tormenting and torturing” an animal. She also faces two abandonment charges that are punishable by up to six months in jail.

Authorities say Curtis tied the dog to a railing in her Newark apartment building and left the state for more than a week. A janitor later found the emaciated dog in a trash bin.

Doctors at the Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls determined the dog was severely anemic and malnourished. He received a blood transfusion and was later named Patrick because he was found the day before St. Patrick’s Day.

Thousands of e-mails, faxes, and phone calls have come into the Essex County Prosecutor’s office since March.

On Friday, about 40 people demonstrated outside the Newark courthouse to show their support for Patrick.

“We have gotten them from across the country and even some, I believe, from Canada,” acting prosecutor Carolyn Murray (right) tells WCBS 880 reporter Levon Putney. “I do think that it’s a benefit to our society that people are concerned about cruelty in whatever form.”

She’s calling for a stiff sentence.

Click √ here for original story

Above left - Patrick on April 8, 2011 (credit: The Patrick Miracle/Facebook)

New York Lawmaker Seeks To Save Shelter Animals With New Bill
NEW YORK
May 16, 2011
State Assembly Member Micah Kellner is proposing a bill in the hopes of saving thousands of animals in shelters across New York from being euthanized.

Under current state law, shelters are only allowed to adopt dogs and cats out to individuals. Rescue groups are typically turned away and denied access to the shelters. “How we get around this is we adopt it to the person coming from the rescue group and this allows shelters to have a great amount of power,” Kellner said.

The Companion Animal Access and Rescue Act would let these groups adopt animals that are scheduled to be euthanized from shelters, humane societies or pounds.

“There are tens of thousands animals in New York State shelters waiting to be adopted and most are healthy, well-behaved, and just in need of a loving home,” Kellner said. “When a humane organization volunteers to take these animals, they should not be denied.”

California passed a similar law in 1998 which allowed animal rescue and adoption organizations request possession of an animal prior to its killing. Last year, Delaware passed a law that seeks to find sheltered animals homes rather than euthanize them.

“What this bill does is create minimum standards for rescue organizations and humane organizations to recover animals that would otherwise be destroyed by a local shelter,” Kellner said.

The bill would not only guarantee rescue groups access to shelters but it would also ensure that the animals receive proper care – including fresh food and water on a daily basis, clean living environments, exercise and veterinary care.

Routine inspections would be mandated under the bill.

In addition, the legislation would extend whistleblower protections to rescue groups who have frequently been denied access to shelters for speaking out against abuse or mismanagement or animals.

Organizations such as No Kill Advocacy Center, Alley Cat Allies and Best Friends Animal Society support the bill.

NEW YOUR STATE RESIDENTS!
CONTACT YOUR RESPECTIVE STATE ASSEMBLY MEMBERS
and ask for their support of Micah Kellner's Companion Animal Access and Rescue Act. Ask your friends to join in as well.

Here's a link to the NY State Assembly members and their contacts. Click √ on banner below

POLICE STORIES

America’s Premier K9 Training Event
HITS 2011
in Washington D.C.

Police Dogs bite dopey druggie Man Tells Cops Drug Dealer Gave Wrong Change MAY 6, 2011 Upset that his cocaine dealer had given him the wrong change, a South Carolina man called police to complain about the unsatisfactory transaction and, of course, was promptly arrested. According to cops, Dexter White, 41, called 911 to report that he paid his dealer $60 for crack cocaine, but had received only $20 worth of the drug. White contacted police with his consumer complaint around 4:30 AM Friday (an hour at which Better Business Bureau operators apparently were not standing by). A North Charleston Police Department report notes that White, in a written statement, identified his supplier as “C,” and said the drug dealer refused his demand for “his $40 in change.” He added that he smoked the entire $20 worth of crack before calling 911. In the 911 call White initially (and inexplicably) asked a police dispatcher to send a canine unit to his location. He subsequently explained his predicament, which prompted the operator to ask, “Okay, you said you bought some drugs from them and they didn’t give you your change back?" For his efforts, White was arrested April 29 on a disorderly conduct charge (for loitering where drugs are used or sold). He was booked into the Charleston County Detention Center, where White has previously found himself on many occasions, according to court records. White, pictured in the above mug shot, is jailed in lieu of $400 bond.

Click √ on any image for Web Page

TO SERVE AND PROTECT AND SNIFF OUT TROUBLE, AN INTERNATIONAL DOG OF MYSTERY
A Bin Laden Hunter on Four Legs
By GARDINER HARRIS
May 4, 2011

The identities of all 80 members of the American commando team who thundered into Abbottabad, Pakistan, and killed Osama bin Laden are the subject of intense speculation, but perhaps none more so than the only member with 4 legs.

Little is known about what may be the nation’s most courageous dog. Even its breed is the subject of great interest, although it was most likely a German shepherd or a Belgian Malinois, military sources say. But its use in the raid reflects the military’s growing dependence on dogs in wars in which improvised explosive devices have caused two-thirds of all casualties. Dogs have proved far better than people or machines at quickly finding bombs.

Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of United States forces in Afghanistan (left), said last year that the military needed more dogs. “The capability they bring to the fight cannot be replicated by man or machine,” he said.

Maj. William Roberts, commander of the Defense Department’s Military Working Dog Center at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, said the dog on the raid could have checked the compound for explosives and even sniffed door handles to see if they were booby-trapped.

And given that Saddam Hussein was found hiding in a narrow, dark hole (right) beneath a mud shack in Iraq, the Seal team might have brought the dog in case Bin Laden had built a secret room into his compound. “Dogs are very good at detecting people inside of a building,” Major Roberts said.

Another use may have been to catch anyone escaping the compound in the first moments of the raid. A shepherd or a Malinois runs twice as fast as a human.

Tech Sgt. Kelly A. Mylott, the kennel master at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, called dogs ideal for getting someone who is running away without having to shoot them. “When the dogs go after a suspect, they’re trained to bite and hold them,” Sergeant Mylott said.

Some dogs are big enough that, when they leap on a suspect, the person tends to drop to the ground, Sergeant Mylott said. Others bite arms or legs. “Different dogs do different things,” she said. “But whatever they do, it’s very difficult for that person to go any further.”

Finally, dogs can be used to pacify an unruly group of people — particularly in the Middle East. “There is a cultural aversion to dogs in some of these countries, where few of them are used as pets,” Major Roberts said. “Dogs can be very intimidating in that situation.”

Sergeant Mylott (right) said that dogs got people’s attention in ways that weapons sometimes did not. “Dogs can be an amazing psychological deterrent,” she said.

There are 600 dogs serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, and that number is expected to grow substantially over the next year, Ensign Brynn Olson of the United States Central Command said. Particularly popular with the troops are the growing number of Labrador retrievers who wander off-leash 100 yards or more in front of patrols to ensure the safety of the route.

A Silver Star, one of the Navy’s highest awards, was awarded posthumously in 2009 to a dog named Remco after he charged an insurgent’s hide-out in Afghanistan.

The training of dogs in Navy Seal teams and other Special Operations units is shrouded in secrecy. Maj. Wes Ticer, a spokesman for United States Special Operations Command, said the dogs’ primary functions “are finding explosives and conducting searches and patrols.”“Dogs are relied upon,” he continued, “to provide early warning for potential hazards, many times, saving the lives of the Special Operations Forces with whom they operate.”

Last year, the Seals bought four waterproof tactical vests for their dogs that featured infrared and night-vision cameras so that handlers — holding a three-inch monitor from as far as 1,000 yards away — could immediately see what the dogs were seeing. The vests, which come in coyote tan and camouflage, let handlers communicate with the dogs with a speaker, and the four together cost more than $86,000. Navy Seal teams have trained to parachute from great heights and deploy out of helicopters with dogs.

The military uses a variety of breeds, but by far the most common are the German shepherd and the Belgian Malinois, which “have the best overall combination of keen sense of smell, endurance, speed, strength, courage, intelligence and adaptability to almost any climatic condition,” according to a fact sheet from the military working dog unit.

Suzanne Belger, president of the American Belgian Malinois Club, said she was hoping the dog was one of her breed “and that it did its job and came home safe.” But Laura Gilbert, corresponding secretary for the German Shepherd Dog Club of America, said she was sure the dog was her breed “because we’re the best!”

Who Says Pet Parents Can't Celebrate Mother's Day?
May 4, 2011
It's almost Mother's Day, and just because your child may be furry and walk on four paws doesn't mean you can't take part in the fun. After all, pet parents are some of the best, most loving, giving, and deserving moms around.

Here are some ideas on fun ways to celebrate Mother's Day together. With a little preparation it will be a day to wag about.

• Go to brunch together! The weather is getting warmer, and that means more restaurants are setting up their patios and sidewalks for al fresco dining. If you live in an area where dogs are allowed to join their people at outdoor tables (and in most areas in the US, they are), sniff around for one that has an appealing menu and will welcome you with your dog. Keep in mind that it may be pretty busy at some of these places on Mother's Day, and call ahead to see if it would be OK to bring your dog. Reservations may be needed. Be open to celebrating on another day; the day before Mother's Day is just as good as the "big day" itself, and you won't have to deal with the crowds. (Prices for just about the same food may well be lower, too.)

• Get your dog the right duds. Dress your dog up for the holiday with a leash or collar designed with hearts or flowers. It'll brighten your day every time you look at your fur child. Or if you want to go all out, try out some doggy clothes made for this special day. Type "mother's day dog clothes" into your favorite search engine and you'll come up with some fun choices. A couple of places that offer doggy shirts proclaiming their love for mom include: The Pet Boutique and The Yuppy Puppy Boutique.

• Help your dog send you a card. Dogs may not be very good at taking the car and going shopping, but if they were, you can be assured that yours would buy you a very cool Mother's Day card. The good news is that you can help your dog out with card "shopping" without ever leaving the house. And there are plenty of places to find great doggy Mother's Day cards online. Sloppy Kiss Cards has several very appealing animated Mother's Day cards you can custom design with pictures of your breed of choice, and a message from your dog. Some cards even offer the ability to upload your dog's photo for a highly personalized experience. Sloppy Kiss offers a free 30-day trial, or you pay just $13.95 for a year of unlimited e-cards. Part of the membership fee goes to Petfinder.com, so you can't go wrong.

• Celebrate with a special bouquet. Since Mother's Day is on a Sunday, you might be able to find a dog-friendly farmer's market in your area with vendors selling beautiful bouquets. Go with your dog and sniff out a bunch of flowers that will brighten your week. (Try not to rely too much on your dog's suggestions, because dogs don't exactly have the best color vision.) Many farmer's markets have stands that prepare tasty local foods, so you can even grab yourselves a fun Mother's Day meal there. If you want a unique bouquet, Dog Lover Gift Baskets offers a very special one this time of year. It's called the Mom & Dog Mother's Day Bouquet. It looks good enough to eat - and it is! The feast for the eyes and tastebuds is a lovely bouquet made up of tasty, all-natural homemade treats for your dog, and delectable chocolates and other sweet yummies for you. It's not cheap ($79.95), but if your dog has deep pockets, it's worth the splurge.

• Take a great walk together. There's no better gift your dog can give you than the gift of love and health. It's as simple as getting outdoors for a heart-healthy walk. Your dog will love you for the extra time outdoors together. If you already walk a couple of times a day, go for a walk in a park or area you've been wanting to check out. Or pack a picnic and make an afternoon of it. A great way to expand your horizons when looking for fun, new places to walk your dog is to pick up a copy of a Dog Lover's Companion for your area. This award-winning series has highly readable, super helpful guidebooks for several locations throughout the US. Yours will be sure to become dog-eared in no time. What a wonderful way to make Mother's Day last all year.

Missouri:
Puppy Mill Law Is Reconsidered
April 15, 2011
Lawmakers are poised to repeal much of a measure voters approved in November cracking down on some of the nation’s most notorious puppy mills. Animal advocates complain elected officials have essentially overruled the will of the people. Swayed by breeders who argued the law would close them down and concerned about possible future regulation for other agricultural industries, a bipartisan group of mostly rural lawmakers voted to change most of the law’s provisions.

OUTRAGE IN MISSOURI:
Legislature Guts Prop B, Rolls Back Puppy Mill Protections
In an outrageous affront to the democratic process, on Wednesday, April 13, the Missouri House of Representatives voted 85-71 to reject the will of the state’s voters and eliminate all of the newly established humane improvements outlined in the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act (PMCPA).

The PMCPA, which is scheduled to go into effect in November, was passed five months ago by popular vote as “Proposition B” to more tightly regulate conditions at the state’s thousands of commercial dog breeding facilities.

Missouri is the number-one puppy-producing state in the county, supplying pet stores from coast to coast with hundreds of thousands of dogs annually, and is notorious for its lax animal-care standards and proliferation of unlicensed breeders. Unless it is vetoed by Governor Jay Nixon, the bill the House just passed (SB 113) will not only supersede the PMCPA—which includes such humane provisions as increased cage size, prohibition on the use of wire flooring and restrictions on breeding frequency—it will make parts of the state’s commercial breeding law even weaker than they are now.

“In spite of decades of urging by the animal welfare community, the Missouri General Assembly remained silent on the issue of puppy mills until after the voters spoke. The failure of the General Assembly to address the problem is why we finally took this straight to the people,” says Cori Menkin, ASPCA Senior Director of Legislative Initiatives. “And as evidenced by the passage of Proposition B, Missourians care deeply about puppy mill reform. That state legislators are discarding Prop B and ignoring the will of the people they are supposed to represent is appalling, insulting and disrespectful.”

If the legislature succeeds in blocking implementation of the PMCPA, it could have consequences far beyond Missouri. States as close as Oklahoma, Texas and Nebraska and as distant as Hawaii are currently considering puppy mill-related measures of their own. Unfortunately, lawmakers in these states are regarding these developments in the Puppy Mill Capital of America as a bellwether of reform.

If the PMCPA is gutted in Missouri, your state’s puppy mill law might be next.

The fate of millions of dogs now hangs on the decision of one man. The ASPCA implores all of our supporters to contact everyone you know in Missouri; ask them to call Governor Nixon to urge him to veto SB 113 (please do not call the governor if you live outside Missouri). You can also help by spreading the word about this injustice—please share this article via Facebook and twitter.

"Any breeder that can’t provide a loving, in-home environment for a pregnant bitch, and a safe home environment surrounded by loving people for new born puppies, is exploitive. Anyone who breeds as a business rather than for the love of the breed is exploitive." FRANCIS BATTISTA Co-founder of Best Friends Animal Society

UPDATE

Missouri Legislature Passes Governor-Backed Puppy Mill Compromise
April 29, 2011
We’ve been updating News Alert readers since last summer about our efforts to pass common-sense, humane reforms for large-scale, commercial dog breeders in Missouri, the Puppy Mill Capital of America. On Election Day 2010, the state’s citizens approved Proposition B, the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act—and animal lovers around the country rejoiced!

Unfortunately, Prop B’s victory was just the beginning of what has become a long, drawn-out saga of might against right. In a startling development last Monday, April 18, the Missouri Department of Agriculture, representatives from the dog breeding industry, and a few agriculture special-interest groups and local animal welfare groups announced a so-called “compromise” agreement on puppy mill reform. Legislators tacked the language onto an unrelated agriculture tax bill as a last-minute amendment, and both chambers passed it on Wednesday, April 27. Governor Nixon (right), who played a part in arranging the compromise agreement, is expected to sign it into law.

“The ASPCA was not part of the negotiations and does not support the agreement,” says Cori Menkin (right), ASPCA Senior Director of Legislative Initiatives. “The language crafted by the participating groups is far from an actual compromise—instead, it guts many of the core provisions to protect dogs in commercial breeding facilities passed by voters last November.”

The agreement, which will nullify Prop B, allows the stacking of cages, leaves temperature, exercise and veterinary care requirements unenforceable, allows female dogs to be bred at every heat cycle with no rest between litters, and places no limit on the number of dogs a breeder may keep. Most significantly, it does not set specific standards, but defers to those set by the Missouri Department of Agriculture—which is free to change or lower these standards at will.

The ASPCA is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure the will of the voters is honored; to that end, we are poring over new language to determine our next steps. We are far from defeated, and the movement to protect thousands of dogs in Missouri’s puppy mills is not over!

You can help by continuing to spread the word—please share this article via
Facebook and twitter.

RELATED

Opinionator
Who Protects the Animals?
By MARK BITTMAN
April 27, 2011
Getting caught is a drag.

Just ask Kirt Espenson (right), whose employees at E6 Cattle Company in Southwest Texas were videotaped bashing cows’ heads in with pickaxes and hammers and performing other acts of unspeakably sickening cruelty.

Yet if some state legislators have their way, horrific but valuable videos like that one will never be made.

But, first, the story:
Espenson, who comes off on the phone as sincere and contrite, explained to me that he’d made a “catastrophic error in a very difficult situation,” when ultracold weather caused frostbite in some of his 20,000 cattle. He was short-staffed and had his best employees saving the endangered but viable cows while new workers were asked to “euthanize” those who were near death. Out came the hammers. “We just didn’t have the protocol to deal with it,” he told me. “I made a mistake and take full responsibility.”

The offending employees have been terminated. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Nothing like this will ever happen again.

Much as I’d like to believe Espenson, this sounds like too many other horror stories of animal cruelty, and frankly — without belittling either situation — the excuses echo Abu Ghraib. And this is far from an isolated incident. Remember the four Iowa factory farmers who pleaded guilty in 2009 to sexually abusing and beating pigs, and the abuses of downed cattle exposed by the Humane Society of the United States in 2008 at the Hallmark slaughterhouse in California, which led to the country’s biggest ever recall of meat.

The root problem is not Espenson or his company, any more than the root problem at Abu Ghraib was Lynndie England.

The problem is the system that enables cruelty and a lack not just of law enforcement but actual laws. Because the only federal laws governing animal cruelty apply to slaughterhouses, where animals may spend only minutes before being dispatched. None apply to farms, where animals are protected only by state laws.

And these may be moving in the wrong direction. In their infinite wisdom the legislatures of Iowa, Minnesota, Florida and others are considering measures that would punish heroic videographers like the one who spent two weeks as an E6 employee, who was clearly traumatized by the experience. (I spoke to him on the phone Saturday, with a guarantee of anonymity.)

Minnesota’s “ag-gag” law — isn’t that a great name? — would seek to punish not only photographers and videographers but those who distribute their work, which means organizations like the Humane Society of the United States and Mercy for Animals, which contracted the videographer for the E6 investigation. “It’s so sweeping,” says Nathan Runkle (right), the executive director of Mercy for Animals, “that if you took a picture of a dog at a pet shop and texted it to someone, that could be a crime.” Unconstitutional? Probably, but there it is.

Videotaping at factory farms wouldn’t be necessary if the industry were properly regulated. But it isn’t. And the public knows this; the one poll about the Iowa ag-gag law shows a mere 21 percent of people supporting it. And poll after poll finds that almost everyone believes that even if it costs more, farm animals should be treated humanely.

That is not the norm on factory farms. Espenson insists that it was a coincidence that the investigator for Mercy for Animals showed up just when his workers were hammering cows’ heads; the videographer believes it was routine. And, while the farmer claims that extreme weather had hurt the cows, Weather Underground recorded that the weather was far from extreme during the period in question. The investigator theorizes that weaker, less desirable animals were sickened by living in their own feces.

We can’t know. What we can know is that organizations like the Humane Society and Mercy for Animals need to be allowed to do the work that the federal and state governments are not: documenting the kind of behavior most of us abhor. Indeed, the independent investigators should be supported. As Runkle says, “The industry should be teaming up with organizations like ours to put cameras in these facilities, to advocate for mandatory training and have real euthanasia policies, things that would allow the public to trust these operations rather than fear them.”

The biggest problem of all is that we’ve created a system in which standard factory-farming practices are inhumane, and the kinds of abuses documented at E6 are really just reminders of that. If you’re raising and killing 10 billion animals every year, some abuse is pretty much guaranteed.

There is, of course, the argument that domesticating animals in order to kill them is essentially immoral; those of us who eat meat choose not to believe this. But in “Bengal Tiger,” a Broadway play set at Baghdad Zoo, the tiger — played by Robin Williams — wonders: “What if my every meal has been an act of cruelty?”

The way most animals are handled in the United States right now has to have all of us omnivores wondering the same thing.

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ISABELLA ROSSELLINI
Relishing the Part of a Dog’s Best Friend
By NEIL GENZLINGER
April 21, 2011
For young Bau, there is a lot to learn yet. For instance, that it’s not a good idea to walk your human full speed into a lamppost. Especially when your human has a money face. When she is, say, Isabella Rossellini.

Ms. Rossellini is, of course, an actress of some renown, but during a recent stroll in Midtown Manhattan, she wasn’t acting, she was training. Bau, the trainee, is a 6-month-old black Lab who, if he proves to be a good learner and have the right personality, will some day be a guide dog for a blind person.

“I do like a lot of animals, but dogs are so close to us,” Ms. Rossellini said during the stroll down Eighth Avenue with Bau. “No; leave it.” That last phrase was directed at Bau, who was eyeballing a pigeon that was pecking at someone’s trash on the sidewalk. Any other puppy would see an opportunity for fun; Bau was learning that there is no pigeon chasing while on the job.

Ms. Rossellini is a “puppy walker,” someone who will spend a year with a young dog teaching rudimentary skills and habituating the animal to crowds, bright lights, cats and, yes, pigeons. If Bau shows promise in that year, he will be turned over to another trainer to gain the specialized knowledge needed by a guide dog. The dogs, Ms. Rossellini said, can learn 200 commands.

Ms. Rossellini also walks a four-legged trainee around town in Animals Distract Me, an hourlong documentary she made for the cable channel Planet Green that is having its premiere on Saturday. In the film, that dog, Sweety, drops in on some of Ms. Rossellini’s famous friends, like the chef Mario Batali, and Ms. Rossellini gets a chance to expound not just on guide dog training but also on her broader concern for animals, cruelty-free menu choices and other subjects.

Ms. Rossellini’s acting résumé is certainly eclectic: highlights include David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” in 1986 and “Wild at Heart” in 1990, the foodie favorite “Big Night” in 1996 and a recurring role on the ABC series “Alias.” But for real eclecticism, you need to see her work as a filmmaker. In one especially ridiculous scene in “Animals Distract Me,” Ms. Rossellini and André Leon Talley (right), the fashion editor, begin talking gibberish to illustrate how Sweety perceives their conversation.

Two series of very short films that Ms. Rossellini made for the Sundance Channel, “Green Porno” and “Seduce Me,” about the sex lives of spiders, dolphins and assorted other creatures, border on the bizarre. They are droll and informational at the same time and, like some vignettes in “Animals Distract Me,” feature Ms. Rossellini in an array of outlandish costumes. For instance, the whale suit she dons to show the male half of that species in midreproduction leaves nothing to the imagination in terms of the animal’s appendages. Ms. Rossellini may have a highbrow pedigree — her father was the director Roberto Rossellini, her mother Ingrid Bergman — but she has a wicked, winking sense of humor.

“She always has a point of view about the world that is a little off center,” said Laura Michalchyshyn, president of Planet Green, part of Discovery’s group of channels.

In the new film “she’s making a big statement about how humans and our interactions influence the world, but she doesn’t do it with straight finger-pointing, she does it with humor,” added Ms. Michalchyshyn, who first worked with Ms Rossellini when she was an executive at the Sundance Channel. “She doesn’t take herself so seriously that she can’t talk dog-talk with André Leon Talley or can’t dress up as a cabbage.”

She is serious, though, about the work she does for the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind in Smithtown, N.Y., on Long Island. Bau — the name is from the Italian equivalent of the sound of a dog’s bark, as in bow-wow — is the eighth dog she has trained. She also sometimes acts as a midwife to pregnant dogs being used by the foundation; she takes them into her home in the Long Island town of Bellport and oversees the birth and the first five weeks of the puppies’ lives.

“Mostly they are Labs or golden retrievers,” Ms. Rossellini said, though efforts are being made to turn poodles into guide dogs because some people who are allergic to other breeds aren’t allergic to them. Another trend comes from war: “Now they’re breeding very big dogs that act like walking sticks” for veterans with head injuries that leave them with impaired balance, she said.

On the stroll through Midtown, at 40th and Eighth, Bau was a bit distracted by a food cart. Crosswalks were still a problem. And so were obstacles like trash cans and lampposts.

“The dog is always calculating so he doesn’t walk you into a pole,” Ms. Rossellini said, referring to fully trained dogs, not to Bau. She then demonstrated his need for work in this area by letting him walk near a lamppost. Sure enough, Bau — the dog is always on the human’s left side, by the way — didn’t have the calculation thing down yet; he left himself enough room to get past the pole, but Ms. Rossellini, had she been blind, would have clanged right into it.

An amble down a sidewalk, though, is only the simplest thing a guide dog is asked to do; any old mutt can probably manage that. But it takes a dog with a certain kind of personality, Ms. Rossellini said, to make the command decisions that are sometimes needed.

“The dog has to be obedient, but it has to be willing to overrule,” Ms. Rossellini said. For instance, a blind person going by sound may be ready to step off the curb to cross the street, but the dog needs to have the last word, in case a bicyclist or a super-quiet electric car is coming along.

“The puppies she raises for us are very well-adjusted dogs,” said Doug Wiggin, a field representative at the Smithtown foundation who has done the next level of training on some of Ms. Rossellini’s graduates. Especially useful, he said, is Ms. Rossellini’s fearlessness about taking the puppies to the city, into crowds and so on. “The puppies have quite a bit of exposure, which is great for our purposes,” he said.

The walk ended at Penn Station, a spot nicely suited to Ms. Rossellini’s needs. “All of this is fantastic for training: loudspeakers, crowds, that noise,” she said, as she prepared to disappear onto an ordinary commuter train with Bau for the trek to Long Island.

When she’s out and about with a trainee like this, who gets the most attention, the movie star or the dog?

“Probably the dog,” she said.

POLICE STORIES

OSAMA BIN LADEN DEAD NYC on High Alert May 2, 2011
PENN STATION	SUBWAY
MAY 3, 2011 Police officers on Tuesday monitored Los Angeles International Airport, one of a number of sites where security was increased. Monica Almeida/The New York Times

K-9 Retiring After 3 Operations NEW YORK May 3, 2011 He’s had a good career with the NYPD, and now Blaze is retiring after eight years with New York’s finest. The German Shepherd has had three operations and is feeling the effects. One was to relieve the pain from a pinched nerve. A second removed an infected toe and the third was for stomach bloat. His handler, Officer Benny Colvecchio, tells the Daily News that Blaze was a great and dependable partner. They worked together out of Staten Island’s 120 Precinct. The canine’s jobs included finding a body in the rubble of a Bronx fire and helping to track down a suspect. Blaze will continue to live with Colvecchio and his family, which includes five children. In the meantime, Blaze’s replacement is being trained. Officer and His Dog Play Key Role in Hunt for Remains By MANNY FERNANDEZ and TIM STELLOH April 18, 2011 Ten sets of human remains have turned up in the thick brush off Ocean Parkway on the South Shore of Long Island since December. All of them have been discovered by the police. Five of them were found by the same officer and his partner. The officer, John Mallia, a 31-year veteran of the Suffolk County Police Department and a former private investigator, is good at finding the things and people that are the hardest to find, like inmates who have escaped from the county jail. His partner is even better at it: Blue, a German shepherd, has worked with Officer Mallia since 2005. Through some combination of tenacity, luck, canine sensory skill and mathematical probabilities, Officer Mallia and his police dog have played a pivotal behind-the-scenes role in the search for a serial killer and perhaps other killers, discovering the remains along the same remote stretch of road. At least two of the searches of a nearby beach community were done on their own time. Blue has gotten scratched up in the overgrown terrain north of the parkway near Oak Beach, and so has his handler, who has gotten poison ivy from the work. “When he’s tracking, he’s relentless,” Inspector Stuart K. Cameron, commander of the Suffolk department’s special patrol bureau, said of Officer Mallia. “He’ll work and work and work. That’s what happened at Oak Beach. His persistence is what led to the discovery of that first body.” The investigation was prompted by the search for Shannan Gilbert, a 24-year-old prostitute from Jersey City who disappeared in the area last May and remains missing. One month later, the department’s missing persons bureau asked Officer Mallia to search for Ms. Gilbert. “I assumed we would find her,” he said. “I assumed she was dead. Nobody had a clue.” Over the summer, the officer and Blue searched the gated beach community where she was last seen, but came up with nothing. On Dec. 11, he returned, this time venturing west. He said he stuck close to the shoulder of the parkway, because the vegetation was so thick and because data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation showed that when bodies were dumped, most were disposed of about 30 feet from the road. That afternoon, shortly before 3 p.m., Blue picked up a scent on the parkway. “The tail starts wagging; he’s making adjustments with his head,” Officer Mallia said, adding, “There was some burlap, and most of the skeleton was there.” That discovery — the skeletal remains of a woman in a nearly disintegrated burlap sack — would be the first of several grisly finds the police would make off Ocean Parkway. Two days later, Officer Mallia and Blue returned to the area in the morning to help homicide investigators collect evidence. But about 500 feet from the first body, the officer found a second body wrapped in burlap. Officer Mallia made that discovery alone, since Blue was still in the car. By 1:20 p.m. that December day, the officer and Blue had recovered two more bodies. “It couldn’t have been colder and windier,” he said. “You didn’t feel any of that. The adrenaline just took over.” Months later, last Monday, as the search expanded to Nassau County, Officer Mallia, Blue and Joe Grella, an officer with the Nassau County Police Department’s bureau of special operations, were assigned to search a section of brush just west of the Suffolk line. “We came through some thick brush and we saw it together,” Officer Mallia said. “It looked like a skull on top of a bag. Right away, we knew what it was.” Ms. Gilbert is still missing. The four bodies found in December have been identified, as those of prostitutes. The remains found this spring have not been publicly identified. Officer Mallia is 59 years old; Blue is 7. The dog lives with the officer at his home in the Suffolk town of Brookhaven. Police work can be dangerous, for both man and beast. The officer’s previous German shepherd police dog, Boomer, was stabbed six times by a man fleeing the scene of a domestic dispute in 2004. Boomer survived but retired in 2005. Officer Mallia raised and trained Boomer and Blue since each was a puppy. Gunman sentenced to 26 years for shooting Ohio officer, police dog Dominick Conley, 20, was arrested after he shot Zanesville Police Officer Mike Schiele and his canine partner, Bosco, while resisting arrest in August 2009 By Josh Jarman From Columbus Dispatch COLUMBUS, Ohio April 13, 2011 A Muskingum County man who shot a police officer and his dog was sentenced yesterday to 26 years in prison. Dominick Conley, 20 (left), was arrested after he shot Zanesville Police Officer Mike Schiele and his canine partner, Bosco (right), while resisting arrest in August 2009. Schiele and the dog were both flown to Columbus hospitals, and Bosco spent months in rehabilitation. Conley pleaded guilty last month to felonious assault on a peace officer, assault on a police dog, kidnapping, abduction and tampering with evidence for the shooting and the rampage that followed as he fled to Canton to avoid capture. Most of the crimes carry mandatory minimum sentences because Conley used a gun to commit them. Conley's trial had been held up for more than a year and a half by repeated mental evaluations to determine whether he was fit to stand trial. He had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity before pleading guilty in March. He could have faced more than 47 years in prison, but Muskingum County Common Pleas Judge Mark C. Fleegle sentenced him to 26 years in exchange for his guilty pleas, one more year than was recommended by prosecutors. Fleegle agreed to dismiss two of the abduction charges and an aggravated-burglary charge against Conley for breaking into his mother's apartment and holding his mother and a family friend at gunpoint on the night of the shooting, part of the sequence of events that Muskingum County Prosecutor D. Michael Haddox called a "one-man crime spree." Haddox said that, after the shooting, Conley carjacked a 20-year-old woman whose 10-day-old child also was in the car. He forced her to drive to his mother's Zanesville-area apartment, where he let the woman and her infant go uninjured. Conley broke into the apartment and, finding no one there, traveled to his grandfather's house, also in Zanesville, where he briefly held six family members at gunpoint before leaving for Canton. Assistant Prosecutor Robert Smith said Conley's sentence "fairly represented the damage he did and the trouble he caused everybody." He said Schiele was aware of the hearing but chose not to attend. Schiele could not be reached for comment yesterday. Bosco was retired from police work after the shooting and now serves as a good-will ambassador for the department. An outpouring of community support during his recovery raised thousands of dollars for the department's canine division, which is funded through private donations. Schiele has since returned to work with another dog, Tino.

U.S. K-9 MEMORIAL MONUMENTS

CASTLE ROCK CO	BLACKBURG VA	PINEVILLE KY	STANISLAUS COUNTY CA	MIAMI FL