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Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale — a tail, really — about a brave beagle and a family's refusal to give up. Buddy, a 4-year-old beagle, was reunited with his New Jersey family on Monday after 98 days spent on unihabited Gull Island in New Jersey' Manasquan Inlet. The Kelleys, of Eatontown, N.J., lost control of Buddy on Aug. 31 as the family attempted to switch the dog's leash while frolicking on Dog Beach in the Manasquan. Two months later, Buddy — who had lost so much weight he was little more than skin and bones —...

“Global Warming” got busted this week. It’s a HOAX. The Hoax was designed to make you spend trillions on “Climate Taxes.” But a hacker broke into the UN’s favorite climate research lab, and downloaded thousands of e-mails between the “scientists.” How inconvenient…..

CLEARWATER — If a dog were to accompany a restaurant chef to work, most people would have no problem with a state inspector kicking the dog to the curb. But when the food vendor happens to be a gas station, and its offerings stop at cans of Coke and bags of Doritos, and the dog is a charismatic chocolate Labrador named Cody, the response evolves into a public outcry — against the state. "Thumbs down on the Department of Agriculture. Tackle some real problems. Human customers bring more contamination — not to mention danger — than a well-cared-for pooch," said...

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- A state health inspector says a dog familiar to many regular customers at a Gulf coast gas station will no longer be able to join his owner at work. The Clearwater BP station's owner, Karim Mansour, received a warning from the Florida Department of Health on Thursday, informing him that Cody would have to go or all of the store's food - mostly bottled soda, candy and other snacks - would be declared unfit for consumption.

A pet owner knows the enormous joy and comfort that an animal can provide, especially in troubled times. Most pets are considered important members of the family and irreplaceable companions. A growing body of research now documents the value of the human-animal bond in child development, elderly care, mental illness, physical impairment, dementia, abuse and trauma recovery, and the rehabilitation of incarcerated youth and adults. In two articles in a recent issue of Family Process, titled "Human-Animal Bonds I," (focused on the benefits of companion animals) and "Human-Animal Bonds II," (focused on their role in couple and family dynamics and...

"Oh geez. Is this really graphic really necessary? We found it over at CBS 5, attached to today's "2 Pit Bulls Who Mauled Dog Shot In East Palo Alto" item. The story goes like this: An East Palo Alto cop "shot two pit bulls" that had just mauled a tiny poodle mix as it was being walked by its owner last night. Then, the aggressive pooches "approached responding officers in a 'vicious manner,'" which is when the fuzz had no other choice but to open fire, killing the dogs. But these kind of headlines and jarring graphics, of course,...

Rockville City Police shot and killed a 120-pound Rottweiler/Pit Bull dog early Sunday morning after it viciously attacked its owner and attempts to control the dog through other means -- even a taser gun -- failed. Police said they were called to the 5800 block of Ridgeway Avenue in the Twinbrook area at about 6:20 p.m. That's where they found a 38-year-old man with bite wounds and cuts to his arms, and puncture wounds to his chest and thigh.

WHITE MILLS — An autopsy on Thursday revealed that Karen Gillespie — the White Mills woman found dead near her residence Wednesday morning — was killed by head injuries sustained in a dog attack. Deputy Hardin County Coroner John Clemens said the majority of Gillespie’s injuries were head-related and she died shortly after the attack. Clemens’ investigation also revealed Gillespie died between 4:15 and 5 p.m. Tuesday evening — more than 12 hours before her body was found on a Webb Mill Road property adjacent to the home of the dog’s owners. The dog Kentucky State Police believe attacked and...

The end of the trail is near for Isobel. The nine-year-old Siberian husky-malamute cross will retire in January, five years after she lost her sight. In January 2005, veterinarians told her owners, Gerald and Jenofar Azure of Churchill, that Isobel couldn't work as a sled dog ever again due to blindness from a virus. Isobel, however, had other ideas. "Isobel went absolutely wild, she wanted to run," recalled Jenofar Azure. The dog's story is one of incredible heart that has caught international attention. NBC will air a feature about Isobel during its 2010 Winter Olympics coverage. Tourists come to Churchill...

"Cookie," the unofficial mascot for the U.S. Army 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, sits inside a Soldier's backpack at Combat Outpost Jeleran, Afghanistan, Nov. 20, 2009.

The Las Vegas city council passed a new ordinance this past week requiring most cats and dogs to be spay or neutered by four months of age, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. The ordinance, which passed the city council by a vote of 5 to 2, is an effort to help curb pet overpopulation. The ordinance takes effect April 1 and will be reviewed annually. It is in response to Southern Nevada’s pet overpopulation problem and had support from local veterinarians and animal rescue groups, according to the Review-Journal. It's noted that the Lied Animal Shelter, which services Las Vegas,...

BOSTON -- An English mastiff that was ordered to be euthanized after it bit a 23-year-old woman and, separately, the wife of Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield, was spared by a Hingham court official this week who ruled to reverse the dog’s death sentence. Gabriella, the 8-year-old mastiff, had been a fixture at the South Street art gallery owned by Megan and Rob Ullman, the Hingham Square Gallery, for about five years. Police took notice of Gabriella in June 2008, however, when the 37-year-old wife of knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, Stacey Wakefield, was bitten by the dog. Stacey Wakefield, who lives...

Police in the Lithuanian town of Kaunas arrested 22-year-old Svajunas Beniukas on animal cruelty charges after internet users helped police identify him and the bridge from which the small brown dog was thrown. The video shows a man holding the dog, called Pipiras, Lithuanian for pepper, and laughing as his friend records the event on his mobile phone. Checking that the coast is clear, he makes a joke about dogs flying and then drops the animal off the bridge. Crashing onto a farm track below, Pipiras yelps in pain, and lies twitching on the ground. But despite falling over 20...

My introduction to Adam, a scrappy little puppy, white, fluffy-coated, pug-nosed Shih Tzu, was sudden, thrust upon me be my then wife. We had agreed not to get pets without consulting each other. “But, he was sooooo cute, and Sarah (our not quite one-year old) just loves him,” she said. “And he only cost $600!” “What!?!” I exclaimed. She quickly retorted that it was an investment. We could breed him because he was pure and had papers. A week later, she had poor Adam fixed. So much for my Shih Tzu Ranch Empire. Maybe that’s when I started to feel...

HE has always been five miles from Gundagai [Australia] but now the nation's most famous dog and his tuckerbox are to be relocated to lure tourists to the town. Historians are outraged at the idea of moving the iconic statue from its spot of 77 years, just off the Hume Highway, to the far end of town to drag tourists through it. The town is split between those who want tourist dollars funnelled into their drought-stricken tills and those outraged at the changing of history. A consultant has been paid $20,000 by the Gundagai Shire Council to survey the community...

Since being crowned "World's Tallest Dog," on Thursday by Guinness World Records, Titan, a 4 year-old Great Dane, has appeared on the Today Show and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. "It's been awesome," the dog's owner, Diana Taylor, tells Pet News Examiner. "I've been amazed at the response he's gotten from people." His website, Titan & Friends, received so many hits that it exceeded the bandwidth and was temporarily shut down. Taylor hopes to use Titan's newfound fame to help the public learn more about Great Danes and especially those that are all white. "Unscrupulous breeders will sell these...

Pennsylvania SPCA workers had the unwelcome task yesterday of sifting through the remains of five animals that apparently had been sacrificed, officials said. A passer-by found the beheaded animals - a dog, a cat and three chickens - near a bike path on Bingham Street near Roosevelt Boulevard in Olney about 1 p.m., said George Bengal, the PSPCA's director of investigations. "It looks like the act was done somewhere else, and the remains were left here in the park," Bengal said. PSPCA officials often see a rise in animal sacrifices at this time of the year, Bengal noted, because it...

Animal welfare activists and pet lovers Friday demanded that a dog that survived being thrown off the sixth-story roof of a Brooklyn building this summer be allowed to live. After months of working to rehabilitate the 1-year-old, brown-and-white pit bull mix named Oreo, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it planned to euthanize her because of her unpredictable aggression. But that reasoning was rejected by hundreds of people across the country in e-mails, calls and Twitter messages to the ASPCA. At least one pet sanctuary in New York offered to take in the dog. "The...

Legendary quarterback Joe Namath lost a battle to keep his 6-year-old dog from being declared dangerous. A special magistrate at a Thursday afternoon hearing declared Namath's yellow labrador retriever, Leo, as dangerous. The dog is not allowed outside without a muzzle and a leash and must be handled at all times, even in his own yard. The dog is only allowed to be without a leash and muzzle if he is in a kennel.

Sabi a sniffer dog who went missing in action after a battle in Afghanistan has miraculously been found safe and sound after more than a year in the desert reports the Associated Press .

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A sniffer dog that went missing in action after a battle in Afghanistan has been found safe and well after more than a year in the desert. Sabi the black Labrador was with a joint Australian-Afghan army patrol when it was ambushed by Taliban militants in September 2008. Nine soldiers were wounded in the ensuing gun battle, which earned one Australian SAS trooper the country's highest bravery award. But there was no sign of the bomb-sniffing dog after the battle in a remote area of Uruzgan province. Sabi's handlers spent months scouring the desert looking for the four-year-old animal, but...

A sniffer dog lost in battle in Afghanistan 14 months ago has turned up safe and well and rejoined its Australian unit. Defence officials said Sabi the dog was recovered by a US soldier at an isolated patrol base. The black labrador bitch was with a joint Australian-Afghan patrol that was ambushed in Uruzgan province in September 2008. Nine Australian soldiers, including Sabi's trainer, were wounded in the exchange. After the battle there was no sign of the dog, and months of searching failed to find her. Sabi was officially declared Missing In Action.

SYDNEY - A bomb-sniffing dog that disappeared during a fierce battle in Afghanistan between Australian troops and militant fighters has been found and returned to its unit after more than a year. And Sabi the black labrador is getting a celebrity welcome home. Sabi was with a joint Australian-Afghan army patrol ambushed in restive Uruzgan province in September 2008, triggering a gunfight that wounded nine troops and earned one Australian soldier the country's highest bravery medal.

An Australian special forces explosive detection dog has been found after going missing in action in Afghanistan 14 months ago. Sabi, a four-year-old black Labrador, was returned to the Australian base at Tarin Kowt after she had been found by an American soldier wandering in a remote area of the southern province of Oruzgan last week. The US soldier, named only as John, knew his Australian counterparts had lost their favourite canine companion during a gun battle involving Australian, US and Afghan special forces fighting against Taleban insurgents in southeastern Afghanistan last September. Nine Australian soldiers, including Sabi’s handler, were...

The clutch of walkers in San Pedro stood and gawked with disbelief. They watched as a man got out of his car, played for a bit with his beautiful, muscular pit bull, and then got back in the vehicle and drove off – without his dog. A suddenly slap-happy canine – left behind by his despicable owner – discovered a new found joy in his freedom as a rover. For a few moments in his life, there was no leash, no owner, no Alpha boss -- and a Los Angeles park right beneath his paws to explore. The jolly canine...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is issuing this health alert to warn consumers not to use Pig Ears and Beef Hooves pet treats manufactured by Pet Carousel because the products may be contaminated with Salmonella. The products were distributed nationwide in both bulk and retail packaging for sale in pet food and retail chain stores. Pet Carousel is based in Sanger, Calif. The products were manufactured under conditions that facilitate cross-contamination within batches or lots. Although no illnesses associated with these products have been reported, the FDA is advising consumers in possession of these products to not handle or...

<p>Janet Torren sensed something was wrong when the animal control officer didn’t return her calls. When she reached the officer, it seemed peculiar that her story changed with each question, she said.</p> <p>It was not until Torren threatened to call police last month that she learned the Stoughton official in charge of finding stray dogs had given away her “little princess,’’ a 4-year-old Yorkshire terrier that Torren calls Shai.</p>

Thanks for killing the planet, dog owners. Well, that's a rough paraphrase of a New Zealand study that claims a medium-size dog leaves a larger ecological footprint than an SUV. In "Time to Eat the Dog? The Real Guide to Sustainable Living," authors Robert and Brenda Vale argue that resources required to feed a dog — including the amount of land needed to feed the animals that go into its food — give it about twice the eco-footprint of, say, building and fueling a Toyota Land Cruiser.

But I have a problem with pit bulls. And it has more to do with the two-legged creatures holding their leashes (if there is a leash).Because of their sheer numbers—estimates show that there are anywhere from 5 million to 10 million pit-bull-type dogs in the U.S. today, out of about 61 million total dogs—pits have become the dog du jour for a lot of people, not just gangbangers and wannabe thugs who use a pit as proxy for toughness. About 20 percent of dogs in ASPCA shelters are pit mixes. I've seen those who adopt these dogs for all the...

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- Man and dog reunite for the first time in a decade. Gary Rowley greeted his Boxer-lab mix "Brindle" Sunday morning with a smile and a leash. "His coloring hasn't changed except his gray snout. [It] used to be black. But my god! I didn't realize he was so thin! He's definitely taller!"

The complaint that led to her firing began as a routine missing dog case. Rochester resident Janet Torren said her 4-year-old dog, Shai, went missing on Sept. 18 after it escaped while she was visiting her son’s home on Birch Street. Torren said the dog had a microchip implanted in her ear. She said she called the microchip company, 24PetWatch.com, and learned the Stoughton dog officer had scanned the chip into the system on Sept. 18. Torren said she called the dog officer on Sept. 21, and Bousquet said in a taped message that she had no knowledge of the...

A dog rescued by a retired police officer attacked him Sunday — inflicting hideous wounds on his face. "The doctors and nurses have never seen anything like this," said John Wess, a friend of the victim. Jim Stewart, 53, of Woodbury, reportedly suffered a severed ear and had the skin torn away from most of his face in the attack. He was listed Thursday evening in good condition at Regions Hospital in St. Paul. "He has not seen himself in a mirror, and we are pretty worried about that," said Wess, a retired St. Paul police officer and longtime friend....

Otto Jones, a Dachshund terrier cross from Shropshire, may be the oldest dog in the world at 20 years and eight month - but he still knows how to play. He has been recognised as the oldest living dog by Guinness World Records and, despite his age, still enjoys playing ball with neighbours' children. His owners Lynn and Peter Jones, from Shrewsbury, said he was a "loveable, affectionate rogue".

FISHERSVILLE — Dog influenza has come to the Shenandoah Valley. An Augusta County veterinarian last week confirmed the first area case of canine influenza, H3N8, a virus informally documented by the Virginia Veterinarian Medicine Association only six times in state history. “We knew it was coming,” Cedarcrest Animal Clinic veterinarian William Olkowski said Friday. Considered a horse virus until late 2003, H3N8 mutated and began to spread among dogs, Olkowski said. The local confirmation is not cause for alarm, he said, but vaccination is recommended for some dogs. Owners of dogs that come into contact with other dogs at shows,...

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia,- An Internet campaign has been started to help a 75-year-old Canadian man burned out of his home to get his dog back from a foster home. Earl Shadbolt lost his house in Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia, to a fire in April, and the apartment he took while repairs were made wouldn't allow him to keep his terrier-mix dog Willie, The (Halifax) Chronicle-Herald reported Friday. Shadbolt made arrangements with fellow church member Laura Naugler to board the dog until he could move back in, but things turned nasty in August when he moved back home and asked for...

cheating wife was caught by her husband after he spotted their faithful Yorkshire terrier tied up outside a bar. The 40-year-old man was out with the couple's two young children when he spotted the dog tethered to a lamp post. The pet happily started barking when he spotted his master.

Metro Vancouver dog owners have forgotten Fido, rejected Rover and pretty much scrapped Rags. Since the turn of the century, your furry friend has a better chance of having a human name than a traditional canine moniker. Enter Max, Charlie, Molly, Lucy, Sam and Abby. Max is widely reported to be the most popular dog name on the planet and The Vancouver Sun's 100,000-entry dog-name database shows that local dog owners are true to the trend. There are 1,347 dogs named Max registered in the 15 municipalities that contributed data to the project, good for first overall. The global dominance...

After running over a dog on a rural road in McClellanville on Thursday morning, the driver of a pickup truck tried to "put the dog out of its misery" by whacking the animal with a machete and a hammer, authorities said. The dog's owner heard the dog's plaintive yelping and ran out of his house, grabbed the machete and hammer and started waling away with the hammer, attacking the man who had been attacking his dog. The driver was hospitalized with a skull fracture. The dog's owner is in jail, accused of trying to kill the driver. The dog, whose...

Samantha is one lucky dog. You wouldn't know it, though, if you saw her Aug. 11. Someone had shot her in the face and left her to die inside a locked mobile home in Ellsworth, Wis. But lucky for Samantha, police came knocking that day. Bloody dog prints outside the home were a sure sign something was wrong. Doug Ducklow, an investigator for the Pierce County sheriff's office, had gone to the home to follow up on an unrelated case when he found the blood. Looking through a window, he couldn't believe what he saw: a skinny dog with part...

A North Carolina woman said a family's lost dachshund apparently walked 80 miles toward home before she found him outside a church. Marcie Morgan said she found the small dog in some bushes outside a Hillsborough, N.C., church where her husband serves as pastor and located the canine's family by posting an ad on the Web site Craigslist, WTVD-TV, Raleigh-Durham, N.C., reported Wednesday. Morgan said the Richmond, Va., family told her it had lost the dog during a camping trip in Advance, N.C. She said the dog apparently walked 80 of the 295 miles between the campsite and the family's...

Pit bulls are always earning notoriety as fighting dogs, attack dogs and all around vicious canines, but East Lincoln's Phil Hemby has one specimen of the square-headed breed earning a new name for itself. And that name is lifesaver. Well, not quite ... Shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday, Hemby stepped out to take Slim, his 2-year-old pit terrier, for a joy ride in his Yamaha Rhino ATV around the Hemby Farms chicken houses off Townsend Drive. But the normally docile dog was in a rage - barking, snarling and driving him back - and wouldn't let him approach the machine....

Dachshunds from all over the metroplex traveled to Southlake to compete in the Wiener Dog Races.

TUCSON, Ariz. — When you're the biggest dog in the world, you make your own rules. You cruise by countertops of an outdoor kitchen and adjacent barbecue and lower your calf-sized head a notch to sniff out any crumbs from a recent party. You nuzzle up to a bystander, easing your floppy, foot-long ears into the middle of his chest to request some lovin'. You saunter up to a couch, twist your 42-inch-tall, 245-pound body into a puppy pirouette and land your rump on your owner's lap to take a load off. Such is life for 4-year-old George, the Greatest...

Guiness Book Record Breakers Boomer from North Dakota is now the world's biggest dog.Boomer, a 180-pound Landseer Newfoundland dog, stands with owner Caryn Weber at her home south of Casselton, N.D. The dog measures seven feet from nose to tail and stands 36 inches tall at the shoulders. Weber will send his measurements to Guinness World Records for consideration as the tallest living dog. The previous record holder was a Great Dane that died this summer. He measured just over 42 inches at the shoulders.

Obama wins 2009 AKC "Best of SHow".

What do you expect? There's so much s#@t going on in the White House they probably didn't notice! Did the First Dog Leave a Number Two on Air Force One? Washington Wire- WSJ October 7, 2009 The mystery begins in a Pittsburgh bar where several high-flying airline types met last month. The group swapped stories over drinks when three people present let loose with a good tale. Bo, the presidential puppy, recently left a present on the presidential jet, they said, and a flight attendant had nearly stepped in it. A White House press official was certain—the scoop on the...

The mystery begins in a Pittsburgh bar where several high-flying airline types met last month. The group swapped stories over drinks when three people present let loose with a good tale. Bo, the presidential puppy, recently left a present on the presidential jet, they said, and a flight attendant had nearly stepped in it. Associated Press Bo, the Obama family dog, walks away from Air Force One Aug. 30, 2009, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., upon the Obamas’ arrival from a vacation in Martha’s Vineyard. “You can imagine the horror on board when they discovered what it had done,”...

MARICOPA — Maricopa's police chief has been ordered to turn in his gun and stay away from four people after he shot and killed their dog. Lisa Chavez filed for a temporary restraining order against Chief Gene Fretheim after he fatally shot her pit bull mix, Matty, on Sept. 8. Her lawyer calls the chief a "loose canon" who shot the dog even though it already had been snared by a dog catcher. Fretheim says he opened fire because it was acting aggressively and already had bitten a city employee. A Kern County court commissioner granted Chavez's request Friday and...

Note: The following text is a quote: Home » Briefing Room » Justice News Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden Speaks at Project Gunrunner Press Conference HOUSTON ~ Thursday, October 1, 2009 Good morning. I am happy to be here today with ATF Acting Director Melson and our partners in state and local law enforcement to highlight the real successes of Project Gunrunner and announce our plans to build upon those accomplishments. This administration and this Justice Department have made protecting the integrity of our Southwest Border a top priority. That means stemming the tide of illegal drugs and illegal...