Together Tag can help dogs like Dogster's very own Kyra, who disappeared last week from her backyard in Crestview, Fla. This is a partial poster (not a Together Tag one) from her person, Ronni. To find out more about Kyra or how to contact Ronni, please see her Dogster page, http://www.dogster.com/dogs/776087

This just in! Dogster’s/Catster’s Together Tag has just launched a new Lost Dog – Lost Cat section on its site which enables you to view lost cats and lost dogs in your area (as well as all pets in the system) and post their profiles via Twitter and Facebook to get the word out.

It takes only a minute or two to sign up your own pets for the service, and it’s absolutely free. Once you’re registered, you can upload your pets’ photos, provide medical histories, your contact info, your pets’ Catster/Dogster IDs and more. If your dog goes missing, you can automatically create Lost Dog flyers to post in your neighborhood.

But don’t wait until your best friend goes missing to create a profile. You can set up free profiles for all your pets now. This is especially helpful if you lose your pets during a fire, flood, or other disaster which keeps you from your home. Even if all photos of your pets are destroyed, you’ll still be able to create missing pet posters with photos from their online Together Tag profiles.

You can also purchase a premium pet ID tag from Together Tag that will enable anyone who finds your pet not only to contact you immediately, but to learn if your pet is on meds and get in touch with out-of-area contacts if you can’t be reached. In the event of a natural disaster in which you might be unreachable, this could ensure that your pet receives medical attention or that a friend or family member can pick up your dog and keep him safe until you can be reunited.

Check out the new Lost Dogs and Lost Cats site to check out lost pets in your area. And while you’re at it, register your pets for peace of mind that won’t cost you a cent.

(We send a grateful woof to Catster blogger Karen Nichols for providing us with much of the text about this important service.)

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This is Pippin, a Miniature Pinscher. He may have been one of the dogs stolen in Tuesday's crime.

UPDATE 1/22/10: Dogster Cody’s Mom sent us a link to a new article in her local Tenn. paper that reports investigators have found that this dognapping did not occur, but that the animals are, indeed, missing. The article states the shelter had been neglecting these dogs to the point of starvation. This is even more heinous, especially since so many of these dogs have terrible physical problems. I will post an article later today with all the information.

Dogsters, it’s time to keep your eagle eyes peeled! At around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, two men allegedly broke into a Johnson City, Tenn., animal rescue and made off with 14 rescued dogs.

This is Blush. She survived being dumped off a bridge, and is still recuperating. She may be among the dogs stolen from the shelter.

This was no small feat, and these are no small dogs.  The bounty included 11 Dobermans , one black lab, and one shepherd mix. (A Miniature Pinscher is the only small dog in the lot.) One dog has only three legs, one is blind, and several have other serious health conditions, reports WCYB. There’s a chance that some of the dogs escaped during the crime, and are not with the dognappers.

“Please be on the lookout,” implores Brad Josselyn, who runs the shelter. “They are very friendly dogs.”

An employee was stabbed (fairly superficially, thankfully) on her side during her attempts to stop the crime. The assailant escaped with the dogs in a white utility van with no back windows, according to TriCities.com.

Here’s the Craigslist ad put out by the shelter, Cool School for Dogs/Canine Hope All Breed Rescue. You can apparently get updates on the rescue’s Twitter page, but as of this writing there’s been only the initial tweet about the situation. So far, the rescue’s website has no news of the dognapping.

Police are searching for the men. Shelter workers fear the dogs could be sold for research. Fortunately some of the dogs had already been microchipped.

In a note to Dogster today, shelter friend LaDonna Cable asked for us to tell people to even look for the dogs being sold at local flea markets.

The shelter is offering a “sizable reward” for information for the dogs’ return, according to the WCYB report.

If you have any information, call:  (423) 928-3647 or your local animal shelter.

This just in: More than a dozen dogs and cats were stolen over the weekend from a shelter in the adjacent state of Kentucky. Is there a relationship? Probably not, since the towns aren’t close to each other. But shelters in those areas might want to tighten up on security, just in case.

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The people who wouldn’t let one of the men in the new film, MINE (reviewed today on Dogster), get his dog back after months and then years of being wrenched apart by Hurrican Katrina need to watch this video. I doubt the man’s dog will ever forget him. And he will never forget his dog. (I’m not using names, otherwise I’d give away the film’s ending. Check out the review below, if you already haven’t.)

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Rev. Josephina Chavez had breast cancer, but didn’t know it. Her beloved Maltese, Contessa, helped her discover the cancer by pawing at the area. The little dog may have been instrumental in saving Chavez’ life.

Two days ago someone stole Contessa. Chavez, understandably, was utterly devastated. She went public yesterday, on a Seattle TV station, begging for Contessa’s return. If you like happy endings, the video below is for you.

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I received a few woofs about this happy story.  A bomb training Australian Labrador, Sabi, went missing a year ago in the Afghan desert during the heat of battle.  A few days ago she was   found by an American serviceman and now Sabi is back home on an Australian base at Tarin Kowt.

Here are the details from The Sydney Morning Herald.

The plucky canine had been missing in action for more than a year and all hope appeared lost, given that she had disappeared into the desert landscape of Afghanistan’s south.

She went missing during a battle that led to Australian SAS soldier Trooper Mark Donaldson securing a Victoria Cross for holding out Taliban insurgents.

Nine soldiers were wounded during the encounter, and the party got separated from the dog during the fight.

Sabi was picked up and incarcerated by enemy combatants before her rescue by the US soldier, identified as John.

Back on the base yesterday, Sabi appeared composed and relaxed, posing for cameras and meeting Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and US General Stanley McChrystal.

It’s reported that Sabi is doing fine, no signs of stress.  Welcome home Sabi!

*Photo ADF

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