Well, not exactly. A suburban Seattle, WA woman registered her Australian shepherd-terrier mix, Duncan, to vote. Jane Balogh wanted to expose a loophole in the law which makes voter registration so easy that any person, or dog, could be added to the voter rolls.
Jane Balogh (BAY’-loh) had been charged with making a false statement but entered into a plea agreement last year. A King County judge dismissed the charge Monday after Balogh showed that she had paid $240 in court costs and completed community service.
I wonder how long Duncan was sentenced to the doghouse for his part in this scheme?
In Berwyn Heights, MD the mayor’s house was raided on a drug bust, his two black labs were shot, and now it appears the entire incident may have been a huge mistake.
Mayor Cheye Calvo got home from work, saw a package addressed to his wife on the front porch and brought it inside, putting it on a table.
Suddenly, police with guns drawn kicked in the door and stormed in, shooting to death the couple’s two dogs and seizing the unopened package.
In it were 32 pounds of marijuana. But the drugs evidently didn’t belong to the couple.
Chief of Police, Melvin High, is now saying Calvo and his family were “most likely … innocent victims, of a drug smuggling scheme in which packages were shipped to unknowing recipients and intercepted.” The officers have not apologized about shooting the dogs saying they felt threatened.
Calvo insisted the couple’s two black Labradors were gentle creatures and said police apparently killed them “for sport,” gunning down one of them as it was running away.
“Our dogs were our children,” said the 37-year-old Calvo. “They were the reason we bought this house because it had a big yard for them to run in.”
Mayor Calvo has asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the county police raid on his home during which his dogs were killed, and the department agreed.
On Sunday night, supporters gathered on a ball field to pay tribute to the family and the dogs.
After Uno the beagle won the 2008 Westminster Dog Show you would think that it would have been a giant step forward for the rights of all beagles. However, you’d be wrong. Poor Hank the beagle has been banned from the dump and a parade, a double whammy. This story out of Eastham, MA isn’t exactly as it seems.
It all began in May, when Hank - a fixture at the town transfer station for two years - was summarily banished by Amaral’s new boss.
Neil Andres, the new Public Works Superintendant, would not allow Hank at the transfer station because he didn’t believe pets should be brought to work. While Janet Amaral did obey orders and leave Hank home she thought of a way to showcase her housebound beagle.
To show the town just what it was banning, she also planned to showcase Hank and local beagles in need of homes on their own float in the Sept. 7 “Windmill Weekend” parade, complete with a soundtrack that would include “Bad Reputation” and “You Better be Good to Me.”
The choice of music for the float may have been just enough to get Hank banished from the float. “The music might have rubbed it in a bit,” Amaral said. “But it would also be a chance for people to meet this dog that never bothered anyone.”
Dowman and his committee, however, believe a “Hank” float would only “continue to fan a confrontation.”
“This situation has been building into a rivalry between an employee and the administration,” Dowman said, “and we just don’t want to get in the middle of it.”
In Fairhope, AL the mayoral race is heating up. Willie Bean, one of seven candidates, wants your votes. This wouldn’t be so strange except he’s only 7 years old and a yellow labrador.
“I think he polishes up the field,” said Vince Kilborn, 66, of Fairhope. “We need new blood.” Some of his supporters say all the politicking, name-dropping and sign-maneuvering in the seven-man Fairhope mayoral race is wearing on them weeks ahead of the Aug. 26 election.
While he may have some supporters Willie Bean also has his share of opponents.
Willie Bean may not be up for that rough-and-tumble world.
“When a little dog barks at him, he cringes and he runs away,” owner Tress Turner told the Press-Register in a story Sunday.
Before you think Willie Bean doesn’t have a shot, keep in mind some of his fellow politicians who beat the odds.
In 2004, Rabbit Hash, Ky., elected Junior Cochran, a black Lab, as mayor. It was the second canine elected to lead the small Northern Kentucky town, according to the town’s Web site. The first was a mutt named Goofy Borneman, according to Laurie Lamblin, a resident and employee of the town’s historic general store.
In the Hoefinger household Willie Bean can count on 12 paws in his favor.
Now, I’ve think I’ve heard everything. It always amazes me that there is more concern for criminals than the victims, human or canine.
UNITED KINGDOM - Police dog handlers have been told to consider whether criminals could be frightened of dogs before using them in raids or searches.
They should also think carefully about the possibility of suspects being allergic to dog hair, according to draft guidelines drawn up by senior officers.
Lately there have been a rash of stories involving police dogs that have been abused, but unbelievably, here is a proposal that worries about the rights of the criminal.
The proposals follow fears that suspects with medical conditions affected by dogs could sue forces which authorise the animals’ use during arrests or raids.
Perhaps, if you’re not doing anything illegal you won’t have a police K9 trying to nip you in the behind.
‘The traditional shout of “stand still or I will set the dog on you” will presumably now have to become “excuse me, my police dog is quite hairy and might cause alarm as he sinks his fangs into your right thigh - is that all right with you?”
If only lawmakers would focus on creating laws that impose stricter penalties on animal abusers, what a better world it would be.
A serving dog handler, who asked not to be named, declared: ‘I have never heard anything so ridiculous. What’s next? Sparing people custody because they have a fear of enclosed spaces?
Thanks to the Dogster member who sent in this plea for support. If you live in Pennsylvania, please act now. If you don’t but know people who do, please alert them.
House Bill 2525 is now out of Committee and is on its way to the House floor for vote. This is the puppy mill law, and it is CRITICAL that you call your PA state Representative (not federal). Calling carries more weight than email.
If you don’t know your representative, go to this site and (top right corner) enter your 5-digit zip code plus the 4-digit extension. Ask them to support HB 2525.
This is the bill we’ve been waiting for to help reduce the number of dogs in puppy mills and end suffering.
Photo Courtesy of The HSUS
Additionally, ask your Representative to support HB 2532 (the de-barking and birthing bill). The puppy millers stick steel pipes down dogs’ throats to destroy their vocal cords so they don’t have to hear the dogs barking, and it keeps them quiet so the public isn’t aware of where these mills are located. This bill “should” end this action. I say “should” only because we should expect that some will continue this horrible practice. Currently puppy millers are also cutting open the stomachs of dogs during birthing without anesthesia.
From The Humane Society:
The HSUS Commends the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee for Passing Important Anti-Cruelty Legislation
HARRISBURG, Pa. (June 24, 2008)
The Humane Society of the United States commends the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee for approving a bill addressing some of the cruelest practices employed by puppy mills today.
The legislation now advances to the full House of Representatives. Introduced by Rep. Thomas Caltagirone (D-Berks), HB 2532 seeks to outlaw abusive practices employed by breeders in Pennsylvania’s puppy mills, including debarking, performing surgery on pregnant dogs to remove the puppies, and tail docking.
Under current law, it is completely legal for commercial breeders in Pennsylvania to perform surgical births by slicing open the stomachs of pregnant dogs, removing the puppies, and sewing the dogs back up. There is not any requirement that the breeders have any veterinary training, use anesthesia, or conduct the operations in sterile conditions. Breeders may also perform painful debarking by ramming a metal pipe or other object down a dog’s throat to rupture the vocal cords and render the dog mute, again without anesthesia and while the dog is fully conscious.
The provisions of HB 2532 are common sense to anyone. Only licensed veterinarians should be authorized to perform surgery on these dogs, says Sarah Speed, The HSUS’ Pennsylvania state director. “For too long, commercial breeders have abused the laxity in the law to maximize profit at the expense of the well-being of the dogs and the unwitting consumer.”
HB 2532 will also close a loophole in the law that allows commercial breeders to escape prosecution for animal cruelty. Under the current law, only a Humane Society Police Officer has the ability to cite a breeder for animal cruelty. In counties where there is no such officer, a breeder may escape citation. Currently there are three counties in Pennsylvania that do not have a Humane Society Police Officer. HB 2532 will close this loophole by allowing Dog Law Wardens in the counties without officers to issue citations for animal cruelty within the limited scope of performance of their inspection duties.
The Humane Society of the United States is working in conjunction with The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Pennsylvania Legislative Animal Network to pursue this important legislative effort in Pennsylvania.
What are these big, bad hunters thinking? Thousands of pets across the US are being abandoned in shelters or left to suffer in abandoned homes and these guys want to wage a turf war.
May I suggest that if you or someone you know is a member of this group you let them know that you care more about the dogs and cats that are dying needlessly because of their petty behavior.
BTW, when I checked the U.S. Sportsmans’ Alliance Partner Link page I noticed that a number of breed clubs are shown as supporting this group. These breed clubs include the American Brittney Club, the Jack Russell Terrier Club of America, and the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America. Inc. If I belonged to any of these groups I would let them know I don’t appreciate their support of the U.S. Sportsmans’ Alliance.
Hunting Industry Group Sets its Sights on Pets
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance takes aim at animals when they’re most vulnerable. Polar bears in the Arctic, as their ice floes are vanishing, body weights are declining, and populations are dwindling. Mourning doves in states where they’ve been protected for decades as backyard songbirds, still nursing their young during September target practice. Endangered antelope stocked in fenced pens for captive trophy hunts, where they have neither the opportunity nor the inclination to escape.
But now this Ohio-based trade association for weapons manufacturers has stooped to a new low. By firing with its blunderbuss, the group is going to wind up with dogs and cats in its trophy case—just when these abandoned pets need our help the most.
It looks like puppy mills finally have an opponant they can’t shake off — Oprah!
Thanks to Mary O. of BanOhiodogAuctions for barking in this article. The first article is about Oprah’s show tomorrow where she is expected to call for passage of the Pennsylvania legislation that cracks down on puppy mills.
Oprah to push Pa. dog law
By Amy Worden
INQUIRER HARRISBURG BUREAU
HARRISBURG - Talk about a lobbyist with clout.
Oprah Winfrey - the woman with the power to send authors to the top of the New York Times best-seller list - is planning to appeal to viewers tomorrow to back a crackdown on puppy mills in Pennsylvania.
Winfrey is expected to read excerpts from a letter Gov. Rendell sent to her last month seeking support for legislation to overhaul the state’s dog law, according to participants in a Monday conference call with producers of The Oprah Show.
Thanks to the Guardian.co.uk for this amusing article. BTW, you can check out both the YouTube videos mentioned in the article. The Obama video is at the top of this post and the Clinton video is at the bottom.
Barack’s cats and Hillary’s dogs battle it out for the White House
Emine Saner The Guardian, Monday May 5 2008
Maybe it is because the Clintons dumped their cat Socks when Bill left the White House that Democrat cats (I resist the strong urge to call them “Democats”) are turning out for Barack Obama. A number of felines have demonstrated their support on the Cats for Obama website, often by sitting on a poster or T-shirt, which obviously means they approve of the Illinois senator’s strong voting record on animal rights rather than thinking it’s a comfy place to take a rest. Why so many cats are coming out in favour of Obama is puzzling pollsters because, known for being selfish and superior, if ever there was a Republican animal, cats would be it.
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