I received a very sad email yesterday from Dogster member Minika Hall.  She wanted to share her recent tragedy at the dog park, which resulted in the loss of her beloved dog Miles’, as a warning to other dog owners.

Miles’ was an adorable Yorkie who loved the dog park, and Hall enjoyed taking him there on a daily basis.  On Sunday they went for a visit but this time Minika did something she had never done before, brought him into the big dog side of the park.

Here are the details from The Buffalo News.

Miles, an eight-month-old Yorkie who frequented the park with his owner several times a week during the warmer weather, was enjoying a late-October romp.

But Hall made a decision she will always regret. She let her five-pound pooch make his first visit to a separate running area that generally accommodates larger dogs. Until Sunday, Miles had always frolicked in an adjacent area reserved for dogs that weigh less than 30 pounds. On this evening, the special area was empty, and she wanted Miles to have company.

“Miles wasn’t afraid of big dogs,” said Hall, her voice shaking. “He loved to play with the bigger dogs.”

The Yorkie was playing with several other dogs, none of them very large or aggressive, according to Hall. She said what happened next is a blur, but she recalls Miles being stepped on and instantly falling to the ground.

At first, she thought he just had the wind knocked out of him or — in a worst-case scenario — was paralyzed. But after she and another Barkyard patron rushed the dog to an emergency clinic, reality set in. Miles’ tiny neck had likely been crushed as the dogs played, she said. Read the rest of this entry »

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I cannot start today without a special note to all the Dogsters out there.

Losing Logan was obviously devastating to us, he was such a special boy.  I posted the tribute because I was so overcome with sadness I needed to get the words out, I never expected the overwhelming response I received.  Horst and I cannot thank you all enough for the wonderful and heartfelt comments that were left. The poems, stories, and words of sympathy are appreciated more than I could possibly express. Dogsters truly are the best, you guys are amazing.

Anyone who has loved and lost a dog knows the heartache, the devastating feeling of loss. Logan only started having issues a few weeks earlier, we had been running every conceivable test but nothing was coming back conclusive, until that final day.  From start to finish, two weeks, never even saw it coming.  The hardest part, as I’ve expressed, is losing a dog who had finally overcome so much and had learned to enjoy life.

Over the weekend we had our ups and downs, but ultimately we have decided to move forward. After all, without sorrow there can be no joy. We are looking at a 5-year-old Berner girl who is in exactly the same place as Logan was when we got him, scared of everyone and everything.  This time going forward we know what we’re getting into, what it will take to try and save her.  It won’t be easy but we think this is the best way of honoring Logan.

So, the journey begins again.

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I had some posts planned for today but sadly our beloved rescue Berner, Logan, passed yesterday. At the moment it’s hard to focus on much else so my last post of the day will be a tribute to our boy.

Logan lived at a puppy mill for 4 years, he was the stud dog. He had no name, was kept caged, used and abused.

Eventually when the owner of the puppy mill thought he no longer fit the bill as a stud dog he was put up for auction. Yes, auction, so possibly another breeder could come along to buy him and continue his life of abuse. Or,  if he wasn’t bought he probably would have been put down.

This is where a wonderful organization called the Bernese Auction Rescue Coalition comes in. They bought him, got him medical attention, and put him in a wonderful foster home until he got adopted. On June 6, 2008  Horst and I went to pick up our new family member.  When I saw him I had tears in my eyes, he was so beautiful, and so scared.

We celebrated our 1 year anniversary in June, I left a message on his page because it truly was a celebration. Logan had overcome so much in a year, he was a different dog.

When we first got Logan, I’m not going to lie, it was hard. He barely moved, spent most of his days in our 1/2 bath where he was comfortable. We never pushed him, always let him do things on his own time schedule. Every day we spent quiet time laying with him and petting him. We started taking him for walks everyday and that was when we got our first glimpse at the dog who was waiting to come out. Read the rest of this entry »

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The Pratt Humane Society in Pratt, KS needs to raise $18,000 by October 18th in order to stay open.  They took out a loan in 2008 to pay for their building and now only have 8 days to pay it back. On top of that, their boiler broke leaving them with no heat. To fix it would cost $6,300 which they don’t have.

The shelter is a lifeline for animals that need a home,  many dogs there have been abused or abandoned. Here are the details from KAKE 10.

“If we close down, absolutely it would be terrible because there would be nowhere for someone to take an unwanted animal,” said the Pratt Area Humane Society Board President Pam Howell.

“We’re pretty desperate. It’s a crisis situation,” said Howell. Read the rest of this entry »

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I mentioned before about Georgia having one of the highest kill rates in the country, sad but true. Here’s an urgent message I received about the Floyd County Animal Control in Rome, GA. These dogs only have until TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13th to live.

PLEASE CROSSPOST: THERE ARE MANY PUPPIES IN URGENT NEED OF RESCUE AT FLOYD COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL IN ROME, GA~THESE BABIES MUST BE RESCUED BY 6:00 PM ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13TH AS THEY ARE SCHEDULED FOR EUTHANASIA ON WED. MORNING, BEGINNING AT 8 AM! Read the rest of this entry »

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Taking your dog for a daily walk is a great way for both you and your best friend to keep fit.

I’m sure those of you who do get to the park regularly have seen dog owners riding a bike with their dogs, on leash, running besides them. No doubt some think it’s cute, while others an accident waiting to happen.

If San Jose this exact scenario played out at the Los Alamitos Creek Trail, but this time ended in tragedy. A man on a bike with his two Siberian Huskies in tow were out riding when they passed Beverly Head on the trail, their leash  got tangled around her. The 62-year-old woman fell and died the next day.

Head, who walked in the park daily, had always been uncomfortable about bicyclists riding with their dogs running leashed besides them.  However, there is no law against it, no crime being committed.

Here are the details from the Mercury News.

Now, two weeks later, Bob Head is mourning his wife’s death and wondering why there wasn’t a way to prevent it. He is desperate to find the cyclist, who stayed to help the mother of three known for her deviled eggs and Halloween decorations, but left once paramedics came. Propelled by Head’s frustration. Read the rest of this entry »

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I just found out about Aussie and had to get her story out there, she has really touched my heart.

Of course, I do have a soft spot for senior dogs, especially those that have been used and abused.

“Aussie” is a beautiful girl that has obviously had many litters of puppies and is a little shy. But she is oooooh so sweet!

Poor Aussie is currently at the Darlington County Humane Society in Darlington, SC. The poor girl has tested HIGH Heartworm positive. To make Aussie a little more appealing to rescues we are trying to raise the funds to pay for her to be treated for heartworm.

We would also like to raise the money for her to be fully sponsored for her vetting (spay, vaccinations, hw test, and deworming). This way she can go to an approved rescue for FREE!!!!

To pay for everything, we need to raise a total of $400. Please help us to help sweet Aussie. She is so deserving of a second chance at life.

**DCHS is a 501c3 organization so all donations are tax deductible as allowed by law!**

Aussie has been moved to a temporary foster home, unfortunately after a lifetime of neglect and having puppies she has more medical issues than previously thought. Read the rest of this entry »

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Dogster member Sasha just gave me a bark about a couple in Schaumburg, IL. who were killed in a motorcycle accident leaving their four dogs homeless.

Mike Kelm and his wife Sue went out for a motorcycle ride on Labor Day to enjoy the beautiful weather. And to get out of the house because it was few days before Sue had cancer surgery. Tragically they were both killed when struck by a car. The couple had no children but they do have four dependents, their precious dogs.

While the family grieves over the loss of their loved ones they are trying to honor the couple by finding a new home for all four pups. Here are the details from the Daily Herald.

“They had no children of their own,” the Kelms’ niece Kim Mayer of Joliet said. “These were their children. And as much as people could spoil animals, they did.”

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I read something about this a while back and it is truly one of the most horrific things imaginable, dog death squads that come to kill your dog.

It sounds like something out of a horror movie, but it’s not. As you can see from the message below another city in China is going to start a mass slaughter tomorrow, we can help.

Read through the instructions,  even if you can’t make a donation please take a moment to send an email, you don’t need to write it just use the one provided and fill in your information.

Thank you in advance to all those that take a few minutes out of their day to do this.  If you think you’re too busy, think about if someone from the government knocked on your door, took your dog, and then beat it to death in front of you. Don’t let this happen to the innocent dogs of China.

I’ve just received an urgent report that another city in China is planning a mass cull to slaughter any unregistered dogs, strays, and even registered family dogs that are over 14 inches (35cm) tall.

Dog owners in Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province, are even being told to kill their own dogs, or else their dogs will be beaten to death by the police and the owners will be charged a fine. Can you imagine being forced to kill your own dog to save it from a more brutal slaughter?

Unless we can stop this now, the Dog Death squads could be roaming the streets tomorrow – beating, stoning, and killing dogs – some right in front of their owners.

You might remember the attached e-mail I sent you recently about a similar cull. We found out too late for many of those dogs, but this time we have a chance to stop it before it starts.

I need you to do two things right now:

1. Send an e-mail to the Chinese Ambassador in your country. So you can act quickly, I’ve written an e-mail for you - click here to review and send it.

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The CEO of Richmond’s SPCA, Robin Starr,  left her 16-year-old dog in her car where he suffered heat stroke and later died.

The blind and deaf dog was put into the backseat of the car by Starr’s husband Ed because she often took him to work with her.  Unfortunately her husband forgot to tell her and she didn’t realize until four hours later that Louie, their cocker spaniel/poodle mix, was in there.

Here are the details from the Richmond Times Dispatch.

It wasn’t until she left her office about noon that day — after the dog had spent nearly four hours alone in the car — that she discovered Louie in the back of the station wagon, showing signs of heat stroke.

She took the dog inside to the SPCA clinic, where it was stabilized and taken to the Veterinary Emergency Center in Carytown. Veterinarians worked unsuccessfully to restore kidney function in Louie, and the dog died about midnight.

“I just forgot . . . and didn’t think about it until I got this frantic phone call from Robin. I knew immediately what I had done,” Ed Starr recalled yesterday at the SPCA offices on Hermitage Road.

He added, “It wasn’t her fault. It was mine.”

Robin Starr has been one of the area’s most outspoken advocates for animals.  While her supporters are standing by her there are those that think she should resign. I cannot imagine anything more painful than knowing your beloved dog died on account of your actions.

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