I received a message from a good Samaritan who is trying to do the right thing, help three rescues who need rescue. Unfortunately everyone she has contacted has looked the other way.

I realize times are hard, but that’s when help is needed the most. I know there must be someone looking to adopt an adorable dog (look at those faces) or a rescue group that can step in and help this person.

Hello rescue friends-

This is a plea to help 3 stray dogs in my neighborhood in Decatur, GA. They need rescue or adoption. So far, Canela (left) is in a temporary foster home, but Ossa (middle) and Beethoven (bottom) are still in their respective yards.

The brief story is that these are dogs taken in off the street by one of my neighbors, who has a big heart but not the best situation to be taking in animals. Her husband is not an animal lover to say the least and would not allow her to keep them on their property. She has been keeping them in the back yards of 2 separate houses that have been vacant for some time. She feeds and visits with them daily, and they all at least have a rabies shot. Canela is spayed but due to my neighbor’s lack of transportation, the other 2 are still intact (they stay in separate yards).

My neighbor has limited resources to place the dogs – no car, no computer, limited command of English – and she also has a turbulent home life. I want to help place the dogs for their own sake, but also so that she can focus on her own problems. She was assaulted and ended up in jail about 2 weeks ago, which is when I was asked to feed the dogs. She was bailed out a few days later, but has a court date coming up and could be incarcerated again. Hopefully together we can find these dogs a better situation. I can help with vetting / transport for anyone who can take them.

Ossa (my neighbor says this means “little bird” in Spanish) is a fluffy black border collie mix (my best guess). She is about 2 years old and is playful and friendly. She is maybe 30 pounds.

Beethoven is a shepherd mix puppy who is just under a year old. I thought he would be bigger than he has turned out to be (a thick but compact 35 pounds or so), so maybe he is mixed with a smaller breed as well. He is extremely playful and enjoys belly rubs and lots of affection.

Canela (”cinnamon” in Spanish) is a beagle mix and her tail is cropped because something was wrong with it when she was found, like the others, tied to a tree or a building. She is learning manners in her foster home and is getting along with both dogs and cats. She is also about 30 pounds.

I would take these dogs myself but I already have 7 animals in my house. I appreciate your concern and thank you for your efforts. Any interested parties may contact me at this email address.

Please feel free to post and crosspost this message, time is of the essence.

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Earlier this morning I posted about an Australian dog who was lost for 9 years and just reunited with her family thanks to a microchip which provided owner information.

I just came across another story reinforcing how important it is to make sure your dog has proper ID, tags and a microchip.

Haley Cyr, a professional dog trainer for more than four years and the Manager of Training at the Animal Defense League, shares an incident that happened to her just a few days ago.

I want to talk about something that happened to me two days ago. It is a long story but it has a moral, I promise! As I opened my front door Sunday evening, there he was; a small tricolor beagle whose name I would later learn was Rocco. He was blindly running through my apartment complex, obviously panicked and in pain. After a few minutes of coaxing and using my shoelace as a leash, he was in my arms. By his panting and the appearance of his gums, I thought he had heat stoke. When I got him inside, I realized that he also had blood on his face and back. Horrible things ran through my mind! Had he been hit by a car? Had he been in a dog fight?

Once he was cooled down and safe, I decided to drive around my neighborhood and look for lost Beagle signs, hoping to find an owner with tears and a leash looking for their dog. Rocco hopped right into my car; he was obviously somebody’s baby. He was neutered (hurray!), but had no collar. I prayed that he had been micro-chipped. We drove around my neighborhood with no luck. I decided to take him to the emergency vet to be checked, and hopefully to find his parents through (still praying) his microchip.

As I drove out of my neighborhood hood, I heard sirens. Nothing I could have imagined could have been worse then what had really happened to him. My heart dropped into my stomach. A little Mazda had apparently crashed into a parked 18-wheeler at full speed. The entire roof of the car had been ripped off. Read the rest of this entry »

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A Pork Chop saved a life in this case anyway. A man visiting his daughter was saved by her beagle when the dog started howling after he collapsed.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — “Lately I call him Hero, you know, you’re my Hero,” said June Argenti. “He’s not Pork Chop anymore.”

It’s a deserving nick name for a heroic dog. The nine-year-old beagle mix, otherwise known as Pork Chop, saved 71-year-old Nick Argenti over the weekend.

“I really feel that he was meant to be here,” said Nick’s daughter Kellie Germadnik.

She said her father was working in the garden when he suddenly collapsed. That’s when Pork Chop started howling and neighbors responded, jumping over fences and calling 911.

“I’m very glad. Barbara said she’s had enough dogs in her life to know that it wasn’t a normal bark. She knew there was something wrong,” said Germadnik.

Off camera, Nick and the neighbors say if it wasn’t for the dog, things could have turned tragic.

I think Pork Chop deserves a pork chop, way to go.

* Photo courtesy Capital News 9

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In Seoul, South Korea there are four cloned Beagle pups that glow red.  Scientists have created the world’s first transgenic dogs carrying fluorescent genes.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korean scientists say they have engineered four beagles that glow red using cloning techniques that could help develop cures for human diseases. The four dogs, all named “Ruppy” – a combination of the words “ruby” and “puppy” – look like typical beagles by daylight.

But they glow red under ultraviolet light, and the dogs’ nails and abdomens, which have thin skins, look red even to the naked eye.

“What’s significant in this work is not the dogs expressing red colors but that we planted genes into them,” Lee told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The glowing dogs show that it is possible to successfully insert genes with a specific trait, which could lead to implanting other, non-fluorescent genes that could help treat specific diseases, Lee said.

The scientist said his team has started to implant human disease-related genes in the course of dog cloning, saying that will help them find new treatments for genetic diseases such as Parkinson’s. He refused to provide further details, saying the research was still under way.

Two for the six puppies died, you have to wonder if it was due to natural causes or the experimentation.   I hope these dogs aren’t hurt by the implanted genes.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think this feels a little Pet Sematary-ish ?

*AP Photo/ Seoul National University, HO

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I received an email from a member sharing the news with me that PETA is encouraging the  USA Network not to air  the Westminster Dog Show .

The reasoning, the breeds that are bred for show endure inhumane treatment, bad breeding, and health issues.

The BBC has already decided to pull their version of the Westminster, Crufts Dog Show, from the air. The BBC pulled Crufts after an expose was aired, “Pedigree Dogs Exposed,” raising concerns over the health of dogs bred for the show ring.

In a letter to USA’s president Bonnie Hammer, PETA founder and president Ingrid Newkirk writes, “Since dog breeders routinely use incestuous inbreeding and genetic manipulation…it’s not surprising that as many as one in four purebred dogs is plagued with a serious genetic problem.”

Beagles like last year’s Westminster winner, Uno, are susceptible to a wide variety of genetic health problems like hypothyroidism, epilepsy and demodectic mange, according to PETA.

“Countless dogs suffer painful cosmetic surgeries and millions of wonderful dogs die in animal shelters because of the AKC’s inhumane policies…USA Network can take a stand against the cruel treatment of animals simply by denying air time to the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show,” said PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch.

If you would like to express your opinion to the USA Network, letting them know how you feel, go to their feedback page.

Do you think the Westminster Dog Show is good television viewing, that PETA’s questions about health and safety are unfounded?  Or, do you think there is something to what they say and it should be pulled?

* Uno picture courtesy Timothy A. Clary / AFP – Getty Images

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All right, which of you Beagle owners out there needs to fess up about your shoe fetish?  C’mon, give it up.

Don’t know what I’m barking about? Then read about the mysterious disappearance of shoes in Waveland, Indiana.

Shoes left outdoors in the Montgomery County community of Waveland began disappearing one by one in June, reappearing near the town’s fire station.

Acting town marshal Rob Kiger and others have seen a stray brown and white dog, possibly a beagle, around town carrying a shoe in its mouth. Others have seen the dog lying in the sun near the fire station.

Kiger says he’s tried to take the canine shoe bandit into custody, but it runs away every time he gets close.

You think this is how Tige from Buster Brown got his start?

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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.”

Oh well Hank, there’s always next year.

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When Bo was younger he used to be a bit of a Houdini, escaping on occasion.  My wife and I would be in a state of panic until he was home safe.  Luckily, Bo’s usual MO was playing in the woods for a few hours and then when he was tired, walking up to our front door and going “woof”.  We’re pretty sure that translates into “Hello, I’m home.  Where’s my treat for coming back?”.

I can’t imagine what the owners of Rocco the beagle had to go through after he disappeared for a long five years. Here’s the heartwarming story.

Rocco, a beagle from Queens, went missing for five years.  When her beagle, Rocco, squeezed himself under the backyard gate and disappeared into the streets of Queens, 5-year-old Natalie Villacis refused to believe – as her parents reluctantly told her – that she would never see the puppy again.

What a horrible ordeal for both puppy and family.

Someone dropped Rocco off as a stray at the Liberty County Animal Control in Hinseville on July 5, supervisor Randy Durrence said.

Last weekend, Rocco came home – after being found in Georgia. The prodigal pooch turned up in a shelter 850 miles away in Hinesville, and by a combination of chance and chip – the one embedded in his back – was reunited with Natalie, now 11, and her family.

This story goes to show the importance of microchipping your friend.

Jorge flew down to Georgia, and though he didn’t quite recognize Rocco, was pleased to see that aside from a scratch on his ear, he was in perfect health.

“I don’t think he recognized me, but I told him I loved him as much as always,” she said. “Rocco seemed a little confused, but happy. He looked at me like, ‘I don’t know who you are, but I love you, too.’ “

I love happy endings!!

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Dogster member Boo is missing and his owners need your help.  If you have seen him in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area please contact  the owner at meganandwinnie@yahoo.com.

Boo, if you are reading this, please contact your parents immediately. They are worried sick about you.

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