dogist

• Via the Telegraph blogs, a wave of dog abandonments in Belgium: Les cahiers au feu, le chien au milieu (excerpted here). People seem to dump their dogs on the local SPCA rather than take them along on holiday. Thirty dogs were left with the SPCA in Charleroi in a single day.
• The Starsky and Hutch of West 74th Street is about Oscar and Paxil, two NYC dogs who hunt rats on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Then she elaborated about the rats. Paxil and Oscar do their hunting late at night, during their last walks of the day. They began their crusade a couple of years ago, when they met in Riverside Park and prey was abundant. Paxil is an expert at flushing rats out of their hiding places. When she does, if they're small enough, she'll grab one and shake it until its neck snaps.
  But once they're dead, she has no further interest in them. If the rat is too big for her to lift off the ground, she leaves it to Oscar, whose steel-trap jaws and quickness make short work of the biggest, most intimidating rat.
• No Fido or Fluffy left behind. In the wake of Katrina, a new law in Louisiana which requires the governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness and their local counterparts to devise humane ways to evacuate and shelter cats and dogs during hurricanes. Service animals such as guide dogs are supposed to be evacuated with their owners. Household pets in carriers and cages will be allowed on public transportation if they do not endanger people.
• An actor's final passion: to end greyhound races. Actor Duane Black was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. He is spending his remaining days raising money and awareness for greyhound rescues. He is quoted by the Denver Post as saying: Greyhounds do not ask to be born into a life of kenneling, racing and inevitable euthanasia, said Black. They spend their short-lived lives racing their hearts out for their well-loved masters, and are rewarded with early retirement and early death. If you wish to honor my memory, stop that sport. Short of that, adopt a greyhound.
• Hair of the Dog about what triggers dogs to shed, that it is likely tied to the amount of light a dog is exposed to as well as the length of the day.

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A Brittany spaniel named Norman is the star of a campaign called Born Different, running in Colorado Springs, CO, sponsored by Public Interest and the Gill Foundation. Norman is born different...he moos. The campaign is intended to get people to consider that some people are born different, in this case of the campaign, gay.

Via towleroad.

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Barking dog wakes parents, saves girl's life

An Irish Terrier named Curley helped to save the life of Jean Stout, who suffered an asthma attack and collapsed in a bathroom while on vacation with her family.

Curley barked and barked to wake others in the house: He was barking, and he's not a barker.

From Newsday: When Jean Stout came home from school, Curley was there to greet her. When she slept, he snuggled next to her. He even put up with the 10-year-old when she played "blanket monster," a game in which she tried to hold a blanket over his head. (Curley's bark saves girl with asthma).

Audio at Barking Dog Saves Girl's Life.

From One little girl’s best friend it's noted that Curley doesn't normally vacation with the family but couldn't make arrangements for this trip.

Man sues to bring best friend to nudist beach

Man files suit to bring dog to naked beach: The only cure for what ails Mark DelCore is sunbathing stark naked beside his rat terrier named Cheekies. DelCore claims Cheekies provides me emotional support and comfort to deal with PTSD from 9/11. He wants to bring the dog to the nudist beach at Fire Island National Seashore, which prohibits dogs, allowing only seeing-eye dogs, not therapy dogs.

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A web site dedicated to...Dogs in Cars. Pictures of dogs... in cars. (Via we-make-money-not-art.com)

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100 dogs in Shanghai will be matched together to find the perfect mate according to this Reuters article. gougou520.com is sponsoring the event (note: that site does not seem to work) which may actually be an event to matchmake for dog owners.

Via Smart Mobs: Lonely Shanghai dogs

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• Ariel the Great Dane returns home: DenverPost.com - Dog in safe hands after 3 years on the run. The article credits the dog's microchip for aiding her identification and eventual return.
• Dispute nips at prosecutor's heels. Pam Bondi, a Hillsborough County (FL) prosecutor, adopted a St. Bernard who was rescued after Katrina from New Orleans and renamed him Noah. Noah's original name was Master Tank, and his original family is now pressing for his return. Bondi fostered then adopted Noah/Master Tank and allegedly refuses to return him to his original family.

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Vivi, a prize-winning Whippet, escaped from a kennel at JFK in February 2006 after the Westminster Dog Show. There have been occasional reports of sightings in the ensuing months with questionable credibility, however a new round of recent sightings produced this update article: New York Daily News - City News - Viva Vivi? Lost dog spotted!: The latest sightings have the posse of pooch rescuers confident they're closing in on Vivi. They're flooding Forest Park and the area around the adjacent Cypress Hills Cemetery with flyers and photos of the dog.

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