spotblogging

this encouraging story in the Sunday NY Times is all about Rescue Ink. what’s Rescue Ink? well, best to read the article, but basically it’s a group of people you might easily mistake for a motorcycle gang, or almost any other kind of gang, rough and tumble, tats all over, tough-looking characters. and what they do is, they follow reports of missing or abused pets, and they, well, they have a little talk with the owners and try to make them see the error of their ways. usually the owners are more than happy to do just that. as one of the Rescue Ink guys says, ‘plan a, we talk to them. if there’s any criminal activity, we back off and call the police. if those two don’t work, there’s always plan c.’ most people visited by Rescue Ink don’t care to learn what plan c actually is…

an excerpt:
The kitten clambered over Des’s leather wristband and gnawed at his spiked silver ring. With one finger, Des stroked the pale underside of its neck. He had been carrying the cat everywhere for a week and a half.

Other members of the squad arrived, among them Johnny O (John Orlandini), a former bodyguard who once waded waist deep into a pond near a sewage pipe to rescue a duck; and Biagi, who is to dogs what Des is to cats: a psychic force.

in lima, peru, a new rule has gone into effect in one neighborhood: no more than one dog per household. it’s the barking, they say. to much, too loud, too late. so now, dog-friendly households will have to limit their pups. no word on whether there’s a grandfathering rule, or whether people with multiple dogs today will need to remove the extras from the home. more details in this story from reuters.

an excerpt:
According to an order published in the country’s official gazette on Thursday, residents of Jesus Maria, a middle-class area in Lima, have said there are just too many dogs — and too much barking.

Families with more than the permitted number of dogs will face fines of up to 700 soles ($237), and could have their furry friends removed.

we’re sure it’s our imagination, but doesn’t it seem like there’s always some bizarre story about pets coming out of suburban maryland? first it’s cops invading innocent people’s homes and murdering dogs, and now we have the story of a woman who was shackled and arrested for letting her dog pee on her neighbor’s lawn. we’re not defending the territory-marking. it’s always best to be a neighborly neighbor, and courteous of other people’s property (even if a little pee never hurt anybody’s lawn enough to get worked up about it). this story in the Washington Post gives us the straight poop on the whole tawdry tale.

an excerpt:
Linda Johnson admits that her two miniature poodles, Ollie and Hershey, sometimes trotted into her neighbor’s yard during their morning and afternoon walks. It is possible that once or twice, the two brown and black fur balls even peed in the grass, she said.

The case of Maryland v. Linda May Johnson is a classic tale of suburban strife, pitting dog walker against homeowner, neighbor against neighbor on a contentious issue that roils communities across the region. Compounding the squabble is Johnson’s claim that her neighbors’ German shepherd attacked her poodles and 8-year-old son.

sure, it’s a publicity stunt. but as this story from AFP shows, you’ve gotta give a shopkeeper props for staging an olympics pageant for pets in hong kong at the same time the big-time olympics are going on in beijing. and who really knows if michael phelps can climb a rope as quickly as a parrot? or run the cat agility course faster than your old kitten, fluffy? maybe if we added greyhounds to some of the races, the human runners wouldn’t be so quick to claim victory before the finish line!

an excerpt:
From rabbit hurdles and parrot rope-climbing to cat agility contests, a Hong Kong pet shop has organised 10 weeks’ worth of events to try to promote sport for animals.

Most of Hong Kong’s seven million people live in tiny cramped apartments and dogs are banned from many city parks.

well, maybe not. actually, it’s just the saudi religious police who are threatening to confiscate any dog walking with its human companion in public.this story in the Christian Science Monitor highlights an ongoing dispute between the more religiously strict police and the more relaxed citizens of Riyadh and other Saudi Arabian cities. in this case, following a series of complaints, an edict forbidding dog walking in public was announced, and, initially at least, enforced. but not everyone finds it an accurate reflection of Islamic law or teaching. some, in fact, feel like it’s just a way to discourage ‘westernization’ in this traditional society.

an excerpt:
But dogs are increasingly seen as attractive pets and Saudis, especially the well-off, are keeping household animals of all kinds, said veterinarian Elhayek, administrator of Riyadh’s Advanced Pet Clinic.

Cats have always been popular pets among Arabs, who as children learn about the prophet Muhammad’s companion “Abu Huraira,” or “Father of the Kitten,” so-called because he carried one around.

here’s a tip: if you can see past the overwhelming ads on this page, you’ll find an interesting story at the Discovery Channel site, about patterns of behavior among dogs and cats, living together. anyone who’s ever witnessed it can probably tell you, but often as not, the cat rules the roost, especially if the dog is introduced into the home later. every case is unique, but the article cites studies that document trends, observations, and repeatable experiments.

an excerpt:
“Body language was so well read by cats and dogs fitting these scenarios that the researchers were able to document a dog behavior never before described.

John Bradshaw of the University of Bristol School of Veterinary Science believes it’s important to remember that, although dog and cat behavior can be somewhat predictable and controlled, each animal is an individual. He said, for example, that some cats seem to be bolder than others, with boldness appearing to be an inherited trait from fathers.”

if you think we have it bad in arlington (which you probably don’t), this story in the NY Times tells of the writer’s search for a passable, even just a serviceable, even a non-menacing dog run in Queens. goes a little bit with the lecture from TED, which we posted back during our 30 Green Days.

an excerpt:
Mandy, the 3-year-old black mutt that my wife and I adopted last year, doesn’t appear to hate the Doughboy run as much as I do. She gets to socialize when other dogs visit the run, but that is rare, and as a result, she returns to our apartment covered in dust and still full of energy. When I walk her through Doughboy Plaza, she often pulls toward the dog run, then loses interest when she doesn’t find a playmate. It’s always a sad moment for us both.

On a recent Saturday, we decided to seek out this Dog Run of Eden. However, when we made our way to the intersection to which we had been directed, things did not look good. We found ourselves at the junction of Queens Boulevard and the entrance to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. This neither looked nor sounded like the ideal place for a dog run.

this is a distressing story. we all appreciate the work of hard-working police who protect us, our homes, and our businesses. but it will be interesting to see the explanations from the PG County (Maryland) police and sheriff’s office if this story in the washington post turns out to be accurate. we don’t have all the facts, so we’ll hold our tongue and let you judge for yourself. but we do know 2 dogs are dead, and evidence is emerging which suggests that a little investigative work before the raid might have resulted in a wiser course of action.

an excerpt:
Residents of Berwyn Heights., meanwhile, have expressed outrage over the raid and the shooting of the two dogs, well known to neighbors who often saw the 37-year old mayor walking the dogs.

“I believe there is absolutely no credible reason why notification to my police department should not have been made,” Murphy said. He said he is confident his officers could have entered Calvo’s house without violence.

according to this article in the NY Times Sunday Magazine, dogs and cats are on more and more mood-altering drugs all the time. the question posed by the article: did we make our pets crazy? and if the question was, do you know anyone who is making their pup nutty, we could all probably think of a friend, relative, neighbor, or significant other who was doing exactly that. maybe several. but us? don’t be ridiculous! you’ve got the best cat (or dog) in the world. so, they’re not talking about you, just everybody else. either way, the article is worth a read. warning, though, it’s a long one… and it still doesn’t explain the dog (see below) who’s barked for 6 straight years, right?

an excerpt:
Max retrieves Frisbees. He gobbles jelly beans. He chases deer. He is — and this should be remembered when discussions of cases like his blunder into the thickets of cognitive ethology, normative psychology and intraspecies solipsism — a good dog. A 3-year-old German shepherd, all rangy limbs and skittering paws, he patrols the hardwood floors and wall-to-wall carpets of a cul-de-sac home in Lafayette, Calif., living with Michelle Spring, a nurse, and her husband, Allan, a retired airline pilot. Max fields tennis balls with his dexterous forelegs and can stand on his hindquarters to open the front door. He loves car rides and will leap inside any available auto, even ones belonging to strangers. Housebroken, he did slip up once indoors, but everybody knows that the Turducken Incident simply wasn’t his fault. “He’s agile,” Allan says. “He’s healthy. He’s a good-looking animal.” Michelle adds, “We love him to death.” That is why they had no choice, she says. The dog simply had to go on psychoactive drugs.

I arrived the night Max was to receive his first pill. He picked at the food in his chow bowl while the Springs sat at the kitchen table discussing his problems. For starters, there was his overpowering need to be near people, especially Allan. If they put Max outside, he quickly relieved himself and then rushed back indoors; he raced into rooms that Allan was about to occupy; he rested his head against the bathroom door during his master’s ablutions. “Watch this,” Allan said. He and Michelle stood up to hug. The moment they touched, Max unleashed a string of high-pitched barks. “He likes being close to us, but he doesn’t like us being close to each other,” Allan said.

the onion somehow manages to be funny almost all the time, and they’ve been doing it for a long time now. so you don’t need us to tell you how much fun it can be to pick up their free print edition in major cities, or to visit their website for great stories like, “Recession-Plagued Nation Demands New Bubble To Invest In”, or “Hubble Kaleidoscope Finds Evidence Of Space Looking All Crazy”, or “Class Of ‘88 Reunion Attendees Once Again Trick Sue Thorpe Into Thinking Jeff Urban Likes Her” which probably really happened, but is funny all the same. but now they have the tragic story of the west highland terrier, Taffy, who has barked constantly for six years, all day, every day since her family brought her home. if you don’t laugh at this, you should consider changing political parties. either way, you’re in the wrong one.
dog barking in south dakota

Tiny Dog Has Been Barking Nonstop For 6 Years