It’s great news for the dogs and puppies at Limestone Kennels, the Chester County, PA, puppy mill that was raided last week!! The endless cycle of use, abuse, neglect, breed and overbreed is finally over for them. They will now have a chance at life, the way life is supposed to be; life out of a cage, good food and water, proper medical care and most of all, a loving and caring family.

John Blank, owner of Limestone Kennels, has had his kennel license revoked permanently and has pleaded guilty eight counts of animal cruelty and two violations of the Dog Law. The remaining dogs at the kennel, approximately 75 or so, have all been surrendered to the Pennsylvania SPCA.

Blank will be allowed to own no more than 5 personal dogs while he is on probation for 2 years. As usual I find the sentence far too lenient for the prison sentence that more than 100 dogs in his kennel were subjected to, not to mention the abominable conditions they lived under. I guess we can take consolation in the fact that he will will not be running a kennel again.

“As a result of today’s actions, the dogs from this commercial breeding kennel will be cared for and put up for adoption to homes. This is the best possible outcome for the dogs,” said Wolff. “While the results are positive for these dogs, the case shows the need for better laws to protect all dogs in commercial breeding kennels.”

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Hard times are not only impacting the ability of people to feed their families but also the ability of people to feed their pets. The strain on many food banks is not just food for people but for dogs and cats, as many food banks have taken to offering pet foods. Often these supplies run out long before the line ends and many are left empty handed.

In Fort Worth, TX, one food bank, the Tarrant Area Food Bank, got an unexpected delivery from a business celebrating its opening by making a 9k donation worth of dog food.

Christy Howard owns Three Dog Bakery in Southlake and to celebrate her opening, she and her five English mastiffs, Dutchess, Danica, Daisy, Diesel and Dozer, piled into her SUV, loaded with 3000 packets of dog food and made the donation to Tarrent Area Food Bank.

Christy’s Southlake store and Three Dog Bakery company in Kansas City are splitting the cost of the donation. A Laguna Beach, CA native, Christy has been a dog love since she was a child and has also volunteered at an animal shelter.

Christy and Three Dog Bakery, if they could, I’m sure all the dogs that will be recipients of your good will and kind donation would thank you!!

What great news for Cassidy, the German Shepherd, who was born with a deformed leg. But not only is it great news for the dog, this groundbreaking surgery has possible future benefits for people too!

A pioneering North Carolina State University collaboration between a veterinary surgeon and an engineer will give a deserving dog the ability to walk on four legs again.

Cassidy, a male German shepherd mix, was born with a defect in his right hind leg. His owner was referred to NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 2005 in order to have the defective limb removed. Three years later, Cassidy is back, this time for surgery that will replace the lost leg with an osseointegrated prosthetic limb.

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Ok, gotta admit it, I am not into NASCAR at all so I really have no clue who Tony Stewart is but what I do know is that this guy is tops in my book anyway! He just donated money for 30 bulletproof/stab-proof vest for police dogs and at $895 each, that’s a helluva donation!! Then he donated money for 10 more vests… WOW!

Stewart, a Columbus, Ind., native, donated the money to provide 30 vests for the Indiana State Police K-9 unit and 10 for police dogs waiting for vests in Georgia, New Mexico, North Carolina and Minnesota.

Susie Jean of Socorro, N.M., requested a grant from the Tony Stewart Foundation for vests for the 14 dogs currently in the Indiana State Police unit. Stewart upped the amount to cover more vests upon learning the state police unit was expanding to 30 dogs. The vests cost $895 each, according to information provided by the foundation, meaning 40 vests would total more than $35,000.

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I think most of us have seen those dog dancing duo videos, they’re wonderful and very popular.  I have a couple of them on my site here and I can tell you they have been watched again and again.  Everyone loves them!

Well, here’s a definite twist on dancing duos you have to check out… no dogs at all but I still think you’ll get a tickle!

A twist on the ‘dancing duo’ videos

You can also check out the dancing dog videos:

Carolyn Scott and Rookie

Charlie Chaplan Routine

More than 1300 dogs from Puppy Haven Kennel in Green Lake County, WI, will finally be getting a new lease on life thanks to the Wisconsin Humane Society.

For years, WHS has been trying to shut down the huge puppy mill without success, until now. To end the exploitation of the hundreds and hundreds of dogs locked in their prison misery of this puppy mill, WHS bought Puppy Haven Kennels and now it’s finally time for theses dog, who were used as nothing but money making breeding machine, to learn there is much more to life.

Now the organization must find homes for more than 1,300 dogs.

“None of these dogs have ever been called by a name. They’ve never had a bed. They’ve never had a toy. They’ve never had their own food bowl. They’ve never been cuddled by a person,” said Victoria Wellens, executive director of the Wisconsin Humane Society.

Wellens says the humane society is changing all that, by saving more than a thousand dogs from a life of exploitation with its unprecendented purchase of Puppy Haven Kennel, one of the largest dog breeding facilities in the nation.

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A couple was always finding water all over their pool deck and furniture .

They thought the neighborhood kids were waiting for them to leave, and using the pool. However, they could never catch them doing it. So, they set up their video cam and left. This is what they found out….

What’s the dog doing when it’s home alone??

Sally the saluki is now walking with a prosthetic implant, thanks to the Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

This technique will also mean good things for people too but for now, Sally will definitely be able to enjoy her life a bit more and will be able to get around better. Just excellent!!

What an amazing story and an amazing story! After 5 years and 850 miles, Rocco the beagle is back in the loving arms of Natalie Villacis, all because of a little microchip.

In spring of 2003, the then much smaller Rocco, disappeared from his family’s Queen’s New York home by digging out under a fence.

Natalie Villacis, Rocco’s then 5 year old owner, was heartbroken. The family plastered missing flyers everywhere, called animal shelters and looked for Rocco with no success. Eventually they moved on with their life but little Natalie never forgot about Rocco.

Natalie kept Rocco’s favorite stuffed toy and never stopped wondering “what happened to Rocco, where he went and if someone good found him”.

“Every time I would see a dog on the street , I would say to my mom, ‘Maybe Rocco will come back’,” Natalie said.

“She would say that he probably isn’t going to come back. I would say, ‘I know, but maybe he will’.”

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Handlers at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium have been raising the new Amur tiger cub since his mother rejected. During that time, the little guy has formed an unlikely friendship with one of their pets!

Just off a 13 week training course, Drug Enforcement Investigator Sonny Smith and 1 1/2 year old German Shepherd, Chico, a trained narcotics dog, made a big hit or bust the first day on the job, worth about $100K! Way to go Chico!!

You’ve got to have the greatest respect for these dogs and their handlers. Sure, we’re heard some stories that are not so positive but all in all, these incredibly trained service dogs and their handlers are an unbeatable team. The dogs are true canine heros!

Chico, who was provided by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to Denton County, was trained at the Canine Enforcement Training Center in Washington, D.C. The training is designed to teach law enforcement officers all aspects on handling, training and employing a detector dog.

“The dogs are worth $15,000 but we were able to get this one for $5,000 because of Sonny Smith, who has an excellent reputation in law enforcement,” said Sheriff’s Capt. Jeff Wawro.

“He’s a very passive dog,” Smith said. “Not aggressive with people. They train them to be very independent of their handlers. He has a routine that he does on his own with a people search. He does it for his reward, which is his towel. He’s very possessive of his towel and he knows he will get it afterward.”

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Greyhound racing is officially over in Colorado. The state’s last live dog racing track in Commerce City closed at the end of June.

This is really mixed news, both good and bad. I’m no fan of greyhound racing. There are so many horror stories associated with it and like most anything, you have wonderful caring people who love their dogs and then you have others. All in all, I won’t shed a tear to see this over, so that’s the good news.

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