Videos from Beacon Barks 2010

Videos by Sarah Bradshaw/Poughkeepsie Journal.

Photos from Beacon Barks 2010

Saturday was Beacon Barks, the fourth annual street festival devoted to pooches and their owners.

Organized by the Dutchess County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Beacon Barkery, the event brought an estimated 3,000 people and 1,000 dogs to Main Street.

My colleague Sarah Bradshaw covered the event for the Poughkeepsie Journal. Here is her article.

She also graciously took photos and video.

Here are the photos. Video will be in a subsequent entry.

Enjoy. It looks like people — and their pups — were having a good time.

















Photographs by Sarah Bradshaw/Poughkeepsie Journal.

Alaska pooch brings help

Buddy the German shepherd is a hero.

So says the Alaska State Troopers.

Read the story from the Anchorage Daily News by James Halpin.

Buddy's owner Ben Heinrichs was working in a shop outside his home April 4. A spark from a heater ignited gasoline burning him.

As Heinrichs rolled in the snow to put the flames out he realized Buddy had been locked in the shop which was on fire.

He let Buddy out and the 5-year-old dog took off, at the urging of Heinrich, to get help.

Watch the incredible video footage of Buddy leading a state trooper who was having problems with his GPS device to the scene.

Good boy, Buddy.

Did you miss Michael on Mix 97.7 FM this morning?

If you missed Michael's appearance on the Morning Mix with Bob Miller this morning. Listen to the audio here.
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100422/NEWS01/100422022

Reminder: Beacon Barks is Saturday

A reminder that Beacon Barks is coming up on Saturday.

See my recent post on the dog-friendly parade and street festival here.

The parade kicks off at 11 a.m. followed by demonstrations and dog-friendly shopping.

Here's a video I took at last year's event.



And here's Libby Faison, co-owner of Beacon Barkery, speaking before the parade in 2009.



Unfortunately, because of my schedule I won't be able to attend Beacon Barks, but my colleague and mini-pin owner (Hey, Capo!) Sarah Bradshaw will be covering it for the Poughkeepsie Journal. She is going to take lots of pictures and video which I will post here.

Have fun and enjoy Beacon going to the dogs.

Supreme Court upholds right to dogfight videos

The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down a law that would ban videos of animal cruelty.

Read the article by Adam Liptak in the New York Times here.

The 8-1 decision ruled against a federal law making it a crime to create or sell videos of dogfights and animal cruelty.

The decision left open the possibility that Congress could enact a narrower law that would pass constitutional muster. But the existing law, Chief Justice [John G.] Roberts [Jr.] wrote, covered too much speech protected by the First Amendment.

The ruling stemmed from the prosecution of Robert J. Stevens, who billed himself as a pit bull authority. Stevens, who did not participate in the dogfights, compiled and sold videos showing them.

The Times said he got a 37-month sentence.

The government argued that depictions showing harm to animals were of such minimal social worth that they should receive no First Amendment protection at all. Chief Justice Roberts roundly rejected that assertion. “The First Amendment means that government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter or its content,” he wrote.

The chief justice acknowledged that some kinds of speech — including obscenity, defamation, fraud, incitement and speech integral to criminal conduct — have historically been granted no constitutional protection. But he said the Supreme Court had no “freewheeling authority to declare new categories of speech outside the scope of the First Amendment.”

Justice Samuel Alito Jr., who usually rules with Roberts, was the sole dissenter, saying "the majority's analysis was built on 'fanciful hypotheticals' and would serve to protect 'depraved entertainment.' "

I agree with Alito — wow, never thought I'd be writing that. Allowing videos of this illegal activity, in my opinion, only feeds the interests of the likes of Michael Vick. It serves no purpose in society.

Here's hoping Congress will re-examine the struck-down legislation and narrow its scope to end this vile practice.

Breath of fresh air

Taken at a traffic light today.

Dogs baking bread

Back to silliness.

Here's a video from Sesame Street of the 1990s featuring the brilliant William Wegman and his amazing dogs.

My tooth!

1,000th blog entry

Believe it or not, this is my 1,000th blog posting.

My first post was March 19, 2007. How time flies.

What have I learned in the 3+ years?

I dunno.

I know that people are crazy about their pets.

I know that people spend money on their pets, more than ever before.

I know that I love my Kate, more than I did before I started this blog. If that's possible.

I know that Kate will not be here forever. And that is something I have to deal with.

I know that on Friday, Kate, who was diagnosed with renal failure in October, became disoriented, for lack of a better word, stumbling and flailing, and, if I hadn't been there, would have fallen to the floor. But I was there and was able to cushion her fall.

She recovered, only to relapse later in the evening. Same scenario.

On Saturday, I stayed close to her. She slept, drank water, didn't eat, but seemed to rally.

By the evening, she was her own self. Her own older self. She is, after all, 15 year old.

Yes, she sleeps. Yes, she has slowed down.

Yes, she is still the dog I love so much, who has given me 15 years of happiness.

She is looking at me now, as I type this. She stares at me with those big black eyes, with the touch of blue obvious at her age. Not to mention snoring.

I want her to live forever. I want her to always be there when I come home from work.

I know that isn't possible.

But I can hope, can't I?

Dog v. iPad

After the cat who was fascinated by the iPad, here's a dog that isn't no much entralled with the device.

Cat v. iPad

Here's a video where a cat plays with an iPad.

Apparently, the iPad is fine and no match for a cat's claws.

Now I have to get one. Meaning the cat. And an iPad.

Want.

To your health

The Buffalo Rising blog has an interesting piece by a veterinarian about a pet's weight being reflected in how heavy its owner is.

Timm Otterson writes that as a vet he sees overweight pets daily and frequently discusses weight control.

As with people, overweight pets are at higher risk of diabetes mellitus and arthritis, and pets can even have coat problems if they are so fat they become unable to groom themselves. Limiting calories can be easier for pets (especially if you only have one pet) as you can feed a set amount of food every day, and pets can't snack on that bag of chips your colleague left in the lunch room.

He said the difficult part of weight loss — for both humans and pets — is getting enough exercise.

So get out for walks, go to dog parks and, for cats, how about cat nip and laser pointers.

Get moving, people. And pets.

Hero cat in Florida

Trudy Guy owes her cat, Schnautzie, her life.

The Great Falls, Mont., resident was awaked by the cat when there was a gas leak in her home.

Read the brief Associated Press article from the WBBH-TV, Fort Myers, Fla., Web site here.

Schnautzie was on Guy's chest and was tapping her nose. The woman heard a roaring sound and found a broken gas pipe outside the bathroom.

Though the article doesn't say when the incident happened, it did say Schnautzie received an award from the Great Falls Animal Foundation for the cat's heroics.

Car-mauling dog is sentenced

Winston, the Tennessean-pit-bull mix, who attacked a police car in March, has been ordered to take obedience training.

Here's an article from MSNBC.com. Be sure and watch the video of the dog fighting with the patrol car.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that a judge ruled that Winston had been a very bad dog. He was sentenced to obedience and canine good citizen classes, and he'll have to wear a tag that says he is "potentially dangerous."

Winston got out of an enclosed area March 18 and attacked the police car, tearing off part of the front bumper and damaging the tires.

If the dog successfully completes the classes, charges against his owner will be dismissed.

Animals = personality?

Following up on my entry the other day of the complexity of animals (read it here), a friend sent me a link to a New York Times article that poses the question, Do animals have personality?

Duh. Just look at Kate.

The piece, written by Natalie Angier, talks about "the burgeoning field of animal personality research.

Scientists studying animals from virtually every niche of the bestial kingdom have found evidence of distinctive personalities — bundled sets of behaviors, quirks, preferences and pet peeves that remain stable over time and across settings. They have found stylistic diversity in chimpanzees, monkeys, barnacle geese, farm minks, blue tits and great tits, bighorn sheep, dumpling squid, pumpkinseed sunfish, zebra finches, spotted hyenas, even spiders and water striders, to name but a few.

Researchers ask which geese are leaders and whether sensitive people have anything in common with squealing pigs.

Some critics complain that the term “animal personality” is a bit too slick, while others worry that the entire enterprise smacks of that dread golem of biology, anthropomorphism — assigning human traits to nonhuman beings. Researchers in the field, however, defend their lingo and tactics. “Some of the behavior patterns we’re talking about are similar to what we call personality in human psychology literature,” said Max Wolf of the Max Planck Institute in Germany. “So why not call it personality in other animals?”

So what do you think? Does your dog or cat have a personality?

Can your cat do this?

Here's a cat that likes to stand on its hind legs.

Impressive.

And the winner is ...

Dog plays dead.

See the clip from The Late Show with David Letterman here.

You can play all the clips of the competitors on that Web page.

Enjoy. And please, no wagering.

Out-of-work search dog

Ares the German shepherd needs a job.

His owner Dale Lawyer is a paramedic/engineer with Central Emergency Services in Alaska. Ares, a trained search-and-rescue dog, was laid off when CES's budget was cut during union negotiations.

Read the story in the Homer (Alaska) Tribune by Jenny Neyman here.

“If there’s a 5-year-old child that’s lost right now, we can’t go,’” Lawyer said Thursday. “It’s just really sad for something that service area members paid for. Your tax dollars paid to get this dog in service, yet you have to go to some mom and say, ‘Yeah, you paid for all this, but we’re not going to use it.’ That’s just not acceptable.”

Normally, agencies buy and train rescue dogs, but Lawyer bought the dog himself and when they both were trained pitched the idea of bringing Ares on board to CES.

Lawyer said he’s planning to spend another 10 years or so with CES, and wants to have Ares with him the whole time, which is the average span of a working dog’s career. Lawyer wants to get him certified in water and land cadaver searches and avalanche searches, as well.

He is planning a presentation today to the borough Assembly to see if funding can be restored.

Let's hope Lawyer can convince CES's board to change its mind.

Last day to vote for stupid tricks

This is your last chance to vote in the Late Show with David Letterman Stupid Human vs. Stupid Pet Tricks competition.

Go here and choose either the dog who plays dead or the woman who scratches the inside of her eyelids.

Vote early; vote often.

What's for dinner?

Veterinary experts say junk food and bad diets affect pets as well as humans.

Read this article from the South African Web site Independent Online.

Allergies and obesity are reducing the life expectancy of Lassies and Mittens nourished worldwide on industrial foodstuffs, said Gerard Lippert, a Belgian acupuncturist for animals who has just completed a study on the diets of 600 dead dogs.

"Pets, like humans, are victims of junk food," he [said].

Rippert said we don't know where the protein comes from in processed dog and cat food, and there is a lot of cereal added.

Pet owners tend to favour processed foods because of the difficulty of preparing nutritionally balanced meals, which in an ideal world should contain some 50 nutrients as well as meat, vegetables, rice and pasta. An animal's age, weight and exercise routine also need to be taken into account.

Having Kate off of processed foods for as long as she has been, I would have to think twice about feeding my next dog anything but home cooking.

Once more around the Roomba

Kittens riding a robotic vacuum cleaner.

Watch it here.

Happy Easter!

Because it's Easter, I was happy to find there is a tumblr blog about bunnies.

The Daily Bunny is what it is called.

A must read

Read this beautiful telling of loving and losing a faithful companion by Lila Burana in the New York Times online edition.

Are rabbits good pets?

Sure, they are cute and cuddly, but rabbits may not be the best pet for everyone.

So says Eric Parry, writing in the North Andover, Mass., Eagle-Tribune.

Valorie Hayes of the Salem Animal Rescue League said stuffed or chocolate rabbits are a better option.

"Hopefully, they understand the responsibility and commitment it takes," Hayes said.

She said she always refers people who want to give up a rabbit to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter in Methuen. The shelter takes in an average of 350 rabbits each year, according to Kelly Ornell, a volunteer with the MSPCA.

The article said rabbits live 8 to 12 years, and need at least three hours of out-of-cage socialization and exercise.

So if you want a rabbit, hop to it.