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.