South Bay Pets

There's a certain poetic justice to this tale that appeared in the Dayton Daily News:

A Dayton (Ohio) police dog on Nov. 23 bit and helped apprehend a man wanted on felony dogfighting charges.

Ranon O. Brock, 31, allegedly fled on foot when he saw officers who were responding to a

call regarding a burglary in burglary in progress in the 100 block of Cambridge Avenue about 5:45 p.m. Lt. Patrick Welsh said.

The K-9 unit was called and the dog, along with a human officer, gave chase on foot, catching up with Brock at the same time.

OK, so the dog did "accidentally" bite the officer in the leg first. But hey.

After another command was given, the canine jumped in and grabbed Brock on the wrist so officers could arrest him.

"The dog does not distinguish between good guys and bad," Welsh explained. "But he did follow commands, and that's what he is trained to do."

The officer was treated for a puncture wound at a local hospital and released.

As for Brock, after being treated for some bite wounds on his hand, he was taken to the Montgomery County Jail where he's being held on two felony counts of illegal dogfighting.

Hawks are beautiful creatures. But they also are birds of prey and some small pets can be in danger.

Karen Carpenter of Carson learned that lesson recently. Fortunately, this story has a happy ending.

Mrs. Carpenter lives in a culdesac near 220th Street and Wilmington Avenue in the south part of Carson.

For the past month, a hawk has been perching daily on a power pole overlooking her large, fenced-in backyard where her 7-pound, white miniature poodle Randy likes to play.

One day a few weeks ago, she was walking by a window in and heard Randy scream.

"I looked out and saw that the hawk had my dog (in his talons)," she said. Both were semi air-borne when Randy managed somehow to squirm free unharmed and take refuge under the pull-down slider blind covering Mrs. Carpenter's patio.

"The hawk sayed right outside the slider, looking down" as Randy poked his nose out.

The hawk continues to stalk, so Mrs. Carpenter is keeping her dogs -- since then her son and daughter-in-law gave her another white miniature poodle, GiGi, this one only 4 pounds and about a year old -- indoors. They only go outside with their owner on leash.

"They're so used to being outside, running and playing," she said. "It's heartbreaking I can't let them have that privilege."

But for now, it seems to be the best way to keep them safe. She wanted her story to go out as a warning to other owners of small pets.

I did a little online research and it turns out this isn't a unique problem.

Acccording to the Web site Hawks Aloft, raptor birds hunt a variety of prey, including rodents, birds, rabbits, snakes and insects.

From the web site: 

If my dog only so much as looks out the window, he somehow gets mud on his paws.

When a press release arrives in the office from a law enforcement agency, it's generally not good news  -- somebody has usually been stabbed or shot or kidnapped. And when that happens, you get to read about it on our crime blog.

But when the news is good and involves things with fur and four legs, then we get to post it here at South Bay Pets.

Sure, cops aren't the best spellers, but you gotta appreciate their "just the facts ma'am" approach to these things. By the way, this comes from the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Department.

After several days of coaxing and three hours of intense demolition on Tuesday afternoon, a cat has been freed from a space between a reinforced concrete planter and the outer building wall of the Pet Smart store on Los Osos Valley Rd. in San Luis Obispo.

The cat, a 6-7 month old black and white female, apparently entered the space several days ago and could not turnaround in the confined area to exit. Authorities used an infrared device and a fiber optic viewer to attempt to locate the trapped animal, however because of the cats path of travel, it was impossible to see, Sheriff's Animal Control officers could only hear the cat crying from inside the concrete space.

Workers were supplied by Madonna Enterprises, owner of the shopping center, who eventually jack hammered out a large section of the wall on Tuesday which lead to the cats release.

After excavation efforts were halted for the night, a Pet Smart employee was able to remove the cat at about 9:30 PM Tuesday evening. The cat was transported to the Animal ER in Arroyo Grande for treatment. The cat received minor abrasions to face and legs, and was treated for dehydration with an IV.

"The cat appears adoptable." said Dr. Eric Anderson, County Animal Control manager. "The staff has already nicknamed the cat, Jingle Bells." Anderson continued.

For the first time in years, pet foods have reappeared on the shelves of our neighborhood convenience store. This is an indicator established by Salah Mahmoud, one of TIME's translators in the Iraqi capital, who told me in the summer of 2003, "Let them start selling dog food at Wardah Supermarket; then I'll know life is getting better.

Imagine your dog on a greeting card singing (well, woofing) "Deck the Halls."

It's a novel idea called Critter Carols.  

You can download images of your own cats or dogs -- even dress them up in cute little virual hats and jackets -- for a unique animated holiday greeting card.

HT: Mashable 

Still no definitive answer on what kind of dog the Obamas will be getting. But thanks to Politico.com, we do know this: No girly dogs for the new prez.

During an interview with Barbara Walters, the president-elect and first lady were quizzed about the future First Dog. Walters, it turned out, had actually sent Michelle Obama a picture of her Havanese dog, Cha Cha Cha.

"What is a Havanese?" Barack asked Walters during the interview.

"It's like a little terrier and they're non-allergenic and they're the sweetest dog."

Barack's facial expression changes with this news, the transcript reads.

"It's like a little yappy dog?" he asks.

"Don't criticize," Michelle interjects.

"It, like, sits in your lap and things?" Barack asks. Do we detect some scorn here?

"It's a cute dog," Michelle says diplomatically (ah, we're beginning to see who the real peacemaker is in this family).

"It sounds like a girly dog," her husband responds. But the Obama family is, after all, pretty much a houseful of girls, right?

So what kind of dog does the president-elect envision instead for his family?

"We're going to have a big, rambunctious dog of some sort."

White House calling Rocket.  (I keep telling Josh we need to apply to be the official First Dog bloggers & chief canine staffers. I think I'd be OK with picking up poop from the White House lawn, assuming it would pay more than journalism.

Better if they are going to be little poops, though.)

Darla is a red Queensland heeler who went missing after her owner was in a car accident on the day before Thanksgiving.

This all happened north of us, in Ventura County. But sometimes it helps to spread the word.  Her owner, Navy Seabee Chris Touchatt, 24, of Oxnard, must be heartsick..

Touchatt was dirving on Highway 126 toward his parents' home in Milpitas on Nov. 26 to spend Thanksgiving with them when just shortly after 2 p.m., a pickup truck going in the opposite direction crossed over into Touchatt's lane striking his truck.

Darla was curled up asleep in the back seat of Touchatt's truck and was last seen jumping out of a broken window and running down the road. Touchatt tried to chase her, but the accident had left hism with a shattered foot, so he didn't get far. He spent Thanksgiving day, in a splint, combing the isolated roadside for his dog but didn't find her.

Now it turns out that Touchatt may need surgery. Darla has been by his side ever since he returned from a deployment in Iraq 4 weeks ago. 

"She means the world to me," he told reporter Cheri Carlson of the Ventura County Star.

The dog weighs about 40 pounds and was wearing tags.

"She has the sweetest personality," said Terrie Lemere of Yuba City, whose family looked after Darla through Touchatt's seven-month deployment. "We fell in love with the dog. She's very loving, very sweet."

Anyone with information is asked to call Touchatt's parent's home at 408-945-1835 or Lemere at 530-701-2468. You can also email Touchatt at toy4xchris@hotmail.com.

And much thanks to South Bay Pets reader Mari for alerting us to this story.

To read more, check out the newspaper story about the Navy Seabee looking for his dog

So here's the scoop on yesterday's "Shop and Adopt" event to benefit the San Pedro Animal Care Center:

6 dogs,

                                                                                  4 cats,

 and 1 turtle.   

All got new homes.

A big thanks to all the volunteers and shelter staffers who worked the event. If you missed this one, there will be another vendor fair on Dec. 21.

San Pedro Pet Pals Inc., the new nonprofit group that supports the new shelter in San Pedro, is holding a "Shop and Adopt" event where vendors will be selling holiday pet items and people will have the opportunity to adopt a pet.

The event takes place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 30 at the Harbor Animal Shelter, 957 N. Gaffey St., San Pedro.
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