Looks like Vick faces more animal cruelty charges.  From Yahoo News:

“Michael Vick and three co-defendants were indicted by a grand jury Tuesday on state charges related to a dogfighting ring operated on Vick’s Virginia property….

The charges are the first leveled against Vick in the county where he built a home on 15 acres that was the base of the dogfighting operation.

Surry County Commonwealth’s Attorney Gerald G. Poindexter asked that the four be arraigned Oct. 3 and requested that each be released on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond. None of the defendants nor their lawyers were in court.”

Great news about canine rabies from ABC News:

“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal health experts declared a small victory against a fatal and untreatable virus on Friday, saying canine rabies has disappeared from the United States. While dogs may still become infected from raccoons, skunks or bats, they will not catch dog-specific rabies from another dog, the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.”

While other types of rabies exist, it looks like canine rabies may be a thing of the past.  Whew!

Here’s a sad and aggravating story about a police dog who died after being left in a sweltering car:

“PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) — A suburban police officer is accused of leaving a police dog in a patrol car for more than 12 hours on a 109-degree day, killing the animal.  Chandler police Sgt. Tom Lovejoy was booked into the Maricopa County jail on a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty after a two-week investigation into the death of a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois named Bandit.”

I don’t understand how people still leave dogs in hot cars during the summer.  This case is especially horrifying because one would think a police officer would know better.

A story about a very rich dog from Yahoo.com:

“Leona Helmsley’s dog will continue to live an opulent life, and then be buried alongside her in a mausoleum. But two of Helmsley’s grandchildren got nothing from the late luxury hotelier and real estate billionaire’s estate.  Helmsley left her beloved white Maltese, named Trouble, a $12 million trust fund, according to her will, which was made public Tuesday in surrogate court.”

Trouble is a lucky dog. 

CNN.com posted some safety tips for dog food, in light of the tainted food that has been going around recently:

• Check all the store-bought foods you are feeding your pets against a comprehensive list of recalled food products. The American Veterinary Medical Association’s list is updated frequently and sorted by animal type and brand.

• Get rid of any foods found on the list; you can find proper methods for disposal from the pet food manufacturer. As a precaution, the American Society for the Prevention to Cruelty to Animals urges pet owners on its Web site not to feed animals any wet or dry food items that contain the ingredients wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate. The FDA found melamine “in samples of pet food and in the wheat gluten used as an ingredient in the pet food.”

• Be on the look out for symptoms. If your pet has ingested contaminated food, some general symptoms are loss of appetite, vomiting and diarrhea. In the case of the pet food recalls this past spring, the melamine “affected the urinary system, causing dysfunction of the kidneys,” says Dr. Roger Mahr, veterinarian and past president of the American Veterinary Medical Association. “The symptoms that came with that were increased urination, drinking excessive water, lethargy and dehydration.” Mahr says that any of these symptoms is enough reason to contact your veterinarian.

Homemade food may be an option, but I’m not sure if I want to subject my dog to my cooking!

A story about a pair of crime-fighting dogs who sniffed out illegal DVD’s, from MSNBC.com:

“Malaysia gave a hero’s send-off Monday to Lucky and Flo, honoring the two DVD-sniffing dogs with medals as they ended a six-month assignment that netted 1.6 million illegal movie discs.  The two black Labradors looked puzzled when a multitude of press photographers’ flash bulbs went off as Malaysia’s deputy trade minister S. Veerasingham placed medals around their necks.”

Dogs and their amazing noses…

A story from CNN.com about dogs serving with the U.S. military in Iraq:

“About 2,000 of these working dogs confront danger beside American soldiers, largely in the Middle East.  With noses that detect scents up to a third of a mile away, many sniff for explosives in Iraq. Their numbers have been growing about 20 percent a year since the terrorist attacks of 2001, says Air Force Capt. Jeffrey McKamey, who helps run the program.  In doing their jobs, dozens of these dogs have also become war wounded — scorched by the desert, slashed by broken glass, pelted by stray bullets, pounded by roadside bombs.  Their services are so valued, though, that wounded dogs are treated much like wounded troops. “They are cared for as well as any soldier,” insists Senior Airman Ronald A. Harden, a dog handler in Iraq.”

Dogs serve humans in a variety of ways, including during war, it seems. Let’s hope they all come back safely.
 

Disgusting news from WGCL in Atlanta:

“A pit bull was rushed to the Atlanta Humane Society Wednesday, with a knife in its skull.  Pit bulls often have a bad reputation as being aggressive dogs, but Mama, the injured dog, is very sweet, said the dog’s owner…..Dr. Paula Murray performed surgey on Mama to get the blade out. Within minutes after the operation, Mama was up and alert.”

What kind of degenerate idiot stabs a dog?

Some troubling news from Action 3 News in Nebraska:

“Vets around the Metro are worried about a virus attacking dogs right in their own backyards….Leptospirosis. It’s a disease that virtually disappeared decades ago. It targeted hunting dogs because they came into contact with wildlife. Now vets say a new strain is hurting backyard dogs….the disease sneaks up on pets, starting with flu like symptoms, then attacking their kidneys and livers.”

Please be careful and watch your dogs for symptoms.

From the U.S. Senate website: “The lawsuit that brought him immortality concerned the shooting of “Old Drum,” the best hunting dog of a local farmer. A neighbor who suspected that Old Drum was moonlighting by killing his sheep gave orders to shoot the dog if it appeared on the property again. When Old Drum was found dead near the neighbor’s house, the farmer filed suit, seeking damages of fifty dollars. After a jury awarded twenty-five dollars, the neighbor successfully appealed the ruling. The dog’s owner, however, succeeded in his motion for a new trial and hired two skilled lawyers, one of them George G. Vest.

“The money that a man has he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man’s reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads.

“The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog.

“Gentleman of the jury, a man’s dog stands by him in prosperity and poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fierce, if only he may be near his master’s side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer. He guards the steps of his pauper master as if he were a prince.

“When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is a constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens.

“If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies; and when the last scene of all comes, and Death takes the master in his embrace, and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by the graveside will the noble dog be found — his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even in death.”