Should a City Limit Households to Owning Only Three Dogs?

Meridian, Mississippi, did, and people who own more are being told to get rid of some.

The stereotype of the "crazy cat lady" who keeps scores of cats is so well-worn that it's now little more than an offensive punchline. But in the city of Meridian, Mississippi, the authorities are more worried about people who own too many dogs. The City Council just passed an ordinance limiting residents to no more than three dogs apiece.

Although the council in the city of about 41,000 insists that the ordinance is for the benefit of  dogs and humans, it's being vigorously attacked by owners and shelters alike. The penalty for violating the ordinance is a fine from $50 to $1,000, with as long as 90 days in jail. Every day that a household exceeds the limit, it will be prosecuted as a separate misdemeanor, just as if every day someone were caught burgling a different house.

The ordinance doesn't make allowances for owners who already have more than three dogs, which means that some people are going to have to start making some hard choices if the ordinance remains. Councilman Randy Hammon says that those people will just have to cope with it.

"They are going to have to grow up, get fewer pets," Hammon told the Meridian Star. "We are not in a city where people need to be raising dogs."

Whoa, Mr. Hammon. Just, whoa.

Ashley Owen Hill of Lucky Dog Rescue offered a different perspective: "For a lot of people, dogs are their children, and this is basically asking them to get rid of some of their children, pick and choose between which children they can keep, and without any warning or real reason."

But to Hammon and other supporters of the ordinance, they're protecting the community from pet owners who have no consideration for either their pets or their neighbors. In one recent case, a single person was keeping 38 dogs on one piece of property; when animal control came in, officers took away only six of the dogs. 

"You need to have your neighbors' best interests at heart as well as your own," Hammon says. "If you want to raise them or sell them, go out in the county, get a pen and set yourself up."

Cats aren't included in the law. Meridian residents can continue to have as many cats -- or any other domestic animal -- as they want because the city doesn't see them causing as many problems in terms of noise and crowding. The ordinance was inspired by residents who complained about their neighbors keeping large numbers of dogs, such as the one that Hammon mentioned.

Councilwoman Kim Houston made a similar argument: "To have 10 or 20 dogs in one tight spot in a fence without the ability to really move around is really not good for the animal, the owner, or the neighbors."

No doubt, and we advocate against this type of hoarding. But a limit of three? Even if the dogs are happy and healthy with all the space they need? And did we mention that people who'll have to get rid of animals they love?

The extra dogs will eventually have to go somewhere, and that means that a lot of them will probably wind up in shelters, perhaps being killed before they can find a family. It's hard to argue that someone should be keeping 38 dogs in an urban area, but the strict limit might be going after the problem with an awfully big stick, especially when you consider how much people love their dogs.

Hill acknowledges the problem of overcrowding in homes and shelters, but she believes that the ordinance is the wrong solution. She favors promoting spaying and neutering of dogs.

"That cuts down on the overpopulation," she says. "That cuts down on the issues with overcrowding as well, so I think that's where the focus should be instead of on limiting the number of pets people can have."

Via Meridian Star and WTOK

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Dog Waits by Home for Owners to Return -- for Three Years

Chen the Chow was abandoned, but he wouldn't believe it. Now, he has the home he deserves.

Three years ago, Chen the Chow's owners abandoned their house in Atlanta. They abandoned Chen the Chow, too, but he didn't know it -- or he refused to believe it. Since then, he's been living outside the empty home awaiting their return, according to 11alive.com. 

"He was waiting and waiting for his people to come home," Lisa Renstrom of Chap's Chow Rescue said. "He absolutely would not leave that house. The people on either side would throw rocks and try to chase him away. He would not leave." 

Neighbors saw the dog every day outside the Gwinnett County home, and they didn't like it. He slept in the carport. He wandered the yard. He scavenged for food in a nearby Kroger grocery store through the woods, but he always came back to the house. He would not leave. 

Finally, one of the neighbors told Renstrom about the dog, and she took action. Over a period of weeks, she gained the trust of the dog by offering food. Then she took him into her care at Chap's Chow Rescue and set about finding him a forever home. 

It didn't take long. Ben Rupp of Ohio had been scouring sites looking for a new dog. He had just lost his own Chow of 13 years, named Goldie. Ben believes the dogs looked similar, and he felt a connection. He immediately booked a private plane and flew to Georgia. 

"His features are very similar to my old dog," Rupp said. "The pictures and the story, it all came together."

It came together for Renstrom, too. Although she had grown fond of Chen, she said goodbye to him on the tarmac. The loyal, faithful dog, who spent three years alone waiting for his owners to return, who refused to believe he had been abandoned, now has the home and the owner he deserves. 

Via 11alive.com. 

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Mystery Dog Spotted in Three Places Along U.S. Highway 101

Bay Area commuters see a small dog running down the freeway -- in locations that are miles apart. We hope he's safe.

During Wednesday morning's Bay Area commute, the California Highway Patrol received numerous calls about a mysterious dog that was reported in three locations miles apart along U.S. Highway 101.

The animal, which was described as a small, brownish-white Chihuahua-type dog, was first reported just before 9 a.m. near San Francisco's Candlestick Park on the freeway. The first caller reported the dog was next to the center divider, heading south. The CHP dispatched a unit to the scene, and traffic was slowed to a near-standstill while the dog loped cheerfully ahead of three lanes of restrained, backed-up traffic.

According to commuter Floyd Stone, who snapped a picture of the elfin animal, it appeared as though the little Chihuahua was a pied piper leading the morning commute to Silicon Valley.

"The Highway Patrol was successful in steering the dog safely to the shoulder, allowing the cars to resume their speed," said Stone, who gave the dog an apt moniker. "'Freeway Dog' seemed happy, content, and quite satisfied in leading the commute today and had a big smile on the side of the road when we passed by."

CHP Officer Peter Van Eckhardt said animal control officers were called to the area, but after searching for half an hour, they were unable to find the dog.

Then the situation took a strange turn. An hour later, another report had the dog still on the freeway, but almost 25 miles south, seemingly an impossible distance for a dog with such short legs to cover in such little time. There was another sighting of a small dog matching Freeway Dog's description on Highway 101 at Woodside Road in Redwood City.

Then, an hour after the first report, a third caller had the dog a half-mile farther south at the Marsh Road exit. According to the caller, the driver of a white Mercedes-Benz had pulled over onto the side of the off ramp and was apparently trying to capture the dog.

After that, Van Eckhardt said, there were no more reports.

"The descriptions match, though that is an awfully long distance for a dog to run," he said. "One hopes a good citizen was able to rescue the dog and it's now in a safe place." 

Did you see this little dog? Can you help us give this story a happy ending? Let us know in the comments! 

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Dog Vomit Containing Rat Bait Poisons Vet Staff in Three States

Dog barf is already bad news. What could be worse? Bad news about dog barf.

Veterinary hospital staff in three states have fallen sick after inhaling the fumes from dogs that have eaten a common rodent poison, according to the US Centers for Disease Control's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Gopher; photo by Chuck Abbe. Zinc phosphide is an inorganic chemical compound commonly added to pellets meant to kill gophers and moles. On contact with stomach acid and water -- that is, once swallowed -- zinc phosphide produces the highly toxic gas phosphine. After ingesting rodent bait containing zinc phosphide, dogs usually vomit, releasing phosphine into the air, which can poison humans. There is no known antidote.

The CDC reports phosphine poisonings at four veterinary hospitals: two in Michigan, one in Iowa, and one in Washington state. Each of these hospitals had treated a dog that had ingested rodent bait. Eight hospital workers have been poisoned thus far. According to the CDC, all experienced "transient symptoms" related to phosphine inhalation -- including chest tightness, shortness of breath, headache, and nausea.

In one of these cases, "a female Dachshund, weight unknown, was playing outdoors when she vomited behind some bushes and collapsed. Her owners rushed the limp dog to a Washington veterinary hospital. She was unresponsive and had diarrhea, a weak pulse, pinpoint pupils, and a temperature of 107F," reads the CDC's report. "Subsequently, the semicomatose dog vomited onto paper towels. ... A female veterinary technician, aged 34 years, who sniffed the dog's vomitus on the paper towels to determine whether it smelled like food immediately developed abdominal pain and nausea. ... Suspecting [zinc phosphide] toxicity, the veterinarian ... retrieved the vomitus about 20 minutes after it was put in the trash, placed it in a plastic bag, sealed it, froze it, and sent it to the Washington State Department of Health.

Dachshund by Shutterstock.com

The State Department of Labor and Industries' Industrial Hygiene laboratory analyzed the barf and discovered phosphorus and zinc in it.

In one of the Michigan cases, a 70-pound dog was brought into a veterinary hospital after consuming rodent pellets. "Vomiting was induced in the examination room using hydrogen peroxide, and two hospital workers were poisoned." Each of them experienced multiple symptoms. "The state poison control center advised both victims to ventilate the room and move to fresh air. No other medical care was received. Both recovered completely.

"Four other exposed staff members experienced only one symptom each. ... All six workers had been exposed by entering the examination room or a nearby area. Decontamination was conducted by disposing of the vomitus in an outdoor trash container and ventilating the room. All symptoms abated as soon as fresh air was circulated in the examination room and other areas of the veterinary hospital," reads the CDC's report.  

All four dogs involved in these poisoning cases recovered fully, according to the report. All's well that ends well, but the less barf the better.

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Japan Dog Rescued After Three Weeks in Floating House

A dog who survived the massive earthquake and tsunami of March 11 and, also three weeks at sea, is rescued by Japan Coast Guard members (Photo: Reuters/Japan Coast Guard Handout)

With all the terrible news that keeps pouring out of Japan, here’s one that puts some hope in what seems so hopeless. The Japan Coast Guard has rescued a dog who had been at sea in a sinking house for three weeks after surviving the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Coast Guard rescuers were flying over debris when they spotted a brown dog trotting around the roof of a house — all that was left of the house above water. The dog then disappeared into the house through a hole in the roof. Thinking there may be human survivors, one rescuer was lowered to the house. He tried to coax the dog out, but couldn’t, so he went in after the dog. He came back out with the dog in his arms and the two went back to land via boat. (No people were found inside.)

How did this dog manage? What must the dog have been thinking during this strange and frightening situation? How long before the house went under? It’s an amazing story, and one that could easily be retold in a children’s book or even a movie one day. The happiest ending will be if the dog’s people are alive and they are reunited and can start life over again, together… I’ll try to keep you updated if anything like this happens.

Happy ending update, 10 a.m. April 4: The dog’s owners have been found! They are scheduled to be reunited with her today. Check out the updated CNN story here. More later (I am enroute from Rome to Athens, so it might be a little while.) Thank you to the Dogsters who sniffed out the updates!

(Source: Reuters)

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