Man Blames Dog for Starting a Fire He Started

We dogs get blamed for all kinds of things. Maria's been collecting stories for years about dogs taking the heat for murders, car accidents, and broken dishes.

It's easy to blame dogs. We can't talk. We can't say, "THAT jerk did it, not ME!" We just sit there mutely, trying to look as innocent as we usually are, but with the accusations of some liar tainting our otherwise unimpeachable character.

Labrador behind fence by Shutterstock

I bet the dog of a Western Pennsylvania man wishes he could kick his owner's tail for the doozy the dog got the blame for. I understand pointing the finger at the dog for flatulence, or even for eating the last few cookies from the package on the counter. But this guy blamed his dog for something big: starting a fire in his apartment.

According to CBS News, 58-year-old John Saparo pointed the finger at his dog for causing a blaze that wrecked his apartment. He told officials he was cleaning and had a bunch of fans going, and the dog walked by and tipped over a fan, causing a spark that led to the fire.

But Saparo didn't realize that fire investigators are very savvy. With what they find at the scene of a fire, they can often put together the real truth of how it started. Sometimes dogs are involved in the investigation. Trained dogs can sniff out fire accelerants. We dogs are so cool.

Since the investigation, the blame is off the innocent dog. Fire officials have accused Saparo of setting the blaze. The guy is even in jail now, waiting for a June 20 hearing.

And as much as his dog should be mad at him for the accusation, he's probably just waiting for his man to come home so he can greet him and snuggle up to him with all the unconditional love he can offer.

(Lab photo via Shutterstock)

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The Puppy Mill Song: A Catchy Tune with a Serious Message

Here at Dogster we believe that you can never denounce the evils of puppy mills enough. They are bad, no good, and wrong. We want them to go away forever.

In an effort to continue raising awareness about the deplorable conditions of puppy mills and encourage people to adopt their fur friends from shelters, the San Francisco SPCA has teamed up with the Jullien Brothers and BBDO San Francisco to create this charming and informative little video about why you shouldn't purchase puppies from puppy mills.

Beneath the video's cuteness lies a very serious message. While purchasing a dog online may seem fun and convenient, the truth is that most Internet puppies come from mills that don't give a damn about the welfare of their animals. Adult dogs are bred and bred and bred until they can no longer produce offspring, at which point they are callously destroyed. Their puppies are confined and overcrowded, exposed to the elements, malnourished, and dehydrated.

But while all of us Dogsters are well aware of the sinister puppy mill cycle, a lot of people just don't know the story behind the doggie in the browser window. Even in San Francisco -- a city committed to social awareness -- 30 percent of dogs purchased in the city came from puppy mills! For shame.

Do your part and help spread the word. It's as easy as showing someone this video.

Via Laughing Squid 

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Win a Collapsible Double-Feeder, Grippmat, and Doggie Travel Cup from Popware

We get a lot of things in the mail here at Dogster HQ, and only a small sample of them tip our cool-o-meter from "blah" into "seriously cool" territory. The items we recently tested from Popware for Pets are definitely in the cool (and pretty darn useful) camp, so we're thrilled to be giving some of them away. The giveaway details are at the base of this post, but before you scroll that way, here's a little about why these products snagged our eye.  

Dogster editor Janine digs the Collapsible Travel Cup with Bottle Holder

She says: For the past three years, I've been taking my dog's stainless steel bowls along for the ride when we go on day trips, so I'd been looking for a more portable alternative for a while. This collapsible travel cup snaps onto any bottle of water or belt loop, and I like that I can fill it up instead of subjecting Moxie to a grimy dog park fountain. Who uses those things, anyway?

The grippmat and double-elevated feeder from Popware.

Dogster editor Vicky digs the Single Elevated Feeder

She says: "My elderly cat, Miss Uppity Tibbs, finds it hard to bend over a normal feeding bowl. So now she doesn't have to hunch over like an arthritic vulture." 

We also liked the nonslip pet bowl Grippmatt, which keeps crumbs from rolling out onto the floor with its raised edges, and that every item in the pet collection is BPA-free.

We dig the collapsible, detachable cups.

Contest Time!

We're giving away the following from Popware for Pets to one Dogster Magazine reader: a Double Elevated Feeder, Pet Bowl Grippmat, and the Collapsible Travel Cup with Bottle Holder. To win, let us know the your preferred color (each product comes in pink, green and blue -- whoops, that's actually purple, our mistake!).

P.S. In order to be eligible for prizes, you must use your Disqus account to comment below. Creating a profile and avatar takes just a minute, and is a great way to participate in Dogster's community of people who are passionate about dogs.

We'll pick a random winner on Friday, June 22, at noon PST, and will notify you by e-mail (so please make sure you have a valid e-mail address associated with your Disqus account, or we won't be able to contact you!). 

Another look.

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Welcome Earth Animal to the Raise A Green Dog Partner Program!

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How One Great Dane Opened the Door for Battered Women

Dogs are amazing. We don't need to say it twice. They can sense our sadness and try to comfort us, they can help turn people's lives around, and they can make living with an illness much easier. Dogs and humans share a bond unlike any other relationship between people and animals. We've evolved to need each other -- it's a cosmic alliance that is centuries old.

It's this very bond that saved one woman from domestic violence and helped change the very rules of one women's shelter in Kansas City. Dubbed "Mackenzie" to protect her identity, the woman has her Great Dane, J. Matthew, to thank for where she is today -- a survivor who escaped an abusive monster.

"Mackenzie" can't show her face on camera in order to protect herself from her abuser.

Speaking bravely before an audience, Mackenzie described her painful experience, explaining, "When your life is being threatened and you're in that situation, you don't think. [You only want to] make it through the next blow. Make it through the next second. Make it through the next minute." It was during just such an incident that Mackenzie's boyfriend at the time hurled her right through a wall by her shirt. "Literally -- drywall, boards, nails -- to the other side."

J. Matthew risked his own life to save Mackenzie's.

Alerted to the commotion, J. Matthew rushed to Mackenzie's aid, lying on top of her to protect her from the continuing onslaught. Once the abuse subsided, Mackenzie was able to escape, but her boyfriend threw the dog off the porch, dragging him to a busy intersection and abandoning him there.

Afterward, and back with J. Matthew, Mackenzie was directed to a women's shelter called the Rose Brooks Center, where she learned her dog was not welcome. When Mackenzie insisted she would rather just leave town and stay at a rest stop than stay at the facility without J. Matthew, the Kansas City women's organization had a change of heart.

The Rose Brooks Center now welcomes women and their pets, and is building a fabulous new kennel to house the companions who are more than just pets, but family and support systems. With as many as 40 percent of battered women revealing that they don't leave abusive situations because they don't want to abandon beloved animal companions, the shelter's change of rules is one that can help save the lives of women like Mackenzie.

Rose Brooks Center CEO Susan Miller has no regrets about allowing dogs in the shelter.

Rose Brooks Center CEO Susan Miller doesn't regret the decision to banish the center's no-pet policy, saying, "It was just great to see the bonding they had ... the healing process they went through together. ... It really made us realize this was something we needed to do. We needed to provide this opportunity for women to bring their pets."

We're totally crying at our desks now, and we're not ashamed to admit it!

Via CBS News

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Pup Sales Boom for India’s One-Child Families

A recent news item in the Hindu Business Line reports that purebred puppy sales are booming in India, thanks in part to a growing trend among “educated” couples to have just one child. According to a news report from New Dheli in the Financial Times, more than 10 percent of Indian couples are opting for one child in a scramble to secure high-paying jobs and stockpile resources.

India’s Director of the Population Foundation, A.R. Nanda, says that the growing number of one-child families is “unanticipated,” and is leading to a “Little Emperor” syndrome in India as is seen in China. The number of Indian families opting for one child has doubled in the last 10 years.

Shailesh Omkar, a dog breeder in Mumai, says, “Dogs are not only effective stress busters, in single-child nuclear families, they often play the role of a companion.”

So let me get this straight … we’re having only one child because we want to maintain a certain lifestyle, and children interfere with that.  So we’re going to give the child a dog, rather than a sibling, to keep him company.

I love dogs, but it seems like priorities are getting flipped around over there in India. Is anyone else troubled about this trend?

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RIP Lucky the Maltese, Friend to A-List Stars

She hobnobbed with glitterati, her winsome brown eyes winning the hearts of the rich and famous. So it was with sorrow that her many famous friends learned that Lucky died this week.

Betty White, Wendy Diamond, and Lucky. Photograph courtesy of AnimalFair.

The rescued Maltese was about 15 years old when she succumbed to cancer of the spleen in her dog bed in New York City on Tuesday.

Last November, Guinness World Records named Lucky as "the animal photographed with the most famous people." At that point, her total was 363 -- a number that included Kanye West, Bill Clinton, Kim Kardashian, Jessica Biel, Jon Stewart, Dr. Phil, Buzz Aldrin, Richard Branson, Rosie O’Donnell, Dave Matthews, John Travolta, Barbara Walters, Sting, Cloris Leachman, Kelly Ripa, Hugh Hefner, Richard Belzer, and Al Roker.

Rescued by animal-rights campaigner, TV personality, and socialite Wendy Diamond in 1999, the fluffy pup suffered from separation anxiety. Not wanting to leave Lucky home alone, Diamond brought her to celebrity-studded events. There the dog won so many hearts that Diamond began building connections to raise money for charity. Woman and dog embarked together on animal-advocacy missions in Russia, Greece, and Mexico, according to the Daily Mail.

Ted Danson with Lucky. Photograph courtesy of AnimalFair.

"Lucky had no idea exactly how lucky her life would be," Diamond writes in an obituary at her website, AnimalFair. "Lucky promoted animal rescue and helped endangered species globally. Together [we] created a media mindshare where charity combined with celebrity raised public awareness about animal rescue and the need for adoption from shelters nationally and on the local level. ...

"In her constant quest to give back (and get some treats in return), Lucky served as the Chair-Dog for the Katrina Pet Memorial, Grand Marshal of Barkus, as well as the American Cancer Society’s Bark for Life, and hosted 1000s of fundraisers in her lifetime. She was the only civilian dog admitted into the United Nations, and inspired the White House Pet Correspondents Benefit, St Pawtricks, Yappy Hour, Paws For Style, Howloween events, all to promote animal rescue and welfare."

Diamond described her relationship with Lucky as characterized by "unconditional love, loyalty, and a genuine bond that happens when people and their pets live together and work together with mutual respect and harmony."

Lucky's last public appearance was as "chair dog" of the American Cancer Society's Bark for Life on May 6 in Manhattan's Riverside Park.

“She made me realize how lucky I am, no matter what transpired in my life,” Diamond said. “I’m beyond grateful for the outpouring of generosity and support from friends and strangers who know exactly how much Lucky meant to me.”

Lucky was set to be the bride in a six-figure dog "wedding" benefiting the Humane Society of New York in July. According to the New York Daily News, Diamond vows that the event will still take place, with another dog in Lucky's stead.

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