By BEN WALKER, AP Sports Writer Ben Walker, Ap Sports Writer
NEW YORK – Hickory just might like the big-city life.
A Scottish deerhound that loves to chase deer and rabbits on a 50-acre farm in Virginia did more than fine at Madison Square Garden this week, winning best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club on Tuesday night and the title of America's top dog.
"She's not used to lights, camera and noise," handler Angela Lloyd said.
Whatever, Hickory will get a couple of Manhattan treats on Wednesday — steak at famed Sardi's restaurant and a trip to the top of the Empire State Building.
The 5-year-old Hickory became the first of her breed to capture the purple-and-gold ribbon and shiny silver bowl.
By dog world standards, it was an upset. OK, maybe not quite as big as the Hickory Huskers winning the Indiana high school state basketball championship in the film "Hoosiers," but quite a surprise nonetheless.
"I think Hickory could feel my lead that I was excited and went with it," Lloyd said.
Judge Paolo Dondina of Italy thanked every person and dog inside the arena, then picked Hickory from a best-of-seven final show ring that truly sounded international — along with a Scottish deerhound, there was a Pekingese, Portuguese water dog, Chinese shar-pei, smooth fox terrier, bearded collie and black cocker spaniel.
A couple of those pooches on the green carpet ring with Hickory were among the country's top-rated show dogs. The 85-pound Hickory wasn't on that list, though she wagged her long tail the most at the end after beating out a total of nearly 2,600 entries. No doubt, owners Sally Sweatt and Cecilia Dove and Dr. Scott Dove were equally thrilled after her 16th best-in-show overall.
"The quality of all of the dogs were outstanding," Dondina said. "This animal is like in the heavens. It's not of this world."
The 135th Westminster was considered a wide-open field from the start. A smooth fox terrier that was the No. 1 show dog of 2010 recently retired and an Australian shepherd that won the big AKC/Eukanuba event did not enter.
Hickory won the hound group Monday night, then had to wait around all day for her big chance. That was a lot to ask for a kind of dog that feels most comfortable in the woods, but she clearly managed to do just fine.
The 31-year-old Lloyd had won at Westminster before — in 1998, she was honored for her handling in the junior showmanship for youngsters who hope to work in the dog world.
"People who own, breed, show dogs dream of this day," she said.
Among the owners who showed earlier in the day: Brig. Gen. Rhonda Cornum, an Army surgeon who was shot down from a helicopter during the Persian Gulf War and briefly held as a prisoner of war. She was at the Garden showing a Gordon setter.
Cornum was clear on which was more difficult, ascending in the show ring or in the military.
"No question, it is dogs," she said.
Sitting high up in section 118, Linda Melvin kept her eyes fixed on those Gordon setters competing on the floor. A seat away, her daughter fixated on her cell phone.
Krista Piller was busy posting on Facebook: "Wants a big dog to win the WKC dog show this year."
"I'll being putting up more, too," Piller wrote.
From the stands, to the rings to backstage, people were a-twitter — iPads, Blackberries, Droids and then some at an event that started in 1877. Signs of social media were everywhere at the Westminster Kennel Club show.
Proving, in fact, that it is indeed possible to teach an old dog show new tech tricks.
"It is now uploaded!" exclaimed Lorraine Shore of Sequim, Wash.
In town with a pair of German pinschers, her peeps worldwide could see on YouTube how her favorite pooches fared.
"From Germany to Australia to California, people are waiting for my postings," she said. "People who have never been here, now they've experienced Westminster."
Westminster had 49,000 friends on Facebook by late Tuesday afternoon, said Susi Szeremy of the kennel club's social media team, and the number quickly zoomed to more than 60,000. There are about 2,400 followers Tweeting along — litters of twitters.
Ken Roux of Dixon, Ill., made it easy for anyone to keep track of his Boston terrier at the 135th Westminster event. Hoss won a best of breed award Monday.
Roux put a tag with a QR code, a sophisticated set of small squares randomly appearing in a larger square, on top of his dog's crate. The pattern is more than an inch square, and anyone pointing a smartphone at the pattern is automatically taken to Hoss' website.
Brook Berth, an assistant to Hoss' handler, said she'd heard only one other dog at Westminster had the QR tag, which stands for "quick response." The new technology allows people to instantly access the dog's history and contacts.
"I noticed a lot of people taking pictures," Berth said. "It's just so convenient. You don't have to worry about people writing down information or passing out cards. They have it all right away."
The fancy bar codes could become Westminster's trendy bark codes.
"This is the test area," Berth said. "So far, it seems to be a big hit."
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Airlift rescues abandoned LA chihuahuas
AFP - Sunday, February 13
LONG BEACH, California (AFP) - – Blame it on Paris Hilton: the craze for owning small dogs as fashion accessories has led to an explosion in the number of abandoned chihuahuas in Los Angeles, where tiny canines are everywhere.
But now an animal-friendly philanthropist has come to their rescue, organizing an airlift of diminutive pooches abandoned by impatient owners in California -- jetting them off by private plane to Canada, of all places.
"In Los Angeles, in particular, we have an overpopulation of small dogs, many of them Chihuahuas because people think that having a small dog is easy to maintain in a home," said organizer Madeline Bernstein.
The phenomenon has increased after films like "Legally Blonde," and "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" adds Bernstein of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles (spcaLA).
To make it worse, "a significant number of young celebrities like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, they started to get out with these little dogs like accessories," she told AFP.
"The problem is, they are not accessories, they are dogs. They poop, pee and you should take care of them, .. and young people want them as if they were a nice bag, then they get tired ..and leave the dogs in the streets or shelters."
There are estimated to be more than 60,000 Chihuahuas in Los Angeles, where newcomers are often shocked at the luxuries afforded to the miniature hounds, often petted over like babies in the street or in cafes and bars.
Owners can choose from a seemingly endless range of dog spas, boutiques and even schools of canine yoga for their tiny charges -- although the costs involved may possibly help explain why so many are being abandoned.
Whatever the reasons, animal lovers are determined to rescue those that they can from a sad and lonely life in a shelter in California.
That's why on Friday Bernstein and a group of other dog-lovers took action, strapping some 60 dogs in for a three-hour "Air Chihuahua" flight from Long Beach, California, to Edmonton, Canada.
Candy, Kobe, Sadie, Winnie, Taylor and Troudy were among those heading for a new life further north, a long way from the heat of California, and even further from the northern Mexican province from which they get their name.
The spcaLA has been organizing Air Chihuahua flights since December 2009, to destinations including Colorado, Houston and Florida. But Friday's 40,000 dollar operation was the first international airlift.
Jan Folk, a Canadian businesswoman and philanthropist who owns the plane, said that in southern California animal rescue centers deal with large volume of strays admitted every day.
"They feel that they would have no other choice but to eventually euthanize the dogs if they were not transferred," she lamented to AFP on the tarmac in Long Beach, just south of Los Angeles.
In Edmonton, "more people are willing to wait for the California dogs because they know that many .. may come from puppy mills or brokers where they often live in horrible conditions," she added.
"The small breed dogs are in such demand that most were adopted within two or three weeks of arriving in Edmonton. In fact, there was a line of potential adopters at the Edmonton shelter waiting for the dogs to arrive!" she said.
LONG BEACH, California (AFP) - – Blame it on Paris Hilton: the craze for owning small dogs as fashion accessories has led to an explosion in the number of abandoned chihuahuas in Los Angeles, where tiny canines are everywhere.
But now an animal-friendly philanthropist has come to their rescue, organizing an airlift of diminutive pooches abandoned by impatient owners in California -- jetting them off by private plane to Canada, of all places.
"In Los Angeles, in particular, we have an overpopulation of small dogs, many of them Chihuahuas because people think that having a small dog is easy to maintain in a home," said organizer Madeline Bernstein.
The phenomenon has increased after films like "Legally Blonde," and "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" adds Bernstein of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles (spcaLA).
To make it worse, "a significant number of young celebrities like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, they started to get out with these little dogs like accessories," she told AFP.
"The problem is, they are not accessories, they are dogs. They poop, pee and you should take care of them, .. and young people want them as if they were a nice bag, then they get tired ..and leave the dogs in the streets or shelters."
There are estimated to be more than 60,000 Chihuahuas in Los Angeles, where newcomers are often shocked at the luxuries afforded to the miniature hounds, often petted over like babies in the street or in cafes and bars.
Owners can choose from a seemingly endless range of dog spas, boutiques and even schools of canine yoga for their tiny charges -- although the costs involved may possibly help explain why so many are being abandoned.
Whatever the reasons, animal lovers are determined to rescue those that they can from a sad and lonely life in a shelter in California.
That's why on Friday Bernstein and a group of other dog-lovers took action, strapping some 60 dogs in for a three-hour "Air Chihuahua" flight from Long Beach, California, to Edmonton, Canada.
Candy, Kobe, Sadie, Winnie, Taylor and Troudy were among those heading for a new life further north, a long way from the heat of California, and even further from the northern Mexican province from which they get their name.
The spcaLA has been organizing Air Chihuahua flights since December 2009, to destinations including Colorado, Houston and Florida. But Friday's 40,000 dollar operation was the first international airlift.
Jan Folk, a Canadian businesswoman and philanthropist who owns the plane, said that in southern California animal rescue centers deal with large volume of strays admitted every day.
"They feel that they would have no other choice but to eventually euthanize the dogs if they were not transferred," she lamented to AFP on the tarmac in Long Beach, just south of Los Angeles.
In Edmonton, "more people are willing to wait for the California dogs because they know that many .. may come from puppy mills or brokers where they often live in horrible conditions," she added.
"The small breed dogs are in such demand that most were adopted within two or three weeks of arriving in Edmonton. In fact, there was a line of potential adopters at the Edmonton shelter waiting for the dogs to arrive!" she said.
Airlift rescues abandoned LA chihuahuas
AFP - Sunday, February 13
LONG BEACH, California (AFP) - – Blame it on Paris Hilton: the craze for owning small dogs as fashion accessories has led to an explosion in the number of abandoned chihuahuas in Los Angeles, where tiny canines are everywhere.
But now an animal-friendly philanthropist has come to their rescue, organizing an airlift of diminutive pooches abandoned by impatient owners in California -- jetting them off by private plane to Canada, of all places.
"In Los Angeles, in particular, we have an overpopulation of small dogs, many of them Chihuahuas because people think that having a small dog is easy to maintain in a home," said organizer Madeline Bernstein.
The phenomenon has increased after films like "Legally Blonde," and "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" adds Bernstein of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles (spcaLA).
To make it worse, "a significant number of young celebrities like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, they started to get out with these little dogs like accessories," she told AFP.
"The problem is, they are not accessories, they are dogs. They poop, pee and you should take care of them, .. and young people want them as if they were a nice bag, then they get tired ..and leave the dogs in the streets or shelters."
There are estimated to be more than 60,000 Chihuahuas in Los Angeles, where newcomers are often shocked at the luxuries afforded to the miniature hounds, often petted over like babies in the street or in cafes and bars.
Owners can choose from a seemingly endless range of dog spas, boutiques and even schools of canine yoga for their tiny charges -- although the costs involved may possibly help explain why so many are being abandoned.
Whatever the reasons, animal lovers are determined to rescue those that they can from a sad and lonely life in a shelter in California.
That's why on Friday Bernstein and a group of other dog-lovers took action, strapping some 60 dogs in for a three-hour "Air Chihuahua" flight from Long Beach, California, to Edmonton, Canada.
Candy, Kobe, Sadie, Winnie, Taylor and Troudy were among those heading for a new life further north, a long way from the heat of California, and even further from the northern Mexican province from which they get their name.
The spcaLA has been organizing Air Chihuahua flights since December 2009, to destinations including Colorado, Houston and Florida. But Friday's 40,000 dollar operation was the first international airlift.
Jan Folk, a Canadian businesswoman and philanthropist who owns the plane, said that in southern California animal rescue centers deal with large volume of strays admitted every day.
"They feel that they would have no other choice but to eventually euthanize the dogs if they were not transferred," she lamented to AFP on the tarmac in Long Beach, just south of Los Angeles.
In Edmonton, "more people are willing to wait for the California dogs because they know that many .. may come from puppy mills or brokers where they often live in horrible conditions," she added.
"The small breed dogs are in such demand that most were adopted within two or three weeks of arriving in Edmonton. In fact, there was a line of potential adopters at the Edmonton shelter waiting for the dogs to arrive!" she said.
LONG BEACH, California (AFP) - – Blame it on Paris Hilton: the craze for owning small dogs as fashion accessories has led to an explosion in the number of abandoned chihuahuas in Los Angeles, where tiny canines are everywhere.
But now an animal-friendly philanthropist has come to their rescue, organizing an airlift of diminutive pooches abandoned by impatient owners in California -- jetting them off by private plane to Canada, of all places.
"In Los Angeles, in particular, we have an overpopulation of small dogs, many of them Chihuahuas because people think that having a small dog is easy to maintain in a home," said organizer Madeline Bernstein.
The phenomenon has increased after films like "Legally Blonde," and "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" adds Bernstein of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles (spcaLA).
To make it worse, "a significant number of young celebrities like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, they started to get out with these little dogs like accessories," she told AFP.
"The problem is, they are not accessories, they are dogs. They poop, pee and you should take care of them, .. and young people want them as if they were a nice bag, then they get tired ..and leave the dogs in the streets or shelters."
There are estimated to be more than 60,000 Chihuahuas in Los Angeles, where newcomers are often shocked at the luxuries afforded to the miniature hounds, often petted over like babies in the street or in cafes and bars.
Owners can choose from a seemingly endless range of dog spas, boutiques and even schools of canine yoga for their tiny charges -- although the costs involved may possibly help explain why so many are being abandoned.
Whatever the reasons, animal lovers are determined to rescue those that they can from a sad and lonely life in a shelter in California.
That's why on Friday Bernstein and a group of other dog-lovers took action, strapping some 60 dogs in for a three-hour "Air Chihuahua" flight from Long Beach, California, to Edmonton, Canada.
Candy, Kobe, Sadie, Winnie, Taylor and Troudy were among those heading for a new life further north, a long way from the heat of California, and even further from the northern Mexican province from which they get their name.
The spcaLA has been organizing Air Chihuahua flights since December 2009, to destinations including Colorado, Houston and Florida. But Friday's 40,000 dollar operation was the first international airlift.
Jan Folk, a Canadian businesswoman and philanthropist who owns the plane, said that in southern California animal rescue centers deal with large volume of strays admitted every day.
"They feel that they would have no other choice but to eventually euthanize the dogs if they were not transferred," she lamented to AFP on the tarmac in Long Beach, just south of Los Angeles.
In Edmonton, "more people are willing to wait for the California dogs because they know that many .. may come from puppy mills or brokers where they often live in horrible conditions," she added.
"The small breed dogs are in such demand that most were adopted within two or three weeks of arriving in Edmonton. In fact, there was a line of potential adopters at the Edmonton shelter waiting for the dogs to arrive!" she said.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Canada investigates mass sled dog slaughter
AFP - Tuesday, February 1
VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) - – Police are investigating the slaughter of 100 husky dogs used during the 2010 Winter Olympics to pull tourist sleds in the Canadian ski resort of Whistler, authorities said.
The grisly killings were reportedly carried out by one worker over two days in April 2010 with a shotgun and a knife, with reports of injured dogs crawling out of a mass grave.
Local media said the dogs were killed because business slumped in the two months following the Games and they were no longer needed by tourism companies Outdoor Adventures and Howling Dogs, which sell dog-sled rides to tourists.
"We've opened a police file and assigned an investigator," Royal Canadian Mounted Police Staff Sergeant Steve LeClair told AFP.
The case came to light on Monday after the unnamed worker claimed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of killing the dogs, and was reportedly awarded compensation from British Columbia worker's board.
Marcie Moriarty of the Society for Prevention of Animal Cruelty, the lead agency in the investigation, told the Vancouver Sun, "The way he describes (in the board's report) multiple shots and faces blown off and coming back on a second day is gruesome."
"The way this employee describes it, it's a massacre absolutely, a criminal code offence. These dogs were killed in front of the other dogs that were all tethered up."
The man's personal injury lawyer Cory Steinberg told news radio station CKNW, "It wasn't always a clean, one-shot kill. Inevitably he ended up seeing and having to put the end to some horrific scenes."
A spokeswoman for the law firm refused to comment on the criminal investigation and Outdoor Adventures did not return repeated calls from AFP.
The company's website, with photos of huskies and sleds, however, continues to advertise a dog sled ride for CAN$169 per person, "as a once in a lifetime experience (with) your team of energetic and loveable Alaskan Racing Huskies."
The maximum penalty in Canada for injuring or endangering an animal is five years in jail, while animal cruelty is punishable by a fine and 18 months in jail.
VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) - – Police are investigating the slaughter of 100 husky dogs used during the 2010 Winter Olympics to pull tourist sleds in the Canadian ski resort of Whistler, authorities said.
The grisly killings were reportedly carried out by one worker over two days in April 2010 with a shotgun and a knife, with reports of injured dogs crawling out of a mass grave.
Local media said the dogs were killed because business slumped in the two months following the Games and they were no longer needed by tourism companies Outdoor Adventures and Howling Dogs, which sell dog-sled rides to tourists.
"We've opened a police file and assigned an investigator," Royal Canadian Mounted Police Staff Sergeant Steve LeClair told AFP.
The case came to light on Monday after the unnamed worker claimed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of killing the dogs, and was reportedly awarded compensation from British Columbia worker's board.
Marcie Moriarty of the Society for Prevention of Animal Cruelty, the lead agency in the investigation, told the Vancouver Sun, "The way he describes (in the board's report) multiple shots and faces blown off and coming back on a second day is gruesome."
"The way this employee describes it, it's a massacre absolutely, a criminal code offence. These dogs were killed in front of the other dogs that were all tethered up."
The man's personal injury lawyer Cory Steinberg told news radio station CKNW, "It wasn't always a clean, one-shot kill. Inevitably he ended up seeing and having to put the end to some horrific scenes."
A spokeswoman for the law firm refused to comment on the criminal investigation and Outdoor Adventures did not return repeated calls from AFP.
The company's website, with photos of huskies and sleds, however, continues to advertise a dog sled ride for CAN$169 per person, "as a once in a lifetime experience (with) your team of energetic and loveable Alaskan Racing Huskies."
The maximum penalty in Canada for injuring or endangering an animal is five years in jail, while animal cruelty is punishable by a fine and 18 months in jail.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Family Reunion
Cookie and Ozzy
From left- Tessie, Rockie, Cookie and OzzyIt was a surprise reunion at the dog run last weekend when we bumped into Cookie.He is much taller and heavier than his father Ozzy
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Dog allegedly hit with metal chain repeatedly
The skin on Wander’s snout has rotted away, leaving its flesh open to infection. (Photo: Madam Wong’s Shelter)
In the latest reported case of animal abuse, a stray female dog was apparently hit on the face repeatedly with a metal chain, leaving its snout disfigured, oozing pus and blood.
Pictures of the abused dog, Wander, was posted on citizen journalism website Stomp on Monday, drawing outrage from netizens.
Mr Ray Yeh, who is in charge of animal shelter Mdm Wong’s Shelter (MWS), said Wander was brought to MWS on Sunday, with injuries it sustained over a month ago.
He told Yahoo! Singapore, it is believed Wander was living in an industrial park, under a lorry. When an unfamiliar foreign worker encroached its “territory”, Wander started barking and subsequently got “bashed up” by the worker.
Another foreign worker, who heard the commotion, ran out and shouted at the abuser. The culprit then cycled away.
A salesman, Mr Ng, who used to feed Wander, told The New Paper (TNP) he tried to treat the dog’s wounds with antiseptic cream but to no avail. The infection later spread to its left eye.
Mr Ng, 48, then took Wander to the vet, where he spent some $300 on medication and boarding fees. On Sunday, he brought Wander to MWS.
“When Wander came in on Sunday, her wound dripped blood when she lowered her head,” described MWS volunteer Lyn Loh, who posted the pictures of Wander’s abuse on Stomp.
Animal abuse cases appear to be on the rise.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ (SPCA) initial figures show over 900 cases investigated in 2010, said executive director Deirdre Moss. In 2009, the SPCA investigated 864 reports of alleged cruelty, 13 per cent more than the year before.
Currently, the SPCA is also appealing for information on a dog that was found dead on Dec 26, at the void deck of Blk 415 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 under “suspicious circumstances”. It had blood on its paw and mouth.
The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) saw a startling 24 cases of animal abuse from January to late October last year, compared to nine in 2009, 11 in 2008 and seven in 2007. AVA attributes the increase to growing public awareness, reported TNP.
Mr Yeh said, Wander is now undergoing surgery to remove dead tissue, blood and pus from its wound. Medical fees could run up to over a thousand dollars.
“Wander is still very trusting and friendly. She started eating yesterday, which is a good sign,” added Mr Yeh.
Pictures of the abused dog were also posted on MWS’ Facebook page on Sunday, in an attempt to highlight the abuse of dogs in Singapore. Various people have since offered to contribute money for Wander’s treatment.
MWS urged for harsher penalties to be imposed on animal abusers and for people to report any case of animal abuse.
SPCA said, “The injuries on the dog are horrific and action needs to be taken if the dog was abused as reported.”
The society urged anyone with knowledge of the incident to make a police report — as the SPCA does not have legal powers to investigate and take action — and inform the SPCA, as soon as possible. For further assistance, the public can call the SPCA at 62875355 ext 9.
The SPCA will also be liaising with the AVA on this matter, said Ms Moss.
AVA has confirmed it is investigating the case.
Ms Moss pointed out, “As the reports in the press say that the dog was found two months ago, it may be hard to establish how the dog was injured unless the stray feeder who found the dog goes back to the scene (of where the crime was allegedly committed) to speak to the worker (who reportedly saw the act being committed).”
The maximum punishment for animal abuse is a fine of S$10,000 and jail term of 12 months.
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Monday, December 27, 2010
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