| Donors dig deep to help veteran and his dog
A Chesaning man raising money for an operation for his dog says he's overwhelmed that a news report reached around the world and generated close to $10,000 in about 10 days. Now, the dog has to lose 40 of his 140 pounds before a surgeon will touch him. In April, disabled veteran Richard R. "Ram" Reister, 55, put out fliers around town in which he offered to cut lawns for $10 to raise money for his "best friend." He received one response. But after a Saginaw News report appeared May 12, Reister fielded about 200 calls in two days. His phone is still ringing and donations are rolling in, although the pace has slowed He hasn't counted his pieces of mail but thinks 800 cards and letters is a close estimate. One of the largest donations is from the Humane Society of the United States in Washington, D.C., which is sending Reister $1,000, said spokeswoman Tracey McIntire.
Rusty's 1200km amazing journey
RUSTY, a dog given up for dead, has shocked everyone after appearing just north of Adelaide -- six months after disappearing from his backyard 1200km away in Canberra. The dog, who somehow travelled across state borders to Two Wells, yesterday received star treatment as he left Adelaide with a dog handler. Amazing journey: Click here to see a map of Rusty's 1200km journey. How did the microchipped four-year-old bull terrier-cross cover the distance? "One thing is for sure, he didn't walk," Rusty's owner, Shane Gowen, 21, said. "Maybe he met a truckie who took him for a ride?" SA RSPCA spokeswoman Aimee McKay said: "We have never picked up a dog so far from its home." Share this article What is this? .
'Yappy Hours' and more for your dogs
I don't like the yappy little ones that nip at your feet or the loud, big ones that stick their noses in places they don't belong. I like the ones that lie in the shade and gently snore. I liked my friend's boxer Samson (rest in peace) who was big and drool-y. So when I was asked to be on the dog committee (aka the "paws" committee and the "Fifi" committee) for the park district, I was a bit hesitant. Everyone else on the committee has at least one pet. In fact, they have lizards and horses and cats and dogs and probably other animals roaming about their homes and yards that they haven't mentioned yet. But I agreed because I am generally a nice person who looks like a dog lover. Little did I know that the committee, aside from planning fun events, had a secondary, more surreptitious goal: to make me the adoptive mother of some poor pooch.
SOCIAL STOOP
June 10, 2007 -- IT'S funny how dogs make friends out of strangers - like my late neighbor Mitch Pressler. A fixture on East 90th Street for decades, he'd sit on his building's stoop, surveying the block. Passersby stopped to hang with him, especially those on four legs: Savory the miniature pinscher, Paco the pug, Paddy the Lhasa apso, Lincoln the beagle, Lola the bulldog and my pack of pit bulls and mutts all gravitated to Mitch because he loved dogs. Mitch regularly followed this column, too. "Very good article," he'd call out to me from his stoopside perch. Certain stories really got him talking, notably the one about how senior citizens struggle to keep pets in rent-stabilized apartments. He added his voice to the outcry when City Council Speaker Christine Quinn failed to support Intro 13, the Pets in Housing Bill.
Sleep with Fluffy? Of course. Take her to the vet? Um, no.
VANCOUVER -- We like to pamper our pets, sleep with them, include them in family photographs and take them to the spa -- but apparently they're not getting many dates with the vet. According to a national survey of 1,150 cat and dog owners conducted by Ipsos-Reid/Pfizer, 35 per cent of dog owners and nearly one-fifth of cat owners include their pets in family photographs, while 82 per cent of cat owners and 68 per cent of dog owners allow their pets to sleep on the bed with them. When it comes to relationships, about 20 per cent of cat and dog owners say they wouldn't consider dating someone who doesn't love pets. .
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