SIX months on the road and he's finally made it home. Rusty, the four-year-old bull terrier-cross, was given up for dead after disappearing from his Canberra home half a year ago.

"Well one thing is for sure, he didn't walk," Rusty's owner Shane Gowen, 21, said yesterday as he celebrated the return of his "best friend" after paying $400 for the dog to be flown to Canberra from Adelaide on Friday night.

Rescue groups encourage dog-lovers to adopt pooches - wisely

Good news from the Salt Lake County Animal Shelter is that funds have been granted to redo the heating under the kennel floors. The bad news: The work will not be completed until December. "The repairs will be done in three phases, causing us to close off 30 kennels at a time while the floors are torn up," spokeswoman Temma Martin says. While the kennel loss is temporary, it can be the difference of life or death for animals. "The best thing people can do to help in the next months is to reduce the number of animals coming into the shelter," Martin said, adding that spaying and neutering is the first choice. "Besides cutting the number of litters born, spayed and neutered pets are less likely to wander away from home," Martin says. Current identification tags are vital, and microchip identification is advised.

Pet obesity raising concern

LOGAN - Over recent months, adult and childhood obesity has been a major concern for many people across the nation, and now there is another form of health problem, and it includes our favorite four-legged friends.

Obesity in pets is a growing concern for pet-owners across the country, who sometimes don't even realize their cat or dog is growing larger every day. In fact, a recent study conducted by Pfizer Animal Health said that many owners don't realize their pets are overweight or at risk of health problems. According to the study, 47 percent of American dogs are overweight or obese, yet only 17 percent of dog owners would classify their dogs as being such.

As the No. 1 nutritional disorder in dogs, an estimated 25 to 44 percent of dogs in the United States are overweight or obese.

'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.

Salt Lake County pets of the week

Sadie is a friendly and energetic husky/shepherd mix. She's playful and fun, and she seems intelligent and attentive. She definitely got her pale blue eyes from the husky side of her family tree. We recommend that Sadie live in a home without small children, because she has a lot of energy. Sadie's adoption fee is $95.
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