Dog lovers revere the ‘B word’
August 14th, 2007
By Denise Flaim
August 13, 2007
I have a bookmark taped a couple of inches above the computer screen where I am tapping out these words.
“You say I’m a bitch like it’s a bad thing,” it reads.
Last week, New York City Councilwoman Darlene Mealy of Brooklyn introduced a measure banning the word “bitch,” saying it is responsible for creating “a paradigm of shame and indignity.” (The City Council is no stranger to legislating linguistically: In February, it passed a similarly symbolic moratorium on the “N word.”)
Company Sinks Teeth Into Dog Time Shares
July 29th, 2007
By LISA LEFF
Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO — From the state that popularized purse puppies, drive-thru dog washes and gourmet dog food delivery comes the latest in canine convenience — a company that contracts out dogs by the day to urbanites without the time or space to care for a pet full-time.
Marlena Cervantes, founder of FlexPetz, bristles when people refer to her five-month-old business as a rent-a-pet service. She prefers the term “shared pet ownership,” explaining the concept is more akin to a vacation time share or a gym membership than a trip to the video store.
Vet therapy: When pets get plastic surgery
July 22nd, 2007
BY WARREN BERRY
July 22, 2007
Does your dog beg for plastic surgery?
How much is that doggie in the window?
And, if its snout is imperfect, what’s the cost of a nose job?
Nowadays, you can take your pet to a veterinary plastic surgeon and get him a real rhinoplasty. The trend seemed to pick up steam in 2005 when Dr. Alan J. Schulman of the Animal Medical Center of Southern California told MSNBC that, as an orthopedic veterinary surgeon, he was perfecty willing to perform any kind of legitimate plastic surgery for an animal (to improve breathing, for instance, or fix broken teeth or eliminate diseased skin folds). But, he insisted, no liposuction.
Protesters chain themselves, let their dogs run free
July 1st, 2007
By JESSIE DIMARIANO
REDMOND — The sun was shining and the Off Leash Dog area nestled in Marymoor Park was bustling with dog owners and their furry companions Saturday.
But while the dogs basked in the sun and enjoyed games of fetch, seven dog lovers sat chained to dog houses and poles.
MTA canine teams now patrol for terrorism
June 17th, 2007
BY JENNIFER MALONEY
June 14, 2007
Hudson leaned forward from the back seat, peering through the windshield at a man in an orange vest.
“It’s OK,” Doug Joseph, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority police officer, told the German shepherd. “He’s good.”
Joseph waved to the orange-vested track worker and drove away from the train station, scanning the tracks while Hudson looked out the window.
Drug-sniffing dog company serves seven school systems
May 13th, 2007
May 13, 2007
By Robert DeWitt
Staff Writer, Tuscaloosa News
Lee Jordan’s business has gone to the dogs. And he likes it that way.
“I’ve always had dogs and always enjoyed working with dogs,” Jordan said. “This gives me the opportunity to do that in my business.”
Jordan owns the Alabama franchise for Interquest Detection Canines. The company serves as a private contractor to school systems using trained dogs to sniff out illegal, over-the-counter and prescription drugs, alcohol, guns and explosives.
The Warp and Woof of Dog Parks
May 6th, 2007
Denise Flaim
April 30, 2007
Suburbia is supposed to be heaven for dogs, from its doting nuclear families to its fetch-including lawns.
But there’s one thing desperately missing - in our precincts, at least. And that’s safe, enclosed, dedicated spaces for dogs to run and romp.
Suffolk County took a step in the right direction earlier this month, when County Executive Steve Levy announced his support for a proposal to create five new dog runs - more than doubling the county’s sites where dogs can run free.
No day in court for lawyer’s dog
April 22nd, 2007
BY EDEN LAIKIN
April 20, 2007
Jeanie Waters, a quadriplegic attorney, has been around the world with her service dog, Elli. But the pair couldn’t get into a courtroom in Hempstead this week.
Employees at the Nassau County Traffic Violations Agency on Tuesday night refused to let the 9-year-old golden retriever into the courtroom where her owner was to argue a case, said Waters, of Rockville Centre.
After Waters insisted that she could not be without the dog, agency staff allowed Waters to arrange a plea deal for her client in the hallway.
Throwing employees a bone
April 1st, 2007
Patricia Kitchen
April 1, 2007
About a month ago, Alethea Immoor came home from work to find her cat, Cosi, was ailing. The 7-year-old, 30-pound tabby had an abscess on his chin that had burst, resulting in a bloody trail on the floor and pools of blood on the couch in her Middle Island apartment.
“It was terrifying,” says Immoor, 33, who, like so many of us, sees her cat as her family. “I felt helpless.”
She got an appointment with her veterinarian first thing the next morning. And then came her moment of truth: what to tell the boss?
One good save deserves another
March 4th, 2007
BY ERIK GERMAN
When a rogue wave swept Neil Maycock out to sea 37 years ago, only the bravery of a passing stranger saved the then-3-year-old boy’s life. The stranger, a man out walking his dog, dove into the waves and - with the help of his Labrador retriever - dragged the grateful boy back to the shores of his native Great Britain.
Yesterday, fate let Maycock return the favor.