All Things Dog - July 21

On National Public Radio's Fresh Air program last Thursday, I listened to a charming story about Bill Berloni, who adopts shelter animals and turns them into movie stars. He stumbled upon this career accidentally when as a young man he had the opportunity to search for the first dog to be used as Sandy in the stage production of Annie. Although, his goal was to become an actor himself, he was fated to be an animal trainer. How he became one is a fascinating tale.

According to the Trib, an 8 month old chocolate lab named Justice was found wandering at a Walmart, last week in New Port Richey and turned in to Suncoast SPCA. He was severely neglected and weighed 19 pounds, under half of what his normal weight should be. The shelter is seeking donations to help with the pup's rehabilitation. To contribute, call (727)849-1048, email at info@SPCAsuncoast.org or go online at http://www.spcasuncoast.org/. You can also visit their facility at 7734 Congress St., New Port Richey.

Pet Friendly Florida Politicians is an article compiled by Patricia Collier of Florida Pets.net. It's a good time to be studying who's worthy of your vote, with election time coming.

Megan Hendricks from ACT sent the following information :
The UAN is offering a Crisis Relief Grant to people being displaced due to the housing crunch. The grant is for temporary boarding of pets, airline fees to transport them, etc. One can apply for the grant by going to http://www.uan.org/.

Megan, is also a member of the Hillsborough County Animal Advisory Committee. One thing they focus on is disaster planning. The county is in desperate need of people to help with animals at pet friendly shelters during evacuations. They held a workshop for volunteers last month and very few people showed up. If you're interested, contact CHAART.

In the Trib this week, a police dog in Mulberry died after being left in it's handler's car for three hours. The air conditioning in the car was on, but apparently malfunctioned. This incident has caused the agency to implement new policies requiring officers to check on dogs in cars every 30 minutes and cars will be outfitted with heat alarms. You can read more at tbo.com. Also, this week's Dear Abby featured letters about dogs being left in hot cars. A couple readers gave helpful tips and the final letter will make you smile.

Due to a technicality, 60 of the 121 neglected dogs that were seized in April from a breeder in Tarpon Springs, may be returned to the owner. It seems the agent from Suncoast Animal League who rescued the dogs failed to gain approval from the county commission before seizing them, so a judge has voided the League's petition to take custody of the animals. More than $100,000 has been spent in veterinary care for the dogs to date. The owner, Teresita Hughes has said she only wants 60 dogs back and can care for no more. The judge, Myra Scott McNary did recommend that a representative from one of the county's humane societies should make weekly visits to Hughes' home once the animals are returned to ensure they are getting proper care. For more on this story see tbo.com.