Elwood, Crowned World’s Ugliest Dog in 2007, Has Died

Elwood, the New Jersey canine that was crowned the world’s ugliest dog in 2007 and later became the topic of a children’s book preaching acceptance died. unexpectedly Thanksgiving morning at age.

His owner, Karen Quigley, said the Chinese crested and Chihuahua mix died after having some heath issues in recent months but recently appeared to be doing well.

Elwood was dark colored and hairless, saving for a puff of white fur resembling a Mohawk on his head. He was often referred to by fans as Yoda, or E.T., for his resemblance to those famous science-fiction characters.

Elwood won his crown at the annual ugly dog contest at the Sonoma-Marin County Fair in Petaluma, California a year after he had finished second.

Quigley had rescued Elwood in 2005, when he was about nine months old.

"The breeder was going to euthanize him because she thought he was too ugly to sell," Quigley has said.

After garnering the ‘ugly dog title’, Elwood became an online darling and developed a worldwide fan base. During his life, he appeared at more than 200 events that helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for animal rescue groups and nonprofit animal organizations.

Inspired by Elwood, Quigley wrote Everyone Loves Elwood: A True Story, a popular children’s book that promoted a message that it’s OK to be different. Quigley said the book shares lessons of love, compassion and perseverance and encourages readers to be kind to animals.

"He made people smile, he made them laugh and feel good. It was wonderful," Quigley said Saturday. "He will truly be missed."

Related: 

BEHOLD YODA: CHINESE CRESTED-CHIHUAHUA MIX DEEMED ‘UGLIEST DOG’

Book: World’s Ugliest Dogs

AGAINST ALL ODDS: JAPANESE DOG FOUND ALIVE AT SEA THREE WEEKS AFTER TSUNAMI

Miraculous: three weeks after an earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan, a dog was found alive at sea by the Japanese Coast Guard. According to The Daily Mail, the dog survived by living in a partially submerged house that was swept to sea.

Rescuers had hoped to find more tsunami survivors living inside the house but after tearing the roof open, it was found to be empty apart from the dog.

Despite its three weeks at sea, the medium-sized brown dog seemed to be in reasonably good condition considering its ordeal.

The discovery of the dog is a rare glimmer of hope in Japan where thousands of people are believed to have perished in the disaster.

The nation is now gripped by the ongoing nuclear threat posed by the unstable Fukushima plant as workers continue to battle to restore vital cooling systems damaged by the quake.

 

Video:  Stranded Tsunami Dog Rescued in Japan

h/t to the Blaze – by: Emily Esfahani Smith – Cross-Posted at Marion’s Place

Dog rescued after 100-mile journey on ice floe

WARSAW, Poland – A dog had a lucky escape when a boat rescued him from an ice floe that had carried him more than 100 miles up a river and out onto the Baltic Sea.

“My crew saw… a shape moving on the water and we immediately decided to get closer to check if it was a dog or maybe a seal relaxing on the ice,” said Jan Joachim, senior officer aboard the Baltica.

“As we got closer to the ice floe we saw that it was a dog struggling not to fall into the water.”

Ship engineer Adam Buczynski managed to scoop the dog off the floe onto an inflatable dinghy and wrapped him in a blanket.

“He didn’t even squeal. There was just fear in his big eyes,” said Buczynski.

‘Right place at the right time’

The dog was first seen on the ice floe some 70 miles inland to the south on the Vistula river but firemen were unable to rescue him. When the Baltica crew found him, he had already drifted some 18 miles out to sea.

“We were in the right place at the right time,” said Joachim, noting that they rescued him shortly before nightfall.

Crew members are now trying to locate the dog’s owner.
Poland is in the grip of bitterly cold weather, with night temperatures in some areas falling as low as -31 Fahrenheit.

Source:  MSNBC

Posted:  Just One More Pet

Dog Dragged to Death

When the local news reports a horrible death of a pet who is as innocent as an angel, the feeling you have inside your heart erupts with sorrow in realizing that there are humans in this sometime cruel world, that do not deserve to be called a human being.  The punishment for crimes toward innocent animals who cannot defend themselves, has still not yet been established as a severe crime of cruelty to animals.  The lives of evil ones who stand before a judge when sentenced to prison,  should have their sentence doubled, to have lots of time to think about what they have done.  Perhaps that type of punishment would take away the evil in their lives, and when released, will understand what they should have known all along.  Evil is within the devil.  I suppose this sounds inhumane, but that’s my personal opinion.  This is leading up to the death of a dog that was dragged behind a pickup truck for several miles.

What could an innocent dog have possibly done to deserve this cruelty?  The dog had been put into the truck, taken up into the mountains and dragged to death.  Video surveillance at the entrance of a mountain park, showed the pickup going into the park with the dog in the bed of the truck, and coming back out without the dog.  Several hours later, park rangers discovered the body of the dog with a rope around his neck.  It was too late for any pet health care for saving this poor dog; he was already in doggy heaven. There were tracks of the dog in the snow that showed how the crime was committed.  The next day, a man was arrested for aggravated cruelty to animals, along with other charges not related to the killing.  I published this on my blog the day after it happened.

Originally Posted on AARP Pet Blog Group

Comments so far…

Post #2 CAdreamer

Thank you so much for this sad and horrible post… because everyone needs to be aware and animal lovers and anyone with a heart need to unite and stop this type of abuse.

The laws need to be changed and enforced so that someone that does this type of thing needs to be prosecuted and sentenced at the same level that we would sentence someone that does this to a child… or any human.  If I had my way, we’d just drag that **** who did this behind a truck until he was dead like he did to that innocent dog… or maybe just 90% so he could suffer through the recovery without pain meds and remember it.  I am not a normally a mean person, but I am so tired of hearing these horrible stories, like the gal put her ex-roommates kitty in the hot oven to die… and then they get probation, a fine or some minimal jail time… so they can do it again to another animal, child or weaker human.  They virtually always do because they are sociopaths and it has been proven that domestic violence and animal abuse go hand in hand.

I will publish this on on my blogs as well, but it really is time for Americans to stand up and be better.  What is it that Gandhi said, “A Country can be judged by the way it treats its animals.”  and… it is our job to look out for the least among us… animal or human.  Even the animals who become food do not have to be treated inhumanely in the process.  It is all about decency and choices!

Thanks again for posting this!!

Post #1 – AZrebel said:

on January 9, 2010 07:18 PM ET

I have a .38 special that is for protection only, as I am a 72 year old female living alone except for my animals.  A friend was absolutely aghast at this and said she could never shoot anyone.

Guess what?  If anyone were to harm or threaten one of my animals in my own home, that person would have some air holes where there were none before.  Anyone who harms an animal will harm a child or other helpless human if they think they can get away with it.  Those people should be locked up and the key given to me or someone else who has worked with animals, rescued animals, has animals of his own.  No mercy – they did not show mercy to the animal(s).

Just One More Pet says Amen to the comments!! Let us make 2010 the year that we stand up to animal abusers and abusers of all types!!

Saving Molly… and Other Animals From Similar Laws

This story was updated today on CBS-2 News.  This couple is still fighting this nightmare of paperwork and conflicting laws between the city and state.  Legislation will finally be introduced in January to hopefully stop the insanity…

CHINO–Under state law, dog-owning residents are required to get their dogs vaccinated for rabies in order to prevent the spread of the disease, but one Chino Hills couple is refusing to do so for fear it might cost their dog’s life.

“I’m not a person trying to buck the system,” said Sam Gadd. “I’m just trying to save my dog. This is a legitimate fight and it has become a passion of mine.”

Sam and his wife Cecilia are the proud owners of five-year-old Molly, a brown English Springer Spaniel, who suffers from auto-immune disease, which enables her immune system to kill her red blood cells. The Gadd’s say they believe Molly received auto-immune disease after receiving her first rabies shot about three years ago. They say another shot may kill her.

“It is my medical opinion that any vaccination of Molly could potentially be detrimental to her health, and may incite another recurrence of her Immune-mediated disease,” wrote the Gadd’s veterinarian, Heather Mineo.

The Gadd’s have received a citation from the Inland Valley Humane Society, which contracts with Chino Hills for animal control services. Gadd says he won’t get the shot and will do whatever it takes to save his dog, even if it means putting Molly into hiding.

“The shot is lethal to my dog,” he said.

Gadd said he would have liked the city to approve a contract amendment or an ordinance that would allow an exemption, but city officials say their legal counsel has advised them to comply with state law.

“Really our legal staff says no they say state law prohibits any type of exemption,” said Councilman Ed Graham. “The county has said that Chino Hills would provide an exemption (for sick dogs) because they allow it in the county, however the humane society and our legal council says that that is incorrect. Our people and the Inland Valley Humane Society has said this correction would have to be done by state law.”

Although it does not offer lifetime exemptions, the Inland Valley Humane Society offers 30 to 90 days extensions to owner’s who are told to fulfill a rabies shot requirement, and those are based on medical review by the humane society’s staff. Bill Harford, executive director of the Inland Valley Humane Society, said his staff has reviewed Molly’s case and he did not agree that Molly would die if she were to be given a rabies shot.

Harford said allowing an exemption would open up his agency and the city to litigation.

“What if that one dog that lives in Chino Hills came in contact with a rabid bat or a rabid skunk and contracted rabies and then bit a baby at a local playground,” Harford said. “Who is liable? The rabies shot is a buffer between the wild community and the human community. We’re safeguarding our responsibility to safeguard the public to make sure we fulfill the local rules and regulations pertaining to rabies control.”

The Gadds say they will do all they can to lobby state lawmakers to change the law. The Gadd’s are encouraging residents statewide to write their legislators to allow an exemption on rabies shots for special cases involving rabies vaccinations that may prove lethal to a dog.

“This is not our fight anymore,” Gadd said.

neil.nisperos@inlandnewspapers.com

(909) 483-9356

By Neil Nisperos – Staff Writer

1 Comments

Councilman Graham received incorrect information from his legal staff because state law DOES include an exemption. This is to be found in the “Compendium of Rabies Control and Prevention, 2004” (available on the California Department of Public Health’s rabies page, click on CA Rabies Compendium, 2004 to download the document):
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HEALTHINFO/DISCOND/Pages/rabies.aspx

From Part I on page 6 of the Compendium is to be found this language:

“6. Rabies Immunization Exemptions:

A rabies immunization exemption may be issued by the local health officer upon the written recommendation of a California-licensed veterinarian where illness or a veterinary medical condition in a dog warrants. The exempted animal shall be maintained in strict rabies isolation, under conditions that are at the discretion of the local health officer, until such time as the medical condition has resolved, and the animal can be rabies immunized.”

Also someone might want to check into the Rabies Challenge Fund for additional information:  http://www.rabieschallengefund.org/

October 8, 2009 1:08 AM

Posted:  Just One More Pet

Titan the Great Dane named world’s tallest dog

‘Gentle soul’ is blind, deaf and epileptic — and he stands 42.25 inches high

updated 7:23 a.m. PT, Fri., Nov . 13, 2009

LOS ANGELES – The Guinness Book of World Records officially says an ailing 4-year-old Great Dane named Titan from San Diego is the world’s tallest dog.

Owner Diana Taylor says Titan is blind, deaf, epileptic and undergoes acupuncture and chiropractic adjustments every three weeks.

He is also a gentle soul who is often mistaken by young children as a horse.

The announcement came during a ceremony Thursday.

Taylor says Titan stands 42.25 inches from floor to shoulder, weighs 190 pounds and doesn’t stand on his hind legs because it isn’t good for him.

Titan took over the title from Gibson, a 7-year-old harlequin Great Dane from Grass Valley who died earlier this year after battling bone cancer.

‘Nubs the Dog: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle’

Major Brian Dennis and Nubs the Dog today.
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

When Major Brian Dennis of the United States Marine Corps met a wild stray dog with shorn ears while serving in Iraq, he had no idea of the bond they would form, leading to seismic changes in both their lives. “The general theme of the story of Nubs is that if you’re kind to someone, they’ll never forget you — whether it be person or animal,” Dennis tells Paw Nation.

In October 2007, Dennis and his team of 11 men were in Iraq patrolling the Syrian border. One day, as his team arrived at a border fort, they encountered a pack of stray dogs — not uncommon in the barren, rocky desert that was home to wolves and wild dogs.

“We all got out of the Humvee and I started working when this dog came running up,” recalls Dennis. “I said, ‘Hey buddy’ and bent down to pet him.” Dennis noticed the dog’s ears had been cut. “I said, ‘You got little nubs for ears.'” The name stuck. The dog whose ears had been shorn off as a puppy by an Iraqi soldier (to make the dog “look tougher,” Dennis says) became known as Nubs.

Dennis fed Nubs scraps from his field rations, including bits of ham and frosted strawberry Pop Tarts. “I didn’t think he’d eat the Pop Tart, but he did,” says Dennis.

At night, Nubs accompanied the men on night patrols. “I’d get up in the middle of the night to walk the perimeter with my weapon and Nubs would get up and walk next to me like he was doing guard duty,” says Dennis.

The next day, Dennis said goodbye to Nubs, but he didn’t forget about the dog. He began mentioning Nubs in emails he wrote to friends and family back home. “I found a dog in the desert,” Dennis wrote in an email in October 2007. “I call him Nubs. We clicked right away. He flips on his back and makes me rub his stomach.”

“Every couple of weeks, we’d go back to the border fort and I’d see Nubs every time,” says Dennis. “Each time, he followed us around a little more.” And every time the men rumbled away in their Humvees, Nubs would run after them. “We’re going forty miles an hour and he’d be right next to the Humvee,” says Dennis. “He’s a crazy fast dog. Eventually, he’d wear out, fall behind and disappear in the dust.”

On one trip to the border fort in December 2007, Dennis found Nubs was badly wounded in his left side where he’d been stabbed with a screwdriver. “The wound was infected and full of pus,” Dennis recalls. “We pulled out our battle kits and poured antiseptic on his wound and force fed him some antibiotics wrapped in peanut butter.” That night, Nubs was in so much pain that he refused food and water and slept standing up because he couldn’t lay down. The next morning, Nubs seemed better. Dennis and his team left again, but he thought about Nubs the entire time, hoping the dog was still alive.

Excerpt, “Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle,”
Little, Brown for Young Readers

Two weeks later, when Dennis and his team returned, he found Nubs alive and well. “I had patched him up and that seemed to be a turning point in how he viewed me,” says Dennis. This time, when Dennis and his team left the fort, Nubs followed. Though the dog lost sight of the Humvees, he never gave up. For two days, Nubs endured freezing temperatures and packs of wild dogs and wolves, eventually finding his way to Dennis at a camp an incredible 70 miles south near the Jordanian border.

“There he was, all beaten and chewed up,” says Dennis. “I knew immediately that Nubs had crossed through several dog territories and fought and ran, and fought and ran,” says Dennis. The dog jumped on Dennis, licking his face.

Most of the 80 men at the camp welcomed Nubs, even building him a doghouse. But a couple of soldiers complained, leading Dennis’ superiors to order him to get rid of the dog. With his hand forced, Dennis decided that the only thing to do was bring Nubs to America. He began coordinating Nubs’ rescue effort. Friends and family in the States helped, raising the $5,000 it would cost to transport Nubs overseas.

Finally, it was all arranged. Nubs was handed over to volunteers in Jordan, who looked after the dog and sent him onto to Chicago, then San Diego, where Dennis’ friends waited to pick him up. Nubs lived with Dennis’ friends and began getting trained by local dog trainer Graham Bloem of the Snug Pet Resort. “I focused on basic obedience and socializing him with dogs, people and the environment,” says Bloem.

A month later, Dennis finished his deployment in Iraq and returned home to San Diego, where he immediately boarded a bus to Camp Pendleton to be reunited with Nubs. “I was worried he wouldn’t remember me,” says Dennis. But he needn’t have worried. “Nubs went crazy,” recalls Dennis. “He was jumping up on me, licking my head.”

Dennis’ experience with Nubs led to a children’s picture book, called “Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle,” published by Little, Brown for Young Readers. They have appeared on the Today Show and will be appearing on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien on Monday.

Was it destiny that Dennis met Nubs and brought him to America? “I don’t know about that,” says Dennis. “It’s been a strange phenomenon. It’s been a blessing. I get drawings mailed to me that children have drawn of Nubs with his ears cut off. It makes me laugh.”

by Helena Sung – PawNation Nov 3rd 2009 @ 6:00PM

Nubbs:  The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine, and a Miracle

Great Gift for Any Child, Veteran and Animal Lover!!

Order Today: Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle

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“Tails of Love”

Military Punishment for Dog Killer, Abuser a Joke! No Justice! VIDEO

Glenn Beck – Teen punks murder American Hero’s Dog

Humane Society of the U.S. finally changes its policy on fighting dogs

Tails of Love – Book

Checkout:  Dogwise, All Things Dog! – 2000+ Books and Doggie Goodies

Posted:  Just One More Pet

Adopt Just One More Pet… There Is Always Room For Just One More

THIS IS BUDDY NOW!!!!!

Tracey’s Photos – Buddy, my sweet and handsome foster (slash that) adopted boy

I got Buddy about 4 weeks ago. Initially I was getting a black female pitty…and after paying for basic vetting, I heard nothing. Then one Saturday I get a call that a brindle will be delivered on Sunday. He was perfect when he went into vets’ in Georgia, she told me, but has nicks from an aggressive dog that they crated him with. So I thought nothing of it. Then it appeared to spread. Turns out it was Demodex.

I had him on a probiotic as well as awesome dog food and gentle essential oils. It didn’t help. I took him to vets’ and they gave me a strong anti-biotic (because of infection), a medicated shampoo and Demodex med. It got worse in just two days..LOOK AT HIM!!! I called several vets including my own, who said that it would indeed get much worse before getting better. The mites are freaking out and the infection is working it’s way out..thus the hugely swollen jowls and throat. I wonder would it have gotten to this had I known he had Demodex. He is in pain and I am now broke!! It CAN be very costly, especially if it becomes infected. So far it has cost $800., not including initial vettiing. I got it covered, but this is PRECISELY why pitty’s get returned if they have skin disease. It isn’t as easy to clear up as one might think.

I HAVE BEEN SLEEPING WITH HIM ON HIS DOG BED EVERY NIGHT!!! I AM WITH HIM ALL DAY LONG. HE IS GETTING MUCH LOVE AND PROPER CARE.

Good job Tracey!!  We would do it for our newborn baby and these fur babies are just as much our family once we commit!!

This is a great story!!  You are feathering your nest in Heaven!

As story goes…  “At the head of the Rainbow Bridge waits every animal that he/she encountered during his life time.” ~ some of us will need a lot of room at the bridge; sounds like you will!

Ask Marion – Just One More Pet

Let us all adopt just one more and help many more find a home!!

Rainbow Bridge

Important Dangerous Dog Warning for Children

Please read this!

If you are an owner of a dog that belongs to a ‘dangerous breed’ category, and you also have a child, or there is a small child visiting, please take this as a warning.

Don’t leave your dog with a small child unattended under any circumstances!

Only one brief moment was enough for the following to happen.

See the photo below …

Source: Dr. Mercola

Posted:  Just One More Pet

13-Pound Pooch Takes Hero Pet of the Year

Meet Chi Chi, this little Chihuahua mix is 13-pounds of attitude and now the Reader’s Digest Hero Pet of the Year!  Seems this little guy was out basking on Indian Beach on North Carolina’s Outer Banks with his owners, Rick and Mary Lane, when he became an unlikely hero and savior.

Hanging out in his own little beach chair, restrained because it seems he has a habit of chasing people, I did mention he has an attitude, right? Well, the little noticed something amiss and took off… still attached to his chair, dragging it down the beach behind him and making a yapping sound his owners had never heard before.

It didn’t take long for Chi Chi’s “mom” to spot the problem.

“There was a storm surge, and there were two elderly ladies — one had fallen on her back headfirst into the surf,” she said. “The other lady — a little bitty lady about 90 pounds — was trying to hold her head up, and she was in danger of being washed out.”

And no, the little pooch didn’t dive into the water and valiantly pull the struggling ladies out but he did set off the alarm that sent the Lanes into the water as rescue proxies for Chi Chi. After making sure the ladies were fine, a little shaken but otherwise okay, they headed back only to find the little yapping hero sound asleep in his chair, his job done.

Now Chi Chi has become the little celebrity in his home town and also captured enough hearts with his story to take be crowned Hero Pet of the year! But be wary if you meet this little guy on the street, he’s not into the petting thing, you’ll see on the video! LOL

Way to go Chi Chi!!

Chi Chi Received the Hero of the Year Award for his rescue work

Source:  For the Love of the Dog Blog

Posted:  Just One More Pet

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