This case has been made famous over the last couple of weeks, but here’s the most recent update from a CNN article..
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“New York City prosecutors say they’re considering a retrial for the former minor league pitcher and actor who killed his girlfriend’s cat.

Manhattan jurors deadlocked 11-1 on Friday at the aggravated animal cruelty trial for Joseph Petcka.

Petcka says he didn’t mean to hurt Norman the cat. He said he overreacted when the cat bit him.

The former Mets minor leaguer and “Sex in the City” actor said on NBC’s “Today” show he’s grateful for the lone juror who believed he didn’t act intentionally.

The jury deadlocked Friday, after five days of deliberations.

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Prosecutor Leila Kermani portrayed Petcka as “washed up,” saying in closing arguments that he had “zero income and no prospects” last year when he became jealous and killed the cat.

Petcka, who pitched in the New York Mets’ minor league system in 1992, was a “washed-up, never-made-it-to-the-big-leagues athlete” and a “D-minus” actor, she said.

Kermani has told jurors that Petcka brutally killed the neutered and declawed cat after complaining that his girlfriend at the time, Lisa Altobelli, loved the cat more than him.”

Read the full article on CNN.com.

We had a fun weekend! Here are some pictures of a couple things we did…

First, Benson got a really big stick to chew on, it was longer than he is! BOL!

While he was chewing his stick, Gibson was getting a bath outside in the fresh air. He got loose at one point and started roaching around in the grass all over the place so then Mom had to wash him all over again! BOL again! Then she had to spray the brand new sod to get the soap out of it, too! Whoops!

After our stick chewing and baths we lazed around inside the house and played with our toys.

What did you do this weekend? Share with us!
Wags,
Benson and Gibson

This week’s pet blog of the week is another dog blog, the Vick Dog Blog. If you guys haven’t heard of it or been there to visit, I strongly encourage you to do so.

I know that we in the pets community have all followed the progress of most of the Michael Vick pit bulls, starting with the day they were taken into captivity. The nine dogs at Vick Dog Blog are strong, healthy, happy and living life as it should be. No more dogfighting for them, thank God, and thanks to the wonderful people who took them in.

Vick Dog Blog’s subhead says, “Tails, Stories and More from the Dogs Who Survived Vick and the System.” Indeed. The posts are written by the dogs (such smart boys and girls they are) which lends a genuine good feeling to the blog. The dogs ramble on about everything from digging in the dirt to their days at the park.

The best thing about this blog, besides the fact that all these rescue pets are featured and thriving, is that it’s filled with pictures. Really good ones!

This blog is a great read and it’s so much fun to follow these dogs as they live normal, healthy lives. They all seem so happy now.

Vick Dog Blog is a great read and I hope you all go there to check up on some of the Michael Vick pit bulls.

In  honor of my employer, American Greetings, I want to review my Top Five Favorite Pet eCards from them. These pet eCards are for birthdays but you can also send pet eCards for sympathy (loss of a pet), love and dating, Just Because or Congratulations. There’s also talking pet eCards that say what you write (these are hilarious!) and add-a-photo pet eCards.

Anyhow, here are my top five favorite pet eCards for birthdays:

5. Singing Dogs: A bunch of Golden Retriever puppies sing Happy Birthday! This is one of the most popular birthday eCards on the site (and there is a TON of birthday eCards).

4. How Dogs Celebrate Birthdays: a day in the life of a dog (this one is really funny and is also available as a pet screensaver).

 

3. How Cats Celebrate Birthdays: a day in the life of a house kitty. This one is really funny, too.

 

2. Birthday Surprises: This is an interactive eCard that’s really fun.

 

1. “Two:” Funny birthday pet eCard about the two “pees” in “Happy Birthday!”

Has anyone heard of the holistic ways that vets are treating canine arthritis? Time magazine recently published an article on the shift towards alternative pet care that featured an all natural stem cell therapy that is helping dogs walk again. For some dogs, it saves their lives.

The therapy is simple. Vets takes two tablespoons of fat from the pup’s belly and ship it to Vet-Stem in California where they remove the adult stem cells and ship it back to the vet within 48 hours. They then inject the animals own regenerative stem cells into the injured spots. Essentially, the dog is healing himself. Nothing more natural than that!

I thought some of you might be interested in hearing about this, I know some readers’ dogs suffer from arthritis and/or orthopedic injuries.

The story of Granit the Lab is particularly touching because he’s a service dog. His owner, David Hoover, suffers from seizures caused by post traumatic stress syndrome as a result of serving in Vietnam. Granit helps David in that he is able to warn him when a seizure is about to come. He jumps onto David’s lap and starts licking him to distract him. Since getting Granit, David no longer has to be routinely hospitalized. Therefore, Granit’s improved mobility is of the upmost importance to the Hoover family.

The first picture here shows how Granit was previously unable to bend his paw to walk normally because his arthritis was so bad.

The second picture is after the treatment and shows how he now has full mobility.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vet-Stem Regenerative Cell (VSRC) therapy is available for the treatment of arthritis, tendon and ligament injuries. The San Diego based company is the only company offering this fat-derived stem cell therapy.

“This is a breakthrough,” says Dr. Robert Harman, founder of Vet-Stem. “The cells aren’t foreign to the body, engineered or modified in any way. Fat stem cell therapy avoids the ethical concerns surrounding embryonic stem cell research because our process uses the animal’s own fat to isolate adult stem cells.”

Harman said he has seen dogs whose pain was previously so severe that they struggled to stand, jump into cars, chase balls, or run up and down stairs. The stem cell therapy stimulates healthy cells to grow within the injured area, spurring regeneration.

For more information and case studies, visit www.Vet-Stem.com.

Look what our pal Rusty gave us this past weekend, a shiny new award! How neat! Go check out his blog at Chasing Squirrels With Rusty. Anydog can get their Squirrel Patrol Certificate there, too! Join the club, it’s fun!

Thanks for the award Rusty!

Woofs and Wags,
Benson and Gibson

Here are a few shots of Theodore and what he did with his weekend…

Doesn’t he look cute laying down by all the flowers? It makes his green eyes look so pretty I think…

By this point, he has his ears back and is ignoring me…

Then he thought he was a dog for a few moments…

Thanks to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) for this information (from a press release) and to Mary O’Connor Shaver with Columbus Top Dogs.

Federal lawmakers have introduced a bill that will crack down on abusive puppy mills. The legislation seeks to close loopholes in the Animal Welfare Act that allow Internet breeders to sell puppies without Federal oversight.

“The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund commend federal lawmakers for introducing bills that will crack down on abusive “puppy mills” in the United States — where breeding dogs are often stacked in wire cages for years to produce litter after litter. The legislation will close a loophole in the Animal Welfare Act that currently allows large, commercial breeders who sell puppies online and directly to the public to escape licensing and regulation.

The legislation — known as the “Puppy Uniform Protection Statute” (PUPS), or “Baby’s Bill” in honor of rescued puppy mill survivor Baby who is the subject of Jana Kohl’s new book A Rare Breed of Love — was introduced in the House of Representatives yesterday as H.R. 6949 by Reps. Sam Farr (D-Calif.), Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.), Lois Capps (D-Calif.) and Terry Everett (R-Ala.). A companion bill was also introduced in the Senate by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.).

The bills also require that dogs used for breeding be removed from their cages for exercise every day. Female breeding dogs in puppy mills are typically forced to live their entire lives in small cages with no opportunity for exercise, no socialization, and little human interaction.

“Dogs are not livestock, and they shouldn’t be treated like a cash crop,” said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of The Humane Society of the United States and president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund. “We are grateful to federal lawmakers for introducing this legislation to curb the worst abuses in the puppy mill industry. It’s a much-needed upgrade to our nation’s laws that protect man’s best friend from cruelty and harm.”

Facilities that breed dogs for commercial resale through pet stores are required to be licensed and inspected under the federal Animal Welfare Act. But thanks to a gaping exception in the law, puppy mills that sell directly to the public are exempt from any federal oversight whatsoever. Unregulated Internet sellers and other direct sales facilities sell thousands of puppies a year to unsuspecting consumers. Due to improper care, their puppies are often sick, leaving outraged consumers with frail, sometimes dying puppies and high vet bills. Meanwhile, the breeding dogs at these facilities often spend their entire lives in constant confinement and deprivation.

“Sadly, finding your puppy online may well increase the chance that you’ll be buying from a puppy mill,” said Sen. Durbin. “Our bill simply requires that breeders obtain a license from the USDA if they raise more than 50 dogs in a 12-month period and sell directly to the public and sets forth reasonable standards of care for commercial breeders. Responsible dog breeders are not the target of this legislation, but hopefully it will put the puppy mills out of business.”

“My work supporting puppy mill regulation goes back to my time in the California Assembly where I championed California’s puppy mill law,” Rep. Farr said. “I think it’s very important that Congress take the time to address issues like animal welfare. These are the kinds of issues that really demonstrate who we are as a society.”

“I’m proud to join with Congressman Farr and representatives of The Humane Society of the United States today as we continue our efforts to ensure that commercial dog breeders are appropriately regulated,” added Rep. Gerlach. “Our bill, the PUPS Act, will close a loophole in current law that allows large breeding operations avoid any and all oversight. I am confident that this bill will not hinder the operation of reputable and responsible breeders. Instead, it is aimed at protecting dogs and making individuals who are motivated by profit over the fair and humane treatment of dogs accountable for their actions.”

The legislation will close the loophole in the AWA that allows thousands of commercial breeders to go unregulated. It will require the following changes to the AWA:

- All dog breeders who sell more than 50 puppies per year directly to the public will be federally licensed and inspected; and
- Dogs at commercial breeding facilities must be given the opportunity to exercise for 60 minutes a day.
- The bill will not affect small breeders and hobby breeders who sell fewer than 50 dogs per year directly to the public, but is crafted to cover only the largest commercial breeding facilities.

Public concern about the inhumane conditions typical in puppy mills is at an all-time high, due to coverage on national television and several large-scale cruelty investigations and rescues from puppy mills this summer that The HSUS and local shelters spearheaded. Earlier this year, the Farm Bill passed by Congress included a new provision to ban the importation of puppies under six months old from puppy mills in China, Russia, Mexico and other foreign countries. ”

Speaking of puppy mills, activists throughout the country came together this past Saturday for National Puppy Mill Awareness Day. Read the USA Today article here and the Best Friends article here.

Puppy Mill Awareness Day is tomorrow, September 20th! Spread the word!

Animal welfare advocates, volunteers, animal-lovers and pet charities alike are supporting organizers from the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania who are partaking in this very important national event: Puppy Mill Awareness Day.

Puppy Mill Awareness Day makes it easy and fun to help raise awareness with downloadable flyers, lawn signs, sample letters to newspaper editors, t-shirts, buttons and more! On PMAD, you can meet up with event organizers and volunteers to hand out flyers and information to people who need to know the truth about puppy mills and the pet trade. You’ll give out information about pet adoption options (so people don’t go to the pet store!) and basic information about puppy mills. (All the materials are positive and educational.)

The PMAD website also recommends the following activities leading up to Puppy Mill Awareness Day:

- Join a meetup group in your area (or start one). Meet and join others who want to educate the community about puppy mills by handing out flyers, tabling at PetSmart, PetCo and other animal-friendly businesses that don’t sell puppies. If you live in Ohio and want to join the campaign, click here. Visit the PMAD website for a list of currently participating cities.

- Send a Letter to the Editor at your local newspaper about Puppy Mill Awareness Day. You can download a guide and sample letter, as I said above, on the PMAD website.

- Hang a flyer at work, the grocery store, the dog park, veterinarian’s office, groomer etc. There are flyers available for download on the PMAD website.

- Organize a pet store protest in your area. Click here to learn how.

For all kinds of other information and more details, visit the Puppy Mill Awareness Day website.