Miracle Dog: Daniel the Beagle Up for Adoption after Surviving Gas Chamber

It's a happy ending that wasn't supposed to happen for a big eared, doe-eyed beagle.

Now, the dog that was found as a stray in Alabama and defied death, is searching for a new home.

Three weeks ago, the beagle was euthanized along with 18 other dogs at an overcrowded animal shelter in Florence, Ala., on Oct. 3.

But to the shock of everyone he somehow survived.

When the animal control officer in charge of the operation returned to the locked chamber he found the dog waiting at the door, wagging its tail. The other dogs were dead.

His amazing survival has attracted several charitable groups to come to his aid to make sure he isn't sent back into the gas chamber. He found a temporary home in Tennessee with Karen Rudolph, who runs Schnauzer Savers Rescue of West Tennessee with her husband Michael.

Rudolph dubbed him Daniel, inspired by the biblical story of Daniel, who walked out of a lion's den unscathed. Eleventh Hour Rescue, which brought Daniel to New Jersey with the help of Pilots and Paws, gave the dog the last name "Milagro," meaning miracle in Spanish.

When Rudolph took Daniel Milagro to see her veterinarian, he received a clean bill of health.

"Amazingly, not only did he survive the gas chamber which is very rare … he was not sick," Rudolph said. "It was almost as though angels pulled him out of there and he didn't even breathe the gas."

At 20 pounds, Daniel is underweight and his immune system is slightly compromised, but otherwise he is in good health, Eleventh Hour Rescue president Linda Schiller said. Schiller's group is trying to find a home for Daniel.

The beagle is now staying with Eleventh Hour volunteer Jill Pavlik until the organization finds an appropriate home for him.

She's his new foster mom while they search for the perfect home.

"He's very fun loving , he's very sweet," said Pavlik.

Schiller isn't worried about finding a new home for Daniel, who is highly adoptable due to his celebrity status. In fact, just an hour after the Star Ledger newspaper first covered the story, Schiller had received over 200 emails from readers interested in Daniel, and the attention hasn't slowed down since.

But she hopes at least some of the applicants will be interested in adopting other dogs.

"We have dogs that are just as wonderful as him that were on death row, but didn't walk out of a gas chamber," Schiller said. "They're happy and they're wagging their tales and ready to be adopted."

Other Miracle Dogs

Daniel isn't the first pup to be called a miracle dog.

Back in March, a little puppy from Oklahoma came back to life after being put down not once, but twice.

After becoming a Facebook phenomenon, Wall-E made it to New York and "Good Morning America."

He has since been adopted by a family in Pennsylvania.

Adopt a pet today. Get him/her a good ID Tag. A good ID Tag with up to date info is a vital safety net for keeping you and your companion together. ... In the event if your pet is ever separated with you, an identification tag is his safe ticket home.

Adopt a Pet

By adopting instead of buying a pet, you can be certain you aren't supporting cruel puppy mills with your money. Puppy mills will continue to operate until people stop purchasing their dogs. Instead of buying a dog, visit your local shelter where you will likely to find dozens of healthy, well-socialized puppies and adult dogs—including purebreds—just waiting for that special home—yours.

Here is a pet adopting story I would like to share with you :

In October 2002, when I finally decided that I wanted a special friend with whom to share my time, I visited the SPCA of Luzerne County. I figured if I was going to get a pet, I should adopt from a rescue. I walked around the shelter and found some absolutely lovable animals, but none really struck me. When I was about to leave, I walked past a cage with a toy in it. I was shocked when this little furry toy lifted his head!

Needless to say, it was love at first sight—I took him home with me that day. Buster Brown was his new name, and he was more than a companion—he became my puppy "boy." He had his own room—his kennel—and when he went into it, he would pretend you could not see him. I would call him and he would just smile and stay put.

Over the years, Buster was a constant presence by my side and would shower me with love and kisses. When I was sick, he would be my nurse and lie next to me in bed. To check on me to make sure I was okay, he would hit me in the face with his paw. When I eventually opened my eyes, Buster would kiss me and lie back down again.

Adopt a pet today. Get him/her a good ID Tag. A good ID Tag with up to date info is a vital safety net for keeping you and your companion together. ... If your pet gets lost, an identification tag can help bring him home.

Source ASPCA
ID4PET.com

At funeral, dog mourns the death of Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan

This blog is dedicated to all the service men and women who put their lives in harm’s way to protect our country and is to their loyalty pet companions.

Jon Tumilson, a Navy SEAL, was one of 30 Americans killed in Afghanistan on Aug. 6 when a rocket-propelled grenade took out a U.S. Chinook helicopter. He was mourned at a service in Rockford, Iowa, attended by 1,500 family members, friends--and Hawkeye, Tumilson's dog.

The Labrador retriever was such an important part of Tumilson's life that the friends and family of the San Diego resident called the dog his "son."

When Tumilson's friend Scott Nichols walked to the front of the room to speak, Hawkeye followed, Today.com reports. "As Nichols prepared to memorialize his friend, Hawkeye dutifully laid down near the casket," Scott Stump writes.

The photo on the right was taken by Tumilson's cousin, Lisa Pembleton, and posted on Facebook. Pembleton wrote on her Facebook page, "To say that he was an amazing man doesn't do him justice. The loss of Jon to his family, military family, and friends is immeasurable."

This story reminds me of Hachikō. In 1924, Hidesaburō Ueno, a professor at the University of Tokyo, took in Hachikō as a pet. During his owner's life, Hachikō greeted him at the end of each day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Professor Ueno did not return. The professor had suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage and died, never returning to the train station where Hachikō was waiting. Every day for the next nine years the golden brown Akita waited at Shibuya station.

The permanent fixture at the train station that was Hachikō attracted the attention of other commuters. Many of the people who frequented the Shibuya train station had seen Hachikō and Professor Ueno together each day. They brought Hachikō treats and food to nourish him during his wait.

This continued for nine years with Hachikō appearing precisely when the train was due at the station.

Hachikō died on March 8, 1935, and was found on a street in Shibuya. After decades of rumors, in March 2011 scientists settled the cause of death of Hachikō. The dog had terminal cancer and a filaria infection (worms). There were also four yakitori sticks in Hachikō's stomach, but the sticks did not damage his stomach or cause his death.

Hachikō's stuffed and mounted remains are kept at the National Science Museum of Japan in Ueno, Tokyo. Hachikō's legendary faithfulness became a national symbol of loyalty.

Source: Today.com
More tag info, please visit www.ID4Pet.com

Bill approved to make VA service-dog friendly

The House of Representatives could vote as early as next week on sweeping legislation that makes the Veterans Affairs Department more dog-friendly.

A House committee has approved legislation that would allow service dogs to be used on any VA property or in any VA facility, including any facility or property receiving VA funding.

“I’m really pleased this legislation is moving, just for the sheer fact we have been trying to do this for so long,” said Christina Roof, deputy national legislative director for the veterans’ service organization AmVets. “VA could have done this itself, by regulation, a long time ago if they wanted, but they haven’t done anything so it looks like Congress will.”

Under current law and regulation, VA is required only to allow guide dogs for the blind onto its property and into facilities because those are the only type of assistance animals specifically covered in federal law. Individual facilities directors can be more flexible, if they wish.

VA officials have been working since March on trying to come up with a new service dog policy but discussions have been bogged down, in part, over the question of whether the policy should specifically list the types of service dogs that should be allowed or to leave that open to interpretation.

Language included in HR 2074, a veterans’ health care bill passed Sept. 28 by the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, would end the discussion. The provision is very direct, saying the VA secretary “may not prohibit the use of service dogs in any facility or on any property.” The bill makes no effort to define what constitutes a service dog.

Roof said she expects common sense would be used, with eligible dogs having received some specialized training in order to be considered a service dog and with facilities still able to have restrictions on where dogs could go on the premises. For example, a service dog would not be allowed into an operating room but might be allowed in the waiting room of a medical clinic, she said.

In addition to opening the buildings and grounds to service dogs, the bill would create a three-year pilot program in which veterans with post-traumatic stress or other post-deployment mental disorders would be involved in training service dogs for other veterans. The idea of the test is to see if being a dog trainer has any rehabilitation benefits for veterans.

Veterans who have service dogs would have priority in being hired as trainers under the pilot program.

Source: airforcetimes
More Service Dog Badge info, visit www.ID4Pet.com

Good Karma

A dog named Karma.

Need some good karma in your life? You’ll get it in spades when you show this darling Pit Bull how wonderful pet parents can be. You’ll also get a snuggle buddy for life out of Karma, who loves being cuddled, patted and given nice, long belly rubs!

ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Agents rescued Karma from an abusive home that subjected him to starvation. But in spite of all he’d been through, Karma showed ASPCA behavior staff his true colors right away, wagging his tail happily and acting very social. During his time at the ASPCA, he’s only become more easygoing.

Like most Pits, Karma needs some running exercise every day, and he’d love to learn basic manners and anything else you can imagine if you’ve got a tasty treat waiting for him. Karma’s hips are a little funky, so he needs to be on joint lubricating vitamins for life, but the condition is unlikely to require serious care.

This active, fun-loving guy would do wonderfully in a home with kids 10 and up where he could get lots of love and toys to play with. If you’d like to provide that for him, please call our Animal Placement department in New York City at (212) 876-7700, ext. 4120.

Adopt a pet today. Get him/her a good ID Tag. A good ID Tag with up to date info is a vital safety net for keeping you and your companion together. ... If your pet gets lost, an identification tag can help bring him home.

Source: ASPCA, ID4Pet

Falling in love is like owning a dog

"Falling in love is like owning a dog" by Taylor Mali


First of all, it's a big responsibility,
especially in a city like New York.
So think long and hard before deciding on love.
On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:
when you're walking down the street late at night
and you have a leash on love
ain't no one going to mess with you.
Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.
Who knows what love could do in its own defense?


On cold winter nights, love is warm.
It lies between you and lives and breathes
and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.
Love doesn't like being left alone for long.
But come home and love is always happy to see you.


It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,
but you can never be mad at love for long.
Is love good all the time? No! No!
Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.
Love makes messes.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love needs lots of cleaning up after.
Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.
Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper
and swat love on the nose,
not so much to cause pain,
just to let love know Don't you ever do that again!


Sometimes love just wants to go for a nice long walk.
Because love loves exercise.
It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.
It pulls you in several different directions at once,
or winds around and around you
until you're all wound up and can't move.


But love makes you meet people wherever you go.
People who have nothing in common but love
stop and talk to each other on the street.
Throw things away and love will bring them back,
again, and again, and again.
But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.
And in return, love loves you and never stops.

No Shopping for Service Dog

RINDGE — A Massachusetts couple has filed a human rights complaint against Walmart after the wife was allegedly turned away by employees in Rindge because of her service dog.

Melissa Formica, 20, of Gardner, Mass., said she visited the Walmart in Rindge on May 1, but was told by an employee she couldn’t have her dog in the store. She and her husband have since filed a complaint with the N.H. Commission for Human Rights.

“They watched me walk in and one of them chased me down,” Formica said. “They said, ‘You can’t have your dog in here because it doesn’t have the proper leash.’ I showed her the paperwork (identifying the dog as a service dog), but she said that because it’s not a seeing eye or hearing dog, it’s not allowed in the store.”

Formica has a seizure disorder that her service dog, a 6-month-old black Labrador mix named Isabella, assists her with. Federal law requires that all service dogs be allowed in commercial establishments.

In Formica’s case, Isabella is trained to recognize the onset of a seizure before it happens, and alert Formica, she said.

Formica recalled one time in a mall when Isabella dragged them out of a store and sat her down on a bench, moments before she had a seizure. Isabella also alerted a neighbor once when Formica collapsed in her apartment building hallway.

During the incident in May, the Walmart employee allegedly told Formica she would have to put Isabella in the car while she shopped, which Formica said she refused to do.

“At that point I felt I was being watched,” she said. “I felt paranoid, and I felt completely disgruntled. People use service dogs for all kinds of conditions — diabetes, mental disorders and seizures.”

The Formicas said they filed the complaint with the N.H. Commission for Human Rights after Formica’s husband, Steven Formica, 29, spoke to a store manager in an attempt to resolve the situation.

“I felt like (a manager at the store) didn’t care,” he said. “His attitude and his demeanor on the phone were unprofessional.”

Christopher Kaczmarek, a Boston-based attorney for Walmart, submitted a response to the complaint in July, denying Formica’s charges.

In a letter to the commission, Kaczmarek stated that Formica entered the store carrying her dog, without a leash.

The letter also stated that, while an employee did approach Formica when she entered the store, the employee “simply asked her what kind of dog it was.

“Ms. Formica responded that it was a hearing and seeing eye dog,” Kaczmarek said in the letter. “The associate responded that the dog was ‘really cute’ and told Ms. Formica that she hoped her shopping experience at Walmart was a pleasant one.”

Kaczmarek’s statement says that Formica then “inexplicably began a rant towards the associate, stating that ... she did not have a vest or patch logo because she had just gotten the dog.”

Formica said she didn’t have the vest or patch often worn by service dogs for Isabella because it isn’t required by law.

The letter states that Formica then continued shopping in the electronics department before leaving the store a short time later.

Formica denies continuing to shop, carrying the dog into the store, or telling the employee that it was a seeing eye and hearing dog.

Steven Formica said he wants to view the store’s security camera tapes from that day to prove his wife’s claims.

The Formicas are in the process of submitting a rebuttal to Walmart’s response, they said. They’re also deciding whether to take their case to court.

Joni N. Esperian, executive director for the commission, said a party filing a complaint has six months to decide whether to keep its complaint with the commission, or transfer it to court.

If the complaint stays with the commission, “any number of things can happen,” Esperian said.

“The parties can decide to settle on their own, or they can use mediation (offered by the commission at no charge) at any stage,” she said. “Ultimately, a commissioner decides if there’s sufficient or insufficient evidence to find probable cause that discriminating occurred.”


Source : www.sentinelsource.com