I don't know if you saw the story about the woman who recently adopted 27 dogs from a shelter to prevent them from being euthanized. When I first read it, I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.
I'm sure Colleen Spalioni's heart was in the right place. She lost her own dog in November when it was struck and killed by a car, and she wanted to find another that looked just like him. Her Internet search led her to Dogsindanger.com, a site that posts photos of dogs in shelters with the number of days they have left until they are euthanized.
Spalioni, who lives near Reno, hired a teenage neighbor to drive with her almost 800 miles to a shelter near Bakersfield, Calif., where she found a dog that resembled her own. But after seeing so many dogs in need of homes, she just couldn't help herself.
She adopted the dog she wanted - and 26 others, including one Chihuahua, 10 Chihuahua mixes, two German Shepherd mixes, two Miniature Pinschers, a Jack Russell Terrier and a Poodle. She loaded them into her truck and drove home.
Everything would have been fine, except that her new dogs did what dogs normally do. They barked -- so much, in fact, that the neighbors began complaining. And then she was told that a local ordinance allows no more than three dogs per household.
Since then, Spalioni has been looking for new homes for the dogs. So far, she's found places for almost all of them.
And, she said, "I learned my lesson. I promise I won't do this again."
Her concern for the dogs is admirable. I commend her. I'm sure others would love to do the same if they had the space and time to love and care for dogs in need.
But as someone who owns four dogs, I could have told her: It's a lot of work.
Here's proof that you can teach a dog to do anything -- even steal:
In Murray, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City, a pooch (not the one pictured here) was caught on surveillance video shoplifting a bone from the pet food aisle at a supermarket. And he got away, to boot.
"I looked at him. I said, ‘Drop it!'" store manager Roger Adamson told KSL-TV. "He looked at me, and I looked at him, and he ran for the door and away he went, right out the front door."
It was a small-time heist -- the bone cost $2.79 -- but the dog clearly had his caper well planned out. On the video, he makes a beeline for aisle 16, snatches the bone and makes a fast escape.
As far as anyone knows, he's still on the lamb.
Dogs are not politicians, but there's a man in California who thinks his dog would do a better job as Illinois governor than Rod Blagojevich. Given all the corruption charges leveled at Blagojevich recently, he might have a point.
Michael Sunday has launched an Internet campaign to have his family's 14-year-old Border Collie, Scuba, replace the embattled governor, who is charged with attempting to sell the Senate seat once occupied by Barack Obama, the President-elect.
Scuba (pictured above) is described on the Web site as mostly deaf, but supposedly that's a good thing -- he certainly wouldn't hear calls to step down from the job if he's accused of any improprieties. That's something Blagojevich seems unable to do.
Campaign promises? Here's what Scuba's family says: "He may sleep through all the staff meetings, but calls from gangsters will go unanswered. Right now you need to trust someone. Who better than a governor who will lie at your feet, lick your face and open screen doors with his nose."
I'll bet Blagojevich can't do those things.
Advocates of animal adoption will be glad to know that VP-elect Joe Biden plans to add to his litter - this time with a shelter dog.
Biden, who has been criticized for buying a German Shepherd puppy from a Pennsylvania breeder - notably a breeder who was later cited for several violations - now says he and his wife Jill are planning to get another dog, this time from a shelter.
Here's what he told George Stephanopoulos on the ABC Sunday morning news show "This Week With George Stephanopoulos":
"I've had German Shepherds since I was a kid and I've actually trained them and shown them in the past. So I wanted a German Shepherd, and we're going to get a pound dog, which my wife wants, who is hopefully a Golden [Retriever]."
Perhaps as a mea culpa to his many critics, Biden added that his family has always adopted animals in the past, including a cat. And he's glad that the Vice President's residence has a fenced yard with several acres so the new Biden dogs have plenty of room to play.
OK, we weren't among those who pounded on the new Veep just because he bought a dog from a breeder (we've done the same thing in the past). But it's good to know there will be two Biden dogs and that one of them will be adopted.
Lucky dog.
Rachel Ray may know all about cooking for people, but she sure doesn't know dogs.
Modern Dog magazine profiled the Food Network diva in an online story spotlighting her new Rachel Ray "Nutrish" line of dog foods and included a recipe for "Isaboo's Butternut Squash Mac and Cheddar."
One small problem: The recipe calls for onion, of all things.
Hey, onions are toxic to dogs. They can kill your pet. Clearly, the magazine's editors didn't bother to check the ingredients before it was published. The original recipe has since been pulled from the site, with an editor's note pointing out that onions are NOT good for dogs.
It also includes this passage about onions: "... the amount included in the recipe is small when considered over the whole of the recipe. Furthermore, the recipe was inspired by Rachel's dog, Isaboo, but is intended for people to eat. Always check with your vet which foods are appropriate to share with your dog."
Better yet, simply omit onions from any recipe you create for your dogs. Better to be safe than sorry.
Credit for discovering the recipe (including onions) goes to Seattle Post-Intelligencer blogger Rebekah Denn, who writes "Devouring SEATtle."
