Wind is a tricky thing. While most breezes don't seem strong enough to lift a dog off its feet, a strong, forceful gust just might sweep away a small pet.
Sounds unbelievable, right? It happened last weekend in Waterford Township, Mich., when Tinker Bell - a six-pound Chihuahua owned by Dorothy and Lavern Utley - was literally swept up, up and away by a 70-mph wind gust. Kind of like Dorothy and Toto from "The Wizard of Oz."
According to the Detroit News, "witnesses last saw the dog airborne, heading south over the Dixie Highway." Yikes!
Dorothy Utley contacted a psychic, who advised her to look for Tinker Bell in a wooded area about a mile from where she was last seen. More than 50 searchers helped look for the dog.
She was finally found Monday, about three-fourths of a mile away, dirty but happy to see her owners.
"That dog was so happy," said Dorothy, 72, who is pictured above with her husband and Tinker Bell. "She just went wild. She was so hungry, and we had to bathe her."
From now on, I'm holding on to Sadie, our seven-pound Dachshund, on windy days.
(Photo: Detroit News)
When our Golden Retriever Monte was alive, my wife and used to take her to a groomer whom we considered to be conscientious, caring and skillful. I know she used a hand-held dryer after washing Monte, but to my knowledge, she didn't use a drying cage.
In fact, I didn't even know what a drying cage was until I read the Huffington Post. Blogger Roseanne Colletti wrote about a dog that died from heat stroke in one of these cages when the groomer put the dog inside and apparently forgot about her.
Now the dog's owner, Thomas Bruckner of Point Lookout, N.Y., wants to have drying cages and crates banned. His Web site, Badgroomer.com, also explains his desire to promote legislation that would require groomers to be trained and licensed.
Groomers use the cages and crates, which have blow dryers attached to them, to dry dogs after they've been washed. This allows the groomer to work on another dog while the first dog is drying. But if the groomer is using hot air, it can cause a dog to overheat.
That's what happened to Bailey, Bruckner's 2-year-old Beagle mix. Bruckner won an out-of-court settlement of $1,000 from the groomer but wants to ensure that other owners don't go through the same trauma.
"Our goals are simple," he wrote on his site. "We do not want Bailey to have died in vain. If this terrible and tragic experience could ever have any good come from it, it would be to prevent the needless death of any more animals. "
I agree. If you live in New York, check out his site and offer your support.
Some of the most loving and selfless pet owners I've seen have been homeless people. No, they don't always provide shelter or a proper diet for their dogs, but they give them something I consider far more important - love and companionship like the person in this photo is showing his dogs.
That's why the blog I read in the Los Angeles Times struck me. It's about a man who lived with his dogs in a truck yard in Commerce, Calif. This week, he was discovered shot in the head four times and died. When emergency crews arrived, his dog Spike was nearby - keeping watch over his owner but helpless to do anything.
No one knew the man's name, but he was an immigrant from Mexico who doted on his two dogs, Spike and Chaparra. Some people called the man by his nicknames, Chuy or Chilango, slang for someone from Mexico City.
Mario Solis, a trucker who used to let the man sleep in his big rig on weekends, said, "He loved those dogs. I'd tell him, 'Let's go eat,' and we'd go to the lunch truck and he would say, ‘I want this and my dogs want this.'"
L.A. County Sheriffs are investigating but say they have no leads or motive.
I hope they catch the person who did this. And I hope someone steps forward and offers to care for Spike.
Michael Vick sits in a federal prison in Kansas awaiting his freedom and a chance to resume his professional football career. Fortunately, some of the dogs he and others victimized in their dogfighting operation have found new homes and loving owners who refused to give up on them.
Tonight at 7 p.m. eastern, ESPN's "E:60" will give viewers an intimate look at some of the Pit Bulls who were rescued when Vick was sentenced in December 2007 to 23 months in prison on dogfighting charges. You'll be pleasantly amazed at how well they have recovered.
Among the stories: a dog that was pictured in a story in the New York Times and adopted by a woman who initially sought to foster him; a couple who made a 60-hour drive in a rented RV from Oakland, Calif., to Richmond, Va., to rescue 13 dogs; and a shy male Pit Bull in San Francisco that has blended well into city life and now greets strangers with a wagging tail.
Watch it. It will make you feel good about the dogs - and about the people who stepped in and gave them a second chance.
Many years ago, I transported my German Shepherd Dog in an airline's cargo hold from San Francisco to New York so I could start a new job. It was a frightening experience - for me and for her - but she made the five-hour flight with no problem.
I never did it again, but I feel the pain of others who have lost treasured pets after they put them in the care of airlines - only to discover that cargo holds were either too cold in winter or too hot in summer. Most airlines no longer transport animals this way.
Last week, I saw an item on several Web sites about a Florida-based company called Pet Airways that plans to begin pet-only flights in July with service to five cities: Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, New York and Washington D.C. Maybe this is what we've needed for many years.
If you've always worried about shipping your dog or cat in a plane's cargo hold, this is your airline. In essence, your pet will fly in the main cabin for about $250 each way (introductory rates on the site are just $149 for a limited time). Pets will ride in kennels, and in-flight attendants will check on them every 15 minutes and make sure they have regular potty breaks. Owners can't fly with their pets but will be able to monitor their flights on a Web site.
I had trouble calling up the Petairways.com site last week, presumably because it crashed from too many visitors trying to log on. But I finally got in Saturday night and found the cheaper fares.
If you're planning to travel soon and want to bring your pet, it's worth checking out.
