When you think about it, dogs need very little from us to make their lives happy: a nice home, a little love, some nutritious food and exercise. Not much when you think about it.
When I saw an excerpt from the book "It's a Dog's World: A Savvy Guide to Four-Legged Living," by Wendy Diamond (Ballantine Books), it made me think about how simple it is to give a dog a good life. And how simple it is to help a dog. Diamond, whose book is being released this week, writes about hoping to motivate dog-friendly readers to become involved in animal rescue and helping on several levels.
Many local humane societies, she says, have small budgets and rely on volunteers and donations (money and supplies) to keep going.
She lists 10 ways people can help dogs in need. A few:
"Consider being a foster parent to pet in transition. There are many local organizations that specialize in placing animals in loving, temporary homes.
"Use the power of your vote! Let your local and state representatives know that caring for animals is a priority for you. Write an email that clearly states your views and forward it to your friends and acquaintances to pass on.
"Be vigilant! Pay attention when you see signs of animal abuse and report suspicions to an animal protection agency.
"Consider adoption and check out your local shelter. Many of these animals have suffered terribly and desperately need your love."
I know that my local animal shelter is happy to accept donations. When our dogs are through playing with their toys or turn up their noses at certain food, the animal shelter will accept them.
If you love dogs, think about ways you can help. They need so little and give us back so much.
Joe St. Georges saved a dog. Now he's a hero.
"I'm humbled, I'm amazed," St. Georges, a firefighter paramedic with the Los Angeles Fire Dept. Air Operations, said this week. "I don't know what to make of it. It's what we do."
Since rescuing a dog from a swiftly moving L.A. River two weeks ago, St. Georges has been deluged by media and public attention. But it wasn't your average run-of-the-mill rescue. St. Georges was lowered by cable from a helicopter, plucked the desperate dog from the water and pulled it to safety. He was even bitten for his efforts.
This week, he and his crew were honored at Van Nuys Airport with the MuttShack Animal Rescue Foundation's Knights of Katrina award for exemplifying a "code of chivalry."
Although they've heard criticism that the rescue was both expensive and risky, St. Georges said he felt no need to justify the decision to save the dog, a German Shepherd mix named Spikey, who has since been reunited with his owner.
"We're not going to leave the dog," he told the Los Angeles Times. "We're just not. You're not going to stand there watching a dog drown."
St. Georges, a divorced father of two, has appeared on the "Today" show and "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and has quite a following, especially among women. A few have offered to buy him a drink.
But he's not interested, he said. He was just doing his job.
Sounds like a hero to us.
In the category of amazing dogs, we'd like to nominate Hayley, a Golden Retriever with an unusual skill.
Hayley's owner runs a construction company in Mankato, Minn., and spends a lot of times on people's roofs. And so does Hayley.
Not one to be left behind, she climbs the ladder with the rest of the crew.
"One day we were up on the roof, and there she was saying what about me," Max DeMars, who owns DeMars Construction, told KARE-TV in Minneapolis.
Of course, it's also gotten Hayley in trouble. Like the time she was standing on the roof of a church with no one else around. A neighbor quickly summoned police.
"The police officer came up and wanted to take her to the pound cause he thought she was a stray dog," DeMars said, laughing.
If there's a ladder to canine success, Hayley is on it.
Remember the dog that was dramatically rescued last week from flood waters in the Los Angeles River? He's finally going to be reunited with his owner after spending four days in a city animal shelter.
The German Shepherd mix, named Vernon by shelter officers, was saved in a helicopter rescue that was carried live by a number of TV stations. But no one claimed him.
His owner, it turns out, is an elderly woman who speaks only Spanish. And because he had no ID tags and wasn't microchipped, it was virtually impossible for rescuers to find the owner.
It wasn't until a friend of the woman alerted her that the dog had been found that a family friend showed up to claim him. And his name is Spikey, not Vernon.
Spikey bit the finger of the firefighter who pulled him from the raging waters and will have to remain quarantined for a few more days. But the firefighter, Joe St. Georges, said he couldn't blame the dog for his reaction.
"He's cold, he's wet, he's scared, and then here's this stranger jumping on his back for all intents and purposes, and he did what dogs do," St. Georges told the Associated Press.
But he's going home soon, and that's really all that matters.
Two weeks ago, we told you about a former assistant fire chief who was on trial for allegedly beating to death a neighbor's puppy in Southern California.
This week, the man was found guilty.
On Tuesday, jurors found Glynn Johnson, who once served as an assistant fire chief in Los Angeles County, guilty of one count of felony animal cruelty for killing Karley, a six-month-old German Shepherd mix belonging to neighbors Jeff and Shelley Toole. Johnson was also found guilty of the special allegation of use of a deadly weapon because he used a rock after initially punching the puppy. He and the Tooles had been involved in a long-simmering feud.
Johnson claimed self-defense, saying he felt threatened after Karley bit off the top of his thumb. But Riverside County deputy district attorney William Robinson said, "I don't think this was a self-defense case at all. It was done out of rage and anger at the Toole family, and his actions were wildly inappropriate."
Johnson, 55, could serve up to four years in state prison. He's scheduled to be sentenced March 8.
