THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CROSBY, Texas — A tip led animal rescue personnel to about 1,000 dogs, rabbits, hamsters and birds in dirty, cramped conditions in northeast Harris County.

Meera Nandlal, with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said the home in the Crosby area was raided Thursday night.

Nandlal says the animals, allegedly for sale to pet stores, were found in cages and left in storage sheds. She says many did not have adequate food and water. (more…)

PHOTOS BY SUSAN LOESCH

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE

RESCUE IN THE ROCK

What began with a phone call to Animal Planet ended in the rescue of 25 dogs, a raccoon, four cats and a horse when four central Arkansas rescue groups helped an overwhelmed El Paso woman.

Animal Planet Executive Producer Dan Jackson said the footage would premiere sometime in July on a new, as yet unnamed show.

“It will be about helping people who have too many animals,” Jackson said. (more…)

BRENDA LOOPER

501PETS

Saturday may have started out as a damp and dreary day, but that didn’t stop participants at the 11th annual Paws on the Pavement from having a good time.

As runners and walkers lined up with their pooches at Murray Park in Little Rock for the start of the 1K Fun Run/Walk, the atmosphere was jovial, with dogs sniffing their neighbors while their owners chatted with old and new friends.

By that time, several of the participants had already run the 5K earlier in the morning, and were ready for a little cool-down with their best friends on four legs. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

OCALA, Fla. — Hundreds of dead animals have been found at an Ocala-area home.

An official at the Marion County Animal Center says 348 dead animals, mostly just skeletal remains, were found across the property, as well as in cages, in feed bags and in plastic bags stuffed in the owner’s freezer. Another 375 animals were found alive but malnourished.

The live animals included 151 dogs and 156 birds as well as cattle, tortoises, cats, hamsters, sheep, horses, rabbits and lizards. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEATTLE — A formerly wealthy entrepreneur who spent three years in prison for smuggling cocaine is in trouble with the law again — this time for reportedly running a bestiality farm in Washington state.

Douglas Spink was arrested at his compound near the Canadian border in Whatcom County this week for investigation of violating the terms of his supervised release. Also taken into custody was a 51-year-old tourist from Great Britain, who is accused of having sex with three dogs.

Spink was arrested in 2005 as part of a smuggling ring. He was given a lenient sentence because of his extensive cooperation with investigators. (more…)

THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Coyotes live in densely populated cities all over the nation, even in that ultimate of urban areas – New York. On March 26, a young coyote was captured by city police officers after leading them on a two-day chase.

News reports noted that coyotes are “firmly established” in New York.

Likewise in Little Rock and not just because the city’s growth is taking over their habitat, says Tracy Roark, director of Little Rock Animal Services Division. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — In Ashley Mutch’s view, Almost Heaven was anything but.

As she inspected the huge kennel outside Allentown, the SPCA police officer was hit with an “immensely strong” odor of urine and feces. Mutch said she saw dogs living in their own waste, suffering from matted fur and skin ailments, and lacking access to food and water. Her inspection report described a filthy, neglected compound bursting with 779 animals, primarily dogs but also cats, guinea pigs, horses, ponies, fowl, monkeys and a pig.

The 2008 raid at Almost Heaven Kennel resulted in criminal charges against its owner, Derbe “Skip” Eckhart, who goes on trial Monday on animal cruelty and other counts in a case that state dog-law officials are using to illustrate their get-tough approach to unscrupulous breeders. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FRONT ROYAL, Va. — A Virginia man is facing an animal cruelty charge after police say he skinned a guinea pig and made a head ornament out of it.

Animal control officer Gerald L. Cubbage says 40-year-old Charles Woodson of Front Royal bought the guinea pig at a pet store in February. Neighbors later saw him wearing its hide on his head.

Warren County Deputy Laura L. Gomez said police seized a guinea pig hide including its head from Woodson’s home. They also have a photograph of Woodson wearing the hide. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEENAH, Wis. — A year ago, Jake the rooster confounded Neenah officials. Now a household of exotic birds has city officials scratching for answers.

At issue is the Roseberry Bird Rescue, a nonprofit organization that cares for as many as 125 abandoned, abused or neglected birds until they can be rehabilitated and adopted.

The business has operated for 15 years from the home of MaryKay Rosenow and Randy Berryman, but it has been in violation of city zoning codes from the start. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

VALLEJO, Calif. — A couple charged with animal cruelty and other crimes after more than 90 purebred puppies were confiscated from their home and business face a hearing in Solano County Superior Court on Monday.

Christopher John Derek Ellis and Leanna Rachelle Kamp, both 29, of Dixon, were arrested Dec. 17 after the Solano County District Attorney’s Office received numerous complaints that the couple had been selling sick and sometimes dying puppies. The breeds included Yorkshire terriers, Shiba Inus, Maltese and Shih Tzus. (more…)

THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SPRING HILL, Fla. — Officials on the west coast of Florida are crafting new safeguards after mistakenly euthanizing a woman’s cat.

Maria Velez’s cat “Buddy” had been quarentined for four days at a Hernando County Animmal Services shelter after biting a pet sitter. But when she and her 11-year-old son went to pick up the orange, tiger-stripe cat they found it had been mistakenly euthanized. An animal services worker who thought she was calling Buddy’s owner called the wrong person. That person, who had also brought a cat to the shelter, said they did not want the cat and gave permission to have it euthanized. Buddy was euthanized instead. (more…)

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE
RESCUE IN THE ROCK

A Vilonia woman overwhelmed with at least 35 cats she’d taken in called the Faulkner County sheriff’s office and U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln for help.

With no county shelter, officials and Patricia Medley of Vilonia turned to Gentle Souls Pit Bull Rescue. (more…)

PHIL KLOER

COX NEWS SERVICE

ATLANTA — Could you get more ways to hook readers with a title than the new book Ghost Cats of the South?

Randy Russell, a North Carolina folklore scholar who collects ghost stories, has written 22 tales of undead kitties, based on local legends, including a piano-playing ghost cat in Atlanta. It’s a sequel to his book, Ghost Dogs. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PetSmart Charities is on the scene of a large-scale animal rescue effort in Wisconsin, ensuring hundreds of rescued pets have enough food and supplies.

The animal-rescue effort began yesterday and continued today in Cazenovia, Wis., where more than 350 animals including dogs, horses, fowl, livestock and other small animals were taken from a self-described “animal rescue and sanctuary.” (more…)

THE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON — My dad figured he had all the time in the world to take care of Rocky. What he didn’t realize was that he needed quite a bit of money too.

My dad has a decent pension from his job as a cafeteria worker at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York. But all the pet food, veterinarian visits and other expenses are making a dent on his budget. Still, he loves Rocky and won’t give him up. (My mom is not as much of a fan, as Rocky is extremely rambunctious, but she puts up with him to please my dad.) (more…)

MARKETWIRE

PHOENIX, AZ — At about noon today, a PetSmart Charities Emergency Relief Waggin’ trailer, stocked with at least 16 tons of much-needed pet food and supplies, was deployed from the PetSmart Distribution Center in Phoenix, Ariz., to the Santa Barbara Humane Society to assist pets who have been displaced or injured by the Jesusita Fire in Santa Barbara County. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SENECA, Mo. — When authorities raided J.B.’s Precious Puppies, they discovered more than 200 dogs standing in their own excrement, crammed three and four to a cage. Some were so sickly they were missing clumps of hair. The skeletal remains of puppies and adult dogs were found inside pet-food bags.

The ghastly scene deep in the Ozarks has become far too common in Missouri. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PINE GROVE, Pa. — A woman stockpiled cat food donated to her purported animal sanctuary and resold some of it, leaving dozens of animals to go hungry, to finance a drug habit, police said.

Virginia Kresge Justiniano, who had run the Cats With No Name sanctuary since 1996, was charged with drug possession after being stopped for a traffic violation Saturday. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Arkansas Senate easily passed a tough animal-cruelty bill Thursday that lawmakers had deadlocked over two years ago.

By a 34-0 vote, the Senate approved legislation that makes aggravated cruelty to cats, dogs and horses a felony on first offense. Currently, animal cruelty is a misdemeanor. (more…)