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 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

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A large animal triage operation has been set up at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville to treat dozens of dogs, horses and mules.

The animals were found emaciated during two different animal rescues in Tennessee, so the Humane Society of the United States put them together at the fairgrounds, which has plenty of pens, barns and space. (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…)

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 NEW YORK TIMES

NEW YORK — Mollie Livingston has been raising collies for more than three decades, carefully selecting for traits that exemplify the breed: inquisitive face, sloping shoulders and a gait that is at once swift and graceful.

But along the way, Livingston and her husband, T.C., ended up perfecting an altogether different specimen — the professional dog handler. (more…)

McCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — In Southwest Ranches, Fla., a 100-pound Siberian lynx named Sasha roams Steve and Barbara Burk’s house like the alpha-male predator he is.

At times the powerful cat paws playfully at a llama, a goat or another critter in the menagerie of animals the Burks invite in to wander the house. At other times Sasha grows bored with the barnyard hoi polloi and retires to his bedroom, furnished with a double bed and a television. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Arkansas Farm Bureau announced Tuesday it will back legislation to make aggravated animal cruelty a felony on first offense, reversing its opposition to past efforts to stiffen the state’s animal cruelty penalties.

The group, which represents 227,000 farmers in the state, said its board of directors voted to support animal cruelty legislation being backed by Attorney General Dustin McDaniel. (more…)

Teresa Medlock (left), staff veterinarian for the Human Society of Pulaski County, and Jim Brunson tend to Grey Lady, a racing quarter horse that had been rescued with the help of the Rescue Wranglers.

BY HELAINE R. WILLIAMS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Jim Brunson still gets emotional when he remembers the day he first saw Grey Lady.

The mare — a racing quarter horse more than 20 years old — was standing forlornly in a small pen next to 40 acres of rich, grassy pasture near Romance in White County. (more…)

A wild stallion keeps watch in the Lagomarsino Canyon area east of Reno, Nev. Faced with too many wild horses on the range and in holding facilities, federal officials are considering drastic policy changes that include ending roundups and euthanizing animals. (AP PHOTO)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO, Nev. — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management needs to consider euthanizing wild horses or selling many of them to reduce the spiraling costs of keeping them in long-term holding pens, said a government report Monday.

The report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said costs of caring for wild horses have skyrocketed in recent years and likely will account for 74 percent of the program’s overall budget this year, or more than $27 million. (more…)

What makes your pet outstanding? Was she rescued from an abusive environment? Does he do cool tricks? Is she the smartest animal ever? Did he save you from a burning inferno? Tell us about it!

Email me your story and photos of your pet. Be sure to put “Pet of the Month” in the subject line. If selected, your pet will be featured all month as Rescue in the Rock’s Pet of the Month, and you both will get a great prize!

The Pet of the Month for October will be selected Sept. 30 and posted Oct. 1. We’ll be accepting emails from now to midnight Sept. 29. Or you can enter by snail mail: Krisha Williams Turbeville, 121 E. Capitol, Little Rock, AR, 72201.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

IRONTON, La. — Plaquemines Parish sheriff’s deputies in boats rounded up hundreds of horses and cattle from Hurricane Ike’s floodwaters Saturday.

“We woke up this morning about 4:30, and you could hear the animals yelling outside…. They were getting separated from their mothers because their mothers could touch ground and they couldn’t,” said Parish President Billy Nungesser. (more…)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Gov. Mike Beebe predicts Arkansas legislators will pass a tougher law on animal cruelty in 2009.

Animal cruelty is a misdemeanor in the state. Two bills that would have made it a felony failed in the 2007 legislative session, when farmers and ranchers expressed concern they might be unfairly targeted.

But Beebe said Friday on his Ask the Governor radio program that support was growing for a tougher measure. (more…)

KRISHA WILLIAMS TURBEVILLE
RESCUE IN THE ROCK

I’ll share mine with you if you share yours with me – not that I haven’t already told you all about my cats.

When Annabel and I were living alone in an apartment in Northwest Arkansas, she loved to go outside and had a little kitty door in the window so that – for a couple hours – she could come and go as she pleased. (There wasn’t any traffic because it was very late, and she rarely strayed far.)

One night she pops in the window, and I noticed something in her mouth – something furry … and alive! She deposited it right behind the couch, meowing at me for approval. (more…)

BY EVIE BLAD

ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE — To many people, Thor looks more like a lion than a dog.
The 200-pound English mastiff easily could topple a strong man with a rambunctious leap or a swipe of his massive paw. (more…)