ATLANTA — A Grayson woman has been charged with arson and cruelty to animals after she allegedly set fire to a home she was renting and her two cats were killed.

The fire occurred at 27-year-old Sarah Sheridan’s Snellville home on Oct. 6. Gwinnett County Fire spokesman Tommy Rutledge said investigators found an accelerant inside the home where Sheridan was living alone.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Friday that firefighters arrived just after 10:30 p.m. to find heavy smoke pouring out of the front of the two-story house.

The blaze caused heavy damage to the basement where the cats were trapped.

Rutledge said sufficient evidence was found to make an arrest but investigators are not releasing the motive.

Sheridan was taken into custody on Wednesday and posted a $30,000 bond the following day.

ROANOKE, Va. — Workers at a Roanoke pet store joined firefighters in safely evacuating puppies, cats and other pets after a back room fire filled the store with dense smoke.

Workers told The Roanoke Times they didn’t think twice about rescuing the animals when smoke began filling a PetSmart store Saturday afternoon. Roanoke fire spokeswoman Tiffany Bradbury says no injuries were reported as some 80 puppies, cats, gerbils and other animals were safely plucked from the Valley View Mall.

One store patron, Erica Vermillion, says she spotted a puppy after the fire and filled out adoption papers immediately. She plans to name her new pet Sparky.

Firefighters say they also cleared smoke from a neighboring Target store that had to be evacuated. They say a sprinkler system quickly contained the fire.

SALEM, Ore. — Tammy Thompson lives in a tarp-covered tent on Salem’s fringe, sharing her “little spot in the woods” with three much-loved dogs.

“They’re my children. They’re everything to me,” said Thompson, 44.

That’s why she was grateful for a local program that provides free exams, vaccinations and medications for the pets of homeless people. The aim is to improve public safety and show compassion for homeless people.

“I think it’s great. I’m really thankful they have this,” Thompson said. “I’ve been asking and praying for something like this to come along.”

Thompson’s dogs — Bubba, Sadie and Shadow — were among more than a dozen animals seen Sunday by veterinarian Mark Stoenner of the Willamette Valley Animal Hospital in Keizer.

The makeshift “clinic” location was a small building near Cascades Gateway Park — a southeast Salem camping area for some homeless people and their pets.

As dogs and cats received health exams, their owners socialized, ate spaghetti and talked about their pets.

These kinds of clinics, often supplemented by barbecues, have occurred monthly in Salem since May.

They are the result of teamwork by the Willamette Valley Animal Hospital, the Marion County animal shelter and Prodigal House Ministries, a nonprofit organization.

Besides the site near Cascades Gateway Park, clinics also have been held at downtown Salem locations and at Wallace Marine Park in West Salem.

Juan Lopez, a program organizer and veterinary dental technician, said the goal is to provide each pet with a general health exam, a complete set of vaccinations, flea control and deworming medications.

Pets also are spayed and neutered.

“They’re currently living in our green spaces, so we have to worry about transmittal of diseases to humans,” Lopez said, adding that regular veterinary care can reduce the risk of pets spreading worms, rabies and infectious viruses.

As it stands, the outreach program is providing ongoing care for about 80 animals owned by homeless people, Lopez said.

Donations pay for the program.

Thompson, who gets by on food stamps and financial support from her mother, said she avoids shelters because they don’t allow pets.

“A lot of people say ‘Get rid of them and go to a shelter,’” she said. “My question to them is, ‘Would you get rid of your children?’”

Chris Simpson, 22, brought his two cats — Midnight and Puffy — to Sunday’s clinic.

He said he rescued Midnight from mistreatment by a previous owner who fed her wine and burned her ears with candle wax.

“I took it and started treating her the way she should be treated,” Simpson said. “I may be young and homeless, but I keep to my responsibilities.”

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

JOHNSON CITY, Texas — When an elderly Johnson City woman known as the “cat lady” died, leaving behind more than 100 felines, the question arose about what would happen to her precious pets.

Blanco County has no animal control agency or animal shelter, so the 72-year-old woman’s neighbors knew they had to step in and help.

Sheriff Bill Elsbury said his deputies visited Glinne Berry’s home about once a week, to check on her welfare, before she died in July of an apparent heart attack.

“Any money she had, she spent on cat food,” Elsbury said.

The Austin American-Statesman reported Wednesday that she had an estimated 110 cats and many were healthy and available to be given new homes.

Carol Schlachter, with the all-volunteer Blanco County Cat Coalition, said some residents considered destroying the cats, even though the animals were doing well.

“I’d say the majority of them were darn healthy,” said Schlachter.

Members of the coalition and friends took the cats to other animal shelters.

Kathleen Wilson has tried to get as many cats adopted as possible, with 16 of the original group still left at her home this week.

“Somebody had to be there,” Wilson said. “There was nobody else.”

The Austin Humane Society agreed to fix and treat 40 cats free of charge and eventually put 13 up for adoption.

Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation in Kendall County treated and housed more than 20 sick and pregnant cats. Others were treated in Fredericksburg and Lexington.

Elsbury said the Blanco County Commissioners Court gave $500 to the coalition to aid in caring for the animals.

“That’s how our community is,” Elsbury said. “We have a problem, and everybody rallies around it.”

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BALTIMORE — Socks, the White House cat during the Clinton administration who waged war on Buddy the pup, has died. He was about 18.

Socks had lived with Bill Clinton’s secretary, Betty Currie, in Hollywood, Md., since the Clintons left the White House in early 2001.

Currie confirmed Socks’ death Friday evening and said she was “heartbroken.” She did not give details, referring calls to the William J. Clinton Foundation office.

The foundation released a statement from the Clintons:

“Socks brought much happiness to Chelsea and us over the years, and enjoyment to kids and cat lovers everywhere. We’re grateful for those memories, and we especially want to thank our good friend, Betty Currie, for taking such loving care of Socks for so many years.”

Socks had reached his late teens, an advanced age for a cat, when reports surfaced in late 2008 that he had cancer and Currie had ruled out invasive efforts to prolong his life.

“It’s not a happy prognosis,” presidential historian Barry Landau, a friend of Currie’s, said at the time.

Chelsea Clinton’s pet first appeared in the news in November 1992 after then-Gov. Bill Clinton won the presidency and the family was the still in the Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock.

Life changed for Socks in the White House, when his easy access to the out-of-doors was necessarily curtailed. One official conceded that, yes, Socks was on a leash while outside.

Things took a turn for the worse in late 1997, when then-puppy Buddy, a chocolate retriever, arrived. Relations between Socks and Buddy were cool from the beginning.

“I’m trying to work that out,” Clinton joked at the time. “It’s going to take a while. It’s kind of like peace in Ireland or the Middle East.”

A few weeks later, in early 1998, the two pets had an encounter on the South Lawn. “A very agitated Buddy approached the cat and began barking as the president restrained him with a green leash,” The Associated Press reported. “Socks, hair raised high, stood his ground until Clinton and Buddy made their exit to the Oval Office.”

But their pairing enchanted pet lovers, especially children. In 1998, then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton put out a book of children’s letters to the two pets in Dear Socks, Dear Buddy.

“Can you please send me a picture and a paw print,” one youngster wrote Socks. “Do you have fleas? I think my cat has fleas.”

In the book, the first lady wrote she had been taking daughter Chelsea to a piano lesson in spring 1991 when they spotted two kittens in the music teacher’s front yard. “The black one with white paws — Socks — jumped right into [Chelsea’s] arms,” she wrote.

After the Clintons left in early 2001, Socks moved in with Currie. Buddy, meanwhile, made the move with the Clintons to Chappaqua, N.Y., but he was struck and killed by a car the following year.

Socks continued to live quietly with Currie, sometimes making appearances at programs held by pet-welfare groups. Landau said Socks enjoyed sitting in the sun and Currie doted on him, cooking him special chicken dinners.

A new fee for pet owners would help pay for building and operating animal shelters throughout the state, under a bill filed Monday.

The measure by Rep. Clark Hall, D-Marvell, would impose a $3 fee for veterinarian visits for cats and dogs. That money would be placed in a trust fund, under the Arkansas Department of Health, and doled out to cities and counties for their animal shelters.

The fee would only apply to visits when a cat or dog receives veterinary services from a licensed professional.

Under the bill, 35 percent of the proceeds would go to counties based on population, 35 percent would go to cities based on population and 30 percent would go to counties or cities, based on the need for an animal shelter.

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A dog has died after being drenched with toxic household cleaners by a burglar in Michigan.

Nancy Sheppard was at work Tuesday when someone entered her home in Kalamazoo and poured the liquids over her dachshund mix Lucky. A neighbor noticed Sheppard’s front door open and called the police.

Lucky was in a crate, and his food and water dishes were also covered in the cleaning fluids.
He died after being rushed to an animal hospital.

Police say the burglar took a few dollars’ worth of coins.

DETROIT — Maybe this award will put some bark back in Chrysler’s sales: Dogcars.com has released its selections for top dog-friendly vehicles, and the Dodge Caravan won the Best In Show Award.

“With larger cargo area and squared-off back, the Grand Caravan is the consummate dog mobile,” dogcars.com said.
Here is the complete list of winners:

• Best Overall/Best Minivan: Dodge Grand Caravan (also the Caravan’s cousins, the Chrysler Town and Country and the Volkswagen Routan)
• Best Compact: Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix
• Best Green Vehicle: Toyota Highlander Hybrid
• Best Small SUV: Ford Escape/Mercury Mariner/Mazda Tribute and Mitsubishi Outlander (tie)
• Best Midsize SUV: Honda Pilot, Suzuki XL-7, Hyundai Santa Fe (tie)
• Best Wagon: Subaru Forester and Volvo XC70 (tie)
• Best Luxury SUV: BMW X5 and Acura MDX
• Other tail-waggers: Ford Flex and Mini Cooper Clubman

Premiering at number one in its opening weekend, Marley & Me is sure to be a hit, but the American Kennel Club would like to remind moviegoers about the importance of making careful, educated decisions when considering adding a dog to their family.

Distributed by Twentieth Century Fox, Marley & Me is the big-screen adaptation of the best-selling book by John Grogan.

After bringing home an adorable Labrador Retriever puppy named Marley, Grogan (played by Owen Wilson) and wife Jenny (played by Jennifer Aniston), learn that a cute puppy can quickly turn into a rambunctious 100-pound bundle of energy.

To underscore this fact, the American Kennel Club and Twentieth Century Fox partnered to produce a print and a broadcast public service announcement reminding people to do their homework before purchasing a dog.

“It’s no wonder that the Labrador Retriever has been America’s top dog and ideal family pet for so long,” said American Kennel Club spokesman Lisa Peterson. “Labs are a versatile, intelligent and energetic breed but without early socialization, obedience training and proper exercise for their energy level, they can become bored and develop behavioral problems. Regardless of breed, all potential dog owners need to realize that ownership will be a 10- to 15-year commitment for the life of the dog.”

Labradors have been the most popular breed in the U.S. for the past 17 years, according to 2007 American Kennel Club registration statistics.

The American Kennel Club urges dog lovers who are thinking about getting a Labrador Retriever to examine how the breed will fit into their own environment and to consider all of the 161 breeds recognized by the kennel club and choose the fit that is best for their lifestyle.