Animal House

The many dog lovers who came together and bonded over a little lost show dog named Vivi are always on the lookout for similar stories. If Westminster's famously wayward whippet did not have a happy ending (at least as far as we know), then perhaps someone else's dog can.

The most recent lost dog, Jeddah, has a story eerily similar to Vivi's. She was lost at Washington's Dulles Airport on July 10. The 4-year-old dog, who looks similar to a Pharaoh or Ibizan hound, was being flown to Saudi Arabia to accompany her soldier-owner on his year-long Middle East assignment. She never made it on to the United Airlines flight.

Like Vivi, Jeddah's story has occasioned much media coverage. Sightings are being called in every day. And her owners have not given up hope.

Missouri gets all the press for being the nation's main puppymilling state, but Pennsylvania has its share, too.

The ugly reality of what happens when dogs are treated as livestock and not family companions hit the news recently when a Berks County commercial breeder decided to shoot 80 of his dogs rather than have them examined and treated by a veterinarian.

A vigil was held last week outside the property, and the governor has called for legislation making it illegal for anyone than a veterinarian to perform euthanasia.

The Doberman Pinscher Club of America is celebrating the centennial of the breed in the United States this year.

If you aren't going to be caravaning to Topeka Kansas to attend the club's 83rd Specialty Show or its Centenntial Event in October, you can meander on the club web site, www.dpca.org. There, you'll find a tribute to the Doberman's role as a trusted military and search and rescue dog.

"While the breed has been much maligned over the years, its 100-year history and heritage of helping people in need flies under the radar. We would like to change that," says the DPCA in a press release.

It hasn't been a good week for Long Island rescuers.

On Tuesday, Dori Scofield, founder of Save-A-Pet Animal Rescue in Port Jefferson, lost 11 of her personal animals -- seven dogs and four cats -- to a house fire. Dori, her husband and their four children were not home at the time.

And Lab rescuers across the country are mourning over the news that Sandee Nastasi, founder of Long Island Labrador Retriever Rescue, lost her battle with cancer recently.

Verizon heard them now.

A week after saying it would continue to run a television ad depicting two chained pit bulls lunging at the owner of a LG Dare phone, Verizon Wireless has yanked the offending ads.

A piece in Ad Age points to the influence of special-interest groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in effecting the turnaround.

But irate pit-bull owners were also a grass-roots force in the opposition, complaining that -- yet again -- their human-friendly breed was being depicted as a savage junkyard dog.